Elder Tage Rex: Germany Frankfurt Mission

  isn't it? Isn't it? I'm not sure how to describe this week, but it was definitely the least productive week I've had on the mission so far, because of Christmas. It was nice to relax, but it kinda feels wrong as a missionary to relax sometimes? I'm not sure how to explain it.  We had a big double zone Christmas party on Friday! It was in Dortmund, so we spent the first half of the day getting there, the second half of the day celebrating, and the end of the day getting home. It was really fun though! We did a white elephant gift exchange, ate a bunch of snacks, and played some games with everybody. On the way home we had a train canceled, and the other train was delayed by an hour. We also had our Christmas packages with us so we couldn't bike, so we called upon the all powerful Schwester Ebbert to come pick us up and she did so gladly. We are forever indebted. On the Saturday that we are calling Christmas Eve (because of the 3 days of  Christmas) we found a f...

  Keep shining on Frohe Weihnachten Zusammen! Im currently on a 1.5 hour train on the way to Köln, that one city with a massive cathedral. Turns out they also have a massive Christmas Market, so we're meeting the district there.  I got my new companion! Elder Hill is his name. He's like a large Teddy Bear full of positive energy, and for the most part we both love it here in Wesel still, other than the bikes.  The Omas of our ward are doing everything in their power to help us have a Merry Christmas, and it's incredible. We have hardly had to cook or buy anything the past week because we've had so many meal appointments, and they don't seem like they're going to stop. We are also recieveing way more candy and chocolate than two guys could ever reasonably eat.  They celebrate Christmas for 3 days here, so we're going to have 3 meal appointments/celebrations in a row, and we're hyped. We get to go to the Netherlands (again!) For Heilige Abend (holy evening...

  And such a pretty garden This will probably have to be short, but that's OK because I can't remember anyways.  Sunday was a little crazy this week, lots of people are sick (like my companion still?) and out of town, and they had no piano player, which I didn't realize until after we started singing accapella (not sure how one spells that). I passed the sacrament, and then I decided to go and sit next to the piano. For having no practice the first hymn went decent (angels we have heard on high). The second hymn I had never heard of before. Gar nicht. I played the intro, which was a train wreck so I just one handed it, which worked better than no pianist. Nobody in the ward had any idea that I played before then, and now I have been deemed the backup piano player woot woot! My mom prophesied of this, that I'd be playing the piano at church on my mission, and that it was important that I practiced. I kinda brushed it off then, which is awkward because it's happening ...

  But I know one thing good things are coming my way This week was a little weird, a little sad, but overall ok. Sad stuff first, my companion has been sick for the past 6 days, so Saturday through Monday we stayed in, hoping he would get better. He did, kinda, but its still pretty rough. He's just well enough to go outside, but its pretty inconvenient.  Also, we no longer have any friends with a baptismal date. two of them are struggling with a lot of general life issues, so its difficult to work with their schedules and make plans accordingly, so we kind of have to just wait on them, for when they're ready. The other one just dropped us completely, which was a heavy blow because he was an incredibly cool and promising guy. At the end of the day though, our goal isn't to baptize people, it's to give as many people as possible the choice to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ. We were able to give him that choice, so my job is done. Unfortunately he simply chose otherwi...