Tender Mercies
Tuesday, 23rd:
The dinner appointment went really well! The inactive daughter stayed for the whole thing, so that was amazing. I drew a quick sketch of her dog for her because they asked me what I liked to do (drawing, natürlich) and they wanted a demonstration. She was over the moon and made it her background and cut it out and put it in her phone case. I am now her best member friend. *hair toss* So we're making progress. She also found it hilarious that "einen kleinen Finger" is called "a pinky".
Wednesday, 24th:
Wednesday was just weird. I shall tell it in a positive light using a series of tender mercies: Basically, we had a member appointment with the Elders way out in the middle of nowhere on the way to Bratislava. The Elders (as I have now learned is normal for them) weren't responding about travel plans, so we made our own and sent it to them. So we made sure that we had plenty of time and got to the Bahn station, and we were a little confused about which Gleis we were supposed to be on, but we jumped onto the train that came at the time Google maps said it was supposed to. It should have been the right train! But alas, it was not. Tender Mercy #1: this wrong train took us to the Hauptbahnhof, which had a train that lead to a connection on the way to our destination. Any other train wouldn't have worked (at least, not without a large delay). We met up with the Elders at this connection, and we quickly hopped onto a train at the right Gleis. Tender Mercy #2: We were debating if it was the right train, and this woman comes out of nowhere and asks if she can help us. She quickly identified that it was the wrong train, so we hopped off. Not moments after we were all off, the train went in the opposite direction than we had thought it would. Another major delay was avoided. We eventually got on the right train and got out at our last stop before connecting to a bus. We waited at the bus station for a while, but about 5 minutes after the hourly bus hadn't arrived, we checked the schedule and realized that for some reason, there wouldn't be one that hour. So we checked Google maps, and changed our travel plans to take a train a couple more stops before taking a different bus. Tender Mercy #3: The train came at the exact moment we made our minds up about the new plan. Tender Mercy #4: there was a church right next to the second bus stop, so we got to wait in the warmth for the bus to come (for which we also need to repent, because we didn't realize until after we left that it was just our two companionships alone in the church)(but that's also technically another tender mercy, because if we had realized that at first, we would have waited out in the cold rain). Tender Mercy #5: The bus driver was kind and patient as we tried to count out our kleingeld. Tender Mercy #6: We had enough kleingeld. Tender Mercy #7: The Members forgave us for being an hour-and-a-half late (thanks to all of the travel-plan changing). Then after the appointment, we thought we were going to miss the hourly train back to Wien, so the Elders ran ahead because they had another appointment right after. Sister Smith's foot was hurting her, though, so we walked and resigned ourselves to waiting for an hour at the bahnhof. Tender Mercy #8: when we got to bahnhof, there was a train stopped that was heading to Wien, so we ran to climb on and made it. Tender Mercy #9: Sister Smith heard the Elders, so we didn't get on. Tender Mercy #10: It was a slower train, and the Elders were waiting for us on another Gleis so that we would know which train was faster and would get us home sooner. Tender Mercy #11: We made it home!
We had planned Tausch for this day, but we weren't able to squeeze it in after all of the delays. So we wrote our weekly letter to President while warming up in our beds, and then we called through the phone.
So yeah. Weird day.
Thursday, 25th:
We had planned an apartment check at 11, so we ended our comp study a little bit early to tidy things up. At around 11:20, we called the Ehepaar to see if they were coming, and they told us They only ever do these checks on Friday, so they could either just say we're good, or we could reschedule (they trust us, clearly). So we rescheduled for the following day. But since we had planned the time for this check, we decided to scrub at some of the mold we've found. While S. Smith was doing that, I unclogged the drain in our shower. I have three things to say about that: 1 - Dad, thank you for those years where you did it for me 2 - I have been blessed with a strong stomach 3 - the result has been very satisfying.
We had our weekly Extravaganza, and the bike-"I-want-to-draw-and-date-
We had a dinner appointment with the mother of Elder Vincent (the one serving with Beth in Madagascar) and her 3-year-old son. It was E. Vincent's birthday, so she took a picture of us and made an apple tart for him that we thoroughly enjoyed, haha. Ich hab ihr Lieb, and it was so much fun to just talk to her. The rest of the family was on a daddy-daughter trip in New York.
Friday, 26th:
We had our Wohnung check for realsies this time, and we passed! The Ehepaar should be coming back to fix up our dresser because it's kind of falling apart, but otherwise not much is up here. They said the mold is looking pretty okay, and that it might just be stained paint (I was ecstatic to be able to sleep in our beds again) but S. Smith is less convinced and wants to go over it one more time, so we have still been sleeping in the living room for the past over-a-week.
We met for 5 minutes with Mario because that's all he could make, and we had an appointment with a member. It was good, though, that he made the effort to meet with us. We gave him a pamphlet and basically wished him a happy Austrian national holiday (kind of their version of the 4th of July)(but apparently the holiday means nothing for him, because it's not that big of a deal for most people here)(which, like, RIP, because I wore only red and white that day because I'm used to patriotism).
We had our member appointment with a woman and her daughter. They were both very sweet, and they made us banana muffins for dessert (with chocolate and sprinkles, too!). 
Saturday, 27th:
Basically a normal day in the life of a missionary. We filled out the Fortschrittsbericht, went finding, and had Ward Mission Counsel. It's been funny, though, because we keep running into the Wien 1 Elders. We were in the Institute Centre when we were working on the Bericht, so they couldn't come in (we were the only ones there). They went and bought chocolate while they waited for us to finish, they shared a little bit, and then we left and they came in. #gehorsam
Sunday, 28th:
We had church! I've been avoiding drawing in sacrament meeting because I'm trying to be very aware of our appearance, and I've been aware in the past that it looks like I'm not listening/ignoring my surroundings when I draw. So I haven't done it in church during my mission, but during the last talk, I decided I really wanted to draw this one guy's beard (I don't have much experience with drawing beards, so I was excited to have a real-life reference). Funny enough, the time where I was drawing is the only part of the Sacrament meeting that I actually remember/understood well enough to be able to tell you what was talked about (the speaker shared the talk from President Packer about the debtor and the Mediator). So... yeah. I'm not just crazy! Drawing really does help me focus, haha.
We sang "Komm du Quelle jedes Segens" in the ward choir (that we have joined as of this week) as a practice for the upcoming Stake Conference.
We taught Karen, who is just an absolute joy! We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and everything made sense to her. We asked her if she's talked any more with her family about the church, and she said she hasn't talked to her father yet "weil er ist ur lang im Polen" for work, but next week is her birthday and she's going to Poland to visit her grandma with the rest of her family. She looked up a church meeting house that's 15 minutes away from where they're staying, and she convinced her mom and brother to come along on Sunday! She was over the moon and she told us she was thinking of trying to bear her testimony in broken Polish. We are thrilled for her, and she's just absolutely glowing with excitement.
Monday, 29th:
We had Distriktrat, and everyone was kind of sassy and unfocused, so it wasn't the best one we've had, but we ended with talking about following the Spirit, and then I played "Lass den Heilgen Geist dich führt", which I had planned the night before, so that was cool.
We tried finding, but we weren't really being effective, so we switched to calling through the phone to reconnect with people that we already have numbers for (some hadn't been contacted since March).
We had a dinner appointment with the Elders and Schwester Könnyü-Hornek. She is an absolute gem. It was overall a pretty normal appointment, but I think the most memorable part was dessert. The Elders started laughing silently, so we asked them what was up and E. Konietz said, "I went to stretch out my feet, and they met other feet!" (and it sounded so funny auf Deutsch, but I can't remember how to say it and the literal translation is still funny). So we all started laughing, but then we just couldn't seem to stop, so it quickly snowballed into hysterical laughter, and then at one point S. Smith spit out her pudding all over E. Richardson, so that of course just made the laughter worse! We were all crying from laughing so hard... By far, the funniest appointment I've ever had!
Tuesday, 30th:
We got the number for this lady that sells Dirndls for pretty cheap, so we're hoping we can go by her today (she's by appointment only, and she said it would depend on the weather if we can do it today (she's a little older)) because S. Smith wants an apron for her Dirndl that she got for free from a member, and I figured... hey, cheap Dirndls! So that's our plan for the day. If it doesn't work out, then we'll go in Belvedere and look at the art and get Eis at Tichy's. :)
Favorite new word: Strecken - to stretch
Favorite funny story: S. Smith spewing pudding all over E. Richardson (luckily for him, though, the pitcher set in front of him caught most of it)
Favorite spiritual thought: The "Try Try Try" talk by President Eyring. When we are struggling ourseles, the best solution is to help someone else!
Much love to everyone,
Sister Hamilton
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