Dear Beloved Family,
It seems like these weekly reports keep getting closer and closer. I don't know that we're any busier than we ever have been but the time is really flying. As we looked at where we are, our mission is already more than half over with just 8 months and 11 days left to go! I guess we could just squeeze a slightly short gestation into that time frame:)
We're following many of your activities as we hear about them. Jeremy will be finishing up his mission in a little more than a quarter and is planning on getting into BYU Idaho if all goes well with Ian likely getting ready to replace him in the mission field. Ian has, however, been accepted both at BYU and BYU-I. Sean has been ordained a teacher with Dominick coming up in a couple of weeks. Myles and Kyle are both driving and dating! Mikey is coming off a heavy jump rope competition after wowing the world on the difference between lemon and grapefruit juice batteries. Mindy and James and family are making a big change in moving into a new home all of which takes place just as they are departing for a fun birthday celebration trip to Hawaii. Andrew made several heroic attempts to save my cell phone but it has apparently died it's final death after being rescued once last Fall while they were here. Aaron is in India of all places for another week yet as this is written but at least he's a little closer to our time zone while James and Mindy are the farthest away. I figure it must be about 12 hours which puts them completely on the other side of the world. Caleb's getting ready for some major dental work this next week while Rachel's been showing us how much her kids look like him! We're anticipating Benj's trip to come see us in May with Mindy and Brenda as he settles into his new apartment and ward. Brian's on a fast track now to becoming a cop and Noah was the inadvertant star of a cute Valentine's Day video! We don't hear very much from Adam and Mako but are convinced they're still alive.
I guess the big event of the week for us was transfers last Thursday. We said goodbye to Elder Eldredge who's now back in Pleasant Grove and has been here as our District Leader or in Vienna for as long as we have, and Elder Abbott who was our Zone Leader and who's now back in Orem where his father was made Bishop of their ward just a couple of months ago.
That's Elder Eldredge on the right.
I don't know if we've ever shown you how the missionaries chase after the train as it pulls out of the station but here's a portion of the chase in blazing color!
We attended the International Ward last week where Elder Eldredge was speaking to get a glimpse of his forthcoming homecoming report. One of the sisters was also transferred so we became companions to Sister Angeloudis from Australia, one of our Sister Training Leaders, for about 10 hours until her new companion came in that evening. She's fresh out of the MTC and a convert to the church of about 3 years from San Antonio. We celebrated the anniversary of "Remember the Alamo" and she was honored by saying the prayer at Waffle Night on Friday in excellent German. We have two other "Goldens" in the zone after this transfer that we're excited to get to know better as well.
Just finished studying the attributes of Christ in Preach My Gospel, one of which is the principle of patience. Found out that many of the scriptures on patience coincide with those on faith. Slowly but surely the investigators we're working with are making progress. For a few months now we've occasionally entertained a trio of young men who first approached us trying to sell magazines. It's a common ploy for people trying to raise a little extra money but often times it's done illegally because they really don't have a license to sell things. They spoke very minimal German and we found they come from Rumania which many Austrians regard as the home of the gypsies. We told them we neither buy nor sell anything at our center and they can't either but they noticed our pool table and asked if they could play. We decided it wouldn't hurt anything and after establishing a few rules such as not allowing smoking anywhere in the building including the restrooms, they stop by once or twice a week to play. We have really been unable to communicate much with them at all but one of the elders told us they have a copy of the Book of Mormon in Rumanian. So this past week we gifted the one who serves as their spokesman with a much abbreviated version of the Book of Mormon in their language and I think our next move will be to require that we read a few verses each time they come in as the price for being allowed to play. We'll see if they go along with it!
The other fun progress being made is with our two Hungarians who are learning German. The one who is a member, presented the other with copies of the Book of Mormon in both Hungarian and German and we're slowly getting commitments from her to do a little reading. This past week as she was leaving she mentioned that her husband loves to play the piano and has even played the organ in church but hasn't had the opportunity at all since they've been living in Vienna. She noticed we have a piano as she told us this. I told her we would love to have him come and play and this may be our first opportunity to get both of them into the center. Apparently his German is a lot better than hers and our goal may be to see if we can recruit him as our pianist for Family Home Evening! We'll see. She has prayed with us a few times but only in either Hungarian or English and we'll start working on her praying a little in simple German. We start where we are and go forward with patience a little step at a time.
The big thing this week, as Elder Parker said, was the Transfers and spending the day with sister Angeloudis. Its always fun for me to have another women around. But it is also sad to see our sweet elders go home. There are just so many comings and goings on a mission and you take everyone into your heart so departures are a bit tender. There will be lots of missionaries to meet again at home in Utah or those who come to BYU. And there are other places in the states and world we have been invited to visit. I really might try Australia, and Saudi Arabia.
I still enjoy the time I spend with the other adult sisters helping out on Institute night. This week Eva taught me a new phrase that one of the young singles said would really impress people if I were to use it in a conversation. "Leichen im Keller." Which means, there is a cadaver or body in the basement, equivalent to saying "someone has skeltetons in the closet." Great to pass on. On the other hand one of our young single sisters has an article in the March Liahona about her missionary experience. I was impressed by the scripture she used, so I will pass it on as one we should all remember.
2 Nephi 1:15 ...I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." We continually feel His tender mercies on our behalf. Let us never forget we are encircled in the arms of His love.
Lots and lots of love from
Grammy, Grampa,
Mom, Dad,
Elder and Sister Parker
It seems like these weekly reports keep getting closer and closer. I don't know that we're any busier than we ever have been but the time is really flying. As we looked at where we are, our mission is already more than half over with just 8 months and 11 days left to go! I guess we could just squeeze a slightly short gestation into that time frame:)
We're following many of your activities as we hear about them. Jeremy will be finishing up his mission in a little more than a quarter and is planning on getting into BYU Idaho if all goes well with Ian likely getting ready to replace him in the mission field. Ian has, however, been accepted both at BYU and BYU-I. Sean has been ordained a teacher with Dominick coming up in a couple of weeks. Myles and Kyle are both driving and dating! Mikey is coming off a heavy jump rope competition after wowing the world on the difference between lemon and grapefruit juice batteries. Mindy and James and family are making a big change in moving into a new home all of which takes place just as they are departing for a fun birthday celebration trip to Hawaii. Andrew made several heroic attempts to save my cell phone but it has apparently died it's final death after being rescued once last Fall while they were here. Aaron is in India of all places for another week yet as this is written but at least he's a little closer to our time zone while James and Mindy are the farthest away. I figure it must be about 12 hours which puts them completely on the other side of the world. Caleb's getting ready for some major dental work this next week while Rachel's been showing us how much her kids look like him! We're anticipating Benj's trip to come see us in May with Mindy and Brenda as he settles into his new apartment and ward. Brian's on a fast track now to becoming a cop and Noah was the inadvertant star of a cute Valentine's Day video! We don't hear very much from Adam and Mako but are convinced they're still alive.
I guess the big event of the week for us was transfers last Thursday. We said goodbye to Elder Eldredge who's now back in Pleasant Grove and has been here as our District Leader or in Vienna for as long as we have, and Elder Abbott who was our Zone Leader and who's now back in Orem where his father was made Bishop of their ward just a couple of months ago.
That's Elder Eldredge on the right.
I don't know if we've ever shown you how the missionaries chase after the train as it pulls out of the station but here's a portion of the chase in blazing color!
We attended the International Ward last week where Elder Eldredge was speaking to get a glimpse of his forthcoming homecoming report. One of the sisters was also transferred so we became companions to Sister Angeloudis from Australia, one of our Sister Training Leaders, for about 10 hours until her new companion came in that evening. She's fresh out of the MTC and a convert to the church of about 3 years from San Antonio. We celebrated the anniversary of "Remember the Alamo" and she was honored by saying the prayer at Waffle Night on Friday in excellent German. We have two other "Goldens" in the zone after this transfer that we're excited to get to know better as well.
Just finished studying the attributes of Christ in Preach My Gospel, one of which is the principle of patience. Found out that many of the scriptures on patience coincide with those on faith. Slowly but surely the investigators we're working with are making progress. For a few months now we've occasionally entertained a trio of young men who first approached us trying to sell magazines. It's a common ploy for people trying to raise a little extra money but often times it's done illegally because they really don't have a license to sell things. They spoke very minimal German and we found they come from Rumania which many Austrians regard as the home of the gypsies. We told them we neither buy nor sell anything at our center and they can't either but they noticed our pool table and asked if they could play. We decided it wouldn't hurt anything and after establishing a few rules such as not allowing smoking anywhere in the building including the restrooms, they stop by once or twice a week to play. We have really been unable to communicate much with them at all but one of the elders told us they have a copy of the Book of Mormon in Rumanian. So this past week we gifted the one who serves as their spokesman with a much abbreviated version of the Book of Mormon in their language and I think our next move will be to require that we read a few verses each time they come in as the price for being allowed to play. We'll see if they go along with it!
The other fun progress being made is with our two Hungarians who are learning German. The one who is a member, presented the other with copies of the Book of Mormon in both Hungarian and German and we're slowly getting commitments from her to do a little reading. This past week as she was leaving she mentioned that her husband loves to play the piano and has even played the organ in church but hasn't had the opportunity at all since they've been living in Vienna. She noticed we have a piano as she told us this. I told her we would love to have him come and play and this may be our first opportunity to get both of them into the center. Apparently his German is a lot better than hers and our goal may be to see if we can recruit him as our pianist for Family Home Evening! We'll see. She has prayed with us a few times but only in either Hungarian or English and we'll start working on her praying a little in simple German. We start where we are and go forward with patience a little step at a time.
The big thing this week, as Elder Parker said, was the Transfers and spending the day with sister Angeloudis. Its always fun for me to have another women around. But it is also sad to see our sweet elders go home. There are just so many comings and goings on a mission and you take everyone into your heart so departures are a bit tender. There will be lots of missionaries to meet again at home in Utah or those who come to BYU. And there are other places in the states and world we have been invited to visit. I really might try Australia, and Saudi Arabia.
I still enjoy the time I spend with the other adult sisters helping out on Institute night. This week Eva taught me a new phrase that one of the young singles said would really impress people if I were to use it in a conversation. "Leichen im Keller." Which means, there is a cadaver or body in the basement, equivalent to saying "someone has skeltetons in the closet." Great to pass on. On the other hand one of our young single sisters has an article in the March Liahona about her missionary experience. I was impressed by the scripture she used, so I will pass it on as one we should all remember.
2 Nephi 1:15 ...I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." We continually feel His tender mercies on our behalf. Let us never forget we are encircled in the arms of His love.
Lots and lots of love from
Grammy, Grampa,
Mom, Dad,
Elder and Sister Parker
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