January 25, 2010

Well howdy ya'll! Wowsers! it sounds like it has been a pretty busy week and i bet you are exausted. Always know that you are loved and appreciated by me for all that you do. Thank you for being awesome love you.
I dont have the pictures of my shoes on my camera because i thought they sent last week so i deleted them off my camera. So i guess i will have to send them next week. Sorry.
My knee is doing better by the way thank you for talking to sister condie by the way. You shouldnt worry so much though. I told you that i was going to talk to her. and I am a trained EMT and i took anatomy in college and physical therapy and sports medicine. I took care of the problem with my knee on my own because i am a big boy. I dont need a chiropractor it was just a little inflammation of the patellar tendon and the synnovial bursa in my knee joint. After i told sister condie about how i had diagnosed the problem and then treated it she said that she was going to come to me when other missionaries have health problems. They usually go to her becuase she is like the mission mother and caretaker/healthsupervisior of the mission. But apparently she is going to come to me now. So you dont have to really worry about me mom. i am a big boy/missionary/doctor in the making.
Speaking of doctor action. Cool experience this week. So in the past i have told all my companions that i am going to be a chiropractor and that i did an internship with Ron and that i learned tons, from him adn from school and stuff and so all of my companions have always asked me to crack their backs and so i have always done that after we get home from a day of hard work i would crack their backs. I have done the same with Elder wilcoxson, but the other day he said that his neck was hurting way bad and that it was hard for him to sleep and other stuff like that, so he asked me if i could crack his neck. I have never cracked anyones neck before and you know that. I was always scared at home to do that but he wanted it. And we have a level of trust in our relationship as companions and servants of the Lord that we trust each other with our lives and so i said i would try to crack his neck. So I got down and did it how i had always seen ron do it adn how its always been done to me and so i did it. His neck cracked so so bad. It was intense but he said that it felt so so good. Ha success! that was a cool experience. So it is going really well in the companionship sense of things. One thing i have learned about relationships though is that it is always better when you serve your companion. I always do the dishes and cook dinner for my comp and it is cool. Everything really works out better. He told me that i have charity leaking out of me because i am one of the nicest companions that he has worked with. Ha that made me feel good and so that was a reward i guess you could say even though i felt rewarded that we have such a good relationship already and that we work and teach so well together. My Mission. Two years on my feet is the best, something i treasure and prize, preaching love and peace with other well dressed guys!
This week was good we got to teach the area seventy of our misison. His name is Elder Weidmann. We did this in the place of district meeting. We taught really well and then he gave us tipps or suggestions of ways we could do better. I learned a lot. and he complemented me on my teaching style. that was a feel good moment because we were teaching in front of a Seventy and president condie and not gonna lie that can be a little unnerving. But now i know how i can get better. Improvement is always good. :)
So the work has been going pretty hard here in Bamberg. we are pushing with all our might at finding new people and trying to teach the people that we already have found. We come home exhausted everyday and i absolutley love it. We had our first real appointment with an investigator of ours since three weeks. Ya we havent taught or been able to teach a lesson for three weeks to an investigator because they have all been busy. So the past three weeks have entailed trying to contact them and lots of finding time trying to find people that are ready. But yesterday was a relief. We got to teach our investigator Svetlana, who has been an investigator for like two years. My teacher in the MTC, brother Frandson, found her by the way how cool is that. But anyhow we got a hold of her and set up an appointment and we taught a way spiritual lesson. We committed her to pray about Joseph Smith because after two years of being taught she didnt know really who he was or what happened to him... ya.... we are gonna take of this. But we also committed her to meet with us at least once a week, and she agreed. Im excited she has a lot of potential for baptism because she has said that she has thought of it often before. So i am excited.
Our ward mission leader is amazing here. We had gemeindekorrelationssitzung (i dont know what it is called in english) yesterday. We talked about a member mtc that we will be having here next saturday, as well as a 40 day fast, where every member will fast for one day each for the misisonary work here and it will last 40 days. He also presented the idea of him and another member in our ward going on splits with the missionaries so that we can have an uncompetitive "competitition" to see who can give the most copies of the book of mormon out. I am way excited. I love the work and the love that he has for the work here and all that he does for us. Plus he invited us to dinner. He adn his wife served their misison in Greece and so they made greek food for us. Greek salad, giros, cimsit, other delicious things of that land there. Oh we also ate at his mothers house earlier in the week. Her name or so we have called her is mama wolf. Because their last name is wolf. But we have only heard fairy tales and myths of this Mama Wolf. They are actually pretty scary stories. We heard that her goal is to kill missionaries. She will feed you to death, but we prepared. We prayed and fasted. She fed us schnitzel and potato salad and cucumber salad. All handmade from scratch and all so delicious. However she made it in portions that puts costo packaging and sales techniques to shame. I ate so much. It hurt so bad. and she would put more on your plate and then as you if you wanted more. I was almost smoten. i was smitten. believe it or not. but it tasted good and i am still living. All is well here gotta go. Love you all! Spency keep shreddin. We will go boarding again someday hey maybe even here. dad I love you with all my heart. You are my hero. Devin can you belive that we are missionaries!? that is so cool and such a blessing. Mom You'll do well in everything. Love you all tons! TschÜß!!!!!!!!

January 20, 2010

Dear Sister Adams,

I will see Elder Adams either tomorrow or Friday in Nürnberg and will talk to him.  I'm sure we can find a chiropractor in his area.  I'll keep you informed.  

Have I told you lately what a fantastic missionary he is?  Thank you for teaching him so well--we love him dearly.

Sister Condie

January 18, 2010

yes i got a card from sister rose. cool about meadow. no i do not know an elder whitsitt. Tell spencer good job on the awesomeness in soccer. cool about the tour of the dam. My fish are still alive? whoa! mom you always know you are in my prayers and as you start this new job i know you will do awesome. That is just who you are and you are amazing. I love you.
As for this week highest of the highs and lowest of the lows. I will start with the bad news first because it makes the sweet that much sweeter. ok so we only have one key to our apartment and Elder wilcoxson usually gets it and we were planning on making copies last pday but we forgot so on saturday we locked the keys in the apartment and so we had to call a locksmith to get it unlocked. it took him two seconds and he charged us two hundred euro even when he said on the phone that it would only cost 25 euro. so that comes out of personal money not mission funds so if you could transfer some i want to pay for half of it with my companion. so that is roughly 100 euro which is probably 150 dollars. ya sorry. I hate money. Other cool stuff. This, Bamberg, is a walking area just in case you didnt know. So we do a lot of walking and it shows. My eccos, both pairs have tears in the soles. the rubber part on the bottom is split. i have sent a pic and these are my brown ones. they arent the worst but my black ones are completely ripped and so if you could talk to mr. mac about what i can do to get them replaced because they have a lifetime warranty that would also be cool. my knee lately has been giving me problems as i have been walking but it will be ok i will just push through the pain and talk to sister condie about it. plus i look like a gangster when i walk with a limp.
Anyhows the cool stuff of this week. So we had zone conference this week and that was great, but our president says you can measure how good a meeting was by what happens after the meeting. after the meeting we rode the train home for an hour and i didnt really get to contact anybody because our district leader was asking me questions about home life. so i entreated him and answered his many questions in the form of how wonderful my family is and that i have a dog. I answered him about my many talents and hobbies. and then his his most burning question was if i have a girlfriend and so i told him yes. he wanted to know every detail. He was pretty trunky for being a district leader. ha ha but anyhow. i felt bad for not contacting people on the train so we got out at bamberg and as we were waiting at a bus stop by banhof and i was carrying a large box of copies of the book of mormon that we had ordered it weighed like 40 pounds. man i am so strong. any how a thought came into my mind to be bold, and there was thirty people standing at this stop and so i asked elder wilcoxson if i should be bold. He had no idea what i was talking about. so i ripped open the box of books of mormon and yelled at everybody that was waiting for the bus. I said, "hey we just got a bunch of books called the book of Mormon. We are giving them away because they are a precious witness of the savior Jesus Christ." nobody wanted one at first which was ok. we got on the bus when it came and then after we got to where we needed to be we got off the bus and then a man approached us and asked us if he could have one. we gave him one taught him and then we asked him for a refferral he said that he knew two friends who he could give them to. So we gave him two more. Then we went contacting crazy me carrying around this large box of holy scripture and we talked to everyone. we chased people down on bikes we waited for people to get out of their cars. It was awesome. we gave out 4 books 2 brochures 23 pass along cards in two hours. then we did it again the next day and the next. We kept the fire burning. It was so cool.
the americans in this ward are awesome. i forgot how awesome americans really are. AMERICA!
we went out and ate chinese food for elder wilcoxsons 1 year mark. that was cool.
our ward mission leader here, br. wolf, is awesome! I love this work and i love all of you.
time is up i gotta go. HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

January 11, 2010

Ok so Bamberg is awesome!!!!!! The way that they do transfers here is crazy. They didnt coordinate it very well. Normally they buy a tickett for a train for the missionaries and they usually make it so that missionaries can ride together, however the mission secretary messed up and the train he booked for all the other missionaries didnt allow bikes to get on. So i had to buy a different train ticket that would allow me to take my bike with me to munchen trainstation. That means that from salzburg to munchen i was by myself. I had to clear it with president. he was ok with it. he says that i am one of his most trusted missionaries and that it would be ok. so i contacted on this train by myself. it is weird not having a companion to give back up testimony a second witness of what you are teaching but despite that i gave out two copies of the book of mormon, and referral information obtained. I am awesome! just kidding i know that it wasnt me. the Lord gave me the words that i needed to say. Then i got to munchen banhof. then i got with some other elders and the got me to my transfer train to Nürnberg. where i rode with elder Hunter, Elder balantyne and Sister Beutler. There was only one sister which was wierd and president said we had to watch over her till she got to nürnberg. wierd. But wait it gets wierder. so its transfer day and the other missionaries that were with thought that it was the day of rest but i was like no way we are going contacting. So we were on the 4 hour train ride to nürnberg and the other two elders didnt really want to contact but they came with so that i would not be alone with sis beutler. And sis beutler wanted to contact as well so we just started talking to people. but it was so wierd because i would finish teaching a point and then sister beutler would give a second testimony to mine, and then she would teach. It was so wierd. i almost threw up a little in my mouth. but we handed out a couple more books of mormon and a couple brochures. Man i love contakting people in trains. they cant escape me! i love contacting and being a missionary. it is so cool to be able to speak in another language. I am so grateful that the Lord has blessed me to be here!!!!!
So anhow the address here Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Elder Joshua Adams
Hornthal Strasse 33
96047 Bamberg, Dutschland


What the hawaii trip!!!!!!! ok coool. but im not gonna lie im not jealous. Here in bamberg the view out of our back window of our apartment is awesome. we have a castle right out our window. Just kidding it is a chuch but it looks like hogwarts. So i live in a magical little land here. cool right. but yes i did already get the gift card from grandma. I have already written her back in thanks for the card. Mensch!! i love grammy!!!!!
So as to other questions yes i will be able to get the scarf to elder Ensign. Its a cool little invention called mission post. President condie has a box that he takes from zone conference to zone conference to pass letters along form missionaries to other missionaries. it will also work with a scarf. and that is how i will get any other mail that anyone sent to the salzburg apartment. cool also right!!!!!!
As for the job. that is great mom! congratulations! I would say that you do whatever is best for you. i usually am not the best decision maker so dont rely on me. But what ever you choose to do you should do it if it makes you happy. if it is something that you like to do then go for it.
As for me i am happy and loving life. Here in bamberg they have an American military base. So the ward here is half american. We do a lot of translation. plus there is plenty of american style food. for example, i ate macaroni and cheese the other day. the members buy the american food from the base and give it to us sometimes. I think that i have enough hand warmers to last me a lifetime. thank you mom. Im not that much of a pansy plus the cold doesnt bother me too much because im doing the work of the lord. My shoelaces broke on my brown shoes this week so i had to replace those. Im starting to wear the sole in good on my eccos too. Aaaah i love it.
Well enough about me! So here in Bamberg Germany, my companions name is Elder Wilcoxson! He is awesome. We work pretty well together. We like some of the same things especially sports and stuff like that. Elder Wilcoxson can break dance and beatbox. its pretty cool. He is from Seattle washington. Well he is actually from Maple valley Washington but it is really close to seattle so that is why he says seattle because that is something that people know. I can see a lot of success coming about this transfer. we are gonna work it as hard as possible. i mean honestly what less can you expect of two servants of the Lord.!!!!?? So i think that that is pretty much it. oh and just to let you know i was completely safe as i drove up the canyon. Spencer is telling you lies. Maybe. ha ha but ya we can talk about it when I get home. but that is still a long ways away so you will forget by then. :) LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!! LOVE YOU FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU FRIENDS!!!!!!!! You mean eternity to me kind of like when Joseph Smith talks about it in his revelations in Doctrine and Covenants! wow that was a super lame missionary joke. i hope you still love me despite of that. :)

January 4, 2010

So ya this week was awesome! as always. we didnt get to really celebrate new years. Much to much to many drunk people outside. we were allowed to work till around 7 o clock though and that made me happy. it was raining like crazy but people were still shooting off rockets the size of texas. it was so loud and it would just eco through all the streets and stuff. it was really cool though. After we had to come in i cleaned the apartment and updated the area book and called people and made out appointments. I am just way too effective as a missionary. we still had like an hour left over before we were supposed to be in bed so we just chatted and ate the candy from chelseas package that she sent me, and worked out the whole time. I did three hundred pushups. Ya arnold schwarzanneggers got nothin on me. anyhow we went to bed on time and it took me like ten minutes to fall asleep, and I am suprised but i slept through the whole night. i didnt even wake up when everyone went crazy with the fireworks. But it was cool. The morning after The couple missionary here Elder and Sister Mangum invited us to breakfast and she cooked us french toast and bacon. Then we taught her a german lesson. Ya who would of thought that i would be teaching german. We have been going to her like once or twice a week for the past couple of weeks because she has been here as long as i have and she is still having trouble with the language because older missionaries dont get the opportunity to have the mtc. So she has been super greatful that we have been teaching her. Which kinda makes me sad that i am going to have to leave this place. What? did i say that out loud?! ha ha ya my time here is up. After spending a quarter of my mission here in salzburg President condie has decided that my missionary skills are needed in Bamberg, Germany. I am actually pretty excited. Every missionary says that it is the second prettiest city in our mission next to innsbruck. Salzburg is third by the way. But that is not what i am most excited about. In bamberg they just had a baptism and if they did it right then the person who just got baptised should have invited all of his friends to his baptism and in return we should have quite a few new people to teach by the time i get there. Im stoked. I get the opportunity to work with Elder Wilcoxson. He was Elder Ensigns companion in the MTC. Cool right.
this week was pretty tough. Nobody really had time for us becuase they all had holiday and time off work and so we didnt see a lot of success this week. Its kinda discouraging, but we pushed through. I gave it my best every day from 6:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night. oh i got a firecracker thrown at me on new years eve. that was excting. I was getting pretty stressed out this week because of transfers and i knew that i was going but i didnt want to leave this wonderful place. the people here although they hate us and despise the work we do or the name we carry, i have grown to love them because i want to help them. It tears my heart out that they reject their saviour and reedeemer but it makes me want to try all the more.
I had a wonderful fast. thank you for letting me take part in that with you. When there is anything else you need then you could just ask me and i would gladly do it. I love you all. cant talk much more because we are going to go spend our p-day with my favorite family here in the ward (the ibbetsons) they are taking us sledding while their kids take a ski course and then we are going to help them paint their house. Wow they are soo cool. well next time you here from me i will be in Deutschland! tschüß! Ich liebe euch!