Well . . . I've been transferred. You know what that means? That means everything I have known as a missionary is now going to be erased and I'm going to have a completely new mission life. I'm going to SCHAFFHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND!!! I'm not even sure if that's how you spell it. I'm going to the Schweiz! You guys, it's crazy. I'm glad Grosvati (my dad is visiting for his 93rd birthday!) is there so you can talk all about it.
So let me tell you about this crazy missionary phenomenon called transfers. The last Friday of the transfer (a 6-week) period) is transfer call day. Transfer calls start at 6:30, but since Wien starts with a W and they go through the zones alphabetically we don't hear for a while. And by they I mean the assistants to the president and the mission president.
President calls if you're training
An AP calls if you're getting transferred
If everything is staying the same, your zone leaders call and let you know
Obviously the zone leaders don't have to call every zone, just their own, So the people for whom nothing is changing find out first. And you start getting texts from other missionaries in your zone about what's happening to them (side note: in Switzerland EVERYTHING is more expensive and supposedly they have a VERY limited number of texts so I'm pretty sure texting other missionaries will be a thing of the past). It doesn't take very long to figure out that you haven't gotten a call, and so something is changing.
Obviously we thought Sister Judd was leaving. She has been in Wien for three transfers. But now. It's time for this girl to go to Switzerland!! And guess who my companion is? Sister McEwen from the MTC. So we both just finished being trained.
Ask your nearest return missionary for more details about transfers. I'm curious how they work in other missions.
So I really am excited to go to Switzerland. Don't get me wrong. But I have also been really sad. I have fallen in love with Wien. More specifically, I have fallen in love with Wien 1. I love my ward. I love my investigators. I love this city. Last night I made a list in my journal of reasons why Wien is "Missionary Fairytale Land." Specifically, Wien 1. There a several very good reasons. One of them is that Wien 1 is the second oldest ward in Austria. It is well established and fully-functioning (actually we don't have a young women program). It's actually pretty much legendary. I have been very blessed to serve in Wien 1. Another reason is that I see other missionaries all the time. We work together and we teach and learn together at German/English class. In other places you are the only missionaries. You don't have other missionaries in your ward or city. You only see other missionaries at meetings. A major reason is the institute center. It's so easy to invite young people to activities at the institute center. They have activities every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We have a good group of JTA's (YSA's) and we just have these built in missionary opportunities. Also the center is a great place to meet for lessons.
I was hoping I would go to Switzerland I just didn't think it would be so soon. I'm really scared about Swiss-German. I still have a hard time understanding people and Swiss-German is going to be a joke to try to understand. Ahhhhhh. But I'm excited. Supposedly with two missionaries this young working together we'll really learn a lot and the Lord really trusts us.
I finished OUR SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS! Sooooo good. Everyone. Read it.
Okay to answer some of your questions Mommy . . .
Yes of course every day is a finding day. But sometimes we have a few hours that are devoted to only finding and you do it as a district and try to motivate each other. That's what's called a finding day.
Last P-Day we checked out two of the main flea markets (one was the one that you suggested!). And the other is Omana's personal favorite. I've talked about Omana. She's Indian.
Yesterday was great because we really thought we had basically no investigators at church. Lars was there (I've talked about Lars I think. He's the dad of that part-member family) but he doesn't necessarily need the investigator sunday school class so we didn't even have one (first time that's happened since I've been here). None of the elders' investigators came either. But, who walks into Sacrament meeting? Omana. Who has been trying to fall of the planet but we've been calling calling calling and leaving messages saying that I'm leaving. She said she was in a lot of pain and only came because it was my last Sunday but I got to sit with her. And I was expected to bare my testimony because it was my last Sunday and I was just glad she was there. Then guess who else walks in? Tanja and her husband Franz. Tanja is Kangen Wasser lady. And her husband is pretty sure about his beliefs and he believes these different things about energy and reincarnation. But he came and he liked it! So we had 4 investigators at church which is not bad! And it was just so great. Testimony meeting was fantastic.
Oh yeah oh yeah. Quote of the week. It's something like, "Beware of all the cheese and chocolate." One of our members told me that yesterday on the phone. She wasn't at church so we said goodbye over the phone. Guess that's what I have to worry about with going to Switzerland. On the other hand, Omana has been trying to fatten me up. Did I already tell you that? She says being skinny is okay for summer but not for Winter. She thinks I'm going to freeze.
Yes of course I taught lessons to non-members last week! Specifically, 4 lessons with a member present and 3 lessons without a member present (just missionaries and the investigator). Also we had only one lesson with a less active and then two lessons with Jenni.
Sister Judd said she thinks one of the reasons I came here was for Benjamin. He's Jenni's boyfriend and way ADD and he thinks Sister Judd hates him, which really hurts his feelings. But he knows I love him. Also she said I have a closer relationship with Jenni, which is true. I love those two. They're nuts, but I love them.
I love you family! Thanks for the letters. I'm sorry I`m so bad at this communication thing. If you send any letters before you get a new address from me send them to the mission home! Love you.
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