Week 10

Another week and I'm still alive! 

I've been here almost four weeks and I'm still surprised by how many people smoke here. Holy cow! It's crazy. If I come home smelling like cigarettes don't be alarmed. Every once in a while Sister Kearl and I will smell something pretty jankety and we're like that's probably drugs.....so special.

The view to our walk to get groceries this morning.
So beautiful!

We met with a lot of the members this week. We have the primary program this sunday and we are having a street display this saturday about Family History with invites to the program the next day. Our ward mission leader made these huge old fashioned photos of families with the faces cut out so people can take pictures with their faces in them. So funny. I will send pics next week. Our GML (ward mission leader) is funny. He told me that my mom emailed him and was like "take care of my little angel." and he looked at me and was like "not so little....very tall." haha!

Nutella is so much better here. I have an addiction.

This has just been one of those weeks where everyone has made fun of my German. Ok....thank you. We were at a member's home and the dad served his mission in England so his English is really good. He was talking to me in the German and I was kind of slow to respond because I was thinking...obviously. And he was like "should we be speaking in English." so sassy!! I was like "Nein....I must practice." Then while I was saying the prayer his daughter accidentally stabbed him in the eye with a pencil and he had to go to the hospital. I'm not going to say it was a coincidence but.......

My Nutella facial hair. Out of control....it was a long day.......

This week we had our weekly district meeting in Siegen because two of our elders in our district live there. It's about a two hour train ride away. Sister Kearl and I had an important apt. back in Dortmund right after our meeting. But our train was late and it took for ever to get there.

We left our apartment at 8 am, got to Siegen at 12, went to the meeting for 15 min, and then turned around to head back to Dortmund. We got on the train and then we got a text from our apt. and she had to cancel. We got back to apt at 4pm. So it was just an 8 hour adventure for a 15 minute meeting. I feel like that kind of stuff happens a lot. It's kind of hilarious! Learning to go with the flow.....

One of the member's dogs....I'm obssessed.

Yesterday at church bishop's wife came up to me with some sheet music. She wants me to sing the descant for this song some women are singing next week. I was like "ok I will try." We practiced after church and it is so high! So hilarious! And it makes even more hilarious when it is in German.
Well I'll let you know how that goes. 

I don't know it's name. I just call it "Hund" haha!

Sister Kearl and I stumbled upon a new Mormon Message.
It's by Elder Holland and I really like it:
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2714780496001

I was reading a talk by Elder Scott and it was about getting answers to our prayers. He said we should be grateful for when God doesn't immediately answer our prayers because it gives us an opportunity to grow and learn. I've never thought about it that way before. I'm trying to be more grateful for the opportunities when I'm not necessarily being led by the hand. It means that the Lord trusts me to make a decision and to learn from it.

It's really hard as a missionary because you always think you are going to get these huge revelations about who to talk to or what road to take. But sometimes we just have to take the first step on our own.
And it is comforting to know that he won't let us go down the wrong path for too long :)

Sunset view outside our apartment window.

I love you all! Thank you so much for the emails! It is so great to hear from you and sorry if I don't get back to you right away! It is so comforting to have support back home. Oh and thank you Joni Sherman for my first piece of real mail in Germany! Elder Kent was like "Sister Madsen, did Elder Weidmann give you your letter?" and I was like "No! Elder Weidmann, Wo ist meinen Brief?!" It may have taken a while to get to me but I got it!
Thank you! It made me smile :)

Love you and think of you often!

Sister Madsen