5/6/13--Maps & Billboards

It was great to talk to the whole family again on Google Hangout. Just like I was back at BYU, right? It's incredible how some guy's crazy dream 50ish years ago had turned into a reality that connects the whole world so well. It's hard to imagine what else will be different in 50 years from now. Yep, yesterday was just a great Sunday. The sun was shining, and it was probably the hottest weather it's been since I got to Germany, and it was Fast Sunday, so we had a Testimony meeting in the ward, and there were a couple that were actually really strong testimonies. As for your question: General Conference was broadcasted in the ward building in German, English, Spanish, although a lot of people watch it at home like we do in Crescent City (TV or internet). However, I think I mentioned this before, but in Europe, because of the time difference, we don't get to watch the Sunday afternoon session live, so we've been trying to watch it like one talk at a time, when we're free at the church.

Last Saturday, I played basketball for the second time since I been here. Our district leader loves basketball, so he loves going to the few basketball courts he can find and using that as a finding tool. What we did this time he decided to make a whole activity out of it, so the whole district came and after wards we had a barbecue in a member's backyard who lived like 30 feet away from the court. It was pretty sweet, sorry I didn't take any pictures though. Next time. We're going to try and get something going like that in our area so we can start reactivating some of the 70 YSA's here. I think the biggest reason they don't come out is  (1) because there aren't any ward activities, like ever because nobody can ever decide on what to do, and (2) because the stake institute/activities that the active YSA's go to, is all the way in Düsseldorf, which is too far for some. Ya, so we're going to try planning some stuff ourselves and get those people excited again.

The first picture is a far-train-map of my district, for Dad. It kinda reminds me of the one Grandma has printed on a tray from London. 

The second is a billboard I saw that was kinda cool. I guess even though Germany is known for its beer, and everybody drinks and smokes, they know the bad effects it can have on society. A lot of people here wish they could stop smoking, although I don't know if they feel the same about drinking.