So we would normally write emails from an Internet Cafe type place, but I happen to be under quarantine, and am therefore writing from Elder & Sister Thom(the couple missionaries)'s apartment. What would I be doing under quarantine, you ask? Let me tell you. You see, it began with a visit to M and her two young boys M and M in my last couple weeks in Elmshorn. You see, M had told us that M&M had Windpocken, which as we all know is the chicken pox. But, me, being a very clever man, knew that If you've already had the chicken pox, you can go to as many pox parties as you like, and be perfectly fine. Well, as you've probably noticed, I wouldn't be telling this story if I was right. Luckily, it does seem to be a very minor case - I don't have to many spots, nor are most of them much more than slightly itchy discolorations. So it's not much more than discomfort for me, but I'm homebound due to the long period of contagion found with chicken pox. Of course that also means I was contagious for a few days before I noticed any signs. Hopefully I didn't get any of the branch members I came into contact with.
The Branch seems to be really cool - we've had a couple eating appointments, we've had ward council, we taught some of the kids in the branch an English lesson, so I've met a lot of the members, despite my not being able to go to Church yesterday (It was saturday night when I first suspected I was sick). They all seem really cool. We end up speaking a lot of english, because a lot of their english is almost as good as their German. A lot of the members are Dutch, so pretty much everone speaks Dutch, English and German, and is constantly switching around between the three. It's quite the party. Elder Thom is the Branch President, he's really cool. His wife is hilarious.
Elder Ririe is cool. Actually, I can't get it out of my head how much he reminds me of Curtis Sudbury. Everything from his stature to his hair color to his quirky sense of humor and the way he jokes around with people. It also helps that he's always wearing a suit. I think it's especially funny because a while back Curtis had a companion that he said reminded him of me. But yeah, I think I'm gonna like working with Elder Ririe a lot. He's easy to get along with, and pretty funny. His German isn't quite so fluent as Elder Baake's, but it'll do ;P. It's more than you would expect from someone from Ogden. He's actually got much better German than a lot of other missionaries I've heard.
Speaking of segues, the area is really cool. There are a ton of gorgeous churches in the area and Bad Bentheim has a Castle! I could stare at them all day. We've also got a car area, so that's a bit different. It makes me feel a lot lazier. We also spend a lot more time in transit so I feel like I'm not doing much. We started listening to the Book of Mormon on Friday, and on the way over to the Thoms' today we finished Jacob 7. Also I've been suuuper sleepy most of the days since I've got here, which I can only blame on the car. I've definitely fallen asleep a couple times while Elder Ririe's driving.
We've been able to do a fair deal of walking though, one of my first nights we went for a walk along the Ems canal, which was nice, and decided to go for a bit of a walk in the morning for Morgensport, which has been nice. Then, a few days later, we decided to walk to a nearby contact, but then we passed it, then we thought the road looped around, but then it didn't, but then it looked like going a bit further, crossing a bridge, and coming back on the other side would be a bit shorter, but then it wasn't, then we took a wrong turn anyway, and had to turn back, and after walking approximately 17 km, we caught a train back to Rheine - my legs swore to never walk again.
But they did walk again. In the morning, I was surprised that my legs didn't hurt as much as my abs, which didn't make any sense. I'm trying to transition this into a closing testimony, but I feel like I'm getting farther from that, rather than closer.
Anyway, I know this church is true, and I know that God has called me to Germany and he has now called me to the Bad Bentheim area. I'm excited to discover what it his he wants me to do here and to do it. And I know he will help me, as we does every one of his children to will make the effort to follow him. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Love ya!
- Elder Cloward
Fig 3 - Crazy Missionaries in Hamburg
( Figures 4 &5 taken from atop the Michaelis)
Fig 4 - My Ugly Mug in front of Hamburg
Fig 5 - More crazy missionaries in Hamburg
Fig 6 - 9 random stuff in Rheine + Elder Ririe..
Apparently I've not yet taken pictures of churches or the Castle. But I certainly will
Fig 10 - I'm not lying when I say our area's on the Dutch border
Fig 11 - The print that the crazy Pidgeon left after flying into our window
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