Super exciting about Hen! I actually hadn't seen that yet, but I'm glad that's where he was sent. I guess having been on a mission this long gives me a different perspective, and understanding the things I've learned here gives me a little bit of a peak at what he'll end up learning there. Anyway, super stoked.
Man, so cool about Dad interviewing with Elder Andersen! I'm so jealous. It's crazy how efficient the church has to be in situations like that. It's the same with President's Interviews (which are on Wednesday this week), you get 15 minutes, and it's usually not a great thing for them to go over that... They pretty much go like this:
President: Elder Green, how's everything going?
Me: Good, President!
President: How's your family doing?
Me: Yeah, everything's fine.
President: And the District?
Me: Doing well.
President: How do you feel?
Me: Good.
President: Good, any questions?
Me: Nope, not really.
President. Cool. Will you offer the closing prayer?
There's a bit more meat in there, but honestly not much. It might be an interesting one this transfer considering all that's gone on, but that's fine. I feel really good about the effort I've personally put in, and can see a bit of the path that I'm wanting to chart from here. Rachel Playstead kind of hit on it in an email she sent me. She was mentioning a conversation she and I had forever ago about how when we were kids, we just thought, "Man... I don't really have anything to repent of... I guess I'll say sorry for being mean to my brother again." But as you grow older, you gradually become much more self-aware, and understanding of your own difficulties and problems, as well as those of the people you work with. And you're actually able to chart that course, and move forward to the next way-point.
Yes, everything has been going better. It's been a super difficult transfer, in all honesty. I've struggled a lot, I have. But, I explained to another missionary that it's given me a lot of time to spend on my knees, and I feel closer to the Lord for it. I'd fill you in on more of the details if I could, but I don't know that it would be wholly appropriate to. I promise I will when I get home. Or maybe at Christmas, which is coming up!
So, the beginning of the week was a fair respite from all of that difficulty, but I can't seem to escape it, hahaha. Elder Smith and I went on exchange on Thursday, and had a really good exchange. He's a fantastic juggler, and so we went juggling in the park to try that as a contacting method, and it helped a bit. We were having our exchange review, as...
Both our companions run inside. "We need a Polish Book of Mormon". Run downstairs. Run inside. Hang on, need Polish pamphlets. Run downstairs. Phone call, "Hey, make us some hot chocolate." Text from Bishop, "Here are the directions to the Salvation Army:..." Run inside. "Where's the hot chocolate?" Run outside. Phone call, "We're going to need to extend this exchange a bit..."
Elder Lika and Elder Westra met a Polish guy down in the park who we had talked to a bit earlier, and had been juggling for. Turns out he was homeless, but due to the lack of communication and the language barrier... It went pretty haywire. And so our exchange turned into a two day exchange, where Elder Smith and I tried handling two areas at the same time. By the end of it, they kind of realized that we don't have any of the resources to handle a situation like this... But it was confusing for us. Elder Smith and I ended up going back to my flat that night, since they had taken our key, and I knew where there was a key hidden for our flat... But, we made the best of it, and felt the Spirit really powerfully working through us throughout it all.
I hope he's alright. He's since disappeared.
Anyway, the area's coming along. Phoebe and Maxwell are doing well, we'll be seeing them soon. We have a new woman we're teaching named Daniela from Romania. She's fantastic. I wasn't there for the actual first teach, but Elder Westra explained it this way: "You know when you practice teaching with other missionaries, and they give you all the right answers, and you're frustrated with them because you're like, 'No one ever does this in real life! Give me a real life situation!' Yeah, it was kind of like that. But in real life." So, she's hopefully getting baptized on the 13th of December.
That's life in a nutshell right now! Transfers are next week, and it's a toss-up what might happen. I feel like it could go either way at this point. I know I've only been here a transfer, but a lot has happened in six weeks. Who knows. Either way, President said we'll arrange for me to take my driving test right after transfers.
Love you!
-Elder Green
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