Week 15

Monday (11/17/14)
This is a post I put up on facebook:

So this month is all about thanksgiving and today I was smacked in the face with just how grateful I am for MY parents. Our relationship is imperfect at times, but I'm so blessed to have a mom and dad who read to me, sang with me, took me to the theatre, taught me good manners, gave me many opportunities for learning and growing (cooking class, summer camp, girls camp, music lessons, singing lessons, dance classes, karate class, freaking "hooked on phonics" and every type of flashcards on the earth, swimming lessons, etc...) but most of all, they gave me their time. Whenever I needed it. My mom has spent hundreds of hours reading stories with me, helping me late at night with homework and last minute sewing projects (she sews... I watch... Ha) and talking or just listening to/with me, and my dad is ready at any given moment to drop everything and help me with anything. Sometimes even when I don't want the help haha. They came to almost every performance, every recital, every award ceremony, every graduation... Besides my Heavenly Father and Savior, they are the absolute constants in my life. And not everyone can say that about their parents. So I think I can count myself as pretty dang lucky (even though luck has nothing to do with it).

Friday (11/21/14)
I got all dressed up to go out tonight, and it turned into a big ol' fail. I went down to where the "young" folks hang out, and it was just not my scene. I didn't even bother going into any of the places; dancers on poles, alcohol, young drunk idiots... not my thing. So I wandered around, and sat for awhile people-watching other people wandering around. When it got relatively late I headed back home, but I needed a break from walking in my heels and I was super thirsty so I started looking for a bar that was still open where I could grab a Fanta Limón. I couldn't really find anything and was going to just go home, when I decided to go into this one particular place - a guy dressed in African dress said he loved me as I was walking past. I just thought he worked there and was trying to get customers; I even kept walking. But he had just made me smile after my failed night out. So I went back, walked down to the bar and asked the bartender if they had the soft-drink I was looking for. They did, indeed. So I sat down and hung up my shoes. There were two bartenders. Both named José. It's like the beginnings of a popular sitcom haha. They were both super friendly (but not in a creepy way) and it was so fun to practice my Spanish. I also met Titch. I thought he was the owner (he's not; Martin, one of the José's brothers is) and he thought I was Spanish hahaha, and he introduced me to Pablo, who's real name is Paul, but when in Spain... 
I already love this old English bar. 

Sunday (11/23/14)
This Sunday was awesome. Brother Sena, probably one of the oldest and wisest members of the ward, invited me to come have dinner with him and the missionaries. He's Italian and he'd made homemade pizza and an awesome salad, along with a Spanish tortilla we all got a taste of. But that's not all. For dessert he broke out a panettone (not homemade, they are really complicated to make, so most people get them from a bakery) which is basically an Italian fruitcake - sweet bread with fruit mixed in. But unlike an American stereotyped fruitcake, it was SO good. It had all kinds of yumminess mixed in, like raisins and orange zest. AND THEN he gave us ice-cream bars. We definitely did NOT leave hungry. After we ate, he gave what I'm sure was an inspired lesson about the roles of the twelve-tribes of Israel, but I didn't understand any of it. My Spanish-language learning didn't ever really include religious words and topics, so I definitely have some catching up to do. When we were finished at Brother Sena's, I went with the Sister missionaries to an appointment they had scheduled with an African family. The husband seems fairly interested in the gospel, while the wife couldn't care less, but it might be because they are all learning Spanish so everyone's understanding is at a different level. They have two kids, a boy and a girl, and they are SO FREAKING CUTE! The little boy gave the closing prayer, and in it he said "Please let Rebecca come to our house whenever she can." OHMAHGOSH. Someone get a mop, cause I'm a melted puddle on the floor! And they both taught me their secret handshakes. Adorable.

xoxo,

     Rebecca

Week 7

Monday 9/22/14
Went visiting teaching today! Tania, the Relief Society President, is my companion. We met with Alexandra. 

A cool little story:
To get to Alexandra's house I had to take the train to Kreuzlingen, and then a bus the rest of the way. So I get to Kreuzlingen and I have like 4 minutes to find the bus stop, which I've never been to at this station. So I'm looking around desperately for a sign, and I find one, but I can't tell if it's pointing down the hall, or up the stairs haha *facepalm* COME ON SIGN! And in my head I'm thinking that I don't have time to check both... I'm looking down the hall, and then as I'm looking bring my focus closer in front of me, who do I see? The missionaries! Elder Annen and Elder Strauss. I quickly ask where the bus stop is and tell them I'm on my way to go visiting teaching. They point me in the right direction (up the stairs) and I made it to my bus just in time. I need to stop freaking out all the time :P God's got my back. 

I still can't get over how much I can understand with the help of the Spirit. It's so much easier for me to understand church related discussions than "normal" ones. I guess it just comes a little easier when you are doing God's work. Tania went back and forth between translating German to English for me, then English to German for Alexandra, but she can understand a lot of English on her own. I'm so grateful for everyone's patience and help as far as language and translation goes.  

Friday 9/26/14
Happy birthday to my beautiful Momma! Your mom can have the world, because MY mom is the BEST mom in the friggin UNIVERSE.

Tamara and I went to lunch today with Svenja at a restaurant here in town, that's right on the lake. When we walked in I felt SO underdressed - it was pretty fancy, but it wasn't like Tamara and Svenja were dressed up either haha. Tamara had veal (I think...) and I got a steak. It was DELICIOUS. Mm, SO good. 

See & Park Restaurant

(sorry for the stupid grey dot... grr)

Helllloooooo Fall! :D

Saturday 9/27/14
So today is the day Sister Buchanan had arranged for us to go to the Meersburg Castle! Elder and Sister Schwabe (from Australia) are a missionary couple over the YSA's on the Swiss side that she also invited to come. They contacted me on Facebook yesterday and offered to pick me up! That added about an HOUR onto their travel time. They were so nice and willing and lovely. It was such a pleasure to meet them. So yes, they picked me up and we had a great time chatting on the way to the ferry in Konstanz. Like a CAR ferry. I've never been on one before! It was SO cool! haha. We took the ferry straight across to Meersburg and then met up with Elder and Sister Buchanan and their "son" Derick, and on to the castle we went! I literally hugged the walls when we first walked inside. I was touching HISTORY. Can you imagine the thousands of people and lives throughout CENTURIES that have walked in those halls?! You can FEEL it, you can feel THEM. Such an awesome experience. To say that I was thrilled would be a huge understatement.

On a big ol' car ferry!

Huge working waterwheel

Poet Annette Droste-Hülshoff (1797 - 1848)
She lived in the castle at one time and
wrote poetry about the beauty of the Bodensee.

Meersburg Castle, owned and lived in still today!
"...oldest inhabited German fortress" and almost everything
has been kept original! So freaking amazing!

Don't know who this bust is...

I had to take this picture, coming from a
family of gun and knive enthusiasts :)

Kitchen

Beautiful painting on wood panel

How would you even fight with one of these swords?! They
are HUGE. I'm tired just contemplating it...

Just waiting for my knight... Psh, NOT!
I'm LIVING & ADVENTURING! :D

The lady poet's room. I feel a kindred spirit.
(Sister Schwabe and Derick on the left)

The caption/note underneath these writings says:
Handschrift von Wilhelm Grimm (left)
Handschrift von Jakob Grimm (right)
:D!!!! I died a little. SO COOL!

Bakery

Baptismal font. Priests used to live here too.

I can see where Annette got her inspiration... breathtaking.

Dining Hall
(Sister Buchanan and Sister Schwabe on right side)

Trying to be artistic haha. I like it! 

Dungeon

Left to right: Elder Buchanan, Derick, Elder Schwabe

Castle chapel. Bling bling!

After our castle exploration, we all went and had lunch (I had spaghetti with pesto) together here: 

It was great to be outside eating great food with wonderful people in the sunshine. Afterwards, the Buchanans' and Derick left, and the Schwabes' and I did some wandering and window shopping.

This is Mainau Island. Elder Schwabe told me it has the
best botanical garden he's ever seen. Definitely want to
go see for myself! 

What a FANTASTIC day so far!

After our fun outing, the Schwabe's dropped me off in Konstanz because I was meeting up with Corinne, her sister Nicole, Hector, and Benjamin (a.k.a. Beni... boo boo boobooboo :P ahahaha "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" anyone?!) for dinner there later in the evening. I wandered around a bit to kill some time.

Struggling street performer. No, really. He tried to get his act
going and cars kept driving through so he gave up. Sadness.

I love how everyone is taking the time to just sit,
and LISTEN. This performer wasn't a great singer,
but he created a GREAT atmosphere. 

Fancy boat. Fancy people. Fancy party.
Complete with red carpet. Oooh.

Street view. Could have done a better job. Mah bad.

I finally met up with everyone and we took the bus to Meera Restaurant which had an assortment of Singapore, Thai, and Indian foods. OHMAHGOSH. SOOOOOO GOOD (it's ranked #2 of 210 restaurants in Konstanz on TripAdvisor). I definitely HIGHLY recommend it myself. The service was fantastic, the prices were awesome, and the food was scrumptious (I had the Chicken Thaisiyana). The only warning I have for you: the nonalcoholic specialty drinks - partake at your own risk! haha I think between all of us we tried one of each of them. They're all awful. One was especially bad; it literally tasted like mouthwash. Not worth the 5 euros at all (even the coconut-pineapple-y one I got). DON'T DO IT. You've been warned.

It was a blast though! We all had a great time together. 

Sunday 9/28/14

Today was the Primary Program at church. OH MY CUTENESS! They were SO precious. I can't even handle it. I teared up several times; the spirit these little children bring is enormous. They are so steadfast; it's so humbling.

Elder Strauss has been dubbed my official translator for Sacrament meeting every week, as requested by the Bishopric (and he usually translates for me in Sunday School as well) haha. Poor guy. He seems willing though, and I appreciate it so I guess I should just stop feeling bad about it. Larissa or Tania take over in Relief Society.

Speaking of RS, I read a quote today for part of the lesson, in DEUTSCH! (Larissa helped me out with a few words, but I DID IT!) Here it is:

"Mut hat viele Gesichter. Der christliche Schriftsteller Charles Swindoll schrieb einst: 'Mut ist nicht auf das Schlachtfeld begrenzt ... oder darauf, dass man in seinem Haus tapfer einen Einbrecher schnappt. Mut wird in Wahrheit im Stillen geprüft. Er wird im Innersten geprüft, wenn es darum geht, treu zu sein, wenn keiner zusieht, ... allein dazustehen, wenn man missverstanden wird.'"

You can plug it into Google Translate if you so desire :P I'm getting braver at attempting to talk in German. I still can't say much, but what I can say, I'm trying to incorporate into conversations - sometimes it's hard to remember to try because people that know me usually just automatically talk to me in English (or Spanish). 

After church I went with Beni over to Germany - a couple from the ward who live there gave us a ride - so we could walk over to Daisy's for lunch with the missionaries. We were pretty early so we both helped her make lunch (big pan of veggies and beef with mashed potatoes). When everyone arrived we all just sat around and ate and talked. Daisy can understand English, she just can't speak it very well anymore, so a lot of the conversation was in English, with splashes of Spanish and German. 

I love the missionaries of this ward. It's like I left my four brothers in the states and got to adopt an additional four! Elder Strauss loves to give me a hard time, but I don't think he's used to having someone, especially a girl, give it back to him... and I do. My family would be proud of my sarcastic and witty development :P Elder Sanft (Tongan, from California) gave me the BEST compliment on the bus back to the train station - Somehow the fact that I lived in Hawaii for awhile came up and he said that made a lot of sense because he didn't really get Utah vibes off me, but that I was also more open than Californians (you know, they're nice, but not necessarily open to people). Anyway, he said I was definitely part Islander. AW! Made. My. Day. 

From top to bottom: Daisy's son, Elder Roberts, Benjamin,
Elder Annen, Elder Strauss, Elder Sanft.

Daisy & Moi! 

Elder Strauss opted out (dumb) so this turned into
an American Elders pic... USA! USA! USA! :D

I had pomegranate for the first time! It's yummy!

Oh hey! ...Beni stole my camera haha. 

xoxo,

     Rebecca