WEEK 12 4-12-11 - 4-18-11

Halo!
This week seemed to go by a little bit faster but that was because I wasn't here for 2 of the days of the week!! I went to Dresden on Tuesday it was freakin so cool it its a huge city and so many people to talk to!! It was awesome it was a lot different than here in Annaberg! The zone leader I was with he's pretty cool Elder Grange is his name he is from Bountiful and went to Viewmont! Of course the zone leaders have all the super awesome cities! I guess I'll have to fight my way to zl someday!! Interviews went really well but it goes by zones and our zone is the Dresden zone and since I was with the zone leader I had to go early to the church in Dresden cause thats where interviews were and my district was the last to be interviewed and I was very last out of them all! So I was the first one there and the last to leave but it was a good day lots of cool lessons! My interview with president was awesome such an awesome guy!! I told him that it had been pretty hard for me and he said ya thats something the mtc doesnt really prepare you for and then he said I'm going to be completely honest with you always and I am never gonna lie to you.  Your gonna have hard times and he went on about how when he went on his mission he went because it was a commandment and he didn't know it was gonna be hard but he went and he did it cause it was a commandment. Than he went on and said how he is not worried about me and how there is something about me he said that even when things are hard I'll do it and I have lots of spiritual strength and he told me there is something special about me?? I was kinda shocked haha he said your gonna do great things here we are gonna have a fun 2 yrs! He was like ever since our first interview I've been a big elder Voran fan I know your gonna do good things here.
So it was cool to have an uplifting interview!

 Anyways last Monday was good we had p day then had this family who invited us to FHE (family home evening) it was cool they are a super young family 3 little kids super nice people! It was fun to play with the kids they kinda liked me!! The little girl we were eating at their house and I was talking to her although she speaks better German than I do haha! She is like 4 and she is like Mama I like him haha it was funny then we gave a spiritual thought and we were about to leave and the guy was like do you guys wanna jump on our tramp we were like heck ya of course we do! So we did that for a little it was a lot of fun! I dont think Im going to do skype for mothers day but probably for x mas and what happens is the p day before mothers day I'll give you a number to call and you guys call at a certain time its a members phone and incoming calls dont cost them money so you dont need to send a calling card! I'll probably be sending the chocolate and treats off today so it should be there soon! Thats crazy that Clark leaves so soon!! And I got Chases E mail thats awesome Tennessee!

So bad news we met with Enrico on Friday and it went really well and he wanted to come to church and everything then on Saturday we were helping a member with some garden work and Enricos mother called us now let me tell you something the guy is like 36 yrs old and he has depression and he moved by his mom cause his dad is like dying so he moved back to help her out! Anyways she is Protestant which most people are here! But she told us we cant meet with him anymore because he is protestant and she wants it to stay that way and its her responsibility cause he is sick or something it was so stupid and we were trying to help him quit smoking and now we have 0 investigators so thats hard we do a lot of doors and street contacting! It sounds like everything is going well for everyone back home! I figured out today im 1/8th done of my mission well actually more. What I found out is that I'll be going home three weeks earlier than I thought so around the end of december because 2 transfers are going to be shorter than six weeks to arrange the elders from the preston mtc and the elders from the provo mtc to get here at the same time. But ya thats kinda just a side note! Anyways nothing really else that happened this week its funny we walk down streets and people like seperate for us I say its like parting the red sea haha its pretty funny!! Anyways thats all for this week!! Love you all!!

CURRENT ADDRESS

Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Elder Voran
Karlsbader 25
09456 Annaberg-Buchholz
...Germany

WEEK 11 4-5-11 - 4-11-11

Hallo! From Germany!

This week has been good! Hard none the less but its been good. Wednesday we had tausch which in German means switch so the district leader came here with me in Annaberg and Elder Carlson went to Schwarzenberg that was fun to just be with someone else for a day... Then this coming week actually tomorrow Tuesday we have a tausch with the Zone Leaders in Dresden and Dresden is quite a big city to I will get to go to Dresden with one of the ZLs that will be fun to experience a big city! Then on Wednesday we have interviews with president thats kinda like a whole day thing they have lessons and stuff going on and activities while he's giving interviews its like everyone in our zone the Dresden zone if you look at the mission map you can see.

Here is my sad story for the week. So Saturday was just not our day we had three appointments but they all fell through so we just did finding all day and that is seriously the worst you don't feel like your accomplishing anything! So we walked a few miles to a little dworf and started doing doors there and nobody was listening to us we had been outside all day we were both super beat it was not fun! It had been quite a few hours with nothing to do but doors and finding people when I was like man this sucks!! This is definately not fun for me! and right as I said that I felt something hit my head I was like great now someone threw something at me out of the window I turned around and Elder Carlson was like dude a bird just pooped on your head!! It was so sick it got all over my pants and everything!! So I knew that I probably shouldn't complain anymore God was trying to tell me something I guess it kinda made us laugh just at the timing that it happened!

I am halfway through a transfer here and all depending on if my comp gets transfered or not will tell how long I will be here but probably tops 3 transfers which if that happens then I guess there is something I need to learn here! We had an appointment with Enrico one of our investigators this last friday and he is Evangalish which is Protestant in German a lot of people are Protestant becuase the city like keeps the churches and everything there are some big huge lutheran churches here. Anyways he has a friend at work who is in the ward great guy Bruder König and they are pretty good friends anyways before I came Enrico had started meeting with the missionarys here and it was more cause he has depression and just wanted to talk to someone but he said he didnt want to change his religion! But ya he had gone to church once with the missionaries and he smokes and drinks coffee and the talk in church that he heard was about how our bodys are temples and stuff and he really liked that and he has wanted to quit smoking for a long time now! anyways so we met with him and we were talking about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon which is kinda hard cause we meet with him in a park! Elder Carlson was like ya we know we can know what is true through prayer and stuff then he was like ya I know that your church is true and we were both super shocked but it was way cool! We invited him to get baptized but he's a little hesitant we dont think he is quite ready but the guys gonna get baptized he explained what he felt and it was definitely the Holy Ghost it was cool! We are getting him on the stop smoking workshop and everything so we will see how it goes!

We haven't had a lot of work this week so its been rough but it works I think we might start english class one day a week and that might give us some leads with some people. Oh another funny story so earlier last week like Tuesday we had been out of the apartment for like 10 minutes and we were walking and some guy yelled out of the window and called us a bad word hah then he threw something like a rock or something I don't know what it was and we turned around and he flipped us off! so we just laughed and kept walking and no later than 30 seconds a car came around the corner and this guy stuck his hand out of the sun roof and flipped us off it was a record I think it was kinda funny!!

Anyways Sunday was really good it was definitely needed! Although we had to watch the Sunday afternoon conference session in german a guy had the talks printed in english cause he is trying to learn english so then after he used them I just read the talks! After we met with the bishop such a sweet guy doesn't ever have a lot of time because he works in Freiberg and works late so we have never really met with him but he's a really nice guy such a classy dude. The ward is just super awesome they all know I don't know a lot of german but they are super nice people! and all of them have like 3 callings! Then after we met with the bishop we had an awesome lunch it was fast Sunday so that was needed as well! Schnitzel and Potatoes it was good but not as good as Grandmas!! But dad you definitely would have loved it! Then we met with a less active lady and her kids her mom is in the ward and we meet with them both once a week and we played with the kids we played a board game that was fun and threw a frisbee around for a while then we had another member lesson which was cool. I definitely needed yesterday cause Saturday was rough!

That's funny about Jeff he seems to always bring the rain and cold!! Its been pretty windy here but its been good. Still rough but I'm doing good! Its all about attitude! And any family can e mail me but I cant guarantee an e mail back! I will try though!  thanks for everything and all the support and prayers I love you all!!!

WEEK 10 3-29-11 - 4-4-11

Halo!
So Another week down its pretty crazy they say it goes by a lot faster after your first transfer so we will see... the start of this whole thing has definately been tough there is times when me and my comp just get frustrated cause nobody talks to us we are workin a lot with less actives in the ward and what not so that is good... We have one investigator he is from America but his girlfriend is from the chzeck and annaberg where I am at is right on the chzeck border so thats why he is here its good cause he speaks english. His only problem is that he is not really trying to find out he said he would be baptized if he found out but he doesnt keep commitments and so its hard. Conference was good I got to watch it in english I saw the saturday morning and the sunday morning ones live! I was a little dissapointed missing grandmas and a delicious meal while watching conference. We went down to Shwarzenberg which is like 20 miles away and stayed with the elders there cause thats where conference was being held. Anyways someone from their ward made this noodle soup stuff and it wasn't that bad but it smelled funny and it made us all feel pretty sick so that was fun ha. Mom you know how you like the smell and taste of cofee well you would love it over here in germany I drink whats called caro every day and its like coffee without coffee the members give it to us all the time I am not the biggest fan but if you put enough sugar and cream in it its not too bad! So funny story for the week we were walking in the city and there was this guy sitting in his car and my comp stopped and talked to him and he's like ya I know you guys talk about god and what not and so we ended up just giving him a pass along card and he's like make sure your cell number is on here incase I want to meet with you guys and it was already on there so my comp pulled out the phone and he's like I have it incase you want to meet. Anyways about an hour later he gets this text that says hey its the guy you talked to in the car and I wanna meet with you when is good. So we were way excited so my comp texted back and said ok we can meet anytime is good for us when and where is good for you and he said evenings are the best and you can come here and we can both drink a bottle of wine and get comfortable.  My comp was like ok we don't drink wine and we can meet by our church if you want and then he text back and said well i was hoping just you could come over here and we could have a good night together! HAHA I gave him so much crap for that I still tell him he has a boyfriend its interesting we meet some interesting people here! The ward is way cool on friday night they had whats called polter abend which is right before someone gets married there is a couple in the ward getting married this week anyways polter abend is like where you go and just break things! People just bring stuff in this parking lot and just throw plates and glass cups and everything a couple people brought like 5 gallon barrels and they had this big stick they were like destroying these barrells than a few people brought like porceline sinks and what not and threw them and they shattered it was way cool. Then after they have this huge dinner which was also pretty delicious then they had like dancing and stuff which thats about when we left! I hope you guys liked my pictures I'll send a couple more that I have in my other e mail. Hmm what else oh I sent you a letter mother hopefully you got it or it should be getting there today or tomorrow I think I'll send a package soon. Conference was really good I was kinda upset cause we don't get to watch the sunday afternoon session till next week well this coming sunday in church so its gonna be in german and Elder Holland spoke during that session so I have to watch it in German which I don't really understand! Mom you should send some cds like the trek cd or maybe just an i pod with like the trek cd and the joseph smith cd and like josh groban disney music and maybe a couple owl city songs. president is pretty cool with music he says that whatever is uplifting so ya... Next week I have a split with one of the Zone leaders in dresden so that will be fun to be in a bigger area then the week after that were going to the freiburg temple were pretty close so we just take a train and what not! I have already lost like 10 pounds here the weather was amazing this last week but its raining today its starting to get green so thats pretty awesome! Thanks for all the support! Love you all!!

WEEK 9 3-18-11 - 3-27-11

Hello Everyone!!
Wow what a week. Well I guess it hasn't been a week yet but I feel like it has! First things first this missionary work stuff is definitely not easy!! We got here to Berlin about 10 in the morning on Wednesday and it was cool to see president the first things he said to us was were gonna get you all a nap today and tonight your staying at a hotel in Berlin were having a German buffet and your gonna go do some finding and try to place a book of mormon or two with one of the older missionaries in the area. And then when you get home you will go to bed an hour early and sleep in till 830 so we can get rid of your jet lag as quick as possible!! That was literally amazing! Anyways pres and his wife are way way cool super nice people my interview was good he's a really good guy!! So anyways the first night we went finding and it was me and elder Elmer who was one of my roommates and an older elder from the berlin zone and we were walking and these 4 muslim kids asked if we had a smoke and elder Songenredder (the older missionary) said no but we have this book and he started talking about the book of mormon and a couple of them were like no we can't read this we are muslim but one of them was like we can read it its about Christ so that was really cool. Then we continued to walk and it was my turn to talk so I talked to this guy and just said we talk about this book and Jesus Christ and he said how he had always been interested in religion and he'd take the book and read it and pray and call the missionaries so that was super awesome! So then the next day we went in the morning (after an amazing night of sleep) to mauer platz one of the places where the wall once was and we visited there it was cool! Then we went back and had lunch at the church the lunch was pretty good. Then we had whats called golden conference where all the trainers are and that's when you find out where your going and who your companion will be. So I was about the 3rd elder to find out where I was going and I went up and read it. Now let me tell you a little something before I tell you where I am at. Northern Germany is generally really flat and 0 mountains right. So I am in Annaberg-Buchholz which is south of Dresden its like the 2nd most southern part of the mission look it up on a map! Anyways its a small city built on a MOUNTAIN and another thing our area is not a car area we have bikes but my companion does not like to ride them so we walk and we walk and we walk up the hills every day its quite interesting my legs were freaking dead! still are actually the church is like a few miles up the mountain so walking there sucked. But hopefully I lose some weight here I am sure I will my comp is like super skinny and he's lost 10 pounds here he doesn't even have that much to lose so its crazy another thing is that we don't eat dinner here so that is good... Yesterday was my first Sunday here and it was good I had to give my testimony I was a little bit nervous because I can hardly speak German its super different than the mtc also this place where I am at has a different dialect so its super hard to understand people!! The members are really nice though. We had an eating appointment yesterday they made schnitzel and it was delicious. So the work here is hard because its small and most people have already heard of the lds church here and they don't want anything to do with it. Also there is a big protestent church right in the middle of the city! People don't really like to talk to us which is hard cause we walk so far and talk to everyone but nobody listens!! We do doors also there are just these big apartment complexes and the apartments are like one room each. Totally east germany youll have to look at it. So it's been a hard frustrating week but hopefully it will get better! My companions name is elder Carlson he is from pleasant grove he's a nice kid... But you know how I don't like to be told what to do and how to do it better and what not well ya he does that i know he is just trying to help so its ok... He's been here for nine months in germany and he's only been in the dresden zone and this is his 3rd transfer in Annaberg so he might get transfered this next transfer. It's definitely different than the mtc cause the people are real and don't really want to talk to you haha so its hard! I hope all is well back home. I can not believe that kansas blew it!! to an 11 seed! thats really weird that no number 1 seeds are in the final 4 ha crazy year! hope all is well I miss you guys pray for me! I can't wait to call you come mothers day!! all is well!

WEEK 8 3-11-11 - 3-17-11

Hello!!
Wow 2 months down how crazy is that I can't even believe I have been here that long!! I can not wait to get to Germany though I'm so excited!! This week has been a lot more relaxed because its our last week so our teachers have started to tell us stories about their missions and what not so that has been fun to hear!
So our last Tuesday night devotional we were betting on it being an apostle but of course it was another seventy which was still good but 8 weeks and no apostle that"s super rare we missed Holland by 1 week so boots got to see him! That's crazy about you going back to work that will be great.  Waking  up early is hard but when you go to bed and get 8 hours of sleep you feel so much better than when you get 10 or 9 like our bodies only need 8 hours so its more healthy for us! I definitely can not wait to sleep on the airplane though!! Thanks for all the stuff in my bag!

I decided the first thing Im going to buy when i get to Germany is a jump rope so i can excersize while im there cause I want to lose some weight and i know that i can! My work ethic has improved a lot also my desire to finish! My one thing I have always struggled with is finishing.  i always started something but never could keep with it! I am glad the mission has helped me with that because I want to be a doctor and i know thats going to take a lot of drive to finish! Im getting a little nervous to be honest to leave here because out there everything is not going to be structured for you and you have to structure it yourself! I am hoping my senior comp is way sweet and we get along really well and go to work! My next p-day i will send you pictures of my first experiences in Germany and some pictures from the airport in the Netherlends I have some pictures printed off that I'll send before I leave there are some pretty funny ones!
Ya G-ma Sondra sent me a dear elder that said Hunter did really well thats awesome good job!! I wish I knew how to play piano honestly thats an awesome skill!  Anyways so I start packing my things up today thats gonna be kinda crazy!! Idk where to start! I hope I can figure out how to do that shirt folder thing! We got to host again yesterday and I finally got to host an elder he was from like alpine or something I think going to Mosanbique in Africa! My teachers little bro is over there and he tells us they are baptizing people like crazy so thats way awesome! Both of my teachers have little bros on missions one in tonga and he was actually here while we were here! No Hurst is here for 9 weeks he is going to the Phillipines so he has 6 weeks after I leave. Alex comes in on April 6th and Clark comes in in May 5th or something! I haven't heard from Boots but Taylor forwards his e mail every week to me and so I can forward that to you if you'd like! I e mail mike and chase frei pretty consistently though!
Its gonna be wierd cause once I am in Germany I will have to e mail everyone cause letters take awhile! Make sure dad keeps up on my bank account just to make sure everything is good! So there is like 30 of us leaving on Monday and Tuesday are zone is big there is 17 of us going to Berlin on Tuesday and like 13 going to Frankfurt on Monday so the branch will reduce more than 2 thirds! It's so crazy I will be in the real world in like a week I am so excited its going to be super interesting! I have been reading the start of the New Testament and Christs teachings which I have loved! It's cool to really study and figure out the parables! And with what I learned last week about mercy and justice and intelligence everything seems so simple! Miracles aren't crazy its just science! and its an honor to say that I have the power to preform those miracles! But also faith is a huge part! The atonement makes so much more sense! That is probably the one sole thing that I am glad to say I learned here and I can use in the mission field is my knowledge of the atonement! I hear the jayhawks are dominate! They'll win it all! better let me know how everything goes! I can't believe I only have 22 months left thats not long at all i'll be home before you know it! Thanks for everything I love you all!!