Hello true believers (Marvel reference, I saw some Spider-Man cartoons recently), I hope you have had a great day today! This Wednesday (7/20/2022 – for reference) was full of miracles and I had the opportunity to visit my friends from Brasil!

I caught the 8:40 AM train to Koblenz and the start of the journey was calm and I felt excited to finally visit my friends from Brasil! There was no bus strike today, so I was confident that I could make it to my friend’s house as long as I could find the Bus Station West once I got to Koblenz. This was an unresolved challenge last time, but I felt hopeful that twenty minutes would be enough time to find it. Once I made it to Koblenz, I felt I should go the way opposite to the way I usually exit the train station, and I discovered a sign that said Bus Station West so I followed it. It led to the same dead end I had gotten to last time, but after some more searching I decided to check out a bus stop up ahead. It turned out the bus stop was called Bus Station West (Isn’t that totally confusing?). I was not at the right place, however, I soon discovered. Pro tip when taking buses in Germany, the bus stops on both sides of the street have the same name and you need to check both of them to see which one is the route that you need. It turned out I was on the wrong side of the street, and the blessing was that because I checked, a couple who was at that stop realized that they also needed to get on the other side and we quickly crossed the street together.

Once I was on the bus to my friends’ house, I felt glad that everything was working out so far! While on the bus however, the bus driver stopped the bus because a person riding would not wear a mask. After talking to the bus driver, the man put on a mask that another rider gave to him, but before he cursed a few times and loudly made his case about why he shouldn’t have to wear a mask. His actions invited some warm banter between him and some drivers including a lady sitting to my left across the aisle. I remebered what President Nelson said recently about eliminating contention and I decided to try the calm the lady down. I told her not to worry about the man and to just let him be. She agreed and soon we started talking together so we could let the man cool down. During the conversation I learned this lady was named Monica and that she was heading to Spain and spoke some Spanish. She is originally from Germany but has lived for half of her life in Germany and half of her life in Spain. She is a super neat person and even agreed to take a selfie with me!

Once I got off on my stop, my next mission was to find the house.

It was not too difficult to find and I was welcomed warmly when I arrived!

Giselle was kind enough to prepare some food for me and I enjoyed talking to her and Gleybson and spending time with them. I met Giselle’s sister and talked to one of Giselle’s sons who has some mad hand eye coordination and likes to play a rhythm game that is very cool!

A little while later the Elders also came and shared a message about the Savior and how He is our foundation! We also were treated to some snacks from Brasil that Gleybson made. Speaking in Portuguese with Gleybson and Giselle and eating delicious food reminded me of my experiences while I served a two-year mission in Brasil and I felt loved! It is amazing how the Lord can prepare opportunities and beautiful experiences like this one where I was blessed to have learned Portuguese and I could now connect with this kind family from Brasil!

We had a great time with Giselle and Gleybson and afterwards the Elder’s and I headed back to the church where we met up with Marvin, Tense, Arvin, Johanna, and Julia to play some board games and connect! The activity at the church was also very fun and it made for a wonderful Wednesday!