Christmas in Germany: Christmas Markets, No Snow, Just Bitter Cold and Fog, and Long Lost Great Friends

I'm turning into a regular Martha Stewart here in Germany. First pies, now making invitations from scratch!

Happy #20 To Me! I got spoiled rotten by my dear, sweet Egyptian friends

The German Capitol Building and the BEST Hot Chocolate in Europe

Crazy Week

Monday started out pretty normal, We cleaned the apartment and went

shopping and I was just about to take a nap when the phone rang... And

it was our mission president. And that is when the craziness began! He

informed us that he would be attending our ward council meeting and he

wanted to come work with us in Frankfurt Oder for a day!

So Tuesday came and so did President Fingerle. President also brought

his son Jonathan along, and we went on splits.

One thing led to another and president and I found ourselves knocking

on a less active members door...

The doors opened and she let us in, We thought it would be a normal

appointment but we very quickly realized that she could speak and

understand little to no German.... Except for very simple things like

"hello" and "come in".

Seeing no other solution,  President and I pulled out the little

Russian that we knew, to try and  communicate.... Sadly I didn't even

see many opportunities to use the two words I know.... бабушка

(Grandma) and картофель (potato)

Luckily for both us, and the Russian lady. President Fingerle knows

how to say a very simple prayer in Russian and we had the Russian

Bible and Book of Mormon downloaded on to our iPads. We taught her

about faith and we read Ether 12:4 together.

But yeah Tuesday night made for some good laughs!

We also had our "Christmas" zone conference on Wednesday. We went

caroling and we handed out almost 500 cards in the middle of Berlin!

On Thursday I discovered that I have a knack for pie making hahaha! 

(pie tins are impossible to find , that is why they are oval shaped haha)

Pumpkin

Apple

On Saturday all of the missionaries in our zone where asked to be the
choir for a church musical, which turned out super good! It's weird to
think that now when I go to sing a hymn I usually end up singing it in
German and not in English.

Then on Sunday we had a awesome Egyptian thanksgiving dinner! I was
asked to make a pie hahaha

Yeah but this week was really good! I'm sorry for the random nature of
my email, it's kind of all over the place but I don't have much time
for emails today.
I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Tell me all about your
celebrations!
Thank you for writing me and for keeping me in your prayers!
Love Elder Schmalz

Berlin Zone Conference

Where's Gavin?

Thanksgiving

The time of Thanksgiving is finally here! It's the season to play football, build snow turkeys, going shooting, and of course eating a ton of awesome food! 

Sadly, most of these things are impossible for a missionary here in Germany and especially in Frankfurt an Der Oder to do. So naturally, I'm feeling a little homesick. But in the last few days I have started to ask myself a very cliché question..... "What is the reason for the season?" I know that this question is usually asked as we sit around a Christmas tree, but I think it applies very well in any holiday situation.

Although football, guns, and food are all fantastic and super fun things, they sometimes steal our attention away from the more important part of this time of year. That being to Give Thanks!           (wow I never would have guessed with a name like Thanksgiving)

But in all seriousness, I'm really glad that it is called Thanksgiving  

The word giving in Thanksgiving implies that our gratitude and thankfulness is something that can and should be passed on or given. The word giving, encourages us to turn ourselves to the source of our blessings, that source being our Father in Heaven! He gave us these things because he loves us and wants us to remember Him. And as we remember him and give Him our thanks, things start to change. Thanksgiving very quickly becomes a holiday of humility and praise rather than one of pride and gluttony.

So pretty much to wrap it up, it doesn't matter if you are in America or in Germany, if you are eating turkey this Thursday or if you are going to be eating vegan food at a members house. Thanksgiving is something that you give not something that you get. And it can be celebrated at anytime and in anyplace!

Thank your for reading my two cents about thanksgiving. I want you to know that I'm thankful for you! Thank you for writing me and for praying for me!

I hope that you all have a great Thanksgiving! Make sure to eat an extra slice of pie for me.

Love, Elder Schmalz 

P.S.

Here are three really good Thanksgiving scriptures as well

D&C 78: 17-19

Alma 34:38

D&C 59:15

This week brought a variety of new surprises, including a mysterious new suit. (a really sweet old lady who loves me in my ward felt my suit and freaked out about how thin it was and was worried that I was going to freeze to death! I told her I wouldn't, but then she went ahead and bought me a suit...... for 300 Euro! She wont let me take it back or pay her back)

I worked for 2 days in the biggest most awesome city in Germany (Berlin, of course) as a missionary and not as a tourist and that was super awesome too! I got to go on exchange with the zone leaders because my companion had meetings. 

So this is me in my new suit with Ahmed my ward mission leader. He wanted a picture with the 300 euro suit! Hahaha