Touching Story

Ok, this isn't really my story, but I had to share it with you. At the last English Bible study, Larry gave a lesson and he told a very touching story that was very sweet. I will try to tell it as well as I can, but hopefully you can get the main concept.

Several years ago there were some people who came to do mission work in Russia. They were working in an orphanage in Russia. Larry says the orphanages in Russia are not very nice places to be and the situations there are just sad. These missionaries would tell the children stories and do activities with them. Since it was around Christmas time, they thought they would tell them the story of Christmas. They didn't really have very much material to do activities with the children, but they found all that they could in their hotel room and with what they had. They were going to have the children make their own mangers with baby Jesus in them. They found pieces of cardboard and cut them up into pieces to make the manger and they took pieces of napkins to use as a cloth for the baby. Then they found some other material to make a baby Jesus. As they were helping the children put their mangers together one of the missionaries walked over to a boy who had two babies in his manger. The man went to get a translator and asked the little boy why he had two babies in the manger. The little boy went on to tell the story that at the birth of Jesus he had gone to the stable but he told baby Jesus that he had nothing to give him. He also told Jesus that he had no where to stay and no bed to sleep in. Jesus turned to him and said that he could stay there with him and keep him warm. The boy said, I have nothing to give you but I will sleep here with you and keep you warm. The boy began sobbing and crying and telling the man his life story and how he had no parents and no home. But on this day, the boy found Jesus and found a home with him forever. Jesus was never going to leave him or abandon him and with Jesus he always had a home.

I know this is not exactly the way that Larry told it, but it was so touching to me it really just about made me cry. I hope you can remember that in Jesus you always have a friend and that you always have a home.

Dear Shipping Company

Dear Shipping Compay*,
Recently I have become very restless and annoyed with your service. I am also not the only person who has felt this way. Moe* has especially felt this way, since a majority of the items shipped are his. It is ridiculous to expect him to sleep in a recliner for a month. I would also enjoy making myself at home by putting my pictures on the walls in my apartment. It would also be nice to have my books and reference materials. If you could please send our things soon, we would really appreciate it. I mean, I know it is a lot to ask to deliver our things within 6 months, but it has been nearly 3 months now. Haven't we waited long enough? What shipping company that delivers things around the world only has one truck that goes from London to Germany anyway? If you could, please quickly load the boxes onto your truck and have them here ASAP. Thank you once again for your time and for your thoughtful service.

Sincerely,
An annoyed customer*

*Names have been kept anonymous to protect the innocent customers and incompetent companies involved

Extremely Delightful Crisps

Extremely Delightful Crisps

I want to share with you this letter that my friend Vanessa and I wrote. Her mother, Kathrin, brought some of these "Golden Wonder Crisps" back from her trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. We had such a fun time writing it that we decided to send it to their e-mail address and actually got a response! Enjoy!


Dear Golden Wonder,

Congratulations on your wonderful crisps. They are very delightful. I must say that the quality of the potatoes was the finest. They definitely retained the goodness from which the crisps originated. Also, the seasoning that was so carefully placed upon the crisps did make them the best crisps I have ever layed my lips upon. Once again, congratulations are in order for this fine accomplishment of deliciously tasting crisps.

Sincerely,
April Wooldridge & Vanessa Effenberger

Here is Golden Wonder's response:

Thank you for your e-mail. It's great to hear from you.

As most manufacturers will tell you, consumers are quick to point out any faults or dislikes they have but rarely take the time to comment on the things we get right.

I hope you will continue to enjoy our crisps and thank you once again for contacting us.

Regards,

Zoe

Prayers

Hello everyone. I just thought I would leave a quick message. First of all, I want to ask you to pray for Clint. He is currently on his way to Ohio because his grandmother is very sick. She has recently found out that she has liver cancer and so please pray for his whole family and for his safety. I know he would really appreciate, just as I would.

Church Building

Clint and I at the church building

This is the Church of Christ (Gemeinde Christi) in Chemnitz. I'm not sure how long they have had this building, but I know it's been a while. The members have been doing a lot of work on the building in the last year or two. In fact, in March they just got their first bathroom. Well, at least their first flushing toilets. They had what is called a "plumpsklo." If you needed the restroom, it wasn't always a very pleasant experience, especially in the summer when it was very hot. It was basically the equivalent of a portapotty. Well, they added on and now have a very nice bathroom with stalls even in the women's restroom. Also, there is running water in the sink! The old sink had water that ran, but it wasn't hooked up to any pipes, so it just ran into a bucket underneath and it had to be emptied out occasionally. They also made a sort of parking place. Although it is very small and only 1 or 2 cars could fit there, it is nice for people who need to go to the church during the day to work or for anyone who needs to be dropped off closer to the building. Most recently, they built a new kitchen. In the room that used to be the kitchen, I helped re-wallpaper and scrape up carpet from the floor. They repainted the walls and are putting new carpet down. After it is finished they are going to have a "krabbelgruppe" or a play group for mothers and their children. This is going to be a great outreach in the community and I think it wil be great for the women to get to know others and invite them over to the church during the day. I am also helping in the garden now. I have only worked there a couple of times now, but I am hoping to make time to pull weeds and make sure it always looks good on a regular basis. I have had some ladies show me what all I need to do and what all are weeds. At the moment I am wanting to learn more about how to take care of gardens so that I can do something with mine at home and I think it would be a nice past time. I have always really liked flowers, but don't know about how to take care of them. Well, that is all about the church here and the work that is being done for now.

Bungee Jumping!!

Bungee Jumping

I know, I know... you must all think I'm crazy and you're right. I think I did lose my mind for a short period of time. At the end of the campaign we were in Vienna and there was this amusement park with lots of rides. Several of the group wanted to go bungee jumping and I had no intentions of going. I could tell Clint wanted to go and originally I said that he couldn't. I told him I didn't want him to. The day everyone had decided to go was a free day and so everyone had split up and done their own thing. Clint and I had been walking around the city and we decided to go to the amusement park to see the 2nd largest ferris wheel in the world and perhaps ride on it. When we got there we decided to see if any of our friends were there jumping and just as we got there our friends Tristan and Leslie had just gotten up to the top. We watched them jump and then afterwards I thought that maybe it didn't look as bad as it sounded. So I told Clint that he could jump if he wanted to. He said that he didn't want to though. Somehow I could tell that wasn't the case though. Finally, I asked if he would jump if I did. I think that sparked his attention and he got very interested. He said that he would jump with me. So for some reason, I decided that it would be fun. Well, it was fun, but a little painful on my ankles. Also, with all that pressure coming to your head, you would think your head was going to explode. For the next several days, everytime I bent over I felt a little light headed and there was a lot of pressure in my head. That can't be good. Well, I can't say that I would do it again, but I think that it is one of those things that is kind of neat to say I have done.

Say Cheese!

This is Clint and I when we took a trip to Ohio in May

I am kind of starting to have fun with this blog thing, especially since I figured out how to post pictures! I really didn't have much to say about this, but I thought it was funny. This is when we visited Amish Country in Ohio and behind us is where the largest cuckoo clock is. I don't know if it's supposed to be the largest in the world or what, but it was kind of neat.