We
failed to expect the unexpected and against all odds, Sister Kriser gets to
stay here with me in Marzahn for another 6 six weeks! Woot!
Transfers
Transfers
calls are different in every mission. Our mission president has two assistant
missionaries who spend Saturday morning calling every apartment to tell them
where they are going or if they are staying. Fortunately, I didn't yell at
anyone this time. Saturday rolled around and Sister Ricks and I were a little
on edge, which is funny because we are the two who were almost for sure
staying. But we made pfannkuchen to appease our worried souls and then at
approximately 8:34 am, Elder Wolfley called to tell me and sister Kriser we
were staying together (and we got a new tausch area in Greifswald!) and to tell
Sister Sadler she was going to Hamburg (my heart is still there) and to tell
Sister Ricks that she is TRAINING. At this moment Sister Ricks lost all color
and promptly teared up. She then promptly lay down on the floor to regain some
composure and strength for this new assignment. Sister Ricks is awesome though
and will be an amazing trainer. We are so excited to have a new missionary in
our apartment too, and I am grateful to be here without being a trainer! Not
that training isn't great. Because it is. But it's like salt. To be used in
moderation. We were really surprised Sister Kriser is staying too because
people usually stay 3-4 transfers in an area and this will be Sister Kriser's
sixth. Woot!
Painting
with the colors of the...trees
I
LOVE FALL! It is so gorgeous here because Germany has approximately 78 trees on
every block and they just look like they are on fire with different hues of
yellow, orange, and red. There is no greater time to be a missionary. I think I
said that in summer too. I just like season changes I think. Pretty much every
time we go outside though I start screaming because I am so blown away by the
beauty of the earth and then people wonder if Americans have trees. Go Team
Autumn!
Das
Wunder der Woche
Last
Monday we did a mini-tausch and Sister Jardine (from Spandau) and I did some
finding together here. We talked to this awesome family from Barcelona and I
busted out my limited Spanish skills. Unfortunately the wife took this as a
sign of Spanish fluency and went off in a rapid something where I understood
only the word "todos." Fortunately her daughter spoke a little German
and her husband spoke a little English, so we had a broken trilingual
conversation about the Book of Mormon. The wife was so excited to talk about
Christ and hugged and kissed us afterwards. It was so sweet. They didn't have
their phone number or address memorized so we just have an email....so
hopefully we'll meet them again.
I
Didn't Know I Wasn't Pregnant Until...
So we
called this lady who was in our phone because we didn't know who it was and
made an appointment with her. Completely normal thing to do. We met with her
this week and she told us she was pregnant. Except she's not all the way there
mentally, but we weren't really sure how handicapped. Turns out the elders had
taught her in the early spring and we got the teaching record and....she
thought she was pregnant then too. Nine months ago. That's always a bad sign
for normalcy. And not that people aren't precious in their own unique ways,
but...it's always hard to meet with crazies and help them make progress in the
Gospel.
Tausches
Within the Apartment
We
tausched with the other Marzahn sisters this week, who just live in our
apartment, so that was really easy to coordinate. But apparently exchanges
haven't been...normal in the past. To quote Sister Sadler, "Tausch has
always been komisch ever since the dead raccoon."
Will
I explain further?
No.
Was
our tausch normal?
Yes.
And no dead raccoons. Berg auf. (slang term, meaning upwards or moving up)
Homar.
The Second.
Still
didn't ever meet with the first Homar. But Homar the Second is rocking it. He
found pictures of missionaries that he had met with in Africa when he was 15
(he's about 35 right now) and that was cool to see. He is still not sure about
baptism because even though he believes everything we've taught, I think he
understands how big of a commitment this is. Because the Gospel changes your
life forever. It's really hard to be an auslander (foreigner) here because you always have
crazy work schedules and no money which makes it hard to come to church. But
we're working with him and he can do it.
Some
Firsts...
- A lesson in a car. Because we didn't have an apartment
nearby and it was cold.
- Going to a non-denominational Christian church in Berlin
on Saturday (reminiscent of Colorado Springs experiences)
- Quark pudding with pfannkuchen. mmmm...
Domestic
Skills 101
One
of Sister Kriser's special domestic skills? Sewing on buttons. Using super glue
instead of thread.
I love you all. With whatever skills you have or lack :)
--
Sister
Claire Michelle Woodward
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