Week 45 of
2015
Höi zäme!
Just gonna start with an Ashleigh.... You no you take the same bus too much when the driver just stops by you to ask if you want to get on, even though you’re miles from the next bus stop! It's great! Well, onto this last week....
 |
| The Zone |
Montag! What a day! So we headed to Weil am Rhein to go shopping! This time we were done pretty quickly actually and it didn't cost a lot at all! Oh and we found a new way to do it- the place we shop at, also has a Maccies, so we connect to their Wifi and download our emails, then we can read them on the way home; that way, we have more time to email when we get to the chapel later, as we've already read emails. It worked out great! So we got home, unpacked the shopping stuff, cleaned the apartment and then chilled for a little while before heading to Gemeindehaus to email! My favourite part! It's already November that is craziness! Then this evening we headed to the Familie Bosco! Oh mensch! It was awesome! We had Raclette again! Awesome! Then we did a little FHE with them! We did the Jenga Spiritual Thought and honestly, this time was the most spiritual when we've shared this thought. Like legit, I felt the Spirit way strongly! Then this evening when we got home, planned, then I gave the talk a read 'Becoming a Consecrated Missionary'. I think it was just what I needed to read at the moment!
Dienstag! What another crazy day! So we headed out to do a bit of finding and nobody, like nobody was on the street! Then we headed to District Meeting in Basel! It was pretty good. The district remained the same apart from the DL getting a Golden. His name is Elder Evans and he is from Wales somewhere! He seems pretty cool! DM was interesting! The DL did like the whole thing again and it was like a mash up of the parable with the vineyard workers who all got the same pay even though some had worked even longer. I can't remember the name of it. Then also the importance of being clean and repentance and a part of the Callister talk fitted in perfectly so I shared a bit of it! It was actually pretty cool! Then we did another Masters of the Message roleplay. This time with The Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson! It was interesting! Then had Distriktessen! Twas cool! Then nach Hause, sprach studium and out again to go by a less active who wasn't home. Then we did some finding on the way to go by P. Then we had P. That always brightens up my day! She is so funny! Then after P, we went by a referral who wasn't home, so left a note and will try again on Saturday! Then it was late so came home for Abendessen and the day was over!
Mittwoch! So this morning we had a bit of comp study before heading to the chapel to meet M. We followed up on whether he watched any General Conference again and he said he tried, but it only played in English. Even though last time we showed him how to get it auf Deutsch! Anyway, so we decided to watch a talk from it with him, the one by Pres Uchtdorf from the Saturday Morning Session. Then we discussed it and committed him to come to church, so we shall see, it is like his 20th church commitment now and so far he hasn't been yet! Then we called Schw. K to ask if she wanted us to help with Seminary today, as we discussed on Sunday and she tells us she is ill today, but didn't want to call us ‘cause it’s so late notice, so we convinced her all was fine and we would take the whole class for her. So then we spent a bit of time getting the manual printed for the lesson which was Exodus 12. Then home, planned the lesson a little more, then had Mittagessen. After, we did a bit more studies, Sprach- I finished sorting my talk for Sunday, then Personal! One thing stood out for me in Personal as I was reading VME and it said "The Holy Ghost is a foretaste of eternal joy." I just found that super awesome! I don't know why, I just did! So there you go! Then we headed out and did a few more Weniger Aktiven Vorbeis. 2 had moved, 1 had no interest to meet with anyone from the church- and another 1 wasn't home. Time goes way too quickly ‘cause then it was time to go to the Gemeindehaus to teach Seminary! Oh mensch! The class is like 3 girls and 2 boys. The boys are really quiet and listen great. The girls on the other hand haha! And this is why Mom decided to change to all 5 days early morning seminary! I may suggest that to their teacher! Then we walked home, finding on the way, had Abendessen, then the day is done! What a day!!!
Donnerstag was a looooooong day! Legit it felt so long it was untrue! So this morning we had the normal study block then early mittags to give us a bit more time! Then we headed to the chapel to get connections sorted before heading out to the middle of nowhere to do some more WA Vorbeis as we are really on to the spread out ones! So we did like 5 less actives in the 4 or so hours we had, but 4 out of the 5 have moved! Oh and we had a pretty cool conversation with a Bus Driver who was on his break and got to teach him a bit and he asked for a Book of Mormon! So that was super sweet! Oh and we took a trip to France! As in legit France, not the French part of Switzerland, but real Frankreich! Mwahaha! Basically to get to a part of our area where one of these WA's live we have to take the tram, which goes out of Switzerland and cuts into France and stops at a place or two in Frankreich before popping back into Switzerland! So that was that and we climbed a few more mountains! Welcome to the Alpenländische Mission people! My comp still can't quite believe that people live up mountains! Mwahahhaa! It's fun! I'm becoming a pro Mountaineer just by Less Active Vorbeis! Then after scaling down the mountain faces we headed for Abendessen bei der Familie Schaffter! It was super good! Then home to make calls and prepare for our meeting with Bischoff tomorrow morning!
Freitag! So we started with Comp study to finish preparing for our meeting with Bishop and the other appointments we had today! Then headed to the chapel for 9.30 to meet Bishop! We talked about the less actives and other things. The ward are also thinking of trying to put on an activity for Christmas, but nothing’s definite. Then back home, finished studies, had a mittags break then did a little bit of weekly planning (we have to split it this week, as we don't have enough time to do it all in one). Then to the Schwester M! Then we headed to Frau S, had a lesson about Temple Work and Family History which she seemed to enjoy, Oh and we had dinner with Frau S again! 'Twas lovely!
Samstag! So we began with comp study again to prepare a spiritual thought for our service activity! Then we headed up to Hochwald for 19am to the Familie H. We were helping them chop wood! That's the awesome thing about the Alpine region! People have firewood fireplaces! So awesome! So we were preparing for the Winter! So we carried these massive trunks from the forest to the garden, chopped them into smaller chunks, then chopped them again into pieces and stacked them up by the house! I got to play with a Chain-saw (a-rigadigdigdigdigdigdigdig) And an axe! It was super fun! Plus, today we had like 20*C, which is crazy for November time here, but it was sweet! Oh mensch- I am so tired after today’s antics! We were chopping wood for like 6hours (with a lunch break of course) we had raclette! I love raclette! Anyways! Then by the time we got home we had to schower and get changed then we quickly went by a referral we tried by earlier in the week, but she wasn't home, so we left a note saying we would try by again today in the evening, but she wasn't home again! Then we headed back home and did the rest of our studies! I am so dead and my arms have cuts all up them from the wood! Ahhh well! Life is grand!
Sonntag, Sonntag, Sonntag! Oh what can I say about this day! Church was interesting! Sacrament meeting; I spoke, one of the youth spoke and the High Councillor spoke! I hate having to give talks in German cause I can't look out at the congregation otherwise I lose my place and get all confused and make terrible mistakes. English is so much easier (or was). I barely even needed notes in English! Meh! So I basically read what I prepared for the 10 minutes I was given. Apparently it was good and I was also told by a few people that my German is amazing and I should speak more! Although there’s a difference between preparing it and just simply speaking. Like with a talk I can look over it a few times and make corrections when I see something wrong, simply speaking is full of errors! Although I did ask my companion to look over it and tell me what was wrong- and surprisingly he only corrected like 5 things maximum and they were stupid little things with getting the right der, die, das, dem, den, blah, blah, blah! So it wasn't too bad, even if I do say so myself, but I just wish I didn't have to read it and could focus more on the congregation than what and how I am saying things! Hey, ho! Then during Sunday School we had a meeting with the High Councillor, as it was the one who is over Missionary Work, so we met and talked about how the Stake can help us and how we can help in the Stake and stuff! It was actually really quite effective and he's from Burnley! Someone in the family may know him, he's probably like Uncle Pete's or Nick's age! His name is DF! I don't know, but it was pretty good! I must admit both St. Gallen and Bern Stake High Councillors for Missionary Work are really quite brilliant with getting to know the missionaries and the work in each area and seeing how they can help! It's brilliant! Then Priesthood was Priesthood! Today was lesson 21 all about Wohlfahrtsprogramm- no idea what it’s called in English! Like Welfare or something? I don't know- I can barely remember much English these days! Just enough to write emails each week! Then home, essen, studied and headed to the Familie B for Abendessen! It was really nice! They are a cool family!
Alles Liebe,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxx
Week 46 of 2015-
Bern/Interlaken, Mittel die Bergen, Interviews und Pfahlkonferenz!!!
Greizi Mitenand!
Montag! It was a
pretty crazy messed up day! So today we headed down to the South part of the
Zone. This evening our plan was to finish weekly planning and do area book work,
as we really need stuff to work with, so to save time and make things easier we
decided we'd do weekly planning on the train, as we had a pretty quiet train
ride. Hence, why we were on emails a little later this time. So we planned on
going trotti-biking with the Basel and Bern Elders as none of them have done it
before and I was up for doing it again in weather that was nicer than the fog
and thunderstorm we got when I did it last year! So we met them in Bern and I
think they really just wussed out on it. Excuse was, that we wouldn't have
enough time in the end, but we totally would have! Anyways, so then they were
just like let’s get the bikes and just ride round Bern, going to Brocki's. As
they do the free bike hire thing in Bern! Elder Dooreman (Bern) really didn't
fancy it and I wasn't too fussy, so we had a little tausch and me and Elder
Dooreman just had a chilled P-day, headed down to Interlaken, looked around, enjoyed
the Mountain views and just chatted about everything! Elder Dooreman was in my
second golden district and he is one of our ZL's. So it was cool! He's a cool
guy and he dies (goes home) at the end of this transfer! Sad times! At the end
of this transfer, I'm the only one still here from my Golden Districts!
Craziness! Then we headed back to Bern, chilled there a bit before we tausched
back and we came to do emails! Then we headed home, looked through the area
book, did some calls and boom! The day was over! Oh, I also bought myself a new
iPad case cause the ones we get given are super bulky and break all the time,
so now I have a nice case! Wahey!
Dienstag was
another day filled with vorbeis and uneventful finding! So we did like 6 less
active vorbeis today, 5 have moved the other one wasn't home, but her son
answered the door and was really friendly, told us to try by another time or to
just call before-hand! So maybe we finally have another less active to work
with! Wahey! But honestly! That’s 5 more less actives which have moved.... It's
crazily ridiculous! Oh then this evening, we headed by P again! We're going
through the Christ-like attributes with her, which is going really well! Oh and
part way through our visit, she cracks out this empty box of Scottish
Shortbread, and asks us if we know where she can buy more from, cause she saw
it once in Denner and bought it for like CHF10, but it was the last one and
they haven't sold it since and she loves the stuff cause apparently it's really
big where she's from. So I may need to get my hands on a recipe to make her
some! Oh, and E was being so funny today! She's like only 1 year old and she is
like walking- she can do a pretty good little walk before falling and she can
stand up without holding anything for ages! Craziness! Oh, today she was
laughing like the whole time! It was so cute and so funny! I've never heard her
laugh before, she just normally has a real cute smile, but today she was
laughing- it was so funny! Then we did like another vorbei before coming home,
abendessen and plan - and the day is done!
Mittwoch! After
20mins of Comp Study we headed off to Gemeindehaus to teach M! It went pretty
well actually. Then we had internet hour to sort out some directions! Then home,
ate, and finished studies! Then we finally went out to the middle of nowhere,
oh my goodness- legit this was like the end of the earth! Not quite, but it
seemed like it, so we had to take a train and bus to the middle of nowhere!
Then walk miles through this strange dorf in the middle- legit, I mean it, in
the middle of the mountains! This one actually still lived there as well and
was home! Amazing! So we had a little chat and she was totally cool and super
friendly. She works on Sundays, so that is why she doesn't come to church. So
we'll have to see what we can do there! Then we headed to Insti, as we were
meeting a less active there, so that was cool! There were a few more this time,
so it wasn't such a small class, still smaller than Bern and Zürich Insti, but
bigger than last time! It was cool! I love going to Insti when we can! It's
just different and being with kids that you would hang out with back home! Love
it!
Donnerstag! So we
finally had a normal study morning. Then we headed down to the deep south of
our area for a Mittags appointment. She is a member, her husband isn't I think.
So we got to know them! It was pretty cool! They've been on holiday a lot
recently, so it was the first time we went there, for both of us. 'Twas fun!
Then we headed again to the middle of the mountains to go by a less active, and
legit, these middle of the mountain dorfs are crazy. The streets are random and
they have no numerical order whatsoever. Like you go down the street and you
have like 47, 372,
194, 468, 213- It
is mental, so it was like good luck trying to find the one you’re after! So it
turns out we never found it and we were kind of in a rush to find, go by, have
a chat and get back as the bus was like not so frequent, so after all of the
time being used to search, we had to head back, or we'd have been stranded
there for like goodness knows how long! So after that adventure, we headed up
to Gempen, where there’s also like one bus every hour or something like that, so
we went by another one and he was home- wahey, another one who still lives at
the address we have, but he's now Atheist! Soooo.... That was fun! Then finding
in the middle of nowhere whilst waiting for the next bus! Oh mensch! Then home,
grabbed a jacket as it was getting a little chilly by this time, before heading
down to the Familie S. Had Abendessen! Saurkraut and some other stuff! I love
Saurkraut! Then we did the M&M Story Feast Spiritual Thought! They loved
it! Then home, made a few calls, planned and bed as we had a beautifully early
start tomorrow! Oh the joys!
Freitag! So we had
to get up at like 5:55, so we could get ready before having to leave to get to
Zollikofen for Interviews with Präsident! So we get there for 9:00, well just
before 9:00, and get a call from the DL saying that they missed their train and
were gonna be half an hour late (trains between Basel and Bern are every half
hour) and the Pratteln Elders were also gonna be late, so we just chilled at
the chapel for a while. Then Präsident turned up (a little late- but he did
come from Zürich, I think, sooo.... So we'll let him off). Oh and AR was at the
chapel in Zollikofen, as C was working today. The R’s were like my all-time
favourite couple in Bern- they are the Best, I love them and oh my goodness,
their kid is the cutest little guy ever! Then the others turned up, and we
started DM.
It was
interesting! We went over Joseph Smith History and discussed it and then did
Finding Role Plays (my favourite thing to do) and we did that whilst Pres was
doing interviews. Then after DM, interviews were still going, so we just did
our own thing, so we helped Elder Evans (DL's Golden) with some Language Study!
'Twas fun! Then nach Hause! Took the train with the Basel Elders, so it was a
fun ride home! Then had a super late Mittags, before heading to Schw. M. It was
a good appointment- we decided we will go from the beginning with her again,
take it as an investigator, cause first things first she needs a testimony of
the Gospel, Restoration and Book of Mormon. So von anfang an! Es war schön!
Then nach Aesch to meet Bru C to head down to Frau S! It was a nice evening! We
spoke about Repentance and clarified how repentance is the godly sorrow and
desire to make the change. The forgiveness only comes as we are baptised and
receive the Holy Ghost- that is what cleanses us and gives us the forgiveness.
It is called Baptism for the REMISSION of Sins - and remission is forgiveness.
Then after Baptism, it is when we renew our covenants (sacrament) that the forgiveness
comes. Trying to help her understand that she can be repentant without feeling
forgiveness, cause she won't feel that forgiveness entirely until after baptism
and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost! I think it helped a little! Then we
had Abendessen with her and home! I am super tired from the early start though,
so that was Friday!
Samstag! So this
morning was another out the house early, so we headed out at 8:00 this morning
to get to a place that was like an hour away to help a member clear out his Dad’s
Business office/art studio thing! So we headed there and did that this morning!
So much rubbish, it was crazy, but there were some pretty cool pieces of art!
Anyways! Then it was getting to midday and we needed to get home, get changed
and grab something super quick to eat before leaving at 13:00 to get to
Zollikofen for the
Priesthood Leadership Meeting part of Pfahlkonferenz! As missionaries we are
like expected to go in Pfahl Bern, but it’s fun! So we headed down to
Zollikofen! Oh and I had a train convo! I am really bad at Train Contacting, but
I just went for it this time. I just spoke to the guy opposite me and it went
really well! The main thing that gets me about train contacting is you can't just
do a straight up gospel approach, you have to start normal chit-chat stuff and
then hope they ask something about what you are doing! I was super lucky, cause
he was pretty quickly moving onto what I was doing as a missionary! It was cool
though! Then our stop came and we had to leave, which sucked, cause I just got
chance to give him a pass along card, but no number from him. Meh! But anyways!
So we had the Priesthood Leadership Meeting and a part of it, all of the
Bishops had to give a report on their ward mission plan and the successes the ward
have seen! It was a pretty good meeting! They spoke about next years’ Stake
Vision, which is based on D&C 11 with a focus on putting our trust in God.
It was pretty good! Then a half hour break, which went by way too quickly
before the other session of Stake Conf began! It was actually really good! Pres
and Sister Kohler spoke as well as a few others! I love Sister Kohler so much!
She does such an amazing job- like she spoke no German whatsoever before coming
here- and she never had 6 weeks in the MTC to learn it, like us, plus she isn't
around German speakers constantly like we are, but she gives her talk/testimony
auf Deutsch none the less- with like no notes from what you could see! She is
such an example of the Stake vision for 2016 of trusting in the Lord! I love the
Kohlers!!! Then afterwards it was the general chit chat stuff! Oh man! It was
so cool! Being back in my Golden Stake! Love it! Then a lovely journey back
home! A little late back, but hey! 'Twas a cool day!
Sonntag,
Pfahlkonferenz day! It started at 10, but we needed to be in seats for 9.50, so
headed there for about 9.20 to meet and greet. It was in Basel Kongress Zentrum
this time, not Biel like normal (I think Biel was already booked up- but Basel
was so much nicer and the acoustics were way better). So we got there in good
time to say hi to people, greet some familiar faces from the Gemeinde Bern. That
was really cool, then we took our seats. It was actually a pretty nice conference.
Oh, then just after the opening hymn and prayer they reopened the doors for
late comers and I just turned around, being nosey and all as to who was late,
haha … and I see none other than Jakob(Elder) Schenk! Craziness! The
Pfahlkonferenz was kind of moving all over the place theme-wise; from Temple
and Missionary Work to Patriarchal Blessings and then to the Stake Vision for
next year to ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart’! It was good! Then at the end, the normal chit
chat stuff, catching up with Bern members and then chatting with Schenk! Oh
man! It was so cool! He has a picture! So, that was super cool! Then chatting
and catching up with Bakewell! I love that kid! Then home; oh, our train fell
out (can you say that in English- Deutsch is Ausgefallen, just doing a direct
translation), so it took us even longer to get home, which sucked. Then we had
a late mittagessen, went out to find for an hour or so and then came home to study
and the day was basically over! I am so tired, but it's been a good few days!
 |
| Catching up with old Companions |
 |
| and old friends at Conference |
Well anyways, I believe that is all from me for this week.
Well, have an awesome week! You are all the BEST and keep me going every day!
This church is true and this work is the BEST work in the entire world! It's
hard as fetch sometimes, but it is so worth it!
Alles Liebe,
Elder Ammon
Robertson xxxxxxx
