This week has been really good but crazy as always.
My fourth of July this week was AWESOME! The Sisters serving in the 1st Ward (Judd and Linford) had an eating appointment that turned into a party. We got invited to join the party and since our appointment fell through, we went! The Huy's so fun. Bro. Huy is from Germany and Sis. Huy is from Mongolia. They're both hilarious and speak incredible English and they love missionaries! Walking into their house was like walking into our house! She gave me a huge hug and told me to tell her everything about our work and it was awesome! Everyone brought different types of food (Sis. Woods and I made apple cobbler) and ohmygoodness. So delicious. Bro. Huy is blind but, that doesn't slow him down at all. He was laughing and cracking jokes the whole time. Eventually, he decided since it was our (All the American's.. by now there were 8 American Missionaries here) Independence Day, we should all sing American songs. He started belting out the Star Spangled Banner and oh man. It was literally one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen. Picture in your head a blind man, sitting on a couch singing our national anthem with a super thick German accent. It was nice to be around such a casual, normal family that was totally pumped about missionary work - even though, I'm not even serving in their ward I felt so loved!
Hmm, a cultural story for this week. People are very honest. They tell you exactly what they think about you, your beliefs, and whatever you are saying. Sometimes it's a little unnerving because in America, we sometimes beat around the bush in order to be more polite. Not in Austria. You can try and start a gospel conversation and they'll interrupt in the middle with a 'Was wollen Sie?' What do you want? The first time someone said that to me, it shocked me so much I couldn't think of anything to say. Now I just tell them that I want to teach them about our gospel and help them come closer to Christ by Baptism. Blunt. Scary. But, we have gotten SO many new investigators because of it. People love Christ, they know He is there and that He loves them. But, they aren't sure how to get closer to Him. That's where we come in! I love love love love it.
Investigator stories are always hard to choose because I'd love to tell you about all of them! So I'll start with Rebecca. Rebecca is a single-mom with four children. Her husband passed away March 2012 from liver cancer and she's been raising their children all by herself. She's lived in Vienna for 25 years but, is originally from the Phillipines. The Wien 3 Elders found her street contacting and referred her to us (English is better for her than German). We met with her for the first time on Saturday and talked all about the Plan of Salvation. Rebecca's oldest child is 12. Rica is her name and she is the sweetest thing on the planet. As we taught the plan all four (12, 10,6,5) kids slowed down, sat still and really listened. It's so incredible how sensitive children are to feeling the Spirit. You could tell Rebecca was shocked her children A) wanted to listen B) were able to sit still to listen. Rebecca really wants the comfort an eternal family can bring her and I'm so excited to go back and teach her more!
One random cool story!! On Thursday, we had all of our appointments fall out. It was a bummer but, we figured that just meant there were some super golden people for us to find instead! So we just took an U-Bahn, got out and started walking around talking to people. She would take one side of the street and I would take the other. We found alot of great people but, it was getting late so we started heading home. There was a guy walking the same way we were and I kept thinking I should start talking to him. Two blocks pass by and we're still walking the same pace, in the same direction. I couldn't think of anything to say auf Deutsch so I just handed him a card. He took it and another block passed by in silence, with him reading the card. Finally, I asked him if he came from Wien and next thing you know we're having a conversation and I got to teach a summary of the Restoration. THEN HE ASKED ME IF I WAS FROM GERMANY. I laughed and said, I know, my German isn't so great. I'm from the States. He stopped walking and was shocked. He didn't believe me. He is here in Wien studying but, has lived his whole life in Frankfurt and said, I sounded just like them. It was the coolest thing ever. I totally thought he was making fun of me and my German but, NOPE! And!! Even cooler than that, I gave him a Book of Mormon and he was so excited to start reading it! We're meeting with Sandy (that's his name) sometime this week!! Oh yeah! So all in all, a great week!
I'm glad Jo's surgery went well. It can take a lot of you, but it's good to know she's getting better! I've seen posters everywhere for that WWZ movie. I didn't know what it was about.. you'll have to put it on the to-be-watched list haha PS I'll send more pics next week! Also, you can send me more lansoprazole and singulair if you want. I'm doing okay with both but, it never hurts to have more. Especially, if I were to get transferred to Germany (aka where it's illegal to send drugs). I don't think I will though. My guess is that I'll serve here for like 6 months. Who knows though! If you were to send a package, I wouldn't mind getting pretzel mnms or mac and cheese. Sounds weird but... yeah. You wouldn't have to send the noodles... just the cheese haha or peanut butter cups. These are suggestions! Do not feel like you need to send me these things, you just told me before I left to keep you informed haha Anyways, super long email haha
I love you all!! Can't wait to hear about next weeks adventures!
Sister Harman
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