Kate of the Desert

Showing posts with label Sister Selph. Show all posts

At 6:30 the alarm beeps and I roll out of bed. I lay on the floor to do some sit ups - this is always dangerous because it's easy to fall back asleep - but I manage to get a decent workout in.

7:00 hits and I rummage through the cupboard for music to listen to while we get ready. I discover an old CD from our member Teodora. Oh yes! I think. There is only one song recorded: her playing a funky-beat "Come Thou Fount" on the synthesizer.

8:00 is Personal Study during which I finish the Old Testament. During companion study at 9 we discuss some of the really deep questions we have been asked by a young guy we are meeting with. Then during language study, we watch some of "The Testaments" in German before individually studying grammar/vocab.

11:00 we make a big lunch since we won't get home till late. At noon we head out to an appointment. In the subway station we are flagged down by a family. We can tell they are American Mormons because - well, we can just tell.

Just as we arrive at the center for our lesson, she texts us to cancel. Alright, spontaneous finding time! We hardly take two steps into the nearby park before a man with a bottle of *unspecified clear liquid* shouts at us from the bench. Oh no. "I have a question for you missionaries," he says. Oh no oh no. "Do you believe that Jesus was black?" Alright, not what I expected. He then launches into some sort of story involving pyramids and pharaohs and gold and an underground society of Jews in Ethiopia. His friend rolls some *unspecified plant*. For the next 45+ minutes the conversation goes everywhere from how this man {btw the title on his card is Herr Dr. Dr. Jur.} roomed with the Crown Prince of Norway at Harvard, to the slave trade and how according to him Columbus was not the first to arrive in the New World, to how all people of a certain *unspecified* religion are evil {I try to politely argue this one but that only sparks a number of graphically violent stories}, to how America needs to step in and stop the corruption in Africa. At least the four of us are able to agree that the key to a better world is love, respect, and treating all humans equal no matter their skin color or nationality. They like us for sharing that opinion. By the end his friend has taken a Book of Mormon and Herr Dr. Dr. Jur. has given us his phone number and address without us even asking. As we leave, they say, "Don't forget the underground church in the Ethiopia!"

At 14:30 we have an appointment with an elderly couple in our ward. The husband is too old to attend, but boy is he still a pistol. He likes to greet us in different languages, and he has a thick dialect. As a spiritual thought we talk about this weekend's upcoming Cultural Celebration and Temple Dedication which will be broadcasted from Freiburg. (We are so excited to be able to hear both President Uchdorf and Elder Bednar speak in German! Plus I know it will bring back many precious memories from my home temple dedication exactly two years before the day of my mission report date.) We are so happy to hear these members' strong testimonies as they talked about family history work. Afterwards, they surprise us with a meal - meat salad. Literally I think this sweet lady just dumped whole PACKS of processed lunch meat on our plates, chopped it up with raw onions, tomatoes and boiled egg and gave it to us. Seriously it's the most heaping portion I've ever seen, and we've already had a big lunch. We chit chat while trying our darndest to eat it with a smile. At first the conversation is great, but suddenly she starts telling us, in gruesome acted-out details, the horrors of the meat industry with its cruel treatment and slaughter of innocent animals. Doesn't help that I was vegetarian before I left on my mission. And mind you, she is the THIRD member to do this to us (to give us gigantor plates of super-meaty foods and whilst telling us scarring scenes worthy of Sinclair's "The Jungle" (#theirony). Finally I finish the food, and she asks if I would like more juice. "No thanks, I'm full!" She tops off my glass anyway. At
the end of our appointment, though, the couple is just beaming and she gives us the biggest hugs of gratitude for our company. That alone makes the stomach ache which will last for the next 24 hours worth it. "Buenas noches!" says the husband. "Spanish?" I say. "Nope, French!" "Well, I think it's Spanish too." "Nope," he protests. "Just French!" Ok, you win. Man I just love them!

16:00 we get to teach a German course. In honor of Sister Selph's trip to the doctor earlier this week, we give them a medical vocabulary list.

17:45 is frisbee with all the other missionaries. One of the guys from German course comes with us and even brings a friend. We invite a random man from the park and he also joins; he gives the elders his number so he can play again next week.

20:00 we our on our way home. Whilst waiting for the tram, we decide to get ice cream because tomorrow we are starting a diet from desserts (which for me will last until 10/10). This happens to be the same parlor where, when I was a golden, the guy serving me ice cream was super flirty and gave me a free cookie. Well what would you guess but AGAIN I am given a free cookie! AND I'M 70% CERTAIN IT'S A DIFFERENT GUY. I'm just dying inside. Of course his face falls when he starts reading my name tag and gets to the word "Kirche." I say thanks and flee.

21:00 we plan for tomorrow and then jammy time! For the rest of our free time we turn on the "Prince of Egypt" soundtrack and I start a watercolor painting of the story of Esther. 22:30 comes too fast but once I hit the pillow I crash. What a crazy day.

I love being a missionary.

Pics from our exchange last week:

Pictures form our trip to the Art History Museum:

Down in the south of Österreich lies a town of but 900 people where King Richard was held captive long ago. The land itself has been inhabited for thousands of years, as the winding Danube provides for lush green. As a desert child, I was of course ecstatic to hike through the forest up to the top of the mount, where the rolling grape vineyards and red-roofed city could be seen from the crumbled castle ruins. The surviving foundations were speckled with wild flowers of a thousand vivid varieties.

In the town below, cobblestone streets snaked between quaint cottages, and then there was

the monastery, impressive as any with the dainty blue tower and the chapel of pastel fresco.

We also had the chance to visit Krems, and then later that week was exchange in Wiener Neustadt ("Veener-Noy-shtot," translated as Vienna New City, even though it's not very new at all; we walked past an 800-year-old church right next to their apartment).

In Wiener Neustadt I had the chance to work with Sister Gudnasen from Iceland! I asked her a bazillion questions about Iceland and also about Denmark where she previously lived. We had a number of appointments together and were even surprise-treated to some ice cream by one of the cute young moms she has been meeting with! People are so nice. Seriously though, I was so amazed that when you say hello people there say hello back, because that rarellllyyyy happens in Vienna. Other than that, the rest of the week was comprised of finding, singing at the rest home, chilling with Baagii and Richard, and meeting with some amazing new people. Richard 1) loves the gospel and 2) always tells us about how he was Elvis Presley's lawyer, so when we told him some of the tough questions we've been recently asked, he was able to give us some excellent answers.

Weird Quotes of the Week:

- "The Plan of Salvation can be compared to Twilight." "Really?!" "No but I'm sure if you looked hard enough you could find something." -our GML. I will note that this is the second time he has brought up Twilight in casual conversation.

- One of the senior missionaries saw a guy coming through the door for institute. A look of panic crossed her face for a split second before she put on a smile and then through her gritted teeth said to us, "Oh no. Sonny Michael Jackson." We are still waiting for this backstory.

- Ok not exactly a weird quote, but someone asked me if my family comes from Italy... Cause apparently I look like it? I think I'm going to trust Sister Gudnasen a little bit more when she says I look Scandinavian.

Well, this week I will hit my 1/3 WAY MARK. I am SIX MONTHS OLD now! To my future missionary friends, here are some things I didn't know about, half a year ago before I stepped on that plane:

- Preparation day does not last the whole day.

- A lot of people will mistake you for Jehovah's Witnesses. Sometimes nuns.

- You will have THE WEIRDEST DREAMS.

- Even though it's terrifying, sometimes it's actually pretty fun to talk to strangers, even if all you get to talk about is casual things before they get off the tram. If they leave with a smile then that makes it so worth it.

- If you have an iPad, you can receive and read emails that people send you any day of the week as long as you have wifi. You just can't respond till Monday.

- No matter how much churchy music you listen to, you will still get random pop/theatre/other songs stuck in your head all the time. (However, some older missionaries tell me that they can't remember a lot of their favorite music anymore, so maybe this will change.)

- Wearing normal clothes like jeans is so exciting.

- You will start to love those weird cheesy church movies, even the ones for kids.

- You will no longer be a night owl.

- There is something called Book Trunkiness that kicks in every time you are at someone's house and see their giant bookcase.

- The mission veil is a real thing. You literally just forget stuff from pre-mission life.

- When you look at your pictures, it will no longer be about what you look like but about where you are / who you're with / the precious memory made. Maybe this is because you will no longer have social media to be constantly comparing the number of likes you have, or maybe it's because your perspective will really be broadened to things beyond superficiality, to things that really matter.

- You will meet people in your ward who become role models.

- The Spirit does not change no matter the language. You could be halfway across the globe and yet be with a family whose house is filled with the spirit, and just feel at home again.

- You will become a lot more grateful for everything.

- You will discover new opinions, new cultures, things that make you really reflect on what that you have been raised with.

- Your testimony will be seriously challenged, but oh how it will be strengthened! You will learn to love the scriptures during your hour of personal study each day, and your prayers will become so sincere. If you thought you treasured the gospel before, now it will truly become something immeasurably great.

XOXO.

Sister Lundgreen

The time is short today, seeing as we just returned from a lesson. We also visited a beautiful town called Dürnstein! (More on that next week, I promise it will be much more detailed.)

I've basically decided that the busier the week is, the harder it is to remember what went down. As a missionary, sometimes things get kind of hectic, with jam-packed schedules which are ALWAYS subject to change when you least expect it... But it's always an adventure, and never boring. We did everything from teaching to giving away cookies to playing fußball to scrubbing grout to visiting our wonderful members, and everything in between. We met two amazing young ladies, one of whom contacted us through ormon.org. Her love of God was such an example to us.

Quirks about Europe (at least what I've seen in Austria):

- Double decker trains

- Meat "salad"

- They decorate things with cacti. Cactus doesn't even grow here

- Everyone goes on vacation for weeks or months at a time and when I say everyone I mean even restaurants and other businesses

- If members go to America they usually visit Utah

-"Modest" advertisements are not a thing in the slightest... We shall leave it at that

- Everyone spends time with their kids at the park, it's so cute

- If you buy "American-style" pizza it always has canned corn & canned mushrooms

- People just wear traditional clothing (like lederhosen and dirndl)

- People will also wear logos without having any idea what they mean. For example, I got really excited when I saw a young guy with a Red Sox hat and told him that was so cool cause I used to live in Boston.... He had no idea what I was talking about. A lot of other missionaries have had similar experiences.

-People will ask you if you want to put ketchup on your taco

-At night you can hear cool Arabic music blasting from the cars below your apartment

- There are a million and one different ways to say goodbye in German.... People use ALL of them when you leave their door.

One of my favorite parts of serving a mission is getting to know those people with the biggest smiles. It is just so contagious. Sister Selph and I left a member's house near giggling because this sweet lady radiates joy from the inside out, despite what any of her

circumstances may be. This week I invite you to look for things to be happy about, and to be the kind of light in the world that can brighten other people's day. They will really remember you for it.

XOXO,

Sister Lundgreen

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