Wrapping up 2017

The day after Christmas we had our first District Meeting with all the new members of our district. Transfers were on the 15th and we lost one member of each companionship.  The next week was the Christmas Zone Conference, so we didn't hold District Meeting that week.  We enjoyed welcoming and becoming acquainted with all our new missionaries.  Out District Leader was transferred, so we got a new district leader.  His name is Elder Visconti and he is from France.  His companion is Elder Silva from Portugal.  They serve in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.  The Zone Leaders are in our District.  They are Elder Chisholm from Salt Lake City, (he is from Bob's mother's ward!) and Elder Kitzell from England.  They serve in St. Gallen, Switzerland.  We have two sisters, Sister Titmus, from England and Sister Passey from Taylorsville, Utah (although she has an Austrian parent so she tells everyone she is Austrian).  They also serve in St. Gallen.  Both of the Elders in Dornbirn, Austria are from Utah.  Elder Bushman is from Logan and Elder Hilton is from South Jordan.  So with us, that makes 10.  Americans aren't allowed to stay in Switzerland for more than 2 transfers (that's 12 weeks), so most of the missionaries serving there have passports from other countries.  We have been very impressed with all the missionaries in our district.  They are dedicated, hard working, focused and fun, as well.  We learn from them every time we meet.  They inspire us to work harder and do better.  They have strong testimonies and are committed to serving the Lord and sharing the gospel. One of our very favorite things about the mission is our association with all the amazing missionaries! It's a huge blessing in our lives.  We bring lunch to share with the missionaries after our meeting.  This gives us all an opportunity to relax, visit and get to know each other better.  Then they head out to do missionary work.  We pick up the Elders in Austria on our way and then take them back afterwards.  It's 45 minutes to Dornbirn and then another 45 minutes to St. Gallen, so we, travel 3 hours total for District Meeting.  We leave at 9:15 and return by about 3:15, so it's an all day event every week, but definitely a highlight of the week.

Elders Hilton and Chisholm, Sister Passey and Titmus

Elders Kitsell, Bushman, and Visconti

Chisholm, Kitsell, Hilton, Silva, Visconti, Bushman, Passey, Titmus

On Saturday, December 30th, we attended the baptism of a young man named Adam Rhodebeck in Dornbirn, Austria.  This was the 5th baptism in Dornbirn since we arrived in May.  The missionary work in Dornbirn is on fire!  But, actually, Adam didn't come into the church due to missionaries in Dornbirn.  It's a really wonderful story.  A young woman named Julia Grosskopf from Austria went to Virginia in the United States to work as a nanny.  While there, a family who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, met her in the park and introduced her to the gospel. She was taught and became converted and was baptized.  She lived there a year and then moved to Colorado to work for the second year.  She met Adam and introduced him to the gospel.  He was taught by the missionaries there, except when he came to Austria to visit Julia after she returned, and was taught by the missionaries here.  He became converted and decided to be baptized here.  He came right before Christmas and he and Julia became engaged on Christmas Eve.  His baptism was very special and we were grateful to be there and witness this life-changing event in Adam's life.  I felt very honored to be asked to give a talk on baptism during the service. Julia gave the talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost.  I was so proud of her.  She has only been a member of the church for a year and a half and she did a beautiful job and the Spirit was so strong as she testified of the principles of the gospel that she knows are true. Adam was baptized by Aaron Fox, who is from Salt Lake City, Utah and married an Austrian girl and lives here now. It was also a special surprise to have two former Dornbirn missionaries here for the baptism.  One, Alex Shaw, has returned home and was visiting here with his family.  The other, Elder Davis, has been transferred but was given permission to attend.
 We are excited and happy for this terrific young couple as they continue their journey together having the blessing of the gospel to direct and strengthen their lives.  Adam heads back to America tomorrow but Julia will be following in a couple of months.  We are super happy for them both!

Julia Grosskopf and Adam Rhodebeck

Aaron Fox and Adam

Elders Lake, Bushman, Hilton, Davis, Andreas Vuissa, Alex Shaw and Elder Molbek

We had a peaceful and pleasant New Year's Eve.  We were invited by our friend, Connie Hofmann, for Christmas Eve but she became very sick, so we rescheduled our evening with her for New Year's Eve.  We fixed dinner together at her table, which was a fun activity.  We had a great visit and enjoyed being with her.  We didn't stay too late because we needed to return home and cook lunch for District Meeting the next day.  We were very surprised at how empty and quiet the roads were as we drove 45 minutes back home.  We started to see and hear fireworks as we drew closer to Ravensburg.  Fireworks on New Year's Eve are HUGE here.  They didn't keep us awake, thank goodness, because we have shades on our apartment that are very effective at shutting out light and sound.  We were quite tired so we didn't stay up until midnight to ring in the new year.  But we anticipate a fabulous 2018, filled with many new experiences and learning opportunities.  2017 was one of our most memorable years and we are grateful we were blessed with good health and the opportunity to serve here in the Alpine German Speaking Mission.  We love being able to focus each day on the gospel of Jesus Christ and look for ways to serve others.  Our testimonies have been strengthened and we have grown so much closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our lives have been forever changed and we will always cherish the friendships we are making here.  We miss our family and friends at home, so we will look forward to being with you all next Christmas!