🎄 Merry Christmas! 🎄

Mittwoch, 30th:

We had a mission-wide Wednesday where we tried finding in New locations, and we went into a Dunkin' Donuts as a joke to find someone and ended up having a convo with two French girls and gave them a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. We were so happy that we decided to buy donuts to celebrate. 

Well, we had an adventure on this day. We had a lesson planned with Pascal and the Elders as a pass-off lesson. We met with the Elders at the train stop as planned, when we got a message from Pascal with his home address. So we all walk over there and Ring his bell, but he doesn't nswer so we call him. Turns out he's at a restaurant at the stop we were just at, so we dash over there. We step in and man, is this place BOUJY (idk if that's how you spell it, this is a new word for me - it means "high class" but in an over-the-top way?). There was even a rack of cigars free for the taking, and I could just picture people standing in the bathrooms with towels draped over their arms. This was like a gentleman's lodge (appropriate, considering it's called Schutzenhaus) and we were grateful that we were dressed for the occasion (#missionPerks). Then we couldn't find Pascal there either, so we called again and turns out he was just at the tram stop next to this place, where we had been originally. So we meet up with him, and walk back to his apartment, but this time all together. It was a lot of traveling around, with not much distance made. 

Well, this appointment was a party. Pascal was showing us his Facebook account and emphasized his single status, to which beloved Elder Bast asked if he wanted a girlfriend. Pascal then announced that yes, indeed, he'd like a girlfriend. He said he told his coworkers that he thought of the Elders as brothers in Spirit, but that he was a little in love with us. Elder Bast and I both kind of choked a little as we made eye contact. Elder Bast just looked at Pascal and said, "Do you know what we do as missionaries?" And Sister Smith, not sure what was going on but recognizing that there was a problem, said, "Only a little? No worries! How about we talk more about our church." We then introduced the Book of and dashed out of there after 10 minutes, leaving the Elders to finish out the appointment. 

We ran over to an appointment with Lucienne. She was feeling sick, so she laid on her bed while we drank peppermint tea and ate biscuits (by that I mean butter Keks with chocolate on top). It was such a spirit-filled and spirit-led lesson. 

Then we went home :) 

Donnerstag, 31st:

Happy Halloween!  I dressed up as the most tame fairy you've ever seen, but I did it! We're not supposed to dress up, but I liked doing a themed outfit last year, so I did it again this year. When we came home at night I added a little bit of sparkly eye liner and called it good. That's Halloween on the mission. 

We met with Reetu and taught her the 3rd lesson. It was incredible to see how she had been thinking about how to better follow Christ. We asked her if she would ever consider being baptised, and we were surprised to hear that she had thought about it before. She needs more time, but I was pleasantly pleased to find out that she might be meeting with us because she actually wants to learn. She also gave us each a package of Merci chocolates at the end of the lesson, so I felt very spoiled and a bit like it was Christmas. 

We went to Schwester Caminada's, and she made some great food! She was also clearing up her apartment a little, so she gave me a couple of things to take home because she heard I was going home in a month or so, so the Christmas theme continued. I felt so blessed. 

Freitag, 1st:

Well, you'd best believe that I blasted some Christmas music before we left the house. 'Tis the season, baby. 

We had our Cleaning check and got 100% (which is the first time this Ehepaar has ever given that score), so we were pretty proud of ourselves (although, if they had looked a little more closely at a couple of things I'm sure it would've been lower). We also got blessings, and that was lovely. 

We went and picked up the Ausstellung bikes from the Basel church, and then we had an Ausstellung. We did splits, so Sister Rimmer and I went off and caught up a bit on each other's lives while wandering the streets of Basel. We also bought a chocolate-covered apple at one point while talking. To be honest, we didn't stop very many people, but I felt like Sister Rimmer needed to talk about some things she had gone through on her mission, and it was nice to be able to as well. Sometimes you just need a therapy session. 

When we got back to the Ausstellung, Sister Smith and Sister Preston still weren't back, so we decided to just stick around since it was almost over anyway. We had a good time chatting as missionaries while waiting for everyone to regroup, and then we ended with a prayer. 

We had a comp study at the top of a store and got little treats.

We had a lesson with Vivianne, to which we spontaneously invited Véronique, which was a miracle because she was able to make it! We again had an amazingly spirit-led discussion, and Véronique shared how she came to know that God exists, and there were so many parallels with Vivianne's story it was incredible. Then we missed our bus so Véronique bought us dinner (it was in a McDonald's), and we just had a great time. Then we had to dash, but she and Vivianne stayed for a while and chatted, which warmed our souls. Also, Véronique prayed and fasted on Monday to make a decision about something (why we were fasting for her), and got her answer - and it was one she wasn't expecting. She decided to break up with her boyfriend, but because she needed to serve a mission! So she's going to try again to open her mission papers, and her boyfriend said he would support her 100% and that he'd wait for her. She was so happy because she thought she had to choose one or the other, but she gets to have both! 

Samstag, 2nd:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRK! 

We went by on 2 families in the morning, and gave out 2 copies of the Book of Mormon. We had a wonderful conversation with a woman at the train stop who helped us find the right Gleis, and her granddaughter taught us a little game to play. She asked me if I had kids and I told her no. She then said, "Meine Mutter hat Kinder! Das bin ich!" (My mom has kids! That's me!) 

We had a Mini-Tausch with the Reinach Sisters so that I could help Sister Rimmer make her class schedule. We got everything sorted out, and I even helped her to start MyPlan! 

We untausched at Basel SBB so we could go to Stake Conference. We all rode together, the Elders fell asleep, we took pics, it was great. 

Stake Conference was wonderful, and I took some good notes! 

We had fun avoiding Pascal because we felt awkward and didn't want to talk to him. Apparently we avoided him a little too harshly because he and the Elders were texting us about how sad he was. We avoided him for 90% of the train ride (we were on the same train, but he didn't know), but Sister Smith felt reaaalllyyy bad for him, so she had us go and find him (he was sitting with the Elders) to make things better. Well, turns out that was a terrible decision because the Elders had managed to calm him down but when we got there everything exploded again. We took a picture together, hoping that would make things better, but turns out he wanted to sit next to us in the Pic so it jsut made things worse. We compromised by taking a picture on the escalator once we arrived in Basel, and then he was happy, and then we ran off to catch our train home. Then we realised we had the Elders' phone in addition to ours (there was a lot of confusion), so we texted the other Elders (they live in a quad) and had fun playing Distrikt leader for the night. When we told them we had the phone, Elder Bast called us and literally just cracked me up when he hung up on us in frustration. The Reinach Sisters texted the Elders (us) saying they were going to be home late, and we were like, "Fam, us too." It was a blast. 

Sonntag, 3rd:

We started the morning by bringing the Elders their phone, and then we went to Stake Conference early to help set up. We had an 11 minute long voice recording from Pascal that he had sent us at night, and we listened to it with the Elders because we were scared he was going to be mad at us for avoiding him. But instead he thanks us for how wonderful Stake Conference had been! And he told us he was excited for today. So when Stake Conference actually started, he was there, wearing a tie even. He sat with the Elders and we sat away from them, and life was good. Afterwards, he came up to talk to us and Sister Smith said very kindly that because we wanted him to learn about Jesus, we were not romantically interested in him and weren't going to be. He said "Yeah, no worries! I had a dream that we were all family, brothers and sisters, and I decided that I want to become a member. I'm going to meet with the Elders tomorrow so they can teach me how." We were blown away. So the whole awkwardness went away and now apparently he wants to be a member. He's even started to clean up his life a little and has had a few spiritual promptings about how to do it, without us ever even teaching him. Isn't it great how powerful the Spirit can be?? 

We went Finding after the conference, and then had dinner with the Lucas family. Sarah again made the best guacamole I've ever tasted, and we had fun talking about their new pet cats. Then Sister Lucas drove us home. :) 

Montag, 4th: 

Happy birthday Beth S. and Sister Smith! 

We did weekly Planning for our proselyting hours because we hadn't had time to do it yet. Oh yeah, btw, our pday is on Monday today because we have interviews with Präsident tomorrow. :) 

While planning/eating lunch, I also baked some pumpkins to get ready for a pumpkin creme Soup that I'm making for Interviews tomorrow, and I made a a vegan birthday carrot cake for Sister Smith. I'm turning into quite the Hausfrau.

We talked with our families, and then went to Herbstmesse! We didn't ride any of the rides, because A) I idnt want to get motion sick and B) It was expensive and C) I must just be turning into an adult because they all just looked headache-inducing. But, we did buy dinner and looked at the cute shops, and when we bought some Magenbrot (literally translates to Stomach Bread, but is basically like a more anis-y, brown-sugar-y Lebkuchen) the lady was super sweet and gifted us caramelized almonds and some other treat that has an almondy paste for free because it's Sister Smith's birthday! We were so blessed. ️ Then because I was texting with Mom, I told her that we probably weren't going to ride the Ferris Wheel (the crowning jewel of Herbstmesse). So as a birthday present to Sister Smith, she encouraged us to go and also provided financial support. Sister Smith was hesitant to accept it, but once we got up to it and she saw the lights and how big it was, she started giggling and dancing and she couldn't wait to ride it. Apparently she ADORES Ferris Wheels, so Mom, you did good.  We had an amazing view of Basel, and I wish we could have stayed up there for longer! 

Then we came home and ate the cake I had baked (I think I'll be sticking to mom's recipe for carrot cake in the future - this stuff is honestly a little gross, but Sister Smith is happy and that's what matters). 

Favorite new word: Esp, yoduro - Iodide / Deu, Seelenverwandter - Soulmate (but it's lame because it sounds more like Soul relative, so I feel like it just doesn't have the same connotations) / Schweizer Deutsch, "E guete" - Bon Appetit (said before each meal, or each course after it has been served) 

Favorite funny story: Accidentally stealing the Elders' phone. It brought me so much joy. 

Favorite spiritual thought: Something shared during Stake Conference: We have this misconception that when we share the gospel and bear our testimony and we're really nice and sweet, that people will accept the message and embrace it. But that doesn't always happen, because people have their agency. We are successful when we work through the Spirit and have Him with us, no matter if the person accepts what we are saying or not. So work through the Spirit in all that you do, and you will have confidence that you are doing what you should be! 

TLDR: A guy was in love with us, but then realized that he was just recognizing the light of Christ and now he wants to be a member. Sister Smith turned 20.

Many prayers your way, 

Sister Hamilton