From Mom 7/5
Dear Family,
It’s 9:30 and we just got in from our last English class for the week. We left for our first appointment this morning just after 9:30 and we’ve been in and out all day. This is supposed to be P-day. I did manage to get a couple batches of washing done between appointments and Dad took the garbage out but that was about it for our domestic chores. Dad and I were just talking on the way home about some of the things that have happened today that make it a day that we won’t soon forget and hope we don’t have too many like it. The first call we got when we came back from our first appointment was from the Elders. They have a strong feeling that one of the investigators they are working with is gay and wonder what they should do. This guy is supposed to be baptized in a couple of weeks. Elder Lindsey asked Dad if he would go with them for their appointment tomorrow night to see what he thought. Dad has called the bishop and the bishop called our mission president so hopefully he’ll have an idea what to do. When we got back from our next appointment, there was a message from Stephanie’s husband that Stephanie had run away and asked Dad to come over. We went over but I stayed in the car. They talked for quite awhile and then Dad gave Christian a blessing. Stephanie is having a hard time accepting that now that she is married, things have changed. We have very clear instructions that the married and singles and not to mix in FHE or in the institute classes. There is a “Building an Eternal Marriage” class that is available but Stephanie can’t see why things have to be different just because she’s married. She has had so much attention being in the hospital for such a long time and then getting married and all of a sudden, she’s just another member of the ward and is not getting as much attention and she can’t accept it. We were happy when we called her husband when we just got home and she is back but has a friend with her so we didn’t find out much. Oh, the messes we get ourselves into. As I said before, I hope we don’t have too many days like this one!
Our couple’s conference last Friday and Saturday was another wonderful experience.
We were treated like royalty again. We rode on the train to Munich so we didn’t have to worry about driving. President and Sister Rakow met us at the train and we drove to a beautiful lake south of Munich where we got on a big river boat and just enjoyed the beautiful clear, warm weather, the beautiful scenery and getting acquainted with the other couples for nearly 3 hours. President and Sister Rakow made the 
rounds stopping to visit with everyone. There were other people on the boat and some of the men had some good discussions with a priest from another church and a few other people who wondered who we were and what we do. The women mainly just enjoyed visiting while they were being good missionaries. After we got back to Munich, we checked into the Holiday Inn and got ready for the evening at the mission home. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Sister Rakow and Sister Laudenbach who helps at the mission home. One of the new couples both taught music at BYU. He has been over the opera music department and just listening to him talk, you can tell he is an opera singer. They did a couple of “light” numbers for us that were beautiful then we played a couple of silly games. It was just a very relaxing, informal evening. The next morning we were picked up the motel and went to the church for breakfast and then some good instruction from our mission presidency and some workshops. After lunch, which was a potato bar, we had a testimony meeting which was a very spiritual time. It was good to be together and learn that everyone shares the same frustrations about being a senior missionary with no specific program but we were all encouraged by President Rakow to carry on with the good work that was being done. Everyone does things a little differently and it was good to hear what others are doing.
Dad just got off the phone with the bishop. President Rakow wants the bishop and Dad to meet with this man tomorrow night. He doesn’t want the young elders involved until the issue is cleared up. He, Pres. Rakow, said that if people are willing to repent, we want them in the church and if this man is sincerely interested in being baptized, that he would personally interview him. He said that he would know if he was worthy of making this covenant of baptism and if he’s not ready, he will tell him what he needs to do to get ready. I’m glad the Elders don’t have to be involved and I’m glad that the bishop will be there with Dad. We’ll know “the rest of the story” later on.
We’ve had a lot of cancellations this week. I think this weather is affecting everyone. We’ve had lots of rain every day this week and a lot of people have cancelled because of sickness. But we’ve had some good meetings too. We are working with an inactive member. She was raised in the church but started smoking when she was 17 and then she became an alcoholic. I think that is behind her but she hasn’t been to church for years. When we called to see if we could come and visit her, she seemed okay with it. We’ve been there three times now and each time she sets an appointment for another visit. We have a nice discussion on very basic principles of the gospel. That last time we were there, she asked us if we could help her understand the mission of the Holy Ghost better so that’s what we talked about this time. She has told us about a neighbor who she thinks so much of and thinks she is as good a Christian as anyone she has ever known. This neighbor was going on vacation and the member we have been visiting gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her if she would read it while she was on vacation. The neighbor said she would. There must still be a little “flame” of testimony in her if she’s being a missionary to her neighbor. She is just a nice lady. When we told the Relief Society president we had visited her, she could hardly believe it. She lives quite a ways out of town and I guess no one has really made much of an effort to go see her. But it’s such a beautiful ride out there and we love going there!
Sister Meyer, who isn’t officially “Sister” Meyer yet because she’s not a member, has been coming to church with her member husband for 43 years. She has gone through dozens and dozens of missionaries. The young Elders were working with her but were just frustrated so the ward mission leader asked Dad and I if we would work with her. We started at square one, the Godhead. She didn’t understand that they are separate and distinct persons but we’ve read enough scriptures together that she is finally realizing that there are 3 separate members of the Godhead. That was a big step. She knows a lot about the church. Her husband wants more than anything to be sealed to her in the temple. This week in our meeting the spirit was very strong. We talked about the love her husband has for her and wants her to be sealed to him. She shook her head and said that she wanted to be with him too. Then we talked about what needed to happen for that to happen and baptism is one of those things and asked her if she would consider being baptized on the 28th of this month. She didn’t say no and promised that she would think about it. When Dad shook her hand before we left, he commented that we had given her a big assignment and her comment to him was, “Yes, and we’ll see if we can’t take care of it.” At one of our meetings with them, I felt the spirit so strongly and told Dad I wanted to bear my testimony and asked if he would translate it for me. I bore my testimony and when Dad started telling her in German what I had said, she shook her head and said, “I understood every word she said.” There is no language barrier with the spirit. She is 81 years old and he is 78. She has so much life in her. It’s just wonderful to know them. I’ll try to send a picture of them next week. Also some pictures of our trip to Munich.
We are having to slow down with the busy little mother whose husband is in Iraq. She talked to him and told him she wanted to join the church and he said it was okay but that he wasn’t planning on changing churches. That was last week. Then Monday when we talked to her, she told us that she had talked to him again and that he’s quite upset that she’s thinking about changing churches while he’s over there and knows nothing about what’s going on. She feels it would be better to wait until he got home, which will be in September or October, then he can learn about the church too. We both feel that this is the right thing to do. Michelle told us we could still visit her and that she would continue to read and study about the church. We’ll take her cookies and just stay in touch with her. She knows all the wives of the members who are still stationed her and we’ll encourage them to continue to be a friend to her.
We visited an inactive sister today who feels she is a failure because she can’t get her 12 year old son or her non-member interested in the church. She works all day on Saturday and Sunday and hasn’t been able to go to church for several years even though she was quite active before that time. We assured her that she was not a failure and told her we would like to come and just visit with her once a week and help strengthen her testimony again so she would feel better. She liked that idea so that’s what we are going to do. Working with part-member and less active members is one small step at a time but Sunday there were two less-active members we have been working with to church and that makes it all worth it. I think I’ve told you about the Becks, the young couple we have visited each Sunday since we came to Wurzburg. They are the ones who are now preparing to go to the temple. She was put in as a counselor in the Young Women’s presidency on Sunday and he is secretary in the Elders quorum. The gospel really does make a difference in peoples lives. There are many bright spots in this work to offset days like today.
As I have mentioned, we have had rain EVERY DAY for a week! It was so nice to be in the sunshine in Munich but the closer we got to Wurzburg on our way home, the darker the clouds were. Sunday is supposed to be sunny and warm. We’ll see. I know lots of people besides just me who would welcome that.
Know that we think of you many times each day. You are in our prayers. We love you so much and we miss being with you. I think we miss you more in the summer months because of all the fun we have had together during the summer so I’m glad we will be gone just one summer. The 4th of July is just another day here in Germany. Today we went to see a member who lives on the Army base and there were lots of flags out in front of the homes so we’re guessing that they didn’t forget what day it was. It was good to see all the flags.
Until next week,
Much love,
Mom
(some of the traditionally dressed people who shared the boat)
It’s 9:30 and we just got in from our last English class for the week. We left for our first appointment this morning just after 9:30 and we’ve been in and out all day. This is supposed to be P-day. I did manage to get a couple batches of washing done between appointments and Dad took the garbage out but that was about it for our domestic chores. Dad and I were just talking on the way home about some of the things that have happened today that make it a day that we won’t soon forget and hope we don’t have too many like it. The first call we got when we came back from our first appointment was from the Elders. They have a strong feeling that one of the investigators they are working with is gay and wonder what they should do. This guy is supposed to be baptized in a couple of weeks. Elder Lindsey asked Dad if he would go with them for their appointment tomorrow night to see what he thought. Dad has called the bishop and the bishop called our mission president so hopefully he’ll have an idea what to do. When we got back from our next appointment, there was a message from Stephanie’s husband that Stephanie had run away and asked Dad to come over. We went over but I stayed in the car. They talked for quite awhile and then Dad gave Christian a blessing. Stephanie is having a hard time accepting that now that she is married, things have changed. We have very clear instructions that the married and singles and not to mix in FHE or in the institute classes. There is a “Building an Eternal Marriage” class that is available but Stephanie can’t see why things have to be different just because she’s married. She has had so much attention being in the hospital for such a long time and then getting married and all of a sudden, she’s just another member of the ward and is not getting as much attention and she can’t accept it. We were happy when we called her husband when we just got home and she is back but has a friend with her so we didn’t find out much. Oh, the messes we get ourselves into. As I said before, I hope we don’t have too many days like this one!
Our couple’s conference last Friday and Saturday was another wonderful experience.
We were treated like royalty again. We rode on the train to Munich so we didn’t have to worry about driving. President and Sister Rakow met us at the train and we drove to a beautiful lake south of Munich where we got on a big river boat and just enjoyed the beautiful clear, warm weather, the beautiful scenery and getting acquainted with the other couples for nearly 3 hours. President and Sister Rakow made the 
rounds stopping to visit with everyone. There were other people on the boat and some of the men had some good discussions with a priest from another church and a few other people who wondered who we were and what we do. The women mainly just enjoyed visiting while they were being good missionaries. After we got back to Munich, we checked into the Holiday Inn and got ready for the evening at the mission home. We had a wonderful meal prepared by Sister Rakow and Sister Laudenbach who helps at the mission home. One of the new couples both taught music at BYU. He has been over the opera music department and just listening to him talk, you can tell he is an opera singer. They did a couple of “light” numbers for us that were beautiful then we played a couple of silly games. It was just a very relaxing, informal evening. The next morning we were picked up the motel and went to the church for breakfast and then some good instruction from our mission presidency and some workshops. After lunch, which was a potato bar, we had a testimony meeting which was a very spiritual time. It was good to be together and learn that everyone shares the same frustrations about being a senior missionary with no specific program but we were all encouraged by President Rakow to carry on with the good work that was being done. Everyone does things a little differently and it was good to hear what others are doing.Dad just got off the phone with the bishop. President Rakow wants the bishop and Dad to meet with this man tomorrow night. He doesn’t want the young elders involved until the issue is cleared up. He, Pres. Rakow, said that if people are willing to repent, we want them in the church and if this man is sincerely interested in being baptized, that he would personally interview him. He said that he would know if he was worthy of making this covenant of baptism and if he’s not ready, he will tell him what he needs to do to get ready. I’m glad the Elders don’t have to be involved and I’m glad that the bishop will be there with Dad. We’ll know “the rest of the story” later on.
We’ve had a lot of cancellations this week. I think this weather is affecting everyone. We’ve had lots of rain every day this week and a lot of people have cancelled because of sickness. But we’ve had some good meetings too. We are working with an inactive member. She was raised in the church but started smoking when she was 17 and then she became an alcoholic. I think that is behind her but she hasn’t been to church for years. When we called to see if we could come and visit her, she seemed okay with it. We’ve been there three times now and each time she sets an appointment for another visit. We have a nice discussion on very basic principles of the gospel. That last time we were there, she asked us if we could help her understand the mission of the Holy Ghost better so that’s what we talked about this time. She has told us about a neighbor who she thinks so much of and thinks she is as good a Christian as anyone she has ever known. This neighbor was going on vacation and the member we have been visiting gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her if she would read it while she was on vacation. The neighbor said she would. There must still be a little “flame” of testimony in her if she’s being a missionary to her neighbor. She is just a nice lady. When we told the Relief Society president we had visited her, she could hardly believe it. She lives quite a ways out of town and I guess no one has really made much of an effort to go see her. But it’s such a beautiful ride out there and we love going there!
Sister Meyer, who isn’t officially “Sister” Meyer yet because she’s not a member, has been coming to church with her member husband for 43 years. She has gone through dozens and dozens of missionaries. The young Elders were working with her but were just frustrated so the ward mission leader asked Dad and I if we would work with her. We started at square one, the Godhead. She didn’t understand that they are separate and distinct persons but we’ve read enough scriptures together that she is finally realizing that there are 3 separate members of the Godhead. That was a big step. She knows a lot about the church. Her husband wants more than anything to be sealed to her in the temple. This week in our meeting the spirit was very strong. We talked about the love her husband has for her and wants her to be sealed to him. She shook her head and said that she wanted to be with him too. Then we talked about what needed to happen for that to happen and baptism is one of those things and asked her if she would consider being baptized on the 28th of this month. She didn’t say no and promised that she would think about it. When Dad shook her hand before we left, he commented that we had given her a big assignment and her comment to him was, “Yes, and we’ll see if we can’t take care of it.” At one of our meetings with them, I felt the spirit so strongly and told Dad I wanted to bear my testimony and asked if he would translate it for me. I bore my testimony and when Dad started telling her in German what I had said, she shook her head and said, “I understood every word she said.” There is no language barrier with the spirit. She is 81 years old and he is 78. She has so much life in her. It’s just wonderful to know them. I’ll try to send a picture of them next week. Also some pictures of our trip to Munich.
We are having to slow down with the busy little mother whose husband is in Iraq. She talked to him and told him she wanted to join the church and he said it was okay but that he wasn’t planning on changing churches. That was last week. Then Monday when we talked to her, she told us that she had talked to him again and that he’s quite upset that she’s thinking about changing churches while he’s over there and knows nothing about what’s going on. She feels it would be better to wait until he got home, which will be in September or October, then he can learn about the church too. We both feel that this is the right thing to do. Michelle told us we could still visit her and that she would continue to read and study about the church. We’ll take her cookies and just stay in touch with her. She knows all the wives of the members who are still stationed her and we’ll encourage them to continue to be a friend to her.
We visited an inactive sister today who feels she is a failure because she can’t get her 12 year old son or her non-member interested in the church. She works all day on Saturday and Sunday and hasn’t been able to go to church for several years even though she was quite active before that time. We assured her that she was not a failure and told her we would like to come and just visit with her once a week and help strengthen her testimony again so she would feel better. She liked that idea so that’s what we are going to do. Working with part-member and less active members is one small step at a time but Sunday there were two less-active members we have been working with to church and that makes it all worth it. I think I’ve told you about the Becks, the young couple we have visited each Sunday since we came to Wurzburg. They are the ones who are now preparing to go to the temple. She was put in as a counselor in the Young Women’s presidency on Sunday and he is secretary in the Elders quorum. The gospel really does make a difference in peoples lives. There are many bright spots in this work to offset days like today.
As I have mentioned, we have had rain EVERY DAY for a week! It was so nice to be in the sunshine in Munich but the closer we got to Wurzburg on our way home, the darker the clouds were. Sunday is supposed to be sunny and warm. We’ll see. I know lots of people besides just me who would welcome that.
Know that we think of you many times each day. You are in our prayers. We love you so much and we miss being with you. I think we miss you more in the summer months because of all the fun we have had together during the summer so I’m glad we will be gone just one summer. The 4th of July is just another day here in Germany. Today we went to see a member who lives on the Army base and there were lots of flags out in front of the homes so we’re guessing that they didn’t forget what day it was. It was good to see all the flags.
Until next week,
Much love,
Mom
(some of the traditionally dressed people who shared the boat)
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