Week 39 of 2015
Höi zäme!
How are things? This week's been quite a week!
Monday, so after studies and a bit of cleaning we headed out
to go to Lörrach! Man! It seems so long ago since I last went there! It's
changed quite a bit to be fair! Craziness, but that was cool! Then after doing
a bit of autumn/winter clothes shopping we grabbed food and then came back!
Chilled a bit, then headed to the chapel to do emails! I loved the emails this
week and I got included in Elder Palmer’s email home and he said in Thursday’s
part "It was terrible saying goodbye to Elder Robertson, it legit felt
like I was saying goodbye to family again." How sweet! Maybe I was a good
trainer after all! I hope so! 😕 Then, after emails we
headed out to do some finding! This one guy we stop is like "Ich spreche
kein Deutsch" in like the most perfect Deutsch, with the most German
accent ever! Hey! Each to their own! Then some more finding, a couple of
Vorbeis and home. A look through the area book to see if we can try by any
formers and bedtime! Smiling face with open mouth
Dienstag rolls around and today started off with a real good
companionship study, as we had a lesson we needed to get to, so had to leave
the apartment at 9:30. We plan on having quite a few baptismal dates set this
week. Then just like 10 mins before we walk out the door, both of our planned
appointments for the day send a text saying 'Sorry, today isn't gonna work'.
The one had to go to the UK to look after a relative, so isn't in the country
for the next week or so, the other was looking after his mother (who is pretty
ill from what he says). Then finding, more finding and more finding. Finished
studies! More finding! Then we headed to a members' for dinner! It was super
good and now I am super full! We got to know them pretty well and did the Jenga
spiritual thought! It went really well! I just love it when members get
involved in spiritual thoughts, sharing experiences they've had with the
subject we talk about! It really is the BEST! Members are the BEST! You've just
got to love them!
Mittwoch! What a day! Mensch! I am so tired! So we got up
early to be out of the apartment for 7:15am to get on our way to Zürich! We had
Zone Conference! It seems like forever since we last had a proper Zone
Conference with Mission Tour, Bednar Conference, Getting iPads Conference, and then
finally the first proper Zone Conference of the year! We have Zone Training
each month, but Conference, it's been forever! It's legit a year since my very
first Zone Conference on the mission! I'm ancient! Legit I feel so old! There's
so many young missionaries now! Bern Zone and Zürich Zone were together, so it
was like I never left! There are like 6 Goldens in the 2 zones this transfer!
There's so many missionaries, which are younger than me! Ahhhh! So, the
majority of the day was Präsident Kohler! He spoke about a whole load of
different things! Sister Kohler spoke to us about Obedience. I love it when
Sister Kohler speaks! She legit is such a Mother and we did a role play thing
like a million times! Like the ones Ash gets in her ones, where they are in
like 2 lines opposite another missionary and we have to do it auf Deutsch, which
is awesome when you are opposite a German! Haha! Nah! It went well! Then lunch,
which was organised by the Dielsdorf FHV, which was awesome! Got to see some
Dielsdorf members again! I loved it! Then back in! President introduced the new
study schedule thing- this time we're doing PMG from the 1st October to end of
January! Then we had the talks part. This time Pres asked everyone to prepare a
talk on one of 2 topics and then called on someone to give their talk. Just
like they do on Sundays in the MTC. Sister Van der Put and Elder Heath got
called on, so I was safe! Although, I had it all planned, so I wouldn't have
minded having to give it, but hey! Theirs were awesome anyway! Then Pres spoke
more about working with the members, with us participating, as he focussed it
on a case study he sent to us to review a few weeks back, so that was cool!
Then Pres. Gappmaier (Mission Presidency 1st Counsellor- he's Pres' right hand
man for Switzerland basically and he is awesome). He spoke more about members
and he talked more about gaining the trust of members using the LDS (Lieben
Dienen Stärken- Love, Serve, Strengthen- it only works properly auf Deutsch).
It was super good! Then we had a surprise treat! They brought the Doctor in to
give us all the flu vaccine! Apparently the Missionary Department recommend
that all missionaries have it! Although we could still say no! I decided I'd
pass! You know what I'm like, needles don't phase me at all- I love giving
blood and that needle’s a lot bigger than a vaccine! I just didn't fancy the
risk of it not working then I get major ill, because of having the vaccine-
cause that’s always worse than when you just catch the flu, so life is grand!
Then after mingling for a little while, we headed home. Did a bit of studies
and that was the day!
So Thursday! Okay! I am super tired still from yesterdays’
early get up, so after an hour of studies, we headed to the chapel to meet M!
It was an interesting lesson! I think he may be an eternal investigator, but
hey! Then we headed to the Familie K for dinner! It was super cool! Then to an
appointment with our new investigator from last week! It went well and we had a
member with us, so that was cool! Especially seen as this guy like only speaks
Schwiezerdütsch, so it makes it a little more einfach! Then finding and home to
finish studies and get dinner!
So Freitag, we had a super long morning/afternoon! General 3
hour studies, then our weekly planning sesh, with an hour lunch break, so when
we finally got out of the apartment it was like 15:00, which was crazy! Then we
headed to a less actives for a lesson! It was interesting! Then headed to meet
Brü C again in Aesch, before heading to Frau S. It was sweeeettt! She is so
awesome! She's like in her late 70’s and I think I mentioned last week about
her being like an eternal investigator until my first lesson with her last week
where she accepted a date. Then she has made soo much progress in just the last
week! She is awesome! Then she fed us again! We had like bread and cheese and
meat! It was cool, so it was a pretty good day and ended even better!
Samstag! What a day! I am dead! We began the day with
studies followed by some finding, before heading on out to go to the JAE/Youth
activity, which we were asked to go to, as they were inviting a load of
non-member friends, so we figured why not! We went, shared a spiritual thought and
had the activity. It was basically just a giant nerf fight! Soooo nerdy and our
spiritual thought was based on Nächstenliebe (Charity). It helped strengthen
relationships with the youth and JAE, whilst speaking with their friends, so it
was a good use of time! Although I'm sure my legs are gonna kill in the
morning! Then by the time we got back home, showered, ate, re-did a part of
weekly planning, cause we needed to change a few things and that was that!
So, Sunday morning and I wake up and my legs are killing me!
I don't think we'll join the youth next time, I'm getting way too old! As per,
we were the first to church- it's the norm here! We end up opening up and
locking up the building here and the meetings today were pretty sweet! All of
the talks in Sacrament meeting were awesome! I loved them! Then we went to the
JAE Sunday School class and it was awesome as well! Then Priesthood- it was a
great class, but it was based on marriage and strengthening your relationship
within marriage! It was great, but I still have under a year until I even start
thinking about that... Haha! Then after church, home, food, studies, went out
for a little bit, nothing, but hey, life is great!
Then today we headed out to shop and went around Basel for a
bit! It's a pretty cool city! I'm a failure with pictures at the moment! Super
sorry! I'll have to see if I can get any from Sister Lee, which she took at
Zone Conference!
Alles Liebe,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxx
P.S- My Papa is engaged!! I just got an email from him today
telling me! Haha! Just thought I'd throw it in there for you!
Week 40 of 2015-
Templetag, P-touches und General Konferenz!!!
Grüezi wohl!
We'll dive straight in with the week!
Montag! So after studies, of course, we head out to get the
train to Basel, go around Basel for a little bit. It's a pretty cool city to be
fair, then took the tram over the border to Weil am Rhein. It's like the centre
point where Deutschland, die Schweiz und Frankreich border one another, so that’s
pretty sweet! We went shopping there and bumped into quite a few missionaries-
Elders Bakewell, Lynch, Bowler and his Golden, Sisters Flickinger, Holessen and
their Golden’s, so that was crazy, but cool! Then we headed home, did some
cleaning and then headed to the chapel to do emails! I kinda hate doing emails
last in the day, cause that’s the only thing I actually want to do on P-day,
the rest of the day ist egal, but hey! Then we headed to the Familie S for
dinner! It was awesome! We had pizza and salad. It feels like I haven't had
pizza in forever, so it was awesome! Then we did the Thankful Pen game
spiritual thought. Then the day was basically done! Tomorrow should be a real
nice day, so I'm excited for it!
Dienstag comes around and it began with like 20mins of Comp
Study before heading to the chapel for a 9am lesson with M. It was interesting!
He loves reading in the Book of Mormon, which is always great to hear! So after
M, we caught the train to Basel to get to District Meeting and our train was
late- craziness! That never happens in Switzerland; trains, buses, trams,
people, everything is always on time! ALWAYS!!! So we get to the chapel in
Basel just a little late and the chapel is actually pretty cool looking! It's
sweet! So we have DM! We began with the normal- song, prayer, Aussagens,
business. Then he's like, okay everyone can share a success story of working
with members (like he just asked us on the spot so nobody was prepared);
luckily I find working with members super important, so it was fine and there
were some pretty awesome ideas, which we may start using in the coming weeks!
Then, basically he takes the rest of DM talking about the Atonement! It was
super good and spiritual. Then afterwards we headed out to go down to my
homeland.... ‘Bern Baby Bern’! I love that city! It just feels like home there,
so we went to the temple, as President has given us a temple schedule and Bern
zone get to go to the temple in the first 2 weeks of the transfer, and seen as
this is the second week of the transfer we needed to do it this week and today
was the only day we have any time this week, so we went! It was really nice. It
was a pretty quiet session, which was quite nice, but it was in French again!
Aggghhhh! Nah! Just kidding, French is great! I almost know the whole temple
session in French now a days- don't think I'll need a headset next time! Then
the veil was an Italian guy, so he did it in Italian! The Swiss temple really
is the Best! You get all sorts of cultures and languages! It's awesome! Then we
went to the shop, picked up a few things and then headed home and the day is
done! It was a really nice day! Lots of Spirit! I loved it!
Mittwoch was a pretty crazy busy day! After the normal study
pattern we prepared some personal touches to thank the members for their
awesome talks last Sunday and for those who have been coming on JT's with us.
Then lunch, then we went out to drop off these P-touches and find. We spoke to
this one lady who was standing in the middle of the road and we were having a
really nice convo with her, then her husband comes out and tells us to get lost
and calls us stupid Zeugen Jehovahs! Okay! But hey! Then this evening was
pretty sweet! We went by Frau S, but this time we took our JAE less active, as
our joint teach! It was sooo cool! We got him involved and once he started
joining in, he like bossed that thing! Legit it was so cool! He taught way
better than either of us could have done it and he hasn't been on a mission...
Yet! He's amazing! It was a really good lesson and she was asking about the
baptism, like where will it be, cause our chapel doesn't have a font- so will
it be in Basel? etc! She is super awesome and constantly thinking about
baptism! I'm super excited about her, keep praying! It's doing wonders! Oh,
funny moment of the day was as our joint teach was teaching he was doing it in
Swiss German, but his Swiss German had like a Brummie accent to it! I just
found it super funny, cause he's like complete Swiss and has never been to
Brum! Legit, you had to have been there! You'll never quite understand until
you hear a Swiss person speak Swiss German and it sound totally Brummie! It was
soo funny! Oh and Frau S made us cake this time- we had an Apple Pie, which was
super good and a chocolate cake, which was also amazing!! It feels like forever
since I last had proper homemade cakes!
Donnerstag! Kind of the same type of day as yesterday, but
not quite as cool! We finished the rest of the P-touches and did some finding!
Twas okay! We walked so much and the sun was nice and bright when we left the
apartment, so it was pretty warm! The day goes on and we were out for like the
whole day! Then we had a lesson this evening with P. She's been a member for
just over a year. She's super cool and has such a cute little girl, so we
taught her! Oh my papa found her, taught her and then came back and baptised
her and she knows Jake (my cousin), so that's pretty cool to be teaching her!
We taught her about temples and to help her start preparing for the temple! She
was so excited it was amazing! Then we ended up walking home a 33min walk in
like 15mins- it was like freezing cold! I was dying and still am freezing! Then
we got home and I ate like 500g of Spätzli! It was great, but I'm still
starving.
Freitag! It was again near enough exactly the same as last
Friday! Normal study sesh, weekly planning with a lunch break! It felt like the
day dragged to be fair, plus today was our wash day! Washing here kind of
sucks! We get a day to wash once every 10-12 days. We have a schedule, which is
ridiculous and when there’s a Feirtag, it gets pushed back even further, but
hey! Yeah! Today was wash day, 'twas fun! Also, I found out that a family from
the ward are holidaying in Sardegna for the next few weeks and will be going to
church on Sunday, in Cagliari, so Ash- keep an eye out for them! They're pretty
awesome! I don't know them very well... yet, but from when I've met them and
spoke with them and what I've heard, they're awesome! After Weekly Planning, we
headed out and had a lesson with a less active again! Then we did a bit of
finding before going to Familie F for dinner! It was sweet! They're a pretty
awesome family! Schw. F is from the Ukraine, so the kids are brought up with
German and Russian, which is pretty sweet! Dinner was awesome! There was a
variety of things and one of them was pizza, but it was like meat and pumpkin
pizza and it was awesome! Then we did the Thankful Pen game again! It went
awesomely and they got it pretty quickly to be fair and the kids were awesome,
they learnt and applied the lesson well quickly. It was super awesome!
Samstag! General Konferenz wochenende! Kopfschmerz! So, we
began the day (we do studies everyday) with heading out to
"youthsports". Then we came back finished studies, essen and last bit
of weekly planning again! Then we headed out to meet our joint teach and found
on the way! Headed to Frau S, had a little lesson and watched General
Conference at her place, so it was in German! I understood most of it, of
course, but it was horrible! You don't get any of it in the way it is. No
emotion whatsoever in the translation, plus my head is killing me from
concentrating so much to understand it and I couldn't take notes, which I like
to do, cause I'm no good at multi-tasking (listening to the translator,
translating it back to English to understand properly, listening to Spiritual
impressions and writing them down). It's just too much for me to do- my head is
exploding! So, in a way it didn't really mean too much to me, the first session,
but I guess I found my P-day activity- watch the Saturday Morning Session again
auf Englisch! Tomorrow we're watching it in Pratteln, so they should be showing
it in English and German, but the one thing I really liked from it was the talk
from Sister Marriott about how her family motto is that ‘All is Well’- but all
is not always well in this life, but in the life to come everything will be
perfect!
Sonntag! What a day! Studies, then out to get the train to
Pratteln for General Konferenz! It was amazing! The Priesthood session was
brilliant, as was the rest of it! One of the main topics I saw coming from all
of it was that of Faith and Choices. Choices determine destiny! Then the
Saturday Afternoon Session! Oh Mensch! I think it was my favourite! The talk
from Elder Robert D Hales was brilliant! I don't remember one of his talks
standing out too much to me before, but this time, Mensch, it was amazing! Then
followed by Elder Jeffrey R Holland! Need I say more! I loved his talk! All
about Mothers and how they are Saviours on Mount Zion! I'll just add my
testimony of how true that is right here! Then the rest of those talks were
just brilliant! If I wrote everything I want to I'd be writing for ages! Then
the Sunday Morning Session! Again brilliant! Loved it! President Nelson’s talk
was brilliant! All about the role of women in the church! How true that is!
Like, you see it all the time! I've really seen it in missionary work! Sister
missionaries are so much better at this work than Elders are and the testimony
when you bring a Sister as a joint teach, it touches them in such a different
way to an Elder’s testimony or a Male member’s testimony! It’s soo true! Women
play such a vital part in preparing the way for the Second Coming! The
testimonies of the three new apostles were powerful! You could just see that
they have been called as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen them
speak before, but there was something different this time as they spoke as
Special Witnesses of Jesus Christ. This Conference Weekend, my heart has been
touched and my testimony strengthened beyond comprehension. This is the Lord’s
true church on the earth. He leads it in every way! The Prophet and Apostles
are men called of God. Each one of them have been called of Him and are His
servants! As Elder Gary E Stevenson said "We live in perilous times, but
in compensation the Lord has given us the opportunity to also live in the fullness
of times". In a time where the gospel is restored in it's fullness, in a
time where we have a living prophet, in a time where the windows of heaven are
open and He speaks to us and blesses us. Decisions do determine destiny! This
is the time to make those choices that will lead us home to Him, who we call
Father. Now is that time! Now is the time to stand up and testify. Now is the
time to represent the Lord, even when it doesn't seem like the most convenient.
This is His church and we have the blessing to be a part of it and the
responsibility to do those things we can do that will bring the rest of His
Children home to Him!
Have a brilliant week!
All my love,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxx
