Hurra auf Israel!!

January 29, 2019

Hurra auf Israel!!

Wednesday, 23rd:

We finally got snow! It was just enough that we weren't sure how safe the back roads would be for dooring, so we did some more of what seems to be our go-to: area book!

We had our first GMK in Haag since I've been here, which consisted of the Elders Quorum guy (so basically our GML) and us (and his wife, since it was at his house, since there's literally no one else on our ward mission team yet). It was great! We actually got quite a bit planned and done, and he even offered to help with everything in Wels, too. We are so excited to get to be working with him (they're the Doudous, if you remember).

Thursday, 24th:

We tausched with Salzburg and I stayed here in Wels with Sister Grundvig. Fun fact: her younger brother went to school/was friends with Kyle, and her family might live in the same ward as Lars and Julianne (if I'm remembering correctly)! She's awesome. :)

We went to Gemeinderat (ward council) only to find a very dark church building, with only one room lit up. Turns out the bishopric were the only ones there, because they had pushed it back to next week. Guess who they forgot to tell? That's right! Us! But it's okay, because we got to have our own little meeting, and we just gave them our information then. It's especially okay, because we wouldn't have been able to make it to the one next week. So it all worked out!

Friday, 25th:

We had Tausch and basically just went through normal missionary life. Sister Grundvig and I finally figured out why we thought we knew each other (see Thursday), haha. That took a while.

It was S. Spratt's 9 month mark! So when we tausched back in Wels we all "went out to dinner" to McDonald's and celebrated. Especially because the Salzburg Sisters' halfway point was last transfer (they were MTC comps) and my halfway point is next transfer (I try not to think about that). It was a lot of fun! Then we rushed back to the bahnhof for them to make their train.

Saturday, 26th:

We had a dinner appointment with Familie Kräftner again (the GML in Wels) and Familie Hernaus (a returning member and her special friend and her son). We're trying to get to know them so we can teach the special friend and the son the lessons. So that was fun, but also awkward because... No one really interacted with us.

Sunday, 27th:

We had lunch with Familie Grünauer (in Haag) and we played a little board game called Activity where you either act out, explain, or draw a word, and your teammate has to guess the word. Let me tell you, that was a solid language study!

We had made a goal to do 13 hours of finding this week, and we made it! We almost didn't, but I felt so satisfied hitting that number.

Monday, 28th:

We had Distriktrat, followed by Distrikt lunch. We had a lot of fun spending time together. We did get a call from our Zone Leaders during lunch about how our zone isn't doing the best with numbers (oh, P. S., Sister Leaders can see numbers in our mission now (so for their zone)), so they were calling to see what we thought the problem might be and how we can find a solution. So.. If anyone has suggestions? Haha. We're pretty sure it's because everyone is just such good friends with each other and their comps that they just want to talk with each other when they go finding, etc. I don't know. We'll think more about it.

We went to the Mohammadis again, and shared a Spiritual Thought about the comfort we can find when we read the Scriptures. :)

Tuesday, 29th:

We went by on a less-active out by Gmunden, meaning we got to take our car! Meaning we went on a hike! I found some castle ruins on a map and S. Spratt has been dying to go on a hike, so you'd best believe we went up there! It was snowy and icy, but SO WORTH IT.

I'll include pics.

Favorite new word: Dünsternis - gloom

Favorite funny story: So we bought a present for Elder Buss (in our mission, there's a tradition where you have a Book and everyone signs it before you leave a place (so basically a year-book kind of idea) - it's called a Tschüß book, and Elder Buss doesn't have one). So we got him one of those. But we are in the process of some people signing it before we give it to him, so in the meantime we got him a waterbottle that says "I sparkle, therefore I am". But we didn't just get him this waterbottle. Oh no, you'd best believe we wrapped it in bubble wrap, wrapping paper, a solid layer of tape, stuck it in his suitcase, and wrapped that. It was wonderful watching his confusion as he opened it.

Favorite spiritual thought: The scriptures really do bring so much comfort to us. Beyond the truths that they contain, the power that comes from just reading the word of God is incredible. Seriously, if you ever need advice, or even just need a bit of comfort, READ THE SCRIPTURES. In particular the Book of Mormon. :) My testimony of the scriptures has grown so much since being on the mission, and in particular since coming to Wels and Haag. It's incredible.