......................Her GerMANY Adventures: Surprise Guest, Another Haircut and A Frat Castle

Friends and fam!!!!

Man, this week we worked super hard, it feels really good!! I may or may not fall asleep typing this email, but here are some highlights of the week!

1. On Wednesday we had district meeting with the Werdau and Hohenstein Elders. Halfway through, a lady softly knocked on the door. I figured it was just one of the members coming to say hello, but it was someone that I'd never met before! Sister Grisham and I slipped out to talk to her. We found out that this lady, Doreen, had found out online that she could get help with starting genealogy work here! It was super cool, and we helped her figure out how to do that. We hope that we can start teaching her soon why family history is so important to our faith!

2. We had exchanges on Friday with none other than the Köthen Sisters AKA SISTER THORPE!!!! It was super fun. It was such a great opportunity to have 4 missionaries in Zwickau for a day, we got so much done!! But all in all, it was so good to see her again. We may have made another music video or two... She also gave me another haircut (that makes 3 in the past week... ), and I gotta tell you, I've very impressed that she could pull it off with just normal paper scissors... RIP to 8 inches of my hair though #doitforthemission

3. At Institute on Thursday, I was helping Jared set the table for dinner afterward. I taught him the word "utensils" and to quote him, he responded, "WOAH! That's like the word 'Utah' and 'Pencils' mixed together!". Haha, I laughed so hard, it's never a dull moment with the Germans.

4. On Saturday we traveled to Jena for a zone service day!! We got there early and flipped pancakes for the zone for a good hour (if you need the perfect pancake recipe, I got you!). It was so fun, I could have just done that all day! But then we split into groups, and we got assigned to clean up the outdoor seating for a Theaterhaus! It was so fun, I wish we could do that every week! We even got a tour of the Theaterhaus and went up to the very top above the pulley systems! Yeah, I'll definitely cross that job off my dream job list. #Iainttryingtofall80ft. But on our way to the train station, we saw a CASTLE! I was taking a picture of it, when a voice yelled out the window in English "hey, want a tour?!" IT WAS SO COOL. Turns out it was actually a frat house, but the history was super cool. Finally can cross that off my bucket list!!

5. One particular day, I really wanted to visit a certain lady and invite her to an activity we are having this coming week. We walked in the rain and finally got to her street but couldn't find her house number. I finally started checking every number on the street. Finally, after 30 minutes and completely soaked from the rain, we found her! We rang her doorbell, only for her to politely tell us not to come in. I just stood there dumbfounded for a moment, wondering why that just happened. I slipped the invitation into her mailbox and started walking away. I immediately knew that I didn't want Sister Grisham to feel my disappointment, so I quickly pulled out my camera and said "Hey, I want to take a selfie! This is such a beautiful place and I want to remember this day!" And just like that, both of our spirits were lifted! It just goes to show that we are in charge of our own attitudes, and we can CHOOSE to be happy whenever we want! Don't let 1 bad minute ruin the opportunity for a happy rest of the day! Life is wonderful, friends! I love you!

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Macey Ingalls