Salzburg Austria Week 11

Hallo friends and family!

Another week down in the dull, ugly city of Salzburg Austria!  Ha Ha — JK — this is pretty much the best. This week was full of good experiences and also tender mercies! 

First let’s talk about who we're teaching…  we have got a new investigator named Franz.  Very super cool police officer in Salzburg.  What makes him unique is that he's really humble and has the potential to progress!   We are also meeting with a family every week named Weber.  They are very Catholic but like listening to our message!  As a family, they are also reading the Book Of Mormon, which is way cool. Please pray that they can get answers to their prayers and be touched by the Spirit of the Book of Mormon! 

We had quite the tender mercy provided to us this week. No doubt it was strait from the windows of heaven.  So here’s the story…  as we were going out to visit with some former investigators this week, we stumbled across a nice little dairy farm on the outer part of Salzburg. We approached it and came across something I have only dreamed of... A MILCH AUTO MAT.   Basically, for a Euro, it is a pump that allows you to get a liter of milk... strait from the farm!   It is so fresh, it is still warm!!  WOOOOW!  But here was the problem, as you can imagine, we did not have a vessel to receive the milk so we had no way to take it back home.  This is when the miracle happened!   That night, we went to the institute class at the church and our institute teacher showed up with these two massive five-liter jugs — and said she had a feeling to bring them to class because someone might need them! We were amazed at what was happening!   This was no doubt the windows of heaven opening to us.   And we will not have enough room to receive it!

Other than that things are going well.   Christmas time is in full swing over here so all the Christmas markets opened this week. They are the best!  My German is coming along well but as you’d expect, I still have alot to learn.   Transfer calls are also this week so I will find out if im going or staying.   Hopefully staying! 

Also, we are having a big Thanksgiving Dinner this Thursday so don't feel too bad for me.  Perhaps we will top things off with some fresh, warm milk?

Love,

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 10

Hallo everyone!

This week in Salzburg has been great!  Things are starting to look a lot like Christmas!  They are slowly starting to set up at the Christmas markets.  People in Salzburg go crazy for Christmas!  I really hope I stay here for another transfer so I will be here for it!

This week has been great for missionary work!  We found three new investigators! One of them is an older guy that is paralyzed.  He is great but he is currently an atheist. We will be working on that! The other two are a father and son.  They are some of the most Christlike people I know.  They are currently Catholic.  He is a religion teacher here in Salzburg and his son is studying to become a religion teacher.  They really like Mormons but want to die Catholic because they were born Catholic.  There are some great Catholic people over here but some of them won't ever join the Church just because they were born Catholic.  It is just part of their life even if they never go to church or read the Bible.  I have had some people tell me that they know the Catholic Church is false and that our Church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true but that they just can't join because they are Catholic!  It's crazy but that is what the Holy Ghost is for!  He is the only way people can gain a knowledge of the truth!

I'm loving my mission so much!  I'm having lots of fun!  I think that I'm feeling a different type of joy than I'm used to.  It's not the same joy I felt at home from my family, golfing, biking, skiing and hanging out with my friends.  It is the joy that comes only from serving the Lord! 

Love you all!

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 9

Hallo friends and family! 

Another week in beautiful Salzburg Austria had come and gone.  This week has been especially nice because it is now proper to wear wear jackets and scarves.  Es gefelts mir sehr gut.  It really is fall here and it is very beautiful!  

We are not really teaching anyone at the moment.  Our only investigator will probably get dropped this week.  No worries though!  Missionary work is a lot more than just teaching lessons!  I can't really remember where I heard it but the best lesson you can teach as a missionary is the one that you teach yourself!  I have already learned so much personally since being on my mission!  Hopefully I can keep learning and become more converted to the Gospel throughout my mission. 

Something new I guess is that my comp and I made a little survey to start asking people on the street. The questions really get people thinking. We are having good luck with it so far so we will see what comes of it!  I hope you all have a great week! Thanks everyone for the prayers!  I will try to send more pictures next week.

Elder Lyman

Wchöne Woche!

Salzburg Austria Week 8

Hallo mine geliebter familie and freunden!

So another week has come and gone in Salzburg!  It is amazing how fast time goes by on a mission. That being said, I look forward 20 months and it seems like a long ways away!  I've got plenty of time to do some serious work!

This week has been nothing too special.  It was transfer day on Tuesday which is always crazy.  We wellkomed a new Elder into our apartment.  His name is Elder Cavon and he is from Dundee Scotland.  He is way sick and talks really funny. 

At the beginning of the week we found some really cool potential investigators that we thought had a lot of potential.  We set up appointments with both of them on the street which does not really happen too much.  I was way stoked to teach them!  We set off for the first appointment super pumped. Well long story short . . . he gave us a fake address so that was not really nice.  People over here like to do that.  I wish they would just say they are not interested so I don't waste time.  I hate that.  I was still happy because later that day we had an appointment with our investigator Roman.  We set off for Romans with vigor and vim.  Another long story short . . . it fell through which is always so fun!  No problem though because that opened up a nice 5 hour block of finding which is always such a blast!

So another long story short, this week did not turn out the way we planned but that's ok!  It was still super fun!  Just because we are not teaching very many lessons does not mean we are not good missionaries right?  I do not let it get me down.  I know that when the Lord has someone for us to teach and baptize that He will make it happen.  Until that time, I am so happy with just talking to as many people as I can and planting those seeds for other missionaries in the future! 

As for a German update, it is coming slowly but surely.  I learn the most by just talking to people on the street.  I love German and can't wait to be fluent . . . hopefully by the end of my mission!

Overall I am doing really well.  No complaints.  I can already tell that the Lord is starting to shape me into the person he wants me to be.  It's kind of like the story of the olive tree in the Book of Mormon.  I just need to try my best to be humble and recognize when the Lord is bringing me lower to eventually become higher than I ever have been!  The book is blue and the church is true!

Love you all and thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 7

Hallo Everyone!

So this week in the mission field has been just peachy.  Now that I am thinking about it, we did not really do much out of the ordinary.  The highlight of the week is probably that Elder Kingery and I got our first real investigator!  Woohoo!  It's kind of weird that it took us a whole transfer to find an investigator but hey thats ok!  Shout out to my friends in South America that baptize 1000 people a week.  My mission is prettier than yours though!  His name is Roman.  He is a little older.  Maybe 70 something and he is currently a Jehovah's Witness which is always fun.  Everyone in Europe hates them because they can be super mean.  We went over to his house and he was waiting for us with Bible in hand.  When he let us in he had no idea what was about to go down.  Little did he know that I was a grandson of Ed Stone and I have been prepared for this moment my whole life.  We basically answered all his questions about our church through the Bible.  It was dope.  I think I kind of shoke his testimony a little.  We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read in it.  We will see.

A lot of people ask me how my German is coming.  It is super tricky to learn but it is super fun!  I think it is amazing that 3 months ago I didn't know anything and now I can talk to people and have conversations is German.  It is such a testimony builder for me that the gift of tongues is real! 

It has been getting a little colder latley.  There is snow on the Alps and it is so beautiful.  The Alps here are so amazing.  Way bigger than the mountains in Utah which I always thought were huge.

This transfer was a 7 week transfer instead of a 6 week transfer which is kind of weird.  One of the Zone Leaders I live with is leaving and the new one is from Scotland.  We will meet him tomorow. 

Things here in Salzburg are slowly improving.  The Lord is putting those people He has been preparing for us to teach into our path and I am so grateful for that!  I know that serving a mission is blessing my life and the life of my family.  I'm having so much fun serving the Lord!  Thank you for all the prayers!

Elder Lyman

Salzburg Austria Week 6

The Alpine German Speaking Mission Areas

Hello mine familie and freunden! 

This has been such a great week in Salzburg. Nothing really too crazy happened.

As far as teaching goes, we are doing a little bit more than we have been. We are teaching two 'less active' guys in our ward right now. We have spent some time just getting to know them and becoming their friends. We have taught them both the first lesson and invited them to start coming back to church. They both have testimonies, but they just have some concerns. I know that with the Spirit we can help them find again their testimonies and start coming back to church. They are close, but just need some help from the Lord right now.

We have been working a lot with members lately to find people to teach. We don’t have any solid investigators yet, but I know we will find them when we are supposed to.

This week was also Fall Conference for the Salzburg Stake so that was fun to be a part of. In order to fit everyone, the Stake rents out a big conference type building.  It was in Lintz, Austria, which is just like an hour train ride northeast of Salzburg. I love the transportation here. I never knew trains could be so much fun to ride. That’s one of my favorite things about Europe. The conference was really great. I can undertand most of what people say but not everything. I write down the words I do not understand and learn them later. It helps a lot. Predident and Sister Kohler were there so it was nice to talk with them and their kids.

Deutsch is tricky but it is coming. The grammar is the hardest part to get. Sometimes I will just ask random people on trains and in places if I can practice my German with them. I do not know why, but most people love helping me learn their language.  I guess it's like that cute Asian lady trying to learn English. Most of the time, I will just teach them about the church, so its a win-win.

Things are really really great. I love being a missionary and I know the Lord calls people on a mission to first convert themselves, and then they can help convert others. Also, my recent focus is reading Jesus the Christ. I started it two weeks ago and I'm about to page 300.  It’s amazing. Go read it.

I hope you all are having as much fun as I am. 

Love,

Elder Lyman