From Mom 2/15
Dear Family,
This has been a long but wonderful day. We had to get up extra early to be ready to leave for Stuttgart by 7 o’clock. It’s about a 2 hour drive. Elder and Sister Holzer rode with us and it was a very enjoyable trip. They are from Bountiful and have worked in the temple there the past 6 years. They are just wonderful people. I hope our friendship continues long after we are done with our missions. This is their second mission to Germany and they lived here with their family for three years while Brother Holzer was working as a civilian for the military here. Brother Holzer has had lots of experiences and has lots of stories to share.
There were four zones together for the meetings today. Elder Hilbig is a member of the 2nd quorum of seventy. He served his mission here when he was young and served as a mission president in the Swiss-Austria mission. Then he was the legal counsel for the church for all of central Europe so he has some strong ties here. The whole theme of the conference was on the Holy Ghost. I think we all came away with a new feeling of how important the Holy Ghost is in our lives and especially in missionary work. This is just one quote he gave: “In short, the Holy Ghost is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.” Regarding missionary work, it is the Holy Ghost that teaches and testifies. Our challenge is to so live our lives that we can have the Holy Ghost with us at all times. These few words don’t even begin to explain the feelings and spirit that were in that meeting. It was a spiritual feast. Sunday he will be at our stake conference in Nurnberg. He and his wife are just a wonderful team to motivate missionaries. They are so friendly and so personable.
Sunday was another great day. Petra was so excited about being confirmed and receiving the Holy Ghost. Sitting by her during the sacrament service was another very special experience. She was so looking forward to being able to partake of the sacrament. She watched so closely everything that was done. As the tray came to her, she partook of the bread and of the water ever so reverently with tears in her eyes. I realized how much I had taken that for granted. Watching her and feeling her spirit reminded me of what a special and important part or our Sacrament meeting that is.
We got past the big “P” (polygamy) issue with Petra Tuesday night. One of the women she works with had heard she had joined the church and asked her if she knew the Mormons practice polygamy. She was shocked and was sure that wasn’t true and the minute we got in the door she started pumping us with questions. She just couldn’t believe it when we told her it had been practiced at one time in the church. We told her the purpose of it and Dad spent about 2 hours talking to her----all in German. But I could tell by the look on her face and the body language that she was not impressed. She just couldn’t believe that Heavenly Father would permit that. I thought we were going to have to undo everything that had been done. Then she turned to me and said something like, “Sister Price, you’re a woman. Do you really believe Heavenly Father would ask people to do that?” When I said I knew he had asked that of some of the members of the church and that it was a very difficult thing and a very trying time in the church. Then she said, “How would you feel if your husband was married to another woman and one time was living with you and another time living with her.” My answer was, “I guess it would have to depend on how committed I was to following the prophet. If he asked me to do it, I would do it.” That answer seemed to settle her feelings. She could accept that and that was the end of the discussion. By then we had been there three and a half hours and she needed to be to work in a half hour. Today when we got home from our meeting, there was a message on the answering machine from her, “Can you come over tomorrow afternoon. I’m ready for a “hot” discussion over the scriptures!” We don’t know what to expect but we better get a good rest and spend some time on our knees before we go. She loves to study from the scriptures and she wants to know a lot about the churches stand on things. She will be a wonderful member of the church. She is looking forward to stake conference on Sunday and has asked some people in the ward to ride over with her. We are taking the Elders with us.
We are giving the new member discussions to two men on our ward. One was baptized a year ago but there was no follow up. The other one was baptized in September and the same thing happened. We have been meeting with the first one ever since we came to Wurzburg. They are the ones we helped move. They have been talking about getting ready to go to the temple. We talked to them about the importance of setting a goal of a time to go and Sunday they set a goal of going on August 21. That is the anniversary of their first date. They we almost completely inactive and were not happy in their marriage or with anything else. Now they very seldom miss church and that is only when they have to work. They told us not long ago that since they have been going to church regularly everything is better for them. Their marriage is better and things are going better with their jobs and they are just happier. What a testimony! Sunday he helped administer to the sacrament and she gave a wonderful talk on the importance of being an example of what we believe.
The other man we have been meeting with is really smart. He has a doctorate in German literature and philosophy. In some ways he is too smart. He has a few “far out” ideas about the scriptures. We just started all over with the first discussion and will go through them reviewing those basic principles of the gospel again with him. Monday was our second meeting with him and the spirit during our meeting was completely different from the week before. The week before it seemed like he was trying to impress us with his great knowledge of the scriptures, and he does have a good knowledge of them. But this week he seemed to enjoy just sharing his testimony of the truths that were being presented about our Heavenly Father and the restoration of the gospel. We are having lots of wonderful, spiritual experiences.
When we got home today, the Valentine video was in the mailbox. We got out of our missionary clothes and put on our relaxing clothes and put the video on. What a lot of fun it was to see you and hear from you! Thank you so much! The only problem was that it made me even more lonesome for you. Sister Holzer told me today that she was homesick the whole time they were on their first mission and she’s finding the same thing is happening this time. We both shed some tears as we talked about our families on the way home from Stuttgart. I was glad to hear that I wasn’t the only one who is still battling homesickness.
Last night we had our first planned activity for the young single adults. We had a pizza party after seminary and institute. The kids brought pizza to be baked in the kitchen at the church. I made a big green salad and we brought some drinks. It was fun just sitting around a big table eating and just talking. They want to do this once a month and already are planning a bowling party for next month. There were just 5 kids there but they had a good time and were talking about who they will invite next time. I guess it’s good to get going even when the numbers are small and hopefully build a bigger program.
It has rained for a week but today was a beautiful day. Maybe spring really is coming. Everyone talks about how beautiful Wurzburg is in the summer. We’re looking forward to seeing that for ourselves. I hope we will be here for the summer. Our mission president is one who doesn’t like anyone to get too comfortable in a place so we could be here or we could be somewhere else. Only time will tell.
We are studying for our drivers test. We don’t have to drive but we have to take the written test. We’ve finally made it through the book the first time. Now we want to go back and review and then take the practice test and see what we still need to work on. This is costing us a bunch of money. So far we’ve spent $260. It would be just our luck to get transferred to Austria when we finally get through all this. Idaho driver’s licenses are accepted there. We’ll be glad to get this all behind us. We have until the 19th of March to get everything done.
We are all anxious to hear where Zach will be living the next couple of years. Once those papers are in, in becomes a real thing. We hope everyone is over the “crud”. There sure has been a lot of sickness in our ward here. We need sunshine! We also hope the weather is good wherever Russ and Camille might be at this time. Where are the Gold kids staying?
Know that you are loved and missed and prayed for every day. Thanks for the letters and the prayers and the encouragement. We need it and we appreciate it
Much love,
Mom
This has been a long but wonderful day. We had to get up extra early to be ready to leave for Stuttgart by 7 o’clock. It’s about a 2 hour drive. Elder and Sister Holzer rode with us and it was a very enjoyable trip. They are from Bountiful and have worked in the temple there the past 6 years. They are just wonderful people. I hope our friendship continues long after we are done with our missions. This is their second mission to Germany and they lived here with their family for three years while Brother Holzer was working as a civilian for the military here. Brother Holzer has had lots of experiences and has lots of stories to share.
There were four zones together for the meetings today. Elder Hilbig is a member of the 2nd quorum of seventy. He served his mission here when he was young and served as a mission president in the Swiss-Austria mission. Then he was the legal counsel for the church for all of central Europe so he has some strong ties here. The whole theme of the conference was on the Holy Ghost. I think we all came away with a new feeling of how important the Holy Ghost is in our lives and especially in missionary work. This is just one quote he gave: “In short, the Holy Ghost is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.” Regarding missionary work, it is the Holy Ghost that teaches and testifies. Our challenge is to so live our lives that we can have the Holy Ghost with us at all times. These few words don’t even begin to explain the feelings and spirit that were in that meeting. It was a spiritual feast. Sunday he will be at our stake conference in Nurnberg. He and his wife are just a wonderful team to motivate missionaries. They are so friendly and so personable.
Sunday was another great day. Petra was so excited about being confirmed and receiving the Holy Ghost. Sitting by her during the sacrament service was another very special experience. She was so looking forward to being able to partake of the sacrament. She watched so closely everything that was done. As the tray came to her, she partook of the bread and of the water ever so reverently with tears in her eyes. I realized how much I had taken that for granted. Watching her and feeling her spirit reminded me of what a special and important part or our Sacrament meeting that is.
We got past the big “P” (polygamy) issue with Petra Tuesday night. One of the women she works with had heard she had joined the church and asked her if she knew the Mormons practice polygamy. She was shocked and was sure that wasn’t true and the minute we got in the door she started pumping us with questions. She just couldn’t believe it when we told her it had been practiced at one time in the church. We told her the purpose of it and Dad spent about 2 hours talking to her----all in German. But I could tell by the look on her face and the body language that she was not impressed. She just couldn’t believe that Heavenly Father would permit that. I thought we were going to have to undo everything that had been done. Then she turned to me and said something like, “Sister Price, you’re a woman. Do you really believe Heavenly Father would ask people to do that?” When I said I knew he had asked that of some of the members of the church and that it was a very difficult thing and a very trying time in the church. Then she said, “How would you feel if your husband was married to another woman and one time was living with you and another time living with her.” My answer was, “I guess it would have to depend on how committed I was to following the prophet. If he asked me to do it, I would do it.” That answer seemed to settle her feelings. She could accept that and that was the end of the discussion. By then we had been there three and a half hours and she needed to be to work in a half hour. Today when we got home from our meeting, there was a message on the answering machine from her, “Can you come over tomorrow afternoon. I’m ready for a “hot” discussion over the scriptures!” We don’t know what to expect but we better get a good rest and spend some time on our knees before we go. She loves to study from the scriptures and she wants to know a lot about the churches stand on things. She will be a wonderful member of the church. She is looking forward to stake conference on Sunday and has asked some people in the ward to ride over with her. We are taking the Elders with us.
We are giving the new member discussions to two men on our ward. One was baptized a year ago but there was no follow up. The other one was baptized in September and the same thing happened. We have been meeting with the first one ever since we came to Wurzburg. They are the ones we helped move. They have been talking about getting ready to go to the temple. We talked to them about the importance of setting a goal of a time to go and Sunday they set a goal of going on August 21. That is the anniversary of their first date. They we almost completely inactive and were not happy in their marriage or with anything else. Now they very seldom miss church and that is only when they have to work. They told us not long ago that since they have been going to church regularly everything is better for them. Their marriage is better and things are going better with their jobs and they are just happier. What a testimony! Sunday he helped administer to the sacrament and she gave a wonderful talk on the importance of being an example of what we believe.
The other man we have been meeting with is really smart. He has a doctorate in German literature and philosophy. In some ways he is too smart. He has a few “far out” ideas about the scriptures. We just started all over with the first discussion and will go through them reviewing those basic principles of the gospel again with him. Monday was our second meeting with him and the spirit during our meeting was completely different from the week before. The week before it seemed like he was trying to impress us with his great knowledge of the scriptures, and he does have a good knowledge of them. But this week he seemed to enjoy just sharing his testimony of the truths that were being presented about our Heavenly Father and the restoration of the gospel. We are having lots of wonderful, spiritual experiences.
When we got home today, the Valentine video was in the mailbox. We got out of our missionary clothes and put on our relaxing clothes and put the video on. What a lot of fun it was to see you and hear from you! Thank you so much! The only problem was that it made me even more lonesome for you. Sister Holzer told me today that she was homesick the whole time they were on their first mission and she’s finding the same thing is happening this time. We both shed some tears as we talked about our families on the way home from Stuttgart. I was glad to hear that I wasn’t the only one who is still battling homesickness.
Last night we had our first planned activity for the young single adults. We had a pizza party after seminary and institute. The kids brought pizza to be baked in the kitchen at the church. I made a big green salad and we brought some drinks. It was fun just sitting around a big table eating and just talking. They want to do this once a month and already are planning a bowling party for next month. There were just 5 kids there but they had a good time and were talking about who they will invite next time. I guess it’s good to get going even when the numbers are small and hopefully build a bigger program.
It has rained for a week but today was a beautiful day. Maybe spring really is coming. Everyone talks about how beautiful Wurzburg is in the summer. We’re looking forward to seeing that for ourselves. I hope we will be here for the summer. Our mission president is one who doesn’t like anyone to get too comfortable in a place so we could be here or we could be somewhere else. Only time will tell.
We are studying for our drivers test. We don’t have to drive but we have to take the written test. We’ve finally made it through the book the first time. Now we want to go back and review and then take the practice test and see what we still need to work on. This is costing us a bunch of money. So far we’ve spent $260. It would be just our luck to get transferred to Austria when we finally get through all this. Idaho driver’s licenses are accepted there. We’ll be glad to get this all behind us. We have until the 19th of March to get everything done.
We are all anxious to hear where Zach will be living the next couple of years. Once those papers are in, in becomes a real thing. We hope everyone is over the “crud”. There sure has been a lot of sickness in our ward here. We need sunshine! We also hope the weather is good wherever Russ and Camille might be at this time. Where are the Gold kids staying?
Know that you are loved and missed and prayed for every day. Thanks for the letters and the prayers and the encouragement. We need it and we appreciate it
Much love,
Mom
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