December 17, 2012

Greetings from Austria!!!

I Hope everyone has had a good week. I have.

Last week we were super busy. The P. family invited the investigator B. and her son over for lunch and us also after church. It was awesome because they are getting integrated into the ward better. It was great to have a family really embrace her.

Last week we had an awesome lesson with B. She just recently lost her job and we felt like we needed to teach tithing. So we get to the lesson a little nervous. Ok, very nervous. I've only taught tithing once before. But we go into there and she just loved it. She was saying how it makes perfect sense; God needs the money to build His kingdom. And she also she quoted the Bible. What belongs to Caesar belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God give to God. How often do you have an investigator who helps you teach them a lesson?  She is completely awesome. Couldn't hope for a better investigator. She loves the church and she is really growing in her testimony. She asks us super hard questions though. They aren't the questions missionaries fear, it's she is reading the Book of Mormon so deeply and when she doesn't understand something she asks us. It's the type of questions a Seminary teacher asks another Seminary teacher. We're just like uhhhhh, and try to answer with the Spirit. It always goes well though. Then she always asks us if she can say one of the prayers at the lessons.

This week we have 2 exchanges. The Zone Leaders had one planned for this week already, but then Elder G. has to give a baptismal interview tomorrow in Vienna but we have stuff here to do. So we are going on an exchange with two elders in the Wien 4 Ward. Elder E. (the Swiss elder) will work with me in wiener Neustadt for a day. Then the next day I'll be in Wien working with Elder B. again. That will be cool. Going on an exchange with my last companion.

And here is the bad news. So last Friday we had Zone Conference. President told us that we needed to keep our calls to 40 minutes. I don't think anyone was super excited about that. But president has his reasons and we need to obey it. So 40 minutes is all we get to work with, sorry. I am super excited to call home though. 100 years ago that wasn't possible but now we can. And we can also email instead of waiting 4 weeks for a letter to get across the Atlantic a hundred years ago.

So this week has been a lot of fun. Last Saturday was the ward Christmas party and we had 30 people there who weren't active members. There were about 15 less actives 10 non members and 5 children of less actives who weren't baptized. And also it was a ton of fun. It took up most of our Saturday actually. We woke up, did service. Than had the party. Then came home and it was late so we had dinner and planned.

So Christmas Eve here is actually Christmas. Well, Christmas is also, and so is the day after. It lasts 3 days but the 24th is the biggest day. The 24th we are going to the P. family. They will be fun to have Christmas with. The wife is French and went to culinary school. So, we will see what we get for Christmas. The elders in the International Ward are having a Brazilian Christmas. Then, for the 25th we are going over to the Bishop's. They are also really fun. Then the 26th we are going over to the P. family. So it is definitely going to be busy those few days.

And ya, we are getting together great. We can see a few changes in how often people want to meet with us, with it being Christmastime,  but not really. So it's all good. We are going to be super busy though with everything. Our week is almost completely planned now. Every week I can tell a difference between how well we work together. Now we are getting into the rhythm of working together really well.

That's fun you got your first snow storm of the week. This past week has been pretty mild here. We had some rain which wasn’t too fun. But oh well. 

The Wien zone will be getting quite a few baptisms in the last part of this year. In our area B. will get baptized either the end of this year or the first week in January. Then the other missionaries in our district in Wien have 4 people set for a baptismal date by the end of this year: the elders have 1 and the sisters have 3. It's really starting to go crazy. So, I'm sorry but this mission is cooler than puerto rico. 

Things are really going well here in Austria.  I love it! The people are all so awesome. It is going to be different being away from home for Christmas.  Being with family is best for Christmas, but Austria is second best. Where else do you get so many awesome families to meet with? Ask Elder Hyatt. He'll tell you all about how cool of a place this is.  The traditions are pretty cool here. And people go Christmas crazy also. 

I Love you and thank you for the support.

Merry Christmas Everyone,

I Love you

Elder Devon Kinghorn

Wien Zone Conference
 Row 1: Pingree, Kleiner, Leban, Stewart, Strongs, P&S Miles, Thurns & Dents Row 2: Reid, Holmstead, Stapleton, Riser, Chapman, Christensen, Escher, Johnson, Kinghorn, Gubler, Bodily, Davies, Stilger, Evans, Moon, Steed, Bassett, Babcock, Brose, Cox, Sanderson

December 10, 2012

Greetings from Wiener Neustadt everyone,

Well everything is going great here in Wiener Neustadt. The sun is shining and life is great. Ok the sun isn't shining, but life is great. It's bitter cold. That's ok because B., one of our investigators, is making tons of progress. We read with her out of the scripture and I swear she gets more out of it than we do. She is just awesome. She arranges her own rides to get to church.  She said she wants to choose a baptismal date after christmas. So, she will get baptized the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Then G., he is also doing great. We have a lesson with him tomorrow. He is awesome. He barely speaks German but still he is so much fun. We laugh so much every time we go over there. Saturday we did a lot of service for them. They had to move a lot of furniture around so we helped them with that for a few hours and it was great fun. They invited us to eat dinner with them. But we were fasting so we had to say no. But oh well because all is good.

This Friday is Zone Conference. That will be great. It's my first Zone Conference. Yes!  And I have been a missionary for over 6 months now. Kind of funny how that works. 6 months out and having my first Zone Conference. Hmm something's up here. Oh well, I'm excited for it. I hear they are great and we learn so much durring the meeting, but it is going to be a long day. We have to take the 6:30 railjet to get there by 8 in the morning. Then it lasts for 8 hours. We'll finally get back to Wiener Neustadt at about 6 at night. It's going to be quite the day. But oh well. Everything will work out just perfectly. 

Oh, and I'm sorry but the christmas package won't come till after christmas. I still need to get all of the stuff that go inside. The one you sent should probably arrive shortly. And thank you for everything and all of your prayers. This area really is awesome. Wiener Neustadt is awesome. I wish you could all see it one day. 

So the movie Silent Night (yes I've heard of it already) they said it was really accurate. Just a few small things. And the song Silent Night is only supposed to be sung on the 24th. That's a rule. It's so special that it's only for that night. Or at church the Sunday before. Last night we watched the Christmas Devotional (in German) and the bishop's wife was saying how weird it was; that Silent Night is not supposed to be sung until the 24th. So yea, then I also found out that most of the Christmas traditions we have come from Austria or Germany like Christmas trees and all the green stuff. The traditional dinner has a lot of German influence. Saint Nicholas was German. But in Austria Santa Clause doesn't exist; it's the Christkind. It's baby Jesus, but not. And it has no gender. It flies out of the windows and leaves the presents. So ya, it's just a little bit confusing. 

Yes, I did get the beef jerkey which was amazing and also the cheesecake pan. But I have no clue how to make a cheesecake. Well I do, but I have no recipe, which doesn't help too much. Also, it would be nice if you sent some turkey bags. I don't think they sell them here and then the water would leak. The ovens here have a slide in bath that you can use instead of the rack. Just in an envalope would work. They are so tiny it wouldn't matter. And they are reusable. It doesn't touch the food just water so it's no problem. Oh just to let you know I have gotten really good at making up a pasta on the spot. We do that a lot.  And of course putting in sausage because I'm in austria. Ya, giant things of sausage are just a few euro, so why not? 

I love you.

Love, Elder Devon Kinghorn

Devon on the train

November 26, 2012

Greetings from Österreich,

(About his brother Jason getting called to the Madrid Spain Mission)  Of course and my eyes just were like 'where is it, where is it?' And then I saw Alpine Germany. Then I started reading it out loud. It was pretty exciting. Now we can be european buddies together.  But you'll love the people. I know quite a few people from Spain and I love all of them. We won't be that far apart, just 1 or 2 time zones, and really 2 countries away. Just france is between our missions. Whoa, we just have one mission between us. Haha, how many brothers can say that? Good luck in Spain you'll love it. The field is the coolest thing in the world. And good luck sitting down for 4 hours straight studying.

Wow...crazy... two mission calls within the one year!

Hmm so now everyone in the family can speak Spanish except me, and Tanya and Kevin. Oh well, I can speak German.

I know what it's like for Jason to be in a Spanish lesson. Last night we met with the family from Spain. Of course they speak Spanish, so our ward mission leader translated for us. They are all from Spain. Except one he is from Colombia. But then he served in the Canary Islands too. They are all super excited for Jason going there. They love it. They are so cool. They love how Jason got his mission call there. They are an awesome family.

Haha so I have a question. Does that mean you won't come pick me up and just wait for Jason to finish his mission? Then pick up jason and go to both? I really don't know. But that would be cool. That way we could see each others missions and meet all of the people we have gotten to know over the past two years. But I have no clue. The people here are just so cool and I love it here. The ward members are just awesome. And yes that is Elder G.’s dad. It's a small world after all. 

So this last week was super busy. We had 12 lessons in really 4 proselytizing days.  Monday was Pday (so we had 3 hours that day) Tuesday was a full day. Wednesday was district meeting and then it was "finding day" until 5, so only half day. Then Thursday was "transfer day" so we were in Wien and no work got done in Wiener Neustadt. So then we had Friday and Saturday as whole days. It was a super busy week. So that was goodbye to Elder B. and hello to Elder G. He is a great elder from St. George. We are going to get a lot done by the end of the year. 

Then we met with B. twice also. She is also amazing. The Book of Mormon has really changed her life. She will get baptized sometime after Christmas she said. It's awesome.   Oh, so Saturday when we met with B. we had a member from Wien come with us. His name is D. He was actually baptized by Elder H. He is a super cool guy. I love him. So that's really cool I was on a mitbelehrung (member lesson thing) with someone he baptized. And we have quite a few potentials with a lot of potential. Haha that sounds funny. 

Well of course you missed my smoking powers. Who else can make a wonderfully delicious turkey? And yes, we did have one here. Well, it was chicken. But still we had Thanksgiving with a flare of Austrian. We had rot kohl. So that was a little bit odd for Thanksgiving, but it was pretty cool.  

Gaa that's not good (shooting 71 in golf). So what you are saying is I need to become pro level in golf within one year of me coming home. Ok I can do it. Just 4 rounds a day and I'll be good. Well except for Sunday. That is completely possible with everything that I'll have to be doing-school, work, winter. 

And ya that's Elder G.’s dad. He is a pretty cool elder. I still don't know him that well so I'll send you more information about him next week when I find some more stuff out. Right now it feels like we are on a long exchange. Oh well. 

Right now I am quite low on missionary money and but that's ok because I just have to make it until friday. And I also need to do reimbursements for all of the train tickets we have to buy. So, by next month I probably won't have to worry about running low. I'll have a nice buffer. Right now I have 25 euros but next month probably like 50 or 60 euros left over by the end of the month. Why am I talking about how many euros are in my missionary account? That's kind of odd. Well that's what kind of missionary I am I guess. Just an ADD boy who loves the work. Oh, one of the bikes is about ready to die. Haha luckily we have a mechanical engineer in the ward who has already saved it once. He really pulled off a miracle. I heard how bad the bike was before. 

Ya um you have never seen Christmas like Christmas here in Wien. It really is something different. Carlsplatz is going crazy with decorations. We were there last week contacting and they have enormous light displays and huge christmas villages. Not displays,

 but actual villages!

I don't have tons of pictures, but I have a lot. Maybe 300. So I guess that is a lot. They aren't backed up yet. Sorry, I probably should. I was going to do it last week but I only brought one cord. not two. So it didn't work. Oh well, next week I'll do it. It really isn't cold anymore. Today I am going to buy a Pea coat, but that's it. Then I’ll look for stuff to send home. And probably my package will get ther late so I'm sorry. But you can enjoy it anyway.

I love everyone. Thank you for all of your prayers. I'll miss you during Christmas. 

Love, Elder Kinghorn

Thank you for all of your support.

November 19, 2012

Dear Family.

So just recently we have had quite the time. We set a baptismal date with this guy from Egypt. He really has interest in the church but we will have to take it slow with him. We’ll probably push his date back a couple of times before he gets baptized. But that's ok, because he will in the future get baptized. And then last week in the “finding day” we really turned up the heat and prayed and set a goal that we would get 4 potentials and give out 5 Book of Mormons in 4 hours. That's a lot in this mission. So we saw a miracle and reached our goal in one hour!!!!  It may seem like a lot but there are so many people here that need the gospel. You should strive for higher goals. This Thursday (Thanksgiving) is transfer day. I am going to stay here. Elder B. is going up to Wien (Vienna) to be a zone leader. My new companion is Elder G. and is from St. George.  I don't know how to spell it.  I have heard he is a great guy and super funny. So I'm excited. Elder B. was great, but companionships don't last forever here in the mission field. Just a couple of months and then it's over. 

That's awesome that Jason will be getting his call soon. Call up the mission office to tell them so they can call me. Then I'll know where Jason is going before next Monday.. 

Hmm I think jason is going to go to Romania... well I have no clue. That's not really a guess. But our mission is expecting an increase of 90 missionaries by April. Not new missionaries, an increase of 90. Every zone will have 6 or 7 new companionships. That's a lot! Jason is going to be a part of the massive increase of missionaries in the next year. But. Jason would get here in the spring when it's not cold. Right now it's hovering around 0°, 1°, or 2° when we get out in the morning. It's also foggy or misty. So ,it's like going through a mister when it's freezing cold. But then later in the day it's not so bad. The fog goes away and it's warmer. Then night hits and it's cold again. It gets dark at like 5 here. We still have hours of Hmm I think jason is going to go to romania... well I have no clue. that's not really a guess. But our mission is expecting an increase of 90 missionaries by april. Not new missionaries an increase of 90. Every zone will have 6 or 7 new companionships. That's a lot. Jason is going to be a part of the massive increase of missionaries in the next year. But jason would get here in the spring. WHen it's not cold. Right now it's hovering around 0 1 or 2 when we get out in the morning. But it's also foggy or misty. So it's like going through a mister when it's freezing cold. But then later in the day it's not so bad. The fog goes away and it's warmer. Then night hits and it's cold again. It gets dark at like 5 here. We still have hours of proselytizing after it gets dark. It's so annoying. We need more light to work with. But oh well, in the summer it's light until 10:30. That makes it easier to work with.

Oh, we do get a Thanksgiving dinner. We have a senior companion who feeds the district every week. And Wednesday will be our Thanksgiving dinner-well lunch. But still, we get a real life Thanksgiving dinner in Austria. We are all Americans, except one elder. He is Swiss. So he will have his first Thanksgiving dinner here in Austria. How ironic. How in the world did you not die with 4 eating appointments in one day? Then again they might not be so heavy as eating appointments here. They say eat, eat, eat!!!! You are a missionary and a young man you need food. Well it's not quite like that. But they still give you enormous helpings. Just one of the strange things missionaries do. Suffer and stuff in as much food as possible. 

This area is really great we all love it here.

So, I remembered one more thing. A cheesecake pan (doesn't need to be springform). Elder B. has one and everyone loves it when we make a cheesecake. And now he is leaving. Going to Wien to be a zone leader. 

Today for Pday we are going up to Wien.  It will be a lot of fun. Oh, I also forgot I don't really have any recipes, just a little book like the ward or family one. Those would be perfect. But if you don't have time to get one no problem. 

And no, I do not have a Christmas tree. Maybe Elder G. (my new companion) and I will buy one at the Christmas village in Wien. Yes, they set up villages for christmas. You would like it here Christmas time.  Everyone is in super-Christmas mode.

Anyways, I got to go.

I Love you

Elder Devon Kinghorn

November 12, 2012

I hope everybody has had a good week

So last week was hard to get as much done as normal in Wiener Neustadt. Elder B. was in Munich for two days on a District Leader Counsel.. So I worked in Wien (Vienna) for two days. 

We were doorbelling this apartment building. Someone answered and she had no interest. So, we klingle the next person. It was the same person and she was really upset. So then we go way down the list and klingle someone else. She’s here again and she said she was going to call the cops on us. We were wondering how in the world it kept ringing her. But even if the cops came they couldn't have done anything because we are legal. But we left anyways. Just one of those odd days that just happens. 

In wien we had a lesson with someone. He was wondering why we wouldn't take any wine from him.  We shortly explained the Word of Wisdom to him. He said, “Oh good, I hate alcohol.  Whenever I get drunk I start spitting, so I stopped”. He just got wine to give to us because it's polite to do in Iran(where he is from). You have to give someone a drink or something else. 

What else is new...Yesterday church was amazing. Elder B. spoke and B. was there. She was saying how amazing church was. Ya, she is awesome. Sadly she is super-busy, so it's really really hard to meet with her. We were able to have one lesson this week. She loves the church and the Book of Mormon. 

I don't remember if I said this earlier but the A’s have a marriage date. It’s for early January. That means G. will get baptized in January. He is such an awesome guy and really funny. This is when I wish I could speak Spanish, but sadly I can't. Oh well. Well, I also wish I could speak German. Even though here it isn't German it's Neuderösterreichisch. Ya there are something like 30 dialects in this mission, all of which are way different. Well it's still awesome.

Mother-First I have to ask did the package full of chocolate get to you? If not, it should be another week. I went for the cheap shipping. And secondly, I think we found a better hot chocolate thing than you. We didn't buy it but it was Lindt. And it's not a mix it's chocolate and you put it into hot milk and it smooths together into a magical froth of chocolately heaven.

Transfer calls are this friday. I think I'll stay for one more transfer and Elder B. will leave next week. But it's all up in the air. 

The camera is great. I got lazy with my journal so I started to just do video entries every other day or so. I'll send some other pictures. It takes forever to send, sadly, but oh well. So if my next area is in the Alps (which I think it will be) I'll send you some pictures. All we have is Schnee Berg 30 km away. So, too far for pictures.

I'll send more in the family letter. I Love you elder devon kinghorn

Love Elder Devon Kinghorn

November 5, 2012

Hallo Familie!!!

Here is a funny story. Well it's also kind of a disaster story. So, last week we were thinking “Hmm, we haven't had mexican food in forever so let's make some fajitas this week.” While we were contacting, this guy gave us some mysterious orange peppers that looked like habanero peppers. So we took them. Friday night as we were making fajitas we started to cut up our meat. Well it was 5 euro for one kilo; Equivalent to 2 dollars a pound about. It was pretty cheap beef. And well, with our crappy knives we made the first incision. Blood came gushing out. Kind of gross huh? Then an hour later we were finally done cutting up this chunk of gulosh fleisch and made fajitas with these mysterious peppers. Haha--we made volcano rubber with it! It was super spicy and the toughest meat we have ever eaten in our lives. But it's ok, because we needed something spicy. Ya that's our cooking story for this week. 

Ok, anyways this week it has been super-super foggy. Every morning we wake up, look outside and yup more fog. But today we woke up and there was no fog! Instead we had rain. Oh well, that's life. But then Wednesday we are meeting with someone for the first time. She is from Hungary and one of our members speaks perfect Hungarian. At first she thought we were some weird religion. But then she read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and decided we aren't that weird after all. Which is true, we aren't weird despite what people say. 

Have fun in 70 degree utah while it's brutally cold here.

Love

Elder Devon Kinghorn

November 5, 2012

Hallo Familie!!!

Here is a funny story. Well it's also kind of a disaster story. So, last week we were thinking “Hmm, we haven't had mexican food in forever so let's make some fajitas this week.” While we were contacting, this guy gave us some mysterious orange peppers that looked like habanero peppers. So we took them. Friday night as we were making fajitas we started to cut up our meat. Well it was 5 euro for one kilo; Equivalent to 2 dollars a pound about. It was pretty cheap beef. And well, with our crappy knives we made the first incision. Blood came gushing out. Kind of gross huh? Then an hour later we were finally done cutting up this chunk of gulosh fleisch and made fajitas with these mysterious peppers. Haha--we made volcano rubber with it! It was super spicy and the toughest meat we have ever eaten in our lives. But it's ok, because we needed something spicy. Ya that's our cooking story for this week. 

Ok, anyways this week it has been super-super foggy. Every morning we wake up, look outside and yup more fog. But today we woke up and there was no fog! Instead we had rain. Oh well, that's life. But then Wednesday we are meeting with someone for the first time. She is from Hungary and one of our members speaks perfect Hungarian. At first she thought we were some weird religion. But then she read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and decided we aren't that weird after all. Which is true, we aren't weird despite what people say. 

Have fun in 70 degree utah while it's brutally cold here.

Love

Elder Devon Kinghorn

November 5, 2012

Hallo Familie!!!

Here is a funny story. Well it's also kind of a disaster story. So, last week we were thinking “Hmm, we haven't had mexican food in forever so let's make some fajitas this week.” While we were contacting, this guy gave us some mysterious orange peppers that looked like habanero peppers. So we took them. Friday night as we were making fajitas we started to cut up our meat. Well it was 5 euro for one kilo; Equivalent to 2 dollars a pound about. It was pretty cheap beef. And well, with our crappy knives we made the first incision. Blood came gushing out. Kind of gross huh? Then an hour later we were finally done cutting up this chunk of gulosh fleisch and made fajitas with these mysterious peppers. Haha--we made volcano rubber with it! It was super spicy and the toughest meat we have ever eaten in our lives. But it's ok, because we needed something spicy. Ya that's our cooking story for this week. 

Ok, anyways this week it has been super-super foggy. Every morning we wake up, look outside and yup more fog. But today we woke up and there was no fog! Instead we had rain. Oh well, that's life. But then Wednesday we are meeting with someone for the first time. She is from Hungary and one of our members speaks perfect Hungarian. At first she thought we were some weird religion. But then she read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and decided we aren't that weird after all. Which is true, we aren't weird despite what people say. 

Have fun in 70 degree utah while it's brutally cold here.

Love

Elder Devon Kinghorn

October 29, 2012

Well that's crazy Cody opens his call this week. It's definitially a big day to open your call. And Jason will be there in just a couple weeks. But I bet Jason won't enter the MTC until March or something. So many other elders are already done with their papers. Oh well, Jason will have a great time in Puerto Rico where it's really warm. 

And I wonder where Cody will go on his mission. I'm guessing Boston- like Kyle. That would be pretty cool. And Jason could go to Lubbok like Michael. But that won't happen because Jason is going to Puerto Rico.

So have you and Dad talked about a mission or not really? You could probably do Spanish speaking since you were both fluent in Spanish at one point. You could do the Spain Young Adult Center. You'd love that, but watch out the accent there everyone has a lisp. Barthelona not Barcelona. Oh well, it's warm there. Or you could go in 10 or 20 years when Dad really retires then gets bored of being retired after 2 months. 

You wouldn't like it here. It's really starting to get cold. Summer you'd like it, winter you'd die haha. And Spain is a lot cheaper I hear. We passed a store with 1300 euro boots. That's a little on the expensive side if you ask me. 

Oh, we just started a mission wide thing. Every week the whole district will blitz an area for 5 hours. So every missionary will be just street contacting. It really feels like a long time. But it really will help the whole mission out. Tons more potential investigators, which will turn into investigators. Which brings people closer to Christ through baptism. 

We had our first snow this morning. Well it's stupid. Snow + Bikes = Terrible. It's simple math. Anyways, snow at home isn't so bad you can actually use it. 

Well at least BYU will have a winning season. Having a losing season is just embarassing. Good luck in Switzerland. I hear it's gorgeous. And that's one place I'll probably never get to go. Visa's are really hard to get. Oh well, it's not like Austria is an ugly place. It's just not made out of gold and chocolate like Switzerland is.

Halloween doesn't exist here. I've seen one poster for a dance. But that was it. It's low key.

I love you

Elder Devon Kinghorn

P.S. We found luther bibles for 10 euro. the original. So sorry.

October 15, 2012

Greetings from Österreich.

So here's a story that mom would be jealous of. We had a slc refurral in Baden so we went to go by on her.  Elder Brose left his planner at home so we didn't have an address. So yesterday we went back and it's this super beat up place with broken windows etc. It looks like no one has lived there in forever. Then this guy comes out with a ton of grapes. So we ask him if he wants help. He says no. But then we ask him if he knows this lady. Low and behold she was in the basement of this "Home".  She invites us in and there's a wine press inside. So we talk to her and her husband as they are pressing these grapes. Then they offer us fresh grape juice. This is so fresh, it is pouring out of the press. It doesn't even make it to the bucket. It was so good. By far the best liquid I have ever partaken of. 

They have a Book of Mormon now and they said they wanted to wait 2 weeks before they meet with us. It's probably because now is harvesting time for grapes. 

Sad story our investigator S. has disappeared. We haven't heard from him for a month, so we decided he is gone. So that's life as a missionary. Oh and last week we were ringing doorbells at this apartment building and this lady sticks her head out the window and tells us she will call the cops on us if we don't leave. We are breaking the law. We had already klingled the last person. We have our licences with us and we aren't breaking any laws. 

I forgot. So first a member was wondering if you could ship a windshield for him. He has a 60 something pontiac I think. I forgot what car. 

And the language is hard but not the end of the world hard. It's harder than english for sure. Our spanish investigators are studying German but picking up English faster. And they don't even try with English! Kind of funny. 

Well, about BYU football- it's good I'm not there to watch the destruction. Maybe when I get back and my senior year we will have a good team again. Or BYU is going to die. haha In german it’s zugrunde gehen. That means to perish or literally to go into the ground. 

Umkehren means to repent. Literally it means to turn around. Agency is entscheidungsfreiheit. Ya, long word but it means the freedom to choose. Isn't that a super long word? And I am learning to understand their crazy accent here. So that's good. I'm sure you had a similar experience with Spanish in Puerto Rico. I hear it's super slurred there. 

Ok dad deep doctrinal question. Will insects be resurrected? 

Dad, I'm sorry you're alone with the dog. I haven't been alone in a long time. To me that actually sounds kind of nice-being alone for a couple days. But that's not going to happen. 

Well, last week I went on a train through borgenland (castleland) to go to our first appointment with this guy. He wanted to meet with us before he went to the hospital for surgery and said he would read the Book of Mormon while he is in surgery. Then in 2 weeks when he gets back we will meet again. Then we took the 45 minute train ride back to wienerneustadt and then took another train 20 minutes north to some other city to go by on potentials. 

Love Elder Devon Kinghorn

Oct. 1, 2012 We had a baptism!

Hallo Everyone,

Yes, It's a Castle!

We had a taufe (baptism) last saturday. It was amazing. Brother T. is 70 years old. It’s exciting. It's great to see people grow in the gospel. He was found through reactivating his wife. The bishop sent two missionaries to talk with her and then he read the whole Book of Mormon in 3 weeks. He was so excited to be baptized. 

After the baptism we went on a long bike ride. It was rainy and we didn't want to ruin our suit pants so we called the zone leaders to see if we could wear jeans instead. They said call prez. So we called President Miles. He didn't answer so we called the AP's. They said, “Ya, that's fine if you have a white shirt, tie and jeans, but you have to wear cowboy boots too. So we did that and it was, well a long ride. And no one was there. But we got back and ate dinner planned and went to bed. 

Well you haven't heard about my knee because it's holding up without a problem. I can do everything a missionary needs to do with no pain; bike a billion miles, run to trains, etc.  As for my exercise, well I stretch and then bike. My knee is getting so much stronger. We climb stairs, that was another exercise I had to do at therapy. So climbing 4 flights of stairs is good too. The swelling is much better. We run a little bit, but not too much, mostly to catch trains. You feel terrible when you reach a train, and the door is locked, so you can't get in. Then you watch it drive away. Haha.  

Zach (another missionary) one time took a train, but his companion left something onboard so he ran in while Zach held open the door. Then the conductor was screaming at Zach, so Zach got off so he wouldn't be fined a billion dollars. Then, as the train left, Zach called his companion and said, “Well have a nice train ride.” Haha, so funny. 

Oh, we saw where Beethoven played in a church. It's just down the street from a church building where we had a district meeting in Wien last week. I had an exchange with the zone leaders. I went up to Wien (Vienna) with one of the Zone Leaders and the other came down to Wiener Neustadt to work. It was so different then here. Some people in a city aren’t as nice as other people. So I'm glad I'm in a smaller city or in tiny little dorfs (villages).

So in Wien we had a crazy lesson. It started out really good, but then it tanked. Some of her friends came and they were louder than the Carson family get togethers. And it was only two people!! Wow. But then somehow we got the lesson under control and were able to give a spiritual thought and gave them both Book of Mormons. So hopefully it's going well. 

But yea so we have this one investigator named S. She is ready for baptism, she just doesn't feel like it at the moment. But the family befriending her is a newlywed couple and fresh rm’s. Haha, one got back from his mission the day I hit the field  (Aug. 28th) and they are already married. So basically they are perfect joint teachers. It's just perfect.

And S. should be back this week. So we will resume teaching.

Hayden was being looked out for. (A friend that was in an ATV accident) The more I look back on life, the more I see how did I not get hurt there, like It should have happened. Our lives are saved more often then we think. I bet it happens every day almost. Maybe a car that would have hit you, but doesn't. We see miracles every day. The trick is we need to recognize them. 

In Wien we are going to the Young Single Adult Center which is right by Rathaus, so I'll send a picture to you of it. I bet you'll like that. 

Oh next week for P-day we are going to a chocolate factory with a family in the ward. Um, Lindt in America isn't nearly as good as it is here. And this factory makes it! So HAHAHA I'm going to be living your dream eating magical chocolate as we look at castles. Jealous? Ok that wasn't nice, sorry. Don't worry I'll send some home to you. 

And CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEK!! Oh, it's perfect for investigators. They will all watch it and say, “Wow, this church, is true and I need to be baptized.”

AHHH Switzerland. It's the place where every missionary wants to go. Well, that or Innsbruck because it's Innsbruck and Italy. And that's a pretty cool area. "Ya, I served in the Italian alps." Maybe I'll be able to say that, or maybe I'll just be able to say, “I served in Austria.” 

That's funny with the boat. Surfing isn’t even that much fun. Wake-boarding is so much better. Ya, adapt a wakeboard boat to surfing? But no need to buy a surfing boat. That's just dumb. Haha sorry for ranting on about that. Oh well. 

I had an austausch last week. I got to go. Zone PDAY. Woot!

Love you all, 

Elder Devon Kinghorn

September 24, 2012

Schloß Gloggnitz

Well it's a good year to not be watching  BYU football I guess. The only kind of American sport here is basketball. Lots and lots of dunking. (Haha, get it)  Is our replacement QB best or what? 

Anyway, it's great seeing investigators really progress and terrible when you talk to someone and they really don't want to keep commitments. In our area book so many people were so close to having the gospel but then lost it all. Ugg. Oh well. Having an area book is nice because we get to call lots of people who say don't call back or we spend forever trying to find a place and then no one is home. I'm not complaining it's adventuresome. Or taking long train rides looking into the forest. Haha. I sent mom a picture of a Lindt factory we saw on our train ride. I thought she'd be a little jealous. 

Some news for Michael and anyone else that might want to hear- I saw a Mercedes sls amg convertable and a few weeks ago a McLaren mc12-4. 

I also hear that Wien (Vienna) is a black hole so it's very likely I'll stay here in this zone for a while. Not as much as a black hole as Switzerland. Once you go to switzerland you don't come out unless you're a zone leader or AP. 

 What else is there.  Oh what are the specs of the new Iphone. All I know is it's longer I think has a bigger screen. I'm a bit in the dark.

Oh yea, we have a cell phone. It's at least 5 years old and was nothing special back then. So without a map we get lost quite a bit. Friday we rode up to a city on our bikes for an assignment from the bishop and we spent 20 minutes finding a street. Then we gave up after no one knew where it was and came back because of an appointment we had.

It's too bad you couldn't go to the temple dedication. So yes, Brother T. is going to be baptized this Saturday. Nothing could stop him. He is amazing. Then S. is in Italy looking for a visa so it's easier for him to work. B. from Baden is doing good. If she comes to church this Sunday or General Conference (Oct 6 & 7th) she will be baptized I think. Then G. as soon as he gets married will be baptized. Then there’s J, we had our first real lesson with him. (Our ward mission leader said for us to wait with him) he said he had prayed what to do and his answer was to read the Book of Mormon. He is an awesome guy. And the guy from pakistan A.  He finds out Friday if he can move to Wien. 

Ok earlier this week we went to a place called Gloggnitz I think. Looking for an old investigator. We got really really lost. Haha  Asking everyone where this one street is and with no map it's kind of hard. But after an hour we found the house and no one was home.... Oh well that's life. But we did get some really cool pictures.  I'll send you some. 

Then yesterday we went back and of course no one was there. We then went to another city to look for a potential. We got lost there too, but we found where he lives. Then no one was home again. So then we rode our bikes to Muthmannsdorf and we spoke with the refugees there (A.) and some others. Then it was rainy and cold and dark as we rode back. Don't worry we have lights flashing so everyone can see us.  And plenty of street lights. 

We got back for dinner and I told Elder B. “What's more missionary like than riding back from a refugee camp on a bike in the cold dark rain?”  It's true. Oh, this week I will be going on an exchange with the zone leaders to work in Wien. If it would have been a few months ago it could have been with Elder H. (from our home ward).  I still have hope I'll be able to work with him in the future. 

I have not had any gelato yet but I have had a döner. and Lindt chocolate. The Lindt factory is in my area.  I'll send a picture of that too. 

I love you, Elder Devon Kinghorn

Gloggnitz

Lindt Factory

September 17, 2012

So how are you?  I thought I would write a letter to everyone.  Life is good here.  I love the ward.

When I return I’ll not be able to eat white bread.  We were talking about that.  

We have a few investigators who have a ton of potential to be baptized.  We have two with baptismal dates, and a family from Spain.  They are sweet.  I really hope they get baptized.  They have tons of potential and have progressed so much.  

Tomorrow we go up to Wien for a zone meeting, then to German class.  I’ll teach JC.  He speaks no German and no English.  The translator J. can’t make it.  So, that will be fun. 

OK, I’ll tell you a story we had last night.  We were dooring.  We ring one house with a sign that has a picture of a dog.  I think it was a warning or something.  I don’t speak good enough German.  Then this guy comes out and basically says we that we are Muslims.  Then we bore testimony.  Then he told us his life story-how he was in the military in Rowanda and all of these stories.  Super cool guy, just a tad bit scarred from wars.  

We did some math and decided it isn’t super expensive here.  Our apartment is probably 300€ a month.  Maybe 350€ from estimating from other apartments cost.  Then 180€ each to spend on food, toiletries, etc.  Then probably 60€ travel each month per missionary.  The train from Munich to here was 80€.  Luckily the Öbb month card is only 40€ and it covers most of our area.  

We were thinking of going by this family.  We looked on the map and it’s 25 miles up into the mountains one way.  Super pretty ride..but heck no, too much wasted time and energy.  Anything more than 5 we really think about.  Baden is a 15 minute train ride.  We go there twice a week to see people or to do finding.  We actually find quite a few people doing that.

We had a mishap with our bikes, my companion did. We were in the center of town with a few hundred people. He was peddling on his bike really hard and the chain slipped so he was holding on for dear life onto the handlebars with his feet dragging on the ground. He was perfectly ok, but it was really funny. These two girls that we had talked to about 10 minutes before came running up to see if they could help, and I just couldn’t stop laughing. If he was hurt it would be one thing, but all he had was a little scuff on his shoes. No big deal. 

I don't know if there are ever forest fires here.  It always rains without end.  Well, not always, but at least once every week or two.  Last week while we were on a train it just started a massive downpour.  We waited a few minutes for it to slow down.  Then we went to our ward mission leader's home.  He then drove us to the T.'s (our future baptism next week).  It was a 30 minute drive on the autobahn and no public transport to there and back within any reasonable amount of time.  We had dinner.  It was pretty much potatoes and deep fried meatballs.  So unhealthy, but so good.

That's cool that Elder Oaks was there.  Elder Nelson came to the Alpine Mission last week.  Austria is far away, so everyone in Switzerland and Germany got to meet him, as well as 2 areas in Austria.  The rest of us Austrian missionaries got left behind and didn't get to see him.  Sad.  Oh well, we have plenty of work to do to bring people into the kingdom of God.

 Last week we had a dinner appointment with the family from Spain.  They eat so much healthier than Germans and Austrians. It was still really good. Hopefully they will be able to get married next month. The man is really ready to be baptized. He just needs to marry A.  She will be a couple more weeks or months before she´s ready for baptism. 

Another time this week we had a lesson with brother T. We spoke about the Word of Wisdom a bit and then he said, “Oh we have wine, we don’ need it anymore.” So then the ward mission leader said that you can use it for cooking that´s ok. Sister T. said, “No, we don´t like that. No good for cooking”. So they gave it to J. to cook with. Haha J. with his Spanish accent speaking German. 

We picked up a new investigator.  She lives in Baden. She is so prepared for the gospel. She has the potential to be baptized next month. If she soaks up the gospel it will be that soon. Hopefully she does. I think it will happen. We just have to work with her so she will be baptized. And of course use the ward as much as possible.

I love you all

Elder Devon Kinghorn