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

21 November 2011 Seventh Letter from Austria

Greetings from Wiener Neustadt, 21 November 2011

The people are more in a hurry and don’t really want to talk because of the cold... but in the train I think they are about the same which I think is actually the best time to contact, when I have time to make some jokes and get their trust!
We meet with the ward mission leader every week. And there is a quasi program.
We have gotten a few referrals from members. There are more in this ward than most others... the members are so great!!!!

SO this week we found a person who asked us to be baptized again haha... her name is Holly Yolanda Deandra Doyley... but she goes by kiki! She is ridiculously amazingly prepared... she commits herself to do things and to pray about things and then says she will report them to us... and she came to church then stayed after for a little get together for a baby blessing wow she is ready and I think we are going to baptize her on the 25th of December... haha ya the people celebrate Christmas on the 24th bigger here though, so it’ll be perfect! I’m really excited and she says she is ready herself... I love the work here and it is really clicking now and people are coming back, like Anthon Bosezky from therapy and things are just working!!!

I have to go. I love you and have a great time together this week!

Elder Sonne

21 November 2011 Seventh Letter addendum from Austria

21 November 2011….AUSTRIA

A “normal” day in the life of Elder Sonne

So this a normal day haha:
630 wake up....
pray until 6:45
6:45-7 work out or stretch if I am sick... which I am
7-730 make French toast and eat it
730-8 shower and get dressed
8-9 study from the scriptures, mostly for the investigators, i read about a half a chapter a day then study preach my gospel and find good scriptures for my investigators!
9-10 companionship study
10-11 I read my German text book and memorize words
11-12 eat lunch
12-9 well this is the tricky one.... talk to loads of people probably give out a Book of Mormon or two and get a couple numbers; maybe make an appointment on the street.... meet with our investigators and miss trains and be really tired
9-945 wind down while I cook
945-1015 plan
1015-1025 get ready for bed put my clothes away
1025-1030 relax time…oh and then pray \ freak out that the apartment is really messy and breathe

I have to go... I love you mama!!! Have a great week and tell everyone I say hello

14 November 2011...Sixth Letter from Austria

14 November 2011….Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Yesterday I gave a talk and I had to cut out a pretty long story about the Israelites crossing over the Jordan River and how they had to put their feet in the river first before the river split.... I gave a 17- minute talk in German and could have gone on a lot longer.

It is pretty weird.

Work has been tougher this week. We normally contact people on trains and on the street and I have to say that I am actually pretty good at getting numbers in the train.

This last week, a miracle happened. We were walking towards the train station and I kept thinking I didn’t have my ticket. Multiple times this came to my head. But we were a little late and I decided to continue and thought that it was probably in my backpack tucked into some small pocket somewhere.... When we got into the train, I decided to sit by a guy and to try to talk to him and share the light of the gospel. I said hello and we exchanged pleasantries. I then had the thought to check for my ticket. No ticket. I didn’t have it. I let the man know who was now joined by his girl friend. I asked them what the charge was for riding without a ticket. They said it was pretty hefty and that the checker probably wouldn’t come because the stop was only 10 minutes away or so... so the checker actually ended up coming. And as the checker was checking the ticket of the person right before me, his back was turned to us. The man gave me a ticket and I gave it to the checker. It was fine and the girlfriend pulled out two tickets for the both of them and the checker went on. I said I was very thankful. I ended up giving them a Book or Mormon and getting their number and cheering with them (with my water and them with their beer) ha ha. But the point is that the lord really looks after each and every one of us and knows how to best help each one of his children.

Elder Sonne