From Mom 9/20

Dear Family,

The weeks go flying by. I can’t believe this is nearing the end of September. It was exactly a year ago this week that we landed in this beautiful country. It has been quite a year!! I don’t think anything we could ever do would bring the ups and downs, the highs and lows that this mission has brought. It’s quite an experience being in a different country but one I’ll always be thankful for. Tonight in our English class, one of the members who is about our same age told us that we work too hard. We’re getting older and we need to slow down. I don’t think we work too hard but compared to the German people, we go at a pretty fast pace. They are much more relaxed and just take their time doing things. Yesterday a lady in our apartment building that lives just across the hall invited us in for “tea and cake.” We went and we had lemonade with our cake but we were there for nearly 2 hours. She just wanted to visit and so we stayed and visited. Her father was a priest in a Protestant church. She really had very little interest in hearing about our church but we have developed a friendly relationship with her. Sometimes that’s an important part of missionary work-----helping people see that we are just normal people and not “weird” like some many people picture members of our church to be.

Remember the lady I told you about last week who was just disgusted with me for not praying in German? We went to her house yesterday. She called a few days after we had been there last week and asked us if we had given her Book of Mormon away yet. When she gave it to us last week, she asked us if we had someone who could use it and we told her we did if she really didn’t want it. She was certain she didn’t want it so we took it but we hadn’t given it to anyone yet. She asked if we would bring it back to her. We had a nice visit with her. She told us a lot about her background. She remembers the war years so well and remembers how hungry she was so much of the time when she was growing up. She remembered the CARE packages that came from America and what a good feeling that gave her. She had fixed a lovely meal for us and we had a very pleasant visit during the meal. We even talked a little bit about religion. She admits that she has just been away from it for such a long time that it is just not much of a part of her life anymore but that it would probably be good if it was. We take that to be a very small step but in the right direction.

Tim Palmer called us the other day and said he wants to be connected to the church again and asked if we could make an appointment for him with the bishop. He says he needs to know just where he stands in the church because of living with someone and not being married to her. He wants to do what he needs to do to make that right and get back into the church. He will meet with the bishop on Monday. He is just such a nice guy and seems sincere about wanting to turn things around.

Today we’ve felt like “service missionaries”. One of the members who is in the military called and asked if we could meet him at the medical/dental building on the base and take his wife home. He had to be back to work. His wife had hurt her back and could hardly get around and he had brought her into a doctor to get checked. So we did that. Then another member asked if we could go to her home and stay with her niece for just an hour after school so she wouldn’t be alone all the time until she got home from work. Another member had asked us if we could get a nice triple combination for him and have a name put on it for a young woman he is very interested in. She is a member but has been very inactive. She is a student studying music here and has just started coming to the ward. We had the book but it took a bit of time on the phone to find someone who would put the name on it. We took it to the place and they couldn’t do it right then but would have it done later so that was two trips. We’ve just done a lot of running around today. Between trips I did get some washing done and Dad got the garbage out but that was our P-day. One thing that really made us feel good was what this young mother said to us as we were driving her home from the doctor. She said that with all the turmoil in the ward with the base closing and people moving it’s nice to have the stability of a missionary couple. That made up for a lot of frustrating times we’ve had lately.

By far the highlight of our week was the news of the arrival of Nathan Cade Peterson. I want to tell you about that. Cindy called at 2 AM our time to tell us she was on the way to the hospital. I was so “out of it” that I’m sure I didn’t make any sense to her as I tried to tell her when we would be here and when we wouldn’t be here the next several hours. Anyway, I was so excited that I couldn’t go back to sleep for a couple of hours. We had a meeting with the bishopric regarding seminary and institute at quarter to nine so just before we left I called the hospital to see how things were. Cathy answered the phone and said things were moving along and didn’t think it would be a whole lot longer. I could hear Cindy in the background dealing with some pretty strong pains. Well, we went to the meeting but I was determined that I was coming home right after. The Elders had had a baptism Saturday night and the lady had asked Dad to confirm her. We’ve spent quite a bit of time with her too so I wanted to stay for the confirmation. Then I decided that I would stay for the sacrament and then go home and call. As the music began for the sacrament hymn, I had a very distinct feeling that I needed to leave----NOW. So that’s what I did and when I called, Cathy said it should be just anytime now. So I stayed on the phone and I heard the nurses counting, “Push Cindy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,” then saying, “One more push should do it.” Then, “Okay, Cindy, push.” Then Cathy said, “Oh, there’s the head” and then, through a teary voice, “Oh, he’s here and he’s beautiful.” I heard the first little squeaks and then a very loud cry. Cathy and I were both crying by then----tears of joy! I got to talk to Cindy for just a minute and she was thrilled to have that little boy already in her arms. What a miracle birth is and how thankful I am to have been able to be as close as I could possibly be to share that moment. I don’t think there is ever a time that we feel closer to our Heavenly Father than at the birth of a baby, knowing that he so recently came from our Father in Heavens presence. It’s a very spiritual, sacred experience. I’m so thankful for the promptings. I know our Heavenly Father knew how much I would like to have been with Cindy at this time and made it possible for me to experience it from far away. It’s another testimony to me that our Father in Heaven knows us intimately----he knows our wants as well as our needs. What a wonderful day it was!

Fall is definitely in the air. The days are beautiful and sunny but much cooler. The leaves are turning and with all the trees here, it is a beautiful sight. Many days when we first go out, I comment to Dad, “This feels like spud harvest weather.” That is the best way I can describe fall. We’ve seen loads of sugar beets being brought in but so far, no spuds, or “kartoffels” yet. How I look forward to a good Idaho baked spud!

Not a lot of news this week. Pretty much same old, same old but that’s how missionary work goes. We are concerned about Petra. She has cancelled our last two appointments and wasn’t at church on Sunday. She sent us an e-mail and said she needed to “clear her head” and needed some time away from church to think things through. She asked us not to come over or to call. That has been very hard. She did say that she would call us when she got some things clear in her mind and assured us that she still has a testimony and that she loved us. I guess when you’ve lived a certain way for nearly 50 years, all the changes are very difficult. About all we can do is hope and pray, pray, pray for her. This has been a very hard thing for us. I think this is the first week since we’ve been in Wurzburg that we haven’t met with her.

Thanks for the good letters and keeping us posted on the family and other goings on. We appreciate the support we feel from all of you. Thanks for your vote of confidence in what we are trying to do. We’re so happy about the great experiences Zach is having and the spirit that we feel from his letters.

Much love always,
Mom

From Mom 9/13

Dear Family,

This is one of those weeks that I wish our mission had been just one year and that we were through. We’ve had a few cancellations and talked to a few RUDE people. I can hardly stand it when people start badmouthing the church when they don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s all I can do to not want to retaliate but I kept my mouth shut------but it sure makes me mad when people make accusations and say things about the church that aren’t true. They get their information from others who are opposed to the church. The Jehovah Witnesses are very strong here and they are really down on the church and tell all sorts of things to make us look bad. Sometimes I feel like we are in a real battle----a battle for the truth. It takes a lot of energy to stand up for what we know to be true and sometimes I just feel clear worn down. Satan is doing such a number on so many families. President Hinckley said recently that there is more wickedness in the world right now than ever before. I believe it and being out “in the world” sure makes that evident. I am so very, very thankful for the protection the gospel gives us and the hope for better things if we “hold to the rod”.

I had my lack of the language thrown in my face this week. We were visiting an inactive sister. We visited her once before and she asked if we would come back. I should have known we were in for trouble when we sat down and she went into the other room and got all the church books she had, including two books of Mormon, and handed them to us. She didn’t want then anymore. She did keep the two bibles she had and told us that is her religion. Dad asked me to give a prayer and I’m too big of a chicken to do it in German, so I said it in English. Well, she let me know that she thought it was awful that we had been in Germany for a year and I couldn’t even say a prayer in German!! I don’t know what makes me so afraid to try it. I know what to say but I get cold feet when I’m around someone else. Anyway, that certainly didn’t do a lot for my self-confidence. She kept referring to the church as “your church” indicating that she didn’t want to be a part of it. When she left the room, I told Dad I didn’t want to come back again but after the closing prayer, which Dad gave, she asked us when we’d be coming again. We couldn’t believe she wanted us to come but she said, “Of course I want you to come.” I think she’s just lonesome and likes the company. It’s hard to know when to cut it off and when to know if continuing our visits may bring a softening of her feelings. So we told her we could come in a couple of weeks and she said she would be with her daughter in a couple of weeks and asked us to come next week. I told Dad that I will NOT pray!!! But if we continue to go there, I’m going to get my courage up and just show her I can do it. The only problem with that is that she’ll think I do know this language and wonder why I don’t say anything the rest of the time. I’ll be so glad when this language issue is a thing of the past-----like when I get home.

We’ve done our share of “marriage counseling” this week. Sunday a sister who is in the middle of a divorce called and asked us if we would come over. Her husband wanted to come and visit their children and he has an order that there has to be a third person there for him to visit. They are both such good people but things have happened and they just don’t seem to be able to forgive and move on so they have chosen to “move out” instead. That Dad and his two little boys played and had so much fun together and when it was time for him to leave it about broke my heart to hear the little boys ask why he doesn’t live it their house any longer. Last night while we were at the church for institute, the bishop came in and told Dad there was a phone call for him. It was Stephanie’s husband and he just didn’t know what to do. Stephanie had locked herself in the bedroom and he didn’t know why or what to do and asked Dad to come over. Dad just dropped me off here and went on over and about an hour later our phone rang and it was Stephanie. She was wondering where her husband was. I told her that he had called Dad and I thought Dad was at their place talking. I told her to look outside and see if they were sitting in the car . That’s where they were. Dad talked to both of them for a few minutes and then came home. Stephanie told Dad that she was just very tired, (she had been baby-sitting most of the day) and she just wanted to rest and so she went into the bedroom and locked the door. This young husband about went nuts trying to figure out what he had done wrong!! We get two or three calls a week from them. They’ve just been married since May and are having to make a lot of adjustments in their lives.

Saturday we met with another couple that is having problems. She had told us how she felt but we told her she needed to tell her husband how she felt. She asked us if we would come and be with them when she told him. Talk about getting right in the middle of things!! She really unloaded and he just listened. When she left to answer to phone, he said he was shocked. He had no idea she had these kinds of feelings. He works out of town and is just home on weekends and she had told him last week not to bother coming home anymore. But she changed her mind during the week so he came home. We didn’t stay long after she had had a chance to get her feelings out but we did see her on Monday and it seemed like things were better and they had made some fun plans for this coming week-end. I think she had just let a lot of feelings build up and once she got them out they were able to do something about them. And so, that’s the marriage counseling part of our week!

We have had some positive experiences. We had our last Eternal Marriage institute class. The last three weeks have been on, true love, choosing the right companion and differences between men and women. We’ve had some lively discussions and have had a lot of fun with it. But the kids were very serious about wanting to make the right choices and the information we shared with them from the manual was very thought provoking for them. They are just so great to be around-----so committed and for the most part, very knowledgeable about the gospel and very committed to live by its principles. We also see progress with Anna Berner, Alex’s grandmother. She was on vacation with her family for nearly a month and we could tell we had lost some ground but it ended up being a very good discussion. The last time we met with her she asked us if we could talk about where we go after we die but when we started this time, she wanted to know where we were before we came to this earth. The idea of being “spirit children” of our Heavenly Father was a new idea for her. We had a good discussion and she seemed to grasp it and be very happy with this new thought. It’s fun watching her while we’re talking. You can tell when she doesn’t go for what we tell her and you can tell when she likes what we teach her. Her eyes and her face just light up. She continues to read what we ask her to read and she always has lots of good questions. We asked Alex if he would be our “member missionary” and talk to her about some of the things we talk about. She adores her grandson and is very proud of him. He has such a strong testimony of the gospel and we feel if she can hear his testimony of these things that will go a long way in her gaining her own testimony.

Tim Palmer is the inactive member who has 3 sons with his “live in” wife. She has found someone else she is interested in and wants him out. He loves his boys and they love him and he is really torn. As we met with him this week, he bore his testimony to us of the truthfulness of the gospel. He knows that the way he has been living is wrong and he feels real sorrow for it. We encouraged him to continue to ask our Heavenly Father for guidance and for strength to help him know what to do and he told us he didn’t feel worthy to pray. Then he broke down and just sobbed. We asked him if he would like a blessing. On top of everything else, he broke his heel a couple of weeks ago and that is very painful so he is feeling a lot of pain both emotionally and physically. He said he would like that so Dad gave him a blessing. He seemed to relax some after that. When we were leaving he said, “Sister Price, I know it is hard for you to be away from your family but you have been sent here for a purpose. Your being here has been such a blessing to me.” That’s payday for a missionary.

And so, life here in Germany goes on. A mission is certainly not a vacation. It is hard work----not so much physical work but spiritually and emotionally it can be very draining. We are thankful if we can help lighten some burdens and we always hope we can bring others to know the peace and comfort the gospel can bring. And I would not be truthful if I didn’t admit that I’m glad we’re on the last third of our mission!! My brain is about worn clear out and some days I feel like I have nothing more to give and just need a break from talking to people. But we are glad we are here and for the experiences we are having and especially for the wonderful people we have met.

We, like all of you, will continue to pray for Brent. I think our prayers and letting him know that we love him is about all we can do. The rest is up to him and the Lord. The Lord has already done his part and is waiting for Brent to want His help. We will hope and pray that Brent will come to know this.

Know that you are always very much in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you so much for the good letters and keeping us up to date on what’s going on in the family. We are anxiously awaiting the telephone call from the hospital in Ogden! One morning this week I was just laying in bed thinking about things and I could just visualize this cute, happy little boy just being so excited that it was nearly his time to come to earth. What a wonderful but humbling thing it is to know that these little ones come to us directly from our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this wonderful knowledge of our Heavenly Father’s plan.

Much love always,

Mom

From Dad 9/9

Good morning everyone,

Another new week is on the horizon. We love Sundays. The day is generally structured pretty much and mom usually fixes a nice warm dinner. Today we are having stew. Yum! Sorry we couldn’t invite you, but the time is coming when we will again. Mom still bests me in 3 to 13 on a regular basis, but it is still fun.

Yesterday we met with a young couple who have been progressing in their activity in the Church. They have come from inactivity and she is doing an awesome job working in the young women’s program. Today he is prepared for his interview to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. He is worthy. He is also very shy and speaks very softly. He has a lot of ability. His wife has been frustrated with so little communication between them. Yesterday we were talking about communication from the discussions on “Building an Eternal Marriage” and she wanted him to ask her a question about anything. She is from the Philippines. She has an older sister who lives here as well. He asked her why she and her sister, Mary, spend hours daily talking on the phone. It created a lively, warm discussion. It was evident he too wanted such closeness with someone only not yet knowing how to generate something like that. We feel real hope for their future and that they will have a good marriage to carry them through thick and thin.

Sister Kempe this past week started our discussion together by saying, “I don’t feel well in my Church right now.” Where do you go from there? Such are the interesting challenges in missionary work. After a long time talking things began to open up and we could see the light. She had always felt the people in the Church were perfect. Recently she has had to admit to herself this is not true. She said it was like bursting a very large bubble that had brought her so much joy. She readily accepts neither is she perfect. It is just realizing the Church is not full of perfect people even though the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and we have the blessing of using it and applying it to our lives. Once she could put into words her feelings she was able once again to sense her direction in life and to feel comfortable again. We are glad she has survived the “honeymoon” and is still happily married to her covenants to keep the Lord’s commandments and the blessings this will bring.

Family at home and people here have been really good to mom this past week. She is so warm and caring and people are always drawn to her. Her influence is seen and felt as coming from the heart. Alina mom told you about who crumbled in tears into her arms this week seems to draw strength from just being together with mom. You can feel the trust Alina has for what mom says and does. You all know how true and faithful mom is. This is not hard to understand. One of the things people in and out of the family have always loved about mom is her quick wit and sense of humor. It just puts a pleasant edge on most everything that happens in a day.

The saying, “Time heals all wounds and wounds all heels” is hard at work here. A man who is so gifted yet unable to include other people in his life is finding himself once again running into a very hard, brick wall. It is not possible to indefinitely protect someone from seeing and experiencing the results of their actions and choices. What he says with his lips and what he does with his heart have been so far apart, there is only one alternative and that is for it to catch up to him. We hope he will find in his heart to want to become more teachable. Otherwise he is about to embark on one of those very painful alone moments in life. He has spent the past 25 years roaming the earth. He named recently a few places in the world he has not yet been with almost a fore knowledge he was about to move on and find himself once again in another part of the earth telling the same story, doing the same things until it will catch up to him once again. We hope the day will come he can get a hold of life firmly enough to comprehend he was given so many talents for a purpose and until he is willing to hold still long enough for the refiner’s fire to work its work on him these talents will never be given the opportunity to blossom and produce the beauty and strength in his life for which they have been given to him. So many gifts, so much fear, we do hope he will not run again. He is very lovable. All he needs to do is trust others enough to let go of the fear and join the human race as an equal. He has so much to offer. It will be so very welcome, when the day comes that he is ready to be taught sufficient self control to allow these talents, these blessings to reach out and include him permanently in the lives of others who can and would care about him.

It has been such a cold month the past 3 or 4 weeks people are wondering whether there will be heavy snows this winter. Last winter was mostly rain. Whatever happens we will be happy to be here. We also look forward to spring.

Have a great week. Remember you are loved.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 9/7

Dear Family,

Sorry I’m a day late getting this letter written. Last night I just didn’t have any more energy. I guess that one more year of age caught up to me. Thank you for the birthday greetings, letters and pictures. It’s nice to be remembered on those special days-----even when sometimes I’d just like to forget how many birthdays I’ve had. My birthday was on P-day so it was a bit more relaxing even if we did have a teaching appointment and then an English class and Institute class in the evening. We got our usual household chores done and then went for a long walk up above the grape vineyards. It will soon be time to harvest the grapes and it was interesting to see the big clusters of grapes hanging on the vines. They harvest them by hand and usually have crews of people that come from Poland to help in the harvest. They just go through and cut of the clumps of grapes and put them in a container they carry on their back and then carry them to a larger container that is picked up by some kind of truck. There are vineyards everywhere you look and some of them are on really steep hills. It will be interesting to see how long the harvest takes. I had to snitch a couple of grapes just to see how they tasted. They are a lot like the green grapes we eat but with seeds in them. There are different kinds of grapes for the different kinds of wine they make. Most of the ones we saw were green grapes but there are areas where there were red ones and there are areas where they have grapes for the really expensive wine. Knowing the difference is something I’ll never have to worry about.

Dad made a delicious carrot cake, from scratch, and we took it to our institute class. The young people always love refreshments. It was such a fun class. This is the Eternal Marriage class and they are really into talking about how you know when the right person comes along and what is true love and talking about the differences between men and women. I told Dad it would take more than one class time to talk about the differences!! But we have fun with them and they really want to do what is right After class they all sang “Happy Birthday” to me and then we had cake and just sat and talked for most of another hour.

This has been kind of a “different week” again. People are getting the last week of vacation from school in and are hard to find at home. We’ve had some cancellations of appointments and people not being there when an appointment was made. I don’t think you ever get used to that regardless of how long you’ve been on a mission. Well, at least it’s always frustrating to me. Some days Dad and I feel like marriage counselors. Satan is really doing a number on trying to destroy families by causing contention between husbands and wives. We’ve been instructed to refer these people to the bishop and that’s what we try to do but it seems like they just need to unload and we’re the ones there to listen. People seem to have the attitude that when problems come, it’s time to get out rather than try to work things out. How thankful we are for what the gospel teaches us about forgiveness and also about how we treat other people. That always seems to be at the root of most of the problems----putting our own wants and needs above those of our companion. Communication is also a real problem. Most German people are pretty private when it comes to sharing their feelings and that can be a source of trouble when one companion doesn’t know what the other one is thinking or feeling. In our Eternal Marriage institute class it emphasizes time and time again that a good marriage requires effort, work, to forgive and forget, absolute loyalty and lots of prayer. When some of these things are left out, troubles come and as I said before, most people would rather just bail out that try to work it out. Well, there is my little “lecture” for the day. Sorry about that.

Probably the most spiritual experience we had this past week was with the wife of one of these troubled marriages. This is the woman that I mentioned several months ago who called and asked us to come over and when we got there she told us the reason she asked us to come over was to tell us that she didn’t want us to come over any more. Than a few weeks later she ended up on the hospital and her sister who lives in Salt Lake called early one morning and asked if we would go see her. All she knew was where she was and it was in a town about an hours drive from here. But we went, feeling a little uneasy how she would respond to our visit because of what she had told us before. But that seemed to be the turning point in our relationship with her as she threw her arms around us when she saw us. Dad gave her a blessing at that time. She had been hospitalized for severe depression. Since then she has had some therapy and is back working full time. They have no children but this summer a niece and nephew came for a month long visit and the day before they were to fly back home to Salt Lake, her sister called and asked if they would consider keeping the 9 year old niece. This is something they have wanted to do because of the abusive home this girl lives in but it came with such short notice and the adjustment has caused more than just a few problems. We’ve been working with this couple ever since we got here. They aren’t very active, part of the reason being that she works most Sundays but when he comes to church, he is very friendly and participates. She has been very critical of church and at one time told us she wanted to be on the inactive list. She called on Monday and asked if we could come over. We went and she really unloaded her feelings. There are some real problems in their marriage. There is very little communication. She is from Peru and doesn’t speak very good German and her husband always puts her down for this and has made her feel like a “lower class” citizen because she comes from a very poor family. She sends a lot of the money she makes to her family. She also told us that he had hit her in the head and it required stitches but he would not take her to the hospital so she got on a bus in the dead of winter and went to the hospital alone. She didn’t tell them what had happened but she hasn’t forgotten. Then she found out he was drinking some and that was very difficult for her. Her problem with the church is her husband. She says that when they go to church, he is so friendly and nice to everyone and then when she sees how he treats her and what he is doing it just causes a lot of confusion in her feelings. I think it’s called being a hypocrite. Anyway when he left to go back to work (he works out of town all week), she told him to not bother to come back. She was beside herself and was crying and totally distraught. I asked her if she would like a blessing of comfort and she said yes. Dad gave her a blessing and when he finished, she just sat with her head bowed and her arms folded for several minutes and then she said, “I feel like I’ve come home. I feel like I did when I first came into the church and loved it so much.” Her husband’s behavior has just totally confused her and she has been striking out against the church because of the way he has been acting when he professes to be a good member. She is willing to talk with the bishop and wants it to be with both of them. That is a sign of progress. She hasn’t been willing to accept this kind of help before. We don’t know what is going to happen. We will try to help too. It breaks our hearts to see such a good family have these kinds of problems. When she said, “I feel like I’ve come home”, we felt like now she was ready to accept help from our Heavenly Father too and that she does recognize that as a source of help and comfort. It was a heart tugging experience but also a very spiritual experience for us, something we’ve hoped to hear from her for several months.

The Elders are having a baptism next Saturday. This is another really nice person. She told one of the members on Sunday that she was doing some decorating in her home and was rearranging furniture (changing rooms) and needed to do some painting. This member asked her if she would like some help and she accepted. When she told her husband that people from the church were coming to help her, he said, “Yea, they say they will come, but they won’t. Don’t plan on it.” There were 6 of us there and we had the painting done and a lot of things put back in order in about 3 hours. She took pictures so she could show her husband. She and I had a chance to talk while we were working in one of the rooms and she said she has never been as happy as she has been since she has learned about the gospel and that she loves to come to church and the feeling that is there. She is just a happy person. You can see it in her face and especially in her eyes. She said her mother isn’t very happy about her decision to join the church and the she has an aunt who is a Jehovah Witness and another aunt who is into Scientology who are really against the decision she has made but she told them they can believe how they want to believe but this is what she knows to be true and believes. She doesn’t own a dress. Dad and I talked and want to take her to buy a dress. I mentioned it to her when we were there and she seemed very happy and grateful for that. I told her that we wanted to do something special for her baptism. She is just an awesome person with such a good spirit about her. It’s just as exciting to see people who the Elders are teaching come into the church as the ones we are teaching-----well, almost.

I hope this letter makes some kind of sense. I feel like I’ve kind of rambled. As I said, this has been kind of a different week. We haven’t had a lot of meetings with people but have spent a lot of time with just a few people. We took the Elders to an appointment they had that was quite far out----45 minutes by bike. It was raining so we took them and when they got there, the mother of this young man they had been meeting with met them at the door with the Book of Mormon they had given him and said not to come back. They weren’t sure if it was the mother’s idea or the young man’s idea. They came back to the car “bummed” but will try to call the young man again. They said he had seemed so positive and receptive to their teaching. All goes with being a missionary.

Thanks again for thinking of you “old” mother. I look forward to spending my next birthday at home. Last year we went to Cathy’s from the MTC and had a fun time with their family. How very thankful I am for each one of you. You are my life---OUR life. We are thankful that we’ve come on this mission but nothing will take the place of family.

Have a good week. We’ll be anxious to see how all the football games come out. I’m thankful for the internet and that we have access to that kind of important news.

Much love always, Mom

From Dad 9/2

Hi everyone,

Fall is in the air. The first thing mom did this morning was check the score between BYU and Arizona. It sounds like a good beginning of the season for BYU. We love hearing about grandkids and sports and dance, as well as school. The little details you include bring back fun memories when our family was doing the same things. Memory is a great way to set back and think about family and all that has happened. You all know mom’s memory has such a capacity for details. This week she said, “Do you remember when Linda Summers was getting on the bus and a boy ‘whopped’ her on the bottom and Brent turned on the boy and royally cleaned his plow?” How amazing is it to be able to recall so clearly details from long ago. Many of you will have them same ability I am sure.

We are working with a family where the husband needs to take medicine daily for the rest of his life. He is on permanent disability with two children, 3 and 1. Like all of us who don’t love taking medicine it is easy when things are going OK to feel the pills are unimportant. The problem comes a few hours or a day or two later when he becomes angry and violent with no control in how he treats anyone. We explained one of the pills is blue and one is pink. Each morning and each evening he can still reason in his mind the purpose for taking the pills is to remain a family and as long as he takes them they will continue to be a family. When not, then the risk of no longer having a family is there. The mother seemed at peace knowing that he knows there are limits. These limits are only to protect the safety of his family.

Mom and I invited the elders, one finishes his mission in three weeks, to go with us Monday and have Indian food. It was good. Mom was not especially excited with the “music”. It was a cross between western and Chinese. Friday night we took time to have a nice meal at home and watch “Sound of Music”. It was fun seeing Austria and living “next door” we relate well to the mountains, the trees, the century old buildings. We loved the music. It was fun going back to 1965 when Boyd was 2 and Chris was 1. One day you too will have 45 years of memories to look back with fondness and feel the warmth of being family.

Our Russian friend upstairs where we live enjoys singing songs with us and allows us to teach her about the restoration. Mom asked her if she would like a priesthood blessing this week. She has problems with her eyes and dizziness. She said she would. It was an important time for us. We felt strongly the Spirit after the blessing. She has mellowed and you can see the warmth coming into her eyes.

Ron Peterson talked more about the Church and his personal responsibilities to his family this week than ever before. We especially talked about attending Church and how his example of loving kindness to each member will bless them in ways no one else can. He does not take exception. We are glad for that. He does have sincere concerns about the present and future well being of his family and seems to be genuinely working toward putting the gospel in how he personally lives more into practice. For this we are very thankful.

Time and time again we see members who at one time knew God lives and that He is our Father now wrestling with day to day problems as though there were no solution. Those who actively are working each day to keep all the commandments have an eternal perspective for finding solutions today for the problems and issues needing answers now. This perspective helps open the door to personal revelation or communication with our Father in Heaven through His Spirit to receive answers and guidance we would never think about or understand solely on our own. He, our Father in Heaven, is really our father. He knows each of us personally and cares. Too often we see the effort being made to define what He can do and how He can help us limited to how we can do things. This is sad. The one who has the knowledge and the capacity to put our world and our universe together and make it work has the power also to answer our prayers. He never lies. I know this is true. Only the adversary would seek to convince us otherwise.

Business is a fickle master. When we think we understand the business of life or even some phase of the “business world” and no longer need the support or instruction from a Heavenly Father, who still thinks about us and cares about us, then we have successfully cut off the limb from the tree on which we were standing and being supported. We can only hope the “ride” down to the ground is not too brutal. So is life. So is the world of Herr Jindre. When he has needs, he needs the Lord. Yesterday he said, “Your Church cannot be the true Church because you are too involved with trying to change people’s lives.” For most people religion is something that is there for them as they feel the need or want to be involved. They do not see it as a way of life. “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” doesn’t seem to have much meaning. Nor does, “Serve me with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength.” Or, “He who will do the will of my Father will know whether what I teach is from the Father. If I teach only my will, it has no value.”

We were talking with a young husband on Friday who is very knowledgeable. He said what do you say to scientists who quote, “These bones are 80 million years old”? Since man has always been and the organization of this world and universe was from materials without a beginning, the only challenge science has is to understand that not everything has a beginning or an end. They have no concept of eternity and therefore God to them is incomprehensible. As far as scientists discovering new “truths” we talked about the discovery that the world was flat and if you steered your ship too close to the edge you would simply fall off; or the discovery that the sun revolved around the earth, and that the earth was the center of the universe.

I am thankful for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness. Knowing the truth and allowing it to make us free from misinformation and traditions brings life, strength, and hope. It gives purpose and meaning to getting up in the morning and feeling a responsibility to account for our actions. It gives us knowledge our Father in Heaven is still in charge and through His Son, Jesus Christ, the misinformation will one day come to an end and the lamb and the lion will graze in peace together and our children will no longer be required to learn war or to be prepared to protect them and their own from the Tempter. For he will be bound. We will no longer tolerate his influence and he will be talking to a blank wall for a thousand years. Good times are ahead. Brave the storms. Do your part. Be true and faithful. Make and keep covenants.

Please remember we will always love you and pray for your well being.

Love always,

Dad

From Mom 9/30

Dear Family,

It’s Thursday evening. We spent most of the afternoon driving to Nurnburg and back for interviews with President Rakow and training from our Zone leaders. Dad went on a joint-teach with the Elders soon after we got home. They are working with a man who can be pretty intimidating and harsh and Bishop Moffitt told them that he wants Dad with them when they teach him. He’s someone who is always right-----always, whether it be about religion, government or anything and he always “already knows” anything you tell him. “I know that” is the most common thing to come out of his mouth. I don’t know what’s going to happen with him. He was at church on Sunday and came to FHE on Monday to celebrate Elder Blackburn’s birthday. He wears me clear out just being around him for a few minutes. I was glad to stay home while Dad went with the Elders.

President Rakow has no plans to move us from Wurzburg. In some ways it would be nice to see another part of this mission but in another way, it’s a relief not to have to think about packing up and moving somewhere else before it’s time to “pack up” and come home. There is plenty to be done here and it’s nice to feel a part of this ward and feel like maybe we are helping out in a small way. I think it’s good for people to know that we’re going to be here and that we are here to help in any way we can. Missionaries come and go so fast that it’s sometimes hard for people to know what they can count on from them. We’re happy. It was a nice interview with President Rakow. He is a very loving, caring president and we are always grateful for his leadership. He looked tired today. He was in a mission president’s seminar in Switzerland earlier in the week than back to Munich on Wednesday to release a few missionaries that were going home a few weeks early to get into school then to Nurnburg today for interviews. What a schedule these mission presidents have! I don’t know if I already told you that their youngest son leaves for a mission in Australia in 3 weeks. He and Sister Rakow were able to go to the Frankfurt temple with him along with another son and a daughter and it was such a great experience for them to be in the temple together.

Monday was Elder Blackburn’s birthday and he leaves to go home in 3 weeks so we decided to take him and his companion out to dinner. We asked Bishop Moffitt what is favorite place to eat out was and he recommended an Indian restaurant-----not teepee Indian but India Indian. The food was good, a bit spicy and very rich but very good. The music was a bit weird. I could have done without that but all in all it was a fun time and the Elders really appreciated it. Afterwards we went over to the church and had cake and ice-cream with some others. Needless to say, neither one of us slept very well that night.

We have felt a bit discouraged the past couple of weeks with all the cancelled appointments and people not at home when we went for an appointment. We were beginning to wonder if maybe we have been here in Wurzburg too long and maybe a change would be good. Then Sunday came and all those feelings quickly vanished. Tim Palmer, who we have been working with off and on for about 7 months, was at church. This is the first time in about 10 years that he has come to church. He really enjoyed it and felt a good spirit there. Two of his sons were with him. The 9 year old told his dad he felt a good spirit and wanted to come back sometime. The down part of this was that after church, he was outside the church “goofing around” with his boys and he jumped off a small wall and broke his heel. He has to stay completely off his foot for a week and will be in a cast for 9 weeks so I’m not sure how much we will see him at church in the near future. But we’ll call him and try to visit him at his home. He’s having family problems. He and the mother of his three sons have never married and now she is interested in someone else and wants him out. It’s a bit of a mess, to say the least.

The woman I told you about whose husband didn’t want to be a man any more was also there. It has been well over a year since she has been to church. She loved it and said she would try to come again next week. She still isn’t sure what she’s going to do about the situation with her husband or just what her standing in the church is in that situation. She was looking up scriptures the speaker was referring to and she really enjoyed the Sunday School class she went to. She’s such a nice person.

The lady who was curious about what kind of church this was the week before came and stayed for all three meetings. We had a “linger longer” lunch after church to honor Bishop Moffitt and his family. She stayed for that too and there were several people who visited with her. We now have her name and address and have been to her house several times but she told one of the members that her daughter and family were coming to see her on their vacation so we’ve wondered if she decided to go with them. We’ll keep trying. She told this member that she really enjoyed church and felt such a good spirit there.

The Wenzel family came for the gathering after church. Thomas Wenzel is a member but hasn’t been to church for over a year. His wife and kids are not members but she came with him. She had a pretty dress on and looked very nice. We noticed lots of people talking to them. They said we could call and schedule another appointment with them. We have met with them the past 3 Sunday evenings. All in all, it was a great day----payday for missionaries.

Sister Moffitt and the kids are leaving this weekend for Twin Falls so she can get the kids enrolled in school. Bishop Moffitt has about 3 more weeks of paper work to do to finish his time in the Army then he will be leaving. So sometime between now and the middle of September, we’ll be getting a new bishop. With the Army base scheduled to be completely closed by next summer, this ward will lose several more families. It will be an all German ward. I’m glad our time here will be up before that happens!! Sunday is my relief day when I can actually talk to people and understand what they are saying.

We’ve had some funny experiences this week----at least I thought they were funny. I was ironing some shirts and Dad was on the phone making some appointments. We have been meeting with a lady whose last name is Kurtzke. Dad hung up the phone and said he had made an appointment with Sister Kraut. I said, “You mean Sister Kurtzke”? and he said, “No. Sister Kraut.” So I asked him who Sister Kraut was and he said, “I don’t mean Sister Kraut, I mean Sister Sauer (pronounced sour). Yes, we have been meeting with Sister Sauer. I just busted out laughing that he got the name mixed up like that-----Sauer and Kraut. We’ve been in Germany too long!!

Another day we had walked to an appointment and on our way home we noticed a little lady across the street sitting down on her walker. It was a hot day and when I saw her I was worried that she was having a problem so we walked across the street and asked her if she was okay. She said she was just fine and was just resting before she went on home. Then she told us that when she woke up and saw that it was a beautiful day, she wanted to go for a walk. So she had a good breakfast “and had a good beer” and left for her walk. That struck our funny bone too. This sweet, little white haired lady having “a good beer” to get going for the day.

The last experience isn’t really funny but shows the mind set of some of the people we work with. This is another inactive couple. They have been to church a few times but then we didn’t see them for several weeks. We tried to call them and went to their home but got no response. We finally called her on her cell phone and found out she had been working way down on the German/Austria border but would be home soon. We made another appointment with them and when we got there, she had her Bible and Book of Mormon on the table and was ready to talk. She told us she knew the church was true but that she just couldn’t come to church until she got over doing all the wrong things she thinks she is doing. We told her if people didn’t come to church until they were perfect that no one would be in church and that the church is to help us overcome our mistakes. She seemed to like that idea but she wasn’t at church on Sunday. We’ll try to see her again sometime this week-end. We hear all kinds of excuses.

Petra is just awesome. At our meeting with her his week we asked her how she felt about being a member of the church and she is very happy with the church. We asked her how she felt about the Book of Mormon and she said she has always loved the Bible and still does but she loves the Book of Mormon more and since becoming a member of the church she knows when she reads in the scriptures that what they say are true and she understands them. She is so concerned about and so interested in the people in the ward. She is wonderful with investigators who come with us or with the Elders and just kind of takes over with them in the investigators class. She is just what a good member of he church should be. We are so thankful for the opportunity we have had of meeting and working with her.

I guess that’s about it for this week. It’s been a busy week, full of lots of different experiences but it was a good week. It was fun teaching the Eternal Marriage institute class on our 45th anniversary. When we told the young people that it was our anniversary and they asked how many years, they could hardly believe that someone would stay married to the same person for that long. We told them that that was what eternal marriage was all about-----eternal. We’re not done yet! Know that we love you all very much. Continue doing the good things you are doing. I like this little thought: “If the Lord takes you to it, He will help you through it.” Challenges and trials are a part of life and as long as we do what we know is right to do, we can depend on the Lord’s help in meeting those challenges.

Much love to all of you.
Mom