transferred to Innsbruck (Oberhofen).

From July 18, 2017:

Hello sweet Mother of mine!

You know it. I got transferred again! I did just arrive in Freiburg... only six weeks ago! Time is flying so fast. After this transfer I will only have 1 until I hit the last six months! That's not a lot of time!

I was actually a little scared of the transfer at first, but now I feel like there is absolutely nowhere else I would rather be than here in Innsbruck. Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it.

Im working with a certain Elder Lukas. Not only has this man become one of my greatest friends on the mission that I've ever had, but he is the best missionary I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He's from England, in a little town called Crewe. He was one of my Zone leaders in Wien, but I never got to know him too well. In this last week i have had more fun with missionary work than I've ever had before. We've also been working harder than i ever have before. He's a spiritual giant, the most spiritual missionary I've ever known. That's a lot of "Evers" but he deserves them. 

Also, he's got the best German out of any missionary, and we only speak German together. It's a really nice adjustment. Basically, we work really hard and have lots of fun. Although it's really sad, because he goes home in 5 weeks! I only get one transfer with him! I'm excited to get a chance to serve with him before he goes, though.

My beautiful welcome to Innsbruck.

Me and Elder Lukas.

The city is amazing! It's like Chur on a much larger scale. Bigger city, still chilling in a valley between large mountain ranges, except the space between the mountains is larger, and the mountains themselves are larger. It's beautiful. We actually live about twenty minutes from Innsbruck by train, in a little town called: Oberhofen. It's a cute little place. Very small. Most people in Innsbruck don't

know where it is. But for me it's a great location to live. I'm back in the country where I feel at home. :) we have the coolest apartment. I'll send you pictures of it next week. It's really nice, new, and

modern. No crappy toilet this time. We have nice wood and tile floors. It's big too! And we live in the Bishop's house. There's a small apartment right by them, so we're lucky enough to have such a nice

place to live, with the bishop even. The people in Innsbruck are pretty comparable to everyone else, although my experience in Innsbruck is far different from my experience with Wienerneustadt.

People were a lot harder in Wienerneustadt. But half the people here are tourists anyway, i think... it's awesome. We find lots of really nice cool people. The members are really really cool. We have a small ward of under 100 people, but we have a very nice church building.

American cheeseburgers!

In England you can't do the peace sign with palm toward you.  It's like flipping someone off.

I got here right as the work wound down a bit, because of Summer. It's another university town, and all of the students are going home for the summer. Quite a few of them were are investigators. We're still in contact of course, but not able to set appointments.  But since I've gotten here we've found some pretty cool people to work with! Now we're pretty busy.

In God's hand.

storm rolling in.

Also, im really sorry you got this email late. I know it's been happening a lot lately, it's just crazy how little time we have sometimes. A lot has happened this week. We got to help out with some

cool service projects. We're currently helping someone demolish an old house, we helped someone move, (we're doing it again tomorrow) and it's been a great way to get to know people. The members invite people to everything, which is awesome! Other than that, we found some cool

people. We found a guy named Benny, from China. He doesn't have a concept of Christianity, but he's learning now and loving it. We have Diana, a younger woman I felt impressed to talk to on the Tourist square in Innsbruck who we now have an appointment with. She found our conversation about God very interesting, and wanted to know more. We gave some food to some homeless people this week, that we just happened to have in our bags today. That was nice. We're not allowed to give people money, so I always feel bad. That was a nice compromise though.

I stood up and gave a sermon to all the people on this train...

Chinese food!

In the last two transfers we've had about 5 pretty young missionaries go home early. All Elders too, actually. President Kohler addressed it right before he went home. I think there's just a lot of stress in missionary work these days. The lifestyle difference gap between normal life back home and missionary life is getting wider every day. It's getting more difficult to prepare for missions, because of society norms. Our generation is very used to quick solutions. In Missionary work there is no such thing. For language, or teaching, or investigators.

President Kohler also addressed a weakness in our mission. There's sort of a common lack of understanding that floats around, and a lack of patience between companions. It's a lot like the world today. People would rather have their way than compromise and avoid contention. This happens especially a lot with new missionaries. People are generally less humble these days, including missionaries. As a result, lots of missionaries are insensitive to the needs of their companion, and for young missionaries adjusting to missionary life, this becomes a huge stumbling block. And then they go home. Most missionaries who choose to go home early choose to do so within the first year. President And Sister Kohler talked a lot about how we should treat our companions before they went home, because I think it's a pretty big problem. In any case, missions are very hard, and I don't judge anyone for choosing to go home. It only makes me sad because I know how much the Lord has in store for his servants.

Behind our house.

We went on a hike.

Well this email is getting long and I have to go soon, but I love you Mom. :) I miss you a lot and think of you often. You guys are my Rock. You and Jesus Christ. Thanks for the updates and the assurance that everyone is doing well back home. Can you believe I turn 21 in about a month? I'm old. ;) I hope you guys have a great week and share your light with others.

Love, Tanner