From Dad 6/28

Hi everyone,

Zach it’s great to see you having some positive experiences. The nice thing about not giving up is just that. Eventually the good and welcome experiences return. Knowing it’s the Lord’s work and letting Him mold and shape us day by day is so very important isn’t it. Quitting when we’re half baked doesn’t let anyone know the whole story and what the Lord had intended for us to become. One more step, one more day, one more thought or thing to do can make all the difference in the world.

When we started visiting with Ron and Martina Peterson she was polite and followed where we wanted to go with our thoughts. When we asked for a return appointment she became very angry. The feeling in me was she was venting frustration for so many years of a non-chalant attitude about religion. The next two meetings were only with Ron. Then the next few meetings have been over the phone with prayer included with Ron taking turns with the prayer. This week Ron said he is amazed how things have been settling down in their home. He suggested soon we may be able to return to the home to teach again. Small steps are welcome steps.

We meet with another sister, a third generation Church member, a week from today. She wants a temple marriage. Her husband loves her but has only known work, not our Father in Heaven. Helping him through seeing the growth in his wife to want to learn more about his Father in Heaven is the step we are seeking. The Relief Society president is her visiting teacher. She told us when she started visiting sister Metzner she felt she was almost starting from the beginning to teach her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This work truly takes many hands and hearts.

This coming week Sister Ragus, a member for 20 years who started working full time two years ago and is now less than active, said she will be willing to meet us often at the end of her work day somewhere within 30 minutes of Wuerzburg that she was working for the day. She is very capable. She has a son who is 16 and plays the piano very well still at home. We hope this will be a new beginning for her.

Our Russian friend upstairs, Ida Hauptman, asked us yesterday if we had to go so soon. We told her we could stay longer next time. This is the one where a son or a friend met us with her at the door and said they were Catholic and didn’t need any visits. Life is not always easy. We saw her in the hall and she had asked us when we wanted to come again. We realize the “man” could be there again sometime. As long as she wants us to come we will come and brave whatever storms may follow. She showed us all of her family pictures yesterday. Mom had me translate some of her thoughts and feelings and that meant a lot to Ida.

Jouse (pronounced Josie) Lehrman continues to welcome us into her home. She speaks Portuguese and hopes her mom will come for a visit this summer for a month. Jouse is the only member in her family at home as well as here. The help she can be for her mother as well as her family here is important. For Jouse she wants a good life for her and her 4 year old Victoria and at present is willing to listen to teachings from the Church and their influence in the decisions one day she will make. We hope for the best for all concerned.

How are all of your great adventures coming? It is fun to be a family. We love hearing about all the things going on. Thanks for your love and your patience.

Have a great week.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 6/28

Dear Family,

This morning we had an early appointment. We looked out the window and it wasn’t raining, for a change, so we didn’t bother with coats or umbrellas but when we stepped outside, we about froze. It was not quite 50’ and the wind was blowing so it seems a lot colder. We have our couple’s conference in Munich tomorrow and Saturday and were hoping for nice, warm weather. We have been advised to dress warmly and bring a jacket. We are going on a boat ride. I’m sure we will have a good time. Just being with the other couple missionaries makes it a good time and we’ll endure whatever the weather is. Last year there was a drought here in Germany and a lot of the crops just didn’t make it. This year there is plenty of water but I don’t know how well things will grow with not a lot of sunshine. I guess it’s still early enough that there probably will be plenty of warm days. Then I’ll be complaining about that! Can’t outguess the weather.

We’ve had a pretty good week. We’ve visited lots of people and only time will tell what progress is being made. It’s one small step at a time, especially with less active and part member families. They just plain get out of the habit of coming to church. We visited with a young mother last week and when we left, she told us she would see us at church. She didn’t come and when we saw her this week she said she just completely forgot it was Sunday. I think to most people, Sunday is just another day of the week and they don’t think of it being a day to attend church. We’ll see what happens this Sunday. Again, she told us she would see us on Sunday. We’ll see.

Our Muslim friend is torn between two worlds right now. He still has family in Iraq and has strong feelings for them and his Muslim background. He is still trying to figure out who God is and what God would want him to do. He is trying to be an honest man and a good man. That is very important to him and many times people think that’s all they need. Granted it is important to be good and to be honest but there is so much more to life when you come to understand what our Heavenly Father has for us. He has studied the Protestant and the Catholic religion and is not impressed by either one of them and can’t quite figure out where our religion fits in but is willing to continue to learn. He is smitten with a young woman right now who is Christian. We don’t know what religion she is but she has influenced him into looking into other religions. Time will tell on that one too.

When we finished with our discussion with Anna Berner, she stood up and said, “Now when will you be coming again?” and she set the appointment with us. She is well read in the Bible. Dad challenged her to read the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi and then to read Nephi’s explanation of them in the last part of that book. That’s quite a bit of reading but she seemed willing to do it. She doesn’t disagree with us on anything we’ve taught but she wants to find out for herself if all this “new information” we are giving her is true. And that is as it should be.

It’s always exciting when someone calls us and wants us to come see them. Saturday afternoon we got a call from Sister Gunter. She is the one who was in the hospital (one of them) and who had told us one time that she didn’t want us to come over any more. She has really warmed up to us. She just wanted us to come and talk to her. She had some questions about the Book of Mormon. She doesn’t like reading about all the wars and bloodshed and so doesn’t read in it very much. Dad told her to just skip over those kinds of things and read the other things, like in 3rd. Nephi. She hadn’t even thought of that and seemed to accept that idea. Isn’t it amazing what little things get people off track? Anyway she thanked us over and over for coming by. Sometimes it’s just the little things we do to help people know we care that make a difference in their life.

Sunday I gave a talk in church. The counselor in the bishopric had told me that it would be just the new Elder here in Wurzburg and I that would be talking and that they didn’t mind a bit getting out of church early. The Elder talked for over a half hour then they announced that the bishop had a short announcement to make. We thought for sure he was going to announce that the bishopric would be changed next week. He is nearly through with his time in the Army and will be moving to Twin Falls in September. He is a pediatrician and is going into practice with 7 other doctors there. But that isn’t what he talked about. He talked about the importance of fasting and fast-offerings and he talked for a good 15 minutes. I thought for sure I was going to get out of giving my talk but when the bishop finished, he apologized for using all the time and then said, “We’ll give Sister Price 10 minutes.” Ten minutes isn’t a very long talk when you consider that every word is translated. I cut my talk WAY down and made it in 12 minutes. Oh well, I learned a lot preparing it. I was supposed to talk on Strength through Adversity. Stories are always a good thing so I told about Brad Bauer from Twin Falls when he was out on his motorcycle checking pipes one evening and went over a steep embankment and went over the handlebars and lit on his head. He couldn’t move and it was a long time before anyone found him. He thought for sure he was going to die. I remember him telling us that his whole life flashed before his eyes and that he prayed like he had never prayed before, asking forgiveness for the mistakes he had made and promising that if his life could be spared, he would live like he had been taught to live. He had broken his neck and no longer had the use of his legs. To make a long story short, he did what he promised. He started his own computer business which became very successful. He married in the temple and they had two or three children. That happened a long time ago and I know Heavenly Father helped me remember that story when I was thinking of what to say in my talk because I hadn’t thought about Brad for years and years.

Monday night we had an extended FHE. Thomas and Alex wanted to invite their families. We planned a bar-b-que. Thomas’ Dad and Mom are counselors at a hospital and Thomas asked if it would be okay to invite Brother Bacon, who is in our bishopric and is a psychiatrist, and his family to come so there would be someone there who had things in common with his parents. That was a great idea because we didn’t have a grill and Brother Bacon offered to bring his. His wife brought lots of yummy brownies, I made a potato salad and that cherry jello salad and Thomas’ mom brought a pasta salad. The Elders brought drinks and Thomas furnished all the hamburgers and buns. Alex’s folks wouldn’t come. They are not very happy about Alex joining the church and just don’t want anything to do with it. It was a miracle that they came to his baptism. The Elders brought a young man they are teaching and Stephanie and her new husband came too. All in all, there were 18 people there and we had a really good time. Thomas told us last night at institute that his parents really enjoyed themselves and that was the main reason we wanted to do this. He said they want to have us over for dinner one night soon. I hope sometime all of you get to meet Thomas. He is just one outstanding young man.

Dad helped with another moving service project on Saturday but I backed out. I needed some time to work on my talk and it looked like there were plenty of men to help. This was just unloading a small moving van into an apartment so it wasn’t quite as tiring as the last two moves we’ve helped with.

I think I’ve told you about our English classes. I’m teaching a lady who really speaks quite well and reads quite well but mainly just needs practice saying the words right. She is really a nice person. We always have prayer and a scripture thought before we start the class and the first time we met, she just froze when Dad pulled out his scriptures and she asked what kind of class this was. We explained that we were missionaries and this was just something we did on the side to try to help people with their English. She has been there three or four times and last week the other couple that usually come weren’t there so it was just her and me. After we read a scripture she wanted to know just what we did as missionaries. She had seen the Elders in their white shirts and missionary badges and wondered what they were doing. So I told her a little bit about our work-----that we are here to tell people about Jesus Christ and that His church has been restored to the earth. She seemed very interested. She asked if we got to go home and see our families once in awhile and I told her no, that we wouldn’t see them until our 18 months was up and that the Elders stay for 24 months. Then she asked who paid for our missions. When I told her we paid for them ourselves, she could hardly believe it. Then she said, “I want to have you and your husband over one evening and tell us just what you do.” I told her that we’d be happy to come whenever it was convenient for her. She is Christian but doesn’t belong to any particular church right now. She is expecting a baby and I can’t help but think that that’s one reason she might be thinking of more spiritual things. Again, we’ll just see what happens. This is the Lord’s work and He will direct what is to be done.

Sunday Elder and Sister Holzer visited our ward. He is on the high council in our stake over the Young Single Adults and tries to visit the ward a couple of times a month. When they called to see what time our church was and told us they were coming, we invited them to have lunch with us. We bought a small roast and cooked it in the over for a long time on Saturday then I shredded it and made a sauce to put over it so we could have shredded beef sandwiches. I also made a potato salad and did the apple, banana yogurt salad and Dad had made some good cookies on Saturday and a sister in the ward had brought us some really good ice cream so we had a tasty lunch and a wonderful time visiting with the Holzers. It almost seemed like having the family over for Sunday dinner. They are just wonderful people. We feel it a privilege to know them and have them for friends. They live in Bountiful so we hope we can see them often.

One more thing—there is a riverboat/Chinese restaurant on the river near downtown Wurzburg. The 1st counselor in the bishopric and his wife invited us to go to lunch with them on Tuesday. They have a buffet that day and it is really good food. One thing I’ve noticed about people here is that they are never in a big hurry when it comes to eating. They take there time and when it’s a buffet, they eat a LOT. We were there for two and a half hours. We had such a nice visit with them. She is the sister who was in Dad’s district when he was on his mission here the first time. She speaks pretty good English and he speaks really good English and they are just a wonderful couple. She is just like Sister Backlund used to be----quietly doing things for people all the time when they need help. We’ve met so many wonderful people here.

Well, before you can’t even see anymore, I had better wrap this up. I’ve still got some washing to do and we need to run some errands for a few people and we have an English class to teach tonight so better prepare for that. Seems like we’re always preparing for one lesson or another! Guess that’s what we’re here for though.

Thanks for all you are doing for each other. And thanks for your love and your prayers. We feel of both of them very much. We love you and we miss you and I hope we can stay really busy so the time goes fast! I’ll be ready to come home when our 18 months is up.

Much love always,
Mom

From Dad 6/22

Hi everyone,

We have had a good week. Ron Peterson did say the prayer. It was humble but heart felt. He also told us the contention in his family was decreasing especially between him and Martina, his wife. We could feel it when we talked with her on the phone. We talked about some of the other less active men we visit and he was encouraging us. We said sometime we want you to go with us when we visit some of them. He said he needed to become more familiar with the scriptures. We said, “Your prayer and your simple testimony are the two things they need to and want to hear from you. He has come a long ways.

One less active mom we are working with has a 4 year old daughter and she is 27. She has a step son who just turned 18 and a step daughter who is 14. Melissa, 14, has anorexia. She weighs 86 pounds. The doctor told her if she goes below this weight he will put her in the hospital. She has always wanted to be a model and was even offered a job to model but her father said no. She is a very nice and a very beautiful young lady. Jose, the step mom, has good communication with her and we hope in time can bring warmth back into Melissa’s heart and that she will turn from her drive for the “perfect body”. Jose said she would see us in Church on Sunday.

Alex and Thomas after institute on Wednesday asked how they can talk with others about the Church and their beliefs when they are so different from those of their friends and family members. We encouraged them to remember the truth will always stand on its own no matter how much others may know or have read or studied. We encouraged them to remember to be friends and show how much you are interested in how they think and feel and when they are willing to listen to what your thoughts on any subject are, the Spirit will carry the message into their hearts and they will know. It is always for each person to choose whether they want to listen or not. The Spirit is always ready to teach them when they do want to listen. Thomas had had a pointed discussion with his dad and felt uncomfortable with the outcome. There is a homosexual demonstration planned in Wuerzburg in two weeks and a Catholic charity is one of the main financial backers. Thomas’s dad is both Catholic and works for the church as well. Thomas is so friendly and his intentions are good, he will find his way back to peace with his dad and still stand true to what he knows is right.

When we met with Alex’s grandmother, Anne Berner, she said the opening prayer and asked for guidance to know what to do and that she would understand everything we talked about. Then she came straight to the point today and asked how we knew the authority to teach and baptize in the name of Jesus Christ was lost from the earth. We explored several scriptures together and talked again about where we were before we were born and how this knowledge is generally lost to the world today. We said simply either the authority was lost or it was not, and that it has either been restored or it has not. She returned to when Peter went to Rome and then from her understanding designated who was to follow him in authority. We turned to 2 Nephi chapter 26. She had not made it to the middle of the chapter reading before she said she needed more time and quiet time to think these things through. She accepted a reading assignment in 2nd Nephi chapters 25-33. We explained this was a more detailed explanation of Isaiah 3-14 (reviewed in chapters 13-24 in 2nd Nephi). She wants to read all of it and then have us come back in two weeks. She is about 80 years old but sharp. She was a Catholic religion teacher for 35+ years. Since she talked about whether the authority was taken from the earth we talked about baptism. We said it would be wrong for us to invite her to be baptized if she did not have a testimony that the priesthood was restored. But when she does have that testimony, she would know in her heart she wants to and needs to be baptized. She raised no objections.

We love the work. It challenges us in every way. We are at peace tonight. When the Spirit is strong there is no other way to feel. Have a great week. The authority to act in the name of God is a great and a wonderful opportunity and responsibility to be there for Him.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 6/21

Dear Family,

Another wet week has come and gone. We’ve had rain every night and sometimes during the day. Last night there was lots of lighting and thunder to go along with it. Today it was overcast when we first got up and about noon it got really dark and the rain came like I’ve never seen rain come! Luckily we had just returned from the store and enjoyed watching the storm from inside instead of getting soaked running to or from our car somewhere. I’m glad this is P-day because I always worry about the Elders out on their bicycles or walking when it is raining hard. They are so diligent and don’t seem to complain even when they do get soaked. What an example they are to us and what good training this is for the rest of their lives.

Speaking of being in the store----last week a new store opened here. It was originally a Wal-mart but all the Wal-marts in Germany have been sold to another company, REAL, (pronounced ree-all). Anyway we were in the store the first or second day it was opened and people kept seeing our name tags and stopping us to ask where things were or what to do about this or that. I guess with our badges they thought we were employees of the store and knew what was going on. When I went to get something in another part of the store while Dad was waiting to talk to someone about some blank DVD’s, I took my badge off and put it in my pocket. I knew I would be in big trouble if someone stopped me to ask a question! My lack of the language is definitely a hindrance many times. I don’t know why I have such a mind block about learning it. How I look forward to going to the store and being able to read the labels and ask questions if I need help!

This week has been a little slower than last week was but it has been a good week. We met with our Muslim friend a couple of times. The first time when Dad asked him what he felt about God and bore his testimony to the reality of God, Abed said he wanted to talk more and that he thought we could come to see God the same. The next time, we talked about living with God before we came to the earth and that was a completely new idea to him. He didn’t reject the idea but we could tell he was giving it some serious thought. He accepted a Book of Mormon and said he loved to read and would read it. Today when we saw him, he told us that he had read a few pages and told us that to him God was someone to be feared and respected but he has never seen Him as someone who wanted to help him in his everyday life. He was willing to pray about this and see if he could feel something about what we had told him about God. He is such a nice guy--so polite and respectful. He has experienced a lot of hurt in his life being raised in Iraq with the turmoil in that country but wants so badly to put that all behind him and move forward with his life. He told us again that we are always welcome to come and see him so we’ll just continue, “very slowly” as our mission president advised. We go to his internet café usually early in the morning before he’s real busy and talk to him between customers.

Michelle Adair is the young mother and friend of the bishop’s wife. Yesterday she invited us to her house for lunch. Sister Moffitt was there with her children and also another member and her two children who lives just a couple of streets over from her on the army base. Everyone brought something. She had made a delicious chicken salad and had hot-dogs to grill for all the kids. She had a little swimming pool set up for the kids and they had a lot of fun together. It was a beautiful DRY day and we sat outside at a picnic table. After we had talked for awhile and eaten our lunch, we talked more about the gospel. We talked about tithing and she didn’t even bat an eye at that. She thought it was very important. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and she doesn’t have any problem with that. We went over again the reality that there is a God and that God and Jesus Christ are two separate and distinct persons and she accepts that. We talked about the Ten Commandments. Then we talked about Christ being baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” and asked her how she felt about that. She feels baptism is important and we talked to her about the importance of it being done by someone having proper authority. Then Dad asked her if she would think about being baptized at the end of July. She said she would think about it but she needed to discuss this with her husband is in Iraq. We told her that after she was baptized she would be given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Both Sister Moffitt and Sister Thomas bore strong testimonies of how the Holy Ghost helps them in all parts of their lives, not just in spiritual things but with raising their families and dealing with the trials of being military families. It was a good meeting. We’ll just have to see what happens but Michelle wants to meet again next week. She was so relaxed and was such a great hostess to all of us yesterday. When we all started picking up things and helping he put things away, she was amazed. She said usually when she has people over, they just get up and leave when they’re done. Sister Moffitt said this is the way we do it in the church----everyone just pitches in and helps clean up. Michelle liked that!

We had a fun time at the medieval festival last Saturday. The little town was very interesting. Many buildings were built in the 1500’s. The people were dressed in the authentic dress of that period of time. I’m glad I didn’t live then! There was one display called “Preparing for Battle” where it showed men dressing for battle, putting on the mail and other armor. I don’t know how they even moved when they had all that stuff on. You could tell when they lifted the mail up over their heads to put it on that it was really heavy. Then they had 3 or 4 swords and their shield and helmet. It was pretty authentic. Then they had the sword fight. It was pretty interesting but again, those people had to be very strong to be able to carry all of their protective gear and swing those heavy swords. It makes those things we watch in the movies more real knowing that we are living in the part of the world that all of that took place. This little town is right across from the Main River which is one of the biggest rivers in Germany and two different times the river has flooded and from 4 to 6 feet of water ran into the city. People got around in boats and everyone moved to the upper stories of the houses. On some of the buildings, they have marked the waterline of those floods.

We never cease to be amazed at the beauty of this country. It is getting into harvest time for the grain so we see different shades of gold and brown instead of everything being green. All the hills are covered with grape vineyards. We’re looking forward to seeing how the grapes are harvested. They are used for making wine. Judging from all the vineyards, there should be plenty of wine! But judging from all the wine we see being bought in the stores, they need plenty of grapes.

Sunday Petra was interviewed by the bishop for her patriarchal blessing. She is so excited! She called the patriarch and has an appointment for the 22 of July and has asked us to go with her. We have to get permission from President Rakow but I think we will be able to do that. She is an amazing lady. She is going to give the lesson in Relief Society one Sunday next month and is excited about doing that too. Our experiences with her will always be a highlight of this mission.

One of the sisters in the ward wanted to take us downtown to show us where we could by day-old bakery products for half price. We met her at the place where all the busses and street-cars meet. It cost us $2 to park the car and $4 to ride the streetcar down into the center of town where this shop was. I’m not sure we saved a lot of money getting the bread for half price but it was another fun adventure. Downtown is very interesting. There a shops EVERYWHERE most of them just little shops. This bakery was down what we would call and alley but there were several other shops along there too. There are a few big department stores but as I mentioned, most of them are just little shops that just sell a certain item. They have what they call Italian Ice which is soft ice cream. It’s not “runny” soft but it’s not solid either and it is really good. It comes in several different flavors. Dad loves the nut flavor and I think the strawberry is very best. There are ice cream shops on every block. It is really quite an experience to go downtown.

We have an English class to teach in just a little while so I need to bring this to a close. I feel like I’ve kind of rambled but that’s just kind of how I feel today. I think all this moisture in the air is affecting my brain! Dad and I both commented that when we got up this morning we felt like our heads were really heavy. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to all the humidity. I checked on the clothes I had hung out on our patio earlier and they haven’t even started drying. It reminds me of the summer I spent in Detroit. Guess we’ll be bringing them in to dry later on.

Thank you for the letters and for making Father’s Day a very special day for Dad. He is going to really enjoy the short sleeved shirts and I will love his new hat for winter. His is more than just a little bit worn. Know that we love you with all our hearts and think of you many times each day. You are always in our prayers.

Much love,
Mom

From Dad 6/16

Hi everyone,

Mom is awesome! Who could ever have imagined how fun a mission would be with your best friend for 18 months! It is as great as it sounds!

Yes, there are challenges and days you wonder what you are doing and what to do next. In truth those days were as frequent at home as they have been here. The big difference is who you spend your time with and what you are doing. It is so amazing to see what this experience has done in strengthening our testimonies. Since we came with our own individual experiences in the Church, it is and has been a great growing experience for both of us. No one is perfect. Of course that is no news. What we have learned is how much more we are able to do for others as a team. That has been fun. We do miss family and all the fun events. Your experience with the sea lion brought many smiles and thoughts while we watched your “friend” come up on the beach and take over the boogie board. We love your letters.

Mom makes goodies almost everywhere we go to meet with the young people. She has a loyal following. We love the flexibility a couple mission provides. Hours, car use, with whom we meet and what we do when we meet, are all left pretty much up to us. We have had 13plus discussions this week. Mom loves for us to be busy. Study is not her thing! We have three who are working toward commitment to a baptismal date. We have several less actives who have attended or are making plans to attend Church and to prepare for going to the temple. Three of these families seem very hopeful to us for being able to go to the temple. In two of those families the husband is not yet a member of the Church. One has two children who are also not yet members. These are some of our great opportunities. The love in these families is the great strength they have that will help them to get past these hurdles. It’s so awesome to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ literally changes people’s lives. Everyday we are more and more thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who introduced His Son and the dawn of the Restoration. Repentance or change is no longer a “bad” word but one full of blessings and enrichment.

We started a new challenge this morning working with Abed who was born and raised in Iraq and came to Germany in about 1999. He told us today he has born much pain and suffering in his homeland and has great doubts about the reality of God with so many problems in the world. He is searching for a peaceful existence with his fellowmen. We have learned there is a vast difference between the militant Muslims and the ones who are peace oriented. In the Muslim world there is no separation between religion, government, and the military. They are all one and the same. It helps to see the picture of what is happening in the Middle East. 85% of the Muslims in the world (about 1.3 billion) are Sunni (those who held power under Sadam Hussein) the remaining 15% Shiite are the ones in northern Iraq and together with other groups hold political power in Iraq instead of the Sunni’s. Traditions among these people are built into their religion and are of equal value as the word of God (subject to interpretation by their religious, governmental, military leaders). Our mission president said we can teach Abed but we must go very slowly. He accepted a Book of Mormon and said he would read in it. He purchased an internet café 3 months ago and works 91 hours a week. We hope to meet with him once a week.

One of our less actives is a young adult going to school here. We meet once a month for pizza, ice cream and talk. He is a little more friendly each time and the “stiffness” in our age gap is wearing down some. There seems to be more to talk about and to plan for the future. He is in engineering and has a one of a kind mind. We hope to get him hooked up with the super activity for a week in northern Germany in August for all young single adults. It sounds hopeful.

Keep the home fires burning bright and keep the letters coming.

Love always your,

Dad, grandpa, brother, and uncle

From Dad 6/16 part II

Good morning everyone,

Writing is not one of my better points. Mom has a great gift of expression and is a very people oriented person for which we are richly blessed in this mission. Too often I can get lost in doing “things” and not find the time to be doing the things that really make the difference in people’s lives like spending time with them. Mom is so good to keep us focused on what is important – people. I don’t know if any of you have a similar challenge, but if you do and your other half is blessed with this same love and care for others let them lead out. Early on in our mission I appointed mom to function as the senior companion. Her intuition about what we need to be doing was to have enough influence to over-ride any “projects” I was working on at the time. This has served us well or at least has improved the amount of time we spend with people V.S. the amount of time spent preparing to meet with people. There will always be room for improvement but hopefully we are moving more each day in the right direction.

Thanks for your letters. They always warm our hearts.

Love always,

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Willard and Dona

From Mom 6/15

Dear Family,

I’ve never seen it rain like it has rained here this week. Usually the mornings are clear and beautiful but nearly every afternoon clouds have rolled in and we’ve had a downpour. Then the sun comes out again and it gets pretty warm----usually in the mid 80’s. We feel like we’re living in a sauna. We’ve had several nights of lightning and thunder. The building Petra lives in was hit by lightning. That was a scary experience for everyone who lives there. The only lasting affect was that the elevator went out. There are 8 or 9 floors above the entrance so everyone has been getting a good workout this past week. Petra lives on the 5th floor and we were panting pretty heavily by the time we made it up to her apartment. Good exercise for us too.

This has been a week of highs and lows. Dad has been working with a man the Elders have been teaching. He is starting up his own business and has asked Dad lots of questions. He is just a great person but has one big problem and that is his temper. He was supposed to get some money from a government agency to help him start up his business but the money didn’t come through and when he talked to them about it, he wasn’t very nice and then they sent him a letter and told him they weren’t going to give him the money. Dad went in to talk to the people who had sent the letter and they told him the reason they had changed their minds about helping him was that they were concerned how he would treat his customers because of they way he treated them. When Dad told this guy that, he was really upset. Dad tried to reason with him but he was not to be reasoned with. He told Dad he wanted nothing more to do with him or the church. Dad felt terrible because he had already set a date with the Elders to be baptized. Dad called him to try to talk to him and he hung up on him. The Elders tried to call and he did the same thing to them. But you know Dad. He wouldn’t leave it alone. He hardly slept that night and early the next morning he went over to this guys place. He was very cold to Dad but Dad told him there is a right way and a wrong way to handle this and fighting with these people was not the right way. He needed to go in and try to talk things our. He told Dad he was ready to do fight them with his fists or with his mouth and that he was going to fight them. Dad had the letter they had sent him telling him they weren’t going to give him the money but had left it home when he went over. When he came home to get it, he said he was afraid we have lost this guy and felt terrible. He went back with the letter and when he gave it to him, he put out his hand to shake hands with him and told him he hoped that they could be friends again. The guy invited Dad in and they talked for over an hour. Prayers are answered. The spirit was there and hearts were touched and softened. Dad was willing to go with this man to talk to the people he had been dealing with and this meant a lot to him. In fact, that is where they are right now. He told Dad he would be in church on Sunday and asked him if he knew when the Elders would be by to teach him again. Dad was happy to call the Elders and tell them what had happened. I guess we’ll know the rest of the story in awhile. Dad is pretty bold and isn’t afraid to take on anything when it’s contrary to what is right. This has been a tough experience.

Tonight we have an appointment with a man at 10 o’clock. He works from 9 AM to 10 PM seven days a week. He runs and internet café. Last week while our internet service was down we went in to get some mail and write a letter. When Dad paid for it, he gave this man a pass-along card and he read the front, then turned it over and read everything on the back. They talked for an hour between his helping his customers and he told Dad he would like to meet with him and discuss more what they had talked about. The interesting thing is that this guy is Muslim but he said he’s much opened mind when it comes to religious things. We had to get permission from our mission president to even meet with him; the reason being that if these people go back to their homeland and are found out to have become Christians, their very lives may be in jeopardy. President Rakow said to go ahead and meet with him but go slow. So we’ll have a nap this afternoon and go see what it’s like talking to a Muslim. Should be very interesting.

Remember the “hyper” mom I told you about a couple of weeks ago? We met with her again this week at Bishop Moffitts home and she was a completely different person. She was so interested in every word we said. We taught her the plan of salvation and she loved it. She liked the idea of our being children of our Heavenly Father and living with him before we came to the earth and the gospel being the plan to help us return and live with him again. She didn’t disagree with anything we had told her and had lots of questions. She asked questions about the priesthood and about the temple and Sister Moffitt did a great job of telling her how the priesthood is such a blessing in their family and how Bishop Moffitt was able to give each one of them a special blessing before he left for a 6 month tour of duty in Iraq. Then she told her that being married in the temple meant that they could be together as a family not only for this life but for eternity too and what a lot of peace that brought to her. It is so great to have members with us when we are teaching someone about the gospel. Their testimonies help so much. We have another appointment with Michelle next Wednesday. She said she would try to be to church on Sunday.

Anna Berner is Alex Ehehart’s grandmother. Alex is the young man who was baptized a couple of weeks ago. We have been meeting with Anna off and on for a couple of months. She spent some time in the hospital for depression and we tried to visit her every week while she was there. We took her a Book of Mormon and Elder Ballard’s book, “Our Search for Happiness”. She really enjoyed that book but I think the turning point for her as far as being interested in the church was attending Alex’s baptism. She was so impressed with the young people from the ward who had been asked to speak and bear their testimonies. She has been reading some in the Book of Mormon but says it’s so new and different to her that she has a hard time understanding it. She had read about Lehi’s dream about the Tree of Life and didn’t understand it so when we were there this week, we talked about it and had her read chapter 11 where it explains what each of the things in the dream represent. She accepted that very well. She asks lots of questions and Dad does a good job of answering them for her. (It’s all in German. I listen and look up scriptures and pray silently that things will go okay!) At the end of our discussion, Dad asked her if she would say the prayer. In her prayer she said, “Father, I trust thee and I trust the Bible. With this new information, I need your help to know what I’m supposed to do.” What a big step for someone who is learning about the gospel! We have another appointment with her next week.

We also met with three inactive members this week. They love the gospel but it’s usually because of family situations that they aren’t able to attend church. But they love to talk about the church and we hope our visits will spark enough interest in them that they can work out a way to start attending again. One of them wants so badly to go to the temple and be sealed to her husband. He isn’t a member and doesn’t like her to be gone on Sunday because that’s his only day home. We encouraged her to talk to him and see if she was to come to just Sacrament meeting so she wouldn’t be gone so long if that would be okay. She said she would pray for courage to do that and asked us to pray for her too. She is a third generation member. He is just a great person too and it’s obvious that they love each other very much. If it’s to be, it will be.

I think we have mentioned Tim Palmer as another inactive. He is the man who has 3 sons with a live-in wife. She has found someone else she wants to be with and Tim is really struggling. At the end of a discussion with him, Dad asked him if he would pray. Basically this is what he said: Dear Father in Heaven, I am thankful for Elder and Sister Price. Help me to stop doing the things I know I shouldn’t be doing and become strong enough to do the things I should. Bless our family and help me to know what I should do there.” Sincere, heartfelt prayers are a great start to overcoming your problems. With the Lords help, you can do anything that is right to be done.

We have permission to go with the ward to a Midlevel festival tomorrow. They have all kinds of displays of how things were in this country hundreds of years ago. There will be jousting and sword fights and all kinds of things like that. Everyone says it is a fun thing to see and we are looking forward to it. Might as well get some of this country’s history. Two weeks from now is another couple’s conference in Munich. We are looking forward to that too. It’s always so nice to be with the other senior couples and compare stories.

When we got on the elevator to come up to our apartment last night, Dad said, “Wow, a mission is certainly no vacation, is it.” We’ve had a very busy week and some rough times but many good times too. I think that’s just the nature of this work. Thank you for the letters and for your prayers. We feel your support and that means a lot to us. Hearing what all of you are doing makes me tired! Life is so busy for everyone but you’re all doing good things and we are grateful for that. You are very much in our thoughts and prayers every day.

Much love,
Mom

P.S. I forgot to tell you that Sunday morning just before it was time for church to start, a whole group of people came in that were not members of the ward. Dad recognized one of the men. He is Gary Archibald and is from Rexburg. Dad sold him some property in Rigby for his insurance company. His brother and his wife were with him. They live in Jay and Carla’s ward and he was their home teacher for several years. Gary’s wife is Alice Huntsman’s sister. He had served a mission here and had been back several times and always tries to come to the Wurzburg ward when he is here. They had some of their family with them. There were 12 all together and they were traveling in two big vans. They were going to Switzerland later that day and just touring for a couple of weeks. It felt like we were home having all these people from Idaho in church with us.

From Mom 6/15 (part II)

Hi Family,

Thought you might be interested in what happened in the meeting Dad and Gunter, the man the Elders are teaching, went to this morning. Before they left for the meeting, they had prayer together and Dad made Gunter promise to keep his voice under control. They were ushered in to the managers office and all was silent. Finally, the manager motioned to Dad and asked him if he would be the first to speak. Dad’s first comment was, “Well, since none of us are perfect----“. That seemed to break the ice and the man said lets start from the first and lay everything out and see where the problem is. So that is what they did and the glitch in the whole thing quickly showed up. On his paper work explaining what he wanted to do and where it asked for potential customers for his business he had written some businesses in that he was planning on contacting. They thought it meant that these were already customers and that he already had his business going and was receiving income so they had denied him the help they had promised for him to get started. Dad was the character witness testifying that he really didn’t have customers yet and had been waiting for the money to come so he could begin actively seeking customers. The manager accepted that then told him there was something else he had to do. That was going to the people he had offended when he had lost his temper the last time he was in there. That took eating some humble pie but he did it and he will soon start receiving the money that had been promised him. There were good feelings all around when Dad and Gunter left. The misunderstanding was cleared up and life goes on. What a stressful couple of days this has been for everyone! He is still planning to be baptized and Dad has talked to him about his temper and some of his language and he has promised to work on that. We’ve been helping him out a little bit with food and a few other things. Maybe he was afraid to “bite the hand that was feeding him.” I don’t know. I just know he is a nice guy who has a temper he needs to learn to control and we hope things go well for him in his business.

And so, as Paul Harvey would say, and now you’re heard the rest of the story.

Love you all,
Mom

From Dad 6/8

Hi everyone,

We are thankful for what we have heard from your trip and Zach’s “arrival” in the mission field. Somehow we are not able to make the blog videos work for us. It will say “buffering…” and then nothing happens. We down loaded the latest software to show the video’s (as far as we know) with no results. Any ideas? The story about the sea lions certainly makes us curious to see the video clip. What we miss is the sitting around at the end of the day and just talking and hearing all of your stories. It will be good when we can share those times again with you.

Mom and I have both been impressed by President Hinckley’s comments in the June Ensign. His ability and inspiration to see a clear picture of what has gone before and so clearly why lies ahead is a great blessing to our family and any other individual or family who will give a listening ear and receive it into their heart. None of us are able to slow down what lies ahead. The only thing we can do is better prepare our own hearts and our own families to be ready when the refiner’s fire sweeps through the earth. Such a fire is necessary in order for the Lord to know His own are ready when that time comes to remove from the earth all elements of a telestial world. The millennium is only possible after this cleansing. Knowing where we stand that the winds of adversity will not sweep us and our families away deserves our deepest consideration. May we take the time to help hold up the hands that sometime hang down. May we stand as a family when that day of division comes.

This refiner’s fire is a life and a heart changing experience. The time truly will come when the “beloved” grey area, the area we all like to hide behind and say, “It is not yet time to decide. There is still time”, will no longer be found. Everyone will need to declare whose side they are on, what their convictions are. The sooner we answer the call and are willing to stand up and be counted and help the Father with His work, the greater the blessings will be for such a commitment and the fewer the difficult times that will lie ahead wherein no one is there to shield us or to take the “hit” from us for those yet unresolved issues in our lives.

We are either drawing closer to our Father in Heaven or we are not. Personally, I want to be shed of the responsibility of choosing another way and then having to stand before the Lord, who knows fully my heart, and then try to explain to Him why it didn’t seem so important at the time. Well can I understand why those faced with that dilemma (and I sincerely hope to not end up being one of them) would just as soon a mountain would fall on them and burry them than to have to face that moment of accounting for life and what did and what did not happen.

As you can see this message from President Hinckley has affected my feelings and has been much on my mind. Our greatest desire is to be one and to “close the ranks”. May each of you come to know these are only the thoughts and feelings of a father and grandfather who loves our family very much. I can’t stand the thought of having an empty chair (especially if it would be mine)!

May our kind and faithful Heavenly Father through His Beloved Son be with and guide and comfort each of us as we find our way through life each day.

Love always,

Dad and Grandpa

From Mom 6/7

Dear Family,

Today is P-day and today that stands for POOPED!! We are both worn out and happy to have a day with not so many places to go and people to see. I just can’t get over how tiring it is just talking to people. We’ve had a busy week with meeting with people and seminary, institute and English classes. This having to work our brains so hard every day is every bit as much work as physical work is. In fact, I’ve wished many times I had a lawn to mow or the garden to work in. That’s always good therapy when I feel brain dead as I do now.

We’re glad to know you are safely home from your trip. I just wouldn’t be a mother if I didn’t worry when my kids were out on the road. We prayed every day for your safety and are glad to hear you had a good time together. I hope we can make these get togethers an annual event---if not an annual event, as often as we can and as many as can come. With grandsons becoming of age to serve missions, there will always be some missing but we feel it is so important to be together and keep the family ties strong. Dad and I are planning on “making the rounds” as often as we can to stay in close touch with all of you. We look forward to that.

Yesterday we had our interviews with President Rakow. At the risk of sounding boastful, I’ll tell you what he said. He told us how much he appreciated the work we are doing and that we are doing exactly what senior missionaries are supposed to do. Then he added that he wished some of the other couples would follow our example. He said that we are always top in our zone with the number of discussions given. He complimented us on the help we give the young Elders and the example we are setting for them. We were happily and humbly surprised by all of this but very thankful. We told him we often wonder if we’re doing what we should be doing because, unlike the young missionaries, we don’t have a set schedule. The couples working in the Outreach Centers pretty much do but proselyting couples are left to themselves to figure out how to work with the people we work with. He told us to give ourselves some time to relax and have some fun and to feel free to do whatever we needed to do to help these people. Another thing he told us is that he has no plans to move us right away. We may just be here the rest of our mission but he isn’t ready right now to promise us that. It would be okay with me to just stay here. The thoughts of having to pack all this stuff up more than one time gives me a big headache! Anyway, we’re not patting ourselves on the back but we are thankful to know that we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing. Some days it’s hard to see that we are accomplishing much but I guess progress comes in small steps.

I think I have told you about Michelle Adair. She is a friend of the bishop’s wife and was warned by everyone not to talk to the Mormons or let them in her house. She heard all kinds of typical anti-Mormon talk. But she knew nearly all the Army wives through the aerobics class she attends and teaches and was always impressed by their friendliness and kindness and how much the cared for their families. She decided she wanted to find out for herself about these Mormons so when Sister Moffitt invited her to church, she came. We met with her nearly three months ago at her home and it was somewhat of a disaster because all of her kids were home and a neighbor came with a couple of other kids. She thought it would be better to meet at Bishop Moffitts home while the kids were in school. Between sick kids and hubby coming home on leave from Iraq, it has taken a long time to get together but we finally met at the Bishops home last week. She is one hyper lady!!! Her middle child is on medication for ADD and I think he must have inherited it from his mother. Dad was literally flying through the lesson. When she got up to answer her phone one time, I said to him, “You’re going way too fast and giving way too much information for the first time.” He said he didn’t dare slow down because every time he did to ask her for comment or to answer a question, she would go WAY off the subject and start talking about something else. But with the bishop and his wife’s help, we did make it through the discussion and she accepted a Book of Mormon and a challenge to read it and pray about it and other things we had talked about. She’s not happy with her church and is looking. If we can just get her to slow down enough to take the time to listen and to read and study and pray, I think she will be a good prospect for a new member. That was one meeting we came home from literally drained! We meet all kinds of people out here.

Friday morning we followed up on a referral from the mission office. This was a referral sent from the Washington DC visitor’s center. It was for a young woman who was attending the university here. When we went to her apartment and told her who we were and why we were calling on her, she said she was sure her best friend had referred her to us because she (the friend) had told her she was going to have some missionaries call on her while she was in Germany. This girl is from Syracuse, N Y. She has a degree in philosophy and is doing a study abroad in history. She is really a sharp girl. She has been to church with this friend a few times but right now is very upset and even angry that she can’t attend the wedding of this friend because it is going to be in the temple. She told us in no uncertain terms that she wanted nothing to do with a church that discriminates against people like she feels ours does. We tried to tell her what we could about the temple but nothing would change her mind. She started crying and is so hurt that she can’t go to this wedding. She did accept a Book of Mormon when we offered it to her and said it would be okay if we visited her a couple of times while she was still there. She goes back home in August. I don’t think she wants to hear anything about the church but she’s pretty lonely so maybe if we just take her some goodies and visit her she won’t feel like we are so awful. I felt terrible about what she said about the church and especially about the temple and started crying when we got in the car. I love our church and I love the temple and everything it represents and to have both of these criticized because of not knowing and understanding what they mean to us is hard to take. I’ve got to have tougher skin.

I have a feeling that it’s going to be somewhat of a challenge to get together with people during these summer months. Everyone must take big vacations during the summer. People are going all over the place----Greece, Italy, Spain, England, and Ireland. We’ll do what we can do with who we can find. Some of our less-active need constant pushes. Some it’s as simple as a call on Sunday morning to be sure they are awake. Others it’s starting from scratch and helping them remember what they were once taught. But we are always happy when they want us to come back and teach them more. So life goes on for us-----one day at a time and one small step at a time.

In Germany, June is pronounced “you-knee” and July is “you-lee”. I think all the others are pronounced like we pronounce them but a spelled a little different. Whenever a word ends in “d”, it’s pronounced “t”. “W” is pronounced “V” so if you said “word” in German, you would pronounce it “vort”. Can you see why this more OLD brain of mine has a hard time grasping this language? I can’t tell you how happy I was when President Rakow said to me again, “Forget about the language.” It was music to my ears.

We love you all. Thank you for your prayers and your letters. We need plenty of both! We’ll be looking forward to hearing more stories from the trip. Being chased down the beach by a sea-lion is a once in a life time experience. I agree with Chris that you should send that video in. It will be a classic!

Zach, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Starting a mission is just plain hard but I promise it gets better. It’s no vacation but it is very rewarding work.

Much love to all of you.

Mom

From Dad 6/1

Good morning family,

It has been a good week. Thanks for your letters. We have about worn mom’s socks off this week. Every once in a while we find we are not quite as young as we used to be. We love the work. We love you more.

It was good to hear from Zach through his family. Email is awesome! We are excited to hear more each week. The second half of our mission will be the most fun and one reason is being able to feel what Zach is feeling and doing.
Dana is a very special young lady. What courage this young person has! What Chris has felt and shared in being a friend is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. There is no thought of personal reward.

As mom mentioned we met with Petra on Thursday. We have had some concerns where she was heading. Things seemed so surfacy and almost too polite. How she was dressed for our appointments was becoming a concern. Things were almost too casual. She has felt a strong desire to find a male companion and husband for life. She called earlier in the week and asked us about the Episcopalian Church and what we knew. She had been emailing someone in Roy, Utah who used to be a member of the Church who was now Episcopalian. When we arrived for our appointment again things were very surfacy and polite. After an opening prayer we asked permission to discuss a little more about some of the differences she would come to know as she become better acquainted with other people and their different Christian beliefs in general. Hesitantly she gave us permission. We began by mentioning one of the issues facing churches today is the level of acceptance of homosexuals and the support of their lifestyle. She stopped us cold and went on to explain the doctor she works for performs surgery to change men’s voices to that of a woman’s. She said how sympathetic she was to these people and how they suffer and that this was a closed subject about which she would not discuss. What to do next. Do we wish her well and walk away?

The Spirit said, start at the beginning again. We asked: “Do you believe we have a Father in Heaven?” She confirmed. We asked again: “Do you believe Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and the Son of God?” She confirmed again and began to relax her rigid facial expressions. An hour later we were once again on the same page. She knew homosexuals are always welcome in our midst. They will never be asked to leave just because of their chosen lifestyle. Petra agreed and supported the idea these people are ill and hurting. We explained that that is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is for. It is to heal people who want to be healed and to love those who have not yet felt the desire for healing from a troubled life no matter the source of their troubles. She also agreed some blessings available through the Church would be unavailable to practicing homosexuals as these blessings are also unavailable to those practicing other addictions as well. We felt reconnected and that once again we were pursuing the same course in life. Together our desire is to work toward keeping the commandments of our Father in Heaven and to learn what He would have us do with our lives.

Yesterday morning Petra called and asked if we had read Elder Scott’s talk in conference on prayer? She was so impressed by it Thursday evening she had read it three times before she went to bed. She also asked us about what she needed to do to receive her Patriarchal Blessing. It is always good to see how she will work through challenges and turn them into stepping stones instead of letting them become stumbling blocks.

Monday is “hump day”. The time is flying by. It is a feeling of excitement and sadness. We will miss the families we have known here but nothing is more exciting than to know we will see everyone in the family and once again to do things together. We are truly blessed. WE are grateful families truly can be together forever. Otherwise life would just be too hard. Poor mom, she hacks and coughs just like someone else I know. She is so embarrassed by it she won’t turn loose of hardly any of it. She just lets it recycle. It has to be allergies or something. I wouldn’t wish this dilemma on anyone! We are quite a pair. I think she is hoping when we are home again and we are for the most part in a dryer climate most of this will “dry up and blow away”.

You all have a great week. We love each and every one of you with all of our hearts.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 5/31

Dear Family,

We've thought of you travelers every day and prayed that you will be safe and have a wonderful time together. We'll be glad when you get back and can tell us all about your trip. We've thought about you other two too and hope all is going well for you. It would be great if you could get together at a half way point sometime and get better acquainted with each other. We're happy that Zach is now in Florida and are anxious to hear about his experiences. We looked up where Perry was on a map. That whole area looks like it is right in the hurricane area. That makes me a little nervous but I know people there know what to do when a storm is coming in and that mission presidents (and the Lord) take good care of their missionaries.

This has been a week of heavy rain. It was really needed and yesterday and today the sun is out and everything looks green and beautiful again. I'm sure the farmers were most happy for the rain. As we've driven around, we've noticed that particularly the corn was looked a bit thirsty. There are very few sprinkler systems so they really rely on the rain for their crops. Yesterday as we drove out to visit an inactive sister I felt like I was driving in a canyon only the sides of the canyon were trees instead of rocks. There were so many trees and they were touching across the road. We took some pictures and will e-mail them another time.

I have been the "murmuring Sariah" and Dad has been the "visionary Lehi" a couple of times this week. He told me we wanted to take one of the active investigators the Elders are working with with us to an appointment we had with an inactive member, Tim Palmer. This investigator is just starting a new business and needs someone who speaks and knows English well to help him. Dad thought that maybe he could get them together in a business adventure. I was more than a bit concerned but the appointment was made. We went to Tim's house and about all we did was introduce the two men and they took it from there. Tim started telling us about all his problems and that he didn't know what to do and Gunter, the investigator told him he needed to start coming to church and that it would help him if he did. Then Tim asked Gunter how long he had been a member. When Gunter told him he wasn't a member Tim asked him why he wasn't if he believed in what the church taught. Gunter told him he didn't think he had to be a member of "a" church. He told him how he loves to help people, that he believes in God and that he was basically a good man, which he is. Then Tim told him he should become a member of the church, that he wouldn't hurt him but would only help him. We then told Gunter that it was very important for him to continue to help and do good to people but that there are certain things the Lord requires of us for us to return to our Heavenly Father and to enjoy all the blessings in this life and being baptized is one of those things. Then Tim said, "And it's important that it is done by proper authority and that authority is in this church." As I mentioned, Dad and I said very little. The conversation between these two was amazing.

Now for the best part of the story. The next day was Alex's baptism and Gunter came with the Elders to the baptism. There was such a good spirit there. The talks on baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost were just amazing....so down to earth and so personal. At the end, the bishop asked Alex to come and bear his testimony. He was so happy and so excited and his testimony could be felt by everyone.

Just before he left to go home, Gunter told Elder Blackburn that he wanted to be baptized. So that's what he's working towards and we feel that what Tim had told him the day before had a lot to do with that decision. And inactive member and non-member team teach---not often done but this time it was a good experience.

Saturday morning the first thing Dad said to me was that he wanted to drive up and see Klause Filipec. Klause is the young man who was teaching seminary before we came here and all of a sudden disappeared and was looking into joining another church. Then he came back for awhile and disappeared again and wrote and told us he had a girl-friend who belonged to the Old Catholic Church and that he was going to join that church. No one heard from him for quite awhile and then he sent and e-mail to Thomas Mueller and told him that he had had a "near death" experience while he had been seriously ill in the hospital. He said his whole life flashed in front of him and he knew that what he really needed was to get back to church. He bore his testimony of the gospel to Thomas and asked Thomas to forward it to us. Again, I was doubtful. First, it's over 50 miles to where his mother lives and she is very much against the church. Second, we didn't know if he would even be there but Dad insisted that we go. He was at his mother's home. We met her and shook hands with her and that was the last we saw of her. We spent about an hour with Klause. He told us about this girl and that they were getting pretty serious and headed toward a long term relationship. She was hoping that he would join her church and when he didn't want to she told him it was okay if he belonged to any other church but the Mormon church but she would not marry a Mormon. Shortly after that Klause got really sick and was in the hospital for two weeks. We don't know any of the details only that his whole bottom lip was still very swollen and covered with fever blisters. He wanted to come to Alex's baptism but was very self conscious of how he looked but told us he would be to church this week. He has a very strong testimony and when it gets right down to it, he will never deny that testimony but he has a hard time settling down and sticking to anything. Dad heard about a job here in Wurzburg and e-mailed him about it so we'll see what happens. He is such a nice guy---very friendly and the young people in the ward really like him. The bishop is a bit concerned about letting him work with them again because of the instability he has shown. We are hoping we can help him "find his way."

It has been an interesting week. It's amazing how drained we feel when we come home at night after just talking to people. They share a lot of heart felt feelings with us and are looking for answers. We do the best we can and encourage them to continue to pray and ask our Heavenly Father for help and to continue to search the scriptures for answers. The progress is slow but we do see progress. It's a trying, tiring experience but at the same time a very rewarding experience working with these people.

Yesterday the Elders and us did a service project for a couple of hours. There are great big fields of strawberries very close to us and every year the women in the ward get together and go out and pick strawberries. There were several sisters who couldn't go because of having babies and small children so we told the Relief Society president that if some of them wanted strawberries, we would do the picking for them. We picked, and ate, strawberries for two hours. It was good to be outside and in the dirt and doing something different. It was a fun project. And I got some good ideas of what I want to do to our strawberry patch next spring.

Zone conference was this week and that is always a very uplifting time. The theme was "having the pure love of Christ". I marvel at the love and care and concern of our mission president and his wife. Sister Rakow told Dad and I that couple missionaries are very important, not just for the missionary work they do but for the example we are setting for the young Elders and Sisters. Someday I wonder just what kind of example we are setting but it was nice to hear that from her. We will never know what affect, if any, we have on people but will try our best to do what we have been sent here to do.

Last Thursday we had an appointment with Petra. She wanted to go out into the nature again so we followed her out to her favorite little spot in the country. We she got out of the car, she opened her trunk and took out a basket that had a table cloth, glasses, plates and silverware and then a pan that had a delicious casserole in it. It may not sound too good but it was a very typical German dish----potatoes, sauerkraut and sausage. Really, it was very good. We have another appointment with her this afternoon. We never know what to expect when we go to her place.

Guess that about it for this week. It's probably more than you wanted to read but I just wanted to let you know what we're doing. We hope all is well with all of you and that you can all have some "fun" time this summer. I look forward to being home with everyone next summer. I miss mowing the lawn and working in the yard and of course, I miss the family most of all. Take care. Love each other and know how very thankful we are to be your parents.

Much love,
Mom

(with Reilyn Larson - her little buddy)