Multi-Kulti-Chilly-Willy

Wednesday, 24th:

We went to Salzburg for Tausch! I was with Kirk's girlfriend's little sister, Sister Harty. We went finding for an hour, before Sister Kubricky and I headed off to the stake version of ward mission meetings (lovingly called PMK, instead of GMK). 

PMK was a party. Lots of spiritual upliftment (?), a coughing attack, trying not to gag with the menthol "mint" (by the way, weird cultural thing here, they have menthol-flavored "mints" that are supposed to just be like Altoids or whatever, but they're the size of cough drops. But they're not cough drops! They're an every-day thing, and cough drops are all herbs and sugar stuff. Why anyone wants to suck on menthol on a daily basis is beyond me), and lots of discussion. We came away with a couple things for the missionaries to do to support the wards better, so that was good. Plus, the 2nd counselor and his wife in our mission presidency dropped us off at the Salzburg Sister's apartment right at 9:30, so that was solid. 

Thursday, 25th:

We woke up in Salzburg! Ah, so gorgeous. We talked a lot, ate some yummy food, did some fun studies, went finding, got Eis, walked home, ate some more yummy food (I've learned that grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup is one of my favorite foods), did more studies, then headed back to Wels. It was a lot of fun with Sister Harty, and we enjoyed talking about our siblings. Also, Yay for seeing Sister Grundvig again!

Friday, 26th:

We went to the Ausobskys, which was fun as usual. They joked about the Frühlings Gefühle again, so I guess that's my legacy now. 

We got all excited and ready to teach the first lesson to this girl named Aaliyah, but turns out she was actually on her way to a Tanzabend (dance) with her joint teach, so the lesson got postponed to next Friday. 

Saturday, 27th:

We did a lot of Finding. That's all I remember. 

Sunday, 28th:

I gave a "Talk" in Wels, which means I had prepared a 5-minute testimony, was told to keep it short as I walked up to the podium, and gave an entirely different 3-minute testimony. Ah, life. 

We went to a Multi-Cultural festival held in Wels, since our church had a stand there. Of course, the food we were "selling" was free because it was Sunday, but it was so much fun! We were right next to the Afghani stand, and we saw some friends of ours there! We basically had a blast seeing all of the different cultures in one place - smelling the smells, hearing the music, seeing the clothing... It was one of my favorite memories. I think every town should have a Multi-Kulti Fest. :) 

Monday, 29th:

We got up early and booked it to Linz to clean the Hasnerstraße Apartment, since they sold it and the new people are moving in on the 1st of May. It was a fun Distrikt service project. We jammed to music and whipped each other with rat-tailed rags (lest you think missionaries are stuffy, serious people all the time ). 

We hen had Distrikt Rat and Elder Weingärtner, our native German, made crepes for everyone.  I did the dishes without being asked, aren't you proud, Mom? I'm an adult! 

We went Finding super fast, and then went to the Mohammadis and shared Mosiah 18:21 as a spiritual thought. 

Tuesday, 30th:

Linz! We had planned to go to Salzburg, but it was super stormy today, and we slept in a bit. So we went to Linz, printed pics, got Eis, did a little shopping... Basically, a chill day but this time not in the apartment. 

Favorite new word: Herumfuchteln - to wave around/to brandish (a pistol, a flag, etc) 

Favorite funny story: At the Multi-Kulti Fest, neither of us were wearing tights and I wasn't wearing a jacket, and it was a little breezy and looked like rain. Many people commented on how we were going to get sick and how worried they were for us and everything, but especially about Sister Kubricky because her lips were "blue". Sister Brigitte Schmidl called us the following day to make sure we hadn't gotten sick, and I had to hold in all of my coughs while talking to her so she wouldn't think I was lying. I didn't get sick, I promise! I'm recovering! But yeah, we're both good and managed to survive without getting the chills. 

Favorite spiritual thought: So I read a bit of Jesus the Christ, and chapter 3 talks all about Adam and Eve. Did you know that technically the law they transgressed in the Garden of Eden was the Word of Wisdom, because it's a law about what we should and shouldn't put in our body? How cool is that? Didn't know that before. By the way, you should read Jesus the Christ. Imma try before the end of my mission. 

TLDR: I'm getting better, and cultures are so cool! 

Much love!

Sister Hamilton