Golden City

He is sooo cute!

oh man he is so small too. Good to hear that everything went well and safefly. I have been waiting all week to see those pictures! I'm super happy for annie and cody. they've been waiting for so long it's crazy.

Anyway, things in Austria are going really great! B------ will be baptized on the 22nd of june! He is so cool. we tried to teach him the plan of salvation, so we asked him what he knows about it and then he taught us the plan of salvation perfectly until he got to the three kingdoms of glory then he wasn't so sure. He also got pumped when we told him that when we are ressurected we will have a perfect body. I don't remember if i mentioned or not but he doesn't have legs, his hands are disfigured and he can't speak clearly due to a problem with his jaw. But even though he has all of these physical problems he's one of the coolest guys ever. he loves james bond and action movies. He's also read through almost the entire missionary library besides the book of mormon. But he's working on it.

this last friday i went on exchange with one of the elders in linz. We called it golden city because he's is only a transfer older than me. so we had two goldens in charge of the entire city of linz. but we did give out four books and find two new investigators that are pretty much perfect and prepared for the gospel and they have like four kids. and that was in the first hour. for the rest of the day we spent walking around getting wet from the rain and getting rejected by a lot of people. It was awesome! It's amazing how much fun you can have being made fun of and rejected by a bunch of people who all think we're jehovas witnesses.

dad just so you know there is also a way to watch conference talks through gospel library. and the prophet and apostels aren't creepy like that lady. and your right, i noticed that she's creepy too.

there is so much going on at home it sounds like. i can't even imagine going home and seeing the changes made to our house. Also, that neighborhood party sounds awesome! It really sounds like summer there. It's been raining here for like four days straight. needless to say i am quite grateful for that jacket that we had and water proof shoes.

Mom, i have noticed your improved typing skills. did dad teach you how? It's cool that you got a new designing job! I hope that all goes well.

Ben, doctor who is pretty sweet right? I've only seen a few episodes but the one with the angel statutes that try to kill you when you stop looking at them gives me nightmares. I don't know how long i will be in austria. Every six weeks we find out whether we stay where we are or if we leave somewhere else but i will probably be where i am for at least another 8 weeks because i will still be training. I hope to stay where i am even longer after that becuase my area is so cool.

Thanks for the pictures of deacon! keep sending them so i can see him grow! same with everyone else but he's new.

Love you all,

Elder Eldredge

Lion Bars? Who knew?

Hey Everybody!

Austria is still treating me pretty great! The food here is so awesome especially since i'm used to it now. the first few days of the food were a bit rough to me but now it's going awesome. i could do with a j dawg though. I think that i have eaten maybe 50 lion bars now. they're just so good here. plus they're dirt cheap. they even make cereal that taste just like it! pretty much i'm happy to wake up in the morning.

The tallest elder is from Pleasant Grove and was in marching band with Parker for a year.

We're working really hard everyday and we are hoping to commit one of our investigators to a baptismal date tonight. This guy is awesome! He read the entire "Our Heritage" book and he just loved it. He even brought up tithing the other night which made us worry a bit but he told us it was pretty much the coolest thing ever and that he loved us and that he wants his dog to be a member of the church too. He was joking of course but pretty much he's a boss. We are actually hoping to have three baptismal dates by the end of this transfer and hopefully baptize them in the next one. We have 6 progressing investigators who are just awesome! The ward here is awesome too. We had lunch at a member family's house after church yesterday. They have like 5 kids, three of which are in their teens so after eating we just hung out with them before giving lesson. it was way cool.

We receive money on the first of every month on our mission visa cards. because we're in Austria we get 180 euros per month. We get to use that money to buy food and whatever else we need to stay alive, like toilet paper. which we desperately need.

I wish i could see this Ultimate highlight you speak of.

Annie..... just eat more fiber. duh.

Also the name nurple for a car is probably the best name this family has come up with for a car. I also like the names andrew gave it. those are nice.

And mom i don't know what i want at all. I would ask for j dawgs sauce but i don't know if that goes well with knudel. Maybe you can all compile a box of things i might think are interesting or funny. and some candy.

well it's good to hear that everything is going well! I wish i could do some of this stuff with you. miss you all tons!

Love,

Elder Eldredge

The Day after Mother's Day

Hey yall!

man i haven't talked to you all for so long! haha just kidding.

The mission tour is just where our zone gets togother and there are lots of talks and lessons. we even had lunch together in wien. it was so good! But ya we (those in my zone) just all traveled to wien and were taught.

no i haven't seen anybody from my mtc district yet. Elder stilger and i are kinda far away from anybody else. Linz is the next closest place with other missionaries and it's a one and a half hour train ride away. We are actually in linz right now. it's a pretty cool place.

Ya anyway i don't have much to say because i just talked to you last night. It's cool to see those mission calls.

talk to you next week.

love,

Elder Eldredge

Elder Stilger

Ried, Austria

 [ED - you can see that Parker is about halfway between Munich, Germany and Vienna, Austria, where the purple pin is]

Hello From Austria!

First off, switch any out of place z's with a y and vice versa.

As you all know i'm in a place called Ried Austria. It's pretty sweet here. Our apartment is a two man apartment and it's really quite nice. It's been a bit slow here. we onlz have a few investigator and it's hard to find potential investigators because we have to travel so much. On saturdays we bike 20 Km into the country side to work on a farm and eat tons of food. It's pretty awesome. This last saturday we dug a hole for a while and then cooked wurst over a fire and had tons of bread and chocolate. There is this awesome tradition of eating butt loads of food after you work and we don't mind either.

My companions name is Elder Stilger. He's awesome and we're hoping to do lots of good work in this area. He grew up speaking german in his home because his father comes from frankfurt and his mother is from switzerland. So I am lucky because I will go even faster at learning german. There are so many dialects here that i can barely understand people. Plus some words you don't say here or people have no idea what you are saying. It's all fun though.

It's great to hear about all of the great things going on and i wish i could be there having fun with you all. Plus i'm pumped to see pictures of my new nephew in the next few weeks! can't wait for that! I wish i could write you all individually but today is a bit cramped with the computer lab schedule. I don't know when i might get kicked out of this place.

Everything here is going really well and it's getting better every day. It's really setting in on me how long two years really is. time is going by a little slowly and i miss you all but i'm here to stay. Sorry Ainsley, I won't be coming home early.

Next week I'll send tons of pictures (or at least i'll try).

Love you all,

Elder Eldredge

P.S. (times like 5 or so)

1. You can just send packages to the mission home. Apparently it is harder to find our apartment when it is sent from far away so it might work better to send it to the mission home.

2. My address, in case you don't have it, is:

J.G. Hartwagner Strasse 24/3

A/4910 Ried im innkreis

Austria

3. Dad, if you would make sure that i have access to my savings account here and also put about a hundred dollars in it incase of a situation where i might not be able to use my missionary fund.

4. I have like zero information on how mothers day is going to work but expect a skype call around 1 O'clock Utah time.

5. I'm guessing that baby will come on the 14th.

6. My birthday is coming and i have a request. There are things here called freitag bags and they're pretty much the sickest things ever. They're back packs made out of the canvas that they put on the side of semi truck trailers and the strapps are made out of seat belts, they're aren't any two alike. Also the bag i got really doesn't work well with all the traveling that i have to do. Just think about it. Also, I love you.

Lovingly Hugged and Safely Tucked Away

Parker was allowed to call us from the airport on Tuesday morning.  We were hanging around the house waiting and just two minutes before the phone rang, I got this facebook message:

Hi Scott--
You don't know me or my husband Chris, but our daughter Elizabeth is a friend of Parker's from BYU. He's been to our home a few times and is one of my particular favorites of the BYU kids we've met this year. Elizabeth left this morning for Study Abroad in London, and we were just about to leave the airport when Parker's bus arrived from the MTC. I just had to let his Mom and Dad know that your boy looked so good this morning: totally together and full of enthusiasm--so ready to go--and just as handsome and darling as he could possibly be. Sounds like they had a crazy night with packing and cleaning until late, then he got up with part of his zone who had a 2:30 am departure, then back to try and sleep a little more before his group left. He was bright-eyed and calm despite this schedule and seemed to be doing a great job keeping track of his zone in a very busy check-in line. You would have been very proud of him.
Since we had the fun opportunity to be stand-in parents at the airport, I gave Parker a big hug on your behalf and took some pictures which I would love to share with you if you'd like to see them. I'll put a couple on FB to share with the BYU friends, but thought you might want to see them all.
If you'd like me to send the photos, please send me your email and I'll get them to you this evening. Hope you had a wonderful conversation with your boy just now. It was so much fun to see him this morning.
Michelle Davidson


What a thoughtful and much appreciated gesture by the Davidsons! 

So when he finally got to use the phone (I guess there was a line for the phone with all the missionaries who were there) we only go to talk for labout 10 minutes.  But he sounded great and very excited to be on his way.

Then this morning we got this message from the President and Sister Miles:

Dear family of Elder Eldredge-

We are delighted to tell you that Elder Eldredge arrived safely in Munich this morning.  He is tucked away in bed now after a long day of orientation. 

We thought you might enjoy these pictures from this evening. His new companion is Elder Stilger, and they will be serving in Haag, Austria. 

We are thrilled that he is here and are very impressed with his preparation and enthusiasm.  He will be a great missionary.  Thank you for all you have done to help him become the fine young man he is today.  We love him already, and we will do all we can to help him grow as a missionary and have a successful mission.  If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.  May the Lord bless you and your family at this wonderful time of missionary service.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Miles

Alpine German-speaking Mission