October 10, 2011

Wow, it sounds like it has been a busy week. Congrats to the XC team, and too bad about the badish weather. here are the answers to all of the questions you asked me.
First new address is
Elder Andrew Terry
Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Alpenländische Mission
Bahnhofstrasse 278
8623 Wetzikon
Schweiz (Switzerland)

Second of all, train ride. So my train left Wien at 6:14, so we actually stayed the night with other elders in Wien. But we had to wake up at 4:30 in order to get ready and get to the train station. I got to Munich at 10:30, and the secretary elders picked me and Elder Ronna (zone leader from Wien, he is also going to Switzerland) and rushed us to the Swiss Consolate so that we could get swiss visas. It takes 4 to 5 hours to print our visas, so we had to wait at Munich bahnhof. Elder Ronna and I talked to alot of people though, so that was alot of fun. Then we got on a train at 16:30 and got to Zurich train station at 20:45. Then it is only about 15 minutes from Zurich to our appartment. So in total about 8 or 9 hours on the train. I took some pictures this time, but sadly this internet place doesn`t let you send pictures, but I will get them to you soon.

MY new companion is Elder Jacob, like I said. He has been on his mission for about 1 month. He had 11 days in the MTC and then 3 weeks in the field. So he is also pretty new to the area, so we are learning together. It has definitely been an interesting experience.

The church building is 5 minutes by foot away from our apartment, so really close. The terrain is pretty hilly, people not from Utah might say mountainy, but they aren`t really mountains. Our area is the south east of Zurich, along side the Zurich Sea, and it is a really beautiful area. We will be riding trains and buses. I just got my GA today, which is a pass that allows you to use all trains, buses and boats in Switzerland. Which is really handy because Switzerland has great public transportation. But it is SUPER expensive here. I already spent 142 franken to use the Zurich train and bus system for 1 week, so I am really happy to have a GA. Everything is super expensive. Clothes, transportation, and especially food. It is ridiculous. I called the financial secretaries to see if they could give me some more money, and they did, but I might have to pull from my personal money as well, we will see. I will try not to.

It has been SUPER rainy and cold the past 3 days, so it is good that I bought a coat. But I will also be buying a scarf, a umbrella ( I have already broken 2 cheap ones, so I am thinking of buying a new one) and I need a new watch, becuase somehow my watch that is 50 meters water resistant had some trouble with a little rain, and now there is water inside it, so it doesn`t work. And there is no better place to buy a watch then Switzerland. But don`t worry mom, I will do my best to not spend personal money.  Anyways, the other new thing is the language. You see, in Switzerland they don`t really speak German, they speak so called "Swiss German". It is about as close to German as English is. There are some words that are the same, and the general word order is the same, but the majority of the words and pronounciation is very different. Even my German companion can`t understand them. So that has definitely been a challenge. But we will get over it. Needless to say, this has definitely been a learning experience this past week, but I have definitely felt the Lord`s love and support. I know this church is true, and I love you! Have a great week!
Liebe
Elder Terry