Monday, December 31, 2012

December 31, 2012


                Anyways, this week was great. We spent a lot of time with Yuri since it was Christmas and everyone else was gone. He read from Alma 26 to Helaman this last week, and loved it, so hopefully that will help. Other than that we are on the search for "the elect of God". We found a cool guy yesterday. I stopped him on the street and just asked him "Wie geht es Ihnen?" or how are you? and he stopped and said "Zeugen Jehovas" (Jehovah’s Witnesses) and I said, nope. We are Mormons. And then he was a lot nicer. Apparently he had had bad experiences with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but had really good experiences with Mormons. So that is a shout out to the members of the church! Way to go! It was really cool, and we have an appointment with him on Thursday.
                Oh and guess what? A guy I found in Richterswil on exchanges just decided to baptized. His date is for the 17 of March. That is so COOL!
                Today I read John chapter 9, and I loved the response of the formerly blind man to the questions of the Pharisees. To these men of the law, trained in scripture and logic, this unlearned man said, 24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
 25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
                I love this response. This man didn`t know everything. In fact his knowledge of Christ was very limited. But one thing he did know, and of that he was certain. And that is what he shared. Like this blind man I give my testimony of what I know, of what I have experienced. I know that Jesus is the Christ, that through his infinite atonement we can overcome all things. All that is unfair can be made right again. I love my savior, and I love the work which he has commissioned me to do. This truly is the work of the all mighty God. Of this I am certain, and this is my testimony, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

liebe
Elder Terry

Sister Miles took this picture of Elder Terry in October 2012

Thursday, December 20, 2012

December 17, 2012


(Elder Terry started his email discussing the Christmas phone call...boring details for all of you following this)

                Anyways, guess what? I forgot to tell you but I played the piano for sacrament meeting last week. I wanted to tell you thanks for forcing me to learn piano, and sorry I was such a terrible student and gave you such a hard time. And I totally ruined it for Sidney and Riker. 
                Next piece of news. Yuri wants to come visit us next summer in
Utah. He is planning on coming in May. Can he stay by us when he comes? 
               
 Now about this past week. It was way cool. We went caroling on Friday with Bru Lucero and his daughter, and it went well. We went by on an old investigator, and she was very happy and invited us to come back in January. We also had the ward Christmas party on Saturday.  That also went well. 
Funny story. We found a family from
Eretria last week, and we visited them. And as we arrived they were drinking coffee. (that is a huge part of their culture. They drink legit coffee. They make a little fire in their apartment and everything) and of course they offered us coffee. We declined, and so they offered us tea. We asked what tea, and his wife starting making it as he searched for tea bags. Turned out to be black tea, so we declined to drink that as well. We finally settled on water. It was pretty funny because he kept pulling out different kinds of tea but they all had black tea in them. 
                Things here in Chur are going well. We had a lot of snow, but then it melted. Now it is pretty warm.
Anyways, I have a real testimony that Christmas is the best. In German cultures the 4 advents (weeks leading up to Christmas) are a time to reflect and prepare for the next coming of Christ. I like that. This really should be a time where we reflect and take an accounting of our lives. I know that if we do that we will find ways that we can make room for Christ in our lives. I love this church, and I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK!!!!!!!!!

Liebe,
Elder Terry

December 10, 2012


Dec. 10, 2012

Dear Mom,
                Well first off, this is going to be short and good. Short because we are actually in St Gallen and we are going to a Christmas party, so I don`t have tons of time. But here is the run down of important things. I sent you a package today. I wanted to send it last week but we got too busy. So it might, with a lot of prayer and a little luck, get there before Christmas, but probably not. It will probably come after. Sorry :( but I still love you, and it will all be okay. I forgot to label all of it, so next week I will tell you what stuff belongs to what people. 
                Then, this week was really awesome. Reason number 1. We went to the temple. Temples are true. 
Reason number 2. It snowed. Everyday. 
Reason number 3. I had an exchange in Winterthur and it was really cool. We also went caroling as a zone in Winterthur. It was a lot of fun. As we were walking down the street to where we were going to sing I was trying to keep my eyes and mind open and find someone who really needs the gospel. Because we were in a big city and in a big group of missionaries, it wasn`t possible for me to talk to everyone. So I needed to find the right person. I said hello to a young lady, and then kept walking, but something told me to turn around. So I turned around and began to talk to her. She was really cool. Atheist, but she was really looking for answers. I was able to get her information so that the missionaries can give her a Book of Mormon and help her to come closer to God. It was just a really cool experience, and really funny, because I stopped to talk with her, but no one else of the missionaries stopped, and after talking with her for a few minutes, no other missionaries were in sight. But don`t worry, I found them and all was well.
                Anyways, like I said, this email is going to be short. But don`t forget that I love you!
Liebe,
Elder Terry

Monday, December 3, 2012

December 3, 2012


Dear Mom,
                Well this letter will be really short because we are going to a real Christmas market today in Einsiedeln. I will take a lot of pictures for you. Sorry I haven`t sent a lot of pictures. I bought a new camera, and have been taking a lot of film, but unfortunately, I couldn`t send it through email, and I haven`t had the time to think through a new solution. I will be able to show you the film soon enough anyways. 
                PS I changed my mind. There is something I want for Christmas. The Conference Ensign. I still don`t have one :( I feel like I am slipping into apostasy. And we are watching the Christmas devotional on the 23 of December. Oh, and there is still no snow in Chur, but in the mountains around it. But Zürich has a lot of snow. Like 10-15 centimeters. For Americans that would be like 6 or 7 inches. 
               Anyways, this week has once again raced past. I can`t even remember what we did. We are continuing  meeting with Kurt. He is making a lot of progress and should be baptized soon. We were hoping actually that he would be baptized this coming Sunday, but there arose some complications, so some time in January seems more likely.
Yuri is doing well, he came to church yesterday and loved it. And just finished reading Jarom. He is going to get baptized really soon, he just hasn`t realized it yet :) we also had a great appointment this week with a family in Lichtenstein. They are Pentecostal, and super bible fans, which makes the Book of Mormon and the whole restoration difficult for them to comprehend. But we read together in the Book of Mormon and at the end of the appointment they told us, "I don`t know if this book is really from God, but everything we have read today is true." hopefully  they will continue  to read more and more and more and more, because the Book of Mormon is the best. 
                We also had a good appointment with Ngawang, our friend from
Tibet. He always asks really interesting questions. This week he asked us if it is okay to kill animals or insects. Because it is not allowed in Buddhism. We tried to answer it, but he wasn’t really satisfied. Its not really something we even talk about at church. I guess everyone has to find out for themselves. But I suggest reading in D&C 49: 18-21. It was fairly enlightening.
                Well what is important is that the church is true! We really are led by living prophets and apostles, but what I really love is that they don`t tell us every little rule or do`s or dont`s. Rather we all can know for our selves, through the Holy Ghost, what is right. That truly is one of the greatest blessings ever. I love you and have a great week!
Liebe
Elder Terry


picture of The Switzerland missionaries with Elder and Sister Nelson (who are Sis. Miles's parents). Elder Terry is on the fourth row, left center, in the yellow tie