Monday, March 24, 2014

Vienna Pictures

We went to the familie Meissner last night spontaneously,
and they had to get pictures of us with their
cool Kaiser-era helmets and beer stein things :)
 
The Stadtsoper; they have the City Opera Ball every year, it was a
couple weeks ago. I saw all the red carpets and stuff. I am sure there were a
number of famous people there. But also notice the sweet white
Lamborghini Aventador that drove by (to the left of the bus). I was actually
just trying to get the Lambo, but it worked out both ways, eh? ;)
 The car was going too fast haha.
 
The Austrian National library
 
 The Holy Trinity statue/pillar thing, not too far from Stefansdom.
Just in the inner city
 
The Kaisermühlen island, the seat of the United Nations in Vienna.
Pretty cool looking place.
 
Hofburg, home of lots of different art exhibits and such.
And the Spanish Riding School. And the treasury.
 
That, my friends, is a giant green egg with a ship in the middle.
Made completely of Marzipan. Look at the woman´s head to proportionately see
how big it is. Lots of interesting stuff in Wien :)
 
 
Hallo Familie!

Sorry about the short email last week! So ist es. I will get a couple pictures of our trip around Wien. It was a lot of fun. F_____ is really cool. A great guy. 

 2nd picture is. 3rd is  4th is

I will send another email with more pictures, don´t worry.

Anyway, a quick report on M_____ and W_____! M_____ took off on Thursday to Kur, so like a rehab kind of thing. He will be gone for a few weeks, I may not ever see him again. But we talked about scripture study, how it brings us peace and helps us have strength to get through our lives. I hope M_____ reads while he is gone. W_____ was kinda sleepy the last couple times we went, but we also introduced him to the Wien 5 elders, because when he gets back from his rehab, which should be in April, he will be back in Wien 5 area. Now that M_____ is gone, we will probably hand him over to the other elders. He is great. I hope he continues to learn more. 

We still haven't gotten ahold of M_____ (different M_____). :/ We´ll see when she is ready again. 

BUT! There was a cool miracle that happened. Of course there were also many little ones throughout the week, but it would take too long to tell you all. It is in my journal (by the way, I finished my 5th journal of the mission; unfortunately my set is still incomplete, as I don´t have numbers 1-3). Anyway, Kevin Mauch asked us last week, or two weeks ago, to try and get an appointment on Tuesday night, the 25th, at 8 o´clock, so his father can come with us, since he will be in Wien again :) But the thing is, we don´t have any consistent investigators, so we had NO IDEA who this appointment would be with, or whether anyone would even have time at 8 on Tuesday night. So we texted a few people, but no one was certain. So I sent a text to C_____, the man we met with who didn't want to make out an appointment, the same man who texted us asking if we had to be Mormon to make it to heaven. And he texted us back a day later and said that normally weekdays don´t work for him, but he could do it on Tuesday night. Way cool :) Plus, Tuesday night, M_____ (another different M_____), the zone leaders' Russian investigator, is doing a concert for all the missionaries in Wien. And the assistants, Elders Orchard and Jones, are also there for a tausch. So if Bruder Mauch Sr. is there with us, then me, Elder Orchard, Elder Curtis, and Elder Mohn (who have all served in Klagenfurt) are going to have a great time :) I am excited. 

This last week we started a 40 day fast, Elder Weston and I, where we did a fast from food for a day and used that time to listen to the spirit and write down every attitude or behavior or practice in our lives that drives away the Spirit. And then for 40 days we get on our knees every morning and promise the Lord that we will fast from those things on our list. So we did so, and I have felt much more confident, much happier, and more at peace with how things go. For the longest time I have been weighted down by negative thoughts, in the most part about myself and my many weaknesses. I didn't realize how incredibly powerful that negative influence was until I started fasting and set my resolve to stop it. It is a huge weight off of me. I feel much more in control of things when I wake up every morning and just pray and promise the Lord I will fix my mistakes from yesterday and do better today on those points on my list. So I will be doing so until the 29th of April, the day after my birthday :) 

Transfer calls are on Saturday! No idea what will happen. I´ll just wait. Anything is possible at this point. It will just decide where I am for the last transfer. You´ll hear from me next week! 

By the way, all the apartments DO have CO monitors and smoke detectors and such, they have to. These emission levels were measured from the big "exhaust pipe" that goes from the contained water boiler to wherever those gasses go. Yeah, still dangerous enough, but they just told us not to use it. And we´ve been enjoying warm water again. 

Crazy that almost the whole family can drive now. Have you fixed up the Sentra yet? I miss it. Stick-shift. I don´t like the green car, it has an attitude. Tyson can keep it. Or Nathan. Oh yeah, like I said, I tried printing off the driver's license extension thing again, but it wouldn't work. And the other one I wrote in blue ink before I read the "write in black ink." Whoops haha. You may have to send it again.

Thanks for dealing with all the BYU stuff, I really don´t have time to figure all that stuff out haha. I used my email time last week for classes, and I am done! Hopefully. 

Well, I hope you have a great week, that you get the chance to make someone else smile, and that you feel love and forgiveness from the Lord when you need it. I´ve been reading a lot in the Spencer W. Kimball handbook for Priesthood and Relief Society classes, and I really like how he thinks. I remember Dad saying he really liked Pres. Kimball, if I am wrong, then it was Pres. Benson. But anyway, Pres. Kimball and I think a lot alike. Or at least all of the things I have realized and learned about agency and such are outlined everywhere in his teachings in this book. Haha. Should have just read it sooner! But then it wouldn't have been such an adventure. It is a lot of fun :) lifelong learning.
 
I love you all! Have a good one. Or seven good ones. Whatever floats your boat!

Elder Jalen Gibbons

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