Week 12: My First Tausch

Servus Freunde und Familie!

Things went a lot better this week. We had more appointments this week, and I was able to go on Tausch (companion exchanges) for the first time. Even though it was only for a day, it was really cool to see what missionary work looks like with another companion in another area.

Last Tuesday, we went to Hallstatt! Apparently, it is the town that was used as inspiration for the kingdom of Arendale in Frozen. As expected, it was so breathtaking! It was a Zone P-day, so we were there as a pretty big group. We went on another hike together. We went about a fourth of the way up, when an Elder got pretty dehydrated and had to go back down. We went down with him, and luckily he was able to be treated and is doing a lot better now. We ate lunch in the city, and then a bunch of other Elders wanted to hike back up again. I knew that I did not have it in me to do the rest of the hike, so I just took the Gondola up. While the rest of the group was hiking, I got to spend some more time in the city and get some ice cream. We then took the Gondola up to meet the rest of the group, and the view was amazing!

Later in the week, I went on Tausch with Sister Rollins who is serving in Neumarkt. We met with some of their friends and then met with some members. Every week, some ward members in Neumarkt get together to play ping pong. I was expecting some JAEs (young single adults) there, but it was just a bunch of older people and one middle-aged man haha. We played ping pong together, and I had a pretty good time.

I think that this Tausch helped me see the importance of building strong relationships with members. I think that it can be easy to get caught up in finding and teaching new people, but it's so important to serve and strengthen members. Helping others endure to the end is part of our missionary purpose, and that means ministering to members. When we work with members, we can all take part in missionary work together.

On Sunday, there was a marathon going on in Salzburg. Some of the roads were closed, so there was barely anyone at church. However, there was an American couple there. Sister Carter and I talked to them a bit, and they really helped us out. The husband actually had a PhD in Biochemistry, so he gave some really good advice. The wife was also so sweet! She told us that she joined the church when she was twelve because she met the sister missionaries. She then thanked us and told us how important the work is. I think that was really good for me to hear because you don't always get to see all the fruits of your labors as a missionary. Regardless of that, I'm so grateful to be a missionary. It can be difficult sometimes, but I've also been able to better see the power of the Atonement in my life.

That's another week down! Ich hab euch lieb!

Tschüss,

Sister Gladwell

1-3 Hallstatt