Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Heat is On

Hello family!

It sounds like you had another action packed week! Sounds like Ben did a great job in his tournament! It has been really hot over here for the last few days. At the beginning of the week it rained a lot but then the sun came out and stayed out. We had to pull out the fans for our apartment because it gets so hot, but luckily we are one the first floor so we don't have the heat from the other apartments. There were a lot more people out this week because the weather was so nice, well... I guess it was nice if you don't have to wear a tie all day. 

Our district is really great! We started eating lunch together on tuesday before district meetings and it is really fun to get to know everybody. This week the senior missionaries in our district, the Strongs, will be heading home and we are all really sad about it. But the replacements, the Parkers, are here. They are from Alpine. I am excited to meet them tomorrow. 

Elder Buckley and I are doing great. He is starting to leave his golden zone and is talking to more and more people. His German is getting much better as well. He will probably be leaving here pretty soon. Transfers are in three weeks and he has already been here for four transfers. But who knows, maybe he will stay. Speaking of people leaving, the Miles' are going to be going home really soon. We will have a conference in about two weeks and that will be the last that we see them before they go home. It is a little strange to be getting a new mission president but I am sure we will love him and his wife just as much as the Miles'. 

We found a guy named M----- last week and we taught him this week. He is 17 and really cool. He is just excited to learn more about Christ and wants to learn our message. We watched the restoration film with him and he really liked it. He is on a trip this week to france but when he comes back we will keep teaching. He seems like a really great investigator. 

Things here are just great. We are having a bit of a hard time finding people to teach but it will all work out. As long as we do our best the Lord will do the rest. I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all!


Elder Eldredge

Monday, May 19, 2014

Rainy Days

[Note: one of my colleagues from work is traveling with his wife in Austria and they met Parker at church on Sunday - they sent the pictures included here and the note added at the end of this post - Scott]


Hey!

We had another great week here. I am pretty sure that it rained for at least four days straight but we still aren't sick somehow. Seeing dads boss in church was pretty fun. I think the ward here might think that they were my parents so I might have to clear that up later but oh well. 

My first district meeting went really well. Our district is really amazing and the other missionaries always teach really inspiring parts in district meetings. I am really enjoying my calling. 

Mom, I have the same problem as you. As soon as I sit down to write I forget everything that happened and I don't know what to say anymore. I did meet a really interesting guy on the street. His name was Valentin. But that is just his street name. He asked us if we could give him some cigarettes but then he was interested in who we are. He kept saying "street life is rough man... street life." He also kept forgetting what he had already said so when I called him by name he almost freaked out. I asked him what my street name would be and, without hesitation, he said "Wolfstein." So I guess that is my official street name. He was a really funny guy with a lot of problems. It was sad having to tell him that we couldn't help him get off the street because he didn't want to stop stealing from people. But he was nice.

We had a lesson with a woman named A----- this week. She was referred to us by some members in Vienna and she is really nice. We are having a hard time getting her to understand exactly what our expectations are, but we watched the restoration film with  her and she said she was really touched. We also committed her to coming to church but for some reason she just didn't show up. But her friend in Vienna invited her to a fireside with several general authorities speaking and she is excited to go with her friend. Just goes to show the power that a friend has in inviting others to learn about the church. 

We are doing well. We do a lot of street contacting and trying to get in contact with old investigators and we get rained on a lot, but I love it. Sorry that there isn't too much to say about this last week. Oh! I got a call from pres. Miles the other day and he gave me permission to skype with M and L since they got baptized. I am excited for that. We just have to organize it with Elder Sardoni in Konstanz. So that is how things are. 

I hope that you all have a great week. I love you all!

Elder Eldredge


Scott,

I finally have Internet access so I can write more about seeing Elder Eldredge this morning. Their meetings started at 9:00 but we were late and got there by 10:00. The branch meets on the third floor of a building used by businesses. It wasn't easy to find, but eventually we got there. The branch is very small, there were about 25 people present.

When we got there we introduced ourselves and asked where Elder Eldredge was. I guess what every parent wants to hear is that their missionary looks well, which he was. Eileen and I were very impressed with his German, in particular his pronunciation which is very close to native (and much better than mine). He and his companion are the only missionaries in St. Pölten and spend most of their time doing "bus tracking" which appears to be a way to approach people who are "trapped" on the bus. I asked if they did any door-to-door tracking and he said that they didn't. 

In any case I hope that you and your wife like the picture. I can give you a bigger version when I get home.

Best regards,
Bill Lund

Monday, May 12, 2014

Happy Mother's Day

Hey Family!

Skyping last night was awesome! I can't believe that those munchkins are talking so well already! You all look like you are doing great and it was great talking in real time. Like I mentioned yesterday, things here are going great. We have been having a hard time getting lessons to not fall out but I know we are just being tested a bit. I am confident that we will see a lot of success soon. Things are going up-hill! 

I just checked our baptized list from the mission and I learned that L---- and M----
were baptized! I am really happy that they made it even though it took a little longer than we expected. I am sure they are doing great and the ward in Konstanz loved them a lot before I even left so I bet they are already part of the family there.

We actually do eat a lot of asparagus here. All of the food has been great my whole mission. Even almost all of my companions have loved to cook so I have been treated like a king for the last 14 months. My favorite things to eat are probably Schnitzel (if it is made right), and then Leberkäs with a cold Almdudler (the austrian ginger ale). 

I was reading in the "teachings of the prophets: Joseph F. Smith," and he said something that I thought was really cool. He said that he started seriously studying the Book of Mormon before he was old enough to be a deacon, and that ever since then he never stopped studying the Book of Mormon. He said "Through my life I have read the Book of Mormon over and over again, and I have still not read it enough." I really took that to heart and I am trying to improve my Book of Mormon study and I notice the effect that it has on my overall attitude and also on my confidence as a missionary. It is amazing what the Book of Mormon can do to a person who decides to make it a regular and important part of his life. All imperfections start to wear away and you automatically become more like the Savior as you live the principals that are taught in the Book of Mormon. 

Well I hope that you all have a great rest of the week and I can't wait to talk to you next week! Love you all!


Elder Eldredge

Monday, May 5, 2014

A New Assignment

Hey everyone!

That sounds like you all had an awesome week! We had a lot of fun over here as well. Elder Buckley and I are staying one more together but I was called as the district leader. I am really excited! But today is the first day of my tenth transfer. I am hitting double digits! I still don't like the mission time warp. The work in St. Pölten is going well. I just got permission from Pres. Miles to buy bus passes and I think that will help us a lot. We have just been walking everywhere but now our playing field is much bigger. 

Mission tour was awesome! On monday evening I got to work with Elder Stilger in Vienna and it was for sure the most fun I have had contacting on my mission. We had a blast and talked to tons of cool people. Plus Vienna is beautiful just to top it off. Our conference on tuesday was also really great. I saw a lot of missionaries that I haven't seen in a long time and we got to catch up on each other's adventures. Elder Dyches gave a really cool discussion about working with real intent. It is always good to have a day where you just refuel a little bit so that when you leave you are ready to work hard until the next meeting. 

I found a quote from Elder Holland this last week and I decided to make it the theme for the rest of my mission but I also think that it also puts forth a good mind set for any member of the church. This is just a part of it: "We have got to take things to the edge. we have to move into the realm of the miraculous. We have to live in such a way that we cannot do it alone anymore - where we will resort to the Lord - where we will cry out 'without thy help I will fall - help me fly.' Go to the edge where miracles happen - move into the realm of the miraculous."

I got to work in Vienna on friday as well because we were on exchange. I worked with Elder Peterson from Salt Lake. We ran into five members of the church! Three of them were even students from BYU on a study abroad. We were supposed to have an appointment there but it fell out so we went by on some old investigators. The people that we talked to were all really awesome and we had a good time. The weather was beautiful as well, until about 7 O'clock when it began to drop buckets on us. It rained so hard in such a short time! There was thunder and lightning everywhere as well just to make it cooler. And because I was on exchange i didn't have a jacket so I just ran as fast as I could while trying to stay dry under my broken umbrella. It was a fun evening. 

The pictures that you sent arrived! Thanks for those! They will be great for showing people. Just so that you know I will be skyping at 6 O'clock (Austria time) from one of our members houses. I am really excited to talk to you all next sunday! I hope that you all have a great week! Love you all!


Elder Eldredge