What if you had to choose between your biological father's given name and your better loved but adoptive parent's name? A hard thing, for sure.
Monday evening Sister Jerman and I were feeding some missionaries when we had a very thoughtful discussion. One sister came into the mission field with her biological father's name, Clark, whom she never really knew. She was adopted by another family, Jensen, but never took their name. She wanted to be identified with Jensen but the legal papers never arrived in time before her mission call. So she went on her mission and to her surprise, a single mom who was looking for the truth had a "vision" that someone with the name Clark would bring her the truth. And it happened. This sister taught her the gospel and she and her kids were baptized. Incredible! Even though she didn't want to keep Clark, the Lord kept it as part of his plan. Sometimes we don't know what the Lord has in store for us, but things always work out for our good. Goes to show that a rose by any other name is still a rose.
During the week we were treated to a Chinese cultural exchange. We had an Oriental dinner with Elder and Sister Cheng. Then we went shopping in their neighborhood Chinese store that had a crazy variety of different foods so we bought and tried some interesting things.
Towards the end of the week, we hosted a Sister's Vacation. Three of Elder Jerman's and one of Sister Jerman's sisters came to visit, enjoy each other's company and tour San Francisco. We had so much fun sailing, riding cable cars, watching sea lions, driving down the crookedest street, driving over bridges and everything else we could fit in. Of course just being together for some down time was the best!
One funny story to share. We borrowed the mission van to accommodate everyone and left our car at the mission home. We drove 45 minutes to our apartment and then realized we had left the key to the house in Oakland. How were we going to get in or where were we going to sleep? So my sister, Nettie, hopped over our back fence and was able to open the sliding window and let everybody in so we didn't have to drive all the way back to Oakland or worse, break a window. Thanks Nettie!
Sunday we both spoke in church at a Samoan ward. What fun singing in Samoan and feeling their spirit. After the meeting, two cute little old Samoan grandmas gave us all Samoan treats and hugs! We couldn't get enough of it! Share the love and joy this week everyone!
Love,
Elder and Sister Jerman
Dinner with the Chengs. "Baby Bear soup, Papa Bear soup and Mama Bear soup!"
Riding on top of the bus across the Golden Gate Bridge
Picnic at Pacifica Beach
Sister weekend
No comments:
Post a Comment