Upon arriving at the MTC, they were put into rooms of 4 with strict rules. They had to stay in their rooms unless they were going to their assigned bathroom. Food came 3 times a day and they had to stay in their rooms while the food was being delivered. Mayonnaise and cheese sandwiches were not one of Andrew's favorites. It said it was by far the worst lunch idea he's tasted in a long time. On the flip side they got plenty of Nutella packets with their meals, so they used them to trade for other food items with each other.
They were allowed outside time twice a day for 30 minutes, but had no room to really exercise. The classes that were recommended they attend online were basically MTC classes so Andrew and his roommates skipped most of them and practiced German on their own. Although it was easy to get bored, they had nearly daily devotionals from the area 70 which was uplifting.
Due to some changes in the UK their quarantine was shortened to 10 days. Although they still had to stay in their rooms when the food was delivered, they had unlimited outside time and were allowed to go throughout the entire MTC campus. They had the opportunity to visit the temple grounds daily, and went on runs through the town of Chorley. It rained most everyday but they had one or two days of sun and no rain.
On December 18th, Andrew flew from Manchester to Frankfurt, Germany. He was greeted by President Hammon and his wife. He then headed to the mission office building where he quarantined for 5 days. He was able to take a COVID test which was negative and was then sent on a train to his first area in Darmstadt. It was an interesting train ride with one of the sisters that was also heading to Darmstadt. Andrew met his new companion, Elder Jenks (District Leader) and the two other Elders in Darmstadt, one of which is the Zone Leader. One of the members fed them on Christmas Eve and they all sang "Silent Night" in German at the end of their evening. This member gave Andrew and his companion really cool pens in a wooden engraved Darmstadt case. On Christmas Day, they spent time during the day at two different member's homes. It was nice that they had somewhere to go on Christmas. The work moves on, even during COVID. Although there haven't been a lot of service opportunities, the members have been awesome. Andrew really loves the people he has met in Germany.
LAST DAYS IN TEXAS
PRESTON, ENGLAND
FRANKFURT, GERMANY
1ST AREA - DARMSTADT