Getting Used to Germany! :)

Hey everyone! It feels like it has been forever since I last posted! First of all can you believe it has been an entire MONTH since I have been in Germany?! I sure can’t. It flew by crazy fast! A lot has happened since the last time I updated my blog. We will start at the beginning… So as you all know I was having a super rough time the first couple of weeks. It was hard. I can’t even explain to you how hard it was. To be honest I almost came home. For the first 10 days that was all I could think about. I wanted to be home. This place was so strange and I felt completely overwhelmed and I felt like I couldn’t do it for an entire year. And that is when I started to let Heavenly Father take over. I knew that I couldn’t do it on my own. There was no way I could have. EVERYTHING was different. The village I live in is tiny, and it is basically all farm land. I love that though. It feels completely different from home because it is so small and there aren’t very many buildings like at home. There are not huge grocery stores. I mean the grocery stores here are tiny and you can barely fit two carts in the aisles. The roads are TINY and you have to sometimes wait for a car to drive by before you can go. The air quality is so nice though. I can BREATHE!!! Haha. I was expecting a lot of snow but we haven’t had hardly anything. This apparently is super weird for Germany because they get a lot of snow during the winters. I had to learn how to drive stick shift which was hard but I finally got it. Oh and I won’t even mention the language… So many things were different and I just wanted to come home. So I turned my life to Heavenly Father.

And I immediately saw a difference in my life. I was happier. I wanted to be here. I wanted to see what each new day would bring. I wanted to be a part of this crazy world. I wanted to be so close to the family I was with. I love them so much and that love just grows stronger every day. When I let myself let Heavenly Father in, I was just a better person.

I can’t even begin to describe how much I LOVE this gospel. It is so amazing. When I go to church each week I feel so close to home and I love it. I love that feeling while I am 5,218 miles away from home. My ward is amazing. They have welcomed me in so fast and I feel so loved already. The bishop is amazing and so are his counselors. I have had many offers to come spend weekends with the families in my ward. They are all just amazing. I love them so much.  I have had the chance to go to institute every Wednesday as well. It is so great to have a day during the week to go spend time with people my age. I love it. I actually had the strangest thing ever happen just last week. I went to institute and there was a new girl. I went and introduced myself to her and we made the weirdest connections. She is from Orem, she graduated from Timpanogas the same year I did, and she is here until April being an au pair!!! Heavenly Father is AMAZING because we have already become great friends and we are planning on going to visit places together. I am so excited.

Things have been going so amazing. I have been able to get along with the little girl so well and we are now really good friends. We have a language barrier because she is only 18 months old and she only speaks German/Serbian so it has been rough trying to connect with her but I think we are finally there. The boys and I get along just wonderfully and I love the baby. The mom and dad are amazing as well. I would have NEVER been able to make it without this family. If I would have gone to any other family I really don’t think I would have been able to be gone for a year. Even with Heavenly Father’s help. I have heard stories from people in my ward about their friends or they know someone who was an au pair and they have had terrible experiences and I thank Heavenly Father every day that He sent me to this family.

I want everyone to know how much I love this gospel. It is true! If there was a doubt in my mind before I came there sure isn’t now. I have had to rely on Him so much this past month and I know that one of the reasons He sent me here was because He knew I would grow closer to Him and I have. I love Him so much. He has given us SO many things and He loves us so much. He has an amazing plan for each and every one of us and we need to be close to Him to find out which way we are supposed to go. We need to feel the Spirit and let it guide us to where we are supposed to go. I am trying to be as close to Him as possible. I love Him. I love this gospel. I have challenged myself to read the entire Book of Mormon, cover to cover while I am here. I know that will bless my life tremendously. I love the Book of Mormon. It has so many amazing truths and things we can get out of it. Heavenly Father has blessed us with that and Joseph Smith went through so much so that we could have it today, so we must read it! Not only read it but study it and take it into our lives.

This past month has had many ups and downs. I can’t believe how fast it flew by. I hope that this year will just keep getting better. Just as it has been each and every day. I love you all and I am so grateful for each and every one of you in my life. I would love to hear from you!!! I am keeping my head held high and I hope you are doing the same through your trials as well!

-Kasey J