Almost Got Kissed Yo

September 22, 2014

Greeeeetings from BRAUNSCHWEIG!!! Yes, it's me, Sister Mittleman. Sorry that email last week was a little wack and I didn't answer too many of your questions. I LOVE email, because I get to hear from you, but at the same time it's stressful!!!! sooooooooooo  much to say and no time. But here we go. What's with the strange subject of this email you may be wondering.... well IT'S TRUE. But we'll come to that. I apologize in advance for the randomness of this email.

So glad you enjoyed your birthday mom with your posse!! And the fam of course.

Glad you saw the picture of us and elder Bednar. He spoke a little German, but it was all English really.

Time to answer your questions.
uhhh the city is really pretty, lots of different kinds of people. 

Braunschweig

Braunschweig

the food? 









uhhh too hard to be specific. We eat bread and deutcher (gouda cheese) and tomatoes for breakfast, sometimes with this cereal that is literally nutella in a little wheat square.I LOVE SISTER NORTON SOOOO MUCH!!!!! She is from Utah. HILARIOUS: PRETTY: SPEAKS GERMAN VERY WELL. What more can I say. We actually are having a great time together. Our humor is very similiar, and we laugh all the time!! But she goes home at the end of this transfer which is sooooooooooo sad. I wish to say no more about that...

The clothes are doing well. Think ill have to buy a rain jacket. Shoes- I could where those bad boys all day. Very sturdy and bequem.

We have three progressing investigators, Boris, Ruth, and Stefan. Boris if from turkey, and has been coming to church for a few weeks now. He likes church, and says it all makes sense, but we are trying to help him gain a testimony. He rolled up in the passenger seat of a white Porsche the other night at the döner laden where we meet him, and who is driving it? haha Abdul the döner laden owner!! hahahah probs the greatest moment of my life. We still laugh about that.

Ruth has been meeting with the missionaries for a loooong time and we’ve decided we need to be straight up and tell her that as missionaries we help people ultimately prepare to make covenants-the first being baptism.

Stefan, well I’ve only met him once, is very smart, and knows a lot about religion.  He really needs to pray though. Only when we ask God in faith to give us an answer can we really know that the gospel is true.

At church on my first Sunday they had me intro myself and give a brief testimony. Sis Norton told me that the guy behind her was so impressed with my

German and wanted to know where I learned so well. hahaha she said school, and he was like "ach so, alles klar" which is probably like my favorrrrrite German phrase.  Some other guy told me that when I first started talking he thought I was actually from Germany!!! awwww!!! sooo cooool. Lots of new faces and HARD names to remember.

The best thing this week was...my first exchange!!! I went to Hannover, trading places with sister Knecht which was really coooool. I was with a German sister, sister Wiborny. Now we come to the subject of this email. On the u-bahn. old dude offers us a seat next to him, sis W refuses. Me thinking, oh how nice he made room for us, sits down. Rookie mistake. He motions for sis w to sit on his lap. I get nervous. He seemed innocent, but then he starts mumbling and then iI smelled the bier and I was like .... WHAT HAVE I DONE. All of a sudden, I’m just facing forward, out of my peripheral,   I see him turn toward me, arms outstretched, leaning towards me!!!! AHHHHHHHH!! I was FROZEN: PETRIFIED I TELL YOU!!  But good thing sis w was there. She literally had to put her hands on his face and push him away, then she grabbed me. She said his mouth was 2 inches from my face. We laughed, I cried-from laughter and shock.  Aw mensch what an experience but "the first of many" as somebody told me in response to this story.... I was like uhhh ok thanks for making me feel weird now. No names mentioned. No it was not trainer Norton.

Being with another missionary and working with her was cool. I learned a lot. That was the best and worst thing of the week.

Now for some random thoughts as I only have 5 minutes (blast)

There is a guy in the ward who looks like WESTLEY FROM THE PRINCESS BRIDE NO JOKE: HE IS THE GERMAN VERSION OF CAREY ELWES:

I love reading the scriptures so much!!

There is soooo much chocolate, every kind of ritter sport and milka you couldn't get at trader joes. SOOO GOOOD.

At the home of an African family, I ate foo foo. Some mashed potatoes like substance in a bowl with meat fish etc and sauce you eat with your hands. That's right your hands!!! That was really fun and cool.

I’ve been thinking of how sometimes we set too high expectations for ourselves as missionaries. At least I do. I think that I have to get to a certain level of knowledge, spirituality etc before I can be effective. But I’ve realized how untrue that is. Ether 12: 27 rings true. The Lord doesn't wait for us to get to a certain level, he takes us as we are. Through weak things he brings about miracles. We just have to do our best and allow him to use us in His perfect way.

I’m out of time, but I just want to say how much I love you all. I think you should go find that cute little quote about missionaries leaving their families for 18 months in my case, so others can be with theirs forever. This is truly the work of saving souls. I love being here, and I treasure the opportunity to help God's children, "one by one".

LOOOOOVE,

Sister Mittleman

Ps: can I get Monty and Zach's emails. Oh and yes I write in my journal everyday.

here is my adress:

Sister Mittleman

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT

Sister Mittleman

Ritterbrunnen 11

38100 Braunschweig

Niedersachsen

Germany