Subject: I think God has a sense of humor!
Meine Familie,
Wowsers....have not used that word in a long time, but hey, that is the word that comes to mind when I look back on this week. I am glad to hear that everybody had an awesome Christmas and New Years...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NEIL!! wow, you are 19 years old!!! That is so crazy...in a little selfish way I am glad you cannot go on a mission because that means that it would be another 2 years before I get to be with you again. . . but we all know that you already served your mission before you came here to the earth!!!
Anyways, I was debating if I wanted to tell y'all a story from this week...and well, I figured I would because that is highlight news of the week. I have had alot of crazy stories on my mission and things that I never thought would happen... some I have written home and well, some that y'all will just have to wait until I get home. But I think it is all good if I were to tell you this story and to let you know...that everything is just dandy and taken care of.
Wowsers....have not used that word in a long time, but hey, that is the word that comes to mind when I look back on this week. I am glad to hear that everybody had an awesome Christmas and New Years...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NEIL!! wow, you are 19 years old!!! That is so crazy...in a little selfish way I am glad you cannot go on a mission because that means that it would be another 2 years before I get to be with you again. . . but we all know that you already served your mission before you came here to the earth!!!
Anyways, I was debating if I wanted to tell y'all a story from this week...and well, I figured I would because that is highlight news of the week. I have had alot of crazy stories on my mission and things that I never thought would happen... some I have written home and well, some that y'all will just have to wait until I get home. But I think it is all good if I were to tell you this story and to let you know...that everything is just dandy and taken care of.
The story began last Sunday. I think I have written home about Chrys. He is an African that we teach German. He comes to the church every once in awhile and we teach him. Well, he invited us over to his place last Sunday for the New Year, but he would not tell us why...only that it was a surprise. Well, I got a really bad feeling about that and so I called him up on that day and told him that we could not make it. Well, I then later felt bad and told him that we would be able to drop by Monday night for a little while to see how he is doing and maybe try teaching him something from the Book of Mormon. Well, we went and he made us some yummy African food. We had a good visit and then he told us that he was sad that we were not able to make it to his place yesterday because he had a party with dancing and music and so on. Then he said that he wished that his best friend was there and indicated that I was his best friend...now, first of all, I have no idea how I became this guy's best friend because I only teach him German at the church like once a week. Well, it then became kind of weird and we ate and then said we had to leave. As we were leaving he handed Sister Noyes and I each a little bag of Haribo candy and underneath my bag was a note of some sort..oh no. I we went home so we could finish weekly planning and well, I read the note...the only thing was, it was more than just a little note..it was like a little stapled together flip book and well...I think that this has become one of my funniest stories of the mission and well, when I get home you will just have to see the flip book yourself. In this little book though he asked me if I would like to be in a relationship with him...and then he said that if I were to say no, to just give him an answer because he is mature enough to hear it. . . well, the Elders in our district helped me with some advice on what to do because Chrys was going to be coming to the church on Wednesday so we could teach him German. We for sure wanted someone else to be in the building on Wednesday and so the Forst Elders were going to come with us. I called President on Tuesday and told him about the situation and he gave me some advice on what to say and we talked about it would be a good idea to build up the German class so it is not just us teaching Chrys and to try and get more students. Well, Wednesday came and the Elders showed up...we all went to the church together and Sister Noyes and I went into the class room with Chrys and the Elders just hung out in another room. Well, one of my most awkward moments on the mission was about to come to pass and I told Chrys that I am going to have to say no and that the reason is that I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ and that means that when I decided to come on a mission I made the choice not to think about a relationship and not to be in one and not to get into one...also that my time here as a missionary is very special for me and I am here to help and serve people and to teach them and so forth. I cannot remember everything I said, but then Chrys said, "but your mission is almost over..what about after?" At that point I kind of had to lie...I told him that somebody was waiting for me. Which is not completely a lie because someone somewhere is, right? ha. . . So at this point Chrys's eyes started to water up a bit and we ended up having a good talk about how God has a plan for everybody and sometimes things do not work out the way we hope, but that does not mean that the plan God has for us will not get better and better. After German class I did call President and tell him that everything was taken care of and that there was no longer a problem. Presdient was excited and said, "yay, no emergency transfers" That makes me happy to because I do not feel it is my time to leave Cottbus...especially since I am only in my second week of training...Things are so awesome and the problem is taken care of. I never thought in a million years that I would break an African man's heart on my mission...but hey I think it makes a pretty funny story for my mission...I just kind of laugh about it and well, I hope you are also able to see that it is actually a funny story and well, everything is ok and dandy and well, I was debating if I should even tell it. Ha... it is a lot funnier than it may seem. . . and I am really relieved that the situation turned out good in the end.
Ok, well...other things that happened this week. We went and visited Bruder Gröschke, He is so funny and we played Rummikub with him. He was not winning and so we had to play until he won. It was really funny. But it was great. One of the biggest joys I have on my mission is building relationships with the members and sharing thoughts and experiences with them and encouraging them to do missionary work. I love the work so much. We visted with Sch. Raddewagen this week and also Sch. Schmidt. These members are great lights to the gospel. I encourage all members to show your friends your own excitment for the gospel and invite them to church and to a game night where the missionaries are there. . . last week we randomly dropped by a members house and she had friends there and invited us in to join them and play games. It was a great way to get to know her friends in a chill, fun environment.
We met with Chaoke this week....that was cool. I have only met with him once before and he is from China...well, he had a friend over and so we taught both of them. They are both so curious about finding out what the truth is and about prayer. I look forward to continue seeing them progress.
We also met with Talent...it has been along time and so I was glad to see him again. At the beginning it was funny because he apologized for what happened earlier this week. You see our African investigators all know each other and so Talent knew about what happened with Chrys. Talent was like...he should not have done that anyways...I quickly changed the topic though and we had a good discussion about the Proclamation to the Family. He is so golden and he is progressing so fast!!!
We went to Tom and Sissi's this week too. Tom is our ward mission leader. They have been in America these last few weeks. Tom is actually from America and Sissi is German and they both met on their missions in Switzerland. They made us homemade corn dogs. I loved it...I have not had one of those for over a year!! They were great.
We also got a new investigator named Chitta this week. He is from India and well, he is going back to India for 3 weeks and so it is a bummer we will not see him for a while. But we had a great appointment with him last night and he really wants to read the Book of Mormon!!!
This week...was full of craziness....we did doors and those are always fun...I am trying to get Sister Noyes more so excited about talking to people...she is very scared to speak to people. And well...we had a lot of rain this week. I got really cheap 10 euro boots to last me the rest of the winter because my other boots have holes in them and broke, so my feet were wet and frozen in those boots.
But the work is so great and I really do love every minute of being a missionary. I know that this is the True Church of Christ. There is so much power in the message we share and our belief. I know miracles happen every day... I know that when we yield to the prompting of the spirit he will guide us to where we need to be and also protect us from situations. The spirit testifies of truth and I know that to be true. I am just here as a servant of God and wanting to help his children come closer to him.
I hope everyone has a great week and that Blake and Garrett have fun in Texas... I mailed packages last Monday...so let me know when they come....and did y'all get my message about Sister Risenmay?
I love y'all!!!
Sister Anderson
Ok, well...other things that happened this week. We went and visited Bruder Gröschke, He is so funny and we played Rummikub with him. He was not winning and so we had to play until he won. It was really funny. But it was great. One of the biggest joys I have on my mission is building relationships with the members and sharing thoughts and experiences with them and encouraging them to do missionary work. I love the work so much. We visted with Sch. Raddewagen this week and also Sch. Schmidt. These members are great lights to the gospel. I encourage all members to show your friends your own excitment for the gospel and invite them to church and to a game night where the missionaries are there. . . last week we randomly dropped by a members house and she had friends there and invited us in to join them and play games. It was a great way to get to know her friends in a chill, fun environment.
We met with Chaoke this week....that was cool. I have only met with him once before and he is from China...well, he had a friend over and so we taught both of them. They are both so curious about finding out what the truth is and about prayer. I look forward to continue seeing them progress.
We also met with Talent...it has been along time and so I was glad to see him again. At the beginning it was funny because he apologized for what happened earlier this week. You see our African investigators all know each other and so Talent knew about what happened with Chrys. Talent was like...he should not have done that anyways...I quickly changed the topic though and we had a good discussion about the Proclamation to the Family. He is so golden and he is progressing so fast!!!
We went to Tom and Sissi's this week too. Tom is our ward mission leader. They have been in America these last few weeks. Tom is actually from America and Sissi is German and they both met on their missions in Switzerland. They made us homemade corn dogs. I loved it...I have not had one of those for over a year!! They were great.
We also got a new investigator named Chitta this week. He is from India and well, he is going back to India for 3 weeks and so it is a bummer we will not see him for a while. But we had a great appointment with him last night and he really wants to read the Book of Mormon!!!
This week...was full of craziness....we did doors and those are always fun...I am trying to get Sister Noyes more so excited about talking to people...she is very scared to speak to people. And well...we had a lot of rain this week. I got really cheap 10 euro boots to last me the rest of the winter because my other boots have holes in them and broke, so my feet were wet and frozen in those boots.
But the work is so great and I really do love every minute of being a missionary. I know that this is the True Church of Christ. There is so much power in the message we share and our belief. I know miracles happen every day... I know that when we yield to the prompting of the spirit he will guide us to where we need to be and also protect us from situations. The spirit testifies of truth and I know that to be true. I am just here as a servant of God and wanting to help his children come closer to him.
I hope everyone has a great week and that Blake and Garrett have fun in Texas... I mailed packages last Monday...so let me know when they come....and did y'all get my message about Sister Risenmay?
I love y'all!!!
Sister Anderson
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