LETTER #17 - SCHWARZENBERG/ANNABERG-BUCHHOLZ

Hi Everyone!
To answer your questions mom; I'm good, Germanys good, health is good, toes are good, stayin warm in the snow. That could almost just be my lettter home. Summarizes everything up pretty well I think. I'll write a little more though ha. 

Soccer sounds like it’s awesome. I'm pretty jealous of Ammon, that’s sick he scored! I wish I could have seen it. Reading about that doesn't make me homesick; actually I don't really get homesick anymore. Yea I miss you all, but I got over the homesickness thing at the beginning of my exchange. I love it here and I'm going to enjoy my time here while it lasts, without letting homesickness or whatever else bothers me. Its cool hearing Ammon and the boys are doing good though, soccer updates are awesome. Transfer 2 is already over! Time is going by way quick. This week was a lot of fun. We had a lot to do in Annaberg and we were also able to go to the Freiberg Temple again this week. We’re allowed to go once a transfer so we went this last Wednesday with the Freiberg Elders. Temple is always a big highlight, I'm grateful I'm serving in the Dresden Zone so I can have that opportunity.
 

It was getting warmer last week but all the sudden the snow is back and its back to negatives (Celsius). I want to be able to see this area when the snow is gone too so hopefully its gone in the next little while. Last night we were at a member’s house, the Ebisch Family. They are a big family in the ward in Schwarzenberg. I was talking to Cedric, one of their kids, and he's going to St. George on the 12th. His older sister lives in St. George with her Husband who is from St. George. He's going there to work for somebody they know and to visit for a month or so. I gave him our address and our home phone number and he said he will visit you guys. I know nobody likes to answer the home phone, but just do it; it might be Cedric wanting to come visit ha. Cedric just got back from his mission 5 or 6 months ago, his family was actually in St. George when I first got to the area. I told them I was from St. George and they didn't believe me at first. Pretty crazy! Just letting you know though, he may come visit in the next little while!
 

On Saturday was transfer calls. Elder Killpack is getting transferred to a city called Werdau, and my new companion will be Elder Lersch. He's been out a little bit longer then Elder Killpack and he's from Frankfurt. It will be pretty cool working with a German I think. Definitely be speaking only German which is cool, I'm excited for that. Transfers happen Tuesdays so tomorrow Elder Killpack will go and Elder Lersch will come here. These 2 transfers with Elder Killpack were a lot of fun, I learned a lot and we were able to get a lot done. Working with Elder Lersch will be pretty cool too. I'll send a picture next week or something. We also found out the Annaberg will be getting its own missionaries, so my area will be only Schwarzenberg from now on. I'm pretty sad about that I loved working in Annaberg. It’s alright though, now we can focus fully on Schwarzenberg.
 

Lately we've been working mostly in Annaberg so it will be a lot of work getting Schwarzenberg going but that will be fun. The new Annaberg Elders won't be there until Thursday or so. Which means Elder Lersch and I will work half the week in Annaberg and then pass it on to them. We've been teaching some really cool people in Annaberg so those Elders will have a good program going. We taught a guy on Saturday and then invited him to church and he came yesterday. It was awesome, all the members were cool to him and he said he loved it. As we were leaving he was saying bye to all the members and he just kept saying to everyone 'see you next week' it was sweet. He's is a really cool guy. We walked into his apartment on Saturday and the first thing he said was 'I believe' then he explained what he had read in the Book of Mormon and his experiences with prayer. It was such a cool appointment. We found him a few weeks ago walking around Annaberg and he invited us over right away. He was pretty sad when we told him we wouldn't be able to come back, but he was still ok with the new Elders coming by to visit him so that’s good. It doesn't matter what Elders are there, the same Spirit teaches through us all. I'm really excited for this next transfer and to work with Elder Lersch. I'm guessing this will be my last one in Schwarzenberg but we'll see. Definitely going to make the best of it.
 

Thanks for your letters everyone! Sorry if it takes me a little to write back, I'll always write back as soon as I can. Letters always make the day good, no matter how it’s going. Thanks for your love and prayers everyone. Prayers always help the missionaries. I'm not just saying that either, miracles happen all the time. We run into people that want to learn more, they come up and talk to us out of no where, random scriptures or thoughts will come to us that we can use to help people understand and love the gospel more. Prayers do help, and you are always in ours. I hope everyone’s doing good. Be happy and look for the good! Look for ways to show your love! In a talk from Pres. Ucthdor from last conference he says 'Love should be our walk and our
talk. Pretty simple! I love you all, have a good week.
Elder Puriri