Alden - August 2, 2011 - Bangiao, Taiwan

Hey Everyone,

Guess what I am in TAIWAN!!

Man there are miracles here in Taiwan. Really there are. So much has happened since I arrived I don't know where to start.

Ok well last Tuesday at 2 in the morning we woke up at the MTC for the last time. When loaded our things on the bus and left the MTC. That was about it for the MTC.

Ok. So I really do not know where to start. So one not so great experience. When we where on the bus headed to the airport, I was looking at my passport and my visa to make sure everything was Ok. And guess what. According to my visa I am about 90 years old. The year on my birthday was wrong, it said 1922 instead of 1992. So that was a great way to start out my day. I was so scared that they would deny my visa. But of course I was so tired that I couldn't worry about it too much. After that the flights were nice. They were long but I slept most of the time.

Ok so skipping to Taiwan. So when I arrived. They did not accept my visa, at that time. They told me to go get it fixed at the visa office.They corrected it and it didn’t take long. So I did make it here.

The weather here is nice. I don’t think it is that hot. But it is humid. I am sweating so much.

...There is so much to say I don’t know what to do!!!!!!

Ok so the first night we headed to the mission home. At got some rest. In the morning we ran to the freedom memorial/plaza. It is so beautiful, I LOVE IT!! Then we had some amazing breakfast. Then headed back to the mission home to start orientation.

I was the first to get ready and head up to the office. When I got there I met sister Calvert, Elder Culverts’ wife, he is the mission nurse. When she saw me she was so happy. They have been waiting for me for a while. Every one tells me how excited they are that I am here and how amazing Amy is. Even some members in the ward know her and are so happy that I get to see her.

So now onto my trainer. My trainer is Elder Adam. He is really cool. He is from California, Fullerton. We are getting along really well. He is the oldest in his family and the fist to go on a mission. He likes music, and he likes to joke around alot. He is really cool.

The second day in my area, which is: Banqiao. We went to an old folks home for a ward service activity. I got to message some nice old Lady's shoulders as they all clapped along to some music. I met the bishop and some other ward members. Then we went to dinner with the bishop. He is really nice. Every one here is very nice. They all are very helpful.

Ok well there really is so much I could say. But that is about it for now. The food is AMAZING and the people are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT HERE!!!

I am so happy to be here. During sacrament meeting, I could not stop smiling. I just had this huge smile on my face that I could not get rid of. I love the work here in Taiwan.

I love talking to every one on the street and attempting to invite them to come unto Christ.

I love it here and I love you all.

I will tell you more later. Don’t worry that is the bulk of it all.

Love you all.

Elder Alden Papritz.

Yang Zhang Lao.




Alden - Banqiao, Taiwan - July 31, 2011

Hey everyone. guess what I am in TAIWAN!!


Man there are miracles here in Taiwan. really there are. so much has happened since I arrived I don't know where to start.

ok well last Tuesday at 2 in the morning we woke up at the MTC for the last time. we loaded our things on the bus and left the MTC. that was about it for the MTC. ok. so I really do not know where to start.

ok. so some not so great experiences. when we where on the bus headed to the airport, I was looking at my passport and my visa. and guess what. according to my visa I am about 90 years old. the year on my birthday was wrong, it said 1922 instead of 1992. so that was a great way to start out my day. I was so scared that they would deny my visa. but of course I was so tired that i couldn't worry about it too much. after that the flights were nice. they were long but I slept most of the time.

ok so skipping to Taiwan. so when i arrived. they did not accept my visa, at that time. they told me to go get it fixed at the visa office. it didnt take long. so i did make it here.

the weather here is nice. i dont think it is that hot. but it is humid. I am sweating so much.

......there is so much to say i dont know what to do!!!!!!

ok so the first night we headed to the mission home. I got some rest. In the morning we ran to the freedom memorial/plaza. It is so beautiful, I LOVE IT!! ok then we had some amazing breakfast. then headed back to the mission home to start orientation.

I was the first to get ready and head up to the office. When i got there I met sister Calvert, Elder Calverts wife, he is the mission nurse. when she saw me she was so happy. they have been waiting for me for a while. Every one, tells me how excited they are that i am here and how amazing Amy is. even some members in the ward know her and are so happy that i get to see her.

so now onto my trainer. My trainer is Elder Adam. He is really cool. He is from California, Fullerton. we are getting along really well. he is the oldest in his family and the fist to go on a mission. he likes music, and he likeS to joke. a lot. he is really cool.

the second day in my area which is: Banqiao. we went to an old folks home for a ward service activity. I got to massage some nice old Lady's shoulders as they all clapped along to some music. I met the bishop and some other ward members. then we went to dinner with the bishop. he is really nice. everyone here is very nice. they all are very helpful.

ok well there really is so much i could say. I will maybe tell you later. but that is about it for now. the food is AMAZING and the people are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT HERE!!!

I am so happy to be here. during sacrament meeting, I could not stop smiling. i just had this huge smile on my face that I could not get rid of. I love the work here in Taiwan.

I love talking to every one on the street and attempting to invite them to come unto Christ.
I love it here and I love you all.
I will tell you more later. don't worry that is the bulk of it all.

Love you all.

Elder Alden Papritz.

Yang Zhang lao.

Alden - MTC - July 17, 2011

Hey Family and Friends.


Ok so this week has been a little more exciting.

this last friday we had our in-field orintation, this was all about finding, planning, baptizing, and working with the members. it was so crazy. I am so pumped to get out into the field, but of course i am so scared. I cant believe i leave in only 7 days. one of the main things that i learned was that you cant be afraid to talk to everyone, that is one of the only way that we will get investigators.

Also this last thursday we got our travel plans. we are flying from saltlake at 7:30 am to detroit, then from detroit to Taiwan. 23 hours of travel. it is going to be such a long day. but i cant wait to get there.

So I have hit the wall here at the MTC. I want to get out. I love it here and i am still learning a lot, but honestly I am getting sick of doing the same things every day. i feel like it's ground hogs day. i want to get to Taiwan!!!! well almost out of here.

well i cant think of anything else the MTC is still very nice. im ready to go.


Love you all. next time i email will be in TAIWAN!!!!.
Elder Alden Papritz.

Yang Zhang lao.

Alden - MTC - July 5, 2011

Hey Family


So this week has been great. mainly because it was the Fourth of July!!!! YAY!!! Well we had a great celebration this week. First on Saturday morning there was a hot air balloon launch, you could see it fairly well from the MTC. It brings back so many memories of going to the balloon launch in Albany. then that night we had an amazing fireside celebration for the Holiday. The focus was mainly on all of the blessings that have come from the bringing forth of this country. Mainly the restoration of the gospel. The spirit is so strong here. I know i have been blessed to live in this country where we have this great privilege to worship our God.

Afterword we got to see the fireworks at BYU. we had to stay in the MTC but it was still great.

Then on Sunday we had a great fireside. Sister Jenny Oaks Baker came and performed for us. She is the daughter of Elder Oaks, and an AMAZING violinist. She went to Juliard to study music and she performs with many symphonies. She was just amazing. The spirit was great, and the music was phenomenal. she also had her three daughters play, they were no older then 9. They were also great. They played I am a child of God. Very cute.

Well as for the rest of the week. we learned a lot and taught. we finally committed one of our investigators to be baptized. He said that he would. We cant believe it took us a whole month. Good thing we are still in the MTC.

Well Thats about it. A lot of reminders of my family. Love you All. Have a great week.

Elder Alden Papritz.

Yang zhanglao

Autumn- Pest, Hungary - July 2, 2011

Hello my dear family and friends!!!

Well this might be a short one cause I feel like I just barely wrote you all.

Well LÁSZLÓ got baptized!! woo hoo!!! It was a mad dash to the finish line..and we were shopping for baptismal clothes up until the last day. (buying white underwear and white undershirt for a man was a little weird)... we werent sure if he had anyway so we just got some JUST incase. but Sister Roderick saved the day and had two EXTRA LARGE suits that were PERFECT for our László, so she brought them from Duna and everything went awesome.

EXCEPT! (theres always a hitch with a baptism, something HAS to go wrong... like in my brothers letter last week. they ended up doing his baptism in Michigan lake. Luckily we didnt have to move it to the Danube). Well mine was that we started filling the font at 915 am..and it was filling just fine and baptism is at 11. I go to check on it at 955 and it was still pretty low in the font. I thought " hmm... thats weird, must fill slow." but I KNEW that i started it on time. Well I go back to check it at 1015... 45 MINUTES before the baptism..and its STILL at the same level. then I KNEW something was wrong. It wasnt filling. but there wasnt a hole in the font. so I looked and realized... uh.....i left the drain WIDE OPEN... haha. so as the font was filling, it was also EMPTYING. uh... DUH... whoops. so I plugged the drain and then just prayed that it would fill on time. and then BOOM at 1125 when he walked into the font, it was full and piping hot and perfect.

the baptism was awesome. just he was so prepared and the spirit was strong. and it was AWESOME!! Funny thing was he always teases me that I dont talk alot.. well cause I dont, I dont know a lot of hungarian, but I atleast always try to be funny. But he always just looks at me and says in his low gruffly voice "PAPRITZ..." and Im always like " yes thats my name? what?! WHAT?! ... what do you want to say?" he just laughs and says " Papritz sister...youre an angel". haha... i think its really entertaining to him that Im always begging him to speak whats on his mind when he just walks up to me and says " PAPRITZ" with his hungarian accent. Its so funny. "papritz youre an angel" or "papritz...your hair looks good today" or "papritz...you look like.... laura bush..bahaha".. thats his celebrity look a like for me. My companion got Penelope Cruize and Salma Hayek and I got... uh laura bush. I told him I prefer Sandra Bullock...but whatever. I love him. I felt really guided to Him and it just is so special to be apart of his life. Missionary work is THE BEST!!!

well I included the pictures in a seperate email for your viewing pleasure.

I love this work. I love these people and I love my family and my friends and life is just so so so good.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

sister p

Alden - MTC - June 28, 2011

hey family. so this week has been crazy.


This last week was the Mission president seminar. wich means that alot of the General authorities were her. Acualy all of the first presidency and 11 of the Twelve. that is so amazing. the sad news is that we didnt get to see alot of them. at a devotional we saw elders: Holland, Oaks, Ballerd, Nelson, Scott, Anderson, and Elder Bednar Spoke. it was amazing. As soon as they entered the spirit filled the room. it was thick you could feel it in the air. it was amazing to see them. Elder Bednar spoke about becomeing a Preach my Gospel Missionary. he gave us 5 points.

1. the missionry must know that he is serving and representing Jesus christ
2. must be worthy.and the other ones i cant remember. sorry. well those two were my favorite. anyways. i will need to find my notes. ok besides that. we have some knew missionaries in our zone. YAY!!
it is so great to have these missionaries here. they are so excited and ready to go. it is also nice to just see knew faces. besides that that is about it. Alot of Teaching and learning.

Sad knews today was our last day at the temple. it is closing for the rest of July. however we get to help clean it on the 19th yay.
well that is about it. only 28 more days in the MTC. almost to taiwan. so excited!! well Love you all.

Enjoy the good weather.
Your Missionary
Elder Alden Papritz
Yang Zhang lao.

Autumn- Pest, Hungary - June 28, 2011

HELLO ALL!!!

So I get asked a lot.. what do I do as the mission nurse? hmm.... wellll.... to be honest. not a lot. Im really just a normal missionary, teaching, preaching and knocking doors, but I am a resource for the Mission President's wife, So I get calls from Elders with medical questions just during my normal days.SOOO.... that means that I get calls from 19 year old boys, far away from their mommies.... so the calls have gone a little something like this:

1. "uh sister Papritz, is it a problem if my eyeballs are REALLY REALLY COLD" (asking in the dead of summer) "Elder, why are your eyeballs cold? what did you do to them?" " uh.. well theyre just cold" " Elder, you did something....what did you do?" " well, you see I got sunburned really really bad on my face today cause we were outside all day and then I have had cold corn on my face for like 2 hours... and now my eyeballs are really really really cold!" " Are you having vision problems?" " No theyre just cold..." ".. ok well, they will warm back up, stop touching your cold eyeballs and wear sunscreen next time"

2. "Sister Papritz, I am having kidney problems" "Oh really how do you know?" " well I am having a lot of pain in my kidney region?" " oh yea.... where's that?" "Im having alot of pain in my hips like where my kidneys would be..." "Elder, Your kidneys are not in your hips..." " uh.. theyre not? are you sure?" "100%... im a nurse" " oh ... well then maybe I just ate some bad food....ok... bye"

3. "Sister Papritz, Ive been having some really bad chest pain." " Elder, well have you had this before? any previous heart problems... (Etc etc .. assessed for a little bit)" " Well, no previous, problems, except I got this pain before like a few times" " Is it preceeded by something?" "uh.. what does that mean?" "Did you do something different that you dont normally do before the pain started, like eat a REALLY big meal?" " yea actually I had a HUGE LUNCH... like the biggest lunch ever. AND i was also like bending over, kind of like standing on my head and that kind of made it hurt a lot" " Ok... Elder....dont eat big meals like that. It will stop, its just heart burn. and also, stop standing on your head."

You know things like that.... a little different than my Trauma days (which I miss A LOT... and I dream about big juicy traumas a lot) but still entertaining and a little break in the typical missionary day. So no Im not out here doing field examinations, setting up health stations in the middle of Budapest.. just answering phonecalls from Elders. But I dont mind, my nursing skills will all come back when Im home. I love what Im doing so much here.

This Week we have been CRAZILY getting ready for Lászlós baptism since HE bumped his baptism date up a month, and so that left us 2 weeks to plan/teach/organize EVERYTHING!!! So we spent a lot of this week meeting with him basically everyday so that we can teach Him everything. I love it though, because he starts off every lesson telling us what he read, all the cross references, all the indepth doctrine...etc etc. I have always wondered how he studies so well, how he can remember SOOOO much. We found out last night that he was actually a LAWYER in Romania before he came to Hungary, he had a college degree (super rare). He loves to study and learn and worked as a lawyer for a big company had "the life." But he loved money so much that he started stealing from the company and counterfitting money.. etc etc. He went to jail for 2 years for all of that, lost His license, his wife devoriced Him, he started drinking and smoking.....etc etc. But he told us, now he's Poor and he's just a "working man" and he knows the Lord prepared Him to meet us. OUR MIRACLE MAN!!! So this Saturday is THE BIG DAY, I am excited for it alot. Pray we get everything together. Its going to be nuts until then.

Other awesome events this week:

1. we had to find a new place to live cause our land lady went NUTS on us and has been coming into our apartment when we are gone. So we found a new place ACROSS THE STREET from the branch house, which means coming to our programs will only take like 0.2 seconds to get here instead of the 45 MINUTE commute we have been making on bus, metro, walking etc. and the best part....the apartment has a BIDET!!! ...i dont even know how that works (or really what its for..seems a little unnecessary), but its fancy.

2. Sister Roderick and I wrote a song together last transfer. Its called "you are special" (based off that book about the wooden man and the dots) (she wrote the lyrics and I kind of threw together a piano part) and the song made its world DEBUT in Her zone conference this week. It was really cool, I've never written a song before... much less PERFORMED a song Ive co-written. So it was a really fun experience.

3. I had my first experience with Hungarian birthday candles. Uh... theyre CRAZY. We were at a members house and she pulled out this one candle and an Elder held it while I lit the candle. Everyone was saying, you might want to move your hand.. i thought that was weird, why would I need to move my hand. Then I lit it and all the sudden a THREE FOOT flame BURST out of the candle (well REALLY a firework)...we put it on the cake and this firework candle just spewed and spewed. It was crazy and it was indoors and i was TOTALLY not expecting a three foot firework flame to come shooting out. and I thought the house was going to burn down. Hungarians are so crazy. firework birthday candles. jaj.

Welp thats about it for the week. Lots of great amazing things going on here in Pest. This really is a land of miracles. I love it. I love the mission and I loved something I read today in my studies (talking about a really hard hike)

" The final exertion is more than worth the effort because once the climber is on top, the views are breathtaking. The only way to see the views is to make the climb."

Im so grateful for the climb Im making, the climb my siblings are making and the sacrifice my parents are making in all 4 of us being gone at once. But... I know the view will be breathtaking in the end and we can look back at all we've done, but first we make the climb.

I love you all!!!!!

Remember: im writing on SATURDAY this week.

Sok Sok Szeretettel,

Papritz Nővér