It's Definitely Been a Week

So last Tuesday, I mentioned having a picnic by Donauinsel, but I didn't say very much about it. So earlier that day, we had bought cheese, bread, and watermelon, and we brought along some grapes that a member gave to us from her garden. We sat by the water (not too close, don't stress) and ate our little picnic as we watched other people swim. It was funny because there was someone across the river on the actual Insel feeding the swans, and they swarmed that poor person. Swans are scary. I'd much rather feed ducks. :)

Then on Wednesday, we had a zone-wide Book of Mormon Finding evening. Basically, we all gathered on Mariahilferstraße, left a few boxes of copies of the Book of Mormon on a bench, and talked to people with the express purpose of giving away a lot of books. It was great! We all had a lot of energy that built off of each other, and everyone seemed to be more receptive than usual. It was also cool, because we went on splits to see other missionaries' methods of finding. I learned a few things: My German is phenomenal for only being here a couple of weeks (not to sound braggy, I just am doing a lot better than I thought I was), don't do Umfrages (surveys) - nobody stops, and confidence in the face of rejection is vital. That last one is sooo important, and any missionary or future missionary reading this needs to hear it! It's even in the scriptures (kind of)(3 Nephi 12:44)!

On Thursday, we went to a member's home (the Greindl Familie) to do some service. She's been sick and had just come back from the doctor and was taking a nap (her kids were at someone else's house and her husband was at work). We cleaned her kitchen and living room for her, and when we were finished she woke up and talked with us for a few minutes. She was really sweet, and it felt so good to do some physical work around a house; it's nice to have visual progress.

We had a very interesting Friday. So it started out with a lunch appointment at this sweet Ehepaar's house. They fed us stuffed peppers with rice and we had ice cream for dessert. They talked a lot about their children and their lives and it was really sweet to just see them reminisce. Plus, at the end, they gave us homemade Apricot Marmelade. <3

As we were leaving, we got a call from someone back in the US with a referral. He said his daughter lived in Vienna and he would really appreciate it if we could visit her. We told him we would later in the evening.

Before that, though, we went to the church to set up for a tour/lesson with one of our "People with Interest". It was amazing! We could all feel the Spirit so much and she seemed so impressed with everything. I played "Nearer My God to Thee" on the piano in the chapel, and we just sat in silence for a little bit because we felt so peaceful. We taught her the first lesson, and she was amazed at everything we said. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it and she said she would. We had discussed inviting her to baptism beforehand, and we felt the Spirit so strongly so we asked her if she would be baptised if she found for herself that our church was true, and her response was "Sehr Gerne!" Then we realised we should invite her to church, and she agreed to that as well. The second she left, we fell to our knees and said a prayer of thanks. We couldn't believe how well it had gone! And then, about 30 minutes later, she said she had changed her mind because she had been Catholic for her whole life and wasn't ready to change, and so she was willing to meet again for Gelato, but not to talk about religion. So we went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. It kind of stunk. But at the same time, it was a good learning experience because I got to see both ends of missionary work held against each other - and the joy was still worth the disappointment.

We went to find the daughter of the guy who called us, and when we got there she was still at work so we ended up talking to her mom for almost 40 minutes. When the daughter finally came, she was a bit confused and wary of us (the father is not exactly their favorite person). She gave us her number though, and we've been in contact. I feel like we went their for her mom, more. She seemed very open and willing to talk to us, but also held back by her background.

On Saturday, we met with Frau Martina, who I think I've mentioned in a prior email. I understood a lot more this time than I did the last time. Also, it was funny because we were taking a picture and she snagged a side-hug from Elder Konietz before we could see anything coming. Her sister chastised her, and now we need to clarify some rules for her. But we've all been laughing about it, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

That night, we had planned to go by the neighbors of the Greindl Familie because they had mentioned that they met with missionaries before. We felt like we should go home and do our studies that we had missed in the morning though, so we went back a little confused and begrudgingly (our GML (Ward Mission Leader) had prayed for us to have a miracle that day, and we felt like we hadn't found it yet, and we were hoping these neighbors would be the miracle). We went home, and within 30 minutes we had a call from a Neu-Bekehrt (new convert) saying that a friend of hers from work had been asking a lot of questions about the church, and she asked if we had a Book of Mormon that we could drop by the train station within 10 minutes or so. Because we were home, we were able to run a copy to her! We ended up having our miracle, even though we weren't walking the streets of Vienna. :)

On Sunday, we got to stop by the neighbors. They were a lovely Ehepaar (oh, btw, that means married couple), and they were more than willing to talk to us. It was funny though, because we had originally walked to that street, but we couldn't remember which house it was, so we called the Greindl Familie. They said that they didn't think it was the best time to go visit, so we started walking away. By the time we got to the bus stop, they ended the phone call with "But if you prayed about it and feel like it's the right thing to do, then by all means stop by." We realized we hadn't prayed about it, so we stopped right there and prayed. We ended up turning back, and had a lovely conversation with the neighbors. :)

Yesterday, we had District Meeting, which was full of laughs. I forget how much I need my friends, sometimes. It was nice seeing some of my MTC buds again. After Distrikt Rat, we had a lunch appointment with Schwester Kraus - the sweetest old lady. She's one of my favorite people. <3 That night, we had another meal appointment with the Calabek Familie along with the Elders. They were really funny - they have a pool in their yard and we were fawning over it because it's been so hot out - so they brought out a little kiddy pool for us to soak our feet in instead! We had a lot of laughs. :) Also, they had a couple of bunnies so I just about died when I saw them. <3

And then today, we haven't done much. We went shopping, I sent a couple of things back home, and then here we are - writing our letters. It's kind of nice not having such a strict schedule on P-Day, but it's also a bit stressful because I feel like we could be doing so much more with our time. Idk, misison life is weird.

Anyway, that's everything that happened this week!

Favorite new word: Langfinger (it means pickpocket, but translates literally to long-finger)

Favorite funny story: See the above, with Frau Martina hugging E. Konietz

Favorite spiritual thought: "Lord, I Believe", Elder Holland April 2013 General Conference

Bis später,

Sister Hamilton