It's a Besonderes Life: This Meeting is Not About I-Pads!

To Our Dear and Beloved Family,

Wow, what a week we have had! It began, as usual with a delicious home evening meal and a spiritual thought by one of our favorite young adults. The Tuesday and Thursday language courses were pretty routine with Sister Parker now occasionally sitting in as Elder Parker teaches the two Hungarians the ins and outs of rudimentary German. Wednesday night Institute seemed special as the 2 or 3 usual attendees blossomed up to 7, still none of them using English as their primary language. This time we were joined by one of the sister's fiance, a young returned missionary who resides in Switzerland as well as two sisters who both hail from Hungary, are both returned missionaries and are currently working here in Vienna. We were discussing Alma Chapters 1-4 which includes the description of the Amlicites who decided to paint their foreheads red to distinguish themselves from the Nephites. That lead to a discussion about how we should treat our bodies and the churches teachings on tattoos, piercings and general clothing decisions each of us makes. The question was asked, what does the manner in which you dress tell other people about who you really are on the inside? Our new convert from Kazahkstan raised her hand and made the comment that one of her classmates at the University of Vienna told her how impressed he was at her manner of dress. He told her how remarkable it was that she was always dressed so nicely, even in casual clothes and we were all able to reinforce her by pointing out she was reflecting the standards she was following.

But the week really got special as all of the Vienna missionaries met on Friday at the central bus depot to travel together to a special meeting for the entire mission in Munich. This was unique for us because we have always made the trip previously on the train and although the trip was just a bit longer, it still brought us through the countryside of Austria which we had never seen on the train. It was roughly a six hour trip and half-way the bus made a five minute stop to get out and stretch our legs.

Here a quick shot of us taking some pictures and what we were taking pictures of!

We arrived in Munich about 5 PM and were met at the depot by the AP's. All the young elders and sisters were headed off to a hostel to spend the night and had a meeting that evening at 7 but the seniors were on our own. We received instructions on how to get to the Holiday Inn where we met several other couples and all went to dinner together to socialize and bring each other up to date on what was happening in our lives. Those who knew where a good restaurant was invited us to go with them and about 5 couples gathered at a huge place where the only room left was up on the roof under the stars and a lovely crescent moon. Recommendations were made and we ended up with a kind of combination plate which included roast duck, pigs knuckles and a little roast beef with a dumpling and red cabbage. A very typical German meal but quite tasty and filled us up so much that no one had room for dessert.

We sat next to a couple we met at the last senior conference who have some mutual connections with people we know from our St. George condo group. They are assigned to photograph Catholic church records in a small Austrian town where for years the church was never allowed to work specifically because of who we are. However the Lord doth provide and with some changes in the hierarchy and some persistence on the part of the church, the head record keeper was able to persuade his boss, a cardinal to let them come in and essentially aid his efforts to digitize all the records he had been working on for literally decades. He had accumulated records from literally scores of churches around the country, cataloged them, numbered all the pages and knew his work would not be done until something was done to preserve them somehow on line. He was able to tell his superiors that the couple worked for an organization called Family Search. They do not wear badges nor suits and ties and put in 8-10 hours a day with what amounts to literally millions of names previously completely inaccessible. They have met and befriended many patrons who have been coming in on their own to search the library and it was quite amazing to see how the Lord has blessed their work. But the best was yet to come.

Saturday morning we breakfasted with all the couples at the hotel and then drove to a chapel we'd never visited before in our other two trips to Munich. We were asked to be there by 9:00 AM with the meeting scheduled to begin a half hour later but most of us were there shortly after 8:30 with a full street-block of missionaries walking down the street as we drove by. There are always lots of reunions going on as elders and sisters said hi to previous companions and members of previous districts they'd worked in but everything settled down pretty rapidly as all followed the instructions we'd been given to be reverent, study, and prepare for the coming meeting. All of us pretty well knew that the meeting was about the introduction of I-Pads to the mission and so there was a great deal of expectation. At 9:25 President and Sister Kohler came in leading Elder and Sister Bednar, President and Sister Teixeira (President of the European Area Presidency), and Elder and Sister Allen (head of the Church Missionary Department.) All stood as the party entered the chapel. Also seated on the stand was the Munich Stake President although he did not participate as a speaker in the meeting.

Elder Bednar presided at and conducted the meeting. As he stepped to the pulpit his first words were a greeting in German, he having served in the Bavarian mission as a young elder. He pointed out that it was a special time for him although it wasn't the first time he had returned to southern Germany. He then converted to English and said, "I want you all to know, this meeting is not about I-Pads!" While we were in the MTC in Provo we had the opportunity of listening to a video from Elder Bednar which he had delivered at the MTC at Christmas in 2013, five months earlier. As it was drawing to a close, he and his wife tried to sneak in from behind the podium but was immediately recognized as all in the auditorium stood up as he came in. The meeting with him that followed there was very similar to the meeting we experienced in Munich. After an opening hymn and prayer, offered by a sister from Australia who is in our district, Elder Bednar began with some introductory remarks about the practice of teaching by asking questions. He assured us that the questions he would ask would not reflect what he described as priestcraft nor be 'what am I thinking' questions but would be honest questions to ascertain what we were thinking and understanding about the content of the meeting. As he asked for responses to his remarks, he initially chided us for being slow to respond but later complimented the missionaries as they warmed to his style and realized he would not embarass anyone. He invited questions and was always careful to ask if he had understood the question or the response correctly as he would restate or summarize it. It was the same style he had used while speaking at the MTC and was equally open and straightforward.

He stated that the church had used 30 missions in the United States as test cases as they sought methods to utilize the technology so available in the world. Sister Parker and I remembered the talk he gave as the keynote address at Church Education Week last summer. He stated that the brethren were not yet quite ready to promulgate these capabilities throughout the church missionary system but had decided to broaden the scope to include 66 additional missions of which we would be one. He discussed principles and practices that would still be followed and both President Teixeira and Elder Allen expanded on them. Occasionally each of their wives also spontaneously responded. Elder Allen introduced two new manuals, a copy of each being given to each missionary present. The first is entitled "Missionary Work in the Digital Age" and the second "Safeguards for Using Technology" Even though they were fully developed manuals, they are obviously gaining experience as the first chapter includes 5 principles for doing missionary work in the digital age and he asked us to include a new number one "Follow the Principles of the Missionary Handbook" renumbering the following principles 2 through 6. We obviously can't adequately summarize the entire meeting in this letter but as we broke for a 45 minute sack lunch prepared by the members of the Munich Stake for us he wanted reassurances that when we returned it would be 1:30 PM and not 9:30 AM, reminding us of the original hesitancy to get involved in the discussion. He was always very careful to pick on people who had not previously responded. When it was all said and done, we don't know exactly when the missionaries will actually get their I-Pads and of course we've had an I-Pad since we've been here but training will be started with fundamentals and progress in an orderly fashion. Contrary to what we'd previously heard, the notebooks will not be purchased by the missionaries but will belong to the church and passed on to successors, probably being oriented to the individual areas where the elders are assigned but with unique new email accounts for the missionaries through Mormon.org.

For us old guys, not as directly involved in the finding and teaching, the most impressive part of the conference was at the conclusion as Elder Bednar expanded on the meaning of taking upon us the name of Christ. In brief, he pointed out that each of us has agency when we choose to join the church and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Certainly our understanding of and ability to live the Gospel should increase throughout our life. But as we recognize the importance of the covenants which we have made, at baptism, in taking the sacrament, in receiving the covenants we make in the temple, we no longer have real agency when we are confronted with decisions about what to believe and actions we should perform. Our covenants have bound us to follow Him and keep His commandments and we are willing to take His name upon us having made that decision already. It is something upon which we can all continuously reflect.

Our week ended yesterday as we celebrated, with the Vienna First Ward, their 40th anniversary of building and dedicating their ward building. They reflected on the church history here in Vienna, going back to the first missionaries and branch organized here in 1909 with a great list of every branch president and bishop who had ever served. Several past bishops spoke of their memories including the stake patriarch, a former bishop, stake president's first counselor who concluded the meeting as a previous bishop and the stake president offered the closing prayer. They even had the district president of the city there as an honored guest, sort of like a city council member, and he was granted time as the next to concluding speaker to make remarks which were very appropriate and warm. They had a lovely ward dinner at the conclusion of the meeting which lasted almost 2 hours and included a lovely choir with one of our district elders serving as the pianist and another singing in the baritone section. It was a wonderful picture of the progress the church has made since it was officially recognized here in Austria in 1955, 10 years after World War II. It was very similar to another celebration conducted by the 3rd ward last summer as they celebrated their 35th anniversary.

We are looking forward to the upcoming visit from Brenda, Mindy and Benj. Elder Parker received a surprise Happy Birthday greeting last Wednesday (all the Austrians know the traditional Happy Birthday song in English) and a gift of a truly delightful souvenir book with over 350 photos of sights around Vienna. We realized that we'd never actually seen, though we have been close by to, the memorial to the Waltz King, Johann Strauss.

As we wandered by we found out that they regularly have concerts in the same building where he played his music for his admirers and we are hoping to take them there for a special concert. Everything seems to be falling into place!

[Sister Parker] It was a wonderful weekend as Elder Parker previously described. It was fun to see all our senior couple friends again and to greet all our past missionaries who are now serving in different areas all over the mission. It is great to form such lasting friendships. Of course, the meeting with Elder Bednar and the others was the highlight. While Elder Parker has already covered it let me just say how impressed I am with the preparation and the manual the missionaries will receive in relationship to I-Pads. As I flipped through them I felt how truly inspired they were in regards to safe guarding the missionaries, taking into account vulnerability to past or future problems. They want this training to be for a life time not just for mission time. I think that all young people, maybe even children need this training on how to use technology on internet devices safely. They are objects and tools, not agents and to be used as such, as we remember who we are and the covenants we have made. It was interesting to me to watch Elder Bednar in the later afternoon as he asked us to focus and listen, and turned from questions to teaching as an apostle. It was as though he had a different spirit about him and I received a witness that he truly was speaking as a prophet. It is hard to describe what I saw and felt, because it was a seeing and feeling experience. I was impressed with what he had to say about baptism, grace, covenants, and that the natural man needs to be strengthened by the atonement a little bit each day. We live in such a marvelous time and the Lord is truly preparing His people and hastening His work. Go forth and fill the world with light. It chases away the darkness.

We love you all very much.