Rain and cops

      So I had a very long and exciting week! To start I finished my first transfer! What up haha But it is going fast so far stay busy with the work and you lose track of time. So we had to do legality this week for Belgium. So you know what that means... I got to see Elder Beck!!! haha we are like 2 school girls when we see each other we scream then hug and hop around for a while;) But it was such a blessing to see him he is doing well. Later that night we taught a lesson to a man named sammy from Africa. Probably one of the smartest people I have ever met and he knows the bible better then I know how spell my name! So it was a challenge but I have never felt the spirit so much while teaching the restoration then I did that night. Also was the strongest testimony I have ever given! It went so well and the house was prob flying in the air from how much the spirit was pouring out itself upon us and upon sammy! Amazing lesson to say the least. All week however it has rained from the time we get up until we go to bed... not fun in the cold and dress clothes! Later that week we were porting and surprise cops pull up but this time they were not in such a good mood they tried to do everything they could to arrest us but thank goodness we had all of our paper work but they told us to go home and were so rude and mean it just blew my mind how much people hate us and they started making fun of our church and Jesus it was sick! I don't understand some people. I also got a package from my mom with tons of american food so shout out to her for being awesome! Sunday we did not get denied 1 time everyone let us in and teach them so crazy the lord blesses us beyond belief it was amazing and we got a lot of new aime's! Love and miss everyone until next time stay classy and trust in the lord -Elder Karl

Elder Karl is teaching a prince!

Blog letter

 Bonjour! Another long week in good o'l Belgium! This week we did exchanges and I was in charge of the ville and my companion was also a blue (new) So we had to get by talking to people with the little french we had together but it went really well we gave out 3 b.o.m (Book of Mormon) and got 2 new aime's (investagators) But later that night I took us out porting and we got so lost lol. We ended up in downtown brussels which is like 8 miles from our apartment so you can say our legs got a good workout ;) but now I know a large part of our area by foot! Also this week we taught a man from the congo that we have been teaching for a while his name is johnny (jo-knee) thats how it sounds though and he is still on track to get baptized on feb 9! so excited for him and also I might be the one to do it which is just a bonus ;). Then we had a zone conference and I got to see Elder Beck who is like my best-friend out here so it was so fun seeing him and getting to joke around and being around someone you enjoy being with lol. Another cool thing that happened this week was that we were walking through the park during night time and we walk into some kind of strange bubble concert! There were millions of bubbles and cool lights and a live band playing so we talked to tons of people there and also got to enjoy the music a win -win. My testimony of prayer has grown so much this week I have just been getting so many blessings and seeing how much the Lord listens and cares for us and if you want to talk to him all you have to do is get on yours knees and pray and pour your heart out! It has truly been amazing. Also we taught a guy this week named kingsley he is from (nigeria) my spelling is bad but çava! So we are teaching him and find out he is a prince from (nigeria) So I taught a prince about Jesus lol pretty cool I think. Thank you everyone for the christmas cards they were awesome! Very much needed so thank you all for the love and support! Love you and miss you all! -Elder Karl

First email of the New Year!

Shane tends to use run on sentences.. lol. I've added a few punctuation marks for easier reading but it's fun to read it as he wrote it!

Thats funny you read the joseph fielding smith jr book, we got the same one here lol. I really do hope I make you proud and I hope you know I am trying very very hard out here. The language is very hard but alot of people speak english but I feel like its a handicap because when I go to an area thats all french speaking I will be very far behind from where I should be. I have got some stories lol, first of all everyone in my apartment this past week has been very sick. That is everyone but me, so I have been having to get up all alone and work out alone and watch everyone sleep haha. New years was fun though. new years eve we went to a members home and ate lots of food and treats then played this fun dice game. We arrived home around 9 and I ask the others if we are gonna stay up for 2014 and they all say no, so I put in my ear plugs.... because my companion snores lol but I am dead asleep and out of nowhere the lights turn on and I hear yelling and things getting thrown everywhere. I thought drunk people broke into our apartment but it was the other elders lol and they all jumped into my bed and it was really funny. On new years day we ate at a french members home and had meats and cheeses on bread. But they have a son and he showed me a picture of his girlfriend so I said wow votre petit dejani est tre belle. I thought I said you girlfriend is very beautiful but really I said your breakfast is very beautiful hahahaha everyone got a good laugh out of that. Also while porting (tracking?) this week we were in this nice group of houses and were going good & strong for about 1 hour then out of nowhere 3 cop cars pull up and they pull their guns on us and tell us not to move and ask for identification but I dont have mine yet so I hand them my PA drivers license and they look at me like I'm crazy haha and my companion had to explain everything and it took like 45 min lol. Last story this morning I wanted to go for a run and Elder Barr said he would go with me so I was happy so its raining but we still go and we are running and a huge wind storm comes in so we are running home and a huge plastic fence comes out of nowhere and just nails me and I fly into the mud, no worries Im fine but I was covered in mud and it was not a good start to my day:) But all is well here still going strong and praying hard. Did you ever contact the mtc about that package david's family sent? I'm happy to hear you guys are staying busy but still finding time to enjoy the blessings of the lord and the temple. love and miss you so much. love Elder Karl

Getting adjusted!

Bonjour, the holidays have been amazing. Our ward is so cool and have been taking really good care of us! Christmas eve we went to a German family's house named the Vols, I think, haha but we ate duck and had all this fancy french bread and cheeses and desserts yum! Thank you for sending me Ty's blog. It sounds like we are in the same boat lol People here talk so fast and then just look you in your soul and I totally blank. But it comes little by little just have to trust in the lord! Yesterday- aka Sunday we had our first baptism! It was amazing. It was a guy named Gontie and he is from the Congo and is 24!

Such an amazing guy and he loved it. He could not stop smiling, it was so funny! Only bad part was we forgot to make food for after so we ran to our apartment, grabbed some orange pop, bag of salt and pepper chips, and some oreos haha Not much but it was something. Also on Sunday we had a member of the 70 come and just was passing through with his family so they stayed for all of church. I got to meet him and his family and they just praised us for serving missions haha! Pretty tight if I do say so myself! Also during the week we got to hang out with the Davis family. The guy is from Belgium and his wife from Pakistan but crazy right! Super nice. Made me so much food and they were like "wow you can really eat" haha much needed ;) But they both served missions and we talked all night and we lost track of time and got home super late but Brother Davis said it was okay haha! Also on Christmas my companion had to skype early at the Vols- that german family so I watch Tangled with the little son who is 7 and we watch it in german so you can say I was totally lost but its my favorite so I was jamming and dancing haha Language is still really hard but all you can do is try ;) happy new year and love and miss ya

Life is hard!

hey so I will skype call you so be ready haha um people are mean, food is expensive so I eat oranges, bread, and lots of peppers and onions lol starting to like vegetables alot more on my mission! so missions are the hardest thing on the planet haha muslums throw fire works at us on the metro, its so scary so thats lame lol Im pumped to talk to you in 2 days!

(So I find, the longer Ariel's emails are the shorter Shane's are..lol.. This morning he was still online when I got here so we received a few more one liners. Luckily we will get to talk to him in 2 days!!)

btw I got a card from your brother davids family and they sent it to the mtc, and i really want it lol and idk what the mtc does with them when you leave because i know they dont forward them sooo .... yeah 

(so it looks like if you used his old MTC- Utah address, he won't get it! Thanks for trying LeeAnn!)

hey not long email since I can just tell you in 2 days lol but super rough
here, so hard lol But I have my first baptism this sunday!!! success baby!!!
lol so excited

(Any punctuation that you see, aside from !! are mine. lol..)

First letter from Belgium

bonjour, belgium is very cold lol and their are so many muslims. It is so hard to type on these key boards lol. So let me catch you up on whats been going on. Monday: Woke up super excited got ready we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. Had an 11 hour flight and I didn't sleep a minute lol, we land in Paris at 11am on tuesday and it is beautiful. We got to got to notre dame, Eiffel tower btw my camera is broken it got smashed in my suit case ;( so yeah but then we go to the mission home and meet the pres. He is pretty cool and then meet our trainers mine is Elder Eldredge he is a big hawaiian who is from hawaii lol spelling is bad these computers are strange and no spell check. (I've changed some spelling to make it legible!) Anyways he is cool and we get along really well, I have done a lot of tracting already very little success but some. We have a baptism set up for the first week of jan so that would be awesome to get one already. French is so hard here they have strange accents in belgium and half speak dutch and whatever musliums speak haha. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. And we never eat, I have to eat toast and oranges everyday lol I gonna die. But all is well I think haha love ya Elder Karl

Elder Karl's address is posted on the right of this blog.. International stamps are $1.10. All letters would be highly appreciated, I am sure!

Wisdom teeth out in time for Thanksgiving! Off to France!

Hey things are good here. My wisdom teeth came out really well and I had almost no swelling! I can't believe you guys are on a cruise that sounds so fun lol. This is my last P-day here I leave for France on monday, how crazy is that!? They told us we will be able to call home at the airport to let our family's know we are safe and what not I will try to call but you might be in the middle of the ocean lol. Btw it was Russell M. Nelson that came and talked to us on Thanksgiving it was really good but I was kinda high and goofy from the pills lol. But I still went to all my classes and didn't take a break! With leaving so soon I know I need as much study time as I can get! I'm so excited to go to France. je t' aime both of you! -Elder Karl