Je ne comprend pe....

Dearest, darlingest Momsie and Popsicle,

Hi! So, this week has been good and funny and a little crazy.

There have been two earthquakes here in WN, and both times, we've been outside the city, so we haven't felt them. Both times, the elders texted us and asked if we'd felt the earthquake, and both times, we said, "There was an earthquake?" 

I got your package this week!! Thank you soooo much! I was completely NOT expecting that. The letters came on Tuesday as well. We have gobbled up the candy corn, and we gave the hair and some candy to the P girls. :)  It has been a lot of fun. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Also, I LOVE the missionary center! It's so cute! :) You are so sweet.

We had a lesson with A Tuesday night, which went much better than last week. :) I don't know if I mentioned this, but she didn't grow up in a family that believed in God very much. So she is very logical. She isn't opposed to the idea that God exists, she just doesn't know it. We read 3 Nephi 1. 1 and talked about the Holy Ghost, then she told us a lot of what I just told you about her.  We asked her to try, because it'll take time, but to read a little bit in the Book of Mormon every day and to try praying every day. It was good, and we are teaching her again tomorrow. I love this woman and her family so much.

Wednesday was a little rough. We went up to Stollhof, where one of our potential investigators lived, which is right up by the Hohe Wand (mountain in lower Austria). :) It's very, very pretty up there. So we went and visited her and tried to invite her to read the Book of Mormon, but we're not sure how well it went. She believes strongly in the Bible and has such strong faith in God, but doesn't really want to change. She is very sweet and has a number of struggles in her life, but believes in God. But I don't know if she will actually investigate the church. She talked most of the time about her belief in the Bible.

Afterwards, we went and visited a former investigator, who wasn't home, and then......we had an hour before the next bus came. So we went dooring, which is really only my second time going dooring. It was really rough. The first street, no one was home. We sat down, made some calls, then went up another street. The first man we talked to literally didn't let us get a word out. He was very adamant of not wanting to talk with us. Basically, everyone that we talked to was streng Katholisch (strictly Catholic), but they did get nicer as we went along. Then, finally, the bus came.

Thursday, B didn't show up, which is a problem because we have no other way to contact her. So, basically, we have two real investigators, and they both speak Spanish! :)  It'll be okay. We're trusting in the Lord. And these two investigators make progress and really, really have potential and interest in the church. Right after GMK, we walked out to run home and grab our bikes. We called this potential, S, from Senegal, so we could take a French BOM to him. But he wasn't understanding much of the English we were saying. Right then, we saw L, a member of our ward, who speaks seven (!) languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French, English, Finnish, German, and..something else...), and handed him the phone, because he could speak French. CRAZY!  Being in this mission, I need to learn French, Romanian, and Hungarian to be able to function well, in addition to the languages I already know.....

Friday was fun. We went down and visited the V, who were so sweet, as always. Then we came back, grabbed some games to play at Sport Abend (it was rainy, so we played board games instead), then went to see if J had some. He wasn't feeling well, so he wasn't going to come. We walked in, and you could tell it was a stressful time. We asked S if there was anything we could do to help, and she said, "Make some food pop out of the air." We had to leave, because we had an appointment with P at 5:30, wishing we could do something to help. We texted P on our way out to tell her we'd be a couple minutes late, and she texted back to tell us they wouldn't be able to make it. So, we immediately called S and asked if we could come over and make dinner, and she said yes! So we bought a couple things, then went and made pancakes for the family. It was so good. It felt good to just be serving. THEN we came back to Sport Abend (late, of course) and met L's wife! It was pretty fun.

Saturday, at the Bahnhof, we talked to a fun older woman, who thought it was a shame we weren't staying in Sauerbrunn to hear her band perform. :)

Yesterday was good. We had church, and all I really did was play piano (Primary), translate into Spanish (Sunday School), play piano, and translate into Spanish (Sacrament meeting). :) But I love being able to serve. We went down to Marz to have lunch with a member, which was GORGEOUS and delicious (especially after fasting). And the family is wonderful. :) I love J; she is very shy, doesn't ever have much contact with many people. But her mom told us that she wants to have contact with us, which is amazing. Then we taught L, which was so fun. I love their family. So much. 

Oh!  It's a new transfer!  I am staying, and so is Sister Scoggin! It's good. :)  I'm thrilled. Elder Huff is the only one in our district who's leaving. I'm so happy to stay here.  The work is good. I'm setting some new personal goals this week.  And we're going to find so many people this transfer, it'll be unbelievable.

I wanted to tell you about a missionary perspective. Sometimes I forget that people have normal lives. And it's hard, because I have to remember that people DO have normal lives, and that within those normal lives, Heavenly Father is preparing people to receive the gospel. I just forget, because I don't lead a normal life right now. It is one of a missionary, and we are here solely to spread the gospel. Sometimes in my head, I think that people just spontaneously have time to meet with us, which isn't true. Obviously. But I forget normal life sometimes. But I DO love being a missionary.

The Church is so true. Don't forget it. I am so grateful for it. I know Heavenly Father listens to us and will answer our prayers and watches out for us, even when it doesn't seem like it. He does. 

I love you so much! I hope you have a won-der-ful week! Thank you for everything you do.

Love, love, love,

Sister Elizabeth Jill Winters

Schönnbrun Palace

Crazy orange hair from the "Orange you glad you're a missionary?" box from home