You know how you always hear stories of missionaries who step off the plane and can't understand a word and just think "That's not the language they taught me in the MTC?" Yep. Let me just give a little amen to whoever said that one. Everything is SO different. Even the keyboard I am typing on is different... and I am making so many typos and I don't even know what is an actual typo because the spell check is German so literally every word I type is underlined in red... Phew. BUT I am here and somebody pinch me because I must be dreaming. This place is wonderful.
But first lemmee back up. And give you the typical play-by-play that I know you all enjoy.;) We started off our travels with a 3:30am bus ride to the Salt Lake City airport. Which, to my surprise, actually turned out great. Me and Sister Williams had a very reflective conversation about the difference between a sparkling berry blue jelly bean and the sparkling blueberry. Quality conversation eh? On the plane I met Tammy. And she is great and I hope she gets on here and reads that I am talking about her because I seriously love her so much and I am so glad I got to meet her. We talked the entire ride to Dallas. About everything under the sun. I am pretty sure she could give you the entire gospel summary. It was great.
I TALKED TO Y'ALL AT THE AIRPORT. Which was the best thing ever. Like ever. Gahhh.. sorry I wouldn't stop gabbing I was just wayyy too excited. Now let's fast forward an 8 hour plane ride, orientation, meeting with the mission pres, our car backing into a pillar, some extreme jet lag, sleeping in a German hotel etc. And then the pairing meeting. Dun. Dun. Dun. That is where the goldens (that's me hehe) sit on one side of the room and the trainers (more experienced missionaries) are on the other and President Stoddard ( The president in charge of all the missionaries in our area) calls us each one by one and tells us who are trainer is. Seriously felt like the hunger games reaping. Intense. Heart pounding. The whole nine yards. But I got my trainer, Sister Teeples. I love her. Like a lot. Talk about a lifesaver. I would be so lost without her. And her mom who apparently stalked my facebook and pinterest and knows everything about me before Sister Teeples even met me. Woah. Props on the stalking skills mama Teeples. And then before you know it I was shipped off to my new area Münster, where there are litterally more bikes than people. 1.7 per person to be exact. Our apartment is out of hot water right now.. and we do have a bunch of moths randomly fly through our house randomly but... no worries here. Showering in ice forces me to take the speediest showers known to mankind and the moths provide quite the entertainment from all of Sister Teeples screaming. So can't stress. PLUS MÜNSTER IS GORGEOUS. So we are outside most of the time sharing the gospel. Golly I am a lucky duck.
As for missionary work? We have a tiny little branch of the strongest nicest most understanding people I have ever met. The Branch President and his wife are so kind. They are Senior missionaries from Utah and they finish up their mission in December. During our meeting He told me "Sister Heywood, When you get home I want you to look like you have been beat to death because you have worked so hard here." He told me not to tell you that he said that but I told him I would anyway. Rebel stat. hehe But really. Between the major headache from constant translation and the extreme jet lag and lack of a washer we have right now. I think I can fullfill that invitation in a jiffy. Pretty sure I look like a zombie on the daily.
My first Sunday there were 25 people... In the entire ward. 25. How's that for a change of pace? They are wonderful. But I can't understand them. Or anyone for that matter. I can't even pick out the words I do know because they talk so dang fast. Not to mention all the background noise and everything. I have become a pro at reading body language in our lessons and then I just give a heartfelt thank you because I am assuming they are welcoming me and that's about the only word I can remember under all the pressure. It's hard though because I feel like I can't be a good missionary until I know German and can actually communicate with people. Which I am working on but then I just get impatient because I feel like I am not learning it fast enough.
So... I thought about what I can do right now to bring people closer to Christ. Smile. Eye Contact. Compliment? Say hello to everyone I see? I can do that. So I came up with three compliments I can say.
1) I like your tie. ( Thank Sister Williams ,))
2) Your shirt is pretty.
3) I like your shoes.
And then I just find someone's shoes I like and sit down. compliment. and that's that. But hey I gotta start somewhere. I also started carrying my Book of Mormon outside of my bag.. Great conversation starter.
Although I learned you have to be careful who you smile at... We were walking down the street and there was a group of Turks standing there and I just smile and keep walking. No hello. No compliment. Nothing. And one of them stops me and says something in German or Turkish or whatever language it was.. and Sister Teeples just grabs my arm and urgently pulls me along... and then proceeds to tell me that he is not asking for a Book of Mormon as my innocent mind had originally thought and that those kissy noises are not a nice friendly German greeting. Whoops. haha Oh boy... that is just one of the few stories I have had... I have a talent for attracting German creeps apparently. Dangnabbit.
But on a good note I did smile at a little boy on the bus and he was too shy to say anything until right when he gets off the bus and he just gives me a little half smile and a quick wave. Adorable. Those are the moments I live for.
German Word of the Week: knödel (sounds like ka-noodle and is one of the cool foods I had this week. I'm practically a native.)
Germany is beautiful. The people here are so understanding of my language dealios. THANK GOODNESS. This is great.
I love you all. Way too much.
xoxoxoxo
Sister Heywood
oh MTC love.
3:30am. whoop whoop. no idea why I am cheeseballing it so much in this pic... guess I am morning person after all?
Yes. Tammy. The best. Really.
THE MOMENT. GAHHHHH.
4 hours. 22 missionaries. lots of jamba.
okay now enough of these American pics... WE ARE IN GERMANYYY.
just chilling at a German Train station. no biggie. **the girl next to me is my new comp Sis. Teeples**
that's the view out of my bus window. yeah it's okay. take a moment to catch your breath.
the cutest welcome gift.
meet Han. he is the creepy manikin that lives on our apartment building. straight out of a horror movie, I swear.
my first meal in Germany. and now I am done with the extreme amount of pictures I have sent... my bad.
