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Dear family,
This week was epic. First, excerpt from letter to President Condie "This week was great with a beautiful capstone of Christine Bräuer's baptism. We visited Alex in the Hospital again, but he was not really aware of his surroundings at the time, but it really helped Sabrina to know that we went. We reviewed prayer, scripture study and started a review of the Plan of Salvation as well. As you know, her Baptismal Interview was also this week. In our last appointment with her (we had contact every day this week), she had a couple friends over, so a lot of our conversation turned to the Restoration. It was fantastic. Sr. Urban came to Generalkonferenz last week and asked to be baptized, so we met with her! She was a member of the church several years ago, but had her name removed from the records. She remembers everything and is already reading and praying every day. We met with her twice this week and will meet 3 times each week for four weeks (sound familiar?). We have been coordinating with our GML as to if she needs to be baptized or not. She is completely ready for either. It was fantastic to have someone show up to church and ask to be baptized, though! We met with the Vargas and taught das Wort der Weisheit. Frau Varga already does not drink tea or alcohol, but she does drink coffee. We challenged her to give it up for a week and test the Lord. We were really surprised when she was really excited about it. We hope to set a baptismal date this week. Frau Bräuer's baptism was so full of the Spirit. I don't remember what I said in my talk on Baptism, but I hope it was led by the Spirit and Sister Downs sang beautifully making all the women there cry. After the ordinance, Br. Zornig asked if she felt a warm feeling and said "Nicht warm, aber befreit!". [translation = not warm, but liberated!] Everything possible fell through right before the baptism (our Organist skipped out, the closing prayer was gone and the Baptizer was sick and injured), but the Lord provided a way! It was a miraculous baptism."
Oh, man. I cannot even described how stressful church was for a few moments until we found someone to baptize, someone who could play the organ (there is only an organ in the Baptismal room) and every other little part including someone to lead the music. I had prepared a talk on Baptism, but I honestly don't remember what came out, but I am pretty sure it was in German. The Spirit was so strong. She got baptized!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tonight we are going to see Brahms and Beethoven performed by the Wiener Symphonie. Did I mention I am going to see Brahms and Beethoven performed in VIENNA? I am so excited. So much to do and no time to do it! Yikes!
We started an hour a day of contacting (usually dooring). In Vienna, you never need to find PEOPLE, but we decided to give ourselves a little more structure. With this, we have had a lot more ... interesting experiences and let's just say we have gotten better about getting to the point and moving on if people are not interested and setting up an appointment when they are. The Lord truly will lead us to those who are ready to recieve the message of the Restoration. Oh, and by the way, Sr. Urban will be baptized on 20 November 2010. Yes!
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Sister Carla June Carroll
Dear Family,
Excerpt from letter to President Condie: "This week was fantastic with many, many member appointments that enabled us to gain trust with the members and receive several potential referrals. We ate a lot this week, but enjoyed every minute of it (except for one of the meals). We met with Assem, who had previously met with Elders and attends the International Ward. She is around our age and from Khajistan (or whatever the country is between Russia and China, but closer to Europe). She has no Christian background at all (her country was communist), but was very interested in our personal experiences and the hope offered from the gospel. Frau Bräuer is still on track for her baptism, but it will be on Sunday 24 Oktober 2010 and not Saturday because our GML preferred this. She accepted keeping the Sabbath Day Holy and to keep the laws of the land readily and is very excited to enter the waters of Baptism and make covenants with the Lord. We solidified the details of her baptism and I was touched when she asked me to speak on Baptism before the ordinance.
We had a fantastic lesson with Sabrina about the Plan of Salvation. She also does not have a Christian background (though she is from Vienna) and thought that the Plan repeated (reincarnation). She continued to use this drawing I made of the Plan and we helped her understand that it does not repeat, but does last for eternity. Once she put that together and we explained the Resurrection, a light when on and she got it. I realized that I have taken this perfect plan for granted. It has always been there and I did not need to struggle through confusing theories to try to figure it out."
We really had a LOT of eating appointments, which here means that the members are trusting us. One of our appointments was with Bruder Hones, who is blind (we brought another woman with us to make everything okay). We fried the Schnitzel and sliced the potatoes. Then, he sang to us with his microphone and his keyboard played the background music. The song was in English, but I did not know it. It was really fantastic. We also met with Sr. Henkel, who made us Pumpkin soup that I will remember for a LONG time due to it's deliciousness. Another appointment was with the Meissner family. There is a definite Spirit in their home and everyone is genuinely happy there. Sr. Meissner is a single mom with three teenagers and a 21-year old (Florence) and works about 3 jobs. She is a famous musician and works as a flight attendant to bring a more consistent income. I just love the Meissners. Phillip Meissner looks a lot like Kyle, but 13 years younger. :)
Oh, and I did enjoy the last session of General Conference and was able to learn about the Stupid Cow Story and the Vergleich of Satan and a fisherman. It was in German, so I did not get everything. Robert Degasperi, a guy in our ward, brought his friend Marion to church and she said she really enjoyed it and will think about if she wants to meet with us. Another member, Sr. Teply, had a friend who was a member 30 or so years ago and had asked her name to be taken from the records of the church. This friend said to us that she wants to be baptized again. That doesn't happen every day!
Transfer calls are Thursday. I am hoping I will stay in Vienna.
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Sister Carla June Carroll
Dear family,
This week went better. We taught 11 lessons and worked really hard. We met with Frau Bräuer twice and talked about the covenant of Baptism and then Tithing and Fasting. I was surprised how well both lessons went. Her dog got really sick this weekend, so she was not able to come to church or Heide's baptism. Any extra prayers offered to ask for less disturbances would be appreciated ...
It was really nice to meet in our Ward again after Stake Conference then General Conference. We are starting to see that the Ward is starting to trust us and let us serve them. We are learning better how to serve our Ward and help them fan the flame of enthusiasm for Missionary work. Our ward is already amazing.
Yesterday was Heidemarie's baptism. Our Zone Leaders (Elders Adams and Simon) have been teaching her (Elder Paschen before he was transferred two weeks ago in mid-transfer transfers). Ever since I arrived, she has been attending church each week and was invited to be baptized, but needed more time. In Stake Conference, she felt that she wanted to be baptized on 10.10.10 :). The best part is that this is the date that Elders Adams and Paschen had planned for and prayed about two weeks before! Her baptism was so incredible no words can describe it. I felt "OH! NOW I get missionary work". It would not have meant as much had I not been giving my all to this work. Sister Downs and I sang a musical number. We had prepared Er sante sein Sohn (He sent his Son), but there is no piano in the baptismal room, only a small organ that is too small for the song. So, we sang Ich weiß daß mein Erlöser lebt (I Know that My Redeemer Lives) at the last second with no preparation. It went fabulous and we sang the song we had prepared (Sister Downs had written an alto part) for Heide after the baptism while everyone ate the food. We gained three appointments from singing yesterday ...
Another miracle was meeting with Frau Varga this week. We had been trying to call her for the last two weeks without reaching her and decided to do a vorbei ... or ... uh ... drop by last night. We ran into her (almost literally) and her daughter in the train station on the way to the Bus to her home. We met with her and made an appointment.
Oh, we also had Interviews this week (it was a long week!). Our interviews were 10 minutes long. Hopefully someday I will get to know my Mission President! It was great, though and in that short time I learned some important things and how to improve where I am. I am excited for another week of miracles and blessings and hard work!!
By the way, I can receive pictures as attachments in emails ... and want them. :) I cannot visit any other websites.
The Gospel is true!! Everyone can know it, too!
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Sister Carla June Carroll
Dear Family,
So, General Conference was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. We were able to watch one session in English (Sonntag vormittag = Sunday morning). We were excited to have several investigators there. As you know, there is an 8 hour time difference between Vienna and Salt Lake City, so we viewed the Relief Society Session (Frauenhilfsvereinigungversammlung ... a sweet word in German) at 4 pm and then Samstag vormittag at 18.00 Uhr ... erm 6pm. We had our Baptismal Candidtate, Frau Bräuer and her friend Nicole there. We watched the Samstag nachmittag on Sonntag at 14.00 or 2pm. We then watched Sonntag vormittage (live) at 18.00Uhr or 6pm. One out of three of the talks were translated by President Uchtdorf. One of our investigators went to Priesthood session, so I hope to hear a little more about this session from him. We will watch Sonntag nachmittag on 17.Oktober at 9.30Uhr (morning) for Sacrament meeting. So, they will pass the Sacrament and then we will watch Conference. It's actually fantastic because now we can tell our investigators that did not show that they have one more chance!
So, this week we had miracles. Surprise! We had a lesson with Sabrina, who has been investigating for a couple years and honestly would be baptised if she could use her legs and get to church (she was injured in an accident, but that is what helped her turn to God). Her friend and caretaker, Alex, suffered a very severe seizure and has been in the hospital since last week, so Sabrina has had friends over to help her. When we arrived, things were crazy and Sabrina was stressed and we wondered if we could even have a lesson. We met in another room and then towards the end, her friend, Tatyana needed my help, so (while staying within sight and sound), I went to help her while Sister Downs finished the lesson with Sabrina. Turns out Tatyana is very interested and will meet with us again!
Also, in our lesson with Frau Bräuer this week, as we were saying the opening prayer, we heard someone walk in. Once we said Amen, we found another friend in the room and Frau Bräuer said "Wir haben Bibelstudium. Möchest du mit uns studieren?" Or in other words "want to be a new investigator?". She naturally said "Ja!" and we proceeded with our fabulous lesson on the law of Chastity and the Temple! It actually went REALLY well. We also talked a lot about the Restoration to Nicole and had the opportuntity to hear Frau Bräuer's testimony as she told Nicole about the church. As we left the appointment, Sister Downs turned to me with a huge smile on her face and said, "Do you realize that we just taught the law of Chastisty and about the Temple in a first lesson?". We laughed and thanked God for how well it went.
Sorry to be redundant, but General Conference was spectuacular!! I loved the way I felt and the little I understood of Elder Holland's talk in the Samstag vormittag session. I really appreciated all that was said about Prophets! I picked up on many different things than normal as I was listening through the ears of a missionary. I LOVED the talk by Elder Oaks the best. President Packer laid down the law really well and President Eyring's talk really spoke to my soul (all Sonntag vormittag). The nurishment I recieved from the Sonntag vormittag session in English felt like all of General Conference. I cannot imagine how fantastic it was if ALL the talks were like that. I don't think I will be able to get a Conference Ensign for myself in English, so please send one ... :)
We have interviews with President Condie tomorrow. We are excited.
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Sister Carla June Carroll
