From Mom 1/25

Dear Family,

It finally feels and looks like winter here. Wednesday morning we woke up to snow and it snowed all day. It just comes straight down, not horizontal like it does at home. Now it is really cold. It sounds like a repeat of your weather. On Tuesday we had a Zone Conference in Nurnburg which is an hour and a half drive. The weather prediction was for 100% chance of snow for that day and we were nervous about having to drive that far in a storm but I guess our prayers were heard and answered because the storm held off until the next day. How thankful we were! We have a standing joke with the Elders about going to Nurnburg. The joke is that we get lost getting out of town every time we go and this week we got more lost than we ever have. It took us over two hours to get home and we went about 40 further coming back than we did going over. Last night the Elders locked their keys in their apartment so they called us a little after 10 and asked if we would drive them out to their landlord to get a spare key. They told us where it was so Dad hurried and studied the map to see where we were going. When the Elders got in the car, they said the landlord had told them how to get to his house and when Dad said, “I think I know right where to go”, we all started laughing and said, “Ya, we’ve heard that before!” But, much to our relief and to save face, Dad did know where to go and we drove right to the house. And before we are transferred to another zone, we have a goal of finding the right way out of Nurnburg!

This has been one of those ho-hum weeks when we’ve had a lot of cancellations. I think the weather scared a lot of people or they had other things come up and we haven’t accomplished a lot. One thing we have done though is to drive out to the Clements home each morning and tended the twins and their 2 year old while Mom took the two school children to school. That is the family that the Dad is in Provo this week interviewing for a job in the German department at BYU. He called this morning while we were there and feels like things are looking pretty good. He also said that someone from UVCC found out he was there and want him to interview with them too so he’s feeling pretty good about the chances for them to move to Utah. We feel like Mom and Dad to Sister Clements and Grandpa and Grandma to the children. In fact, the two year old always says, “Grandpa and Grandma are here!” when we ring the doorbell. While we were there this morning, Sister Gogen, the mother of 9 in our ward, called and asked if I would bring Sister Clements laundry back and she would do it for her. She was half sick and sounded awful but insisted on doing this for her. She is something else. She is always helping someone. A couple of weeks ago a sister in the ward, whose husband is in Iraq, had her baby and Sister Gogen took her to the hospital and stayed with her all day. It’s such a privilege to meet these wonderful people.

We are looking forward to our couple conference tomorrow and Saturday. We have our train tickets and know where to go to get on the train so we’re all set. It will be fun to be with missionaries more our same age. That’s nothing against the young Elders and Sisters. They are wonderful! But it will be nice to hear what other Senior Missionaries are doing. Friday afternoon we are going on a tour of some of the famous museums in Munich then we go to dinner at the mission home and just spend time together there. We are staying in a Holiday Inn hotel that is not far from the mission home and chapel where we will be having workshops all day on Saturday. This week President and Sister Rakow had Zone Conferences until Wednesday. They have today to finish getting things ready for the couple’s conference then next week, President Rakow begins interviews again. They sound a lot like the same schedule Brad and Elaine have. I don’t know how they do it. Sister Rakow said they just don’t think about it, they just do it. There are 170 missionaries in this mission. Another new couple came last week and they are in our district. They were on a mission in the Frankfort Mission 8 years ago.

Their family lived in Germany for 3 years while he was doing a government job and He was born in Munich but has lived in the states most of his life. They are from Bountiful and are such a nice couple. We met them at zone conference. There is another couple in this mission from Sugar City and we will get to meet them. Then Elder and Sister Davis were at the MTC the same time we were and we haven’t seem them since we left so are looking forward to seeing them again. All in all, it should be a wonderful weekend.

I just want to tell you about the clothes and shoes here. I wear a size thirty-nine and a half shoe and a size 40 sweater and a size 75 bra. Eat your heart out, LeAnn!! It’s all this good bread. But I wear a size 1 stocking so I’m still somewhat normal. It just cracks me up to be looking for a size 39 or 40 shoe. I had to get some boots when we got snow. To let you know I really am still normal, I still have to go to the bathroom the minute I walk in the door, even if I just went before we came home. Go figure.

Petra is coming along fine. She has been going out to the Clements to help with the babies in the afternoon when Sister Clements goes to pick up her kids. Yesterday she had quite a day. Both babies woke up and were hungry and cried most of the time she was there. But she’s going back today. She gets of work at 8 o’clock in the morning and sleeps a few hours then goes out there for a couple of hours and comes home and tries to get a few more hours of sleep before going to work again. This shift doesn’t come often but she has it this week. Last Saturday we drove her to Nurnburg to meet with President Rakow for an interview for her baptism. She is clear to go. She talked to President Rakow for an hour and a half and I think she got a lot of stuff out and behind her that needed to be out and left behind. She was impressed with his warmness and kindness and he and Sister Rakow were really impressed with her. She’s already talking to us about teaching some of her friends from work. She’s going to be a great missionary and a great member of this ward. She loves people and they love her. Everyone was so excited Sunday when the bishop announced her baptism. Dad reminded me that there are not many “Petra’s” in the world so I’ve got to come down out of the clouds. But we will be working with her for several months after she is baptized giving her the new-member lessons and just answering any questions she has. It has been such an awesome experience teaching her and seeing her testimony grow. She has a big picture of Buda on her wall and that has really bothered Dad. Not that she’s Buddhist but to her Buda represents some kind of religion and she has never had that in her life. Well, Dad told her one night last week the he had a surprise for her the next day and asked her if she trusted him that it would be a good surprise. He didn’t tell me what he was going to do but the next day when we visited her, Dad took the picture of Christ at the door that we have in our apartment and traded that for her Buda picture. I thought Petra was going to start to cry but she didn’t and agreed to trade pictures. Now we are waiting for one of Clark Prices pictures to arrive that will fit in the frame Buda was in. She’s been a good sport about it. She loves the new Priesthood/Relief Society lesson book by President Kimball and she had one of the pictures of him blown up and has it in a beautiful from on her wall. We want to get a picture of President Hinckley for her too. She is so looking forward to General Conference in April so she can see him.

If you could see Dad and me now you would just laugh. My back is starting to feel better but Dad stood up wrong the other day and he has been miserable. We look like a couple of OLD senior missionaries, especially when we have to stand up from praying or from sitting. Walking helps a lot but it just takes time for those muscles to heal when you stretch them the wrong way. I’m feeling better mentally too. I’ve always been a bit skeptical about taking anti-depressants but I told the mission doctor I would stay on them and I’m starting to feel like I might make it so he’s made a believer out of me that they do help. I’m sleeping better to and my appetite is coming back. Now I’m going to have to start watching what I eat so my clothes will still fit!

You will never know how much your letters mean to us. We look forward to hearing about all the news from your families. I read about all the running you do and all the things the kids are involved in and wonder how I ever did it. I guess it’s just like Sister Rakow said, you do it one day at a time. We’re excited about Cindy and Nate’s good news but it just about kills me that I won’t be there. I guess it’s okay if someone else stands in this time. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers each and every day. We love all of you so much. Thank you for being who you are.

Much love,

Mom

From Mom 1/18/2007

Dear Family,

It sounds like all of you are getting a good taste of winter with ice storms in Oklahoma and sub zero temperatures in Idaho and Utah. We are basking in cloudy skies and rain! I think the lowest it has gotten is about 23’ and that was only one day this week. We got a letter from Aunt Verda and she told us about the tornado type winds that they had in Washington. People were without power for 5 days or longer, trees were uprooted and roofs were torn off houses. She felt lucky that just last summer she had a new roof put on her house or hers would have been one of those. Her son Ray did lose part of his roof and it was carried about an eighth of a mile away and left if pieces. Do you think we may be getting closer to “the last days”? I kind of get the feeling that we are being warned.

Petra is still looking forward to her baptism on the 3rd.or 4th of February. It has been very important for us to have daily contact with her, sometimes just a phone call and other days a short visit. Satan knows how to get his licks in when someone has chosen a plan contrary to what he would like to see. She is staying strong. Yesterday when we were with her she told us her name was a take off of the work Peter which means “rock”. She truly is a rock too. She is so concerned about others and wants to help everyone. Tuesday she is going out to help a young mother in our ward. They have 5 children and the oldest is 6. The last two are twins just two months old and every once in awhile, she needs a little help. Petra offered to spend some time helping her.

Tuesday Dad and I went out to help this dear overloaded sister. She has a two year old who is a bundle of energy and pretty demanding. The first thing this mother asked us to do was to take this little girl out for a walk. She doesn’t have a chance to be outside very much because the mother doesn’t dare go out and leave the babies alone. So we went for a long walk. We took the stroller but she soon got tired of that so I pushed the empty stroller and Dad walked with her, twirling her around and playing tag with her and pretty much wore her out for nearly a half hour. She was glad to get back in the stroller when we started for home. Shortly after we got back, one of the babies woke up so I changed him and gave him a bottle while day swept and mopped the floors. The mom actually was able to catch up on some laundry. Isn’t laundry the thing that we’re always behind in? Next week the husband of this dear sister is going to be in Utah all week interviewing for a job at BYU. He has a doctorate in German Literature and has applied for a position in the German department. He is also very talented musically and has some degree in that. They are so hoping that he gets the job. He is from Germany and she is from Malad and would love to be closer to home again. His parents are very upset with him for joining the church and have all but disowned them. So next week we will be going out to her place every morning to help her while she takes her two oldest children to school. We were about the only ones in the ward that could do that at that time of day as all the mothers in the ward are busy getting their kids off to school at that time. It will be a good experience for us. You never know what you’ll do when you’re a missionary.

Monday night at our Family Home Evening one of the Elders brought his guitar. After the lesson, he and his companion sang a funny song they had made up then for most of the rest of the time he played hymns and we all sang along with him. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, especially the two who aren’t even baptized yet. We stopped for awhile and played a couple of silly games for a few minutes and then went right back to singing again. They love the homemade treats we bring. This week we were short of time because we had to drive to district meeting and then had two appointments before FHE so I just made a loaf of banana bread and they loved it.

We have been meeting every Sunday afternoon with a young couple who have been quite inactive. They are the ones we helped paint their apartment and then move. We talked to them about starting to hold Family Home Evening so when they started their family they would already be in the habit of having it. They had no idea what to do so we told them we would come and have a FHE with them. Her twelve year old nephew was there. His mother is a member but totally inactive. We had a short lesson on the importance of family prayer and read some from the scriptures. The nephew took his turn reading and seemed to enjoy doing it. Then we played the M&M game, you know, picking up the M&Ms with a straw and they all got a big kick out of that. We had brought candy bars for a treat and just had a great time together. This twelve year old boy asked his aunt if she would come over to their house the next night and have FHE with them. Then Monday morning we saw the mother of this boy and she asked if we would come and teach her son again. He has had the lessons but just didn’t want to go any further. He adores his Aunt and they have moved close enough now so they could take this boy to church with them so we may have another person to teach. Isn’t it interesting what little things spark an interest in people. By the way, this young couple asked if there was a temple preparation class going because they want to prepare to go to the temple. They are just getting ready to start one up during Sunday School time. It’s so rewarding to see people progress in the gospel.

Boyd, I can sympathize with your back pain. Sunday night I was pulling my sweater off over my head and I must have twisted the wrong way or something and my lower back has been in severe pain ever since. Sitting is the worst position. Every once in awhile it just shoots sharp pains up my back. We have been walking between 30-40 minutes a day and that helps but it’s still a pain! Sweeping or vacuuming about does me in so guess who is the house cleaner for now? And he does a great job! I have to just lay down a couple of times a day and give it a rest. One night I just couldn’t get comfortable and was up most of the night. I think each day it is improving but I’m amazed at what little things can cause so much pain! One of these first times I’m not going to complain about my health!

Thank you all for the letters. It’s good to know what’s going on in your busy lives. We appreciate your faith in us and the encouragement you give. We need it! This mission is very difficult. Even Dad says that so we really do appreciate the support we feel from you. Know that we love you. You are in our thoughts and prayers every day. Stay warm and happy.

Much love always,
Mom

From Dad 1/12/2007

Hi Family,

I know mom is hesitant to give you updates on her so I will take my turn.

She is working closely with Dr. Moody, my past missionary companion now in Frankfurt on a medical mission. Earlier this week he “commanded” her not trouble herself over learning German. It was a big relief to her. Before we came to Germany mom was making good progress in her German. The minute we stepped off the plane and mom realized what she had just done, she went into culture schock! Who wouldn’t? It has nothing to do with one’s capability what one does on a mission it has everything to do with timing. Yesterday we met with a sister Frank who has been a member of the Church for 41 years. She has worked for a judge in the court system for 30 years and is now soon to retire. She is the only member of the Church in her family. She and her mother joined the Church when she was 22. She now has a daughter 31 and her husband who has worked in construction all these years will retire in October. Due to inactivity much of what she understood about the Church and its teachings had been lost. She wasn’t even sure if religion is necessary. (Mom is the one who picked up on this item). As we talked we had prayer together and then began to read in the scriptures and ask questions about how she felt. She said she wants to return to live with Heavenly Father after this life. She also said the only way back to Heavenly Father is through Jesus Christ. She understood that meant keeping His commandments and enduring to the end. We asked for a return appointment. It took us two months to get this appointment. We have one again for next week. She asked mom to say the closing prayer in English. After the prayer mom and Sister Frank looked at each other and Sister Frank said, “I understood your prayer. The spirit teaches me what you are saying”. Mom is a valuable asset to reviving and building desire to come unto Christ in the hearts of these people.

Mom’s living on sometimes 3-4 hours of sleep a day week after week and month after month took its toll. Combined with the culture schock she has had little appetite. She has lost a lot of weight. There are signs that is on the improve. She is not intentionally not eating. It is simply having the desire to want to eat. The institute class she has started to teach helps her to reestablish her identity. At home she was so involved with everything and everyone. Thatis the bottom line of culture schock. Elder Moody’s wife told mom and I at our zone conference in December the most important part of her adjusting to being in Germany was to find a way to become involved. Mom is involved in many, many ways. To have her own responsibility, her own assignment with the institute class has generated new hope and purpose. Our seminary and institute coordinator is brother Fingerle. His father was a missionary the same time I was. We were even in the same district together and worked together a few times.

Next week, unless our mission president wants it to be otherwise, we will start classes to pass a written driver’s license test in March. Idaho requires people from Germany to take a written test so Idahoan’s in Germany get to do the same. There are only Alaska and Idaho that require this.

Thanks for all of your letters, pictures, emails, and prayers. They all help. We love you guys.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 1/11/2007

Dear Family,

It’s late. We just got home from a meeting with the ward mission leader and I’m tired but I need to get a letter to you, so if it sounds a bit mixed up, you will know the reason.

Every week we have new experiences. Sunday at church one of the counselors in the bishopric talked to us about helping get the Seminary program up and going again. The man who was teaching it left to take a job in another city but he thought he would be able to make it back to teach. But another interesting thing happened to him. He joined another church! The Elders quorum president happened to see him one day and that is how we found out what had happened. I don’t think the seminary kids know and that is probably best. That could shake them up quite a bit. We were shocked when we heard it. It made us realize how important it is to keep our testimonies strong through studying the scriptures and staying active in the church. So now on Wednesday night, Dad teaches seminary. Last night I taught a class to the mothers who bring their kids to seminary. We have been doing that together every other week. I was a nervous wreck thinking about it. Most of them are from the Philippines and speak some English and some German and I was wondering how we were going to communicate. But it’s wonderful what the spirit does. They told me they understood everything I said and I think I understood most everything they said. There was such a good spirit in the class and when it was time to go, no one wanted to leave. We just sat and talked and it was a wonderful experience. I’m actually looking forward to it again next week.

Another wonderful thing happened this week. Petra wants to be baptized and we have set a date for her baptism. She is going to be baptized on February 4th. We were hoping that it could happen sooner but she wants her daughter to be there and that is the first week-end her daughter can come. We thought we might have to start all over when she realized that we baptize by immersion. She shook her head “no” when we told her that. She really thought we would come to her home and sprinkle some water on her head a say a prayer. So we went to the Book of Mormon and read in Moroni exactly how a baptism is supposed to be done. We also read some scriptures which compared it to “being raised from the dead” when we come up out of the water and she finally accepted it. Sunday at church she wanted to see the font so we showed it to her. She’s still a bit nervous about people seeing her after she gets baptized and about getting her hair wet, but she really is excited about becoming a member of the church. We feel it is so important to stay in close contact with her between now and then. We met with her yesterday and have another meeting with her tomorrow. She has a copy of the Relief Society/Priesthood lesson book, the one by President Kimball, and she has read about a third of that already and she loves it. She read the chapter on repentance and commented yesterday how she thinks it is so good that we don’t take baptism lightly, that through interviews with people in authority it is determined whether they are ready to be baptized. She said to her that was another testimony to her of the truthfulness of the gospel. Because she is a nurse and because of some of the things she has been involved in as a nurse, it is necessary that she has an interview with the mission president. She is actually looking forward to that and feels good about being able to put some of her past mistakes in the past and move on to a new kind of life. She was brought up In East Germany where religion was not even talked about. In fact, it was dangerous to even mention religion so it hasn’t been until just the past 3 or 4 years that she has even thought about religion. We feel the Lord really prepared her to hear the gospel and feel so very grateful that we were at the right place at the right time to meet her and begin to teach her.

Last Friday we had a meeting with another part member family. He is a member but has been inactive for years and years. She isn’t a member and she loves to study the Bible. She goes to two study groups each week. One is a Protestant Group and the other is with the Jehovah Witnesses. We had met them before and they invited us back but she made it very clear that we were to study only from the Bible and not the Book of Mormon. Dad has been preparing for this meeting for nearly a month and did a wonderful job of talking about the prophets and some of the prophecies they made and how they were fulfilled and the need of prophets and our need to listen to them. She and her husband listened and read a lot of scriptures with us but when we were done, Dad mentioned that we would like to come back and talk to them some more. She jumped up and said to her husband that if he wanted us to come back, he had to make the appointment for us to come and that she had listened to the Mormons for years and that her husband won’t ever listen when people from other churches come into their home and she was done listening to people from his church. They got into a terrible argument! I wanted to get out of there and went over and tried to pull Dad up but you know Dad, he wants to try to solve the problem. They went on and on and we could tell the husband was really embarrassed and finally Dad got up and we walked out to the door. The husband walked out with us and we apologized for causing trouble and he apologized for her going “off” like that and we left. Dad called him the next night and again apologized and he said she just does that every once in awhile but she’ll get over it and asked us to call in a couple of weeks. I told Dad we’re not going to call! I don’t ever want to get in on something like that again! She is probably one of the most bitter people I’ve ever met and her husband is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Anyway, it was one of those missionary experiences that I just hope we don’t have too many of.

We are so excited about Zach getting ready for his mission! It seems like such a short time ago that we got a call from Chris while she was at the Hill Cumorah pageant telling us she had met the guy she was going to marry. We just said, “Ya Chris, we’ve heard that before.” Then we met Dale just before he left on his mission and it was like he had always been a part of our family. And now here they are getting ready to send their oldest son on a mission. How time flies! We will be anxious to hear where Zach will be serving. How everyone will love that he has all that music talent. Way to go Zach!!

Thanks to all of you for your letters. They mean so much to us. It’s always good to hear about all the happenings in all the families. We are completely out of touch with what’s going on in the world. Tonight the ward mission leader told us that Pres. Bush had ordered another 20,000 troops to go to Iraq and that Mitt Romney is running for president. That’s probably the first “world news” we’ve heard for a long time. And that’s good. We can keep focused on what we’re supposed to be doing here and now instead of thinking we know how to solve all these other problems. We hope you know how much you all mean to us. It seems like there just isn’t a lot of family closeness here and that makes us very thankful for the closeness and love in our family. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers each and every day.

Much love,

Mom

From Mom 1/4/2007

Dear Family,
I guess it’s time for another letter. Seems like I just wrote and here it is another week and even another year. How was your New Years Eve? We had received word from our mission president that he wanted all of the missionaries in their apartments by 8 o’clock and not be out taking any chances with what might happen with all the noisy celebrations. We had been invited over to a member’s home for dinner and they new what our time limit was and respected it. I need to tell you about this family. Their last name is Gogan. There are 9 children in the family. The oldest one is 16 and the youngest just turned 1 year. Here is what makes it interesting. Brother Gogan is just 30 years old. He married Sister Gogan when she already had six children and they have had 3 more. They are very active and faithful in the church. Brother Gogan has been away for some special training with the army and was home for just two weeks for the holidays and has gone back to Texas for more training. Sister Gogan is just something else. She handles those kids so well. Everyone helps. A couple of Sundays ago, the oldest boy came into his Priest Quorum class with his baby brother because Sister Gogan was teaching in Relief Society that day. The older kids help out so well. She says she doesn’t spank her kids. When they get out of line, she assigns them some rooms in the house to clean or some dishes to do or some laundry to fold. She says her house if usually pretty clean! She told us her conversion story which we thought was really interesting. She had grown up in a very dysfunctional family. She said they had drug addicts, alcoholics and others who had been in trouble with the law. Her father didn’t believe in anything pertaining to religion so that was never discussed in their home. But she said she felt like she always knew that Jesus was someone real. When she was 19, she was working in Nurnburg and one day on her way back to work, a young lady stopped her and said she wanted to ask her some questions. Sister Gogan said she just didn’t feel like she had the time to stop so she just kind of pushed onward and in a few steps, she said she heard a voice that told her to go back and talk to this lady. So she went back and it was some missionaries. They talked to Sister Gogan for a few minutes and then gave her a Book of Mormon. She said as soon as they put the book in her hand, she felt like an electrical shock went clear through her body. She felt so much happiness and joy that she literally ran back to work and showed everyone the book she had been given. When she met with the missionaries they encouraged her to read and pray about the book to know that it was true and she told them she didn’t have to pray about it, that she already knew it was true. And as soon as they started teaching her about the church, she knew that was true too. She has never had a doubt and has been a faithful member ever since and has been an influence for bringing others into the church. Her husband said when he met her, her strong testimony and her happiness was what attracted her to him and it didn’t matter if there were 6 children, he knew this was who he wanted to spend his life with. They are really a neat family.

New Years Eve sounded like the 4th of July. Fireworks are a big thing here for New Years. They started about Friday night and there were some on Saturday but Sunday night was something else. From about 10:30 until after midnight it was just steady. I couldn’t help but think of the people in this country who had gone through the war and how all those loud noises must had sounded to them. It sounded like a war was going on. They had a lot of those real loud bomb sounding things that made you feel like the building would fall down. I’m glad it is over of another year.

Saturday we helped the couple who we had helped paint their apartment move. There were 12 people from the ward who came to help and this young couple was just overwhelmed that people would be willing to do that. We didn’t have a truck but we did have a big van with all the seats taken out and 3 other van type cars along with our little car. It took everyone taking two loads each to get it all moved. They lived on the fourth floor so it was a lot of going up and down stairs and then up two floors in their new apartment. We were both very tired by the time we finished and very sore for the next two days. We just kind of shuffled along because every step we took meant severe pain! But it was a good feeling to help and especially to see how much they appreciated the help. They just couldn’t get over the fact that people who were mostly strangers to them would do this. I kept telling them that that’s what the church is all about, helping each other out. It was good for them to see this.

We’ve had a good week with Petra. We met with her on Saturday; she was to church on Sunday and asked us to come over Tuesday. When we got there on Tuesday, she was in tears. Her boyfriend, who was the one who introduced her to the church, is acting like a big jerk now. He found out he has to go back to Iraq and is very angry about it. I don’t blame him. He has already been there four times and thought he was going to be trained to be an instructor at a base here but instead is being trained to be in charge of about 28 men going to Iraq. He is drinking again and said some pretty ugly things to Petra before he left. He resents how much time she spends studying about the church and meeting with us. Now is that Satan working, or what? Anyway, it was a pretty sad meeting. We talked about what had happened and what she wanted to do. I felt impressed to ask Dad if it would be appropriate for him to give her a blessing of comfort. He talked to her about it and what it meant to receive a blessing and that he had the priesthood authority to give her a blessing. She finally said she thought that would be a good thing. It was amazing to see the difference in her after the blessing. There was a peace and a calm about her that hadn’t been there before. Then she asked if we would come back the next day because she wanted to know everything she needed to know about the church to be able to be baptized. When we went the next day, we took our Relief Society president with us. She is about the same age as Petra and is a very strong member. The two of them really hit it off and went off on several discussions that I didn’t understand but Dad said were good things to talk about. When we first got there and had prayers, Petra told us that after the blessing she had received the day before she knew for the first time in her life that the atonement was for her too, not for just those who lived in the time of Christ, and that she had felt her burden lifted. Now she just wants to be sure she knows everything she needs to know before she is baptized. We talked about tithing. She gulped a little about that but accepted it. We talked about prayer, about studying the scriptures, keeping the commandments. She loves that the Ten Commandments are in the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. We really think she is ready for baptism. We are meeting with her Saturday and hoping to set a date for her baptism. People in the ward really like her. She if very friendly and outgoing and talks to everyone. This has been a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to teach her. I think I told you that she wants Dad to baptize her and I think I also told her that on one of my bad days when I wondered what I was doing in Germany, she said. “You came here to teach me the gospel.”

We still don’t have snow, just a lot of rain and gray skies. Monday night we invited the two Elders who work here over for dinner. After dinner we each shared our favorite scripture and told why it was important to us. That turned out to be a very spiritual time. I have a lot of respect for these young Elders and Sisters, especially in an area that is so difficult to get people to listen. They have strong testimonies and that is what keeps them going. After that we play Dominoes for awhile and they seemed to really enjoy it. After we got back from our district meeting, they had gone out to try to find some people to teach but everyone was either celebrating still or recovering from celebrating the night before so they hadn’t had much success so I think they really appreciated a change of pace. Next Monday we will start in with our FHE group again. We have missed being with them but with the holidays, most of them weren’t going to be here anyway.

I guess that’s it for this week. Life moves on. I’m still struggling but am trying to take one day at a time. I don’t know why everything is so hard for me but it is. Dad is very patient and very kind. The mission doctor prescribed an anti-depressant for me. He called this week to see how I was doing and could tell I was still having a hard time. He told me to forget about the German. He said I could do more good just learning to love and serve the people than if I made myself sick over the language. He also said this medicine usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to see much change and to keep taking it. So I’ll do that and I’ll continue to pray and work as hard as I can to enjoy this mission. We have a mission couple’s conference that last week-end in January and we’re looking forward to that.

Take care and know that we love you. Thanks for your love and for your prayers and for your encouragement.

Much Love,
Mom