Grüßi!!
Well, Im here and it is getting HOT!! 25° today and rising. We`ve had thunderstorms all weekend and today it decided to be a scorcher. Saw a neat shirth today that reminded me of home . Picture this - - -green John Deere logo with yellow writing and instead of a deer jumping over John Deere, it says Austria and has a cow jumping over the words. Or thigs one - - A picture of a road sign with a Kangaroo on it saying `no Kangaroos in Austria`...I guess people get it mixed up with Australia or something.
Mom\Dad, I got your letter and card. Thank you!! I really needed a birthday pickup. Some of the members in Ulm had given me cards and a small present (the makings of a party complete with cake and candles) all of which I was not allowed to open till my birthday, but other than that, there was no celebration. My companion didn`t know about my birthday so I just had a quiet single-celebration while she was in the shower (1 hr long).
VIenna is a huge city and today was really my first chance to see it. The city is super complicated because everything is split into districts which are posted before the street. For exampl 17 HOrmayrgasse 55 means it`S in the 17th district building 59 on Hormaygasse. When people give us addresses, they always say their district first. Confuses me when I see the address because I th ink American where the house number comes before the Street name. NOt so in Europe. My comp (Sis Carroll) has been super sick for the past couple of days so we haven`t been out too much. Lots of personal study time.
We met up with the other Sisters today and saw the Stephan`s Dome and the opera house before they had to leave. As we were walking through this giant archway I saw some little TV screens and they were advertising the Lipizzaner horses Dad asked about. I remember watching the movie about them a lot as a kid. The world ward 2 stories about them fascinated me. They aren`t in season yet till July 12th so hopefully I`ll get to see them for you. We walked around and saw a lot of really gorgeous buildings. Sis Carroll has been serving here off and on (between here and the office) for 9 mon so she really didn`t want to go in and see anything so maybe I`ll get to go in to the Palaces and such another time. Maybe I`ll just wait till December...hint hint. I`m not exactly sure what there is to see here so any tips and ideas (researched or heard of) are greatly appreciated.
We are in charge of the International ward and most of the investigators are Africans (just like in München). It`s super hard to teach in English after only speaking German for 11 months. The church has a HUGE pipe organ and I made friends with the organist and he told me where the keys are and gave me permission to play anytime. CONNECTIONS!!! At church on Sunday, I was asked to say a prayer and after I started, no words came to my mind. I stopped and thought for a minute. When I finally sat down someone leaned over and said that I`d prayed in German. Whoops! Luckily, there is a newly baptized couple from Iran who don`t speak English so I got to translate into German for them. That was nice. The bishop is from Australia and most of the members (I didn`t get to meet too many) are either Fillipino or African. We are splitting the ward with a set of Elders but our load is still super heavy. Oh wait, nevermind. We just barely got a call from the Elders saying there`s been some kind of problem and they are going to München immediately, never to return and we are now in charge of the whole area. THE WHOLE CITY OF VIENNA AND EVERYONE IN IT WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH. My high strung-easy to stress out-comp is freaking out. We`ll see how this turns out. She doesn`T think things will be fine even though I keep assuring her they will. Pday got cut in half because of the drama. I think I will go nuts pretty quick.
I`m coming up with things to write while I wait for Sis Carroll to finish up so we can switch computers and I can add pictures. THis comp doesn`T have USB port.
Get this - our apartment has a washing machine AND a dishwasher. That is super rare not only here in Austria, but especially in the mission. Yesterday, it took me 20 min to figure out how the thing work ssince I haven`t used one in SOOOOOO long. Really fun for me while my comp sleeps.
There are 7 sets of missionaries here plus one Senior Couple (named Wade....Thomas`s are in Switzerland as of a month or so). Lots of work to do. There are 5 wards in total, one of which is English-speaking. Instead of buses, we travel by streetcar (looks similar to the ones in Meet Me in St.Louis) and they ding and dong all the time. Some are old and rickety while others are low to the ground and quiet. I prefer the tall rickety. Makes me feel like I`m going back in time. It`s odd, but for a city so international and up-to-date they still use old conveniences. Really neat!
(This transfer ends July 4th)
Schöne Grüße von mir and lots of love of course
SISTER CHOCOLATE
Ron and Sydna - The ward is hopping!!! The Vincents announced on Sunday that they will be switching into a German ward come September. I didn`t find anyone who knew you as far as I could decipher. Will keep trying!! What were your favorite sites?? secret tourist tips? We took over where the senior Sisters used to live (17. Hormayrgasse 59).
Mom and Dad - the sad little girl in my pictures form last week is Tabitha Blaschta. She was sooo sad that I was leaving that she wouldn`t leave my side. After sacrament meeting whenever someone is leaving, the branch stands and sings `God be with you till we meet again`. Tabitha heard the song and saw me standing up front and came running up to me tears streaming down her face. It was really sad. With the birthday money from Gma and Gpa I bought a small Ulmer Spatz (the mascot of the city...A sparow with a twig in his mouth). (I`m going to use the rest to buy a German and Austrian flag so I have one.)It`s the legend that when the people were building the Münster (giant church), they loaded the logs crosswise on the wagons. Then they`d have to stop and unload them before going through the city gates then reloading them. One day, there was a sparrow with a twig in his mouth that flew to its nest but had to go through a small hole first. He stopped and twisted the twig so it was sitcking straight forwards and went in the hole. THe people learned that there is always more than one way to do things. That has become my sort of motto as I`ve constantly had new companions and areas. It`S helped me realize what I need to do to make things work out.
Well, Im here and it is getting HOT!! 25° today and rising. We`ve had thunderstorms all weekend and today it decided to be a scorcher. Saw a neat shirth today that reminded me of home . Picture this - - -green John Deere logo with yellow writing and instead of a deer jumping over John Deere, it says Austria and has a cow jumping over the words. Or thigs one - - A picture of a road sign with a Kangaroo on it saying `no Kangaroos in Austria`...I guess people get it mixed up with Australia or something.
Mom\Dad, I got your letter and card. Thank you!! I really needed a birthday pickup. Some of the members in Ulm had given me cards and a small present (the makings of a party complete with cake and candles) all of which I was not allowed to open till my birthday, but other than that, there was no celebration. My companion didn`t know about my birthday so I just had a quiet single-celebration while she was in the shower (1 hr long).
VIenna is a huge city and today was really my first chance to see it. The city is super complicated because everything is split into districts which are posted before the street. For exampl 17 HOrmayrgasse 55 means it`S in the 17th district building 59 on Hormaygasse. When people give us addresses, they always say their district first. Confuses me when I see the address because I th ink American where the house number comes before the Street name. NOt so in Europe. My comp (Sis Carroll) has been super sick for the past couple of days so we haven`t been out too much. Lots of personal study time.
We met up with the other Sisters today and saw the Stephan`s Dome and the opera house before they had to leave. As we were walking through this giant archway I saw some little TV screens and they were advertising the Lipizzaner horses Dad asked about. I remember watching the movie about them a lot as a kid. The world ward 2 stories about them fascinated me. They aren`t in season yet till July 12th so hopefully I`ll get to see them for you. We walked around and saw a lot of really gorgeous buildings. Sis Carroll has been serving here off and on (between here and the office) for 9 mon so she really didn`t want to go in and see anything so maybe I`ll get to go in to the Palaces and such another time. Maybe I`ll just wait till December...hint hint. I`m not exactly sure what there is to see here so any tips and ideas (researched or heard of) are greatly appreciated.
We are in charge of the International ward and most of the investigators are Africans (just like in München). It`s super hard to teach in English after only speaking German for 11 months. The church has a HUGE pipe organ and I made friends with the organist and he told me where the keys are and gave me permission to play anytime. CONNECTIONS!!! At church on Sunday, I was asked to say a prayer and after I started, no words came to my mind. I stopped and thought for a minute. When I finally sat down someone leaned over and said that I`d prayed in German. Whoops! Luckily, there is a newly baptized couple from Iran who don`t speak English so I got to translate into German for them. That was nice. The bishop is from Australia and most of the members (I didn`t get to meet too many) are either Fillipino or African. We are splitting the ward with a set of Elders but our load is still super heavy. Oh wait, nevermind. We just barely got a call from the Elders saying there`s been some kind of problem and they are going to München immediately, never to return and we are now in charge of the whole area. THE WHOLE CITY OF VIENNA AND EVERYONE IN IT WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH. My high strung-easy to stress out-comp is freaking out. We`ll see how this turns out. She doesn`T think things will be fine even though I keep assuring her they will. Pday got cut in half because of the drama. I think I will go nuts pretty quick.
I`m coming up with things to write while I wait for Sis Carroll to finish up so we can switch computers and I can add pictures. THis comp doesn`T have USB port.
Get this - our apartment has a washing machine AND a dishwasher. That is super rare not only here in Austria, but especially in the mission. Yesterday, it took me 20 min to figure out how the thing work ssince I haven`t used one in SOOOOOO long. Really fun for me while my comp sleeps.
There are 7 sets of missionaries here plus one Senior Couple (named Wade....Thomas`s are in Switzerland as of a month or so). Lots of work to do. There are 5 wards in total, one of which is English-speaking. Instead of buses, we travel by streetcar (looks similar to the ones in Meet Me in St.Louis) and they ding and dong all the time. Some are old and rickety while others are low to the ground and quiet. I prefer the tall rickety. Makes me feel like I`m going back in time. It`s odd, but for a city so international and up-to-date they still use old conveniences. Really neat!
(This transfer ends July 4th)
Schöne Grüße von mir and lots of love of course
SISTER CHOCOLATE
Ron and Sydna - The ward is hopping!!! The Vincents announced on Sunday that they will be switching into a German ward come September. I didn`t find anyone who knew you as far as I could decipher. Will keep trying!! What were your favorite sites?? secret tourist tips? We took over where the senior Sisters used to live (17. Hormayrgasse 59).
Mom and Dad - the sad little girl in my pictures form last week is Tabitha Blaschta. She was sooo sad that I was leaving that she wouldn`t leave my side. After sacrament meeting whenever someone is leaving, the branch stands and sings `God be with you till we meet again`. Tabitha heard the song and saw me standing up front and came running up to me tears streaming down her face. It was really sad. With the birthday money from Gma and Gpa I bought a small Ulmer Spatz (the mascot of the city...A sparow with a twig in his mouth). (I`m going to use the rest to buy a German and Austrian flag so I have one.)It`s the legend that when the people were building the Münster (giant church), they loaded the logs crosswise on the wagons. Then they`d have to stop and unload them before going through the city gates then reloading them. One day, there was a sparrow with a twig in his mouth that flew to its nest but had to go through a small hole first. He stopped and twisted the twig so it was sitcking straight forwards and went in the hole. THe people learned that there is always more than one way to do things. That has become my sort of motto as I`ve constantly had new companions and areas. It`S helped me realize what I need to do to make things work out.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.