Week 13...

September 12th, 2011

Why hello there!

This week was so great! Well, let's face it. Every week is great. But this week was especially good because I got two packages!! Yay! But we worked really hard this week and got a lot done! Monday, after P-day, we went to the Huonker Family and had family home evening with them. It was way cool! Their kids are so smart and it was fun just to play around with them. Made me miss my nieces and nephews :(

Then on Tuesday, we went to Ulm for district meeting and it was awesome. We had a little extra time, so we walked around Ulm and to the Münster, the tallest cathedral in the world! I got some pictures, but they don't do it justice for how big it is. We were going to climb the tower today, but we didn't have time so we'll do it another P-day. We were supposed to meet with Renada Bart again, but she said that with everything that's going on that she'll need a little time before we move on. Bummer. But she'll receive the gospel when she's ready. Then we went to Aalen and met with the Ukrainian Family I told you about. We are trying to get a Ukrainian book of Mormon for them but it's taking forever. But we just found that the Joseph Smith movie that we have has Ukrainian over voice thing! So We'll try to teach them with that because they can't speak German and their daughter is the only one who really speaks English.

Anyway, Wednesday we went to Aalen and met with this awesome lady named Sympathy from South Africa. She's way cool! And will make an excellent Mormon. Haha. But it was raining, so we met in a restaurant and taught her all about the Restoration and about Joseph Smith and how we got the Book of Mormon. She was really receptive and wants to meet up again. Then, we went to visit Abduhl and read with him in the book of Mormon. After that, we went to Sister Maiers for dinner. She's this awesome Scottish lady who always feeds us every week. I think I've mentioned her before...

Anyway. On Thursday was one of my first trials of faith I've had here. We went to Swäbisch Gmünd with Abduhl to meet with a man named Charles from Nigeria. He cooked us his famous African Stew. Oh. My. Gosh. My companion had had it before, but I was in for a treat. Let's just go over some of the ingredients, shall we? First, an entire fish (bones, head, eyes, scales, everything...) then, a ton of chicken hearts, goat (on the bone), cow stomach, a whole chicken (with the bones), and an entire bottle of oil. Along with some other stuff that I couldn't recognize. Then, everyone sits around the one plate and uses their hands. No plates, no silverware, and we all shared one cup. Yep. I know. But, I'm alive! Barely. Oh, one more thing. They don't let anything go to waste in Africa. That means that you eat the bones. Chicken bones, goat bones, fish bones. I ate it all. It's rude here to not finish the food. So we ate everything... And honestly, I don't know how I survived.

The rest of the week wasn't as crazy.. But we continued teaching our investigators and everything. It was good. But I got to go because this internet place is expensive...

I uploaded most of the pictures on my camera, but the videos are taking a while, so I'll do that next week. So check it out!

K. Bye.

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

Week 12...

Ich lebe immernoch! Haha.

This week has been way good. We have been working really hard and finding a ton of people. It's awesome! On Wednesday after our Tuesday-P-Day, we met with a German lady named Renada Bart who is awesome. Unfortunately, her son took his own life a few months ago and she was searching for answers about where he is and what happens now. She asked the Catholic priests but they just said that he wasn't baptized so he wasn't saved. But that's why we have the Plan of Salvation! We met with her and went over the second lesson and it was really good. My German is getting better, slowly.. I could understand like everything though and I think we helped her a lot. After that we met with some of the Refugees in the Heim and taught the restoration to a really nice Ukrainian family. I don't think I could count all the different nationalities of the people I've taught here. Germany is such a diverse place.

Anyway, Thursday we started our Super-Tausch. And Austausch is an exchange when the Missionaries in two different areas switch companions for a day. Well, a Super-Tausch is where the two elders from another area come and spend the night and we all work together for a couple days. So the Göppingen Elders came and we went to Swäbisch Gmünd and taught some more Refugees. Then we went back to Ellwangen and played Basketball with some of our friends there. It was sweet! Then Friday we went to Göppingen and we taught some people there with them. Then that night we went to meet the Legendary Dietmar Funk. He is this awesome guy who has tried every drug in existence. Think about Jack Sparrow and plop him in Germany and there's Dietmar. He's so cool. He lived in India for 12 years and is super spiritual. Not so religious though. Haha. He has a book of Mormon and he's probably studied every single word five times. He just doesn't want to be baptized yet. He loves meeting with and feeding the Missionaries though. So when we were there he made this HUGE burger full of crazy vegetables and spices and stuff. We put in on noodles and it was delicious. Also, a big thing here in Germany is that when someone feeds you they expect you to eat everything. Like, everything. I've never been so stuffed as I was at this eating appointment. I probably gained like 5 kilos in one sitting. It was awesome. Anyway, after we met with Dietmar, we went back to the Göppingen Elder's apartment and spent the night. Then Saturday morning we went out on the street and had an Ausstellung. I think that translates to like a street display. We talked with people walking down the street in the market and gave out Books of Mormon. I gave out 2! It was sweet. Then me and my companion went back to Ellwangen and met with Abduhl and read in the Book of Mormon. Then we had Church yesterday and met with the Stoppe familie who fed us a physically impossible amount of food. I was just praying not to throw up. Haha. It was so good though. They made these potato cake thingys that were kind of like pancakes but way better with applesauce and creme on top. SO GOOD!!! And today we have P-Day! It's great!

I can't describe how good it is out here. I love it! It's hard sometimes, but the blessings that I've seen from the Gospel are worth it. I just want to share it with everyone! And especially love being in Germany. Sometimes I walk down the streets in our town and just think how cool it is that these buildings are hundreds of years old. Wish you all could be here! I was going to upload more pictures, but this computer isn't working. And this Indian dude's idea of fixing the internet is turning the computer monitor on and off. Haha. No really though. He did that when it wasn't working before.... Anyway. I love you all! The church is true!

Mom and Darrell- I'm good. Haha. Don't worry though. The spirit won't lead us anywhere that there isn't someone ready to hear the gospel there. Yeah they ring the Church bells every hour, sometimes half an hour. But there's so many churches that it's kind of annoying. Haha. And yes, they have peanut butter here. And American white bread, but it's expensive. The only thing I need is a jacket. It's getting colder, especially when it rains. And I don't have anything to wear on P-Day. So if you could send me my brown nice jacket and maybe my grey zip up hoodie. That would be awesome :)

Jenna - Yo dawg. I haven't heard from you for a couple weeks. So please write me :) Also, I took a look at my blog. Week 2? I'm on like week 15! Haha. But if you could update that a little that would be nice! Love you!

Kellie and Garret - Thanks for finally emailing me Garrett. Haha, just kidding. Sounds like everything is good back home though! Love you both!

Grandpa and Grandma Hefley - I'm still trying to figure out my mission boundaries as well. Haha. But I'll try to find a map and send it to you. My town I'm in is up near Stuttgart, north of Munich. And you can send me hard copy mail if you want! It will just take me a little longer to reply. Love you!

K, bye.

Herzlich,

Elder Heinrich

Week 11...

August 30th, 2011

Hallo!

ich lebe noch! Germany is amazing! Oh, and P.S. the Z and Y are switched on a german keyboard, and there's also like ä ü ö ß and stuff like that. So don't judge my spelling. :)

This was a good week! We were busy like every day all day. We met with some more refugees from Nigeria and places like that in the refugee Heim. And we have two more people with a baptismal date! We're rockin it out here. Tuesday, we took a train to Ulm and had district meeting with the other elders and sisters in our district. In Ulm is the World's tallest church tower! It's massive. We're going to go there one P-day so I'll get pictures. (Oh! Speaking of pictures, I'm uploading all the one's I've taken to my dropbox website right now and I'll just give you all the address of where you can get those.)

Then we met with a man named Herr Kerger, who is legit. He dresses like a traditional german and rides his bike around like he owns the place. He's like 68 and has all these crayz views of the bible and on weird religious things. But don't worry, we'll dunk him :) Haha. So that was pretty much Tuesday.

Then on Wednesday we took a train to Swäbisch Gmünd and met with a man called John and his family. We met with John by himself last week and we set a baptismal date for October 1st. We met with his wife and 3 kids this time and talked about the Plan of Salvation and how families can be together forever. They loved it, and are going to come to church next week! I'm way excited for them. Then we met with Abduhl from Nigeria who lives in Ellwangen by us. We read in the bok of mormon and stuff. And he may have had 2-Pac on in the background. Haha.

Then Thursday we were supposed to met with this one woman named Sympathy who we met in a Mango shop. (delicious mangoes by the way) but our appointment fell through. Then we went to Aalen and tried to teach this Ukranian dude and his beautiful daughter, but they weren't home. Haha.

AH. I forgot about Kruger! So last P-day after we emailed and everything, we went to this book store. We were still in our P-day clothes but with our tags on and this guy asks us if we're from Salt Lake. Turns out he met with the Missionaries like 4 years ago for a long time and knew a few from salt lake. We set up an appointment, but he said his house wasn't any good, so we met out in front of the bookstore. So Thursday we meet him there and he offers to buy us some ice cream becasue it's so hot. By the way, all the ice cream here is Gelato and it's delicious. So we have ice cream and talk for like an hour and he's a way cool guy who is like really smart. Then Friday rolls around and we see him again, in the same clothes, holding a loaf of bread. By the way, the bread here is delicious. But we start talking to him and it turns out that he's homeless and has been living in a catholic church where they gave him the bread for breakfast. And he bought us ice cream! What a champion. We are going to save a little money and make sandwiches for all of us and invite him and try to buy him a new shirt or something. So then the rest of friday was pretty good. We went to Aalen and helped a lady named Uschi with garten work. it was way cool. She's not a member, but her extremely old uncle is. He's practically deaf, but I love talking to him at church because he yells. He's a champ. He's actually a former Nazi soldier, but we won't go in to that. Then we went back to Ellwangen and had dinner with Schwester Meier, this awesome Scottish lady who always cooks us schnitzel. We're going back to her place tonight to make french toast for her and her non member husband and subliminally convert him. haha. Next thing he knows he'll be drying off from his baptism.

Saturday was way good too. We (my comp and I) started doing our personal study time in a different church around Ellwangen every day. The church's are so beautiful! And they are way old. It's a lot of fun. The Church's here are delicious by the way. Then we went to Swäbisch Gmünd and taught Kevin and James and Ebuku. It was way cool.

Then Sunday we went to church and ate at the Grahovac's, a legit family from Croatia. She made the best weinerschnitzel and mashed potatoes. The weinerschnitzel is delicious by the way. And NOT a hot dog. Haha. Then we went and taught abduhl, who was in need of a little cash so I bought his guitar from him for 7 euro. Seven euro!! Awesome deal. So now we both have a guitar and I bought a cheap ukulele too. We already started wreiting a song! My companion also bought some weights from him. So we're going to get ripped.

Then yesterday. Sorry I didn't email! Usually I will email on Monday each week, but we had Zone Conference so I didn't get to. It was great though! We went to Stuttgart to meet with a bunch of other districts in our zone and hear from President Miles. And Jenna and Jeff, guess who's in my zone! Elder and Sister Blodgett! They are legit. They got a picture so expect one from them haha. That's pretty much all we did yesterday. It took forever to get to Stuttgart, and forever to get back. So that's my week! Sorry this is so long.

So a few of you have asked how to send money? That's great! Hahaha. But what would be easiest is to give it to mom and have her put it in my account so I can pull it out on my debit card here. And remember, if you sent anything to the mission home, I won't get it for a while because they didn't have anything for me at this zone conference. So make sure to send stuff to that address I gave you. And mom, we get money each week to buy groceries and stuff, so don't worry about that. Me and my comp are flat broke right now and have only had like 15 cents for a whole week because our food money didn't come in. But it should be in tomorrow so we don't starve. Good thing we had some stuff in food storage.

I hope all is going well at home! I love you all! The work is progressing! Also, the internet sucks and I wasn't able to upload all my pics. But I'll do the rest next week.

The church is true!

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

Week 10...

August 22nd, 2011

Hallo Familie!!

I made it! So the flight to München was like 3 weeks long. But I survived. We got into München at around 8 in the morning, then the AP's came and picked us up. Then we went on a train to the mission home and were given a Buch Mormon to hand out. The first guy I talked to was Obi from Nigeria! It was legit. He wanted a copy, but I only had German so I got his info and we'll send him one. It was sweet! Anyway, we spent that night in the mission home and got our assignments the next day, so Wednesday.

Guess where I am! Ha! Wrong. I'm in a little German town called Ellwangen (Pronounced Ell-vahn-gen) near Stuttgart. It's legit! Our area is huge, and it's green everywhere you look! There's a lot of farms here, but there's also like a city center that looks exactly like you'd imagine a small German town to look. I'll see if I can send some pictures. Wait, I just asked the Indian dude at this internet cafe thing and he said I need to bring my USB cord. So I'll do that next week. Anyways. It's so cool!

Oh, and my trainers name is Elder Graff from Spanish Fork. He's way tight. Remember how I said I got along with my MTC companion? Well. Not entirely... haha. But this guy is way sweet. We have really similar personalities and sense of humor. He plays the guitar so we're going to look for a Ukulele here. There around 35 euro for a decent one, and that's cheaper than sending my other one here. So we'll pick one up soon.

Our apartment is so nice! I hear it's tied for nicest one in our mission. We have 2 bedrooms, but one is for sleeping and the other is for clothes and crap. And we have a way big living room with a sweet view. We also have a balcony! It's legit. And the best part? The castle that's right in our backyard on top of this hill. Yeah, a castle. Haha! It's so awesome! You can also see most of the town from our balcony. There's a few way big churches that are a few hundred years older than America. We toured around them Saturday night. They're insane! There's a few catholic and evangelisch? I think that's protestant in English.. So basically my area is beautiful and I love it.

It's huge too! They speak a different dialect of German here called Swäbisch. In Germany, their dialects are like completely different languages. It makes it really easy to understand what everyone is saying. Just kidding! Haha. We take trains to different cities almost everyday and proselyte there. In Swäbisch Gmünd, there's a refugee home for Africans and stuff who run away for political reasons or whatever. We taught this man John and his family there, and they want to get baptized! There's also Ebuku, Debo, and Charles that we're teaching there. It's awesome! We're teaching a ton of people, but I've only taught in German like 2 times here haha. Germany really is such a diverse country. There's TONS of immigrants from all over the world. It's great! I really do love it here, but I miss some of the stuff that America has. Like big cars. Haha! The cars here are tiny! All of them!! It's insane. I haven't seen one truck. And like EVERYONE drives a bmw or mercedes or audi. Is that how you spell it? German is ruining my english. Psh. Germany is great though.

AND THE FOOD!! Schnitzel is the greatest thing ever invented. It's so good! Everything is so different though. Like today just barely for lunch we had open face sandwiches (Just a piece of bread on bottom) with this spicy mustard. One of my sandwhiches just had raw salmon on it. That was pretty good. Then I had one with Schwarzwurst, or Black sausage, and it looks the same as it sounds. Basically, one of the main ingredients was pigs blood. haha. It was way good though. We went shopping for all of our food today. These Germans eat weird. But I'm being really open about everything and trying EVERYTHING haha. It's sweet! They also drink everything carbonated. Including their water. Story! So me and my comp were doing service for the Grahovac's in the ward in there backyard taking machettes to a ton of weeds and stuff in their back yard. anyway, we were working way hard and Frau Grahovac gives me a big bottle of water. I open it up and take a big swig, and my mouth exploded. Haha. It was horrible. Especially after being so hot and working so hard. It was funny.

Oh! Also, it's way hot here. Like, 32 degrees celcius! Haha. I don't know what that is in farenheit. But it's hot. And HUMID. Like, the deep south Florida or something. It's intense. Especially wearing Missionary clothes everywhere. And air conditioning doesn't exist here. At all. It's really hot. But I'll live. So yeah!

Everything is way good. The work is moving forward! Since I've been here we've committed 6 people to baptism! It's so cool. And the ward is great!! Like, legendary among missionaries. They cook for us like 4 times a week and are just amazing. This Sunday I stood up during sacarament and introduced myself and bore my testimony, everything in German. They said I did pretty good. The only problem here is understanding people. It's not as bad as how they speak in Bavaria, but still pretty bad.

I don't think there's anything I need here except money. Haha. I don't really though. I'll be ok. OH!! DON'T SEND ANYTHING TO THE MISSION HOME!!! The Lommelstraße address. I can only get that mail every 12 WEEKS!! Gah! So send everything to the address below. And Jenna or Kellie, could you post it on facebook and tell peeps to send stuff there? Thanks!

Elder Scott Alan Heinrich

Kirche Jesu Christi

Dalkinger Str. 11#

23429, Ellwangen

Deutschland

I love you all!! And remember to email me before Sunday night, because I'll write back around 5 AM your time Monday morning. Auf wiedersehen!

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

Week 9...

August 13th, 2011

Quick note to Jenna:

I think the MTC is just making me lose my mind. Haha. (Jenna) mentioned that you thought about ordering in a pizza to the MTC. That would have been awesome to have a pizza! But that's ok :) I can call at the airport. I'll call you around 1ish utah time. I was going to write Grandma today, but I figured I'll just call her on Monday and that will be way better. I'll call Grandpa Hefley too. I got a phone card for way cheap with our missionary dicount here. MONDAY!! Can you believe it? I can't. It's weird, but I'm totally ready to leave this place haha. I can't wait to get out and talk to real people! Anyways. Not much has happened since Monday. I got your Package!! Thanks so much. We've already played guess who, but we play it in German! It's sweet. Holy Ensigns Batman. That was a ton! You know I'll be sleeping most of the flight, right? Haha. But thanks. I picked like 5 really good ones and I'll read and study them tomorrow and during the flight since all my stuff will be packed up by tomorrow. Sweet beans though. I loved Dallin's Mario and Allison's Hand print! Tell them I love them and I'll send them some German candy when I get there. I'll throw in some chocolate for you and Jeff! Love you!

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

August 15th, 2011

{No Email today...}
But we were able to talk to Scott today on the phone! He had a layover for a few hours and switched with the other elders for stations. Some stayed with the luggage, some went and ate, and some called home. Then they all switched around with each other. He sounded so great! And so happy! He didn't have very long to talk while at the airport, but just hearing a little from him was so exciting. He bore his testimony in German for all of us. Even though we couldn't understand it, you could tell he was full of the spirit and the Duetch sounded great! We're all so excited for him to be in Germany and proud of his love for the Lord and his willingness to serve!

Week 8...

August 8th, 2011

Hallo!!

So. One more week. CRAZY!! I can't believe that this time next week I'll be in Germany. Oh wait. I'll be on a plane... :( Speaking of Planes!! I got my flight plans!! Yay! So. Pay attention. I need to be up and packed and at the Travel Desk at the MTC by 5:00 AM Monday, the 15th. Then, we go to the SLC airport and our plane leaves at 8:30 AM. We fly from there straight to Atlanta, George (GEORGIA! Zach will appreciate that...) and get there at 2:20 PM Atlanta time. I think. I'm pretty sure though. So then I have a two hour layover and my flight to Munich leaves at 4:25 PM. So I think 2:30 Atlanta time is like 12:30 our time? So BE HOME!! Because I will be calling!! Jenna/Jeff and Kellie/Garrett you better be there too! And Zach and Colby, you can come too :) so please be there! I can't wait to talk to all of you! Oh and I get to Munich at 8:30 AM Tuesday morning. So I'll have a full day of Missionary work ahead of me. Yay! Can you believe it's been 8 weeks?? So crazy. Also, I get another P-day on saturday to pack and do laundry before I leave. So if you need to tell me something before next week, do it and I'll email you back then.

This week has been really good. We got 20 new Germans in on Wednesday. We were supposed to get 21, but the Albanian sister got caught up with her visa for America. But it was still way sweet. We have three elders from England! That makes four in our district! Haha. It's sweet though. It was really cool to be zone leaders for them. We got to do this orientation meeting, and meet with all of them and get to know them. We also got to give them the tour of the MTC and show them around. It was sweet. Also, on Wednesday our district hosted for the new missionaries coming in. We rip them from their parents grasp and throw them into the MTC. Not really. But we were the ones who meet them at the curb and take their luggage and show them where to go and everything. And guess what! I got to host Alex Wright!! And that like never happens. There are so many missionaries coming in on the same day that you hardly ever get to see your friends. But it was awesome! And I saw his family and everything. It was way sweet. He's doing good! Tell his mom that he's still alive.

Mom and Darrell - Thanks for the shirts and the tie!! I only really needed one shirt, but that extra one really helps for laundry and stuff. And that tie is legit. No, we didn't buy that same one. I really like the bright colored ties though.. just in case :) and yeah, that's the same address that you will use for when you send me stuff in Germany. Everything gets sent to the Mission Home and dispersed from there. Oh and I found another scripture to use. Mosiah 28:3. It's a good one. Not as good as that other one though... and I don't have a map of my mission for the thing. Could you call the MTC and see if they can send you one? Because I have no idea. I just know that it covers all of Austria, Southern Germany up to like Stuttgart, and most of Switzerland over to Bern. But I'll try to find an actual map.

Jenna - I didn't get an email from you this week, but I'm assuming all is well. And I'll talk to you on MONDAY!! AGH! Any word on that Preach My Gospel idea thingy? Just wondering. If it's too much work don't worry about it...

Jeff - I did like that picture outside of the MTC! Haha. It was funny. And your German is pretty good! As far as I can tell. Keep it up so we can speak to each other when I get back!

Kellie - That's way cool that you've been with Justin and Tawny. Tell them hi from me! And tell Glenn Congrats!! That's so cool! I really don't need any snacks or anything... But maybe like some fruit snacks for the plane ride? Or anything else you feel like sending me :) Oh! And maybe an Ensign or two to read on the plane? Or some other church magazine. Those are actually fun to read now. Lame, I know....

Garrett - I hope you are still alive. Haha. Love you man.

Zach - Hey man! I hope you got your mission call. And if you didn't, please email this week if you do. Because I can check my email on saturday. So PLEASE DO!

Colby - So don't worry about dearelder anymore. Haha. I only have one more week... I'm so glad you enjoyed the temple! I can't wait to go with you in two years!! And you leave in one month! AHH!! So crazy man. That's really soon! Better get reading Preach My Gospel! Haha.

Justin and Tawny reminded me though. Will you forward this to Kate and her fam? And send me their emails so I can just do it next week WHEN I'M IN GERMANY!! Awesome.

The church is so true! And I love you all so much. Every one of you are in my prayers every single night!

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

PS - I still haven't seen any pictures from my farewell. So please send me some? Thanks!

Week 7...

August 1st, 2011

Sup.

What if that was all I wrote for the week? hahahaha.

Anyways. This week has been good! We were supposed to get new Germans on Wednesday, but they got delayed until next week. So we all thought this week was going to suck, only having about half of what we usually have in our zone. But it was pretty good!! Me and my companion have four "investigators": Klaus, Robert(With a weird German R roll on the first R), Lyndsey, and Elise. It's awesome! And we committed Klaus to baptism on Saturday! Yay us! It's so cool to see them progress and come closer to Christ, even if it's just for practice. You can really feel the Spirit in the meetings!

Mom and Darrell - I got you post card! Thanks for the gum, but unfortunately we're not supposed to chew gum here while we're walking around. So I put the entire package of gum in my mouth at once. Because today's P day and I can do that sort of thing... Anyway! That scripture is too long? That stinks. Because IT'S AWESOME. But I'll find another one tonight and send it home on one of those little postcard things. I don't have time to find one right now... Sounds like you guys are doing awesome though! Way to make it to church!!

Jenna - Thanks for the email! You were the only one besides dad and mom this week haha. But that's a funny picture! I just kind of ignored that one statement you made about happening to run into me outside one day... Just because it's one of the big rules here that we can't meet family outside. Sorry! I would have loved to see you though! Sounds like you guys had fun. Good thing the summer camp went well! That's awesome! You're just too cool. And you can send me pictures through email, but then I can only see them when I'm emailing... so I'd prefer hard copies if you could. And you could send me some of the pics from my farewell? I haven't seen any of them yet :( also, my friends said you've been updating my blog! Way to go! Will you post my address on facebook when I head to Germany? I don't have it on me right now, but I'll get it to you. Oh, one BIG favor from you. So some copy places you can take Preach my Gospel and they'll copy it and shrink it down to like the size of normal scriptures. And that would be AMAZING. just because PMG is huge. So could you look into doing that? I'll pay for the copy fees... Thanks!!

Jeff - I got a letter from your dad! It was all in German, but I could understand like 90% of it!! It was sweet! I'll write him back as soon as I get some time.

Have I gotten any mail? Of course I have. Haha! I got 5 letters just today!! I'm so loved :) It's great here though. This week is going to rock. Today - P day. Tuesday - Half day with a Devotional. Wednesday - 21 new German missionaries!! And 3 from England and 1 from ALBANIA!! Awesome. Thursday - TRAVEL PLANS!! I'm so stoked!! So I'll let you know next week when I have a layover to call you on the phone. Friday - Nothing special, except we sing the Rebecca Black song every week. So that's pretty cool. Saturday - Actually kind of crappy. But then it's Sunday! And I love Sundays. Except all our meetings now. Beeing AP and Zone Leader at the same is kind of tough, but not too bad... Including checking our Zone's doors at 10:30 everynight and enforcing quiet time for our zone, we get to check EVERY room on EVERY floor of our building EVERY night! Yay! It's great. oh, and there's foor floors in our building... But I love it, really! I love being an example to the newer Germans, and I can't wait to give the tour and welcome all to new ones on Wednesday!! I'm not craving anything specific... I've written Grandpa Hefley a few times, and I'll write Grandma Ilean tomorrow, Promise :)

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY!!! AGH! Can you believe I've been here almost 7 weeks now? And I'll be in Germany in just another 2? I can't. But I'm so excited. And I've really studied so much here. I'm already done with the Book of Mormon, and now I'm in like Luke in the New Testament. I should finish that by the time I'm in the field. And I'm digging into the German language like no other. I love it! And I can already say so much!

I love you all! And the church is true!! Until next week then!

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

Week 6...

July 25th, 2011

From now on, I'm going to just write one big email and send it to everyone. You can still email me individually, because I print out all the emails and write down what I'm going to say and my answers to your questions so it doesn't take too long. We only get 30 minutes, and if were not done it shuts off and doesn't let us send it.

Sounds like everything is going well back home though! Thanks Darrell for that postcard! You guys are so thoughtful. Also, that scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-5. I don't know if that is too long though. Mom, 16 inch collar on that short sleeved shirt would be perfect. I only need one though I think. Thank you so much! That's funny that Zach and Colby still come over. Tell them to use dearelder to write me. It's way better. And Jake says thanks for the package!

Jenna/Jeff, Thanks for the Package! It really was such a good idea! I tried writing my journal in the candle light. It was so hard! those Pioneers were studs. And it was so great to see that family tree! Bern, Switzerland is in my mission! But I probably won't serve there because Switzerland is being dumb with their visas. And Jeff, I fly out August 15th!

Kellie, Thanks for the note! but lit's not use that little trick to send notes back and forth. Obedience with exactness! Amla 57:21!

Everything is going really great here. 3 more weeks and I'll be in Deutschland! Isn't that crazy? I'm learning so much here though, it's amazing. And guess what? I've already finished the Book of Mormon! It's so amazing. I love it! So last week they made me and my companion Zone Leaders. Well Today we had 27 Missionaries leave, more than half of our branch! So they made us AP's! But! we are still the Zone Leasders too! Yay responsiblilities! So basically my Sundays are gone now because of meetings. But it's great! So the other night, around 11:30, I was still awake and my companion, who is on the top bunk all of a sudden hanged over the edge and was like halfway in my bed. (Keep in mind he is still asleep at this point) and said "Hey! are you awake?!" repeatedly. I said yes, and asked what was wrong and he responded with "I don't know" And rolled back over and went to sleep. The MTC does crazy things to you... Haha!

I told Jeff last week, but I've gained 7 pounds :( So you don't need to send me food anymore haha. And dad sent me enough Mountain Dew to last me to Germany! My photo's weren't ready today, but I'll send them off in the morning, along with a copy of my schedule so you can see how packed our days are.

I love you all! And the Church is so true! For reals.

Mit Liebe,

Elder Heinrich

Week 5...

July 18th, 2011

Hallo!
Email is so stressful here. What with a red count down timer ticking every second, and I usually just reply to my new emails. Sorry!

The MTC is rockin'. I really do love it. But I can't wait to get out in the field. Can you believe that Wednesday will be my 5 week mark?? I'm already passed my MTC Halfway point! Yeah!

Guess what? Me and my companion were made Zone Leaders yesterday! So basically we are in charge of the whole German Branch... about 51 missionaries! It's crazy but it's a ton of fun. I've learned that I need to be a good example to my zone. It's a challenge, but its so rewarding! I've just been trying to lead by serving everyone in our zone. I love it !

Everything else is going awesome though. My German is getting way better too. The total immersion in the classroom really helps! And Tuesdays and thursdays, our district can only speak German for the whole day. It helps a bunch! And we got new German Missionaries two weeks ago! It's fun to coach them on the ways of the Jedi. And on the 27th we get some new ones again! Except now that we are ZL's, we get to give them the welcome and the tour and everything. Sweet!

I've learned that I struggle with patience. In fact, that's the Christ-like attributej that I've been working on since I got here. And the first day I preayed for patience? my rommates, 3 of them, and I got locked out of our room during shower time in just our towels. and we had to wait for some other elders to get dressed and go get us a spare key! But it was a good trial of patience. I've really been working on myself to come closer to Christ here. It's tough though. He's so perfect!

I'm getting a little fat... haha. It's tough when they give you tons of food and then you just sit there for hours. But I play soccer like everyday and have been working out too. Guess what else? My dad sent me dew! Yay Babylon! That's pretty much it for this week. Oh, I'll be sending you pics on like Wednesday. Sorry! I couldn't get around to ordering them until today.

Love you so much!

Herzlich,

Elder Heinrich

Week 4...

July 11th, 2011

Hey!

Everything is going well here! Not much has changed from last week haha. We got new German missionaries in, so I'm no longer the new guy! It's great. One of them is British! And he has a sweet accent. Anyway! German is going awesome. I can understand so much now. And speak with almost correct grammar.

Welp! Nothing too new here... Still craving that Dr. Pepper ;) haha

Herzlich,

Elder Heinrich!

Week 3...

July 4th, 2011

Servus!
Happy Fourth of July! At the MTC, we had a big celebration and this guy came who has been the Adviser to the President for like a billion years. They had a big thing about how the Restoration through Joseph Smith could only happen in America because of the religious freedom we have. It was pretty cool! You totally should have sent me sparklers! I made a catapult out of our rubber work out band. I could have launched them! Actually. It's a good thing you didn't send me them...
Everything is pretty much the same here. Our day to day routine doesn't change very much. But German is going great! And lessons are becoming a ton easier now that I can already say what I want to. But yeah, everything else is good! I really am excited that my mission president is going to be pretty strict. Obedience brings blessings! I've already seen that here in the MTC. Das Buch Mormon ist wunderbar! I'm really enjoying it so much. I just read all of 2nd Nephi in one day like last week. That was crazy. I'm already in like Alma 35ish and I started when I got here. Which is a lot for me... haha... I can't stop! And I actually stay awake during personal study now... Most days...!

Woot! Three weeks on Wednesday! The days feel like weeks, and the weeks feel like days.. We get new missionaries here every Wednesday, but we only get new Deutschers every three weeks. So starting on Wednesday I won't be one of the new kids anymore! Yay! I'm doing pretty good with the sleeping schedule. It's not too bad.. But yeah, if you ever want to send me Dew don't hesitate... We CAN have it! But we just can't buy it haha.
Dad has emailed me a couple times. It's good to hear from him!

So yeah! The MTC is great! But I can't wait to get to the Mission Field. Six weeks!
The Church is true! Til next week then...

Herzlich,
Elder Heinrich

Week 2...

June 27th, 2011

Man! These days are long, but this week flew by! German is going good! We've taught like 7 lessons completely auf Deautsch now, and I'm really getting the hang of it! I am trying to help people out. It is kind of hard here, but I've just been trying to include some of the quieter elders and get to know them and stuff. It's pretty fun.

So guess who was here last week. Pretty much all the General Authorities! The First Presidency, The quorum of the twelve, and a whole bunch of the seventy. ! No... I did not personally see them :( They were training all the new Mission Presidents that are shipping out in a month. And I got to meet my new President!! His name is President Miles. he seems really loving and really cool. I can't wait to serve with him! He said he's going to be a "White Bible President"... So he'll be a stickler on the rules. But that's good for me!! Haha...

Not much has changed. Me and my companion are still getting along, and we are working together really well now. He's learning German really fast, but I still have to translate sometimes during lessons. The schedule here is hard, but fulfilling. I'm never actually read and studied the Book of Mormon as much as I do here. We have like 3 hours of personal study every day and I am just tearing through it. I'm already in Alma and I started when I got here.

But yeah! Everything is going awesome! Keep the mail coming! You guys can use dearelder.com to write a letter and they'll print it out and five it to me the next day for free! It's awesome! And you can send me cookies (wink,wink...) I am surely missing my Dew... :( So if you ever feel like sending me some of that as well, don't hesitate- haha

More to come next week! The church is so true!

Herzlich,
Elder Heinrich