Döner

Hallo!

So I read my last post over and wow it was depressing. So sorry that was what I described as my first week in Deutschland! It was so much better I promise. I thought I'd send you a little more about my first week before this week.

Basically my first week here was trying to comprehend that I was actually here. I had a lot of fun trying to speak to people on bahns and buses and Sister Thurgood was a champ and had my back every single time

My first lesson was the first night I was in Dortmund. We were teaching a man from Russia who also speaks German and I only said a sentence in that whole lesson but it was awesome! I think the reason I have such a hard time understanding people is that everyone has their own version of German. We have people from Vietnam, Turkey, Syria, Russia, and Germany that all speak with an accent of their own mother language. So that's always a party.

My first Sunday I went up to bear my testimony and I felt like that was the first time I knew that Dortmund was the right area for me to be in. All the people are so nice and understanding and say my German is good even though it isn't but the confidence boost is well appreciated. There happened to be a baptism after Church so we stayed and we had two investigators with us to see what they will hopefully be doing soon. One investigator spoke to me during all of church and helped me improve my German which was much appreciated because many people give up and talk to my companion the whole time.

My first prep day was a blast! I had my first Döner, it's a sandwich thingy that you have to eat here. It's a tradition apparently. But it was sooooooo Good!

I was with my district and 4 other Elders from our area. We played ultimate frisbee after in this sketchy cobble stoned soccer field thing with a fence around it and stinging nettle was growing through the fence. Of course every time I went to score the frisbee went right by the stinging nettle so I got a ton of rashes on my legs and arms...

Okay now this week.

We have 10 investigators that we met with this week and it's seriously my favorite thing. Although there was one of our investigators that said he wanted to save Sister Thurgood from the darkness when we talked to him on the phone.....we ended up having him be taught by the Elders.

Miracles exist for sure. Our District Leader gives us daily goals that we try to meet each day. On one particular day we were supposed to get two referrals (have someone tell us of other people who would want to hear about the Gospel) and Sister Thurgood and I had lessons the whole day so we had maybe 10 minutes to get two referrals. We got led up to one woman's apartment who yelled us for being late and said some other things I didn't understand (thank goodness) and slammed her door. We walked out a little discouraged and we had the choice to go to the bahn station or try for more people. We thought for a second and we said, hey we are here to spread the truth there's no reason to turn back now. So the next man we talked to said he wasn't interested but his neighbors could be. It so happens that two different families lived there and we were able to talk to both. Not only did we reach our goal, but we were able to pass out cards to both to look at our video and call us if they were interested. I'm continually amazed on how God answers my prayers and how they are answered if I put all my effort and desire into what I am asking for.

I also spoke on the phone to someone in German and they understood me!!! Yay

Funny thing from this week...

So we were walking up to our bus and it inched forward and stopped so we ran up to it. The driver was very impatient. But we got on and on our way to the church we got up to stand by the door knowing that the driver wouldn't stop for very long...well we were at a stop light and the bus started to go and then stopped abruptly and Sister Thurgood fell over and I smacked into the side of the bus. We got out after that completely dazed and realized how much that driver hated us. My arm immediately bruised and Sister Thurgood was super embarrassed. We laughed for a long time after and still are laughing about it.

I've come to realize German people are so nice and don't yell at you in German ever. I've gotten to know so many people and the more I talk to others, the more I love it here. You get to hear so many people's stories and learn so much from all of them. I'm grateful that I get to share with them the message of Jesus Christ and his doctrine and bring them happiness!

Word of the week: Schwitzen- To sweat because it was 35 degrees Celsius this week.

Love you all and have a fantabulous week!

Sister Farner