Turkey Bowl

November 24, 2014

Hey mom!!

That is so cool that Brock got his call. Now he can speak Spanish with all of his brothers! Tell his to write me! I want to congratulate that little stinker!

So this week was interesting. Our main focus was getting people to come to church with us. So we went and we invited everyone we could think of. All our investigators, our other contacts, and just some people we met on the street. We did this because on Sunday after Church one of the primary children in our ward was baptized. Yay! And afterwards we had a gemeinde essen. YAY! (it´s a little ward party with food). But the best part was the food was tacos! HIP HIP HOORAY!!! And they were really good. The people had to go to the Netherlands to get all of the stuff to make them, because you can´t get anything like that here. I love tacos :)

Sadly though, no one we invited came to partake of the fabulous spiritual (and tasty) church service we had. Such a shame.

In the pictures you´ll see a plate with two little sandwiches and some bread with nutella. That is a pretty standard lunch for us. The bread is called brötchen, and its really good and super cheap, so we buy a lot of it :) Unfortunately, I also burned my hand on the oven when I was making this fabulous lunch, as you can see. Honestly the pictures don´t do it justice. It looks a lot worse in person. But it didn´t hurt, so all is well :)

I am really excited for next week. There is a family from Idaho in our branch named the B*****´s. They are such a nice family, I love them. They moved to Germany for his work (He´s an engineer) but they go back to America all the time. Whenever they go to america they bring a ton of american stuff back with them. That´s where we got the Hot tamales from.

Well this week they´re going again! And they said they were going to bring us back stuff from america! I´m so excited to see what they bring :) Such a nice family.

I´m still loving Germany, loving the people, and loving the food. Can´t wait to hear more from you.

With love

Elder Oliphant

 Hello Mom :) will you send me that picture from our zone training meeting? I want it :) That was in Oldenburg. We go there at least once a week for our district meeting. It´s about a 45 minute train ride. Actually, we´re going there today for a turkey bowl! Ya gotta love America :) 

So questions time. We go to the church to send emails, so it´s really easy and FREE :) 

It´s really cold here, always, and our heaters work, but not very well. Plus they´re expensive. So i´m usually cold, but that´s what a big winter coat is for :) 

We have a washer, no dryer (There are no dryers in Germany, and I can´t understand why, because it´s so humid here our clothes take 4 days to dry on the rack), no dishwasher, I sleep on top, and no i do not fit. All of the beds are 2 meters, and I am more than two meters. Also, that´s the height of all the doors in Germany, so I hit my head almost every day. It´s not fun, but hey, nothings perfect right? :)

SO the chocolate. It´s really, really cheap here, and the store we go to was having a sale! 50 cents a bar! so naturally, we bought 26. Awesome :) 

This last week we had a lot happen. We went to the castle on Monday, so pretty! it´s like a fairy tale, and we pass it almost every day. It´s so cool and I´m so lucky to live here. Leer is great! 

This week 2 members fed us! One of them had us over for dinner, which was great, and the other one straight up took us to McDonald's. I was way excited, just because it´s McDonald! We walked in, and I was shocked. All of the food was so expensive! A McChicken, exactly the same as at home ( but not spicy) is 6€. Yea, we won´t be eating there too often. I´d rather just go get a döner, and we did! Well, I did. I was with Elder Wilde, our district leader,  on an exchange in Wihlhelmshaven, and when he found out I hadn´t had a döner yet he took me to get one. He is so nice. Honestly one of the nicest people I´ve ever met. We had a great day together. And what they have in SLC is not a döner. Look, just look

I´ll send some more pictures next week. 

It was so good, the best thing I´ve had in months. And, its only 3€ way cheaper than McDonald's!

I´m loving this place, and my mission. I hope all is well at home, and that you are all safe and blessed. I pray for you every day.

With love,

Elder Oliphant

A Picture from the Mission Blog

Oldenburg

November 8, 2014

Ok, to quickly answer your questions. The food is good. We cook it all for ourselves, we rarely ever eat out because it´s too expensive. We eat at a  members house every sunday, and it´s SOOO GOOD! Yestersday she wanted us to have a little taste of home so she made mac and cheese, and she put bacon and ham and vegetables in it and it was delicious! I can´t wait to have more :) Also, please send recipes for potatoes, we have a lot because they´re cheaper than dirt here.

We take 1-2 trains every week, usually to Oldenburg for our district meeting, but occasionally to another city in our area. Also, all the trains here are so nice. The worst trains are nicer than the Frontrunner. Yea. oh and we got our bikes fixed so we use them more now :)

My companion is great. He´s a pretty funny guy.  Like this last week he needed a hair cut, so he cut his own hair, because hair cuts are super expensive (Like 20€)

And he made so many mistakes now it´s grown out a little so it looks ok, but I don´t know what he was thinking. I don´t know what I´m gonna do with that.

My apartment is pretty small and it has standard german doors which are 2 meters tall. Guess how tall I am in meters? More than 2. I hit my head almost every day. IT`S NOT FUN!

For morning sport we usually go running. We do a lot of physical activities. We run about a mile every morning, and then we bike a ton every day and walk. We get a lot of exercise in.

Money... what do you want to know? we have enough to buy food, and yea.

Look at the pictures to see if I´m getting enough chocolate ;)

Also, I have a story. So we´re teaching this guy and he has a problem with prayer. He doesn´t understand why he can´t just recite a psalm, and why it should be personal. So we shared with him in matthew chapter 6, where the Savior says don´t use vain repititions. Unfortunately, in the German translation, it says "do not babble"
It´s kind of funny to look back on, but yea, not fun.

Honestly, I´m really not that homesick. I´m out here doing the Lords work and I´m loving (almost) Every minute of it. 

Hope everything is well, keep us in your prayers

Elder Oliphant

Sister Kooyman from the MTC

Sweater + Dress Shirt=

Elder Smith deep in thought

November 3, 2014

Well mom, I made it. I´m here in Germany!! Oh my goodness, so to answer your questions yes, I knew how to use the pay phone, I can´t tell you about the lightsaber, it´s a secret, I tried to sleep on the flight, but I couldn´t really. The flight was SOOO LONG! I still have jet lag, but it´s starting to go away. I gave president Kosak the Taco seasoning, and he was grateful, but how did you know he likes tacos?? Yes I am in Leer :) I plan to visit the castle today. My district includes myself and Elder Smith, Elders Wilde(district leader) and Williams, Elders Youngblood and Rasband(Zone Leaders) and then we have two senior couples the Porters and the Bensons. Everyone in our district is super nice. I love them all. 

So the Leer area is one of the biggest in the mission, about twice as big as the other two areas in our district, and it´s just us two Elders, and we walk almost everywhere. We have bikes which we use on occasion, but they´re really old and broken. Not very nice. I love this area. The people here are actually really nice for the most part, and I love our branch. All of the members are super nice, and most of them speak English very well. It´s fun, I practice my German with them, and they practice their English with me! All in all I love Germany. It´s funny though. I wanted to serve in Berlin, so naturally I was sent as far away as possible... Cool.

I´m just kidding. I love this area. It´s cold, but I love it :)

What I did instead of sleeping

Everything fits!

The stuff that didn't fit 

See you later Elder G

Dinner table

View from apartment

Home Gym

I like the pillow on the floor for praying

Mr. and Mrs. Kerry Norman Oliphant

1 November 2014

Dear Brother and Sister Oliphant ,

We are pleased to announce that your son, Elder Chase Evan Oliphant, is safely with us in the Berlin Mission. We have had the opportunity to get to know him, and he is ready and excited to be here. Sister Kosak and I look forward to working with him and will do all that we can to help him serve a happy and successful mission. Elder Oliphant’s first companion will be Elder Smith, and they will work together in Leer for the next several weeks. If you would like to send letters to your missionary, please send them to the mission office address:

Elder Oliphant

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT

Zerbsterstrasse 42

12209 Berlin

Germany

We have all discussed the mission goals and agreed that we will start right, work hard, and finish strong in order to fulfill our purpose to invite others to come unto Christ.

We, along with your son, appreciate the support which you give through your weekly letters and daily prayers in his behalf. Thank you for raising your son so that he can be part of this amazing work.

For a glimpse inside the mission, including occasional pictures of your missionary, you can check the blog we maintain at http://germanyberlinmission2012-15.blogspot.com.  I’ve included a picture of Elder Oliphant, his companion, Elder Smith, Sister Kosak, and me.

May the Lord bless you in all that you do.

 Sincerely,

 Henry W. Kosak, President

 Germany Berlin Mission