Thursday, March 28, 2013

There and back again, A missionary tale by Elder Kinghorn or Baptism and Wedding in Wiener Neustadt)


Dear Family (and Rachel because this is now legal),

This last weekend I spent a ton of time on trains. We started our journey at 9:25 am on Friday. We pulled into Wiener Neustadt at 8:00 pm. We did have a 2 hour layover in Salzburg, which was cool. We had lunch with some missionaries and then got back on our way, but we were kind of lost. Our phone didn't work in Austria. So, we had no keys and no phone at night in Austria. So of course we walked over to the P's to see if we could use their phone. S. was so excited to see us. Well me (Elder Kinghorn had been there for 5 months). J was gone picking people up from the airport. 

Then we got a hold of Elder W. and Elder S. It was great to see them. We met them at bahnhof a quarter to nine. Then we walked home. We had some dinner (ice cream) and then went to bed.... but fell asleep a bit later. 

Saturday morning rolled around and we walked over to where the wedding would be. We opened the door and I saw lots of people speaking Spanish. I saw J and just gave him a huge hug. It was so great to be able to see him again. He had missed me I could tell. Then I saw S and P. Of course giving them hugs too. Then G was there and he was so excited for this day. It was awesome. Then The P kids saw me and Michele (the 1.5 year old) just ran to me and hugged my legs. Then the wedding was about to start so we watched it. It was German with Spanish translations. After the wedding I felt really bad not giving A. (the bride) a hug. So I did. ( I don't hug everyone, A. was actually the first girl but it was needed to be shared.) 

Then we went to the church for a lunch type thing -whatever it's called. We had pizza. and it was great to be able to see everyone again. Ok most of the ward wasn't there because it was ward temple week. But the T’s were there and E. and B, who I wanted to see again. E. just received her endowment last week. She was so excited for the temple. And B. was quite sad that I wasn't able to stay longer. And the T’s are the T’s, and everyone loves them. 

Then we did the baptism pictures and I felt like I was one of the missionaries that really helped G come closer to baptism. Then the baptism started and it was Spanish with German translations. Then G and J went into the water and G. was baptized. It was such an amazing experience. The spirit was so strong. I loved it. But sadly we had to leave like right then. Our train was leaving in 20 minutes. If we missed the 4:30 train we wouldn't be able to get home that day. So we were driven to bahnhof and started our long journey home arriving at 1 am. 

Church was quite different. It was Elder B’s last sunday as a missionary. The ward sang ‘God Be With You Till We Meet Again’. It was quite sad. His farewell as a missionary. He is a good missionary and will do a lot of good when he gets home.

That's crazy that you have two sons out on missions now. This is where God wants us to be. Mom, I know you're going to go into mild depression for the next few weeks. But it's not bad- you get to talk to us in just a few weeks. On Mothers Day. And look in the scriptures. When the sons of Mosiah return and see each other, look at how happy they were. Missions are amazing places to be. In 2 years when you see Jason again you will have the same joy that the sons of Mosiah had. Ya, Jason is your little goofball of a son. But he is destined to be an amazing missionary helping innumerable amounts of people. Jason might get homesick but I'll send him a package soon with something random in it. What do you think I should put in it? I can be your package boy for Jason.

Oh, I've played that game before (the name game).  Except it was in German. It would be a good language study game. I learned a ton of really random words. Like there is a word for the cross country skiing tracks. You know, the two grooves in the snow. But I forgot what it was.

I Love you
Elder Devon Kinghorn

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