Easter week.

Hi Mom! 

Your favorite son and missionary is doing FANTASTIC! My week has been super good. We did some great things for Easter! We had a huge Branch Lunch in the church. It was Lamb with gravy, creamy potatoes (just like yours!) lots of salad, vegetables with dip, and Swiss Bread called Zopf (braided bread) which is a huge delicacy here. It's very good. I actually also ended up singing for the Easter program on Sunday! I sang "Be Still My Soul." It was lots of fun. I'm glad you guys had a great Easter. :) 

Pres. Embly and his family

Mom I have no doubt that you're just an amazing Seminary teacher who has lots of fun and makes it very fun. No doubt. I wish I could be in your class :) haha we do work hard, but we definitely do not get up at 4:30 XD you're just on a whole different level. 

I'm glad you like the pictures! The pictures cannot even capture the smallest bit of the beauty of this place. Last week was super nice and warm but today we had a blizzard! It's been snowing super hard all day, but none of it is sticking, and the sun is out. It's pretty magical actually. 

 

A rock cracked window on our new car!  We fixed it...

 

I'm glad everyone's mood is improving with the weather :) it's about time. My mood has improved a lot too. It's about time for everything to warm up and for spring to start. Or summer. By the time it warms up enough it'll already be Summer! 

I'm glad to hear that the week went well with the Temple visit and Easter and everything else super awesome! I'm sorry to hear about Great Grandma. But I'm also glad to hear that she's doing much better now :) that helps me rest easier. 

Well this week was quite a blast! I'll just give you a rundown of the big events. 

 

Sammy.  We are teaching him English.

 

We got to meet with Shareef again this week! We had a really cool lesson about the Book of Mormon and what it means to be a member of the church. We had a huge talk about Jesus and his resurrection. In the end he said he wanted to come to church and learn about it himself. So he actually came! And he really really enjoyed it. He kept talking about a feeling of peace that he had throughout the day and after church. He said: I am happy. And he wants to come every week! We also started reading in the Book of Mormon together. Which is a sweet experience. I read out loud in German, he reads in Arabic, and Elder Chisholm reads in English. We all take turns. It was a very sweet experience, and we had long talks about different principles in the church. In the end of the discussion he agreed to be baptized once he found out the church was true (although the already believes it is.) he's amazing, and I'm very happy I've gotten the opportunity to teach him. 

 

Went dooring here.

 

Aside from that we got the opportunity to meet with a couple different families in the ward for eating appointments. This week everything we talked about was of course centered on the Resurrection. I got to focus a lot on that this week. Most of the time people focus a lot on different parts of the Atonement. The crucifixion. The intercessory prayer. But most of the time the emphasis is lost on the Resurrection. For some reason (for me too) it's a lot harder to forge a deep, personal connection to the Resurrection, and what it specifically means on an individual level. If you have time, and haven't seen it yet, check out the video the church made. Prince of Peace. It's an amazing video about the Resurrection. 

 

District Meeting.

 I really wish I had more time, but I don't :(

Other news!! Elder Chisholm is being transferred to Neumarkt am Wallensee. I'm getting Elder Bowmen from my MTC group! :) I'm really sad to see elder Chisholm go. He is one of my best friends and an amazing elder. I'm also excited to work with Elder Bowmen :) I've been trying really hard to work on the Swiss German! I'll have to send you a sample later! 

Yeah I don't have much information about Hans or how it happened... but I'm sure it was just his health being bad. Or smoking. Either way, I'm glad he's no longer in pain. I'm sure he has the best teachers wherever he is. :) 

 

Hello McLaren.

 

Well I sadly have to go. But I'll try and write down all the little details and be better about it next week. Things are kind of hectic trying to get Elder Chisholm ready to go! Love you Mom! 

-Elder Tanner Larson