Welcome President & Sister Kohler

Hi All,

     I used to not like change at all; I liked things as they were, and I was always comfortable in my old little habits. 

I died my hair- can you tell??

      But as a missionary, we kind of live for change. We are always finding ways to be better, to do better, and to adjust to our circumstances. Learning to adjust to the little changes that happen everyday has really helped me learn to adjust to the bigger changes that I can not control. 

    I was really worried about our new mission president coming in. I have served 15 months with President and Sister Miles, I grown to love them, and everything that I learned about missionary work is what I learned from their example. I was praying all week to be able to love the President & Sister Kohler as much as I loved the Miles, and more! 

Dunkin' Donuts- our treat

      I used to be so jealous of all the missionaries in Munich because of all of the perks that they get, and now I am here and realize that it is just as nice as I imagined it was. Getting to experience the transition from one Mission President to the other has truly been a wonderful blessing. 

     We woke up at 3am on Saturday morning, were picked up by the office elders at 4, and drove off to the airport with a few other missionaries serving in Munich to say goodbye to President and Sister Miles. It was so...not really sad, because I hadn't really connected the dots yet that they were leaving Germany and their service here. It was weird. I was super grateful and very happy to be there, but my brain couldn't really imagine what was going to come next.

     At church the next day, I was sitting down in Sunday School class, and I saw a group of people gathered at the door. It was a family, a couple and two teenage kids. I have to admit, my brain doesn't move super fast on Sundays. The thoughts going through my brain went like this: ''That looks like a nice family, I wonder if they are visiting. The dad is turning around now..wait...hey, is he wearing a name tag? I realized it was President Kohler and his family- to say I was excited would be an understatement! They are very young and have two teens who came with them- I cannot wait to get to know them better! 

     As nervous as I was for the moment that I would meet them, I was surprised at the amount of love that I immediately felt for them. The feelings of excitement, nervousness, confusion, gratitude, and humility were feelings that I was able to recognize because I feel those same feelings all too often in myself, and sense them every time new missionaries come into the field. But I also got an overwhelming sense that they are exactly what the mission needs right now. President Kohler is a man of God- my testimony of that was sure the moment I saw him and solidified the first time I talked to him. I only get to work with him and his family for 9 weeks, but hey, I am going to take those 9 weeks and run with it!

     Because the world cup is going on right now and soccer is a HUGE part of the culture here, all of the missionaries have permission to watch 2 of the games! We were invited over to the Sneddon's, an American family in our ward, to watch the Germany vs. America game. It was so fun! I am very sorry to admit it, but I was cheering for Germany :P  

Cheering for Germany

      This week, our zone is having a 'Finding Week', where we are really focusing on finding new people to teach. There has been a lot of excitement for this week, especially since we have set such a high goal of people to find. Sister Erdenetsogt and I have really been praying to find people who are actually going to progress and who are actually searching for the gospel, and we have seen nothing but miracles the past few days. 

The Elder's talking to someone at the park

I love pretty fields

      For example, we were walking down a street, and a car drives by and honks at us. Thinking it was just an immature man honking at us, we kept walking. A few minutes later, he drives by again, honks and waves, trying to get our attention before driving on. We didn't recognize him, so again, we kept going. A few minutes later, he drove by again, slowed down, but we were talking to a lady so he drove forward and parked on the side of the road. After we were done talking to the lady, we walked to his car, and he rolled down his window. I didn't recognize him, but he recognized me! He said 

          ''I have seen you before! You were here a few weeks ago, and I saw your name tag; you were talking to people about a book. I didn't know what you were talking about, but I knew you were missionaries. I have been thinking about you two for weeks.  I moved here a bit ago, and I haven't been able to find a church that has God. I am Christian, and really love God, but I cant find him in any of the churches here. What is that book you are holding? Can I have it? Can I come to your church?''

    Sister Erdenetsogt and I stood there for a bit before the whole thing really connected in our brains! "Of course you can come! Here is a book, here is our card, come to church!"
     It was so cool to see that not only do we see miracles, but lots of times miracles come to US. Sister Miles told me once that the amazing thing about miracles is that they happen every day, not just occasionally. How true that is! 

We went knocking here

Well, I think that's all for today. Love you tons!!!

German flowers

Sister Peterson