November 26, 2012
Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!
I hope you enjoyed it! For my Thanksgiving we went over to the Brunnsteiner family's for lunch and had all you can eat Schnitzel (and just so you know mom and dad, they can't promise it yet because they are not totally sure on their plans, but I will probably get to skype at their house for Christmas). It was really good, the only problem was that one of the pieces I ate tasted rather funny and then afterwards I broke down with stomach problems for the rest of the day. But I am better now and the rest of it was great. In case you are wondering, no, Austrians do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but the Brunnsteiners celebrate American holidays -so it works out.
Mom and Dad thank you so much for the calendar you sent me for Christmas. Yes, I know, I opened it a "little" early, but I was too excited. I think it is one of the most meaningful gifts I've ever had so thank you so much. It really meant a lot to me and it was very well put together. All of it was perfect, there was one part that was a little funny though. On the month that is dedicated to my companions, it's got the big picture of me with all my companions, and then the individual ones for all of them so far except where you would think there would be a picture of Elder Young and I (preferably in Lederhosen) there is a picture of Elder Moon and me making Swiss bread on our austausch. I guess him and I will just have to be companions sometime to make it real. I would simply love to be companions with him sometime so that's fine with me.
Ok so here is the situation with our investigator Liz, she is no longer our investigator. She moved here with the Hirshmann family, but then because of work and other complications she decided it was best to find her own apartment back in Wien. So we had to turn her back over to Elders Babcock and Evans in Wien 3rd ward. I think it will be much better for her though because she lived in St. Pölten boundaries, but lived very far away from the city itself so it was really difficult to schedule time when we could meet that fit her schedule and we could get to her or she could meet us in the church. This way she is directly in Wien so the Elders can visit her more often. It's now back to 100% instead of 95% finding which we are pretty good at.
I can honestly say that giving a talk in sacrament meeting in German for me is not a problem. Of the 13 Sundays that I've been in St. Pölten, 6 have been assigned to Stake Conference, General Conference, a President Monson Broadcast, and three fast and testimony meetings. Of the remaining 7 I have been assigned to give a talk in 4 of them, all of which have been 15-25 minute talks. Because the branch here is small, they like to have the missionaries speak a lot in order to keep the members from having to speak so often. But because my companions here have both been new missionaries and have been working on their German to speak more easily, our ward mission leader/1st counselor decided that I could cover both shifts. It's good practice right? I was able to speak yesterday and it was an especially cool experience for me because I was assigned to talk about prophets, and then afterwards I got to play my arrangement of "Praise to the Man". It was an opportunity for me to be really grateful for the gifts that the Lord has blessed me with. I think it went well because afterwards the Branch President's wife told me that for as long as I am here each month I "get to" play a musical number during one of the Sundays and I get to play something for the ward Christmas party that they will be having here. That means P-Days I get to spend time practicing and learning new songs on the piano.
When we went to Wien for district meeting this week we ran into a former member of the 70 and his wife, Douglas and Jane Callister. He is the brother of the Elder Callister who is in the 70 presidency. They also lived in President Miles' home ward so they told us to tell him hello next time we saw him.
I am glad the funerals for Sister Rife and Patriarch Roberts went well. I hope both families know they are in my prayers and that I hope all goes well for them. They were both really good examples to me and grateful for what they have done for me. Speaking of the Rife family, welcome home Michael. I hope all is going well for you and I appreciate the example you were as a missionary.
I hope all is well. Thank you again so much for everything you do. I love you all and grateful for what you do for me.
Elder Bodily
Gott sei mit euch bis aufs Wiedersehen
I hope you enjoyed it! For my Thanksgiving we went over to the Brunnsteiner family's for lunch and had all you can eat Schnitzel (and just so you know mom and dad, they can't promise it yet because they are not totally sure on their plans, but I will probably get to skype at their house for Christmas). It was really good, the only problem was that one of the pieces I ate tasted rather funny and then afterwards I broke down with stomach problems for the rest of the day. But I am better now and the rest of it was great. In case you are wondering, no, Austrians do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but the Brunnsteiners celebrate American holidays -so it works out.
Mom and Dad thank you so much for the calendar you sent me for Christmas. Yes, I know, I opened it a "little" early, but I was too excited. I think it is one of the most meaningful gifts I've ever had so thank you so much. It really meant a lot to me and it was very well put together. All of it was perfect, there was one part that was a little funny though. On the month that is dedicated to my companions, it's got the big picture of me with all my companions, and then the individual ones for all of them so far except where you would think there would be a picture of Elder Young and I (preferably in Lederhosen) there is a picture of Elder Moon and me making Swiss bread on our austausch. I guess him and I will just have to be companions sometime to make it real. I would simply love to be companions with him sometime so that's fine with me.
Ok so here is the situation with our investigator Liz, she is no longer our investigator. She moved here with the Hirshmann family, but then because of work and other complications she decided it was best to find her own apartment back in Wien. So we had to turn her back over to Elders Babcock and Evans in Wien 3rd ward. I think it will be much better for her though because she lived in St. Pölten boundaries, but lived very far away from the city itself so it was really difficult to schedule time when we could meet that fit her schedule and we could get to her or she could meet us in the church. This way she is directly in Wien so the Elders can visit her more often. It's now back to 100% instead of 95% finding which we are pretty good at.
I can honestly say that giving a talk in sacrament meeting in German for me is not a problem. Of the 13 Sundays that I've been in St. Pölten, 6 have been assigned to Stake Conference, General Conference, a President Monson Broadcast, and three fast and testimony meetings. Of the remaining 7 I have been assigned to give a talk in 4 of them, all of which have been 15-25 minute talks. Because the branch here is small, they like to have the missionaries speak a lot in order to keep the members from having to speak so often. But because my companions here have both been new missionaries and have been working on their German to speak more easily, our ward mission leader/1st counselor decided that I could cover both shifts. It's good practice right? I was able to speak yesterday and it was an especially cool experience for me because I was assigned to talk about prophets, and then afterwards I got to play my arrangement of "Praise to the Man". It was an opportunity for me to be really grateful for the gifts that the Lord has blessed me with. I think it went well because afterwards the Branch President's wife told me that for as long as I am here each month I "get to" play a musical number during one of the Sundays and I get to play something for the ward Christmas party that they will be having here. That means P-Days I get to spend time practicing and learning new songs on the piano.
When we went to Wien for district meeting this week we ran into a former member of the 70 and his wife, Douglas and Jane Callister. He is the brother of the Elder Callister who is in the 70 presidency. They also lived in President Miles' home ward so they told us to tell him hello next time we saw him.
I am glad the funerals for Sister Rife and Patriarch Roberts went well. I hope both families know they are in my prayers and that I hope all goes well for them. They were both really good examples to me and grateful for what they have done for me. Speaking of the Rife family, welcome home Michael. I hope all is going well for you and I appreciate the example you were as a missionary.
I hope all is well. Thank you again so much for everything you do. I love you all and grateful for what you do for me.
Elder Bodily
Gott sei mit euch bis aufs Wiedersehen
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