Autumn- Budapest Hungary June 13, 2011

Hello Everyone!!

Well Sister Roderick and I said our goodbyes and ended our amazing awesome wonderful time together..and I received my new companion. The fantastic SISTER JORDAN!! Awesome things about her: She was born in Tahiti (lives in Arizona now..well not now, but before the mish).. she is a professional Tahitian dancer. She can move her hips like nobodys business. She is going to teach me how to move mine this transfer...will be probably our biggest feat, because my hips dont move at all. Like I think those joints somehow were fused at birth. But she garuntees me success. sooo.. that will be awesome.

Also she taught me how to wip.... the big thing in this mission is buying authentic leather bull wips from the countryside and then learning how to do awesome wip stuff. She served out in the country So she can wip crazy good too...so yesterday for Pday we went to a park and she taught me how to wip. Not to brag, but I cracked the wip on my first try. Big hearty crack. yea... Im learning good skills for my future child rearing and marriage. Hip shaking and wip cracking. My goal is to learn how to double crack and wip with TWO wips... its going to be awesome.

So this week Sister Jordan and I have been settling into the groove of a new companionship. She is so layed back, and I am too.. so Its been pretty effortless. This is gonna work good. We had a lot of success this week, and it was so good to see the members accepting her. She had big big shoes to fill with Sister Roderick leaving, since she had been here 10 months, but we have been paving our own path into their hearts. We could never replace sister Roderick but we are for sure building our own relationships. Its been a greet week of just establishing relationships and its fun for me to get to know these people even better. They are so wonderful, I am falling in love with them more and more. (helps that Im speaking the language a little better too, or atleast understanding better)

The best part about this week was that we met with our Miracle girl, No-Tag Viola. Remember how Sister Roderick and I lost our tags on the same day, then met this really amazing girl named Viola (who was a missionary for another church).. like shes practically american..super cute and awesome and rendes. Well we thought the story was over a few weeks ago when we called her, and this random person answered and said this number wasnt hers. We were sooo bummmed..cause it was a miracle that we met her. So we thought, oh well.. we just wont tell anyone thats what happened... pretend like it ended good. haha. So this week I was texting people telling them about a dance program and I decided to just randomly text her number.. maybe whoevers phone it was would want to come. WELL.... surprise THE Viola texts back and says " I was just thinking about you all last night, weird that you texted me today. Could we possibly meet on Sunday?"... THE STORY WASNT OVER! So Sister Jordan and I met with her (and her friend) on sunday, and it was just an awesome lesson. So great. She was so curious and she has such a strong religious background, I was really worried she would think this was all just a joke and turn us down.. but she got it. She got it all. She asked amazing questions, and just had this like Thirst to know more. Who knows where its going to go... BUT THE STORY WASNT OVER!!!

Another awesome thing this week. The BYU Folk Dance team was touring the country this week. So they did a performance at our Branch House and then we got to go to one of their big performances on our Pday yesterday. It was AWESOME. a little slice of america right here in Hungary.And the Hungarians fell in love with them. Our investigator that was with us, she was so happy she started crying in the middle of their performance. Didnt know that country dance was such an emotional thing but she said "this just makes me so happy!". It was also fun to talk to americans. It was just a really fun time with them.

Well thats about it! Things are still Rocking in Pest. Loving life and living it up.

Love,

Sister P

Cultural Tip: If you sneeze while someone is talking it means whatever they just said was True. So I have sneezed a few times in programs and the people are like " OH THATS TRUE!"... Im going to work on timing my sneezes better to correspond with the First Vision.

Food Tip: The most amazing thing here is called Túró. It is like, hmm... cream cheese and heaven mixed together. We eat it in crepes, in chocolate, I would have it on everything. Soooo goood.

Word: Learned today that an Umbrella is called an esőnő... which I think means rain woman. if you literally translate it.

Amy - Tianmu, Taiwan June 13, 2011

Qin ai de jiating,

Another week has gone by in the busy city of Shuanghe. This week we have been busy. The weather is really starting to heat up. I mean really heat up like 90 degrees with humidity. Yahoo!! I instantly start sweating when I get out the door but thats ok. People are still willing to listen. Mangos are also in season which is amazing! A member gave us two mangos the other day. Luckily for me Sister Liu doesn't like mangos so more for me!!

On Wednesday I went to a special training meeting for all senior companions and district leaders. Oh man, it was exactily what I needed to hear. The whole meeting was about finding and being agents. No, not secret agents but agents or people who act. President Grimley talked about how we need to be missionaries who will act and not just wait for people to walk up to them and contact them. He said, "Faith without works is dead, work without faith is stupid." haha An agent is someone who understands his or her responsibility and is accountable for their actions. They also have faith in their calling as missionaries of the Lord. The assistants shared the example of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14 starting with verse 28. Peter when he finds out that it is Jesus he tells him "Bid me to come unto thee on the water." He is the first to act. He didnt' wait for Jesus to say come. When Jesus bid him come Peter got out of the boat. I imagine he leaped out of the boat not gingerly dipped his toe in. He had full faith that he could go to Jesus dispite the fact that it was impossible. As he kept his focus on Jesus he say a miracle! He walked on water. Only when the wind and water were big and scary did Peter take his focus off the Lord and start to sink. I love this story! I realized that I have lately been not exercising a lot of faith like Peter and getting out of the boat or my comfort zone. I am too worried about being rejected or what I am going to say instead of just doing it. This meeting was a big call to repentance for me.

So this week I have been applying what I learned. Everyday in my prayers I pray that I can be a better agent and contact more people. Then in the evening at account for the day. It has helped me be more accountable and a better example for Sister Liu. I have found that when I contact with faith and just go out and do it I have seen more success. Last night, for example, Sister Liu and I contacted at the park near our house in the evening and met a lot of great people. Near the end of the evening I saw a women and felt like I needed to contact her. She ended up being great. We talked a lot about prayer and how her prayers will be answered. She was so suprised that her prayers could be answered. We exchanged numbers and said we would call to set up an appointment since her schedule wasn't certain. At the end she said that we changed her day. At first her day wasn't going very good but we made her happy. She said she felt something as we talked to her. I explained it was the Spirit. I am so grateful that I contacted this dear sister. I know I was suppose to contact her for a reason. It is SOOO important we contact everyone we see. We have the Gospel! We have the only thing that will help them change their life and return to live with our Heavenly Father. Only the Gospel can help them be freed from addictions and sin. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to meet so many wonderful people here in Taiwan. So my invite to you all is to be better agents. To this week be more commited in finding and sharing the Gospel.

I hope that you all have a great week. I love you all so much.

All my love,

Yang Jiemei

Sister Amy Papritz

Alden MTC June 7, 2010

Nimen hao!

as always the MTC is a lot of work. we are still teaching our two progressing investigators. its great. the spirit is so strong when we teach. we are having trouble with then since they dont have any religious background but we are slowly helping them develope that faith to pray and know God is there. besides that it is going well.

This past week i memorized the Missionary Purpose and Joseph Smiths first Vision both in Chinese. it is great, i cant wait to teach the restoration soon. also we are starting to SYL (speak your language) tomorow we are planning on SLYing 100% that is going to be hard but i love speaking chinese so much i cant wait.

Also this last friday at our TRC Elder Montalto and I gave a short lesson on the Book of Mormon to a very nice sister. she just got back from her mission in Taiwan. the spirit was so strong as we talked about the Book of Mormon and what it containts. as we were stubbleing around with the language the spirit was so strong. i asked her to share her testimony of the Book of Mormon, and man was it powerful. it was a simple testimony, but the spirit testified so much. i started to tear up a little bit.

This week Elder Montalto and I started bearing our testimony to missionaries that we find sitting around outside. it has been so great to bear my testimony, but even better to hear Elder Montalto give his testimony. he has learned so much. we had a great expirience as we bore our testimonies to a senior companion. as we were giving our simple testimonies the sister started crying. i could tell that even though our testimonies were simple. she was very touched. she told us afterward that they had just arived that day and were going to italy. she was worried about learing italian since they would only be there for 8 days. she was very touched and comforted by the spirit.

finaly this last sunday was mission conference and fast sunday. during the conference the spirit was extremly strong. there were great talkes on faith. one thing I learned is that faith is not only beliving that God will help you or even knowing he can help you. but knowing that he WILL help you. just like the brother of Jared who knew that if the lord could touch the stones they would light up or the women who knew that if she touched the robe of Christ she would be healed. they did not just hope, or just belive that i could possibly happen. they knew it would. they knew that by the grace and power of God they would recieve these mericals. as i think on that i am trying more to really trust in God and truly belive he will bless me and help me.

Well that is about it. the spirit is strong. i am doing very well. the food is great. i have been trying to cut back a little. im sleeping well and studying hard.

I love you all.

Elder Alden Papritz

Qiu Zhanglao

Austin - Kenosha Wisconsin - June 6, 2011

Dear Family,

We got transfer calls on Saturday and we found out that Elder White and I will be staying together another transfer. Next transfer is going to be pretty crazy though, one of the zone leaders, two of the sisters and our district leader are all dying and Elder White is very likely to get transfered too sooo we will be losing most all of our district and then the next tranfer after that the other zone leader dies. We had a fantastic week in finding. We found 7 solid new investigators. Including 4 legally married couples which is so rare to find here. On Sunday we found one of the couples and they have 4 kids who are all older than 12 years old, and they seemed quite interested. They even threw a barbecue for us when we got there, they were so impressed by us and kept showering us with compliments. Then that night I talked to the Branch President and he said that he had been praying and fasting that a couple solid new families could be added to the branch soon. He was very pleased to hear our results for the week.

So I forgot to mention but a couple weeks ago at an FHE we were doing an egg walking competition (ya know where you hold the egg on a spoon in your mouth) and I chipped a very small part of one of my front top teeth. So I don't know if there is anything I should do about that, or if it is more susceptible to cavities or what. But it's pretty small, you pretty much can't tell I'm missing anything unless you are really looking for it. So Dad .... some tips would be nice.

We have one baptismal date right now, for June 25 with Lorenza Rodriguez. Her son was baptized last year and he has been solid going to church being the only member of his family. He has really changed his life around from doing drugs and drinking alcohol to being an awesome member. I have really taken a liking to him and we've talked alot about college and a mission. He wants to go to BYU and is seriously considering going on a mission. I also give him workout tips which he loves so that he can get huge and get some of the ladies. But his Mom is just awesome. She is so level-headed and knows that the church has just been incredible for her family, especially her son. When we talked about baptismal she straight up told us her doubts and concerns and we've been doing our best to solve them. The other day we had a barbecue at their house and it was funny because she has a son that is only 4 years old and he's so funny. You can barely understand him when he talks (English or Spanish) and he's completely hyper-active. But his Mom made an Angelfood cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream (which is funny because her other sons name is Angel, which is a normal Hispanic name) but the kid said something muttered and sluurred to his Mom while pointing to the cake and we all thought he was saying that he wanted a peice and so his Mom answered, "She baby, go right ahead." And then you hear him mumble, "Ohkcool." And then just slammed his face in the cake hahaha. It was soooo funny. I made sure to get pictures and then I was getting close to the cake and the kid was behind me and just jumped on my head and then my face went in the cake. The whole thing was hilarious. That little kid was strong, I tried to pull back but he just slammed my head right in to the cake. Then we ate it despite the boogers and hair.

The weather is really heating up around here but I love it. Also, the mesquitos are coming out which is not fun. Where do they come from??? I don't understand, you can't see a single one during the winter then they just come out of no-where during the summer by the thousands. (some bug spray would be nice, Mom and Dad. thanks)

Well that's all. Love you all and hope you have a great week.

-Elder Papritz

Amy - Tianmu, Taiwan June 6, 2011

Qin ai de jiating,

Oh man this week was crazy!! It started on Monday when one of our investigators called us in the morning and said she wanted to get baptized this week!! WHAT?!?!?! Sister Liu and I were freaking out! Zhong hui ping had already had a baptism interview and was supposed to get baptized at the end of May but she said she felt a lot of pressure and didn't want to get baptized. When we tried to set up a new baptismal goal she didnt' want to. I guess when she talked to He dixiong last Sunday he said something that clicked. So this week has been crazy getting ready for two baptisms on the same day. Sister Liu has been freaking out getting ready for it but with the help of our ward mission leader everything worked out. The bapitsm was great. The spirit was strong. It was so wonderful to see two people that we have been working with for a while getting baptized and making sacried covenants with our Heavenly Father. Hui ping when she came out of the baptism font had the biggest smile on her face. When they were confirmed members and recieved the Holy Ghost both were beaming! I know that they will both be great members of the church. He dixiong will be a wonderful Priesthood leader in his home and bless his family so much. I'm just so excited to see them get baptized!!!!

This week in English class I gave the spiritual thought on choosing the right. I then handed out CTR rings to the children in my class they all love them. Thanks mom for sending them. This week has also not been without its challenges. Sister Liu and I lately have been having a hard time. They say that the companion right after the juinor companion's trainer is hard. Its true. A lot of what I do annoys, or isn't right in Sister Liu's eyes. I have made mistakes, I know I'm not a perfect companion. It has been hard being senior companion in a new area. Even though this is the start of the 5 week I feel like I still dont' know the area or the members very well. Whenever I ask Sister Liu who someone is or where this house is she sighs and is very impaitent with me. It must be hard having your second companion be a forgeiner and a first time senior companion. I am trying my hardest to do my best. I know that everything will work out though. Heavenly Father made us companions for a reason. We both have something to learn from this companionship. I am so grateful for her hard work and paitence with me so far. She is wonderful.

I realized last week I forgot to tell ya'll something. I finally passed off Phase 1 in the language study program!!!! I dont' remember if I told you guys about the Phases but here we pretty much have a set curriculum to study during language study time. The first Phase focuses on the lessons and learning how to teach them. The second Phase is a bunch of flashcards with a variety of words on them and phrases. It is suppose to help us expand our vocabulary out of the misison vocab. The last Phase is characters. It is also a bunch of flashcards with characters on it. I am so excited to get off of Phase 1. I have shed many frustrated tears over that book. It has been great to study these cards and I have already seen my vocab and understanding grow a lot.

Well I hope that you all have a fantastic week. Enjoy the warm weather. Here is has been blazing sticky hot. I love it!! I love you all.

All my love,

Yang Jiemei

Sister Amy Papritz

Autumn- Budapest Hungary June 6, 2011

Ó NÁPOT MINDINKINEK!!!

Well this week was crazy. ABSOLUTELY CRAZY! Every week really seems to be, and I know I say it all the time but life is so full of surprises. We got transfer calls this morning...and...well....the Rodritz duo has come to an end. She is being ripped from my arms, tears and all...but its awesome cause she is opening up a new area Dunaújváros!! She is starting a new area with a mini-missionary (we think) So her and a native Hungarian are opening the area...but its perfect cause that means (well we are REALLY pushing/praying for it) that we will be reunited next transfer and I can KILL HER!! (mission term for sending someone home, since its her last transfer) So we are really hoping this is only a temporary separation.

But the goodnews is I am staying in Pest and getting Sister Jordan, which is EXACTLY who I was hoping to get. She is tahitian (well her parents are, but she lived in Utah) and shes really cool and sweet and fun. Ive only spent a couple minutes with her before, but Ive heard rave reviews about her. So it is a perfect situation, especially If Roderick and I will be reunited next transfer. So Roderick is going to prepare our Summer Home in Dunaújváros and I am going to be on my Tahition vacation in Pest.

So Roderick gets ripped from me on wednesday so the next couple of days are going to be insane with her getting everything ready and saying goodbye to all the members. She has been here 10 months, so these people are attached and love her so much. But I know that me and Jordan Nővér will win their hearts back and wipe their tears away.

So this week our Hell's Angel/Construction worker man IS ON BAPTISM DATE!! We asked him when he wanted to be baptized and he said "tomorrow" haha... well thats a little soon. So we said August 6th, that was waay too late for him. So we settled on July 30th. His name is Lázslo and he reminds me a lot of my grandpa, just sassy and big tough guy that wears overalls all the time. So Im so happy to see Him loving the gospel. and also we are working on a little romantic connection with Him and another convert in the ward. We conveniently introduced them in the last lesson with him, and sparks were flying. So we're hoping to get a love connection going. We offer so much as missionaries, eternal salvation AND AN ETERNAL COMPANION! Its a TWO FOR ONE!

Our biggest event this week was quite dramatic. This man was referred to us from the office elders, and he dogged us on 2 different appointments...so we were sure he wasnt going to show for this 3rd. To our surprise he shows up, and we all sit down and he starts pulling out all of these legal documents (mind you I can understand maybe 25% of whats going on...very little) He told us his wife had died 6 years ago, and his son died last January and these documents were his will. He was willing everything he owned to the church. Which was weird, he was a younger guy, maybe 50s..not like dying anytime soon. So the conversation starts to get heated (mind you I can only tell from their body language) He is pulling out document after document showing them to us. Then he is getting really heated and I look over at Barbye (our awesome new member who was teaching with us) and she starts just crying. and sister Roderick starts crying, but not like feel the spirit crying, like panicked crying. I was so confused. Then sister Roderick keeps saying "listen that is a big decision, there is another answer! There is another way! We can talk to the Bishop!" She was pleading with him. and I had no clue what was going on, but I just had the feeling that this man was suicidal and he was going to kill himself. So I can see Barbye and Roderick just begging him to think this through. Then I immediately start going into Trauma nurse mode, thinking of all the worse case scenarios. We've got a crazy man here whose family has died, he has no job, he has no money, and he's suicidal. I am worried that hes going to get impulsive and pull out a weapon...and then I flashed back to the Bishop in california that got shot because a crazy person came into his office. So needless to say, I was a tiny bit panicked. He was really mad and so I had no clue what was going to happen. I got out my camera and started to film him underneath the table so I could see if he had a weapon on his waste, and I started thinking like I could use my pen as a defense, and throw my bible at him to startle him. oh man. my mind was just thinking of all these crazy options. mean while Roderick is in full on negotion mode, just begging him to calm down and not be impulsive. I am praying my GUTS OUT the whole time. Then Barbye pulls her fancy ring off her finger and gives it to Him to sell. She was insistant for Him to sell it so he could get money for diabetic medicine he needed. He wouldnt accept it, and then finally Roderick said "Look at the picture of Christ on the wall" he said " yeah Ive been looking at that for the last 30 minutes".. then like out of nowhere, he just calms down. stops arguing and insisting he needs to die and just says "maybe I need to come to church, maybe I need to be apart of a group that can help me because I just feel alone. A group would make me feel so much better"...then he said " I would really love to get one of your bibles". We gave him a book of mormon and shared a few scriptures. I put down all my weapons..haha. and He finally said he was not going to kill himself, he was going to see if this church could help him instead.

PHEW!! dang. It was intense. Roderick translated for me later that he was saying that this meeting with us was he final act in life and he was going to leave and jump infront of a train after this. No wonder they were so panicked, good thing I was oblivious and in protection mode. I had an escape plan ready, weapons in hand... I was going to save us no matter what. Good thing the spirit protected us instead and softened his heart. Wow it was INTENSE!!!

That is the kind of craziness that goes on here. Life is CRAZY I TELL YA!! and awesome.

Well I will send an email with pictures too. LOVE YOU ALL!! HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK!! Wish me luck with all of the transfer changes.

Love

Sister Papritz
--

Alden MTC June 1, 2010

Hey Family.

Its another hard working week at the MTC. honestly i am trying to think of what to say. not a lot more has happened that is different for any other week. we have been working hard studying chinese. we teach every day. right now we have two progressing investigators, Qiu weimin and Yan hailan. it is so amazing to teach in chinese. the spirit has been so strong as we have taught. both Elder Montalto and I agreed that we had our best lessons this week. our chinese is at its best so far and now we can teach by the spirit. as i told y'all last week we are part of a pilot program that requirers more of the missionaries. we are expected to learn alot of the chinese on our own with some mentoring by the teachers. so over all it is very hard work. we are studying all day.

last friday we had TRC, it has changed since everyone else has been here. now we teach lessons. we teach real people real lessons. in chinese. this last week was mostly members, but there was one room that had two investigators. i did not get to teach them but it is just amazing how we are even able to teach them in chinese and have them feel the spirit and understand us.

last tuesday Elder Russle M. Nelson spoke to us. it was amazing. from the moment he walked in the room you could feel the spirit, and when you looked into his face you could tell that he had a testimony of Jesus Christ. Honestly I dont remember exactly what he talked about but what I got out of it, was to represent the Lord at all times. I am here on the Lords errend and I most testify of him.

As for the rest of the week. I was planning on auditioning to sing for devotional but it ended up that that tuesday the choir decided to sing "This is The Christ" which is what i had been practicing. so obviously they were not going to choose someone to sing it again. however i decied to audition anyways. but when i got there the Elder auditioning right before me sang "This is the Chirst" along with three other people that day. but when I sang the Sister who was listening, started crying. i was very supprised. after hearing that song three other times I would think she would be sick of it. but when i was done she sat there speachless. then she told me and my accompinist that that was the best interpretation of the song she had heard. she told me that they most likley would not choose me to sing it this week but that Since i had a few more weeks left they could still have me sing it. and then she also asked if i had any other songs that could sing right then she would love to hear them. sadly they didnt have a song that my accompianst could play or that i could learn that fast. but they bought me some music that i sang back at home that i am audtioning for this week. it is very interesting how that worked out. because when i heard the choir practicing that tuesday, i was frustraited and annoyed that i would not be able to sing it. but after Elder Nelsons talk i realized that i was singing the song for myself and not to bear testimony of chist or to bring the spirit. i felt that i was able to sing that way at the audition and my accompianist was able to play like that because we decied to perform it as a testimony, not just a performance.

well that is my spiritual thought of the week. I am doing great here. I love it. I love the spirit that is here. by the end of the day i just want to shout the truth of the gospel from the roof tops. i know i have been blessed to be able to speak chinese. i know that by the gift of toungs i have been able to teach a lesson every day in chinese. i love This gospel and i know its true.

Love you all

Elder Alden Papritz.

Qiu/Pan/Yang Zhanglao.