I look like Job

 

Pic 1 - Me at the Melk Abbey

Pic 2 - This is my 7mo old shadow, Bella Jovero



Okay, so an update...Soooooooooooooooo, this week the 'bites' on my legs didn't do anything but multiply so the mission nurse (and Sister Miles) told me to go to a Dr. ASAP. Well, it's summer in Austria and of the 33 Drs I called, every single one was on Urlaub (vacation) till end of September. That, and 20 others did't have open appointments till October. Frustrated and worried, I just kept calling and finally got one that doesn't take appointments so off I went. Turns out, they aren't bites at all....just a form of boils. Hence the title of my email. Job in the Old Testament had boils! About two weeks ago, I decided i wanted to read through the Bible from cover to cover since I had just finished the triple for the fifth time on my mission. I reached Job just as the 'bites' appeared. That's one way to make the scripturse come alive and apply to me. I was prescribed a white cream powder and Penicillin among other low-key infection pills. As of today, they are going away. It looks like by Saturday I will be wearing short skirts again. I had plenty of children point out the white 'polka-dots' at church on sunday. They are the only ones on that level to see them so I didn't let it bother me.

Speaking of funky weather. It got up to 41°C most of the week. THAT IS HOT!!!!!!!!!!! LUkcily, it cooled down to 28 for the ward picnic on Saturday, which was a perfect activity.

We had FHE with Parviz at the Joveros (he's the Bishop). We taught about the Priesthood since the Bishop is very set on Parviz receiving the Priesthood ASAP. It was wonderful and I even got to play in a kiddy-pool up to my knees. That was sooooooooo refreshing!!! Parviz even got a calling yesterday - Chorister. Note - - Parviz is a professional conductor and composer, so this calling is perfect.

Sister Nelson and I have been asked to sing in an octet for Stake Conference on the 17th. Our ward is in charge of the music for the Sunday session and the person in charge pulled me aside and asked if I'd sing a solo (he always seems to manage sitting in front of me or beside me at church). I told him I'd rather not, but I'd love to sing in a small group. He roped SIster Nelson and she dragged me. It'll be great! (Ron and Sydna - we won't be having Stake Conference in the VIC anymore, now it's in Bad Vöslau)

Ivanna is back from her vacation to Bulgaria to pick up her 7month old daughter Natalie (who's been living in Serbia with Ivanna's parents since she was born). She and Brother McCann came to the picnic on Saturday. They are slowly making progress. NOw we just got to get themn to wake up for church. They still have the Pub open Saturdays till 2am Sunday so getting enough sleep without sleeping in is tricky. Next year, the schedule will change and our ward will meet at 2 so the chances are better for next year, but that's no excuse for this year.

Tsolmon (from Mongolia) is progressing beautifully. She asked us to do FHE tonight so we have that on the docket. She REALLY wants to have the Holy Ghost. That, and for her children and husband to join too. Her husband is a practicing Buddhist and the kids think it's weird (since they don'tr really have a religion and the whole thing is out of their comfort-zone). Tsolmon wants to do it even without them because she knows that they will follow her lead once they really see. I'm in charge of the lesson and activity. Bring on Tree of Life. As I ws planning, I rmeembered the FHE folders mom made for us in Germany and all the Tree of LIfe activities we did. The drawing with closed eyes, acting it out, etc. Thanks mom!!

T.God (short for Thank God...yes, that's his name) introduced us to his friend Queen and she is going to be baptized on Sept 24th (the same day as Tsolmon).
Is everyone\everything alright? Someone in the ward told me about the earthquake and hurricane because they knew that'S where I'm from. Please let me know what happened.

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Alles Liebe SISTER CHOCOLATE

Howdy doodie

Pic 1 - Sis Chapple, Br Keith Morgan, Parviz, Me.

Pic 2 - our District

Pic 3 - my legs with mosquito bites that don't itch, they just cause searing pain. Those bites are the size of a ping pong ball and are as swollen high as computer key if not bigger

You know you've gained the trust and love of members and investigators when your companion calls to talk to them (or answers the phone) and they ask to talk to you. (Either that, or they know I can speak the AFrican or Filipino English and can understand them). I love the ward here and the city gets (hotter) more beautiful everyday as long as I don't look inside myself.

One thing I am tired of hearing is the following 'You should be training'. It's odd that so many people think I should train a new missionary. Technically, I already am. Since Sis Chapple came, I've had to not only train a new missionary, but raise a child (walking, talking, eating, and all). It is exhausting, but I have learned that I cannot just pour everything I know and am into this person because I will come out with no strength for myself. If I can't keep floating, then how can I teach someone else to swim.

Well, that same scenario came up this week. There is a new Sister coming in and everyone in the zone (plus Sis Dietz) told me that I will be her trainer. So Sunday morning, President Miles calls and Sis Nelson says 'Here ya go Trainer'. Well, after saying hello and giving him the update on my back, I hand the phone to her. SHE is training the new Sister. 'Told ya so' I say as she hangs up. We both got a good laugh out of it. She leaves today to pick her up. They will be ,living in our apt (thank goodness), but will be working in the German ward. No more permanent Joint-teach. BUmmer!

It's amazing how much more I understand myself since I came on my mission. Before, I knew how to handle stress, disappointments, hard times, and frustrations. Enter mission, and all things just get blown to smitherines and I have to start again. Then, it's funny how much I am really just building on what I ha before...just better.

It's official...I am being eaten alive. Tues night I noticed that I had gotten some mosquito bites so I put anti-itch on them before bed to avoid any subconscious scratching. Wed I wake up and they are bright red and swollen. Oh well, guess my sheets are stiff and scratchy. Wed night, mosquito bites are puffy and have pus bubbles in the middle....unpack long skirts and use bug spray more faithfully. Thurs night, new ones bringing the total to 9. Fri day, still there, but add excessive pain upon any contact....wearing long skirts is a blessing. Sunday morning, PAIN. I call Mission nurse (brand new thing for our mission. We used to call Sis COndie). Today, I will be going to Apotheke (pharmacy) and getting SOMETHING....ANYTHING. Please keep in your prayers for those nasty buggers to leave me alone.

Homework for Mom and Dad since they keep mentioning how boring their emails...and lives...are. Read the following parable and tell me what you learn from it and I will share what I learned from it. John 10:1-11

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Alles Liebe SISTER CHOCOLATE

Sticking for the summer...Sweet!

Servus!

Transfer calls came and we got one....We'r both staying. Another Sister is joining us so we will be a dritt (triplet). It'll be nice because then we have a permanent Joint-teach and can teach all of the men we keep getting. Sweet!

Don't have very long today. There was a holiday (Catholic = National holiday here) so we couldn't email. We spent the day with MT (the friend Ron and Sydna Pope got me to contact). We went to a Benedictine Monastary and actually got in free because we were 'nuns' according to everyone who works there. Sweet! It was beautiful!

Guess who I ran into all the way out here in Vienna Austria?!?!? Matt Chandler from BYU. We were walking to the center and I turned to the side and saw a guy who looked familiar. I walked up to him and there he was. Its odd but every time I'm in Europe, Matt follows me. Sweet!

Parviz's baptism was beautiful!

Awesome spiritual appointments that i'll have to talk about later.

Sis C lost our phone after I asked her to start taking some responsibility and helping out. Let's just say...the phone took a bus ride without us. LUkcily ther was an extra around in the Zone leaders' hands

Don't have time for pictures so I'll send 'em all next week

Mom and Dad - official release date is now December 1st.

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Alles Liebe SISTER CHOCOLATE

Still in Vienna...still raining

Schöne Grüße aus Wien -

Sister Alder showed up this week. President called to say that she would be with us for a whole week. Boy, was I excited. It has been nice to have someone else here so I don't have to shoulder this whole area...and a brand new member\missionary\non-german speaker\companion all by myself. It has been so nice to have SIs Alder here to help. I am SO grateful she is here. She has been traveling around the mission as an assistant to all the Sisters. She stays somewhere and works then moves on. She will be going down to Bruck an der Mur on Thurs for her last week as a missionary. Yes, that's right, she goes home next week. That is so weird that we served together this time last year and weren't even thinking about home stuff, now it's here and things are crazy.

President called to ask about how Vienna (and I) are doing. I asked him about release date being Dec 29th. He asked if I was planning on going back to school in the winter and whe nI said yes he told me he'd work on getting me home in the November transfer. Meaning...I may be home by THanksgiving. I will keep you posted on that as soon as I hear more.

Parviz is getting baptized on Saturday and he is soooooooooo excited. We watched the Restoration DVD with him and he cried. It is his favorite movie now, he says. He even picked the songs for his baptism from it and wants everyone we meet with, or he sees, to watch it. (Yes, I AM playing the piano...again. Seems that everyone in the stake knows I play piano and so I play for everything now. I'm not even that good, but apparently no one plays.)

I am also teaching the Institute center bi-weekly German class. It is a joy to teach, but so stressful to find the time to prepare the lessons as we have absolutely NO free time. (We taught 35 lessons this week). The class has grown since I started teaching. It went from 2 students (Sister Brosnahan from the institute couple, and Sis Chapple) to a total of 12 students. We had to move into the bigger classroom. Hopefully, there will be a way to split the class if it keeps growing because there are always new people coming and we don't have enough time to get to everybody.

We have 3 new investigators from Romania - two of them speak English, one does not (but he is more ready than the others). The first, Adryan (ENglish and some german), is 20 and was found by the Elders. We taught him, and then the next time, he brought his brother in law, Ciprian (no English or German). The next time, Ciprian brought his wife Carmen (speaks English). They came to church yesterday and will be baptized on Sept 3.
Saw a jar of Nutella wearing Lederhosen, thought of Keri!

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Alles Liebe SISTER CHOCOLATE

Where did summer go?

Okay, so it's the 1st of August and I wear a coat and scarf daily...NOT COOL!
This week I got to go back to Bruck an der Mur...it'S been a whole year since I served there. I went because we were on an Austausch (24 hr Exchange) with Sister Downs. She and I are mission 'Sisters' meaning that we were trained by the same person. It was so nice to serve with her and really made me appreciate working with experienced Sisters...it makes things go A LOT faster and easier because you just 'know the flow'. Got to teach someone that I found while still there and see a couple of the members as they came on Joint-teaches. Manuela is coming back into activity. Remember the extreme Anti Martina and how we were teaching Manuela and Anton (the reason I had to be transferred out)? Apparently, Martina got them back into her clutches and Manuela requested her name to be removed from the records. She started coming back, though Anton is still gone, and luckily the request to have her name removed never made it to Salt Lake so she may not need to be baptized again. It was kind of weird to go back even for the 24hrs. Things physically were the same, but I felt so funky being there again.

Sis Downs and I were talking up a storm on the 2hr train to and from Bruck and we realized that in 2 weeks we are the oldest Sisters in the mission. Then, we counted how many Sisters are going home in 2 weeks...8!!!!! There are also 6 coming in. We then speculated (grandpa and grandma would be so proud) about who would train. There are 7 possibilities. Sis Downs is convinced it'll be me, but I think it'll be her. We'll see. Everyone else is a definite, just not the last one. There's a can of Almdudler (like Gingerale) and a Candybar on the line so we'll see.

President Miles came for Leadership Training (usually just Zone- and District- Leaders, but Sisters are always asked to come as well). It was really great. Right after the training I left for Bruck with Sis Downs, and President ended up going to a couple of appointments with Sis Chapple and 24hr companion. He even came to our ward on Sunday. He is really a WONDERFUL person and very open and personable with everyone. I really feel that he cares about each and every individual. I'm pretty sure I'm staying in the international ward and it would really be silly to train someone in an ENGLISH speaking ward.

Parviz is still progressing in leaps and bounds. The ward is just swallowing him up and are really great with him. He just has the kind of personality that he says doesn'T really like to be around all kinds of other people so he usually just hangs aorund us on SUnday and in the Institute Center. We're working on getting members to come to all appointments. Last Monday, we spent the day with him wandering around the sights in Vienna and then he took us to a Persian restaurant for dinner. THe food was...interesting. We got to see the Mozart gardens and go up to a lookout tower and have ice cream in a rotating cafe up top. SCARY!!!

No exciting stories to tell. SOrry!

Sister Covey is now officially home from her mission. She and her family were at the church on SUnday (we go to all 3 hours of the German ward now). Her dad, Stephen M.R. Covey gave a fireside about trust from his book 'The Speed of Trust'. It was really a great seminar and President Miles told us to come since all of the YSA are out of town for the week for a Temple trip. Dad, you would find his book really interesting.

PIc 1 - Mozart garden
Pic 2 - that is way high up...beeellliiieeeevvveee me
Pic 3 - Me and Sister Downs (my mission older Sister...Sis Dietz is our little sister)

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Alles Liebe SISTER CHOCOLATE