Week Thirteen

So I am not really sure how long this email is going to be, I am trying to think of everything that happened this week and I am really having a hard time remembering, this whole week feels like a blur.  We were all over the place this week,  I dont think that we spent a single day just in Hagan.  This week we traveled to Breckerfeld, Iserlohn, Lüdensheid, Frankfurt, Dortmund, and Herna.  We had a very busy week, and it seems like it never stops, this coming up week we have two more meetings, and two splits. So we are basically always busy.

But this week we had a bunch of super awesome meeting, both with investigators and with other missionaries.  We met with a family from Hungry, and they are just the coolest family ever.  They were professional theater dancers here in Europe, and now the husband is trying to become a director, and he actually applied for the possition at the theater in Anchorage, Alaska.  That was pretty cool, but right now they own a fitness studio and sports rehab center. That was such a cool appointment, and I am super excited to be meeting with them again this week.  We also met with a man who owns his own recording studio.  He is from Togo, Africa, and he goes to Africa all the time to do charity music recordings for people there who want their music on a CD.  It has been alot of fun meeting with him. We have investigators from Morroco, Poland, Togo, Germany, Hungry, and just everywhere.  It has been so much fun.

This past wednesday, we had the chance to go to Frankfurt for a meeting for all the new missionaries and thier trianers.  It was a blast!  I got to see all of my friends from the MTC and hear all thier stories.  I know that we have only been out for like a month now here in the field, but we could honestly talk for the whole 5 hours that we were at the meeting, and we still didn't talk about everything.  You just have so many incredible experieces here on a mission it is so much fun.  And President Schwartz is so inspiring.  I really feel his love just being in the same room as him.  He loves all the missionaries so much,  I really couldn't ask for a better mission president, he is the best.  

But speaking of amazing leaders.  We found out this week that President Thomas S. Monson is coming to Frankfurt on October 21st!!! I am so excited! We are not quite sure if he is going to do anything specifically for missionaries, but the bishop called us and told us to keep our schedual free, because the whole ward is going down, and we can get a ride with them!  I am so excited!

Then this week we had another zone conference.  This one was focused on having a 20 lesson week.  It was alot of fun.  It is alway good to meet with other missionaries.  It just streangthens your testimony and gets you excited to work hard.  Plus it is always fun to hear what other missionaries are up to and about the sucess that they are having in their areas. 

I had my first opportunity to do service this week.  We helped build those stands that they attach new trees to so that they can help them grow.  I am not sure what they are called.  Then we also cut a bunch of their old wood for them, so that they can have some fire wood for the winter.  Which was primarily my job.  I had spent about an hour and a half cutting all this wood, working super hard... And then the member that we were helping comes over to help me finish up, and does one log, and then realizes that there is a better way, goes and grabs the table saw and finishes everything in a matter of minutes.... Yep, I pretty much just used a handsaw for almost two hours for no reason... haha. But it was alot of fun.

The last big thing that happened this week was stake conference.  We went up to Herna for stake conference, and here in germany, apparently they take the work conference litterally.  We met in a giant conference hall, and I felt llike we were at a buisness meeting.  The speakers came up to the stage to talk, it very strange.  But it was two hours straight of me trying to understand german, which was great practice.  It is coming along, I am pretty sure that I can understand just about everything. Or atleast peice togther everything.  But unfortunantly I still sound like an idiot while speaking.  Haha. 

We have to go catch a train to Seigen, so I have to go, so sorry if this letter seems rushed to end,

Love,

Elder Blackley