February 25, 2013

                Well this week WAS AWESOME! We had zone conference, sadly it is possible that that is my last zone conference for a while, but who knows, miracles happen and or maybe I will "accidentally" miss my plane. hahaha jk Don`t flip out mom, its just a joke. Oh we also had an auststellung in Zurich. also possibly my last one. Sometimes the people here are just so funny. 
                Otherwise we had a busy week. Benjamin is doing great. His baptism will be on the 24th of March, so 2 days after I leave, but it is better that way. Besides some lucky missionary will get to have a baptism right at the beginning of his time in Chur. 
                As for Pres miles, an emergency came up so he was unable to go with us to Yuri after church, but he talked with Yuri at church which was cool. Yuri really has a testimony of like everything, but refuses to be baptized. He just wants to take his sweet time and not get rushed into anything. But he is a stud, and he will be baptized soon. I am sure of it. Besides in a few weeks I can teach him EVERY DAY through skype. 
                We also taught a cool Muslim guy named Lotfi. He is hardcore Muslim, totally convinced that he is right, but also very smart and willing to listen and ask questions. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon, and hopefully he will read it. We should be having an appointment with him today, but he canceled it because he is busy. But we will meet with him soon :) 
                Man, I really don`t know what else to say than I just absolutely, without a doubt love missionary work. It is so much fun. The church really is true, and it’s true for everyone. People absolutely HATE it when we say that. For them it sounds fanatic, absolutist, etc and etc. And sometimes it is tempting to weaken the statement of the Lord by saying "it’s true... for me" But as much as this statement might make us or other people squirm in our seats, we can not change reality. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the Life, NO one comes to the Father except through me." I testify with all my heart that that is true. Christ is and was the ONLY person capable and willing to descend below all things that he might save all things. Salvation and exaltation come only in and through the name of Jesus Christ. And he commands NONE to depart. ALL are invited to come unto him, and enjoy the blessings of his infinite Atonement. I testify that the full reality of those blessings depends on the making and keeping of gospel covenants. As missionaries we truly are opening the doors of the celestial kingdom. The church is true, the priesthood of Almighty God has been restored, and through the atonement of Christ ALL mankind may be save, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

liebe
Elder Terry

February 18, 2013

Dear Mommy,

            Well I am sorry that you have had a stressful week, we had a really good one, if that makes up for it :) hahahaha well it should
            Anyways, we met with a lot of people. First of all Benjamin, everything is going great with him. He is making a lot of progress, and we will meet again with him today. Everything is going to be ready for his baptism on the 24th of March. That is awesome!
            Yuri is also doing good. We aren`t exactly sure what the Lord wants us to do to help him, but we are sure that we need to really get him to pray. So that will be our focus this week. Kurt is also still doing great, and hopefully might be baptized soon. 
            We also found 2 new investigators this week. The first is Joseph Hunziker. He is pretty much a less active Jehovah’s Witness. He smokes a lot, and I don`t think he is actually a member of their church, but he believes they are right. He knows a lot of stuff about the bible, but doesn`t actually know the bible. We met with him and tried to teach him the restoration, but he just kept going on and on about how the trinity isn`t God and the Holy Ghost isn`t a person and on and on, and then finally we asked him where any of this stood in the bible, and he had no idea. Then we tried to teach him from the bible, but he didn`t know where the book of John was. Yet he knows that only 144,000 people will be taken in to heaven, etc. Hopefully we can help him to read in the Book of Mormon and get a testimony of the truth. 
            We also found a cool young couple, Christa and Christof, and they are Methodist kinda, but open and really nice. Hopefully we will be able to meet more with them. Pretty much we have been super busy, oh and I don’t know if already said this, but we decided, to paint our apartment. I am really excited. Anyways also cool, this Sunday Pres Miles is coming to Chur. We are excited to see him. We have zone conference tomorrow as well, so we will see him more then once :) 
            Anyways, I have been studying/pondering about how I can best help the missionaries in my district. It is interesting how knowing that I only have a few weeks left changes my perspective. Suddenly some things don’t seem very important, while other things are suddenly VERY important. One of the things that has suddenly become important is seeing our potential. I mean, as missionaries we so often tell people that we and they are children of God, but can we begin to understand what that means? It means that we have an unlimited potential. Our Father created the universe and everything in it, and the seed of this power is within us, and through the gospel of Jesus Christ can be activated. So often we experience difficulties and think we are incapable of solving them, that we are somehow inferior to our task or calling, yet we all have the divine potential to "posess all the Father hath." I give my testimony that that is God`s goal for us, and that He will never give up or settle for less. I know that with his help we can do all things!

Liebe
Elder Terry

Elder Moore, Elder Schulzke, Elder Nielsen, me, Elder Müller, and Elder Schilling.
and that suit that I am wearing is the new one that I bought.

February 11, 2013

Dear Mom,
            Montana sounds like it was really good. Sorry I missed it. hahaha I did get an invitation in the mail though on Saturday. That was cool. So a lot of stuff happened this week. First of all we had transfer calls. Or more accurately, we didn`t have conference calls. Remarkably, unbelievably, Elder Nielsen and I will be staying for a record 5th transfer together. Poor Elder Nielsen. Stuck with his trainer and in his first area for 7 months.... pray for him :) hopefully he will be able to endure it, but I am excited for it. 
            Anyways, this week was BUSY. Tuesday we had zone training in St Gallen, and I got to say goodbye to Elder Rosenvall :( Wednesday we went to the temple, from Wednesday to Thursday i had an exchange with Elder Müller, then transfer calls Friday, and Saturday we had a mission wide area book finding day. Pretty much I wasn`t in Chur. But anyways, on to the important people our investigators. So we actually didn`t end up dropping Yuri. We were able to have 2 really great appointments with him. The first one about keeping the Sabbath day holy; the second about the Atonement. And Yuri told us that he wants to get a little more serious about preparing for baptism, (no date yet) but he came to church on Sunday to Sacrament Meeting, and also gave a friend a Book of Mormon and made out an appointment with another friend and us for 2 weeks. So please keep praying for him. The baptismal date is going to come soon I can feel it.

Anyways we also had a really cool experience with our investigator Bruno from Colombia. He texted us last week and said that he didn`t want to meet us anymore and had no time for us. So I called him to ask him if we had offended him somehow, and he explained that he is just busy with work and having a hard time, and then invited us to come over on Thursday. But then on Thursday he wasn’t home, and texted us that he didn`t have time, and wanted to be left in peace. So we wrote him a note and bought a mango and left it for him. The next day he texted us and invited us to come again this week. Hopefully it actually works this time. 
            We also had a great appointment with Denisious. He is the cousin of an investigator. We were able to talk to him about the Book of Mormon, and he is excited to read in it and find out if it is really true. 
            Man, this email looks really short, but I am pretty sure I covered everything. I hope that you have a great week!

Liebe
Elder Terry

February 4, 2013

Dear Mom,
                This past week has been awesome. Like planned we went to St Moritz for p day and watched the world championships for bobsled and skeleton. It was pretty cool. Anyways I also went to Zürich on Wednesday to lengthen my visa so that I can stay in Switzerland. I can`t lie, it is really weird not to be going home next week. It has now been officially 2 years since I left, and next week Elder Rosenvall and Elder Jacklin and Elder Esplin from my MTC group head home. Aren`t I lucky that I get to stay? Anyways on to the spiritual good stuff.
                This week was awesome. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting, and all of the testimonies were about missionary  work. I absolutely loved it. (Oh a shout out for Trent Howard: Sasha from Switzerland says hi. He says he played on the PG soccer team and knows you.)   Anyways back to the spiritual, the lessons with Benjamin are going great. We were able to talk to him about Sabbath Day observance and the Law of Chastity, and everything is going awesome. He understands it all and wants to do what is right. We also had a great appointment with Bruno Leber, a guy from Colombia. At the end of the appointment he gave us a hug and told us that it really helps him a lot that we come and visit him and share the gospel with him. That was really cool. 
                Other news... Yuri is struggling. We aren`t really sure what we can do to help him, and Pres. Miles suggested that maybe he needs a break from our visits. So we’ll probably explain that to him this week. Hopefully it will help him get his head on straight. 
                Other than that, we had a finding day in Richterswil, and ended up going door to door for a long time, but we found a really cool lady. We rang at her door and through the speaker she asked who we were, and we said  that we are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ and she said Of the latter day saints? the Mormons? Come in. Turns out she knows a family that are members and she has a lot of faith in God, and has a lot of family difficulties. We had a really great lesson. It was awesome! 
                Well I am not sure what else there is to say other than the church is simply true. And missionary work is simply the best! Have a great week!

Liebe
Elder Terry

December 2012 Pics

Elders Terry and Sanderson

St. Gallen Zone B-days:  Perkins, Sanderson, Terry, Schulzke, Neumeyer, Pres. Guyler  

St. Gallen Zone Conference

January 20, 2013

Dear Mommy Dearest,

                That is super cool that Hannah is going to Uruguay. Crazy stuff. But as for the pressure to go on missions..... better that then a lot of other things. So no room to complain. As for the Swiss knife that works on computers. I have thought about buying that one, but I thought that I would buy it in America because it would be cheaper. But apparently not.... I will probably buy one. They really have a Swiss army knife for everything. And in our area is an outlet shop from Victorinox and Wenger, so if someone wants something, I can get it. Anyways, you might also have noticed that I spent some money. I replaced my shrunken sweater, and splurged on a new suit. A whopping 59 Swiss Franks for a sweet suit. I don`t know why they are so much cheaper here, but now that I know I would never buy one from Mr Mac. 
                And I agree with Bishop Maxwell. I try to study about the Sacrament every Sunday to get ready for church, and I am frankly embarrassed by the lack of respect I showed for this sacred ordinance. This is an invitation from God to come to his house, to sit down with him, review the week, and if we prepare, then we receive forgiveness for the mistakes of the past as well as strength to fortify us for the challenges ahead. Who in there right mind would refuse such an invitation? 
                Anyways, this week has been both enlightening and difficult (I think that  those two words go together very often. Coincidence? I think not) anyways, we had a zone training meeting, and afterwards we did finding as a zone in Zurich. I got the chance to work with an Elder Jimenez from California, who has only been on his mission for 3 weeks. We literally talked to everyone, and in the end we had no contacts. After that I worked with Elder Kalkbrenner in Winterthur (he is one of the zone leaders) and once again we talked with everyone but found no one. That pretty much sums up the last two weeks. It has been a good experience for me because I have learned a lot about trusting in the Lord, even when things seem to just get worse. I think of the example set by our savior, Jesus Christ. From the moment he was betrayed until his death, things seemed to just go from bad, to worse to worst, to worse then the worst. I wonder if he ever asked himself why, or if he ever thought that maybe this was happening because he had made a mistake or done something wrong. The amazing thing is that he didn`t do anything wrong. That he was perfect, yet still was made to struggle. I love this quote from Elder Holland 
                "When we stagger or stumble, He is there to steady and strengthen us. In the end He is there to save us, and for all this He gave His life. However dim our days may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you; signs, if you will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours. Remind others that it is the wounded Christ who is the Captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness, the lesions of His love and humility, the torn flesh of obedience and sacrifice."
                Anyways, our investigators are doing good. Benjamin, the guy from Ghana, is doing great. He came to church, is reading in the Book of Mormon, and is making great progress.  Yuri is also doing great. He is now done with Ether and hopes to finish Moroni this week. Then we will see where he is at in regards to baptism. So keep him in your prayers.
                We also had a cool experience this week. We had an appointment with an investigator on Friday, but he canceled because he was busy. We happened to run into him on Friday a few hours before our previously scheduled appointment, and he told us he had to help a friend move. We offered to help, and he accepted. We ended up being able to help this really nice old lady move, and she gave us her number and address so that we could come visit her sometime and share a message with her. That was really cool. I can really give my testimony that this work is lead by God. He has the divine capacity to direct each one of us. I have truly felt his loving embrace this week, and I know, without a doubt, that Jesus Christ lives. 

Liebe
Elder Terry

ps I might not do emails next Monday. We might move our p day to Saturday the 2 of Feb to go to the world championships in bobsled and skeleton in St Moritz. just FYI 
love you

January 14, 2013

Dear Mom,

                Well this week has been interesting. So I have a lot to explain.
                First off, one of the companionships in our district has really been struggling. I have been thinking a lot about what I can do to help them, and ended up deciding to fast for them, even though we had fasted on Sunday. So Elder Nielsen and I fasted on Tuesday, while I worked in Zurich with one of the elders. And although we tried our best, we found no one. Then the next day we had district meeting in Richterswil and afterwards we had a finding day, and once again, we found no one. Needless to say I went home a little bit disappointed, frustrated, and wondering why in the world I felt inspired to fast if I wasn`t even going to find anyone. This is normally the part where you get to have a cool spiritual experience a few days later and suddenly everything is clear. But that hasn`t happened for me yet, but I have learned that all I can do is trust in God and keep moving forward. One unpleasant experience can`t outweigh all the good experiences. Needless to say, we are hoping and praying for miracles.
                And miracles are happening, if not always in the way that we want. Last Sunday two brothers from Ghana came to church, and this week we were able to meet with them. They both have a lot of faith, and are really looking to find God’s help. Things are also going really well with Kurt Steiger. He is making a lot of progress, and is doing a great job of keeping the commandments. One of his friends came to visit him during Christmas, and brought a few bottles of wine and wanted Kurt to drink with him. But Kurt refused, and ended up hiding a few of the bottles so his friend coudn`t drink them. It was pretty funny.
                Yuri is also doing well. Really well. We experienced something really cool today with him. So ever since we arrived Yuri has been really hung up on the idea "the only true church". He always tells us that that is "fanatic" that we are like the Pharisees, and that there is more than one way to God. Like we have probably argued that point for more then 10 hours in many different  appointments, and he just wasn`t getting it. But we have felt inspired in the past few weeks to start sharing talks from apostles with him. Yesterday we watched a talk from Elder Scott and Pres. Eyring with him, and we were able to talk about it. And it was amazing to see how the spirit has worked on him. He told us that not even the Cardinals in the Catholic church have the power and the peace that the apostles have. He said that he doesn`t think that the Catholic church is bad, but that they don’t have the power that he saw in these men. Maybe this is the only true church, he said. Both Elder Nielsen and I were totally stunned, that after us arguing, reasoning, using every argument and scripture possible to explain it to him, that he sees the apostles and he is convinced. This was such a cool experience for us and showed really the power of the spirit to truly change that hearts of individuals. 
                I don`t have very much other new news. It finally snowed again here in Chur, and it is starting to get cold again, but we are excited and really looking for the elect of God, who have been prepared to receive this gospel. I really know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the only true and living church. I am so grateful for this knowledge in my life, and the wonderful opportunity to share this with others. I LOVE IT

Liebe
Elder Terry

The shrinking sweater--oh well, at least it lasted this long

January 7, 2013

Dear Mom,

                Sorry the package got beat up, but luckily mostly everything survived. The beanie is for Riker, the Swiss knife is a fingernail clipper that is for you. And the book about Einsiedeln is also for Riker. I am pretty sure that is everything. So good that it all arrived.
                No, I haven`t seen my flight plans, and I don`t want to know them! As for being released, the longer I am a missionary, the better. Whatever you decide is the best. As well as for my talk. It doesn`t matter to me. 
                Well for New Years Eve.... of course we stayed up until 12! First we went to The Sannemanns, they are an older couple, and we had dinner with them, and they told us about their mission to Estonia. Then we went to Yuri and celebrated the New Year with him and his kids. 
                Anyways, stake conference sounds like it went well. Our week here went really well. We met with Bruno Leber, the guy from Colombia we found last week, and had a great appointment. We have another appointment this week, and hopefully everything will continue to go well. We also met with Andre, a cool guy from Switzerland again, (we had lost contact in the last few weeks) and we had a great appointment with him. He was super excited to come to church, but didn`t end up coming. We will have to see what happened. 
                Otherwise things are going well. Yuri is making progress, slowly but surely. We read 3 Nephi 17 with him last night. 
                Oh, we still don`t have much snow here. And by not much I mean none. But that is okay. I still love it. 
                So we have started to reread the Book of Mormon again this year as a mission, and I have chosen to study the themes of humility and pride. And today I read 1 Nephi 8. I was rather interested in the wording of verse 30, describing the people who made it to the tree of life. 
                30 But, to be short in writing, behold, he saw other multitudes pressing forward; and they came and caught hold of the end of the ^arod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.
The words I found interesting  was the words "fell down". Normally, I was to talk about getting fruit from tree, I would say something about reaching up, or climbing, but apparently to eat the fruit of the tree of life we must fall down. That is because the tree of life is a representation of the Love of God. (1 Nephi 11:25) And ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife.
                The tree of life represents Jesus Christ. Now the experience of the people in this dream is very similar to the events in 3 Nephi when the savior appears. 

                8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they ^asaw a Man ^bdescending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

9 And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in^ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

12 And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words the whole multitude ^afell to the earth; for they remembered that it had been ^bprophesiedamong them that Christ should ^cshow himself unto them after his ascension into heaven. 

13 And it came to pass that the ^aLord spake unto them saying:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may ^athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and ^adid feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.

16 And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:

17 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did ^aworship him.

                Now why is this even important to notice? And why are they falling down? I think it has to do with the meaning of the word Hosanna. It means "please save us" or "save us now".  Now combine this with our understanding of falling down, or coming short, missing the mark, not measuring up, or in the case of Peter walking on the water, beginning to sink into a sea of fears and doubts. The truth is that we all fall down sometimes in life, but as Moroni taught, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them."

                I know that if we will humbly "fall down" at the feet of our Savior, then we truly will be made strong, and we will be able say with the apostle Paul, "I can do all things through ^aChrist which ^bstrengtheneth me."

I love you, and hope you have a great week!

Liebe

Elder Terry

ps I suggest reading this talk. 

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1990/04/beauty-for-ashes-the-atonement-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng&query=%22beauty+for+ashes%22