This palace belonged to "King Karl". Rachel said that he must have really liked the color yellow because there was a lot of it! She and Sister Barnhart went here on their last P-Day and had fun playing at the palace park.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Karlsruhe Palace
This palace belonged to "King Karl". Rachel said that he must have really liked the color yellow because there was a lot of it! She and Sister Barnhart went here on their last P-Day and had fun playing at the palace park.
Power 10
things continue to be tough... but i found a scripture that made us laugh and we put it above our door: 2 Nephi 5:27 - "And it came to pass that we did live after the manner of happiness." ♥
well sister barnhart and i have come up with a game to get the elders out and contacting. its called Power 10. and what we do is we meet the elders at karl's statue and then we go contacting for 10 minutes with our companions. during that 10 minutes you have to count how many people you can get to stop long enough for you to tell them who you are... or who just stops long enough for you to say something to. if they reject you that's fine just move on to someone else. the goal really is to find someone who's interested. but it makes it a little bit more fun to count. both times we've done it sister barnhart and i have won. the first time we got 12 people to stop and the 2nd time we only got 5 but one woman actually stopped and we talked with her for a little bit. but the elders actually kind of like it. so we're going to try and get them to do it... Power 10 every day. maybe it'll make a difference. hopefully!
yesterday morning we got a call from the district leader in frankfurt. he had a referral for us. she's chinese and studying here in karlsruhe. she's friends with some chinese members in frankfurt and when she visits them on the weekend she goes to church with them. she's met with the sisters a few times in frankfurt but she told elder peterson that she wants the missionaries in karlsruhe to come teach her at her home! she's out of town till the 2nd or 3rd so we're going to call her this weekend! how exciting!!!!!! i miss having people to teach and worry about.
jess: hey sweetie. i got your birthday package last week! it came from frankfurt with my christmas packages! thanks!!! i love the bracelet :) and the notebook... i carry it with me it's very handy. and the quote book is great too. i love you!!!! jordan is suppose to be back at greenbrier this coming semester. he's living at apartment 3 again. hahaha
well sister barnhart and i have come up with a game to get the elders out and contacting. its called Power 10. and what we do is we meet the elders at karl's statue and then we go contacting for 10 minutes with our companions. during that 10 minutes you have to count how many people you can get to stop long enough for you to tell them who you are... or who just stops long enough for you to say something to. if they reject you that's fine just move on to someone else. the goal really is to find someone who's interested. but it makes it a little bit more fun to count. both times we've done it sister barnhart and i have won. the first time we got 12 people to stop and the 2nd time we only got 5 but one woman actually stopped and we talked with her for a little bit. but the elders actually kind of like it. so we're going to try and get them to do it... Power 10 every day. maybe it'll make a difference. hopefully!
yesterday morning we got a call from the district leader in frankfurt. he had a referral for us. she's chinese and studying here in karlsruhe. she's friends with some chinese members in frankfurt and when she visits them on the weekend she goes to church with them. she's met with the sisters a few times in frankfurt but she told elder peterson that she wants the missionaries in karlsruhe to come teach her at her home! she's out of town till the 2nd or 3rd so we're going to call her this weekend! how exciting!!!!!! i miss having people to teach and worry about.
jess: hey sweetie. i got your birthday package last week! it came from frankfurt with my christmas packages! thanks!!! i love the bracelet :) and the notebook... i carry it with me it's very handy. and the quote book is great too. i love you!!!! jordan is suppose to be back at greenbrier this coming semester. he's living at apartment 3 again. hahaha
Christmas Day in the Black Forest
On Christmas Day, Rachel, Sister Barnhart, Elder Hafer and Elder Welch went with Schwester Schuster and her family into the Black Forest. Apparently it's called the Black Forest because there are so many trees that it looks black. Rachel told us that evening when we talked to her that she had a great time!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas Day Phone Call
Since the last post, I've had many concerned friends ask me if Rachel is ok.
Yes... and thank you for your concern... she is ok.
We were able to spend almost an hour and a half talking with her on Christmas day.
Because her apartment is just one big room
and a bathroom,
and she and her companion wanted to give each other
privacy while they talked to their families,
the one on the phone camped out in the bathroom and sat on part of the couch.
So, while she chatted with us from the bathroom,
she was in her jammies
with a plateful of cheese and crackers.
She sounded wonderful... happy... positive... funny.
But, Karlsruhe is a very hard area.
There are two sets of elders that also serve there.
They do not currently have investigators either.
No one wants to hear what the missionaries want to share,
and day after day after day that can be very discouraging.
But Rachel is a "glass half full" kind of girl.
She's going to be fine... ♥
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas in Germany
tomorrow is christmas eve and this is like the BIG day for germans. they open all their gifts that evening. we're going over to the Pavels tomorrow after our ward little christmas thing at the church. it's like a christmas devotional thing that all the churches do every year on christmas eve. then on christmas we're going to a part-member family (the husband isn't a member) and we're having lunch and then they are taking us to go for a walk in the Black Forest... i'm SO excited about it. she said we should wear jeans because it's cold and there's some snow :) then the day after christmas (it's called 2nd christmas) we're having lunch at a members home then we're going to the church to hang out with our district and watch movies and play games and such. so i'm really excited about this week i think it's going to be a lot of fun!
sister barnhart and i have been really struggling. on sunday we had an appointment fall out and that was kind of the last straw and sister barnhart started crying so i took her into the bathroom and we just sat on the bathroom floor while she cried. our poor elders didn't know what to do. it's really hard being a missionary here at christmas time. no one cares. and we're so far from other missionares. it takes an hour to get to heidelberg and so we're like a 6 man island with no investigators and no success stories. our apartment is a dump and president doesn't care. i think sister barnhart and i are getting whitewashed out of karlsruhe at the end of this transfer cycle. well she's going home but i don't think there will be sisters in karlsruhe anymore.
we are getting really tired and we struggle not to cry to the point where everything is just funny. we're laughing SO much - i think we're going crazy. our elders can tell that we're just losing it so yesterday they were in heidelberg because one of them had to go see a doctor and they bought us a special dessert that you can only get in heidelberg and told us how great we are. it was sweet of them.
christmas is not a fun time to be a missionary and the bummer part is that it'll get worse after christmas because it'll just be cold and people are going to be grumpyer. every morning i wake up and do what bob does in What About Bob... he rubs his temples on the side of his head and says 'i feel good. i feel great. i feel wonderful'
jame: hey thanks for your email. you know i'm not picky about what people write in their emails to me. i love knowing what's going on with you and how you're doing and stuff. sounds like you're working a lot! money is always good. sorry you aren't on her facebook anymore. i haven't heard from her for like a year so i have no idea what's going on. when do you head to school?? FELIZ NAVIDAD!! :)
Meg. hallo liebe! yeah it's crazy how much snow you have there in redmond!!! don't worry about not sending my package yet. it'll be great to get something after christmas too!!! tell your family MERRY CHRISTMAS from me and to brian too. let me know how jamie's wedding turns out. take lots of pictures and email them to me!! LOVE YOU
Marci: thanks for the email! and thanks for sharing your experince with me. i love being in the temple. it's so wonderful and i'm sad that we're too far south to attend the temple. i know you will love it there when you feel you are ready to attend - it's such a great blessing! have a great christmas!!!
Pierre: that's cool that you get to spend time with pyper and roane - those two are so funny. i met roane when he was serving down here in the south when i first came to germany.tell them i say hi would ya? hafer is a great district leader. we were in the mtc at the same time and came to germany together. well i hope you're doing great and that you have a frohe weihnachten!
(And then on the evening of Christmas, she will be getting a phone call from her loving family!!! ♥)
sister barnhart and i have been really struggling. on sunday we had an appointment fall out and that was kind of the last straw and sister barnhart started crying so i took her into the bathroom and we just sat on the bathroom floor while she cried. our poor elders didn't know what to do. it's really hard being a missionary here at christmas time. no one cares. and we're so far from other missionares. it takes an hour to get to heidelberg and so we're like a 6 man island with no investigators and no success stories. our apartment is a dump and president doesn't care. i think sister barnhart and i are getting whitewashed out of karlsruhe at the end of this transfer cycle. well she's going home but i don't think there will be sisters in karlsruhe anymore.
we are getting really tired and we struggle not to cry to the point where everything is just funny. we're laughing SO much - i think we're going crazy. our elders can tell that we're just losing it so yesterday they were in heidelberg because one of them had to go see a doctor and they bought us a special dessert that you can only get in heidelberg and told us how great we are. it was sweet of them.
christmas is not a fun time to be a missionary and the bummer part is that it'll get worse after christmas because it'll just be cold and people are going to be grumpyer. every morning i wake up and do what bob does in What About Bob... he rubs his temples on the side of his head and says 'i feel good. i feel great. i feel wonderful'
jame: hey thanks for your email. you know i'm not picky about what people write in their emails to me. i love knowing what's going on with you and how you're doing and stuff. sounds like you're working a lot! money is always good. sorry you aren't on her facebook anymore. i haven't heard from her for like a year so i have no idea what's going on. when do you head to school?? FELIZ NAVIDAD!! :)
Meg. hallo liebe! yeah it's crazy how much snow you have there in redmond!!! don't worry about not sending my package yet. it'll be great to get something after christmas too!!! tell your family MERRY CHRISTMAS from me and to brian too. let me know how jamie's wedding turns out. take lots of pictures and email them to me!! LOVE YOU
Marci: thanks for the email! and thanks for sharing your experince with me. i love being in the temple. it's so wonderful and i'm sad that we're too far south to attend the temple. i know you will love it there when you feel you are ready to attend - it's such a great blessing! have a great christmas!!!
Pierre: that's cool that you get to spend time with pyper and roane - those two are so funny. i met roane when he was serving down here in the south when i first came to germany.tell them i say hi would ya? hafer is a great district leader. we were in the mtc at the same time and came to germany together. well i hope you're doing great and that you have a frohe weihnachten!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Misc. Photos
Rachel and Sister Barnhart
cleaning up after the ward christmas party... there were SO many dishes. elder hafer and elder rollins and i did the dishes. our hands were SO pruny.
me, elder kennedy, elder welch and sister barnhart last night at the train station after zone conference
Investigators Needed!
so we still don't have any investigators and apparently the zone leaders were mad about our numbers. we're trying! it's a good thing that i don't have to report the numbers or deal with leaders sometimes because i don't know how well i'd be able to hold my tongue. last week we picked an area to do doors that's near the church and then we prayed and we each picked 3 streets. we didn't show them to eachother and then we looked at what the other had chosen and we had one street in common. so we're doing doors on that street. i really hope we find someone. it's starting to get really depressing.
last week we went caroling with a family in the ward. they have 3 kids and they love the missionaries! the boys and their mom came caroling with us and they were so fun! one of the boys kept wanting to go to his friend's houses and sing there. he reminds me of david. it was snowing while we were there and the boys started a snow ball fight with elder hafer... pretty soon the rest of us joined in and we all had a snow ball fight. it was so much fun! and we got so wet! and then their grandma made us all dinner so we all had nice warm soup! we all laughed and laughed and had so much fun. they're a great family and i love their kids!!
yesterday we had zone conference and for the 2nd half we had like a christmas devotional. i played the piano for an elder while he sang oh little town of bethlahem and after the testimony meeting sister barnhart and i played o holy night (me piano and sister barnhart on the flute).
today we have an appointment in the middle of the day. so we're just doing emails and grocery shopping today and spend the rest of pday like a normal day and we're going to take the rest of our pday time another day. we're so desperate for appointments that we're willing to do it on pday even. christmas is a hard time to be a missionary.
last week we went caroling with a family in the ward. they have 3 kids and they love the missionaries! the boys and their mom came caroling with us and they were so fun! one of the boys kept wanting to go to his friend's houses and sing there. he reminds me of david. it was snowing while we were there and the boys started a snow ball fight with elder hafer... pretty soon the rest of us joined in and we all had a snow ball fight. it was so much fun! and we got so wet! and then their grandma made us all dinner so we all had nice warm soup! we all laughed and laughed and had so much fun. they're a great family and i love their kids!!
yesterday we had zone conference and for the 2nd half we had like a christmas devotional. i played the piano for an elder while he sang oh little town of bethlahem and after the testimony meeting sister barnhart and i played o holy night (me piano and sister barnhart on the flute).
today we have an appointment in the middle of the day. so we're just doing emails and grocery shopping today and spend the rest of pday like a normal day and we're going to take the rest of our pday time another day. we're so desperate for appointments that we're willing to do it on pday even. christmas is a hard time to be a missionary.
Karlsruhe Christmas Market
I asked Rachel to send me photos of the Christmas Market. She's been doing some shopping. Doesn't it look like fun? 
This is the place where "Karl" is "resting" - Karlsruhe or Karl's rest.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Traveling to Karlsruhe
me right after i... well it's called "amelding". it's registering! haha! sorry - sometimes i forget what the words mean in english. anyway this is a picture of me after i registered in karlsruhe. you have to do that each time you move to a new city.
we found this poster in the frankfurt train station. it says: "new heavenly sisters" haha!
you know why karlsruhe is named that? i'll tell you...
karl - name of the king dude
ruhe - rest
karl-s-ruhe - karl's rest
so there's the schloß (palace) where he lived...
karl - name of the king dude
ruhe - rest
karl-s-ruhe - karl's rest
so there's the schloß (palace) where he lived...
and then if you walk away from the schloß into town there's a pyramid thing.
apparently that's where karl is resting.
his dead body is in the pyramid thing in the middle of town.
so that is why karlsruhe is named karlsruhe.
because it's the place of karl's rest. cool huh!
Karlsruhe
well i'm in my new area... karlsruhe is beautiful! i absolutely love it down here! sister barnhart is great! she's from Everett!!!! we clicked from the beginning.
unfortunately we have absolutely no investigators. so guess what we get to to do every day. finding time! it's SO cold outside and everyone is out and about at the christmas market and so people aren't really interested. no worries i'm doing alright! it's crazy even though we have no investigators i'm SO excited to find new ones and to start teaching people. i have this feeling that there's someone here in karlsruhe who's ready to get baptized this transfer. and sister barnhart really wants to get another baptism before she goes home so hopefully we can do it!
i like the ward so far. it's mostly older people. not a lot of young single adults or anything. no outreach center (bummer!) but there is a university here in karlsruhe! i'm excited to get some work there.
our apartment is the smallest in the mission. not to mention the grossest (is that even a word?) i've talked to the appartment directors because elder lange and i are friends. he won't do anything about it! so i'm trying to bribe him with cookies and cakes and we'll see what i can get lange to come do for us. i'll have to take pictures. our bathroom smells like someone smoked in there... all the time. and then the smoke smell comes all over the appartment. it's not strong enough to make us smell like smoke but i'm pretty sure it's not healthy! i think the smell comes from the vent in the bathroom. anyway...
i'm trying to be a good missionary and be diligent and work hard. i'm excited about my new area and for everything that i'm going to learn here. we have an appointment with a woman we met on the street last week. her mother is american and her father is german. she's searching and good thing we have exactly what she needs! i really hope the appointment goes well and then we'll have an investigator! pray for us please!!!!
we went caroling last week with a woman in the ward. she took us around her neighborhood and we sang to people she knew and passed out Joy to the World dvds. it was awesome. then on sunday she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting. she said that she had really thought about calling us day of and cancelling. she thought that it maybe wasn't a good idea anymore, etc. but she had this peaceful feeling that she shouldn't call us and cancel. so we came over and we practice some songs with her and we went caroling. she bore her testimony and said that she was so greatful that she listened and didn't cancel. she told the ward that they would be wise to have us go caroling with them to their neighbors. it was awesome! after the meeting we had some ward members come to us and asked us if we'd come to them and go caroling. and some asked if they could go caroling with us when we go. i love christmas time!!
meg: of course i don't mind! i think that's great and tell them that i say that you're amazing and they should be lucky to have you watch their kids!!! good luck with finals sweetie! love you!
unfortunately we have absolutely no investigators. so guess what we get to to do every day. finding time! it's SO cold outside and everyone is out and about at the christmas market and so people aren't really interested. no worries i'm doing alright! it's crazy even though we have no investigators i'm SO excited to find new ones and to start teaching people. i have this feeling that there's someone here in karlsruhe who's ready to get baptized this transfer. and sister barnhart really wants to get another baptism before she goes home so hopefully we can do it!
i like the ward so far. it's mostly older people. not a lot of young single adults or anything. no outreach center (bummer!) but there is a university here in karlsruhe! i'm excited to get some work there.
our apartment is the smallest in the mission. not to mention the grossest (is that even a word?) i've talked to the appartment directors because elder lange and i are friends. he won't do anything about it! so i'm trying to bribe him with cookies and cakes and we'll see what i can get lange to come do for us. i'll have to take pictures. our bathroom smells like someone smoked in there... all the time. and then the smoke smell comes all over the appartment. it's not strong enough to make us smell like smoke but i'm pretty sure it's not healthy! i think the smell comes from the vent in the bathroom. anyway...
i'm trying to be a good missionary and be diligent and work hard. i'm excited about my new area and for everything that i'm going to learn here. we have an appointment with a woman we met on the street last week. her mother is american and her father is german. she's searching and good thing we have exactly what she needs! i really hope the appointment goes well and then we'll have an investigator! pray for us please!!!!
we went caroling last week with a woman in the ward. she took us around her neighborhood and we sang to people she knew and passed out Joy to the World dvds. it was awesome. then on sunday she bore her testimony in sacrament meeting. she said that she had really thought about calling us day of and cancelling. she thought that it maybe wasn't a good idea anymore, etc. but she had this peaceful feeling that she shouldn't call us and cancel. so we came over and we practice some songs with her and we went caroling. she bore her testimony and said that she was so greatful that she listened and didn't cancel. she told the ward that they would be wise to have us go caroling with them to their neighbors. it was awesome! after the meeting we had some ward members come to us and asked us if we'd come to them and go caroling. and some asked if they could go caroling with us when we go. i love christmas time!!
meg: of course i don't mind! i think that's great and tell them that i say that you're amazing and they should be lucky to have you watch their kids!!! good luck with finals sweetie! love you!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Transfer!
guess what! i'm getting transferred!!!!! i'm going back down south to Karlsruhe!! i've been there before too... we had street preaches there while i was in heidelberg! there' s a castle!!!
i am really sad to be leaving mainz. i love the people here so much. but i am excited to go too. i've been here for 5 months! my new comp is sister barnhart and she's going home after this transfer. i like her a lot!
thanksgiving was good. i got pumpkin pie... that was yummy. the american ward even played football in the morning and the elders went... i asked elder henderson why we weren't invited. he said, oh i didnt think you'd want to go. and i said are you kidding it's football! of course i want to go!! but then we decided it's okay that we didn't go... because it was a bunch of boys... and we're girls. oh well... next year i'm going!
today we have to go to frankfurt at some point and i have to take all my stuff with me. i think we're going to get to stay in a hotel because tomorrow is transfers so we're just staying in frankfurt overnight! it'll be fun!
well it's sad for me to leave mainz. but i feel really good about the time i spent here and i feel like i gave it everything i could. i've learned A LOT and now it's time for me to move back down south to karlsruhe! its not that far from heidelberg... maybe we'll go for a p-day or something and see the christmas market there. i would love to see heidelberg at christmas!!!!
jess: yes sweetie i did get the rolls in the mtc. haha so they aren't rotting. and i did get your package you sent. thanks!!! i love the tape too. i'll try and get one sent out to to you soon! love you and miss you!
meg: i got your package! thanks for the earrings! they are SO cute!!! i miss you too!!! too bad you didn't get to see my family. i saw a picture of my bro. david... he's getting old! crazy how fast they grow up! haha love you!
pierre: hey thanks for the email! did you see the post i had my mom put on my blog a month or so ago?? well looks like i'm going to be down in karlsruhe for a while. my comp there is going home after this cycle. so unless i do a horrible job down there, i'll probably be staying. maybe i'll get transferred up north before i finish. who knows!! christmas is awesome in germany. so far at least.... christmas markets are crazy fun! i haven't tried kinderpunch yet... that's next on my list.... the christmas markets in wiesbaden and in mainz aren't that big... well i haven't seen any other markets but they dont seem that big. but they're still fun! anything i should try at the christmas markets???
i am really sad to be leaving mainz. i love the people here so much. but i am excited to go too. i've been here for 5 months! my new comp is sister barnhart and she's going home after this transfer. i like her a lot!
thanksgiving was good. i got pumpkin pie... that was yummy. the american ward even played football in the morning and the elders went... i asked elder henderson why we weren't invited. he said, oh i didnt think you'd want to go. and i said are you kidding it's football! of course i want to go!! but then we decided it's okay that we didn't go... because it was a bunch of boys... and we're girls. oh well... next year i'm going!
today we have to go to frankfurt at some point and i have to take all my stuff with me. i think we're going to get to stay in a hotel because tomorrow is transfers so we're just staying in frankfurt overnight! it'll be fun!
well it's sad for me to leave mainz. but i feel really good about the time i spent here and i feel like i gave it everything i could. i've learned A LOT and now it's time for me to move back down south to karlsruhe! its not that far from heidelberg... maybe we'll go for a p-day or something and see the christmas market there. i would love to see heidelberg at christmas!!!!
jess: yes sweetie i did get the rolls in the mtc. haha so they aren't rotting. and i did get your package you sent. thanks!!! i love the tape too. i'll try and get one sent out to to you soon! love you and miss you!
meg: i got your package! thanks for the earrings! they are SO cute!!! i miss you too!!! too bad you didn't get to see my family. i saw a picture of my bro. david... he's getting old! crazy how fast they grow up! haha love you!
pierre: hey thanks for the email! did you see the post i had my mom put on my blog a month or so ago?? well looks like i'm going to be down in karlsruhe for a while. my comp there is going home after this cycle. so unless i do a horrible job down there, i'll probably be staying. maybe i'll get transferred up north before i finish. who knows!! christmas is awesome in germany. so far at least.... christmas markets are crazy fun! i haven't tried kinderpunch yet... that's next on my list.... the christmas markets in wiesbaden and in mainz aren't that big... well i haven't seen any other markets but they dont seem that big. but they're still fun! anything i should try at the christmas markets???
FYI: Karlsruhe is on the Rhine River
at the foot of the Black Forest,
just 1/2 hour from France.
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