Week 34 - Life in Cottbus Week 17: Unto Us, a Son is Given!

This week has been an interesting one. We did many things, yes. They were things. And we did them. They were good.

Elder White and I have done many good things here. I will be slightly miffed to see him go into the great beyond. But, his void will be well filled. I'M A FATHER! (I will be training a new missionary.)

Yes, that's right mom, you will now have a new grandson (kind of. I'm counting it.)

Other than that, this week has gone by FAST. Tuesday was the only normal day this week... Wednesday we had District meeting (indem Elder White was "murdered". Also, Harrison, I only did your pose because I was asked to.). Thursday was a German holiday that could be accurately renamed drink until your kidneys go on strike day (we aren't allowed to go tracting and need to be home early, so we had one lesson and took part in a member activity. That was it.). Friday we had a service
project that lasted most of the day (yes we had permission. It was disgusting, we cleaned out a whole apartment for a member. It belongs to her ex husband, and for whatever reason, the responsibility fell to her because he is in prison. It was nasty, it took 12 of us about 7 hours.), Saturday Elder White began preparing stuff for home, and Sunday was more of that plus church. This week flew.

Hopefully you guys will get some wonderful stories from me trying to train, but those are in the future.

Bis dann!

Liebe Grüße,
Elder Austin Spaulding

Week 33: Life in Cottbus Week 16: These are not the inflated tires you are looking for...

This week was pretty crazy, so I'll give y'all a quick rundown.

Monday was supposed to our district P-Day in Dresden on our way to ZoKo in Freiberg on Tuesday, but plans changed and we didn't end up getting permission to overnight, so our plans crashed and burned. We still managed to have a good P-Day, but not Dresden level.

Tuesday, we woke up really early, and ended up late to ZoKo because we couldn't overnight, but we still had a good time. So many missionaries are leaving, so it was a lot of goodbyes. I got to have some fun and meet some new people too.

Wednesday I was on Austausch in Forst with Elder Hickenlooper. We had an eating appointment with somebody that I had an eating appointment with the week before on Austausch with Elder Sinclair, so that was hilarious. We also (hopefully) got them a new investigator, and I'm
super excited about that.

Thursday was the one day of totally normal missionary work this week, we had a good appointment, and then taught English class.

Friday was CRAZY. We had three appointments in one day (new record), got one new investigator (possibly a second), and I saw my Harrison Mayer! Mein Vater! It was a glorious, if short, reunion, and we reveled in it. We probably spoke a little too much German to have his family be included (sorry =() but I have no regrets!

Saturday and Sunday were Stake Conference, so we overnighted Saturday in Dresden, and got back pretty late on Sunday evening. It was super cool, and we got to hear from an Area Seventy (You can dig for his name if you want, I didn't catch it. He was ordained about a year ago and he is from Norway.)

Today we did district P-Day with Forst, and ended up in more woods than path, and got two flat tires. After an hour and a half of trying (unsuccessfully) to patch them, we ended up walking, and managed to catch a bus for the last 10 km or so. It was a blast, though.

Crazy week. 10⁄10, would do again.

Love you guys, keep being awesome, and if you haven't been being awesome, get so!

Liebe Grüße,
Elder Austin Spaulding

Week 32 - Life in Cottbus Week 15: MOTHER'S DAY

Shoutout to my wonderful mother! I just wanted to rub into the faces of everyone who gets this email that my mother is not your mother. That's important because my mother is literally the best person on the planet, so you should be sad.

Other than that, motivation levels are running pretty low to write this email, this week was kind of disappointing as far as missionary work goes, but the youth in the ward made me an honorary mother for Mother's Day! (they gave me a flower, but not Elder White).

Enjoy some photos, and for anyone who wants to follow the last ones advice, yell, "Ich liebe dich!" at full volume at unsuspecting persons. It will be great.

Elder Spaulding, signing off.

Week 31 - Life in Cottbus Week 14: Not sure what to write about...

Honestly, this week was pretty boring. We had interviews with
Präsident, though, and that was really good! There are some potentially
exciting things that may come from that, but I'll let them grow to
fruition before I talk about them.

Other than that, I had a pretty good time using Facebook. Just
kidding, it's terrifying. It feels like a plunge back into Babylon,
but I know that as I stay focused and use the *useful* parts of it,
I'll be able to bless and help many people.

I also finished Jesus the Christ this week! I read it in about three
weeks, pretty impressive considering what our time is like on the
mission XD I read it for most of my free time during the last while,
and it was totally worth it. I would heartily recommend it to all of
you who need a testimony boost. (Have a dictionary with you.) I
learned so many things about the life of our Savior that I never knew
before, and I know that I will be able to use it to really give my
testimony and my teaching a boost!

Other than these thingles, have some pictures.

Liebe Grüße,
Elder Austin Spaulding

I really liked the mammoth.

And the deer.

 

Week 30 - Life in Cottbus Week 13: imtippingfast

Hello, friends! 

P-day got weird this week and I ended up with no email time. I did get tons of pictures this week though, so I'll just send some of those instead.

Sorry friends, c'est la vie.

Liebe Grüße,

Elder Austin Spaulding