Monday, March 28, 2011

Alles Klar!

This is such an interesting place. Everyday is just full of crazy stuff and I don't know if I'll ever get used to that smell. It just shows up sometimes. I finally had the opportunity to go on "tausch" (exchanges/splits) with the zone leaders. I went off to Wiener Neustadt with Elder Varney who is actually a musical theatre singer at UVU. He is sooooo awesome and an amazing missionary. We tried to stop off to give some guy a Turkish Book of Mormon that he had asked for. We met a lady outside the building who appeared to be his mother (a very Turkish looking lady) who said we couldn't meet with him. When we told her that we had something for him she said "Give it to me!" After explaining that we wanted to give it to him in person she just angrily got in her car and left. As it turns out he either wasn't there or he didn't answer. So we left and continued on our way to Wiener Neustadt. We got there and walked from the Bahnhof to the zone leaders' apartment. Along the way we talked to a bunch of people. There is also a little stream along the walking path that you could actually see through. This is a novelty since most water in Wien (especially the Donau canal which I see quite often) are not very clear. The water is pretty nasty looking and brown. But yeah, we went to the apartment where we played some music and talked for a little while and got to know each other. Elder Varney as we were leaving suggested we do some musical contacting. We left deciding to sing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, hopefully to some little old ladies in the park. It was a little too dark for little old ladies so we settled for regular people. We found this man who was just strolling through the park and sang to him. Turns out he is a musician in a Turkish band and plays guitar. He thought that we sounded great. We told him a little about our role as missionaries and asked him if he wanted to learn more. We went and sat down on a park bench and said a prayer as the city's church bell started ringing. We introduced the Turkish Book of Mormon which we still happened to have with us!!! So he was able to read Moron 10:3-5 for himself in his mother language and then he gave us a perfect summary back in German. He was willing by the end to meet with the missionaries and get a tour of the church and everything. He would even make time for the missionaries to come. It was sooooooo cool! In the morning we went back to Wien and I was happy to be going home. We went to the Stake Center on Bocklinstasse where we had arranged to meet back up with our respective companions. We were a little early so I snuck on to the beautiful pipe organ that they have there and played some stuff. For the most part I kept it pretty quiet with just flutes and the lighter wood sounds. At the end however I was playing Abide with Me and I literally for the last verse "pulled out all the stops" and let it all go. It was soooooooo cool! After Elder Foremast and I left the building we walked down to wait for the bus or S bahn but after standing there for a couple of minutes we were addressed by a man who just said "Mormons!" We turned around and there is a man driving a horse drawn carriage! He asked us where we were going and he told us to hop in. We rode with him and talked a little about our church. He was really open but he said that he doesn't ever like to talk about anything he has not read for himself (the Book of Mormon) and so we rode with him all the way to Stephans Platz where we thanked him and gave him 5 euros even though he said it was free (as it turns out, a ride like this one would have cost up to 50 euros) and we gave him a Book of Mormon with our card and he said that he would read it for sure since he has so much time. It was such an awesome day. We still haven't done much teaching since a lot of our investigators have been having problems with work or being sick. We have done a lot of going to old investigators and less active members. There is so much to do all the time. So far I have gone to quite a few different places here in Wien. We haven't gone to any museums but I have seen the Staatsoper in all it's magnificent glory. I just love it here!

In response to your update: I haven't gotten your package yet but I'll be waiting for it! Schw. Downs is now in Bruck and der Moor and we were sad to see her leave but she is needed there. I am soooooo excited that Michael is going to Taiwan!!! That is soooo cool! I hope everything at home is going great. I love hearing what's going on back at home. Have a great week. Tschuss!

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