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
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
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