Guten Tag mein Muter!
So my P-days are now on Mondays.
Germany is sooooo crazy and different. First of all, the humidity.
AHHHHH! You literally will go outside and just start to sweat and you cant
stop! it is something that is going to take me a while to get used to. But the
moment I landed, it has not led up. So you remember the scene from the Best Two
Years, and he is trying to order bread, and his face that he has, yeah, thats
me! I can probably understand about 25% of what people are telling me. It is
really scary. And Germany is really different that Amerika. Just from all the
differences.
So my first area is a little city called Meißen, which is 30 mins east of
Dresden. And if that does not help, I am about 3 hours south of Berlin,
Germany. This little town is the most gorgeous town in East Germany. It was
founded in the earlier 900s from what I was told and there is a beautiful little
town square and a cathedral that just towers over the whole city. Wherever you
go, there is just cobblestone for sidewalks and in some places even for the
roads too. I have some pictures of it and hopefully when I figure it all out, I
will be able to send you more and so you can see what I see. It is truly a
beautiful city. And it is right on the Elbe river too, which is beautiful.
My trainer is named Elder Larson. He is actually from San Diego, so we got
the two California boys in Meißen. He is the best. I am so grateful for all
the help I get from him and what he does to help me. This is his first time
being a trainer, so he is a little nervous, but I know that his is doing the
best. I am so grateful for all that he does. He is a really nice guy and he
helps me a lot when it comes to talking to people on the street.
So Europe is completely backwards when it comes to America. I could not
even begin to explain all the things that are different. I think the only thing
that is different that I could explain is: No air conditioning, a lot of walking,
and a lot of train rides. Our area is really a big area and most of our
investigators live in the towns next to us, so we take the train almost every
day, and sometimes more than 4x a day.
Talking to people is probably the hardest challenge so far. Especially
when I walk up to them and I say something and they do not really respond or
when they do I have no idea what they said. And that is something else that I
am getting used to. Germans have a different outlook on life, or at least the
ones where we live. And so a lot of them are Atheist and do not believe that
there is a God. And so when they see us, they either do not respond to us or
just tell us Keine Zeit! or Nie Intressa. (No time or not interested) And that
is hard. But I know that there are people here that are waiting for us. They
are being prepared even if they do not know it yet.
It is hard being that one kid that does not know what people are saying or
does not know how to communicate with them, because that is the number one thing
I like to do. But I know that the Lord will provide for me. He is not just
going to call me to a foreign land and not help me. He has helped me so far, He
will not stop know.
I think the favorite part of my day is prayer. That is the time when I can
really talk to my Heavenly Father and tell him my concerns, and sometimes my
successes. And all the time after prayer, I know that he is backing me up, and
He is watching over me.
We have already went straight to work when I got here. We have a young
girl that has a baptismal date and we need to help her to stay out of trouble
because she is an orphan and some of the other orphan kids cause trouble. She
has a great testimony and I know that she will remain strong in her faith after
baptism. Another investigator that we have is Herr Reiner. He is another man,
that I was able to teach the plan of Salvation with, and the first three words
that came out of his mouth was, it is the truth (he was talking about the Book
of Mormon). that had me soooo excited. to look into his eyes and see how he
wants to learn more and that he is so anxiously engaged in what we are teaching
him. I think he will be a great guy and I hope that he continues to build his
faith and testimony.
Well, just to let you know, I am in Germany and I made it safe. Something
that really I had to use these past few days and probably for these first few
months is patience. Patience is a value that I really need to strive for. I
need to be patient with the language. I am not going to be fluent in it in 3
days, but I know that with time and constant diligence, the Lord will help me,
and raise me up. And I need to be patient with myself and my abilities. I want
to get out there and just talk to everyone and help them, but first I need to
learn to be patient and work and stay diligent.
I love you with all my heart and I will talk to you next
week.
Love,
Elder Bretzing
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