Leer & Augustfehn

Monday August 4th

Today we got up at 5 am to get to our train at 6. 

Quick breakfast from the bakery,

This is a happy boy:

I had this sandwich on delicious seedy bread.

After about 3 hours of trains we got to Leer. This is a smaller city by the Dutch border, it was Russ' last city he served in on his mission. Once again guys, it's adorable. This city is also right on the river. 

We walked through the town for a while, sitting by the water, playing in a park and seeing Russ' old apartment building 

Then we found a place where we could rent bikes for way cheap, perfect! We rode our bikes out to a castle! Just the bike ride there was so much fun, I love how everyone bikes here and the roads & sidewalks are set up for it. Everything is marked so well and everyone follows the rules. It's the best. 

Eventually we got to the castle grounds but couldn't see the castle yet, cute Russ made me close my eyes while we walked around a corner to it so my first look would be the perfect view. Here's what I saw:

Schloss Evenburg complete with moat! 

This and all the grounds were simply enchanting. Loved it. 

There were gorgeous ponds and especially TREES!

Did I mention how I was enchanted? 

I felt like I had been transported into Pride & Prejudice or something, waiting for Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy to come join us on our stroll. Just enjoying the general splendor.

We jumped back on our bikes and within 5 minutes it started to pour! We of course didn't have jackets. It was really coming down, we stopped at a little cafe for some juice while we waited it out. After about 20 minutes and way too much second hand smoke (though the juice was zer gut ) we figured to just go ahead and get soaked because it didn't look like it would be stopping anytime soon. We were drenched, and also kind of cold. Back story to all of this...when we were packing I didn't really have a good rain jacket, with Russ' help we decided that if I really needed one we'd just buy it here. Well yesterday it drizzled during the day & poured during the night. In the morning we though we would get soaked on our way to the train but it luckily stopped. So we decided in Leer we would find a jacket, as we made our rounds through the city the first time we saw a couple stores that we would come back to after we saw everything. But then we randomly rented those bikes & took off for the castle...change of plans. When we were riding through that thick rain I yelled to Russ jokingly "I'm sure glad we bought that jacket!" Haha it was atleast fun. In the rain we went straight to a shop to look for a jacket, & of course right as we got there the rain calmed down. Figures. We found a cute jacket that I really like...& now that we did I'm convinced that we won't see another drop of rain this whole trip! 

Here's a sample of the rain:

Here's the weather 5 minutes after I bought a rain jacket:

Typical.

Off to August Fehn

I want to do this blog so I remember the little things; here's a prime example of that. We took a quick train ride to an even smaller town outside of Leer called August Fehn, we're staying with a member family here tonight. As we were hurrying to make the train we had to go down stairs to cross tracks and then go right back up. Near the bottom of the stair was a lady with a huge suitcase struggling to pull it down the stairs. Russ of course asked her if she wanted help, she said no. (She clearly needed help and wouldn't be fast enough to make the train) 3 seconds later he had asked her again, grabbed her suitcase and was headed up the stairs. What a guy right? Not out of the ordinary for him :) 

We got to this little town and within a few minutes Christian Finke & his son Joshua picked us up. This family is awesome! They have four kids, the first 3 have served missions, Russia, Florida & England & their youngest just got called to Scottland/Ireland. The mom served in Switzerland, the dad in Canada. They all speak very good English. So today has been a really fun day for me being able to talk to people! 

One cool thing they shared were interactions with Elder Nelson. The dad (Christian) was almost finishing his mission when Elder Nelson came for zone conference. That very morning Christian had decided that he was going to come back to America to live after the mission. Then as Elder Nelson was shaking each persons hand he specifically asked where Christian was from, hearing the Hamburg stake he said oh yes I've visited it is very nice etc then Christian said Elder Nelson looked him square in the eyes and said "your people need you there". Needless to say he has been living in Germany ever since.

Mika (the mom) also had a great story. As a 19 year old young convert she had a testimony of the prophet but had doubts about whether the apostles were really apostles. Well then Elder Nelson was coming to Germany for a conference. She was there, the building was packed. As he spoke she kept thinking that surely if he were truly an apostle he would show her somehow! She didn't know what she was wanting exactly. But then at the end of the conference Elder Nelson was shaking peoples hands, when he came to her he looked at her and said in German "alles gutt schwester" and gave her a hug. She said she hadn't seen him hug anyone else, just her. And that was her amazing answer to prayer. Isn't that awesome! She had always wanted to tell him that but it wasn't until Russ was serving here that she actually wrote Grandfather to tell him and he responded with a letter. I just loved those stories! 

These people have an amazing house, the oldest in the city, over 100 years old and they just keep continually renovating and remodeling. Most of the houses here (and apparently a Lot in northern Germany) have very low roofs. Not that they're not tall but the roof just keeps coming down until it's just a few feet from the ground. So Christian was telling us that people in Southern Germany will joke about Northeners that they drink out of the gutter there. Kinda funny. 

It has a very cabiny/Midway type feel. Honestly if you like Midway you would love it here. Cute little green country side. It is so charming! I especially love the yard and garden. Mika loves her garden and took time to show me each part. To me it's the perfect size, not too big or too small. Ahhh one day that dream will come true for me. 

We spent the rest of the day just talking and laughing, we ate a delicious soup & salad lunch.

The elders came over for a while (their p-day) one was brand new in the country, both from Utah. It was especially fun to see Russ talk with them about old cities etc. We also went for a little walk with bruder & schwester Finke & their dogs...where I learned that Christian proposed to Mika after one day of dating! Crazy! He said

 "I don't think in going to America for school....I think I'll get married" 

she said "to who?" 

"Well to you. Will you marry me?"

And how did she respond?!

"When?"

How bout that?! 

We ate delicious chocolate, I went to the grocery store/little market with Christian & Joshua just to see what it's like, it's been a great day. We had something new for dinner haha "tofu nuggets" aka pieces of tofu boiled in a curry broth, then coated in cornstarch and deep fried. Different but actually pretty good! 

It is just so cool to get to know other cultures. What is especially amazing to me is to see the similarities among members of the LDS church across the world. Each culture is really distinct, but there are deep similarities and similar spirits, it's amazing & I love it! 

Another full day, so fun. Can't wait for tomorrow!