We had technical difficulties for a few weeks and didn't get our chats recorded. :( Boo! But we picked up again on March 3rd!
This one was particularly funny. We mostly just chatted about nonsensical and totally random things. We ran the gamut from same-gendered attraction within the Church to telomeres and stem cells. Also that the metric system is so much better as is 'military' time.
One of my favorite experiences of this call was listening to the boys talk and share that they missed each other. It was really sweet. They shared silly voices and made each other laugh. Elmo and Donald's voices being among the most impressive!! The silly dialogs for "The Great British Bakeoff" done in British accents went on for quite some time, and it was for the books! So hilarious!! They made fun of the lack of AC in the tent but the request to still make meltable confections.
My favorite British dialog was: "Great British Baking Show, Season 9,998. You'll be working in pairs of three. One of you will be blindfolded. The other two will be dead...Start" Tristan's best one was "You must make a 10-layer wedding cake while being locked in an Iron Maiden" I seriously have the silliest and BEST family. They are thoroughly entertaining, and I could binge-watch that sitcom nightly.
Daily Doings
Missionary Work
The Elders have had a busy week of seeing lots of success and "tons of progress." Many of the friends want to read the Book of Mormon (door one), and so now they are teaching around ten people JUST in Krefeld as opposed to the one they were previously teaching.
This evening, the Elders went on splits with some members. They got permission to visit some inactive members, and Elder Heilmann will be companions with a 19-year-old for the night. The idea is that they can get the members of the Wards acquainted with the inactive members so that when Elder Heilmann and his companion leave, the inactive members will still have friends to connect to. Smart!
Elder Heilmann said that he witnesses miracles almost daily. One miracle they witnessed was meeting a man on the bus and reconnecting him to a long-lost friend! They were on the bus, and a man looked at them, and his eyes got all big and astonished. He came towards the Elder's and started speaking in broken German, asking about a Brother U. from Spain. He was ecstatic to find out that the Elders did indeed know Brother U. The gentleman said they were best friends and he had lost his phone and consequently all contact with Brother U. and he was dying to find him again. He is excited to go to Church and reconnect. It was amazing.
They also had a "massive awesome lesson and spiritual discussion with Ben." They could tell that Ben felt the Spirit maybe for the first time. Definitely stronger than he had ever felt it before. The Spirit was so strong, in fact, that Ben's nervous tortoiseshell kitty came out of perpetual hiding and snuggled with the missionaries! Elder Heilmann declared, "It was the Spirit!"
They are still working on getting Michael to the hospital. Their next idea is to call the Orthopedist to see if they can get some assistance to get Michael to the hospital. He can't sit in a wheelchair, so getting there is a real challenge. They plan to ask if a person can come to his house to get a service referral. They are working towards having spiritual conversations with him, but it's been a lot of cleaning and caretaking service so far. Michael did express a desire to read the Book of Mormon, so the Elders put reminder sticky notes all over his house.
Ukrainian refugees are flooding the area, as can be expected. One Ukranian family moved to Wasel, and the Elders there are helping them integrate. The Frankfurt, Germany Mission presently has around 12 American Missionaries that were in Ukraine and are now reassigned there. The Berlin mission has approximately 13 Ukrainian missionaries.
The transplanted Ukrainian missionaries shared that it's nice to be in Germany where you buy a Batman figurine and there is actually a Batman inside. They said they encountered a lot of problems with buying things in Ukraine. A Batman container with a Wonderwoman inside or nothing at all. Magic the Gathering card packs with all the rare cards taken out. They don't know how long it's been like that, but it is what they experienced.
The mission is growing and expanding. It's amazing how it's all working out. More missionaries are coming in because of this terrible war, but more areas are opening up simultaneously! Miracles. A few areas East of Dusseldorf just opened up, and Elder Chamberlain is there and is back in Elder Heilmann's Zone, so they get to see each other again, which is awesome. Elder Chamberlain was Elder Heilmann's 2nd field companion and his 3rd Mission companion. Elder Allen (in the MTC), Elder Tillet, Elder Chamberlain, Elder Jones, Elder Wright, and now Elder Lahman.
Elder Heilmann thinks he will likely be leaving Krefeld in 2 weeks since he has been there since November, so he is making the most of his time there. He hopes he goes somewhere in Bavaria around Christmastime to experience that, but we will see!
Yesterday, the Sisters he served with in the MTC hit their 9-month mark, so they put basketballs in their shirts and took pictures. It's their halfway point, as Sisters only serve for 18 months instead of 24. So, 9-month 'maternity' pics happened. So silly. I guess the Elders light a set of clothes on fire at their halfway mark. Elder Heilmann said, "I like my stuff! I don't want to set it on fire." lol
Later that same day:
They had to give up about 2 hours of Pday, so Elder Heilmann was able to call again afterwards and tell us all about the splits.
The 19 year old splits companion was really nervous and wasn't sure what to do, so Elder Heilmann explained it to him:
"We're gonna go ring her doorbell!"
"Why? That's so uncomfortable and awkward!"
"Ya! Let's do it."
Elder Heilmann is so enthusiastic about the Gospel and sharing Jesus that he giggled at the young man and reminisced on how incredibly awkward he felt when he started out. Now, he is just so used to it. It's second nature to him.
They rang two different sisters' doors, and both of them poked their heads out of their windows from about three stories up. So hilarious! They actually made one appointment to come back from that third-story window.
They also visited an older gentleman who loves talking to the Elders. He can't make it out to church because his body cannot make it down the stairs anymore, but he loves the Gospel and visitors. He says he would love to wake up someday and "just not be in my body." He has lived a great life and is ready to meet the Lord.
Quirky Germany
- The school systems in Germany is very different than from America. Elder Heilmann tried to explain it to me, but I think this does a better job then I could reiterate.
- word for cashew= cashewnuss, strawberry = erdberries, peanut= erdnuss
- Schwarz means black but also can mean like 'black sheep' if used in the adjective form. If you add an 'er' to the end, 'schwarzer', it's like adding an occupation/desctinction to the word. Schwarzer means black person as in skin tone. Adding just 'e' can refer to gender. Why is German so confusing??
- Elder Heilmann's favorite grocery brand is called Gourmet. They sell things like Belgian chocolate truffles, truffle oil, whole vanilla beans, and squid ink.
- Curry Ketchup is a thing and is apparently so delicious! I have been recommended to find it immediately....so I did.
- You get 25 cents a bottle for plastic if you bring it back to the store.
- One of the young women in the Ward made a cake and forgot how many eggs she put in and ended up making it the American way. Elder Heilmann loved it and the mom was like,"this is so gross!" LOL German cakes are fluffy and not as sweet as the American, fudgy and super sweet versions.
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