From Mom 11/22
Dear Family,
This has been a different Thanksgiving for us. The ward cancelled the dinner they had planned because most of the Americans were going to be gone and because Thanksgiving is just another day for most of the people here, there was just not enough interest in putting it together. The lady who put it together last year is about a week away from having her 10th child and obviously was not up to doing it again this year. We were invited by one of the families on base to be their guests at the dinner on base but neither the Elders nor we were very enthused about eating with a lot of people we didn’t know. So I told the Elders I would fix dinner for them. We also invited a man both the Elders and us have been teaching. We did the whole Thanksgiving thing----turkey, dressing, spuds and gravy, cranberry salad, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. I missed my Bosch mixer!! The rolls weren’t very good. This man and also the new Elder who is from East Germany had never had a Thanksgiving dinner. They seemed to enjoy the food. The new Elder was a bit suspicious of the pie. He had never eaten pumpkin and especially in pie form. I told him he didn’t have to eat it but he did anyway and said it was just a new taste he had to get used to. We played a couple of games----3-13 and Scum and they had a lot of fun with that. It was a good day but a day my thoughts were of all of you. How I look forward to next year!!
I hope all of you enjoyed the day and enjoyed being together with family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for. We are most grateful for our family. We know each of you have had some big challenges and will continue to have challenges but we know too that with the Lord’s help, you can get through them. I think the thing I have come to know and appreciate the very most on this mission is the Saviors love for us. I love teaching about the Atonement and I love what that does for each one of us in our lives. Knowing that our Heavenly Father knows each one of us by name and that he cares for us more than we can even begin to comprehend is a great blessing and a great comfort. We aren’t alone. We don’t have to be alone in anything we do. He knows our needs and He is there for us. He isn’t going to give us everything we want when we want it but He will support us as we turn to Him for help to work things out. I have come to love and appreciate the scripture in John 3:16 so very much: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It’s hard to comprehend that great love but I know it’s real and that it’s for each one of us.
This has been a week of many cancellations. There is a LOT of sickness here right now. Sister Pinder, who goes with us to member-teach Sister Reynolds, the new convert, is in the hospital and so are both of her children. One is 3 and the other is just 1. They all have bronchitis. Brother Pinder said they are all in the same room. I’m not sure Sister Pinder is getting a lot of rest but at least they are being cared for. There is so much of that around right now. Again we blame it on to the weather. It is pretty cold and the high humidity makes it even colder. Everyone here wears a neck scarf and I’m becoming converted to the idea too. No one has their homes very warm (with the exception of us) and a lot of the time we leave our coats on when we are visiting with people. I’ve had some earaches and sore throat but just keep plugging along. Dad’s back is a bit sore so he’s moving a bit cautiously. I think both of us are feeling a bit “battle worn”. So many nights we wonder why we feel so tired. Physically this isn’t that hard but mentally, emotionally and spiritually it can be very draining. Sometimes it’s hard to be nice to people when they aren’t nice to us. But that all goes with being a missionary.
We found another new investigator this week. We have a standing appointment with Thomas and Elana Beck on Sunday afternoon and when we went there Sunday, there was a friend there with them. She is also from the Philippines, like Elana is. When Elana introduced us to her she said she had met with some missionaries a few years ago so we asked her if she would like to continue to learn about the church. She has a great faith in God but said she doesn’t belong to any church and would be interested in learning more. We have an appointment with her this Sunday. Last week I told you about the part-member family we visited whose husband was said to not like Mormons but we met him and he invited us back. We went back the next day and the wife was there too. They were both so nice and she told us she had joined the church about 16 years ago in the Philippines. (There are LOTS of Philippines here!) Her husband is from Philadelphia and was stationed in the army here for quite awhile and has since retired from that but loved Germany so they are living here. We asked him how much he knew about our church and he told us that he didn’t know very much about it so we asked him if he would like to learn more about it. He said he thought he would so we have an appointment with them tomorrow afternoon. They met with some young sister missionaries a few years ago and thought so much of them. It’s interesting that the last comment in the area book about this family was “husband met us at the door and said we don’t need to come back.” Sometimes you just have to ignore those comments and go in like you didn’t even see them. We’re very happy to have some new people to teach. That too goes with being a missionary.
Sister Meyer has made some real progress lately. She is much more involved in the Sunday School class and on Sunday when we asked if we could come sometime this week, Brother Meyer said they just didn’t have time and Sister Meyer was the one who wanted us to come and said they would change their home teachers appointment so we could come. We had a good meeting with them last night and have a standing appointment with them each Wednesday. We talked about her being baptized on December 22. She didn’t say no but she hasn’t made a real commitment either so we’ll continue to hope and pray and work with her. We told her we didn’t know of anyone more worthy to be baptized than she was and we really meant that. She is just a lovely person. Brother Meyer’s greatest desire is for her to be baptized so they can go to the temple.
The new Elder who came last week is Elder Tilgner from Leipzig which is close to the temple in Freiberg. He won’t be 19 until April. Every young man is obligated to spend 9 months with the Germany army when they graduate from school but Elder Tilgner has some health issues and the army didn’t want him. By the time this was decided, he really didn’t have time to go to a year of school so he got permission from the area presidency to go on his mission. You wouldn’t know he’s not 19 or even older. He’s very mature and very outgoing. He talks to everyone everywhere they go and they already have several teaching appointments because of that. He has a beautiful tenor voice! Sunday we had our first choir rehearsal for the Christmas program and he came. He loves to sing and he is very good----not overpowering but very good. His companion says he is either singing or whistling all the time. His mother is an opera singer and he gives her the credit for his voice.
We had a fun Saturday with the Wenzel family last Saturday. We watched a whole soccer game. Soccer is the big thing here in Germany and these kids really get into it. It was fun to watch even thought it was freezing cold! (Then I wonder why I have an earache and sore throat!) Then we went on a two hour trolley ride on an old trolley car that is just used for special occasions. People can rent it for parties and at Christmas time, “Santa” rents it to ride around town. We went all over the city---to places we’ve never seen. It was a fun afternoon and a good time with this family we are trying to get active. The oldest daughter had been invited to a Young Women’s activity the night before and had had a great time. The YW president is a professional photographer and they learned a lot about that a had fun dressing and posing for pictures. Every little thing helps with this work.
Saturday the Young Single Adults are having another Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve been asked to cook the turkey. Everyone is bringing something. When we went over the menu with them last night, I realized their Thanksgiving dinner is not the same as ours. Turkey is about the only similar thing. It will be interesting! But I know it will be fun with those kids. There should be around 20 people there. I will really miss the association with these young people. They are great!!
I guess that’s it for this week. Chris called early this morning and it was so good to talk to her and all the family. Brian called tonight and that was great too. We had talked to Cindy on her birthday so we feel very blessed to have contact with the family. I’m so grateful for the internet and for the phone. It makes it seem like we are not so far away.
Have a good week. I’m sure you’re all in the thick of getting ready for Christmas. What a fun time of the year----busy but fun. We’re sending candy again but are planning on bringing something for everyone when we come home so forgive us for not doing more for Christmas. Speaking of that, we’d still like some suggestions of what you would like to have from Germany.
Know that you are loved and very much in our thoughts and prayers.
Much love,
Mom
This has been a different Thanksgiving for us. The ward cancelled the dinner they had planned because most of the Americans were going to be gone and because Thanksgiving is just another day for most of the people here, there was just not enough interest in putting it together. The lady who put it together last year is about a week away from having her 10th child and obviously was not up to doing it again this year. We were invited by one of the families on base to be their guests at the dinner on base but neither the Elders nor we were very enthused about eating with a lot of people we didn’t know. So I told the Elders I would fix dinner for them. We also invited a man both the Elders and us have been teaching. We did the whole Thanksgiving thing----turkey, dressing, spuds and gravy, cranberry salad, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. I missed my Bosch mixer!! The rolls weren’t very good. This man and also the new Elder who is from East Germany had never had a Thanksgiving dinner. They seemed to enjoy the food. The new Elder was a bit suspicious of the pie. He had never eaten pumpkin and especially in pie form. I told him he didn’t have to eat it but he did anyway and said it was just a new taste he had to get used to. We played a couple of games----3-13 and Scum and they had a lot of fun with that. It was a good day but a day my thoughts were of all of you. How I look forward to next year!!
I hope all of you enjoyed the day and enjoyed being together with family and friends. We have so much to be thankful for. We are most grateful for our family. We know each of you have had some big challenges and will continue to have challenges but we know too that with the Lord’s help, you can get through them. I think the thing I have come to know and appreciate the very most on this mission is the Saviors love for us. I love teaching about the Atonement and I love what that does for each one of us in our lives. Knowing that our Heavenly Father knows each one of us by name and that he cares for us more than we can even begin to comprehend is a great blessing and a great comfort. We aren’t alone. We don’t have to be alone in anything we do. He knows our needs and He is there for us. He isn’t going to give us everything we want when we want it but He will support us as we turn to Him for help to work things out. I have come to love and appreciate the scripture in John 3:16 so very much: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoso believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It’s hard to comprehend that great love but I know it’s real and that it’s for each one of us.
This has been a week of many cancellations. There is a LOT of sickness here right now. Sister Pinder, who goes with us to member-teach Sister Reynolds, the new convert, is in the hospital and so are both of her children. One is 3 and the other is just 1. They all have bronchitis. Brother Pinder said they are all in the same room. I’m not sure Sister Pinder is getting a lot of rest but at least they are being cared for. There is so much of that around right now. Again we blame it on to the weather. It is pretty cold and the high humidity makes it even colder. Everyone here wears a neck scarf and I’m becoming converted to the idea too. No one has their homes very warm (with the exception of us) and a lot of the time we leave our coats on when we are visiting with people. I’ve had some earaches and sore throat but just keep plugging along. Dad’s back is a bit sore so he’s moving a bit cautiously. I think both of us are feeling a bit “battle worn”. So many nights we wonder why we feel so tired. Physically this isn’t that hard but mentally, emotionally and spiritually it can be very draining. Sometimes it’s hard to be nice to people when they aren’t nice to us. But that all goes with being a missionary.
We found another new investigator this week. We have a standing appointment with Thomas and Elana Beck on Sunday afternoon and when we went there Sunday, there was a friend there with them. She is also from the Philippines, like Elana is. When Elana introduced us to her she said she had met with some missionaries a few years ago so we asked her if she would like to continue to learn about the church. She has a great faith in God but said she doesn’t belong to any church and would be interested in learning more. We have an appointment with her this Sunday. Last week I told you about the part-member family we visited whose husband was said to not like Mormons but we met him and he invited us back. We went back the next day and the wife was there too. They were both so nice and she told us she had joined the church about 16 years ago in the Philippines. (There are LOTS of Philippines here!) Her husband is from Philadelphia and was stationed in the army here for quite awhile and has since retired from that but loved Germany so they are living here. We asked him how much he knew about our church and he told us that he didn’t know very much about it so we asked him if he would like to learn more about it. He said he thought he would so we have an appointment with them tomorrow afternoon. They met with some young sister missionaries a few years ago and thought so much of them. It’s interesting that the last comment in the area book about this family was “husband met us at the door and said we don’t need to come back.” Sometimes you just have to ignore those comments and go in like you didn’t even see them. We’re very happy to have some new people to teach. That too goes with being a missionary.
Sister Meyer has made some real progress lately. She is much more involved in the Sunday School class and on Sunday when we asked if we could come sometime this week, Brother Meyer said they just didn’t have time and Sister Meyer was the one who wanted us to come and said they would change their home teachers appointment so we could come. We had a good meeting with them last night and have a standing appointment with them each Wednesday. We talked about her being baptized on December 22. She didn’t say no but she hasn’t made a real commitment either so we’ll continue to hope and pray and work with her. We told her we didn’t know of anyone more worthy to be baptized than she was and we really meant that. She is just a lovely person. Brother Meyer’s greatest desire is for her to be baptized so they can go to the temple.
The new Elder who came last week is Elder Tilgner from Leipzig which is close to the temple in Freiberg. He won’t be 19 until April. Every young man is obligated to spend 9 months with the Germany army when they graduate from school but Elder Tilgner has some health issues and the army didn’t want him. By the time this was decided, he really didn’t have time to go to a year of school so he got permission from the area presidency to go on his mission. You wouldn’t know he’s not 19 or even older. He’s very mature and very outgoing. He talks to everyone everywhere they go and they already have several teaching appointments because of that. He has a beautiful tenor voice! Sunday we had our first choir rehearsal for the Christmas program and he came. He loves to sing and he is very good----not overpowering but very good. His companion says he is either singing or whistling all the time. His mother is an opera singer and he gives her the credit for his voice.
We had a fun Saturday with the Wenzel family last Saturday. We watched a whole soccer game. Soccer is the big thing here in Germany and these kids really get into it. It was fun to watch even thought it was freezing cold! (Then I wonder why I have an earache and sore throat!) Then we went on a two hour trolley ride on an old trolley car that is just used for special occasions. People can rent it for parties and at Christmas time, “Santa” rents it to ride around town. We went all over the city---to places we’ve never seen. It was a fun afternoon and a good time with this family we are trying to get active. The oldest daughter had been invited to a Young Women’s activity the night before and had had a great time. The YW president is a professional photographer and they learned a lot about that a had fun dressing and posing for pictures. Every little thing helps with this work.
Saturday the Young Single Adults are having another Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve been asked to cook the turkey. Everyone is bringing something. When we went over the menu with them last night, I realized their Thanksgiving dinner is not the same as ours. Turkey is about the only similar thing. It will be interesting! But I know it will be fun with those kids. There should be around 20 people there. I will really miss the association with these young people. They are great!!
I guess that’s it for this week. Chris called early this morning and it was so good to talk to her and all the family. Brian called tonight and that was great too. We had talked to Cindy on her birthday so we feel very blessed to have contact with the family. I’m so grateful for the internet and for the phone. It makes it seem like we are not so far away.
Have a good week. I’m sure you’re all in the thick of getting ready for Christmas. What a fun time of the year----busy but fun. We’re sending candy again but are planning on bringing something for everyone when we come home so forgive us for not doing more for Christmas. Speaking of that, we’d still like some suggestions of what you would like to have from Germany.
Know that you are loved and very much in our thoughts and prayers.
Much love,
Mom
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home