Monday, March 31, 2014

Part of a Short Letter From Jake To Lydia… (EP)


 This is a letter to Lydia that Jake sent…I'm just including a few parts of it, since he didn't write a general letter to the family on March 31 and I wanted to keep the personal stuff personal : ).  It's so fun to see what good friends these two are--what a gift to have children like these (still wonder how they turned out so good!).  In the letter you'll realize that Choir Tour ended up being over General Conference weekend--which doesn't happen very often if ever--hence the mentioning of watching or listening to Conference while on tour.
Dear Lydia,

What? It is time for choir tour already?? What the? When did that happen? I literally got this intense surge of excitement when I thought about going on Choir Tour. "its like rising up, this is so exciting". Complete with a flash back of photos from choir tour. Whew, what a rush.

Yes! Watch conference! Trend setter! Of course as long as it is in a situation that it is appropriate. Sunday-Clothes attitude. 

Haha General Conference. Wilcock will be getting a lot of harassment for that one.  

KENNY!!! Holy cow tell that kid that I love him! No, that isn't enough. Everyone loves Kenny. Tell him...  Congratulations my man! Honestly Kenny is one of the greatest people I've ever known. I wish I knew him better. 

Thank you for the mission call update! It is crazy to think that the next wave is coming out soon! It doesn't feel like it was too long ago that I was introducing you to the cafeteria on your first day as a sophmore... even though I always thought you were a junior anyway. 

…(Talk, talk, talk about the miracles in our lives…then Jake answers Lydia)..
I like the way you see it. The Lord makes so many miracles happen that we don't even see. It is like a talk that John Bytheway gave. In it he asked "How many times have you said the closing prayer and asked to go home safely, and you actually got home safely?" And that is something that we actually ask for. There are tons of things that we don't even think to ask about that he just gives us. 

We are just little tykes in his eyes and there is a lot that we don't know. The Lord provides.

Love,

Elder Jake Packer 

Germany Here I Come! (SP)

Weeeeeeelp did not see it coming but I'm being transferred!  President is taking sisters out of this ward for now.  I'm heading to Lahr, Germany to work with Sister Brinck and Sister Friedrichs will be in a threesome with the Vienna 1st ward sisters we currently live with until she heads for the New Zealand MTC on April 8th.  Sister Brinck was in the MTC with me and is way awesome!  I'm excited to work with her.  Lahr is cleeeeaaar over by the borders of Switzerland and France clear across the mission.  Some of our missionaries serving in Switzerland are in my district!  I'll get to see some Swiss Alps!!  WOOT!  Ha... aHEM... AND the missoinaries... :).  The ward was really surprised and really sad to hear the news.  SUPER SAD.  I've never been so attached to a ward and so sad to go.  Hahaha I'll probably say that about every ward and area.  But REALLY.  I never thought the Philipino, African, American, Nepali, Chinese...etc cultures would grow so deep into my heart.  I just, ah mee - ahn I just love em!

Well!  The Work moves forward!  I'm excited to be back in Germany.  They have quark there :) :) :).....  It's kind of like a mixture between sour cream and yogurt and SO GOOD.  They mix it with a little sugar, some fruit and HOLY COW.  Mom, you would DIE.  The cream and yogurt AND whipped cream are TO DIE FOR here.  I haven't said much about food here.  Maybe I should give a preview real quick. 

Milk, chocolate, cheese, sour cream, ANYTHING dairy is THE BEST THING I'VE EVER EATEN.  It just melts like a heavenly.  Schnitzel IS good, but really thick in my system and so I only eat it every once in a while :).  I love knoodls which are a jelly, cream, chocolate or meat filled ball of dough that is boiled and SOOOO GOOD.  Traum shakes are THE BOMB (milk shakes in flavors of vanilla, chocolate nugat, strawberry, white chocolate coconut, apple cobbler, and regular chocolate hazelnut.  Almdudler is a soda made I think from a herb plant and was weird at first but has grown on me :).  The bakeries I'm sorry America, but they KILL everything in the states.  And there's one on every corner :).  Vanilla filled croissants are my fav :).  Again, mom, I think of you often as I eat pudding and anything creamy :).

Dad, Abraham, I hope is doing ok.  He was kicked out of his sister's apartment and has no phone.  We have no contact with him and have no idea where he is.  If ya'll could send prayers his way that would be great.  I know he's in the Lord's hands and there's nothing we can at this time do, but pray.  We started teaching another girl named Suvdmaa from Mongolia.  Oh ya!!  JOSH.  I am helping a Mongolian girl convert.  You did not do that project for nothing.  I thought of you and met a guy the other day from Armenia as well.  He was telling us about the food there and he was WAY excited and said, ''ya, just ask your brother.  It's the best food you'd ever eat.'' (paraphrased)  He also said that Armenian was THE HARDEST language out there to learn even more so than Finnish or Russian.  I'm not sure if that's totally true, BUT you did learn an intense language.  Kudos to you :). 

I'm gonna miss this little German I've trained.  When we first started working together, I thought of you mom and your friends you've kept for years.  It FELT like that right from the beginning.  We die laughing about something every day.  One of my favorite moments was, and I share this with her permission, she learned the saying from the elders, ''we digress.''  We do that a lot.  One day we are indeed digressing during studies and she says, ''we degrease.''  LOST it.  I couldn't even talk to tell her what she'd really said.  So is life with a hilarious German companion.  She also named a spider that came into our apartment Heribert and with love threw him out the window saying ''Lauf!'' which is ''run'' in English.  I think she meant ''fly!''  TOO funny.  AND get this, yesterday a good friend of hers shows up to our ward!  They get talking and her friend tells her she has an American accent in her German.  Yo welcome :).

Dad and Mom, I used my ATM card for THE FIRST time.  Duh moment.  I took out 30 euros so if that shows up DON'T panic.  I have not received my card yet; not sure when of if you've sent it, but just so you know.  I'm a new woman for keeping track.  I'll keep it safe and use it wisely as a 21 year old can.  Dad HOLY COW that's crazy you know Elder Teixeira.  He has been to our mission, but it was right before I got here.  I've heard TONS about him.  I'll say hi if I ever meet him.

Love you all!  Let me know on my card.  Thanks Lid for the email!  I'll answer you next week!

Love,
Sister Packer   

Monday, March 24, 2014

Week #? (EP)

Dear Family and Friends,

I don't really know how long I've been out, but I don't want to. I just want to work hard and live in the moment. 

Making the most of every moment is so much better than worrying about the next day or the next few hours. If every moment is like building a foundation for the next one, I want to make each moment awesome! It could be applied to each day or each week as well.

First of all, thank you all for your emails! I feel so loved! I haven't been able to respond to all of them this week but don't worry, I'll respond next week!

This week has been really fast, but hasn't seemed to yield to much fruit. Though our numbers aren't the most important thing in the work, we do need to get them higher. I'm getting stoked for this week! We have a lot of appointments coming up and Elder Jones is going to do a lot of teaching! Of course I will be teaching as well, it is just that he hasn't had much of an opportunity to teach so far.

What else happened... We got haircuts since last week. Elder Jones is too tall so he hits his head on the light fixture in the hallway of our flat, haha I try not to laugh but you wouldn't think that it would keep on happening:) Elder Jones and I have some good times. He is crazy in a good way! That silent/exhausted Elder that I met on day one has really morphed into a whole new Elder. He's come out of his shell and he is ready to baptize the nations and have fun doing it. 

Advice: have specific topics when you study. I've picked a specific topic to study in the scriptures almost each day this week and it is so fulfilling! I feel like I'm learning things instead of reviewing them. Do the "scripture study" boxes in Preach my Gospel. Go through the scriptures, write the reference and write one line of what it says in your own words. Then, at the end write two lines about what you learned about the topic. 

If you are the same as me, you will constantly be saying "Oh that's where that scripture is!". I feel like I'm re-learning these things. It is great because I'm going to continually help people learn them. I may as well re-learn it every time so that I can relate to their experience.

Love, 
Elder Jacob Packer

here is a picture, kind of a flash back into two transfers ago.


Miracles and Promises (SP)

We met a miracle man this week.  His name is Abraham and honestly DID NOT think he would call us back.  He had some interesting ideas about the meaning of life.  We gave him a card and invited him to church and to call us on Saturday if he wanted to come.  He called.  Saturday was crazy and we never called him back.  We went early to the church Sunday morning and he called during the rehearsal.  (By the way, mom, I've not sung in a choir for EEEVVER.  It felt SO good.  I thought about all the training I've had in music and leading.  Our wonderful little members are doing their best and singing their hearts out.  I love it.)  I stepped away and gave him half of the directions on how to get here and then waited for him to call us back for the rest of the instructions.  He never called.  His number was an unknown number in our call list.  At the end of the Relief Society meeting, the first hour of church, Csaba (chabah) in our ward pokes his head in and tells Sister Friedrichs and I to come out.  Abraham was sitting there.  Holy cow if that's not Heaven sent, I don't know what is.  He'd called us from a pay phone and even though he's lived here not even a month, speaking NO German, FOUND the church on his own with aweful directions.  His heart is gold.  Csaba bore a powerful testimony about meeting a man on his mission that accepted the gospel and three weeks after being baptized passed away.  Struggling to control his emotions which I've never seen him have at church, bore his testimony about how he knew he needed to find that man.  That man couldn't bear dying without being clean as he would stand before his maker.  The Spirit in that room was one of the most powerful I've ever felt on my mission.  I know I met Abraham, this lost little soul, to help him for the first time, come to know who Jesus Christ is.  I know I promised him I'd find him.  I can hardly write these words without holding back the emotions.  As Csaba asked us, i9s it not a sin to get those promptings to talk with someone, to help someone and not do it?  Is it not a sin to have all the abilities to share with others the message of the Restoration of the Gospel and not do it?  Are we not all entitled and in debt to our Lord and obligated to share that message which in so many instances saved us from the aweful feelings that grief, pain, and dissappointment bring?  If you are reading this and are thinking aobut serving a mission, let me tell you, not as Nicole Packer, but as a servant and representative of Jesus Christ our Lord, as if He Himself were speaking that it IS your responsibility.  It is your duty.  If you can walk, breath, talk, and know that Jesus is the Christ and that this church is His, you are responsible to share that with the people of this world.  Is it your duty.  Think of the times you were able to pray and received peace.  Those weren't just nice little lottery prizes.  Those were heaven sent.  They were without price and free.  So much more is it our duty to share that with others. 

I know this is the work of the Lord.  We are NOT here just for ourselves.  If we're stuck in that rut, get out.  Get out and forget ourselves.  We are not the only human on this planet.  We are not the only children of a Loving Heavenly Father.  I know that if we love the Lord, we will recognize this.  I know that truly loving the Lord would be to serve him in the way He's asked us to.  It's not a full time mission for everyone, but it is the work of Him who Gave you the clothes you're wearing, the shoes on your feet and the peace in your heart.  How are we giving that back to him?  

I leave my testimony that this work and life is not our own.  We will stand before the Lord one day and tell Him if we did or did not do our visiting teaching or home teaching, whether we helped that person we saw and felt we should, whether we did or did not go on a mission when we knew we were able.  We will remember those times.  And we will account for them.  I leave my testimony and admonish all those along with myself to with greater fervor think on these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, Amen. 

Monday, March 17, 2014

Cwmbran is dry! (EP)

There hasn't been rain for like 4 days... The second coming? No, just good weather. It has been incredible! I do get kind of passionate when I talk about the weather. Probably because it is the best conversation starter here in Wales. People love talking about the weather. 

Elder Jones is a beast. WE've found some new investigators and we've got a lot of lessons planned for this next week.

Elder Teixeira (if that is how it is spelled) came to Zone Conference. He is the Europe Area president. It was awesome to hear him. I was very focused. He is such a funny guy! Dad, apparently he knows you(?). Sister Teixiera said that I looked like you. We've got some great tools to find new investigators. He let us know about some that have been there the whole time, we just weren't aware of them. This mission is going to go up to the next level. 

Other than that... I'm good, we're eating well. We did some service for a few hours and I was weeding. Good old weeding. It wasn't bad, I was thinking deep thoughts. Mom, thanks for teaching me how to weed. 

Oh and this random guy stopped us in the street and gave us some chocolate bars. WHAT THE? 

The guy just called out to us from behind "Excuse me gents." he was walking quickly to catch up to us. "Yeah?" I said, expecting some sort of bashing question or something. As he was making the last steps to us he ask "You LDS?". "Yes" we replied. He reached out and handed Elder Jones the candy and said "Enjoy". and Then he walked away. We thanked him as he walked away quickly. I have no idea who that guy was.

Greenie Faith? I have no idea how that would apply, but maybe that is the reason. I just hope Elder Jones doesn't expect that to happen all the time. The Chocolate was really good though:) 

Well, time to sign off. I love you all! 
Christian, Josh, Dad, Nicole, I'm still looking for advice on being a trainer. Or at least let me know if you were ever a trainer on your missions. 

-Elder Packer

Would you take naps at Disneyland? (SP)

Family,

This work continues to amaze me.  Every day I think, I have not done one hundredth part of missionary work here in Europe as the Lord has done on me.  I can hardly express the gratitude I felt this week looking at the person I've become.  I am definitely not the same Coco as when I first came out!   

It was super windy this week.  SO WINDY.  We were talking to an older gentleman and, besides his very thick Vienerish accent, the wind was going craaazy.  I couldn't understand everything, but he asked if we could pray for him.  We said we would.  

Sister Friedrichs are just chugging away with English and German.  We had two English speaking days to give her a chance to practice.  She's getting better!    

Sometimes when we accomplish something, we deserve to tell ourselves we did a good job.  I'm working at working out more consistently and to celebrate, ate 2 oreos in my cereal for breakfast. 

This week we learned something at Zone Training that I thought was cool!  Two Elders taught us a principle and used an analogy.  I would like to use this same one.  First, think about your favorite amusement park.  Disneyland, Six Flags, California Adventures, Disney World...etc?  When you'd go to Disneyland, like my family did, what was your favorite ride?  Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, the Screamer?  Did you use fast passes like we did?  How do you plan as a family to go through the whole park?  I know we wanted to use the time we had in the park the best we could because it could be another year or two before you'd go back.  Think now to how you act in an amusement park.  Would you take naps at Disneyland?  Is that a question??  Would you walk slowly just gazing off into the distance wishing the day would go faster?  Would you take time to ride on one ride that was the busiest when you could ride three in the same time?  You'd plan it out right?  You'd scope it, fix it, alter it.  Or else wish you had after the trip :).  

Now, think about your life as an amusement park.  How do we treat our privilege of living our lives?  How do we treat the privilege of being a mom?  A dad?  A grandma?  A grandpa?  A sister?  A brother?  How do we treat our lives after serving a as a missionary?  How do we treat our lives while being a citizen of the United States?  A free citizen?  An English speaker?  How do we treat our lives as being a free receptor to revelation?  To being a member of the church?  How to we treat the privelge of being able to actively partake of the Sacrament?  Of being a witness to the change that takes place through through this sacred ordinance?  Through the miraculous power of the Atonement?  I learned a new perspective this week.  If I, as a missionary, lived in the city of Vienna, Austria (THE Vienna of Austria), how would I treat that differently if I understood what that meant, where I served, what I do?  How would I treat my time here differently if I treated it with the same enthusiasm I would in a theme park?  Would I count the time?  Heck no!  I savor every moment!  I'd plan my guts out to see every member in the ward, get to know them, serve them, love them.  I'd see that the work here is the same work as every other mission just in a different setting.  I'd see that every mistake made is an opportunity to learn!  I'd see that every companion, missionary was here for me to teach me and bless me!  I'd know all this because of one thing Because of one thing:  The Atonement of Christ works!  I want to simply bear my testimony about the Atonement and of the Love of our Savior and God.  They LOVE us.  They always will and listen to every prayer.  I realized that sometimes I forget that their will IS the happiest way to go.  I learned again that what I do shows that love I have for them.  I keep the commandments when I pray and truly give all those hard times to Him.  I'm so grateful for that.  I know He lives and comforts me when faint.  He lives to hear my soul's complaint.  He lives, my hungry soul to feed.  He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.  In His name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.



Love,
Sister Nicole Packer

Monday, March 10, 2014

I finally understand most humor in German!

Family and Friendlies!

I know I haven't written an official letter in a couple weeks.  I'm working to be better at it.  

I'm still here in Vienna and am working, if I haven't explained already, with a visa waiter Sister Friedrichs from north Germany in Lübeck.  She is here for a total of 6 weeks to learn all she can before getting shipped off to the New Zealand MTC and then on to the Australia Melbourne mission.  Crazy!  I LOVE HER TO PIECES.  She's a hoot and we laugh all the time.  She's helping me with my German and I with her English.  When we pray she prays in English and I in German to practice.  It's so much fun.  We speak in both languages almost every sentence.  It's helping a lot to flip back and forth.  I love ENGLISH.  I'm SO glad I know it.  It's helped me understand German SO much.  I LOVE German.  It's a beautiful language and I've learned so much about the English language just from studying German.  It's a beautiful blessing.  I finally understand most humor in German.  HUGE milestone.  I discovered my companion is hilarious :).

This week a miracle happened!  We were on our way to visit a member to help her write down some ideas for her FMP when I was sitting across from a young man. He had earbuds in and was watching something and the timidness in me didn't want to disturb him. Heavenly Father knows me so well and is the best at giving me the very smallest of details in my mind of things I should say. It came to mind to ask, ''Hey, was für eine Musik hörst du?''  '' What kind of music are you listening to?''  I pushed it off, again not wanting to disturb his video. The thought wasn't pressing, but just kept coming back. Sometimes I get those little thoughts and I think, ''nah, I don't wanna say that'' and then try to think of something else. Haha I usually can't. Heavenly Father has a good sense of humor. I finally decided to listen to the thought seeing he wasn't getting off. ''Hey, was für eine Musik hörst du?''  We began talking and kept talking as our stop, the end station came up. He asked me what I was doing here. I told him and then asked if he was very religious. He was oped to other religions and searching so to say. I introduced the Book of Mormon. He brightened and said in German, ''Oh, that's the Mormon book! My grandma is Mormon.'' Um, What!? We exchanged info and he said he might come to church. His family is from Lima, Peru so he wanted a Spanish Book of Mormon. Sunday morning I sent him a text that said, 

''Guten Morgen! Wir haben ein Buch Mormon auf Spanisch zu Hause. Es steht in meine Hände :). Ich habe ein Zeugnis von dieses Buch Roger. In alle meine Erfahrungen mit Familie, Freunde, Arbeit, Sport, alles, ich habe nie so groß Freude gehabt als wann ich dieses Buch gelesen habe. Mit meinem ganzen Herzen. Ich habe alles zu Hause gelassen für 1 und halb Jahr nur das ich dieses Buch zu Menschen geben kann. Ich weiss das es wahr ist. So. Unsere Frage ist, wann können wir uns treffen und dieses Buch dir geben?'' 

''Good morning!  We have a Book of Mormon in Spanish here at home.  It's in my hands :).  I have a testimony of this Book, Roger.  In all my experiences with family, friends, work, sports, everything, I've never received more peace than I have from reading this book.  With all my heart.  I left everything at home to come here for a year and a half just so I can give this book to people.  I know it's true.  So.  Our question is, when can we meet and give you this book?''

He didn't come to church, but during church texted us back and said, 

''Also, dann können wir uns am Dienstag treffen nur wenn du Zeit hast, es ist sehr interessant was du gesagt hast.. Ich wünsche dich noch ein schönen Tag. Lg roger.'' 

''Well, then can we meet on Tuesday if you have time?  It's interesting what you said....Have a great day.  Best wishes, roger.''

Before he'd said maybe he had time next weekend to meet and get the book. I know that bearing our testimony is so important. I'm grateful for the chance we have to help him find God again. I know this work is the Lord's! I also know that repentance is a daily process. It was right after repenting that this experience happened. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.  

I love this work!  

Love,
Sister Packer 

I've got a companion from Finland! (EP)

Dear Everybody,

Transfer Dodge: I'm staying in Cwmbran B. And my new companion is Elder Jones! A very welsh name for a Finnish bloke... "Why?" you ask? because his Dad is from Wales. He was actually born in Cardiff.  He's awesome! And he's taller than me by a long shot. He's new into the field so I'm training him. Hopefully he lasts more than a month:) Just kidding, if anything, he'll be re-training me.  Based on the last few days with him I can tell he will be solid missionary. He already is!

Josh, Christian, Dad, Grandpa, Grandpa, Nicole, any advice on being a trainer?

We have a few people with the last name Jones in the ward and when they met him yesterday they went crazy. They love him!

Jameson Packer!!! Congrats on the mission call!!! That is so awesome!!! Does anyone know how to say Congratulations in Spanish? 

Andre Johnson!!! You don't have yours yet... unless you do and you're holding out on me. If you are I'm going to pop over there and give you a good whippin! It sufficeth me to say that I'm dying to know where you're going. 

Anyone else that gets mission calls please let me know! It is so great to hear about them. Maybe some of you will be coming to the EBM! aka Earth's Best Mission!

One brother in our ward took us out to a carvery on Tuesday because Elder Ferrell was leaving. Here is a picture of a proper British Breakfast. Mom! You can't see it in the picture but I had a couple of those boiled half tomato things... They were alright... and the eggs, they were ok too. I definitely prefer the sausages.

Now we are just hanging out in the Library in Cwmbran. I've been here for 3 months and I'll be here for 3 months more. My work here isn't Finnished yet (see what I did there). 

Much love to all! Thanks for the emails, prayers, letters, and random moments of remember me! 

Damian update:  He is excited for General Conference! Aren't we all? Did I mention he has already read the Doctrine and Covenants? Keep him in your prayers. Mom, we'll be teaching him about Temples very soon. Even the Bishop was telling us to get him to the temple ASAP. We'll do our part!

-Elder Jacob Packer

P.S. I don't know if you can tell but I've gained a bit of weight. Like 15 pounds in the 6 months I've been out. Oh the joys of British puddings... :)

Here is a picture of a proper British Breakfast. Mom! You can't see it in the picture but I had a couple of those boiled half tomato things... They were alright... and the eggs, they were ok too. I definitely prefer the sausages. (From Mom--baked beans are a regular menu item for breakfast as well.)

My new companion is Elder Jones! A very welsh name for a Finnish bloke… (3-10-14)

There are many many many pigeons here in town center. This one was hanging around to eat the crumbs from my lunch. (From Dad:  Notice it is a BANDED pigeon--whose might it be?  Lost during a race perhaps?)

Monday, March 3, 2014

I'm out of time! (SP)

Holy crap.  I'm out of time.  I used all my time up writing to an investigator.  I haven't even written an email for the family. Well, I'll do better next week with my time!  Haha snap.  Tell Bre and Danielle I loved their emails.  I got a new companion!  She's from North Germany and we'll be here for one transfer until she flies to New Zealand for the MTC then off to Australia.  I'm doing good.I love you all!

Love,
Co

FIRST BAPTISM!!! (EP)

The title of the email says it all. We got Damian dunked! Or in other words, we got our friend Damian to enter into the sacred waters of baptism and start this journey toward eternal life! A picture is worth a thousand words. Yes, that is sunshine you see in that photo. It was a glorious day. 

Damian is the man! And I was honored to be the one to baptize him. Basically he is a miracle story. Honestly, every baptism is a miracle story. The fact that people even let us in their homes is a miracle. It's a good thing God is a God of miracles!!!

 When we GQ'd him (This was 5 weeks ago) he agreed to meet with us. The last thing he told us was "It is an incredible story about Christ in the Americas isn't it." and then he walked away. Me and Elder Ferrell looked at each other with a "What?!" expression on our faces.

Damian met missionaries a few years ago up in Northern England on a bus. They asked him to read the Book of Mormon. He never saw missionaries again but he did read the book. Then, once he moved down to Wales 2 1/2 years later he met us walking up the street.

After teaching him for 5 weeks he made his baptismal date. Much prayer and fasting came from the ward as well. The ward had a 40 day fast. Basically people sign up for a day during a 40 day period to fast for missionary work. We found Damian on the 5th day of the fast and confirmed him on the 40th day. Or maybe the 40th day was the day we baptized him... Either way it is awesome!
His pure and simple testimony was really touching. He is doing this for the right reasons. Transfers are this week so I don't know if I'll be the one staying here to teach him the after-baptism lessons but I hope I am! 

Man, I can't even believe it happened. It was like we didn't even have to do anything for him. He just listened, accepted commitments and got baptized. Truly ELECT. He was prepared by the Lord, and we were blessed to find him! The Lord is so good to us.

Other than that though... I guess the main news would be that we climbed up an old roman road with our bikes! It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining , we were riding our bikes along a canal and we decided to take a longer/unknown route to our investigator's house. It led us to this really old cobble-stone road. Elder Ferrell have this thing for climbing up mountains. The trail looked like something in a movie or a fairy tale so we climbed it. It was SO COOL! 

It wasn't until afterwards that we discovered it was a Roman road. carrying our bikes wasn't to easy but it was worth it. At the top was a huge stone tower called the Folley Tower. That was sweet and then we met this guy riding a horse. (It was a beautiful thoroughbred in case you were wondering Dad)  Oh and I lost my badge on the path somewhere. Somebody is going to find it and then I'll have proof that I was on that road. Sadly we didn't have a camera to take pictures. 

I love you all! Thanks again for your prayers! 

Elder Packer

(LET ME KNOW ABOUT MISSION CALLS!)