Claire's pretty sure she'll be in Hamburg for another transfer (6 weeks), but we will find out on Monday when she emails us again.
Windows
and doors
A lot of doors didn't open this week. Doors that
belonged to people that were really excited we were coming and then somehow
forgot. Seven times in three days. But fortunately when doors don't open,
windows usually do and we get some fresh air (flowing outside?). Okay maybe not
the best metaphor. Main point: the cornucopia of appointments that fell through
didn't devastate us and we met some cool people through the windows of
opportunity that opened up when the doors didn't.
Das
Wunder der Woche
Part
I. So our appointment with the Boschmann family
fell out, which was sad because we like them. But I think I forgot to write
last week that they invited one of their friends to our lessons. His name is
Oskar and he's from Siberia and he is great. So our appointment fell out with
the family, but we ran into Oskar and he was like, "Yeah, teach me some
things!" I can't understand his German super well, but with the help of my
newly learned Russian word “pro-rog” (prophet), we were able to have a good
chat. His family is a little weary of him meeting with missionaries because
they've heard some weird things about Mormons so we are moving forward with
faith and love.
Part
II. So sometimes missions are hard and you have hard
days because that is just life. On Saturday I was feeling a little bogged down
and thoughts of imperfection were weighing on me because I know I will never be
a perfect missionary. But a wise friend told me that God always gives us enough
to keep going, whether it be a good conversation on the street, an awesome
lesson, an expression of love, or whatever force God chooses to send us to let
us know He is there and loves us. My needed assistance came through the lesson
option because we had a großartig (great) lesson with Rita at the end of the
day. She is so solid. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and her kids were
there too (though their comprehension of our English is not so good) and it was
way more than enough to make me cry unto the Lord in gratitude for being here
and being permitted to teach His children.
Enter
Serbians, stage right
We started teaching some Serbians this week. We
weren't international enough before so we needed to add another nationality to
our mix of Ghana, Tajikistan, Siberia, Cameroon, Togo, and Germany stew (not
edible). They stopped us as we were walking by and that's always sweet. More
info...next week.
Forget
me not
Important life lesson number 354: don't forget
people. My district leader from Leipzig served here earlier and he gave me some
names of people he thought that I should check up on. We met with a couple from
Ghana he had taught last year and it was good. EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT
MISSIONARIES JUST STOPPED GOING BY
FOR SOME REASON! Their record didn't say why they'd stopped taking lessons from
the missionaries and apparently after some missionaries got transferred, they
got forgotten. The husband's name is Amaotang and he said, "We thought the
LDS church didn't want us anymore!" Mild frustration. Okay, maybe I
semi-punched a bush after we left because it's dumb that they got forgotten. But
we're glad we can meet with them again and help them progress with their faith
in Christ. So....don't forget people.
Quote
of the Week
Talking with kids at the kindergarten this week.
My German grammar is pretty solid. But I still sound American, or British on a
good day, or maybe Russian on other days. Which resulted in the question from
Kandai, "Why do you talk so funny?"
Still trying my dear.
Love you all.
--
Sister Claire
Michelle Woodward
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