Stuttgart 1,6

This was a great. We've been trying to work really hard with the members here. So we've had a lot of member appointments. On Tuesday we went to meet with an African out in the middle of nowhere so that took up a lot of our day. The worst part was that he didn't even show up.

In the evening we went and met with a family on our ward. The wife is from Brazil and she made us Brazilian food. It was so simple and healthy but it tasted so good! It was just rice and beans with some meat rolls. Holy cow I couldn't stop eating it. Then we shared the new Christmas video from the church. We've been showing that to almost all of our families. It went really well.

Wednesday we had our Christmas conference. That was a blast. I loved it. President Kohler does such a good job of getting us hyped up to be better missionaries. We talked a lot about taking with everyone and how we can share this Christmas message with everybody. It's such a great time of the year because everybody's thoughts naturally focus on the Savior. It's great. So hopefully more people will be willing to listen to us. We had a delicious lunch that was provided by my ward. We also did a little gift exchange. I got this cute little Santa and a cookie cutter. For the second half we watched a movie called silent night. It was the story behind that song and I have to say that it is my favorite song by far. It has so much history and power behind it now.

 Thursday we had exchanges. I stayed in my area with elder Rahlf. It was really good. We went and visited a family in our ward. We had some really good experiences and went out contacting. We found some pretty good people. Elder Rahlf was a little bit sick so he went to bed a little early.

Then on Friday we went and taught a less active named Steve. This guy is such a goof. I don't know what to make of him. He's really funny but he just doesn't want to come to church. He says that if he goes he won't be able to get his medication. So we'll be working with him. We got back to the apartment and then finished up our studies and exchanged back. In the evening we went and visited another family in our ward. The husband is a navy seal. He was way cool. He was helping us put together a workout routine for our mornings.  That appointment went really well. The wife is the only member from her family and she asked us to come back and teach her the lessons so that she could help teach her family and friends. It was so amazing. I wish all the members in the world would be like that.

 Saturday was pretty busy. We went and helped the Petersons move in a little more. It was mostly carrying boxes up and down stairs. Then we met with a military interrogator. That was way fun. He was a lot nicer than I thought. He said the only thing you need to do to be a good interrogator is to be a good missionary. I guess they are very intimidating but if you have good people skills and you are nice then you can be an interrogator. After dinner with them we went and met with Favor. He is the coolest African I've ever met. He's a professional soccer player and he speaks polish. Now that he's back from a work trip he's going to start coming to church every week and we feel pretty good about him. I'm hoping that he'll make some good progress.

Sunday was great. We had ward council which is always good. It's nice to be so involved with the ward, and to know what the ward needs us to do. We had a sacrament meeting and it was so good to hear the testimonies of the ward. I feel really close to the people here and I love them so much and it was so special to hear all of their testimonies. In the third hour we got to go in with the deacons quorum and taught about missionary work and how they can be better missionaries. It was really fun to be with the young men. Our bishops son also talked to us about coming on a mission. He was really excited about turning in his papers and so we're going to try to take him to some lessons to get him even more excited about missionary work. Then after we went to the Moessing's. They are such a great family. The wife is the relief society president and is just a sweet heart. She's such a great help to us. We got to load up on some root beer and chocolate chips. On top of that we got to jump on the tramp which was a blast. It reminded me of get air. We shared a message about the real reason for Christmas. It's such a great time for missionary work. It just flows so naturally.

Today we went to one of the military bases. We got to eat some Taco Bell and load up on American goodies. It was so great. We spent the day with the Bos'. They are so fantastic. We got so much junk food though. Haha so great. But really I love this area so much and am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here. I'm so grateful for the Christmas season and that for us a Savior was born. This season is so special. It's full of joy and people are ready to receive the gospel. I hope you have a great week and I challenge you all to share the new video "a savior is born". It's great. Love you all.