Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother's Day gift this morning was to talk with Rachel for 2 hours! Can I just say how absolutely amazing it was!! She sounds good... she's happy... she likes being there... she says Germany is soooooo beautiful.

Here are a few fun things that I wanted to share:

Rachel has discovered German ice cream. There's a little shop near their apartment. Her favorite flavor is one that isn't found in America but is called "cookies".

European girls don't usually play soccer. But the missionaries play every Saturday down by the river. They invite young adults they meet during the week to play with them. People are always surprised that Rachel and her companion play too.

Everyone rides bikes - even the really old people. Rachel and her companion have started riding their bikes, but it hurts Rachel's knee. (Old problem that I was hoping wouldn't bother her...)

There are 3 sets of missionaries that serve in Heidelberg. Two are assigned to the German ward and one is assigned to the English ward. Rachel attends the German ward.

Here the members of our church feed the missionaries dinner every night of the week. Rachel has been in Germany for 6 weeks and has only been fed by members 3 times.

The weather has turned very warm. They like to go talk to people at the park by the river. The problem is... people at the park just take off their clothes and lay around in their underwear to tan. Rachel said it's a little disturbing and so they won't be hanging around there quite so much.

Each morning Rachel and her companion do 30 minutes of exercise. They usually go walking. Recently they found a new path and so they decided to see where it took them. After about 10 minutes of walking they realized they were at the castle. So cool! She's planning to go actually visit the castle soon and will send pictures.