Ugh

To sum up this week I will use one sentence. The week of fallen-out appointments and broken dreams. Mostly the first, but the second makes it sound more intense. Haha! But really, sort of a poo week. Not that I am complaining, it just didn't go that well.
So, Monday we had P-Day, we didn't really do anything to special. We had a YSA activity that was a lot of fun. We played a game called 'Wasser in Gesicht', or 'Water in your face!'. It reminded me of Don't Eat Pete. If you don't remember that game, get Kari to explain it. I remember playing it a lot when she used to have to babysit me. It was really fun. I love the JAE (YSA) group here. They are really good. They are really good when we bring investigators, and good at helping the less active members to become active again.
On Tuesday we went on an exchange so we were working in Salzburg. It was really good. The exchange was great, they made us home made tortellini, and we learned a lot and had fun with their investigators. And it was really fun. Our investigator is really neat. He is the coolest. He is 82 years old, but dresses like Matt (and sort of looked like Matt too...) But he was baptized when he was 20 in California, and then for whatever reason, he went inactive and had no contact for the church for 62 years. Then he just talked to the missionaries in Salzburg on the bus and now they are teaching him again and helping him become active. When he talks though he could be a General Authority or something. It was cool. We went in and he was like ''I have something I want to share with you today'' And then he read us a couple of the scriptures that they had given him to read, and then read out of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It was the neatest appointment ever. Being a missionary is awesome.

As for Wednesday and Thursday nothing really great happened. Just a lot of fallen out appointments and heart broken missionaries.
Anyways on Friday, we had our Street Display. Which is always fun. We always end up meeting like 1 or 2 crazy people. Or more. Today our best one was a man. Wearing a dress. Well, it was actually more like a robe. You know like pictures of Ancient Prophets, or what a person wears to Quest? That was it. It was the best! Haha! He came up to us and started asking all of these questions that are always hard to answer to investigators because you never know how much to say, or what is appropriate to say and what not. So he asked us ''Where is God?!'' And we were like ''Well, God is everywhere, he made everything he knows everything, he sees everything he is everywhere'' And then he told us that wasn't enough. And that God lives in our heart. Not like when people say our hearts and mean like our spirits and things. Nope. The actual organ. And then he was like ''Who is God?'' And we were like ''Well, our Heavenly Father, He created all things, he is all-powerful he knows all things... things like that'' And he says, ''No, that isn't enough he is our hearts!'' Again... The Organ. It was awesome. And was like ''You wear your white shirts and dress pants and your ties and silly name tags because someone tells you to. I wear what I do (Keep in mind, he is wearing a dress) because that is who I am. Nobody tells me what to do. I do what I want!'' And then he walked away.

The next day we went to Mutters which is a town just a little ways away from Innsbruck to meet with some of the American people here and show them the Almabtrieb, or as Sister G calls it ''Day of the Cow!''. She is so excited about it. What they do, is in the summer they let the cows wander around in the mountains and everything, but because it's too cold for that in the Winter then they gather them all up and take them to pastures. Before you would have to walk the whole way with them there, but now they just load them into trucks and drive them away. (Anything for that fresh Alpine Milk! MMMmmm). Luckily, what they still do is that all the farmers dress up in their farmer/traditional Austrian attire and then they march all the cows through the town and drink their Schnapps and yell and sing fun German songs. And the best part is that they decorate the cows. So they take big branchs and tie them to the cows' heads or horns. And then they put crosses between them, or a picture of the Virgin Mary, or a picture of Christ. On a branch. Coming off of a cows head. It was so funny! I recorded it all so I will send that home to you sometime and you will enjoy it probably. Haha!
Then yesterday at church it was the funniest day ever. So the general theme was the Law of Chastity. Which is already fun to talk about, but when 2 High Councilors come and they talk about it. In a lot of detail, and you have to translate for the visitors and English speakers it is a lot of fun. Haha! Almost all of sacrament one Sister was looking at us laughing because we were translating things and she probably thought we were idiots, and then even the German members would look at us after particularly funny sentences, see us looking really confused on what to say and do, and then laugh at us. It was sort of a gong show. Let me see if I can remember some of the best sentences ''We were made with beautiful bodies. Everyone was. Bodies that we can see, smell, touch, and taste.'' YIKES!!!! Or some other very explicit things that I would never say in a million years. It was funny. But so awkward. Everyone laughed about it. Also in Sunday School the teacher wanted to help prove how wrong Islam was and made someone pray wearing a Headscarf and then we talked about how wrong that was. It was hilarious. I love the branch here.

I know this letter sounds like we didn't do a whole lot, but we did try this week. I really am not one of the missionaries just here to do stupid things and what not. It just seemed like nobody progressed or did anything notable this week unfortunately. Luckily it seems like on a week like this you really get to do some reflections on what you want out of a mission, what you need to change to get it and how you can be an effective missionary. So I know what I need to change and so this week I am going to do it. Also, that sounds really intense, and maybe it is, but it's true. Haha!!

I love you guys a lot. Thanks for everything that you have done for me so far and keep doing. I have the best family ever!


Sincerely,

Elder Connor J. Thompson