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.
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.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home