16 January 2012....Fourteenth Letter from Austria

16 january 2012….hey mom...the one investigator, elisabeth huber, is really progressing well and reading Preach my Gospel and the Book of Mormon more than we are everyday! She is so cool and the spirit is so strong when we teach! Elisabeth is the investigator I used to dream about when I was in Deutschland. Wow, the Lord has blessed me so much... I love you and have a great week...

Elder sunshine

16 January 2012...Hey dad!!! It's really true....the Lord is completely in control and it's pretty great. I have stopped worrying about trying to convince people to listen for just one more second, on the street and just try to bring the spirit so they can recognize what is true. I just let them go because I have never seen anyone who is argumentative who ends up becoming an investigator. Just like Brother Shumway says, "We are on the winning team" and nothing is going to stop us...nothing...that is how it was from the beginning and that is how it will be in the end! The hearts of the children wil be turned to the heart of our Father in Heaven and we are going to overcome the adversary and will shut him out of our lives in so much that we give him no room to enter our minds, hearts, or our lives.

I love you! Thank you so much for all that you have done for me. For raising me in the light and the embrace of the Gospel and always being an example of service even when the only thing you want to do is sleep...I have really had to draw on a lot of strength not to go back at night and simply go to sleep. I love you and wish you a very happy birthday!

Elder Sonne

9 January 2012...Thirteenth Letter from Austria

January 9, 2012 Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Dear family and friends!

Wow this week was crazy... just like every other week since June 15^th…. but crazier. This week I really learned that this work is not about us at all. The Lord does his work in his time and his way and we can only enjoy it along with him. Do you remember my time in Waiblingen? We had an investigator come to church every couple of weeks. This past week, we had 5 people at church even though we didn’t even have any contact with the people the week before. The lord really leads them to come and he is the only one that when he tells someone to wake up and go to church, that the people will LISTEN to. But it was really a miracle. Oh we have had so many wonderful experiences this past week. There is a member who we visit who doesn’t come to church and is really having trouble coming back, but he has the strongest testimony of the truth and of following the spirit. He is like Nephi and will drop everything to follow the promptings of the lord! His name is Martin Schiebl.

Kiki, (or Holley), came back to church. Our bishop said that she didn’t want to meet with us anymore and she switched phone numbers and we couldn’t get a hold of her but she ended up coming to church and saying of course she wants to be baptized!!! And then there is Barbara Rollett who was a former investigator with whom we reestablished contact. The spirit was there the entire time, leading and guiding us to know what to say and to testify of the truth! I have never had such a spiritual appointment. He was STRONG the entire time. Her and her son have genuine interest. At the beginning she was telling us all the reasons why she shouldn’t change religions and how its would be tough to get so far away to church and then at the end she asked us if we wanted to make an appointment and said that she wanted to find time to come to church. The Holy Ghost changes people. Like I said, when we ask people to come to church, they don’t do anything, but when the lord tells someone to come, they LISTEN; if they are ready to heed to the promptings of the spirit.

Oh and then there is Elisabeth who is ridiculously ready and knows that the church is true. Last Saturday, we taught fasting and then committed her to fast the next week because it was already too late to start then... and then I saw a strange look on her face and then asked ... you’re already fasting, aren’t you? She had already started. Oh my goodness hahaha so great! The work moves forward with the hand of the lord!!!! Have a great week! There is nothing more true than the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s perfect.

Elder Sonne

2 January 2012...twelveth letter from Austria

2 January 2012

Wiener Neustadt, Austria

hey mom! we have no snow. it has only snowed once and that was on new year right as it was 12. my pday is still on monday. i dont have time.. im sorry i have to go. I love you! this week was crazy. we were sick and then we had a bunch of people drop us. We also had crazy good lessons!!! Wow crazy week and so much spirit and sickness! Thank you for the prayers and it was so much fun to see you and hear your voice... you sound a little bit like this one woman from a senior missionary couple here. It was funny becuase im not used to listening to americans. i love american accents! I miss you and love you! have a great week!

Elder Sonne

Hey dad!!

Sorry that we didn't get the chance to email last week. It was a little bit hectic. I was sick on Tuesday and my companion was sick on Wednesday....we were pretty sick and we could not take any more time to email than we had already wasted being sick.

So the investigators...Roberts baptism is being pushed back to the 15th. Viktoria will be baptized sometime in February. Kiki dropped us. Odu did not come to church , so we have to postpone his baptismal date. Georg has not been coming to church...

But...it's ok because we found a new person who is so ready and has read the Book of Mormon 1 and a half times through and reads all the time and says she feels the spirit and is progressing very nicely!! Her name is Elisabeth Huber and she is about 33 or so. She is very happy and has a lot of patience with us and helped us give out a Book of Mormon the other day.

Thank you for the prayers! This past week has been crazy with the people we have met on the street. Twice, we have met people while we have been in a hurry and we ended up giving them a Book of Mormon and making an appointment or getting a number. I have to go...I love you!

Elder Sonne

21 December 2011...Eleventh Letter from Austria

21 DECEMBER 2011

Hello friends and Familie!!!

This week was full of miracles. At my first area, I dreamed about a place like this. Where investigators come to church and people listen and where we bear testimony. There are so many amazing people we meet with to talk about the Gospel.

I don't know where to begin. They are so great.

Kiki is so funny and really honest. She is from Jamaica and loves fashion. We thought that she could make a clothing store called kiki with fashionable clothes for missionaries. haha. I am not sure if there is really a demand for that though...haa.

She has a baptismal date for the 7th of January. She feels the spirit really strong when she prays and when we visit. She says it feels like a fire.

Robert is a great 9-year-old boy and the son of a recently baptized new member.

He is like my little brother. He loves Star Wars and is really excited for Christmas and is ready for baptism on the 8th of January. I am so excited for him.

Viktoria is like a grandmother to us. She loves telling us stories, even though we don’t really have that much time to teach her. She is so great and really kind hearted. She makes me laugh so hard because she is just so funny and happy.

She is a little crazy and has a baptismal date on the 8th of January.

Georg has been meeting with the missionaries for the past 2 years and loves us. He really loves the gospel and talking about life. He will be baptized on the 10th of February.

Odu is a man from Nigeria and is studying here in Austria. He is very curious and is really easy to get along with. He loves to laugh and learn. We are helping him prepare to be baptized on the 14th of January.

These people are so great. Please pray for them. I am so grateful to be serving and representing Jesus while celebrating his birth and the great message of Christmas. I wish you a frohe weinachten

(merry Christmas).

Elder Sonne

12 December 2011...Tenth Letter from Austria

12 December 2011

My last week has been the most successful week of my mission! We set 3 baptismal dates and we taught more people than I have any other week. We are really getting the work done!!! We usually spend most of the day either teaching or going to teaching appointments and in between, we are finding and contacting everyone we can.

We taught 18 lessons which is actually really good for this mission. We had 4 investigators at church and have 4 baptismal dates.

We had the little kids give the primary program this week and I laughed and cried!

We have some new people that are getting baptized! Volker Schäfer will not be baptized this week. But, Kiki will be on the 7th and Viktoria on the 8th and Robert kraftl who is 9 years old, on the 8th, and Andreas Glaser on the 25th now!

The trains are super nice here... nicer than in Germany! The seats are super comfy.

I have no boots and we aren’t really supposed to wear boots unless we are given the permission of the president.

So let father know that someone here... actually a lot of people know Alma Sonne! Apparently there is a less active couple who read about him in the Ensign and want to meet with us because of that... haha i am still being beaten by my grandparents at everything on earth and he’s not even here any more. haha.

I want to go to the temple!!!

WHat 6 months ??!!! I mean I just got out :(

I love you have a great week!!!

5 December 2011....Ninth Letter from Austria

December 5, 2011

Dear Familie und Freunde!!!!

This week was completely filled with miracles.
First Is Andreas Glaser. On Tuesday, I called brother Andreas and it was really not going well for him. It actually had not bee going well for him for the past couple of months and Tuesday was the breaking point. He had a very sad and pessimistic outlook on life. He spoke of his troubles with his job, losing his girlfriend and everything he holds dear. He was really on edge and nothing that I said could calm him down... He ended up hanging up on me. It was not looking very good for Andreas. I called him again on Saturday and asked if he was planning on coming to church. He said yes and that he wanted to come for all 3 hours. He was there, before we were and he looked different. He was much better dressed and there was a light and happiness in his eyes that I have not seen since I met him more than 2 months ago. During fast and testimony meeting Andreas got up and bore his testimony about how the warmth and love he feels when he comes to church. He was crying by the end, I was crying by the end, and the entire bishopric was crying by the end of his testimony. It was so powerful and heartfelt. We then met with him later on Sunday night. He told us that he talked with the bishop and wants to be baptized on Christmas! He also said he wanted to stop smoking and drinking alcohol. He said he thought he could do it at the beginning of our meeting and half way through he said he knew he could do it! He has the goal to quit in 2 weeks. He was a completely different person... completely different. In a matter of days and one fast and testimony meeting Andreas went from someone who said that he never felt the spirit before to a person wanting to be baptized and change his life for the Lord.

Second there was Victoria- Victoria is a woman we met on the train this week either Wednesday or Thursday and got her number and gave her a book of Mormon. She was very excited to have the book of Mormon and really wanted to meet with us. We ended up picking her up from the train station before church and she loved the whole meeting. We are meeting with her later this week and are going to commit her to baptism.

Third- We met a man who. Hmm where to begin. He had been walking and hiking throughout Europe and Japan for the past 3 years. He has done about 20,000 km in the past three years and is a very spiritual guy. We gave him some pamphlets and prayed with him.
There are many more miracles that I cannot list.. Every second that I have the opportunity to be here is a miracle. The fact that we are children of a heavenly father who created a plan for us to be eternally happy with him is a miracle. The miracle of the gift of the savior and the father that sent him is the product of pure love from which we will eternally benefit and we will never be able to repay them.
It is true

Elder Sonne

28 November 2011 Eighth Letter from Austria

Liebe Familie und Freunde! 28 November 2011 Wiener Neustadt, Austria

This week was especially great, (mostly) because I am a missionary for the one true and living God. It’s really great having him as my boss. I was thinking about it the other day and I don’t think there has ever been a better boss than God. He is quite demanding but very rewarding. I love it!

So this week I had a shock. I didn’t actually realize how small everything is here in Europe. My ward mission leader showed me a cup that he got in America and it looks massive; so big just like everything in America. It’s really odd.

So Kiki! We have met with Kiki about every other day since I last wrote. She really has a desire to follow Jesus and start a new life over again! We had a really spiritual lesson with her on Wednesday. We spoke a lot about the spirit and she talked about how she feels; a clean feeling when she prays and then she described the feeling that she had as we were speaking. She said it was warm and it made her happy and then asked if we were feeling it too. hahah That was soo cool; such a special moment.

She is progressing really well and is very happy to be baptized sometime around Christmas! She really feels that it is right. At one point, she thought that we were Jehovah witnesses and we needed to clarify who we were and that we were separate from Jehovah witnesses. Everything is running smoother now and she is back on track.

The work is tough, but it goes on nobly, powerfully, and forever until the work is finished. I love it!

Enjoy your weeks!

Elder Sonne