Mommy!
Awh, Mensch it sounds like you're week was even crazier than the last! I love that you find so much joy in making those wigs for children with cancer. That's truly a Christ like act of service you are doing. "The true key to happiness in this life, is to labour for the happiness of others." -Heber J. Grant (Bro. Penfold, one of my teachers, it super cool and after class every day he always leaves us a little note, and this was one of them. He's also from England, so he spelled "labour" funny so naturally that's how I wrote it down.)
Mom. YOU ARE GOING TO BE ON A DIFFERENT CONTINENT NEXT WEEK. Dang, that is so crazy. I expect pictures on pictures. Also, side note, can you send pictures off of your computer instead? They turn out really strange and small when you send them off your phone. But anyway, keep a travel journal to remember the fun times! You'll be grateful 5 years down the road that you have that. (Pretty sure you taught me that!)
Yeah so I ran into Elder Sargeant a couple of times because he was filming a video for the new building open house! Also, with Sister Richardson, it was the strangest thing. Because Sister Thorpe has a kaputt foot, we take the elevator from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor and one time we got on a really crowded elevator and I saw a familiar face. I honestly did not recognize her in street clothes, but it only took 30 seconds or so. Mensch, it was so, so awesome. I run into EVERYONE here. I probably drive Sis. Thorpe crazy because on our way to meals I always stop and talk at least once. I'm getting way better at just keeping the conversation short, but you know us Ingalls women, we can talk forever!
I actually emailed Elder Miller last week and thanked him for how much he influenced me as a new missionary. He rocks, and I'm glad to hear he's taking care of the ward.
Yes I will email Corey! Also this is really weird but I have like 75 people on my email list, but when the email actually sends, it says 65. Can you make sure that if people aren't getting it that want to, they send me an email? I don't have time to look through my contacts and figure out which ones didn't receive it. I have a job to do, you know!!
I like to think that our house was protected [From the storm we had on Sunday that created a ton of debris everywhere and damaged a lot of homes due to hail- Note from MOM] because I'm on a mission. Blessings for the fam too, right?! Haha. I'm glad to hear that you were protected in the storm. I wish you took pictures, I can only imagine how green it was!
I thought I had that giant white converter? I don't understand what I need. I'm not that type of tech savvy! Also, I might buy one pair but for now I really like the short one. It is Satan's furnace outside during our field time, so the less clothing, the better. I NEED STAMPS. I don't have any?! I bought a few with the money they give us every week, but I can't find forever stamps or international stamps anywhere. Maybe dad can send me some with the baptism names he will send me this week. My ears are also doing fine. I woke up this morning with a sore throat so I'm praying that doesn't last. I refuse to nap or rest, I go to bed absolutely exhausted at night that I fall asleep in like .08 seconds. But I have my alarm set for 6:29 because I want to be exactly obedient, and I have been blessed soooo much for that. I always wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day!
So this week probably won't sound as exciting to you as my first week here. I'm really getting the hang of the schedule, and getting used to being a missionary. Believe me, I still have those moments where I'm sitting in devotional or class and I just think, "Mensch, I'm a missionary. Like I'm doing this for the next year and a half..." And then there's days like today where I'm thinking, "It's already Pday?! We just had pday yesterday, where did the entire week go!" I want the whole thing to just slow down, but not until I get to Germany. Then it can slow down more.
Brittney (no middle name) Lees sent me a package this week! I actually asked her to send me a single box of tictacs because cafeteria food breath is, well, the worst. She went way over the top and sent all of the snacks that I could possibly want (and more than I need). I love her. (I also love you too but now you can see the competition is pretty high...) I also ran into Hannah this week! I knew what time she came in, and it was the time we went to the temple last week! I just happened to see her outside of the MTC with her family and cute little nieces and nephews, so that was fun. Now I get to see her every once in a while here and it's just the best. She's so happy, missionary life suits her. I don't know how I got so lucky with the friends I made at BYU.
Sunday was probably the coolest day of the entire week. President and Sister Gilbert from the mission presidency came to our branch for church! And Sister Gilbert came to MY relief society meeting (there are 3 just in our little German branch. It's huge). Seriously, whenever I heard her comment during class, I just felt the spirit SO strongly. She is truly an obedient servant of the Lord, and diligently magnifies her calling. We talked about our role as missionaries, it was such a powerful lesson. I wrote in my journal, "Heavenly Father loves His daughters so much. It isn't a matter of equality to men that we are able to serve missions. It is the fact that He NEEDS us! We have the ability to change lives! We get to act in the name of Jesus Christ to bring Heavenly Father's children back to Him!" Sister Gilbert liked our message so much that she asked us to share during a Match the Message meeting that evening. WE WERE FRONT ROW. It was cool, I even said the opening prayer so I'm basically famous. The other cool part of Sunday was that I SAW PRES. UCHTDORF. WITH MY EYES. IN REAL LIFE. It was crazy because Sis. Thorpe heard he was here, she just bolted from the cafeteria. I've never seen someone in a boot move so dang fast. I chased her out and saw a crowd around him. It was obnoxiously loud out there and I couldn't find my companion. Great. I started walking over toward the crowd and the weirdest thing happened. It's as if someone hit a mute button on the room. The closer I got, the quieter it got, and the Spirit of God just rushed over my entire body. It was just this startling confirmation that yes, this is an apostle of Jesus Christ and His true and living church. I didn't get to shake his hand, but I was right up there next to him. Everyone in our zone was freaking out over it, and most of them shook his hand and had a small conversation in German. I just remember hearing him say, in a very powerful voice, "Missionaries, do not worry. You will never be alone on your mission." He's a very wise apostle of the Lord, so I take it very seriously when he says that German is the celestial language. [I think he might be a little biased! - Note from MOM]
Speaking of language, that is going very well! I can't even believe how much I'm able to say, and I've only been here for 2 weeks. It's still weird to me to think that someday I'll actually completely understand what people are saying to me, rather than just picking out the important ones. I never realized how beautiful of a language it is. I'd only thought of Brother Heule yelling at us in German, or the really long, dramatic words (like Wiederherrgestellung. Like why. Restoration is such a simpler word.) God has directed me so much this week in my efforts to learn the language. I would say that my day symbolizes the Raging Bull at 6 flags in Chicago. Lots and lots of ups and downs, but in the end, at night I always go to bed with more peace and happiness about the work than the night before.
I'm going to start using my actual camera this week because this one is hard to use, any shaking makes them super blurry!
1. I finally found the map! Germany is so high up I had to stand on my tippy toes!
2. I found a frienddddd! (She's going to send me the better quality pic on Saturday)
3. I was very impressed with my outfit because I did it all by myself (life story of a Barbie doll that never figured out how to dress herself)
4. This is in our new building! Those are our best friends here! Sis Vrogdon and Sis Smith!
5. I told Sis. Brodgon that it looks ridiculous to take pictures with this thing, so we did just that. Missionaries have a weird sense of humor. Or maybe I just passed mine on to the others.... idk..
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| The Whole Zone |
Love you! Send me pics this week! I want family pictures, good quality!
Ask me questions! It's way easier to respond to questions, because I could honestly tell you that I get up, study, eat, exercise, study, have class, eat, study, eat, have class, study and go to bed every single day haha. It's repetitive but I can't tell you enough how much I love it. I'm so glad that I get to be a part of this work.
I love you so much! Have fun checking out the other side of the pond for me! I'll send pictures in a separate email, because I got smart this week and typed this up instead!
I love you a million handshakes with Uchtdorf!
-Sister Macey Ingalls
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