Harris Missionaries

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

August 5, 2009

Wed., Aug. 5, 2009

You gotta love how time flies. It seems like yesterday that I wrote the July letter & here it is August. Can’t believe it. It must be due to the temperate weather we have been experiencing. Simply beautiful! So far we have only had a few very hot days. So that leaves nothing to complain about, right? I’ll find something & so will you, huh?

We’ve done two road trips this past month, one to south eastern Bavaria & the other to north eastern Bavaria. Lots of beautiful sites, quaint villages & inspiring curiosities. Hopefully our pictures will tell the story. In the south we visited Landshut & Burghausen. In the north it was Ludwigsstadt & Kulmbach.

We’ve visited our YSA’s in Bamberg & Würzburg this month so that put us on the road more than usual. It was all well & good though. In Bamberg we were able to meet a YSA, Alex Oler, who has been deployed for a year & is now returning to Germany to serve an additional 3 years of duty. He had only been home 3 days but decided to come to church. He sat right behind us in Sacrament Mtg. After the service, Elder Harris introduced him to the Bishop, the Elders Quorum President & the YSA Representative. Just another one of those small miracles that has flooded our lives here of being in the right place at the right time.

We were also able to meet another YSA, Mariah, in Würzburg that was new to us. Too bad that she is returning to the states next month. Our commute to & from was very pleasant though & certainly not a waste of time because we were able to get better acquainted with our Stake YSA President, Richy Dautel. He is a very capable dedicated leader but again, too bad but he is leaving for school in London at the end of the month. We will miss him a lot.

We went on 3 Outreach adventures last month without much success but we’re going to keep it up. We will be sending out a quote from Pres. Uchtdorf’s conference talk on April 5, 2009. We hope it will carry some weight with his fellow German saints. It is an invitation to come back to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is very powerful.

In addition to our regular missionary studies, I have again read Talmage’s Jesus, the Christ this month. I thought it was wonderful when I read it on my first mission but it was very profound this time around. I just wish I could remember all the thought provoking information. If you haven’t read it in a while, I recommend that you try it.

This letter wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention that we were saddened to miss our Hannah’s baptism on July 11. It was certainly one of the hard times of our mission (actually # 3 – first, Bryce’s ordination to the Priesthood, second, Oscar’s birth & third, Hannah’s baptism) but we were consoled because we could feel her excitement through our telephone conversation with her that day & we could read it in her face when we saw pictures of the event on Rachel’s Blog. Congratulations Sweetie for Choosing the Right.

We send our love & prayers for all good things to make their way to you & yours. Thank you for all you do & for being the good people that you are.

Much love, Elder & Sister Harris, Gary & Renee, Dad & Mom, Gpa & Gma

Plassenburg Castle in Kulmbach

Lauenstein Castle in Ludwigsstadt

Landshut's Trausnitz Castle

Landshut's Medieval Celebration

Landshut Summer Flavor

Landshut Brick Church

Burghausen Castle

Bamberg

Monday, July 6, 2009

July 2009

Mon., July 6, 2009

It’s that time again. Guten Tag from Nürnberg,

Hope everyone has recovered from their 4th of July weekend. We even celebrated the holiday here in Nürnberg. The Stake had a Super Saturday complete with American flag & decorations. More than 250 members, investigators & non members came for games, crafts & food. There was BBQ’d steak, chicken & pork plus hamburgers, hotdogs, salads & desserts for every taste. As you might expect, it got a little scary at times with all the activity. We got to see many of our YSA’s & English class participants. So even if we did have to give up our P-day, we were well rewarded.

Last month started with the transfer of 3 of our favorite missionaries, Sister Puzey, Elder Williams & Elder Yanez on June 10 & we are still missing them.

On Sun., June 14 we visited the Regenburg Branch & enjoyed a potluck lunch after the meeting block. We got to visit with our newest YSA in the Stake, Jessica Wright. She was baptized in May & still has the glow of a new member.

On Sat., June 20 we had the Institute Closing Social. We were encouraged to have 14 come even though the goal was 20.

We have been making a concerted effort to find the inactive YSA’s in Nürnberg & Erlangen during the past several Tues. evenings from 6 to 9 P.M. but mostly we have been calling on past addresses of such. Some have been gone as long as 5 years. Where they have gone to is a big mystery.

I continue to play the organ for Sacrament Mtg. & last week I even gave a short talk on How I have felt the Spirit through Good Music. I wasn’t as nervous this time as I was the two previous times when speaking in Sacrament Mtg. I am also still teaching Michelle Muse piano. She has finally committed to being baptized. Each pair of Sister missionaries has been very diligent in working with her & being very patient. It looks like Oct. 12 will be the happy day. It is her birthday.

Elder Harris taught the English Gospel Doctrine class yesterday. He did such a good job. I guess I’ll keep him for another couple of days.

Well, the last event of the past month that needs to be recorded is the wedding reception of Martin & Stephanie Pfister on June the 27th in Würzburg. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 23rd but will be living in Schweinfurt. Martin was one of the YSA’s in the Stake. Check the picture out! We used the early part of the day (June 27th) to see some sites in the Würzburg area. It’s about a 2 hour drive for us. You’ll love the pictures. The Residenz of the Würzburg Prince-Bishops was build from 1720-1744 & the interior was finished in 1780. Today it is on the UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage list. It has the largest ceiling fresco in the world measuring 18 x 30 metres. The unsupported vault was still intact following the 2nd World War.

Would love to hear from you. Have a great month.

Love, Elder & Sister Harris (Gary & Renee) (Dad & Mom) (Gpa & Gma)

Elder Williams

YSA's Martin & Stephanie Pfister

Wurzburg Palace Chapel

Wurzburg Palace

Veitshochheim Palace

Sister Puzey

Part of Wurzburg Palace Gardens

Part of largest fresco in the world (Wurzburg Palace)

Main River

Elder & Sister Abersol

The Abersols are a missionary couple that went home to WA last week. We got to know them really well. They did Military Relations and were in Grafenföhr. Both Elder Abersol & Gary served on the Nürnberg Stake High Council together. He saved my life many times with American food products from the Commissary that I used to make the dinners for the YSA's. We'll miss them tons!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

June 2009

Mon., June 8, 2009

Guten Tag from Nürnberg,

Hope this finds everyone well & happy & enjoying the sunshine. Things are good here & it has been another eventful month. With that preface let me get right to telling you all about it.

On the 6th of May we went bowling at the nearby Brunswick Lanes. It was pretty fun & as you can imagine, Elder Harris started out by wowing the YSA’s with his expertise. He rolled two strikes right off the bat, much to his surprise but at least it got everyone’s attention. After that he was humbled a bit & by his second game he was actually struggling some to stay on top but he managed to squeak out another win. I took the photos so the next day I wasn’t moaning about all my aches & pains.

On Sat., the 9th of May we drove to Coburg to enjoy the sites & buy some more Hummel figurines. I have to admit that I love shopping.

Zone Conference was on May 14. As usual, it was very inspiring & uplifting. It is a treat to see the young elders & sisters participate in discussions about missionary work. They are tops!!! Pres. & Sis. Condie do a wonderful job of teaching. They are truly an example of humility & dedication. I don’t know where they find all their energy.

On the 15th of May we drove to Frankfurt (a 2 ½ hour drive each way) to the temple to see Tatjana Binte & Hauka Hopp married. It was very special. We have been able to see their romance progress almost from the beginning & so it was nice to be a part of the whole event. On the next day we were able to attend their wedding party. It was quite the celebration, starting at 3 P.M. & going past 9 P.M. There was dancing, games, toasting & lots & lots of eating. You gotta be impressed with German weddings.

On Sat., the 23rd we attended two different baptisms. One was here in Nürnberg for a married couple from Grafenwöhr & the other was in Feucht for a Regensburg YSA, Jessica Wright. Both were wonderful, filled with happiness, the Spirit & a number of investigators. I’m always happy to have a little musical talent so we can be involved in such happenings.
We drove to Schweinfurt (about 1 ½ hours one direction) for Church on the 24th. It’s the first time we have visited there. There are only 2 active YSA’s now that one got married to a Utah girl in the SL Temple, the day before. We hope to go to the wedding party here at the end of this month for the Pfisters. Actually it will be in Würzburg on the 27th.

When we returned from Schweinfurt we enjoyed a lovely dinner & visit with Christine & Scott Minert that evening. He is from Boise, ID. She is from Germany but was an exchange student in Idaho during her high school years. That’s where she met Scott. He is a BYU graduate so Gary can talk a lot of sports with him & we all know how much that means to Gary.

For the last two weeks Elder Harris & I have been trying to reach out to the less active YSA’s here in Nürnberg without much success. We have a couple, the Kirzingers, who come here to the Center to sit from 6 to 9 P.M. on Tues. so that we can leave & visit the YSA’s. We hope that this will help to open up the area to more participation at the Center.

Now the biggy for the month……A Seniors Conference for the mission in Salzburg, Austria on Fri. & Sat., May 29 & 30. What an experience!!! We traveled by train (5 hours one way), went sightseeing, had several classes with open discussion, ate wonderful food & had a fast paced two days together. It was really awesome to have this experience & we will cherish it for years to come.

We are waiting to hear the report about Rolf Schultz’s marriage to Anya in the Helsinki, Finland Temple on Thurs., June 4. As of this writing, Rolf is not yet back. This is another courtship that we have seen take shape over the last 10 months & it has been a little shaky at times because of distance. Anya is from Russia. There will still be things that need to be worked out before Anya can legally come to Germany but everything looks positive so in probably a month things will be finalized for her green card.

Today we buried the 2-day old son of the Igbinoba’s. It was a very sad thing to see happen. He came two months early & at first all seemed to be OK but very suddenly he slipped away because of his under-developed lungs. He was their first son after three daughters. What a comfort to know that he is sealed to them because of their previous sealing in the temple. There are so many hard things around us no matter where we are. It’s good to be part of the gospel & to feel the peace that Heavenly Father sends to His children.

May you always be protected & guarded wherever you are. We love you & appreciate your wonderful examples.
Elder & Sister Harris (Gary & Renee), (Dad & Mom), (Gpa & Gma)

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