He was a nice hedgehog.

Hey Mom! 

I am doing wonderful now. :) I am so glad you invited the missionaries over! I know they appreciated it and they probably love you guys. It's really important to us. ;) Every time I sit at a family dinner in a member's home here i think of your guys as well, and wonder what it will be like to sit down with you again and eat dinner as a family. I'm glad to hear that the missionaries back home are good ones who are dedicated to do what's necessary. I'm blessed to be able to be on a mission and learn everything I've been learning. I'm definitely grateful for the time I have left on my mission, although everyone reminds me how short it is xD. 

I wanted to keep him!

I'm really happy you enjoyed the video! :) it wasn't anything too fancy, just a tune i figured out, but it was fun! I actually bought that guitar in Freiburg at a flea market for 15€. Good deal! It's missing a string, but it keeps its tune and seems to be a really nice guitar. And you got the pictures from Kim! Haha she's a member from California we happened to come across on our way to church that morning. They were super cool, and actually from the ward right next to my companion's back home! They were just visiting on vacation. 

Im sorry you guys have been sick. :( I guess it's that time of year, huh? I hope you're getting better. I pray that you are. Sounds like you are staying busy though, making seminary lessons. That talk by Jeffery R. Holland sounds like a really cool and different perspective on Lehi's dream. I think people forget very often about the calamities that are supposed to happen even in the church of the Firstborn. The church will not be left untouched in the last days. Many men's hearts are already failing them. Many elect will be deceived by the world and the craftiness of the adversary. We need that iron rod, and we need a firm testimony and trust in God the Father. 

And as for picking me up after the mission, as long as we are able to come back not too long after my mission I am ok with not being picked up. :) im kind of excited about the notion of not missing out on the classic missionary airport greeting anyway. So coming home by myself and going back later is actually the preferable option for me. I'll be released as a missionary then anyway.

The weather here isn't bad. It's kind of cold, but that's to be expected. :) there's snow on the mountain peaks already! I have in fact eaten something yummy this week! Sister Kennard (one of the senior couple missionaries) made some amazing food this week for district meeting, FHE and a member appointment. We had homemade chicken soup (I've grown to love it because it tastes like yours and I miss it:) we had spaghetti, and we had French toast with real maple syrup! (Maple syrup doesn't exist here) and it was heavenly. We also celebrated my trainees two month mark by eating at a nice American restaurant called: Wild West Burgers. It was actually the closest thing I've had to an American burger here! 

The baptismal plan is going wonderful! We were a little stressed last week because Monday likes to talk A LOT, and when we have lessons it's not abnormal for him to be able to talk for 20 minutes straight about a single subject, like tithing. He's loves it all, and loves to talk about it. So we were a little constrained for time, but now everything is running on schedule. :) his interview is tomorrow, so we're having the zone leaders over tonight. We'll also practice the ordinance, so that he can get used to it. The guy baptizing him is pretty small... And he's pretty tall. So we'll see what happens! :)

As for singing, I'll be singing at the baptism on Saturday and another planned day, as well as another event in planning. XD I'm a little booked at the moment. I'm excited! I sing "I like to look for rainbows" on Saturday, and at the event I'm singing "Where can I Turn for Peace." Don't know about the third one. It kind of helps that my companion is a classic concert pianist as well, so we have lots of opportunities to practice. :) 

Well I don't have a lot of time left so I'm just going to tell some stories from this week very quick. :) as you can already see, I made a hedgehog friend!! They're very friendly animals and very common here, but it's the first time I've seen one! He was just chilling on the sidewalk at night, and I couldn't help myself. (Don't worry, I washed my hands, a lot) 

Elder Palfreyman said no, we couldn't take him home.

He just sat there, he wasn't even that pokey!  We became best buds.

We met a crazy man as we were teaching some girls on a park bench the other day! I didn't understand his drunk/drugged German at all, and he kept leaving and coming back and interrupting the lesson. It was getting on my nerves quite a bit. He called himself Moses, and offered me some watermelon. -_- i didn't want any. Anyways, we ended up wrapping the lesson up early because he was not creating a good environment. Still haven't come back into contact with these girls since then. But after that we met a cool guy named Frederick from Florida! He's down to talk, so that was cool. :) We'll give him a call and see what happens. He deals in tobacco and loves his alcohol, but he's apparently also a devout Jew! I don't get it... But maybe I will after we meet again...

We went to visit Sister Kohs this week, who is the really old lady in the photos. She's awesome, and loves to sing because she used to be a choir director. We watched "Finding faith in Christ" this week, and it was awesome. I love that movie so much! Do your remember when we used to watch it all the time when Rachel and I were small? It was always one of my favorites. 

So we got some news this week... ELDER BALLARD IS COMING. He's going to come and we're all going to meet in München and he's going to talk to us. And not only that... our mission is getting FACEBOOK. WA! I don't know if I'm ready for that... it's apparently a huge change so I'll have to adjust, but we should have it in a few months. Crazy huh? Apparently they encourage you to use your old profile as well. The excitement is too much!! It'll be so helpful though, because so many people are way easier to contact over Facebook than they are with a cell phone. It'll make life so much easier for connecting to people. 

Ok I'm about out of time. Thank you so much though, for the advice and the update. I love it. :) I love you so much Mom and I hope you know I'm thinking about you all the time! Can't wait to see you again. 

Love, your son

Tanner