From Mom 7/12
Dear Family,
Thank you for your letters. It is so good to keep posted on all your activities. It’s good to hear about Zach’s experiences. He’s sounding more like a real missionary all the time. Wondering if you’re doing any good at all is a normal thing for missionaries to feel. We have many days like that but thank goodness there are a few successes thrown in there that keep us going. The other day, Dad was at the bank and gave the woman who had been helping him a “pass-along” card. She looked at it and then said something like, “Religion just doesn’t have very much meaning to most people in Germany.” I believe it! Last night one of the young men at institute told us that the Catholic Church has made a statement to the news media that they were the only true church. We have much work to do and it is only through the Lord that people will be able to find out the truth for sure.
I think the issue with the man I told you about last week is pretty much over. Dad and the Bishop met with him Friday night. He admitted that there are some things in his past that are not right but he has already talked to the bishop about these things. He seems to have a testimony of the gospel. One of the “less stable” members in the ward was the one who told the Elders he thought this guy had problems. Then on Sunday this guy came into church and saw this “less stable” member and really lit into him telling him that “the things I told you were supposed to be just between you and me.” Then he started yelling at him and causing quite a commotion. One of the members took his arm and said, “Let’s go outside and talk” and kind of pulled him out and as he was leaving this other guy said, “Ya, why don’t you just leave.” Not a smart thing to say to anyone----especially someone who is investigating the church. He did leave and his final words were, “I want nothing to do with this church.” Dad tried to call him the next morning but he hung up on him. He has been over to his place a couple of times but when he rings the clinger, this guy answers and then when Dad asks if they can he more or less “hangs up” again. We can’t help but feel that if he wasn’t guilty of something, he wouldn’t be acting this way. I guess only time will tell. Oh for the adventures of a missionary!
Stephanie is still very unstable. She called and asked if Dad and another member in the ward would come over and cast out the “evil spirits” that are in her apartment. That has been an ongoing problem with her. I don’t know how long her marriage will last. Her poor husband seems totally frustrated with some of the things she’s doing. He asked if they could come to the Eternal Marriage class that is starting up so we could teach Stephanie what it means to be a married person. They didn’t show up last night so we don’t know what’s going on. Time will tell on that one too.
Sister Meyers is coming along. She told us yesterday that she has never prayed personally. She has prayer with her husband every day but to pray alone for something she has concerns personally about is something she has never done. She knows a lot about the gospel. She knows the right answers to give but she doesn’t “feel” it in her heart yet. We challenged her yesterday to pray herself and we talked to her husband about it and asked him to encourage her to. She said she would try so we’ll see. Petra has a very close relationship with them. Brother Meyers is the one who confirmed Petra after she was baptized and they always sit together at church. Next week we are taking Petra with us when we meet with them. Petra has a beautiful testimony of prayer. She had never prayed and didn’t even know how when we first started meeting with her but that has changed.
Our Zone Conference was this week. President and Sister Rokow are just amazing. They have so much energy and enthusiasm for this work and so much good council for us. We feel of their love and concern for us. I felt so badly for one of the Elders from here in Wurzburg. Monday night we took the Elders home from FHE and this Elder, Elder Blackburn, said, “Tomorrow is going to be the worst day of my life.” That was Zone Conference day and I asked him if he had to give a talk. He said no, he didn’t. The problem was that he took his suit in to be cleaned on Saturday. Most of the time it just takes one day but on Saturdays, it takes an extra day. When he went to pick it up Monday, he was told it wouldn’t be done until Tuesday. He has another suit but he tore the sleeve when he wrecked on his bike. He only has a few weeks left on his mission so with warmer weather and not having to wear a suit coat all the time, he felt like he could get along okay. We all hoped that Tuesday would be really warm so everyone could take their coats off but it was exactly opposite. It was raining hard and it was cold. Poor Elder Blackburn was the only one without a suit coat. As soon as he sat down, our zone leader asked him where his coat was and acted really disgusted with him. He told us that President Rakow has said something to him but didn’t tell us what. He couldn’t even eat lunch, he was so upset and he went downstairs and just sat alone while we were eating. Then his companion went down and got him and he took his coat off for the rest of the meeting. I thought that was very kind of him. When I told him that, he said he just wished he had done it sooner. Elder Blackburn has had many challenges on his mission. He has a hard time expressing himself and struggles with the language still. (I know how that feels!) He is very small and has been the brunt of a lot of jokes. We’ve tried to put our arms around him and encourage him and I think he appreciates every kind word we say to him. I think he will be glad when the next few weeks are behind him. When we got in the car to come home from the conference I asked him if it really was the worst day of his life and he said it was. I felt so bad for him.
Next month, Elder Kopichke, a new Seventy, will be at our Zone Conference. He is in the new Area Presidency here in the Central Europe area. He was a mission president in Berlin when President Rakow was a stake president there so they are very good friends. We are looking forward to that conference. They are all so good.
Last night in our Eternal Marriage class we were talking about the importance of families. One of the young men, who is a native German, told us that the laws in this land discourage large families and the smaller your family is, the more benefits you get from the government. That is one way they have of discouraging large families. Now is that contrary to Heavenly Father’s plan, or what? How thankful I am for all seven of you-----all 14 or you plus all the grandchildren. We’d probably get kicked right out of this country! But I wouldn’t give any one of you up!!!
We wish you, well at least you Idahoans and Utahans, had some of our rain to help with all the fires we are hearing about. Every week we think it’s going to start being summer. It’s SUPPOSED to start this week. We’ll see. It was pouring rain this morning when we were out but is looking a little better now. It has stayed in the mid 60’s and low 70’s for most of the week. They’ve had so much rain that it has ruined the grain crops. The fields look awful---just brown and beat down. They needed this rain earlier in the season.
We love you dearly. I think Dad is thinking about home a bit more than he admits. When we were talking about the August Zone Conference, he said, after that one we’ll only have 4 more zone conferences. Yes, we will both be glad to be back with you. I look forward to being able to talk to people I see in the store and on the street instead of ducking my head and hoping no one talks to me.
Take care. Thank for all you are doing.
Much love,
Mom
Thank you for your letters. It is so good to keep posted on all your activities. It’s good to hear about Zach’s experiences. He’s sounding more like a real missionary all the time. Wondering if you’re doing any good at all is a normal thing for missionaries to feel. We have many days like that but thank goodness there are a few successes thrown in there that keep us going. The other day, Dad was at the bank and gave the woman who had been helping him a “pass-along” card. She looked at it and then said something like, “Religion just doesn’t have very much meaning to most people in Germany.” I believe it! Last night one of the young men at institute told us that the Catholic Church has made a statement to the news media that they were the only true church. We have much work to do and it is only through the Lord that people will be able to find out the truth for sure.
I think the issue with the man I told you about last week is pretty much over. Dad and the Bishop met with him Friday night. He admitted that there are some things in his past that are not right but he has already talked to the bishop about these things. He seems to have a testimony of the gospel. One of the “less stable” members in the ward was the one who told the Elders he thought this guy had problems. Then on Sunday this guy came into church and saw this “less stable” member and really lit into him telling him that “the things I told you were supposed to be just between you and me.” Then he started yelling at him and causing quite a commotion. One of the members took his arm and said, “Let’s go outside and talk” and kind of pulled him out and as he was leaving this other guy said, “Ya, why don’t you just leave.” Not a smart thing to say to anyone----especially someone who is investigating the church. He did leave and his final words were, “I want nothing to do with this church.” Dad tried to call him the next morning but he hung up on him. He has been over to his place a couple of times but when he rings the clinger, this guy answers and then when Dad asks if they can he more or less “hangs up” again. We can’t help but feel that if he wasn’t guilty of something, he wouldn’t be acting this way. I guess only time will tell. Oh for the adventures of a missionary!
Stephanie is still very unstable. She called and asked if Dad and another member in the ward would come over and cast out the “evil spirits” that are in her apartment. That has been an ongoing problem with her. I don’t know how long her marriage will last. Her poor husband seems totally frustrated with some of the things she’s doing. He asked if they could come to the Eternal Marriage class that is starting up so we could teach Stephanie what it means to be a married person. They didn’t show up last night so we don’t know what’s going on. Time will tell on that one too.
Sister Meyers is coming along. She told us yesterday that she has never prayed personally. She has prayer with her husband every day but to pray alone for something she has concerns personally about is something she has never done. She knows a lot about the gospel. She knows the right answers to give but she doesn’t “feel” it in her heart yet. We challenged her yesterday to pray herself and we talked to her husband about it and asked him to encourage her to. She said she would try so we’ll see. Petra has a very close relationship with them. Brother Meyers is the one who confirmed Petra after she was baptized and they always sit together at church. Next week we are taking Petra with us when we meet with them. Petra has a beautiful testimony of prayer. She had never prayed and didn’t even know how when we first started meeting with her but that has changed.
Our Zone Conference was this week. President and Sister Rokow are just amazing. They have so much energy and enthusiasm for this work and so much good council for us. We feel of their love and concern for us. I felt so badly for one of the Elders from here in Wurzburg. Monday night we took the Elders home from FHE and this Elder, Elder Blackburn, said, “Tomorrow is going to be the worst day of my life.” That was Zone Conference day and I asked him if he had to give a talk. He said no, he didn’t. The problem was that he took his suit in to be cleaned on Saturday. Most of the time it just takes one day but on Saturdays, it takes an extra day. When he went to pick it up Monday, he was told it wouldn’t be done until Tuesday. He has another suit but he tore the sleeve when he wrecked on his bike. He only has a few weeks left on his mission so with warmer weather and not having to wear a suit coat all the time, he felt like he could get along okay. We all hoped that Tuesday would be really warm so everyone could take their coats off but it was exactly opposite. It was raining hard and it was cold. Poor Elder Blackburn was the only one without a suit coat. As soon as he sat down, our zone leader asked him where his coat was and acted really disgusted with him. He told us that President Rakow has said something to him but didn’t tell us what. He couldn’t even eat lunch, he was so upset and he went downstairs and just sat alone while we were eating. Then his companion went down and got him and he took his coat off for the rest of the meeting. I thought that was very kind of him. When I told him that, he said he just wished he had done it sooner. Elder Blackburn has had many challenges on his mission. He has a hard time expressing himself and struggles with the language still. (I know how that feels!) He is very small and has been the brunt of a lot of jokes. We’ve tried to put our arms around him and encourage him and I think he appreciates every kind word we say to him. I think he will be glad when the next few weeks are behind him. When we got in the car to come home from the conference I asked him if it really was the worst day of his life and he said it was. I felt so bad for him.
Next month, Elder Kopichke, a new Seventy, will be at our Zone Conference. He is in the new Area Presidency here in the Central Europe area. He was a mission president in Berlin when President Rakow was a stake president there so they are very good friends. We are looking forward to that conference. They are all so good.
Last night in our Eternal Marriage class we were talking about the importance of families. One of the young men, who is a native German, told us that the laws in this land discourage large families and the smaller your family is, the more benefits you get from the government. That is one way they have of discouraging large families. Now is that contrary to Heavenly Father’s plan, or what? How thankful I am for all seven of you-----all 14 or you plus all the grandchildren. We’d probably get kicked right out of this country! But I wouldn’t give any one of you up!!!
We wish you, well at least you Idahoans and Utahans, had some of our rain to help with all the fires we are hearing about. Every week we think it’s going to start being summer. It’s SUPPOSED to start this week. We’ll see. It was pouring rain this morning when we were out but is looking a little better now. It has stayed in the mid 60’s and low 70’s for most of the week. They’ve had so much rain that it has ruined the grain crops. The fields look awful---just brown and beat down. They needed this rain earlier in the season.
We love you dearly. I think Dad is thinking about home a bit more than he admits. When we were talking about the August Zone Conference, he said, after that one we’ll only have 4 more zone conferences. Yes, we will both be glad to be back with you. I look forward to being able to talk to people I see in the store and on the street instead of ducking my head and hoping no one talks to me.
Take care. Thank for all you are doing.
Much love,
Mom
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