From Mom 12/28
Dear Family,
This has been our P-day. Today it was truly a P day----a painting day. A young couple we have been working with since we got to Wurzburg is moving to another apartment and we offered to help them paint before they moved in. Today was the day. Saturday several men from the ward are helping them move. They are having a hard time accepting the help and feel a little uncomfortable but we told them that’s what we do in this church. She has been a member for quite awhile but he was baptized just this year and they haven’t been very active. We have been giving them the new member lessons and when we finished those, they asked if we would continue to come and teach them about the church. We have encouraged them to read the Book of Mormon together and have read a chapter with them the last two weeks we have met with them. When we were there on Sunday they talked about how much better their lives have been since they started attending church regularly again. She received a calling to work in the Relief Society and he was ordained a Priest and helped with the sacrament on Sunday. It’s amazing to see the light in their eyes as they attend church and participate. They commented that it seemed like just a little while ago no one even spoke to them when they came to church. Now they say many people talk to them. They don’t realize that it’s them who are putting forth the extra effort, not just the other members.
Things have been pretty slow this week. The day after Christmas the two Elders and us went Christmas caroling to some of the older people in the ward. A couple of them were in assisted living homes. One was out having her afternoon cake with several other older people and she was so happy to have us come. We sang several songs. She started crying. I don’t know if the singing was just really bad or if they were tears of gratitude that someone made the effort to think of her that day. I like to think it is the latter. It was interesting to see how many others gathered in the area to listen to us and clapped when we finished singing. We went to another address and rang the bell (the klingel) and the lady answered. Dad said we were the missionaries and wanted to come and sing some songs to here. She is 92 years old and when we called her when we first got here to schedule a visit, she told us she was just too old to even bother with. Tuesday she just talked over the speaker and never did invite us in. She said she felt the church was too old fashioned and too restrictive and she just had too many questions about the church to want to be involved with it anymore. We sang her a song over the speaker and wished her a Merry Christmas and she seemed very grateful that we would do that. Maybe we gave her something to think about anyway.
We had a meeting Wednesday with our new found friends who are from So. America. We found out they are from Cuba. The mother said she is really looking for a religion and feels she needs it for her family. We talked about our Heavenly Father and that the gospel was His plan for happiness. We talked about how the gospel blesses families, about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and she seemed to accept and agree with everything we told her. She is going to try to come to church on Sunday. That means a half hour train ride then a bus ride to the church so if she comes, we will know she is serious about this. She was especially interested in the Book of Mormon and where it came from and we couldn’t help but feel that she knows it is a book about her people.
We have another meeting with Petra tomorrow. We always look forward to these meetings. Last time we met with her she was talking about being baptized sometime in January and told Dad she wanted him to baptize her. She doesn’t just accept everything we tell her. She has lots of questions then she studies it out and prays about it until it becomes a part of her. She has a daughter who is in her twenties and she has been telling her about the church. She is a nurse in a private hospital and has been talking to some of the people she works with there about the church. She told us about one of the patients who asked her if she was going to church on Christmas. When she told him she was, he asked her what church she was going to. She told him, she was going to the Church of Jesus Christ or the Mormon Church. When she went to check on him later that night, he was still awake and wanted her to tell him more about the church. She is going to be a great missionary for the church!
It was so good talking to all of you on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. It was a hard day for me but talking to you made it a much better day.. Thank you so much for the gifts. Thanks for the good things to eat and for the pictures and letters and CD’s and video and just everything. It means a lot to us to know that you have been together for the holidays----first Thanksgiving and then Christmas. We see so many families here who just never do much with their family. The sister we had dinner with on Christmas seems so lonely. She said her parents are both dead. She is divorced and has a 4 year old son. She has one sister but she said they don’t have anything to do with each other because when they are together they just fight and talk about the horrible life they had growing up so she just doesn’t have anything to do with her. The church and the members here are her life but she is very lonely. Nothing fills the void like family and we are so thankful for ours.
I read a statement from President Hinckley just before Christmas. It was something like this: “At this time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. But without His death is would have been just another birth.” Then he went on and talked about the atonement. I think this Christmas, more than any time in my life, the atonement has meant so much to me. Two days before Christmas I was as sick as I ever remember being. It started in the morning when I answered the phone and while talking on the phone, I got terribly dizzy. Then I got a horrible headache. I laid down and first I was so hot I could hardly stand it and then I would shiver until the blankets came off. On top of that, I was terribly homesick and thinking of all of you, wishing that I was home for Christmas. I was just plain miserable! As I lay there, a scripture came to my mind that I had read while preparing a lesson on the atonement. It is Alma 7:12 and talks about Christ taking on “their infirmities that his bowels may be filled with mercy according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” I thought of how many times I have told people about the atonement and that the Lord knows how they feel when they are feeling sorrow or sadness or any kind of feeling. I consider those kinds of feeling infirmities. Then I thought it’s about time I practice what I have been preaching and I started praying and poured my heart out to our Heavenly Father telling him how homesick I was, how sick I was and just how miserable I felt, and asked for some comfort. Almost immediately, that comfort came. I still had another day for whatever bug I had to run it’s course, but I felt peace in my heart and knew that I was going to make it though this Christmas without my family. How thankful I am to know that we don’t have to carry our burdens alone, that the Lord is always there for us and all we have to do is ask for His help.
Know that we love you with all our hearts. We think of you everyday and miss you so much. Thanks for your prayers and your encouragement. I mission in Europe is no easy task but we have been blessed with good people to meet and work with. I’m looking forward to Monday so I can say, “next year”: we’ll be home. Then I’ll look forward to the first part of March when I can start counting down the months! I know, I shouldn’t be thinking those kinds of things but being with our family will always be top priority in my life and Dad says that’s okay.
Much love always,
Mom
This has been our P-day. Today it was truly a P day----a painting day. A young couple we have been working with since we got to Wurzburg is moving to another apartment and we offered to help them paint before they moved in. Today was the day. Saturday several men from the ward are helping them move. They are having a hard time accepting the help and feel a little uncomfortable but we told them that’s what we do in this church. She has been a member for quite awhile but he was baptized just this year and they haven’t been very active. We have been giving them the new member lessons and when we finished those, they asked if we would continue to come and teach them about the church. We have encouraged them to read the Book of Mormon together and have read a chapter with them the last two weeks we have met with them. When we were there on Sunday they talked about how much better their lives have been since they started attending church regularly again. She received a calling to work in the Relief Society and he was ordained a Priest and helped with the sacrament on Sunday. It’s amazing to see the light in their eyes as they attend church and participate. They commented that it seemed like just a little while ago no one even spoke to them when they came to church. Now they say many people talk to them. They don’t realize that it’s them who are putting forth the extra effort, not just the other members.
Things have been pretty slow this week. The day after Christmas the two Elders and us went Christmas caroling to some of the older people in the ward. A couple of them were in assisted living homes. One was out having her afternoon cake with several other older people and she was so happy to have us come. We sang several songs. She started crying. I don’t know if the singing was just really bad or if they were tears of gratitude that someone made the effort to think of her that day. I like to think it is the latter. It was interesting to see how many others gathered in the area to listen to us and clapped when we finished singing. We went to another address and rang the bell (the klingel) and the lady answered. Dad said we were the missionaries and wanted to come and sing some songs to here. She is 92 years old and when we called her when we first got here to schedule a visit, she told us she was just too old to even bother with. Tuesday she just talked over the speaker and never did invite us in. She said she felt the church was too old fashioned and too restrictive and she just had too many questions about the church to want to be involved with it anymore. We sang her a song over the speaker and wished her a Merry Christmas and she seemed very grateful that we would do that. Maybe we gave her something to think about anyway.
We had a meeting Wednesday with our new found friends who are from So. America. We found out they are from Cuba. The mother said she is really looking for a religion and feels she needs it for her family. We talked about our Heavenly Father and that the gospel was His plan for happiness. We talked about how the gospel blesses families, about the restoration and the Book of Mormon and she seemed to accept and agree with everything we told her. She is going to try to come to church on Sunday. That means a half hour train ride then a bus ride to the church so if she comes, we will know she is serious about this. She was especially interested in the Book of Mormon and where it came from and we couldn’t help but feel that she knows it is a book about her people.
We have another meeting with Petra tomorrow. We always look forward to these meetings. Last time we met with her she was talking about being baptized sometime in January and told Dad she wanted him to baptize her. She doesn’t just accept everything we tell her. She has lots of questions then she studies it out and prays about it until it becomes a part of her. She has a daughter who is in her twenties and she has been telling her about the church. She is a nurse in a private hospital and has been talking to some of the people she works with there about the church. She told us about one of the patients who asked her if she was going to church on Christmas. When she told him she was, he asked her what church she was going to. She told him, she was going to the Church of Jesus Christ or the Mormon Church. When she went to check on him later that night, he was still awake and wanted her to tell him more about the church. She is going to be a great missionary for the church!
It was so good talking to all of you on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. It was a hard day for me but talking to you made it a much better day.. Thank you so much for the gifts. Thanks for the good things to eat and for the pictures and letters and CD’s and video and just everything. It means a lot to us to know that you have been together for the holidays----first Thanksgiving and then Christmas. We see so many families here who just never do much with their family. The sister we had dinner with on Christmas seems so lonely. She said her parents are both dead. She is divorced and has a 4 year old son. She has one sister but she said they don’t have anything to do with each other because when they are together they just fight and talk about the horrible life they had growing up so she just doesn’t have anything to do with her. The church and the members here are her life but she is very lonely. Nothing fills the void like family and we are so thankful for ours.
I read a statement from President Hinckley just before Christmas. It was something like this: “At this time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. But without His death is would have been just another birth.” Then he went on and talked about the atonement. I think this Christmas, more than any time in my life, the atonement has meant so much to me. Two days before Christmas I was as sick as I ever remember being. It started in the morning when I answered the phone and while talking on the phone, I got terribly dizzy. Then I got a horrible headache. I laid down and first I was so hot I could hardly stand it and then I would shiver until the blankets came off. On top of that, I was terribly homesick and thinking of all of you, wishing that I was home for Christmas. I was just plain miserable! As I lay there, a scripture came to my mind that I had read while preparing a lesson on the atonement. It is Alma 7:12 and talks about Christ taking on “their infirmities that his bowels may be filled with mercy according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” I thought of how many times I have told people about the atonement and that the Lord knows how they feel when they are feeling sorrow or sadness or any kind of feeling. I consider those kinds of feeling infirmities. Then I thought it’s about time I practice what I have been preaching and I started praying and poured my heart out to our Heavenly Father telling him how homesick I was, how sick I was and just how miserable I felt, and asked for some comfort. Almost immediately, that comfort came. I still had another day for whatever bug I had to run it’s course, but I felt peace in my heart and knew that I was going to make it though this Christmas without my family. How thankful I am to know that we don’t have to carry our burdens alone, that the Lord is always there for us and all we have to do is ask for His help.
Know that we love you with all our hearts. We think of you everyday and miss you so much. Thanks for your prayers and your encouragement. I mission in Europe is no easy task but we have been blessed with good people to meet and work with. I’m looking forward to Monday so I can say, “next year”: we’ll be home. Then I’ll look forward to the first part of March when I can start counting down the months! I know, I shouldn’t be thinking those kinds of things but being with our family will always be top priority in my life and Dad says that’s okay.
Much love always,
Mom
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