Posted by:
Mike T.
(
)
Date: February 08, 2016 07:44AM
Hope nobody flames me for this. We got home late for dinner because we went to a movie. It was about 7:30pm and I finished up making some depression food--split pea soup, which I had on the stove during the movie, and bratwurst to go with it. (And all Germany runs on pea soup or lentil soup with sausages, so it's kind of favorite winter comfort food for us, and reminds us of the place.)
I was interrupted when the missionaries knocked. DW led them into the living room, and it was the usual thing--appointment had fallen through and they were looking for someone to chat up to fill in time. It was cold and dark and they were on bikes. I were overcome, I were, with the spirit, feeling sorry for them. I asked them if they had eaten, and since they hadn't, I invited them to get in out of the cold and eat pea soup with bratwurst. They seemed pleased, so we did it. DW was surprised at my sudden burst of Christian guilt. Nice thing is, they were super polite, kept calling me "sir," and did not bring up religion. DW, the ward RS president, announced, "We don't pray at meal time, but if you want, one of you can do it." I felt very glad she said that in that kind of a way, rather than pretend that we do. Took the pressure off of me to ask someone.
A good time was had by all, as they say. I was kind of shocked, bemused, and a bit disappointed that they were both right out of high school, had had no tertiary education whatever, and were both from little outposts in Utah. They admitted they had never eaten split pea soup before, which I found incredulous, but they weren't raised by parents always cooking Depression food like DW and me. I did my good deed for the missionaries.