She said she didn't believe in peace...

Hey momo!!! 

Sorry this one's a little short. Something really freaky happened today and we had to coordinate our email times accordingly. The sisters in our area were on a train back here when a man jumped in front of the train as it passed another station. They saw it happen, and they saw everything. They're ok, just a little shocked and their train was late. 

Thank you for sharing the wonderful article :) Richard G. Scott always has some amazing things to say. He spoke with power but with gentleness. A lot like the Spirit. 

Well I don't have much time so I'll give you a record of my preceedings in these latter (7) days. 

My week!!

Monday: On monday we went to Wien to hang out with the district and play ping pong and stuff like that :) That was lot's of fun. Ping Pong has become a good friend of mine out here! Other than that we talked to people on the street and Elder Ormsby approached someone! And he happened to speak English!! They had a great conversation about the Restoration and Elder Ormsby shared his testimony. It was awesome to see him at this point. 

Getting ready to make weiner schnitzel!!

Tuesday: We had district meeting in Wien!! We got to sit down and talk about the church's new Self Reliance Program. It's an amazing program, I recommend everyone tries it. After that we went to go by on a few refferals but we couldn't find them. So instead, we went onward and I got to talk to a guy from Persia who really wants a Book of Mormon!! We're going by to give him one tonight actually. It's always exciting to bring the message to new people. After that we went shopping with a member for some things Samir needs to do the non-Smoking program. The Bishop really helped us out there. 

Wednesday: We got to go have our missionary council with the ward mission leader. It was very good. He gave us some great ideas on how we can strengthen our friendships with the members. In missionary work, members are very important. We need lot's of support throughout the week as we work with our friends. After that we went around Seebenstein to knock on doors. As we went I realized something. You know those neighborhoods in movies that are built around churches and everyone belongs to that church, and everyone else is untrustworthy...? That was Seebenstein. Everyone belonged to this tiny little church... And they were all so mean D: We even knocked on the house of the guy who teaches all the priests at the huge institute across the street!! But finally, on one street we found two people that wanted us to come back and share our message xD It was quite an adventure. After that we got back and taught the no smoking program to Samir. Brother Hladky was there, and he was a big support. 

 

Getting the ingredients for the weiner schnitzel.

 

Thursday: On thursday we got our studies in and headed out to work!! We hit up this little town called Felixdorf, to go by on a refferal we got for the area. But as soon as she opened the door and we introduced ourselves she was like: NOPE. and slammed the door. We sat there for a minute thinking, and decided we were still there for a reason, so we started knocking on doors. It was great. The last house we hit before deciding to go home, a little old lady came out and asked who we were. We introduced ourselves, and told her we were sharing a special book that taught about Jesus Christ and how faith on him can help us find peace. She said she didn't believe in peace, because this world didn't have any. We talked for a while about this before I was able to bear my testimony of the fact that we can find peace in this world, despite all of the horrible things in it. In the end she accepted the book and said she would gladly read it. It was a very spiritual experience for me, as the entire time I felt that I was not the one speaking, rather that it was the Holy Ghost speaking through me. It was very powerful and I left without a number or an invitation back, but with a feeling that I had accomplished what the Lord wanted from me that day. After that we had German and English class. Only Samir showed up, but it was pretty fun and we had a good time. 

Friday: On Friday we went to the church to prepare for Spiel abend, and then met up with the Pinols for lunch and a spiritual discussion. She made some delicious stuff. I dont know what its called, but its yellow rice with sausage and other vegetables in it, and you eat it with Garlic Mayonaise. It was so good! After that we got to head on over to Spiel Abend and the coolest thing happend!! This guy named Phillip showed up. He is a less active member that I'd been trying to connect with my entire time in Wienerneustadt. But I could never find him. Wrong phone number, false address, and all my leads had come to an end. And then he randomly showed up at the building!!! He said he just thought he'd stop by and see if anyone is there. We talked for a good half an hour and really connected. He's awesome. He's a trainer for a women's soccer league here in Austria. We had a good time and he told us he would invite us over sometime. Not only that, but another less active member showed up and brought a friend!!! We had a great time playing games and at the end I found the member (Dominic) Showing him around the building and telling him about the Holy Ghost. At the end the friend (Lukas) Accepted our invitation to hear the lessons, and learn more about the church. He even took a Book of Mormon from the building! So naturally I was geeking out in true missionary fashion. It was awesome.

Saturday: On Saturday we got to go to Wien once more to see a baptism from a guy the elders in the English ward have been teaching. His name is Siamak, from Iran. He had researched the church online, decided it was true, and contacted the missionaries asking to be taught and baptized. And he brought 4 friends with him to the church, who are all now being baptized as well. WOW! Amazing stuff happening over here, people. After that we headed back to talk to some people on the street. And then we did some weekly planning. 

 

The weiner schnitzel all done.  yum!

 

Sunday: It was a great day in church. There were some amazing talks, and great classes. After church we had lunch with S. Hornig, who told us her conversion story. It was a great story. After that we headed over to Hans's place to check in on him. He had gone 3 days without smoking, which is pretty amazing because he did it alone without any sort of helpful means. (besides us) And it was great. He was pretty discouraged, but we told him its normal to have a hard time on the first try, and told him we'd help him develop a further plan. 

And that was our week!! 

Thank you for the update. I love you guys very much and can't wait to hear from you all again :) Have a wonderful week, and may the spirit be with you. 

Elder Larson