We have had the blessing of meeting
so many wonderful people. We have been able to make 10 visits this week,
not as many as we would like but we are able to sit and listen for as long as
they would care to share. It is helping us get to know the special
people in our ward. Strangers in our building and in public places
are friendly but no one has asked to have the discussions yet, C: It is
against the law for us to proselyte our apartment building because it is a locked
facility and you can't get in unless someone invites you and buzzes you
in.
It snowed lightly all day but there is very little accumulation. On the other side of town there is more snow than at our place, more ice, too. We visited several interesting people today. One family an older man, not as old as us, but middle aged and a very young beautiful Filipino wife. They have a little girl Terah or Terra. She has a Master's Degree in microbiology and works in a pharmaceutical lab. Her teaching license is not valid in Canada but it is in the USA. Back home, her father had 10 acres of land with guava, mango, pineapple,banana trees, etc. And they would hunt cobra snakes especially to protect the children from the nearby school that jump the fence to pick fruit. When her father was younger, he and his cousin were walking on this property and a snake(she says) or a lizard (he says) bit the cousin, he was dead in 10 minutes. Jim was real glad we weren't called there.
We visited the home of a wonderful German sister who is a widow. What a story she has to tell. She speaks very good English. She made us lunch of turkey soup with spaetzel (sp), oh man, was it good. Any way, her father and mother were not married when she was born in 1939, then tragically he was killed fighting Poland. Her mother took her to her grandparents (father's side) and left her for care while she worked as a nurse. She never came back. Later we find out, she had been told that they were killed in a bombing raid. The grandfather was with the railroad and kept someplace for years? The grandmother, with Sister G. and 2 other nieces survived by working on a farm for room and board. After the war, the grandfather found them and the family was reunited. All this time she thought her grandparents were her parents and the nieces were her sisters. The grandma died and the grandfather was put in an isolation ward for tuberculosis. He suggested she and her "sister" find the other sister that was living in West Berlin. If you went with a ticket and didn't come back, your family was automatically thrown in jail until you returned. He told her to go because they would be afraid to move him and spreading the TB. She and her sister actually hopped the train when the engine was in West Berlin and the Caboose was in East. For some reason she was never asked to produce her ticket so her father was safe. After her father died, she immigrated to Canada with some friends and has been here ever since. She married and said she never knew anything was wrong with her marriage, no clue. Her husband abandoned her for a younger woman and left her devastated. She quit Church at this point because she was mad at God for letting this happen to her. I forgot, in order to immigrate you have to have a birth certificate. This is when she finds outs she was raised by her grandparents. So, a friend here in Canada suggested she find out if her mother was living. She didn't want to, thinking she had been abandoned and not wanted; but relented and contacted the Red Cross. That failed and the letter was returned, she thought rejected. Finally she went through the police and it had been an address glitch. She phoned her mum, she said she paid $50 to listen to her cry. She went to Germany to meet her mom. Her mother thought all those years that she was dead. Her mom had remarried, he was killed in Hitler's army; she remarried again, and he was killed in the war. Finally she married again and had had 2 more daughters (I don't know who the father's were). So Sister G. met her mother and 2 half-sisters. She only had a few encounters with her mother before she passed. She desired to be sealed to her family after she came back to church and was done being angry. Her niece (the one she thought was her sister) was best friends with Harriet Uchtdorf. President Uchtdorf had been their Stake President and now, of course a member of the First Presidency, well he helped with that. I will have to tell you about that later. She had to leave Germany early because of a gall-bladder attack and make friends on the plane with some other German Canadians. They invited her to dinner, not to be set up, but they always invited a widower that was also German. They hit it off, but she said no to his marriage proposal because she would never marry out of her Church. He said, what Church do you belong to? She was just like me, I had never heard of a Mormon before, either. As fate would have it, the missionaries knocked on her door, he thought it was a set up, she didn't have a clue they were coming by. He started visiting with them. They taught him the Great Plan of Happiness, he didn't accept right away. He had a heart attack and needed 5 bypasses. She said he was agitated and scared, etc. She asked him if he would allow a Priesthood blessing. He agreed. She said from that moment on he was a changed man. He threw away the few bad habits he had and was baptized. They went to the Temple and she finally got to be sealed to the man of her dreams. Then he died. Her testimony is amazing though. "Life doesn't always turn out or even go the way we plan, but the Lord knows me and He did provide everything I needed and wanted." She looks forward to their reunion. What a woman! She has the most beautiful blue eyes; fair clear skin and incredible spirit. Hope this all makes sense to you. Let me know if I am giving too much detail. I just get incredibly touched by these people and the things they have been through.
I know how she feels about being sealed to her family though. I feel that way about all of you. Heavenly Father has blessed us with a wonderful, loving family, surely one I want to be with for all eternity! I love you! xoxox mom
It snowed lightly all day but there is very little accumulation. On the other side of town there is more snow than at our place, more ice, too. We visited several interesting people today. One family an older man, not as old as us, but middle aged and a very young beautiful Filipino wife. They have a little girl Terah or Terra. She has a Master's Degree in microbiology and works in a pharmaceutical lab. Her teaching license is not valid in Canada but it is in the USA. Back home, her father had 10 acres of land with guava, mango, pineapple,banana trees, etc. And they would hunt cobra snakes especially to protect the children from the nearby school that jump the fence to pick fruit. When her father was younger, he and his cousin were walking on this property and a snake(she says) or a lizard (he says) bit the cousin, he was dead in 10 minutes. Jim was real glad we weren't called there.
We visited the home of a wonderful German sister who is a widow. What a story she has to tell. She speaks very good English. She made us lunch of turkey soup with spaetzel (sp), oh man, was it good. Any way, her father and mother were not married when she was born in 1939, then tragically he was killed fighting Poland. Her mother took her to her grandparents (father's side) and left her for care while she worked as a nurse. She never came back. Later we find out, she had been told that they were killed in a bombing raid. The grandfather was with the railroad and kept someplace for years? The grandmother, with Sister G. and 2 other nieces survived by working on a farm for room and board. After the war, the grandfather found them and the family was reunited. All this time she thought her grandparents were her parents and the nieces were her sisters. The grandma died and the grandfather was put in an isolation ward for tuberculosis. He suggested she and her "sister" find the other sister that was living in West Berlin. If you went with a ticket and didn't come back, your family was automatically thrown in jail until you returned. He told her to go because they would be afraid to move him and spreading the TB. She and her sister actually hopped the train when the engine was in West Berlin and the Caboose was in East. For some reason she was never asked to produce her ticket so her father was safe. After her father died, she immigrated to Canada with some friends and has been here ever since. She married and said she never knew anything was wrong with her marriage, no clue. Her husband abandoned her for a younger woman and left her devastated. She quit Church at this point because she was mad at God for letting this happen to her. I forgot, in order to immigrate you have to have a birth certificate. This is when she finds outs she was raised by her grandparents. So, a friend here in Canada suggested she find out if her mother was living. She didn't want to, thinking she had been abandoned and not wanted; but relented and contacted the Red Cross. That failed and the letter was returned, she thought rejected. Finally she went through the police and it had been an address glitch. She phoned her mum, she said she paid $50 to listen to her cry. She went to Germany to meet her mom. Her mother thought all those years that she was dead. Her mom had remarried, he was killed in Hitler's army; she remarried again, and he was killed in the war. Finally she married again and had had 2 more daughters (I don't know who the father's were). So Sister G. met her mother and 2 half-sisters. She only had a few encounters with her mother before she passed. She desired to be sealed to her family after she came back to church and was done being angry. Her niece (the one she thought was her sister) was best friends with Harriet Uchtdorf. President Uchtdorf had been their Stake President and now, of course a member of the First Presidency, well he helped with that. I will have to tell you about that later. She had to leave Germany early because of a gall-bladder attack and make friends on the plane with some other German Canadians. They invited her to dinner, not to be set up, but they always invited a widower that was also German. They hit it off, but she said no to his marriage proposal because she would never marry out of her Church. He said, what Church do you belong to? She was just like me, I had never heard of a Mormon before, either. As fate would have it, the missionaries knocked on her door, he thought it was a set up, she didn't have a clue they were coming by. He started visiting with them. They taught him the Great Plan of Happiness, he didn't accept right away. He had a heart attack and needed 5 bypasses. She said he was agitated and scared, etc. She asked him if he would allow a Priesthood blessing. He agreed. She said from that moment on he was a changed man. He threw away the few bad habits he had and was baptized. They went to the Temple and she finally got to be sealed to the man of her dreams. Then he died. Her testimony is amazing though. "Life doesn't always turn out or even go the way we plan, but the Lord knows me and He did provide everything I needed and wanted." She looks forward to their reunion. What a woman! She has the most beautiful blue eyes; fair clear skin and incredible spirit. Hope this all makes sense to you. Let me know if I am giving too much detail. I just get incredibly touched by these people and the things they have been through.
I know how she feels about being sealed to her family though. I feel that way about all of you. Heavenly Father has blessed us with a wonderful, loving family, surely one I want to be with for all eternity! I love you! xoxox mom
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