When Linda Maendel was asked in early 2007 to translate children's Bible stories into her Hutterisch mother tongue, her first reaction was to laugh.

"I just thought it was so far-fetched," she recalls.

But after seeing a sample of the stories in English, first prepared in a book series by the American Bible Society, the teacher's assistant realized it was a project she could handle.

It helped that Kenny Wollman of the Hutterian Brethren Book Centre (which wanted to publish the 30 Bible stories), reminded Linda of her previous Hutterisch achievement. She is the first Hutterite to write a book that prominently uses the language.

Lindas glücklicher Tag (Linda's Happy Day) was launched at the Hutterian Educators Conference in Manitoba in summer 2006. That book fulfilled Linda's life-long dream to write a story that included people, language and culture that Hutterite children could identify with.

"I love to write. I love children's books," says Linda. "I love to read to children and tell stories to kids. So I thought, 'Why not do something for our kids.' "

At first, Linda penned her book in High (Standard) German, with a small sprinkling of Hutterisch words. She e-mailed the text to Germany for editing by Karli Suess, a German language consultant who previously helped the colony. Karli's advice was to make the book more authentic by writing all the dialogue in Hutterisch.

"At first, I thought, he can't be serious," recalls Linda. "I said, 'Listen, this is not a written language.' He replied, 'Make it a written language.' "

"This didn't go very well. I just could not see it."

Totally Excited
Linda grew exasperated as she struggled to write entire sentences in Hutterisch. On a neighbouring colony, Dora Maendel, a Hutterite German teacher and English language arts teacher—and mentor to Linda—encouraged her to persist. So Linda trudged on, gradually capturing the dialogue of her language in writing. She is glad she did.

"Once the book was out—and even before the book was out—when I read the story to the kids, and I saw what this language did for our children, I knew Karli was right.

"They said, 'Who are those kids in that story? They are talking our language.' I didn't let on that I had written the story. They caught on after awhile, and I said, 'Yes, it's me as a little girl.' They were totally excited . . . and it's because of that Hutterisch!"

The story, illustrated in acrylic by her sister Sonia, recounts Linda's childhood longing for a snow sled. Her father eventually had his carpenter brother make one.

"It was priceless. I'm sure I got many good gifts in my day, but this one really, really stuck out."

The tale grew out of Linda's actual life as a Hutterite girl. Now 45, she has always lived on Elm River Colony, and went to school here.

"I must say I had a wonderful childhood," she adds. "There were always friends around to play with. There were always family members—uncles and aunts, and grandparents. There are always fun things to do on a farm."

At harvest, she would ride along in the trucks and combines; in winter, she and the other colony kids slid down snowy hills and played on a skating rink.

"In between playing, I was a babysitter—not a good one, I might add, because I was too much of a tomboy. Plus, I was a bookworm from the time I could read. So, my poor mom had to put up with a lot!"

Living in Community
Like all Hutterites, Linda says she was taught from the time she was a small child about God and why her people lived in the colony. "Our parents, Klanaschuel (pre-school) teacher and German teacher instilled in us the importance of living for Jesus and why we live communally.

"We are here because of Acts, Chapter 2. We are called to live in community. That is what we believe God calls us to. And it's not always easy. You always have people around and you have disagreements, but you have to face those people. . . . It is best, if you have a disagreement, to straighten it out. Show love and forgiveness."

Though some curious Hutterites leave the colony to live in the outside world, Linda says that was not a temptation for her.

"It never really drew me," she says. "I always wanted to be here."

The colony minister proposed an assignment for Linda in the community when she was in her mid-20s—helping the German teacher. "Of course I wanted to. I loved working with children and still do!"

Since then, Linda has improved her German through courses at the Brandon University Hutterian Education Program, and she studied in Berlin, as well. She teaches German two hours each day to kindergarten through Grade 8 students at the colony school. She has also attended workshops to enable her to better work with special needs students.