Tschüß!

Wednesday, 3rd:
We met with Schwester Kraus! She still just warms my soul. ️

So we had gone through our phone and contacted a few people we hadn't in a while. We texted Arturo, the guy who stood us up in the rain. We set up another appointment, and we were so excited to meet with him! And guess what happened? He stood us up again! But all was well, because while we were waiting, this guy came up to us and asked us if we knew any cool places in Wien. We ended up having a lesson anyway, because this guy wanted to know about what we believed! He said he can come to church in two weeks, too. It was honestly such a blessing, and a total answer to our prayers. ️

Thursday, 4th:
We taught the NB Lisa about the Law of Chastity and she made us veggies and rice. Yum!
We had a Book of Mormon Extravaganza, and I don't remember a big story from it, but it was our last one and it left us with good memories.

Friday, 5th:
We went on splits with two ward members so that we could go by on some less-actives. One of them is going on her mission next week, and the other is her boyfriend's mom. It was a lot of fun; nobody answered the door, but they were just so grateful to have a bit of a missionary opportunity! To be honest I was really nervous before it, but it ended up being one of my favorite things here so far!

Saturday, 6th:

We had transfer calls! President called and told S. Neumann that she's going to St. Gallen in Switzerland to be an STL, and he told me that I will be staying in Wien and receiving Sister Jadyn Smith.

We had lunch with Schwester Könnyu, her husband, and the Elders. It was very fun.
We watched the first session of General Conference!

It was a little awkward, because a Friend of the Church that we invited ended up coming for both the Saturday afternoon and the Sunday morning session (which would normally be great!) but he basically told S. Neumann that he has a crush on her, and it just made everything so awkward... She's very frustrated because she /hates/ the whole flirt-to-convert thing, and she doesn't want him to lose interest in the church just because he can't date her. We ended up taking a different route home, too, so that he wouldn't know where we lived. We're saying goodbye to him tonight (Tuesday), so we'll see how everything goes.

Sunday, 7th:
Our whole day was filled with General Conference! #BestSundayEver

Monday, 8th:

We taught Seminary, and the member hosting it gave us waffles for breakfast.

We went to the Abmeld Office and officially moved S. Neumann out of Wien.

We watched the last session of General Conference as a district, and had a little testimony meeting at the end.

The Baumann Familie was very kind and invited us to lunch as a goodbye to S. Neumann.

One of my favorite parts of the day was dinner with the Menzels and the Elders. Oliver and Kyra are just over a year off their missions, and had their 1-year wedding anniversary just this past week! Oliver is also our GML. Their basically our absolute favorite people, and the whole evening was filled with bonding over mission stories and General Conference. We had so much fun and lost track of time, so we ended up staying just over 2 hours, when we're only supposed to stay for 1!

Tuesday, 9th:

Today has been filled with packing and preparing for tomorrow, when S. Neumann will officially abandon me for Swiss chocolate, and I will get my new comp.

We spent most of our free time walking around Stephansplatz so she could say goodbye to Wien and spend her last few Euros on little souvenirs like postcards and a magnet. We got some Eis to end our time together. 

Favorite new word: Heuchler - hypocrite

Favorite funny story: The Elders have a way of saying S. Neumann's name that makes her get all defensive and high-pitched, and I started saying it because it's just fun to say. Anyway, I accidentally said her name that way in front of the Elders, and they just grinned from ear to ear, and I'm pretty sure I made their day. S. Neumann was a amused, but in that way that you don't want to admit that something is funny but a smile still tugs at the corners of your mouth.

Favorite spiritual thought: General Conference! I took so many good notes, and I absolutely loved it. My biggest takeaway is that Russell M. Nelson truly is called of God, and the work is moving forward - and we need to step it up and do our part! I wish I could share everything I learned, but maybe that's for another day.

In regards to S. Neumann leaving, I'm sad because we've truly come to be friends. Yeah, our companionship wasn't perfect, but I'm still so grateful for everything I learned from her. But I'm also excited to meet S. Smith going into this next transfer. As an Elder said: "If you go into [an area, a companionship, or a transfer] expecting to make it great, then it will be." And as my Grandpa said: "You find what you're looking for."

I can't wait to find greatness!

Liebe Grüße, 

Sister Hamilton