Hi Everyone! Not much going on here. Just glad the elections are over. It seemed as if the campaigning lasted FOREVER. Just glad my kids seemed to get into it. I have never had my kids so interested before. Pretty cool when your third grader has an opinion. He kept telling me he was "voting" for Obama. When I asked why, he told me he would cut taxes. Just the week before the elections he changed his "vote" to McCain. Steve had the scouts here last night for food, pool, and election results. Not sure what they thought of it beforehand, but they showed up and participated. They all had opinions about who should be president.
We will be attending the U of U/TCU game tomorrow night. GO UTES! It should be a nail biter with Utah coming out on top, of course!! I hope the Utes decide to "show up" for this game. It could be hard to win many more games because of Louie Sakoda/Special Teams. Don't get me wrong, he's my favorite Ute. I just think this game is gonna be a tough one. GO UTES!
Now for the letter.
Well Familiy,
Here goes my email for this week. Unfortunately, most of the people we have had have pretty much decided that they weren´t really interested anymore. It has been a pretty hard week, but hey, what is a mission without a hard week? If I just went out and had a perfect day everyday, I would learn nothing about patience, (wow, this coming from my short-tempered oldest son) working hard and trusting and having faith in the Lord. I want Erik and Tanner to know that I love the mission! But, that every day is not easy. To be honest, yesterday was one of the longest and hardest days yet because we didn´t have anyone to teach and spent our time finding in the pedestrian zones and knocking on doors. It was also one of the funnest days I´ve had too! Even though the work is hard, your attitude towards it must be good, otherwise you are always going to be discouraged. I´ve been thinking of this a lot lately. Attitude is everything, and exact obedience is truly the only way you can be happy. The past few days I´ve been reading about the 2,000 stripling warriors and how they obeyed every word with exactness and because of it, not one soul of those 2,000 was lost. They were happy too and joyed in defending their country to preserve their rights, freedom, families and religion. (remember the part about not doubting because their mother's knew? Notice no mention of his mother here.) Same thing applies on the mission, in fact the first thing Präsident Ninow told me when I meet with him was to be exactly obedient and you will always be a happy missionary. It is so true!
I have also heard that in these difficult times, if you learn to endure them well, the success is around the corner. I´m confident that that is the case, but I need to work hard to get it. So that is the story this week. Next week we have a few family appointments with families in the ward that we haven´t meet with yet. We are doing a family home evening with one family next Monday. We are thinking of something fun to do that will bring the spirit into the meeting. It sounds exciting!
So now with your questions ;
How long are organ lessons, and what does Elder Norton do while you give them? Well, they didn´t go through this last week because Bishop is in the hospital. He has back problems, so he goes in every now and then for it. So this week we should have them. I was also asked if I could teach simple piano lessons, which I´d be glad to do, and might have more success in bringing others that aren´t members into the church.
Elder Norton doesn´t do too much, but he is actually getting back on the piano, so maybe he can participate in piano lessons with the other people who are interested. With the organ class he gave the spiritual thought and such to invite the spirit in.
You said in your last letter that one of the ward members coming to lessons last week has an inactive husband and you thought maybe you could meet with them through this class. Does the husband play the organ or want to learn? I don´t know yet because we haven´t meet her to know. Okay, I´ve meet her, but only to introduce myself and see if she wanted to come to the class. But, what I meant was, maybe by getting to know her, and gaining her trust, we can teach her husband
So is the district leader being in Hanau a new thing? No, Elder Roberts our former DL, was in Hanau. So Elder Kramer has just taken his place in the same apartment.
How big is the ward you are in and do both sets of missionaries in Hanau attend the same ward? I'm guessing so. Our ward has a huge boundary, with about 450 members, that is including children or family members. About 250 members are inactive and most live in Fulda, so there is nothing we can really do with the members there since missionaries have been pulled out. We have met with a couple of members for meals there, but only when we accompany the bishop to do the sacrament every month to some of the members there. Both companionships do go to the ward here in Hanau and we usually switch off going to Fulda, so I won´t be their again until December, if I´m still here then.
How are you and Elder Norton getting along? We are getting along well. I´ve had to try to console him a little bit because he is discouraged with the work. But, he is great to be around and has a lot of great stories from his training experiences in the Marines!
Is the Frankfurt area prettier than the Dusseldorf area? Someone was asking me if it was the pretty part of Germany. It actually is very nice here. Frankfurt is not as industrial as Düsseldorf. Frankfurt is the fashion capital for Germany, so their are shops and a whole bunch of things there. They have a huge pedestrian area called Der Zeil, the line of stores. We do are street preaches there when we have one in Frankfurt. But here in Hanau, it is a little more industrial and such within the city, but right outside of it are rolling green hills and small mountains, right now it reminds me a lot of Vermont, just miles and miles of trees and small lakes here and there. Then, there are large breaks in the trees and you´ll see miles and miles of rolling farmland. It is really pretty. A part of Germany I´ve never seen before! All of the trees have changed colors and most have lost all their leaves now. I´m waiting for it to snow, but it really doesn´t snow here. It is just cold. It feels like we are in the fourties and fifties everyday, so it is much warmer than it is back at home. That, I can be greatful for!
What do you do on your p-day? Just wondering if it has changed in almost 22 years. Well, P-Day is pretty much getting up, cleaning the apartment, doing laundry and buying food, writing family and having fun doing a game, visiting a castle or experiencing something cultural. Then, we are finished at 6:00 in the evening and we go and proselyte. Has it changed much? (no, but then I wasn't an elder on my mission, but it sounds like what I did, except the game. I think that was an Elder thing!)
Well, thanks for sending my shoes! I hope you all have a fabulous week, and I´m sure the work here will improve! It is only a matter of time I think for the people in Germany. Good luck with the elections and all and be safe and have fun! Tanner have fun! I miss you, but it is so much fun here in Germany. You´d love it here! The trains and buses are pretty cool and there are lots of castles too! It just doesn´t snow, so maybe Utah is better for that! Erik, good luck in school this next week! Have you done anymore trapping and killing and skinning and whatever it is you´ve been doing to cause mom to pull her hair out?! Sounds like fun, just be obeidient that´s all!!! And Holly, how is school? How´s drill? How is everything? My goodness, you have an email address, you can write me too!! I love you?! GEEZ!
So, they don´t have Halloween here, and they don´t have thanksgiving, so, all the Christmas things are out now and it is making me anxious! I am so excited to be here for Christmas! I just wish you were here to take part in the excitement too! I guess Christmas festivities begin on 6th or the first Tuesday of December if I remember right and last until the new year. Everyone is pretty much out of school and work for the entire month! Gosh, I love it!!! They are starting to decorate the streets too! Now you all probably think I´m crazy. O well!
Gott Segne Sie!
Elder Smith
We will be attending the U of U/TCU game tomorrow night. GO UTES! It should be a nail biter with Utah coming out on top, of course!! I hope the Utes decide to "show up" for this game. It could be hard to win many more games because of Louie Sakoda/Special Teams. Don't get me wrong, he's my favorite Ute. I just think this game is gonna be a tough one. GO UTES!
Now for the letter.
Well Familiy,
Here goes my email for this week. Unfortunately, most of the people we have had have pretty much decided that they weren´t really interested anymore. It has been a pretty hard week, but hey, what is a mission without a hard week? If I just went out and had a perfect day everyday, I would learn nothing about patience, (wow, this coming from my short-tempered oldest son) working hard and trusting and having faith in the Lord. I want Erik and Tanner to know that I love the mission! But, that every day is not easy. To be honest, yesterday was one of the longest and hardest days yet because we didn´t have anyone to teach and spent our time finding in the pedestrian zones and knocking on doors. It was also one of the funnest days I´ve had too! Even though the work is hard, your attitude towards it must be good, otherwise you are always going to be discouraged. I´ve been thinking of this a lot lately. Attitude is everything, and exact obedience is truly the only way you can be happy. The past few days I´ve been reading about the 2,000 stripling warriors and how they obeyed every word with exactness and because of it, not one soul of those 2,000 was lost. They were happy too and joyed in defending their country to preserve their rights, freedom, families and religion. (remember the part about not doubting because their mother's knew? Notice no mention of his mother here.) Same thing applies on the mission, in fact the first thing Präsident Ninow told me when I meet with him was to be exactly obedient and you will always be a happy missionary. It is so true!
I have also heard that in these difficult times, if you learn to endure them well, the success is around the corner. I´m confident that that is the case, but I need to work hard to get it. So that is the story this week. Next week we have a few family appointments with families in the ward that we haven´t meet with yet. We are doing a family home evening with one family next Monday. We are thinking of something fun to do that will bring the spirit into the meeting. It sounds exciting!
So now with your questions ;
How long are organ lessons, and what does Elder Norton do while you give them? Well, they didn´t go through this last week because Bishop is in the hospital. He has back problems, so he goes in every now and then for it. So this week we should have them. I was also asked if I could teach simple piano lessons, which I´d be glad to do, and might have more success in bringing others that aren´t members into the church.
Elder Norton doesn´t do too much, but he is actually getting back on the piano, so maybe he can participate in piano lessons with the other people who are interested. With the organ class he gave the spiritual thought and such to invite the spirit in.
You said in your last letter that one of the ward members coming to lessons last week has an inactive husband and you thought maybe you could meet with them through this class. Does the husband play the organ or want to learn? I don´t know yet because we haven´t meet her to know. Okay, I´ve meet her, but only to introduce myself and see if she wanted to come to the class. But, what I meant was, maybe by getting to know her, and gaining her trust, we can teach her husband
So is the district leader being in Hanau a new thing? No, Elder Roberts our former DL, was in Hanau. So Elder Kramer has just taken his place in the same apartment.
How big is the ward you are in and do both sets of missionaries in Hanau attend the same ward? I'm guessing so. Our ward has a huge boundary, with about 450 members, that is including children or family members. About 250 members are inactive and most live in Fulda, so there is nothing we can really do with the members there since missionaries have been pulled out. We have met with a couple of members for meals there, but only when we accompany the bishop to do the sacrament every month to some of the members there. Both companionships do go to the ward here in Hanau and we usually switch off going to Fulda, so I won´t be their again until December, if I´m still here then.
How are you and Elder Norton getting along? We are getting along well. I´ve had to try to console him a little bit because he is discouraged with the work. But, he is great to be around and has a lot of great stories from his training experiences in the Marines!
Is the Frankfurt area prettier than the Dusseldorf area? Someone was asking me if it was the pretty part of Germany. It actually is very nice here. Frankfurt is not as industrial as Düsseldorf. Frankfurt is the fashion capital for Germany, so their are shops and a whole bunch of things there. They have a huge pedestrian area called Der Zeil, the line of stores. We do are street preaches there when we have one in Frankfurt. But here in Hanau, it is a little more industrial and such within the city, but right outside of it are rolling green hills and small mountains, right now it reminds me a lot of Vermont, just miles and miles of trees and small lakes here and there. Then, there are large breaks in the trees and you´ll see miles and miles of rolling farmland. It is really pretty. A part of Germany I´ve never seen before! All of the trees have changed colors and most have lost all their leaves now. I´m waiting for it to snow, but it really doesn´t snow here. It is just cold. It feels like we are in the fourties and fifties everyday, so it is much warmer than it is back at home. That, I can be greatful for!
What do you do on your p-day? Just wondering if it has changed in almost 22 years. Well, P-Day is pretty much getting up, cleaning the apartment, doing laundry and buying food, writing family and having fun doing a game, visiting a castle or experiencing something cultural. Then, we are finished at 6:00 in the evening and we go and proselyte. Has it changed much? (no, but then I wasn't an elder on my mission, but it sounds like what I did, except the game. I think that was an Elder thing!)
Well, thanks for sending my shoes! I hope you all have a fabulous week, and I´m sure the work here will improve! It is only a matter of time I think for the people in Germany. Good luck with the elections and all and be safe and have fun! Tanner have fun! I miss you, but it is so much fun here in Germany. You´d love it here! The trains and buses are pretty cool and there are lots of castles too! It just doesn´t snow, so maybe Utah is better for that! Erik, good luck in school this next week! Have you done anymore trapping and killing and skinning and whatever it is you´ve been doing to cause mom to pull her hair out?! Sounds like fun, just be obeidient that´s all!!! And Holly, how is school? How´s drill? How is everything? My goodness, you have an email address, you can write me too!! I love you?! GEEZ!
So, they don´t have Halloween here, and they don´t have thanksgiving, so, all the Christmas things are out now and it is making me anxious! I am so excited to be here for Christmas! I just wish you were here to take part in the excitement too! I guess Christmas festivities begin on 6th or the first Tuesday of December if I remember right and last until the new year. Everyone is pretty much out of school and work for the entire month! Gosh, I love it!!! They are starting to decorate the streets too! Now you all probably think I´m crazy. O well!
Gott Segne Sie!
Elder Smith
2 comments:
I read Lance's letters, then Jaren's. What a difference! Lance barely writes anything at all compared to all the info Jaren gives.
I have been reading letters from a friend of Jaren's (the Taylor mentioned) and he is very descriptive. Even uses German words then shows how they would be said in English. He's a funny kid so his letters are funny, too. Jaren's letters are more about what he's doing and who he's teaching, which is good, too.
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