Wowowowww I can't believe that my first transfer is over! What a crazy 6 weeks it has been haha!
Soooo drumroll please..... Nah just kidding!
Sister Samp and I will both be staying in St. Gallen :) Not super exciting news but WE are both very excited! We love it here and we are going to do a lot this transfer :) [ Sam says that US Citizens are only allowed a max of 90 days in Switzerland, so she feels very fortunate to have been able to serve there for her first area!]
SO this week was honestly not the greatest, not a whole bunch happened but there were a couple amazing things that did happen.
First off, Jennifer (the woman who commented on my tag on the bus) cancelled our appointment last week and since then we havent been able to get in contact with her. she wont answer the phone and hasnt been home when we dropped by so that was a real bummer this week... we are going to still try to get in touch with her this week! Pray for her!
We met with our investigator Aileen and discussed why she wasnt baptized. she has been investigating the church for a few years now and really should be baptized, but isn't. She has not been keeping commitments to go to church and we were really confused about it, so Sister Stamp and I had a lesson with her about how big of a blessing baptism and church are and why they are so important. This whole time she had been telling us the reason she isnt baptized was because she doesnt know enough and wants to learn more before she takes the next step. Well, at this lesson she told us the real reason she cant be baptized was becuase of her husband. he isnt a member and is against her going to church and being baptized. He is okay with us meeting with her though! She doesnt want to cause contention in their marriage so she doesnt even bring it up anymore. We are going to try and meet with her husband and try to talk to him about letting her come to church!
Then we had a finding day and met some amazing people! There was a man that was very interested in why our church was different from other churches and he spoke english so I was able to really express myself to him and bear a strong testimony. He seemed very interested and said he would attend church and read the book of mormon!
I hope everyone is doing well and sorry for the short email, this week was... different haha. Thank you for the love and support!!
Love you all,
Tschüss!
PS -we went to the "natural fitness class" again today hahaha it was awesome!!!
-------just a little side note ----
I remember the first physical therapy appointment after surgery. I remember telling everyone in the office that I wasn't going to let anyone touch my knee, that it wouldn't be good for it and would just hurt it more. I remember the thought popping into my mind one day when I was doing wall slides that I would never walk again. There was no way, with the condition that I was in that I would ever be able to be normal again. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. I couldn't see the end result.
But guess what? It came. Not nearly at the pace I wanted it to, but it did. Now, almost 2 years later I am completely back to where I was before I tore it. I CAN WALK!! I play basketball 100% with no issues and I'm even at the point where I can see myself playing without my brace one day. I sometimes marvel at my knee when it's bent at a 180° angle and think to myself, "I remember when it was the biggest deal that I got my knee to 40° at therapy." I still sometimes surprise myself with the movements I can make after having that invasive of a surgery.
THIS IS HARD WORK.
Every day is a struggle. There is no cheat sheet. But every day it gets a little better. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it because of how miniscule the change is day by day, but I look back a month and compare it to how things are now and it is better. I'm not gonna say it's dramatically better, but it is better. Things are getting more normal. I am now not so surprised at the fact we ride buses and trains to get everywhere, and I know where some cities are (or at least they sound familiar! :)) I can now tell the difference between Swiss German and High German! At the beginning I couldn't. But I don't think I'll ever get used to the Swiss German accent... Grüezi is a very normal thing to say to people now, at first it felt so weird... 3 hours of weekly planning isn't a shock anymore, its just something we do on Friday nights. I'm even used to wearing a skirt every day!!!!
How I felt at the beginning of physical therapy is how I feel with my German. I don't see myself ever being fluent, I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel YET. I don't want to speak it because I feel like an idiot doing so and I feel like it does more harm than good because of how many mistakes I make. BUT this week I was very comforted by thinking back to my ACL recovery. Literally every concept applies... I'm grateful for the knowledge I have because of that experience. It didn't hit me until this week that maybe another reason I tore my ACL was to compare it to my mission?
I am walking again. Even sprinting and jumping and cutting. I know that I will be able to speak this language someday. I don't know exactly how, but I know I will. It's just going to take time. Just like I wasn't expected to be back on the court 1 month after surgery, I'm not expected to be fluent 1 month into the field... no matter how badly I WANT to be. It's honestly been the longest month of my life and at times all I've wanted to do is quit, but looking back it has been a whole month. And I've done it. And I'm proud of myself. I just love ALL that I've learned in preparation for my mission because everything is so applicable. And I know that after my mission I'll look back and say the same thing about LIFE.
Everything I learn on my Mission will be applicable to the rest of my life.
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