First full week in Germany was a bit of a doozy. Food poisoning, train ride, District Counsel, opposition, and some homesickness. We get to talk to Elder Heilmann tomorrow so there will be another update in a few days, but let's revisit last week.
Let's start with the gross stuff. FOOD POISONING! Ugh. Elder Heilmann was exhausted from his early morning flight and then a 10 hour delay in Dallas, Texas so when he was finally on his international flight to Germany he was a bit out of it. He was given a Chobani yogurt and immediately dug in. "It was chunky and gross but I was so hungry, plus jet lag, plus stress..." enter stomach cramps and fatigue. :(
"I've been waking up, I eat something and then I immediately have to lay down and fall back asleep because it hurts. I'm super nauseous, hard to balance, so I've lost a few pounds because I am not able to eat anything. BUT, I'm better now...mostly."
Elder's Heilmann and Tillett took a train to Koblenz for a District Counsel Mtg. They had a great time on the train and took these beautiful pictures out of the window while traveling for several hours. Elder Heilmann says that so far, Germany feels like a historic downtown. "All brick roads, smooth brick roads- not like Savannah", he says, and he is LOVING IT!
He was also able to participate in some street contacting in the local park downtown and he saw lots of sunbathers (all clothed, thank goodness) and people having picnics. He is really enjoying the German pace of life. Stores are mostly closed on Monday's as it's a day off for most people there.
The food in Germany is his cup of tea, for sure. Lots of bread, cheese, and meat. His Grandpa Heilmann would be happy to know he has had many a ham sandwich for breakfast already, like a good German boy. He is also tickled that apple juice is cheaper than bottled water! That really makes his day. German mint chocolate is so cheep and better than anything he has ever tried. It's around $0.50 USD. He had his favorite sandwich for lunch on Pday, a tuna fish sandwich. They call it
Tune-fish. ;) Also, KFC there is allegedly better than in America and he is excited to try it.
Elder Heilmann had an uncomfortable experience while in Koblenz. They were there with other denominations in a religious fair type of event. He was confronted by a 60 year old Christian man that looked like Paul Hollywood, yelling at him in German. This man was against the Book of Mormon and felt he needed to yell at the Elder's for it. Elder Tillett calmly said, "If you don't like the Book of Mormon and feel like the Bible is the only book from God, then you can leave." It completely put the man at ease and he decided that yes, he could leave...and he did.
Elder Heilmann said that street contacting is just not his "cup of tea" It's hard for him. He said, "It feels like I'm selling my church and that's just lame and I don't like it. But teaching is fun." He has already taught 2 people. He said he's not nervous to talk to people, he just doesn't know what to say. But he then followed that up with, "but I am not here for me."
I (Mom) shared with Elder Heilmann a quote from Jared Halverson's podcast Unshaken Saints. He said something to the effect of, "Don't point out other peoples darkness, share with them your light." He really appreciated the reframing of the situation. We also talked about how he just needed to practice and get better at seeing a need and filling it. He is there to share Christ with his fellow brother's and sister's. He is not selling Christ, he's sharing Christ. And what a wide variety of brother's and sister's are there. Elder Heilmann said that there are "a lot of people from Turkey, and a lot of Muslims, and some Asians. Mostly Germans." To which I said, "So it's basically like living in DC?" ;)..."Ya", he chuckled, "basically."
His motto right now is: "I'm trying not to freak out. One moment at a time. It will be over before I know it. I am not here for me." Daddy and I are excited to see how that motto will change over the next two years. We know he can do it. He does too, he's just scared. But he did say that he's "been able to hear the Spirit like super crazy easily" lately.
He shared with us that on Wednesday night he and Elder Tillett had dinner with an American military family. The Spirit prompted him to prepare a certain scripture before leaving for the appointment and a moment happened where it was perfect timing for him to share what he had prepared. He thought that was really amazing. Also, he was very fond of the German AND American electrical outlets that the Military housing had.
The Elder's were planning on leaving that night, Thursday, or the next morning (Friday) to spend a week up North helping clean up flood victims homes. We are looking forward to hearing from him tomorrow. Hopefully, he will get a chance to call us in the midst of the flood clean up. But if not, we know that he is doing the Lord's work and all will be well.
Elder Heilmann is really missing home right now a lot. He said that he misses family, playing and talking with his best friend, Hunter. But, he does have a piano in his apartment and he finds solace in playing it when he gets the chance. He is not able to access music unless it's an MP3 that is emailed to him....and that is appropriate...so, I took some time to send him a play list.
If anyone would like to send him and MP3, please check with us first so we can make sure it's Mission approved. But, he would love to hear from any and all individually via email. Letters would be great too. We are just waiting on his physical address. He can access his email daily, but can only reply on Pday (Thursday's).
Lastly, if you would like his personal weekly updates, please comment below or send me an email at: oeheilmann@gmail.com You can also email me for Elder Heilmann's personal email.
Until tomorrow, that is all we have for now. We hope you enjoy this update and we look forward to sharing more of Elder Heilmann's adventures in serving the Lord.
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