Sunday, January 20, 2013

December 31 and Christmas

December 24, 2012

Frohe Weinachten
So things are getting really exciting here in Wiener Neustadt. We now have 3 investigators who could be baptized in January. A really high likelihood. And it's so cool because they are all so prepared to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. All are so cool. C. is a new investigator that we received as a referral during the ward Christmas party. We have had 2 lessons with her already and she loves the church.  Well last week we called B. and she said she was super busy and couldn't meet with us last week. So we told her to continue to read in the Book of Mormon and to pray. She said she already did her hour of personal study today. So she is just awesome. Then G. is waiting on wedding papers. Hopefully they will come in time for a wedding in early January. He always talks about when he is a member. A couple weeks ago Elder Gubler and I were fasting and he invited us over for dinner. So we said no because we are fasting. He said before my baptism I won't fast but after my baptism I will fast. He could be a branch president for a spanish branch here in Wiener Neustadt. So our pool of baptismal candidates B. is from Germany, C. is from Austria and G. is from Columbia. Half way around the world. But they are all in this city coming closer to Christ. It's awesome. 

Well that's quite the sports update. Here people don't care about football or basketball. It's sad. They just like soccer, which is kind of boring to watch. Actually super boring. And Moroni 10 is one of the best chapters in the Book of Mormon. I bet you could have a college class just on that chapter. So no worries there, you have all the information that you need. So sadly unlike you in Puerto Rico we don't have a baptism tomorrow in the carribbean. But that's ok because we should get one quickly. B. is really close to choosing a date. Hopefully this week she will. And also we have another awesome investigator named C. She is a member referral from a recent convert. And I bet she will get baptized in January or February. Ya and I wonder how much longer I'll stay in Wiener Neustadt. Transfer calls are this week. So by then I'll know if I'm transferred. Time goes by so fast here. I have already been here for 4 months. And you really do get close to the people. A mission is something that you can never relive again in your life. I need to enjoy it and work my hardest.

For christmas it's super cool here. We are going to have lots of eating appointmetns. So basically I won't be hungry for the whole next year. Just get super fat now and then be good for the rest of the year. Like a Big Nile Crocodile. Haha only I would think of that. 

Well family & Friends I love you
Elder Devon Kinghorn

Merry Christmas.




Christmas in Vienna
Elder Kinghorn at Stephansplatz
December 31, 2012

I hope everyone has had an awesome Christmas. It was awesome here. So I would like to start off with what we did on the 26th of December. So here the 26th is still christmas so we weren't going to do normal contacting stuff. But we came up with a plan. We were going to go caroling in Stephansplatz. So the whole district (just 7 missionaries) all met up in Vienna and we went over to Stephansplatz. When we arrived we were super scared to start singing. It isn't normal to sing Christmas songs out in public here, let alone in front of a million people. So we sang the first song. I don't know the name because it was only in German. Only one elder and a sister knew it, because they are German and Swiss. And well it was terrible. We were feeling awful because we can't sing and everyone is thinking, “Who are these people.” Then we started the second song, Joy to the world. And it was awesome. People stopped to listen to us. That was an awesome thing. So. by the end of the song we were happy and about 3 people out of 1000 had stopped to listen to us. So we keep singing. And within 15 minutes maybe 40 people were listening to us. That was so awesome. All of the other street performers are lucky if one person stops to listen to them but we had a huge crowd. And we could tell that they could all feel the Holy Ghost. We were just singing and people loved it. We kept it up for about 3 hours. The crowd size would shrink and grow but it was completely worth it. Now so many people felt the Spirit that day and it's something they will remember. And now God can work with what we have given him. So that was awesome. 




Also, for the holidays President M. changed the rules a bit. Last week we watched a movie with a member called The Letter Writer. It was such an amazing movie.  It has such a great message to it. It's about a girl and how one person was able to see the good in her and so her life changed for the better. It was such an awesome movie I would suggest you watch it. Then tonight we are going over to the Bishops house for a New Years party. We are going to watch the movie Silent Night. So I am excited. I haven’t seen a movie in 8 months and now I see two in one week! 



I'll explain a bit more what happened on christmas. So the 24th we went over to the P. family's for Christmas. It was such an amazing night. We were given a ride there and it was so foggy, so we drove slowly. Then when we got there the whole family greeted us and then we had schnitzel for dinner. It's not really an Austrian Christmas dinner. They said they wanted schnitzel instead of whatever is traditional. After dinner we just talked for a while. 



Then we went into the living room (of course after the Christkind already came, it's their santa clause and it just confuses me-half boy, half girl, winged etc.) There was the Christmas tree and we first had a moment of silence which was awesome. Then we sang 4 or 5 Christmas songs. We ended with Silent Night, which is such a pretty song. After singing we had a short devotional. I shared about how can we be like the shepherds-they weren't perfect people, and they knew they were just normal. But they went to see christ’s birth and they knew he was their Savior. So we need to be the same and look for how we can be a better person and really go to Christ instead of him coming to us. After the devotion and Luke 2 we opened presents and both of us missionaries got a new scarf which was so nice of them. Then we had dessert and talked, then came back home. 


am not getting transferred. I am getting a new companion.  Time goes by so fast here. I have already been here for 4 months. And you really do get close to the people. A mission is something that you can never relive again in your life. I need to enjoy it and work my hardest.    


I Love you
Elder Devon Kinghorn


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