Adapting

Sis. van Hoff

Every day we become more and more adapted to life here in Germany.  There were some things that I found to be better than America, but there were other things that we had to adjust to.  Food is one of the big things that we are still struggling with.  As many of you know, Diane is currently on a Paleo diet and I decided to try a gluten-free diet.  It has been working, but trying to find the raw baking ingredients like almond flour, rice flour, tapioca starch, etc., has been difficult.  Diane needs vegetables with every meal.  She loves cauliflower, but it is not always available. 

And then there is the size of the containers.  Meats come in small servings.  Usually enough for 2 people for one meal.  You can’t get anything bigger.  Peanut butter and milk come in small containers.  The biggest milk comes in one liter size. 

We think we figured out why food does not come in larger sizes like you see in America.  It appears that the majority of the people walk or ride bicycles.  Carrying anything too large or bulky would be difficult.  We haven’t seen a refrigerator in a house yet, but in the apartments, they are about ½ the size of a normal refrigerator in the States.  Probably another reason why no bulk food is sold.

We did go into a store that sold bulk.  Some of it was ridiculously large.  We saw a block of cheese that probably weighed 20 lbs.  No family would want that much.  It must have been for restaurants.

One other quick note, we take walks before breakfast every day.  We try to go a different direction or walk down a different street each time.  It is so wonderful to see the beautiful homes and gardens and to greet the people we pass as we walk.  When we got here we were told it is not in the culture for strangers to greet others as they walk by.  We’ve been doing it anyway.  Up until last week almost no one would acknowledge our greetings.  However, as of late, we’ve begun to see them smile at us as we say, “Hallo” or “Morgen.”  We hope that we, in some small way, get their day started with a smile.

I said at the beginning that Diane and I are becoming more adapted to life here.  That goes for the Lord’s work also.  We have taken additional steps to become more involved with the proselyting missionary work.  We have gotten to know the younger missionaries better and have asked to attend Missionary Coordination meetings each week.  How wonderful it is to work with these young elders and sisters and to meet with some of the people they are working with.  We admire their determination to invite others unto Christ.  We feel humble to be among them.