Wow!  Forgot to mention that the Primary has asked us to come to their Fasching Party, (and party is correct here in Germany and Austria as they have adopted the word.)  The theme is about the Americanisch Indiana (American Indian) and guess who has been asked to come dressed as Indians.  Everyone comes in customes, but we have been asked to specifically show up as Indians.  There is no cheap material, so we are going to use the cutoffs from the white curtains and either go as Angel Indians?  or find some dye and make them brown.  Got to find the dye, have seen it, and figure out how to use it.  That means your dad better translate correctly so we don't have a brown washing machine or brown hands.  I think E. Storrer will wear basically a smock with fringe, and his brown suit pants, and me the same with my brown skirt.  Looking for a blanket so I make a real squaw, and need an old american cowboy hat to attach a feather.  Or get really creative.  Will post pictures if they turn out.
Then we are going to tell the story of Mary and the Indians, as we think that is the appropriate one for Primary children.  (don't think Conrad Storrer or Robert Fisher would work to well, since most of them are the younger children.
And we are asked to bring a dish.  How about fry bread and honey?

Feb 3  Post.  Pictures posted, but the blog draft did not so I will copy again.  Thank goodness I always do it in word first.

February 3 Blog.  Well on Feb 5 in two days, our anniversary we will have been in Salzburg one year.  It has been a very eventful year.  We have watched our original calling migrate away from the “Outreach Youth Centers,” to what it really has aways been in Salzburg, and Institute.  It is a direct correlation with the stake and not under the Mission.  The Stake aways has controlled the funds, and had representatives, but so has the mission.  In our last interview with President Miles we told him that we really had little to say, and were basically relegated to Cooks and bottle washers.  We have an awesome Stake director called, who also shares with her husband the teaching of the institute.  We have a great YSA called as President, who is a great capitan.  He has some good YSA on the committee.  They are putting together a great fireside schedule, and taking charge of their own activities.

In a dream after we arrived and in answer to prayers, Norm had a dream that told him we were to work below the foundation and the members would began to build the church and pull us up making our work lighter.

We are seeing it happening in our JAE, and now we are observing the ward finally getting the picture that they must be involved in Member Missionary work, however it is slow in coming.  They needed prodded by the prophet in Munich last September, and the missionaries always ask them to pray for their success.

But we have a lot of less actives, and total inactives that no one knows, even if they are still in the area, for they are on the books but were baptized and never attended church again.  

Today we had a wonderful baptism.  The Bishop told the Elders that he did not want a baptism on Saturday, where he would be confirmed the next day, but rather on a Sunday, right after church and then and imbiss meal right after, provided by the RS.  Well E. Storrer felt he was going against mission set programs.  But as I was sitting at the piano providing the music and the spirit was so strong and the strongest members, without small children, some with, stayed.  There was a packed chapel for Sacrament Mtg, today, and about as many as we often have on a ighter Sunday who stayed.

So in our last interview when we talked about our job, and how it is disappearing, which we are glad, because we have felt for some time that it should be local members, who know these youth, running the program.  He told us that is exactly how the church wants it to run.  If they cannot rely on the missionaries, many will step up to the plate and quite looking for excuses.  We followed the prompting and found our work and worries made lighter.

Now the majority of our attention is turning toward Ward and Member Support.  We have a circuit of people we try to see, some less actives and some contacts that have fallen into the area book as the missionaries don’t have time for these people.  They are reachable, some have had the lessons’ many times.  One sister was close to baptism and fell out.  However, we are creating friendships and bonds with these people, and know that someday, they will reach out to the church.  And Rosie Kinz, our nonmember missionary.  We visit with her several times a month.  She takes all the clothing left in Wohnungs by the missionaries and taken to the mission home when they dejunk the apartments.  She loans out one of her three Books of Mormon, in German, Hungarian, and Serbian and she is always showing her personal copy of “The Restoration.”  Don’t know if she will be baptized in this life, but we are working on it.  She was looking for pictures of Christ to make picture books for the orphanage she visits in Serbia.  Many of them are abandoned by their parents or taken from them by the state because they are so poor they cannot provide for their children.  She says they need a lot of love, and she wants them to know about Jesus Christ.  So we are giving her all our old Liahona’s both English and German.  Hoping of course that she will also read them.  Our works are slow, but we are prayerfully hoping that if we serve and love them, they will come to Christ, by our example.

We cannot afford to let others draw us in to family concerns and squabbles as it draws from our spirit and in order for us to be effective missionaries we need to pray unceasingly for the gift of Charity.  Charity never faileth and we cannot afford to fail these people.  The love of Christ and showing love to our fellowman is the only way missionary work is done.  And it is the only way people are truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

                                                  A Greg Olsen painting.  Love the Messages

                       We discovered how true this is in the quiet hills of Switzerland last September

Everythings fails,--but Charity never faileth  Moroni 7:45-48

 Our district with the addition of the new Elders.  S. Marquart, S Amstrong, E. McClellan, Svoboda (Hungarian father but raised many years in Vietnam and speaks perfect German, English, and speaks also Hungarian.  His brother was here as an AP when we arrived, released to train his little brother.  He is a sweet young Elder and very sincere about the gospel.  Hopes to join to siblings at BYU after his mission. Caraway, who was office when we arrived, but now trainer to Mochon.  Of course there is us with the xtra pounds of Christmas.  I have lost 8 kilo and two inches around the waist since then.

 The Altstadt of Salzburg from across the Salzach river and the Festoon built to guard the river, in stages between 1050 and the 1600's.   Picture taken from Kapuzinerberg where there is another Catholic chapel

 In the tops of the Alps near a ski resort on our way the Lankmayers to visit them and take them the Sacrament.

                                  Another valley and a nother group of mountains in a panorama.

So all the pictures posted in Missionary posts are dorky so we created our own today with the web cam.  Now if they will only use this one.  Yah, I know black on black.  

January 13, 2013 Missionary Blog

So we now have four Elders in Salzburg and with the two sisters in Neumarkt we are now a district of 8.  It is nice.  They are the Zone leaders, E.  McClellan, and E. Szvoboda (father is Hungarian mother is Swiss.)  E. Caraway is trainer and E. Mochon is the golden.  The sisters are S. Marquarte and S. Armstrong     .   Life is getting interesting.  Our pool of visits to or being visited by less actives is growing.
It is amazing how easy it is to go inactive and how hard it is to make activity in the church a good habit again.

Our major job is really ward and missionary support after JAE.  We are working with a number of less actives.  We are quite close to some wonderful people in the ward. It is amazing how easy it is to go inactive and how hard it is to make activity in the church a good habit again.

Mission Blog:  Jan 3, 2013-01-03

It was a good day.  Though it was transfer day and Elder Harris was transferred, we did expect it.  He was so happy to get to spend Christmas here.  With this transfer he went to Münich as an Assistant to the President.  He is such a sweet wonderful young man.  We will miss him, but joy with him in his new Calling.  When a door closes a window always opens.

With the new increase in Missionaries we will be getting 90 over the next several months.  Even when Degen was serving in Portugal the missionaries were being told that something good was about to happen to the missionary work in Europe.  It is following prophecy, of the last one great push.  So with this transfer we got what we so badly needed and hoped for a second set of Elders in Salzburg.  So Elder McClellan has Elder Sabota the younger brother of another awesome missionary Elder Sabota who was serving as the president’s AP when we arrived.  And We have Elder Caraway and a brand new Elder from the states who he will be training.  Elder Caraway was one of the first missionaries we ever met as an office missionary.  He was responsible for getting our tickets and on the train to Salzburg the next day. 

We also work quite closely with a less active who has a marvelous testimony of the gospel.  We try to meet with her every Wednesday for her own personal Family Home Evening.  Usually she is working on Mondays.

So she was with us yesterday when the Elder’s showed up to teach Rashaid a musiim who wants to convert to Christianity.  Then she asks if she can come over tonight to share something with us.  I know she is starved for gospel discussions and feeling the spirit.  Yet she struggles with becoming fully active in the church.  It was a young couple, boyfriend and girlfriend who came tonight.  They desire to know.  Yet Ildiko called the Elders after they left.  She had participated in the lesson as a member of the church.  We were in the back ground observing.  She was so good and so powerful.  She would be so good for Madaliene the girl as she takes people to her heart especially the young.  Daniel desires to embrace the gospel and drinks it in.

We need every prayer to pray for this.  Ildiko needs these two young people in her life and they need her.  I understand little but I see this clearly.  Ildiko loves to serve, and when she serves she can forget her problems and get so excited about the gospel.  She also would be the ideal person to help these young people get to church and it would help her have the desire to be active.

It is a wonderful experience to see it unfold in our home.

But we are at an apex.  Ildiko called after she left and kindly told the elders that they needed to lower the playing field and talk to them on their level.

We are learning as we work with people here that they need to learn who Jesus Christ is so that they can learn how to have a personal relationship with him and with God.

Dec 25 2012 Mission Blog

Oberndorf Silent Night Kapella

The Kapella Good picture of the Kapella

                                                            Hellbrunn Chriskindlemarkt

Advent Calendar in Hellbrunn Schloss Windows

A Schloss in Giligan

Display window in St. Wolfgang

Who is that Tirolean Man?

Norm, is that you. here in Wolfgang.

Heidi and Karen in Oberndorf

The antique train ride (yup) Coal burning engine.

Mechanic woring on greasing wheels.

The baby being baptized in the Silent Night Movie.

Recognize the parents.  Couldn't get a picture of his bashful sister.

Walk from train to Stille Nacht Kapella, across river in Germany

Sunset behind forest,  Note no snow.  Rainstorms melted it all

St. Johanns in Pongua has snow for Christmas

So we awakened too early having gotten to bed aft er 2:30 am having attempted to Skypp the kids.  And attending a Catholic Christmas Eve High Mass.    It was a very old church and very cold.  It was odd to attend a church service with everyone dressed as if they were going on a cold Sleigh ride.  The music of the mass was beautiful.  We were nearing the end of the mass and the song was a Kyria.  It shocked me.  I suddenly connected that I was listening to a composition of the Mass, when I connected with the Kyria, having studied the form and parts of a Mass in a composition class back in about 1967.  We were with the Feggs and she invited us to go up above where the Choir and Orchestra had been performing.  It really was a very old church, with very old uneven and wide floorboards.  We also met the Organist.  The performance he gave was about as good as I have ever heard.  The Orchestra and Choir though small. preformed excellently. 

The culminated a wonderful day with the Andreas and Nadia Dengg family.  We arrived for a traditional Chistmas Eve breakfast   We were greeted warmly by Nadia Andreas and their three girls Yasmin, Julia and Lina.  The breakfast was also very European with Breads, thin meats and sausage, and a choice of cheeses and marmalades.  Then a few games of Uno until it was time to hit the road.  As we came upon an antique train along side the road, we all knew we were headed to Oberndorf, a family tradition, on the antique train.  The town of Oberndorf were full of tourists even foreign ones.  It was very festive with  a Brass band.  We were all treated to “Kindle Punch.”  A lot of Dengg relatives met us at the station and we walked around the Salzach River as we looked across into Germany.

We returned home to a wonderful traditional Austrian Christmas Eve supper.  It was a clear soup with whole carrots floating in it.  The accompaniments were noodles, Rind roast, and a special white sausage that is only made for Christmas.  It was marvelous.

Dinner cleared away and the three girls disappeared to their rooms.  Mom and dad having loaded the dishwasher prepared the Christmas gifts for under the tree.  The family gathered, we sang Christmas carols and then Mom read the Christmas Story from an old, very worn, Kinder Bibel.  (Child’s Bible.)  They finished with the traditional, “Silent Night.”  Dad handed out the presents as he explained to us they found it much more pleasant one at a time as they all appreciated the gift with the receiver.  It was wonderful as some of the first gifts were given, it included cards from each other to express their appreciation and love.  We and the Elder’s even received one.   Karen Birth had left three the the swatch style watches with the jewels around the large face.  There were the perfect number of 3.  We had noted that it was becoming a popular watch around here, so it was perfect.

So it is almost 9 am, and the Christmas bells are ringing in Salzburg.  It has been a good Christmas and the day is just beginning.  Loved seeing the traditions of the area this year.

Interesting conversation with Bruder Dengg, the father in picture of their little boy.  Wonderful spiritual man from Neumarkt.  So we were in Oberndorf, and seeing all the alt.  And were talking about why American's love to come to Europe to see history.  Well Norm says, "We don't have a lot of very old  With the exception of the Indian ruins.."

Brass band Christmas Eve in Oberndorf

Missionary Blog  December 20, 2012-12-20

So I started fixing the Jello Salad last night, then spent the most part of the day fixing Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Breast, and Garlic Roasted Green Beans and Sweet Potato Pie.  Very first class meal, but three of the Jellos went untouched, halve of the Sweet Potato Pie, and one Turkey Breast also went untouched.

Then several of them picked out the dressing from the Turkey, and dabbled in the Jello salad, and scrambled the Sweet Potato Pie.  Several made certain we knew that they do not like Pecan nuts, or nuts in the Turkey Dressing.  And of course one only ate his vegetables after picking out all the Hazel nuts.

So I announce to Norm that from now on they get only junk food as it seems to be the only thing they all appreciate.  They loved the Chili, the In-an-Out Burgers, Pizza, Garlic Bread, Anything Mexican like Tacos, Burritos, Enchilladas or Turkish Kebaps.  And they love Chocolate Maltz.  So there you have it.