LETTER #11 - SCHWARZENBERG/ANNABERG-BUCHHOLZ

Hi everyone!
This last week was a way good week. We got a lot done and saturday night we got transfer calls. Elder Killpack and I are staying together in Schwarzenberg/Annaberg for another transfer! Its going to be a good transfer. We also found out that President Uchtdorf is coming to Berlin to hold a Priesthood meeting for all the memebers here. President Pimentel talked to him and worked out a meeting for the missionaries too! On Feb. 20 all the missionaries in the Berlin mission will be in Berlin for a meeting with President Uchtdorf. I'm so excited, its going to be awesome. I've never even heard him speak German, it'll be so cool to hear him talk to us as missionaries. Killpack and I were pretty excited when we heard about that!

I'm really glad to hear Eric is doing good. We were pretty shocked when we heard about the earthquake. Of course we heard about it like a week or so after it happened from a member but still. I'm glad to hear Eric and all the missionaries over there are ok.

Last week on wednesday we got to go to the Freiberg Temple! If you are in the Dresden Zone, then once a transfer you get to go to the temple. It was such a cool experience. After the temple Killpack and I did splits with the Freiberg Elders. Elder Livingston went back to Schwarzenberg with Elder Killpack and I stayed in Freiberg with Elder Taylor. I worked the rest of that day with Elder Taylor, stayed the night in Freiberg, then Killpack and Livingston came back and we switched back that afternoon. It was cool working with Elder Taylor. Pretty funny too. We used to be in the same ward, had some of the same classes together school, now we just worked together as missionaries in Freiberg. Pretty crazy.

On friday Elder Killpack and I got to go to a school and talk a little bit! Thats not even legal in Germany. This investigator was doing a presentation on the differences between the LDS Church and the Lutheren Church, and she asked us to come. She talked to her teacher and the principal or whoever and they said it was ok if we came. As long as we didn't try to start teaching or anything. The class was all kids pretty our age, and we had no idea what to expect. So at first we were just like show and tell, then she had us introduce ourselves and tell a little bit about what we do. Then at the end of her presentation she said the class could ask us questions. Then everything just went from there! All the students started asking all kinds of questions, even the teacher was asking questions. Then the teacher had to cut the thing off and all the kids kept saying they needed another hour to talk to us. Then one of the students said we should stay for the next class, then the teacher said that was fine with her. So we stayed for the class then they had like a 30 minute break after that before their next class. During that break all the kids gathered around us and started asking questions again. We taught as much as we were allowed to in that setting and just talked with them. A few other teachers came in and asked what were we doing there and looked kind of mad. Then after we talked to them for a little they liked us too. It was such a cool experience. As we were leaving all the students told us to come back when we could it was cool. We are going to see if we can get them to come to an english class we help with at the church, then invite them to church! Elder Killpack said he had never done anything like that his whole mission.
Missionaries aren't allowed to go into schools but everyone seemed to like us and they all invited us back! One of the kids even asked where the church was, what time it was at, and if he could come! Hopefully we can get more then just one out of all of them to come though. It was really cool. The lord creates so many different ways for us to share the gospel. We couldn't really teach in that setting, but it felt like we were teaching by just being there. People can see the light in a person and they recognize something is different about them.

While Elder Taylor and I were walking around Freiberg talking to people we started talking to this student at the university there. He was walking back to his house so we were walking with him and mostly just listened to what he was saying. After we had shared a quick message with him he said 'I see you guys walking around the streets all the time. Nobody walks around anymore with a smile on, nobody seems to be happy. Every time I see you guys you are always happy and smiling. Even when someone just yelled at you on the street, you keep going being happy. I don't get it, but I really like it.' We explained to him why we are so happy and that that is another reason we are here, is to share this joy with everyone else. I've always been told me whole life 'be a good example, everyones watching'. I never really thought about it though or really took it seriously, until this guy said that to me on the street. People are always watching and always notice. I am grateful to be able to share this gospel and this real joy with everyone I talk to. Even with those I don't talk to. Everyone can share the gospel simply be their example.

Thanks everyone for the letters, love, and prayers. They always help out. I hope everybody is going good. Have a good week and be happy! Love you all so much!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #10 - SCHWARZENBERG/ANNABERG-BUCHHOLZ

Hello Family!!
Hope everybody is doing good. This last week was sweet. Tuesday we went to
Dresden for a Zone Conference. President Pimentel gave a cool talk about instructing
and edifying, I learned a ton. I met all the missionaries in the Dresden Zone, we had
a few workshops then it was back to work in Schwarzenberg. Elder Killpack and I
were a little worried about the week because we were going into Wednesday without
having a lot done in the last two days. It was crazy though the rest of the week was
packed and it was probably the most productive week of the transfer (transfer is 6
weeks. That’s pretty much how missionaries keep track of their time out here. You
don't ask how many months they've been out, you ask how many transfers. You
have 16 transfers out in the field, I get 17 though because I fast tracked through the
mtc. First transfer ends this coming weekend, crazy!).
This next week should be a good week. We have a lot of stuff planned, and its the
last week of the transfer. The transfer flew by its crazy. If I would have spent normal
time in the mtc, I'd be getting to Germany next Monday! Glad I didn't have to do
that. Elder Killpack and I are expecting to remain companions in this area but who
knows what will happen really. Hopefully we get left here, we still feel like there is a
lot to get done. We find out on Saturday if either of us is getting transferred or not.
I'm excited for this week though. Its been snowing a lot lately still but its gotten
slightly warmer. The members keep telling us it’s supposed to be getting warmer so
hopefully they are right.
The work in Schwarzenberg/Annaberg is going good. We got 3 new investigators this
week it was awesome. We also taught of ton of lessons with members. The members
here are so supportive and help us out any time we need, its so cool. I'm still
learning how to teach in German buts it’s getting better. We taught so much this
week I got a lot of practice and I feel a lot better and more comfortable with the
gospel talk. That's where the spirit comes in though, even when I'm stumbling over
words or I'm not organizing the sentence right or whatever, they understand and the
spirit gets to them. Last night we taught a guy for the first time with a member from
the Schwarzenberg ward with us. It was going good but Elder Killpack and Bruder
Ebisch were pretty much leading the whole thing. Then the guy asked a question and
I all the sudden just went off about how you can gain a testimony. I was trying to
help explain stuff and talk as well but that time everything just flowed out of my
mouth. Things like that happen every day its so crazy. My favorite thing that
happened this week happened on Friday during our weekly planning session. We
made a list of all the people we wanted to teach next week and just passed the
phone back and forth and called one by one and made out appointments like crazy.
Then Killpack called this one lady and she said she wasn't doing so good and then
she asked us to pray for her granddaughter, of course he said we would. Then he
asked her to come to church on Sunday and if we could teach her next week. She
said she couldn't make it for church and she would call us back and let us know if we
could come by next week. He got off the phone with her and said she asked us to
pray for her so we were planning on just doing it that night in companionship prayer.
Then we went up to help a member teach an English class to non-members. During
that class our phone rang and elder Killpack went out and answered it. After English
he told me that lady that asked us to pray for her called. She called and was so
happy and said 'remember how I asked you guys to pray for me, well it worked, your
prayer worked! I knew it would! My son just called and said everything is totally fine
with my granddaughter and she is going to be fine. I'll be at church on Sunday and
you guys can come teach me next week.' Elder Killpack said he was just in shock the
whole time on the phone. It was so cool! We hadn't even really prayed for her yet.
God definitely helped her and blessed her. She came to church and was telling
everyone we prayed for her and how happy she was, she was disappointed it wasn't
fast Sunday. She thought she could get up and tell everyone the story; we had to
explain that’s only on fast Sundays. She now has a testimony of prayer. Elder
Killpack and I didn't even do anything; God blessed her and has opened her heart to
us. I know God knows every one of us personally and knows exactly what’s going on
and what we need. He loves us so much I can't even comprehend it. We can see
evidences of his love all around us; we need to do our best to show our love back.
I'm really grateful to be here on a mission, to be able to see miracles like this every
day, and to be able to share this love with everyone I meet.
I hope everybody is doing good. Thanks for the all the letters, love, and prayers. It’s
cool to hear how Eric and Greg are, I'll probably write them today. Keep us all in
your prayers, your in ours. Have a good week and be happy! I love you all!
Elder Puriri

CHECK IT OUT

Elder Killpack's family.  They live 5 minutes away from Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Pretty cool eh!

HANGING OUT WITH THE ELDERS

I'm here at Grandpa and Grandma's in Sandy showing Grandpa how great the blogs can be.  I showed him Isaac's mission blog and to our surprise, this was picture was there.  Isaac, hanging out with the other missionaries in his district.  I think it was interview/transfer day.  And I think Isaac survived transfers.

Later on today we are going to visit Isaac's companion's family here in Sandy.  I'll probably take pictures and post them...cause that's what I do.

LETTER #9 - SCHWARZENBERG/ANNABERG-BUCHHOLZ

Hi Family!
Yes I'm getting your letters! They are the best thing to get, emails are cool but the hand written letters are sweet. The letters you sent on the 30th I got on the 6th, so it took about 7 days. Not too bad. I'll write everyone back today if I can. I only ever really have time to write on Mondays. Bob (Marley) always has the answers! I miss not being able to listen to him. An elder from Spain in my district in the MTC loved him too and he would always sing the redemption song ha. He's the only other elder I've met so far that knows Bobs stuff.
I'm glad Ammon and James are still doing stuff together though. Has James been around much? I've never had to really shop for my own groceries before, its weird! I go Monday, buy a bunch of food, take it all home...and eat half of it right then! Then I realize I definitely didn't buy enough, it happens every week! Except I hate spending a bunch of money on groceries so I'm gonna have to learn to not eat as much or something ha.

Anyway, this last week was way good! Tuesday we did splits so Elder Killpack went to Dresden and Elder Clawson (serving in Dresden right now) came to Schwarzenberg. Elder Clawson and I got a lot done and it was cool to see his different style talking to people compared to Elder Killpacks. They both have their own styles and both work pretty well, and I can see what I like, use that, and then add my own stuff to it. The splits are definitely good. Wednesday afternoon we switched back and went on with our regular routine.
There was already lots of snow, then a storm hit like that night or something and its been snowing since. So it’s been hard to go out and walk around the streets to find people because nobody wants to talk. Everyone just wants to get back home and out of the cold.

So things were a little slower the last week but we're finding stuff to do. Like shoveling ha. I don't even remember the last time I shoveled snow but I've been doing it every day lately. Elder Killpack keeps saying we're on a service mission now, put away your Book of Mormon and get out your shovel ha. Driving around in the snow is pretty adventurous too, we're definitely blessed. We drive around a lot because of the two cities we work in, and we always get where we're going safely.

Yesterday we were in Annaberg for church, we switch between the cities each week. Then we had lunch with the bishop and his family after. The members in these wards are amazing, they are all like big pioneers, and the bishop loves missionaries. Most the time we talked about his history in the church and then the missionary work going on right now. Coming out of the lunch appointment yesterday I had like a fresh new desire to help the ward grow. I'm grateful I got to start out in this area with these two awesome wards.
This week during study I read an awesome scripture, Alma 31:5. It’s when Alma is getting ready to go teach the Zoramites if I remember right. That scripture tells us how powerful the gospel is though and what it leads men to do. It’s so true, knowing the gospel and living it will always lead you to do what is right. It is more powerful than any other thing. Every single day I read things that are incredible. I used to think people were crazy for reading the scriptures all the time, now I'm one of those crazy people. I love it though, my favorite time is study time in the morning when I can just read all I want. I learn so much everyday I just hope I can retain at least half of it.

Everything has been going good. This week we have Zone Conference in Dresden, and then we might do a split with the Elders in Freiberg. Elder Taylor is in Freiberg right now so maybe I'll do splits with him, that'd be pretty cool. This is the fifth week of the transfer, so one more week after this and this ones over! It flew by. Elder Killpack is pretty sure neither of us is getting transferred so we'll probably still be together in this area which is pretty sweet. I'm excited to be able to share my testimony and love for this gospel with people every single day. All the snow I think makes it a little warmer which is always good.

Everything is going good! I hope everyone is good and happy! Have a good week. I love you!
Elder Puriri

LETTER #8 - SCHWARZENBERG/ANNABERG-BUCHHOLZ

Family!
I hope everyone had a good new years! Ours was pretty good. We had to be homeat 6 on the 31st just as a safety precaution. Apparently missionaries get fireworks thrown at them and the people are pretty unpredictable with their alcohol and it being new years and all. So we got home early and wrote some letters and got to bed early that night. Then we were woken up at midnight by all the fireworks going off, it was pretty cool though. All in all though this last week was good. We had a lot of appointments scheduled that didn't work out so we ended up just doing doors and finding people on the streets most the time. Its fun doing doors though, people have to come to the door and open it and talk to you. They cant just walk away, although they can shut their door on you. Which does happen sometimes but its ok. The first day we did doors we made two appointments out back to back it was awesome. I think they might have felt bad for us because it was cold, dark, and snowing pretty hard but I thought it was fun ha. We taught these two ladies this week who apparently have been investigators for over like 5 years. We taught one about prayer and asked her to read Enos, we told her we were going to ask her about it on Monday(later today!) and see what her experiences were. When we taught the other one, we taught the atonement. What Christ did for us, why he did it, what it means, and then our part that we have to do as well. We hit the atonement really hard and the spirit was there so strong. John 16:33 alone is such a powerful verse. When we really realize what he has done, our love for him grows so much. It also makes us want to make sure other people know what he did. Its such a profound thing that was done for us out of pure love, when we talk about it and testify of it the spirit is always there. It was the first lesson Elder Killpack and I taught together where everything just flowed. I was able to teach and say whatever I wanted and so was he. It was the first lesson I've taught where I felt like I was helping and doing my part. It felt so good. It was something she needed to hear I think and Elder Killpack and I were able to teach it by the spirit.
 

Being out here on a mission is a crazy to think about. I have two whole years to commit completely to the teaching the gospel. I spend all day everyday reading the scriptures, planning lessons, finding people, and sharing my testimony, it’s the best feeling! I don’t have to worry about anything else except for 'how can I help this person come unto Christ'. Focusing on this helps me come unto Christ and my relationship with him grows every day and for that I am really grateful. Everyday I read something in the scriptures that amazes me, renews my spiritual strength, and my desire to share this with other people. I'm about 1 1/2 months into my mission. This means I still have like 22 months to do this! I'm excited to see what’s going to fill these 22 months.
 

Everything is going good, its been snowing a lot lately which adds more to the whole 'narnia' look of this area its pretty cool. Elder Killpack and I are learning a lot and having fun. Other then walking around in the cold most the day, everything is awesome. I hope you are all doing good. Have a good week and be happy! I love you all so much

 
Elder Puriri