Mainz Missionaries

so i get to have thanksgiving dinner at the American ward's bishop's house... without my comp. we're doing a split so i'll be with sister shumway and dottie is coming with me! i'm way excited! it's gonna be fun!!!

today we played games at the church with the elders and then we went to a play in the wiesbaden theater. we saw Robin Hood. the first half was really good... then second half got a little wierd. but it was like a family friendly play... so it was a little cheesy. but it was fun!

transfer calls are on saturday. i don't want to leave mainz! i love the ward. on sunday i was walking around relief society saying hi to everyone and i have relationships with these people. the sweet old ladies love me! and i just love all of them. they found out that my birthday was the day before and everyone was like, oh my gosh we didn't know! happy birthday why didn't you tell us oh we would have done something! it was so sweet. and bruder snieder from the bishopbric said that elder hunsaker and i did such a good job singing that any time we want to sing again he would say yes in a second! he even hinted at us singing for christmas. we'll have to see if i'm staying.

sorry this email is a little random. i'm trying to think of things to say... things are going good. i can't believe it's almost christmas. on the 6th of december it's NickolasTag. the kids put their shoes out the night of the 5th and then Nickolas comes and puts sweets in their shoes so when they wake up on the 6th they have candy!

Happy Birthday!

i had a good birthday! while i was in the shower sister davis heart-attacked our room so that was sweet. then i got to open your package that I got on thursday... yes i actually waited. thanks SO much for the package! it was FANTASTIC. we had a busy day but it was good.

(Rachel is wearing the apron her mom made her and showing the poster that Marci made. Rachel requested Hot Tamales candy. Apparently she can't find them in Germany.)

marci: thanks for the poster! it was awesome and came on my birthday so i picked it up from the post and put it up as soon as i got home!

meg: no i haven't gotten your package yet but i am so excited for it! i'll keep praying for you and your finals... good luck! love you!!!

Jameson: sounds like you're busy with work that's good! thanks for the happy birthday :)

thanks to: Katie, Bergholms, Sister Wood, Lisa and Grandma Doty for your emails this week!!!

P-Day Photos

Last week on P-Day Rachel and her companion went bowling. In this picture she is with Elder Berry and Elder Hunsaker.

This morning for P-Day they went to the Frankfurt temple. This is Elder Henderson, Elder Berry, Rachel, Sister Davis, Elder Brunner and Elder Hunsaker.

Everyone I Know Is Pretty Much Amazing!

wow 17 emails today! thanks to everyone who emailed me: Marci, Christi, Sister Halverson, Viv, Gramma, Gramper, Steve, Kim, Meg, Jess, Aubs and Jameson

i got two packages last week! one from the ward for x-mas and the other from mom. THANKS!! it was awesome to get packages. it made me feel special. and from what it sounds like i'm going to be getting some more!! everyone i know is pretty much amazing!!!

we had zone conference last friday with Elder Kopischke from the 1st quorm of 70. he's german and he used to be the mission president in berlin, germany. anyway he was fantastic! i loved everything he said and he was really nice to me too.

well because of zoko and president and elder kopischke asking us to do things differently i've been very busy. we're so busy that we don't have time for like lunch or dinner break some days. it's crazy. we're trying to look for more investigators and so far things are going fairly well. we have lots of lessons which is great because we're suppose to be getting 15 lessons a week. i'm getting better at talking to people on buses and trains... i'm less scared. but i'm still kind of having a hard time bringing it to the gospel...but i'm working on it!

on sunday elder hunsaker and i sang in sacrament meeting... in german... about baptism! hahaha i was SO nervous but it went SO well. i'm trying to attach the video we took while we practiced and i'll see if i can email it you. if not then i'll put it on a cd sometime and mail it home.

so on saturday we went to follow up with dottie... but anyway we walked into her bedroom and there was a new picture she had begun to paint and i looked more closely and realized it was ME and elder hunsaker! she was there one time when we were practicing and she took a picture and shes' painting it! i'm a painting! i'll take a picture of it when it's finished so you can see. i'm playing the piano and hunsaker is behind me singing. it's SO cool!!!

today we went to the temple - always nice and wonderful - and tonight we have interviews with president. we'll see how that goes. we get transfer calls a week after my birthday on saturday.

Viv: thanks for sending me the pictures of noah! he's darling!!

Jameson: i got your letter at zoko last week. thanks! it sounds like you're keeping busy! that's good! when does school start??

Meg: oh my gosh i miss you too! i'm sorry school has been crazy - i hate tests. i'm praying for you though so hopefully things turn out alright! i'm excited for your package!! love you!!!!

Jess: i'm glad to hear you got my package! tell everyone at school HI for me and thanks for thinking of me! i miss you too but dont worry... it's all for a good cause. the cia has no idea what's coming ;) love ya!

Aubs: hey i'm glad to hear that CA is getting a little better! be sure to keep me updated! thanks for your package it was wonderful and exactly what i needed! miss you and love you lots!!!!

Marci: thanks so much for all your emails and letters. its great to know that someone is thinking of me! i'm excited to get your package too... thanks a ton! you're great!!!!!

Fun Photos

Rachel saw her old companion, Sister Ranzenberger, last week. Those two are good friends. She didn't mention what she was laughing about. The other picture is of her eating something... maybe a sausage?... at the "fall market".

Meg - I'd love to send you Rachel's address, but I don't have your e-mail address. Mine is: mdoty6@comcast.net

I Met an Old Man Who Stole My Heart

i met an old man last week who stole my heart. i asked him if i could sit next to him while we were waiting for a bus and he started talking to me. he was trying his hardest to speak in english, even though i was speaking german to him. haha. he was like 80 something years old and was so funny. he just melted my heart! after a little while he looked at his watch and said my bus is coming soon. and i said, hey mine too. and he asked the 57 bus? and i said yes! and he said do you live there? and i said nope i live here in the middle of town. and he asked well why are you going to mainz-kastel? and i said we're going to visit someone. and he said me?! and i said if you want! haha. we got off at the same stop too. he said that he didn't think it was chance that we talked and ended up on the same bus and the same stop. he knew we were missionaries but wasn't really interested in our message. he said his name was Rolf. it was wierd i felt like we knew eachother when we were talking. l ike i was talking to an old friend or something. it was a really neat experience. i almost started crying (seriously) when we had to say goodbye. i was so sad. i'll probably never see him again. but he was so darling and funny. i'll always remember him.

well last week as you know i did a split with the frankfurt sisters. it was great!!! we switched wednesday night and so the next morning i went running because there's a track near the apartment and it didn't hurt my knee! and then the whole day was just great. we had a street preach in Offenbach and sister ranzenberger was there!!!!!! so i've been struggling my entire mission with talking to everyone and Ballard contacting (that's when you talk to people while you're going places like on buses and trains and such... elder ballard talked a lot about it a few years ago). none of my companions have really done it and so i've struggled to know what to say, etc. not like that's a good exuse for not doing it but anyway. sister goldthorpe was so good at it. and so i studied like everything she did so that i could do it too. since i've been back i've been working on it. no success stories yet but i'm still trying! anyway i learned a lot on the split and it was so nice and relaxing. it was a great day!!!

Jess: i couldn't look up the picture you attached because i dont have facebook and you have to have facebook to look it up! i haven't gotten your package yet either. did you send it to my apartment or the mission office? if you sent it to the mission office i'll should get it on friday because we're having zone conference and that's the only time i get mail from the office. anyway it was great to hear from you and read your funny stories! miss you tons!! love ya!

Jameson: hey no worries i understand that you're busy! things are going alright. didn't you say a few weeks ago that you sent me something? did you send it to my apartment or the mission office? i only get stuff from the office at zoneconferences. lame. unless one of the elders from the office decides to be awesome and bring me my mail. but only when i get him cookies. haha. its nice to have friends in the office! hope you have an awesome week and get more hours at work!!

well my birthday is next week. i'm not going to lie i'm a little homesick. this is like my first birthday when i won't be home. and as a missionary your birthday really doesn't mean anything. nothing special happens. except that i'm in germany. that's cool

Ok friends and family... Rachel's birthday is November 22nd and she will be turning 22 years old. If you e-mail her before Nov. 18th, she'll get it before her birthday. I know she'd love extra e-mails. ♥ Thanks!

tanzenrach22@googlemail.com

Haircut Explanation

Some of you may remember not too long ago

Rachel got a short hair cut.

Well, I asked her why

she hadn't sent me any cute

close up pictures since then.

Here was her explanation...

i shouldn't have cut it so short

because it's really humid here

and it doesn't stay straight

but then it doesn't go curly anymore

because it's short

so i have to french braid it back every day.

it's really frustrating! so one of these mornings i'll straighten my hair and take a picture

while i'm still in the apartment and then pull it back before i go outside.

Here is the photo she sent this morning of the darling short hair cut

before she french braided it.

Park Photos

These pictures were taken at the park last P-Day.

Fun slide!

Teaching By the Spirit

i asked one of our investigators to be baptized (after we taught this great lesson about the importance of baptism) and she got this huge smile on her face and said 'nope, sorry to burst your bubble'. we asked her what's holding her back and after lots more talking and trying to figure out what's up, we asked her to also fast about baptism. she just laughed. by the time we left the appointment we told her that she needs to figure out if she even wants to know that the church is true.

anyway so when we left the appointment i felt pretty hopeless. but we had done our part. the Spirit lead everything that was said. every time we meet with her towards the end of each lesson i know when Heavenly Father wants me to be done because the Spirit just fills my mouth and i talk until i have nothing more to say. it's like Heavenly Father tells me, 'Rach good job, we're done for now'. and then we end the lesson. that's what happened when we met last week. at the end i wanted to bear my testimony one last time. i told her what i hope everyone i meet understands... that their Father in Heaven loves them. and i told her how very much Heavenly Father loves her. and then i didn't know what else to say. the Spirit wasn't giving me more. so i said a few more things and then we ended the lesson. it ended on a good note though. she knows that we love her and she said that she's very dedicated in coming to church.

so she came to church on sunday and guess what... she was fasting! we have no idea what for or anything but she said that she had been trying for like 24 hours to talk herself out of fasting but she just couldn't and came to church fasting! so hopefully things will turn around! we're still friends and she'll keep coming to activities. but it was an emotional weekend

Aubs: i got your package today! thanks!! i mailed you a package today too so be looking for it! i love you and miss you too!!

Jess: thanks for the email! i mailed you a package today too to the apartment so be looking for it! love you! btw very proud of you for saying hi to the cute boy - even in your marching band outfit. way to be bold!