6-3-12

Hello everybody! I hope you have all had a wonderful week! Gotta be a bit quick today, have a lot to respond to, and a lot going on today, but my uncle asked some very good questions, that made for some really good stuff to include. :)


Firstly, he asked if I had found any tasty cereal. -

I actually like the off brand frosted flakes pretty well. The granola here is also very delicious. Everything tastes rather different. Even name brand cereals have a completely different taste. And since the chocolate here is rather different, the chocolate cereal is way different. It was the first kind I got, and I haven't gotten any since. :P


Then the subject of delicious foods that I have found so far -

Hmmm... I think maybe the bread... They have a lot of tasty quality bread products around. I really like these things called spitzel rings. Kinda looks and tastes like a churro-style doughnut, minus the cinnamon.


He commented that root beer was a big deal back in his mission -

There is quite a bit of effort over here on the missionaries part to make root beer and such. You can buy classic A&W and such, but it's hard to find, and expensinve. It's rather a divided subject for Germans. Some people hate it, some people love it. But any German person that I have heard of that actually really tries it a couple times, grows to love it very quickly. They actually had quite a bit of it at a ward event a few days ago. Lots of people were drinking it.


He asked if we see people selling food on the street -

They do sell food on the street. I have seen bratwurst stands quite a bit. In very large busy areas, you will sometimes see guys will an entire grill setup with condiments and everything hanging off of their front like a massive reverse backpack. It's almost as big as they are. maybe I'll try to get a picture of one for you guys.


He asked about whether my companion and I pray and sing together, and talked about there being a lot of Elders in one appartmet where he had been -

There is usually two to an appartment here. Sometimes four. There is one appartment I know of that has six. My companion and I don't really have any traditions to sing or pray together at the end of the day. We get home, pray, plan, and then go about our own things, talking and relaxing until bed.


He asked how big my area is -

My area is rather large. I think you might be able to look it up online. The Berlin area has one central area, and then there are six areas coming out from that like spokes of a wheel which cover their little chunk of the circle, and extend out into the countryside, covering little 'dorfs' or small towns here and there. It's all very well connected by busses and trains. We spend a lot of time on public transportation, and then walk the rest of the way once we get as close as we can. We spend most of our time in the dense city though.


He asked me about terminology that my mission has -

Terminology... Well new people are called goldens, not greenies. They strive to make it a positive term. Goldens have 'golden power'. That mysterious ability to make miracles happen through hard work and effort, even though they don't have much skill at all. We also have a kind of 'mission geneaology' (I hope I spelled that right). My trainer is my father. His trainer is my grandfather. Other people that my trainer has trained are my brothers. Pre mission life is the pre-mortal life, the MTC is the womb, your first city is your birth city, going home is death. My dad is dying this tranfer and going home, and goldens are considered golden for two transfers, which means that my secondary trainer that finishes my golden training will be called my step-dad. We had a big conference call Saturday where the mission president was able to read off all of the transfers and everyone could listen from their phone. It was cool. My new trainer that will be coming tomorrow is named Elder Stoe. We'll see how that goes. Also, a missionary going home soon that stops working as hard is getting 'trunky'. They have packed their trunks and are cheking out early in their mind. My trainer has been doing well though not getting very trunky.

I hope those were cool things to hear about. :) I don't have a whole lot of time, or things to talk about... A couple investigators of ours have a baptismal date now, and that's very exciting. :) My companion has been doing a lot of getting ready to go home. Taking pictures with the investigators and members. Saying goodbye to people. It's been kinda nice to watch, and to see how much the relationship is there between him and these people.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Keep your Light shining. Find something positive that you are good at, and make it even brighter. On the flip side, find something your struggling with, and go make a plan! Work on it, pray about it. You got this. :) Talk to you next week!

-Elder Michael Miles