Christmas around the Corner!

Another great week for Elders Hoggan and Jensen. Their weeks never go quite as planned, but these two have learned to be flexible :) Steve shares that we need to be creators of circumstances and not creatures of circumstances. These Elders find ways to really enjoy their service and get the work done.

Wednesday night was pretty memorable. Elder Hoggan went on a split with their Bishop and Elder Jensen went with the first counselor. Bertrand was visited. He is the new member from Cameroon. Unfortunately, Bertrand is struggling due to the government only giving him 20 Euro or $25 a month to live on instead of what he usually receives which is 300 Euro. Steve and the Bishop took him grocery shopping to make sure he has what he needs. Then they got a Doner. They're super good :) Meanwhile, Elder Jensen was with the 1st Counselor trying to fix the Elders washing machine. Many things were unplugged, but it is broken. A new one will be delivered today.

Here's a crazy experience of the week. These two Elders got back together later Wednesday evening, and put a pizza in the oven for Elder Jensen. They decided to put up their Christmas things and got excited about it so they ran down to the basement. While down stairs, they realized that they had left their keys...and thought they were locked out with a pizza in the oven. BUT luckily, Elder jensen hadn't closed their door all the way :) Now their Christmas is all set up and that gave them a nice boost. Elder Hoggan loves coming home to their tree, even if Elder Jensen has his Green Bay Packers things on it.

Friday was fun. They were prepping for the Ward Christmas Party with their WML. This will be like a small Christmas Market and each organization will have their own stand. The Elders will give out fortune cookies with a scripture inside that has to do with missionary work :) Friday morning was mostly spent baking fortune cookies. Anything can be done with the internet today. It isn't super difficult, but takes a lot of time. Maybe Elder Hoggan will bake them again later in life. It was pretty fun to do and he is excited for next week!

Yesterday was amazing, too! The Elders finally got to meet with Herr Boden. He goes to church with his wife and had dinner afterward with the missionaries and a member family. It was super awesome! Herr Boden had to have surgery this past year and was lying on his death bed, but he survived and it brought him closer to God. His wife gave him scriptures to read and different things. She also brought him to church and he has felt the Spirit! Herr Boden began tearing up as he spoke about his testimony! He just needs to be taught more and shown the way of what he needs to do! The Elders are super excited for him :)

Pday brings a Christmas Market in Ludwigsburg. Next week they will go to one in Esslingen. Followed by one in Stuttgart. These places are about a 30-40 minute journey on the S-bahn or Schnellbahn. It's  like a subway, but faster.