Α und Ω

Wednesday, 16th:

The Passau Ehepaar, the Mechams, came to our apartment to help us figure out a few things. The result: my bed now has 6 extra screws in it and still sounds like it's falling apart every time I gently climb in, our sink no longer smells terrible but I know it's only a temporary solution, and we were told to throw away our vacuum (we got a new one at Zone conference).

We ate lunch with the Jabureks again. They're sweet as ever, and this time we had tacos! They said that every time their grandkids come visit from America, they're favorite food to eat is tacos (in Austria, though?).

We visited with Familie Mohammadi for the first time since before Christmas. :)

Thursday, 17th:

S. Spratt was sick (she lost her voice and otherwise had normal cold-symptoms-ish), so we stayed inside all day and uploaded Areabook.

Friday, 18th:

We had lunch with Familie Ausobsky. Bruder Ausobsky is the one that taught me my new word of the week. Plus, they had made us a jello trifle, and they were so excited about the fact that they had managed to find jello in Germany, and brought it to Austria just for the missionaries. It was really sweet! 

We went to meet with a new member, but the appointment fell out as we were waiting in our car to go up to her door, so all in all, our travel times totalled up to about 2-3 hours. It was lit. We jammed to EFY music. And by jammed, I mean I commented on how I didn't like the way they pronounced this one word (S. Spratt got confused) but how I loved the harmony in this other song on this one specific word (S. Spratt agreed).

Saturday, 19th:

I had a good cry. I had some built-up emotions and my perfectionism got to me a little bit. But bless S. Spratt's heart, she was patient and helped me talk it out (as much as I didn't want to). All is well, now. :)

We went to a Funeral for a member in Haag. I played the piano, and in general did my best to focus. I've decided that funerals are.... kind of boring..... 

We went to the new member again and shared a quick spiritual thought. She moved here in December, and nobody really knew her. She's sweet. :)

Sunday, 20th:

We had Ward Conference für Kirche, and afterwards we had a Gemeinsames Essen (essentially a ward picnic".

We rode our bikes! Fun fact, before Wels and Haag combined into one area, Wels was a biking area! So we have bikes. We went by on some potentials that we couldn't find parking for (hence the bikes). It was nice and brisk. I loved it! I will always love spring-fall-ish weather.

Monday, 21st:

Zonenkonferenz! Oh, I love it so much! We got to meet Eden, the Browns' daughter. I wish I could write down everything we learned and experienced, but unfortunately I can't. But I still hold that it's one of my favorite parts of serving a mission. D&C 6:32!

When we went to leave Zone conference, our Navigation system wasn't working. We've never had problems with it before, but for some reason this time it wasn't even turning on when we plugged it in to charge. It was completely dead. We had already driven a couple of minutes away, but we turned around and went back to the church to see if we could get some help. After about 5-10 minutes, we found a solution and were back on the road going home, but this time with a different route than our Navi had taken us any previous time. I don't know why our navigation wasn't working, and I don't know why our back-up plan took us a different way, but if there's one thing I've learned on my mission it's that everything happens for a reason. I don't doubt God had His hand in it. Thanks for the prayers, everyone!

We went to Familie Mohammadi again, and they even fed us afterwards!

Tuesday, 22nd:

Yet again we went to Linz. We got a Bubble Waffle cone to share and some presents for missionaries with upcoming birthdays/birthdays that happened recently!

Favorite new word: Rebus - a picture puzzle. Fun fact, this word is English. I learned it from a native German-speaker.

Favorite funny story: A "salad" here can consist of sliced tomatoes and bell peppers placed on a plate with some salt. It can also mean sliced carrots and raisins in a joghurt sauce. I'm used to "salad" being some sort of leafy green with whatever combination of things added to it. So if somebody here asks if you would like some salad, make sure you know what you're agreeing to if you're not a fan of a specific food. ;)

Favorite spiritual thought: Α = a beginning. Ω = an end (and a beginning, since it symbolizes a hatching egg). Jesus Christ is both Α and Ω, a beginning and an end. In each of our lives, He has both begun and ended something. In Zone Conference we went around sharing 1 sentence about an example of Christ being a beginning/an end, and it was so cool! Examples: He is the beginning of [peace, accepting myself, second chances, joy, healing] and the end of [fear, pride, shame, an old lifestyle]. I challenge each of you to think of how Christ has been both a beginning and an end for you!

TLDR: It was a crazy week full of beginnings and endings (just go back through here and essentially each thing could either be a beginning or an end). I cried, we rode bikes, we had a great zone conference, Divine Intervention protected us, and we've been doing a lot of member work.

Bis später!

Sister Hamilton 

Pics: Dunkin' Donuts from Linz last week, S. Spratt on her perch above the radiator in our kitchen (she was cold)