Why Chalopa!
First off - Something I forgot to tell you last week- They've picked who our new mission president will be in July. He's a German - President Kosak, who has been working over CES in Moscow.... That'll be weird. But quite the party.
Second off - One of the questions I'm asked most often is where my name comes from. I know I've fruitlessly googled in the past, but if you can shine some light on the origins of Cloward, I would greatly appreciate it.
Third Off, my tongue just informed me that it would appreciate a recipe for chocolate peanutbutter bars. So if you've got one, feel free to enlighten me.
So I'm sure something happened this week.
Let's see... Yesterday was Sunday, which may or may not come as a surprise to some of you. We had a German-speaking wide stake conference broadcast out of Salt Lake. It was nice, even though we missed most of the first talk and a fair deal of a couple others due to some tricksy broadcasting stuff. Elder Nelson and Elder Eyring spoke. It was kind of funny to be able to hear them a little bit, but mostly hear the translators. It was a nice conference.
Yesterday evening, we got to teach B, an 8 year old fosterchild of a member family. Actually we do that every Sunday. It's fun. They're a great family. We also played a very amusing game of "Versteck" (Hide 'n' go seek) right after church with him....
Saturday we had President's Interviews in Kiel. That was quite the party.
While we were getting interviewed, our GML was presenting his plan to all the other GMLs in the stake.... also quite the party.
Well, On Wednesday night, as we were trudging across a frozen lake doing OYMs, an angry dwarf popped out of a slush puddle and started yelling at us in Danish. I of course, didn't understand a single word of it, except for "ble" which means diaper. I was trying to figure out what he was so mad about, and what it had to do with daipers (Or nappies, if we happen to have any british readers in the audience today) when my thoughts were cut off by a battle axe sinking into my thigh. That angry little man had attacked me. So I did the only thing I knew to - I pulled out my two handed Claymore and engaged him in battle. We were both moving so fast that our body heat melted all of the ice around us, but then we sped up just a little bit and were able to stand on the water. After several hours of combat, a nice old lady who could speak German and Danish came along and was able to help us resolve our problems. It was nice.
We've also been meeting with a cool guy who was a former investigator. He's very happy to meet and discuss with us, and he's open. I can definitely see him making progress. Earlier when he was investigating, he came to church a fair deal, and he wants to again, but lives out where it's really difficult to get to church. He is working on moving back to Flensburg. He's definitely one of our most promising investigators.
F is another of our most promising investigators. I imagine I've at least mentioned him before. This week we set a new baptismal date with him and talked about the Word of Wisdom.
Another Adventure was meeting with H, a very very alcoholic man. He was friendly, but he isn't all there. He would contradict himself within a single sentence and couldn't remember things that we'd just said, or he'd just said. He had more sober friend there with him, who just kind of made fun of him. On the surface, it was really funny, but it's really just so sad that someone - and that so many people - let their lives deteriorate to that point. And worse still, that you know it'll most likely just continue to get worse. He seemed to me to be an earlier version of an investigator we had in Elmshorn. We are so blessed to have the Word of Wisdom to sheild us from such fates.
Well, I think I'mma be pretty much done for today. I know this church is true, and I am glad to be in a position to invite people into it. There are so many blessings that we are provided because of the gospel. I'm so grateful for that.
Well, love ya! Have a beautiful week!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Germany Week 30
Yes, yes, I very much love the area. I too am tempted to be a bit touristy sometimes. It's nice though, because I get to see a lot of it just while running around doing missionary things. I'll definitely stop on occasion to look around. Hopefully that's not a sin. After all, Brigham Young did say, "If you don't go on your mission to see sights, then you'll've come and gone in vain." Or something like that. ;P That's how Elder Ririe always paraphrased it ;) It's funny though - I wish I took more pictures, but at the same time, maybe I take to many pictures as far as the whole "Don't look like a tourist" thing goes. And on top of that, I still have the problem of never taking pictures of people... They just move too much... and they just seem to have minds of their own. I'm all about photographing things that aren't going to react to my pointing a camera at them. Like shoes. Everybody likes shoes.
Also, I would like to make a comment on my spelling. I don't know if it's actually any worse than it usually is, but I feel like it is. Let me tell you why. You see, I'm using google chrome. Which I usually love. But you see, I'm currently using Google Chrome in a Danish library. And one thing about Google Chrome is that it likes to underline misspelled words in red. Now that's all fine and dandy when you speak the language for which it's expecting you to spell. But since everything's in Danish, I can't figure out how to switch the settings. Now, I could just switch to Internet Explorer. But I'm way to lazy to open a whole new browser, log in, and copy and paste. So I'm a little paranoid about my spelling, and therefore may overcompensate a bit.
Mhmmm.... let's see... what've I been up to this week....
Well, On friday, we got a surprise call from the bordering Danish Elders. They were asking if they could use our font for a baptism the following morning. We of course said we'd love to oblige them. Now, if you'll recall from last week's chronicle, our Gemeindehaus was having some plumbing issues. So certain pipes were... out of order. Those pipes just happened to be all the warm water pipes, and the pipe leading to the baptismal font. After testing that, we called the Denmark Elders and told them that we would only be able to have cold water unless they wanted to wait a week or two. They said that their options were either that, or to go cut a hole in the ice. So they came here. We spent about 4 hours split between Friday night and Saturday morning carrying buckets to the font. We also were finally able to get a hose hooked up and that helped us out a lot. Saturday morning we were boiling water on the stove, and using whatever we could find to heat water and pour it in, but it didn't even make a dent in the temperature. So the girl who got baptized was very cold. She was good about it though. But she kind of yelped as she got in, and was like, "Let's just get this over with!" I felt so bad. But also Good. It was interesting. It was mostly in English (she was from the Phillipines) but they did a lot in Danish too, so we got to hear a lot of it. It's pretty crazy. Dutch is way easier to understand. Anyhoodles, that was quite the party.
Ummm....
yesterday, which also meant that he got a couple packages. And he is quite the saint. He shared a lot of candy with me. For instance, he gave me one of his half pound Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. That was amazing. And Oreos dipped in peanut butter are a beautiful thing.
3.Nom Nom Nom
Well, I feel like I should say more, but I'm not coming up with anything, and I'm pretty much out of time, so, have a wonderful week! The church is true!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Germany Week 29
Remember that one time when I was whining about the German keyboards being different? Well, I get to go through that all over again. Because I am sending this email from a Danish library. It's actually quite exciting. So I registered for a library card, had a conversation with a librarian consisting of her speaking Danish, and me nodding and handing her the papers she seemed to be indicating. And now I'm surrounded by a bunch of books in Danish. It makes me feel like I should learn the language. I almost feel like I'm abusing my library priveledges, but it's rather interesting, and also very free, an improvement on the internetladens I'm used to. The keyboard is also not too bad, it's very close to the German one, which is very close to the english one. The only real problem I'm having is I keep thinking I have to hit the shift to get the apostrophe, which results in an *. and sometimes I slip and hit a æ, ø, or å. But that*S just a more exciting version of what can happen on any keyboard.
Although our email outlet is considerably more Danish, the branch here is very much less Danish than Bad Bentheim is Dutch. There aren't any Danes in the ward here, but there's one German member family that lives up in Denmark. The branch president is Tongan. I have no idea how he made his way up here, but he seems really cool. The branch here is bigger than the one in Bad Bentheim, but I'm not sure numberwise. There are several really cool member families here. I'm excited for it.
The city itself is really pretty. I like it a lot. It's actually been a bit warmer here than it was in Bad Bentheim, but I think that's just because it got warmer, not because I went somewhere that's warmer. There is a bit more snow here, but I get the feeling it's pretty much the same as it was there. As for crazy cold winter, it doesn't seem too extreme to me here - we definitely don't have very much snow, just an inch or so, here and there... The morning I left Rheine it was -14C, which, according to my scribbled down calculations is 6.8F, which is really cold, but nothing shocking.
One adventure we had during the week was on Friday, we came to the Church building to play basketball with a less active member, and as we walked in, we were surprised by the sauna like properties of the air in the church.... It was warm, moist, and there was a dripping sound down the hall. Upon further inspection, it seemed that the whole hall was rather... wet. Some sort of warm water pipe burst in the ceiling above the women's bathroom and flooded that whole area. It was very fortunate that we came when we did. We were able to call one of the counselors in the branch presidency, who came and called a company to come fix/clean it. Also very luckily, the water really only reached areas with Tile and didn't make it to the Chapel or the cutlural hall. I don't know how much damage was done, but it definitely could've been much more. I don't think it was just luck though. I am thankful that Heavenly Father watches over us and guides us in little things, especially those that turn out to be big things.
Yesterday was also marvelous, I got to indroduce myself and get to know the members a little bit. I'm really excited to work with them, and to be here. It's going to be great.
Love ya!
Although our email outlet is considerably more Danish, the branch here is very much less Danish than Bad Bentheim is Dutch. There aren't any Danes in the ward here, but there's one German member family that lives up in Denmark. The branch president is Tongan. I have no idea how he made his way up here, but he seems really cool. The branch here is bigger than the one in Bad Bentheim, but I'm not sure numberwise. There are several really cool member families here. I'm excited for it.
The city itself is really pretty. I like it a lot. It's actually been a bit warmer here than it was in Bad Bentheim, but I think that's just because it got warmer, not because I went somewhere that's warmer. There is a bit more snow here, but I get the feeling it's pretty much the same as it was there. As for crazy cold winter, it doesn't seem too extreme to me here - we definitely don't have very much snow, just an inch or so, here and there... The morning I left Rheine it was -14C, which, according to my scribbled down calculations is 6.8F, which is really cold, but nothing shocking.
One adventure we had during the week was on Friday, we came to the Church building to play basketball with a less active member, and as we walked in, we were surprised by the sauna like properties of the air in the church.... It was warm, moist, and there was a dripping sound down the hall. Upon further inspection, it seemed that the whole hall was rather... wet. Some sort of warm water pipe burst in the ceiling above the women's bathroom and flooded that whole area. It was very fortunate that we came when we did. We were able to call one of the counselors in the branch presidency, who came and called a company to come fix/clean it. Also very luckily, the water really only reached areas with Tile and didn't make it to the Chapel or the cutlural hall. I don't know how much damage was done, but it definitely could've been much more. I don't think it was just luck though. I am thankful that Heavenly Father watches over us and guides us in little things, especially those that turn out to be big things.
Yesterday was also marvelous, I got to indroduce myself and get to know the members a little bit. I'm really excited to work with them, and to be here. It's going to be great.
Love ya!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Germany Week 28
Okeyyyy Dokey!
So, first things first. I done been transfered to Flensburg, up on the northern Tippy top o' Germany, roundabouts the Border O' Denmark. So basically, I'm trading Dutch for Danish.
My Address there'll be:
Elder Jacob Austin Zebedee Augustinian von Wiesbaden Cloward
Nerongsallee 48
24939 Flensburg
Germany
Actually, I don't think my full name will be necessary for Postal purposes.
Anyhoodles, I'll have one Elder Hardman as my companion, who I don't really know, but who I have met - he was a zone leader in Hannover, but before that. he was in Bad Benthiem. So he was the earlier companion of the earlier companion of my earlier companion, which really isn't so far removed as I made it sound. It'll be cool to have Bad Bentheim in common... Also, I'm told that I'm killing him. It's a pity. He seems a decent fellow.
If you hadn't guessed, I'm feeling a little bit crazy today. I think that's probably largely due to my excitement/nervousness about shipping myself off to Flensburg on the morrow. I'm super excited for it, and I'm looking forward to it, but I will definitely miss this gemeinde. I'm pretty surprised by how much some of them said they're going to miss me, too. I feel like I mostly sat here without saying much, but apparently that's what they like.. :P One of the B children, D, came up and sat with me for the rest of Testimony meeting after I said I was leaving and cried through most of it. And that made me cry too. I was pretty surprised by it, I thought I was kind of just another missionary to him.. maybe he does it for all the missionaries... but I didn't get that impression... but yeah. I'll miss these people.
Hmmm... exciting things during the week....
One was on Monday when we helped PA move all of his furniture and boxes up to his new Apartment, so he could be technically moved in by the time he took off for Peru Tuesday night. It was fun, and it was good to be able to help. We also got to meet his son, who is super cool.
This week was also a bit better than the ones before it, mostly because we got out more, had more appointments and taught more people. But I don't feel like many of those were exciting enough to talk to you about - they were mostly just member visits...
I really enjoeyed one appointment though - it was with a man who was a former investigator, who I'd met once before when I was with Elder Thom waiting for Elder Weitzel to arrive. I thought It'd be good to make an appointment with him, so I did. It was a really good appointment. We had a really good discussion/lesson and read out of the Book of Mormon, and he seemed to really enjoy it. He definitely talked about the Book of Mormon as scripture - I think he has a testimony, but just wasn't ready to act on it. Maybe he will be now.
Yeah, I feel like we did a lot, but not much noteworthy... So I think I'll just be done with that.
I know this church is true, and I know that It is led by God through his Prophet. I am so grateful to have that knowledge and to have the opportunity to act on it, and to share it with others. Have a beautiful week all of you people!
So, first things first. I done been transfered to Flensburg, up on the northern Tippy top o' Germany, roundabouts the Border O' Denmark. So basically, I'm trading Dutch for Danish.
My Address there'll be:
Elder Jacob Austin Zebedee Augustinian von Wiesbaden Cloward
Nerongsallee 48
24939 Flensburg
Germany
Actually, I don't think my full name will be necessary for Postal purposes.
Anyhoodles, I'll have one Elder Hardman as my companion, who I don't really know, but who I have met - he was a zone leader in Hannover, but before that. he was in Bad Benthiem. So he was the earlier companion of the earlier companion of my earlier companion, which really isn't so far removed as I made it sound. It'll be cool to have Bad Bentheim in common... Also, I'm told that I'm killing him. It's a pity. He seems a decent fellow.
If you hadn't guessed, I'm feeling a little bit crazy today. I think that's probably largely due to my excitement/nervousness about shipping myself off to Flensburg on the morrow. I'm super excited for it, and I'm looking forward to it, but I will definitely miss this gemeinde. I'm pretty surprised by how much some of them said they're going to miss me, too. I feel like I mostly sat here without saying much, but apparently that's what they like.. :P One of the B children, D, came up and sat with me for the rest of Testimony meeting after I said I was leaving and cried through most of it. And that made me cry too. I was pretty surprised by it, I thought I was kind of just another missionary to him.. maybe he does it for all the missionaries... but I didn't get that impression... but yeah. I'll miss these people.
Hmmm... exciting things during the week....
One was on Monday when we helped PA move all of his furniture and boxes up to his new Apartment, so he could be technically moved in by the time he took off for Peru Tuesday night. It was fun, and it was good to be able to help. We also got to meet his son, who is super cool.
This week was also a bit better than the ones before it, mostly because we got out more, had more appointments and taught more people. But I don't feel like many of those were exciting enough to talk to you about - they were mostly just member visits...
I really enjoeyed one appointment though - it was with a man who was a former investigator, who I'd met once before when I was with Elder Thom waiting for Elder Weitzel to arrive. I thought It'd be good to make an appointment with him, so I did. It was a really good appointment. We had a really good discussion/lesson and read out of the Book of Mormon, and he seemed to really enjoy it. He definitely talked about the Book of Mormon as scripture - I think he has a testimony, but just wasn't ready to act on it. Maybe he will be now.
Yeah, I feel like we did a lot, but not much noteworthy... So I think I'll just be done with that.
I know this church is true, and I know that It is led by God through his Prophet. I am so grateful to have that knowledge and to have the opportunity to act on it, and to share it with others. Have a beautiful week all of you people!
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