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

LETTER #90 - NURNBERG

Hi!

The past week went quickly past. We were busy here with the 4 elders and getting things going. We also had a tausch and other stuff with the ward going on. It was a good week though. Started our Tuesday by heading up to Bamberg for a district meeting then right after that one getting on another train to Schweinfurt for another district meeting. Then we hurried to get our train back to Nürnberg so we could go to our Ward Mission Leaders house to meet with him. We missed our train though. So we figured out the best way to get there next and had to wait a bit.

During this day travelling the whole time at one point we looked at our planners to see what was next and realized we hadn't planned in any time to eat. So as we were going from place to place we just bought a quick bratwurst and a roll and ate that as we walked as fast as we could for like 20 minutes from the train station to the district meeting. It was a busy day. We realized we were most likely going to miss the train from Nürnberg to our GMLs house. oh gml means gemeindemissionsleiter...which means ward mission leader. From Nürnberg main train station we had to catch a subway to another train station and from there get the train to our gmls house. We saw on the plan we would pull into Nürnberg main station at 5:20 and our train left the other train station at 5:27. The subway ride takes 7 minutes. The subway comes from the main station every 4 minutes. So we were hoping we would get to the main station a bit early then we would run to the subway and hopefully by some miracle make it in time. So as soon as the train pulled in and the doors opened we took off running down the stairs, down the tunnel, through the station and down to the subway. It was a quick run. (I always like to think of it from the other peoples view of us. They just see 2 guys in suits and with bags or backpacks running as fast as they can through some busy train station. it has to be pretty funny.) We made the subway quick and then rain to the next train and still missed it ha. So lots of running that didn't really accomplish much. We had to wait 30 minutes for the next train but it was ok. The other Elders made the earlier train then they all had to wait on us. So we had an eventful Tuesday which made the rest of our week fly by.

We tausched with the Regensburg Elders and they are about an hour and a half train ride there, then the same back. So I was thinking of what I should do on the train since it would be early and we would miss study time. I decided I was going to follow Hamiltons example and learn the Articles of Faith, except in german. So I grabbed a small card with them on there and learned them! On the train ride back I told Elder Mayle who I was on tausch with what I was doing. He said he wanted to try too. So I gave him an extra card I grabbed. In the one direction he learned 1-9! I was pretty impressed. I was able to learn all of them before we got back to Nürnberg. I felt pretty good about it since the last time I knew them I was like 11 and still didn't really know them. I'm excited though, now I can use them more often in teaching situations and stuff.

It was fun working with Elder Mayle though. He was trained about a year ago by Elder Anderson (my comp in Frankfurt) so it was cool to be able to talk about him and what we both learned from him. I've been blessed with lots of good companions. Elder Anderson, my comp right now, is way solid. He's pretty young on his mission but I feel like he's farther ahead then I am. Its cool to have the 3 other Elders in the apartment. None of them have been out a year yet, but they are all way good missionaries. I always feel weird though whenever its pointed out how long I've been out. Its so hard to comprehend. I almost starting like hyperventilating the other night when I realized how little time I have left. I sat on my bed before praying and going to sleep and just thought for a bit then realized how quickly it will come and almost couldn't breathe. I had to get rid of that thought really quick because my mind couldn't handle it. I think I'll maybe just live in denial about that for the next while.

I was able to see the pictures on the gmail thing. I was amazed to see ammon doing so much! That is so cool. Thats also awesome that that family in the ward visited Ammon to lift him up a bit. This week I talked to President Schwartz a few times about different things. Each time we talked he would open up the blog and read to me the newest stuff on there. He is an amazing man. I also got a few calls from different people during the week asking about Ammon and telling me they were praying for him. From the senior missionaries in the mission office to President Schwartz's son who lives in a neighboring ward to Nürnberg. The Elders in the apartment continue to mention Ammon and the family in their prayers. I have been filled with a feeling of deep gratitude and love for all of these people. They sincerely care. The love that is surrounding this and the power that comes through prayer is something I have been blessed to feel often this last week. It has been hard to express my gratitude to these people. I am thankful for the family we have within the gospel. Many of our brothers and sisters here are praying for their brother Ammon there. The sincere concern and prayers for Ammon truly will have their effect. Our family is being blessed through this experience. We have the opportunity to learn a lot as a family and Ammon has the opportunity to learn a lot for himself. This event, when taken on correctly, will work for his good. ''And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God...'' Romans 8:28. He will be able to say he is grateful for the experience.

I love you all very much. Things will continue to move forward. When setback comes, it is an opportunity to become stronger. It is an opportunity to smile, be grateful, and handle it with faith. It is on the other hand an opportunity to really be a setback, to slow us down, and pull us down. We choose the effective they have. Pres. Monson said Choose your love and love your choice. When we think about what we truly love, what our spirits love; it is our family, light, warmth. As we choose these things our love for them grows. As we choose and experience them together, our bond to one another is eternally strengthened. Let us especially in this time choose to handle things with a smile, gratitude, and faith. That we all may be drawn closer together. To our Heavenly Father, and inevitably to each other. Have a good week!!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #89 - NURNBERG

Hi family,

Another week has gone by and its been filled with many things. It started with last visits to people with Elder Durrant, picking up the 3 new Elders at the train station, getting them set in the city here. Organizing how we are all going to work here, going around to different people introducing the new elders, organizing and planning stuff for the transfer for the zone, then the news about Ammon.

Lots of different things going on. Oh I also got to see Killpack and Mason 2 of my old companions on Sunday. They were with a study abroad group from BYU and came through Nürnberg and went to church, so that was pretty cool to see them. Killpack came with us Sunday night to visit a member and stuff. It was strange being with him again and hearing him speak German and all I felt like I just started my mission again. But yea pictures of me and Killpack and me and Mason then a picture of the 4 Elders here now. Elder Jongejan who is 6 ft. 8 in. like 220 and sleeps on the rickety bunk above me for some reason, then Elder Wilkinson from England, Elder Anderson from SLC (my comp) then me. Elder Jongejan would stand on my bed to hop up to his but on one particular night that failed ha. I was in the other room but when I came in the 3 other Elders were trying not to laugh and were waiting for me to lay down or something but they couldn't hold it in and just started laughing. Apparently when Elder Jongejan went to jump off my bed up on to his he didnt go up, the bed just went down. the support things all slipped out from my bed and he fell through. They thought he broke it but I lifted up the mattress and was able to just put all the things back into place. It was pretty funny though.

Having the 4 Elders is pretty cool. They are all super solid, its going to be good working all here. After I talked to Mom on Friday they knew something was wrong and as soon as I explained they asked if we could all kneel and pray for him. They are all keeping Ammon in their prayers as well as other missionaries here. When President Schwartz found out I guess he called some of the Elders I'm closer to and asked them to pray for ammon as well. Whenever I talk to President Schwartz he asks if I have heard anything else about Ammon and how he is doing. Its hard for me to explain everything medically that is going on in German but I guess I'm expanding my vocabulary that way.

It was a weird phone call though when mom called. I was on the phone with a member of the Bishopric about something and said someone else was calling but it didn't show who. It was also the beginning of study. So I finished with him and then said hello and heard moms voice. I had a quick rush of feelings and did not want to be hearing moms voice right then. (sorry mom but when that happens you immediately know something bad happened). 

I was a bit confused with calling Ammon the first time. I think because it was still Thursday night for mom and Friday morning for me. So when mom told me to call 'tomorrow' at 6:30am Ammons time I thought Saturday since that was my tomorrow. But mom's 'tomorrow' was Friday still. So that was my bad when I didn't call. I'm glad you all figured it out though and called me. I was really glad to talk to Ammon. Reading the stuff thats going on from the blog and hearing from you all the miracles that are accompanying this thing are pretty amazing. Yes it is a new challenge to face but there are many blessings assisting us in this. It seemed to me that Ammon was still be as much himself as he could. With his uplifting personality affecting all those around him still. That in itself is a huge blessing.

I've been thinking a lot about the atonement with all this happening. The atonement has so much to it. There is a talk from last conference in the Saturday morning session where the Elder talks about the atonement and pain. Something I find interesting is the differences he talks about. The physical pain and the spiritual pain. There are 2 parts to us as beings. Our physical and our spiritual. We learn and know that we existed spiritually first. That at this time our physical is frail and mortal. Our spiritual however is eternal. Our true identity being spiritual sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. We cannot always control what happens to our physical and will sometimes suffer because of it. Our spiritual however is different. We do control fully whether or not we suffer spiritually. When we are confronted with physical challenges we must be ready to support ourselves with our solid spiritual. This requires us working on our spiritual continually because we do not know when our physical will be confronted. If we are not prepared and our physical is hit we will have a very hard time supporting ourselves. We also need to be aware though how we are solidifying our spiritual.

When you relate it to your physical its easier to understand. When you are tired and need to get some food before you go play a soccer game or something you need sustaining food. You can eat quick sweets like donuts or whatever else. This gives you a quick rush and you feel ok to go. When you start going though and your into your game you feel it hit you and what you thought was ''sustanance'' has now failed you miserably. If you would have eaten a more solid meal it would have carried you through the whole game. As with our spiritual we must take care to use sustaining things. Truth is eternal, and therefore a good sustenance. As we strive to learn, accept, and fit our lives to the truths we learn our spiritual will have something of real sustenance. We are then solid when our physical is hit. And through the strength of our spiritual we pull our physical to the best condition we can.

Yes our spiritual is sometimes hit. Like hearing of Ammons news. But this is not necessarily spiritual pain. It comes in and hits us, and with the solid truths we have sustained ourselves with we wrap up the event and are able to find peace. Had we not been prepared to when it hit us the effect could have been much worse on him and us. We never know when things may negatively confront the physical, which increases the necessity to always be sustaining our spiritual with eternal truths that ultimately solidify us and allow us to overcome anything. In doing this we develop the ability to say ''Come what may, and love it''.

Thank you all for everything. I am eternally grateful for our family. I love you all and hope you have a truly uplifting week.

Elder Puriri

LETTER #88 - NURNBERG

Hello Family!

A new transfer begins today! Although this one will be a bit different. Instead of doing one 4 weeks transfer to align things up they are doing two 5 week transfers. So this one and the next will only be 5 weeks so thats strange. Elder Durrant has been transferred to work up in Düsseldorf in the northern part of the mission. I will be staying here and getting 3 elders! ha I get my new companion, Elder Anderson (a different Elder Anderson than my other companion), then 2 more elders are coming to our apartment. So we will have 4 Elders in Nürnberg now. It will be good for the ward and hopefully get things here going a bit quicker. It will be cool. I'll get a picture with all 4 of us so you can see who I'm all with here in Nürnberg. Anyway yea thats what is going on with transfers!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last little while here since I haven't sent any in a long time. A couple are of making the brownies you sent. We made them for the couple that was going home but the icing didn't spread well so Elder Durrant used it the best he could. Then there are some from the Helping Hands thing we did. Then from the FHE we have each monday. We usually play UNO once or twice right after. Then with the Perkins who just went home last week. Then one with 5 of my companions at one of the meetings we had in Frankfurt a couple weeks ago. left to right is Elder Nelson, Elder Durrant, Elder Anderson, me, Elder White, and Elder Gassman.

Anyway the last week was a blur pretty much. I was in Ansbach one day for a tausch then in Würzburg another day for another tausch. It was fun though. Working with all the Elders is a huge blessing. You always learn so much from the others and learn to better appreciate them and it always motivates you to be better. In Würzburg I had the opportunity to do a baptismal interview for a kid thats about 25. It was really cool! He has now known the church for about 3 months. The interview was way cool though. We just went through the questions and talked about the different things and he would bear his testimony to me about all the different points. It was really cool. We knelt down and he offered the closing prayer and there was a very good spirit there. The Elders said his baptism and confirmation were really good.

I'm sorry this is so short and quick about everything. Elder Durrant needs to pack and get some other things organized so I have to finish this up. Well here is at least something I've been thinking about a lot lately. ''The life each of us lives is the life within the limits of our own thinking. To have life more abundant we must think in the limitless terms of abundance.''--Thomas Drier.  And you can relate that to John 10:10.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

I love you all so much! I hope everythings going well. Enjoy the summer and make the most of your time! Have a good week,

Elder Puriri

LETTER #87 - NURNBERG

Hello!

 

So we are kind of in a hurry today. The Elders in Erlangen want to meet up and go to a museum thing here about world war 2 so that should be interesting. I will have to kind of hurry through this though because I'm usually the one who slows things down when there's group activities because I take a little longer doing emails ha. Normally its no problem but when there is something going on I have to hurry a bit faster.

Anyway! This last week was pretty fun. We had quite a lot going on. Tuesday Pres. Schwartz came to Nürnberg to interview the Elders in the zone. Since our zone is pretty big everyone came from all over and just staggered their District meeting throughout the day. We had to be at the church early to open up for President then we had our district meeting and visited all the other district meetings as well. So we were in the church almost all day, it was a long day ha. 

That night I went on tausch with Elder Johnson up to Coburg. Elder Johnson is from Mesa Arizona if I remember right but he does not know the Urrys. I don't know how probable it would be for people to know each other there but I always ask everyone when they say they are from that area. Anyway Coburg is beautiful. It was also cool to be able to work with Elder Johnson. Elder Gassman trained him after I left Nordhausen so that was cool to. We were able to share different experiences we had in Nordhausen. I learned so much in my time in Nordhausen. It was definitely one of the greatest times of growth for me. After I left I went to Heidelberg with Elder White, then to Frankfurt. When Elder Gassman was transferred he also went to Heidelberg with Elder White, then to Frankfurt. Then the Elder Anderson, who replaced Elder Gassman in Nordhausen left nordhausen to Heidelberg with Elder White. So everyone thinks Elder Anderson will go to Frankfurt next ha. And yes that shows how long Elder White has been in Heidelberg, almost year! I'm a bit jealous since I only had 6 weeks there. Its alright though, we know we go where we go because thats where we need to be. This weekend is also transfer calls so we'll see what happens with Elder Durrant and me here.

We had the opportunity to do a service project this week with the YSAs in the stake. It was one of those ''Mormon helping hands'' ones where we got those yellow pennys. I thought that was cool ha since you always see the pictures then I got to do one. The bishops wife works at a kindergarden and we went and fixed it up. We waxed the upstairs and re-did the floor downstairs and cleaned up the outside a bit. It was fun and a good opportunity to work with and get to know the YSAs in the stake. We also had a ward grill party. Elder Durrant and I made chocolate chip cookies for it. When we put them out they were gone so fast! We were proud of ourselves for accomplishing that ha. We also made those brownies mom for the missionary couple has been serving in Nürnberg for the last 18 months and are going home this week. We have pictures so I'll send those to you next week so you can believe we baked ha.

As we were in Sunday School yesterday we were talking about the sabbath day. The same new convert who gave the priesthood lesson last week shared a cool thing. He was asked how his sabbath day changed after he became a member. He talked about how it has always been a family day in his family. How they all believe in God and all but it was basically just a family day to go to the park or hike or spend with close friends where they would sometimes discuss about God. He said though that after he got to know the church and became a member his sabbath days became more spiritual. He said something to the effect of ''You can approach the topic of Faith and God from a philosophy point of view or from a spiritual point of view. Although it is the same topic the feelings you get are much different.'' I really like that because we often meet people who approach it only from the philosophy side and we as members or even non-members get caught in doing this. The feelings and experiences are significantly different as we allow our spirits to connect with with our Heavenly Father instead of just approaching the whole thing from a logical or philosophical point of view. 

We can discuss and speculate our whole lives, but until we allow our spirits to connect or relate with God we will not benefit in any way. You cannot teach a testimony. As this Brother talked about, when we approach things of God from our spiritual side we will experience things of greater meaning to us. We will truly learn of our Heavenly Father and of Jesus Christ. We will develop a real relationship with them. A real love for them will develop. In this process we feel our responsibilities as we learn of them. And we will desire to fulfill them. I am grateful for the reality of this and know that God loves us. That he has a perfect plan for us and desires with all his love that we learn of it and follow it.

I hope everyone is doing well. Things sound pretty busy back there. Take time to truly nourish your spirit. I love you all!!

Elder Puriri

LETTER #86 - NURNBERG

Dear Family!

Another week gone by. Sounds like you also all had an eventful week. Thats awesome you got to go to that Real game like that and that picture with Asa and Beckerman is pretty sweet! The womens world cup is going on here right now. Its not nearly as crazy as the mens last year and that one wasn't even in Germany. They still love their soccer though but since germany is apparently out its not as exciting for them all. We heard US girls played yesterday but we have no idea how they did. Sometimes we see scores on big info screens at different tram stops. Its cool though, soccers always good. The ward has a sport night every week and we went once last transfer with an investigator of ours who plays soccer and played with them. Now this coming saturday is a ward grill party and some of the members talked about playing soccer. So maybe we will play a bit with the ward that day. Oh and yes I did get that package you sent a couple weeks ago. We were at home having lunch then when we left and started walking down the street the mail van pulled into our street and as he drove down the road towards us he stuck his are out straight and pointed at us. So we walked over to his window and he said I think I have something for you, then got up and walked to the back and came back with my package. He said ''Aren't you Elder?'' I said yes I am ha. We thought it was funny he knew us and stopped us on the street like that. So we had to walk back to the apartment and put the package inside. We still haven't made the cupcakes yet but we will do that this week hopefully.

I read Erics letter and I feel I can relate pretty well to how he is feeling right now. It is strange to be one of the older missionaries out here. Everytime I go on tausch or am with a group of missionaries for some reason I think I'm still one of the young ones. Then someone will say something or I'll just realize I'm one of the older ones in the group, or on tausch with a younger elder. Its a strange thing. I remember looking up to the older Elders and learning from them and all. I can't picture myself being one of them. So I guess I look up to the younger Elders now and learn from them.

It was a quick week though. We had 3 tausches so that made things blend and its hard to remember what happened on what day. One of them I worked with Elder Münzer so that was cool. He was serving in Erfurt with Elder Killpack back when we switched over from the Berlin mission. I had tausched with him twice before back when I was in Nordhausen. So it was cool having the opportunity one more time to work with him before he heads home in 2 weeks. He is training a new Elder and has kept it a secret that he is going home ha so his companion is going to be a bit confused in a couple weeks.

During one of the tausches I was with Elder Dieduksman (from holland) and Elder Durrant was working with Elder Gassman. All 4 of us spent the day in Nürnberg working. Elder Dieduksman and I went by a some people in the afternoon and one guy we went by on wasn't home but his wife answered. We talked to her quick and she said her husband would be back around 6 that night and that we could come back if we wanted. We weren't sure if we would have time but we wrote it down just in case. Then we went on with our day. --Around that same time Elder Gassman and Durrant were at the main train station in Nürnberg checking some train times when some guy yelled ''hey Elders!'' turned out to be some guy from Nigeria who had been researching our church. He came up and said something to them ''Hey Elders can you tell me where your church is here? I've researched a lot about you guys and I find nothing wrong with you. You guys are alright. I read in your book one time, I think it was Moroni or someone but they said When you are in the service of your fellowmen you are only in the service of God. I really like that guys, I find nothing wrong with your church'' They had some time and the church isnt far from there so they went with him to the church and gave him a quick tour and got his information. He said to call him and make out an appointment because he would have to talk to his wife to see when it would be ok.

So around 630 we all 4 met up and Elder Gassman and Dieduksman left and Elder Durrant and I decided to go by on the guy whose wife told us would be home again around this time. We got there and rang the bell then this guy opened up the door. As we opened Elder Durrant got this shocked look and kind of jumped back and the guy did the same thing. Then the guy was like ''Wow were you coming to see me or just being missionaries knocking on doors like you do?'' I, being unaware of what was really going on asked, ''Well are you this guy?'' and pointed to the name on the doorbell. He said yes then I said then yes we were coming to see you. Then Elder Durrant goes ''We didn't know this was you. We were just coming by.'' Then I was confused and thought, we purposely meant to come by on him so what are you talking about? Then the guy just said ''Well I just got home and my wife and kids aren't here. The apartment isn't the cleanest but I guess you can come up with me.'' Then he turned around and we began following him up the stairs to his apartment. Elder Durrant turned around to me and whispered ''THATS THE GUY WE RAN INTO AT THE TRAIN STATION AND SHOWED HIM THE CHURCH!!'' I then connected the story he and Elder Gassman told us when we met back up and the quick visit Elder Dieduksman and I had early that day with his wife and was blown away ha. I had a huge smile on my face as we sat down and started talking a bit more. Then his wife got home and came in. She saw me and was like oh Hi you were here earlier. Then her husband asked what she was talking about. Then Elder Durrant explained how that day there was 4 of us in Nürnberg and 2 of us earlier talked to his wife and the other 2 talked to him at the train station and that we didn't know it was connected and just came back because the wife said he could. The guy was amazed and said ''This is no coincidence, God wanted us to be here''. It was really cool. So we will continue meeting with them and teaching them about the restored gospel of which he already knows surprisingly lots. So that was cool that all four of us were able to work together unknowingly to help the same family that day.

Yesterday in church was also cool. The priesthood lesson was taught by a man who has been a member since about February. He joined the church alone, is married and has 2 kids. The lesson was on Eternal Families. I was amazed during the lesson as he taught about Eternal Families and shared his thoughts with us about it all. You could see how important that is to him and the optimism and hope he has to achieve it. I felt again the responsibility I have to do my part to help our family also achieve that. I felt and learned more things I can do and I also felt a real gratitude to mom and dad for what they do to help us have that. I felt this Brothers desire to have that and can imagine Mom and Dad also have a similar desire for their family to have it. I realized better that in order for Mom and Dad to have this I have to do my part. In order for this blessing to be received I play a deciding role. We all do. I felt that Mom and Dad have this desire as this Brother expressed in his lesson. I imagine it is constantly pulling at their hearts and driving them to do their part. I felt very accountable to them to do my part and realized if I alone do not and everyone else does, the fullness of this blessing and desire would be hindered. So I feel yesterday during that lesson I learned a little better about eternal families and the importance of our family. I learned more about my part in that and felt my responsibility to do my part. So I hope to move forward and fulfill my part in our efforts.

Time is running short, but I'm grateful for all of you! I love you all. Make it and good week and be happy! Thank you all for everything!!

Elder Puriri

also happy birthday this week karamea!! love you!