October 10, 2011
Wow, it sounds like it has been a busy week. Congrats to the XC team,
and too bad about the badish weather. here are the answers to all of the
questions you asked me.
First new address is
Elder Andrew Terry
Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Alpenländische Mission
Bahnhofstrasse 278
8623 Wetzikon
Schweiz (Switzerland)
Second of all, train ride. So my train left Wien at 6:14, so we actually stayed the night with other elders in Wien. But we had to wake up at 4:30 in order to get ready and get to the train station. I got to Munich at 10:30,
and the secretary elders picked me and Elder Ronna (zone leader from
Wien, he is also going to Switzerland) and rushed us to the Swiss
Consolate so that we could get swiss visas. It takes 4 to 5 hours to
print our visas, so we had to wait at Munich bahnhof. Elder Ronna and I
talked to alot of people though, so that was alot of fun. Then we got on
a train at 16:30 and got to Zurich train station at 20:45.
Then it is only about 15 minutes from Zurich to our appartment. So in
total about 8 or 9 hours on the train. I took some pictures this time,
but sadly this internet place doesn`t let you send pictures, but I will
get them to you soon.
MY new companion is Elder Jacob, like I said. He has been on his mission
for about 1 month. He had 11 days in the MTC and then 3 weeks in the
field. So he is also pretty new to the area, so we are learning
together. It has definitely been an interesting experience.
The church
building is 5 minutes by foot away from our apartment, so really close.
The terrain is pretty hilly, people not from Utah
might say mountainy, but they aren`t really mountains. Our area is the
south east of Zurich, along side the Zurich Sea, and it is a really
beautiful area. We will be riding trains and buses. I just got my GA today, which is a pass that allows you to use all trains, buses and boats in Switzerland.
Which is really handy because Switzerland has great public
transportation. But it is SUPER expensive here. I already spent 142
franken to use the Zurich train and bus system for 1 week, so I am
really happy to have a GA. Everything is super expensive. Clothes,
transportation, and especially food. It is ridiculous. I called the
financial secretaries to see if they could give me some more money, and
they did, but I might have to pull from my personal money as well, we
will see. I will try not to.
It has been SUPER rainy and cold the past 3
days, so it is good that I bought a coat. But I will also be buying a
scarf, a umbrella ( I have already broken 2 cheap ones, so I am thinking
of buying a new one) and I need a new watch, becuase somehow my watch
that is 50 meters water resistant had some trouble with a little rain,
and now there is water inside it, so it doesn`t work. And there is no
better place to buy a watch then Switzerland. But don`t worry mom, I
will do my best to not spend personal money. Anyways, the other new
thing is the language. You see, in Switzerland they don`t really speak German, they speak so called "Swiss German". It is about as close to
German as English is. There are some words that are the same, and the
general word order is the same, but the majority of the words and
pronounciation is very different. Even my German companion can`t
understand them. So that has definitely been a challenge. But we will
get over it. Needless to say, this has definitely been a learning
experience this past week, but I have definitely felt the Lord`s love
and support. I know this church is true, and I love you! Have a great
week!
Liebe
Elder Terry
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Access GRANTED!!!
October 3, 2011
So, I believe I failed to mention this last week, but this week was transfer calls, and I got transferred. TO SWITZERLAND!!! If you are wondering why I am excited, its because Switzerland is like the forbidden forest of our mission. Since the problems with visas Switzerland has practically been its own mission, because we couldn`t get visas for missionaries to get transferred there. So I`m not exactly sure how I got in, either they have a visa for me, or I will only be there for 90 days, either way, I`m going to Wetzikon ward, in the St. Gallen stake. My new companion is Elder Jacob, he is from Germany, and has been on his mission for 3 weeks, and has been a member for 1 year. Man I am so excited to be working with a German companion. Finally I will learn GERMAN!!!
Anyways, we will be following the new training program, so that will be exciting, and I am staying district leader. So this will definitely be a very busy transfer. I am really excited for it though, in case you can`t tell. And I am really excited for another ridiculously long train ride, once again through München. hahaha every transfer day I go to München. It is pretty ridiculous. Oh well. Oh and let Abbie know that I got her letter today, so not to worry, I got it before I got transferred, and tell Brooke I say hi, and that she is the best!
Anyways, about conference. So because we are like 8 hours ahead of Utah time wise, we watched the Saturday morning session live at 6 pm here. It was a great session. I love Elder Scott, he is the best! I really liked his talk. And also Pres. Uchtdorf´s talk, it was also one of my favorites. Oh and we watched it in English at the church. Then Sunday we watched the priesthood session at 11 am, once again in English at the church. Priesthood session is the best! sorry I don`t mean to offend any women or make them feel like they missed out, because they can watch it and read it later, but it was really great. I loved all of the talks. Elder Holland was his good ol´ crazy self, calling us to war, and the entire first presidency spoke. It was pretty much crazy. I loved it! Then we had lunch, and then we watched the Saturday afternoon session at 2, also in English. Then we drove and picked up an investigator, Anton Bozesky, and brought him to the Sunday morning session which we watched at 6 pm, and this time in German because we had investigators to sit by. It was a great experience, but I`m not going to lie, I like watching them in English more than German. It is better to hear the real voices of the apostles and prophet as they speak. But that is just my opinion. But we missed the Sunday afternoon session. but thanks to the wonders of technology I just downloaded all of the sessions of conference to my mp3 player and now I can listen to them whenever I want! It is going to be great.
Well this week was awesome, it went by really fast because we were super busy. We did 2 service projects, one was stacking wood and the other was digging holes, both things that I am super good at, thanks to my higher education I got at college. Anyways, I hope that this week goes well. Enjoy the fall weather! Oh and I haven`t bought a coat yet, but probably today, because things in Switzerland are super expensive, so I will probably buy it here in Austria. Anyways, I love you, the church is true, Pres. Monson is most definitely THE living prophet today. And if we follow his counsel then we can stand assured that we will receive the blessings promised us by an unchanging and infinitely loving Heavenly Father. I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
Anyways, about conference. So because we are like 8 hours ahead of Utah time wise, we watched the Saturday morning session live at 6 pm here. It was a great session. I love Elder Scott, he is the best! I really liked his talk. And also Pres. Uchtdorf´s talk, it was also one of my favorites. Oh and we watched it in English at the church. Then Sunday we watched the priesthood session at 11 am, once again in English at the church. Priesthood session is the best! sorry I don`t mean to offend any women or make them feel like they missed out, because they can watch it and read it later, but it was really great. I loved all of the talks. Elder Holland was his good ol´ crazy self, calling us to war, and the entire first presidency spoke. It was pretty much crazy. I loved it! Then we had lunch, and then we watched the Saturday afternoon session at 2, also in English. Then we drove and picked up an investigator, Anton Bozesky, and brought him to the Sunday morning session which we watched at 6 pm, and this time in German because we had investigators to sit by. It was a great experience, but I`m not going to lie, I like watching them in English more than German. It is better to hear the real voices of the apostles and prophet as they speak. But that is just my opinion. But we missed the Sunday afternoon session. but thanks to the wonders of technology I just downloaded all of the sessions of conference to my mp3 player and now I can listen to them whenever I want! It is going to be great.
Well this week was awesome, it went by really fast because we were super busy. We did 2 service projects, one was stacking wood and the other was digging holes, both things that I am super good at, thanks to my higher education I got at college. Anyways, I hope that this week goes well. Enjoy the fall weather! Oh and I haven`t bought a coat yet, but probably today, because things in Switzerland are super expensive, so I will probably buy it here in Austria. Anyways, I love you, the church is true, Pres. Monson is most definitely THE living prophet today. And if we follow his counsel then we can stand assured that we will receive the blessings promised us by an unchanging and infinitely loving Heavenly Father. I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
Sunday, October 2, 2011
September 25, 2011
First of all, $200 should be enough. I`m looking for a coat in about the 50€ price range, so that is about 70 or 80 dollars I believe. Anyways, I guess I will answer your question now. I have enough time to read the emails from my friends. I don`t print them, because it costs 10 cents a page to print, which is rather expensive, so I just read them. But please keep sending them to me.
I am glad that Tanner finally got to speak in church. He is such a stud. I am excited to read his talk.
Anyways, I am glad to hear that BYU won, finally. That's good. And no, I don`t need more vitamins, and it would definitely be cheaper if I just bought them here then if you sent them to me. I am in Europe, not in Mexico. We are semi civilized over here. (Ouch!)
This week was definitely a great one. Like I said last week, it was pretty cold here on Monday, and also on Tuesday. I was pretty cold. Tuesday we didn`t have district meeting becuase we had leadership training later in the week, but we had another austausch. This time I stayed in Wiener Neustadt and Elder Greve came here and worked with me. It was great. Elder Greve is awesome. He was my zone leader when I first got into the field, and now he is in his last transfer, he will be going home in 1 week. But he worked here in Wiener Neustadt for 3 transfers, so he told me about some potential investigators that we could go by on. We had a lot of fun and got a lot of missionary work done as well, even though Elder Greve is pretty sick. But he refuses to stay inside, which is awesome. Somehow I have avoided the sickness, almost everyone else in our district has had it, but I have lucked out, (knock on wood). Maybe all those days of running outside no matter what the weather has toughened my body and immune system. Anyways it is warm again, so no worries. We are hoping to enjoy a few more weeks of good weather before it gets too bad.
On Friday we had our leadership training meeting in Wien, which was changed into a pretty much a zone conference, becuase there was only one companionship that wouldn`t be invited. You see, all district leaders, trainers, there companions obviously, and all sisters are invited to leadership training, and there are so many people being trained in wien that that is pretty much everyone. So the one set of elders that wouldn`t of normally come were invited, and Pres Miles taught us about the new training program that is being introduced all over the world. you have probably read about it in everyone elses emails, so I will spare you the boring details, but pretty much the plan is that the new missionaries should be able to train after 12 weeks. So the new missionaries and their companions will stay together for 12 weeks or 2 transfers, and they will have 2 hours of companionship study instead of 1. A lot of the focus is on improved teaching, and part of that is that missionaries will be watching clips from The District 1 and 2. And that means......(drum roll) that every companionship was rewarded with a portable DVD player! Wow, missionary work is going hi tech! It is pretty exciting though, and we were all really suprised. One step closer to missionaries with ipads!
Anyways, more about the actual missionary work, we had a really great week. We were able to change our pattern of meeting with C_______, so we shortened our appointments and meet 3 times a week. I think it has helped a lot, and this next week it should definitely help a lot, because between 3 times with us and general conference she is going to be flooded with the gospel and the spirit. It will be awesome! It is going to be exactly what she needs to jump start some changes in her life. We also met with Herr S______, and he is doing well, he had a really wierd question about the word of wisdom though. He totally agrees with the word of wisdom and knows that it is true, but he won`t admit it is revelation becuase he feels like it goes against what Jesus said when he told the Pharisees that it wasn`t what went in the mouth but what came out that defiled a man. He feels like that means that it doesn`t matter to God what we eat or do with our bodies. We explained it as well as we could, but it all comes back to whether Joseph Smith was a prophet or not, so we commited him to pray about it, and hopefully we will be able to talk more about it this week. We also finally got to meet with G_______, an ewige untersucher (eternal investigator ?)who we haven`t been able to meet with for like 10 weeks. And A______ came to church this week, and hopefully next weekend we will be able to meet with him between conference sessions, and help him progress towards baptism!
Wiener Neustadt is just the best area ever! and Elder Talbot is great! Transfer calls are this week so we will see what happens... anyways have a great week, make sure to watch conference becuase it is the best thing ever, and I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
I am glad that Tanner finally got to speak in church. He is such a stud. I am excited to read his talk.
Anyways, I am glad to hear that BYU won, finally. That's good. And no, I don`t need more vitamins, and it would definitely be cheaper if I just bought them here then if you sent them to me. I am in Europe, not in Mexico. We are semi civilized over here. (Ouch!)
This week was definitely a great one. Like I said last week, it was pretty cold here on Monday, and also on Tuesday. I was pretty cold. Tuesday we didn`t have district meeting becuase we had leadership training later in the week, but we had another austausch. This time I stayed in Wiener Neustadt and Elder Greve came here and worked with me. It was great. Elder Greve is awesome. He was my zone leader when I first got into the field, and now he is in his last transfer, he will be going home in 1 week. But he worked here in Wiener Neustadt for 3 transfers, so he told me about some potential investigators that we could go by on. We had a lot of fun and got a lot of missionary work done as well, even though Elder Greve is pretty sick. But he refuses to stay inside, which is awesome. Somehow I have avoided the sickness, almost everyone else in our district has had it, but I have lucked out, (knock on wood). Maybe all those days of running outside no matter what the weather has toughened my body and immune system. Anyways it is warm again, so no worries. We are hoping to enjoy a few more weeks of good weather before it gets too bad.
On Friday we had our leadership training meeting in Wien, which was changed into a pretty much a zone conference, becuase there was only one companionship that wouldn`t be invited. You see, all district leaders, trainers, there companions obviously, and all sisters are invited to leadership training, and there are so many people being trained in wien that that is pretty much everyone. So the one set of elders that wouldn`t of normally come were invited, and Pres Miles taught us about the new training program that is being introduced all over the world. you have probably read about it in everyone elses emails, so I will spare you the boring details, but pretty much the plan is that the new missionaries should be able to train after 12 weeks. So the new missionaries and their companions will stay together for 12 weeks or 2 transfers, and they will have 2 hours of companionship study instead of 1. A lot of the focus is on improved teaching, and part of that is that missionaries will be watching clips from The District 1 and 2. And that means......(drum roll) that every companionship was rewarded with a portable DVD player! Wow, missionary work is going hi tech! It is pretty exciting though, and we were all really suprised. One step closer to missionaries with ipads!
Anyways, more about the actual missionary work, we had a really great week. We were able to change our pattern of meeting with C_______, so we shortened our appointments and meet 3 times a week. I think it has helped a lot, and this next week it should definitely help a lot, because between 3 times with us and general conference she is going to be flooded with the gospel and the spirit. It will be awesome! It is going to be exactly what she needs to jump start some changes in her life. We also met with Herr S______, and he is doing well, he had a really wierd question about the word of wisdom though. He totally agrees with the word of wisdom and knows that it is true, but he won`t admit it is revelation becuase he feels like it goes against what Jesus said when he told the Pharisees that it wasn`t what went in the mouth but what came out that defiled a man. He feels like that means that it doesn`t matter to God what we eat or do with our bodies. We explained it as well as we could, but it all comes back to whether Joseph Smith was a prophet or not, so we commited him to pray about it, and hopefully we will be able to talk more about it this week. We also finally got to meet with G_______, an ewige untersucher (eternal investigator ?)who we haven`t been able to meet with for like 10 weeks. And A______ came to church this week, and hopefully next weekend we will be able to meet with him between conference sessions, and help him progress towards baptism!
Wiener Neustadt is just the best area ever! and Elder Talbot is great! Transfer calls are this week so we will see what happens... anyways have a great week, make sure to watch conference becuase it is the best thing ever, and I love you!
Liebe
Elder Terry
Friday, September 23, 2011
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.
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!
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
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!
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
Elder Terry
Monday, September 5, 2011
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
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
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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