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. Blake aptly stated, "Well, your family seems to have managed to survive in your absence. They're carrying on." It was so funny.
The boys naturally talked about anime, League of Legends, and D&D, but what was so rad was their conversation about their own future plans. Elder Heilmann said he takes time on his PDay's to look up different advances in Materials Engineering and said that he wants to get a Master's or a Doctorate to become a Rocketeer/Rocket Scientist. He wants to study Materials Engineering and work for a rocket company to make rockets lighter and faster. He mentioned he would like to specialize in alloys, ceramics. and aerogels; carbon fiber aerogels. The eventual goal would be to work for NASA, Boston Dynamics, or Space X. The plan, for now, is to go to BYU-I for undergrad, BYU for graduate studies, then somewhere in Silicon Valley to gain some experience.
He did say that he misses his pastimes, "but, I am doing good things for Jesus. Just work for Jesus! He's a great employer."
Daily Doings
Elders Heilmann and Jones helped a new Sister to the Ward move on Thanksgiving day. She just moved to Germany from Albania, and so she had the Elders and one other person help her move into her new home. Elder Heilmann reports that his arms and hands are "toast" today and that he had "trouble opening a food package!" He is just entirely physically exhausted but happy doing service. He really enjoys physical activity and making a difference.
Missionary Work
In the refugee city of Krefeld, where he lives, the most success in sharing the Gospel is with his African friends. The same was true in Wiesbaden. Elder Heilmann has found that they tend to be more open to things of a spiritual nature. He and his companion recently met an African man named Igor, who goes by Chunpay. Elder Heilmann said of him, "He's a super awesome Christian man. When you say Christian, you can think of him." I love that! I can tell that the friends he is making are having a significant influence on him as a missionary and a Child of God.
Elder Heilmann said he is "practicing being bold." He approached Chunpay with, "I would love to teach you and share our religion. Then I invite you to pray about it; you will find out that it is true." He said that Chunpay was taken aback but was like, "GREAT!"
Some days they have one person to talk to, and other days they are just outside for 8 hours talking to no one. It's hard to talk to people, especially when they are not interested or just plain high on drugs. There are "a lot of high people in the streets," he says.
Quirky Germany
Krefeld is quaint but full of drugs and homeless people. At least, people who choose to live on the streets. Elder Heilmann told us of two homeless men; specifically, one that sleeps on the park bench totally high, the other man is called Mike the Bird Man. He screams at birds and chases people around, screaming at them like a zombie. Elder Heilmann said that "seeing people like this makes me sad."
Despite the cuteness of the pictures, Krefeld is apparently not as cute as Wiesbaden. Elder Heilmann said, "It's like oily, grimy squares that people live in. Lots of cigarette butts and poop." It makes him afraid to touch ANYTHING while walking in the street. He told us that meth makes you constipated, and people just poop on the roads.
They also have a lot of marijuana and, consequently, many munchie shops where you can find just about anything. One shop had Oreos and Cheetos, even.
He loves finding fun things to eat in Germany. He just bought some profiteroles at Aldi! The town has Aldi, Lidl, Edeka, and other stores like Penny Market, Norma, and Globus, which is like a massive Costco.
Living in Germany has many quirks. Since they are close to the Netherlands in Krefeld, any train heading in the Netherlands' direction has directions repeated in Dutch.
Like I mentioned earlier, Americans are well-loved in Germany! They have a Dodge car dealership in Krefeld that has a bunch of American flags being hung like banners instead of flags, which Elder Heilmann says is "just weird." The American flag pattern is just super popular to wear in apparel too. Also NASA. NASA and American flag hoodies are being worn everywhere.
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