Germany vs. America

A few highlights of this past week were saying goodbye to the mission president, getting the opportunity to watch the Germany vs. USA game for the World Cup, and a lot of service.

We had a zone conference which was our mission president`s last one.  Everyone said goodbye to him, and it was cool to have a bunch of other missionaries around and to chat.  Right after that my companion and I rushed back to our apartment to change clothes and get ready for the World Cup game.  We got invited by some members to watch the game in a stadium in Frankfurt.  So, I was surrounded by a lot of crazy, drunk, smoking Germans, but it was a lot of fun!  Of course, the game was not the best and America lost, but Germany was happy they won.  It felt like everyone in the city was dressed up for the game, with all of them wearing the national jersey. The S-bahn ride home was crowded, and you could clearly tell who had too much to drink during the game.

The next day we started early in the morning helping a nonmember move.  They were pretty happy to have us there, and they kept on asking a lot of questions about the church and what we, as missionaries, do.  The next day after that, they had us come back to help them build some IKEA furniture, so that was cool.

On Sunday I had my first talk in German.  It went alright for my first time, and I am just glad now that it is over.

So, anyways, Germany is all hyped about the World Cup right now, and it was cool to actually be a part of the fun for a day.  This week I will be meeting my new Mission President, President Stoddard.

Until Then!

Watching the Game

The Elders at the stadium 

Aaron at the stadium to watch the game

A Week of Change

Hello everybody,

This week consisted of a lot of change in my district.  But before that, I had some interesting experiences.  We had a street display in Offenbach, where I and some other Elders encountered a Nazi!  He was blaming the Jews for everything and just kind of went off on hating the Jews.  He apparently had a Book of Mormon, but of course he hasn`t read it.  Fun stuff.

On Wednesday the new golden missionaries came to our Ward building for their first day.  We went street contacting with them, and I and a golden had a pretty cool experience where he and I approached an older couple and we talked for a good 40 minutes and we gave them a Book of Mormon and they had us sign our names in it and put the date in there so they could always remember the experience.  They didn`t seem interested in meeting again, but they really enjoyed talking to us.  It was cool though, for me, who is still a golden, to be paired with another golden, and have that experience.

After that my companion and I moved to the apartment in Offenbach.  It has a balcony, so my companion was pretty excited for that.  We then said goodbye to the Elders who were serving in Offenbach but have now finished their mission, and said hello to the new missionaries taking their place.  We had the opportunity to go to the leaving Elders testimony meeting, which was pretty cool, and I even got a 3D R2-D2 puzzle afterwards that another missionary found and gave to me.  The next days were about getting to know the new missionaries in our district better, so we went to a street display in Hanau, and we did a service project for a member by trimming her hedge.

Finally, on Sunday we had a special meeting where multiple stakes got together and a new stake was announced.  It was a pretty busy week and a lot happened, but I survived it!  Things will probably start to settle down now, and I will continue to update every week.

Pictures from the Street

Aaron doing a street display

Thought I'd post this picture in honor of the World Cup.

Aaron's first souvenir 

Finding Week

This week was the final week of my first transfer, and boy, did this transfer feel like it went by fast!

The week started with hot temperatures, but somehow I was able to get away without getting a serious sunburn.  Tuesday we went to the Frankfurt Temple as a district, and I got some pictures of that for all of you.

The week consisted of a lot of finding activities, because it was "finding week" in our zone.  We had two street displays, one in Offenbach, and one in Hanau.  The one in Offenbach was rough because a Muslim came up to me and another elder and for 40 minutes talked to us straight about why his religion was the closest to God.  We also did a "bingo" activity in Frankfurt where we looked for different types of people to contact.

Other than finding activities this week, I went on a split with one of the other Offenbach elders, all of our appointments fell out, and I cut the bottom of my toe.  That was the end of my Transfer!

Aaron

From the letter he sent his mom:

Unfortunately, this week I cut the bottom of my big toe Friday night, and I slipped in the shower and skinned my elbow today.  The toe cut is not terrible, but it is really annoying, because as a missionary, your life consists of a lot of walking, and I don`t want to walk too much with my toe!  It looks like it is getting better every day though, so that is good.

It was chocolate that got on my shirt, when I used tide to go, since you wondered.  German chocolate is better than American chocolate, but it does seem to melt faster.

 So, the transfer ended, I am still with my trainer, no big surprise there, and the mission president will change around the 26 or 27 of June, I believe.

Temple Pictures

Aaron at the Frankfurt Temple

Also at the Frankfurt Temple

Ultron getting "taught"

Impossible Circumstances

This past Pday I went to the top of the Main Tower and took pictures.  That was fun!  After that the missionaries in our district just walked around Frankfurt and did a little bit of shopping, I of course stopped by the Lego store, and saw the Ghosbusters car set, which was pretty cool.

After Pday, I went on two more splits, one with another Elder in Offenbach, (we got caught in a rainstorm and got soaking wet) and one of the AP Elders in Frankfurt.  While in Frankfurt, we had a pretty cool experience where we happened across a woman, who used to be a member of the church.  The AP had been working hard with members of her family about a year ago, so he was amazed to find her.  The circumstances to come across her were impossible, but yet, we met her.  I am pretty sure she was put in our path by the Lord to find her.

Other than that, I finally witnessed my companion`s baking abilities, and I was impressed.  I also am now a believer in Tide to Go, those things rock!  Anyhow, this next week could be potentially busy and hopefully we see progress made!  I will let you know next week all that has happened!

Pictures of Aaron at the Main Tower

 Aaron at the top of the Main Tower

 Aaron at the top of the Main Tower

Main Tower

 Ultron reading The Book of Mormon

 His mom told Aaron to take pictures of cool buildings.

Aaron is his father's son!

A Lot of Travel

This week I went on two splits to the city of Frankfurt and to the city of Hanau.  And Thankfully, with my new camera, I got pictures!

For the Frankfurt split, I was with my zone leader, who comes from Alpine Utah, and is a bit of a local legend concerning basketball.  While in Frankfurt I took care of my Visa, walked around a lot, took a lot of trains, and pretty much traveled around the city.  It was a fun, but long day.

In Hanau, I was with an Elder who has a lot of the same interests that I do, so we got along pretty well.  We met with less actives, who were really cool people.  One guy was really into music, so he and the Elder I was with played drums and Guitar, that was fun.  The other less active went street finding with us, and he even passed out a Book of Mormon!  This guy has a crazy life story and he could talk to you for hours.  He is a really cool guy (and he is American).

We also had access to a car during the weekend, so that made transportation a lot more easy.  Had some Member appointments, got referrals, yeah, a pretty good week.  Oh, and Ultron has started to read the Book of Mormon.

Time seems to be flying, it is already June!  Anyways, until next time!