2nd week on the mission (2010/01/20)

Today is the second P-Day in the MTC.



There are so many missionaries here, I think they grow them on the trees :-)



As we are not allowed to surf the internet (which is a clever thing, since we really do not have much time; surfing would further reduce our time, so thank you, no internet), my Dad's posting this for me.

The last days were not too easy for me (I finally realized that 2 years are a bit longer than I imagined:-), and I really miss my friends, my family, and my Debby).

Today we were in the temple for half the day. Finally! The last time I was there was in September. Next week we will also have half a day in the temple. I'm really looking forward to it.



And now the future seems brighter again a little bit (to be honest: very much brighter). I have prayed a lot, and I felt that the LORD Jesus Christ really wants me to be on this mission. He wants to save people and to bring them to His Church through me. 2 years is a long time, but with the LORD's help I know I can make it. As the LORD promised in 1Nephi 3:7 in the Book of Mormon (If you don't have one, send me an eMail to david@elderkrywult.info, and I will see to it that you get one), he will prepare a way, so that I can make it, and the LORD will bless me and my family (both my current and my future family) because I was on a mission.

I really know that I'm doing the right thing by being on this mission, even if (and when) I have to face difficulties now and then. Yet I still know that my decision to go was correct.

I know the Church is true.

Next week I will use my P-4-hours to go to the mission field in Birminham by train.

Greetings from the High North

First P-Day at the MTC (2010/01/13)

Hi all!

I'm here at the MTC (=Missionary Training Centre) where I am to learn all that I need as a missionary.

In general, it's ok here (a bit strange, though, because, really, this is not Austria, it's England. Surprise, surprise! Strange power plugs, strange currency, strange language, strange food, and people drive on the wrong side of the street).

There are many rules here, and we have to learn a lot, but aside from that, it's really good. I don't have much time for writing (90 minutes per week), so please don't be mad at me for not writing a lot or even late.

P-Day is Preparation Day. Our one day off in the week. Time to wash our clothes, clean our room and write eMails. In the MTC, our P-Days are short: We call it "P-4-hours".

On the mission, we are always in pairs, two and two. My companion for the time in the MTC is Elder Bore. No, that's his name, not how he is. He really is a nice guy. That's him:



A grrrreeeat time for you all!

I'm leaving on a Jet plane (2010/01/08)

Time to say good-bye!

Today at 10:00 a.m., the whole family, including Tim and Debby, went to Vienna International Airport (VIE). I was to fly to London Heathrow airport, and from there to Manchester, where I would meet some elders who would bring me to the MTC in Preston.

When we reached the airport, Dad got a call from Frankfurt. He was told that British Airways had cancelled all flights from Heathrow to locations in the UK for that day due to heavy snowfall.

So it was not clear how I should go on, and it was even considered that I would not fly today.

So we went to the BA counter, and they told us that I would have to go Gatwick by transfer bus and then fly to Manchester, or, if that was not possible, I would have to take a train.

All is well. ;-)

So I stood there at the check-in, with tons of people in front of me.


Here you can see the queue, and my family is standing at its rear end. You can see Sophie reading a book on the left, for instance.

We stood there and waited, and then a friendly BA employee came directly to us and had us check-in at the self-check-in counter. We were ready to go.

We talked and cried, and laughed and talked and cried some more. For two years I would not see them again, I would not chat with them, and I would only have two phone calls a year: For Christmas and for Mother's Day. I will not hear their voices, not be able to talk with them, no chance to pick a nice fight with my sisters, no contact with my fiancee. It is a sacrifice.

A last foto that Dad took of our family:



Kisses from my sisters:



Two people, four red eyes (Debby and me):


And a last good-bye:


And off I went.

I arrived in Preston at 11:30 p.m.

Setting apart as a fulltime missionary (2010/01/07)

Today we went to Culinarium as a family (that is: Mom, Dad, Laura, Sophie, Lorenz, Tim = Laura's sweetheart, and Debby = my love). This asian restaurant is special in that you go to the buffet, take all the ingredients you want and give it to the cook, who cooks it before your eyes. It's also all-you-can-eat.

Afterwards we went to the stake house, and before you start wondering, why we went to a steak house after having been to an all-you-can-eat asian restaurant, please click that link so that you know what I'm talking about, we dressed up in our good suits, and then the stake president, Viktor Wadosch, started the meeting. We had an invocation, though I don't remember who prayed, then my dear Debby spoke, and then my Dad.

Afterwards, President Wadosch, Bishop Wondra and my Dad lay their hands upon my head and set me apart as a fulltime missionary of the Church. From now on, mission rules apply.

On the picture below you can see Debby and me before I was set apart.

A Dance and A Farewell (2010/01/05)

Years ago, we used to have farewell parties for missionaries days before they left home. This practice was discontinued long ago.

Nevertheless, as I am the first missionary from our ward (i.e. parish for non-Mormons) since Robert Degasperi went on his mission (which was at least 5 years ago), we thought of a way to commemorate the occasion.

As a Young Single Adults (that's how we call the group of 18 to 30 singles) representative of our ward and an enthusiastic dancer, I organized a dance. We started with a short show program. The bishopric had a short sketch about mission, then the bishop added a few words.

The Young Women and Young Men (age group 12 to 18) also had a longer sketch about mission in the distant future, when cloning and remote controlling a clone on a mission would wreak havoc, and then my Dad talked about mission preparations, and he even sang a Cymraeg lullaby that he learnt when he was in the Vienna Boys Choir.

After the buffet, the dancing began in earnest. At 11 p.m. we started taking down the decoration and cleaning up.

Thank you all for that great evening. Not only young members from the whole Vienna area came, but also members from Graz (about 140 miles distance)! I guess we had about 70 attendants. Great dance, great fun.

Elder Krywult - The Beginning

United Kingdom, the final frontier.

These are the voyages of Elder David A. Krywult.

His continuing mission is to explore a strange country, to seek out and teach people who want to know more about Jesus Christ and His Gospel, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

I‘m Elder David Aaron Krywult, and I was called on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to the England Birmingham Mission to teach those who are willing to hear about our LORD Jesus Christ fulltime.

My journey started on January 8th 2010 and will last 24 months.

On this blog, I will tell you about me, my Savior Jesus Christ and whatever happens on my mission.

Enjoy the ride, and write me an eMail, if you want.

Elder Krywult