February 16

Well, I am still jealous of your warm weather, but it is starting to get warmer here as well.  I will be so happy when I can go outside without a coat again.  I am getting sick of it.  But at the same time it isn't that bad here so I should stop complaining.  Sounds like you are all enjoying yourselves.  It is good that Megen keeps you all locked in where you should be.  :) 

Sounds like stuff on the farm is great.There are some things that you didn't do so much before and then you can't do them and you miss it a ton.  There are lots of things that I miss that I am excited to do again. But I am ok to wait for another year or so.  :)

This week was really busy, because we were traveling a lot.  We went to Munich for something called Mission Tour. And if you are like Blake you will think it is when we all get in a Van and tour the mission. That is not the case.  Although that would be really fun.  Sometimes I am jealous of the AP's and office elders who get to do that all the time.  But instead of that we got to hear from one of the area 70 who talked to us about how we can improve and what we are doing great.  It was an awesome meeting.  I am super glad that we got to go.  It took us about 3 days to get there and back, but it was totally worth it.  We talked a lot about being happy in any circumstance and we choose our attitude. And I got thinking about how true that really is.  Life is 1% what happens to you and 99% how you react.  We choose how we want to live and what we want to do.  And it is amazing that we have that choice. 

We had a faschings(carnival) party with the ward this week.  That was really fun.  We dressed up as elders, cuz we can't really dress up too much.  But it was super fun to go and have fun with the ward and the kids.  It makes it really hard to learn peoples names however when they are in costume.  Man it was really hard.  It was kind of like Halloween, but we just came together and played games, and of course ate food.  Can't be a Mormon function without food.  :) One of the elders here is actually going home in 2 weeks and he his headed to Utah.  He is from Hawaii (kind of) and his family is in Utah right now.  So they will stay there for a year or so before going back to Hawaii.  So he dressed up with a skirt thing and a hawain tie.  It was fun. The other one loves batman and so he had a fun mask for that.  We had a great time.

Then one of the group of elders from our distrikt had a baptism this week.  They were he in Graz cuz their branch doesn't have a font... So it was really nice that we were able to go.  And he is now getting ready to work towards going on a mission in a year so that is really cool as well.  The work is moving forward.  People need the gospel and we are here to give it to them.  It really is a marvelous work. I am so glad to be a part of it. 

This week will be really busy.  We have an exchange with the sisters in Vienna.  So that will be exciting. I am staying here in Graz and sister Bishop is headed there.  Then on Saturday we have transfer calls again. It seems like they were just yesterday, but they are back again.  We are hoping to stay together, but we are not sure.  So I will let you know next week.  Love you tons.  You are always in my prayers.

Liebe Grüße

Sister Poll

February 9

Hey!!!!  How are things there?  By the look of the email, pretty boring.  :)  Just kidding. 

I am super sad that I missed the Burn Party. Was the fire so big that Jesus could see it?  Cuz it wan't big enough for me to see it from here.  :)  Just kidding

That is crazy that the prices for beef have gone way up.  I really hope you can get her breed back when she is big enough so that you don't have to keep buying them.  It is expensive I am sure. And I really hope you can since I really would like some real meat again one day.  Here is just not the same.  Some of it is really great, but most of the meat just tastes like nothing.  All the ground beef is just... I can't even describe it.  So I am excited to eat real meat again.

Glad that it is so warm there.  Cuz here it is super cold.  And really windy.  All the people keep telling me that this is not normal weather.  But it has been good for me cuz it makes it easier to talk with people.  You can talk about how cold it is and then they have plenty to say to you.  So it has been a blessing actually.  And I know how to talk about weather in German now.  Two birds with one stone I guess.  :)  I really hope it starts to warm up around the end of February.  I can't believe that you have weather in the 60's in Feb.  That is unbelieveable. 

This week has been really good.  We had a really good lesson with Midori.  She is from Japan.  So dad, where exactly did you serve and exactly when?  She asked me and I couldn't remember.  Sorry about that.  So she speaks japanese and really good german, and then also some english.  I really feel inadaquate with the small amount of languages that I can speak when I am in this country.  It is insane.  We have a lot of bilingual kids and most of the time trilingual.  Sad when the kids speak better german than me, and better english.  But it makes for a good time. But back on track.  Midori is great.  She wants to read through the BOM before getting baptized so we are waiting on that, and she still wants to feel like she gets an answer before she commits to a date.  So we are really praying that as she reads she sees the importance of baptism.  Which with how she reads she will.  She always has great questions.  This week she asked us something about an Isaiah so that was interesting.  Basically we told her we had no idea in English so we had absolutly no idea in german.  But we told her we would find out for her.  Luckily we have some great members and other missionaries here.  So we got it covered. But man we had no idea. Makes me want to study it more.  Especially since I don't even know how to spell it.  But Dad if you could let me know some japenese that would be awesome.  :) 

Other than that we met with some new people this week and tried to find some new people to teach. We are working hard and going out in the snow every day.  But it is funny cuz the snow doesn't stay.  You would think with how much it has snowed the past few days that we would have a lot, but it just comes and then goes the same day almost.  Wierd. 

This week will be really exciting. We have mission tour this week.  We get to hear from Elder Patrick Kearon.  He is one of the 70 and over the Europe area so we are really excited.  That is on Thursday in Munich.  Because we are so far away we get to spend the night in Linz this week. So that will be exciting.  I am super glad that we have the opportunity to see some different places.  We are really excited for the meeting and what it will bring.  We will be back really late on Thursday cuz we come all the way back to Graz so that will be fun.  Other than that we don't have too many exciting things going on this week.  We are going to contact a referel hopfully this week.  We only have an address and it takes about 2 hours to get there. So we are hoping and praying she is home.  I forgot but we actually contacted another referell this past week. She was really cool. She is american and married to an austrian. She wanted to learn more about families and how she can strengthen hers. She has a mormon friend and has seen her family and wants to know how we do it.  So we went to a members house and talked about family home evening.  It was really cool. And we hope we get to meet with her again soon.  She is going to France for a few weeks.  So that makes it hard. But we are excited about her.  So hopefully our other one is just as good.  :)  But that is all for this week.  Things are going well here.  The work is moving forward. We have this new goal of one baptism in every district in the mission for every quater.  So we are really excited for that.  One of the elders in our district has a baptism this week, and one has one set for a couple weeks from now, and we hope to set one with Midori soon.  So hopefully we will exceed our goal for the first quater.  And then be able to keep it going for the next three.  It is totally possible and we are super excited about it.  We keep saying we are going to baptize all of Graz.  It is going to happen.  :)

The German is coming.  Slowly, but it does come.  And I got told this week that my accent wasn't that bad so that is also a bonus.  The work is moving forward. Thanks for all your prayers and love.  I really can't thank you enough.  It really helps more than you know.  You are all alwas in my prayers.  

I have an assignment for all of you this week.  We need some help coming up with lessons that are children friendly.  Those of you who had little children or currently have some, how do you do family home evening so that the children learn and also stay focused.  Any good ideas?  Also if any of you have any good object lessons that only last about 5 minutes that would also be amazing.  We want to make our spiritual thoughts more than just sharing a scripture, although that is good we want it to be better.  So anything would be appreciated.  Love you all loads!  Keep working hard and staying safe.  Love you!

Sister Poll

 

We've Been Out 6 Months!!

Hi Everyone

We have been having the same problem the past couple weeks of appointments falling out due to sickness and I will be so happy when everyone is healthy again.  We have been able to avoid it for the most part and keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't hit us. And HAPPY 6 MONTHS!!!  I hit that as well, but we didn't do anything too exciting.  I didn't burn anything, cuz in Germany (I assume it is the same in Austria) that is illegal and we can get in big trouble.  Apparently.  I don't know the exact rules with that, partly cuz I can't understand them....  But we ate a really good dinner.  And what is cool is that if my comp and me stay together, then she will hit her 6 month mark next transfer.  But it is super exciting.  I totally understand the fast and slow times.  Get used to it.  But it is crazy to think that in 2 transfers I will be halfway through the mission.  INSANE!!!  Part of me is looking forward to it, but part of me is hoping that the time slows down a little.  I have so much more to learn and not enough time to do it. 

Sorry I forgot to mention that this week P-Day is on Tuesday.  I really thought I said something, but obviously not.  We had interviews with President yesterday. So I was in Vienna with the other missionaries for the day.  That was really cool.  We went to a district lunch before district meeting since president does emails during district meeting.  And we had cordon bleu schnitzel.  It was amazing.  My companion and I split it and all the elders ate a full one.  It was huge.  But oh so good.  One day I am going to learn how to make them so you can all try.  Or we can come back to Vienna and try them here.  That will most likely be way better. 

Interviews with President were really good.  He is amazing and travels all around so that he can take time to talk with us.  It was really good to talk with him and let him know that I could stay here for a little while and be ok.  :)  But really I would go anywhere here.  It is cool to experience different places, even though they are all kind of the same when you are doing missionary work. 

Last week was really good.  We had a lot of first lessons with people and some of them were really good.  Others not so much.  But it is hard, cuz we have to give our male investigators to the elders since we have had a few problems with them getting too attached to sisters, and now we are trying to find females to teach.  It is kind of hard.  Even the elders said "Women are brutal to talk to!  They just don't want to listen, and aren't nice about it"  So ja.  That is life here.  But really it isn't that bad.  We taught a lot of people last week.

Our investigator is doing great.  Dad, she is from the great place of Japan.  She speaks really good German though.  And I found out this week that she also speaks some English.  And it is really good.  But she told us that she wants to read the whole BOM before she is baptized, so we are trying to push her, but not push her into a baptismal date.  But she will get there soon. And she is reading the BOM super fast.  She told us, " I just can't stop"  She really knows what it is all about.  We are super excited for her.  

 We are meeting with another investigator this week from China, so that will be super cool.  She has met with Sister B a few times, but she has been busy with finals right now.  Everyone is.  So that has kept her from meeting with us.  But this week!!  And we are meeting with a referral this week and we are stoked.  She has a friend who is a member and wants her family to be as strong as her friend. And we are so prepared to teach her how to do that. 

I am finally getting to know the members better.  We have been doing really good about meeting with a couple members a week.  I am really glad to start building this relationship with them. 

Other than that nothing too exciting.  This week we have our referral and also a couple other appointments that we are excited about.  But next week is mission tour.  So that will be cool.  I can tell you more about that next week.  But it is next Thursday.  We will be in Munich.  We get to sleep over in Salzburg so that will be fun. 

Love you all and think of you always.  Thanks for all the support and love that you send.  I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have this experience.  It is definitely life changing.  I can't describe it.  Try this week to share the gospel with someone.  Even if they say no, you will feel good cuz you tried.  Trust me.  I know exactly how hard it is, but you can do it in English. :)  Sharing the gospel is one of the greatest feelings you can have, and some of the best work you can do for the Lord.  Love you all!!!!

Sister Poll

January 26

Hallo Familie!!!

This week has been really busy.  We have been getting to know the ward and visiting people so that I can know them.  And also so that we can practice lessons with the members cuz our German is not the greatest.  We both are trying to get better, but we need help.  Lucky for us the ward is awesome about it.  They correct us and some of the members want us to correct them on their English, so we help one another.  We also had a really cool day this week that we both told you about on the voice recording.  So be sure to listen to those.  .  

We had a great lesson with one of our investigators this week and she is awesome.  She is so ready for baptism and sees the church making a difference in her life, but she feels that she hasn't gotten an answer about baptism yet.  So we are just working on that.  She is super cool.  We love having her and we hope that she will be baptized by the end of the transfer.  

Then we had our miracle day, then we had church.  I am so glad that we have 3 hours of church again.  It is so great.  And actually it flies by now.  I never would have thought that I would say that.  But I love having 3 hours of church.  I am so grateful.  Then we went and had dinner with a member family.  It was so great.  They have 3 little kids and I have missed that.  And also the food was amazing.  I got to hear Italian as well cuz the dad served in Italy and so he speaks Italian to the kids sometimes.  They can all understand Italian, but they don't speak it.  They can also understand English a little bit.  It is crazy how many bilingual and multilingual kids there are here. It amazes me.  

Then I am having a little bit of a rough day today.  We were at the library for emails, where we only did half so that we could come to the church to send pictures.  The computers at the library don't work with cameras.  And I put on someone else s coat and was totally freaked out cuz it looked just like mine and I wondered why I had these things in my pockets.  So that was funny.  Then I couldn't find the letter from Brother P that he sent me to send a return one.  He sent me a huge package and I was so nice of him.  Tons of chocolate inside.  So I need to send something back.  Then I also scuffed up my boot really bad, I am hoping that I can get it fixed, cuz it looks really bad and It may cause an issue if it rains.  And then now my pictures don't work today.  So that sums up the little bad things that are happening already today and it is only 1:00.  But it is OK.  Because that just means that something great is going to happen and Satan is trying to get me down.  But it doesn't work like that.  :)  Actually it hasn't been that bad.  I actually laughed really hard when I put on that other persons jacket, and luckily no one saw me.  And the other stuff really isn't bad, just frustrating.  

But all is well here.  I love being in Graz.  I really hope that I get to stay for awhile.  I am loving my companion and all that is happening here.  We have a great ward.  I am so glad that you all sound safe and sound.   

Love you all and think and pray for you always. 

Sister Poll

Austria is Awesome!!!

HEY!!!!!!!

Things are super good here.  I am loving Austria for the few days that I have been here, but it is hard to transition.  I keep asking people why they are in Germany, and my companion has to help me remember that I am not in Germany anymore.  It is actually entertaining.  It sounds like you are both studying a lot together from Fielding Smith book and that is super cool!!!  I am glad that you are still reading something together every morning even if it is just you two.  Sometimes I wish I was back in school, but then I really think about it and I am glad that I am not.  :)  But I do miss it a little.  I will have plenty to do when I get back.  But actually there are a lot of exchange students here and I am way jealous. I wonder why I didn't do that, and then I realize I wouldn't be a good student if I had, and also I was poor....  So that is why.  But I am super jealous of all you and your trips.  I wish I could just come with all of you.  I have decided that I am going to work super hard so I can travel a lot when I get back. My companion and I said that we are going to go backpacking and hiking all the time after the mission.  All over the world, so I am excited about that. 

My companion is awesome!!!!  I love having an American companion who understands my English and my sarcasm.  not that my other companions weren't amazing, cuz they were.  And I learned a ton from them and we are the best of friends.  But it is different with every companion and you all get along differently.  And to be honest we just click really well.  And I am super grateful. And even though sometimes we have no idea what people are saying to us, we do ok.  She is one transfer younger than me on the mission, so that is fun.  We are both learning together.  But she is awesome cuz she knows the ward super well and the area.  She is 21 which is a blessing.  I have been blessed to be with all older companions, which I consider a small miracle.  God knows exactly what I need.  :)  She loves to be outside and go hiking and backpacking all over the place.  We get along really well. 

Graz is amazing.  We have a huge ward.  The biggest in Austria actually.  And I am super excited about it.  To be honest it is a little shock since I came from such a small branch, but I am glad.  And hopefully one day I will learn everyone's name.  So far I haven't seen too much of Graz, but we are going to a castle for p-day today with a member.  I am really excited about it.  The German is coming.  Slowly, but surely.  I actually understand pretty well.  The speaking is another story.  But it is cool that both of us can communicate so well with the people even though we are both really young missionaries. 

We have some really awesome people to teach. We have a few investigators that I haven't met just yet but will this week. They are mostly from Japan or China but they are progressing really well.  We are hoping to have a baptism by the end of this transfer.  I don't really have much to say about them since I haven't really met them yet.  But we did have an amazing lesson with a girl on Sunday. She is a friend and referral from a member who is an exchange student.  And it was amazing.  She is from Sweden and is here studying.  And she is literally golden.  The problem is that she is going back to Sweden in 2 weeks.  So we will have to get her in touch with the missionaries there.  She was so willing to learn and asked great questions.  And she said "thanks for taking time to meet with me and to help me learn.  This was such a great experience"  And she said the closing prayer and it was perfect.  She is amazing.  I am a little jealous of the Swedish missionaries that get to work with her.  But she just doesn't have time to meet with us cuz she has all her finals right now and then she is getting ready to go back to Sweden.  But I love her and I just met her. 

That was the most exciting thing that happened this week.  It is really cool here in Graz cuz we have a set of sisters, elders and a senior couple.  The sad part is the senior couple goes home in 2 transfers and so far no one is coming to replace them.  But we are ignoring that fact right now.  I am excited to have a normal week here in the new area and really get to meet people.  right now I still have no idea who anyone is and everything. I also have no idea where anything is or how to get around right now.  Transportation is a little different here.  But I am working on it. 

You all sound really busy and I am happy that you both got new callings.  I love you all and hope you are doing well. I pray for you always. 

Love

Sister Poll

My new address is:

Sister Danielle Poll

Papiermühlgasse 19/8

A-8020 Graz

Austria

P.S.  I finally got all the Christmas cards and everything. Tell every one thank you for taking the time to write them.  It means a lot.  And thank you for going to my work to get some from there.  I was super surprised to see their names in there, but super happy as well. 

 It's transfer week...I'm going to Austria!!!

So.....  This week is full of surprises. We had a ton of finding this week.  Honestly it was really hard and we were struggling to stay motivated a bit.  One can only handle rejection for so long.  But, we made it happen.  We actually didn't find any new people, but we met with the youth that I told you about and had a rocket lesson.  It was amazing.  The spirit was super strong and awesome and they promised to read and let us come back again.  It was amazing.  Other than that it was full of finding and being rejected, but it was also really fun. 

So.  The big news of the week.  TRANSFERS!!  Some sad news and good news.  My area is being closed. So now there will only be Elders in Passau.  So this week we have been busy getting everything in order to close the apartment and also giving all of our investigators (the few we have) to the Elders.  We had a meeting with them yesterday and we gave them all our books and info and records on everyone. It was sad, but honestly really good.  We both talked about it this week and how maybe Passau needs a break.  There isn't quite enough work for 4 missionaries right now. And after this last week when it was really hard for us, I was wondering what we were going to do next transfer.  Cuz the elders have the same problem that we do.  And we go out and work hard and we both come up empty.  So I think it is good, even though it is really sad.  So I bet you are wondering then were I am headed. This is the good news.  I am no longer going to be in Germany.  I am headed to Austria!!!!  I will be serving in Graz. I am super stoked about it.  The Branch here is sad that we are leaving and they asked if maybe next transfer when we have more sisters if it will open up again, but I have no idea. It is possible.  We will have to see.  I hope so, cuz the branch needs the strength that missionaries bring, but also Passau is hard right now.  I am excited to go back to a ward, but I am going to miss the members here a ton.  Other than that nothing too excited this week.  We are just going to pack today and also try and make it to the Dome in Passau (a really big church with the biggest church organ in the world) before we go.    Love you all tons. 
Sister Poll

I forgot to tell you the other news that we got this week.  I thought I was forgetting something. So we got news this week that we aren't using our German enough, so now all our distrkt meetings will be in German, and maybe also our zone meetings.  They are trying to decide about the zone.  And they also made this new rule that we need to speak German 9am-9pm.  Before most of us would speak German outside, and English when we were home.  But now that is not an option.  It is actually going to be really good I think.  To be honest, we were more silent for the first few days, but now we are doing OK. Sometimes we have no idea what the other person is saying and we need to clarify in English, but for the most part we do OK.  And actually I am super excited for this new rule.  It is going to be a little more difficult at first, but at the same time it will really help the mission. And also the missionaries to better our German. I am stoked!

It's a New Year!!

Hallo von Deutschland!!!

How is everyone? It is so good to talk to you all in a new year!! I can't believe it is 2015. Crazy!!! And I hope you all have some great resolutions to do and hopefully keep and also hope you celebrated well. It is crazy to hear about people at home. Know that my prayers are with those that you talked about and I hope all works out. I know that things happen for a reason even if we don't know what that reason is. God has a plan and we need to have faith to follow it. I am leaning this concept still in my life. 

About Genealogy. I actually wanted to talk to you all about it this week. So here is the thing. I need you to go on and put in information online on the family search website. Stuff like dates of ordinances and stuff like that. But also pictures and stories about grandma and grandpa and so on. I really need you to work on it so that I can finish some stuff here. We have this my family booklet that we are trying to use to find people, but I need stories and pictures from family search and also dates so that I can finish it. And plus, we all need to better about putting it in here so that it doesn't get lost. :) Family history is not just finding people, but also recording stories and other things that we know so it doesn't get lost. Thanks in advance. :) 

Now I can tell you about this week. It was crazy busy. We helped a member move on Monday which is why I was not here to email. He is super awesome. He was actually in an accident and so he has one crutch and can't bend his left leg, but he was moving so fast in the snow and ice and cold it was crazy. I thought for sure he would slip and fall and hurt himself, but he didn't and he was moving around all of us telling us where things go. he is amazing.

Then we had a big storm a few days this week, so we were out in the cold doing finding a lot. But we had some fun in the cold. We met with one of our past investigators to see if they had interest and I learned some interesting things. They believe in reincarnation. And he will be an eagle and she will be a snake after this life. I tried to ask if they wanted to be together forever and they said no, so that backfired. And she also said that she read the BOM and it was too easy for her. First time in my life I have heard that. I actually said "wait, what???" She must not have really read it, cuz you can't read it and not feel something. But you have to read it with the right attitude. But they were really nice to us. Then our appointments fell though on Thursday and Friday. Story of my life.... But it is ok. We actually were finding one day and we had this awesome thing happen. So we went by on a man who had told past missionaries to come back. And when we got there his name wasn't on the klingle. So I just decided that since we were there I was going to klingle the house anyway. It was a bunch of apartments actually, but the first one I klingeled let us in. And it was a bunch of kids who let us in. The first thing they said was "do we want to hear about the Mormons?" I hadn't even said we were Mormons so they already knew us!!! But we went in and had a lesson on the 1st of January. Honestly I think they were all a little drunk and they had more cigarettes than I think is needed, but one of the girls was really interested and took a BofM and promised to read. We are going back to visit her on Wednesday, (I think she was sober). We hope that she will really have interest. But it was really cool experience. Anything can happen and anyone can change.

We also had tausch (exchange) this week which was terrifying and cool. I learned that I like being the one to follow rather than know were we are going. It is a little stressful to have to know which bus, which time, and were the address is. But I made it happen and we didn't get lost once and we were on time to the appointments we had. And we handed out 2 Bof M's and I got her back to her train in time to exchange back. It was a miracle. And I loved it. I will be ok when I have to take over the area, but I hope my new companion learns the way fast so I don't have to worry about that as much.

We actually met with one of our investigators this week who is really cool. She has 4 dogs, and we gave her a BOM. She asked for 2 weeks to read and ponder it before we come back. She is super cool. She has a smoking problem and told us that she isn't a church goer cuz she can't get around real well, but she has some great potential and I am super excited. Anyone can change. And I really hope we can help her see the importance of coming to church. She was really cool.

I think I told you what happened in church in my letter, but I will also say here. we only had 11 people in church this week including the investigator from the elders and us missionaries. So 6 members. And they showed up late. The investigator was the 1st one to church. And we were worried we wouldn't have church at first. But it all worked out. Other than that nothing too exciting.

All is well here. I love you and I am so grateful for your support and love. Know that you are all in my prayers and I am working hard.

Sister Poll

 

December 31 Note:

 It was so good to see all of you!!! You all look soooo good!!!  Blake looked sooooo skinny!! I could not believe it!!!! We finally got snow as well the day after Christmas and it has been snowing almost every day since. It is really pretty here with the snow and the rivers that we have. I will try to send some pictures of Passau. Sorry for the late email this week, but we helped a member move on Monday so we changed our p-day to Wednesday instead. So that is why I went awal.  

I'm glad that you all had a good Christmas. I really missed being with all of you, but at the same time I loved being here. I am learning so much and my ward family here is amazing. Christmas Eve was so awesome here. It is like Christmas back home. The culture here is awesome. I will have to send some pictures, but I am emailing by our ehepaar this week and so I am on an ipad, and no way to hook up to pictures. I am really grateful that we are able to have them. We were able to be with them for Christmas and now we are with them for New Years as well. It is such a great blessing. I love them so much!!!

Nothing too exciting has happened since I talked with you I don't think. We had a lesson with this woman who has 4 beagles. And man was that an experience. I was being mauled by dogs and my companion doesn't really like dogs, so that was interesting. Luckily they were really nice. But this woman is interesting. She smokes a lot and said that she won't ever come to church, but she has a really hard time walking so that is part of the reason. But I think that she has some potential and if we can get a member to bring her she may change her mind. We will see.

We also met with someone this morning who believes in reincarnation. That was an interesting conversation. I was trying to ask them if they wanted to be together, husband and wife after this life, and they both said no. He was going to be an eagle and she was going to be a snake..... I had no answer to that. I really just was speachless. What do you say to that. And they were both quite excited about it actually. And she said she had read in the Book of Mormon an it was too simple for her. I actually said "wait, what?" She was completely serious. Never heard that one before. But they were really nice and friendly, but said they have no interest in our message.... So ya. Welcome to missionary life I guess.

Then this week we are going on exchanges with the sisters, so I will have a different companion for the day. That will be interesting. I will be here in Passau, and we will see if I really know the area good. But it will be great since I will have to take over the area in about 2 weeks anyway. I am more than a little nervous about that.... I hope it goes ok... But if not, at least we will have fun with it. All is well here. Don't worry about me. This week has been really strange with p-day moved and everything. And just strange with everythin. With Sylvester (New Years) we don't have any appointments and no one is outside yet... And anyone we have seen is preparing their house for parties or they are drunk.... SO ya. I saw a man this morning at 11 who had 8 beers in his hand/arms and he already looked drunk. So it is a party here. And a lot of the members ask us if we want alcohol free beer, which just seems the same to me. We are not allowed thank goodness, but I could try beer if I wanted. :) But I don't and won't so don't worry. It smells too bad for me to bring it anywhere near my mouth. Sorry this email is so boring. I love you all a ton and hope you are doing well. I loved talking with you and hearing what is going on. Hopefully soon I will have some exciting new things to talk about, but for right now we are struggling with the holidays. They are great times to find people at home, but also really hard times cuz they have no time. But we are doing ok. I got the letter from you with everyone's notes. Thank you a bunch. Love you tons!!! Happy New Year!!!

Sister Poll