I think I usually start by saying life is good, but yeah, it is still good. Having two areas is pretty hectic, but we''re making it work.
On Friday, we were doing our weekly planning and we got quite stressed because we are in two fantastic wards where they are ready to really help us do the work, but we just physically cannot do everything we could if we only had one area. We were just staring at our planners for a while wondering how we were going to make this work as best as possible when we all had the same epiphany at the same time. NO one wants to "get this transfer over with" so we can start doing "real work" next transfer.We want to make this transfer super duper meaning full because there are so many different circumstances that we're working with. Well, that's when we realized we really have to work with the members. There is literally no other way for us to do this work. We need their help and they are willing to help us, so basically the plan is to love the heck out of them and make sure that every week we can have a progress record full of things we've been doing to try to build up their ward so that they get excited and want to help too. It seems simple, but we have already seen how effective it is. When they know us and befriend us, they want to be a part of this work. IT'S SO COOL!!! That was just our little epiphany this week. We'll see how it goes.
On Tuesday we were at the Young Single Adult Center in Vienna just finishing up our district meeting when this cute little mongolian lady walked in. She saw our sign for teaching english classes and said she wanted to learn. Sister Freimann and Sister Bushman have never taught English before and I did it a little bit in Ludwigsburg, so basically the torch was handed to me and I gave this sweet lady her first English lesson. It was just so cool. I have been in an abundance of foreign language classes in my life so I'm pretty familiar with how the first one goes. I loved teaching her so much and we get to do it again this week!!!!! That was divine intervention for sure. Who cares if I got a C in my freshman English class in high school. I can talk and read just fine and that's all you need along with help from Heavenly Father.
Last monday we were in Vienna and we decided to just go into the city and see the touristy parts of it. First of all, it was hilarious because we were surrounded by American and asian tourists speaking English. That was pretty strange, but it was so beautiful. We went to Stephans Dome which is a giant cathedral and we walked along the pedestrian streets. I got a new bag because mine had a gaping hole in it and did not function any more. So we went into the most hipster H&M of my life. It was in a super old building and made all of the clothes look like works of art.
On Tuesday we came Wiener Neustadt. It's this sleepy little town outside of Vienna and is so beautiful. It's surrounded by vinyards and you can see the Alps a little bit. It's a really pretty train ride from the city. The only thing is, that since it's a fairly small town, there is no public transit which means that we walk EVERYWHERE. I have good shoes so it's not too bad for me, but Sister Freimann's foot has been getting swollen and she said it hurts too.
That leads me to our next adventure. This morning we were in the emergency room for about two hours. Her foot was not looking good so we went and basically, she has carpal tunnel, but in her foot. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but she has drugs and cream now, so hopefully she'll be ok. It was pretty exciting to sit in an Austrian hospital though. It was so old. Sister Bushman and I read the Book of Mormon while we waited so it was still productive :)
Yesterday I gave one of my two talks. It was in Wiener Neustadt and it was on ordinances. I thought that was a bit of a strange topic for a missionary, but it was actually so interesting for me to be able to study that. I came to this realization, that without the priesthood (the power of God on the earth) we are basically doomed. I think my talk went over well. I'm giving another one next week in Vienna about agency, so I'm excited to start studying about that :) Well, I don't have much time, but I hope you all have a great week and make good choices!
Love,
Sister Smiley
Pictures: Us at the hospital this morning, the train ride to Wiener Neustadt, and me in front of stephans dome
No comments:
Post a Comment