Hello everyone, I hope these past few days have ben great for you! I know I have a little bit of catching up to do, and I am excited to share about these past few days with you all! On Friday I had the pleasure of spending time with Heide before I spent the remainder of the evening away from Klotten in the town of Cochem. Today the Geary’s left back to Utah, which was a little sad, but they were so good in helping make sure I had everything I needed before they left! The rest of Friday was not very eventful, although I did get to enjoy a Düner and talk to some friends over Facetime.

Saturday, however was an epic adventure! It started with finding my way to Koblenz and getting on the right bus so I could get to an activity being hosted by my church group. The bus I had originally planned on taking started off with saying it would be 10 minutes late and then 15, 25, and finally 35 minutes late. Then at that point I guess it was late enough that they decided to cancel the train altogether, but that was okay because another train was going in the same direction and I was able to chat with a kind couple from Canada while I waited for the train to arrive. When the train did arrive it was filled to the brim, I think because of the 9 Euro ticket promotion going on here, but there was just enough standing room for me to get on.

Once I made it to Koblenz, I waited for Bus 8, and the bus stop just happend to be in front of a bakery, so that worked out well! The bakeries here in Germany are really nice, and they have a large assortment of breads, sweets, and sandwiches. One of the funny names I heard recently was a Chicken Nugget sandwich!

Bus 8 actually took me to a completely different town, but I was able to get off at the right stop.

Once I was at the stop, a member of the ward, Vera, called me and gave me directions in German on how to get to their location since I was a little late because of my train being canceled. The Lord blessed my ears so that I was able to grab the refence point she said and ask for help. I asked my bus driver first, but he had no idea, and then I spotted a post office delivery man and I thought he is bound to know, so I ran to him and apparently I had not been saying the word correctly, but he understood me and said the Feuerwehr was just up ahead. I ran in the direction he pointed, but after going Links like he said, I felt lost again, so I turned back and ran into a kid and asked him if He knew where the Feuerwehr was. He said yes and that he was going to the same place. He then asked me if I was also a member of the church and I replied yes! That was a tender mercy of the Lord,! The kid’s name is Jonatan and we ended up walking together to the main meeting location after we caught up to Vera. We got lost a couple of times, but we finally made it to the right place!

The activity was filled with hikes, games, and good food! I went hiking with a group that went up the mountain to see a reconstructed Roman watchtower that had been rebuilt in the 1900’s. It was a gorgeous hike, and I got to eat some wild raspberries along the way!

Once back at main camp, I played some frisbee and a game called Viking, and I had the opportunity of cooking some Stockbrot over the fire. Apparently Stockbrot, or stick bread, is common here, and I think it is a great idea, the bread came out delicious, and it felt like I was roasting marshmallows!

We also had some great Bar-B-Q and other food that people brought to share. While I was there I also met some more people like Arvin and Eddie who I was able to talk to and start new friendships with! The journey back went well and I made it home safely!

Recently in my scripture study, I was reading in Jacob, and the verses about seeking the Kingdom of God first stood out to me. Times are going to get harder, and more than ever we need the constant strength and guidance of our Father in Heaven. I was thinking yesterday about how much our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ want to help us, but are sometimes limited to what they can do because of our choices. I also thought about how we are free to choose to follow the Savior, but we cannot choose the consequences of our actions. The challenge then is to make choices that we know will bring the best consequences! If we are striving to follow the Savior, He will strengthen us and lead us along the best paths! Our Heavenly Father loves us and is watching over us and we can trust in Him!