Hello from Paradise!

Well I am now in Austria, it's unreal. Its gorgeous beyond description, I have some pictures, but they do it a horrible injustice. Its so green! And then there is the Swiss, and Austrian Alps! I have never seen anything like it in my life. I will attach a few pictures. Lake Constance was awesome too! On our way here, we stopped in Lindau, which is on an island in Lake Constance. It was a very scenic train ride, my camera was dead ( maybe it's because he took so many pictures of cars and animals!! :)   )so I don't have any pictures sadly. But yeah, I arrived safely and am enjoying Austria! The dialect is... well Its been a bit of a transition. The dialect has two names, Vorarlbergerisch or Gsibergerisch. The second name comes from their word "gsi" instead of the High German word "gewesen". I am beginning to pick up on it. I find it rather interesting, that the verb "sehen" ( which means "to see") seems to have a different word in every dialect, sehen and schauen are both High German, but depending on where you are in Northern Germany will determine on which one is used more. In Schwäbish the word is "gucken" (pronounced something like "goocken"). And in Gsibergerisch, however, the word is luacken. On an funny side note, I just noticed how "Gsibergerisch" almost resembles the word "gibberish", which wouldn't be a half bad way to describe the way it sounds ;-) 

Oh man, there is so much to talk about... First off something cool, for those out there who have seen or know of, Baptists at our Barbeque, Errand of Angels, One good Man, The Letter Writer, and Joseph Smith and the Golden Plates. Well, the man who made them is in my ward, he lives across the street actually. Talk about a small world, I would have never thought that of all places, Dornbirn Austria is where I would find him. The ward here is incredibly small! There were probably no more than 60 people that came to church yesterday! Very very small. The Ward mission leader is from Great Britain. And let me tell you, he is VERY British. We talk with him in English and he has a very noticeable British accent. ( On a side note, I find it funny that I go from having an Australian companion to have an British GML). Christian Vuissa ( the Director of the films stated above) is making a new movie in Austria that will show on KBYU in November, anyway he has a friend here from america who is helping edit the film. Trevor is his name, and he doesn't speak German, so I got my first shot at translating Sacrament meeting yesterday... That was a bit of a challenge, but as I started to get the hang of it, it was kind of fun. The first talk was hard, because it had a strong dialect influence ( church is in High German, but some people still speak with heavy accents) so I wasn't able to translate very much of the first talk. But then the High Councilor got up and spoke in very clear high German, which is when I was able to translate almost word for word. Very cool. :-) 

As far as missionary work goes, well its going to be rough. We have 0 investigators. Which I thought was just because of lazy missionaries. But after 12 or so hours of non stop dooring and and street contacting. I have changed my mind. Nearly everyone here is either Catholic, or Turkish. If they are catholic, they just say " I have my faith and I am going to stay with it" word for word. If they are turkish, then either a) they can't understand us; or b) even if they do, their Muslim. Which we have to get permission before we can actually teach them. But so far not many people have much interest. Its going to take a lot of work to find people here, but I know the Lord will help us find those who are ready and willing to accept the Gospel.

I get to go to Winterthur ( in Switzerland) twice this week! We have an exchange with the Zone Leaders, and I will be traveling. And due to the cost and the time, the Area Presidency has authorized us to travel alone on exchanges. It would cost twice as much money and take more time to meet somewhere and exchange. So I will get to try and Navigate to Winterthur on my own. I change trains 4 times... taking a total of 2 hours to get there. But I know where to get off and change trains, so I am not very nervous about it. That will happen on Wednesday, then on Saturday, Elder Esplin and I will go to Winterthur again for a District leader conference. And then next P-day, we will probably go to Liechtenstein, so that I can say that I have been there ( If I am going to be this close, I have to go visit ;-) ). Only 3 months into my mission and I will have already visited 4 countries! 

Dornbirn is a really quite place, compared to Esslingen, which was more of a downtown Salt lake feel, Dornbirn has a more rural aura about it. Large fields, open areas, less crowded housing and its just peaceful. For that reason I really am liking the city. Leaving Esslingen, came rather abruptly, we had a ton of eating appointments, and then went and stopped by on a few people, and I left. I miss quite a few people in the ward, and the investigators. But I look forward to making new friendships with members and investigators here. 

Did I mention anything about my German Visa? Well they are getting really strict about the residency permit laws, and because I was going to Austria, well, they destroyed my visa... and Elder Bullock, the only other person in the Zone that was being transferred, they took his visa and destroyed it as well. So now its time to get an Austrian Visa... hopefully it goes a bit easier than getting a German one. 

I think that is all that I have to mention, I am really enjoying Austria and the area. Its going to take a lot of work here, but I am up to the challenge! :-) 

By the way the first picture I sent was of the field that is write across the street from our apartment, and the second is from the Balcony at the GML's Appartment. The Mountains that are on the right side are in Switzerland, and the mountains that you can barely see to the left ( not the green hill but the snow-capped mountains just behind the hill)  are in Liechtenstein. That is how close the border is! 

Things are going well, I hope all is well at home, Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ryan K. Christensen.