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