From Mom 9/25

Dear Family,We are an internet cafe because we still don't have our internet hooked up. It has been a bit frustrating to say the least. I know the Elders are busy so must be patient. Getting used to a German keyboard is a bit of a trick too so if there are weird things in this letter, that's why.This has been quite a week. After being so very busy at home getting ready to leave and then going from 8 in the morning until 8 at night at the MTC, not having things to do for most of the day had been a hard adjustment. We met our mission president on Thursday and he suggested we just get oriented and catch up on our rest for now. He is having us stay here in Munich for the time being and has assigned us to an Ènglish speaking ward. (YIPEE!!!) It is called the international ward as there is a military base within the ward boundry so there are people from all over the world in the ward. We will be working closely with the bishop with part member and inactive families. We are to do anything we can do to help the ward out.We are impressed with our mission president. He reminds us of Uncle Bob in his looks, the way he talks and in his mannerism. He definitely has things under control but at the same time is very laid back and doesn't seem ruffled about things. After our interview with him, we went over to his home and met his wife and some of his family and had a very good meal.His daughter was visiting from Heidelberg with her baby. This is the first grandchild in the family and we were impressed with how involved President Rakow was with that baby. When he had finished eating, he got up and sat in a chair by her highchair and fed her. Sister Rakow is a beautiful, gracious woman. We have a picture of us with them and will send it to you when we get our computer up and going.We were given a mission car. It's a little red Opela gutless wonder but it gets us around. We haven't driven it much but it will be nice to have when we start finding and visiting members. This morning we did drive to the mission office and got lost in a big way! We were over an hour getting there and it took us 15 minutes to get back home when we finally stayed on the right roads. We have a lot to learn.Oktoberfest is going on in Munich right now and the park where it is held is about 5 minutes from where we live. There are literally thousands of people everywhere and by evening they get really loud. They seem to get a bit too much liquid refreshment too and some have a hard time staying on the sidewalk! It's like a glorified Eastern Idaho State Fair and it will be going on until the 3rd. of October.We've done lots of walkina-----lots and lots of walking! Yesterday we went out to find a new curling iron then decided to look for a rubber stamp so we could stamp our name and phone number on the pass-along-cards and we didn't know where we were going. Everyone we asked for the place told us a different direction and we ended up a long way from home. We were probably walking for nearlz 4 hours. The worst part was that when we found the place, it was closed on Friday. Oh well, kind of fits into the rest of the week.Munich is a huge city of 2 million people. The buildings are huge, most of them 5 and 6 stories high and are close together with big poplar trees growing in front of them that are almost as high as the buildings. All the stores are on the street floor. There are no big stores like Wal-Mart or stores in the mall. They are just little shops----everywhere. Even the grocery stores are inside a big building. You go in and walk down the hall and come to the grocery store. The biggest one we've seen is probably about the size of Saving Center. Our apartment is on the second floor of a big building with shops on the street floor. Out our back window is a huge office building. Quite a stretch from looking out the window across a big lawn an fields.I wouldn't be absolutely honest if I said right now that I'm happy to be here. I hope that will change but this has been a rough week. Not being able to understand what people are saying or to read what things say is more than just a little difficult. I will look forward to Sundays when we can understand what people are saying. I'm working on the language but it is coming very slowly. When I expressed my concerns about the language to President Rakow, he said not to worry about it and that other couple missionaries had gotten along just fine without learning it. He does expect the young Elders and Sisters to learn it though. It just sounds like they are talking so fast that it's hard to pick up many words, but I'll keep trying.We appreciate your love and support and your confidence in our being hereand will do our best. That's all we can do. It's hard. It's a real test of my faith and I'm way out of my comfort zone. The tears have come easilz but I'll "buck up" and get through this hard time.We love you and miss you. Your are in our thoughts and prayers every daý.
Much love to all of you,Dad and Mom