Ahhhh!!!  It is Christmas week!!!!  I can't believe it!! (And I lied, I thought this week was the week we had p-day on Tuesday, but that is next week.  oops)  I get to talk to you this week!!!  It is crazy!!!  So I haven't heard from Blake.  So I have no idea if he got transferred or what happened or when he is skyping.  So I really hope that it all works out and we can Skype at the same time.  I am going to plan on the 25th at 6:00 pm my time. I hope it all works out.  That is the plan for now, if something changes I will let you know asap.

Things are good here.  I don't want to say too much since I will be talking to you on Thursday.  But I am starting to love Passau.  It is definitely different here, but at the same time it is the same.  Missionary work is amazing.  My companion is great.  She is 23 and has been in Passau for 7 months.  They have people to teach, but we work a lot with the less actives in this ward, which is very needed.  And now we are trying to work to find new investigators since our current ones have no time. Partly due to Christmas.  With the new year we should be really busy when people have time again.  She is great and has a lot of kids in her family as well. 

We will be by our branch presidents house on Christmas eve and it will be super fun. I am way excited.  And then we will go earlier to the Sagmeisters house so that we can leave early to Skype.  Their family is so big. They have one son who is already home from his mission, two younger sons still at home, and one daughter.  And then the two sons on their missions in Berlin and England Leeds.  So it is fun to go there.  It is a huge family dinner.  And we all eat a ton!!!  

I really am praying that we can all talk and that everything will work really well.  And if not, we still talk every week so it will be OK.  Merry Christmas!!!   

Sister Poll

Getting Adjusted in My New Area

This week has been busy.  Thank you so much for the birthday package.  It was really nice and yes I love the skirt.  I didn't get my advent calendar before I left Tübingen, but it is OK.  This week was really busy. We had our Christmas Conference on Wednesday in Munich with President. It was awesome.  He surprised us and we got to watch Meet the Mormons.  I was super happy.  I almost cried, but managed to hold it in.  The movie is amazing.  Apparently it was super hard for him to get it here.  He thinks it is the only copy here in Europe.  He had to pull some strings. But we were all super excited.  One of the best Christmas presents ever.  I loved the coach and the mom of the missionary.  You never know whose life you can change. It was awesome.  I am excited to see it again when I get home.   Then we had a lot of finding this week.  But it was great cuz now we have 3 appointments set up for this week with potentials.  Please pray that their hearts will be softened and they will listen and be interested.  But if not, it is OK. We need to work more with the members as well and strengthening them.  We also went by one of the families in the ward.  They invite us every week to their house to feed us. They also have 2 missionaries out right now and one more preparing to go.  They are loud and crazy and I love it.  I can't understand 3/4 of what they say, but it doesn't matter.  I couldn't get a word in even if I understood the conversation.  :)  They are great.  Especially now with it being cold.  It is a struggle.  But on the bright side the food is amazing.  I haven't had a problem with a single meal yet.  I count that blessing every day.  I am getting fat here I think due to all that I eat.   Every Sunday we meet in a small chapel.  It is a small flat that we rent out and we made it into a chapel and a few other things.  It has a small kitchen and also some classrooms to meet in.  I think it is supposed to be for an office, but we make it work.  It is actually really nice that we have it.  Even though we are small, we still have some place to be.  No one in the ward plays the piano.  But we have 2 sisters and 2 elders who serve in the ward, and one of the elders plays really well.  So he plays every week.  But they know that I play, so if he leaves, I am up.  And I don't play near as well as he does. Which I pointed out already.  I realize that I lost a lot of piano skills.  I am super sad about it.  I can't play too much and I aim to fix that first thing when I get home. But I can still play well enough to play hymns and things which is all that is needed right now.  We actually had our ward Christmas party this week which was fun.  We sang songs and read poems and ate food.  It is kind of tradition here to read poems about Christmas.  Didn't know that.  And also found out that you can only sing silent night on the 24th.  Well you can sing it any time, but the people don't like it.  Almost made that mistake.  The 24th is the "heilige abend", here ( holy evening) And so they only sing that song then and it is really special.  I think almost more than Christmas.  Almost.   My companion is really good.  We get along really well. We laugh a lot. At one another and everything else.    We have some great people lined up for this week to meet and we are super excited for next week with Christmas and everything as well.  I am sad that you have no snow.  We also have no snow.  It is really sad.  But I keep hoping that for Christmas we get something.  I hope you do as well.  What is Christmas with no snow?  That party sounds like it was a success.  Sorry I couldn't be there.  But I have been a little busy and flights this time of year are ridiculous.  I may have to wait until next January (2016) before something opens up. Things are great here.  Don't worry about me.  Think of you always. Sister Poll

First Week in Passau

Hello family.

Well, Passau is good. It isn't the same, obviously. I am still adjusting. But it isn't as bad as I made it out to be. I thought for sure that I would hate it and want to go back to Tubingen every day. But I don't. There are sometimes that I wish I was still there, but it is really good here.

It was a really busy week with transfers and all. I said goodbye to so many people this week before I left which was hard, but also really therapeutic. It helped me feel better about leaving. So that was really nice. We made Christmas cookies with a member on Monday before I left and the were awesome. I literally am going to gain so much weight here. It is bad. Then we had two other eating appointments with members before the day was through. But like I said, it was really nice to do it. It helped me feel some closure I guess... Then on Tuesday we had district meeting with our district photo before we all separated. We had 2 of us leaving. So that was a little sad. Then I learned how to make spitzla with a member. And it was so good. She loves us and sent us home with soooooo much food. It was like she thought we were starving or something. The members really take such good care of us.

Then on Wednesday I said good bye to P and her family. That was really sad. And her son just sat by me the whole time. Apparently he told his mom "why can't the Chinese one leave and sister poll stay?" So that broke my heart a little, but Sister E took it ok considering. :) It also snowed here, but didn't stay.

Thursday was crazy. So many trains and traveling with 2 suitcases. Since I didn't have a bike in Tubingen I didn't have to take it with me, and even if I did, I would have left it there anyway. We have bikes assigned by areas, not by missionaries. So that makes things a little easier. But I was on a train almost all day. When I got to Munich I got to meet Sister E's new companion. She seems super nice and hopefully they will get along well.

So that brings me to Passau. All this stuff I just said feels like it was forever ago. Passau is great. I haven't seen to much of it yet, cuz we have been busy. Yes it is a small branch. On Sunday we had a total of 20 people and that included the 4 missionaries. So it is really small. It is an adjustment that is for sure. But the members are all really nice and I am excited to get to know them better.

I am back in a district with one of the elders from the MTC which is nice to have someone that I know. We don't have too many investigators, but we are going to change that. We are going to do a lot of finding and find some people who are interesting in learning, so please pray that we find someone. We work a lot with the less actives, cuz we have quite a few. It is definitely different here. We need to really strengthen this ward and help those who do come stay strong. I am trying to come up with good ways to fill our time and make sure we are doing things that are going to progress the work. Plus learn the area super well, since my companion is in her last transfer now. So I will definitely stay here for one more transfer at least, unless they close the area. We are having 9 sisters go home this coming transfer and only 1 coming. So sad, but what can we do. They are going to have to close 4 sister areas and put in elders instead. Hopefully not Passau. We are going to make it boom here this transfer so that they won't want to close it. :)

My companion is awesome. She is Hungarian, but luckily speaks really good English. I luck out all the time. And her German is awesome and she is really helping me learn as well. We both don't like to cook to much, so that should be interesting. We may just eat the same thing every day... But we get a long really well which I am super great full for. I was really worried. And even though she is going home, she is not trunky which is also a blessing.

This week is going to be good. We have our Christmas conference in Munich on Wednesday which will be super fun. I am really excited. We get to spend time with the Kohlers and I get to see Sister E and her new companion this week. Plus a bunch of other people who I haven't seen in.... one week... It feels longer than that.

Other than that, we are just working really hard on finding and trying to get appointments with our investigators so I can meet them. I really hope we find some good people soon and get some solid appointments set up. Also with some less actives. that is our biggest work here. Is to strengthen the ward and also the less actives. Teaching is important, but we really need to focus on them. It is a big job. We have more less active people than active.

 I love you all. Thanks for all your support. Pray for you always.

Sister Poll

I forgot the most important part!!! My address so you can send me letters. :)

Sister Danielle Poll

Nibelungenstrasse 5

94032 Passau

Germany

Transfer Week!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving here.  One of the members invited us and all her non member friends so that was awesome.  We are really hoping to make one of the families investigators really soon, cuz we have met with her twice now and she said that she would be interested to meet with us.  We have developed a really good relationship, and she would make an awesome member with her family.  So pray that it works out.   

This week has been crazy.  We had so many appointments, but they were mostly with other people.  For example we went with the Elders and helped them teach their investigator, and we also had a couple of Skype lessons with Mongolians.  So that was really fun.  I went to Stuttgart for a day, and that was interesting.  I am so grateful for my companion and that she loves to talk to people.  I really need to be better cuz I had a hard time with my companion in Stuttgart.  She doesn't like talking to people really at all.  I even had a hard time talking to her, cuz I would ask questions and she would answer and then be silent again.  She started to open up a little, but even when I was talking with someone on the train, she was silent.  And it isn't cuz she doesn't speak German.  She has perfect German.  She is going home soon and she studied german before coming.  It made me so grateful for what I have and for what I need to do to be a better companion.  I feel so bad for sister E that she has had to deal with me being so silent all the time.  But we are doing really well.

And the biggest surprise of the week.  I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED!!!  Crazy!!!  I have a lot of emotions about it actually.  I am really sad cuz our ward is amazing.  In church yesterday I just cried and had to bear my testimony.  All the members were telling me how much they would miss me and how I need to come back and visit.  I had 2 people offer me their homes to stay in when I come back. :)  This ward is amazing.  We also had Mission President and his family in the ward yesterday which was such a blessing.  Sister Kohler really helped me since I was more than a little sad.  But I only cried once which was a miracle.  Something about the mission has really changed me and I have become the most emotional person I have ever met.  I feel like Chelsie, cuz I always want to cry.  I don't like it.  But I know that where I am going needs me and even though I am sad to be leaving right before Christmas, and leaving this amazing ward, I will be ok.  But it doesn't stop me from being really sad about it.  President said if we didn't have so many sisters that needed to be trained, I probably would have stayed here.  But this is the life of a missionary I guess.  I hope I get used to it one day and stop getting so attached to everyone.  The hardest person to say goodbye to was P.  She was super upset that I was leaving.  She told me I needed to come back for Christmas and I had to explain that I couldn't.  And her little boy was the worst.  Every time I go over he says "Sister Poll is here!!!" and then gives me a big hug.  And I had to try to explain to him that I am leaving.  I don't think he really got it.  Saying goodbye is the worst!!!  But I keep telling myself that I a just going to make my family bigger with the people in my new area.  And President said that it might be possible for me to come back, since we are loosing so many sisters.  Next transfer we are closing 4 sister areas because we are losing 8 sisters and only getting 1.  And this transfer we lost 11 and only got 9.  It is really sad. So I am really hoping that maybe next year for Christmas I will be back in Tübingen.  One can hope right? :)

That brings me to where I am actually going.  Sister E is staying here and training a new golden.  I am heading to a place called Passau.  My companion is from Hungry.  So that will be interesting.  I think I am just bound to have international companions.  First from Saudi Arabia, then Mongolia, now Hungry.  But it has been the best experience ever.  Hard, but the best.  I am excited and really nervous.  I have so many conflicting emotions.  Cuz I am excited to go someplace new and have a new companion, but I am also terrified.  Cuz we all know how I deal with change.  So I am praying that my anxiety won't be too high.  I am going to ask the elders for a blessing this week which I know will help.  But I have heard a lot of great things about Passau.  It is really pretty and the ward is little.  That will be different, but hopefully I will adjust.  Apparently they only have 15-20 people.  I am just hoping we have some good investigators.  And it will also be good cuz I will speak more German than I am here.  I speak a lot, but not as much since all our investigators are English speaking.  So I am excited for that.  I have no idea what my address will be yet, but I should by next week.  And when I do you will be the first to know.  Just keep a prayer in your heart that I will be ok this week.  

I also went by and said goodbye to M this week.  I have a super cute photo of her baby and hopefully I can send it soon.  She is on track for baptism, kind of.  She just needs to realize that she needs to do it, but she isn't quite ready to give up her wine yet.  We are working on it.  She knows and wants to be baptized, but her desire isn't quite as great as it needs to be to give up her vices yet.  We are really praying for her. 

I am super excited for Christmas here.  I have a hard time remembering that it is ok to enjoy the experience and look at things. So I am excited for Christmas and what it will bring.  There are already so many Christmas markets up and we haven't had a chance to go to one yet, but they are up for the whole month of December.  I am really excited. 

This week is going to be so busy.  We are going by as many members as possible as well as investigators so that I can say goodbye.  It is really hard, but it will be good.  I am excited for Sister E to train.  She is nervous, but excited as well.  I am going to miss her a ton.  I learned a lot from her.  And I have learned a ton about myself.  I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here as a missionary.  It is hard and trying, but it is also amazing.  I have learned so much about myself and how to become more like my Savior.  I have gained a strong testimony about this Gospel and I know without a doubt that it blesses our lives.  The Church of Jesus Christ is true.  Our Savior loves us so much and wants more than anything for us to return home to him.  I am so grateful to have grown up in this Gospel, and that I have received my own testimony that it is true.  I am grateful to be sharing it with others as well.  

Love you all and think of you always.  You are all amazing examples to me.  Have a wonderful week!!!

Liebe Grüße

Sister Poll

Thanksgiving Week

Hello again.  Another week has passed.  Crazy that it goes so quickly.  This week was amazing and so busy.  We had our normal meeting and we went hiking which was super fun!!!  We then had some new investigators come from referrals from the office.  It was great.  We met with one on Tuesday and it is this crazy old couple from Italy who speak OK German.  They really wanted to give us coffee and we had to keep saying that we don't drink coffee.  So they gave us herbal tea instead.  It is crazy how much tea I drink.  I don't really care for it, but everyone here drinks tea.  And that is what they offer every time you go there.  And sometimes I ask for water, but my companion loves tea, so she usually says we would love it.  Super funny.  But if you put enough sugar in it is tastes ok.  :)  My companion told me I eat too much sugar and she wonders how I do it every day.  Also how I don't eat very much.  She cooks for us luckily and I should probably be a better companion and cook for her sometimes too... But that will maybe come sometime down the road.  :)  Anyway... back to the Italian couple.  They really have some good friends who are all Mormon who they know from Italy which is really nice, but they really don't understand us too good.  It is really funny.  The guy told my companion that her German was really terrible when really his German is terrible.  But hopefully we can help them understand how important the church is.  But honestly I think it will be awhile with them.  But they are really sweet and nice.

We then had lunch with one of the members.  She is awesome.  She has 2 kids and she is from Finland, but she went on her mission to Germany. I love her and her kids.  Her little girl speaks fluent Finnish and is learning German, so she doesn't really talk to us.  She understands, but she is refusing to speak German right now, even to her parents.  She doesn't want to let go of the Finnish. But she is super cute anyway.  

We had a short lesson with our investigator this week, but her baby got vaccines and reacted not too good.  He got a really bad fever and got sick and so we only stayed for a minute.  We are really hoping we can get her on track for her baptismal date that we set for the 7th of December, but we will see.  

Something interesting that happened this week was we did a Skype lesson with some elders in Switzerland.  They have a Mongolian less active, so my companion was helping them out. I just sat there the whole time and ate food at the members house.  It is really bad how much I eat at the members.   I have gained a little weight that I will need to work off when I get home.  But it was really cool to see her speak Mongolian and help someone.  We are now going to start doing that every week with them.  He understands German, but not super well. 

We also teach an English lesson every week.  I teach....  Which is always interesting.  My English isn't that good, and sometimes she asks why and I have no idea why, I just know what sounds right.  Shows how much I payed attention in school...  :)  But it is ok.  It actually really helps my German, cuz I have to sometimes speak to her in German, or she asks what some words mean and I have to know all the words I'm teaching in both languages, so that helps.  

Then on Saturday we went out to a referral from the office.  It was 1:45 minutes away which was hard, but she was awesome.  She is only 17 and she was an exchange student in Montana for 1 year.  She stayed with a family and went to church, young women, and seminary the whole time she was there.  She really understands everything, except a few details that no one took the time to explain and she didn't want to ask cuz they seemed so basic.  She said she knows the church is true, but she has to think about being baptized.  So pray that she will be baptized soon and see how important it is.  Also that we can start teaching her family as well.  Her parents have some background in the church cuz her dad was also an exchange student and did the same thing she did.  She is just a little more interested than he was.  We are excited to start teaching her and get her set for baptism.  The hardest part is the distance.  We traveled for a total of 4 hours the other day just to get there and back.  And cuz its so far away we can't stay for a long time and she only has time for 1 a week since she is in school.  So....  a lot of obstacles, but we will work it out.  She is really cool.

The confirmations went soooo good yesterday.  We are super excited for our 2 newest members.  The ward loves them as well and we really hope we can get their German better soon so they can communicate better.  But the spirit was really great.  We also had the primary program this Sunday which was awesome.  We only have about 1/3 of the kids here, but it was just as good as it always is.  The kids were sooooo well behaved.  (not that kids in American aren't) :)

This week is going to be really busy.  We have transfer calls on Saturday and then depending on what they say, if we leave it will be next week on Thursday.  I think something is going to happen to us, but I don't know what.  It will be interesting to see what God has in store.  We also have a tausch this week (exchange).  So I am going to Stuttgart for a day to switch companions.  It will be fun.  We have such a busy week planned.  We also have a dinner on Friday this week with a family to have Thanksgiving.  I am really excited for that.  Our members are so good and take such good care of us. So you don't have to worry about eating my share, I have my share here.  Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I say hello.   

I am really praying for snow this year.  I am hoping we get some.  But it is still really warm here. I am going out in just long sleeve shirts every day.  It drives my companion crazy, but I love it.  She said today that she is embarrassed to be with me, so I guess I should stop.  But I really hope it gets cold and we have snow soon.

I think that's all for the week.  I love hearing from you and all my pictures are in Dropbox, but here is a few. You are always in my thoughts and prayers.  Love you loads.

Sister Poll

 Baptisms

 Hello


All things are wonderful here.  It has been an amazing week and really busy.  The baptism went amazing.  It was wonderful and so spiritual.  The members were so supportive and loving which was awesome.  Usually here they do baptisms on Saturday and confirm the next day in Sacrament.  It is a preach my gospel thing.  I think they do it with all converts.  But we really wanted more members there and since everyone lives so far away we decided to do it after church so more people would be there.  That means we had to wait a week for the confirmation, which is sad, but oh well.  But the baptism was really great.  For some reason this computer is not working and I can't get my pictures to show up... So next week I guess.  Sorry.  But really both had such a strong feeling of the spirit and they loved it.  After they both hugged one another and had the biggest smiles on their faces.  This is what the gospel is all about.  Bringing this happiness to everyone.  And they just kept saying how happy they were.  So awesome!! 

That was really the biggest thing this week.  My talk in church went OK I think.  Everyone told me it was good.  I don't know if they just said that to make me feel better or if they really understood it, but it was fine.  And then I played the piano for a musical number at the baptism.  That was interesting.  I only had like 1 hour to practice this song and it actually went OK, up until the last 2 pages where I butchered it.  I ended early and luckily they realized and it actually sounded ok, but needless to say my piano skills need some work.  It is at the top of my to do list for when I get home.  I am really regretting that I let so much of it go.  I am sad that I can't play as good as I used to, but I have repented and I will get back up to speed asap.  

Things here are starting to get a little colder.  I need a jacket now when I go outside, but the other day I actually went with just a 3/4 shirt.  My companion thought I was crazy, as did every German I saw on the street, but I didn't really care.  But every one here wears coats every day even when the sun is shining and it is warm.  They all have coats and scarves and everything.  It is kind of funny.  But I heard that we probably won't get any snow here for Christmas which is sad...  But who knows.  Maybe.  We have transfers again in 2 weeks, so we will see what happens.  I think something is going to change.  We had interviews with President this past week and he mentioned that there may be a change coming.  I will keep your posted.  

I am jealous that you are going to a rodeo.  That would be so much fun!!!  I would totally go if I had the chance.  I really miss all the farms and animals and everything that I was surrounded by on a daily basis.  When we went to that farm last week I just felt like home.  (They were Holsteins by the way.  Some black and brown ones.  but I didn't ask due to my lack of farm German vocabulary...)  The milker is really cool actually.  I washes the teats and everything.  It uses a cool laser system that shows exactly where the teats are and then it puts the milkers on. 

Yesterday was an awesome day. We had the baptisms, which were amazing and then we went out to visit one other investigator.  We got a baptismal date set with her, and we really hope she will keep her appointments so that we can make that date.  It would be awesome.  Even though this week has been stressful preparing for baptism, it was so worth it.  Then we missed our train by literally 10 seconds even though we ran.  So we went by on a potential cuz the trains only come every 30 or hour here.  And we caught her at home.  It was really cool cuz we gave her a book of Mormon a few weeks ago and talked a little about it.  We have been trying to go back, but she is really busy and doesn't have a regular schedule so we can't make an appointment.  But we caught her at home and it turns out that she has been reading the BOM every night and is in Second Nephi 31 already.  We talked for awhile and she has a ton of faith.  She will for sure be baptized one day.  But she was struggling to believe in Joseph Smith and prophets, cuz he is just a normal man.  She believes in God, but the whole prophet idea now and that Joseph Smith was important is not something she really wants to understand yet, but she said the BOM is one of the best books she has ever read and she feels so good when she reads it.  We are really excited for her.  Hopefully things work out.  I think as she comes to read more and learn more that she will find for her self the truth of Joseph Smith and prophets.  We are praying anyway.  :)

So that was really cool yesterday.  We are really being blessed here.  Thanks for all your prayers and support.  Things are amazing, not always easy, but really great.  I love and miss you all and really hope that all is well there.  I love you and will try to send more pictures next week.  I am super sad that its not working, but what can you do?  Today we are going to a waterfall (hopefully) and doing a little short hike.  I am really excited to get out a little.  Love you tons, and think of you always.

Sister Poll

Wow what a busy week it has been. We had some great lessons and we are super excited.  The baptism is next Sunday (the 16th) right after church. And then the next week we will confirm them.  They are awesome.  We thought this week that we ran into a small snag, cuz she is still married.  So we thought we would have to get permission from the husband to baptize the son and all these things.  But it turns out that it will be fine without.  Since he has no contact with them and hasn't seen the kids or helped with anything in a long time.  But they are both doing really well and so excited to be baptized.

Our other investigator is doing ok, we need to really work with her, but we found out that she is only 24 and so that kind of explains the way she has been acting. She hasn't quite figured out that she needs to rely on herself and not just others.  Lucky for her her husband takes good care of her. But she really is amazing and we hope that this week we can set a baptismal date for December.  So keep her in your prayers.  

Those are really the only people we are working with right now.  Our others investigators have no time or dropped us.  They won't answer their phone or don't want any more contact.  So we have been working with a lot of the less actives in the ward this week.  There are so many of them.  We are working really hard with Bishop to bring them back.  It is really sad and one of them we see every week.  She promises us every week that she will come, and then she is never there.  It is really sad, cuz her kids are learning from her that church isn't as important as it really is.  But we keep praying that she will come.  This week when we visited, we were really blunt with her.  I just said, "you know church is important. You have a strong testimony.  Why don't you come?"  Turns out she has some issues with people in the ward, so that was some helpful information.  Hopefully we can fix that and get her to realize that people aren't perfect and she needs to come to church for herself and to come closer to God, not to worry about people.  So we will see. It is really sad how many less actives we have here.  We are trying really hard to get them to come back.  It is just as important and new baptisms.

We also visited this super cute older lady who is less active cuz she can't really walk so well and can't get to church.  She has a super strong testimony though and she loves when we visit.  She was talking to me and she is kind of deaf so she shouts a lot.  And so not only did I get yelled at, but I didn't understand half of it.  After she just smiled at me and said " It will come one day." and then laughed.  She totally caught me that I didn't understand.  but its great.  She is awesome. 

We also went to Münchin this week to have Missionary Leadership Conference, since we are sister training leaders.  It was awesome.  There has been a strike on the trains and so we had to take the ehepaar's car (the older couple missionaries car) with the zone leaders.  They are in a threesome and so there were 5 of us in the car.  Which wouldn't be that bad, but the cars here are miniature size.  No room.  And we were like that for almost 4 hours there and 4 hours back.  And the elders drive crazy!!  They haven't driven for so long, plus one is used to driving on the left side of the road, so that was something else as well. He would sometimes drift and we would remind him he was in Germany, not England.  But the conference was really good.  It is so awesome to be taught by the mission president and to see sister Kohler as well.  They are amazing.  I always learn so much from them.  Turns out that we have to now teach our zone what we learned from President, so that will be fun.  That is on Tuesday.  Then we also have our interviews with him this coming week.  I am really excited.  Things are going really well. 

Church this week was awesome.  The only surprise was the counselor came up to me and started talking in English (unusual, cuz they usually talk German even if I don't understand everything) and said he needed a favor.  I asked what and he said he needed a speaker for next week....  I asked if he needed me to find someone for next week and that made him smile.  So next week I have to give a 5 minute talk in German, so prayers would be appreciated...  I am a little nervous already.  

I think that's all for this week.  Things are going well here.  It sounds like things are going well there also.  I miss you all a lot and I appreciate all the updates.  Things are going good with my companion as well.  I think of you always and you are always in my prayers.  Love you!

Sister Poll

Guten Tag!!!!

My companion is doing well.  I forgot to mention that we got made sister training leaders.  To be honest, I am not exactly sure what that means....  We have an extra meeting that we have to go to and we also have to help teach our zone training meeting, so that will be interesting.  I have no idea if it is going to be in German or not....  Hopefully not.  I am not getting as much practice on my German because all of our investigators are English speaking.  But we try to speak German outside as much as possible. So that really helps, but sometimes people talk to me and I have no idea still.  I am trying to get out of the habit of just saying "Ja" all the time.  Cuz sometimes they ask me a question and I just say ja, then they smile and ask it again.  It happens all the time.  I am learning to laugh a lot.  Lots of hand gestures also helps.  But the ward is really great.  They will say the same things over and over again for me so that I can practice, and I am starting to call people on the phone.  That is harder cuz I can't see them and go by body language as well. But I am doing ok. 

Our baptism is still on schedule.  She is 36 years old and so prepared.  This week we taught about the Word of Wisdom.  She was struggling to understand the concept of coffee.  She drinks about 1 pot a day and and didn't see why it was a problem to drink coffee, cuz "it doesn't hurt her." but once we explained a little, she told us that if it is God's will, she will quit.  And then we took her coffee machine away.  that was funny.  But she gave it to us willingly.  And she is doing awesome.  She came to church this Sunday and stood and gave her testimony.  And it was amazing.  She is really excited for her baptism and constantly wants to learn more.  She is golden.  We are really praying that Satan doesn't get to her.  She has to have an operation on her leg from a past time when she broke it.  So we are also praying that it isn't before her baptism.  Cuz that is how Satan works.  Her son is 11 years old and then she also has  a 5 year old.  They look older though.  And their names are so cool.  This family is awesome.  We are super excited for them all. I will defiantly send pictures after their baptism.  We are so excited and the ward is as well. 

We also have another girl and she is doing great.  Her problem is that she depends on everyone to do it for her.  So this week we told her she had to find her own ride to church, cuz she needs to start being responsible for getting herself there if she is going to be baptized.  She has been depending on us to find things and when if something goes wrong it is our fault. So this week she was upset cuz she got already for church and no one came to get her.  And I asked her rather bluntly if she found herself a ride. She said no and that the same man should have just come to get her.  I probably wasn't the nicest to her but I told her that he had no idea if she was coming and that he wouldn't just come if he didn't know and she needed to call him.  We had a little tense discussion about making sure things are scheduled and not just relying on people to take care of her all the time.  But hopefully now she understands and she will not be so angry about it.  :) I was super blunt with her and maybe I should have used more kindness, but I think she needs someone who will just tell her how it is.  And I am more than happy to do that.  :) 

These people are kind of friends.  Some of them live in the same place and that is how we have come in contact with them. Because they are all from Africa they live in a small building in the cities in tiny rooms.  They really don't have much, but they get to live there for free so that's nice.  Now both investigators are good friends cuz they come to church every week so that is nice. 

Sometimes I just think that people should understand the way that I do.  When I feel the spirit and they don't I wonder what is wrong with them.  And I wonder how they can't see how great this gospel and this church is.  And so I am adjusting.  And to remember that they have their free agency to choose is important.  I know that I am trying my best to teach these people, and even though it is not perfect and someone may be better at it than me, I am giving my best. And that makes me a good missionary.    Sometimes I feel like I am not good cuz my numbers are low or cuz I feel like we don't use our time as effectively or cuz our lessons don't go well.  but I am learning that I am not perfect and people are not perfect.  And it never will be. And sometimes like you said, people don't listen.  And sometimes they seem golden, and then choose not to follow through.  It really is sad, but they can choose.  And I am learning that Agency is a true blessing, but it is also so frustrating.  I just really want them to understand how great this gospel is.  It is worth so much more than anything they have, but they don't understand!!!  But I am trying my hardest to tell them. And that is all I can do.  Getting out of my comfort zone is hard.  It is still hard for me to talk with people on the bus or train.  I am not good at it, but every day I am trying to be better.  And that is what is important.  And your right.  Sometimes we don't know the impact we make.  Even if someone doesn't get baptized, they may tell their friends about the gospel.  You never know.  

I love you all and think of you always.  I am always thinking of you and praying for you. Thank you for your support and all that you do.  It means everything to me.  Love you!

Sister Poll

 Transfers

Transfers came through and I am staying here with my companion.  We are both really excited since we have 2 hopefully 3 baptisms this transfer. This next transfer will be 6 weeks long I believe, but if not I will let you know.  I'm glad that you got all the barn stuff taken care of so when it rains now it won't be an ice sheet there.  I really miss working on the farm, and I know this may backfire on me, but I can't wait to get back to it when I get home. :)

Things are going great here.  We have our baptism all set.  They have it set for the 16th of November and they are super excited for it.  P just says that she is already a member so we keep praying that she accepts all the commandments ok.  She took tithing really well even though she has such a small income and everything.  Now we just have to get over the last hurtle of the word of wisdom, cuz we think she drinks coffee.  So pray this week that she will stop and be accepting to it.  Other than that we are super excited for her and her son.  They truly are a miracle to us and we are super grateful that the Lord sent them to the church.  And I am super glad that we get to teach in English, although it is a different kind of English.  I really have to talk slowly and simply, which is really hard for me.  And she told us the other day that she is getting better at understanding me, so even when you talk in the same language, there is still a language barrier.  But it is better and we really love her.  I think her exact words were " I love sister poll, but at the beginning I had no idea what she said.  Now I understand everything and if I don't I ask" So that was funny, and humbling.  This week she cooked some Nigerian food for us.  I told her before that I couldn't eat very spicy food, cuz she asked.  And when we were eating she said that she made it mild for me so that it wouldn't be too bad.  I think I could have breathed FIRE after the first bite.  And my companion who likes spicy food and eats it well said the same.  It was the hardest things I have had to do so far was to keep putting bites in my mouth.  Luckily it tasted really good, but I drank a whole 2 bottles of water and needed some yogurt after as well.  my companion took the fall and helped me eat some cuz we were sharing a plate and eating with our hands like in Africa.  It was really cool but honestly I felt that food burn my whole digestive system.  It was the worst thing.  And then she told us that it wasn't even spicy. I just looked and her and told her straight up that she was crazy since I was crying from the heat.  She just laughed at me. It was interesting, and defiantly something I will not forget. No more Nigerian food for me. 

Also our other investigator is doing well.  She has committed to baptism, but we are not sure if she will be ready by the same date.  We need to work hard with her and get her less dependent on everyone bringing her to church and things.  But she is also amazing and one day she will be baptized.  We hope really soon. 

This week has been pretty focused on these three people. We also have another investigator who is 21 and a student here and she is cool.  We meet with her as well and she is from Africa but speaks really good German.  So that is nice that it forces me to practice since the rest of our lessons are in English.  We think she has some real potential. And then she also decided to cook for us this week. And guess what is was.  Nigerian food.  With peppers in it.  Man it was also spicy, but not as bad as the first one.  I will be so good at eating spicy food by the time this is over if this keeps up.    

This week we need to find more people to teach.  We are super focused on the ones we have which is awesome, but we need to be working on that as well, so that is our goal.  We are really glad that we get to stay together even though sometimes we have some communications issues.  We are also glad that we are staying here in Tübingen.  We love it and the people are awesome.    I know this is where we are supposed to be and that I am here for a reason.  I am learning so much and growing and I am so grateful for your support and love from home.  I miss you all and think of you always.

Sister Poll

Hello everyone!!! 

This week has been really great.  We have met some awesome people who are from Africa and they are all bringing their friends to be taught so it was busy. We have one of our investigators set for baptism in November and we are going to set a date with our other one this week.  Hopefully.  I don't know if I have told you about Mary, but she is awesome.  She was in church on Sunday and she gave an awesome testimony about how she knows the church is true.  She attended in Africa before she came here.  She just loves the peace of the church and how she feels when she is there is like she is home.  It is awesome.  We just need to finish teaching her the lessons and get her all set up for baptism.  She really wants to be baptized, but she told us she wants to wait cuz it is a little hard right now.  With her husband trying to find a job and with just moving her to Germany a month ago.  But we just need to tell her that life is never going to be easy and it will always be one thing after another that will keep her from being baptized, so hopefully this week we can set a date.  And then we can also meet with her husband and get him set up as well.  They really are amazing and they have a sister in Nigeria who is a member that they talk to as well, so that helps a ton.  I am so grateful for the blessing of her coming into our lives.  She actually told the elders that she was a member already when they met her on the bus.  It is amazing how people come into our lives.

We also have another investigator from Nigeria who has a date set for November.  We are super excited!  She just came to church on her own with her two sons.  We are really praying for her that she sticks with her commitment to be baptized and that she feels the importance of the BOM.  She is also brand new here in Germany.  

We were reflecting on our week and I realized that we taught almost all of our lessons in English to all black people from Africa.  We are super grateful cuz they are all amazing, but it was funny that we are in Germany teaching people from Africa in English.  Made us smile.  It is super nice cuz they all have their friends that they want to bring with them to church which we love.  This week P brought her friend who lives by her and now we have another person to teach.  We are grateful every day for the Lord preparing his people and sending them to us.  Thank you for your prayers as well.  They help so much

We also met a cute girl from Africa as well, but she speaks really good German.  Which is good, cuz I'm losing some of my practice with all our English lessons.  She is really amazing and she makes me speak.  She just looks at me and asks my thoughts so I really have to make sure I know what is going on.  I can't just sit back and pretend like I understand.  :)

This week we had an interesting experience with one of our investigators.  We showed up to a lesson with her and she had a friend there.  Usually we don't mind, but we walked in and he has this huge cross necklace and all these books set out in front of him and tons of paper work.  We start off with a prayer and ask our investigator if she has any questions.  She said "no, but he does" and she just starts laying into us.  Saying we believe in multiple gods and that we are against the Bible and he wanted to compare our version of the bible with his.  We simply told him that we are not forcing anyone to do anything and that we invite people to pray and get their own answer.  He then said that prayer was not reliable cuz even Satan can be disguised as a spirit and he can convince you to do things.  Then he told us we were a church of the devil and that if an angel came down and spoke to him he wouldn't believe it cuz the bible says that you shouldn't believe any new religion.  I finally just turned to my companion and said "I'm ready when you are.  We don't need to stay here"  I then told our investigator if she had any questions or wanted to meet with us again she could call.  We both walked out of there a little angry and frustrated and wondering what the point was.  After I took a moment to calm down, I realized 1. how funny the experience was, and 2. how sad it is that he thinks this way.  One day maybe his heart will be softened.  But I can look back now and smile at the experience even though I don't fully understand why and I hope one day he will take some time to listen.  He just wanted to argue and said the bible says that we should contend for the truth.  But I didn't want to stay there with him.  It was interesting.  :)  

That was the exciting part of our week.  We have quite a few people to teach and they are doing well.  I am so grateful.  We are constantly trying to find new people to teach and bring to the gospel.  This work is amazing and I am so grateful to be here even though it is hard.  Love and miss you all tons. 

So transfers are next week for me.  We had a 7 week transfer this time which was a little unusual.  They are normally 6 weeks.  So we will transfer next week, or stay.  We find out in 3 days so I will let you know next week. Love and miss you all so much.  Don't know what I would do without you.  I am so blessed.  Thanks for all your support and prayers.  I love Monday's as well.  :)

Sister Poll

I am so glad that things are going well around the farm.  I really miss being there and helping out.  You have no idea.  I had a dream this week about a cow giving birth and it had 2 extra legs.  Dad called it a raptor calf. It was really really weird. Just goes to show how the mission changes a person.  haha.  I really do miss it though.  I see a person with a dog here and I just want to ask if I can do something for him.  And ask if he is healthy and what not.  But I refrain.  I really miss my job a ton.  So I know that is for sure what I am going to do when I get back.  It is amazing how much you appreciate something when it is gone.  Just like I appreciate all of you so much more now that I can't just call anytime.  I love you all a ton.

Stuttgart was interesting.  It was like a big carnival.  Hard to go there and be a missionary cuz we can't ride anything.  But it was cool to see the people all in liederhosen and drundel.  (the dresses that the girls wear).  Something else really funny happened actually.  We had an investigator with a baptism date in November, but she is kind of mentally handicapped as well, so we were going slow.  She is the one that is also meeting with the Jehovah Witness.  So my companion was talking with someone and we got a phone call.  I decided to be brave and answer.  And next thing I know someone is yelling at me in German and I have no idea why.  I just said I am so sorry my German is not good could you repeat that?  So then I got yelled at again.  Then I told her I still didn't understand and that my companion had really good German an would talk to her.  Then she hung up.  We called her back and it turns out she was the Jehovah witness teaching Marion and she told us that Marion never wants us to come back and visit again.  So then we called Marion and she said the same thing.  That her friend ( the Jehovah witness) told her that it wasn't a good idea and to please never come back.  So that was an interesting moment in the mission.  Phone conversations are so much harder than real people.  I can't read expressions when I am on the phone.

We had zone conference this week and it was amazing.  We went to Munich and President Kohler taught us.  It was so nice to see them again and we talked about our goal of one baptism in every ward before the end of the year.  I am really excited.  This week a woman on the bus stopped the elders and told them that she was a member from Nigeria and she wanted to come to church.  Since she is a woman the elders just had us go and visit her.  Turns out she is not a member but really wants to be baptized.  Her sister in a member in Nigeria and she went to church a few times with them there.  We are going to get a date set for her soon.  Turns out she hasn't ever had any discussions, but we will fix that problem.  :)  She is amazing.  She also has this cute little 2 month old black baby.  I am so tempted to break the mission rule and hold him.  It is so hard not to hold kids.

Earlier this week I had gotten a letter from Danielle and she was telling me a little more about her companion. I asked her what her companion does while she is writing letters home.

 So all of her family is Buddhist and so she is the only member.  She is from a really small town in Mongolia and her family doesn't have any email.  So she can't talk to them every week.  She was glad that they were able to work something out for Skype on mothers day.  And she sends them letters every week, but they don't write back.  She has been a little down about it for the past week and I feel bad cuz I don't know what to do.  But luckily there are members from her past areas that email her and her past companions do as well.  Then she watched Mormon messages.
Her brother met the missionaries on the street and they came to their house.  Her brother ended up not being interested but she was.  At first they were not supportive at all, but then they couldn't find anything bad about it and it made her happy so they are OK now.  But they weren't really sure about her going on a mission.  the ward is helping her pay for it.  So she is always saying that we need to do more so she feels like she is doing her part in what they are doing for her.  Which is super nice that she is so dedicated.  Although sometimes I wish we had a little more fun.  She is a little serious.  But I told her that this week and she has totally lightened up.  I just told her, that I wasn't really having fun and I needed us to not be so serious cuz it was killing my attitude.  So now we are like best friends and I love her so much more.  And we are so much better teaching together and I am happier.  So I am learning about the power of communication.
Well time to go. Love you tons
Sister Poll

Ahh, I love Monday's. They are so awesome cuz I get to hear from all of you. I am so greatful for all the suport that I get from you. I don't know how I got so blessed, but I am eternally greatful.   

Conference was amazing!!! I don't think that it has ever gone so fast. I got to see the women's conference, but it was in German since we had an investigator there. I had a bad attitude about it at first cuz I really just wanted to watch in English cuz I felt like I really needed conference, but then I realized that I can watch it later and I should be jumping for joy to have an investigator there. How selfish was that? Obviously I needed to learn that lesson. But we also got to watch both Saturday sessions and Sunday morning all in English. And it was amazing. (Mom I would love it if you would send me a copy when it comes. I am sad we didn't get to see the last session, but I can watch it online on P-day) I loved President Eyering as well as President Monson. I am so greatful for what was said. It is truely inspired. We had also three other investigators come to the other sessions which was amazing. One of them is a girl named Thresa and she is from Ghana. She is here with her 2 year old son and she has been taking the lessons for a couple of months now. It has been a little struggle cuz she just keeps saying that it doesn't matter what church is true, all she wants is to come closer to Christ. She is also taking lessons from the Joehova's Witnesses so that is interesting as well. But she is really progressing. This Sunday she told us she wouldn't be able to come cuz she was going to church with her mother in law, but then she called us on Sunday and said, "I was reading the Book of Mormon this morning and just thought, I need to go to church with the sisters today" What A MIRACLE!!! And then in conference (saturday afternoon session) she said it was really great. Everything they said was true, it is just hard to do. She is separating from her husband and she said that she finds it really hard to love him as Dallin H. Oaks was talking about. But she really liked conference so I am greatful. I am praying that she feels a true answer from God that the church is true and that she will continue to progress and read the BOM like she has been. She is amazing.    We have an investigator with a baptisimal date set, but she is kind of difficult. We are having the same problem that Blake has. She is so excited about everything, but we can't tell if she fully understands what we say. Also she hasn't been to church yet. She keeps coming up with excuses, but she did quit drinking coffee, so that is some progress. When we go into her house all the walls are coved in pictures of everything from singers to actors to landscapes and dogs and cats and everything. It is kind of crazy how many pictures she has. But we want to make sure that she understands everything and is coming to church before baptism. So we have a date set for November 8th,, but we are not sure if she will make it. So maybe pray that she will come to an understanding and want to come to church.

I haven't heard anything about this meet the mormons video. It sounds really interesting. You will have to let me know about it. I hope that it helps all the missionaries around the world. 

I am glad that you enjoyed conference and that you enjoyed eating afterwards. :) I miss that about the womens conference, watching with those I love and eating after. :) I'm sure that you will accomplish all that you have to do before winter. I am a little scarred for winter to hit here. I need to go and buy some boots and a coat and I have no idea how cold it is going to get. We actually this week went and did some service for this lady who has a huge garden. She is amzing and she sent us home with some apples from her tree. We picked grapes, apples and other things that she has. Plus she has tons of flowers as well. Her garden is really pretty. She is awesome cuz she talks to me even though I don't understand and continues to talk nice and slow. We were doing some cherades on saturday. But she is great cuz she talks really slow and when I don't get it she just says it again. And most people when they know that I don't understand will stop talking to me, but she doesn't. It was really a great day though. We talked a lot about her dog, at least I think we did. :) Which was really nice. I really miss my job way more than I thought possible. I see a dog here and I totally loose focus. My companion is always asking "So was that a pretty dog then" Its kind of funny. She keeps telling people that I am a vet or an animal whisperer though which I told her she has to stop. It is weird and also they start asking me questions which I 1 can't understand and 2 can't answer anyway cuz I'm not a vet...

Tell Trish I say hello. I am glad that she is back and safe. Tell her to work out the horses for me so that when I come back they are still in shape. :)

I am really excited for this week. We have zone conference in Munich and I am super excited to go back and talk with President Kohler and be taught by him. Other than that I don't think we really have anything too exciting this week. We are going to Stuttgart today to look around Oktober Fest which should be fun. I am always excited to do something fun for p-day. I really enjoyed conference and I hope you all did too. 

I love you all and think of you always. You are my strength and I know that I am loved. Thank you so much for all your support and I hope that you are all well. I know that you are all being blessed and I am greatful that God is taking care of you while we are gone. He can do a much better job of it than I could if I was there, and that brings me comfort. I miss you all.

Sister Poll

Missed posting last week so here are two for this week. Read the other one first.

Hello!!
This has been a good week.

So with conference we get to see it, but the woman's conference is delayed until next week. It is really weird too cuz the times are different. So we don't get to see the Sunday afternoon session. We are also watching the Saturday morning session on Saturday night which is really weird. I never thought about what a blessing it is to live where the Gospel is so strong. And also where we have the luxury of watching conference live or to be able to go to it. It is so close to us. Someone said to me in the MTC, you are so lucky to have the restored gospel in your mother language and to live where it is so strong. I had never thought of that. I am so grateful for all of my blessings and to have grown up where I did. I can't wait for conference. I also can't wait to get the magazine in the mail so that I can read all of the talks that we won't get to hear. I think I am going to order one for myself so that I can have my own copy. All the missionaries get one in thier apartment, but I think I want my own. But I am so excited. I don't think I have ever looked forward to conference more than now.

This week has been really good. It has also been interesting. We went to a non member family to do service on Thursday and it was really interesting. I am still trying to get used to the culture here in Germany. We walked in and the first thing we see is a little girl running around naked. So funny actually. So we were ironing clothes and cleaning the house and the kids were just kind of watching us do it. It was a little strange. I couldn't really talk to them either cuz my German is not very good, but they speak Swabish German which is harder to understand. My companion even had a really hard time with it. But I am really good at reading body language now. Its funny how I can get the gist of the conversation just by watching people and how they talk. Every one here is expressive too which really helps me out. It is really awkward sometimes though cuz the German people are so open. We were talking and all the sudden the mother just started breast feeding her daughter without even pausing in what she was saying. I'm sure my face was funny to see. Haha. We also have an investigator from Ghana who has a little boy who is 2, and all the time he does the same thing. I am learning to laugh at a lot of things. haha.

Our meeting with the Jehovah witness didn't go. We had been trying to get a hold of her and she wouldn't answer. So one day we saw her on the bus and we went to say hi and she totally "gave us the look" We said hi and the first thing she said was "I have no time" And then she ignored us the rest of the time, even though we were just trying to talk to her. Needless to say we aren't going by there for awhile. It was weird cuz she was pretty nice the first time we went over and told us to call and come back, but then when we saw her, her attitude was something else. Got to love people's agency. That is something I am learning really fast. All I can do is invite people and do my best. Every one can choose. Agency is an amazing gift, but it is also so frustrating sometimes. I just want to take people by the shoulder and say "stop being dumb and listen to me. This is what you need to hear!!! And stop worrying about dumb things!" But of course I would never really say that. (All of you stop laughing at me right now!)

This week should be really good. We have some appointments set up and we also have an exhibition on Wednesday. So we are going to set up a booth in a busy part of town and just do some finding and try to get people to come and talk with us. It should be interesting. But on that day we are also doing an austausch. Which means that we are switching companions for the day with some other sisters. I am really excited for that. Not cuz I don't like my companion, but just to see if there are some other things we can try that are working for them. And I get to go to Stuttgart for the day. Sleepover party!!!

Then on Saturday we are doing some service in the garden of one of our investigators. We were there yesterday and she was showing us her garden. I complimented one of the flowers and she said "want one?" I said yes and she cut me a whole bunch of them, pretty much until she had none left. By the time I could form a sentence in German to tell her to stop she was already done. So now we have a pretty bouquet of flowers in our apartment. She is super nice. I really hope she will read and pray about the book of Mormon. I think those are all the exciting things planned for this week.   

Love you all and miss you tons. Thank you for all your support and also for all your love. I can't thank you enough. It helps more than you know.

Sister Poll

Hello!!!!

This week has been a little hard, but overall really great. We haven't met with that investigator again (we are meeing with her tomorrow) so we will see. I have printed off my four generation chart to show her.  I am excited to meet with her and see what she is thinking now that she has started the BOM. I really hope that she will understand the gospel.

We also got another referral this week that we are going to go by so hopefully that one works out as well.    

 We had stake conference this week and I saw this cute girl who reminded me of Megan and Katie this week and I just wanted to go and give her the biggest hug, but I didn't know her so I just settled for a handshake and the cutest smile. She sat on our same bench and she was so cute during all the songs. She loved them and even though she couldn't sing she had the biggest smile on her face.   

Everything is going well. I really am starting to love the people of Tübingen and I am trying to be patient with the language. My companion told me this week that I am the most impatient person she has ever met. So I am trying really hard to be better and to just enjoy the time I am here. We had kind of a slow week with appointments and things and nothing too exciting happened that way. Most of our appointments have been in English this week which is nice cuz I can help with the lessons, but on the other hand I feel like my German isn't improving as much. One of our investigators this week told us that he is never going to change his mind and join our church, but my companion just kept telling him he would. I don't know if it was the best approach but we will see if he will meet with us again. We kind of talked for 2 hours and we didn't really get anywhere with him. I think if he will let us we will keep meeting with him just to talk, but he won't really be a progressing investigator, cuz he just dosn't want to listen to what we have to say. I told my companion that we need to not sit and argue for 2 hours and when we meet him just be short and share a nice thought and if he allows a lesson great. But she is more of a forward person and wants to teach him about things that he says he doesn't want to hear, so we will see. I think part of the language barrier is hard. he speaks English and although she speaks great english, sometimes she still doesn't understand. But I am really lucky to have her. Because we had this long lesson is why we had the miracle this week. So I guess it was great the way it turned out anyway.

The coolest thing that happened this week was before I came a woman saw the missionaries and said that she was looking for a church to come to. For some reason they didn't get her number so they were hoping that she would come to church. She didn't come and we were really sad. But the coolest thing was we met her again this week and got her number. She seems really interested and we are meeting her this afternoon to do a church tour and give a BOM. I am really excited.

I am also really excited for all the other appointments we have this week. I am really trying to use our time more wisely, but it is hard cuz we have to travel so much to appointments and that leaves us with little time. But I am getting more used to it. I just need to get out of my head that numbers don't matter. I keep trying to compare myself to others and when we don't meet all of our goals I need to realize that it is ok. We are trying our best and that is what is important.   

I miss you all and look forward to Mondays so much when I get to hear from you. This really is an amazing work and I am so glad to be a part of it. Love you and pray for you always. You are always in my thoughts.

Sister Poll

Hallo Familie!!!

So I am in Germany and needless to say it is overwhelming.  Everything is new, and I don't understand a thing.  I am having the moment from the best 2 years when he says This isn't the language I learned in the MTC.  I recognize bits and pieces, but overall I just smile and nod when my companion nods.  It is a struggle.  My companion is really great though.  She is from Mongolia and she speaks really good German and English (thank goodness).  I am so grateful that we can communicate, although I would probably learn faster if she only spoke German to me.  But I still feel myself improving every day.  It is just a lot harder out in the field.  I am scarred to talk to people first of all because I don't want to disturb whatever they are doing, but then add to that that I understand almost nothing of what they say so then I really don't want to talk to people.  My companion always says, ok you are going to talk to this person coming toward you.  Or talk with this person on the bus.  I am getting better, but I still need that push every time.  And then after I start the conversation she takes over cuz I have no idea what they are saying.  It is my trial right now.  And we all know how patient I am.  But overall it really is great.

We had a referral this week who had ordered a book of Mormon online and so we went over to Nagold to take it to her.  When we got there we talked with her and asked if we could share a message.  we started with a prayer, and as soon as we finished the prayer we looked up and she had tears just streaming down her face.  She was crying through the whole lesson and said that she felt the spirit so strong.  She said she would read the Book Of Mormon and pray about it.  We asked her to come to church with us, but she has to work for the next few Sundays so that was really sad.  But we have stake conference this Saturday so we are hoping that she will come with us to that.  It was such a great experience.  I really hope she reads and prays and that she will receive an answer.  It would be so great if she would be baptized.  We asked her if she would if she came to know it was true and she said YES!  But sometimes people say that and then change their minds.  So pray that she doesn't.  My companion has been out for 9 months and hasn't had a baptism yet, and we are hoping that she will be her first.  It would be so great for her and for our investigator.  She said that she felt God had led us to her.  We are so excited!!  My companion really is great though cuz she gives me opportunities to bear my testimony or share about certain things that I can say.  She sets it up and then turns to me and says will you share about the book of Mormon or something like that.  

I also went to church yesterday and met the ward.  They are great.  I didn't understand really anything, so that was nice....  But it is amazing how the spirit is the same no matter where you are.  I may not have been able to understand, but I was so grateful for the calming and comforting spirit I could feel.  It just helps me to remember that the gospel really is true.  And when I feel the spirit in the lessons we teach, since my job is to help bring the spirit since I can't really help with lessons right now.  I now realize how important the spirit is and how much I need him.  There is no way that I can do this without God and the Holy Ghost.  And I know that they are right beside me every day.  

After church we went to eat at a members house and I had to prepare a spiritual thought to share.  In German.  It was ok, but it was really funny cuz I know that they all speak English too.  So I got stuck on a word that I didn't know and I turned to my companion and asked and the whole table told me what it was.  So that was strange.  But they all tell me my German is good.  I need to work on saying thank you to them instead of not believing them when they say it. But the food they gave us was so great!!  You have to eat a lot here so that you don't offend people, which is good and bad.  the food was but I have no idea what it was....  Then we had jello for dessert.  Yes jello is a dessert here.  Don't ask me how that works.  Lucky for me they asked if we liked ice cream and they gave me some of that as well.  I am defiantly going to gain weight here...  Then they also gave us some German chocolate, which is amazing by the way.  I will try to send some home, but my companion says it is a little expensive to receive and send packages, so don't worry about sending anything unless it is really important.  

Our address is

Sister Danielle Poll

Gartenstraße 9\1

72074 Tübingen

Germany

And letters would be greatly appreciated.  I miss you all a ton.  If any of you have any suggestions about how to get over fear of talking to people I could use any advice you could give.

I love you all so much and I appreciate all that you do for me.  I can feel your love and i appreciate the prayers that you send my way.  Ich weiß dass das Buch Mormon war ist.  Ich liebe meine Himmlische Vater und auch siene Sohn.  Ich weiß dass Jesus Christus für uns opfer.  Ich liebe euch.  

that is about all the German I know at this point.  Love you!!!

Sister Poll

And last but not least I need you to forward this to Grandpa cuz I really need his help.  

Grandpa, you will be so disappointed in me to know that I already don't know this information, but I know that you will know.  Where exactly in the world does our ancestry come from.  I have had a lot of people ask me and I didn't realize how important of a question this is.  Also if you could send me some information on how to begin family history work for beginners or tell me where to find it I would be so grateful.  Our investigator that we took the book of Mormon to is super interested in family history work and I want to be able to connect with her and help her this way, but I will admit that I am not so knowledgeable.  So i am grateful that I have you.  i wish you were here so you could help me and her, but I guess email will have to work.  I love you tons and I am so grateful for your support and love.

Sister Poll

Arrived in Germany!!!

Dear family of Sister Poll -

We are delighted to tell you that Sister Poll arrived safely in Munich this morning.  She is tucked away in bed now after a long day of orientation. Her new companion is Sister E, and they will be serving in Tübingen Germany.  We are thrilled that she is here and are very impressed with her preparation and enthusiasm.  She will be a great missionary.  Thank you for all you have done to help her become the fine young sister she is today.  We love her already, and we will do all we can to help her grow as a missionary and have a successful mission.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Kohler

Leaving the MTC

Hey there!!  Just wanted to send you a quick note telling you why I am not really writing this week.  We finally get to leave the MTC!!!!  Unfortunately we are leaving at 4 in the morning, so I am still half asleep.  :)  But we don't have much time.  Our P-day in the field is Monday (so I have heard anyway) So I will plan on talking to you then.  Everything is going well.  So excited and completely terrified to leave the safety of the MTC, but they are kicking me out anyway. Love you!

Sister Poll

 Hi Everyone!!!

This week was a little different.  So we had a new group of missionaries come in and most of them are native German speakers who are serving in Germany.  Some of them are going to Berlin, some to Frankfurt and some to Alpine.  It has been quite the experience to be more surrounded by German.  I understand some of it and can have kind of a conversation as long as we talk about the gospel.  So needless to say that I am excited to leave, however I am more scarred now that I know how fast they speak and how little I understand.  It is crazy to listen to them and know that in just 7 days I am going to be surrounded by that I and I won't understand a word.  Then you try and speak to them, and they get this smile on there face cuz you are totally slaughtering the language.  They told me to get used to being laughed at.  But they are also really helpful.  They will speak slowly to us if we ask and they are always trying to help us understand.  They have been coming in and speaking to us a lot too in German which really helps.  They also sometimes will pray for us in German at night and they speak so fast.  But they are all really nice and really helpful.  They have just given me a sense of what to expect and I am a little scared.  Especially since we leave next week and we fly to München and then get on a train to the mission home.  While on the train we have to pass out a book of Mormon or as many has we can. In German...  So that is terrifying... But maybe someone will take pity on the girl who can't speak any German and take her strange book??  We will see I guess. 

So tomorrow we have another finding activity on the streets of Manchester, and since I can't go we get to have an extra day in the temple again.  I am super excited.  I love the temple so much.  I don't know what I am going to do when we don't get to go every week like we have been.  So I plan to enjoy it while I can.

So other than that noting exciting is going on.  

The language is coming.  I am getting laughed at on a daily basis, but I am slowly understanding more.  I get told that my German is improving, who knows if it really is.  But I continue to see little miracles in my life every day with the language and with how much I have grown here.  It is amazing what has happening in the past month, I can't imagine how much more I will grow in the next months.  I love you all so much!!!  Miss you tons!  You are always in my thoughts and prayers. 

Sister Poll

Kind of a little different week that we had here in the MTC. Last week on Thursday all the Elders and Sisters went out into the streets of England to preach. Because I am from America and we don't have the correct paperwork to proselyte here in England, we had to stay in the MTC, but that meant that we got to have an extra day in the temple which was AMAZING!! Instead of a session we decided to go and do some initiatory as well as some sealings. The temple here is really pretty. It was nice to do something different for once. Then it was back to the grindstone after that. The language is coming. It is crazy to think that I have only been here for 4 weeks (2 more weeks to go WAHOO!!) and I am giving lessons in German. It is insane how quickly we are all learning, yet at the same time so frustrating that we can't say everything that we want to. Sometimes I understand the questions they ask and I realize that I have a really good answer, then I realize that I have absolutely no idea how to say it. But it is crazy how my brain just automatically figures out ways to change the sentence to words that I already know. It is a miracle really. I know that the Lord is blessing all of us with the Gift of Tongues. My teacher told me this week that I have really improved and that I seem to understand all the concepts taught in class really well. Which was a super nice thing to hear, since I feel like my German is still horrendous. But as I look back I can see how much I have improved. I have started writing in my journal as well in Deutsch and I can usually write about 50% of it. Its a mix between English and German, but you have to start somewhere right?

Sundays are definitely my favorite days here. We have at least 3 devotionals and then this week we had a testimony meeting. I have never felt the spirit so strong as when all the missionaries stood and bore their testimonies. We all try to do so in our mission language, so we had German and Greek. Although I can't understand the Greek, the spirit is the same. It really was the highlight of the MTC I think.

I am so excited that the Ogden temple is reopening. I so wish that I could have seen it before I left, but I am happy that we get to go to the temple here so often. It really is the best. 

I found out I won't be serving in Switzerland due to visa issues, and if I do it will be expensive since I would have to pay for things that the European missionaries don't. But I am super excited to serve in Austria and Germany especially after one of the teacher here showed us pictures from his mission this week. It is so pretty. I can't wait to get out there. 

I miss all of you tons!! Sometimes it can get really boring here sitting in the same class all day. But I know that our hard work is paying off. I know this is where I am supposed to be and I can't wait to get out into the field and teach the people in whatever broken German that I know. Everything is going well with me so don't worry, but I appreciate all of your love and support!! I can feel it all the way across the world and I know exactly where it is coming from. I love you tons and think of you always.

Sister Poll.