Hallo-
Transfer calls. Normally the most exciting day of the
transfer. Last week, it was the most dreaded day of my mission :(
I don't like changes. At the beginning of my mission,
I thought that I would want to get a new companion every transfer (6 weeks) and
that I would want to change areas every 3 months. To me, at the
beginning, change was exciting; new faces, new areas, new wards, it is a
fun thing. Man, how short time 6 weeks really is.
Sister Erdenetsogt and I were really really praying to stay
together. Especially after last Sunday and the feelings I got there, I
was sure we were staying. I was calm, we continued on our merry little
way throughout the week.
We called the office on Wednesday to order some supplies,
and since I was on the phone with them, I asked what the situation on Sister
Erdenetsogt's visa was, and if they wanted us to order tickets to Germany so we
could apply for an extension. The office Sister took a little pause, as
if she wasn't sure what she was allowed to say, and then said "Well, Sister
Peterson, I am going to ask you to hold on until Saturday. You will find
out more then." At that moment, it was painfully clear to me what
was going on. Sister Erdenetsogt was getting transferred. The
decision was made, there was nothing more to do. We had already both sent
letters to the President, begging to stay. I just remember looking at
Sister Erdenetsogt, who was still totally unaware, and just wanting to give her
the biggest hug and never let go.
Saturday morning rolled around, and when the Zone Leaders
didn't call us by 8, we knew. Finally, Elder Orchards (one of the APs)
called, full of excitement as normal. He told Sister Erdenetsogt to pack
her bags, she is coming to Munich!! ...Silence. I feel bad for the
guy, normally people answer back with excitement as well, but we just sat
there. After some awkward silence, I said "I promise we will be excited,
but can we have a few minutes to be sad first?" Confused, he
answered back "uh, ok. Well, have a good day!!"
9 weeks
went by so fast, and the ward wasn't happy to hear that Sister Erdenetsogt was
leaving so fast either! Well, she is needed in Munich. They are
gaining a great missionary there!
The silver lining-I am getting an AWESOME new companion.
Her name is Sister Ackermann, I went on an exchange with her before, and
it was one of the funnest exchanges I have ever had. The weird thing is that
she only has one more transfer left on her mission, so she will also only be
here for 6 weeks. Which means that I am probably going to stay for at
least one transfer after her as well with another companion, and then leave. 7 months in Linz, not bad at all!! If I had to pick anywhere to be
in for 5 transfers, it would be right here!
This week was one of those weeks where you have to learn to
count your blessings. We had a lot of appointments fall out and a lot of
investigators drop off the face of the Earth,which means there wasn't a whole
lot of lessons taught this week. But a lot of time on streets, buses, and
Strassenbahns finding people. And did we find people!! Our Zone
Leaders challenged us to set a goal of how many potentials we wanted to find in
the 2 weeks leading up to the end of the transfer, and Sister Erdenetsogt and I
set the goal of 30 potentials, which at the time seemed impossible. It
was so humbling to get on our knees and pray to know what number we should set,
ask for the Lords help, and then do everything in our power to accomplish that
goal. And we did it :) Opportunities to share the gospel were
opened up to us in the coolest of ways.
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| Sister Erdenetsogt made us Mongolian food for dinner |
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| Another pair of shoes bites the dust!! |
Sister Erdenetsogt was asked to cook Mongolian food for the
Young Single Adult activity on Saturday. We actually used it as a finding
method-asking people if they have ever eaten real Mongolian food before (the
answer usually being no) and then inviting them to the dinner :) Hey,
there are many honorable ways to find people to teach, Preach My Gospel
somewhere!! We actually had a few potentials from Afghanistan show up,
and they met one of the recent converts here who speaks their same language,
and they hit it off right away! They came to church the next day and
loved it :) Man, aren't members the best?
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| We had the Didenhover's over for dinner |
I was super afraid that I was going to get really
relationship homesick on Valentines day. It's already super hard to go
over to someones house that is a big happy family with young kids, because it
makes me so excited to have a family someday!! Luckily, Valentines day is
not quite as big of a deal here as it is in America :) Whew, dodged that
bullet!
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| We made Elder Szvoboda a super-missionary cake for his birthday |
Thanks everyone for your love and support! Have a
great week!
Sister Peterson
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