Woche 67: Eine wunderbare Woche im Feld des Herrn

Woche 67: Eine wunderbare Woche im Feld des Herrn

Montag

Monday. Well, we went to Hofer to do some shopping for the week. And
then we came home and took a nap. It was so needed! And then we
went down to the church and br. Ausobsky came and picked us and "R"
up. "R" is our friend from Ecuador. We ate dinner at their house and
then taught about the Book of Mormon and what it is all about. The Spirit
was so strong!

Dienstag

Tuesday was my first District Meeting here! It was at our church.
Elder Carr is in my district! Wooh! But yeah, it was really good!
We talked about charity and what it really means to love God and to
have the true love of Christ for others. It was really good! And then
the Sisters taught about the Gospel blessing families. And they taught
in a sorta different way. But we talked about how the Gospel was made
for the family. It was made for us to have successful families and to
be happy! How awesome to know that the Gospel is in our favor! And
then afterwards we went out for some free ice-cream. It was
delicious! And then we went finding! It was super cool. We met some
girl and spoke about Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. She was so
surprised to find out the we just give people the Book of Mormon for
free. Just as a gift! She was just so astonished! It reminded me of
how priceless the Book of Mormon is! And so we gave it to her. And then
we had GMK(meeting with the ward mission leader). It was good.

Mittwoch

Wednesday we went out finding for a little bit. But it was raining, so
not much luck. But we then went out to Ansfelden with the Sisters.
They are awesome! But we went to the family Bachmayer! They are so
awesome! And they have two cute little kids! And we ate Frittaten
soup! It is some soup with an Austrian version of a crepe pancake
strips in it. It was yummy. And then the Sisters had the spiritual
thought. They spoke about the light of the gospel and how we have it!
And then we talked about different ways we can shine the light. It was
really good. And then we went out finding some more and then
eventually met with "A". He is super cool, but his religion, Jisetti, is
super logical thinking. So he believes in God, but pretty much nothing
else... So we spoke about how God is very personal, and He is the
source of all truth. So we need to ask Him for the truth. And we met
at McDonalds. Not the best place, but that is where he could
meet us at. Next time, somewhere else.

Donnerstag

Thursday we tried getting ourselves registered, but apparently we need
to fill out some more paper work... So that was a fail. But after
lunch, we went out finding. And did some more finding. And then tried
going by on some people, but they weren't home. And so we did more
finding and trying to get to know Linz better.

Freitag

Friday we had a service project! Yay! We helped move the family Friedl
to Haag. We helped pack a trailer and stuff and then unpack it at
their new house. Their house is beautiful, but kind of small. European
I guess... But then they fed us Gulasch and Leberkäse. And with
Semmel. Yummy(: And then we came back home, got changed and went to
the church to meet up with "R". He is so awesome! We met and answered
some questions about the Book of Mormon. And then we talked a bit
about The Plan of Salvation. Talked about how the Fall of Adam and Eve
was actually a good thing. And then we talked about why we were here
on Earth. It was again super spiritual, and now he has a Book of
Mormon in Quiche, his mother tongue.

Samstag

Saturday we had the Priesthood Session of Stake Conference. The Stake
President spoke about situations. He read from 2 Nephi in the Book of
Mormon. He talked about how Laman and Lemuel were in the same
situation as Nephi. Both had to leave behind everything. Both suffered
in the wilderness. Both had been raising families in the wilderness.
Pretty much all of their suffering, which was a lot, was the same. But
they both were totally different afterwards! Laman and Lemuel were so
upset and angry because of it, they were unrighteous and hardened. But
Nephi was super spiritual, learned a lot about trusting in the Lord.
The outcome was so different! And President Mielacher said the same
goes for us. The scene and situation aren't quite exactly the same, but
the principle is. We have the personal choice to choose our
attitude and what we learn. We can't choose the situation, but that we
can choose. It was super. And then we had classes. Elder McArthur and
I went to some singing one first. We sang The Holy Priesthood, and
then some Kärntnerisch song. It is originally a romance folk song, but
he changed the words. And then we went to some Teaching class.
We got some tips on teaching and really using our tools and resources
effectively, super good. And then we came home and went finding for an
hour. It was super awesome! Found two great people who have interest
in the Book of Mormon.

Sonntag

Sunday was good. "R" didn't come though, we think he was sick or in
Hungary... Haha, two way different things... But church was still
really good. One of the young woman spoke in Sacrament Meeting, and
she shared a story about this kingdom who didn't eat chocolate cake.
And they were all happy, super nice people. But there was someone
there that wanted it to end. So he got people to slowly watch films
and read books about chocolate. And then they had chocolate chip
parties. And it continued until the people were mocking those who
didn't eat it. And they started eating the chocolate cake! And there
was so much happiness! And then she spoke about how it was about the
chocolate. But in real life, it is the same. We have our
standards, they are set and they are personal. But Satan will try
slowly and carefully to have us lower our standards. Not all at once,
because we aren't that dumb. But through small things, excuses or the
one time deal. And then we eventually lose it all, and find ourselves
in a hole. We always need to stick completely true to our standards,
and then we will win! And then after church we went and ate at the
Kramesch's house. They have three smaller kids. 10, 5, and 2. So
cute!

Well, I hope you know how grateful I am to be in Linz spreading the
wonderful news of the Restoration! It is truly a blessing! Have an
amazing week!!!

LG
Elder Albrecht

Woche 66: Der Gott der Wunder

Woche 66: Der Gott der Wunder

This week truly has been a week of miracles!

Montag

So Monday was my last P-Day there! Crazy! We went up to Vienna and played basketball at the Wien 1 Building, haha, it was a lot of fun! The Wien 4 Elders crashed and came with since they live with the Wien 1 Elders. I bumped heads with Elder Monson, so now I have a yellowish mark on my eye. It isn't too noticeable though! And then we came back and did some finding! And it rained a lot!

Dienstag

Tuesday was my last District Meeting in Vienna! Crazy! But it was pretty good. We ate lunch together, and then we went straight into it. We spoke a lot about teaching. We spoke about free agency and how everyone has it! But we need to be so clear when teaching that they know what they are rejecting or turning away. It is like the scripture in 3 Nephi 7:18-20. Nephi's faith was so great, that it was impossible to disbelieve. Or just like Jesus Christ, He is the Son of God! And yet people rejected and killed Him! But like with Nephi, they knew what they were giving up. They knew what they were rejecting. And so it is here. We have to do the same thing! We need to declare the word of God clearly and powerfully! How will people want to enjoy the Restoration of Christ's church, if they don't even understand it or anything else! And so we continued on and talked about strengthening our own testimonies so we could do this! It was really good! And then we did some studies in Vienna, and then went finding! It was way different than St. Pölten! Then we had our Ward Council with the Stake Presidency and some other Stake Leaders! And then we took a photo together and then went out for ice cream, wooh!

Mittwoch

Wednesday was my last day in St. Pölten! Crazy! Well, we made some calls and set some appointments out for Elder Bates and his golden! And then we went out finding! It was pretty good! And then we finally met with our friend "P" again! It has been like 3 months, maybe more since we last met! Wow, but we finally got contact again! We followed on the Book of Mormon and the Word of Wisdom. He said that it has been really hard trying to live this commandment! He said that he really wants to do it, and most of it is easy, but giving up smoking is just so hard! Well, we spoke some more about it, and then something cool really happened. We were encouraging him, and then we spoke about his progress. He has been making so much progress with his goal. He has been making small steps to being free from it all. And we told him that God was proud of him for his desire and progress. God knows how hard it is, but he knows that he could do it! I really felt God's love for "P"at that moment! The spirit was super strong and we bore testimony of the the strength the Book of Mormon gives us! It was super awesome! And then after some more finding, we had our German Class. Three people came overall! Yesss!!!

WHITE WASHING

Quick note. So white washing is when two missionaries go to the area at the same time. So neither of us know the area. And we were also opening up the area. Which means no Elders have been there for the past 6 weeks. But we have Sisters and a Senior Couple which makes it easier.

Elder McArthur and Elder Albrecht

Donnerstag

Transfer Day! Well, that was one weird day. It was a bitter sweet feeling leaving St. Pölten. I am excited to move onto new things, but it was like a second home. But, on to Linz we go! Well, I met Elder McArthur on the train. And guess what!? We went straight to Linz!  So we got there at like 10. So we got there, and nobody was there to pick us up. We were stuck with all of our bags. Oh! Guess how much my bag was? 125 and 50... Weird... Anyway, we tried asking someone if we could use their phone. Well, the guy was from Italy, so that didn't help... So we had to get a calling card and then call the Office. They called the Senior Couple and they cam and picked us up. Well, we got to the apartment, they took us out to eat and then we unpacked a little. Oh, and we have NO PHONE!!!  After we went shopping, we went finding for the first time here! Well, it was crazy and weird! But we ended up finding to people who have interest!  It was way awesome and a miracle! Well, we later went to the church, and we met some JAEs... Young Single Adults... Haha, I can't speak English... And they are awesome! We played Ping Pong with them! Awesome people! And we have return missionaries and people preparing for a mission! And one of them, Andreas, gave us a ride home!

Freitag

Friday we did Weekly Planning. So we just made ideas of finding and working with the ward. And then we went out finding for a little bit and found somebody who speaks Macedonian, Serbian, and Croatian. Woow, a lot. Then we went by on "M", whom we found on Thursday. Well, he was home and we gave him a Book of Mormon in French. His German isn't the best, so we have to take it slow with him. But he loves Jesus! And we explained a little bit about the Book of Mormon! He seemed to like the prophet Mormon a lot! Way awesome! And then we went to our first GMK(meeting with the ward mission leader). It was pretty good! And then Br. Ausobsky gave us and Iris a ride home!


Samstag

Saturday we went by on a couple of friends of the older missionaries. None were home, so we went finding! We met a way awesome guy! "R" is a believer who at first lost his faith, but then found it again. He believes 100% that more scripture exists. So we shared with him the Book of Mormon. And then he asked us how he could buy it. And then we told him that we just give them away, as a gift! He was so astonished! He kept asking us if he could maybe pay us or something, so we told him that Book was so special and has helped us so much that we give as a gift to others. He was so excited! He was so prepared to receive the Book, and he knew it as well! And then we met some other cool people as well that day! Like "RM"! He is from Ecuador, and said his was on the search. And so we invited him to church, but didn't get his contact info.

Sonntag

Sunday was amazing. So we started out by meeting "RM" at McDonalds. And he was there!!! He said that he thought about not coming, but then he remembered that he promised us to be there! So we took him to church with us. We were actually early for choir, so he sat and listened and then went out to see the neighborhood. Well, we introduced ourselves during Sacrament Meeting. Let me tell you, this ward is way bigger than St. Pölten! We tried to get to know some members. And then we had Gospel Principles, Elder McArthur was in the other class, and "RM" stayed for it as well! He was so open and gave some amazing input! And then we had Priesthood and he stayed again! Br. Ausobsky and Karim really fellowshipped him! We were talking about Chastity... Weird first lesson for "RM". But he loved it! He said that he never heard anyone speak about it at another church or place like us! He really enjoyed it, and how direct it was and open it was! And then we had a member appointment with Iris's parents family, she was there too! We took the Straßenbahn with her there. They are awesome! And we had a super wonderful spiritual thought with them about the Book of Mormon! We read the introduction with them! The Book of Mormon is a treasure! And we always need to remind ourselves of that!

Die Woche

Overall, we got lost a ton! Tried looking for a map. And had some amazing miracles! The Lord truly does look out for every single one of us! I love this gospel!

Woche 65: Wohin gehe ich?

Woche 65: Wohin gehe ich?

So, we got transfer calls! Some pretty exciting stuff is happening! Drumroll please: I am going to be white washing/ opening up Linz with Elder McArthur! Wooh, fun stuff!

Montag

So, Monday we went down to Linz am See! We visited Lunzer See. It was super pretty. It is at the bottom of our area in the Eastern part of the Alps. It was so beautiful. God surely does have a knack at beauty. And of course making things uniquely pretty! And I drank Summer Cherry Traum, not that great... Haha, but we ended up reading the bus plan wrong and the bus will only come down to a certain point if we call in advance... So we missed the bus... And we had to catch one later... It was not the best...

Dienstag

Well, I literally cannot remember for the life of me what we did on Tuesday. So lets just say we did missionary work, did some finding. I do remember that we had Ward Council. It was pretty good!

Mittwoch

So, Wednesday morning we met with someone at Mickeys( McDonalds). We gave him a Book of Mormon in Persian and he bought us a small coke. "M" was super nice and we talked a little bit about the missionaries and the Book of Mormon. His German isn't the best, so we have to take it a little slow. And I totally called that he is from Afghanistan, Elder Bates said Pakistan... Just my mad guessing skills. Anyway, we went finding a lot! And then some more finding. And then we had our first German Class. We started one up to teach German. But no one showed up! Man, you win some, you lose some. But, then we went out and did some more finding! Wooh!

Donnerstag

So, Thursday we had Zone Training in Vienna! We went to the Wien 2 building and ate lunch first. And then we had a super amazing Zone Training! It was definitely the most spiritual one so far. Well, first we had business items. And those were just normal. And then we had 4 missionaries give testimony about missionary work. They spoke about the following from the first few pages in "Preach My Gospel."

     Your Commission is to Teach the Restored Gospel Jesus Christ

     The Gospel Blesses Families

     Teach By the Spirit

     The Power and Authority of Your Calling

It was so good! They really invited the spirit! And then the sisters went on and spoke about having a vision about ourselves. We wrote on a piece of paper how we envisioned ourselves as missionaries before the mission. And then we spoke about how fear and how it comes from Satan! We can all overcome it, but we need the Savior's help! And then the Zone Leaders continued on with it and spoke about what Elder Bednar said. We should ask God to help us see us as we really are. Weaknesses and everything. And then of course using that to become better! It was awesome! And then we eventually got back home. We went out finding. It was super cool! We definitely saw the change because of Zone Training. We handed out three Books of Mormon! It was way awesome!

Freitag

Friday we went finding for a little bit and then we went out to some tiny little Dorf(village?) called Etsdorf am Kamp. We had to take a train to Krems an der Donau and then another train to some place,  I cant remember what it is called... But we were on the correct street and went up to the house and the house was huge! We rang the doorbell but no one answered. And then some lady who didn't live there drove by and stopped to yell at us! It was so crazy! And she had some pretty thick Austrian Dialect,, so that didn't help! But we walked further down and got into the right village thing and found the apartment. She wasn't home so we left a note. And then we came back and did some weekly planning and then went to Maria Anzbach. We taught a less active there. It was a super awesome lesson! We taught the Restoration and he gave some pretty powerful testimony. And then we missed our train so we finished our planning.

Samstag

Saturday we got transfer calls! I had just started my shower when the Zone Leaders called! Haha, so had to stop that... Well, we got the crazy news! Oh, and Elder Bates is training! And apparently I am staying District Leader there. But yeah, that was way awesome! And then we got on with the day. We went out finding because of yet another fallen out appointment. But that was fun to go finding. And then we went to Herzogenburg to teach a lesson! It was really good. We had 4-5 people there from Syria. We talked to the one guy in English and then he translated for us. We talked about prophets and prayer and some of the similarities between Christianity and Islam. And then we went and did some more finding and then had the beginning of our Branch Conference. We learned how to make bread and some Austrian bread, so be ready! Then we had a Sunday School class. It was pretty interesting... But it was way good!

Sonntag

Sunday was just weird. It was super good, but it was my last one here. We finished our Branch Conference. The Stake leadership came down and taught the lessons. It was super good! We talked about blessings of the church! It was super cool! And then I bore my testimony during Sacrament Meeting. Well, it was weird, knowing that this was finally the end... Super weird feeling. But I said bye to all of the members afterwards. Everyone knew people in Linz! And everyone kept saying, "In Linz beginnt's!" So "In Linz it begins!" Whatever that means... And then we came home and studied. And then we went over to "K"'s and talked a little about prophets and becoming pure. And then we did some finding! Wooh!

Lets go Linz!!!

Woche 64: Finden, was?

Woche 64: Finden, was?

Montag

Monday was Interviews with President Kohler(our mission president). We were up in Vienna. That is why the email came on Tuesday last week, and not on Monday. But Interviews were so good! We also had District Meeting during the interviews. So it was roughly three hours long. So long! We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon during the District Meeting. We talked about how it can answer our soul questions. In essence, the Book of Mormon is God's word, and absolutely amazing. It is super awesome that God has blessed us with a second witness of Jesus Christ! But my Interview was also good. chatted about the work and the district for a bit. It was really good! And then we went to Herbs. It is a restaurant and the real name is Schnitzel Wirtschaft. No one really knows where the nickname came from, but there are theories. Anyway, we had these huge Cordon Bleu Schnitzels! Haha, so much cheese! And then we went home. Well, we actually got stuck at Wien Westbahnhof (Vienna West Train Station). Our train got delayed because of the mass amount of refugees coming in. There were so many people there! But we eventually got home.

Dienstag

Tuesday was P-Day, weird... But, we really didn't do anything special. Just the usual stuff! And then afterwards we had a small meeting with President Mauch (our branch president). We talked about missionary work, and about using the building more, and stuff like that. It was good.

Mittwoch

On Wednesday we took a journey up to Krems an der Donau. Well, let me tell you, there were a lot more people out and about there then in St. Pölten. Even though St. Pölten has a larger population.  But we went finding and dooring and went by on some people. It was a pretty good day. Oh, and Krems has a beautiful  City Center. and there were so many Americans and Canadians there! It was kind of weird seeing what Americans were like. So much different! Of course, not in a bad way! And we also found a super nice lady! She invited us over sometime to give her the Book of Mormon! Awesome!!!

Donnerstag

Thursday was super awesome. Well, we went by on "A", and he was home! We gave him the Persian Book of Mormon. His brother was even home as well! So we had a pretty good religious discussion with him about the differences between Islam and Christianity. We talked a lot about Jesus Christ, especially being the Son of God. It went pretty good. And then we later went by on Herr "S". We gave him a Persian Book of Mormon a couple days earlier, so we talked a little bit about that. We talked about where it came from and why we have it! It was super good! Good day!

Freitag

Friday was our planning day! We planned for the coming week. And then we also went out finding! It was pretty good! We also found another guy! He was interesting. Kind of complained about wars and America a lot, but we told him about the Book of Mormon and he gave us his number to call him and set something up since he is going on vacation! The Book of Mormon has so much power!

Samstag

Saturday we went to Herzogenburg. We went by on someone we found last week. Well, she said that she needed time to read because she didn't read a lot. We tried to explain our message to her and that it was alright that she didn't finish, but she insisted. So we will try in a month or s, she was still nice though! Well, we continued to door in the surrounding area. And then we eventually came back and it was raining. We had to take of business at the church, so we did that.

Sonntag

Sunday was great! Church was good like always. It was fast and testimony meeting, so we got to share our testimonies over the pulpit. It was nice to hear everyone's testimony. It sure did strengthened mine. Oh, and "M" came to church as well! So that was way cool! And then the Mauchs drove us to their place and we ate lunch with them! We had the European Version of Tacos! It was still good though! And then we ate Yogurt. They are so awesome! And then we saw a billion more refugees in Vienna! And with all of these people wearing signs with the languages they speak. It was crazy! Well, that was my week!

~Elder Albrecht~

Siehe, ich bin ein Jünger Jesu Christi, des Sohnes Gottes. Ich bin von ihm berufen worden, sein Wort unter seinem Volk zu verkünden, damit sie immerwährendes Leben haben können   -3 Nephi 5:13

Woche 63: Wieso bin ich auf Mission

Woche 63: Wieso bin ich auf Mission
 

Montag

So Monday was another P-Day. We went shopping, ate, emailed, and stuff like that. We went finding afterwards and talked to some nice people.

Dienstag

Tuesday we had our District Meeting. We went up to Vienna and ate before it started. And then throughout, we talked about the Book of Mormon and how important it is. Kind of like last week, we discussed the importance of it. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, working hand in hand with the Bible. The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel. The Book of Mormon is simply wonderful. At the very end of district meeting, we did a small role play using the Book of Mormon as our main finding tool. And then we split up with a new companion and went finding for a couple of minutes. It was super cool and we got the blood pumping(figuratively and literally)! It was awesome! And then afterwards I worked with Elder Spratling in Vienna for the day. So we had our exchange. We taught a German Class after district Meeting. I got to use my french knowledge, haha. The guy was from Ivory Coast and then we went finding while going by on some people. We talked to a super nice guy about families. It was pretty good.

 

Mittwoch

Wednesday we tried to teach a lesson. but it didn't go as planned. He just wanted legal help. so... Don't know what we are doing in that subject. But he was way nice and we prayed together and stuff and then I came back to St. Pölten with Elder Bates. We went finding. And then Sister Brunnsteiner took us out to eat at some Chinese Restaurant. It was a buffet. It was soooo funny. We are so American when it comes to buffets! We had a great time! they are super awesome! And then we went and did some more finding and then called some people up!

Donnerstag

Thursday we did some more finding. And then we were supposed to have a lesson with someone, but he was in the Mosque. So we went on over to Neulengbach Stadt, a town east of St. Pölten.we went by on somebody, wasn't home, and then did some dooring. The door wasn't working at some apartment building, and it wasn't opening. Well, some guy came over and yelled(softly? I can't speak English...) at us and told us to leave. We were so confused, but he kept yelling(softly?) until we finally left... so we just went somewhere else and the first door we knocked on over there was some guy who thought we were JWs(already meeting with them, thought we were others), but we told him no, and he turned out to be super nice! We had a way good conversation about churches and the differences between this church and the Catholic church. And then we eventually came back and did some more finding.

Freitag

Weekly Planning Day! Yess! We did that in the morning, and then went over to "N"s house. He is the New Convert here. We talked a bit and then a ton of questions about the church organization and stuff like that! And then went over to the same guy as yesterday, and he wasn't home again! Man, well, we did some more finding in the city Center, and then finished weekly Planning by setting some awesome goals for this week!

Samstag

Saturday we went up to Herzogenburg. We went dooring for the most part. Some Muslim Delivery Man asked us if we were JWs. We told no and explained where were from. He then told us the he believed on all the prophets and that we should too. He thought that we didn't believe in Moses or Adam... and then he drove off. that was definitely interesting. And then later we were dooring at a different building and some lady answered the hallway window on the third floor. I said hi, and before I could go any farther, she  said, "Auf Wiedersehen"(good-bye!). And so I said it back, and then we started to move on. and then she kept saying it really loudly and then she told us that she was going to call the police on us! Even though we literally did nothing wrong! Some people are just silly! So we left and went somewhere else and door number 11 let us in at that building. Well, we opened the door, and door number three was open. So we talked to her first. So we introduced the Book of Mormon. and she said I don't have any money, in German, in Austrian dialect, and with an accent. It really sounded like she said no time. so she closed the door after we told her to have a good day, and then my companion was just staring at me. He told me why, and then I was just as baffled. so we reknocked on the door, explained to her the mix-up and then gave her a Book of Mormon and she invited us back later! She was so excited and happy afterwards! It was a small miracle!!! And then later in the day, I took a German Assessment.

Sonntag

Sunday was way good. We went to church, and when we first got there, only 11 people were there, including us! But it was combined for the first hour(third hour back home), so it was better. We talked about all of the refugees coming in these next couple of weeks, and what we could do to help! It was great, I love the church! And then we talked about some more spiritual things. Specifically about becoming Spiritually independent so we can help others. It was way good. And then during the second hour we talked about Paul's third journey. It was also good. And then we had Sacrament Meeting. It was super good. I really could feel my Savior's love for me and also His enabling influence. It was amazing. and the talks were also good. To be honest, I was super tired, but I tried my best to concentrate. And then we went home, did some studies, and then went out finding! We talked to some super nice guy. He believes a lot in energy, was super respectful and nice!

I am so grateful to be here in St. Pölten. Being on a mission is a life changing experience, one that I will forever be thankful for. I love being able to help people. and being able to do it in so many different ways! I know that true happiness comes from living the gospel and serving others. I know this love, Christ like love, is what will change the world, but more importantly, people. I love every moment here! Have a great week!!!!

~Elder Albrecht~

Siehe, ich bin ein Jünger Jesu Christi, des Sohnes Gottes. Ich bin von ihm berufen worden, sein Wort unter seinem Volk zu verkünden, damit sie immerwährendes Leben haben können   -3 Nephi 5:13