LETTER #60 - FRANKFURT

Subject Line:iiiiiiiiiilllllllllloooooooooovvvvvvvveeeeeeeyyyyyyyyooooooouuuuuu

Hi family!

Yes mom I've heard of Ipads, there’s a few people in the ward who use them they are pretty cool looking. I remember though the first time I saw one a bit ago I was in awe. I had no idea what it was and it looked way cool how the guy was using it. I have to expect things like that on a mission though. I never hear about things like that then I’m in some meeting and the guy next to me is throwing things around on his screen and making it flip around it was cool looking. Then I pulled out my missionary planner and showed him how I organize things. Ha just kidding. That would have been funny though.
Anyway things are good! I’m pretty warm, haven't looked at shoes. Elder Ence reglued my shoe and it’s ok again! It’s ironic you ask about me being sick. Because I'm currently sick for the first time my whole mission! It’s very inconvenient. It’s not too bad. Just a cold I guess but like I said, inconvenient and annoying. It will go away though hopefully real soon.

That’s a cool story about Pres. Anderson’s great grandpa.

Story that I wrote in my email to him - Dad is the Sunday School president and conducted Sunday School. When he opened he said I would like to tell you a story of how life comes full circle. And he proceeded to say that as he sat in Sacrament meeting listening to President Anderson he realized that this Great grandfather of which he spoke is one of the missionaries who taught the gospel to Ahmu. And it is because of this missionary that our son who carries the Ahmu name is now serving as a missionary in Germany. Our family heritage has a direct connection to President Anderson! And just as his Great Grandfather carried the gospel message to Samoa, so you carry this message to the people of Germany. Years from now life will come full circle and someone will tell a similar story of connection. What a strange and wonderful concept.

Remember when we were in Salt Lake and that lady talked to us about Abinadi Olsen? How Grandpa Ahmu was named after him? I was reading a talk a few weeks ago called Reach out and Climb! from Elder Oaks. He talks about how his great grandpa was Abinadi Olsen and was called to serve in Samoa. So that was cool, he must be related to that lady who talked to us that day.

This last week was good though. We have been thinking about a lot of different ways to work with the ward members and to move the work here forward in a different way. Thinking a lot of how to change things! There is a cool feeling here and we're excited to figure out how to push the bucket and figure things out.

I read the talk from the Nov. Ensign 2009 from Pres. Uchtdorf called the Love of God. I felt like I should read it again after reading Pres. Uchtdorf's talk from this last conference about the fundamentals. He talks in the end about building key relationships. The first is with our Father in Heaven. So I thought it would be a good talk to read. Love is so important! And understanding our relationship to our Heavenly Father changes everything! When we develop that relationship and that love, everything else simply follows. We work so much on all of these other things all the time trying to improve and become better and all. But when we nourish our relationship with our heavenly father and develop that love. Other things naturally come from that because we then understand better where we came from, why we are here, and where we are headed. Then we know better what we can do to get there and because we have this love and understand this, our love for others and wanting to help them naturally grows.

So that’s a big focus for me right now; to build my relationship to my Father in Heaven and my love for him and coming closer to him through my savior. Pres. Uchtdorf gives ways how we can strengthen these relationships so I'll be using those too. I really liked the talks from this last conference. And yes mom the one from Elder Christofferson is also very good. So is the one from Elder Scott about character. I am studying those three talks all together kind of and figuring out what I need to do, because they are all very closely related - focusing on fundamentals, developing our character, and consecrating our lives.

All in all things are good. We have a lot to do here and have to be patient as we wait for the results. But it has to be started sometime. Sorry it was pretty quick today! We used the beginning of our p-day to go to the temple which was really nice. Now we have an appointment at the bishops. I hope everyone is doing good. Be happy, be positive. I love you all!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #59 - FRANKFURT

Hello hello,
It’s a brand new year! This last week was pretty good. My new comp., Elder Anderson, is from Walnut Creek, California. He's been out 18 months. He's pretty sweet it’s going to be really good serving together. New years was actually really cool! We were allowed to watch the fireworks. So a bit before 12 we went up to the 11 floor of our building to a senior missionaries apartment with some other missionaries and watched the fireworks from their balcony. It was pretty out of control. In Germany everyone just gets their own fireworks and lets them off and they are like the big fireworks that shoot up into the air and explode big. So all over the city there was tons of fireworks it sounded like a war and went for a solid 25-30 minutes. I took lots of pictures and videos. I'll send you some pictures next week.

 
So that was actually pretty fun. Except in the morning it was lame. Getting up at 6:30 is tough anyway then after going to bed at 1:30 it was way hard. We had some other elders staying the night with us as well and as we got back to our apartment and were getting ready for bed we were all out of it and way tired and one elder just says 'I have no idea how I stayed up late back home'. Then we all thought about how dumb we were staying up late all the time back home wishing we would have taken advantage of the time and slept more ha. Another lesson learned on a mission.

 
Anyway, last week was pretty good. It was a week for figuring things out and dealing with transfers and all but it was good. Elder Anderson and I went out our first night together and were able to find a cool new investigator which was way cool. We were doing doors and I was up for the next door and I rang and as soon as the doorbell rang the guy inside starting yelling and kind of cursing in an annoyed way about people bugging him (we could hear it as he was coming to the door) so jokingly but also kind of serious I said to elder Anderson 'you’re up right?' and he just laughed and said nope you’re up. So he opened up and I started talking to him and he almost closed the door so I kind of put my hand on the door long enough to finish what I wanted to say and he opened it back up and listened. At the end he was listening and said he didn't have time right then but that we were welcome to come back. So we did and we were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to him and make out another appointment! This will be fun being able to teach him. He is from some city close by Berlin so he speaks with a Berlin dialect that is way strong. I have to listen way carefully to be able to understand what he is talking about. Elder Anderson had never heard a Berlin dialect so he couldn't even understand him for the first 15 min or so until he kind of got used to it. So that was funny.

 
Then last night we went by on this contact we had who wanted a book of Mormon in Twi, a language from Ghana. So we went by and this Black guy stuck his head out the window saw us and invited us up. We were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to him and his wife and make out another appointment. It was interesting because he is a minister of another church. He was very sincere though in our discussion and said he would like to read the Book of Mormon and see if it is true. I'm really excited to work with him and his wife more. He wants a book in English though because he hasn't read Twi in so long it’s harder for him then English. So I glued one of those inserts you sent to me mom, in the book and we’re going to give him that. That will be cool. Now we have a new week ahead and it’s also going to be a good week! We're going to be really busy and its going to be fun.

 
So remember when I told you about how the mission had this goal for 200 people. Well by the end of the year we didn't make it. We were around 160 I think. So I thought about this a lot wondering why it was like this. I had heard the stories about the meeting when they set that goal and how it was really spiritual and how they felt it was God's will. But in the end it didn't work. I have also thought about that a lot in setting weekly goals or transfer goals. Where you feel like they are approved by the spirit, then in the end you don't get them. I was confused a lot about this. And I couldn't believe that God would set us up to fail.

 
Last transfer Elder Moffat showed me a scripture, Hebrews 11:39-40, and I had been thinking a lot about that as well. So this morning I decided to study those verses and figure this out a little more and organize my thoughts about this all.

 
Hebrews 11: 39, 40 - And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

 
God knows what we need to experience in order to learn, grow, be refined, and molded into what he wants for us. He knows that in setting higher goals/expectations (expectations of ourselves) we push ourselves. We struggle, we stretch, we reach, we fall, and we get back up and become stronger in the process. When we fall, we can look back and learn, recognize, and figure out what can be done differently. We become more through these experiences than we would in setting lower goals/expectations which do not require as much effort on our part.

 
So I figure we need to work hard to recognize God's will and what he wants us to strive for, then go forward in faith and optimism, conquering the challenges and setbacks we encounter. Always learning, growing and becoming. So with our mission and the 200 baptisms; I think now we look back and figure out what we could have done differently in our work, and change our mindsets to be better servants of our God and brothers and sisters.

 
I believe there are things we can recognize and learn and there are things God wanted us to learn, to recognize and to change in order to bring his work forward quicker. We would not have noticed these things had we set a lower goal and reached it. We would have thought the way we were doing it was good enough, and may not have been willing to change. I believe this is why God allows us to feel like the higher goals/expectations are what we should strive for even though he knows in the end it won't turn out as we planned. He knows the struggles and hardships we will encounter along the way are what we need in order to make the necessary progress.

 
Of course this is not always the case. Lots of time we do meet our goals and our expectations. Other times we don't, simply because a lack of effort on our part. However, when we do all we can to the extent of our knowledge at that point and don't succeed, I believe this is why. I probably still have lots to learn here but I am not as down about not reaching our goal because of what I learned this morning. We may not always receive the promise, but God has provided us with something better through our struggles. We needed the promise in order to work through the struggles. I'm really grateful for study time, and the things we are able to learn. God gives us all he can so that we can learn lots and come closer to him.

 
I hope everyone back home is doing well. Have a wonderful week and be happy!
I love you all
Elder Puriri

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