He loves Spaetzle

Hello my Missionary Mom!!

I am doing just fine! :) I'm glad you enjoyed the letter. We've been very very busy this whole time. Elder Kaufusi and I work very very hard. Sometimes people aren't nice, and that's ok. Everyone has bad days! But most of the time the people are willing to at least talk to you :) Work has been great. We've had a few amazing breakthroughs with some people, and we have lot's of hope and optimism right now. Cooking is also still going good!! I hope to keep learning as I'm here and have some great recipes to bring home. Hearing about the dinner Dad made makes me happy. I miss having family dinners like that. 

 

My favorite!  Kaese Spaetzle in a bread bowl.  Delicious.

 

We haven't gotten anymore snow besides last Monday. It's just been absolutely freezing cold with lot's of ice!! But luckily we are keeping warm enough. A member actually bought us some wool hats last week!! It was so nice of them. Our heads stay nice and warm. I knew Skylar and Gracie would have a reputation soon enough, with their amazing voices!! That's so exciting! Maybe you could record it and send it? :) Tell Grandma and Grandpa I said hello and I love them!! Sometimes It's so hard to getting around to email everyone, I want them to know that I appreciate their emails. 

 

Our little blizzard.

 

Austria is still amazing!! Everytime it starts to get hard, something else new and exciting happens and I remember it's worth it. Heavenly Father is really watching out for me here. Tonight we saw the Krampus!!! (In Germanic Europe, they have St. Nicholas and Krampus. Krampus is like evil demon Santa) He walks around and scares people xD 

The dialect here isn't so hard. It sounds a lot like normal German with some differences in the way they sound out some consonants and some vowels. For example, when Germans roll their R's, they do it with the back of their throats. But here they do it with their tongues, like Spanish. Some words are different. In German, Kartoffeln means: potato. But the Wienerisch word for potato is: Erdapfeln. So some words are different, but It's still very understandable. It depends on the day for me. Some days I can understand everything. On some almost nothing xD I'm glad you guys enjoyed hearing me speak German!! It's improved a lot since then. Maybe I'll speak a little bit over skype!! I've been very blessed with the language. I may speak it well, but no credit to me. Without the Spirit, none of it would be possible. 

I love hearing that you are doing so much service!!! It makes me feel a little closer to you guys. Like we're sharing the work. It sounds like It'll be a blast. And the homemade tamales sound delicious!! 

I love hearing about your scripture study. It is SO important. And It never feels right without writing in my study journal. It's the best way to do it. You can learn some amazing things when you pay attention. I'm glad you're getting so much out of it. One of my favorite verses this week is Moroni 9:6. "And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."

It's a really motivating scripture that I've been using as my theme this last week. 

 

No room on train seats!

 

Well I'll tell you a little bit about my week!! I wont be able to write as much as normal, because we don't have a lot of time, but I'll hit the important parts.

On Monday we got to go around the City for a little free time on Pday! It started snowing really really hard and it was amazing!!! It made me miss home a lot, and the snow we see at the cabin. Aside from that we had a few lessons and they went really well. We taught Klaus about the Restoration and he really seemed to come with the info. We're going to try and get him to church next Sunday. 

 

 

On Tuesday we got to do our training and interviews with President Kohler!! It was so nice to be able to see him again and have a nice one on one with him about how things are going. He gave me some really good tips and we talked about you guys!! He wanted to know about the family. He said we all look like Athletes! (I showed him a picture of us) He is a very good President, and I'll be sad when It's time for him to go home. After that we had a lesson with Samir! It was so nice. We went over the Restoration again and he was so pumped. He's always excited to talk about it and he just reads the Scriptures all the time. 

On Wednesday we went to go talk to people off the street for a few hours and got a few phone numbers and addresses!!! After that we went to the Mclennans again to eat and it was wonderful. We enjoyed some really good lasagna and shared the Churches Christmas video and talked about how we can have more charity. They are amazing members. They actually asked me to sing at the Ward Christmas party! So I will now be singing "O Holy Night" In a week! haha. After that we went out and talked to more people and went home.

Wien  (Vienna)

On Thursday we had our Ward Mission Council and taught Klaus again. Klaus seems to really be growing fond of the church. I don't know If i already told you, but he calls us his "Friends from Jesus Christ." He's such a sweet guy. After that we went and taught Englisch to Samir! He says Englisch is the most beautiful language ever!! Pretty funny. After that we taught German again to a few people including a few investigators!! Directly after that we had Ward council. It was a busy night, but very productive. 

On Friday we met with the old Wizard Rudolph once more!!! He told us (because He's a sort of private therapist) That every time someone comes to him with some kind of problem he tells them they should talk to the Mormons... haha!! He actually tries to share the Gospel a lot because he says we are a really happy people. He told us the Gospel just makes sense. We asked him why he wasn't baptized and he said It just doesn't fit with his current lifestyle. He said he might when he's older. I'm fairly confident he was being completely honest!  After that we ate with the Pinols again! They have us over every Friday. An amazing family. Lot's of food. They made us some kind of rice chicken mish mash and it was delicious! 

 

On Saturday we had a very busy day!!! Best day of the week!! We met with Hans again at 11. We talked about what the Gospel means to him. It's been a little tough, because he says he'll come to church or read and stuff, but doesn't ever do any of it. Sometimes he even promises. We're working with him. But please keep him in your prayers. We just want to figure out how we can help him best. 

 

We made Christmas cards for the members.

 

 After that we had some lunch and went to an appointment with the Sisters. They found this guy on the street from India named Kuzco. This man is an example of the reasons we are on missions, people. God prepared him for the moment he met the missionaries. We met him in his home. He's a single Dad with 3 children. His wife stole most of his money and left, and now lives a life of partying. Ever since he's been living the way he does. I have never met a more responsible, loving Dad since I came out on my mission. Especially for his situation. He is a champion!!! He works so hard and focuses his entire life on his kids. His kids are so sweet, and very smart. He's about 38. He started by asking us "unanswerable questions" like: Why are there so many different churches on the earth? Where did we live before this life? Why are we on the earth? Where do we go after we die? (For those that don't know, the first two messages we usually share with people answer all of these questions exactly) He told us he had spent most of his life asking these questions. We went through the Restoration, and he was amazed. He was so HAPPY!!! I can't describe the feeling I get when I just think about it. We shared the Book of Mormon with him and it was amazing!! When I handed it to him he gasped. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he felt a pain in his chest when he touched it. I was a little confused, but then he corrected himself. He said: Wait, no... not pain. Something else. I felt something in my heart when I touched it. Something very strong. He then kept holding onto the Book. Afterwards we prayed and he said a personal prayer in his heart while we were there. The look on his face after praying to God like this for the first time changed the way i think about my mission. I am literally watching the Gospel change this man's life. He looked so at peace. So grateful. So happy. When we asked them if they'd pray to know if it's true or not, his 10 year old daughter said: I don't need to ask. I know It's true. They came to church the next day. They had such an amazing experience. During church he told us that after he prayed he slept better than he had in a long time. He said he feels so good and positive. He said he doesn't understand, but at the church he feels so calm. His children said they wanted to come back every Sunday. We're meeting with him again twice this week to teach him more. People, I want to testify to you that it is because of people like these that we go on missions. These are the people we are here for. God prepares his children to receive the message. I am very grateful that I am where I am. This Gospel is true. 

On Sunday we went to church (see above for what happened) and after church we ate with the Family Cunia! They were an amazing family. Lot's of little kids. Very musical. Very nice parents. Brother Cunia is playing piano while I sing at the Party. Amazing piano player. They fed us delicious soup and some kind of noodle pepper tuna stuff that was really good. After that we did our weekly planning!! Because we were so busy the last few days we didn't get to do it. 

 

Cunia daughters dressed up Elder Kaufusi.

 

And that was my week!!! It was beautiful, and tough. But very worth it. I am grateful for what I have. For the blessings missions bring. Thanks for all the love. I love you all an I hope you have a wonderful week until we write again. 

With so much love!!! 

Elder Tanner Larson