From Mom 8/2
Dear Family,
It’s hard to believe that it’s August already----time to get ready for another school year. Where did the summer go? The school year here ended just last week. They will start up again the middle of September. They have several long vacations during the school year so it seems like it’s year around school to us. So far we’ve had very few days of summer like weather, unlike there. It has been an unusually cool summer. Most days we are happy to have a sweater or jacket close by. We are still getting a good share of rain too. Last summer they had record breaking heat for most of the summer. We read about the flooding in England and the crazy weather in different parts of the states and it makes you wonder if more of the prophesies regarding the last days aren’t becoming more evident. Sunday in the combined Relief Society/Priesthood, the bishop talked about the need food storage and other preparations for what may be ahead for us---not trying to frighten us but just to make us aware of some of the things that are going on around the world and to be prepared. The big problem here is where to store things. Most people live in apartments and there is very little space but I’m sure people can find a place if they need too.
I think I’ve mentioned how small the kitchens are in most of the apartments we’ve visited and I found out the other day why they are so small. It a room is under a certain size, they don’t have to call it “a room”. The taxes are figured on how many rooms there are so if they have small kitchens and no utility rooms, they pay less taxes. Most washers are either in the kitchen or in the bathroom. There are very few dryers. If people have dryers, they are on top of the washer. They know how to make the most of the space they have here. It’s interesting to learn some of the rules. In the building we live in, there is a rule that it’s supposed to be quiet between noon and 3 o’clock and children are not allowed to go outside during those hours because they aren’t always quiet. You can’t use your washer before 8 in the morning or after 8 at night. No more getting up and doing the washing when I can’t sleep. Oh, how I look forward to being back home where I can run the washer when I want to and when the kids can be outside and be as noisy as they want to be anytime of the day!! I really don’t like living in an apartment in a big city and am glad we’re out and about most of the time.
Early tomorrow morning we leave on another apartment inspection trip but this time we only have 17 apartments to do instead of 45 like we did last year. We still have quite a distance to travel so we will be gone tomorrow and Saturday and then again Friday of next week. It will be a nice change of scenery but I’m a bit nervous about finding all those apartments again. This is when I wish we had a GPS system in the car! But we did it last year and we’ll make it again this year. Dad is a good map reader and if I can just pay closer attention and learn right from left, we’ll be okay. Never a dull moment!
We had a great time with Thomas on Sunday when we took him for his patriarchal blessing. He is just an amazing young man and has such a strong testimony of the gospel. He invited us to sit in with him for the blessing. Of course it was all in German so I didn’t understand much of it but he shared a few things with us afterwards. The thing he was most excited about was that he would one day bring his parents into the church. Another was that he would be successful in bringing many people into the church as a missionary. He was also told that he would be a leader and many would follow him. He’s already a great missionary and is a natural leader. He is the one who introduced Alex to the church. He told us that a lot of people made fun of him and of the church when he talked about the church to his friends at school and that Alex was probably the one who had the most to say against the church. But he is a close neighbor to Thomas and Thomas just kept inviting him to Family Home Evening until one night he came and he had a great time. Then he came to church with Thomas and loved what he felt there. At that time his hair was down to his shoulders and, as Thomas put it, was just a mess. Soon after he started coming to church, he cut his hair and shaved his beard and has been that way ever since. His parents weren’t real happy with his interest in the church and when he told them he wanted to be baptized, they told him he couldn’t until he was 18. That was nearly two years ago. He was baptized the day after his 18th birthday and has such a strong testimony. We are teaching his grandmother right now. Today she told us that Alex had been over and they talked about the church and that he bore his testimony that he “knew” the teachings of the church are true. She said she didn’t believe we could know they are true-----we could believe that are true but couldn’t “know”. Today we thought for sure this would be our last visit with her. She was so negative about everything we were talking about. Dad told her that there is only one person who wants her to believe that she can’t “know” the truth and that was the Satan. We have our free agency and we can still choose but the truth is out there and she can know. The idea of having eternal life is interesting to her and she wants to know how to get that. She gave us another return appointment. She is a challenge and Dad does a wonderful job of explaining things to her. I don’t understand much that is going on but can feel the spirit and can tell when she’s really trying to understand. She is a sweetheart. I think I told you that she reminds me very much of Grandma Price.
One of the women we teach in an English class invited us to her home for “tea”. She asked us if we preferred tea or coffee and we told her we don’t drink either one. Then she asked about Herbal tea and we told her that would be okay. She is from Russia and wanted to make a traditional Russian cake to have with our tea. So now we have officially been to tea. The cake was good----much more moist than any German cake we have had. And the Peppermint tea was good too. They asked us why we didn’t drink tea or coffee so we had a brief discussion about the Word of Wisdom but she was not interested in anything else about the church and that’s okay. We can be friends and maybe one day she will want to know more about it. Every week in class she asks us how much longer we are going to be here. I told her after our interviews with the president that there is a good chance we will be here until March and she seemed very happy. She is expecting a baby in January and wants us to be here to see her baby. She is really smart and speaks pretty good English. She knows the grammar really well and what she wants most is just the opportunity of speaking to someone in English and to be sure she is saying things right. Her husband is really nice too. We enjoyed our time with them. They have an 11 year old daughter but she was away to a music camp so we didn’t get to meet her but they asked if we would come back sometime so we could meet their daughter.
Our first visit on Sunday with the part-member family, the husband a member but doesn’t go to church and the wife wants to go, turned out to be a good visit. They are such a nice family. They have a 15 year old daughter and 13 year old son and a really cute little 3 year old daughter. When we got there, they had supper prepared for us so we spent the evening around the table. We talked about their family and what a nice family they had and then talked about the Proclamation to the Family. They promised to read it together and they invited us back again this coming week. The company he has been working for is closing down because they did a lot of work for the military and with the military base here closing down, they no longer needed this company. So they are quite concerned about what they’re going to do. They seem very humble about their situation and I couldn’t help but feel that maybe this has opened their hearts to a need for some spiritual help. Anyway, we had a really nice time with them and are looking forward to our next visit. Their kids are just so nice and so friendly.
Ron Peterson is the man who has a wife who doesn’t like Mormons. They are the ones who got into a big fight one time when we were there and I’ve been scared to death to go back. Dad has been talking to him on the phone each week and then he asked us to come out again. The first time we went back, his wife wasn’t there----(I was so glad!). We had another appointment with him his week. She wasn’t there when we got there but he told us that she would probably be coming in any time. We had a really good discussion with him. We see such a change in him since the first time we met him. He has really softened and really wants to learn about the church again. About 10 minutes before we had to leave, his wife came in. She walked right by us. Dad said, ‘Hello, Martina.” She didn’t even look our direction but did say hello and then went in the other room. Ron was shocked and really embarrassed. I don’t know what is going to happen there. He says he wants us to keep coming. He really wants to continue studying the gospel but it sure is hard to feel the spirit when someone is as bitter as she is comes in. He said he would call us and set up another appointment.
It has been another week full of different experiences. Dad got another call from Stephanie’s husband saying she had left again and asked him to come over. The young mother we mentioned last week who’s husband has been unfaithful to her called this morning and told us that last night while they were in talking to the bishop, her husband told her that he wanted a divorce. She is devastated. What do we say? They have a six year old and a 3 year old. She is planning to go back to the states and be near her family there. We’ll try to be her friends and help her at least while she’s still here. The wife of another young couple we’ve been meeting with told us she’s not sure she wants to be married to her husband any more. Whew!! Problems, problems, problems. Wednesday night our institute lesson was on the importance of the family and how Satan is trying to do everything he can to destroy families. That’s how he “thinks” he can destroy a nation. How very important it is to work at keeping our marriages and families the most important things in our lives and recognize the opposition that is out there.
It’s late. We’ve got to be on our way early in the morning for our first day of apartment hunting. Know that we love you all very much. You are in our prayers every day. We live in a troubled world but are here at this time because our Heavenly Father knew we could withstand the many things that are going on. May we all be faithful to those things we know to be right and true.
Much love always,
Mom
It’s hard to believe that it’s August already----time to get ready for another school year. Where did the summer go? The school year here ended just last week. They will start up again the middle of September. They have several long vacations during the school year so it seems like it’s year around school to us. So far we’ve had very few days of summer like weather, unlike there. It has been an unusually cool summer. Most days we are happy to have a sweater or jacket close by. We are still getting a good share of rain too. Last summer they had record breaking heat for most of the summer. We read about the flooding in England and the crazy weather in different parts of the states and it makes you wonder if more of the prophesies regarding the last days aren’t becoming more evident. Sunday in the combined Relief Society/Priesthood, the bishop talked about the need food storage and other preparations for what may be ahead for us---not trying to frighten us but just to make us aware of some of the things that are going on around the world and to be prepared. The big problem here is where to store things. Most people live in apartments and there is very little space but I’m sure people can find a place if they need too.
I think I’ve mentioned how small the kitchens are in most of the apartments we’ve visited and I found out the other day why they are so small. It a room is under a certain size, they don’t have to call it “a room”. The taxes are figured on how many rooms there are so if they have small kitchens and no utility rooms, they pay less taxes. Most washers are either in the kitchen or in the bathroom. There are very few dryers. If people have dryers, they are on top of the washer. They know how to make the most of the space they have here. It’s interesting to learn some of the rules. In the building we live in, there is a rule that it’s supposed to be quiet between noon and 3 o’clock and children are not allowed to go outside during those hours because they aren’t always quiet. You can’t use your washer before 8 in the morning or after 8 at night. No more getting up and doing the washing when I can’t sleep. Oh, how I look forward to being back home where I can run the washer when I want to and when the kids can be outside and be as noisy as they want to be anytime of the day!! I really don’t like living in an apartment in a big city and am glad we’re out and about most of the time.
Early tomorrow morning we leave on another apartment inspection trip but this time we only have 17 apartments to do instead of 45 like we did last year. We still have quite a distance to travel so we will be gone tomorrow and Saturday and then again Friday of next week. It will be a nice change of scenery but I’m a bit nervous about finding all those apartments again. This is when I wish we had a GPS system in the car! But we did it last year and we’ll make it again this year. Dad is a good map reader and if I can just pay closer attention and learn right from left, we’ll be okay. Never a dull moment!
We had a great time with Thomas on Sunday when we took him for his patriarchal blessing. He is just an amazing young man and has such a strong testimony of the gospel. He invited us to sit in with him for the blessing. Of course it was all in German so I didn’t understand much of it but he shared a few things with us afterwards. The thing he was most excited about was that he would one day bring his parents into the church. Another was that he would be successful in bringing many people into the church as a missionary. He was also told that he would be a leader and many would follow him. He’s already a great missionary and is a natural leader. He is the one who introduced Alex to the church. He told us that a lot of people made fun of him and of the church when he talked about the church to his friends at school and that Alex was probably the one who had the most to say against the church. But he is a close neighbor to Thomas and Thomas just kept inviting him to Family Home Evening until one night he came and he had a great time. Then he came to church with Thomas and loved what he felt there. At that time his hair was down to his shoulders and, as Thomas put it, was just a mess. Soon after he started coming to church, he cut his hair and shaved his beard and has been that way ever since. His parents weren’t real happy with his interest in the church and when he told them he wanted to be baptized, they told him he couldn’t until he was 18. That was nearly two years ago. He was baptized the day after his 18th birthday and has such a strong testimony. We are teaching his grandmother right now. Today she told us that Alex had been over and they talked about the church and that he bore his testimony that he “knew” the teachings of the church are true. She said she didn’t believe we could know they are true-----we could believe that are true but couldn’t “know”. Today we thought for sure this would be our last visit with her. She was so negative about everything we were talking about. Dad told her that there is only one person who wants her to believe that she can’t “know” the truth and that was the Satan. We have our free agency and we can still choose but the truth is out there and she can know. The idea of having eternal life is interesting to her and she wants to know how to get that. She gave us another return appointment. She is a challenge and Dad does a wonderful job of explaining things to her. I don’t understand much that is going on but can feel the spirit and can tell when she’s really trying to understand. She is a sweetheart. I think I told you that she reminds me very much of Grandma Price.
One of the women we teach in an English class invited us to her home for “tea”. She asked us if we preferred tea or coffee and we told her we don’t drink either one. Then she asked about Herbal tea and we told her that would be okay. She is from Russia and wanted to make a traditional Russian cake to have with our tea. So now we have officially been to tea. The cake was good----much more moist than any German cake we have had. And the Peppermint tea was good too. They asked us why we didn’t drink tea or coffee so we had a brief discussion about the Word of Wisdom but she was not interested in anything else about the church and that’s okay. We can be friends and maybe one day she will want to know more about it. Every week in class she asks us how much longer we are going to be here. I told her after our interviews with the president that there is a good chance we will be here until March and she seemed very happy. She is expecting a baby in January and wants us to be here to see her baby. She is really smart and speaks pretty good English. She knows the grammar really well and what she wants most is just the opportunity of speaking to someone in English and to be sure she is saying things right. Her husband is really nice too. We enjoyed our time with them. They have an 11 year old daughter but she was away to a music camp so we didn’t get to meet her but they asked if we would come back sometime so we could meet their daughter.
Our first visit on Sunday with the part-member family, the husband a member but doesn’t go to church and the wife wants to go, turned out to be a good visit. They are such a nice family. They have a 15 year old daughter and 13 year old son and a really cute little 3 year old daughter. When we got there, they had supper prepared for us so we spent the evening around the table. We talked about their family and what a nice family they had and then talked about the Proclamation to the Family. They promised to read it together and they invited us back again this coming week. The company he has been working for is closing down because they did a lot of work for the military and with the military base here closing down, they no longer needed this company. So they are quite concerned about what they’re going to do. They seem very humble about their situation and I couldn’t help but feel that maybe this has opened their hearts to a need for some spiritual help. Anyway, we had a really nice time with them and are looking forward to our next visit. Their kids are just so nice and so friendly.
Ron Peterson is the man who has a wife who doesn’t like Mormons. They are the ones who got into a big fight one time when we were there and I’ve been scared to death to go back. Dad has been talking to him on the phone each week and then he asked us to come out again. The first time we went back, his wife wasn’t there----(I was so glad!). We had another appointment with him his week. She wasn’t there when we got there but he told us that she would probably be coming in any time. We had a really good discussion with him. We see such a change in him since the first time we met him. He has really softened and really wants to learn about the church again. About 10 minutes before we had to leave, his wife came in. She walked right by us. Dad said, ‘Hello, Martina.” She didn’t even look our direction but did say hello and then went in the other room. Ron was shocked and really embarrassed. I don’t know what is going to happen there. He says he wants us to keep coming. He really wants to continue studying the gospel but it sure is hard to feel the spirit when someone is as bitter as she is comes in. He said he would call us and set up another appointment.
It has been another week full of different experiences. Dad got another call from Stephanie’s husband saying she had left again and asked him to come over. The young mother we mentioned last week who’s husband has been unfaithful to her called this morning and told us that last night while they were in talking to the bishop, her husband told her that he wanted a divorce. She is devastated. What do we say? They have a six year old and a 3 year old. She is planning to go back to the states and be near her family there. We’ll try to be her friends and help her at least while she’s still here. The wife of another young couple we’ve been meeting with told us she’s not sure she wants to be married to her husband any more. Whew!! Problems, problems, problems. Wednesday night our institute lesson was on the importance of the family and how Satan is trying to do everything he can to destroy families. That’s how he “thinks” he can destroy a nation. How very important it is to work at keeping our marriages and families the most important things in our lives and recognize the opposition that is out there.
It’s late. We’ve got to be on our way early in the morning for our first day of apartment hunting. Know that we love you all very much. You are in our prayers every day. We live in a troubled world but are here at this time because our Heavenly Father knew we could withstand the many things that are going on. May we all be faithful to those things we know to be right and true.
Much love always,
Mom
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home