April 13, 2015

Dear Family,

Well It was really sad leaving Jena.  We were in Erfurt for conference and I didn’t get home until Monday morning so I had very little time to say goodbye to everyone.  I am going to miss that place.

Erfurt Dome

We had five elders in our place the day before we left. We headed to Erfurt at 7:40 am on Thursday morning and rode to Frankfurt on the train. It was a long ride.

We got there and Elder Anderson’s parents were waiting for us.  It was cool to meet them.  They are really nice. It made me kind of home sick but I am feeling better now. I went and said hi to everyone I knew at Bahnhof, which is just outside Frankfurt.  It was cool to see all my friends from the MTC.  Actually, I really only saw about four of them.

 After that, I had to go so I got on a bus with 3 other Elders I didn’t know and we rode for 3 hours to Dortmond, which is northwest of  Frankfurt.  I got to see Elder Watts from the MTC there in Dortmond, and then met Elder Frickey. He is a cool kid. We then rode down to Hagen, which is just outside of Dortmond and I got unpacked.

The street we live on in Hagen

The next day we went and I got all signed up for my visa which should be here in three weeks, and then we went out to Irselohn which is a city near us in our area. We went and talked to a lady there who has a baptism date for this Saturday but we still have a lot to teach her.  We did some doors there and we found a guy who said he felt sorry for us and that we are not right. We talked with him for a while and then ran back to catch our train back to Hagen.

The next day we went to Lüdenscheid which is also another city in our area (Our area is huge compared to Jena) and we did some doors there. We found a dude and talked with him well over an hour. He mostly talked to us but we gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it and call us when he was done. It was really cool. Then we went back to Hagen.

Our front door and Elder Frickey

Church on Sunday was crazy. We have all three hours which I got used to only having two in Jena. A member from Unna found a guy who was either mentally ill or on something because he was slurring his words and he was hilarious.  He brought him to church and we taught him the first lesson and then we went to sacrament and it was really funny because he was thirsty and he took two cups and drank both and then put the cups back in the tray. haha. Anyways, after that we had food with the whole ward because it was fast Sunday and they had a lunch afterwards.  I talked to a lady who had gone to Canada backpacking for six weeks. She was cool. Anyways that was all fine and then afterwards we took the kid to the train station and asked if he needed a ticket.  He said no so we took him to the train he wanted and he got on. I don’t think he had a ticket so I am afraid he will get a 40 Euro fine. Oh well! He said he didn’t need to buy a ticket.

 

Our kitchen in Hagen

But anyways Hagen is cool. It is a lot bigger than Jena. I was kind of of nervous my first few days.  I just felt really sad and I knew no one and was in a whole new area. I am pretty sure when you are only out for 2 transfers you don’t normally leave your area but it’s okay.  I feel better now and I am having a good time. I did realize just yesterday that I am a sixth done which is crazy. At the same time I still have a long time left.

My new comp is Dylan Frickey. He is (I was just about to say cool. haha) an awesome kid. He has been out for a year and he has been in Hagen for a while now.

I sent some pictures this week and last.  I think I put them in on Tuesday while in English class. I am glad all is going well and am happy you might finish the fire place like you planned to do while I was gone. Keep working hard in school Abby. Don’t worry; High school is not too much harder than middle school you just have to keep up. You should try doing the 200 meter in track. It may be a little harder but I think you would like it.

Well I love you all very much and can’t wait to see you again!!!!!

Love Devin!