Dooring in the cutest street in the world (in the rain)

 It rained the whole week. It's supposed to be warmer and sunnier this weekend which will make the Germans happier.

Of course, the weather doesn't affect our ability to have adventures and make new friends! On Monday, we had an eating appointment with my favorite family the Tiebings. Monday was also a Feiertag (holiday) Tag der Arbeit (basically German Labor Day) which means literally everything is closed, the busses are reduced to once an hour, and everyone is out of town! The Tiebings also live in a Dorf about a 30-minute bus ride away. We had had a finding activity with the Elders and were sprinting to get our bus. We made it. However, we had an Umstieg (lay over...?) and then needed to catch another bus in Bad Schwalbach to go to Tanausstein. It was complicated. So our Haltestelle (bus stop) is coming and we press the STOP button and stand up and our bus driver doesn't stop. So we press the button again and he passes the next stop. THREE TIMES he misses our bus stop! Which means we're now in the next Dorf and 6 km away from where we needed to be. We go up to him when he finally stops and we're a little frustrated. He apologized and said he could take us exactly where we needed to go because it turns out the bus we were on (275) turns into the 273 which goes right in front of the Tiebings house. So it actually worked in our favor that he messed up because then we didn't need to pay twice or walk!

Dinner wasn't what we expected it to be either. The parents were with the 9 year old watching a movie so it was just the teenagers at home. They also have an exchange student from America, Ben, who's hilarious. When we got to the house Ben answered the door and stood in the doorway. We said hi and then just stood there waiting for someone else to come (namely a woman) so we could go in. It was awkward for a couple long seconds standing in the rain. And then Ben said "uhh I'm not alone, let me get Jens." We told him to get Lisa first so we could go inside. Hahaha

We all speak German and English so we spoke Denglish and took whatever parts of whatever language we wanted and everyone could understand! So fun! They told us about the drama at school and funny stories of stuff they've done together. We made popcorn and basically hung out until the parents got home. Then we had an awesome spiritual thought and committed them to bear their testimony to a nonmember. This family is ganz Lieb (very kind)!

The other funny part of our week was last night we had a sort of appointment with this Iranian guy. When we got there his wife and daughter were home, but he wasn't. They still let us in though! While we were waiting for him we talked to the daughter (14 years old). She had perfect German and the mom was trying. I love Iranian people because they're super friendly and they always offer you tea and finger food. When the man came home we gave him a Farsi Book of Mormon and ended up having a great discussion. He couldn't stay long so he left after 20 minutes. We felt like maybe we should leave so we wouldn't over stay our welcome. Then the daughter and mom said "bitte bleib! Es macht Spaß!" (Please stay! It's fun) So we became best friends and set up another appointment so we could teach them.

My favorite part of missionary work is just meeting people. Everyone is so different--different culture, different background, different needs. What's cool in Germany is that everyone is learning German so I can have a conversation over tea with an Iranian family, or make a German joke to an Eritrean woman, or share the gospel to a group of Koreans. We all are so unique and yet we all need the same thing. Everyone needs love. God's love penetrates borders, cultures, and our personal walls if we let him. He loves us not because we've done
anything spectacular to earn it, but simply because we are His children.

Ich hab euch lieb! Schöne Woche (Love you, have a great week)!

Sister Luymes

Marketplace in Mainz -- the spire has a figure on top
that looks alot like the Angel Moroni on top of the temple.

Genesis in Latin from a Gutenberg Bible replica;
we went to the Gutenberg Museum.