Guten Rutsch

Hey everyone! First of all 'Guten Rutsch' is something that people here to wish someone a Happy New Year.  Literally translated it means 'good slide', I think there is something I am not quite understanding about the meaning, but maybe I will figure it out.  If not, then it is just another funny German thing to laugh about.

It sounds like you all had a great week, and that things went well with the Baby Blessing and everything.  I was actually wondering about when that would happen, so that was nice to hear.  Sounds like it was a lot of fun to have everyone all gathered together.  But with all them Thompsons and Gibbs, that is probably a lot of people, but a lot of fun too.  Nice to hear that everything worked out well.

  

It was great to see everyone and talk to you at Christmas. 

 

Christmas here was really good.  I told you about our Christmas Eve, with a couple in the ward, and their non-member friend.  (We got to teach her a lesson so that was good!)  We then played 'Spiel des Wissens' (Game of Knowledge) which is sort of like Trivial Pursuit.  Just in case you were wondering.  I won.  Haha!

On the 25th, we were with the Ds.  They are a great family.  It was a lot of fun.  We watched a movie with them.  It was a weird German movie for little kids (I understood EVERYTHING! which is a big accomplishment I think), and I think I have been on a mission too long.  I just kept thinking of important lessons that we could learn from the way that the old man treated his cat, and how the neighbours could be nice to each other and that is the real spirit of Christmas etc.  I think it has also just been a long time since I watched a movie (18 months at least) so it seemed like the greatest movie too.  I am such a nerd...

On the 26th, we were with the M family, which was a lot of fun.  We had a big lunch with traditional German food, then played some games with the kids.  Then had supper, which I am not joking, was just big plates full of cookies and chocolates.  Then we had a desert before we left and had Crepes.  (I LOVE CREPES!)  We also played Wii bowling with them.  I am proud to say that I am about as good at Wii bowling as I am at real bowling.  Meaning that I lost everytime, and a 7 year old little boy beat me handily.  Making the family proud! Haha!

 

We also had an appointment with a family on the 27th where we played a couple games, but that was in the evening.  The whole day we were back into the normal swing of things.  Which was a little tougher because everyone still has vacation, and it was really stormy and wet and ugly.  But it was okay.

On Friday, we had District Meeting which was good.  We took some nice pictures, and then had a good day of finding.  We found some really cool people, but of course, not in Ludwisgburg....

 

On Saturday though, we had the coolest thing happen.  We had another fun day of tracting ahead of us, and then we got a phone call from a member in the ward.    She phoned and told us that she had a friend who was really interested in the church but because he lived in an Asylheim (Refugee home) he should probably be taught by the Stuttgart International Missionaries (There is an English Ward in Stuttgart because of the American Military bases), but then she said that he wanted to come to church with her, so maybe we should just do it.  So we asked if we could go visit him that afternoon and she said that sounded good and asked to come along.  So that was really cool.  We met N and he is awesome.  He is a really sharp guy, who really knows his Bible, who is really prepared and agreed with everything that we taught in the first lesson.  It was also strange to teach in English, since I haven't done that for a while everything came out weird and I was forgetting words and nothing really eloquent was coming out of my mouth, but luckily, the Spirit is there to make everything better.  The best part though was that the sister invited him to church and promised to pick him up.  

 

So on Sunday, they came to church.  As did about everyone and their dog.  We had so many visitors because the weather is really nice so people can drive to visit anyone they need to, and because nobody has to work or go to school.  It was insane! But really good.  I really like the ward here though because it is big enough that we have enough members to do a lot of things, but small enough that we can still get to know all of the members and help them with things, and make good friendships.  I really love the ward here so much. We have a MEAL CALENDER! And we already have 8 eating appointments for January lined up, so that is awesome!

I am really loving it here.  I love my mission a lot (I don't think I say that enough to you guys).  I love you all so much.  Thanks for the emails! I got tons today! Sorry if I don't write everyone back individually.  We are going to have a fun P-Day, so I don't have tons of time.  But I love you a lot! Stay safe!!!

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Sincerely,

Elder Thompson

Merry Christmas!

Awww shoot.  I was just about done my email and then the Internet decided that it should get deleted... Bummer.  So sorry if this letter isn't so great.  I do not really have the patience to type everything again.  I suppose that it does not really matter either because we will be talking tomorrow.  (Also, if you are wondering why I am not using any contractions it is because the button does not really work well.  I think it makes me sound all fancy.  I also am reading it in a British accent in my mind.  It makes me seem very dignified and learned.)

I hope that in the craziness of everything you all remembered your favourite youngest brother.  He has not forgotten you.  I hope you all liked the presents.  It is a little tougher to get things for guys, so that is why I decided to go for the classic gift.  Socks.  I hope everyone else likes everything.  And I hope you enjoy the chocolate.  Everyone has given us sooo much chocolate here it is ridiculous.  So I will probably be sending another package home later.  And I can put some pictures in it as well.  I have not opened my package yet, except for some of the candy things, so I am excited to see what tomorrow brings.  Strangely, that is not really what I am the most excited for.  We have quite a few members who have invited us over, and so it will be a lot of fun. 

I hope that you all have a great Christmas Eve.  Did everyone get together for Christmas Eve Eve too? We sort of celebrated it, (We called it Christmas Adam though, since Adam came before Eve.  Mission humour is terrible, I know...) but probably not as much as you all were able to.  And I do not think that we will have as crazy of a time at Christmas Eve as you do.  I was trying to figure out how many people would be there, but it was too tough.  Then I was even trying to figure out how many people we have in the Thompson side (Michi side is way easier!).  I got that we had 31 grandkids, but I could not get much further.  It is a little tough to keep track of who has had kids and who is married, and what not.  Grandpa must have a really hard time with that.

This past week was good, although not a whole lot happened to be totally honest.  It is crazy to see how things here just kind of shut down for the holidays, and everyone is so busy getting everything ready.  The Christmas markets closed yesterday, and I did not really get anything too special for myself.  Nothing really caught my fancy.  But I did buy a new watch (finally).  It is a Swatch, but is not really a formal and fancy one.  I can show you tomorrow.  (That is a weird thought)

What else happened this week... The world was supposed to end.  Thankfully we made it through.  We tried to stay with members that evening so we would not be out just in case anything too crazy happened, but we did not notice anything too strange.    I think next week for Silvester (New Years Eve) things will be crazy.  I know I told you about it last year how everyone goes crazy with Fireworks, but I think it will be more here in Ludwigsburg than it is in Landshut.  We are going to do stuff with the other Elders and then Johann, who is our best friend here.  It will be good.  You cannot really do anything too crazy on a mission.  But we sure can play some Settlers of Catan! Woohoo!! Haha! 

This week we were not able to teach a lot.  Since we do not really have too many solid investigators, but that will change soon!  We did have a cool experience with a less-active member who we finally got a hold of.  We talked to him through his doorbell thing, and then he was like, I do not really want to talk to you.  Then he suddenly asked if it was raining and then when he looked outside he offered us some tea and cake (not black of course) and so we stayed and got to talk to him.  It was neat to see how that helped us to get the chance to meet with him.    He just all of a sudden changed and let us in, and then it was really nice.  Both Elder H and I were so confused about it that when we left we were like, Wow... What just happened?  Hopefully we can help him out some more, and the ward can get involved.

I love the ward here.  We finally got a meal calender!!! Woohoo!! The bishop has the goal that we have 3 eating appointments a week.  We are shooting for 7! Haha!  We will see.  But they are warming up to us a lot, and we are trying our best to help them a lot.  It is really good.  Transfer calls are on Thursday, and I hope that I am staying, but we will wait and see.  I am pretty sure I am though.  I think Elder H will stay as well, but you never know.  In any case, I will let you know next week.

I do not really know what else to say since we are talking to each other tomorrow.   I am excited.

I love you all lots.  Stay safe.  Do not forget the reason why we are having Christmas.  Watch the Christmas Mormon Messages, that will help.  I did not even cry when I watched them.  I am doing so good!  Haha!  Love you a lot! 

See you tomorrow!!!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

The ward is doing good here.  As of Sunday we have invitations for all of the holidays (24th, 25th, 26th, 31st, and 1st) and actually quite a few days in between as well.  Not quite everyday, but I am okay with that.  Otherwise I would explode. One can only eat so many Bratäpfel, Knüdl, or other delicious goodies. Needless to say, the German hospitality will not be doing my waistline any favours this year.  But you only live once right?  The ward here is really great.  Yesterday someone told me that I had the best German she had ever heard a non-German missionary speak. I think it might have been a little bit of an exaggeration, but it's the thought that counts right?  We had the funniest eating appointment with the family too so that was good.  

This week was really a great week, although missionary work in the way of finding has been tough since everybody is so busy that nobody has the time to talk to us on the street or on the buses or anything.  Also all of our investigators have pretty much fallen off the face of the earth, or have told us to do likewise, so that has made this week a little slower, but we were able to visit quite a few members and get to know them better.  The missionaries before haven't done too much in that sense, so I think the members are excited that we are making an effort to talk to them and reach out there.

On Tuesday we also had Zone Conference which was a really great experience.  I think it was the best Zone Conference I have had so far.  We really focused a lot on Jesus Christ.  One of the things that was said really inspired me a lot, it was the thought that we sometimes get so caught up in the missionary work that we forget about Jesus Christ.  (It's the same for just about everything that we do in the church too) We get so caught up in making sure investigators come to church and read in the Book of Mormon, that we forget what their solid base needs to be, and we forget why we are doing missionary work.  (It's not just about baptisms.  My mission in comparison with my friends is good evidence of that :D)

We also watched part of the Testaments and in Thompson tradition I cried a lot.  Don't worry though, the Senior Sister and some of the other Sisters did too so I wasn't alone.  Maybe an elder cried too (hopefully) curse these Thompson tears.  In German a person would say that 'I am built too close to the water', sometimes I feel like I am in a house boat, I can't really get any closer.  Thanks dad...  Haha!

Not really too much else happened this week.  I have a giant canker sore on the back of my throat still, which is slowly getting better, but last time this happened I got strep throat, so I am hoping that doesn't happen again.  (Just what a mother wants to hear, I know). 

Things with Elder H are good. He is a really happy guy and tries hard so I have nothing to complain about.  It's crazy to think we've already been together over 4 weeks.  Where does the time go?

I am looking forward to next week to see you guys, although that seems really weird to think about.  

Think of questions now so that we don't just sit there staring at each other smiling again.  Haha!  

I love you lots.  Hopefully you should get my package pretty soon.  I sent it last week.  And I may have accidentally sent it through premium service.  The man asked if I wanted to send it through air post.  Since I don't think you can send it any other way to Canada, I said yes.  It cost a little more than I wanted, but that is okay.  

I better go.  I got a train to catch!  I love you guys a lot!

Love you! 

Sincerely,

Elder Thompson

T Minus 15 Days!

Holy Dyna! It is almost Christmas! Can you believe that? Are things there are all crazy? Things here are pretty busy although people generally aren't as excited about Santa Claus (they don't really have him here too much), and things are a little more relaxed than I remember them being at home.  So this past week was really good.  For P-Day, we went to the Christmas Markets with a member in the ward, J.  He's pretty much our best friend.  It was good. 

 On Tuesday, we had District Meeting which is always a lot of fun.  I just love being with other missionaries.  It's like having friends again! Woohoo!!  Haha! Afterwards we had an appointment with the G'.  He is an American, and she is German.  We are teaching them the lessons.  They have four children in total, but the youngest two are pretty crazy, but funny.  It has snowed here lately.  Not lots of snow, it's mostly just wet, which is not fun.  Also not fun is how German people remove snow.  I have seen 1 shovel.  Instead they just throw rock salt EVERYWHERE, which then ruins your shoes and bottom of your pants too.  It's tough eh? Haha!  I feel so stupid complaining about that.  And I am not really complaining.  It just means that I will need to buy pants sooner.  But I will wait until after Christmas to do that.  Germans (and especially Members) really like to feed you well.  I have already eaten so many 'Plätzchen' which are just home made little Christmas cookies.  They are so delicious!  Every one.  So we get to eat a lot of them.  Any weight I have lost will be found again...  But it's totally worth it.
We also had Ward Council on Wednesday, which was the best Ward Council I had ever been to on my mission.  

 On Thursday, the 6th it was Nicholaus which was way cool.  I don't know how much you know about that, but it is German tradition for Nicholaus to come on the 6th.  He brings the kids a present or two, and then when we have Christmas, either the Christkind (Baby Jesus) or the Weihnachtsmann (Christmas Man) brings presents.  We were with a couple from the ward, and they had Nickolaus bring us some stuff which was way cool.  It felt weird because they were a young couple who were closer to our age. (I think they were 23 and 27).  But it was fun.  It was also freezing cold most of this past week.  (In reality I think that it was only like -2 or something).  We were dying though.  I don't know how missionaries at home do it.  I guess they have cars and what not, but it's even colder.  We were probably out dooring or contacting for about 35 hours this week, so that could be why it seemed so cold.  But it was really nippy.  I look forward to having a car next winter. 
Not really anything special happened on Friday or Saturday.  Just tried to talk to people in the cold.  And people generally weren't too thrilled to talk to us.  And the few that did said they were too busy until after New Year's, so that is tough.  But it will be better soon.  It will all be done so fast, it's crazy!
On Sunday it was a really great day.  We had a baptism in the ward (a boy who turned 8) so the ward was really excited about that.  And there was a potluck afterwards (woohoo!), it was really fun and good.  I still don't know as many people here as I would like to, (It's a big adjustment coming from a little dinky branch), but I am getting a little better.  I also had two members comment on my German being superb.  Which was nice to hear.

 We also went to Stuttgart to the Stake House to watch the broadcast of the Christmas Devotional, which was a lot of fun.  It was really great.
Things here are good.  We are getting more invitations from the ward and everything, so that is really good to see.  I love you guys a lot! Stay warm! Don't forget to write!

--
Sincerely,

Elder Thompson

Babies!!!

Woohoo!! The babies are here! That is so awesome! What's even more awesome is that when I get back they will be older and more fun.  Not that you aren't having fun with them now, and not that they aren't cute now, but they will just be that much better when I am home.  I am so glad to hear that everything went well and everyone is doing well.  That is crazy that they let you home the next day.  I remember mom saying something about being in the hospital for a week with me and loving it.  Haha!  But in any case, I hope that you are happy and that the girls are letting you sleep a little bit.  

Things this week were really good.  We were unable to go on Segways last week, mostly because it was so stinkin' cold!  It is crazy! And it hasn't even been that cold here compared to what it is at home.  I think if I was there though, I would die.  It is a little funny though how people react when I tell them I am from Canada and then I tell them that I am looking forward to spending another warm Christmas here in Germany.  They often don't believe that.  If they only knew... Haha!

We ended up doing a little bit of shopping, which would explain the email I sent you from a little stand on the road saying that I spent 29€.  And that is just the beginning! Christmas Markets are in full swing, and I want to send home some sweet packages.  Which on a missionary's budget is a little tough.  But on a missionary budget with mom's credit card, I think I can manage it.  

On Tuesday, we had our district meeting, which was really good.  We have a Sister here who is doing a mini-mission (She is as a missionary for 2 weeks, and is from Munich), and so it was good.  Our District is really great, and afterwards we had the opportunity to have a finding day in Pforzheim (Sister's Area).  We also did an exchange then so I worked with Elder M, it was a lot of fun.  We spent the evening in Heilbronn where he works contacting people and then we traded back to our normal companions Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday, it was cold and wet, and rainy.  I bought an umbrella, which I then proceeded to break (accidentally, I ran into a roof.  (I think I have bought about 10 umbrellas and broken 10 of them.  (No worries though they are only like 2€.  Oops...)

I think one of the toughest things about a mission is that we want everything to happen in 6 weeks, whereas the rest of the world does not seem to think in transfers.  (Other than mothers of missionaries).  We spent the rest of the evening trying to get in contact with some less actives, but ended up cold and hungry and tired.  Which has happened a lot since I have been here.  I didn't realize how nice it was to be in a car area, but walking everywhere and then having to wait for trains and buses is not that fun.  It does mean that I will hopefully get to work off some of the German goodies that I will be eating.  We have quite a few more eating appointments here than I have in other areas so that is nice.  And we are going to get a Meal Calender next week!  Woohoo!!!  (Doesn't that seem strange to be excited about? Missionaries at home are so spoiled...)

On Thursday, we went and had lunch with a member here named J.  I don't know what to tell you about J other than that he is awesome.  He knows everything about the ward ins and outs (which is important to know, to a certain degree).    We were going to do Segways with him, and today we are going to go to the Christmas Market together.  It will be a lot of fun.  After that I got registered here in Bietigheim (which is the only 100% debt free city in Germany, 

Things here are going really good.  The members are warming up to the missionaries here, and we have gotten quite a few people who they have told us to go by on, which Elder H said didn't happen at all last transfer.  I think the Bishop is really making part member families an emphasis, and we are for sure as well.  It is going to be really good. I love you guys a lot! Have a great week, take pictures! Say hi to Spencer for me.  It seems so strange that he is home.  I remember him leaving like it was just a couple of months ago, and I feel like I barely left after him.  Yikes!!  Time is going so fast!  I love you guys so much! Stay safe and warm! Drink some Egg Nog for me.  They don't have that here, and I am afraid to try too many of the local drinks.  Germans and their beer... sigh...

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Sincerely,

Elder Thompson