July 13, 2009

So, this week was another fun one, but I of course forgot my planner with all of the things I wanted to tell you! AHH! So, last Monday, when P-Day ended at 6 we went to FHE, had a spiritual thought on eternal marriage--there were 4 missionaries, two married couples and ONE non married guy who, by the way, is a smelly schizophrenic. Not kidding. He just starts laughing in the middle of a lesson. It makes me feel bad.
Then, we worked a lot this week. I guess I never really understood what "missionary work" meant. It doesn't mean that you are gone all day long or that you talk to every single person you see. It is more studying, smiling at people on the street, helping people with groceries, getting to know them, and sharing a brief testimony with them.
Well, last Wednesday, my companion and I witnessed a miracle. It was amazing. We had come home for a short break when my comp opens the area book and starts reading about previous investigators and starts to call them. She read about a girl named Sandy who was found by missionaries that offered to help her with her groceries because it looked like she was. It turns out she was struggling because she had cancer in her legs so she got a priesthood blessing and never felt the pain again. She was going to church, had a baptismal date, then the day of her baptism disappeared and when the missionaries would call or anything she would act like she didn't know them. (She apparently had a boyfriend at the time.) So, this is where my comp comes in. Sandy has a daughter who was with her parents in Italy on urlaub (vacation) so she was going south of Berlin because she can't afford her apartment and she was going to move in with her parents when they got back. So, the train stopped in Berlin and she was doing something when a man walked up to her, choked her, and stole all of her money, identification, everything. So, she goes and sits in a corner of the train station with her remaining stuff and starts to cry because her phone didn't have any money on it, she was going to add it that day. Then a gay guy walks up to her and asks what is wrong. So, she tells him the story and he says he doesn't have any money but she can stay with him until she figures something. Luckily she had a phone charger so she was just waiting for someone to call. No one called for 3 days and she had no food because this guy turned out to be a chain smoker and couldn't afford food. So, she looks at this little angel key chain on her phone and remembers what the sisters had taught her about prayer. So, she pray's and right when she closes and say's Amen the phone rings and it was my comp. So, we found a way to get her back up to Greifswald, got her some food, and we are trying to get an appointment with her, but she has the flu. We are meeting tonight and we want to commit her to baptism, she told my companion, "If I would have gotten baptized this wouldn't have happened! Everything has been going wrong in my life since I turned away!" So, please pray for another miracle!
Okay, next story. I told you about a lady named Frau Brauer, right? Well, she is this really old lady who we teach who is already a member, but forgot or something. So we taught her the other day and it was really good, we talked about 2 Nephi 31, asked about baptism and then she started talking about her previous marriage and things like that. Then, as we are about to leave, she asks us to pray for her because her neighbors hate her and are trying to poison her, she can feel it through the walls. Komisch, nah? Wierd, huh? Everything was normal right until the end. We also teach Frau Pahl up in Stralsund, I think I told you about her too, she is 81 and has arthritis and doesn't want to join the church because she doesn't want to go to the Celestial Kingdom without her sister. This week she gave us so much lemon streudel (strOIdel, not struedel-that is a different dessert) and hot chocolate, I thought I was going to burst. Then, she was talking about how she doesn't understand why people don't believe the Book of Mormon is true. Then, she said, maybe because the Germans are used to being deceived they don't want to experience it again like they did Hitler. She talks about hailing Hitler and that whole ordeal. It is so intense, I wish I understood more of what she is saying. And, she also taught us how to get rid of back pain and she demonstrated bending down really slowly, swing your arms, then as you come back up you basically do a body roll. I almost died of laughter, she is 81 years OLD!!!

Well, to be honest, being a missionary is the best thing ever. I love being able to see the change people have when the spirit testifies of truth. I love getting to bear my testimony every day to random people on the street. We were told that the average is 10,000 people contacted for 1 baptism. I am only at like 100, so I really need to get to work! I have realized that I probably hold everyone at too high of a standard and I always have. I have always pushed people to do more work than they can stand so I am trying not to do that as a missionary. I cannot run faster than I have strength. Everyday I remind myself of that.
So, I am so proud of your big fish that you caught! I am impressed you survived ANOTHER week of camping. Oh, and random things: I am in a branch, I can't remember my pin number to my debit card, I still need to get those addresses to you, this internet place smells like bad BO, my comps name is Katie and has a sister named Emily, und so weiter (and so on).
Oh, and yesterday we went to the Koch's in our ward's garden like a dacha in Russia and they fed us more meat than I ever thought humanly possible. So, we ate pig stomach, two steaks, chicken, sausage, salad, bread with butter and dill, and we had a "kleiner prophet" literally meaning small prophet that means we are getting dessert. So, we had pudding, and little chocolaty marshmallows. I thought I'd pop like a balloon. Anyway, I have to write a few more e-mails, but I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!