A New Companion

So, as you can probably imagine, this has been nothing short of a crazy week. Following emails last Monday, Elder Poch and I spent most of the day packing. Well, him packing, me watching. Tuesday morning, we traveled to Braunschweig, where I hopped off the train and he kept going. I then spent the next 2 days in Braunschweig, serving with Elder Brimhall, who is now one of my favorite missionaries ever. I think that Elder Karlen--one of our zone leaders, who made the plans for us to have companions while we waited for our next companion--was inspired when he placed the 2 of us together. Those 2 days did a lot for me, to cheer me up, and help me to know that I am really ready to train. Or able, at the very least.

The next 2 days were even more crazy, first traveling to Berlin and receiving a new companion, then traveling home--missing 2 trains and finding replacement trains in the process, and still getting home on time--and finally our huge Halloween party as a branch in Kassel. It was a great success, the members loved it, and I hope it is something they will talk about as much as they talk about the last one the missionaries put on.

As far as the work in Kassel goes, as Elder Poch used to say: ''The quality of the work is increasing.'' We do not have any baptismal dates yet, but we are working more and more closely with the members, and even better, with their friends! A significant portion of our teaching pool now consists of the friends of members, which is great! To me it means consistent appointments, steady progress, and lots of good work to do.

As far as the training is going, I believe that it is a good start. Elder Warby has already expressed his desire to ''SYL'' as much as possible, and definitely does not have any particularly bad habits or beliefs that we had to discuss. He is having some trouble staying awake during study times, but as the jet lag wears off, and he acclimates to the missionary schedule, that will improve.

I don't got a lot else this week... oh yeah, I am planning on going to a hiking store and looking at good backpacks today. It has been really rough lately, my back had been slowly and steadily worsening. I am having trouble again doing any morning sport at all, and it really really hurts by the time we return to the apartment in the evening. And the last couple days have been pretty easy too, considering the possibilities!

Here is to hoping for many many appointments, and not much walking. Love you!
Elder Burton

From and email to Samantha --

So, what would you in specific want to hear about....Oh yeah, My favorite members. Their names are Lyra, Clara, and Miriam. They are 3 little girls, all about 4. who absolutely adore the missionaries. I think at some point some elders bribed them all with sugar. I don't know why else they would love us so much. Lyra actually speaks English and German, because her dad speak German with her, and her Mom English. Way cool. There was also a little girl named Zoe Jane who just moved out of the ward actually, who could speak 3 languages. At age 5. English, German, and Russian. Her dad spoke English to her, her Mom Russian, and the other kids and adults German. Can anyone say secret agent material?

We do meet a lot of interesting people actually. This week we are probably going by on a lady who repairs books from like the 1700s, a guy who invents machine parts for trains and trams, a computer programmer from Zambia, a former Muslim Iranian woman who is now Catholic, a Polish dock worker, a former rancher, a Japanese guitar teacher, a chef from Kazakstahn, a college girl from India, and a man who lives without electricity. And those are just our investigators!

Top that, Boston Massachusetts.