Week 4

I haven't really told everyone about what goes on in the classroom, so I guess I can try to do that now in 15 or so minutes. So there are 5 companionships in my classroom which makes up a district. There's Elders Haskell & Brant who get along really, really well. Elder Brant ONLY speaks German now, even though he doesn't know very much and it's hard for him. Despite that though, he's always smiling and loves to tell storiesand make people feel great. Elder Haskell doesn't speak as much German, but he tries to. He doesn't really know how to go about the best way to learn it, so I think he gets kinda discouraged with that. He's a really funny character though, and he's always cracking jokes likes saying "Wie Bitte?" (Pardon/What did you say?) as if he's an old man when somebody says something quietly, or timidly, etc. There the Elders who share a room with Elder Gillette and me. Elder Brant loves how the hymns sound in German, so often he'll be singing before we go to sleep, while other times Elder Haskell starts rubber band wars. They're awesome.

The other Elders, Elder James and Elder Clark live caddy corner from us with some other Frankfurter Elders in a different district. That's Elder Smith from England and Elder Hatch. Elder James is a very classy kind of guy who has sweet glasses that somehow match his suit and shoes and always does his hair the same distinguished sort of way. He's had a lot influence in his life from Eastern teachings like Bhuddism, so he's a really relaxed, intelligent guy. However, he was a way with expressions and he's usually the one who exchanges "Wie Bitte?"s with Elder Haskell. Love that man. His companion Elder James is a bit shorter that I am, but he's got this presence about him that kinda lets you know size isn't an issue with him. I could imagine him as a really good Businessman. He's got a great smile and is really good with words and talking to people. When he gets the language, he'll be a super persuasive speaker. Like Elder Haskell, though, he doesn't know very well which is the best way to go about studying, so he struggles sometimes with the German. I really respect him though, because he's actually very sincere and let's you know when somethings going well or not.

There are two companionships of Sisters, Sister Hansen and Sister Breitweiser, and Sister Shipton and Sister Miller. Sister Hansen is tall and knows a lot of German already, I guess it makes sense to her more than others. She likes to tell stories about her Star Child sister, and how the spirit's helped her to strengthen their relationship. Sister Breitweiser is short and is very, very focused. Sometimes she gets a little stressed about ... pretty  much everything, and I think it's not good for her. Actually, she's been quite sick off and on since we got here, so I try to help her when I can. Sister Miller is kind of reserved most of the time, and at first we all thought she was super shy, which I guess she is a little, but it turns out that she can be very loud at times. It's crazy though, because she's turns it off like a switch at the most unexpected times, flat in the middle of a laughing fit. She also likes to run. Sister Shipton is Sister Miller's companion, and she kind of reminds me of Kira. She has pretty dark hair and loves music and Harry Potter, and a few other things. She also gets the language kind of well and enjoys telling stories.

I'm out of time in the computer lab, and my laundry in the dryer was probably done 10 minutes ago. I love you all, very, very much!

Aufwiedersehen!

~Elder Standring