Woche 83 von 102- Krank und Versetzungsanruf! Ich bin mega begeistert!!
Servus (I think that's an Österreicher greeting) or we'll finish my last Swiss email with Grüezi!
So Grüezi Mitenand!
So this morning I stayed in bed again, dying of this stinking flu. Then we needed to pop out to shop, so I pulled myself out and got ready to go to the shop. Then we did a bit of emails, before heading out to an appointment with the Familie K. We spoke about the Plan of Salvation and how the family is central to it. It was a pretty good lesson and this time the kids were there. Normally Schw. U looks after the kids when we go, but the U's are on holiday, so this time they were there. They loved us and kept asking when we will come back again! So sweet! Oh and we had pictures with them as who knows which one of us will still be here next time. Then that was basically our afternoon filled. Then we went to grab some essen before popping back to the chapel to finish emailing and that was our pday! Not much, but I'm ill, so we couldn't really do too much anyway!
So Nurses orders are to stay in bed for a few days.... but that sucks! So I did for the morning and early afternoon, but then this evening we had appointments, so we headed out. So this evening we met with A for a bit and spoke about the organisation of the church and teaching and learning in the church and a few other 5th lesson points... Then we headed to meet his brother, J to head to Insti together. Insti was cool! Although there were so many missionaries there it's ridiculous. Like we are allowed to go to Insti, if we have an investigator with us, but there were 6 companionships there in the end and only 3 of us had investigators. Oh mensch- I love the Winti Sisters though. Flickinger turns up in jeans (apparently she was cleaning and they popped out to meet an investigator for like 5 mins and then the Investigator's like, let's go to Insti and she had no time to go back and change) and just Hofmockel is a legend! They crack me up those two!
Mittwoch was a similar day as yesterday. Sleep! Then in the evening, we went by A again.
So Donnerstag Morgen I finally had a proper study morning. Still not 100% but hey! Today we helped out the Winti Elders. So Elder Kopischke is also ill and has been all week and he's like stuck to bed, so we went over to get Elder Redmond out for a few hours and get some lessons in for them. My comp and Redmond worked together and I stayed with the sick, which was fine cause I'm also not 100% yet. Well, yeah, the only thing we actually did other than stay in the apartment and rest was heading into Zürich, as the nurse called Kopischke up for a doctor's appointment, so we went to that! Oh my goodness! Talk about last minute doctor's appointments. This place was nasty. It was like a dingy back street surgery! Mensch! Legit, normally with doctors over here we always get sent to really nice, super expensive, private practices. It's good to be a missionary! So note to self is ... never request a last minute appointment! I'm still disinfecting myself from the "great unwashed"! Oh man! This practice was so bad that they gave everyone who enters it a mask (doctor/dentist facemask) like that to wear. Hahahaha! Yeah, so that was the majority of our day. Then we got back and met with A again. We read a chapter together before heading off with him to visit Schw M. It was a good evening, but again, there isn't actually too much to report on today! It's been a bit of an unadventurous week!
Freitag, Freitag, oh mensch! So after studies we cleaned this place up as we were booked in for an inspection early afternoon. We cleaned and then had lunch before the J's came for the inspection. Wie immer.... Perfect scores! Then we did a bit of planning and sorting stuff out for the coming week before heading to an appointment which fell out, so we just headed to A a bit earlier than planned and spent the evening with him. It was interesting. He's in Jacob now, so we went through Jacob 5 together and helped him understand it a bit better. It was cool! Then this evening was the traditional Bible Prophecy! Mine was 2 Corinthians 9:28-30. Well, tomorrow morning all will be revealed!
So transfer call day! So I can never do anything on transfer call morning until I know what is happening. Luckily that only meant no Frühsport today, not too much of a biggy. So the call came at about 7.05 and I will be going to Wien 1 to work with Elder Brady! I am so excited to be going to Vienna! Like beyond excited and seen as I only have 3 transfers left (including this one), I'm probably gonna die there! Well yeah! Then this morning after studies we headed out to help someone, but she wasn't even home, so we went by a back up, A. We read a bit of the BoM together before coming back for lunch. Then this afternoon we spent in Stäfa, did a few vorbeis, had a lesson, then back to Wetzikon to meet with S. He gave me a little goodbye gift! Oh mensch! It was a funny
termin to be fair! Then home!
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| The Transfer News came in!! |
Sonntag began with a super early GMK with J, before we went to Chor probe, as we had a musical item for today. Then church! Sacrament meeting was pretty good! The first two talks were on Pride and then the last one was on the Temple. They were pretty good and Bishop announced that I was leaving to go to Wien. Sad times! I never got the chance to give a goodbye testimony- that's sad, but good at the same time. I hate doing that! Then for Sunday school we did a class with A about feeling closer to Heavenly Father and how we can feel closer and then Priesthood, we had a joint Priesthood/FHV class, which was based on loving one another and home teaching/visiting teaching! Twas pretty good! Then said goodbyes and it was so funny! So many people were like, I'm so jealous of you. I wish I could just go to Wien. It is such a beautiful city! Haha! Apparently Wien is number 1 for being like the best city to live in or something like that and Zürich is second, so I'm upgrading! Haha! Then we had Gemeinderat! My last Wetzikon Gemeinderat! Then D's for dinner, before heading to Bhf with J and J to meet A to go to Winterthur for a fireside. It was actually a really good fireside. It kind of touched on a few topics- Ten Commandments, 5 franc piece (legit the 5 franc has so much religious imagery on it, it's crazy), being a parent and raising the next generation, etc. It was really good, plus there was a buffet after. Typical Mormon activity. (That's the real reason we went of course! Haha). Chatted for a bit with people and the Winti Missionaries. I love them! Sister Hofmockel and Elder Redmond are like the funniest kids ever. I'm gonna miss being in their district! Then home, well ... popped quickly to the chapel to pick up a bag of food which someone gave to us today, then home! Twas a pretty cool day!
Well, that was all this week! It's been a good few transfers and I could possibly even do a third if I had to, but I'm off to Vienna and I'm beyond excited for that! Well, have a brilliant week everyone!
Ich hab euch echt lieb,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Woche 84 von 102- Tchüss Scöne Schwiez, Hallo Wien!
Grüezi wohl!
Wie immer, Montag ist P-day! So we basically spent most of the day in Winterthur with the Winti missionaries. We are allowed a district p-day once a transfer, so seen as this was our last chance to do one, we just organised to get together among ourselves. We just got together at the Winti Gemeindehaus and spent the time there chilling in the basement. Actually, I don't think I've ever explained that; so buildings in Switzerland all have basements ready for war, with like full on like giant bolted doors. It's crazy. Well, Winti Gemeindehaus has an enormous basement, so the Sisters bought Pizza for lunch and we ate, then we played games like little kids! We played Lava- like you know when you're a little kid and you like jump around the room on objects cause the floor is lava .. well we played that with a little twist. In this game we had a lava monster who is blindfolded and can actually try and grab you when you're on an object as well, but also the floor isn't always lava. The monster can turn the floor to lava for a few seconds whenever they want. Haha. It was pretty fun! Then we played hide and seek. Then we just all chilled and did some emails and stuff. Then we headed home. Our appointment fell out, so we headed to the apartment and did some area book work and calls and that was our p-day!
Dienstag was Interesting! So after study time we headed to Winterthur again for Distriktsversammlung. We also took one of the young men with us today, so we met him at Bahnhof and then took the bus to the chapel. The ZLs were at DM as well, which was fun! Then after lunch we headed back to our own area where we basically sorted the progress record for this past week, which we forgot to do and the ward leaders asked for a copy of it in Gemeinderat, so we sorted that. Then it was time to meet A and get to Insti. We were a bit late, but only missed the opening bit, so we got the entire class. This week was on the restoration of the Priesthood! It was a really good lesson. I'm gonna miss Zürich Insti. It's so good to be there. Like legit Züri has such a big Insti centre and then that was basically our day! I need to get packing though, tomorrow's my last chance before Thursday mornings beautiful 7hr 43min train ride!
Well, Mittwoch came along and I still hadn't packed a thing! So after studies we headed over to Stäfa to go to Sister R, as we made an appointment with her. We get there and realise we only have like 40mins for this appointment until we need to get the train to the next one. So we get there, speak, teach and then time is coming on and we tell her that we'll need to leave in 5 mins and we end up missing our train, so we get to the next appointment pretty late, but Bruder Z was totally fine about it. We had lunch with him and then helped him fix something. Then we quickly popped back home and to the shop, as I needed to get myself some Rivella to take with me and I wanted a little suitcase as well, as I normally just use a bag for the last few things that don't fit in my case, but going all the way to Wien- I don't want a bag, so I bought a mini case. Dropped it all off at the apartment, quickly changed my washing over before heading to Schw. M for Abendessen and to read in the BoM with her. Then home and packed. Got a call from the Winti Sisters and chatted with them for like ages and Flick said something really interesting about Obedience and how we need to be accountable to God 100%, even if you aren't 100% obedient, being accountable for it and reporting back, trying and maybe not always succeeding
shows your dedication. It's all about your dedication and accountability to God. That was pretty cool!
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| Transfer day at Bahnhof with Elder Vasicek |
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| Sis Flickinger, Myself and Elder Kilgore |
So today began early with getting ready, packing the last few things and then heading into Zürich to be there for 9.00uhr- that's basically when transfers begin in Switzerland. So we got to Bahnhof, said goodbyes to those going to München, then I bought myself some more Swiss stuff and food to eat on the train and a real Swiss watch- I finally got myself a SBB watch!! Then chilled and chatted until we needed to get on our train which left Zürich at 10.40uhr. Those on the train were myself, Elder Bensing and Sisters Hofmockel, Gudnason, Zink and Zomborszki. Oh mensch! It was such a long, but fun train ride and our train had a good amount of stops. We also drove right through Vaduz, Lichtenstein! Then through the Innsbruck area (that was just beautiful) and through Salzburg where Bensing, Zink, Hofmockel and Gudnason got off the train, as they were going to the Salzburg Zone .. and that took about 6hours.
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| Passing through Lichtenstein |
Then Zomborszki and I had another 2 hours until we got to Wien, so we played a card game called Skipp-bo, or something like that. There was a couple near us who were going on a trip to Budapest, as the train goes all the way there, so Zomborszki starts speaking to them about things to do in Budapest, as she is Hungarian and all. Then we finally get to Wien Meidling Bahnhof, manage to get all of our cases off the train and just waited on the Gleis until our companions and the ZLs and STLs came to meet us and help with everything. Oh mensch, it was so cool! Lyman and Mitchell are the ZLs (they were both in my MTC group) and the STLs are Sister Freeke and her comp (Freeke is British and we got to know each other a bit in Switzelrand before she got moved to Austria like 5 transfers ago- so that was cool seeing her again). So then we travel to our apartment, which is just typically the top floor and has no lift, but it's a big apartment and we have the Wien Int'l Elders living with us as well, so that's pretty cool! Theres me, Elder Brady, Elder Meiners and Elder Threlkeld- all Americans except me, but it's cool!
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| Our Apartment Selfie in Vienna |
Then I unpacked, had Abendessen and we planned for tomorrow. Then the Sisters called us! We have Sisters in this area- my first Sister and Elder area! Plus one of the Sisters are British- Sister Jest! I know her from Switzerland as well and she dies at the end of this transfer, but I still have some Britts in the zone so that's pretty awesome, but I'm dead after that 8hr journey, so for today that is that. I'm excited for my first full day in Wien tomorrow!
So the day began with getting ready- It's crazy being in a 4-man apartment with just 1 bathroom, but somehow it worked out! So we left at 8.00 to go and Anmeld me and we get there and it turns out they need the form stamped by the mission as well, so that was a wasted journey, so then we popped by the chapel to move a whiteboard upstairs for this evenings' thing, before popping back home. It's crazy though- like legit, the chapel is right opposite the apartment, it's awesome! So then home to do studies! After studies we had mittagessen before doing weekly planning! Typically first one of the transfer lasts like forever. Then we headed to an appointment, which fell out and he told us to come by tomorrow, so we headed back and did a bit more planning before going to this Fireside type thing this evening. I am loving it here- Vienna is amazing and even then we haven't been into the centre yet!
What a Samstag! So after we finished studies we headed over the road, to the chapel to put some tables away from last night, which we said we would do. Then we popped back home to sort lunch, but like there was no space in the kitchen to do it, so we went out and grabbed a Dönner- Dönners over here are like Chicken meat ones, not Dönner meat ones. They are so good! Then we popped to the Insti Centre! Like, it is sooooo cool! Here in Wien they have an actual seperate building for Institute, which is like in the centre of Vienna, right behind the Wien Rathaus. So there we met a group of our investigators and we spoke about Scripture study. Then we waited a bit whilst doing a bit more weekly planning for another investigator to come by. Then after him, we headed out again to the guy we were supposed to have yesterday, but who changed the appointment. He wasn't even there again! Well, then we did a load of finding and got a potential or two from it! Then we headed over to the Rathaus where we were supposed to meet another investigator- and it was so cool! Like there's 3 ice skating rinks set up outside with stalls and stuff- kind of like an end of winter market or something. It was so cool, but he never turned up, so we headed back to the Centre as we needed to sort a few things out like print our ticket off for the train next Friday. Then we headed home and that was basically our day!
Meine erste Sonntag in der Gemeinde Wien 1.... What a day! Well, church begins here at 9.00 so we got there at like 8.40 to meet and greet. The ward seems pretty cool! Plus one of my MTC teachers live in this ward and there's a returned missionary who I knew from back when I was in Bern and she was in the same zone who is now living in Wien as an Opair, so it was pretty cool to see her again. Plus, I made her feel super old cause back then she had 3 transfers till she went home and now I am at that part of the mission. Anyways.... Sacrament meeting was good, I got up and introduced myself and bore my testimony and stuff. Then we had the investigator class which the GML does each week, then before Priesthood we were asked to come into FHV to give a missionary moment, which was weird cause the Sisters are also there, so like we gave ours, then the Sisters gave theirs and yeah. Then socialising afterwards before goi to Schw. K with the Sisters and a couple of other members for Mittags. It was cool and the Sisters gave the spiritual thought about 'The worth of souls is great in the sight of God'. It was actually really good! Then after that we did a few vorbeis, before heading home and doing studies .. and that was basically our day! It was fun! We have some pretty cool Sisters here! And living in a 4 man is actually real cool! We have fun! Plus, we have Momma Threlkeld! Hahhaa! Brady and I just call him that cause like legit he'll always clean up after everyone even if they aren't finished yet and he makes everybody's bed in the morning! It's the best! Haha! Wien is awesome! Like this city just has some beautiful charm about it!!!
For now that is it! Have a brilliant week!
Alles Liebe,
Elder Ammon Robertson xxxxxxxxxxx
