From Mom 1/11/2008
Dear Family,
We don’t know if this weather is the calm before the storm or if we are in for another early spring. The temperatures have been in the low and mid 40’s all week. But Dad keeps the thermostat at the same temperature. I’m always opening the windows and sliding door a crack and he come behind me and closes them. It will be nice when we’re home and he can be in his toasty office and I can be in cooler places in the house!
This has been quite a week. We went to see Ron Peterson on Wednesday. He is the one with the wife who just doesn’t like Mormons at all. She usually leaves when we come but this time she came and sat down and joined in. She didn’t mince any words about her feelings for the church. She used some pretty crude language in expressing them and I could feel my blood pressure going up! She said everything she needs to know is in the Bible and that the Book of Mormon is half a copy of the Bible and the rest is “stuff Joseph Smith made up”. That was hard to hear. She also tore down our temples saying we don’t need all those big, beautiful buildings to worship God in and thought that temple work was a waste of time. She went on and on with her ranting and raving. Dad was his patient self and I was shaking with anger. She wouldn’t listen to anything we tried to say. I’ve never met anyone so ornery and full of anger. Ron walked out to the car with us and apologized for how his wife acted and told Dad that he had never met anyone as patient as he is. We have another appointment with Ron in two weeks and will see what happens then. She meets regularly with a Jehovah Witness friend and Dad asked if she would consider meeting with us and that friend at the same time. Yikes! I hope I’m sick that day! Not really, it’s just that Dad isn’t afraid to “take anyone on” and I am. Could be a very interesting meeting. Oh, what experiences missionaries have!
Do you remember our telling you about Sister Paahs, the older inactive sister who gave us all of her church books and then called back and asked if we would bring her triple combination back? We hadn’t seen her for quite awhile. She just wasn’t well for quite awhile and kept putting us off but we did get to see her his week. She was so friendly and nice to us. We talked to her about the Atonement and read some about it from the Book of Mormon. This is the first time she has let us do that. Other times it has been, “You can read from the Bible but not the Book of Mormon”. She even told us that she would come to church next Sunday. We’ll see what happens come next Sunday. She has quite a sense of humor when she’s feeling good and is enjoyable to be around. But when she doesn’t feel well, she can be a bit of a grouch and you leave wondering why you came to see her.
It was nice to be back with the young people for Family Home Evening and Institute class. They are so enjoyable to be around. We are very happy to report that a young man and young woman who met at one of our institute classes became engaged at Christmas time and are getting married in late June. She had been invited by a couple of young girls in our ward to come over for institute. Daniel was there and she told these friends that she would like to get to know Daniel better. They, the friends, were good to make sure she was at all the stake dances and other activities the Young Single Adults had because Daniel attends all of them. This summer they both went to a Single Adult conference. We could tell when they come home from the conference that they had become quite attached to each other. We are so happy for them. Kristen is a returned missionary. She served in Washington D.C. Daniel served his mission in England and is just completing his research work for his thesis for his Masters degree. He told us Monday that he wants to have everything done by the end of March so he can concentrate on finding a good job and a place for them to live. It has been a fun thing to watch this relationship progress the past few months.
We have been meeting with the Gunthers ever since we got here. They are the ones who have their niece living with them now. Lindsey, the niece, loves to come to Primary so Brother Gunther has been a little bit better about coming to church to bring her. When he doesn’t come, she calls and asks us for a ride. Sister Gunther works every Sunday and comes only when she has a late afternoon shift, which isn’t very often. They are moving to Stuttgart at the end of the month. He works in Stuttgart and is gone all week and comes home on Friday night. She has found a job there so they will be able to be together more. She asked us if we would come and just talk to her on Tuesday. She poured her heart out about her concern for her niece and her husband. She has found out that he has been drinking quite a bit. She really loves him and is hoping that this move, where they will be together more, will solve some of those problems. After the closing prayer, she thanked us for coming and told us that she really feels our love for her and more importantly, that she is beginning to feel our Heavenly Father’s love for her. That will go a long way to help her with the adjustments coming up for them. We will really miss them. I don’t know if you remember that she told us one time that the reason she had called and asked us to come over was so she could tell us she didn’t want us to come over any more and didn’t want any contact with the church. Then she got sick and ended up in the hospital and her sister called and asked us to go see her. From that time on, our relationship with her had changed and she has opened her feelings to us more than she ever had. People in the ward have been so helpful to them with Lindsey. You just have to see the Lord’s hand in some of these things. They will be another family that we will really miss but will try to stay in touch with.
Yesterday was P-day. All of us in the district went on a tour of “The Residence” here in Wurzburg. This is the HUGE building the arch-bishop had built in the 14th century. It was damaged quite heavily during the war but has been restored and is a beautiful building. Each time we go into one of these kinds of buildings I can’t help but feel bad that only a few people got to really enjoy the building and the biggest part of the population paid for it. There were lots of servants and I’m sure it was an honor for them to work there but their living quarters were much different than the other rooms that were for the leaders of the country and honored guests. But it was fun to see. It is amazing to think that that building was built before America was even discovered. And I thought the historic places we went to see with Dale and Chris in New York were old! It’s hard for me to comprehend the history of this part of the world. This is where all the stories of “knights in shining armor” took place. It’s just interesting to think about.
We always enjoy your letters and any word from home. I have missed the snow. I love it when we have a real winter with lots of snow. Hope we have another one like it next winter. We are counting the weeks. Both of us are very anxious to get back home with family. This has been and continues to be a wonderful experience. I’ll always be thankful for it but I must admit that I’m ready for a change. And I think Dad is too. He is like the Eveready Battery Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going. And that is good but I think we’re both getting a little bit worn out. We’re looking forward to the couple’s conference next week. That’s always so enjoyable. Dad and I each have to give talks on a couple of chapters from “Preach my Gospel”. After that is over with, we can enjoy the rest of it!
Know that we love you. You are in our prayers every day. Thank you for all you are doing in your families. They are the most important thing in all the world!
Much love always, Mom
We don’t know if this weather is the calm before the storm or if we are in for another early spring. The temperatures have been in the low and mid 40’s all week. But Dad keeps the thermostat at the same temperature. I’m always opening the windows and sliding door a crack and he come behind me and closes them. It will be nice when we’re home and he can be in his toasty office and I can be in cooler places in the house!
This has been quite a week. We went to see Ron Peterson on Wednesday. He is the one with the wife who just doesn’t like Mormons at all. She usually leaves when we come but this time she came and sat down and joined in. She didn’t mince any words about her feelings for the church. She used some pretty crude language in expressing them and I could feel my blood pressure going up! She said everything she needs to know is in the Bible and that the Book of Mormon is half a copy of the Bible and the rest is “stuff Joseph Smith made up”. That was hard to hear. She also tore down our temples saying we don’t need all those big, beautiful buildings to worship God in and thought that temple work was a waste of time. She went on and on with her ranting and raving. Dad was his patient self and I was shaking with anger. She wouldn’t listen to anything we tried to say. I’ve never met anyone so ornery and full of anger. Ron walked out to the car with us and apologized for how his wife acted and told Dad that he had never met anyone as patient as he is. We have another appointment with Ron in two weeks and will see what happens then. She meets regularly with a Jehovah Witness friend and Dad asked if she would consider meeting with us and that friend at the same time. Yikes! I hope I’m sick that day! Not really, it’s just that Dad isn’t afraid to “take anyone on” and I am. Could be a very interesting meeting. Oh, what experiences missionaries have!
Do you remember our telling you about Sister Paahs, the older inactive sister who gave us all of her church books and then called back and asked if we would bring her triple combination back? We hadn’t seen her for quite awhile. She just wasn’t well for quite awhile and kept putting us off but we did get to see her his week. She was so friendly and nice to us. We talked to her about the Atonement and read some about it from the Book of Mormon. This is the first time she has let us do that. Other times it has been, “You can read from the Bible but not the Book of Mormon”. She even told us that she would come to church next Sunday. We’ll see what happens come next Sunday. She has quite a sense of humor when she’s feeling good and is enjoyable to be around. But when she doesn’t feel well, she can be a bit of a grouch and you leave wondering why you came to see her.
It was nice to be back with the young people for Family Home Evening and Institute class. They are so enjoyable to be around. We are very happy to report that a young man and young woman who met at one of our institute classes became engaged at Christmas time and are getting married in late June. She had been invited by a couple of young girls in our ward to come over for institute. Daniel was there and she told these friends that she would like to get to know Daniel better. They, the friends, were good to make sure she was at all the stake dances and other activities the Young Single Adults had because Daniel attends all of them. This summer they both went to a Single Adult conference. We could tell when they come home from the conference that they had become quite attached to each other. We are so happy for them. Kristen is a returned missionary. She served in Washington D.C. Daniel served his mission in England and is just completing his research work for his thesis for his Masters degree. He told us Monday that he wants to have everything done by the end of March so he can concentrate on finding a good job and a place for them to live. It has been a fun thing to watch this relationship progress the past few months.
We have been meeting with the Gunthers ever since we got here. They are the ones who have their niece living with them now. Lindsey, the niece, loves to come to Primary so Brother Gunther has been a little bit better about coming to church to bring her. When he doesn’t come, she calls and asks us for a ride. Sister Gunther works every Sunday and comes only when she has a late afternoon shift, which isn’t very often. They are moving to Stuttgart at the end of the month. He works in Stuttgart and is gone all week and comes home on Friday night. She has found a job there so they will be able to be together more. She asked us if we would come and just talk to her on Tuesday. She poured her heart out about her concern for her niece and her husband. She has found out that he has been drinking quite a bit. She really loves him and is hoping that this move, where they will be together more, will solve some of those problems. After the closing prayer, she thanked us for coming and told us that she really feels our love for her and more importantly, that she is beginning to feel our Heavenly Father’s love for her. That will go a long way to help her with the adjustments coming up for them. We will really miss them. I don’t know if you remember that she told us one time that the reason she had called and asked us to come over was so she could tell us she didn’t want us to come over any more and didn’t want any contact with the church. Then she got sick and ended up in the hospital and her sister called and asked us to go see her. From that time on, our relationship with her had changed and she has opened her feelings to us more than she ever had. People in the ward have been so helpful to them with Lindsey. You just have to see the Lord’s hand in some of these things. They will be another family that we will really miss but will try to stay in touch with.
Yesterday was P-day. All of us in the district went on a tour of “The Residence” here in Wurzburg. This is the HUGE building the arch-bishop had built in the 14th century. It was damaged quite heavily during the war but has been restored and is a beautiful building. Each time we go into one of these kinds of buildings I can’t help but feel bad that only a few people got to really enjoy the building and the biggest part of the population paid for it. There were lots of servants and I’m sure it was an honor for them to work there but their living quarters were much different than the other rooms that were for the leaders of the country and honored guests. But it was fun to see. It is amazing to think that that building was built before America was even discovered. And I thought the historic places we went to see with Dale and Chris in New York were old! It’s hard for me to comprehend the history of this part of the world. This is where all the stories of “knights in shining armor” took place. It’s just interesting to think about.
We always enjoy your letters and any word from home. I have missed the snow. I love it when we have a real winter with lots of snow. Hope we have another one like it next winter. We are counting the weeks. Both of us are very anxious to get back home with family. This has been and continues to be a wonderful experience. I’ll always be thankful for it but I must admit that I’m ready for a change. And I think Dad is too. He is like the Eveready Battery Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going. And that is good but I think we’re both getting a little bit worn out. We’re looking forward to the couple’s conference next week. That’s always so enjoyable. Dad and I each have to give talks on a couple of chapters from “Preach my Gospel”. After that is over with, we can enjoy the rest of it!
Know that we love you. You are in our prayers every day. Thank you for all you are doing in your families. They are the most important thing in all the world!
Much love always, Mom
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