Thanks for keeping me kinda posted about what is going on in the world. That is great that Houston (Bodily) is coming to the greatest mission on earth. Maybe we will be companions one day! That would be the best! Man, I’m already tingling with excitement! Anyways, thank you for following my eccentric advice! Oh and because we had zone conference I got mail, so I got Brooke and Abbie’s letters, and also a letter from Brian Fleming, my roommate at BYU. Did you know he went to the San Francisco mission? Grandma and Grandpa Terry need to find him and invite him over for dinner so they can fatten him up!
Anyways, this week has been an adventure. First off, last P-day I locked the keys to our apartment inside our apartment. Luckily the hausbesorger, I’m not sure how that translates, something like the dude in charge of our apartment complex, (it translates as caretaker) anyways, he helped us break into our apartment with a credit card. So that was a lot of fun. Then on Tuesday we had an austausch (exchange), so I worked with Elder Parker, who has only been on his mission for 2 weeks. We had an adventure with the Austria train system. First we missed our train by like 10 seconds, so we waited for the next one, then we got on and sat down next to this guy, and I started talking to him, and suddenly I noticed he had a ÖBB backpack, which means he works for the train company, and since we "technically" aren`t allowed to preach on the train, I had to stop Elder Parker from trying to talk to him about the church. Let’s just say it was an awkward situation. But we survived. We had an appointment with Herr Schäfer, and that went well and then we tauscht (swapped) back Wednesday. Wednesday night I gave my first baptismal interview. It was definitely weird to be on the other side of the table. Now I know a little bit what it is like for bishops. Man I think I was more nervous to be giving the interview than I have ever been when I was the one being interviewed. But everything went well, and it was a really neat experience. Then Friday was Zone Conference! Man, I love Zone Conference. Pres. Miles is just great! He talked to us about working with less actives, and about how the Area Presidency of Europe has set a goal to double the active membership in Europe by 2020. He told us that if we work with less actives to reactivate them and also ask them for referrals that we will be able to reach that goal. Pretty much zone conference is the best! Then Saturday evening we had an appointment with Christinne, and she brought grapefruit juice with her! For those of you who are confused as to why that is a big deal, drinking grapefruit juice is one of the 15 steps that we use to help people quit smoking. Which means that Christinne was trying to quit smoking again on her own. I was definitely surprised, but it was amazing to see that she really wants to change her life. I am super excited for her because I know that she can do it with the Lord´s help!
I decided that it would be nice to give you some pictures of our apartment. This apartment is the closest thing to a home that I have had in the last 7 months. It is crazy to think I`ve been on my mission for 7 months and I´ve never been somewhere for longer than the 9 weeks at the MTC. Oh well, it definitely makes life exciting! And the whole missionaries not telling the truth, that’s because we are commanded not to! Well not really, but in the missionary handbook it says not to say anything negative about your companion, your area, or pretty much anything. I have found that to be pretty solid advice. If I don`t complain about things or even allow negative thoughts to register then they go away. So I can honestly say that there is nothing that I`m holding back or keeping secret. Yeah missionary work is hard, but it’s the work that is hard, not the missionary part. All work is hard. And missionary work is the most rewarding kind of work, and I find it to be rather fun. As you and Riker well know, a wise man named Kelsier once said that sometimes you just have to smile to prove that they haven`t beaten you yet. (this quote is from one of Andrew’s books, “Mistborn” by Brandon Sanderson. Read it, love it) That’s my advice for this week. SMILE. It makes the world a better place. I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
Anyways, this week has been an adventure. First off, last P-day I locked the keys to our apartment inside our apartment. Luckily the hausbesorger, I’m not sure how that translates, something like the dude in charge of our apartment complex, (it translates as caretaker) anyways, he helped us break into our apartment with a credit card. So that was a lot of fun. Then on Tuesday we had an austausch (exchange), so I worked with Elder Parker, who has only been on his mission for 2 weeks. We had an adventure with the Austria train system. First we missed our train by like 10 seconds, so we waited for the next one, then we got on and sat down next to this guy, and I started talking to him, and suddenly I noticed he had a ÖBB backpack, which means he works for the train company, and since we "technically" aren`t allowed to preach on the train, I had to stop Elder Parker from trying to talk to him about the church. Let’s just say it was an awkward situation. But we survived. We had an appointment with Herr Schäfer, and that went well and then we tauscht (swapped) back Wednesday. Wednesday night I gave my first baptismal interview. It was definitely weird to be on the other side of the table. Now I know a little bit what it is like for bishops. Man I think I was more nervous to be giving the interview than I have ever been when I was the one being interviewed. But everything went well, and it was a really neat experience. Then Friday was Zone Conference! Man, I love Zone Conference. Pres. Miles is just great! He talked to us about working with less actives, and about how the Area Presidency of Europe has set a goal to double the active membership in Europe by 2020. He told us that if we work with less actives to reactivate them and also ask them for referrals that we will be able to reach that goal. Pretty much zone conference is the best! Then Saturday evening we had an appointment with Christinne, and she brought grapefruit juice with her! For those of you who are confused as to why that is a big deal, drinking grapefruit juice is one of the 15 steps that we use to help people quit smoking. Which means that Christinne was trying to quit smoking again on her own. I was definitely surprised, but it was amazing to see that she really wants to change her life. I am super excited for her because I know that she can do it with the Lord´s help!
I decided that it would be nice to give you some pictures of our apartment. This apartment is the closest thing to a home that I have had in the last 7 months. It is crazy to think I`ve been on my mission for 7 months and I´ve never been somewhere for longer than the 9 weeks at the MTC. Oh well, it definitely makes life exciting! And the whole missionaries not telling the truth, that’s because we are commanded not to! Well not really, but in the missionary handbook it says not to say anything negative about your companion, your area, or pretty much anything. I have found that to be pretty solid advice. If I don`t complain about things or even allow negative thoughts to register then they go away. So I can honestly say that there is nothing that I`m holding back or keeping secret. Yeah missionary work is hard, but it’s the work that is hard, not the missionary part. All work is hard. And missionary work is the most rewarding kind of work, and I find it to be rather fun. As you and Riker well know, a wise man named Kelsier once said that sometimes you just have to smile to prove that they haven`t beaten you yet. (this quote is from one of Andrew’s books, “Mistborn” by Brandon Sanderson. Read it, love it) That’s my advice for this week. SMILE. It makes the world a better place. I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
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