Sept. 19, 2011

            Well first off, we received no visit from Elder Bednar. At least that I am aware of. Maybe sometimes soon...?? Well I can at least hope. (according to other missionary letters I have read Elder Bednar visited England and the Frankfurt Mission)  And as for music, I would love some CDs. And there isn`t really anything I want for my birthday. I am going to need to buy a winter coat soon (it is pretty cold today, so it might be REALLY soon), so you could give me money for that :) anyways, sorry I am so boring and lame, but there is really nothing that I want for my birthday.
            That is interesting that they moved special ed to Rocky Mountain. Any good reason as to why they did that? And I am sorry that time goes by so fast. Now you know what it is like trying to teach people the gospel in 45 minute lessons.
            Well this week was really interesting, for a number of reasons. First off last Monday for P day after I emailed you we went to Wien to Stephansdom, the giant church in the center of Wien. We met up with Elder Sanderson and his companion, Elder Tanner, and we went on a tour of the catacombs underneath Stephansdom. It was really cool, but pretty creepy, because the catacombs are where they buried people, so there are just rooms full of dead bodies, and apparently they ran out of room, so in some of the rooms they started to organize the bones so that they could fit more people inside. Unfortunately there are no pictures allowed, so you can`t see how disgusting it was. But we also climbed the tower of Stephansdom, 343 steps in this little windy staircase, but it was a good view. All and all it was a very fun p day.
            Then Tuesday we had district meeting, and then we had an austausch. Elder Talbot worked in Wien with Elder Greve, and Elder McClellan came to Wiener Neustadt with me. We had 2 fallen out appointments, so it was a pretty rough day, and nobody really wanted to listen, so poor Elder McClellan, he probably thinks Wiener Neustadt is the worst. Oh well, we had a lot of fun, and it was a good austausch. Then on Wednesday we had another austausch. This time I went to Wien with Elder Sullivan, and Elder Parker went to Wiener Neustadt with Elder Talbot. Now if any of you are thinking, "man, why are you doing so many companionship exchanges?" let me tell you why. Pres. Miles is very synergy oriented, and he really wants us to do a lot to learn from each other. He has asked us to do more austausches and to do a better job of making them spiritual experiences. So that is why. Anyways the austausch in Wien with Elder Sullivan was awesome. He was a little sick, so that was rough, but he really did a great job of working through it. It was super fun to work again in Wien. We had tons of fun talking to everyone. And we had a cool story.

            We talked to this atheist, Buddhist guy, who really wasn`t too interested. He was willing to talk with us, but he wouldn`t give us a number, address, or make out an appointment. I was ready to leave him and find someone new, but then Elder Sullivan committed him to go home, and pray if there was a God. He agreed to do it, and then gave us his number and address. It was pretty cool. Elder Sullivan is the bomb.
            Besides the austausches, Elder Talbot and I have been trying to really get the work moving faster here in Wiener Neustadt. We have a lot of investigators, but they aren`t really progressing, and we really wanted to change that. So we have thought a lot about it, and we are trying to get our investigators to meet with us for 3 times a week. It is a lot, but we have really felt that that is what is needed to help them progress. We will see what will happen this week.
            Anyways, we had stake conference this weekend, and we were finally able to get A________ to come to church, and to meet with us! He has been working like 60 hours a week, so he hasn`t had anytime to meet with us. But finally on Sunday we met with him at a members house. We talked about reading scriptures daily, and at first A_____ said that he didn`t have any time to read, but as we talked more and as A_____ felt the spirit he totally changed, and by the end he told us that he wants us to call him every day to remind him to read! It was really a testimony to me of the power of the spirit and how it is the only thing that can change people, but it also showed how easy it is to drift away from the iron rod. Scripture study is the best! I am so glad we get to study for 2 hours every day. It is my favorite time of the day.
Anyways, have a great week, enjoy the beautiful season of fall, and I love you mom!

Liebe
Elder Terry

Sept. 12, 2011

        Well this week was an adventure. First off, sorry that Bro. Kjar scared you with his phone call. I actually thought about that when he asked for our phone number, but I figured that you would get over it. It was pretty fun to walk around Schönbrunn with him, and he loved taking pictures so I hope that maybe you will be satisfied on the photo side for a while. And yes, I know, my hair is short. I cut it myself actually, a few weeks ago. The 15 euro it costs to get it cost by someone else just wasn`t worth it. And I got your letter today, so it was good to hear that everything is going well. Besides our adventure to schönnbrunn we had many adventures this week.

            First off was we had an exchange with the Zone Leaders, and I got to go to Wien and work with Elder Handley, who is the elder that I replaced in Wien 5 when I first came into the field. He is a great missionary, and we had a busy, busy schedule. We pretty much ran around Wien for the entire day. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about talking and contacting people in random places, like waiting for the train/subway, on the escalator, in the elevator, etc. It was a lot of fun, and really good.

            Outside of our exchange our entire week has pretty much been inviting people to come to the open house that the members were hosting on Saturday. We gave out TONS of invitations, and we tried to invite every inactive person on our record. We also found a few new investigators.

            One was an 82 year old man, named A______, A member found him when she helped him carry a package, and she invited him to learn more about the gospel. He is super nice, and a lot of the stuff that he says is super funny. He is the first person I have met in Austria that is still racist towards Jews. He really believes that every bad thing in the world is because of the Jews. We also found a guy who the missionaries used to visit, but he wasn`t making any progress so they dropped him. We went to the appointment, and his Jehovahs Witness neighbor was there, and he kept trying to teach us about what the bible "really" says. He was really smart, and definitely knew his bible stuff, but it was interesting how he could twist scriptures to say what he wanted them to say. The appointment wasn`t too great because the Jehovahs Witness just kept talking, and we refused to bible bash with him, but we were able to get to know Hans, the former investigator, and we made out another appointment.
            C_______ is still having a really hard time quitting smoking, and she is starting to doubt whether what she has felt is really the spirit or if it is just comes from herself. We are really working with her on the importance of daily reading and praying, and we pray that she will be able to quit smoking as she continues to study the Book of Mormon.
            We had the open house at the church on Saturday, and it was a great activity. We had quite a few non members there, and we were really excited about that. But the most exciting news is what happened on Sunday...... Wiener Neustadt branch became a ward! It was an amazing experience to be there as the members all raised their hands to support the creation of the Wiener Neustadt ward. The members here are awesome, and they have worked so hard to acheive this. I was glad that I got to be a part of it.
            We are looking forward to another great week here, we are really excited for all of our investigators, and I hope everything goes great back home. I love you!

Liebe
Elder Terry

Phone Call-but not from Andrew

Today when we got home from the T-wolf Trot I answered the phone and this nice man asked for Sister Terry.  He said he was in the Alpine German Mission, turns out he is from Idaho and was on a business trip to Vienna and ran into Andrew and his companion on their P-day.  It was a great phone call, pretty much what he says below is what he said to me on the phone.  Way fun!  Wish it could have been Andrew instead but I'll take what I can get. 

Dear Bro & Sis Talbot, Bro & Sis Terry,

What a treat for me to spend a few hours with your valiant sons in beautiful Vienna today. Being their P-day, they were on their way to see the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace when I ran into them on a crowded train... ironically, I also was going to see the Schonbrunn Palace. I can't overstate how "ironic" this was; we were still many miles from the palace, and they (or I) could have been going anywhere.

Your sons were outstanding emissaries of our Master; they engaged people in a very friendly way, offering to help take pictures for others, helping with a stroller on stairs, giving money to a man with no legs, asking a man about the book he was reading, and ALWAYS smiling... even in the heavy rain.

God bless you for your raising of these two fine Elders; I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do (holler if you need higher resolution versions).

Kevan Kjar

Kevan Kjar


Pictures of Andrew and Elder Talbot in Vienna 

September 5, 2011

            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

August 29, 2011

            First off, I got the package, so thank you! I really loved it!!!!!!
            Answers: Well first off, I honestly have no clue if I am junior companion again or what. Maybe, maybe not. Pres. Miles never told me what I was, and he never told elder Talbot if he was junior or senior companion either, so it’s all good. As District Leader I pretty much just call the other missionaries and make sure they are doing alright, I report their key indicators (more commonly known as numbers) and then I have to teach/lead district meeting. So it’s pretty much an adventure. But our first district meeting wasn`t a complete failure, so I wasn`t released. Actually our district grew, so now we have 5 companionships in our district, which is relatively large, so who knows? Oh and I get to go on a lot of exchanges with other missionaries because as district leader I am supposed to go on exchange with every elder in my district. So we will be having a lot of those in the coming weeks. And I get to do baptismal interviews for investigators in my district. So its definitely exciting. And no, we don’t go home early so that we can call everyone, I just call everyone after we are done with daily planning, which means it is hard to find time to write in the journal. But oh well, I will find/make time.

            And sadly my cooking skills are lacking, and so is time to properly cook, so not very much cooking, and we eat with members normally about twice a week. So I live off of microwave schnitzel, käse leberkäse with semmeln, and döner kepabs. Yeah, the diet of champions!  (If anyone would like to tell me what he’s eating I would appreciate it!  I know käse leberkäse is cheese loaf but I don’t know the others)
            Anyways, that is crazy to here that Josh (Warner) and Jordan (Anderson) and Kyle (Paulson) are all leaving on their missions already. Somehow in my crazy missionary parallel universe mindset I am the only one getting older and everyone back in America is the same as when I left. Guess I was wrong there.
            And tell everyone that I say hi back! Actually, since this email is most likely forwarded, I will just say hi myself. "Hi!" or as we say here in Austria "Servus!" apparently that means Hello or something in German, but not very many people in Germany say it, but everyone in Austria says it. So it’s probably an Austrian thing. And I only get letters from the mission home when the mission president comes to Wien, for example for zone conference this Friday, so I will get mail from the mission home then. And I haven’t gotten anything from Brooke recently, so most likely it is in there. And I got the letter from Jake (Berlin) telling me he was going to Chile.
            So this week was a interesting week. First off, it was HOT. Not warm, mild, rainy, nice or any other seemingly mild adjective that could possibly be used to describe the weather, I mean BLAZING HOT! It was 41 degrees Celsius Monday and 43 degrees Celsius Tuesday, which if my rough, on the spot conversion is accurate is about 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. That would be manageable if I lived in a first world country that could afford air conditioning. Wait! I do live in a first world country; just no one bothers to have air conditioning! As you can obviously tell, I am a little bitter. Oh well, we survived, and as my great uncle Rafiki (he is a monkey) always says "it’s in the past!"

            Well besides the heat, we have had a pretty good week. We were able to meet with Christina on Tuesday, and we had a great appointment. The spirit was really strong; we were able to help her to set another goal to be baptized on the 25 of September. I know that if she really works hard that she will make that baptismal date! Unfortunately we had to change Andreas baptismal date because he hasn’t had time to meet with us in the past two weeks because of his work. He is still progressing, just not as fast as he was when he had nothing to do but meet with us, read in the Book of Mormon, and go to drug rehab. Now he is busy and is having a hard time finding a balance to his life. We are praying for him as well, and I am sure things will work out exactly like they should. In fact he brought his girlfriend to church yesterday, and she really liked it, and that is a big step in his progression.
            We are still trying to help Herr Schäfer realize that he already knows that the church is true. I mean, come on. This past week he fasted for a day and half and loved it. He told us about how he could feel the spirit like 10 times as strong. And he wasn’t even hungry. He wants to go for fasting for 3 days. We told him that all things need to be done in wisdom and order, but come on. He is still "waiting" for an answer that the Book of Mormon is true, but he lives the Word of Wisdom, loves the Book of Mormon and church, and wants to fast for 3 days? I’m calling shenanigans on that one. Hopefully we will be able to help him recognize that he has already received his answer. But we will see, like we told him, all things have to be done in wisdom and order, and that means the Lord’s wisdom and order, not mine.
            We also helped a member family move. Well actually the dad isn’t a member, so we are hoping that we will be able to start meeting with him soon, but it was fun to be helping people move. It made me feel like I was back in Utah!
            Well we had a great week, I will try to take some more pictures mom just for you, sorry I can`t be as diligent as Spencer taking all of his pictures, or Taylor with his talk show :) just kidding, I know you love me and you just want what is best for me, so I´ll try not to lay on the guilt too thick. Anyways, I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It’s the best book ever. It’s like a portable hug/therapy session/pep talk all rolled in to one. I know that ANYONE can read the Book of Mormon and know that it is true. And that we can know that it is true EVERY SINGLE TIME we read it. The spirit ALWAYS testifies of truth, and the Book of Mormon is full of truth. And if we listen with our hearts we will feel the truth of it, piece by piece, until it "it fills us from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet... and we shall be made to know the truth as God knows it, and to do the will of the Father as Christ does it. And NO OTHER principle shall establish men in the truth. ONLY by obedience to the eternal principles of heaven." I have felt the beginning of this process, and it has filled my soul with more joy then I have ever before experienced. The Book of Mormon is true, and it is important! In fact there is "no question of more importance to us then if the Book of Mormon is the word of God!" I leave this testimony, and my love, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Liebe
Elder Terry 

August 22, 2011

Elder Terry on TV antenna in Stuttgart

view of McDonalds from apartment in Wiener Neustadt

View from apartment in Wiener Neustadt

          Alright, first to answer all of your questions..... well first, its a super long story but pretty much our districts will be changing, but not until next week. But for this week our district is us in Wiener Neustadt, the elders in Wien 5 (where I was trained), the sisters in Wien 4, and the elders in Wien 3. It’s a great district because elder Sanderson, my MTC companion is in Wien 5, and elder Sullivan, who was in my MTC district, is in Wien 3, so it’s pretty fun. Tonight I should find out who will be in my district for reals. And yes I have gotten grandma Terry´s letters, I just haven`t had any time to write like any letters, so I haven`t be able to write anything back. But let her know that I really appreciate it. And no package yet, but there is no post in Austria on Saturdays, so who knows? it could take a really long time.
            It sounds like you have been pretty busy with cross country and with PTA, and that is always good. But like Elder Uchtdorf said, there is more to life then the length of your to do list ;) so don`t forget that even super moms need a little R&R sometimes, so go to the temple sometime for me, since I am currently unable to.
            Anyways, this past week has been an adventure. Wednesday we had to wake up at 5:30 so that we could make our train to München. And then I got on a train with Elder Talbot coming back to Wien. Elder Talbot is cool. He is from California, San Diego area, and is the youngest of 5 children. He has been on his mission for one year, and he has been in Bayern his entire mission until now. This is his third area. Anyways we got back from München but we didn’t have enough time to go home because we had an appointment with Christinne. She is doing well, but is still having a really hard time quitting smoking, and I honestly have no clue what to do to help her. Nothing we do seems to really help. But anyways, Thursday did service for the Enenkels, which is good because sis. Enenkel does a lot for us, and Bro enenkel is inactive because someone like 12 years ago offended him. But we have a really good relationship with him now. Sadly good relationships don`t reactivate people, only the spirit does that, but we are working on that as well. Friday we took elder Talbot´s bike to the shop to get it fixed, which is not fun, because we really need bikes. And we met at the Enenkels Friday night for an appointment with Christinne. Yeah, still didn`t make a lot of progress with her. She knows everything, she just doesn`t believe and act on what she knows. So we will be doing a lot of praying this week for her, and if you could also pray for her, that would be great. Oh and Andreas got a job, but it was in the steiermarkt, which is like 100 kilometers or so away, so we were unable to meet with him this week, but he came to church yesterday, and we have an appointment on Thursday, and hopefully we will be able to help him quit smoking and we can cover all of the lessons, because he is totally ready to be baptized, and if all goes well and smoothly he will be baptized on the 4 of September. So 2 weeks.
The past few days have been tiring, just because it suddenly got hot again, and after we got elder Talbot’s bike fixed my bike broke, so we have been without bikes for the last 3 days. but no worries, everything is good now, and no way a little thing like broken bikes is going to stop the work here in Wiener Neustadt.
            It has been an interesting experience to actually not be the one transferred, its really nice, I like it. And it has been really good working with Elder Talbot. He is a good elder, and I have already learned tons from him. Hahaha don`t worry mom, I`m not stressing out yet, and hopefully I won`t be stressing out anytime soon. We will see :) anyways have a great week, I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
 

PS, I realized I didn`t take any pictures from last transfer, so I took these two pictures from our apartment to show you what Wiener Neustadt looks like. The McDonalds is right across the street from us, but McDonalds in Austria is ridiculously expensive, so we never go there. But between the mountains and McDonalds I feel right at home!
 

PPS and the other picture is from on top of the TV tower in Stuttgart

August 16, 2011

            So here is the status update. I am not being transferred, but Elder Bagley is. He is going to München area. I'm going to be working with Elder Talbot, who has been on his mission about 1 year I believe, so he has been out 6 months longer than me. So we should have a lot of success. Also I am going to be district leader this transfer, so that will definitely make things interesting. We will see what happens. I will miss working with Elder Bagley, especially since I only got to work with him for a few weeks. Oh and quick money issue, I have no clue what Experian is, I haven't used my personal card for a while, so if you could look into that, I would appreciate it. Oh and while we are on the topic of money, don't have a panic attack, but there will probably be a really big charge to my account today or tomorrow. I have to go to München to pick up my new companion, and something got messed up and we only have tickets for getting there. So I am going to have to pay a like 150 euro to get us home, but I'll get reimbursed. I know you don't like it, and neither do I, but it will all work out, I just wanted to let you know so that you don't have a panic attack.
            This week has been pretty awesome. We were able to meet with Herr Schafer again, and we tried to give him a baptismal date, but he felt that he wants to wait until Christmas time. Which is totally fine with me, because that gives us time to work with his family as well. We are still having a difficult time finding out how to get his family more involved. We invited them to a member’s house after church, but his wife couldn't make it and none of the children wanted to come. So it was just us and him with the member family. But the family invited him and his family over for a meal on another day, so hopefully that will work out.
            We brought Christinne to a baptism in Wien, and it was great. She really felt the spirit, and it was a great experience. They had totally forgotten to ask for witnesses for the baptism, so I ended up being one of them. That was pretty cool. We are still working with Christinne, but she is really having a hard time. And not just with smoking. The more we teach the more we find out, and she just has a really hard time with almost everything we teach. She has felt the spirit a lot, and she knows the church is good, and she has felt the power of the Book of Mormon, but she doesn`t fully understand what that means for her. Elder Bagley and I realized that that is most definitely something that is more our fault, and we are really praying for help to know exactly how we can help her the best.
            Andreas is doing great. He got out of drug rehab early, so we met with him on Sunday. Apparently drug rehab in Austria is a little different then in America. They just keep them until there are no drugs in there system and then they let them go. Doesn't sound too effective to me, but I guess that is why we have missionaries! We met with him again yesterday, and he is totally excited about everything we taught him. He wants to be baptized as soon as possible, and we chose the date of Sept. 4! We are going to start the stop smoking program really soon with him, and then he will be all ready. Man I am so excited for him.
            No I’m not in contact with Eric at all, but maybe if I ever get a p day I will write him. And you are reading the wheel of time? have fun! I didn't even like the prequel, so if you liked it, that is cool. There are some weird scenes in the wheel of time, so if you come to anything that you don't really like please take a permanent marker and strike it out. I was going to do that but I never got around to it.
            Anyways, this week has been great, I'm looking forward to another long day of train rides to and back from München, but the Church is true, and I am so grateful to serve as a missionary! Oh side note, some satanic dog bit me and ripped my pants so I got to practice my sewing skills. And Elder Bagley crashed 2 times this week and wrecked his bike. Don't worry we are both fine, and I must admit, if two 19 year old boys can't ruin this work by their total lack of competence then the church must be true! But don't take my word for it, read the Book of Mormon and find out! I love you mom!
Liebe
Elder Terry