Frohe Weihnachten!!

Hey everyone!!!

I hope your all doing well! I've had an awesome last couple weeks with a lot going on. First off we had an awesome lesson with Almas. Before the lesson we were getting ready to leave and I had a bloody nose that just came out of nowhere. Once it had stopped we stepped out the door, behind schedule of what we had planned. We decided to run to the bus stop about five minutes walk from our house on the slim chance we would catch a bus that would get us to the appointment on time. Miraculously we actually got there at the same time as the bus. It was just a little miracle, but it was amazing. Then we caught up with Almas and we really talked about how one can come to know if the church is true. We talked about Alma 32, a classic and easy to remember for her, and it went really really well.

Christmas here was also very interesting. It begins with Christmas eve. This is the main day of Christmas in Austria. We were invited to the family Hockinberger that day and had an awesome time. We ate food, sang songs, and talked about different traditions we all have. The Christkind visited us (the Christ child comes with presents in Austria, probably because Santa already has so much work to do, and we got a scarf and candy and a tie! Then they brought out a giant board full of meats and cheeses and breads for dinner. It was awesome. On Christmas day we had a really long District meeting for the day with halte Stringoms. We had a lot of fun and it was really really cool. Then yesterday came the last holiday for Christmas. We spent this one with the family Meyer and it was also really cool. We ate out at a fancy Chinese buffet and played games together as well as shared our experiences in choosing to come and serve a mission. It was way cool!!

Now we're back to normal missionary work which will be good. It's been weird not to be out on the streets a bunch the past couple days. I'm excited for all of what's coming up. Hopefully we get some snow soon since all of ours melted a few days before Christmas. Thanks so much for all of the letters and support! It really means a lot to me. I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to you all yet, but I will soon! I love you all!

Elder Golly's favorite scripture :
 "12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Trust in God and Jesus Christ and they will not let you down. I know it and I promise that when you try it, you can see for yourself how true it is. I love you guys, have a great week.

-Elder Wiser

4th transfer and a new companion!

Hey everyone,

This week is transfers and Elder Hilton will be leaving me. I will have Elder Golly from Utah! It should be fun!

This week was full of fun and work! Here are some pictures from the district and district P day in Salzburg!

Alma 36:21

Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

I challenge you all to share the joy of Christ this Christmas season! He loves all of you and wants to show you! You just have to let him in!

I love you all!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow🎅☃️

Hey everyone!

I hope that you are all doing well!

This week has been way fun. We had interviews with President in Salzburg. Unfortunately, because transfers are short this transfer (4 weeks instead of 6) we don't have a zone conference. But we do have a Christmas zone conference coming up soon. As for the subject of this email, this week we got snow! It hasn't stuck to the ground here in Linz, but in the surrounding areas, it is a winter wonderland!

Work wise, it has been a good week this week as well. We had another appointment with one of our new investigators, Almas, and we explained the Word of Wisdom and a few questions that she had. We also spent some time in Haag am Hausruck meeting with investigators and non actives, as well as going to church! We meet with Andreas who is still doing awesome! Love that guy! Other then that we have been doing a little bit of finding. We got a few potentials, but so far they have all fallen through. Sad day. It is a little harder to talk to people in the cold, but it is still going well.

We've had a new development in the Linz areas. Since we have four elders in one city, we are going to be working together a lot more. This means that Elder Hilton and I will be maybe working with an investigator or two that the other Elders were working with and we will also be going on exchanges a lot more to better meet the needs of our investigators. It should be a lot of fun.

Scripture of the week! Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." I came across this scripture while reading some of the references to Jesus in the topical guide. (As a mission, we have been challenged to read all of the references.) I have read this scripture before, but it just stuck out to me this time. I was thinking about how important it is that we put our heart with something that lasts, because where our heart is determines our happiness. If we put our treasure and thus our heart into earthly treasures, idols, or habits, our happiness can never last. We will always fall. But if we put our hearts into the gospel of Christ, it will be eternal. It's call the plan of Happiness for a reason! I'm so glad that I was given the opportunity to know it and to share it with others. What an amazing opportunity!

Anyways I hope you guys are all having an amazing week and lots of fun. And I hope you are all having an amazing December, regardless of if it's a white Christmas season or not! If you haven't gotten a chance to look at #light the World, I would encourage you to do so and challenge you to try to do something everyday of December to grow closer to Christ. He loves you!

I love you all, see you next week!
Elder Wiser

Included, a picture of Landstraße, snow starting to fall, and food to prove that elders can make food too! As well as a couple others :) 

A harp and more fun!

Hey everyone!!

This was a pretty great week, though very busy. We have had a lot of fun so far. The new apartment is awesome! It used to be a sisters apartment when there were missionaries living here, but now we get it! It is so nice, they even have a harp in there! Crazy!!

Elder Hilton and I have been hitting the streets hard to open this area. We have had a little success and met our first new investigator! Her name is Almas and is way awesome! Hopefully we will get to spend more time with her.

Other then finding, we have had a couple short service projects and gotten to know some people in the ward. It has been nice because Elder Hilton used to go to this ward in the Linz A area anyway, so he knows the ward members already. Of course because we are so young out on the mission, this is Elder Hilton's 4th transfer and my 3rd, our German has been an adventure but so far it is going okay. We are still waiting for someone with a crazy dialect neither of us know to come blow us out of the water, but we have been lucky so far haha. Only time will tell!!

In way of news, we have a new missionary in our district from Hungry, Elder Reti! He's a blast!! Other adventures this week include a pantless man on the trams. To be fair he had pants, they were just pulled down. I don't think I ever want to sit on public transport again lol. We also were taken out for ice cream today by some members and that was awesome!! It has been a good and full week!

Scripture of the week!

Luke 17:32 "Remember Lot's wife."

 Simple, but there is a lot of meaning behind it. I listened to a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland this week that was absolute fire titled Remember Lot's wife. I highly recommend it to everyone. As missionaries we work a lot with other people to help them better there lives and as we do this, we get to look into our own lives as well. It is important to remember where we have been, but not to stay there. Life is about progression and when we dwell in the past we wont get anywhere. Amazingly, our Loving Heavenly Father has provided us with a way to progress and change through the Atonment of Jesus Christ. Thanks to Christ, it doesnt matter where we've been or what we've done, just where we are and where we are going. We all have the potential of greatness!

I love you guys and hope that you all have an amazing week! Have an amazing Thanksgiving in America and enjoy some Turkey for me!

Much Love,
Ältester Wiser

Closing to Whitewash

Hey sorry I don't have much time! My area in Haag is being closed and I am going to open a new area, Linz B with Elder Hilton who is one transfer older the  me! It should be fun!

"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" 2 Kings 6:16

Never fear what man can do because God and his protecting angles are with us. We are on the winning side!

Lovo you guys!

Elder Wiser

Pictures from Hallstadt

Inactive Elders

Hey guys!

Sorry, I dont have a bunch of time today so Im going to keep it short. Not much new has happened this week though we did have some fun experiences.

A crazy thing happened on Sunday. We didnt get to go to church. Thats three weeks in a row! Crazy! It has really made me realize how much I need church and the difference it makes in my life. The last two weeks have been crazy stake conferences in crazy places. This Sunday there was a huge wind storm. We talked to President and he had us stay in the apartment because it was supposed to get super super bad. So we were stuck in our apartment all day. The storm did cause a couple roads to get shut down and lots of the village Haag am Hausruck lost power. But everything calmed down eventually and it wasnt a bad day after that.

Other highlights of the week include a district finding day in Linz yesterday. It was way fun. Linz is I believe the second biggest city in Austria. Im not a 100 percent though so dont quote me on it haha. They do have a giant street that is awesome for finding. It is filled with hundreds of people and is so cool. It is lined by shops and goes a long way. Way cool to see.

Unfortunately I dont have any new pictures for this week. So Ill share a scripture instead!

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storms shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. 

Remember to build your rock on the foundation of Christ! I promise that he will not let you down. No matter what happens, if you hold onto Christ as a center point of your life, it will all work out in the end. I dont know how or when, but it will! I love you guys and hope you all have an amazing week!

Elder Wiser

Mission Conference!!!!

Hey guys!!

It was another amazing week this week! One of my favorite in the field so far! We had a mission conference with every missionary in the mission! And Elder Ballard was there! It was so amazing! It was also amazing to see my MTC group! They are all so awesome and Im sooo glad to be friends with them. I really hope I will get the chance to serve with some of them! I also got to see Elder Parker! It was so cool. Me and Sister Lex and Elder Parker are all cousins on the Lex side of our family and it is amazing that we get to serve together.

Other exciting news this week, we had a baptism in Wells. The sisters, Sister Lex and Sister Fisk are killing it over there and doing an amazing job. The baptism was awesome, our whole district had the opportunity to go and see it.

That pretty much sums up the highlights of this week. We got to do a service project dumping a lot of dirt from a bunch of pots and also to rake up leaves! It was lots of fun. We also missed a train coming back from Wells one night after Elder Richardson had the baptism interview. The next train came in 1 hour 40 minutes and we didn't end up getting home till 11 and asleep at 12. That was as crazy night. Making it a goal not to miss any more trains ha ha since the next morning we woke up at 4:30 AM to head to Munich. Crazy!

Anyways, I love ya guys and I hope you have an amazing week! I love hearing from you all!

Elder Wiser

Facebook!!!!!!!

Hey everyone!!!

Not a whole bunch has happened this week so Ill keep it pretty short. The highlight of the week was getting Facebook this week! We are super excited to be able to use Facebook in our Missionary efforts!!!

There was also a Stake Conference this week was really awesome. Unfortunately me and Elder Richardson thought the Saturday night part was in a different city then it was and so we spent 5 hours wondering around because we could not get back to where it really was. We had a three day long tausch in Linz because of it which was really fun. There was also a Europe wide conference with Elder Ballard that was really awesome. Im so glad to have Prophets and Apostles to guide the church in our days!

I also got a new suit which I was excited about! Also, on Friday, we are having a mission conference with Elder Ballard. Im so pumped to hear from him and what he has to say!! It's going to be amazing.

I love you guys and hope that you have an amazing week!!

Elder Wiser

Reid im Inkriess

Dinner

Danke schön Schaz!

​​This week has been a good week. Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to Elder Mendenhall as he was unable to receive an Austrian visa. So on wensday he left for Germany.  I have have a new companion. He is awesome too. His name is Elder Richerdson. He is from Washington. His last area was in Switzerland and before that he was in Wien. I think we will have a lot of fun together!

Not a whole bunch exciting has happened this week and I am short on time so I will give the highlights and some photos! We went to Amdorf for our first day of finding together. It was for about 4 hours and we found 3 potentials! A new record for one day for me in the Haag area! We are so excited to hopefully have new investigators soon! We did a service project one morning in Wels fixing up a mini golf park and that was lots of fun. Then later that day we did a service project collecting fruit for a few hours. My calfs and legs were very sore the next day haha. Today for P day we went to Königssee! It was really pretty and lots of fun!

I hope you guys have an amazing week! Remember that the Lord loves and cares for each of you individually! We are his children and he loves us. I know this to be true. Hold on to your faith and you will find it strengthened.

Love you guys!

Elder Wiser

Saying goodbye to Elder Mendenhall

Me and another Fremont graduate, Elder Ebert.

Our Hike to Königssee 

Andorf

Just use an Ax

Grüß Euch!!

Sorry I dont have a whole bunch of time this week!! The weeks are always super packed, though I can never remember everything that happened by the end. The highlight this week was totally General Conference!! It was really amazing and had so many good talks. It seemed to take on a whole new meaning watching as a missionary and I hope that you all had the chance to see it. If not I encourage you to go and do so!! Totally worth it. 

In news of what has happened lately, we did have to drop and Investigator Barbod. We hope that he will talk to missionaries again one day. We also did a service project for Günter. We moved a lot of stuff from the upstairs to the basement or trashed it so that painters can paint everything. We had to destroy a giant desk to get it down and trash it and an ax may or may not have been employed for the job, though most was just smashed.

I also got to see Sjian this week which was way awesome!!

Im also going to be getting a new companion tomorrow at transfers. His name is Elder Richerdson and Ill have pictures next week. Elder Mendenhall has to go back to Germany because of Visa problems. 

Im sorry if I didnt get to email you back this week! I will definitely get you soon and I love hearing from you guys!!

Have an amazing week and continue in faith!!

Love yall!!

Elder Wiser     

Mr. A during priesthood session!!! Glad to be part of his choir even half-way around the world!!! Love yah Mr. A! 

A sample of Old German

A Golden Tausch of Glory and a Family Reunion

Hey everyone!!

It has been a long week this week, but a good one! Sometimes so many things happen in a week here that I can't remember everything that we've done!

This week we had a lot of good eating appointments!! Our members are amazing and we always have lots of eating appointments. Its super nice to be able to get to know the members better. They are all so awesome!

We also had an aus tausch today and Elder Hilton from Linz came to the Haag area with me all day on Thursday and half of Friday. He was the transfer before me so we are still both greenies and it was super cool. We were able to understand and speak to people in german all day. There was only one time we have no idea what was going on the entire time and we were totally able to fake it! Pros haha! We had an interesting expirence where this old guy asked us if we were from Utah. He then invited us in and wanted to only talk about Utah. He has okay english and an obsession with Utah. He wanted nothing to do with the Gospel and wouldn't talk about it. He offered us help with anything we need and even offered us money just because we were from Utah! We told him to say hi to any future missionaries and talk to them and he told us he would if they were from Utah and if they weren't they he wouldn't let them in haha.

We also had a random experience at the train station. We were waiting for a train and this guy with piercings all over his face and weed colored shoe lases stood up and started preaching about "the gospel of Christ". Then some old guy started yelling at him to shut up and that everyone here already has their faith. They both just tried to yell over each other for a minute or two with the one reading of some scriptures and the old guy yelling at him. Then the preaching guy just sat down and a minute later he and his friend walked away. It was really random.

On Sunday I had one really awesome thing happen and one not so awesome thing happen. We usually have a meeting with our investigator Barbod every Sunday during church, because that's the best time for him to have lessons. This week he came very upset. We had scheduled a meeting appointment for this coming Friday. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication, and apparently he wanted us to be there this last Friday. Unaware of it, we had missed the appointment. We had called him on the Thursday before Friday to ask him if he would be at Church on Sunday and because of bad german on both of our sides of the call, he thought we cancelled the appointment and only cared about if he would be at Church on Sunday. He was very offended and has decided that he is never coming to Church again and that he doesn't want the lessons anymore. We are really sorry that it happened and are going to bring him by an apology cake this week.

But on the good side, my family from Graz came to Haag this week and we had a family lunch! They brought Sister Lex with them and it was super cool to see everyone and have lunch. It was weird to have it all in German but way fun! I'm super grateful that they came by and it really motivated me to work on my German and for the rest of the week so far.

So yah, its been a long and busy week, but a great one! More good news, THE GREEK MISSIONARIES HAVE BEEN IN THE FIELD A WEEK NOW! Good luck guys, you'll do great!

I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you all!! Bis Später!!

Elder Wi(e)ser   

me and a couple from my ward​

Family Reunion Fun

Culinary Geniuses

Me and Elder Mendenhall's culinary genius (actually tasted okay but it looks like poop)

Hey guys.

Its been a good week and I had lots of fun. I went to Saltzburg on an Exchange and did my first solo contact!! Turned out to be mostly all in English, but that's okay! I also got a cold from being in the rain so long, but I am over it now which is good. My exchange was with a missionary named Elder Litta from Germany. Shout out to Elder Cziesla and Elder Roffler, he says hi!

I don't have a lot of time this week, but I hope that you are all doing well. The mission has taught me a lot and I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to be here. There is a song that I have listened to a lot this week called Mountains to Climb by Erin Thomas. Heavenly Father is always there for us and he wants us to become the best people we can be. Sometimes it is hard to see that light, but when we endure with faith, we can find it. Heavenly Father knows each of you personally and he will never give you anything you can't take. Be strong and have faith. Put the Lord first and everything will work out okay in the end. I know this to be true.

I love you guys, thanks for all of the support! Your amazing!

Me and Elder Litta

Saltzburg - overnight difference

Us and Günter 

A rainbow in Linz 

A weird car we found

A beautiful evening sky in Haag