Elder Heilmann: Adventures in Serving the Lord

The call this week was so much fun.  Elder Heilmann got to call us the day after Thanksgiving, and since we were at his Aunt Emily's house, he got to talk to a lot of the family and cousins.  It was pretty amazing.  I could see a spark of joy we had been missing for so long.  It was so good to see his smile even though it didn't always reach his eyes, but he looks better than last week.  Progress! One of the best conversations he had was with his cousin Blake.  Blake is older than Julian by 4 years, but they spent a great deal of their childhood hanging out together and taking yearly beach trips with their Nana.  It was fun to watch the playback of their conversation.   Blake mentioned that Elder Heilmann was halfway to halfway done with his Mission.  WOW!  I can't believe he has already been out that long!  We managed to have 2 of the 4 major holidays without him so far, even though it was strange without him there.  Blak...

Daily Doings I honestly wished that I could say that this week all was well and that Elder Heilmann has adjusted and is doing better. Unfortunately, that was not the case today. I saw my sweet son, and his light was definitely dimmed. He just got transferred to a new area, so he has a new companion, a new town, a new Ward, new apartment. Everything is new.  He just has never been great at handling change. It just takes time to adjust. He knows he will, in time. I just pray that not every transfer is this traumatizing.  Elder Heilmann expressed that his transfer experience was painful. He had a lot of time alone as he tried to get around Germany. He had two giant suitcases and had to walk up multiple sets of stairs to get to the rails. Elder Chamberlain's new companion showed up, and the two of them had to leave for their area. Elder Heilmann had to continue on his own to Krefeld, where his new companion would meet him at the train station and take him to his new apartment....

Daily Doings Elder Heilmann cut his own hair!  He bought the clippers and did it.  It's a good buzz.  He feels pretty proud of himself. I am too. What a cutie! The Elders were planning on going to a museum today, but Elder Heilmann had a bad headache, so he couldn't make it. He seems down in the dumps, actually, but he says it's just his headache. So, hopefully, that's all it is.  They did end up going on a hike, though, before the headache set it. They went to Neroberg . Elder Heilmann says that this part of Germany is very Roman, hence the name of the hiking area; Nero's Mountain.  It was a foggy hike.  It really reminded him of Washington fog.  In fact, most of the weather he has experienced has been very much like the Pacific NW.  Not my personal favorite weather pattern, and apparently not the German's favorite either.  They call these conditions nass Wetter.  It literally means 'wet weather' but has the negative connotation of bein...

So, Tim upgraded my situation and downloaded a SCREEN RECORDER for me to use during our calls. I can't tell you how much easier it is to just answer his call rather than answer the computer and hold my phone to record our calls. Look, Ma! No hands! So blessed! I am just so beyond grateful that I not only get to receive a call from my sweet Missionary every week but that I also can record it and write about our experiences so we can have this journal for years to come. Daily Stuff Elder Heilmann is doing well. I can still tell he is a bit homesick, so I used the German Amazon, my new favorite thing, to buy him some ingredients to make Savannah Pralines. When we lived in Savannah, Georgia, Elder Heilmann fell in love. Not just with the town and the people but the Savannah Candy Kitchen. He thought about becoming a candy maker when he grew up and started practicing making candy. I thought it would lift his spirits to have something fun from home, so I started purchasing all the necess...