Monday, March 24, 2014

Rain and Other Blessings

Hi!
We had a pretty great week here as well! The weather has been pretty interesting though. From Monday until Thursday it was really pretty and warm but on Friday we had a finding day in St. Gallen and we got poured on. It was really really cold and everybody ran inside and away from us. But we had a good time anyway. Since then it has rained for most of the time until this morning. Now everything is really green and there are a lot more flowers.
We had an appointment with the L---- family on Saturday. In the last appointment with them we committed them to reading third Nephi 11 but they had a really rough week and didn't get to reading it together so we read it with them. In that chapter, Christ explains baptism really clearly, so when we finished reading we asked them what they thought about that. They said, "that is exactly what we have been looking for!" They told us that they wanted to be baptized so we set a goal for the 13th of April. They are both really excited and they came to church yesterday. I taught a class to the mother and some other members about the brother of Jared and how faith works. She really opened up to the members and said that she loved it.
We also had another great experience last night. I have told about the M------ family before and how we were teaching the father while he was here in Konstanz. Well, he came back down for a few days so they invited us over for dinner. The father, I-----, has some health problems that have been effecting him for a lot of years and he asked us for a blessing. He had never seen or gotten a blessing before so we explained it to him and let him know what was going to happen. After we gave the blessing he said, "well that was weird!" I got a bit worried and asked him why he thought it was weird, and he said "as soon as you put your hands on my head, I felt like I was being protected and I felt energy and strength go through my whole body like never before!" His wife then brought up that when he is baptized, he can later recieve the Priesthood and give her and his daughter blessings just like that. And he said "that will be great, won't it?"
We will find out on this saturday about the next transfer. It is crazy how fast the time is going by now. I can't believe that Elder Sardoni and I have already been together for almost twelve weeks. We are having a lot of fun together and we still get along great. For weekly planning this week, the weather was too beautiful to stay inside so we brought our nightstand onto our balcony and used our comfy chairs. It was a great time. Hopefully the weather will get better in the next few days.
Thanks for writing! I will send a few photos later. I hope that you all have another great week! I love you all!

Elder Eldredge

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Dinner with President and Sister Miles


Hey!
Last week was awesome! We saw tons of cool stuff! On tuesday we had a really good zone training in Winterthur. We talked a lot about missionary work just like at your meeting dad! On wednesdays we have lunch every week with a family from peru. It is awesome because the son is crazy and we are constantly trying to stop him from throwing heavy toy dinosaurs at us. But, the highlight of the week was when we got to work with President and Sister Miles! We had a lesson with the Luna family and the Miles' really wanted to meet them. It was a bit hectic getting everybody to meet in the same spot because we were supposed to meet in the middle of the old city where getting lost is far too easy, but it worked out great. The Lunas love the Miles and President gave them a mormon tabernacle choir CD. After the lesson President took us to dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. It was really fun to sit and talk with them outside of a meeting setting.

The next highlight was church! First, I need to tell about our friend B-----. A few weeks ago, a guy, B-----, said hi to us and asked where the church was because he just moved here and wanted to come. That next week he came and he brought his friend A-----. A----- doesn't speak german but he loved church and he said that we wanted to be a member. Well, this week he came again and we made sure that the meeting was translated for him. He was so happy about everything that was said. He lives in switzerland so we wouldn't normally teach him, but because he is from Africa and speaks crazy english, the other german elders can't understand a word that he says, so we are teaching him.
Those are just a few of the many cool success stories from the last week in Konstanz. I really really still love it here and it is getting really pretty with the weather warming up. We were in a place called Allensbach last night and it is right on the upper part of the Bodensee. Luckily the sun was setting just as we got there and we got to see how pretty it was. I am really blessed to be able to work in such a great area and mission. 
Coming up on my year mark is a weird feeling. I am still not sure if I believe it or not. I keep seeing the date on my scripture a day calendar and I keep wanting the date to be the same when I flip the page, but it has never happened so far.
Happy birthday Crew! I can't believe that you are seven years old now! Pretty soon those kids won't be kids anymore.
I am happy that you all seemed to have had a great week full of driving from party to party and all that kind of stuff. I hope that you all have another great week! Love you all!
Elder Eldredge 





Monday, March 10, 2014

P-day and Pancakes

Hey everybody!

This was a way good week! It sounds like you all had a great week as well! Sorry that I am writing so late! We had a district P-day and so we had to change up our schedule. We played a bunch of sports today. It was awesome to get out and run around and play again. Sadly nobody knows how to throw a disc so we couldn't play that but basketball and soccer was fun as well. 

Last week I had an exchange with our district leader, elder Georgiev, from Bulgaria. It was really great. We met this girl, V-------, on the street who really wanted to become faithful because she has noticed that we have more energy and hope. After talking for a minute I just asked her if she had time right then to talk, and she did. So we found a bench and had a really great lesson about strengthening our relationship with God.  She brought up that she had questions about what happens after this life because her Grandmother had died so we shared some of Alma 40 with her. After reading it she said that she always feels good and warm inside when she hears things like that. A few days later she wrote us a text message asking for advice because she didn't know when it is right to make changes in her life. It was a really good sign to us that she trusts us and wants to become better.

R----- and L----- have been in Frankfurt for a while so we haven't actually been able to meet with them for a second time, but I call them pretty often to see how they are, and they always let us  know that they still read every day in the Book of Mormon. The baptism will have to be put back a few weeks but they are still doing really well. 




We are just over half way done with this transfer and I am starting to realize that I will most likely be leaving soon. I don't know if I am really happy about that. I love this ward so much. I almost feel like I have always been here and like they are my family. I will be really sad to leave them all. But I am also excited to see what will happen next. When I leave, I will be one of the only americans who knows any of the Swiss missionaries. It is pretty weird but it is almost like there are two missions. It will be nice to see all of my old friends from outside of Switzerland.
Other than that, it was a pretty normal good week. Lots of talking to people and lots of fun. We have started a new tradition in our apartment that we all eat pancakes together on thursday. Elder Schumaier really likes to make these thin pancakes and we just pack them full of nutella and yoghurt and jelly and pretty much anything with sugar. It is really great because Elder Schumaier gets really happy (it is his favorite food) but it is so hard to eat. It tastes really really really good, but I think my taste buds are the only part of my body that really appreciates it. The other night he made them for dinner and I think I stared at the ceiling for two hours before being able to fall asleep because of all the sugar.
So, needless to say, we have a lot of fun together in our apartment. Just a warning, if you want to send those photos, I would do it quick while I am still here. It is rather likely that I am in my last month here in Konstanz. Thanks for those by the way. don't worry that it has taken a bit. I am excited anyway! And, I did get moms E-mail. Love you mom!
I hope that you all have a great week! I pray for you all and I love you all!
Elder Eldredge

Monday, March 3, 2014

Fasnacht and Pictures of the Apartment

Hi!
Hello everyone! It sounds like another great week with the family! Those videos of the kids are pretty darn cute! They are all getting so big!
Everything in Konstanz is just great! The have this really weird holiday called Fasnacht and it last a week. All the really do is wear these giant costumes and get drunk all night. It is really loud sometimes because they have drums and high pitched flutes and they play all night. Luckily it hasn't bothered me too much when I sleep though. But all of the drunk people make contacting really interesting. We tried to go out on thursday and the streets were just full of people falling over themselves and playing flutes and throwing confetti everywhere.
Speaking of contacting, because dad asked, most of what we do in Konstanz is street contacting. We don't really ever go door to door, but we spend our time visiting members and talking to people on the way. We have these things called "family mission plans," and most members have them. They write down the people that they want to work with and we pray for them and support them in anyway possible. So most of our finding is through our members.
R---- and L---- sadly couldn't come to church yesterday because R---- had to work unexpectedly and L----- was on a school trip, but they said "don't worry! we read in the book everyday!" So they are doing really well. We also met with C-----, well I didn't because I was in St. Gallen, but Elder Sardoni met with C----- and they read together in the alma 32 and C----- 

loved it! He said that he now wants to read in the book of Mormon more, and that he wants a new job (he works in a club). We are hoping that he gets a new day job at the mall here in Konstanz.
I worked in St. Gallen on exchange with Elder Bauerfeind on tuesday and wednesday. It was way cool because we went to visit a less active woman and her husband and we had to take a hike up a mountain to get there. They luckily let us in and fed us some spaghetti which was really nice of them. They also gave me a little pamphlet with some great quotes in it. I don't think I told you all but I have been collecting uplifting and inspiring quotes for my whole mission. I think they are pretty great.
So things are going great! We are excited for this holiday to be over on wednesday so that the people on the streets understand us a bit better, but everything is awesome. We have a lot of fun and life is great. I hope you all have a great week! Thanks for starting on those photos! I will really appreciate those!
I love you all!
Elder Eldredge