From Mom12/20
Dear Family,
Are you all ready for the big day? We keep seeing winter storm watches for Bingham and Bonneville County in Idaho. What kind of weather are you having? I hope there’s lots of snow so there is plenty of water next year.
This morning it was -8C. That’s about 18*F. It’s bright and sunny but very cold. Thank goodness there is no wind. These people just can’t believe that we’re not freezing clear to death! We just tell them we come from Idaho where the winters are REALLY cold. I’m glad we don’t have to be out too long at a time though.
We have eating appointments every day, starting today, until the day after Christmas. These people are so good to us. Everywhere we go, people give us goodies. We are well stocked up on candy and fruit. We’ll have some extra treats for FHE and Institute. Those kids can put away the food! Last night after institute class, we had a little party. There were only 7 people there. We baked 6 frozen pizzas and had lots of drinks and candy. There wasn’t a thing left. We also watched the movie “Charley”. The kids here had never seen it and they loved it. It was a fun evening. Monday we had a short lesson and then a party. The Elders brought a young man they have just started teaching and he seemed to have a good time. Everyone brought treats. We had banana bread, Rice Krispie treats, cookies, brownies, and drinks. We did the same thing we did last year and got 12 packs of Root Beer for everyone. Thank goodness for good friends on the base that can get us this American Food. You can’t buy Root Beer here. The young people loved getting it. We played 3-13 and had a lot of fun. We have a two week break from FHE and Institute for the holidays. It will be nice to have that break.
We’ve had a good week with some interesting experiences. We had made an appointment for Sunday afternoon with an inactive man we have been working with. He and his wife have separated and when Dad called, he told us he has a new girl friend and said we could come over to her house and meet with them. When we got there he told us that they were going to call and cancel the appointment but wanted us to come so they could tell us personally that they didn’t want us to come anymore. That always makes you feel good! He said that his new girl friend was Evangelic and that that was good enough for him. She said I’m just telling you the truth---- this is the way I was raised and that’s good enough for me. Dad said we would respect their wishes and asked if he could ask just one question before we left. She said it would be okay so Dad asked her if she remembered reading about Christ’s baptism. She said she did. Then he asked how many people were mentioned. She said there was only one voice. When Dad said, “And who was standing in the water”. She didn’t answer that question but did say that Jesus Christ does not live today. They agreed that they both wanted to know the truth and as long as truth was being taught, she would feel okay about us coming back. We have another appointment with them this coming Sunday. It’s interesting how opportunities to teach the gospel come up.
Ron Peterson was to church on Sunday. We met with him yesterday. The last time we were there he said he wanted to talk about his smoking problem so we went prepared to talk about that. There is some good information on overcoming addictions in “Preach My Gospel’ and we had also found some things on the church website. When Dad asked him what his thoughts were about smoking he said he’s already decided what he’s going to do. Then he told us that his gift to Christ this year was going to be giving up smoking. What good news to hear! He really enjoyed church. Everyone was very friendly to him. He’s just such a nice guy. He said things seem to be going better at home. Even though he and his wife don’t see eye to eye on religion, he said there isn’t nearly the contention there used to be. He said he found a Book of Mormon and some of the pamphlets we had left up by their bed and he hadn’t taken them there. She makes sure she isn’t there when we get there and is sure not to come back until we’re gone. I wish things were different but at least Ron seems to be warming up to the gospel again. If that becomes a real part of his life, no telling how much he will be able to influence his family.
We met with Sister Meyer a couple of times this week. She’s coming along but is not ready for baptism. Today our Relief Society president went with us. She was raised Catholic and was baptized about 18 years ago. She could really understand the teachings that have Sister Meyer confused. The main thing is still the Godhead. Sister Meyer acknowledges that they are three separate persons but then goes right back to “but it is just one God”. Then she said,”That’s what I have been taught and they wouldn’t teach me something that’s not true.” It will take more time and lots of prayers but I think eventually she will come around. She has a lot of knowledge of the church. It just seems to be this one issue that she’s hung up on. We’ll just keep working with her. We discussed some scriptures about the importance of baptism and she made the comment, “I’d better not put it off too much longer or someone will have to do it for me when I’m dead.” She’s thinking about it.
We enjoy working with part-member and less active members. We’re so thankful to have a car because a lot of these people live quite a ways out. I feel bad that the young elders don’t have cars. They are pretty limited on where they can go. Sometimes we take them to appointments and sometimes some of the members take them but they spend a lot of time walking.
I’ve made 8 loaves of banana bread this week and still have a couple more to do. We also want to make cookies to take to the families we are spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with. The Bacons have invited us for Christmas Eve. They are the family who have a little girl exactly Kaitlyn’s age. They invited us out for dinner and a birthday party. They are just great people. On Christmas Day we are going to the Merkleys. Brother Merkley recently returned from a 15 month stay in Iraq. They are an awesome family too. We are really going to miss these wonderful people when we leave Wurzburg. They have been so good to us.
I guess that’s about it for this week. We can hardly wait to talk to everyone on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Do you have a time that would be good for us to call? We don’t know what your plans are and what time you’ll be home so try to let us know.
Have a great time!
Much love,
Mom
P.S I’ve got to share this little story. It’s not very spiritual or Christmas like but it’s kind of fun.
An 80 year old woman was recently married. This was her 4th marriage. She was being interviewed about getting married again at this age and was asked what her new husband did. She told him that he was a funeral director. Then she was asked if she would tell a little about the other men she had been married too. She told the interviewer that first she had married a banker when she was in her 20’s. Then in her 40’s she married a ring-master from the circus. In her 60’s she had married a preacher. The interview was intrigued with the diversity in the men she had been married to and asked if she would comment on that. She thought a minute and then answered: “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go.”
Love ya all!
Mom
Are you all ready for the big day? We keep seeing winter storm watches for Bingham and Bonneville County in Idaho. What kind of weather are you having? I hope there’s lots of snow so there is plenty of water next year.
This morning it was -8C. That’s about 18*F. It’s bright and sunny but very cold. Thank goodness there is no wind. These people just can’t believe that we’re not freezing clear to death! We just tell them we come from Idaho where the winters are REALLY cold. I’m glad we don’t have to be out too long at a time though.
We have eating appointments every day, starting today, until the day after Christmas. These people are so good to us. Everywhere we go, people give us goodies. We are well stocked up on candy and fruit. We’ll have some extra treats for FHE and Institute. Those kids can put away the food! Last night after institute class, we had a little party. There were only 7 people there. We baked 6 frozen pizzas and had lots of drinks and candy. There wasn’t a thing left. We also watched the movie “Charley”. The kids here had never seen it and they loved it. It was a fun evening. Monday we had a short lesson and then a party. The Elders brought a young man they have just started teaching and he seemed to have a good time. Everyone brought treats. We had banana bread, Rice Krispie treats, cookies, brownies, and drinks. We did the same thing we did last year and got 12 packs of Root Beer for everyone. Thank goodness for good friends on the base that can get us this American Food. You can’t buy Root Beer here. The young people loved getting it. We played 3-13 and had a lot of fun. We have a two week break from FHE and Institute for the holidays. It will be nice to have that break.
We’ve had a good week with some interesting experiences. We had made an appointment for Sunday afternoon with an inactive man we have been working with. He and his wife have separated and when Dad called, he told us he has a new girl friend and said we could come over to her house and meet with them. When we got there he told us that they were going to call and cancel the appointment but wanted us to come so they could tell us personally that they didn’t want us to come anymore. That always makes you feel good! He said that his new girl friend was Evangelic and that that was good enough for him. She said I’m just telling you the truth---- this is the way I was raised and that’s good enough for me. Dad said we would respect their wishes and asked if he could ask just one question before we left. She said it would be okay so Dad asked her if she remembered reading about Christ’s baptism. She said she did. Then he asked how many people were mentioned. She said there was only one voice. When Dad said, “And who was standing in the water”. She didn’t answer that question but did say that Jesus Christ does not live today. They agreed that they both wanted to know the truth and as long as truth was being taught, she would feel okay about us coming back. We have another appointment with them this coming Sunday. It’s interesting how opportunities to teach the gospel come up.
Ron Peterson was to church on Sunday. We met with him yesterday. The last time we were there he said he wanted to talk about his smoking problem so we went prepared to talk about that. There is some good information on overcoming addictions in “Preach My Gospel’ and we had also found some things on the church website. When Dad asked him what his thoughts were about smoking he said he’s already decided what he’s going to do. Then he told us that his gift to Christ this year was going to be giving up smoking. What good news to hear! He really enjoyed church. Everyone was very friendly to him. He’s just such a nice guy. He said things seem to be going better at home. Even though he and his wife don’t see eye to eye on religion, he said there isn’t nearly the contention there used to be. He said he found a Book of Mormon and some of the pamphlets we had left up by their bed and he hadn’t taken them there. She makes sure she isn’t there when we get there and is sure not to come back until we’re gone. I wish things were different but at least Ron seems to be warming up to the gospel again. If that becomes a real part of his life, no telling how much he will be able to influence his family.
We met with Sister Meyer a couple of times this week. She’s coming along but is not ready for baptism. Today our Relief Society president went with us. She was raised Catholic and was baptized about 18 years ago. She could really understand the teachings that have Sister Meyer confused. The main thing is still the Godhead. Sister Meyer acknowledges that they are three separate persons but then goes right back to “but it is just one God”. Then she said,”That’s what I have been taught and they wouldn’t teach me something that’s not true.” It will take more time and lots of prayers but I think eventually she will come around. She has a lot of knowledge of the church. It just seems to be this one issue that she’s hung up on. We’ll just keep working with her. We discussed some scriptures about the importance of baptism and she made the comment, “I’d better not put it off too much longer or someone will have to do it for me when I’m dead.” She’s thinking about it.
We enjoy working with part-member and less active members. We’re so thankful to have a car because a lot of these people live quite a ways out. I feel bad that the young elders don’t have cars. They are pretty limited on where they can go. Sometimes we take them to appointments and sometimes some of the members take them but they spend a lot of time walking.
I’ve made 8 loaves of banana bread this week and still have a couple more to do. We also want to make cookies to take to the families we are spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with. The Bacons have invited us for Christmas Eve. They are the family who have a little girl exactly Kaitlyn’s age. They invited us out for dinner and a birthday party. They are just great people. On Christmas Day we are going to the Merkleys. Brother Merkley recently returned from a 15 month stay in Iraq. They are an awesome family too. We are really going to miss these wonderful people when we leave Wurzburg. They have been so good to us.
I guess that’s about it for this week. We can hardly wait to talk to everyone on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Do you have a time that would be good for us to call? We don’t know what your plans are and what time you’ll be home so try to let us know.
Have a great time!
Much love,
Mom
P.S I’ve got to share this little story. It’s not very spiritual or Christmas like but it’s kind of fun.
An 80 year old woman was recently married. This was her 4th marriage. She was being interviewed about getting married again at this age and was asked what her new husband did. She told him that he was a funeral director. Then she was asked if she would tell a little about the other men she had been married too. She told the interviewer that first she had married a banker when she was in her 20’s. Then in her 40’s she married a ring-master from the circus. In her 60’s she had married a preacher. The interview was intrigued with the diversity in the men she had been married to and asked if she would comment on that. She thought a minute and then answered: “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go.”
Love ya all!
Mom
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