Another Licensed Driver!

Craig took the day off on Tuesday to do all the changeover things we've been putting off since we moved here...tags for vehicles, applying for Homestead Exemption (I have no idea what that is,) and changing his drivers license from Texas to Alabama.  I thought about going with him, but I knew we didn't yet have everything we needed for the girls to get their licenses and that I'd just have to go back again anyway, so I opted out of that fun trip.  

He came home with a glowing report that the St. Clair County Courthouse wasn't busy at all, that the cute little lady who helped him was so nice and had given him all the instructions we needed for the girls to come back the next day, and that if we came after 11:00am there would be hardly anyone there.  

So yesterday, the girls and I went to the HS to get VOEs (Verification of Enrollment...now that they're both officially registered with classes and everything) and then took all of our stuff and drove down to the county courthouse.  We followed all of Craig's directions including exactly where to park, and exactly where to go once we got inside the building, and we were thrilled to see that there was, in fact, no line.  

The morning had gone pretty well so far.  I had already walked 9,000 steps and it was barely 11:30am.  I knew I had all the necessary stuff with me for the girls to take their drivers tests.  And Craig had told me that the people were super friendly and helpful.  So when I walked into that office and I saw two women sitting there all by themselves, as if they had been waiting for us all day long, I just knew they would be just like all those other helpful southern people we've already experienced everywhere else we've been, and I just knew this was going to be the best DMV experience we had ever had.  

Unfortunately, the lady I chose to talk to must not have been the one Craig talked to on Tuesday and she also must not be from Alabama because she was not the slightest bit happy or helpful.  Honestly, I'm pretty sure she was the most intimidating woman I've ever met, and after about ten minutes, I wanted to just take all my stuff and leave, and just never drive in Alabama.  

Do you remember Roz from Monsters, Inc?  Apparently she works at the St. Clair County Courthouse.  

Roz mechanically went through all the necessary steps to change my license from Texas to Alabama, and then informed us that the girls would need to come back tomorrow to take their drivers tests.  Then she handed me back all my papers, gave me my temporary Alabama license, told me I would get my permanent one in 2-4 weeks, and moved on to her next victim customer in the newly formed line behind me.  :(

Since I had no idea what she had even told us to do the next day or why the girls couldn't just take their tests while we were there, I walked upstairs and asked someone a little bit nicer for a little more information.  The woman I found didn't give us many more details, but she at least spoke more slowly and she didn't make me feel like she was mad at me for asking.  The girls and I compared notes in the car, and pieced together through the vague instructions that we were supposed to come back BEFORE 7:00 the next morning and line up outside the building until the office opened at 8:00am.  Great...it's a 30 minute drive to the courthouse...so much for my awesome walking streak this week and my peaceful morning routine...

The girls and I were up and out of the house this morning by 6:30, and made it to the courthouse just after 7:00.  We waited in the drizzly weather until the door finally opened at exactly 8:00am.  As soon as that door was unlocked, you would have thought we had been waiting outside Walmart on Black Friday for some amazing deal on big screen TVs!  The handful of people waiting with us pushed us and each other through that door like a small herd of cattle. Good grief!!  The herd ran past us down the hall to the little door where Roz was sitting right where we had left her yesterday.  A bunch of them signed their names on a clipboard attached to the door and then sat down to wait in the seats in the hallway.  When there were no more places to sign up for road tests, Roz's friend came out, pointed to the girl directly in front of us and then to Emma, and said, "You will be #4 and #5 and the rest of you will have to come back tomorrow."  FIVE road tests a day!!??  You've got to be kidding!?  I stood there while she looked at me like there was something wrong with my hearing, and when I told her I had TWO girls who needed road tests, she had to ask Roz if she would be willing to do a 6th road test today.  Roz was not thrilled.  She looked at me, rolled her eyes, and said, "Do you have all their paperwork?"  I nervously rifled through all my stuff and handed her everything the girls needed, and she reluctantly agreed to do an additional test for Megan.  

We waited, relieved but irritated, out in the hallway with the oddest lot of people in the entire state of Alabama.  Between the woman to the left of us who was on probation and apparently only able to speak in long strings of profanities, and the very large special needs man to the right of us who was literally crying because he was so nervous about taking his test, I wanted to throw myself right off a cliff after the first 30 minutes.  Finally, two hours later...at 10:00, Roz came out into the hall and announced that all SIX road testers should follow her.  

Oh, my poor little girls...

Since Roz had specifically instructed the moms to wait in the hallway until further notice, I sat there and watched my babies follow the lion into her den.  I hoped they wouldn't be too nervous and that they would come back in one piece...with licenses.  

The girls texted me from the car while they waited for Road Testers #1-4 to finish.  #1 came down and walked into the office with a piece of paper in his hand, but I didn't see anyone after that.  Apparently they did not pass because Megan texted and said #2, #3, and #4 all just got back in their cars with their moms after their tests and drove away.  25% passing rate so far...yikes! 

I waited and waited and waited, and FINALLY Emma came down with a piece of paper in her hand!!  Hallelujah!  While Roz's friend finished Emma's paperwork and collected my $5, we all crossed our fingers that Megan would come down with a piece of paper, too.  

Unfortunately, she did not.  

She came down to report that she had failed because she ran a stop sign.  Um...I can't even stretch that into somehow being Roz's fault.  Running a stop sign is a legitimate reason to fail a drivers test.  I think she was just nervous...and less enthusiastic than Emma about driving.  She's the one who said to me on the drive over, "If I pass this and get my license, I will never have to drive again, right?!"  (what 17-yr-old says that?)

Here are some positive things about the day...

1.  The rain made the hour standing outside a whole lot more bearable.  
2.  The grandmother of Road Tester #4 was that sweet, lovely southern woman I hoped Roz would be, and I had a very nice conversation with her in the 90 minutes we had to wait for our girls.  
3.  Emma drove us to lunch today after our harrowing experience with Roz. 
4.  We only have to wait a week before Megan can take the test again.
5.  I really only needed one of them to pass in order to ensure that I don't have to drive to early-morning seminary again for the next two years.
6.  I think it counts as a major success in my life that I have survived not just one, but TWO encounters with Roz...and I'm going to just set aside for now the part about having to go back there a third time...

and...

7.  Emma can DRIVE!  Hooray for my resilient, unintimidated little thing.  

"Stay the Course"

It's been three whole days since that awesome illumination I had on Sunday...that's plenty of time for my head to distort the things I knew into things I'm no longer sure of.  Maybe I heard wrong?  Maybe I just wanted to hear all that stuff I heard?  Maybe it was my head and not the Spirit whispering that stuff in my ears?  Maybe I'm the only person in the whole world who actually hears stuff?  It's been three whole days and nothing illuminating or life changing has happened since...maybe Sunday didn't actually happen?  

I know, I'm frustratingly and freakishly prone to wander and doubt and question...  

But, I have loved these reminders this week and especially today, that dragged me back into my closet to stop begging for answers and just start listening again, back to my knees so that I could hear again the things I needed to hear.  "All is well.  Calm down.  Nothing has changed.  Stay the course."  Poor Heavenly Father...I wonder if He could do so many more things with other people if He didn't always have to be in my closet with me talking me down off some imaginary ledge?  

First, I listened to this talk about a million times while I walked in the mornings...
Jeffrey R Holland, "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence"  It is one of my absolute favorite talks ever, and never ceases to amaze me how relevant it is at so many different times in my life.  I started to add some quotes form it, but it's impossible to choose.  You just have to read the whole thing.  

And then today I saw this from one of my favorite Instagrammers...

"You may not know what's going on, but God does.  Sometimes, you just need to stay the course, stay in faith, don't lose heart, don't give up too soon, don't throw away your confidence.  You may be used to being in control, to "having a clue," to be moving at a steady pace, and you may find yourself in a place where none of those things are happening right now.  Don't panic.  God knows what He's doing.  He knows how to get you where to need to be.  He knows how to take care of what needs to happen next.   

Don't lose your peace.  Just keep taking one step at a time doing the last thing God directed you to do.  Don't get sidetracked by what is or isn't happening, or what other people might be thinking about you, or even by what you feel.  When you find yourself in an unfamiliar place where you feel lost, or stuck, or uncertain, it may not even be that you've done anything wrong or missed something,   Sometimes it's simply that God is still moving the pieces around, moving people into place, doing some maturing and testing of your character and faith, lining things up so He can do exceedingly more than all you could ask for, think, dream of, or imagine. 

You don't have to strive to make things happen in your own might.  You won't miss His purpose for you when you're walking in close step with Him.   

Relax.  Rest.  If God is for you, who can be against you?  With God on your side, all things are possible!  If He said it, He will DO IT, and He won't be one moment late! 

Trust Him.  Give Him room to show Himself in your life.  Just wait and watch and see what He can do."  - Andrea Howey

How grateful I am for the wise words of people before me who have apparently been around  their own corners of doubt.

Laundry Room Treasures

The laundry room is probably low on the rest of the world's priority list for beautification and decorating, but I spend a lot of time in that space, so I wanted it to be not just functional, but also happy.  

For the last two months, I've had the ironing board set up in a corner with beach towels and vacuum cleaner attachments on top of it, and a giant box underneath it full of all the things that previously lived in our laundry room in Allen.  I like things to be where they're supposed to be.  I like things to make sense.  I don't like to have to dig for stuff or move a thing to get something else behind it.  I'm freakishly OCD about spaces being organized, uncluttered and functional, especially the ones I have to work in often.  So this ironing board multi-purposing wasn't really working for me.  

I knew exactly what I wanted for this space...which is why it looked the way it did for so long. I wanted a storage cabinet in that corner where the ironing board was living...like an armoire or a TV cabinet, only not quite that big.  I wanted it to be just slightly taller than me, because that's about as far as I'm willing to reach to get to the things I use daily.  I wanted shelves on the top with doors to hide the stuff inside (because laundry stuff isn't beautiful,) I wanted drawers on the bottom, and I wanted it to be WHITE.  I also didn't want to spend more than $150 for it.  

I looked on Craigslist every week from June until August.  I texted a few people about some cabinets that were close but not quite perfect for one reason or another, and fortunately none of those people ever texted me back, because I would have totally been settling if I had bought any of those cabinets.  I've been to every thrift store in the greater Birmingham area...multiple times...and never found what I was looking for.  

And then we found out about the World's Longest Yard Sale.  Yep, that's actually a thing!  Craig found out that this amazing event happens the first weekend of August every year.  It starts in Gadsden, AL and continues all the way up Hwy 127 to somewhere in MICHIGAN!  Guess how happy I was to find out that Gadsden is only about 30 minutes from our house!  

On Friday morning, I woke everyone up at 6:00am and asked them if they wanted to come treasure hunting with me.  Surprisingly they all did, including Craig, so we took two vehicles (one to carry people and the other to carry stuff...and also because some of us needed a little space from each other) and we caravaned slowly up Hwy 127.  We thrifted our way all the way to Signal Mountain, TN (just north of Chattanooga) and although we had seen some crazy things and found a few fun treasures, we still hadn't found a white cabinet for the laundry room.  

Finally at 4:30ish we stopped at a giant tent filled with furniture...and shoppers!  In the very back corner, there was a mostly white cabinet in two pieces that weren't quite fitting together very well.  The drawers on the bottom half were crooked.  The shelves from the top half were laying on the ground next to the cabinet skeleton along with two glass doors covered in butterfly stickers with Dora knobs.  And the whole thing was covered in a layer of dust.  It looked pretty rough.  

But...I looked at it for a LONG time, and touched every part of it, and realized that the glass wasn't even cracked and that underneath all the dust, there wasn't a single scratch on it.  The whole thing just needed to be girded up a little.  It was the right height, had everything I wanted, and it could be WHITE again.  The little yellow price sticker said $60!  Craig was not thrilled.  But I loved it.  All I needed to do now was find the guy selling all this stuff.  When we finally found him and dragged him to that back corner, I asked him if he would take $30 for it, and he said no he couldn't possibly do that, "How about $37?"  (Um...hooray!  I would have paid $60 for it.)  

Even while they loaded it in the van...even while we continued to thrift our way through more of Tennessee...even as we drove my FIND-OF-THE-CENTURY home, Craig still was not convinced that it was going to work.  He hauled that pitiful thing into the house and we spent an hour securing drawer bottoms, attaching glass doors, and tightening and cleaning the entire thing, and only when we moved it into its new home in the corner of the laundry room, did Craig finally see my vision.  

Isn't it absolutely perfect!?  Don't you want to just do some laundry in there!?  I found cute turquoise knobs this week for the doors, and moved my cow picture from my office into this room to go with that fun rug I bought (for next to nothing) when I was in Scottsboro with my mom.  

And now, I don't care if I accidentally leave the laundry room door open and people walk into the house and see it. 

Best treasure hunting day ever!  Best $37 I ever spent! 

Sonnenblumen

Hello!! Wow what a week it has been! 

On Tuesday after district meeting, we hopped on a train and rode 2 1/2 hours to vorbei some less actives in our ward! There were about four or five we planned to go by, but we called two of them and they weren't home, and the other one said we should come back Sunday afternoon which would be better for them. So we ended up just going by to see one lady, and it was a miracle that we did because she has a new address and a new phone number!  She said that she was pretty busy, but maybe in the future she would love to meet with us :)  As we were heading home, we looked at our map and realized that we were only ten minutes away from LEGOLAND DEUTSCHLAND. OMG!  So natürlich we hopped on a bus to check it out.  It was pretty cool from the outside :)  It was a fun little day trip, and we talked to some very nice people along the way! 

Wednesday we had another awkward service project at our little less active family's house, then we had an appointment with Stanley!  We taught him the Plan of Salvation and it went pretty well because he's pretty spongey :) Thursday we went back to our awkward little less active family to help them with some more stuff, and we decided not to go over anymore because they really just don't want to change or to be helped spiritually. Which is sad, but maybe in a couple years their hearts will be softened.  After that we went to the church and did a POKEMON GO AUSSTELLUNG. (I have no idea what ausstellung is in English sorry) but holy crap! it was so funny. So we have found out recently that our church is a Pokemon Go stop! Don't ask me what Pokemon Go is, because I have no idea. I just know that it means that clumps of people are always stopped and staring at their phones in front of the church, because our church is right in the middle of the city, and so obviously we are gonna hop on this opportunity and talk to all these people! So we set up a table and colored some Pokemon looking things, and put out some Books of Mormon and sat there waiting for our friends to stop by!  Well it wasn't quite as successful as we hoped it would be, but lots of people laughed and said it was a good idea, and we even had some guys take pictures of us! They're probably gonna put it all over Facebook or Instagram and make fun of us and I'm so excited!  WE ARE GONNA GET SO MANY PEOPLE TO STOP BY NEXT TIME! Haha we decided that as soon as we learn how to sew, we are making Pikachu costumes and marching up and down the sidewalk in them until someone commits to being baptized! #prayforus

After our ausstellung we went to Herr Mach's to teach him a little more about the priesthood. We both learned a very important lesson that day! Herr Mach's wife was home, but didn't come join us for the lesson, so we were in a room alone with him (which is technically against mission rules) and holy cow the spirit was NOT there. We were expecting his wife to join us, so we stayed, but it was not the best lesson we have had with him, and now we know why we need to always be EXACTLY obedient! No matter what! 

Friday night we went to the Bishop's house for dinner and his family is so cute! We played a game about the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kids loved it :) we also gave them stickers for participating and that just put it over the edge because I now have two new little best friends :) 

On Saturday we went to the YW leader's house for lunch and we talked a lot about how we could help the ward and the YW. It was a great appointment, and she showed us her pictures from her most recent vacation to Thailand, so now I want to go to Thailand haha :) 

Then we had an appointment with our new little Peruvian family that only speaks Spanish! Except for the dad, he speaks German and English and Spanish. So we called right before we got there, and found out that the mom wasn't home, just the dad and the little boy and then Braulio, who just got off his mission in Argentina.  So we started panicking a little because we can't just be alone with men!  We were praying so hard that something would work out and we would be able to have a good appointment with them and get to know them and have the spirit with us!  The mom, Elizabeth, is less active and the dad, Philip, isn't a member, so it was a super important appointment!  Well, right when we walked in we suggested that maybe we could sit outside on the porch and enjoy the weather and Philip thought that was a great idea!! #PRAYERANSWERED. BOOM! Heavenly Father is so great :) We literally had the BEST appointment ever with them!  We spoke in English and then Philip translated to Braulio for us, and we tried to use our three Spanish words we knew as often as we could to try and communicate with him ourselves. (Queso, agua, and gato).  But it was so awesome :) We answered a lot of questions about the church, and set up a return appointment!  I'm so excited to get to know them better and start working to get them to church!

Sunday was the best Sacrament meeting I've ever been to in my life. We have so many Spanish speaking people in our ward now because they just keep moving in in little clumps! We might need to start a Spanish branch soon! ;) and all of them got up to bear their testimonies in Spanish on Sunday!  It was so powerful, and the only words I understood were "yo soy" and "amen" but luckily we can all understand the language of the Spirit :)  We also had a bunch of youth get up and bear their testimonies because they all just got back from FSY! (The European version of EFY) and we even had two less active youth get up and bear such powerful testimonies!  It was just amazing and Sister Abram and I just had tears in our eyes the whole time! I love this ward and I love being a missionary! After church we went to the Reichardt's, a British family, and had an awesome appointment :) Then we went back to the Legoland area and had an appointment with the less active family we tried meeting with a couple days before! They were sooo nice, but unfortunately have absolutely no interest in the church. Which is always sad :( 

Today for pday we picked sunflowers!! Here in Germany they have giant fields of every type of flower you could ever want and you just cut them yourself and then put a few coins in a little container on your way out! ITS SO AWESOME. I LOVE SUNFLOWERS SO MUCH. 

After that we went exploring in the city a little, and saw some pretty cool churches and buildings :) I don't think I'll ever get over the old beauty of these European buildings! They're just so awesome :)

This weekend we had the opportunity to fast!  Let me tell you how much I hated fasting before my mission. I hated it. But let me tell you how much I have grown to love fasting on my mission. I LOVE IT!  Man, who needs food when you can have the POWER OF GOD with you?!  haha...But actually I still need food because I like that stuff.  Before my mission I always thought you could only fast for like one thing when you fasted!  I have quickly learned out here that fasting is more like an extra powerful, more extended prayer :)  At the beginning, when my companions would offer to a bazillion people that we could fast for them I would be like "WOAH, CHILL!  I HAVE SO MUCH TO FAST FOR ALREADY. I'M GONNA HAVE TO FAST FOR LIKE FORTY DAYS, GUYS!" But just recently I decided to make a fasting jar!  Every time we offer to fast for someone or something, or we are asked to fast for a specific reason, I write it down and put it in my fasting jar! Then right before I start my fast I can read all the things I am fasting for and remember them better during those 24 hours without food or drink :)  I seriously love fasting so much, because I have seen the BLESSINGS that come from it!  There is nothing more powerful than the faith of an imperfect being, and the grace of God to bless the faithful :)

I love you all so much!! Have a great week!

Liebe Grüße,Sister Thunell

Fast Sunday

Do you know that Fasting was the very first principle of the gospel that I was converted to?  I distinctly remember sitting in some Gospel Principles lesson in some building somewhere when I was barely 20 and hearing that lesson and understanding it totally and completely...and then being excited to hurry up and get to the next Fast Sunday so I could try it.  

"Fasting improves our lives and gives us added strength.  It helps us live other principles of the gospel because it draws us nearer to the Lord."

In the years since that lesson, I'm sure my enthusiasm for fasting has diminished a little, but this week I felt that same earnest desire for Fast Sunday to hurry up and get here.  

It's been a long, difficult week.  The longest and hardest I've had in a long time.  I have felt the weight of the responsibilities and the expectations in this new place.  And I have felt the gaping void without my usual sources of encouragement and support.  This ward is different.  The people are different.  This new life we're starting here, I can already tell, is so much different than any of the ones we've left.  The cheerleaders who used to sit on the front row of my life and think everything I said and did was amazing aren't here.  And the people who are here are too busy living and surviving to cheer for ordinary things like taking a good picture or making dinner for a lot of people or getting through a hard week.  

I haven't handled this week of opposition very well.  I've chosen to be bitter and angry and resentful and overwhelmed.  And I've tried really hard to alienate all the people I love most.   

So this morning, I knelt in my closet and asked for some much needed clarity and a lot of that added strength that comes when we fast with a purpose.  I asked for other things, too.    And then listened with real intent not just to all the testimonies people bore today, but to all of the words everyone said to me.  There were great treasures at church today, and great joy in that hour I spent in the quiet of my closet before everyone else woke up this morning.  

This thing I personally have been asked to do is hard.  It may not be harder than what someone else has done, or what the people in my ward are currently doing, but it's hard for me.  Harder than anything I've ever done before, although I'm sure not the hardest thing I'll ever do.  But even in the very early moments of this morning, when all I had was a tiny desire to stop being frustrated and sad, there was illumination.  And as the day continued, there was more and more of it.  

"I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountains or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what his plan is for us.  We may not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord's will for us and to know that he loves us beyond mortal comprehension." - Jeffrey R Holland

And tonight, after yet another shockingly joyous Sunday, I still don't know all the things I would like to know, but I know more than I did last week.  I know who I am and what I'm supposed to do...for now.  I know more about the people I love and what I'm supposed to do with them and for them.  And I feel so much better tonight than I did all of those days last week when I was trying so hard to keep being angry and overwhelmed by it all.  

How grateful I am that there are Sundays to break up a long string of those opposition days that come more often than I would like.  

Primary Temple Day

The Primary President asked me a couple of weeks ago to come to the Primary Temple activity and take pictures of the kids.  It's been a long, long week, and I knew the Temple was probably a good place for me to be on a Saturday morning, but honestly I was more stressed out about this photo shoot than excited about the opportunity.

Parents who are bringing their children to the Temple, knowing that there will be a "photographer" there, have expectations.  And I am SO not living up to anyone's expectations lately, especially not in the photography department.  

Even though I was not overly excited about this day, my cute little back up photographer was thrilled about it and had been counting the days until Saturday.  So Megan and I woke up early and drove the 45 minutes to the Temple.  (Oh, I'm going to need to work hard to figure out this temple schedule because it is neither convenient nor easily accessible here.)

Here's what I learned after this experience:

1.  Always go to the Temple.  There's never a good reason to turn down an opportunity to be there.  Go even if it's not convenient, or you're grumpy, or you don't think you want to.  Just go! 

2.  The best cure for a long, emotionally turbulent week = two or three hours taking pictures of children on the temple grounds.

3.  Don't bother putting on make up or eyelashes when you're doing a photo shoot in the 96 degree/110% humidity of The Deep South.  The kids won't care and the parents won't be looking at you because they'll be paying attention to their kids.  Just skip the part where you shower and try to be beautiful and throw your hair in a pony, put on a skirt, and get in the car.  

4.  My assistant photographer is WAY better than me, and I need to start assisting her!  Holy crap, look at these amazing shots Megan got...

The Middle

I have the patience of a flea...

Seriously, the longer I live, the more I realize just how ridiculous I am, and how much crying I could eliminate from my life if I would just remember the last time I jumped to conclusions...

Months ago, when Savannah was companions with Sister Fast, who she adored, I decided to write to Sis Fast Senior (the mom) and tell her how much we appreciated her daughter and how grateful we were for the companionship they had.  It was a little gushy, but I really wanted her to know how much we loved her daughter and what a huge change it was for Savannah to have a companion she loved instead of the previous one who had "challenged her" so much right out of the MTC.  Anyway, I felt inspired to say it, and Sister Kimball's voice was ringing in my ears...

...so I wrote the email and hit send.

And then...nothing.  

I really didn't EXPECT a gushy reply about how much she loved Savannah, or how we should be BFFs now that our daughters were companions, although that would have been great.  But after a few days, I was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten anything.  

So I did what I always do... I worried.  I worried about all the possible reasons she might not have loved what I said.  I worried that maybe Sis Fast didn't love Savannah as much as Savannah loved her.  I worried that I had accidentally offended her somehow.  And I dissected the heck out of that email over and over and over again.  

And then guess what...yesterday morning, more than 4 months after I wrote that email, long after I had given up hope, I received a reply.  A super nice, sufficiently gushy, very apologetic one, by the way.  Not that she had anything to apologize for...

And what I realized when I read it at 6:00am on what normally would have been Opposition Monday, was that...

1. I'm ridiculous.


2. I have the patience of a flea.

3. I need to stop personalizing everything and assuming a lack of response = someone hates me or even that I've done something wrong.  Maybe they're just in a bad mood, or having a bad day, or busy, or shy, or waiting to compose the right email and then it takes too long and then they're embarrassed because it took so long.

4. Sometimes when I think I'm at the end of a thing and I'm so super disappointed at the way it turned out, I'm actually just in the middle...and I just need to stop and breathe, and hold my dang horses,  and not jump to conclusions, and just be calm and keep waiting.  It may not turn into a thank you note, or a new BFF, or a viral blog post like I hoped, but it will turn into what it's supposed to be, and it will be enough.

5. Heavenly Father has got this!  Sheesh...how many times can I say this to myself and still not have it written in my heart?  He's got all of it. So stop crying and stop worrying and just let Him handle it. 

I Ate Fufu!

OKAY WOW, SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEK HOLY COW!  But I will start from the beginning so I can make sure I don't forget anything :) 

So Tuesday evening we had an appointment with our investigator Herr Mach, and his wife came this time!  We had a great time getting to know her better, and the lesson went really well!  Basically they're both going to be baptized sometime in the future, hopefully sooner rather than later :)  

Wednesday went a little different than we had expected. Sister Abram was sick, so she rested for most of the day, and I got so much done!  Journal writing, area book work, organizing, cleaning, reading Jesus the Christ, it was great!  Until like 12, when I ran out of stuff to do.  Then I went a little crazy being stuck inside all day. There is a reason we are supposed to have a meaningful activity planned for every hour of the day!  Otherwise we go crazy!  Luckily though, I didn't get sick at all!  

Thursday Sister Abram was feeling a little better so we did a service project at the Memendov's (less active's) and cleaned out their attic!  Then we went to visit an old lady friend and played Uno with her, and then we went to Ingolstadt to help the elders with a mutual activity!  They loved our idea from a couple weeks ago of doing a big missionary night with the YM, so they copied us and invited the YW in their ward to come be missionaries for a night!  Sister Abram and I got to go on splits with two 16 year old girls and it was super fun!  I went with a girl named Vikki, and it just so happens that her mom is from Peru!  So I learned more about Peru and a few Spanish words, and throughout the night we found two awesome families that want the elders to go back and teach them!  So I hope that now that she has seen how fun missionary work can be, she will decide to go on a mission!  Deciding to go on a mission has been the best decision of my life so far!  If you're thinking about going, just go!  You won't regret it :)  It definitely won't be easy.  But it will be worth it!!

Friday was my 9 month mark! Half way!  Holy cow that went by fast.  I can't even believe it! But it was the best half way mark day ever!  We went by a referral from a member, and it turns out that she is this 90 year old lady who only speaks Bairisch (the dialect here) and she never stops talking!  She is very peppy, very fashionable, and knows a lot about a lot of things!  So we let her talk our ears off for a good two hours, and then we decided that we couldn't understand half of what she was saying, and that we needed to get back to doing other things, so we set up another appointment for next week, and hopefully we can teach her a little about the Book of Mormon!  I don't know why we meet with so many old ladies out here haha :) They're cute though!  Then that night we went to Prince's house for dinner and a lesson with Stanley!  A recent returned missionary, Lena, came with us and we all just had a blast!  Prince is from Nigeria, same with Stanley, and they decided that us white girls needed some fufu in our lives, and man were they right!! Fufu is so weird but so good! It's just this sticky doughy stuff, like a combination of mashed potatoes and play dough, and you dip a chunk in this soupy SPICY stuff, and then swallow it whole! So strange, but it was so fun!  And we had a great lesson with Stanley, too :)  He is SO a prepared, and I just know he is going to be ready to get baptized soon! 

We came home later that night, and decided to roast marshmallows over candles on our porch and make s'mores!  It was a little more complicated than I thought it would be, but we finally got it to work and they were delicious! And then we sang songs outside and played our ukelele that Maile bought for us :) Best half way mark ever!

Saturday morning we helped a family in our ward move, and it was super fun!  I've actually come to love carrying heavy things up and down a bazillion flights of stairs :) ...the things that missions do to you!!  There were a ton of other ward members there, and even a few helpers who weren't members!  So we had a great time talking to all of them and getting to know them!  After our service project we went to a member's house for lunch, and they were so fun and cute. They love us and we love them!  We had a great time, and they helped us perfect some of our new spiritual thoughts we have been trying out :)  Then for dinner we went to a member family, the Achter's, and they are so awesome!  We played some games, had a mini piano recital, quoted some funny movies, played with their bunny, and just had a blast!  This is the best ward! :)  

Sunday was also a great day. Stanley came to church and we started reading in the Book of Mormon with him a little, and he basically said that he wants to get baptized and be a missionary!  So yay!  I'm excited!  During the 3rd hour we went to YW's because we had a brownie competition!  Everyone had to make a pan of brownies (including Sister Abram and me) and we judged them for the best ones! I'm proud to say that ours tied for first place :) because American brownies are just hard to beat! 

After church we had a giant ward lunch, and we made sooo many member appointments for the coming week, it's gonna be great!  I really think that we are starting to connect with the ward more and gain their trust, because we are getting more and more appointments and more and more referrals!  The Lord is definitely blessing us!  Sunday evening we went to hang out with Maile and teach her how to play the ukelele a little and she let me do her hair for her :) She has quite a lot of stress right now, so we are trying to help her as best we can!

For pday today we went to Ikea! It was super fun, and after we walked through the whole thing we ate a Swedish lunch, which was delicious!  In the checkout line at IKEA we ran into a couple who randomly started talking to us and asking questions about the church!  They had been to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, and so they knew a little about Mormons, but they were just so friendly and nice, I was so happy!  The wife is from the Philippines and the husband is from Germany, and they're both Jehovah's Witnesses!  We had a nice chat with them for a while, and then we parted ways outside, but then a few minutes later as we were waiting at the bus stop they pulled up in their car and offered to give us a ride to where we needed to go!  My heart was just so full of love for these nice people :) They showed us one of their JW videos about how important reading the Bible is, but we didn't bash at all, they were just thanking us the whole time for giving up part of our lives to serve the Lord!  I have been studying charity lately, and these kind people were just full of that stuff.  Such great examples to me and to all of us of what a disciple of Christ is. A disciple of Christ is one who serves and helps others out of the pure goodness of their hearts!  Let's all try this week to have just a little more charity! 

Well, I love you all!  I hope you have a wonderful week and that you always remember that Heavenly Father loves you and wants what is best for you!

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Thunell