Mission Blog.   April 21, 2012

We have had some interesting spiritual experiences this week.  We taught our first lesson for Institute.  We worked quite hard for that presentation, which included a lot of prayer.  It would give us a chance to bond with the students.  We did a power point presentation.  It was about finding a mate, and the steps one goes through.  It turned out quite successful.  We felt very good about it.  I was in the kitchen heating up the burritos for the imbiss meal.  Norm said that the young adults immediately went to the computer to review some of our family pictures.  I put a picture of “Finding the one,” with Norm in his uniform and me as a senior in high school about the time we started writing.  Then a couple of the temple and us in front of it.  Then we moved on to  10 tausen mal 10 tausend or ten thousand times ten thousand to show how many people through the generations would be affected by our choice in choosing a mate.  Put up the picture taken at our fairwell and then a collage of our children’s families.  

Norm was his usual funny charming self, except when he used his sister as an example of the destruction of an unhappy choice.  He told how she found her mate in a dance hall like the locals here.

But the interesting answer to our prayers was the “Miracle of the disappearing newspaper.”  As we were putting the finishing touches on preparing it, we found a local weekly newspaper, “The Salzburger Fenster.” Or The Salzburg Window.  They had a little card attached  saying, “Eternal Love,”  In German.  It came to us how we could use it.  Well Norm opened the page and translated about 95% of the world’s view on love, you know the usual passion, emotion, tragedy, greed, jealousy, etc, etc. including older couples who were happy with their relationship.  Just enough Satanic, truth to entice.  They were advertising their paper.  If you purchased a months prescription you would get all these four articles.  Across the bottom was a picture representing the four articles.  One was pornographic.  About 1x 2 ½ inch pictures.  Stupid us, we thought well if we only held up the front page.  Then Norm set it on the couch. In plain view.  As we went down the lift later we realized we had forgotten the newspaper.  When we returned to the apartment we could not find the paper.  It was gone.  When we prayed about it we had a very warm feeling that it was not to be found.  As we left to set up at the church we talked about how the Lord did not want us to use it.  We used the little 4x6 advertisement card with the same picture as was on the newspaper.  Later as we observed how they were like squirrels at the computer we realized, that one of them could have just as easily opened that paper.

Then we also knew that the Lord did not want that trash in his house.  We also knew that they would have lost their confidence in us. And Thirdly what if one of them had viewed it and it destroyed our life.  The Lord had really protected us from our own stupidity.  He knew we were only trying to do good.  We also realized how satan really tried to cleverly get his tentacles in there.  We see daily how we must be on our guard.  We and our two elders have had a lot of experiences.  One day we were returning to visit Victor and investigator.  His outside door to the street was locked.  It would not open when he pushed the buzzer.  He finally came down and tried to open it with a key, to no avail.  We have not been able to catch him at home since.

We went to Berghausen today, to Sister Thibaut.  She was sent there for a cure.  I think they are trying to rebuild her strength so she can go home.  She is a tiny thin little thing at 80 years of age, with poor health.  I am not sure, but with President Miles’ permission to leave our area and go visit her we did.  It is just across the border from Austria.  The Google map took us the longer way up through Germany.  We crossed the bridge that separates the town as well as Germany for Austria to see the longest castle in Europe and found we saved about 10-12 km.  Both ways the country was magnificent and the buildings, with all the art on them were unique.  We were in a hurry to get there so didn’t stop for pictures.  But we got some cool ones coming home.  I intend to piece together what we have ove the longest castle.  It must have been at least a mile long.