Dirndl day (16.8.10)

Servus!

This week has been crazy!! First off, the ancient old pipes to our building broke so we've been without hot water for 9 days now. Our apartment is above the garage in it's own building so according to our assumptions of what the land lord said (in Bayrisch) we're not that important. I didn't think I'd be taking sponge baths at age 21. Each morning, we boil four pots of water and then take turns in the bathroom. Pres and Sis Condie were in our ward again this week (they're usually traveling the mission) so we told them about it. Sis Condie invited us to come shower at the Mission Home any day we wanted to. TODAY WAS THAT DAY!! You never realize how much zou miss a hot shower till you have to "sponge it". At 7am this morning, a huge backhoe came into the little couryard, so we have hope that we'll have hot water soon.

News - We've got another baptism planned. Barbara, from Nigeria, has been following the crowd of Africans that come to church each week. We finally got a meeting with her. Her only hesitancy is that she thinks she'll have to be perfect 'no sin' after she's baptized. The Sundaz School lesson this week solved that problem. She'll be baptiyed the same day as Comfort. AND, we found out the Elders have a baptism scheduled that day as well, so we're going to have a "triple dunking" (according to Gabriel, who was baptised on Sunday).

Food Story AGAIN - We teach Comfort every Sat and Sun and she always feeds us when we come on Sat. This week we had another adventure. She had made "Pounded Yam" which is a powdered yam mixed with boiling water. It's sort of like reallz really stiff mashed potatoes. She put a softball-sized kugel on our plates then went for the soup. Sis Schulthess had told me about a similar dish called Fu Fu, where zou take off pieces (with aour hands) dip it in the soup and then swallow it. NO CHEWING!! I got nervous and my throat tightened up. She returned with soup with a nice, big, gray FISH staring out of the pot at us. Before she dished that out, she slopped some okra 'soup' (more like paste) onto our plates which had stringy stickyness coming from it. THHEN she glopped soup and a hunk of the fish on our plates. I waited for some silverware, but my companion just laughed. Here we were, sitting on a couch in an itty bitty room with our plates in our laps and no utensils. Off we went. Fingers and all! The fish = catfish. I accidentally swallowed a little bone which doesn't feel good. We called Sis Condie when we got home and she told me to drink hot fluids. The bone is gone, but my throat is killing me. And, I think with all the rain we've been getting, I may have a little tingle. From this experience, I learned that when zou just swallow food, zou get fuller faster. And now, I have no qualms about swallowing pills....of anything else for that matter.

We have a new investigator. Her name is Gioma, from Nigeria. The Elders found her and gave her to us. She just had surgerz to have a tumor removed and that surgery has caused her to go blind. She's onlz about 27. We went to her Asylum to meet with her and when we arrived, the guards wouldn't let us in. They told us to go to the office and get permission so we trudged 3 blocks and got a note from the man in charge. Back at the Asylum, the guards looked at the note, conversed a little under their breaths, then laughed and said we weren't allowed in. Sis Schulthess was MAD!!! Apparently, the Jehovah Witnesses had been there the day before and caused a ruckus so they think we're going to do the same.

Bought a Dirndl today. It's blue with a red Schirtzl (apron). The Elders and Assistants invited us to go to Dachau concentration camp, but every tourist attraction is closed on Mondays. We're planning a big trip to Neuschwanstein at the end of this transfer.

I'm now officially reading only my GErman scriptures. Pres gave all the new missionaries a mini german bible and it's wonderful. I'm also finallz comfortable teaching a lesson by myself.

Missionarz work is fantastic!! It's no picnic that's for sure, but I really enjoy it when we have an appointment to meet with people. Wandering around stopping people on the street for two hours is not so fun. We're meeting with an extremelz inactive woman named Schwester Cheeseman (not KäseMann, CHEESEman). We just go and give a spiritual thought. Last time, her daughter and Enkelin were there (non memebers) and by the end, they all said they'd be coming to church on Sunday. We're doing something right.

Interesting Fact - It's true that South America has the most baptisms, but Germany has the highest retention rate in the church!!! TAKE THAT TAY!!! There are stubborn people, but the ones who listen, stick with it forever and truly believe. That's given me hope that we'll find people who'll listen....even after 20 doors being slammed in our faces. No one has let us in nor asked to meet with us from the street, but the lessons are powerful. Like I said before, the gospel goes to the humble and poor before the rich will even taste of it. I hold to that firmly.

No photos this week - tghe internet cafe computer is having issues.

Servus!!

Sister Lind

PS our nametags say 'Sister' because Schwester is associated with a nun. Definitely don't want to be that.