Halö from Germany

It is nearly midnight here, in Lippe Germany. I still don't know which time zone I am functioning in, but I am feeling well so far.

thank you all for your prayers! God is so good and He is moving in power already!

Molly and I arrived safely in Dusseldorf after a long flight where neither of us got much sleep. it was 7:30 a.m. here, but 12:30 back home...and we had a full day ahead of us. We were greeted by Thorsten who drove us to Lippe and Vireena and Daniel who are the YMCA exhange students headed to Nashville in place of us. it was so neat to meet them. they headed out on the same plane.

Thorsten drove us the 2 hours back to where we would be staying. Molly was hyped up on caffine and asked questions the whole way. my two cups were aparentlz not affectiing me and I fell asleep for a bit. we had our first surprise experience in germany when we tried to use a bathroom at a gas station and realized you have to pay close to a dollar to use any public restroom. since then we've learned nothing is free.

We arrived at the Weiber home, which is where I am staying. We met Yanka, the oldest daughter of Katya and Ooli (I have no idea how to spell most of these names, so don't hold me to it). Yanka is 17 and just arrived back from Brasil where she has lived for the last year through and exchange program. They also have a son named Gerrit who is 14.

After settling in a bit, we went with Yanka to her grandparents house for pancakes. They were so friendly and welcoming. Her grandfather sat shirtless the entire time, spoke german to us as if we could understand, and told us to go pick rasberries and cherries from their backyard. (side note...we have had so much amazing fresh fruit. such as straberries at dinner that some of our friends picked this morning. delicious. end side note.) More family and friends arrived and her grandmother made us pancakes, which were like crepes, while we sat on the deck. They but out every topping imaginable from yogurt (called quack) to nutella, applesauce, powdered sugar, fresh strawberries, even ice cream.

I think this was the most amazing lunch I've had in a long time, but not only becasue of the food....