First we went to Elder's Quorum, which was interesting, because it was in German... in the Engilsh ward... So after Mitchell and I walk in, the Elder's Quorum President asks, 'So how is your German?', and I reply, 'Non-existent'... haha... He was so nice, and translated the entire lesson into English for us. I was really sleepy, but felt like I NEEDED to be VERY alert, since the guy had put the effort into preparing the lesson, AND this other guy put in the effort to translate into English for me to understand. I was very appreciative, it was an awesome lesson on Faith.
We then went to Sunday school, and luckily for that there are 2 Gospel Doctrine classes, one in German, and one in English. The English class was awesome, with mostly Americans, who were living in Germany just for a few months or a few years. We talked about personal apostasy, and about how not to fall away from the church. It was a really awesome lesson about nto being offended, and doing what is right now matter what people do or say to you.
Then, we went to Sacrament Meeting, which was in German, but they had headphones for the English speakers (like they do for the Mandarin speakers in the ward back home). It as kinda weird wearing the headphones, but I'm glad I now know what half of my ward back home feels like during Sacrament Meeting. Very interesting... and eye opening... We had a great talk about Courage, and another one on building strong families, but the last one was sort of interesting, it was about inter-denomination relations, but this guy was an American who kept making generalizations aboiut the German people, of which he wasn't even a part of... so it was kind of weird.
It was really cool to go to a church outside of the United States, and to see how it is different, but is actually very much the same. I talked to the Elders, one was from Rexburg, the other from Orem, and had graduated from Mountain View High School, and gone to BYU. The one from Orem was brand new, and the one from Rexburg was training him, and then he went home later this summer, to start school in the fall. It was interesting, they said they hardly ever tract in Berlin, but simply go and talk to everybody they ever see.. Funny how the most ineffective thing to do in my mission was the most effective here... the work is the same everywhere, just done differently....
Here is a picture of their totally awesome church.....
IT was just COOL!!! Maybe I can go to church in one like this... but for now the Scott Creek Castle... i mean Chapel.. will do...Then after church we headed to an Allied Musuem, which had part of the original Berlin spy tunnell, from the Cold War, and had a huge exposition on the Berlin Airlift. They said at the height of the airlift, there were planes flying into Berlin every 62 seconds... can you believe that? That's just amazing. Thousands of tons of goods were flown here, it was quite the logistical nightmare. Here's a picture of Dave and us at the Museum...
I'm sure the airplane behind us if of significant importance, but I couldn't find a nice little sign to explain it to me... it will remain a mystery forever... dangit!!
Then we came home, we all took naps because we were totally exhausted, and then we voted to stay in, cook a nice dinner, and we watched 2 movies, Mobsters and Mormons, which I didn't like, and Suits on the Loose, which I LOVED!!! Anyway, they're both mormon movies, but the latter is defintely worth seeing. Meanwhiel, Uncle Dave had to make a slimfast shake....
Don't you want a shake just like this one? It is soooo delicious!Anyway, things are awesome, tomorrow holds much to see and visit, so I am going to be early. I love going to church, no matter WHAT country I'm in, it's awesome to be with other saints... I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ.
See you tomorrow,
Love,
James
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