October 18

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