Pooped Out

It has been a really crazy, really fun week.

 

For example, this is what Monday looked like:

 

* missed our bus stop because I had my nose buried in the bus book, (Oh the irony)

*spilled chocolate milk on a white table cloth at an appointment, (two colors that DO NOT go together)

*had an awkward conversations that left the member looking at us like we were from Mars, (whoops)

*we were late to an appointment, (I blame the bird)

*we couldn't find the right bus stop, (I think my bus angels are still earning their wings, so they can't keep up with us in time to provide accurate info the first time around)

*I tripped on like thin air and broke my shoe open (WHO DOES THAT?),

*and Sister Hadfield got pooped on by a bird. (every party has a pooper)

 

 

But I have also learned a lot about miracles. (not that the above mentioned events were  not pretty miraculous...)

 

There was this moment where I was not feeling so fabulous and I turned to Sister Hadfield and declared:

"I really want gummy bears. I hope someone gives us gummies today."

Totally natural missionary request. At least in Germany. :)

Lo and behold, that night, we had a dinner Termin with this AMAZING couple in the ward. We went with the Ehepaar Stevens, (Geneology Record Missionaries) to act as Translation. They fed us Raclette, which was SO GOOD. Made me so proud to be Swiss! :) anyway, after the meal, the member put two large bowls on the table to facilitate conversation. (JK)

One of the bowls had gummies!

And she gave us a bag to take home with us.

I almost fell on the floor when I saw them. The Lord was just so thoughtful. It was like my mini Haribo miracle. But it got me thinking. If I could give my desire about gummies to the Lord, and expect some sort of something in return, then what else could I have faith in? I felt a wee bit selfish, asking for gummies when I could have asked for..I don't know...a change of heart or something? It reminded me that we cannot lose sight of the Lord's mercy, and of His understanding of our needs. He knows what we Need before we ask, but He also knows that WE need to ask for it to be something that we can learn from.

 

Other Story, sort of about miracles/umbrellas/Irons

 

We went to a member's house to help with ironing and such, and I was taking my turn at the iron.

So, you have to know, that I am not in any way shape or form an ironing profi. I was the "artistic ironer" before my Mission, which basically a fancy way of saying that I would try to iron something, end up ironing really strange looking creases into the fabric, grunt in frustration and ask someone else to come save my clothes. I PURPOSELY buy clothing that does not need to be ironed.

But, Mission miracles, all of a sudden all of the times that I WATCHED my Mom iron came back to me, and I was able to iron decently.

But...

this miracle didn't extend to "turning the iron on or using the settings" profi. Oh no.

The Lord had something else in mind.

So the member had left the room, and I promptly bumped something on the iron.

"Well"

I thought

"It's still hot, and is making a difference, so it must be fine" (or something to that effect).

So I am ironing this great huge white bed cover, and it is HARD WORK. I am really laying down the muscle, and it is not getting very wrinkle-free very quickly. I am also very grumpy at this moment, counting sour cherries instead of blessings, and I am getting increasingly more and more frustrated, and applying increasingly more and more pressure to this blasted piece of fabric.

I was having a pouting session with the Lord, and listing all of the things that I thought I couldn't handle, or didn't think were fair, or wished I could be better at.

Then all of a sudden my brain switched to complaining about how hard it must have been for all of those awesome mothers back in the day that they only ironed with a hard piece of metal and elbow grease, and how LONG IT WAS TAKING TO IRON THIS SHEET!

About at the climax of my pouting, the member comes back in to check on things. She then showed me that I needed to put on the steam setting, and that I had bumped it off.

After that, the stuff basically ironed itself.

It got me thinking about my sour cherries, too. I think when things get hard, sometimes we get hard too and then it becomes a mess. We only grow when we cross a threshold. Otherwise it's not faith, it's habit. It also made me think of President Uchtdorf's suggestion to close the umbrellas of our doubt and fear and feel the soothing raindrops that are the Windows of Heaven opening, pouring, raining, flooding down light, truth, hope, joy, love, experience, beauty, and all of those other good things.

 

 

 

Haha, also sometimes it is good to let off a little steam in a healthy way. ;)

 

All my love,

 

Sister Roderer