Germany

July 18, 2017

Well I am in Germany now in a city called Ingolstadt. There is a nice city center with a lot of foot traffic. We have bikes here and that is taking some getting used to after being in a car area for a while. My Companion is Elder Swenson and he is from Provo, Utah. 

Transfer day was a bit fun. The travel plan from the office took us to the wrong station where we needed to change trains. So I missed my scheduled train to München with the other missionaries going there. I had to ride to München by myself. 

On Saturday, there was a wedding that we were invited to for a couple in the ward here. It was held at the church (which is in an office building). I took a couple of pictures.

That's it for this week,

  Elder Gavin Damron

P.S. Attending Weddings are for Show Offs.

Goodbye Haag

July 11, 2017

This last week was transfer calls and I am going to Ingolstadt in Germany. We also had Zone Conference with the new Mission President. 

On Thursday, due to how early we had to be in Salzburg, we stayed in Neumarkt with the Elders there. Neumarkt is the area just south of ours. They are fun couple of Elders and their area is pretty rural just like ours. On Friday was when Zone conference and interviews were with the new Mission president. After Zone conference, we stayed in Salzburg for the rest of the day. We did some finding and it was my first experience Street finding on the mission (Street Finding is not an effective use of time here in Haag because there aren't cities that are too big here where a lot of people are usually located). It was fun and we got a Waffle Iron from the Zone Leaders Appt. 

That is really about it, Tomorrow I go off to Ingolstadt and begin anew there.

Till next week,

       

        Elder Gavin Damron

P.S. Austria is for show offs.

AMERICA!!!

July 4, 2017

Happy 4th of July to everyone out there and just remember, on this day in 1776 a group of Americans said "Screw the English". Sadly they don't celebrate the Liberation of the greatest country ever here so no big celebrations here. 

This past week not too much happened but there was some stuff that did.

The new Mission President came in on Friday and I haven't met him yet but I will later on this week. My bag also broke and it is no longer usable but I got a new bag to replace it so everything is all good in the hood. 

On Saturday, The Youth here in the Branch held a Bistro to collect money through donations. They had an assortment of good food and they played some videos that they made. We some less actives come as well as some Seniors Missionaries. 

So on Sunday we got an Investigator with a Baptismal date. His name is Barbod, he from Iran and we can only really teach him on Sundays because his Hausmeister is really rude and does not like religion. But we still got him on date and now we just need to meet with our other Investigator so we can get him baptized.

There are 2 things that missionaries in this mission love, it is Snitzel and Dönners. This Thursday, we plan on getting a Dönner Grill which should be fun and we can start making our own Dönners which if you don't know what that is, look it up. 

That is all for this week.

     Happy Independence Day,

                  Elder Gavin Damron

P.S. The English are for Show-offs

Last Zone Conference With PK

June 20, 2017

This week was a bit less eventful than last week but nonetheless stuff was still done. Some more service and the last Zone Conference with President and Sister Kohler. 

This last we had austausch (exchange) and I went to Linz while Elder Price stayed in Haag. While in Linz we had lunch with a member there at a Chinese buffet and it was really good. While we were at the buffet, Elder Mühlestein (one of the Elders in Linz) got a call from the Wels Sisters and they said they needed 2 Arabic Book of Mormons, so we went to Wels. The Wels sisters got held up at an appointment so they were late getting to us and we missed our train back so we went finding in Wels for a bit and we found a really cool guy that seems interested to just learn more about our religion. The one word that I used to describe him was American because he was a lot more open to learn than most of the locals here. 

After tausch, Elder Price and I went to got help our Branch President and his wide with their garden. We pretty much just moved dirt from one place to another for several hours. It was fun though and they also fed us some really good food. 

On Saturday we had Zone Conference with the Kohlers for the last time. Sister Kohler started crying at the beginning of the meeting when we were doing our aufsagend (reciting, this is when we recite our Missionary Purpose, 3 Nephi 5:13, and LuB 4[D&C 4]) Both of Kohlers told me that it was time for a hair cut which I still have not gotten yet but will this week. President Kohler gave all the missionaries a flash drive with a lot of stuff on it and has the mission logo it (Picture included) and a glass Obelisk also with the mission logo on it (Picture not included). I then got a picture with the Kohlers as well as other people that were in MTC group that are also in Austria. The Sisters in our District, however, could not make it to Zone Conference. Sister Church, one of our sisters obviously, was, and still is, sick not really sure what is wrong with her but it seems pretty bad. The Kohlers did go to visit them though so they got see them one last time before they left. 

That was it for this week do people still read these or not, if not than I should probably take people off the email list so if you are reading this and still have desire to get emails from me go ahead and reply just saying hey you are a cool dude and your emails are pretty bomb. 

Bis Nächste Mal,

       Elder Gavin Damron

P.S. Tausch is for show offs.

P.P.S.pictures are the Kohlers and I, people in the MTC that I met and one of the 2 gifts we got

Eventful Week

Sorry for the time in between postings.  I will be updating this soon.  Here is this past weeks email from Gavin
-Kit Damron

June 13th, 2017

So this last week we did a lot of traveling and service. Monday through Saturday (excluding a couple days). Also Sorry for lack of pictures and a letter last week. 

On Monday we had district meeting but right after that the Wels Sisters needed help with a move in their area so we went to go help them with that for the rest of the day. A family was moving all of their stuff from an older part of their home to the new part that they have been building. There was a lot to do and we did most of it save for a few larger things.

On Wednesday we went back to the same house in Wels to help move some large shelves. We had about 2 hours to move 2 shelves up to the top floor and we managed to do it in time before we had to leave to make it to an eating appointment at 13.00. We had 2 eating appointments this day so we didn't really need to make anything for ourselves which is always good especially since we barely had enough this last week.

On Thursday we went to the Ausobsky's and while we are there we help them with their Garden and this last week we got to burn stuff, with Gasoline. They always feed us really good food as well. 

On Saturday we helped an older member with their Groceries and they also fed us lunch as they do every week.

On Sunday we had an investigator who we thought we wouldn't see again show up to church and another person who recently came back from an exchange year in America and investigated the church and wants to join so we are trying to get in contact with him to set up an appointment with him.

That was pretty much this last week and this upcoming week we have more service opportunities as well as Zone Conference.

In loving memory,

          Elder Gavin Damron

P.S. Gas Fires are for Show Offs

P.S.S. I'm doing fine and the language is tough but it is coming along.

Being Trained by Catholic Priests

This week was the last full week of the transfer. Time seems to be going by so fast. A few things happened this week that are noteworthy. These include Zone Training, getting back in contact with investigators and being trained by Catholic Priests. Elder Summers is also going back home this week back to Oklahoma. I'm going to miss him but the new change is going to be exciting.

On Tuesday we went to Salzburg for my first Zone Training. It was pretty good and I got some stuff for my tablet which is good. It was a really good first Zone Training. After zone training we went to a Döner shop Called Aganigi Naganigi, it was probably the best kebabs I have had. 

On Thursday we got in contact with some old investigators that are still interested which is really cool. It gives some stuff to do this week. On Friday we went to Schärding which is a city about 40 minutes away to go by on someone that just popped up on the ward records. We went there and she wasn't home. On the map ,when we were looking at it back home, we saw a Schloss. We decided to go check it out but found out that it wasn't really that cool so we just went back home. Pretty much going to Schärding was a bit of a waste of time. Later that day however, back in Ried, we found a Lady from  Slovakia that is interested and she speaks pretty good German as well.

Saturday we got transfer calls and I found that my next companion was one of Elder Summers' companions. His name is Elder Price and he seems pretty cool. Elder Summers and Elder Price were companions in Neuötine and one of the members of that branch is a Catholic Priest. One day he offered to ordain them as Catholic Priests and so they took that opportunity and now they are both Ordained Catholic Priests. So I am being trained by Catholic Priests. Later that day we went to Günter and Matilda's house for dinner and they took us to a Chinese restaurant by them. It was really good and when we went back they gave us some easter chocolate.

Sunday was Easter Sunday and we went the family Husz house. They are the ones that we helped move in at the beginning of the transfer. They moved from  Wien and they were one of the first members to feed Elder Summers when he was in Wien and now they are one of the last. They gave us some more Easter chocolate which was very nice of them. They are a really cool family.

One more thing to out in, next transfer, p-day will be on Tuesday so I won't be sending next week's email until next Tuesday

Well that's all for this week. I have some pictures this week but not too many.

Spät Frohe Ostern,

          Elder Gavin Damron 

P.S. Oklahoma is for show offs

(Pictures are the Easter load, easter at the Husz, and some ducks by Günter's house)

Well, We Helped Others Atleast

Not much really happened this week. We found out that for sure Emanuel got deported and the only other investigator that we have, Alex, keeps on falling through. 

Although, this last week, we went to Wels, another city in our district, to help them out with an open house there. They needed the help because the sisters there are sister training leaders and went to München for a leaders meeting. Not too many people showed up but the last day we were there, Elder Hammerstrom and I talked to a guy that I think was a local politician or the assistant to one. Needless to say, we had a good discussion with him and he left with a Das Buch Mormon and the sisters' phone number. He seems to be really interested and it seems as though the Wels sisters have a pretty solid investigator that has a lot of questions. That's really about it, not much happened this week. Sorry for lack of pictures this week.

        With Much Love,

                   Elder Gavin Damron 

P.S. Wels is for show offs

Dang Deportation

So this week was packed with stuff to do. We had a total of 3 eating appointments this week with 2 one day and everybody here makes really good food. We had to travel to Linz for General Conference this past week which was fun and a deportation occurred.

In Linz we played a German board game called the Legend of Andor. It is a really fun game but it's only in German so most people in America can't understand it. Also in Linz, we had a service project up in the mountains by Linz. We were helping a guy renovate his house and there is a nice view of the city of Linz. 

General Conference was this weekend and it is always a great privilege to listen to the prophet. I wasn't able to watch all of Conference because of time zone differences but I really liked Elder Bednar's talk in Priesthood Session. It talked about the difference between a mission call and an area assignment.

This past week we think our only investigator on a baptismal date got deported. We went by to his house and we found that his bed was stripped of sheets. It makes us sad but it happens.

Well that's about it for this week. Till next time.

Elder Gavin Damron 

P.S. Andor is for show offs 

Progress is Being Made

This week was really good. This week we had Tausch which is just exchanges so I was in Linz for a few days. Linz is the 3rd largest city in Austria behind Graz and obviously Wien. While I was there I got to meet some of the sisters in our district because Linz is both an Elders and Sisters area. Linz is pretty cool and I did some finding there. Nobody was interested but it was still a good experience. 

Saturday was zone conference for all of Austria. It was really good experience and I really enjoyed it. I got to see a lot of friends from the MTC and it was really good to catch up with them and talk about our experience so far. The lunch that was provided was really good, it was snitzel. It was great to have had a bit of a break for a day. On the way back home, we didn't know which train to take but we figured it out. Because we live in a Dorf, we had to change trains and so we got off at the stop we needed only to find out that we just missed the second train. This train only runs once an hour so we stuck at a Bahnhof for a solid hour. It was some good wholesome fun.

This we week we taught the Nigerians again. On Tausch, Elder Summers and Elder Hammerstrom, one of the Elders from Linz, were able to teach Emanuel and Emanuel said that he wanted to be baptized. So we went back on Sunday and set up a date for him to be baptized. We are trying to get him baptized before the end of the transfer so Elder Summers can at least see his baptism.

That's really about it this week. I am so thankful to have had this opertunity to serve my Lord and Savior with this work here is Austria. Till next week.

Getting Shredded,

      Elder Gavin Damron

P.S. Linz is for show-offs

Zone Conference reunion with MTC friends: Elder Pickard, Elder Larson, me, Sister Moffett, and Elder Richardson

 Big old tree

Walking a members dog as he just had both hip replaced

Countryside

First week in the Field

Lieber Freude,

This week I finally went to the field. I am currently in Haag, Österreich(Austria). Haag is the Austrian country side and there aren't too many families in here, there are a lot of old people though. 

My companion is Elder Summers and he comes from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He is really cool and he is going home at the end of this transfer. We have a few investigators, Alex (who I haven't met yet), Emanuel, Bishop, and Henry. The last 3 we teach all together because they live together. They are really cool and funny. They are all from Nigeria and speak English. I think that they might get baptized which is really cool. 

Alex, from what I have heard, has been taught all the lessons and really just needs to commit to baptism. My companion says that they have been trying to get him to go to church but he is too busy to go. Really, he just needs to come to church then we think that he will commit to baptism. 

We went over to a guy's place on Friday that another companionship found.  We go there and teach him about the Book of Mormon but he is fine with his church because it is good. He doesn't believe that there is a true church on the Earth today and he doesn't care if a church is true. He only cares if it is good. The only hope that we have from that lesson was that his girlfriend, who was present, got something out of the message. I now see why missionary work is so difficult for so many reasons. One of the reasons is you are sad when people just don't understand the importance of the Gospel after having it explained to them and having felt the spirit testify of the truthfulness of the gospel. 

On Wednesday, we helped a member move in and the house they moved into was the house where the first LDS meeting in Austria was held. It was really cool and I am glad that I got to see that.

So apparently where I currently am in Austria is really close to where Hitler was born. I live in Ried and Hitler was born in Braunau which is about a 20 minute drive. So that's cool I guess. 

Sorry for the lack of photos of Österreich diese Woche. Ich werde besser nächste Woche versuchen (Translation: Austria this week.  I'll try better next week). Just know that Austria is beautiful and very hilly. That's all for this week and if you want to send me letters, send them to 

Elder Damron 

Johann-Georg-Hartwagnerstraße 24/2

Österreich 

Ried im Innkries 4910

For packages, send to

Elder Damron

Lommelstrasse 7

Deutschland

D-81479 München

The reason for 2 different addresses is because packages won't fit in my apartment's mail box.

In loving memory,

       Elder Gavin Damron 

P.S. German's for show offs

Travel Notification from England MTC

This email is just to tell you about my journey to the field. I am excited to go. This email is approved by the Mission President. In fact he told us to send this out.

On Tuesday morning at 03.30 we will be leaving the MTC to go to the Manchester airport. Our flight leaves at around 05.30 to München. From there we will be picked up and taken to the mission home and do orientation stuff for the field. We will get our first area and our trainer. And that's about all I know so far. I will email again eventually.

Final Week in the MTC

So this is the final week in the MTC. I am excited to get out to the field and start the work. It is pretty bitter sweet because the teachers are really cool and the Greeks are really cool, too. The Greeks still have 3 more weeks after we leave. This next week will be filled with more lessons and review of the grammar. This past week some funny things happened with lessons and just because we are a goofy bunch of 20 year olds.

So this past week we have been sitting with the teachers during lunch just to annoy Brother Robertson as well as the other teachers. Mainly brother Robertson though. We've been wanting to get to know what he does in his free time but he won't tell us. I don't know why we want to find that out about him but Elder Richardson does. 

Yesterday, almost all of the elders in my district took a picture together with our ties out of our sweaters. We do some weird stuff every now and again. Yesterday, as well, we taught a person named Rumi. Rumi is played by brother Murray and it's supposed to be an African from Uganda. The meeting was quite funny as he would say at different points in the lesson "Preach brother preach!" and "that's the truth my friend, that's the truth!" in English. When we said the prayer, he would put his arms up and while we were saying prayer and would say "preach!" Most of the people would crack up during lesson out loud. Elder Pickard and I chuckled a bit but we held it in pretty well until we left the room. We were told that we were the best behaved out of the district.

Ever since we have gotten to the MTC we have been trying to make long range baskets in the gym with a basketball. Elder Goodwin finally did it and we got on video.

Elder Bennion during meals, has been stuffing food in his mouth, like an entire pastry in his mouth. I don't why he does this but I do it as well and there are pictures of him doing, but not of me.

Elder Pickard shared with us a short story that his Mom told him. I really like so I thought I would share it with you. When I heard it I felt the spirit so strongly and it just proves to me the truthfulness of this Gospel. I am out here to serve the Lord with all my might and strength. I know that this church is true and I have a desire to share it with others around the world so they have the opportunity to feel the joy that I get from this Gospel. I don't care what others say about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it's true and no one can tell me otherwise. I just implore others to give it a try see what I know to be true.

Next week I will be somewhere between Germany, Austria, or Switzerland serving the Lord speaking broken German but loving it every step of the way. I am leaving German incredibly fast and I know that the progress I have made in the language is not just by myself. The Lord blesses his missionaries and the Gift of Tongues is something that I have been blessed with. No human being can come as far as we have in this language in 6 weeks without the help of a supreme being. It is incredible and a major testimony builder.

If you want to send me anything by mail

Alpenländische Mission

Lommelstrasse 7

D-81479 München

Till next week from the field

Mit Liebe,

         Elder Gavin Damron