LETTER #58 - FRANKFURT

Hi! It was way cool being able to see and talk to everyone. You all seem to be doing pretty good. This email will probably short since we just talked! And ok mom, I'll look around at shoes and all, but I think I'll be alright for a little longer. I also realized I messed up reciting that thing to you but oh well! And before I forget, Happy New Year! A good time to think about this last year, what’s been accomplished and what you want to accomplish next year. Set good goals!

The weather here has been light snow for the past little bit. I talked to a guy the other day who has been in Frankfurt for 60 years and he said Frankfurt has never had this much snow before. It's not really even very much, but I guess for a place that normally doesn't get a lot it is. It was supposed to go away and rain throughout Christmas weekend but it stayed and even snowed more. Snowy winter is better than a rainy winter though I think.

We got transfer calls! Once again they came Monday morning. It’s funny to see the missionaries get antsy when transfer calls get postponed a day, and then another day ha. Anyway, Elder Moffat is headed home Thursday. So my new companion is Elder Anderson. I basically know nothing about him, except he is from the Munich mission and has been in that zone since the change happened so I haven't met him yet. I’m sure it’s going to be really good working with him though.

Beginning of a transfer is always pretty exciting. 6 fresh weeks, new goals, more time, lots that can be accomplished. Then it’s cool to look back at the end and see how it all worked out. I've been able to learn a lot about goals and continue to and hopefully always will. You set a lot of goals as a missionary, a lot that you cannot completely control and some that you can. You can learn lots from both. At the end you look back at each and see how you did to reach them or in trying to reach them. See what worked, what didn't, what can be changed, what will work better. Then you can set new goals and have a built-upon plan on how you will work towards those. Each time you look back, revise how you did, and change what you notice can change for the better. This is always a lot.

I've had a goal to have no regrets through my mission. Now when I think back on past times I realize I could have done some things differently, but at the time I was acting according to my best knowledge. So I don't regret what I was doing then, but I now know how I can do certain things better. It will always be like that. We are always improving but only if you have the wish to. Otherwise you don't act and recognize what could be better, and if you do, you don't apply what you learn. And that would be dumb! We need to be willing to change for the better. That’s why we are here! It works best when we humble ourselves and allow God to change us.

Everyone wants to be happy and have peace. Everyone has different theories and ideas and plans on how to do this. Everyone’s trying different things claiming they have the best way to find peace and happiness. We however are blessed to know that we have a Heavenly Father who truly does know the best way. He has the best plan. So the best thing we can do is surrender our ideas and our plan and accept his, and he will get us there a lot faster than we ever would have gotten there alone.

What God has in mind for us is a whole lot better then what we could ever achieve alone. One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 64:8. I like to personalize it. "But now, O Lord, thou art my father; I am the clay, and thou my potter; and I am the work of thy hand." That’s the best thing we can do. Allow God to change us. Trust him and be willing to become what he has planned.

In conference Elder Eyring said "You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you."

We can always learn, but we need to be willing to learn. There is a cool quote I've heard a lot throughout my mission. "We are not here to be, we are here to become." That’s not just mission advice, its advice that applies to our whole lives. God has a lot in store and a lot in mind for us. He is trying to help us prepare for it. If we humble ourselves and use what he has given us, he will shape us to be what we need to be.

I am very grateful for the gospel. I am grateful for my mission and what I've been able to learn. And I'm really grateful for each one of you and the roles you have played, and still are playing in my life, helping me to learn, grow, and become. I love you all very much.
Elder Puriri

LETTER #57 - FRANKFURT

Hello Hello!

Happy birthday Hamilton! That’s pretty awesome you were ordained to be a deacon. And you only had to wait a day after you turned 12. Pretty cool. And that’s really cool you are all going to go to the temple together. Definitely a good Christmas time activity.

 
What’s the weather been like there, any snow?? We got a ton of snow this last weekend. Frankfurt didn't know what to do since they never get this much. It was pretty fun though. We got to church early for our missionary meeting and decided to start shoveling the snow until the other Elders got to the church. Then when they got there they just grabbed a shovel as well so we spent the hour and a half before church shoveling the sidewalks and little parking lot for the church building. It was pretty fun and all the members were way excited to see us doing that which is always good building the relationship with the ward. Lots of snow though. We got over a foot of snow it was cool. We heard it’s supposed to mostly melt this week though and then just start raining which wouldn't be so cool but we take it as it comes!

 
Oh also I got the package! It was really cool, thanks a ton. I already opened all the stuff...hope that was ok. I put the tree up and all ha. That’s about as Christmassy as our apartment gets oh plus the Christmas music we always play. So it’s not too bad! Also more news, we are allowed to skype now. So we can do that since the Ences have a computer they've already offered us. We can do it Saturday at 630pm my time...so 1030am your time I think. Hopefully that works for you! Email me though who I should add on skype from their account so I can call and I will check my email and get it right before. So yea, that will be cool!

 

Anyway this past week was pretty cool!! We had two baptisms in our ward. We were teaching one of the guys and the other Elders were teaching the other guy. They were both so cool and sincere in their desire to follow Christ and be baptized. We were blessed to be able to help them along their way. And on Sunday they were both confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The picture is of Elder Moffat and me with Michael and then all of us together with Michael and Klaus.

 
Last night we got the missionaries in our district minus the Senior couples and a companionship of Elders and went caroling to people who live down the road from the church. A girl from California who is working here came with us as well. It didn't start out as well as we had hoped but we decided to keep trying and then it got way good. Surprisingly lots of people didn't want us to sing for them, it was sad but I also found it kind of funny. That’s how the first 30 minutes went then we went and sang for a guy elder Moffat and I are teaching and did people in his area and it got really good. One old lady tried to offer us 50 Euro after we had finished. We actually got offered money a lot and when we explained we just wanted to wish them a merry Christmas and invite them to a Christmas devotional at the church they were pretty shocked. Just caroling for people isn't very big here so it was new for them.

 
We did this lady then asked if she knew anyone else we could sing for and she pointed us over to the next apartment building. One lady opened her window and looked out at us and said she would love to hear us sing so we started singing out in front and then this family opened their window and looked out at us and we just kept singing. Then when we finished the families little kids all started clapping and they all were yelling merry Christmas to us it was way cool. It felt way good seeing the people’s faces as we sang the Christmas songs from the hymn book. You could see they all felt something and they all really enjoyed it. Hopefully we will see some at the Christmas devotional. During all this it was dumping snow; it was a fun caroling experience. The picture is of us all after we got back to the church.

 
Things are going pretty good. I don't really know what all to say since we'll be talking later this week anyway! Merry Christmas though!! Remember the reason for the season in all you do. Of course we should all of the time but Christmas is a special time and opportunity to remember and serve.

 
Sorry this is short. Hope everyone is doing well!! I love you all and will talk to you on Saturday!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #56 - FRANKFURT

Family!

 
I am doing good mom! And yes standing out in the cold teaching isn’t ideal but I couldn't see anywhere nearby where we could walk to and go inside so it had to be! Sometimes it just happens! I haven't seen the weinachtsmarkt yet, maybe today. If not today then for sure next Monday. Today p-day will be weird because president is doing our interviews today and since its Elder Moffat's last one his will be long. So I will sit in the church and read or something. Maybe the Ences (senior couple in charge of the outreach here) will be here then I could play ping-pong with them. They're super good though and I'm not. It’s nice having a couple in your area, sister Ence cut my hair the other week too! Free haircuts are very good. Oh and with the phone call thing! We are not allowed to skype. You could use skype still to call me and I think that would be pretty cheap. I just have to give you the number of the phone I will be using and you can just call it. That’s the best idea I have. Saves me from buying a calling card and having to figure that out. So let’s do it that way unless you have a better idea. I can give you the exact when and number and all next Monday. I will write it in my planner so I don't forget; you should also remind me in your email ha.

 
This week was pretty cool though! We had a real interesting eating appointment last night. That’s what these pictures are of. It was all really good though. There is a Chinese family in our ward and we are teaching 2 of their friends and they had us all over for dinner after church. As you know I'm not the biggest sea food fan so when I saw the table I was a little nervous. But I decided it was a stupid mental thing and that I would eat it all and it would be good. And it was! These pictures don't even show all the food we had! She would grab a bowl or plate of something else from the kitchen and put it on the table every like 10 minutes. So much stuff. And there was this thing of boiling water in the middle and you would just pick something, drop it in the water, wait a bit and get it out and eat it! They were all super good with chop sticks and elder Moffat and I were not. We struggled a little. Chinese was being spoken the whole time so we were just smiling and eating acting like we kind of knew what we were doing. It made me think about what it would be like to serve in China. It would be way crazy!! Crazy food, crazy language, lots and lots of people that have no idea about God. It would be awesome! I would tell you some of the stuff we ate but I don't even know the names. I decided just to eat and not ask what it was that I was eating ha. I also told them I am Chinese and they were all super excited. Then they had lots of questions and I didn't have lots of answers sadly. I know the story of how our family line goes back to china but as far as I know it stops there. So if anyone knows more about that I would really like to hear it!! Also if we know who the first ones were to join the church on both sides of the family that would be really cool. Like when they joined and what the story is and all. I would really like to know that.

 
This week was cool though! On Friday we had a tausch with the elders serving in Wetzlar. I worked here in Frankfurt with Elder Scheiber, who has been out 4 weeks now! It was tons of fun. The night before though when we were planning we had a big gap of finding time. Since I don't know the city very well I told Elder Moffat I wanted to find a German Family and asked where we should go. He looked at the map and said Bad Vilbel. I felt way good about it when he said that and so that’s what the plan was. So when it got to that point in our day Elder Schneiber and I headed out there. Our 3 hour gap of finding time turned into only 30 minutes because we got lost on our way out there ha. So on the bus we were on there were 4 stops in this stadtteil...part of the town? We didn't know which one to get out at. So I picked a stop in my head then asked Elder Schneiber what he though and he said he felt like we should get out at Kasseler Str. and that’s the one I felt good about too. So we got out there and had 30 minutes until we had to catch the bus back. So we picked a street right by the bus stop and just started doing doors! We did one side without any luck then talked to a couple people walking the road, then went to the other side of the street. We knocked one door and waited and nobody came, then as we turned around there were two girls at the bottom of the stairs and one said 'are you coming to visit us??' I said do you live here? And she said yes. Then I said then yep we wanted to share a Christmas message with you and your family. Then we walked down the stairs to talk to them and the girl leaned in and read our badges then said 'I know your church' so we asked her how she knew our church then she said she did a foreign exchange in Colorado for 10 months and lived with a Mormon family! So we talked to her about that and what she thought about the church and all then asked if we could come back next week to share our Christmas message with her and her parents and she said yes and we made out an appointment! Then we had to run and catch our bus. It was so cool though! The night before we planned to find a German family, then everything worked out for us to be able to do that! I was kind of nervous since we had 3 hours then that dropped down to 30 minutes. But it worked out. It was a huge blessing.

 
Then when we got back to Frankfurt and were going to our appointment we were kind of blocking the side walk walking side by side and this guy said 'excuse me' and walked by us and I registered it was English and said hey wait! Then he stopped and I said do you know us? He got confused and said no. So we explained who we were and he said he was born again Christian and big bible believer. Then he kind of went into why we were crazy for 'believing mormon' and all that. So we asked if we could meet again and talk about it and he said 'well if it’s God's will we will pass each other again and then we can make out an appointment'' and he started to walk away then all the sudden I started speaking and I said 'that’s just an excuse. This is God's will right now that we met and are talking, this is the chance he's given you, and if you don't take it now he won't trust you with another one later' then I thought wo that was weird. But as I said that the spirit was way strong and the guy closed his eyes and was silent for a bit then he said 'what you said is true.' Then he kept thinking and said 'can we meet tomorrow?' so we made out an appointment and he said he'd call us and let us know for sure. He felt it though and knew it was right. The appointment sadly didn't work out. Yea it’s sad but that was his free agency and he decided against what he felt sadly. It was really cool though how it happened. It’s weird how things like that happen though, how people feel so strongly then decide against it anyway. When we are hard at work so is Satan. We must be persistent and never let down. I've had a ton of experiences like this and I guess those people just needed that first brush with the church. Hopefully something will happen later and move them to want to find out more.

 
It was interesting reading Eric's letter today then thinking about his experiences and mine. Our work and purpose is the same but our experiences are so different. God uses us in different ways to help and touch different people. I am very grateful for my experiences though and from what I have been able to learn here so far. God’s love for me and that he knows me becomes more and more real each day. He knows us and gives us chances to learn and grow to move closer to that which He has prepared for us. We need to be ready to act and to do. I can relate a little to how Jacob felt when he wrote Jacob 1:19. Even if the people don't make the progress or correct choices, you still must do all you can. We can never slow down, let down, or give up. For our own sakes and for the people's sake who we are serving. It’s like that quote you sent me at the very beginning of my mission mom from Elder Holland. We aren't only here to serve and help build others, but we are building ourselves. We build ourselves and learn the most when we are in the service of others. I love my mission and I love life ha. There’s a lot about life that you realize on your mission. Lots that you first relate to your mission and all but then you realize how it applies to your whole life and not only your mission. How it’s not only for full time missionaries but for everyone else as well. This last week was cool though, I learned lots. This is getting long and I notice sometimes I just start to type and I don't know how much sense it makes to you all. So I will end.

 
But first here is an awesome quote I got this week!! Think about it:

 
''No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is the only man who knows to the full what temptations means--the only complete realist. (C.S. Lewis, "Mere Christianity")

I love you all!! Be happy and have a good week!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #55 - FRANKFURT

Hello my family! 

We had a pretty good week last week. We were pretty busy and it’s getting colder and snowing and wind is blowing and it’s cold. But it’s ok. Because with that lots of cool things are happening too.

 

The Frankfurt weihnachtsmarkt christmas market? is now up here. We haven't seen it yet, maybe we'll go today. We've heard it’s pretty cool, but every time we go by we are underground in a subway I guess is the word. So we can't really see it ha. But lots of people always get off and on at that stop. The weihnachtsmarkt in Annaberg last year was awesome, we'll see how big city ones compare.

 
On Wednesday and Thursday last week we had a 2 day zone conference/training meeting thing. It was kind of strange but cool. It was from like 10 to 5 both days but luckily we live right in Frankfurt so right when it finished we were able to go work, other missionaries had to travel home and basically couldn't do anything in their area both days. We had to do a couple workshop things at the meeting but they went pretty good. It’s basically just more training stuff like that 3 day training meeting we had at the temple a few months ago. We are supposed to practice and train and practice and train and practice and train. Until they say stop I guess. They said we should be having those training meetings like that at least for the next year though! Pretty interesting but its helping a lot and I really like the stuff. It helps us remember to focus on the people, to be sincere and teach the people according to their needs. I think it’s good they are putting such a big emphasis on it right now.

 
Last week I was able to tausch with Elder Good. It was tons of fun ha. He was golden in Gotha when I was in Nordhausen. He was in the Berlin mission for one full transfer then the next one the mission change happened. So I never got to actually work with him on tausch but at district stuff I did. Now he's here close to Frankfurt and we got to do a tausch. It’s pretty cool to see how much people develop and change. I met him when he was brand new in the field, now he's almost been on a mission for a year. It’s also weird to think back when he was brand new I was fairly new as well. Now I still feel new but realize I'm not.

 
There have been so many new missionaries come in lately. Right now in the mission there are about 60 missionaries who have been out less than 6 months. The transfer coming up there will be 15 new missionaries coming in. that’s so many missionaries young on missions. It’s weird to think I'm one of the 'older' missionaries to them. I still feel super new. But it’s pretty awesome to see how much people develop.

 
Anyway though with Elder Good I called up some guy who had formerly had interested in the church and we made out an appointment with him at the church for later that day. So as we got to the church Elder Good realized his comp. had taken the church keys to Frankfurt. So we couldn't get in. Then the guy showed up and we apologized saying we didn't have keys. By the way it was super cold at this time. Then the guy just said ''well there is a reason you called me today. And it’s ok you don't have keys. Thinking and talking together here about God is more important than being warm'' Then he just said ''we can talk right here''. I was pretty shocked and was thinking 'yea but it’s really cold man' Then I realized that was super selfish ha and that he was totally right. So we stuck the freezingness out and taught him in front of the doors. About 30 minutes in I looked at Elder Good and his hands were in his coat pocket and his coat was like vibrating then I realized he was shaking and was rocking back and forth on his feet then I realized I was doing the same thing. Then I looked at the guy and he was totally calm and just talking to us. I felt bad we were freezing and probably not as focused as we should have been but it was still a really cool experience and I learned a lot. We apologized again at the end and asked if we could meet the next day INSIDE the church and he said yes. So that was good. The Elders in Offenbach will continue teaching him. He was a really cool guy.

Then I got back to Frankfurt and we tausched immediately again! Lots of tausches. Then I was with Elder Collins in Frankfurt. I was kind of worrying since I haven't been in this city very long and it’s probably the biggest city I've been in where I've had to be the leader of getting us places. But we were able to get everyone we needed. We had a lesson with and guy named Michael and Joseph Lersch (former comp.) came with us. It was cool it felt like we were back together in Schwarzenberg. Michael is also way cool though.

 
The day before Shahab's baptism last week there was a blood drive at the church for Red Cross and we were there setting stuff up then we saw Michael and invited him to Shahab's baptism the next day. He came and then after he came up to us and was like 'I would like to be baptized on Dec. 18.' It was sweet! He left the church a while ago and didn't have anything to do with it for a long time, then he came to the blood drive and we just invited him and he said it made him want to come back. So we've organized stuff for his baptism and are teaching him helping him prepare.

 
It’s a blessing to be able to see how much the gospel can change people. That’s like why we have it. To help us leave the natural man behind and become more like Christ. Actually seeing it happen in people and allowing it to happen in you is really amazing. You realize more and more how real it is, that it isn't just something that’s good to help people become better people or improve the quality of your life. It’s really so that we can become more like Christ, so that we can prepare to return back to our heavenly father.

 
I was reading in 2 Corinthians 3 this morning and was kind of confused at the beginning. Because I read the first few verses and felt like they were really cool. But I didn't know why because I didn't understand them. So I decided to study those 3 verses. It was cool! Morning study is one of my most favorite things ever. The verses actually made more sense to me in German and I would share them with you but you wouldn't understand ha. The german words are usually more descriptive I guess. Basically to summarize one of the points I got out of it is that the influence and affect we have on others reflects what is written in our hearts. Like Paul is talking and says that those people are an 'epistle' or reference (german translation) of what is written in his heart. It’s cool he says that those people are like the manifestation of what is written in his heart and that all men can 'know and read'. So people can 'know and read' or understand those other people and understand you better because of the affect you've had on them.

 
Sometimes people try to hide what is really in their heart or deceive themselves or others, but the true effect we have on people is a manifestation of what is really written in our hearts. I've experienced that a lot on my mission. Meeting other people, teaching them, the effect they've had on me and that I've had on them, with other missionaries as well. Sometimes people will exercise their free agency contrary to what you teach, say, or do, but they will have felt and noticed your influence. Lots try to deny it simply because they are scared. But they know and you can know that you have had an effect on them. Hopefully it has been a good one. So I'm going to work on pin pointing more exactly what is written in my heart. If something needs to change I will work on re-writing it, so that I can better influence others for good. You could all think about it too, what is written in your heart? What are the manifestations of that? Or are the things 'referencing' what is written in your heart not what you would like them to be? But as we do this we have to be guided by the spirit. It’s such a blessing to have the restored gospel today. Recognize and utilize this opportunity God has given you to reach your divine potential. And do your part to help others reach theirs.

 
I love you all! Thanks everyone for all of your love, letters, and prayers. You're all always in mine. Have a wonderful week and be happy!!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #54 - FRANKFURT

Servus!
It snowed while I was on tausch up in Koblenz! That’s a picture from it ha, the first snow of the year. Frankfurt didn't actually get snow that day but up in Koblenz we did. Then on the train a few days later I asked a couple ladies sitting next to me when they thought it was going to snow and they were like definitely not this week! Then it snowed the next day. They were wrong, but that’s ok. It’s been snowing since like last Friday or so now. Today stopped a little. Those ladies were funny though I told them where I'm from we don't ever get snow so they were telling me where I could go to so that I could see snow and stuff. They were excited thinking I had never seen snow, I had to explain I had seen and touched snow but that I was just wondering when it would snow here in Frankfurt. Train, bahn, bus conversations are usually pretty funny like that since you are the one asking some random or weird question to start a conversation ha. It’s fun though. Yea and that other picture is just a picture driving down a road here in frankfurt. There’s better places to get the skyline but that’s the only one I have right now.

 
Anyway the last week was good. We took pday today so that we could go to the temple because temple is closed on Mondays. The temple is so awesome! In the session we went to the area presidency was also in there so that was pretty cool. It was kind of a surprise turning around in the hall and running into Elder Teixeira. Yea that was cool though. So that’s why pday is today not yesterday. The last week was super good though. A man named Shahab Khodaverdi, from Iran, got baptized on Saturday! He had a baptismal date when I got here and I had the opportunity to help him the last little bit of the way. It was such a good baptism. I will get pictures and send them next week. But during the baptismal service the church chamber choir (I don’t know what that means), Vocalis, was practicing for a concert and we asked if they would come in and do a musical number and they did! It was awesome. Shahab was beaming the whole time.

 
We are also teaching a couple ladies from China. There is a member family from China and it’s their friends. They basically translate the whole time otherwise it would be super hard to teach them. But they both want to get baptized so we are going to work with them and help them prepare themselves for that. There is also a couple other people who we are teaching who want to get baptized. It’s such a blessing to be able to work with such prepared people. We are working our best to help them all prepare to make the step of baptism. Frankfurt is a cool place. So many people just waiting. Germany is a cool place. It feels like lots of cool things are about to happen here.

 
The Frankfurt mission (which I am now a part of) set a goal at the beginning of the year to have 200 baptisms this year. Right now we are a little over 140 which is double what they had this time last year. So in that aspect it’s a huge step forward, but not quite our goal. So the mission is working hard and everyone is exercising their faith so that we can reach our goal and help these people. There isn’t a lot of time left so miracles are definitely needed, as always. But especially now. It’s a really cool feeling though. Everyone is excited and it’s definitely so possible. I guess there are like 68 companionship's in the mission so if everyone had one baptism the goal would be exceeded. So that'd be pretty cool.

 
As we talked about this goal and what we can do to still reach it last week in the meeting on Monday there was a way cool feeling. President Ninow pointed it out and asked us if we noticed it. He then asked if we were noticing things changing. Things like, people attitudes, our attitudes, our faith, members’ attitudes, lots of things. But that’s what the feeling is kind of like, like some huge change is happening.

 
It reminds me of the pool sand hollow or however it was. There was that water bucket up high that would rock back and forth filling up slowly then it'd rock slower and slower as it got more full. You'd just stand under and wait and start holding your breath waiting for it to tip the whole time. It was like suspense building thing! Half the time you didn't even notice you were holding your breath until after when you took a huge gasp for air and this sense of like relief hit you as the bucket tipped and the water poured out. That’s what it feels like. The bucket is rocking back and forth really slow filling up the last little bit. And our suspense is built up and we're holding our breath waiting for it to tip. The thing is though we have to dump that last little bit of water into it before it tips. We get to be the ones to fill it up the rest of the way and then watch it tip. We get to experience this where it tips and the blessings just come pouring. I'm way excited.

 
We talked a lot about what we have to do and we have to change our complete mindset towards missionary work. Get out of our old habits of how we do it and change to a new a better way where things will get accomplished lots better. We're going to be trying to work lots more with the members.

 
When President Uchtdorf consecrated the land back in February almost all, if not all, of the blessings that were promised were to members, not the missionaries. If we want access to those we have to go through members. We have to figure out what we can do to help them reap this blessings that are promised, that are being held there in that bucket just waiting to tip. Sometimes the water splashes us and a little comes falling down but we want it all to fall. This is probably a really weird comparison or example to you all but it’s what I've been comparing it to in my mind. Also this whole rant about all this is probably really weird to you. But I'm excited about it. We don't just want to hurry up and get our goal, if we do it right we can change missionary work in Germany forever!

 
Something president said was funny. He was talking about our old habits and mindsets of missionary work. Then he was like ''Look, you can either go knock 2000 doors or you can go baptize.'' Because it’s so true ha. Sometimes you get blessed huge and find someone on your own. But the best finding goes through members. So meeting with them and working with them throughout the winter and then after sounds better than spending time in the freezing cold knocking door after door. We must work smarter, not harder. Because working harder and harder in the wrong way isn't going to profit you like you think. It’s like the whole saying 'practice makes perfect'. If you practice continually with bad form or something like that, your performance won't profit you like you want and perfect definitely won’t come from it. Perfect practice makes perfect. Anyway yea that’s basically what’s going on. Currently in the process of changing my mindset towards missionary work. I'm way excited, it’s not way easy, but definitely good.

 
Well anyway! It was thanksgiving. We got invited by a family to dinner. It was awesome. They lived in America and did thanksgiving way good. There are so many things to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my mission, for my family, for the gospel, for Christ and God's love for me. So many more things. I am thankful. Be thankful, notice things. We need to go shop! I love you all. I hope everything’s going good. Be happy!!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #53 - FRANKFURT

Hi!
First happy late birthday mom! I really wanted to write you a letter by your birthday and then by dad's as well but I didn't get it done! I'm way sorry. Happy birthday though. Hope it was good! I will write letters soon. By Christmas for sure. Hopefully earlier but I shouldn't make promises, because it’s hard to find more than 5 minutes at a time ever. But yea, I'm doing good mom. It’s pretty much winter yea, it’s really cold and not cool. It got cold this week. I heard it snows here in Frankfurt so that’s good though. Winter without snow is just cold dark gray and ugly. Snow makes it look good for a little at least. St. George winters are good though ha since there is still sun. But yea winters hit. I think I'm good on warm socks for now. Yea though I'll just get them here if I need some more. And no I didn't do the burn a white shirt thing. We aren't allowed to use fire mom! I can't remember right now if it’s in the white handbook but president Ninow said it so yea. Those rituals are not allowed at least in this mission. So I'm still good on white shirts ha.

 
Anyway though! My new companion is Elder Moffat, he is from Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona. This is his last transfer! Weird. Actually last transfer was his last but he was able to extend. So he goes home at the end of December. It will be fun working hard with him his last transfer!

 
Said goodbye to Heidelberg on Wednesday and hello to Frankfurt! They are 2 very different cities! I really like it here so far though and I'm sure my love for the people and city will just grow with time.

 
I've been out for a year though!! Ah man I can't believe it. I only have that much more time left!! Like Eric I've done a lot of thinking about this lately. So here we live in an apartment building that is like right across the street from the Frankfurt stake Center and the Area Office for the European central area. There are tons of missionary couples and office workers that live in our building its weird you see missionaries all the time. But anyway, Wednesday night we were at the church for a meeting we had with the ward. Then Elder Moffat told me that the departing Missionaries would be coming to the church to have their testimony meeting. It was pretty interesting because he was supposed to be with that group of departing missionaries. When I thought about them coming to the church though I got a really weird feeling and wasn't sure if I wanted to see them. I only knew 3 of the 13 but yea. Elder Chidsey, Elder Bailey and Elder Malyon. I was able to do a few tausches with Elder Malyon when I was in Nordhausen and learned a ton. You could just feel and see how much he loved the gospel and being on a mission.

 
I was standing in the foyer just watching as the missionaries were coming into the building. One by one, then I saw Elder Malyon come through the doors. He had this blank stare on his face, it’s hard to explain. I felt way weird watching them all come in. Elder Moffat and I then had our meeting and were able to catch the last part of the departing missionary’s testimonies. Elder Malyon went last, then Sis. Ninow and Pres. Ninow spoke shortly. It was a good/strange experience. These 13 had served 2 years, and I was almost exactly at 1 year.

 
After the meeting they all came out and were talking in the foyer and I just stood and watched them all thinking about when I would be in their situation. It was a thought that just kind of kicked me in the chest. Hearing their testimonies, thinking about my past year and the year I have ahead of me. Every second literally counts. I can't waste any time. I am forever grateful for the example of these other missionaries. I realized then really how grateful I am that I still have a whole year.

 
President must have seen how I felt because he came over and talked to me for a bit about it all. I'm sure there is, but if there was no other reason why I was transferred to Frankfurt, it was so that I could experience that night. I can't explain how grateful I am for the past year or how grateful I am that I still have another one. I can't explain it or really say it, but I can show my gratitude to god. In that I do everything I can, to achieve my purpose as a missionary.

 
On that night when I watched them at first come through the doors I had this fear that I was done or something I don’t know. Or that I would be soon. Like my heart started going way quick and all then I calmed down and realized I still have a year. It’s crazy though!! It’s like I'm sliding down this huge steep hill way fast and I'm trying to grab grass to slow me down before I hit the bottom but the grass just won't hold me. That’s especially what I felt like I think. I thought about it throughout the night a ton and since. And I figure I just have to enjoy the slide. I don’t know, I don't really have to go home. Like return to the place yes but, who I am now is lots different from who I was when I left home. And who I will be at the end of my mission will hopefully be lots different from who I am now, and I won’t go back to who i was. I could continue telling you more about my thought process for the last week but I'll stop ha. I just love being here. I love being a missionary and am so so grateful that God has given me the opportunity to help in this great work. ....plus grandpa never really came home from New Zealand, I don't have to either ha. Actually I do want to tell you about one more thing I learned lots about the last year.

 
Just about how much God blesses us as we do what we can! I talked about it a little last week. How important it is that we do what we can. When we do that though something amazing happens. We do all we can, work hard, remember Christ in all we do, and then we are promised the spirit. The spirit is a part of the Godhead, therefore a God. So we are promised that the spirit will work through us. When this happens we have a God working through us. Thereby destroying the boundaries of what 'we' can do.

 
We as humans have limits or restrictions. God has none. As we do all we can and then allow the spirit to work through us these limits are no longer there. We can then do anything God sees necessary. I've experienced it for myself and seen it with other missionaries and just members. You don't have to be a missionary for this to happen. It can happen in all aspects of your life. The gift of the Holy Ghost is a gift that I think often goes underestimated. I continue to learn more and more about it and how much of an amazing gift it is. So often though I think I can do something up to a certain point or achieve something specific so I do all I can to do that thing and in the end I am able to do much more. It’s so cool and such a blessing.

 
So yea, don't be ok in living within your human restrictions. You're all children of a God. Act like it. Put off the natural man and your natural restrictions and let the spirit work through you in all you do. Mosiah 3:19. I hope everyone is doing good. Sorry I couldn’t write yesterday, we were in a meeting! Also next Monday I won’t be able to write so it will be Tuesday again. But then it should go back to normal. Have a good rest of the week and enjoy Arizona! I love you all so much!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #52 - HEIDELBERG

Family family!
Another transfer has gone by! This last transfer was way cool. I learned a ton! We were supposed to get transfer calls Saturday but they called and said that we'd get them Sunday night. So we waited, then they called and said Monday morning. Then we waited, and we got them this morning! They were a bit different than we expected!

 
The assistants called and told us about everyone that was staying and we were supposed to call. Then they said alright well we'll let you call them and president will be giving you a call later letting you know what’s happening with you. Which meant there would be changes with us! So we gave the few companionships a call who were staying and waited. Then president called and said so you already got the transfer news? We thought he meant the stuff that we were supposed to pass on so we said yea. Then he said ok so Elder Puriri you know you're being transferred then? I thought about it for a second and was like wait what? No?

Turns out I’m being transferred to Frankfurt! 6 weeks in Heidelberg. Oh man it flew by so fast! I really love the members here and the missionaries I've been able to work with. I’m actually pretty sad to be leaving so soon. We were teaching such cool people and had good plans for this transfer. But I’m also not doubting the Lord, and I know that what’s ahead will be way good too. Just have to take what I learned and keep going. Crazy though definitely wasn’t expecting that one!!

 
This last week though was pretty cool! We did a couple austausches with some sweet Elders. There is so much to learn from everyone!! ha On Friday morning we were going to tausch with the Karlsruhe Elders (yes Asa they have a team in the Bundesliga, also Hoffenheim is in my area), we meet in a little place called Bad Schönborn because that’s where our tickets both end So we hop out of the train switch tickets and go! So we thought we had it organized so that Elder White would go back to Karlsruhe with Elder Howell until Saturday and I would go with Elder Chipman back to Heidelberg. So as our train pulled up Kruhe Elders were ready to switch. Elder white stayed on and I hoped off and to my surprise Elder Howell had an extra bag and they were both looking at me confused. I said Elder Howell hurry get on before it goes. And Elder Chipman jumped on ha, and I was like ‘what get off’. and Elder Howell goes 'wait what? He's getting on. Where’s elder white? so I explained quick how we understood it and Elder Howell said 'no I’m going to Heidelberg with Elder White. Then the train doors started beeping and closing while 3 of us were outside and Elder white was still seated waiting oblivious to the fact what is happening right now. So I jumped in between the doors and said alright everyone get on! Then we went to Elder white who was quite confused to see us all. We figured out they had planned that I go to Kruhe with Elder Chipman. I reminded everyone that 2 of us were riding now schwarz (without a ticket) and that whoever was going back to Heidelberg needed to get off at the next stop and switch trains. It was a pretty funny situation with a lot of confused people. Turns out I went on to Kruhe without any tausch stuff until Saturday. I just bought a toothbrush to survive until I got home the next day ha. In this confusion I had forgotten to give Elder white the keys to our apartment. So they had to sleep in an empty extra missionary apartment in Heidelburg to which Elder White had the spare keys just in case something like this happened ha. It all worked out ok in the end! And the tausch was very good!

 
We are teaching such awesome people! This member I've told you about, GianLuca, just keeps inviting us to teach his friends. It’s so cool! He prepares them all so well then when meet them we hardly have to do anything. The appointments we have with him and his friends are always super spiritual it’s such a cool feeling. We taught them all together and GianLuca's house on Saturday night. They are just way down to earth and want to really find out if God loves them and if what we say is true. It’s been way cool to work with them. I’m excited for them to continue to progress in the Gospel.

 
I've been able to learn a lot while here in Heidelberg. One of the most important things I continue to learn though is how important it is that we do what we can. I mean you yourself doing what you can do. German word is beherrschen. I don’t know a good English word. I guess master, master yourself. Because really the only thing you can ever 100% completely control is yourself. You can and do of course influence everything else around you, but you do not control it. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you yourself are doing everything in your power that you can do. Because if we give up our self control and act in a way contrary to what we know to be right, we are no longer controlling ourselves. Which means we are controlling nothing. Then there is no point! We are here to prepare ourselves to meet God again. And like that thought you sent to me mom, we have the responsibility of our influence. If we are doing our part, mastering ourselves, we are fulfilling our responsibility of influencing others for the better. Being of God, inspiring others to be better.

 
Lately it seems like things are just kind of overwhelming. So many things to think about all the time in order to stay on top of things. Investigators, other missionaries, ward and member work, yourself, tons of individual things! I doubt I've completely understood this but as of now I've decided the best way to figure all that out is to first master myself. Begin with the little things, master them, then the other things will naturally follow. Plus who am I to help others when I haven't got myself yet. The thing is though it’s all connected. In helping others and serving, we master ourselves. Like that quote from last week. So much to do all the time! Like President Uchtdorf said slow down, take a look and begin with the basics, the small things. In doing that everything else naturally follows. I'm going to be working on that. I hope you all will too! The goal is to be a family forever!! This requires everyone doing their part, while influencing the other for the better.

 
I love you all so much! Be happy! I hope you know by now what I mean when I say be happy, there’s lots tied into it! Do your best and have a good week!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #51 - HEIDELBERG

Hellooooo!
Hope everyone had a good last week! We had a very busy week here!! Packed days that just blew by. Lots of teaching which is always fun and cool people we found. Austausch with Kaierslautern Elders. Worked with lots of members too. It was good. That summarizes the week! I'll write again next week!

ha just kiddin I will expoounnd. Good word, I've done good at remembering good English words lately. I don't think my English will be as rough as it was when I got home from my exchange but it will be different rough. After my exchange I just hadn't spoken English very much the last long while. Now we still use English a lot but it’s a limited topic and words and stuff. And I mix up German grammar into English sentence structure and substitute lots of German words in all the time, it sounds really weird probably. Missionaries understand me though! Since I've been here we've taught more in English then I have my whole mission combined. It’s really hard teaching in English! It’s especially hard praying in English, I'm really bad at that now. Good thing German will be the main language for the next while still.

 
Anyway, about the week. Well when I was on tausch with Elder Phelps here in Heidelberg we had a way busy day. It was my second time being in Heidelberg with someone on tausch. My confidence in knowing how to get around the city alone is growing ha. We had a super busy day though with appointments spread out all over the place. So we were constantly going it was sweet. We left Kaiserlautern that morning got to Heidelberg and went all day then got on a train down to Kaiserlautern that night! So it was a quick day tausch. On the train down to Kaiserlautern though we had a funny experience.

I had a DVD I had to give to the Elders in Mannheim when our train went through there so they were going to be at the platform when our train stopped and we were just going to hand it out the door to them ha. Then the Sisters called who had just gotten out of an eating appointment and asked if we wanted food. I said yes but we were on the train going away. Then she asked if we had passed through Mannheim yet and I said no. And they said Perfect! We’re at the train station and we'll just give you the bag at the platform! So you can imagine how this went. It’s a busy station lots of people getting on and off. The train doesn’t stop for too long. So I told the Elders and Sisters to meet us at the front door of the train. The doors opened and there they were, as well as like 20 other people around them trying to come into the train plus people behind me trying to get out. So I stepped halfway out, gave the elders the DVD grabbed the bag from the sisters and stepped back into the train while we all tried to get out of everyone’s way ha. Everyone watching was probably really confused. But it worked out perfect! It was pretty funny.

We had a pretty cool experience on Saturday night though! It actually starts on Monday. So Monday we had an appointment at this building, but sadly it fell out. Nobody was there! So we decided to finish doing doors there. The very last klingel at the top floor a lady said through the speaker box that we could come back the next day. We didn’t have time the next day, or until Friday though. So we went by Friday and made out an appointment with her for Saturday night. Then Saturday as we were getting to know her we asked kinda just like what her expectations were and stuff. Then she told us a sweet story! She said that the previous week she had wanted to find a new church to go to because she didn’t feel good at hers. So she decided to pray about it. Then as she was getting her mail at the bottom of the building she saw in the trash next to the mailbox one of our cards. (Yes I said it was in the trash but it’s ok) She said she saw 'Kirche Jesu Christi' on it and thought well maybe I could go to this church. So she picked it out, saw our church address and walked over and looked at the building. Then 2 days later, (Monday night) we rang her doorbell! I was way excited at the end of that story! Then we taught her a bit about Joseph Smith, and invited her to church, and she came! She liked it and we are meeting with her again tomorrow. Pretty amazing how it works sometimes!

 
Well we don’t have a lot of time today. People are waiting for us! This should be a really good week though, ending with transfer calls already. weird weird. Things are going good though and will go forward. I'm really grateful for the gospel, and for knowledge we have from it. We know who our God is, and who his son Jesus Christ is. John 17:3, we must know the TRUE God and his son Jesus Christ. We get to know them best just like how we get to know anyone else. By spending time with them and talking with them. So, spend time with them, and talk to your Heavenly Father. It is so cool getting to know them! I realize more and more how much they love us. How much they've done for us. It is such a blessing to have the pure gospel of Christ, it’s the best way to get to know the true God and Jesus Christ, who he sent.
I love you all! Spend time with them, and be happy!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #50 - HEIDELBERG

Hello family!!
Mom the pday message was way cool! I've been thinking a lot about that lately. Very good. This last week was pretty good! We were really busy and once again plans were changed quite a bit. As always the positives outshine the negatives. It was a pretty good week! Also it was warm again for the most part! Not always sun but it was still warmer!

So on Monday, we had an appointment with a lady from Ghana named Belinda. We teach her in English so we got Mike and Sarah Taylor to come teach with us. Their young couple from Utah, he's studying here and served in the Hamburg mission. We got to Belinda's though and she wasn't there. Her neighbor came and said Belinda left a note for us on the door and she gave us the note. So we just started talking with her neighbor. She had never had contact with the church before so we basically just explained who we were and what we were doing. Then we started talking about Joseph Smith. Mike started telling a quick version of the restoration and he said 'Then because of all of Joseph Smith's questions and searching he went into the forest near his house one morning and prayed to God. Then God and Jesus Christ appeared to him'. As he got here the spirit was very strong and he just kind of paused. Then she looked at him for a bit and goes 'Well?! what happened what did God say??' She really wanted to know! We kind of laughed then Mike continued. She wanted to know what happened but was pretty set in her catholic faith. At the end we asked her if when we come back to Belinda we could give her a Book of Mormon. She said that would be fine just so she could read it but then she'd give it to Belinda to give back to us. We tried to explain she could keep it but she said no. She said she'd take it though. And we all know that when you take that book in your hand and really read it you don't want to give it back. So I just said 'yep that’s fine we'll be back on Wednesday!'

So then Wednesday came. Elder White was in Ramstein on a tausch and I was with Elder Bergquist here in Heidelberg. We tausched around lunch and after we had 3 quick appointments then something at the church. But for the 2 first appointments we needed to have a member come with us and hadn't organized anything yet. Not good! We usually do better but this day was weird. I didn't know who to call since I still don't know the members all that well here and where they live or what their schedules are like and stuff. Which is good stuff to know to figure out who could come! I'm still trying to get to know all the members better. So I tried and few and nobody answered! I was thinking we might have to cancel the appointments but really didn't want to. So I figured nope something will work out and someone will come. So an hour before I got this thought to call GianLuca. I thought well he's probably in school, plus he lives far away. But I kept thinking that for some reason he is in Heidelberg right now. So I called. He was in Mannheim and just got out of school and was about to hope on the train home which would stop in Heidelberg in 20 minutes. He said yea of course I'll come with you guys, I can be there in 30 Minutes. I was so relieved! He saved the day ha.

So we met up with him and went to Belinda's and had a good appointment. Then we walked downstairs and knocked on her neighbors, Frau Gerein's, door. She opened up and I just said 'Hi we brought that book and were wondering if you had a few minutes so that we could come in and introduce it a little more' She let us right in. Few minutes turned into 30 minutes. She seemed a whole lot more open I guess is the word then she was on Monday. She had an open heart and was listening and understanding. It was really cool. GianLuca has this fire in him as well which is awesome. He just kept telling her how awesome the Book of Mormon is and a bunch of stuff it was way funny. He's such a cool kid. At the end of the appointment she said 'well know I feel like I have to do something for you guys...'' we just said all she can do for us is read the book with an open heart and pray about it. She said she would and that next time we come to Belinda's we could stop by her as well. It was a really cool appointment! Just very real and the spirit was very strong. It’s always so cool walking out of a building just like floating. GianLuca when we got out just started going off about how awesome that was. He's 18 and wants to serve a mission next year and he can't wait. I learn a ton from him any time I'm with him. For moments like that appointment and that spirit that is felt is why I'm here ha. It’s so cool! The feeling we get from sharing the gospel and helping others have spiritual experiences is so amazing.

 
There is a quote from Pres. Kimball I read this week.
''Not only do we “find” ourselves in terms of acknowledging guidance in our lives, but the more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. We become more significant individuals as we serve others. We become more substantive as we serve others—indeed, it is easier to “find” ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!''

We grow the most in serving others. That’s why missions are so amazing. Because you can commit yourself fully to 2 years of straight service! Off the mission though there are still many opportunities to serve. Find them, use them. As we use the opportunities God gives us, he will see they mean a lot to us. And he will bless us with more!

I hope everything is going good for everyone. I love you all! You’re all in my prayers. Make it a good week and be happy!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #49 - HEIDELBERG

HI!

Things in Heidelberg are going good! Unlike Eric though I'm putting on my winter coat and not getting sun burnt at the beach. It’s about time to wave goodbye to the sun here for a while ha. ahh stupid winter. I've decided the only good thing about winter would be snowboarding. I can't currently snowboard though, which means there’s no good thing about winter. Therefore no reason to have winter! We should skip it. Just kidding that’s selfish some people like winter for some reason. Plus that would be contrary to God's plan. So there must be winter. Other then the weather getting really cold all the sudden things are good!

Aunt Moana said Danny met Elder Loynes! Well I guess it'd be Brother Loynes now ha sad. That’s way cool though, I was gonna tell them to have Danny find him there but I guess it worked out anyway! Pretty funny how things like that happen. 

So the week was cool though! Monday we went to the Family Home evening thing they have with the young single adults at the church each Sunday. A member named GianLuca invited one of his friends a few weeks ago and said she was gonna be there again that time. Well we aren't actually sure if they were friends before he invited her or not. It may have been that he was on the tram on the way to the church and just invited her to come with and she did! GianLuca is awesome like that. And she's awesome like that just to come! We scheduled an appointment for later in the week with them though, which was also awesome. The appointment was Saturday night right before the stake conference adult session. We met them there and there were already a bunch of people there getting ready for conference. So we walked around looking for a room and the only empty one was the baptismal font room! Coincidence? Nope. Ha it was cool though. 

We set up chairs in a semi circle thing in front of the font and had the lesson. It was us two Elders, GianLuca, Bianca, Franzi(another one of his friends) and a member from the Darmstadt ward. We were talking about the Book of Mormon and opened to read a part of 1 Nephi 6 and as we said what we wanted to read GianLuca started laughing and looked at Bianca. Then he pulled out his phone, went to a text and showed it to us. Basically Bianca had a question earlier in the week and read in that chapter and got an answer and was so excited she texted GianLuca and told him about it! So we just talked about that experience for her and continued. The spirit was way strong the whole time it was really cool. They are all pretty young but their desire to strengthen their faith in God is so strong! I learned and continually learning from all these people! It was pretty awesome though, then after our lesson they went and enjoyed stake conference!

Tuesday was pretty cool too. We had lots of plans to end the night and to stay busy and for some reason things weren't working out. All out appointments and plans just didn't work. So our backup plan was to go visit some members. We went by and were able to talk to them and share a lesson with them. The wife isn't a member but she sat in the whole time. It was really cool though the spirit was really strong and everyone was feeling it. There was just like this presence in the room. Hard to explain but way cool. We hadn't planned an actually lesson out with them since we had lots of other plans before them. But as I said the opening prayer I thought of something to do and after as I began that Elder White had scriptures and stuff that went perfectly with it. As we left he said he got the same impression during the prayer. It was a really cool experience and then we understood why everything earlier hadn't worked, we were supposed to visit that family that night.

We had that happen a few times this last week where all our first plans didn't work but everything led perfect to our back up plans. At first it was always kind of frustrating then at the end of the day you'd look back and realize how perfect it all went. It’s pretty amazing how God guides us in his work. It is such a blessing to be able to experience this guidance. People think going on a mission is like a '2 year sacrifice' and something we 'have' to do. I've experienced such the opposite. Serving a mission is such a blessing. Its almost like we're tricking God (...which would be bad...and also not possible. but that’s not the point). We come to do his work and serve but we're really getting all the joy. 

Like stuff back home when you agree to do something that to other person seems like you are making the sacrifice. But then you know you actually get lots from doing that. Like working a job for a few hours and getting paid a ton. You walk away feeling like you just got the better end and they got the short end of the stick. I don’t know if I'm explaining this very well ha. But that’s what I feel like sometimes. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I've talked to a lot of Elders who have had to 'sacrifice' way more then I did to serve a mission. You can see their glow and joy. They have no regrets about it. I'm not trying to make you all jealous ha I'm just saying. It’s a very humbling, amazing experience God allows us to have. How amazing it is also depends on what we put in to it. 

I think president Monson said in conference you get what you pay for. You put a lot in you get a lot back. It even says that in the scriptures. I can't remember right now exactly where but I know I read it in the Book of Mormon....maybe Doctrine and Covenants, it’s in there though! In all aspects of life though not just mission. Church each Sunday for example, you prepare yourself for it, go with the right mindset, you get lots out because you put a lot in! Or you go each Sunday because we are supposed to go, and you come back as if it wouldn't have changed anything if you hadn't of gone. We've all had Sundays where we have experienced both. But why have the later one! What’s the point of that. Obviously it’s a commandment from God. We're supposed to do it no matter what. Then why not do it willingly, joyfully, and get lots out of it. The gospel is so simple. Willingly acting is so much better. As we obey our faith is strengthened, our will to obey is then strengthened, and it keeps going. The Gospel is real. Faith is real. The blessings are real. Try it and see! I hope you've all been working on being 'of God'. Continue to do that as you continue to press forward in the Gospel. I love you! Be happy and have a good week!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #48 - HEIDELBERG

Family!!!
We had a pretty cool week this last week. I'm seeing parts of Germany that  when I got my call, I never thought I'd see! This week I was in Darmstadt and then in Karlsruhe. Darmstadt is actually the home ward from Pres. Uchtdorf, its a pretty big ward. One of the biggest in Europe actually. While I was there I was with Elder Damstedt. Its pretty funny his name is 2 letters different from the name of his city he is serving in. He has been in Germany for about 8 weeks now but also did an exchange in Germany before his mission so his German is pretty good. It was one of the more random days on my mission ha. 

After lunch we went back out and were walking to the church for an appointment and talked to a kid in his early 20s, after we had talked for a little he goes 'So I'm really interested and would like to hear more and I have time right now, do you guys want to go sit down on that bench right there?' I kind of just stood there in shock for a second and just said 'Sorry what?' and he repeated and I was like 'yea of course! Lets go sit down!' It was sweet, so we sat down, prayed and taught him about the restoration! He switched contact information with Elder Damstedt and will meet with the elders there. It was cool! Then we got up and hurried to the church. That appointment sadly fell out, so we decided to go do doors in the near. I dont know if you actually say that stuff in english but I dont feel like holding delete and going back and fixing that sentence. So went to go do doors and on the way we talked to a man who was muslim, as we were talking to him I saw a lady riding her bike towards us and so I stepped to the side to let her go by. Then she stopped right next to us and starting shaking all 3 of our hands and just said 'jesus?' and started telling us about how Jesus lives and she was kind of shouting halleluja and amen a lot. Then she started basically tearing the muslim man apart saying that she was told by Christ to be a missionary and trying to tell him how it is. We probably could have just kept walking since they were in a heated conversation about religion and it wasn't accomplishing much. But I found it kind of entertaining so I stood and just listened to her and was trying to keep from laughing. Then the man got mad said something and walked off. Then she turned to us and started telling us we need to find the truth and was telling us about a prophet she met the other day. And other miracles and stuff she has experienced. It was kind of crazy/funny/ultimately sad. Then she prayed for us right there and rode off on her bike! I dont know if she took a breath the whole time she was talking to us then she just said bye and left! I was kind of confused. 

We continued on our way to do doors at place that should have taken 15 minutes to get to but instead took 45. While doing doors we started at the top of this apartment building and worked our way down and we were about at the 3 floor now with like 8 or so behind us. Up until now we had just gotten a lot of closed doors. Then as we walked down the stairs to the 3rd floor I asked how much time we had left and Elder Damstedt said 15 minutes and that we could probably just finish the building and I said "well I hope we dont finish the building in 15 minutes." And I said a little prayer hoping that we would find someone. Then on that floor we were only able to do 3 doors! because each one wanted to hear more so we talked for a bit at the door and made out appointments for later in the week. I called the elders in Darmstadt yesterday to find out how those appointments went and they said all 3 went good and that they will continue teaching them! It was such a cool miracle. Its funny how things like that happen. 8 previous floors nothing at all, then on one floor just 3 back to back. We learn to wait and be patient and to expect that blessings and results will come.

 
Then we had this lady named Marion call us my first day here in Heidelberg and make out an appointment for Tuesday night last week. We met her at the church with a cool member there and were able to teach her. She told us that she was in a clothing store waiting in line and Hans Peter(a member here) just started talking to her and they ended up talking about the church and he gave her a Book of Mormon, invited her to read Moroni 10:3-6 and to meet with us. And she did both! Its so awesome when the members do missionary work. They always find the coolest people. We then met with Marion again Saturday night and taught her about the restoration. It was a very spiritual lesson. The Missionary Couple here was with us and Marion was way open and ready to listen. She is already very faithful and is Christian and everything. But as we taught her I could see her eyes like lighting up. From her comments and questions throughout the lesson you could see that what we were telling her was filling in holes in her beliefs and what she knows. 

The restored gospel is such a blessing. We are not left with doubts, or holes, and when we have questions we are invited to ask and seek and promised we will find. I've put it to the test continually throughout my mission and have been blessed to see that God fulfills his promises to us. I have seen many people who I've had the privilege to teach put this to the test and who have been blessed to receive the answers they were looking for. Marion is one included. At the end of the lesson we asked her if when God answers her prayers and lets her know that our message is true, if she would be baptized. And she said, yes of course. It was a really cool thing to experience. We invited her to church and she came. She loved it! In Sunday School I was sitting next to her and she was taking notes throughout the whole thing and asking me to write down the scriptures for her that were being quoted so she could read them later. She is a really cool lady.

 
I am really grateful for the people that I have been blessed to meet on my mission. I learn so much and they motivate me even more to be better. They're desire and wish to come closer to God is contagious and rubs off. In all honestly that is one of the best things we can do. To inspire others to want to come closer to God. I read a verse this morning that made me think a lot about this. Moroni 7:13 ''But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.'' We must be 'of God'. Giving others the desire to do good, to love God, and then serve him. I've always read this verse and thought about the scriptures, prayer, and other things we have to remind us to do good. Today though I thought that can mean people to! In order to invite and entice to do good continually we must do this ourselves. So my commitment to you all this week is to be 'of God'. I hope to hear how it goes!

 
The gospel of Christ is a blessing. I know because of this that God is our Heavenly Father. That he sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for us. Therefore making it possible for us to be perfect. And because God loves us and this knowledge of what Christ did is so important, it was restored to us through Joseph Smith. I am far from perfect, but I'm trying to get there, as we all are. Because of my Love for God I will try to share this message with everyone I can, and I hope you will all do the same.I love you all so much! Have a good week. Be of God, and be happy.
Elder Puriri