Sister Adrienne Luymes

Last picture with President and Sister Stoddard
before they go home and I get a new President.
Umm -- I guess I'm taller than they are.

This week was a blur and I can't honestly remember what notable things happened. Sorry! I didn't even take very many pictures so I can't even make up for my lameness.

I'll just talk about missionary life in Germany. Our apartment is on the 5th floor and our neighbor across the street is a professional pianist. He plays in the evening time most nights and when the weather is warm enough we both open our windows and we can enjoy hearing him practice. It's absolutely wonderful. I love to sit on the windowsill with my scriptures and or ice cream and just relax.

In Wiesbaden the people are really nice (compared to my last area). It's a good sized city - not too big, not too small - and there are 6 missionaries here (2 Sisters, 2 Deutsch Elders, 2 American Military Elders). We see each other mostly only at church and meetings or when we plan to meet up. There are a lot of parks here so we go walk around some beautiful areas and talk to people. At our last Zone Conference the Europe area Presidency came out with a list of the most successful contacting techniques. Street contacting has led to the most baptisms in Europe. Dooring and member work are near the bottom of the list. As a missionary in a new area one of the first things you try to do is basically memorize the transportation system. In Kaiserslautern we only had busses and trains; in Mannheim we had busses, Strassenbahn (trams), and trains; in Wiesbaden we only have busses and trains; and in Frankfurt they have busses, Strassenbahn, underground bahns, S-bahns (rapid rail), and trains. Basically the bigger the city the more complex the system. It's fun :)

As for teaching we use English often and of course German. However, we use a wide variety of translators. In person, over phone, Skype, and when desperate Google Translate. On my iPad I have the Book of Mormon downloaded in all the available languages and if available a video in that language. People really react when you have something in their language and you attempt to communicate with them even if there's a language barrier. It's pretty cool what the Spirit can communicate without being able to communicate very much.

Friedrichsdorf and Frankfurt Districts

Each ward I have served in have all been between 50-70 active members and have had varying desires to help with missionary work. Wiesbaden is hands-down the most willing and able of the three I've been in. The members ask us when we have appointments so they can come teach with us. It seriously helps SO much just to know that someone is willing to come with the missionaries. Even just offering us a ride to go by people or less active members who live far away makes our day. Especially here because 75% of my area consists of tiny, tiny Dorfs (towns) that take 3 hours with train to get to. I haven't even been to 70% of my area because it's just impossible without a car. Some areas have cars and some don't. Getting a driver’s license is extremely difficult to get if you're from California so I don't have one.

My mission President AND my companion are leaving this transfer so there's been a lot of good byes already. We had a cool Q&A session with President and Sister Stoddard. They talked all about change and how change is mostly good and helps us grow and learn. One of my favorite quotes from them was this: "the world tells us to do something extraordinary, but the Lord invites us to become something extraordinary." I feel like I've learned a lot about the difference between doing missionary work and becoming a missionary and the Lord's servant. Unsurprisingly, the latter requires a lot of change and repentance which is never easy, but always worth it.

Liebe Grüße,
Sister Luymes