MISSIONARY WORK
Elder Heilmann shared that he is 1/8 done with his Mission and the Sisters that arrived at the same time as he are 1/6 done. Weird thought! The hope is that he stops keeping track, and I am sure it's just for fun as he declares that he is having a GREAT time on his Mission.
Still, nobody to teach this week, which continues to be discouraging. But his German is getting better every day, and he said he can now understand most conversations. "The Gift of Tongues is REAL!" he declared during our chat.
One of the things he is learning as he studies and practices is that the best way to introduce the Book of Mormon to people is to say, "The Bible has prophets. The Book of Mormon has prophets, too. Make the connection rather than saying 'In Mosiah in the year etc.'" It helps people understand what the book is better than any other approach he has used so far.
Speaking of approaches, he got the chance to sit down with his Mission President and do mock discussions. After Elder Heilmann was done with the discussion, he popped his knuckles. President Hammon stopped and looked at Elder Heilmann and said, "You know that's annoying, right? It's like popping chewing gum. Don't do that." Elder Heilmann said, "It reminded me of when I would crack my neck around Sister Daines, and she would gag." Nothing like your Mission President telling you you are doing something annoying to make you quit quickly! ;)
Elder Heilmann just LOVES his Mission President so much and respects him. He is so grateful to him, and for all the opportunities he is having. The big highlight opportunity next week is that Elder Bednar is coming! Even though Germany is closed, Elder Heilmann said it's closed chiefly for people moving there. Still, at any rate, Elder Bednar got permission to enter the country and will be visiting with the Mission next week. Elder Heilmann is so excited about that.
He is bummed about a MISSED opportunity, though. A lot of Afghan Travelers are arriving at the Ramstein Military Post. Other missionaries were already in the Post area. One of them had Military ID and was able to get the other missionaries on Post to help with the transition of the incoming families. Elder Heilmann was bummed he couldn't go there to help, but he knows he will have loads of other opportunities to serve. They may be able to do a Rein Cleanup soon. Crossing fingers.
He is getting better at writing in his journal. He tries to remember the key things and write those down but sometimes has to rely on his app called Area Book to recall what happened on any particular day. He said some journal entries end up being compilations of the last several days. He is hoping to improve.
FOOD
*"Milk looks funny here."
As any good Ogden knows, the food of an area is of great importance. Elder Heilmann's Papa taught him that. So, in true Ogden fashion, he told me of some of his food adventures this week.
Elder Heilmann was able to eat at a restaurant called Nordsee (North Sea). He said it reminded him of West Coast Washington, and he said it's like "a Gordon's Fisherman type of restaurant." That made me chuckle. I offered, "So, like a McGrath's?" He said, "What's that?" I said, "A fish house." He replied, "Ya! It was like that!" So...not like frozen 'fish' sticks at the grocery store. It sounds like a really yummy place.
Wiesbaden has a strong Japanese influence, and so he has ready access to sushi and rice buns full of bean paste or chicken. He declared it to be "SO GOOD!"
One shop he went to for sandwiches had a salad bar. One of the dishes on the salad bar was a stir fry. Probably a chow mein dish, by the way he described it. What was so funny about it was the dishes' label. It was called Asien Spagettisalat, translated that means Asian Spaghetti Salad. He couldn't stop laughing at the very visually accurate description of the dish. Hilarious!
LIFE IN GERMANY
*Elder Heilmann's personal desk and study space in his apartment.
Because Germany has closed again, no more new missionaries will be allowed to move there. All missionaries that were called there will temporarily be relocated to the States. Elder Heilmann is SO GLAD he is already there and is allowed to stay. They are very COVID aware and don't touch or shake hands, and masks are still required everywhere. Elder Heilmann is only allowed to wear medical-grade, disposable masks, so now I can stop worrying about how many cute masks he has with him.
Another health-conscious thing they do that seems a little strange is that they don't use air conditioning because they think it will shorten their life span. Hm. Interesting. They do, however, use heating by way of boilers and radiators.
While we were talking, Elder Heilmann saw a fly and said, "German flies are weird. They don't fly! They just walk everywhere." I dryly remarked, "They're too hot! There's no air conditioning." That made him laugh.
Elder Heilmann remarked that there are no stores like Walgreens with pharmaceuticals and other non-medical items. They have stores that carry just medicine, supplements, and other medical supplies. He said that all the drugs and supplements have the same label all throughout Germany and that it has "proven to me several times why it's the drug capital of the world. There are so many different medicines here, and it's all fully stocked....everything you need."
Elder Heilmann has noticed that people with mental health issues and the elderly are not put in homes or "locked up," as he put it. He had one encounter with an elderly, senile lady drinking a coke outside of the fish house. He said she would forget she was drinking one and would get another. At the time he saw her, she had 4 glasses she was drinking out of. He said she was very sweet and said hi to them as they passed. He also said, "based on my very limited medical knowledge, it seemed that some of her nerve myelinations had deteriorated as her movements were very jerky."
There is a homeless man that comes to the Church every Sunday to beg the Bishop for money. He doesn't attend the meetings but just comes to beg. It's sad. Elder Heilmann said that he sings very loudly and unintelligibly on the train too. Oh and also, trains are now boring. He has to travel to Frankfurt often, and the train ride is "a boring hour long."
All the cities he has been to, so far, remind him of "D.C....the sketchy part." Human poop on the sidewalks and the road. It's very sad. Elder Heilmann said there is a lot of meth in the area and LOTS of smoking. "Everybody drinks. Everybody smokes...EVERYBODY drinks. EVERYBODY smokes...not kidding. Everybody. The 12-year old's smoke! They saw some 14/15-year-old kids doing marijuana in the park. The kids said to Elder Heilmann, "It's medicine!" He replied, "It's not." They said, "Ya, you're right. hahaha," To which he replied, "Maybe you should stop!" "Nahhhh. You want some?" Elder Heilmann said it just made him feel very sad.
He went on to say, "I don't think there's anywhere except the Church and my apartment that doesn't smell like tobacco. They are good about not smoking in buildings or trains, but if you're outside, you probably can't go 10 min without smelling it. They have special glass buildings for people to smoke in, and sometimes they use them. The cigarettes they have there are really long, so they are just going at it. Some of them don't even breathe normal air. They just smoke all the time."
Other cultural differences are taking time to get adjusted to. Nudity and violence are swapped in Germany from America. Nudity is completely fine, and violence is completely shunned. For instance, the Avengers movies are rated R in Germany, but billboards of nude people are everywhere as well as homosexuality; ads of men holding each other. It's different, and he's adjusting. But apparently, the graffiti is super pretty, so there's that.
But other cultural differences are entertaining. For instance, Elder Heilmann was invited to attend the German Ward's Youth activity. It was apparently supposed to be "Funny Walks." He wasn't sure if that meant Monty Python funny walks or if he misinterpreted the activity. We will see!!
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
All in all, he is having a good time, although he is still struggling with what he calls "home grumpies." Not homesickness, just kinda grumpy sometimes. It's his first Holiday Season away from family, so I totally get it. With the Christmas Season already starting in Germany, I am sure it's at least a part of the grumpies.
Halloween is a big Holiday at the Heilmann house. Elder Heilmann said he may be allowed to call on Halloween if he talks to his Mission President. It's everyone's favorite Holiday, except for him. He said, "I'm like the black sheep of the family! I like Holiday's that invite the Spirit." It made me laugh. We love Halloween because we love to dress up and decorate and love all things spooky. ...just not Elder Heilmann. ;)
Emotional problems are also something that runs in the family, and Elder Heilmann is no exception there. He said, "We're having fun being teenage boys with emotional problems. A lot of Elders are not adults yet, and sometimes Elder Tillett gets to be at the butt end of it." Not fun, but they are all learning. He went on to say,
"Everybody, when you grow up, you grow up with a lens. That's the lens you grow up with, and then part of becoming an adult is smashing it. I'm very grateful to [my close friend] who smashed it for me. He's like, 'You say mean things to me.', and I'm like, I WHAT? So now I just pay attention. I can see. I woke up. I see what everything is now. Instead of me just being like, 'Mmmm, games, nothing else exists.' He's like, 'Grow up!' and I'm like, 'Yes sir! Will do. Thank you, sir'. But there are some Elders who just haven't, some Sisters too. More Elders than Sisters, but there are some crazy Sisters. There's one Sister that quotes Baymax to me. She quotes 'Big Hero Six to everyone!"
If you don't know who Baymax is, you should Google it! Elder Heilmann isn't allowed to use Google or any other search engine, so the way he "Google's" things is by looking at one of his many dictionary apps on his German phone. He wanted to look up chromyl chloride the other day, but only one of his dictionaries had it. I asked him why he wanted to look it up, and he said it was just on his mind. LOL, my little chemist. By the way, he tells me that it's a poisoning acid that looks like blood and causes cancer. Also, it turns into gas if it touches air, so it's stored in sealed-off glass ampules.
The more you know. ;)
Elder Heilmann would love to have pen pals, so if anyone would like to send him a personal email, he would love that. You can just let me know you would like the email, and I will get it to you. And his parting words were if you want to get good at German, do the stories on Duolingo.
Until next week!
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