From Mom 12/7
Dear Family,
We’re finished our cleaning and the washing is hanging out on the patio. It’s not that warm but it will make things smell fresh. We have an appointment in awhile but I’ll try to get this written first. We keep forgetting that Thursday is P-day and when we call to see if we can visit and they say come Thursday, we just write it down. Oh well, it seems we have plenty of time to do other things so I won’t complain.
We’ve met a lot of people this week and they are so nice to us, even if they don’t always agree with what we say. Our #1 investigator, Petra Kempe, is someone we always look forward to meeting with. She has come from never praying and not even being sure if there is a Father in Heaven to praying many times a day. We’re not sure she fully understands about Heavenly Father but is trying to and knows there is someone who is having an influence in her life. We’ve talked about living with our Heavenly Father before we came to earth and that we were all brothers and sisters. Last night she said she found herself being much more patient with people than she has been before, particularly with the way people drive. She says she doesn’t honk her horn nearly so much when she gets irritated the way people drive because, as she puts it, “they are my brothers and sisters.”
She was amazed when we told her that we have a living prophet on the earth today and wanted to know all about President Hinckley. All of this is so new to her and she really wants to know and she is studying and praying about it and that is the way she will find out for herself if what we are teaching her is true. Last night she said, “I am nearly 50. How will I ever “catch up” to you and know what you know?” We told her that there wasn’t a certain “score” she had to have or a particular goal to meet. The important thing was the direction she was moving, that being working to live with our Father in Heaven again. She seemed to like that answer. She has lots of questions and the last two appointments with her have lasted 3 hours. When we say we need to leave, she asks us if we have some place to go and when we say no, she asks us to stay. So we do. It is so great to feel the spirit she has and her wanting to learn. Sunday as we walked from Sacrament meeting to SS class she commented that she loved testimony meeting and hearing the testimonies of so many people. And it was a great testimony meeting. All these things a good.
I think I mentioned the man who hadn’t been to church for a long time but was there a couple of weeks ago. We went to visit him and asked him how long he had been a member. He told us 8 years and he had been to the temple but no longer holds a temple recommend. We got the feeling that he wanted us to ask him why but we didn’t, we just listened. Later on in the conversation he said, “Do you know why I don’t have a temple recommend?” Then he went on to say that it was because he doesn’t pay tithing. His wife is from Peru and her family is very poor and they send a lot of money to them. He also has two daughters from a previous marriage who he helps support and just feels like he shouldn’t have to pay tithing too. Again, we just listened. He feels like the church is too concerned about money, that they are a very rich church and that he is contributing in other ways. We talked to him about how great it was that he was so generous with helping his wife’s family and we also talked about what the church did with the money it received----that no one was getting rich from that money but that it was all going back into helping with church programs such as temples, schools, etc. Then I felt impressed to tell him how I gained a testimony of tithing and that it had stayed with me all my life. I’ll tell you if I haven’t already. I remember my Dad telling about about when he was buying his farm. It was time too make a payment on the farm and it was also time to pay his tithing. He couldn’t do both but knew that if he didn’t make the farm payment, there was a chance he would lose his farm. But he paid his tithing. Then he went to the bank and told them he didn’t have the money for the farm payment but if they could give him some time, he would get the money to them. They gave him the time and 2 or 3 months later he had what he needed for the payment. This was a testimony to him about tithing and I’ve never forgotten his telling us that. We both bore our testimonies of how we have always paid our tithing and there has always been money when we needed it. I can’t describe the look on his face. His countenance literally changed before our eyes. He said with tears in his eyes, “Thank you for coming today.” And as we stood to shake hands, he pulled each of us to him and gave us a hug. He was in church on Sunday and he was still there just talking to people when we left. And that was long after the meetings were over. In testimony meeting tithing was mentioned several times. Oh how the spirit touches lives.
We met another “less active” member and that appointment turned out to be a bit scary. She joined the church because she knew it was true when she learned about it but, in her own words, “I have outgrown the church. There just isn’t enough there for me.” She feels that everyone can return to live with Heavenly Father and that they will just keep coming back to earth until they understand what you’re supposed to do. A bit of reincarnation there. She said that she feels that even Satan will one day repent and return to live with Heavenly Father. In her words, there is no right and there is no wrong. It is through love that all these things are possible. We don’t need scriptures are anyone telling us what we should do. She does remember the good feeling she had when she read it and Dad challenged her to read it again. But she feels the gospel is too limiting and too narrow. Oh dear, isn’t there somewhere in the scriptures that says, “Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leafs to life eternal.” There are so many “voices” out there trying to convince us of these sorts of things. It was an interesting but draining conversation.
We had a bit of a wild time at Family Home Evening on Monday and our dear friend Thomas ended up breaking his ankle. We were playing balloon soccer where you have two teams and two balloons. You are trying to get your balloon to the goalie while keeping the other balloon from getting to it’s goalie. One of the Elders who was there with an investigator, hit the balloon really high to get it past Thomas and Thomas jumped up to hit it and came down on the side of his foot. He heard it pop and was in terrible pain. We drove him home and watched him hobble up the stairs to his house. The next day we called and found out it was broken. He loves chocolate so yesterday we took him a plate of brownies. He was so appreciative and said he would see us at church on Sunday. He is one of the young men who is waiting to turn 18 so he can be baptized. We met his parents when we went over and they are really nice. Hopefully they will see how much he wants to be baptized and let him go ahead. He gave the lesson in FHE and I just sat there amazed at his knowledge of the gospel and his ability to teach. He is a 16 year old unbaptized missionary!
We had an opportunity to do a service project this week. It was tutoring a little 8 year old girl who is struggling with school. The sister missionaries that we here a year ago were both teachers and they had done some so out of the blue, we got a call from a school counselor who asked if we would be willing to do some tutoring. We need service hours so we told them we would. This was a family where the father is in Iraq and I think the mother is just “frazzled”. She is very negative to this little girl and the girl refuses to do her homework. Anyone else she works with but she and the mother don’t get along. And I can see why. I don’t think it’s the girl’s problem. I think it’s the mothers. Anyway we worked with her for a little over and hour and finished her homework and when we got up to leave, the mother handed us 10 Euros. We told her we wouldn’t accept it, that we just wanted to do this and she couldn’t believe it. She got tears in her eyes when we told her we would be back to help again. The problem is she is living on the military base and has to get a pass for us and that may take some time. So we’re waiting but that too was a good experience. We meet all kinds of people.
We had two sunny days and we went for a long walk both days. The light helps a lot. We still don’t have snow and people here are getting concerned. I just want winter to hurry and pass, snow or not, and get spring here. Every day is a challenge but little by little we’re trying to do what we’ve been asked to do. I’m not sure we’ll ever know how we’ve touched people’s lives but we will visit them, we will love them and we will try to strengthen their testimonies of the gospel That’s what gets us through when all is said and done.
Thank you for your letters and for your prayers. We love you and we miss you. It’s very hard to be away from our family, especially at this time of year, but it’s good to hear of the good things that are happening with all of you. Take care of each other and keep in touch with each other. Family is what it’s all about.
Much love always,
Mom
We’re finished our cleaning and the washing is hanging out on the patio. It’s not that warm but it will make things smell fresh. We have an appointment in awhile but I’ll try to get this written first. We keep forgetting that Thursday is P-day and when we call to see if we can visit and they say come Thursday, we just write it down. Oh well, it seems we have plenty of time to do other things so I won’t complain.
We’ve met a lot of people this week and they are so nice to us, even if they don’t always agree with what we say. Our #1 investigator, Petra Kempe, is someone we always look forward to meeting with. She has come from never praying and not even being sure if there is a Father in Heaven to praying many times a day. We’re not sure she fully understands about Heavenly Father but is trying to and knows there is someone who is having an influence in her life. We’ve talked about living with our Heavenly Father before we came to earth and that we were all brothers and sisters. Last night she said she found herself being much more patient with people than she has been before, particularly with the way people drive. She says she doesn’t honk her horn nearly so much when she gets irritated the way people drive because, as she puts it, “they are my brothers and sisters.”
She was amazed when we told her that we have a living prophet on the earth today and wanted to know all about President Hinckley. All of this is so new to her and she really wants to know and she is studying and praying about it and that is the way she will find out for herself if what we are teaching her is true. Last night she said, “I am nearly 50. How will I ever “catch up” to you and know what you know?” We told her that there wasn’t a certain “score” she had to have or a particular goal to meet. The important thing was the direction she was moving, that being working to live with our Father in Heaven again. She seemed to like that answer. She has lots of questions and the last two appointments with her have lasted 3 hours. When we say we need to leave, she asks us if we have some place to go and when we say no, she asks us to stay. So we do. It is so great to feel the spirit she has and her wanting to learn. Sunday as we walked from Sacrament meeting to SS class she commented that she loved testimony meeting and hearing the testimonies of so many people. And it was a great testimony meeting. All these things a good.
I think I mentioned the man who hadn’t been to church for a long time but was there a couple of weeks ago. We went to visit him and asked him how long he had been a member. He told us 8 years and he had been to the temple but no longer holds a temple recommend. We got the feeling that he wanted us to ask him why but we didn’t, we just listened. Later on in the conversation he said, “Do you know why I don’t have a temple recommend?” Then he went on to say that it was because he doesn’t pay tithing. His wife is from Peru and her family is very poor and they send a lot of money to them. He also has two daughters from a previous marriage who he helps support and just feels like he shouldn’t have to pay tithing too. Again, we just listened. He feels like the church is too concerned about money, that they are a very rich church and that he is contributing in other ways. We talked to him about how great it was that he was so generous with helping his wife’s family and we also talked about what the church did with the money it received----that no one was getting rich from that money but that it was all going back into helping with church programs such as temples, schools, etc. Then I felt impressed to tell him how I gained a testimony of tithing and that it had stayed with me all my life. I’ll tell you if I haven’t already. I remember my Dad telling about about when he was buying his farm. It was time too make a payment on the farm and it was also time to pay his tithing. He couldn’t do both but knew that if he didn’t make the farm payment, there was a chance he would lose his farm. But he paid his tithing. Then he went to the bank and told them he didn’t have the money for the farm payment but if they could give him some time, he would get the money to them. They gave him the time and 2 or 3 months later he had what he needed for the payment. This was a testimony to him about tithing and I’ve never forgotten his telling us that. We both bore our testimonies of how we have always paid our tithing and there has always been money when we needed it. I can’t describe the look on his face. His countenance literally changed before our eyes. He said with tears in his eyes, “Thank you for coming today.” And as we stood to shake hands, he pulled each of us to him and gave us a hug. He was in church on Sunday and he was still there just talking to people when we left. And that was long after the meetings were over. In testimony meeting tithing was mentioned several times. Oh how the spirit touches lives.
We met another “less active” member and that appointment turned out to be a bit scary. She joined the church because she knew it was true when she learned about it but, in her own words, “I have outgrown the church. There just isn’t enough there for me.” She feels that everyone can return to live with Heavenly Father and that they will just keep coming back to earth until they understand what you’re supposed to do. A bit of reincarnation there. She said that she feels that even Satan will one day repent and return to live with Heavenly Father. In her words, there is no right and there is no wrong. It is through love that all these things are possible. We don’t need scriptures are anyone telling us what we should do. She does remember the good feeling she had when she read it and Dad challenged her to read it again. But she feels the gospel is too limiting and too narrow. Oh dear, isn’t there somewhere in the scriptures that says, “Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leafs to life eternal.” There are so many “voices” out there trying to convince us of these sorts of things. It was an interesting but draining conversation.
We had a bit of a wild time at Family Home Evening on Monday and our dear friend Thomas ended up breaking his ankle. We were playing balloon soccer where you have two teams and two balloons. You are trying to get your balloon to the goalie while keeping the other balloon from getting to it’s goalie. One of the Elders who was there with an investigator, hit the balloon really high to get it past Thomas and Thomas jumped up to hit it and came down on the side of his foot. He heard it pop and was in terrible pain. We drove him home and watched him hobble up the stairs to his house. The next day we called and found out it was broken. He loves chocolate so yesterday we took him a plate of brownies. He was so appreciative and said he would see us at church on Sunday. He is one of the young men who is waiting to turn 18 so he can be baptized. We met his parents when we went over and they are really nice. Hopefully they will see how much he wants to be baptized and let him go ahead. He gave the lesson in FHE and I just sat there amazed at his knowledge of the gospel and his ability to teach. He is a 16 year old unbaptized missionary!
We had an opportunity to do a service project this week. It was tutoring a little 8 year old girl who is struggling with school. The sister missionaries that we here a year ago were both teachers and they had done some so out of the blue, we got a call from a school counselor who asked if we would be willing to do some tutoring. We need service hours so we told them we would. This was a family where the father is in Iraq and I think the mother is just “frazzled”. She is very negative to this little girl and the girl refuses to do her homework. Anyone else she works with but she and the mother don’t get along. And I can see why. I don’t think it’s the girl’s problem. I think it’s the mothers. Anyway we worked with her for a little over and hour and finished her homework and when we got up to leave, the mother handed us 10 Euros. We told her we wouldn’t accept it, that we just wanted to do this and she couldn’t believe it. She got tears in her eyes when we told her we would be back to help again. The problem is she is living on the military base and has to get a pass for us and that may take some time. So we’re waiting but that too was a good experience. We meet all kinds of people.
We had two sunny days and we went for a long walk both days. The light helps a lot. We still don’t have snow and people here are getting concerned. I just want winter to hurry and pass, snow or not, and get spring here. Every day is a challenge but little by little we’re trying to do what we’ve been asked to do. I’m not sure we’ll ever know how we’ve touched people’s lives but we will visit them, we will love them and we will try to strengthen their testimonies of the gospel That’s what gets us through when all is said and done.
Thank you for your letters and for your prayers. We love you and we miss you. It’s very hard to be away from our family, especially at this time of year, but it’s good to hear of the good things that are happening with all of you. Take care of each other and keep in touch with each other. Family is what it’s all about.
Much love always,
Mom
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