I love getting stuff from you :) It makes me remember my family more, and helps me think about america!! Man, You really don´t know what you have until its gone. But Germany is pretty great too :)
Ok... So N*** is going to have to wait to be baptized for a little while because of his situation with the government. He is currently a political refugee here in Germany, and when the people come here like him the government takes care of them, but they also have almost complete control of there lives. Right now he is going all around Germany having interviews with people, trying to figure out if he´ll be staying in Leer or if he´ll be going somewhere else. He´s been so busy, and going around so much we haven´t met with him in 2 weeks, and we don´t know what´s going on with him. We´re pretty worried right now, and we´d really appreciate your prayers.
Oh well... Do you want to here about some adventures we had this week? We got a referral! This person lives in Westoverledigen, which is a good distance away. With referrals, we´re supposed to contact them in 24 hours... Now where this person lives there is no bus, no train no nothing. So, we decided to bike there! It wouldn´t have been too bad, but right when we started it began to rain. This rain then turned into snow, and then into hail. We ended up getting lost and biking to Weener... It wasn´t a pleasant experience. But we made contact!
Right after this bike trek we received new bikes! And man, they are nice! The mission was tired of getting cheap bikes and having them always break, so they decided they wanted to get new, more expensive bikes. So now we are testing these new bikes, because "If they don´t break on you, they won´t break on anyone!" Being a big guy isn´t always bad :) But now that we have new bikes, Elder Timmerman like to test them out... We biked 60 Kilometers in 2 days... he wanted to bike 100 but I was able to talk some sense into him.
Dear Elder Oliphant,
ReplyDeleteI wrote you a long letter and it got deleted! *_* sorry! But here is the short version:
I love the area you are in: N/W Deutchland. When I go there to teach, I go to a little town called Damme. It is just N/E of Osnabruck. So you can imagine that it is a verrry long trip. Plane to Amsterdam, train 3 plus hours to Osnabruck, another train to Furden, and then by car to Damme. (unless they pick me up at the train station in Osnabruk. ^_^
Everyone rides a bike! The countryside is so beautiful. And I love the people. The young adults are a little leery of having people think they are supposed to "fix the mess" the world is in. But they are also very open to spiritual awareness and hungry for help.
News: Sammy is getting ready to put in her papers. So is Kathryn T. John just gets taller. And Braidon gave a talk in church!! Whooo hoooo!
I am still studying to memorize the chapters in the BofM. I have to make the numbers into rhyming words and then relate the rhymes to metaphors that relate to the story. It sounds like a lot of work, but it helps me to put a picture to the number. So.... Alma 49 becomes 9 - spine. Spine stands for courage, strength, or a "book". That means that when Moroni strengthens the cities of the Nephites to prepare them and protect them for war, I can remember that God will take my weaknesses and make them into strengths - if I am willing to do the work and ask for His vision.
I am thinking of you. We pray for you. You are loved and supported in your work. Blessings on you and your companion, and on the people you meet. You are making a difference. ^_^
all my best,
Sharon Plaskett