05/25/2015

We had a crazy week this week

Monday was a pretty normal p day we didn't really do anything special for it. I finished packing my stuff to leave and took a nap then we had a family home evening with the Lola's and I said goodbye to them then we went home.

Tuesday was a good day. I got on a train with elder Gibbs and went to Hannover then we got on another train and went to Hamburg.there I met my new comp elder Paul he is super old on his mission and will be going home at the end of next transfer. We went to Heide and I got to do a little unpacking. Something cool that happened was we talked with a lady on the train and she lives next to one of the members here. Tuesday I was also able to meet Stacy she is one of our investigators here she is from Poland and just super awesome. A little about my area. It's a car area that is a ton of small towns. It's a lot like the entire basin minus vernal was one area. My district here is mostly made up of people from my MTC group so that should be a ton of fun. Elder Paul is my companion he is super old on his mission and goes home next transfer. He has lived all over but mostly in southern Germany on a military base and in Alaska.

Wednesday we were really busy we had to travel to the other ocean (we live on the North Sea and had to travel to the the Baltic Sea ) we gave the zone leaders the car so that they could go to Berlin to get something for us. Then we came back to Heide and came home.

Thursday we had an awesome day. I registered in the new city and then we had a reading appointment with a less active member. That was really good. Then we had an eating appointment with members ( if every week is like this one I will get to fat here. As eating appointment almost everyday) then we helped the branch president mow the lawn at the church. We have a cute little church building here so that's nice. Then we got on a train and went to Kiel to spend the night with the zone leaders. That's when I first laid eyes upon them. One of the zone leaders got meet the Mormons in the mail from his dad so we watched it until the DVD player died. That is a really good film and I hope that you guys have been able to see it.

Friday we had a zone training meeting. We had a couple really good lessons on revelation through Book of Mormon church and praying. After we had these little lessons we finally got our iPads. Then we took our car back and were  happy because the long awaited day had finally come. When we got back to Heide we had another eating appointment with a less active member. He was excited because we finally had iPads but we still couldn't use them because we haven't gone to the church to set them up. We had a cool talk with him and his daughter she wants to better her English and we want to better our German so we worked out a trade. Then we went home for the night.

Saturday we got to turn on our iPads and configure them. But no chance to use them because then we had to hurry to a service project that was fun. We got to dig a trench but it was nothing like at home

Sunday was super awesome. It was the best time that I have had in church in a long time. This branch has a primary! That is so much better than not having one. Then we went to a members house for an eating appointment she showed me all of her animals. That was really fun. She has a ton of them, kinda reminded me of home. Then we went to another members house and gave her a blessing her kids were excited to see us they love the missionaries that was a lot of fun to go there and be around kids again. Then we went home.

05/18/2015

Well this week was a crazy week. not a whole lot gets done on a week like this one, but we try our best.

Monday we did emails but then switched our p day time to tuesday so that we could go to a museum that is closed on mondays. so after emails we went to a little town on the outskirts of Magdeburg. to try and visit a less active member there. we searched and finally found the street.(we didnt have a map of the town so luckily it wasnt that big) foun the door knocked, she answered and then very kindly said she had no interest and closed the door in our faces. then we went back to Magdeburg and cleaned our apartment. 

Tuesday we went to Elbaun park for our pday. its basically the thanksgiving point of sachsen anhalt  it has the worlds second largest wooden building and its a science museum. it was very cool to see. then we went and rode the alpine slide down the trash mountain. (the only hill in magdeburg is an old landfill and we call it trash mountain.) that was a lot of fun then elder Vellinga went to Köthen on an exchange and i was left alone to teach English class.

Wednesday we helped the other two elders with a service project, helping one of their investigators clean his house to sell. that took most of the morning. then we went with president Hilton to a members to help set up for a branch party. then we were a little late so we went really fast back to magdeburg. (i saw the speedometer hit 180k\h) and still missed the train back to Köthen. luckily one comes every hour so we didnt have to wait long. then we got on the next train and went and exchanged back. Elder Vellinga and i came home and slept because we had an early morning the next day.

Thursday started for us at 3:30 we needed to go to Leipzig but because it was a holiday bus train and bahn schedules were all messed up. but we got to Leipzig and had our zone training meeting. and interviews with president Kosak. that was really good. he said get ready to leave because 6 months is long enough. Still no i pads bet they told us the same thing they did the week before ''maybe next week'' Then the rest of the day was spent avoiding drunk people (almost impossible on a normal day Completely impossible on a holiday) but we got home safely.

Friday was almost a normal day. we did missionary work but when we got home we got a surprise call from the APs  Transfer calls a day early! Elder Vellinga will be staying in Magdeburg and Elder Oldroyd you will transfered... to... Heide.(fun fact Heide is the german word for Heathen) Heide is a small town in the northern end of Germany. Ill be in the west so thats a big change. Elder Paul is my new companion, he will also be district leader. Half of my district is from my mtc group and the biggest shocker  is that elder Gibbs will still be in it. (ill probably never get away from him) and i have to get my german drivers licence because Heide is a car area.

Saturday was the last time i got to play soccer here in magdeburg. then the rest of the day was spent saying goodbye and packing everything up and getting ready to leave on Tuesday. I went to bahnhof and got my ticket i get to go through Hamburg and Hanover on my way there so that is pretty cool.

Sunday was just full of goodbyes. i said goodbye to the branch and then we went to the Hiltons for lunch and said goodbye and then to Marian and Galias and said goodbye, and then to a few more, like Kasimir. hes one of the other twos but he is a good friend of ours too. he wants to come to utah and go shooting. i told him i could help with that. then we went home and i finished packing. so tomorrow i can leave and start the next chapter of my mission

my new address is

 Hamburger straße 89a

25746 Heide

love you guys

05/04/2015

Monday was nothing spectacular. The weather was schlect so we didn't do anything to exciting. Just went around to malls and looked at stuff that we would buy if we weren't broke missionaries. that was pretty much it. then we went home and did some studies and ate.

Tuesday was a fun day. I went to Bernburg for an exchange. This time was a lot better than the first time that i went there. We had two awesome lessons. one was with Emeka (If you remember john the first baptism i saw.It Turns out that John was a fake name that he used as a drug dealer smuggling drugs from Morocco to Spain ) They are helping him learn how to read and write that was a fun lesson. he has some crazy stories. Then we had a lesson with Stephan. he was baptized 15 years ago but not confirmed then he disappeared. a little while ago he came back. just showed up at church one day. and he is going to be re baptized this month. that is so cool.

Wednesday we had district meeting. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon then we went out and had to place one. i went with Elder Illum who is still in his first transfer. that was a lot of fun. then after we had an appointment fall out so we watched the Sunday afternoon session of conference. we didn't get to see it until now. but it was really good. i loved this years conference. in that session my favorite one was keeping the Sabbath day holy

Thursday was a cool day. we met with a girl that we found in our phone. she wants to learn German and we teach that so that was cool and she is really cool. she is from Egypt and is finishing her masters. shes also really open to the gospel. so that's cool.

Friday we did an exchange with Koethen that was interesting. i was here with Elder Hunt. Hes lucky he got a Magdeburg eating appointment so that was cool. then we did some finding. some of his techniques are a little weird but it was fun.

Saturday we went and played soccer and then had a lesson with another student named Han. we gave her a soft baptismal commitment and she said yes so that was cool.

Sunday was a pretty normal Sunday. we had church and then went to an old peoples home to give a member the sacrament. then we went home and had food did our studies.