LETTER #100 - GOTHA

Hi!

When we email on Tuesdays we just cut our pday short on Monday then take that time on Tuesday to email. But we are in Erfurt so we wont have to do that today. That also means though I am going to have to make this a bit shorter so that we can get everything done here today. 

Dads hair does look pretty crazy ha. My hair is pretty short. I was sick of paying for haircuts so a couple pdays ago in Erfurt I just had one of the other elders shave it ha. He used the longest thing but it was still pretty short. It caught me off guard since i had never done that. It grows back though, and it was free!

 

We had a good past week though! We were able to work a lot with the members and those who need help right now. On Sunday we had a pretty cool experience. It actually started back in the first week of the transfer. I can't remember if I told you or not but we visited a bible study group in another church. It was pretty cool, the people were way nice. Then this last week we were doing doors out in one of the nicer areas of Gotha. Then we doored into a lady that was at that bible study. We talked for a bit then asked if she had ever heard of the Book of Mormon. We were able to introduce it and explain a bit. Then as we gave it to her and were leaving she invited us to their Sunday service. So we decided we could go since it was in the afternoon and it would give us an opportunity to ask her if she had any questions or anything like that. So as we showed up the peopel who recognized us were way friendly. Yea I think I did tell you about this. The guy that lives in the church kind of. His house is just connected I guess. He was way happy to see us and we sat by him. 

I was really impressed by the sermon that a young man gave maybe like 27 or so years old. It was solid and full of truth. After I went and thanked him for it and I think he was a bit surprised ha since we were LDS missionaries and all. The guy that lives there though invited us back to the bible study on Thursday and asked us if we would prepare a 15 minute presentation. We are supposed to tell a bit about our faith, where we are from, and how we came to being here. Such a good opportunity! It will be way cool. I've always wanted to do something like this in other churches ha. We are going to look for more here in Gotha and build up relationships. 

Präsident Schwartz suggested we start trying things like this since we will find people that are already way faithful there. So we are trying it out. We will go by on the lady we gave the Book of Mormon to and see if she is interested to learn more.

 

It was really interesting to sit and listen to that guys sermon. He was so sincere and understood the bible really well. Full of truth and a desire to change for God and allow the gospel to change him. He could have been teaching that in our church. I was surprised because I didnt expect anything as solid as that. So many people are full of light and truth and love god. I just wanted the whole time that he would read the Book of Mormon. We in no way want to take away what these people already have. We just want to give them more, add to their blessings. I could feel the whole time how full of light the guy was but at the same time it felt like something he was constrained in some way. If he just heard the restored gospel it would set him free! More truth. Just as Christ said, the truth will set you free. He would be able to make even more changes, and affect others on their way even deeper, and follow God even more sincerely.

As I went up to talk to him after he seemed surprised and a bit hesitant to talk with me. So I just thanked him, asked for his name and a copy of his sermon. Hopefully he is there on Thursday and we can talk a  bit more. Its so cool to meet people who sincerely desire to do good and follow God. The restored gospel is a blessing and help for all. Those who already have will be given more. We just have to allow the spirit to touch them and they must open their hearts to recognize that amazing thing being offered to them.

 

Things are going well in Gotha, we are keeping busy and beginning to work more with the ward to accomplish our goals. Lots to do and under pressure ha. I hope everyone is doing well! I don't know what foot drop is though but that brace thing for ammon sounds pretty cool.

Have a good, productive week! Love you all!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #99 - GOTHA

Hello!

First sorry this is a day late again. We pretty much can't email on Mondays in Gotha. Well we could but all the places we could are casinos and such and it wouldn't look good for missionaries to go in and out of those places. So we waited until Tuesday so that we could go to the library. We will most likely continue to do that unless we go to Erfurt or something then I can write on Monday.

We had a good week though it being transfer week and all. Monday was a normal day then Tuesday pday and we went to Erfurt with all Elder Rechters luggage so we wouldn't have to make the trip twice. We spent the evening with the Erfurt Elders then up on Wednesday and helped the Elders to the train station. Elder Gardner and Wilkinson and I spent the day working in Erfurt until our companions came. The Erfurt Elders have a car and I was the only one who could drive and since we had appointments far away I was able to drive. So that was nice to drive again. I wasn't so sure how it would be since I haven't driven since like...March 2010 or so. It was good though and nice to be able to do it again. It felt like I was actually an adult ha driving a car instead of walking around all day. We met our companions at Banhof in the afternoon then it was off to Gotha! 

Elder Sherman is way cool. On the train back to Gotha the announcer came on to say what stop was coming next. He had a pretty good east germany/thüringen dialect, I had to listen really close to understand everything he was saying. Elder Sherman looked at me with big eyes having not understood anything and said ''I was warned about the dialect''. It was pretty funny, but luckily not everyone speaks with a strong dialect. I actually think its less common then speaking mostly normal ''hoch deutsch''.

While in Erfurt Elder Gardner told us about how he had visited another churches bible study group. I thought that was sweet so when we got back to Gotha I looked up Churches in the phone book and called to ask if they had bible study groups and if we could come. The first Pastor I talked to wasn't too excited about 2 mormon missionaries coming which I guess is understandable...kind of. So he said he would rather meet with us first alone at our church and talk and then we could see where things would go, I was totally ok with that ha. Sadly he hasn't called us back yet so we'll give him a call this week.  

The next guy though was pretty excited and invited us to go. So we went last thursday and it was cool. We walked in a couple minutes after it started and the Preacher was  a bit shocked to see us since it wasn't him who I talked to and who invited us. But the guy who did hopped right up and came and shook our hands and showed us our seats. It was pretty cool though. They were open and nice. We read something out of Ephesians and the Preacher taught a bit. Something I really liked that he talked about was Gratitude. He said ''If we are not grateful and do not thank God for what he gives us, we are in a way putting ourselves above God. Suggesting that he didn't bless us enough or that he should have done something differently, as if we know better.'' So cool. Being grateful and showing it keeps us humble. Towards our fellowmen and towards God. 

We pretty much have no right not to be grateful to God. Mosiah 4:9, we cannot comprehend everything. Gods perspective and vision is much better then ours. He knows what things must happen and how, so that we in the end can receive the greatest blessings, and so he works accordingly. Our impatience or ungratefulness blind us, often causing us to become bitter towards God. If we really think about it though, by acting in such a way we are claiming God didn't do something right...which would mean we know better. And we of course do not know better. Therefore trust in God, ''believe that man doth not comprehend all things which the Lord can comprehend'' and be grateful for everything!

Then after the bible group the guy that I talked to on the phone and then welcomed us so warmly came and offered us a ride home. Turns out the church is connected to his house so him and his wife take care of all of that. So as we were getting ready to go he stopped and asked if we had already had dinner, to which we replied yes (although we hadn't, but we knew what was coming) then he said ok otherwise you would have got dinner from my wife. It was late though and we needed to go so it was alright. He drove us though and we were able to talk a lot. He was way nice. Hopefully something will come of it, we still need to figure out how to best go about keeping contact and all.

The rest of the week we spent mostly planning for the transfer and looking for people who want to hear our message! Sunday we had Stake Conference in Erfurt so that was cool. It was packed so they had us missionaries sit up on the stand so there would be more room for the members. It was cool to see so many members together here. President and Sister Schwartz were both there and also spoke.

Yesterday then as we were out talking to people we talked to a guy in front of a restaurant. He doesn't belong to a church but believes in the bible and is quite faithful. We talked for a while and at the beginning he was very against the Book of Mormon and what our message was. He used a lot of bible stuff to show us we were wrong, to which we simply re-quoted it but in context and correctly and then he would try to find something else. Eventually he was a bit more open to listen and we gave our testimonies of the Book of Mormon again. He said yea but the bible has changed me and I am sticking to it and the Book of Mormon will not change me. We gave testimony again and promised him the Book of Mormon would change his life. He then paused for a bit and asked, really? We gave testimony again then he put out his hand and said, ok give me it. He said he would read and see what happens. It was interesting to watch him change throughout the conversation. He was so attacking at the beginning and closed. By the end he was giving his testimony of God and telling us the Book of Mormon could be true. I was trying really hard the whole time not to just use all the scriptures he was using at us back on him to show he was wrong. I didn't want to argue or ''prove'' anything simply by fact or logic. Sometimes a bit of that is necessary but its always hard to know the limit. We tried very hard to just focus on the spirit and bear testimony, to which he responded in the end. So we will keep in contact and hopefully start to meet with him. Turns out he owns the restaurant or something and invited us to come eat sometime. We will see what happens!

It has been interesting to have so many of those experiences with such closed people. From the beginning of my mission until now, so many people we speak to instantly turn to attack us or ridicule us, then without allowing us to answer will go away. It has always been amusing to me how people behave but at the same time it is so sad. You learn a lot of self control and forgiveness in dealing with those people. Throughout my mission it has been a constant thought on how to best answer them. You feel bad with using simple logic, common reasoning, or fact; but they hardly respond to the most heartfelt testimony you can give in that moment. You have to learn to trust God and pray that even though they walked away after your testimony that your words will stay with them and help them eventually. One of the most common things we get every single day is people just saying ''There is no God, if there was there wouldn't be so much suffering on earth'' or ''If there is a God he is a terrible God for causing and allowing so many bad things to happen''. This thought is so hard for me to hear. I so often want to respond quickly and sharply to such ignorance but that accomplishes nothing. God definitely helps me to bear such things with patience and to respond as lovingly as I can. I have also tried to never just have superficial love because I am supposed to. So in taking their bitter words and swallowing them and then replying as positively, sincerely, and lovingly as possible I have been able to grow a lot. I have learned often the response I would give annoyed with such comments is the same one I give when I try hard to be sincerely loving. The manner however in which I respond is completely different and that is what has the effect. You have to consider their life experiences, their growing up, what their surroundings have been, then you better understand their responses and you can respond with understanding. There is so much involved! Its crazy, but is so good to learn.

Sunday we were doing doors and people we not responding so happily. We were outside apartment buildings ringing on the speaker box talking to people. As Elder Sherman was ringing someone a lady walked by behind us towards her car. I spoke to her and she responded ''Not for me. If there was a God there would not be so much suffering in the world'' then she turned to get in her car. I said ''If the people would listen to God and apply what he has given THEN there wouldn't be so much suffering'' With her back turned and getting into her car she said ''Go tell that to those big people who have influence and are causing the problems. Us little people can't change anything''. Then she drove away. I stood there and thought about that. How mistaken she was! Each individual can change so much! That is what it is all about. It is not about changing the masses, it is about changing the individual, thereby affecting the masses. Each individual person must experience a change of heart worked only by God. Each ''little person'' must do their part and allow this to happen. Once that is accomplished much of the worlds problems will simply pass.

Keith B. McMullin said ''As men and women and boys and girls do their duty to God, they feel impelled to do their duty to one another, to their family, to their church and nation, to all things entrusted to their care. They are duty bound to magnify their talents and to be a law-abiding, good people. They become humble, submissive, and easily entreated. Temperance conquers indulgence; obedience guides their diligence. Peace distills upon them. Citizens become loyal, communities become benevolent, and neighbors become friends. The God of heaven is pleased, the earth is pacified, and this world becomes a better place.''

''Us little people'' have great responsibility. We must recognize this. We cannot simply blame God and not do our part to change anything. "Pray as if it all depends on God, then go work as if it all depends on you." The future state of mankind depends on ''us little people''. What we do, what we allow, what we approve, if we stand for our beliefs, or if we shrink in doubt and fear. The world is in desperate need for individuals who will not tolerate the things of the world that erode the foundation of mankind. It is in need of individuals who will stand up and speak up. Who understand and believe that things can be changed. Each person is a child of God. And deep inside their ''conscience'' pulls at the heart and tells them what is right and wrong. We who are aware of this and have the light given us to see and understand are responsible to act. Each is accountable to their ''conscience'', and each has felt at one point or another the approval or disapproval of ''conscience''. Each is therefore accountable to their true identity as a child of God. Martin Luther said ''I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.'' We must come to this conviction.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said ''In leadership, in standing for principle, there is loneliness. But men and women of integrity must live with their convictions. Unless they do so, they are miserable.... Never in the history of the world has there been a more profound need for leaders of principle to step forward.''

We need to do our part to prepare ourselves to be tools in God's hands in these desperate days. There is a God, and he does love us. He is active in the world today through those who cleanse themselves and allow him to use them.

 

I hope you are all doing well, looks like ammon is doing pretty well which is way good to see. Make it a good week! I love you all!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #98 - GOTHA

Hello!

Transfers have come again and now we are done with the five week transfers to align us with whatever it was the church was trying to do. Elder Rechter is being transferred though and I am getting Elder Sherman who is also pretty young on his mission and is from California and thats all I know about him so far. It will be good though, sadly probably quick. Its really hard to comprehend how all the time has come by and now I'm at this point. We'll keep busy this transfer though and do the best we can to help the people here in Gotha come closer to Christ.

Conference was really good. We were able to see all the sessions except Sunday afternoon. Hopefully we can watch that next pday or so. It really is so cool to have a living church. To have prophets and apostles. To have revelation functioning in the church. Watching conference and just listening to it is so apparent that these messages are needed today and exactly what God would have us, his children, know at this time. And considering President Monson is not only the Prophet of our Church but for the whole world, the messages make even more sense. 

The principles and messages received and delivered by those who spoke at General Conference are of course for the members of the Church. They are also for everyone else on earth though! Many of the messages delivered are not widely accepted thoughts or principles in the world. Many people simply get annoyed or angry when such things are taught or expected of them. There are many arguments against such teachings saying that they are only there if you want. Which I guess is true. But if you think about the greatest true joys in life, and the greatest joys after this life and you want them, then these principles are not just there if you feel like it, they are there of necessity. And in no other way will you access such joy. According to the eternal laws of truth, it can be done in no other way. Regardless of people trying and claiming to be accomplishing it, they are simply blinded and/or in denial. 

It is a free message for all to hear and accept and the invitation is constantly extended. As Elder Christofferson said it should not be like getting a bucket of cold water thrown at you when such a message is extended towards you. It is one of the saddest things to witness so often the bitterness in people towards such saving principles, spiritually as well as physically. It is sad to watch people battle brutally in the other direction trying to get the same goal you have, but in a way in which they simply will not succeed. 

Cecil B. Demille said ''It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law" and so it is. Eternal truths will ever be present. They will save us or damn us in the end. It is therefore our responsibility to inform ourselves and act accordingly. The saying ''ignorance is bliss'' is completely wrong, and ''what you don't know won't hurt you'' is right there with it. In the end nothing will hurt you more then what you do not know. That is why we are out here trying to spread this knowledge as quickly as possible. That is why the men and women who spoke this last weekend devote their lives to the church. Because the mission of the church is to spread Truth, help others apply it, and to make it available to those who otherwise could not have accessed it. 

Christ taught ''And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free'' (John 8:32). We are not here to condemn people and tell them they are wrong, we are not trying to claim we are better. We believe and know the truth of these things. We have felt in our hearts that these things are true, that they are reality. We desire that others feel this as well, that they also live after the Restored Gospel of Christ so that they in the end may also return back to our Heavenly Father. We do not exclude anyone, for God desires everyone to return back. It is the work of true love for God and our fellow men.

In the process of it all it is essential that we ourselves continually learn, apply, and grow. The message can be brought to our heart by a family member, a friend, a speaker from conference, a child, a captivating scene in nature, a verse of scripture, and many other sources. If we do not do our part to allow that in and to let it work in us as we appropriately nourish it, then we cannot rightfully expect to learn of the truth and have a confirmation from God thereof. We should often ask ourselves if we have really done our part to know, and then answer honestly. Take the chance to allow it in. Trust God that he will work this mighty change in you. 

Once you have experienced it, you must work to preserve the hearts mighty change (http://lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/preserving-the-hearts-mighty-change?lang=eng). 

I fully believe the Restored Gospel of Christ is true. The things I have felt and experienced throughout my life can be explained in no other way.

I am very grateful for our family and that God has so greatly blessed us. I hope you are all doing well. Listen to, read, and study conference. Do not fight against the feelings telling you to apply something you learn which may require you to step out of your comfortable life and change something about it. Only in this way will you have the peace and joy God wants to give you! 

Please do not take it for granted or brush it off as nothing. I know that it will help you. It may be hard or inconvenient to learn and apply such things in the world today, but honestly when was anything worthwhile convenient or easy? I'm pretty sure never. There is always an easier wrong or more convenient no. Push past those and the mediocre rewards of such choices and take your claim on the greater more meaningful things God has for you. You will not regret it.

I hope everything is going well. Make the most of the week and look for opportunities to serve!

I love you all!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #97 - GOTHA

Hi!

The week felt like it was  2 days long with all the things we had to do. I was able to go back up to Nordhausen though for a quick tausch, then we were in Nürnberg which was cool, then sadly things with Schwester Lind's baptism didnt work out. She had some family problems so we will see where things go from here. It was a good week other then that though!

Since this is the last week of the tranfser we are in erfurt again for pday to play soccer with the other elders so yep this is going to have to be a quicker email, sorry! Transfer calls come this saturday night though. I get nervous thinking about how time is going by.

Monday and tuesday last week were normal days, then that was the end of that. We had a 6 hour tausch or so with the Nordhausen Elders Wednesday. It was up to Nordhausen then back down to erfurt in the same day so we could stay the night in Erfurt. Our train left Erfurt at 5:20 with about a 20 minute walk to the train station and still needing to get tickets meant we would need to go leave the apartment by 4:45 or so. With six elders in the apartment needing to shower still and get ready for the day. That meant the first elder getting up at 2:50, showering and waking the next person up then heading out. Each had about 20 minute turns which gave us enough time. Those who got up first went back to sleep until the last couple were up. So my day started at 3:30 and I didnt get back to sleep! Then the trains ended up all being late and delayed so we were over one hour late to zone conference (our whole erfurt zone ha). Then we didnt get back to Erfurt that night until 10, then we caught our train to gotha and we were home and in bed a bit after 11:30! So it was a long tiring day. A good one though.

Friday then was a quick day which ended with President Schwartz coming to Gotha and teaching Schw. Lind with us and him talking to her. It was pretty cool teaching a lesson with the mission president, I had never experienced that before. Schwester Lind is amazing. She has such a strong testimony of the restored gospel. Her family is sadly not so excited about it. So yea we will continue to pray and wait and see what happens. 

Sunday we were at a members for lunch. They live in a village outside Gotha. As we walked to the train station we realized we had to cash or change so we tried to use our cards to buy tickets but the card reader was broken or something. So we were stranded there ha. We called our ward mission leader who came and saved us. He is this pretty old guy in the ward but is so cool. He was a cook on a ship for 25 years and went all over the world. Hes the most funny old guy. We are thinking about just spending pdays with him, it would be more entertaining than most other things. We stopped by his house earlier in the week and he told me he had a tie collection of like 300 ties. I obviously didnt believe him. So he showed me...and he does! I was in awe. He then told us to pick one out after he explained how much he loves ties. So I picked out a pretty cool one and then traded him for the one I was wearing. He is such a cool guy.

General conference is this weekend! I hope you all take the opportunity to listen and learn. In thinking about general conference and how we get the most out of it I think on what Pres. Uchtdorf said in his talk The Love of God in Oct. 2009.

''As you reach out to your Heavenly Father, as you pray to Him in the name of Christ, He will answer you. He speaks to us everywhere. As you read God’s word recorded in the scriptures, listen for His voice.During this general conference and later as you study the words spoken here, listen for His voice. As you visit the temple and attend Church meetings, listen for His voice. Listen for the voice of the Father in the bounties and beauties of nature, in the gentle whisperings of the Spirit.In your daily interactions with others, in the words of a hymn, in the laughter of a child, listen for His voice. If you listen for the voice of the Father, He will lead you on a course that will allow you to experience the pure love of Christ. As we draw near to Heavenly Father, we become more holy. And as we become more holy, we will overcome disbelief and our souls will be filled with His blessed light. As we align our lives with this supernal light, it leads us out of darkness and toward greater light. This greater light leads to the unspeakable ministerings of the Holy Spirit, and the veil between heaven and earth can become thin.''

So I invite you to apply this during general conference and pay close attention to what you feel. Then continue to apply it ever after. Consider questions you have and listen for answers with real intent. Meaning intending to act on what you feel and learn. You will then experience the process described by Pres. Uchtdorf.

I hope you all have a good week. Remember regardless of circumstances to find peace where you can build your relationship with our heavenly, as Christ demonstrates in Mark 1:35.

"And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."

I love you all and am grateful for all you have done and do for me! 

Elder Puriri

LETTER #96 - GOTHA

Hello hello,

So yea sorry about not emailing yesterday, it didn't quite go as we had planned. We live in a building connected to a hotel and so we go there on pday to email but they only have one computer which is a laptop so we usually just take turns while the other one writes letters or reads or whatever. Yesterday though we went in first thing and the guy said they were using the laptop for book keeping or whatever and that we could come back in 3 hours and use it then. So we did the shopping and other errands we had, had a quick lunch then went back and the lady said they weren't done and that we could come back in one hour. So we did, and then they just said, yea its not going to be done today. Then our pday was basically over so we didn't get to do emails. The only other places to do emails in the city are like small casinos and missionaries going into casinos isn't the best image plus its not always the best environment. So we just avoid going there. Anyway thats why we are doing emails right now! I wasn't too worked up about it since I haven't emailed on monday quite a few times but Elder Rechter was a bit worried about his family and all which I'm sure you can relate to ha. Its ok though we are doing it now.

The last week was good though. Started quickly then ended a bit slower because I got sick for some reason. It honestly is like torture to be sick. As a missionary you think ''I'm sick...if I just push through it God will see I want to work and he will heal me so I can.'' then God is probably thinking ''no you fool, thanks for your desire but take care of your body''. Then you try anyway and for some strange reason it gets worse! ha well at least thats what happened the other couple times I was sick. This time I figured maybe I should just try sleeping and getting rid of it quick. So I did! but it still took a couple days and its still not quite gone. So the only difference between the 2 styles of taking care of it is you are either sick outside struggling to work, or you are sick inside feeling like a bum for being there. choose your poison i guess. A good week is ahead of us though now!

Yea last week we went to the Wartburg, it was a pretty place. Up in the green ''mountains'' (hills) with trees everywhere. I was expecting the main thing to be martin luthers story there but that was like one of the smallest parts of the tour, still the most cool though. The main thing is about a princess from hungary I think that lived there and was very humble and tried to share everything she had and serve the sick and poor. Which didn't go down well with the other royalty in the area who eventually forced her out to Marburg I believe where she established a hospital and died at age 24! Her story was pretty cool too I guess. I was simply more interested in Martin Luther. Martin Luther translated the bible in a small humble room. Pretty sweet. There is a myth around here, maybe in the whole world I guess, that the devil appeared to him and he threw a bottle of ink at him which exploded all over the wall. So people had earlier taken chips out of a wall in memory of him thinking thats where the ink hit. So one wall was just like chipped away, now its chained off though. THe story apparently comes from when Martin Luther got out and people who knew him were so excited he wasn't dead and everyone asked where he had been the last 10 months and he answered ''I was fighting the devil with ink''. pretty sweet. Such a major thing.

Then we had some cool appointments with Schwester Lind, the lady who is being baptized on Saturday. The Book of Mormon changed her life! She was at first so closed to hearing anything the elders had. They inivted her to simply read with an open heart. She acted on it and it has changed her. She shows us her notebook with notes comparing the book of mormon and the bible and all the parts she loves from both. She is a good example for us! We made invitations for her baptism and she is inviting her children and friends. It will be a special day.

Then this week I got to go back to NORDHAUSEN! I went up there on tausch and it was awesome. As we pulled into the train station I was so excited and could not stop smiling, I think it stayed like that until we left the next day. Seeing everything so cool and talking to the people. It was funny seeing the same people around I would see daily a year ago. I was on tausch with Elder Lewis who had a minor surgery on his foot though so he wasn't to mobile. The little time we had to work outside was awesome though. I was hoping to go do and see more people but it wasn't possible. God blessed me though! As we walked out of the apartment to go give a member a blessing who had called and asked, Evelyn Schöpp walked by pushing jonathan in a stroller. I couldn't believe it. As we walked out I saw the familiar green stroller and thought about the Schöpps then as I came to I realized it was her ha. So cool to say hi and talk really quick. I even get to go back up there this week because Elder Lewis needs to come here to do the baptismal interview.

Anyway. I'm doing well, Germany is doing well, the weather is slowly changing and Gotha is doing well.  I'd like the weather to stay warm for the next couple months but come october it will probably start to be a bit cooler like last year. The best thing is though General Conference is coming in 2 weeks! Whats even more crazy is that this is the 3rd general conference I will watch in the Efurt chapel! I saw 2 there when I was in Nordhausen, then went to Frankfurt for the next, now I'm in gotha but we go watch them in Erfurt still. So thats pretty strange. It will be a quick end to the transfer with these next 2 weeks. We have zone conference this week in Nürnberg, so that will be sweet going back there. Then Schwester Lind's baptism, then next week with General Conference. This 'bigger' events make time slip away like nothing. I continue to learn how important it is to be in the now. To act and accomplish what you can now.

In preperation for General Conference I've been thinking about how to prepare. Kind of weird yea but it makes sense to me ha. Not only for GC though but for life and everything I guess. How do we best prepare, how or when are we most capable in encountering the future. John 15 has helped me a lot in thinking about all of this and the word ''abide'' gains in meaning. Your state of mind, whether your thoughts are focused continually or not makes the difference in 'abide'. Consciously uniting your heart's and mind's desires and thoughts creates an organized, peaceful, and powerful atmosphere in you. Allowing you to consider and comprehend the more meaningful things. The Spirit can then truly conduct the symphony of impressions, ideas, thoughts continually in you and focus them for your learning benefit. We gain power to choose what we think about more consistently. As we choose the things of Christ and allow them to work in and through us consistently we abide in him. In doing this miracles happen. We don't just sit and dwell on the same thought and go no where. We allow the Spirit to further our thoughts past what we ourselves could have discovered or realized. It opens a new vista to us and our natural comprehension is surpassed. We then feel vibrating peace and power in us to choose, act, and move forward humbly with confidence in Christ.

It is an amazing thing how we are blessed in striving to abide in Christ. I hope to continually be able to abide in him more seriously.

Hope everythings going well back home. I'm sure everyone is busy with there different things. Remember what matters most, and look for opportunities to do good despite how inconvenient it may be for you. I love you all and hope you create and experience a week that brings you closer to God.

Elder Puriri

LETTER #95 - GOTHA

Family!

Things, like normal, sound like they are pretty busy. Which is good and bad. Its good to be busy but it depends what we are busy with. I'm sure you are all busy with good things though. 

This past week was also pretty busy here. The towns in this area where we work are pretty spread out so we had a lot of traveling and things to get to appointments and members and all. We made baptismal invitations for Schwester Lind. She has been investigating for a couple months and will be getting baptized on Sept. 24. Its awesome to see how the gospel is affecting her life. Apparently she was very closed to anything the Elders had at the beginning and was sticking to her beliefs. Then they just invited her to read in the Book of Mormon and she did it. Since then everything has changed. Each time we go she will share with us what she has read and why she liked it so much. She has kept a little notebook from the start that she showed us and she writes why she likes certain things and all that. She says she reads the Book of Mormon and Bible together and writes down her thoughts. Her willingness to just do what she was invited to do has now changed her life and eternity.

I sadly do not have much time right now. A member in the ward wants to take us today to Eisenach to see where Martin Luther translated the bible, I'm pretty sure the place in called the Wartburg. Its a castle/fortress thing where he hid out. And that will take up much of our pday.

Tuesday last week though we headed down to Frankfurt. It was so cool being able to ride the tram to the part of the city where the church is and where I used to live. It felt like going back home as we got closer and then as I walked into the Stake Center. Lots of feelings for Frankfurt and the members and the people rushed back to me. Then we had the opportunity to hear from Elder and Sister Bednar. 

Sister Bednar spoke shortly about experiences her sons had had on their missions how a mission is a blessing. Then Elder Bednar stood up and said ''are you ready to get to work?'' He didn't give a traditional talk on a specific subject. He introduced to us what we were going to do. Which was basically discussing two talks he requested we read before he came. He would ask us questions and our thoughts and we would answer. Then the end turned into a Q&A session. It was a cool experience. I really liked how Elder Bednar did it and the point he was trying to get across from us. 

The talk that impressed me most that he had us read was about learning with faith. He talks about how we often discuss what it means to teach by faith and with the spirit but how we forget learning must happen the same way. Then he introduced to us his thoughts on Agents and Objects. He said as we teach we must teach people as agents, allowing them to act. We must not teach them as objects, simply acting upon them. As we teach and allow people to act as agents, using their agency, the spirit can teach them and thus they learn by faith. If we simply act upon them as objects we take away their option to use their agency to learn, thereby decreasing their capacity to access the spirit through their own correct decisions to act. When we teach a class for example we often just call on someone specific for a specific answer. We have then treated them as an object and asked them to ''guess whats in my head'' as Elder Bednar said. If we invite them to participate and ask their thoughts or opinions or what they learned, they can choose to speak and share what is in their mind. As they do this the spirit is allowed in and can help guide their thoughts and teach them things they need to learn and know that we, ourselves, could not have taught. It is a really awesome thing. You experience it a lot on a mission as you teach and Preach My Gospel also teaches us a lot of this principles. The scriptures themselves teach us many of these teaching and learning principles. For some reason though we often forget and naturally treat others as objects and ask them to guess whats in our heads. It must be a conscious effort to apply these things and allow the spirit to teach each person exactly what they need.

It continues to amaze me how simple it all is. We unlock spiritual doors as we use our agency correctly. We allow the spirit to work within us, and to change our hearts. Or we don't, and the opposite happens. Everything necessary is given us from God. Then he leaves it to us to decide how we, as agents, will act. I'll forward the talk to you he had us read and invite you as well to read it and apply what you learn.

Sorry this, and the last few emails, have been so rushed. I hope you are all doing well though. Enjoy the week and make the best of it. I pray for each of you daily and love you so much! 

Elder Puriri 

LETTER #94 - GOTHA

Hello hello,

The week quickly passed by with transfers. Last couple days in Nürnberg were good. Orginisational days making sure Elder Anderson knew what he needed to take over Nürnberg. Up early Wednesday morning and to the train station then to Frankfurt. It always feels good pulling into that train station. Its a bit surreal each time I go there. I was in the Frankfrut main station in March 2008 on my way back to Hannover from Italy. So thinking back on that now is strange. It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by but it has! So much has happened since then.

Anyway, then up to Erfurt then to Gotha! Yes it does sound like Gotham, if you say it how english speakers would. But in German Gotha is like Go-ta. But yea lots of the Elders that serve there just call it Gotham.

It was weird coming back to Erfurt then to Gotha. I have been to both places many times before. But almost exaclty a year ago I left this area and now Im back. It's weird to get transferred to a city and basically already know your way around. Church was cool though. The branch is small but has solid members. Some of which I already knew which was cool. It will be good working with them the next while.

There are some cool investigators here too, I'm excited to work with them. I feel good about the city. Elder Rechter and I set some good goals and plans. It will be a solid transfer. Elder Rechter is from Melbourne area if thats spelled right. His parents were brought to the church by Benji Hemi from Hamilton, NZ. I thought the name sounded familiar so Dad do we know him? It's cool working with Elder Rechter. He's pretty young on his mission but has really good desires and wants to do his best. I've been able to learn lots from him and am looking forward to the rest of the tranfser here.

Sorry this is going to have to be a bit shorter. The district wanted to go do something in Erfurt so I have to do this so I'm not the one holding everyone up like normal ha. We have an awesome opportunity tomorrow though. Elder Bednar is in Frankfurt and we will have a mission conference there. Im really looking forward to learning from him tomorrow. Plus I get to go back to my old ward building in Frankfurt for it so that will be cool. This transfer has this mission conference then in a few weeks a zone conference plus a couple tausches, it will go by to quick.

Things are going well though. Back in the 'east' of Germany. Its interesting to see the differences in the mindsets and attitudes of the people compared to the west. Just how their history has effected them. I started my mission in it and never really noticed too much but being away for a while now coming back its pretty obvious. We have to adapt our street and door approaches and teaching style. The blessing is though that the gospel is for each individual and we know that. As we are guided by the spirit in speaking with and teaching the people we can best provide them with opportunities to learn and exercise their agency to find out if what we say is true. We can know what they need to experience to feel it in their hearts. 

In Pres. Uchtdorf's talk You Are My Hands he talks about how Christ knows perfectly how to minister to others. We being his hands here can also know how to perfectly minister to others. We know this through the spirit. In John 17:3 it speaks of knowing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We get to know them through applying the gospel and receiving the spirit. The better we know them the better we can know how to help others. As we receive the spirit through our efforts it can be revealed to us exactly how to help someone. This is Gods work. He desires to help his children. As we set our eye single to his work we blesses us to know how to accomplish it. We allow this things to work in ourselves. Experiencing continually a change of heart. Then sharing what we have experienced with others and providing them with opportunities to also experience what we have. Its all so cool!

Well I hope everyones doing well. Hope Ammons healing up quick. He's still in many peoples prayers here. I love you all so much! Have a good week!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #93 - NURNBERG

Hi!

The 5th and strangely last week of the transfer went by quickly. We had another tausch and a couple other things going on. Then the week ended in Transfer calls. Which of course brought changes. I will be transferred to Gotha. A city by Erfurt in the Nordhausen district. So I will have the chance to get up to Nordhausen again on tausch probably which will be way cool. My companion is Elder Rechter from Australia which is about all I know about him. He's pretty young on his mission so it will be cool. 

So my new address is

Elder Puriri

Oststr. 51B

99887 Gotha

Germany

Pretty crazy though this will most likely be my last area. I never would have thought I'd end up back in the area of the former Berlin mission. I am excited though to see whats going to come as we continue the work that is moving forward there. Sadly leaving Elder Anderson here in Nürnberg with Elder Jongejan. They are both getting new companions and Elder Wilkinson and I are going. It will be a bit weird going back to just 2 Elders in an apartment. Transfers bring changes and changes bring opportunities to learn and grow.

Last week though we had a pretty cool experience. We found a family from Nigeria while doing doors and said we would come back the next day with an english book of mormon. When we came back the lady who we talked to couldn't come to the door so her sister came. She was at first quite against anything we had to say and didn't really want her sister to have the Book of Mormon. She started asking questions and we began to explain and teach about where the Book of Mormon came from and why its so important. Towards the end she was way open and sharing her testimony of Christ with us and invited us to come back the next day to talk to them more. It was cool to see the complete change. 

Then we called Br. Igbinoba in the ward who is also from Nigeria and organized that he come with to teach and bring one of his daughters to play with the girls they have there so that the relationship could be built up well. As we all got there and walked into the apartment building to ring their doorbell Br. Igbinoba was like ''This place looks familiar...'' then the lady opened the door and he just said ''Hi sista how are you today?'' and then she said ''I think I recognize you'' He wasnt sure where from and neither was she so we just went in to sit down and talk. As he came into the living room there were 2 little girls coloring at the table and he goes ''OH! hello!'' and went and said hello to the girls and goes ''I know these girls, this is my sisters house.'' Then he turned to the other lady and went off in some tribal language and she and he talked for a while and laughed. Then we realized that the lady who we were talking with was the real sister of a good friend of Br. Igbinoba. The sisters lived there and Br. Igbinoba had just never really met the one we were meeting with that day. Then the doorbell rang and it was Sister Igbinoba and another one of their daughters. Since they were just out waiting in the car and were in the area she thought she would come visit her friend. Turns out we were there teaching them ha. So that was pretty sweet. It was a cool lesson and Br. Igbinoba ended with the book of Mormon in his hand as he shared his conversion story and testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it changed his life. As he finished the lady we were teaching took the book out of his hands with a smile and said ''I think this one is for me''. She said ''If it is the grace of God I will be a part of your church''. It was a cool appointment. The family already has such a strong faith in Christ and are looking for the best way to follow him. I am excited for the Elders to continue to work with them.

I really liked that quote thing you from your email though mom. I have actually been thinking about that lately. Related to the gospel and how my testimony has grown throughout my mission. How my conviction has been strengthened. I was thinking about it just because it isn't new stuff I've been teaching or studying. I've heard this stuff my whole life and had it taught to me at least weekly as long as I can remember. In actually thinking about it for myself though and this process described in that thought has been happening. It is the most amazing thing I have experienced and will continue to experience. I have found it hard to describe but this guy did it quite well. 

The quote I sent him is from Arthur Schopenhauer's thesis - On Thinking for Oneself. It was this - 

"A man may have discovered some portion of truth or wisdom, after spending a great deal of time and trouble in thinking it over for himself and adding thought to thought; and it may sometimes happen that he could have found it all ready to hand in a book and spared himself the trouble. But even so, it is a hundred times more valuable if he has acquired it by thinking it out for himself. For it is only when we gain our knowledge in this way that it enters as an integral part, a living member, into the whole system of our thought; that it stands in complete and firm relation with what we know; that it is understood with all that underlies it and follows from it; that it wears the color, the precise shade, the distinguishing mark, of our own way of thinking; that it comes exactly at the right time, just as we felt the necessity for it; that it stands fast and cannot be forgotten. This is the perfect application, nay, the interpretation, of Goethe’s advice to earn our inheritance for ourselves so that we may really possess it: Was du ererbt von deinen Vätern hast, Erwirb es, um es zo besitzen.

In all situations of our lives there are things to be thought about and to study out in our minds. Thereby accessing the knowledge available for us. One of the coolest things I have experienced is described by Paul in Galations 1:12 ''For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ''. As we go through this process we are literally taught through revelation. We believe in revelation, that God speaks to his children. Collectively and individually. We can receive revelation ourselves. It is not a made up thing or some trick. It honestly comes from God to the true seeker. As you attempt this process, with a sincere heart and real intent, with faith in Jesus Christ, you will feel in your heart that it is of God. And it is seared into your soul. It is a beautiful thing and one of the sweetest experiences of life. 

God desires to give us knowledge and understanding. He does not want us to be confused or have vivid ideas of why we are here, what our purpose in life is, where things go afterwards. That makes no sense. He doesn't want people guessing about what to do to have a happy life or how to prepare for whats to come. He is not a God of confusion. He has restored the pure gospel of Christ, the organisation of Christ's church, as well as the authority necessary to act in his name. Providing us with the resources we need to understand the deeper things of life. Through restoring these things there is continuing revelation. God is there for us today. If we allow, he will teach us through the spirit in our experiences. It all depends on each individuals choice to allow God to come closer to them.

 In Mosiah 15:27 it talks about redemption. It says ''...neither CAN the Lord redeem such...'' speaking about those who willfully rebel. The point is though that in that sense he can't. He simply cannot. Because his power to save is conditional upon our repentance (Heleman 5:11), or our choice to set our life in order with his teachings. We learn from this that sometimes God simply cannot, because of our own choices. Sometimes the lack of God's influence in our life is simply because we do not allow it. Not always, but sometimes. We should just always be doing our part to allow God to work in our lives whenever he sees necessary. I'm sure there are times where He sees it necessary and would like to do something but because of eternal laws He cannot just step in and take control. That would be overriding our agency at that point and God will not do that. If we would like to experience getting answers from Him and feel his influence through the spirit in our lives. To learn from the spirit about whether or not something is true or to simply increase our knowledge and understanding, we must do something to learn. We must do something to create an atmosphere in our surroundings and in our minds where it is possible for the spirit to speak to us so we can recognize and understand it. To learn something through our own efforts by receiving revelation is literally possible. It is always possible on Gods side. He is eternally capable of giving it. It simply depends on our efforts to receive it. It is however always possible for us to prepare for it and do our part for it. Its possible on our side, its possible on Gods side. Our side is what we control and decide. We must be conscious of that in this process. 

I would encourage you all to work more of creating at atmosphere in your surroundings and in your mind where you can learn from God. That you may learn who you are and what you are doing here. That you may learn of Jesus Christ and his teachings. If you learn it in this way it is seared into your soul and becomes an ever influential part of you.

The Gospel is true and it is real. We need to continually experience this, continually be ready. On your toes on the field, on your toes in life. Don't get caught on your heals.

I am glad ammon is back home. Sounds like things are still real busy though, as always. I hope everyone is doing well. I love you all!!! I'm excited for the future. For what I have ahead of me here and for what you all have ahead of you there. Enjoy it and make the best of it!

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #92 - NURNBERG

Family!

We had a pretty interesting last week. There was lots to do and with this transfer only having 5 weeks it makes things feel a bit more crammed in. We had a couple 'normal' days and then a tausch and then a meeting thing here in nürnberg with president Schwartz.

I am way excited for James and his calling though. As I read it last week I was not even surprised for some reason. I read France and it just fit. There is an Elder here in my mission from Holland, Elder Dieduksman. He is way cool and his brother also just got called to the same mission as james. So maybe james will run into an Elder Dieduksman sometime during his mission.

Things sound like they are staying pretty busy. Especially with the boys back in school. I didn't know Mom was also doing school though, thats pretty sweet. Thats cool that you were able to go down to Tempe and that Dan and Corbin were able to go see Ammon as well.

Monday was pday and a quick day that flew by. Tuesday during study the other elders left to go help a member with something. Like 15 minutes after they left Elder Wilkinson called and said Elder Jongejan and him got separated. Elder Jongejan got on a subway that Elder Wilkinson didn't ha. So that took like 45 minutes to figure out but then Elder Jongejan came home and we called Elder Wilkinson and he came home. Then everyone was safe. It was pretty funny though. Wednesday the Elders in Ansbach got bed bugs and had to move to an extra apartment here in Nürnberg so we helped with that. Thursday to Friday we tausched then Friday we had that meeting, Saturday was mostly normal, Sunday we visited a Chinese Christian church. That was basically our week.

We tausched with the elders in Würzburg, thats where Dirk Norwitzki is from or whatever if that interests anyone ha. I went over there though with Elder Collings. He is pretty young on his mission but it doesn't seem like it. I think the calibur of missionaries increases each time new ones come in. Its so cool to work with the younger ones that have progressed so quickly. There is also a new training program from new missionaries that helps them a lot. I often think about how cool it would be to be able to to start over with what I know now and then go from the start again. A mission is an amazing opportunity to learn and develop yourself to serve others. I think during this time you have the blessing of moving forward at a very quick rate as you do your part to serve.

Friday was a meeting with President and the Assistants and all the district leaders in the zone. It was a very spiritually uplifting meeting. Afterwards we did a quick split with the assistants. Elder Dieduksman and I went together. We didn't have a lot of time we just wanted to walk to someone that lived 15 minutes or so from the church and see if they were there. We prayed before we headed out and as we were walking we stopped a chinese girl and talked to her. We talked about God's plan for us. We asked her if she thought God had a plan for her and she said ''Well I think so but I'm not sure and I'm not sure how to know about his plan'' This was a pretty good answer to get and we kept going and talked a bit more about it. Then she said ''Well in the bible times God used to talk to someone and tell them his plan then the people could know about it. How come he doesn't do that anymore?'' As she was saying this I bit my lip to keep from laughing and Elder Dieduksman looked at me with a big smile on his face. We were able to take 15 minutes and sit down on a close bench and summarize the Plan of Salvation. She has sincere questions and wanted to learn. She then invited us to her church on Sunday afternoon. So we went. 

It was all in chinese but was translated to german. Then a german guy gave the lesson or whatever sermon I guess. Then that was translated to chinese. It was pretty cool. It was cool to see so many chinese people that believe in God. As it ended the guy that gave the sermon kind of got aggressive and came and attacked us and the Book of Mormon a bit. That tends to happen a lot though so its ok. We just smiled and told him we didn't come to preach in their church or anything. He eventually left then a kid came up and talked to us. He was german, well from Kazakhstan or whatever. But he's been here a while. They all had dinner right after and invited us to stay and eat and talk so we did. Hopefully we can continue to meet with both of them.

In church they talked about the word or wisdom and the law of chastity. They talked about the effects of living those commandments. I find it cool just how living the commandments changes the individual. When you live those 2 commandments you give yourself roots. Simply living those 2 things helps you develop self control. You gain patience and you learn to control your mind. Allowing you to think clearly, reasonably, which effects the rest of your life decisions. Giving you solid roots to make decisions. If everyone lived these things the world would obviously be a total different place. There would be more order and safety. The individual would be changed therefore the whole would be changed. Our efforts to live the gospel is also our contribution to change the world, for the best. like President McKay said ''Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world''. As we work on ourselves we eventually put ourselves in a better place to serve and help others change. 

I've talked about this before I think but honestly the application of the restored gospel is the solution to the worlds problems. Each individual changing his or herself and then assisting others thereby. Like in an airplane you are told to put on your oxygen mask first then to help those around you. So that you can think clearly and stay alert. Apply the gospel in your own life so that you can think clearly and stay alert, then you can help those around you more diligently. So we need to get our oxygen supply so that we can assist others.

Thanks for everything your all doing. I hope everyone is doing well. I keep you all in my prayers. Have a good week!!

Love you!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #91 - NURNBERG

Dear Family,

We had a very busy past week! I think back and feel like the things that happened at the beginning of last week were like months ago. We had a day in Frankfurt, then 2 austausches and the week went quick. As we sat down to plan for this week last saturday we didn't know what happened. We had done our weekly planning exactly a week ago but as we sat down to do it again it was like someone had fast forwarded through our week to our next weekly planning. It was a good week with cool things.

Our day in Frankfrut was good. I always love going back there. When I get out of the train there I feel comfortable like at home. Sadly our meetings are usually in Offenbach, smaller city right next to Frankfurt. So we have to catch another train over there. It was a good meeting though. We heard a lot from President Schwartz about what he wants to focus on right now and how we can best move forward. We heard the plans of the other zones right now and all that is going on. Its a good time to take everything then assess how things will go best in your area. At the end there is always a bit of time for people to share their thoughts they had been having or testimonies or experiences. They said ok we now have about 25  or 30 minutes to do that. So that began and ended up taking over an hour. Its always really cool though to just hear the other Elders experiences and testimonies. You learn a lot from their experiences. A few of the Elders are going home at the end of the transfer so its always cool to hear what they have to say. It was a good meeting.

I tausched with Elder Palfreyman from Arizona last week. I think Allison wrote me forever ago and said she was in his ward or something I'm not sure. It was cool though. We then tausched with the Elders in Bamberg. I worked in Bamberg with Elder Liddle. He was trained in Nordhausen by Elder Anderson (my current comp). So it was cool to talk a bit about Nordhausen. 

Bamberg has a military base and we went there that day with a member to visit some other members there. It was strange being there it was like a little America. They had like movie theaters and American restaurants and everyone is speaking English. We met some cool people though. We parked the car and got out to go by on a Sister and as we got out a car pulling out of a parking lot stopped and a lady in the passenger seat asked who we were looking for. Before we could answer she asked if we were looking for her. We asked her what her name was and it turns out we were not. So we asked why we would be looking for her and she said ''because I am a member....I just haven't been in a while''. She wasn't even on the ward list but we got her info and she said the Elders could go by another time. She laughed as we walked away and said ''my mother would cry if she knew I was going back to church''. It was pretty cool. A blessing and answer to I'm sure many prayers to run into that sister like that. It was cool to be around the military people though. Most the people walking around in the uniforms and all. I had a big sense of respect for them that they willingly do that. I said thank you to one of them for his service. I think it caught him off guard. Maybe they don't get thanked enough or something.

Elder Anderson and I went by on a kid who used to meet with the Elders. His family friendly welcomed us in. As we sat and talked with him his brother brought in drinks for us and asked if we wanted food. We told them we didn't have much time so that it was ok. Then his Mom came in like 10 minutes later with sandwiches for us. Then 10 minutes later his grandma came in with lots of spaghetti for us. So basically we were eating the whole time and missed our train and had to catch a bus. Then we went back another time and told them we had little time and had to make our train in 40 minutes. In less then 15 minutes they were walking in with big bowels of soup and lots of food. We ate as quick and we could while still trying to teach. Said a quick prayer and as soon as the door closed we sprinted off to catch our train. We turned a good 8 minute walk into a 2 minute sprint and got there as the train pulled up. Needless to say were both dying having just stuffed ourselves as quickly as possible and then sprinting so far. They are way cool though. The kid is 20 and has good questions. At the end of our second appointment the mother came in and closed the door behind her and waited for us to finish our thing then as we looked at her she had a stern expression and let loose with heart felt questions about lifes problems and struggles and expected answers from us right there. We were sadly in a rush and wrote down her questions and said we could talk about them next time. It was interesting though how she just came in with real worries and questions and let it all out. That seems to happen to missionaries a lot that people do that. Even out of the street when you have been talking to a person for 2 mintues. They immediately open up and trust you and tell you all their worries, concerns, and ask how we could help. We naturally cannot do much as 2 young men. But our message however can and will change them if they allow it.

It was a good week. Still giving thought to our familys experience when I have time. Considering what happened, what we have learned so far. Or what I have learned I guess since I'm not sure what you all are learning. From what I read though seems like we are all on similar waves. I read a really cool talk this morning. Elder Scott talks about our potential and the potential of the youth right now. Everyone in the world is experiencing their own hardships and difficulties. Everyone has to decide how they will take them on and go about with them. Many are unsure about how to do it, what will come, and other things. Elder Scott says ''When you push against the boundaries of experience into the twilight of the unknown, the Lord will strengthen you. The beauty of your eternal soul will begin to unfold''. As we move forward we learn much about ourselves and those around us. We learn about our Savior and about our Heavenly father. Grasping better and better our true potential and what must be done to reach it. Like he said, the beauty of our eternal souls begins to unfold to us.

From the looks of things, it seems like Ammon is doing better. Many are praying for him and his recovery. I feel how Ammon has handled it so far has blessed many lives. This experience will bless him and others as we move forward.

Sorry this was a bit rushed. It seems the other Elders wait on me lately for to finish emails. I have a hard time rushing through though.

I love you all though and I hope things continue to improve this week. You are all in my prayers each night.

Elder Puriri