From Mom 12/21
Dear Family,
We are both very full and very tired. This has been a long day. We had to go to Nurnburg, which is about an hour and a half drive, for interviews with our mission president and training from our Zone leaders. Tonight was the ward Christmas party and I was asked to bring a pan of our favorite cheesy potatoes so I got that put together before we left. We didn’t get home until nearly 5 and the party started at 5:30 so I cranked up the heat on the oven and let them cook for about 35 minutes. It was a fun, family oriented ward party, complete with a visit from Santa. There was a good turnout and several non-members attended. One was a lady we had gone to see as a referral. She wasn’t home when we went but her husband told her we had come. One of the ladies in the ward is a friend and had invited her to the party and when we got there she was so excited to see us. She said, “You’re the ones who came to see me!” She was so friendly and invited us to come back after the first of the year.
This week we went to visit a young man the bishop asked us to visit. He and a young woman have been living together and have a baby. When we called to set up an appointment he told us he was no longer living with this woman, that she had gone back to live with her mother. We had a nice visit with him. He’s a nice enough guy but a bit too “smooth” for our liking. He says what we want to hear but we didn’t pick up a lot of sincerity about him. He told us he would be in church the day before Christmas. We’ll see. I may have to eat my words! Anyway, he told us about this girl and told us where she lived and said she had been to church with him and may be interested in learning the gospel. So we drove out to her house and met her and her mother and they invited us to come back and talk about the church. They are both from somewhere in So. America but have been in Germany for 8 years. They spoke to each other in Spanish so when we went back Dad suggested we take both a Spanish and a German Book of Mormon. We went out Tuesday and we gave the girl the German book and the mother the Spanish one. When the mother saw the name of the church on the book she said, “I know this church.” Then she told us that missionaries had come to her home when she was young but her dad was not interested in any religion. She had been to church a few times and liked how she felt when she was there but because of no interest on the part of the family she didn’t continue to go. She told us that several people from other churches had called on them wanting to tell them about their church but she had no interest. When she saw the churches name on the book, she said, “This is the church I want to know about.” We have an appointment next Wednesday to start teaching them and they said they would come to church a week from Sunday. It’s amazing how things like this happen and we know the Lord’s hand is very much in this.
We have been concerned about our investigator, Petra. We hadn’t heard from her for over a week and called and left messages and wrote her a letter telling her that if she had been offended by something we had said, we wanted to make it right with her. She wasn’t to church during that time and we couldn’t get ahold of her. Then Saturday night she called and she was in tears. She said her boyfriend, who is a member, had left and had called and said some really ugly things to her and she was sure he was drinking again. But, she said she still wanted to come to church on Sunday and she was there. She was very sad but she was there and participated a lot in the Sunday School class. One thing very significant she said in that class was, “If it is in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, it has to be true.” She was fascinated with the thought of having a living prophet today so I got hold of the November Ensign in German. I showed her pictures of President Hinckley and told her a little bit about General Conference and gave the Ensign to her and invited her to read it if she wanted to. When we went there Monday, she had been reading it. She loved it! She said it gives her things that will help her in her everyday life and she just couldn’t get enough of it. We talked a little bit about the Atonement and after I bore my testimony to her of the Atonement and expressed my love for the Savior for making this sacrifice for us she said, “Why do you love Jesus Christ more than you love Heavenly Father.” I told her I loved them equally and that Jesus Christ was doing what out Heavenly Father wanted him to do. We read John 3:16-17, the scripture about “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son----“ and she had never heard it. We talked about His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and she had never heard of that so we talked about that and then read some scriptures from the Book of Mormon about His mission on earth and she seemed to accept that and understand why we feel so strongly about Him. She said she still wants to go ahead and continue to learn about the church even though her boyfriend may not be in her life anymore. She loves what she is learning and it is such a great experience teaching her. She is just a really neat lady.
Our Family Home Evening Christmas party was a lot of fun. The Elders were there and talked about the prophesies of the birth of Christ from the Bible and the Book of Mormon and then read the Christmas story in Luke. Then we played the M&M game with the straws and then we went into the kitchen and made Rice Crispy treats. Some members who live on the base had offered to get us anything we needed so we asked if they could get us some Eggnog because that is what the kids had asked for. We also had them get several 12 packs of Root Beer. They don’t have Root Beer in Germany and the kids love it. We didn’t tell them about that until nearly the end of the evening then we gave each of them a pack and told them it was our Christmas present for them. You’d think we had given them a million dollars! They “hugged” their packs of Root Beer and just raved about it. Something so simple but so appreciated and that made it so much fun.
It’s interesting to us when we visit people how they “dump” on us. I’m not complaining but it’s interesting how they think because we are Senior Missionaries we must have an answer for all their problems. We get into some pretty messy stuff sometimes and come home just exhausted. There are a lot of people who live together but aren’t married because they feel like they can’t afford to get married for fear of losing some of their government pension money. People have issues with church doctrine or church policy and expect us to tell them what they want to hear. The list goes on and on. I guess its good they have a sounding board and trust us enough to share their concerns with us but it sure makes us realize how fortunate we have been to have had the gospel a part of our lives all our life and to have learned along the way what the right is.
We want to call sometime on Christmas. We were wondering about calling some of you Christmas Eve and some on Christmas. You kids in Idaho, are you all going to be together sometime on Christmas Day? What time would be a good time to call? And you in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Lemhi, when would it be best for you? Please let us know. We have a dinner appointment at noon and another one at 6 o’clock but with the difference in the time we should be able to work something out. Send us an e-mail and let us know what’s best for you.
Have a fun day on Sunday celebrating Caitlyn’s birthday and know that you are very much in our thoughts. It is hard being away from family on Christmas! We didn’t plan this mission very well. We’re going to be gone to Christmases! But we will survive and it will be a wonderful time when we can all be together again.
We’ll talk to you on Sunday.
Much love,
Dad & Mom
We are both very full and very tired. This has been a long day. We had to go to Nurnburg, which is about an hour and a half drive, for interviews with our mission president and training from our Zone leaders. Tonight was the ward Christmas party and I was asked to bring a pan of our favorite cheesy potatoes so I got that put together before we left. We didn’t get home until nearly 5 and the party started at 5:30 so I cranked up the heat on the oven and let them cook for about 35 minutes. It was a fun, family oriented ward party, complete with a visit from Santa. There was a good turnout and several non-members attended. One was a lady we had gone to see as a referral. She wasn’t home when we went but her husband told her we had come. One of the ladies in the ward is a friend and had invited her to the party and when we got there she was so excited to see us. She said, “You’re the ones who came to see me!” She was so friendly and invited us to come back after the first of the year.
This week we went to visit a young man the bishop asked us to visit. He and a young woman have been living together and have a baby. When we called to set up an appointment he told us he was no longer living with this woman, that she had gone back to live with her mother. We had a nice visit with him. He’s a nice enough guy but a bit too “smooth” for our liking. He says what we want to hear but we didn’t pick up a lot of sincerity about him. He told us he would be in church the day before Christmas. We’ll see. I may have to eat my words! Anyway, he told us about this girl and told us where she lived and said she had been to church with him and may be interested in learning the gospel. So we drove out to her house and met her and her mother and they invited us to come back and talk about the church. They are both from somewhere in So. America but have been in Germany for 8 years. They spoke to each other in Spanish so when we went back Dad suggested we take both a Spanish and a German Book of Mormon. We went out Tuesday and we gave the girl the German book and the mother the Spanish one. When the mother saw the name of the church on the book she said, “I know this church.” Then she told us that missionaries had come to her home when she was young but her dad was not interested in any religion. She had been to church a few times and liked how she felt when she was there but because of no interest on the part of the family she didn’t continue to go. She told us that several people from other churches had called on them wanting to tell them about their church but she had no interest. When she saw the churches name on the book, she said, “This is the church I want to know about.” We have an appointment next Wednesday to start teaching them and they said they would come to church a week from Sunday. It’s amazing how things like this happen and we know the Lord’s hand is very much in this.
We have been concerned about our investigator, Petra. We hadn’t heard from her for over a week and called and left messages and wrote her a letter telling her that if she had been offended by something we had said, we wanted to make it right with her. She wasn’t to church during that time and we couldn’t get ahold of her. Then Saturday night she called and she was in tears. She said her boyfriend, who is a member, had left and had called and said some really ugly things to her and she was sure he was drinking again. But, she said she still wanted to come to church on Sunday and she was there. She was very sad but she was there and participated a lot in the Sunday School class. One thing very significant she said in that class was, “If it is in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, it has to be true.” She was fascinated with the thought of having a living prophet today so I got hold of the November Ensign in German. I showed her pictures of President Hinckley and told her a little bit about General Conference and gave the Ensign to her and invited her to read it if she wanted to. When we went there Monday, she had been reading it. She loved it! She said it gives her things that will help her in her everyday life and she just couldn’t get enough of it. We talked a little bit about the Atonement and after I bore my testimony to her of the Atonement and expressed my love for the Savior for making this sacrifice for us she said, “Why do you love Jesus Christ more than you love Heavenly Father.” I told her I loved them equally and that Jesus Christ was doing what out Heavenly Father wanted him to do. We read John 3:16-17, the scripture about “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son----“ and she had never heard it. We talked about His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and she had never heard of that so we talked about that and then read some scriptures from the Book of Mormon about His mission on earth and she seemed to accept that and understand why we feel so strongly about Him. She said she still wants to go ahead and continue to learn about the church even though her boyfriend may not be in her life anymore. She loves what she is learning and it is such a great experience teaching her. She is just a really neat lady.
Our Family Home Evening Christmas party was a lot of fun. The Elders were there and talked about the prophesies of the birth of Christ from the Bible and the Book of Mormon and then read the Christmas story in Luke. Then we played the M&M game with the straws and then we went into the kitchen and made Rice Crispy treats. Some members who live on the base had offered to get us anything we needed so we asked if they could get us some Eggnog because that is what the kids had asked for. We also had them get several 12 packs of Root Beer. They don’t have Root Beer in Germany and the kids love it. We didn’t tell them about that until nearly the end of the evening then we gave each of them a pack and told them it was our Christmas present for them. You’d think we had given them a million dollars! They “hugged” their packs of Root Beer and just raved about it. Something so simple but so appreciated and that made it so much fun.
It’s interesting to us when we visit people how they “dump” on us. I’m not complaining but it’s interesting how they think because we are Senior Missionaries we must have an answer for all their problems. We get into some pretty messy stuff sometimes and come home just exhausted. There are a lot of people who live together but aren’t married because they feel like they can’t afford to get married for fear of losing some of their government pension money. People have issues with church doctrine or church policy and expect us to tell them what they want to hear. The list goes on and on. I guess its good they have a sounding board and trust us enough to share their concerns with us but it sure makes us realize how fortunate we have been to have had the gospel a part of our lives all our life and to have learned along the way what the right is.
We want to call sometime on Christmas. We were wondering about calling some of you Christmas Eve and some on Christmas. You kids in Idaho, are you all going to be together sometime on Christmas Day? What time would be a good time to call? And you in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Lemhi, when would it be best for you? Please let us know. We have a dinner appointment at noon and another one at 6 o’clock but with the difference in the time we should be able to work something out. Send us an e-mail and let us know what’s best for you.
Have a fun day on Sunday celebrating Caitlyn’s birthday and know that you are very much in our thoughts. It is hard being away from family on Christmas! We didn’t plan this mission very well. We’re going to be gone to Christmases! But we will survive and it will be a wonderful time when we can all be together again.
We’ll talk to you on Sunday.
Much love,
Dad & Mom
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