First news, mostly for my parents, I'm staying
for a fifth transfer in Marzahn with Sister Rasmussen and I am so grateful!
Because I really didn't want to leave yet but I didn't want to want it too much
in case I had to leave but now I can just want it and have it. Woot! To
translate into normal person speech, I will have served here for 7 months,
assuming I leave after this next transfer.
Too much cake this week was supplemented by lots
of biking. Apparently real winter only lasted one week this year because it's
been like spring riding our wild stallions (aka our bikes) all over east
Berlin. We learned it is much easier to chase people down when you are on
wheels and they are not. Only one guy started running from me after I turned
around to try to talk him. Maybe I've gotten kind of intimidating.
Stats for
the Week (precursors to stories)
Cameroon count: 18 (up by 37% and enough for a
small branch if they all get baptized)
Missionaries in Marzahn: 6 (a drop by two after
transfers; all the sisters stay but we lost an elders program)
Cake consumed: 5 pieces in 24 hours (we need to
destroy the urban legend that we don't eat if we don't get fed by members--please
stop feeding us abnormally large amounts of cake!)
Apartment unity: always upward. I love these
sisters J.
Songs sung: 104 (in various housing developments
and outside as Sister Rasmussen played her little guitar)
The Tale
of Winfred
Once upon we met two Cameroonians named Ben and
Alex who had a friend who got baptized into our church a few weeks ago but then
they fell off the face of the earth for a while but then they showed up again
and asked "when you people" were coming back. So we went back this
week and there was another Cameroonian there named Winfred. We talked to
Winfred while the other two were cooking and he revealed his knowledge of
Joseph Smith, Thomas Monson, Alma 32, The Word of Wisdom, the Law of Chastity,
who/what a bishop is, and the importance of baptism with the priesthood, yet he
denied having previous contact with our church. We persisted in asking him how
he knew our church (or how he knew Ben and Alex because he's from Cottbus--a
couple of hours south of Berlin--and he said they just found him the street)
and he persisted in telling us he could just see all of this information in our
eyes. The last time I checked, I hadn't tattooed all of the lessons we teach
people to my face though. It was like the craziest appointment of my life with
tall, fit Ben intensely questioning us and Winfred explaining answers in some
almost-English-dialogue that we didn't have. We gave him the number of the
Cottbus sisters and told him to call them. We left still with no idea who he
was (though we did ask if he was baptized and he said no).
Antics of
Annie
Okay, she actually had no antics. I just needed
an a-word. I love Annie so much! We had another awesome lesson with her about
the ten commandments last night and she has the ability to be so spiritual but
also so funny. We are good friends but she understands that she is there to
learn and she told us we are good representatives of God. Funny things she said
were...
"I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier. I puked
on the bus. I puked on the plants. I puked on everything!"
"Yeah, my parents practice vegetablism so
they don't eat meat."
"I ate some porkage to help my
stomach." (she meant porridge, not pork.)
Wunder der
Woche
So Tuesday was our biggest bike day where we
ditched bahns and busses and rode our stallions (there is no better word to
describe the freedom of bikes) to our appointments, even though they were far.
We ended up way far away from our house and I remembered going by an inactive
member of our church a few months ago here. She wasn't home then, but we are
always anxious to meet new people (thus the chasing people down with bikes).
She answered our klingle and said she was busy but to come back in a few hours.
We obediently did so and found an envelope taped to the building door upon our
return. We opened it and read the following (in English):
"I'm verry sorry, but I forgot an important
appointment with my son. Please call me back.
I've a testamony of Jesus Christ and our loving
Father in Heaven and I've been waiting for them and hoped, they would remember
me."
Yeah, we kind of melted. It's amazing how
something so small as klingling a door can be a symbol of love. President
Uchtdorf said, "In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to
our happiness but the number of prayers we answer may be of greater
importance." Praying makes me happy and gives me hope. Serving is prayer
is action.
So be proactive. With or without a bike. Find
your own wild stallion to ride.
-- Sister Claire Michelle Woodward
P.S. Birthday shout out to my little brother who turns 19
today!
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