30 April 2012...twelvth letter from Switzerland

April 30, 2012

Wow I "miss" home and chicago. Actually not really miss it at all; sorry.

I have to put my hand to the plow and not look back. Jesus said those

who put their hand to the plough and look back are not fit for the

kingdom of God.... SO I think I will not look back! I will definitely

not look back! I love this work!  Good for Sara….the award for best article for a particular subject...in the country….That is great! I love our family!

       Setthhhhhhhyyyy (Neifert) That is so amazing! Paraguay! He will be the best missionary there. We have an investigator from paraguay! She is super cool and nice! Jacob is either in vienna or stuttgart.. close to where I was but I'm not sure..because those are the two people that are training this transfer!

 Oh yea... I have actually been trying to do exactly that!(The Bishop and Stake President in Brandon and Mary's ward in chicago, challenged their ward to write in their journals everyday, during the summer months and record the hand of the Lord in their lives) In my journal i

mean, to write something that the lord has done for me that day.. or

at least write down a miracle or two!

Hey, this past week was a nice little miracle.... We were at a

members house for dinner. We were talking about her friends who are

ready for the gospel and we asked what she thought she could share

with them.. I suggested the family or something similar,that I

thought was really a bad move because she had been going through

really rough times with her family. She then talked about that for 45

minutes or so and was really not in good shape and was starting to be

really sad! At one point the joint teach for the next lesson called us

and reminded us about the appointment and in order to get there in

time we needed to take a certain bus which left at 32 past the hour.

Well she was really sad and it was getting time to leave, like at that

moment we HAD TO leave. In this quick moment, I felt like there was no

way that we could just say "Well we have to go right now" SO i said a

quick prayer. I simply said I have no idea what to do. Help me to

know... Please. I then knew that we should stay and that we could get

a ride back with the other member that was there. In the next couple

of minutes the real miracle took place and elder Sullivan could share

an experience in his family and from the book of mormon. 2 Nephi 2:24,

a great one by the way. (...all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things)

She felt so much better after that. It was perfect for her in this time. Directly after that, the other member, speaking French, said that he was going and offered us a ride to the

church. It was perfect. THe lord directs this work; it is his work. I do nothing, except follow what he tells me to do. He answers prayer and works for the eternal happiness of us, his children, that is His work and His GLory, that we can receive eternal joy in His love and have

all the blessings which he has. He is the best.

Elder Sonne

23 April 2012...eleventh letter from Switzerland

23 April 2012

Shoot... i accidentally erased the email!!! Ahhh

For the temple, we can go about once every transfer.. that means once

eery 6 months. Which is enough but not really close... i think when I

come back we should have family home evening... or just a night in the

celestial room. i guess not on a monday. but how does that sound!???

Good right ? :)

Wow yeahhhhh for jacob!!! He's going to be here tomorrow!!! ahhh... but

chances are that he will not come to switzerland because he will have

to serve in the military i think... if he was born here... where was

he born.. i don't even know.. thats bad!! And I think i will be staying

here in swiss for the rest of my mission or so because theres only one

person going to austria at least this transfer and thats my companion

elder jacob... i get a new companion Elder Sullivan… so we are

pretty much stuck here... us americans.

Sara is soo cool! We have the best family... gut gemacht... well done

mama! haha. ... umm brandon is having another

baby???????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THAT IS

THE FIRST TIME I HAVE HEARD THAT!!

Okay... with calls home.. I will be calling! I think it will be better

that way because then we will be able to hear each other better and it

will nor depend on the connection.

     Thanks for the scripture.. that is such a good one!!! (Helaman 5:12...Stuart Larson

 gave that at the eagle court of honor for madison and andrew saturday night and I talked to scott about it in the letter I wrote to him) The spirit is so strong with that! Thanks!  another good scripture to go along with that one is right at the end of 3 nephi 11.

 i think verses 40 and 41, I'm not sure... and also helaman 3:29-30. Oh those are good. 

The scriptures will take us over the gulf of mystery and lead the god

fearing man and mother... back to christ in a straight and narrow path

of righteousness. thank you mom for always teaching me the right... I

love you; have a great week! Build upon him... for it is upon him that

we are sturdy from all of life's challenges. When we have him help and

know that we are doing right in his eyes, nothing, nothing can take us

down from that. nothing can shake us. I love you; Have hope and be

happy. The lord will fulfill his promises. He will tell you how to

help our family and he will give you comfort... but you already knew

that. I love you

16 April 2012...tenth letter from Switzerland

April 16, 2012

Hey mom!

haha.. theres a friend of a member here whose name is actually sunshine... 

sonnenshein! haha his last name. (mom always addresses my letters as Elder Sunshine)

YYep!!! I knew jacob would be fast tracked!!  Tell annaGREAT that i say hi and I love them! 

Oh man... feeling the spirit is so exhausting... I am always dead on sunday because of that! Oh and this morning as i was studying the scriptures... I was crying for like an hour straight! It was soo good! I love reading the scriptures by the spirit and writing things down when they come because... more and more come!

Our ward is great.. almost like frontenac!! a lot from everything and actually a ward! rajeev came to sacrament meeting on sunday and i think he enjoyed it.. but had to go to work only after 30 minutes... he really wants to try to feel the spirit... but just like all the swiss he has no time to do the things necessary to feel it and be ready for the inspiration. 

I will send pics!!!

schedule... hmm study for 3 hours in the morning and then eat and then go door to door like 3 hours a day... find and talk to as many people as i can on the street in the bus, on the train and in a plane... gnaw we don't have planes but i thought the rhyme was nice. We have a laundromat in our building.

The grocery story is almost like a small wal mart... much better here in switzerland... the other is like a third world country supermarket.

Let me know where he is going!!!! I love youuu!!!

Elder Sonne

16 April 2012 

Zollikofen, Switzerland

    This week, the lord gave me a nice little present for my 10 month anniversary as a missionary:

a miracle. 

     His name is Robbin and he went from atheist to believer in a minute or two. We met him on the street and asked him to read a scripture about God in 2 Nephi 26:23-24. He read for quite a while and we asked him what he liked. He said a couple of points about it. I then asked if he had ever felt the light and love of God; he said yes, just a moment ago as i read that passage. He said I felt something right here, as he pointed to his heart. He said, it was like a burning here. The spirit had touched his heart! 

We bore testimony that he had felt the love of God and the holy ghost and that God lives. He then said, hmm yea I guess there is a God! We made an appointment to call him and gave him a book of mormon. 

    He was changed in the twinkling of an eye, by the spirit of the lord. It changed him; like it did with king Lamoni in Alma 19:6. (from an unbeliever to a believer) He felt the wonderful light that Alma the younger felt in Alma 36:20-21, And i have experienced it too. It's true, the gospel is true, and the Lord can bless us with the POWER of the spirit. He changes our hearts and others heart so that we have no more desire to do evil but do good continually: Mosiah 5:2-4. I love it; the scriptures are true. The conversion of alma and paul happened similarly. It's all true and we can experience the joy of the gospel and miracles daily when we do our best to follow the example of the master, Jesus Christ.

Elder Sonne 

9 April 2012...ninth letter from Switzerland

9 April 2012

NOOOOOOO ARE YOU

SERIOUS!!!??????!!!!!!!!!!??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!?!!!!!!!!!

jacob's on his mission.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WOW that is soooo cool ... well i need the address for the MTC then!!

I wrote a letter last week but then didn't get the chance to send it...

perfect!  Oh man That is soo cool!

Tell Brandon that I wish him a happy birthday and that he is getting

old and I hope his hair isn't turning grey yet! But that I love him and

am grateful for his example of going on a mission. I wanted to be

like him when I was little because he was a great example and always a

friend to me.

Haha Elder Hepri!!! that's soo cool! I hope you enjoy the sky room and

get the mixed berry lemonade. Its the best!  I love you so much!

 Thank you for always being there for me :)

i love you, the gospel is true, and the atonement works; not only for

justice and sins, but also so that we can have a comforter to be with

us and who knows exactly how it is. He has helped me so much

throughout the tough times and will continue to help. We can rely on

him in everything that we do!

I hope you have a great week...Thanks!

Elder Sonne

2 april 2012...eighth letter from Switzerland

2 April 2012

Dear Mama!

Oh man I loved the uchtdorf talk and the STOP IT! Oh and the nelson talk about the plan of salvation, there were by the way a lot of talks about the plan of salvation and enduring to the end and our eternal destiny. Anyway elder nelson said that the big bang theory is like an explosion in an ink shop creating a dictionary hahaha.

I am actually doing much better and am really enjoying this place. I have decided to never be negative again and then my attitude will change with it. It has seemed to be working! We have had ridiculous success in finding people... at least people that would talk a little bit with us! We really have been basking in the blessings of the lord. That is after we have worked very hard and continue to do so.

I heard the session in german and did it in german!! I know most of the german churchy words so I got through it! I got through it very nicely! It was a joy to be able to just sit and listen for the spirit and the love of our heavenly father. I actually felt the spirit more in german this time... probably because I am a missionary. Recently I have been feeling really close to the lord and his love for all of his children. I feel his love and help bearing me up in everything I do. 

Have you also been wearing your seat belt... I saw your promise in my photo book! YOu should keep your promises! Haha prayer is probably more important than seat belts, but like you said we need spiritual and physical safety and strength. 

I also really liked the talk from the prophet when he talked about important decisions and that a lot of different decisions in life are really of no importance like should we sign billy up for soccer this year. What are we having for dinner. haha That was great. We need to look up and make the best decisions while we limit the amount of stress in our lives so that we can be open enough really receive the crucial inspiration and love from god to get through every single day! Oh yeah the gospel is so true.

Did you fly by yourself... you're crazy... the crazy lady.

Elisabeth Huber... the person that was baptized in wiener neustadt, is making so much progress in the gospel! She is feeling the spirit often and strong. I am so happy to be able to have taught her.. Or pretty much be along as the spirit taught her what she needed to know.

 I love you have the best week ever!

Elder Sonne

26 March 2012...Seventh Letter from Switzerland

26 March 2012….seventh letter from Switzerland

Hey MAMA,

We were supposed to have fast and testimony meeting... well we did

but i didn't exactly participate in the fasting... I thought it was the

week after conference! Well, so i guess i will be fasting then anyway..

Guess what!! We got to go to the temple!! WOw That was cool and auf

deutsch! Super awesome. I had a tough time trying to say patriarchal

in german.. its not easy.  Im so jealous...(that you and erica and jared went to general conference in Salt Lake City) actually, not really, I'm fine just strolling down to the church which is 1 minute away and spending the whole day there watching general conference and not having to park and worry and not

be able to see. Its better. so, we watch conference on saturday nigh tand sunday the whole day! 

Its good to hear that brian liked the pictures haha. (picture of scott with the shirt that brian gave him)

The granola bars were wunderbar! Oh yeah thank you!!! 

My companion is learning the guitar.. and we don't have much time to play. 

So, we found some people with the family name, schenk, who came from eggiwil; (relatives on my grandfather's side who are traced back to the 1500's) i didn't know if you had already heard that.

 They weren't too interested in the gospel.

The gospel is all about experiencing and doing; not knowing. If we know and don't do, that is actually worse than not knowing and not doing. Know it and then do it. That's how it works. Only do.

In Doctrine and Covenants 9:6 it describes the will of the Lord being the best.  

That has helped me to be happier and to know I am here for a reason.

Also 2 Nephi 26:24 and 25

I love you mama.

Elder Sonne

19 March 2012...sixth letter from Switzerland

Wow I like the smiley face !!! :) hello mama sunshine!

Wow i still cant believe that Bednar came to stake conference!!!

That is a great point (Elder Bednar's thoughts) with turning out with the love and really showing others what they mean to us and to heavenly father. He knows and we know that everyone that we encounter everyday is a divine son or daughter of a heavenly father, a brother or sister of ours. The people that cut us off on the highway, the people who yell at us for trying to share with them the most important message that could ever be spoken, the people that really annoy us and in and day out have the potential to become like our heavenly father. It is our job to help them get to that point. We cannot bear their sins like Christ but we can make it a little bit easier, we can be the link between them and that first little seed of faith that springs up unto everlasting life. Then we can sit down and eat the fruit from the tree of life together and talk about how many times they rejected the missionaries and thought that we were crazy haha!!!

I love you mama...

Oh and i am not going to be transferred for the next 5 weeks... Ill be here in Zollikofen! I love the spirit. Hey, have a great week!

The gospel is true and the field is white all ready to harvest even in the mountainous villages of Switzerland.

Elder Sonne

19 March 2012...zollikofen, switzerland

Hey Father!!! I know you were up at the matterhorn on your mission!!ahh that's soo cool. Yea that is the same spot as us!!! I was wearing a jacket and shorts because I didn't want to wear my jeans because they are uncomfortable and I wanted to enjoy my p-day!! The people in the gondola with me were laughing about it. They thought it was pretty funny that they were wearing ski stuff and I was wearing shorts... but it was actually really warm that day and especially on the ride up there! No I do not know anyone named Nehrkorn.

Thanks for the words of encouragement! The people here are opening up and the time to work is now... or in a couple hours when p-day ends haha! have a great week. The gospel is true and we need to be active in our faith like it says in james 1 verse 6. The work is good and hard.

Elder Sonne