Auf Wiedersehen

Hallo Familie und Freundes,

     Here is a great thing about the German language. When saying goodbye to people, there are numerous things you can say:  Ciao! Tschüß! Pfurdi! Bussi! Tschüßie baba! Auf Wiedersehen!  

     I have always before said Tschüß or Ciao; but I have switched to Auf Wiedersehen this week. Do you know what Auf Wiedersehen literally means? 'To see again', isn't that a beautiful sentiment? When I say Auf Wiedersehen, I feel like it is equivalent to the American version of telling someone "see you later!"  or "goodbye, until we see each other again." It's not an end, it's just a short pause between visits.
     Isn't that the beautiful part about the gospel? Isn't that the amazing part about the world that we live in today? With technology and with our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, it never has to be a good-bye forever. There is always a 'wiedersehen' hanging in the air, whether it will be on Facebook or Skype, or through phone calls, letters, and vacations; there is always an opportunity to see people again.

     Yesterday was my last day of church as a missionary; my last Sunday, not only in Munich, but here in the Alpine German-speaking region. I was expecting it to be super, super sad, but with a 'wiedersehen' perspective, it was okay! Yeah, there was a few times where I was near tears; especially when Sister Motto and Br. Miller (the ward mission leader here) got up to bear their testimonies- both included how much they will miss me and how grateful they are for my service. I was almost a bawling baby at those points, but zum Glück, no tears have been shed..yet! 

     I will be sad to go, it will be hard to take off the missionary name tag, but on a pair of jeans, and go to the movie theater and ice cream shop alone, or even worse, with a boy! (gasp!) But hey, I have had a great 18 months; really the best 18 months I could have ever dreamed of and some of the best experiences. I have laughed so hard that I have cried & I have cried so hard that I have laughed. I have eaten more Swiss chocolate and marzipan balls as comfort food than I ever will the rest of my life. I have met so many amazing people, worked with inspiring servants of God, and learned more than I ever expected. How grateful I am to have been here, but...   

     I need to look forward with faith and look back with gratitude. 

     I do not want to say much about leaving, I am trying to stay focused on Germany while I am here and I do not have much time... But, I do want everyone to know that I love my mission! I love these people, but more than anything, I love my Savior. I am eternally grateful that He paved the way for me to not only come to this world, but to return to my Father after this life. I am grateful that He made it possible for me to repent, and not to just repent from sins, but to align my life and my habits with His. His love has made it possible for me to be more loving, more kind, more patient, more diligent; to have more faith, more knowledge, and more hope. 

     So I want to close my final email home, to all of my friends and to all of my family, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord and I'll be what you want me to be." For the past 18 months, He has needed me as Sister Peterson in the Alpine German Speaking mission, but now, He needs something else from me; He needs someone else to do different things. I don't know what that is yet, but I have faith. And, as a very smart man (namely our prophet) would put it, ''The future is as bright as your faith.'' So lets make it shine.

-Sister Peterson

A P.S from Sister Peterson's mom- 

     Even in our private emails between one another, Kori has been adamant that until she gets on the plane on Friday, she is Sister Peterson and has refused to discuss matters of coming home. Though this has been somewhat frustrating to me, I admire that she has wanted to remain dedicated to serving The Lord until the final moment. She has been an example to me in a way that she will never truly see or know. I consider her growth and hope that through her testimony each week she has brought you a little closer to Christ- for truly that has been her purpose as a missionary- to bring the light of the gospel and our Savior to the lives of those she touches.

I received this message from the mother of another Sister serving in this mission:

     "I had the chance to work with Sister Peterson, who will be heading home this week. It was really nice to finally work with her. I've heard so much about her (she was one of the only Sisters I hadn't met before coming here and she was the one I replaced in Linz). She is hilarious and really cool! We saw lots of miracles just talking with everyone, despite all of our plans falling out."

     Thank you for your prayers and your love in supporting Sister Peterson and, in turn, supporting us in sharing her with the people who live in that beautiful part of the world. 

*** No pictures this week, so I wanted to share a few of my favorites:

Sister Peterson and the sisters of her travel group

Sister Regneir & Sister Peterson- last night in the MTC

Sister Peterson & Sister Jenson- her trainer!

Sister Peterson's trainee turned great friend, Sister Henry

One of my favorite pictures from the entire mission

Sister Peterson's second trainee, Sister Wunderlii

Sister Erdenstogt (training in a Driit), Sister Wunderlii & Sister Peterson

Sister E & Sister Peterson were a match made in Heaven

Sister Peterson's greenie buster- Sister Ackerman

Sister Peterson's fourth trainee, Sister Pentz

Sister Peterson reunited with Sister Jenson and Sister Erdenstogt

Munich at last 

Sister Motto & Sister Peterson, the beginning of a beautiful friendship! 

Peach Rings and Angel Wings

Hello Friends, Family, & Awesome Missionaries I haven't Met Yet,

     I can't tell you how many of the new missionaries have come up to me in the past few weeks and said "Sister Peterson! This is going to sound really creepy, but I read your blog! It's so cool to finally meet you!" I don't really know what to say...I never read blogs before my mission, so I didn't realize that people other than family read them... I really just assumed mine wasn't being read either!

ubahn station; our main from of transportation

     So to all of you who read my weekly emails and blogs, I promise you that I actually do do missionary work!!! Sister Motto and I have a lot of fun for sure, but we are getting stuff DONE! That's one of the things that I really enjoy about working with Sister Motto, is I really feel equally yolked. It's been very nice to have her help me in the work without completely taking over. It's not that I am doing all the work because I know the area, or her doing it all so she can take over, but it's both of us working together- it is a pretty nice arrangement we have :)

It is August and we are wearing scarves, tights, and jackets

Speaking of companion unity...

     I have had people tell me my entire mission how similar Sister Motto and I are, and throughout our time together it has almost been spooky at times how similar we are. We went on another exchange last week with the Passau Sisters, which put me in Passau with Sister Wunderli (more about that in a bit). Sister Wunderli and I were waiting in the Passau Bahnhof for the other sisters to get there, so I went into a store to buy some snacks for the train ride back to Munich. I saw some Peach Ring candies and remembered that Sister Motto likes Peach Rings; I bought some and hid them in my bag. The Sister's showed up and Sister Motto and I hopped on the train to go back home. We were hardly sitting down for 2 minutes, and Sister Motto gives me this big, proud grin and says ''I have a surprise for you!!' and pulls out a bag of Peach Rings. I started cracking up and pulled out my bag of Peach Rings.  

We had two delicious bags of Peach Rings for the train ride back :) 

Elder Bootcher was in Munich this week

     I have never really understood Austausches (missionary exchanges) before. I've always enjoyed them and I have always learned a lot, but I had never had a miracle experience on Tausch before. The one exception was working with Sister Henry again in Linz- I had really needed time with her as she was probably the only one who could have given me confidence about training again! But I have always considered that a blessing for me, more than a miracle of the moment. Well, when Sister Wunderli got transferred to Passau and we were made Sister Training Leader's at the same time, I knew that I would eventually do a tausch with her. Things were kind of rough our last transfer together and our companionship ended on a sticky note, so I was really nervous about working with her again. After praying a lot about it with Sister Motto, we felt really clearly that I was supposed to stay in Munich with Sister Wunderli. We tausched after Zone Training working together great but it was kind of weird and awkward. 

Members make me smile

     However, when we got home and made dinner, Sister Wunderli just acted like she had a lot to get off of her chest. She went off about how sorry she was for some of the difficult parts of our companionship; how much she learned in our time together, how much she loves me and how grateful she was that we got to work together again! At the end of the tausch, she told me how much she had learned from those 24 hours that we had gotten to work together again. But at the end of the tausch, I knew that it was I who had had a really humbling and very needed learning experience. My goal for the tausch was to forgive her-what ended up happening is both of us forgiving each other and walking away with an increased love and appreciation for each other. It is incredible to see how we have both changed. That is truly the power of forgiveness, not only to stop holding hard feelings, but to actually have an increase in love and appreciation for our Brother's and Sister's. 

Together Again

     I have been studying a lot about sowing and reaping; especially whether God predetermines who will be sowers and who will be reapers. I have concluded that I am both a sower and a reaper, but for these past few years (especially these 17 months on my mission) I have been a sower. I will reap and recognize the fruit of my labors, but maybe later down the road. But for now I am sowing and giving others the opportunity to reap the fruits of my efforts.

Perfect example of this:

     About a month ago, Sister Erdenetsogt and I tried to visit all of the members and commit them to pray to find 1 person each year to bring to church. We encouraged them to pray for an opportunity to share the gospel, pray for names, and then invite invite invite! 

     We went over to this one members house and had a really awesome conversation. She was super stoked to do it so we asked her to make a commitment and to follow up with us to share her experience. Well, she came up to me at church yesterday and was super excited!!  She said ''Sister Peterson, do you remember when you and your companion came to my house a bit ago and did the family mission plan with me? About working with one person to bring to church this year? Well, I have been praying, just like you said, and looking for opportunities, just like you said. And guess what? I was over at my in-laws the other day, and there was this lady who kept asking questions about the church and we talked for a few hours about the church and our teachings! It worked! How cool! So I went home, took a Book of Mormon and wrote my testimony in it! And guess what?...'' 

I was so happy, seeing her excitement to share the story with me, the miracle of it all, the joy of having a golden member referral.... that I didn't really HEAR what she said next. It took me a minute to realize that when she said after "guess what?" was ''so I gave the Book of Mormon to the Elders and told them to go visit her! And they will be teaching her! How cool is that?!!''  

She thanked me for the lesson and said she would continue to pray and have her family pray for opportunities as well, and walked away as happy as she could possibly be... 

leaving me staring after her and wondering, 

THE ELDERS???? What! 

Planning Day Game

What a beautiful neighborhood

     Well, I guess it all works out for a reason and it really should be the Elders who teach her friend, but oooh, I wanted to grab Elder Bellersen and Elder Nielson's ties, pull them real close and say ''your are WELCOME!''

     The life of a sower is rewarding in a very different way. I like to say that I might not be having too big of a party in this life, but I will be having a ball in the next life, watching the big movie of my life on a big screen and seeing the small influences that I left behind. 

Take my word for it, we are all sowers and we are all reapers, but just as important as sowing and reaping is enjoying the harvest of each growing season! 

Love to you all,

Sister Peterson

A picture from Mom's photo challenge

City of Miracles

Hello All- 

Every week, the missionaries in Munich organize a big soccer game; we invite members, less actives, investigators, potentials, YSAs, and people bring their friends. It turns into a big fun mess of people who come together simply to play soccer.  

We have never been able to go because of appointments, but the other missionaries always beg and beg and beg us to come. This is funny to me- don't they know that I can't play any sport involving running and balls?  That's why I swim!! And sister motto is in my same boat!!! 

But we were finally able to go this week, so we decided to go. It started out really awful- not only am I not naturally coordinated, but missionary work does not necessarily build physical prowess! I don't know how to play soccer; I'm not really competitive, and my coordination is awful. I got kinda frustrated, feeling like I was just an annoyance on the team, and started to walk away to make phone calls.  

But then a YSA said to me ''No, Sister Peterson, we need you on our team. You cant go, we need you!''  and I got all confused. I asked ''why? I can't kick the ball, I can't shoot a goal, and I don't know the rules.  why do you need me?'' He replied (in all seriousness, I must add!) ''if an Elder ever has the ball, I want you to run straight at them. They aren't allowed to touch you and will be scared. You dont have to block them, fight for the ball, or anything. Just run straight at them, and we will do the rest!''  

So I gave it a shot. And it worked!!!! It was the funniest thing to see the Elders' faces as this dorky little Sister came running right at them (have I mentioned before just how freaked out the Elder's are by the Sister's). I can't say I was the biggest (or even slightest) benefit to the team, but it was just proof that everyone in their own weird little way can help and participate on a team!

Proud to be able to share

Another funny story...I am pretty sure that Sister Motto will be including this story in her weekly email as well, so it'll be funny for y'all to read the differences in our major exaggerations:

So Sister Smith (the new sister in Munich 3) had a birthday last Monday, and Sister Motto and I had the brilliant idea to heart attack and decorate their apartment while they were out for P-day. We went to to the office and got permission to take the spare key to their apartment, and went on our merry little way. Keep in mind, we had no idea what the sisters were doing! When they would be back, how far away they were, nothing! We just knew that the Zone Leaders were going to try to keep them busy for a time. 

So we got in their apartment, already super stressed, frantically cutting out hearts and placing them on the walls, decorating our gifts and making everything look nice. We were on our way out, and cleaning up our mess, and Sister Motto notices a big window that the sisters had left WIDE open, and closes it real fast. We head out the door, Sister Motto has her hand on the doorknob, and as the door is halfway shut, we hear the doorbell ring. Sister Motto and I looked at each other in panic, and the first thing that came to my mind was ''Oh My Goodness, the sisters saw us through the window! We are BUSTED!'' So I pushed the button that opens the door to the apartment complex, and we book it up the stairs!  

We made it to the top, and we hear two feminine voices laughing...I kept thinking 'man oh man, they caught us, they are laughing so hard right now, we are busted!' We looked down the stair well..and see two ladies standing right in front of the sisters door, but not going inside, just simply waiting. I looked a little closer, and then realized it wasn't the sisters. It was the Jehovah Witnesses!!!! Sister Motto and I made little gasps, then cupped our hands over our mouths so that they wouldn't hear us.  

I wanted to laugh so hard- it was hilarious. We desperately tried to keep quiet, but they wouldn't leave!!  For about 2 minutes they just stood at the door, knocking and ringing the doorbell again, but nobody answered because nobody was inside! We heard the two ladies say to each other 'how weird, they let us in, but they wont open up! How rude! before finally turning around and heading back down the stairs and go outside. 

As soon as we heard the door close, we busted up laughing! Oh, the irony of it all! The worst part is that we had to leave the apartment as well, and they were still there, klingling other peoples doors! So they probably saw our name tags and thought we were the München 3 sisters..mensch, they probably hated us! 

So now whenever I will go dooring, and the door opens up but nobody is inside, I will just imagine two giggling girls at the top of the stairwell :P

A beautiful landscape in our area

 On a spiritual note, we also had interviews with President Kohler last week. It was super good. I have never really had too pressing questions to ask during interviews, but this time I had SO MUCH! I hope I didn't overwhelm President Kohler...but I was able to get a lot of answers that I really needed to hear.  It was nice, that even though President Kohler and I don't know each other very well, he was able to listen to my mess of a question, understand what I was really trying to say, then listen to the spirit to know what kind of an answer I needed to hear.

The American room at Old Rathaus

We are still having a bunch of fun here in Munich!  Sister Motto is hilarious, I don't think there is a day that goes by without us completely cracking up.  We have already gotten yelled at by one of our neighbors for laughing too loud at night :P  Whoops! 

Love you all,

Sister Peterson

*** Sister Motto had very little to say about the heart attack, but she shared details about their teaching this week-

Our most exciting miracle is A, the father of one of the Romanian families we are teaching. We began the Stop Smoking program with him the Friday I got into Munich, and on Monday we followed up on his progress. In the three days it had been since we introduced the program to him, A had only smoked one cigarette! We were so proud of A! We were able to teach him and his 16 year old daughter Ad about the Book of Mormon. A was determined to find the stories related to the pictures in the front of his book, and wouldn't let us leave until we had shared everything with him. At the end of the appointment A gave his very first verbal prayer. The Spirit filled the room like a hot air balloon. It. Was. Amazing. A and Ad promised to read in the Book of Mormon, and on Friday when we had our party to celebrate that A was done with smoking, they said they had read the whole first sections of the Book of Mormon before 1 Nephi! A's wife, N, is a little more hesitant to accept the Book of Mormon, but with a little push from her daughter and husband, she also commited to begin reading. The Zone Leaders were at the appointment, Elder Spencer and Elder Vitel, and Elder Vitel is from Romania so he was able to communicate with the Muntean's a little better than we could. It was a very spiritual experience, and once again the Spirit of the Lord filled the room. The Spirit knows no language barrier!

We were able to have 2 last minute miracle appointments with Tenzin this week. He's progressing well, but the one thing that keeps him from progressing fully is his church attendance. He is always trying to help others with their various needs on Sundays and sometimes forgets to come to Church. He's reading in the Book of Mormon each day and is praying each day, and is preparing himself wonderfully for his baptism in December!

Sister Peterson and I had just finished visiting a sister from the international ward (we consider ourselves responsible for the old women in the international ward because they have no sisters) when we got a phone call from our hilarious investigator S. S is often in Hamburg, but requested to meet with the missionaries there when he is up North. After our less active lesson we saw on our phone we had 5 missed calls, spacing within minutes of each other. We called S back and he said "Hi Sisters! I'm with Elder Casper!"  So slightly confused, we asked "You're with the missionaries?" S said "Yes! Here he is!" and promptly handed his phone over to this Elder Casper serving in the Berlin Mission. We had an awkward 3 minute conversation consiting of "How's your mission going? Do you like Hamburg? How's S doing?" before hearing the wonderful news that S is keeping all of his commitments and reading in his Book of Mormon each day. I look forward to meeting S finally in person when he comes back to Munich next week. :)

We had an appointment with M another African investigator, and wonderful Sister Kohler came along! M's mother just passed away, and so he has been very busy with funeral arrangements back in Nigeria. However, he wanted to definitely meet with us this week, so we invited Sister Kohler as a joint teach so we could meet in the church. We gave Ma church tour and had our lesson in the chapel. Sister Kohler is a ROCKSTAR! We love her so much and she has so much wisdom and love. We read in Alma 40 about the Resurrection and were able to teach him the beautiful doctrine of the Plan of Salvation. It is always a humbling and wonderful experience feeling the Spirit and comfort that comes when we bear testimony of the truth of the Gospel. M promised to read in the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. We're hoping and praying that he will want to partake of the great joy that the Lord offers and be baptized.

The Missionary Glow

Hello All, 

     The last week of a transfer is always a whirlwind because all of the members and investigators want to meet with the missionaries before someone gets transferred away. Then the first week is crazy because you are trying to get used to a new companion, develop a friendship, take time getting to know each other, and still work hard, show her around, introduce her to people, and start the transfer with our feet running. It can get pretty crazy!

Not a final selfie!!

At the Farmer's Market; we found pineapple and cheese

     Luckily, Sister Motto came into this transfer with both feet ready to hit the ground running!  All I have to do is not slow her down and to somehow keep up with her! It has been great! She is just what I need at this point in my mission. I wouldn't have been able to ask for anyone else to ''kill'' me! ('kill me' is a phrase used to explain the final transfer of a mission). We have been having so much fun together and have already seen so many miracles.

Planning session on the Lake

      There is this Romanian couple that Sister E. and I met a few weeks ago, but their situation is really sad. Their children are still in Romania and they are struggling to find an apartment big enough to fit them all; they are both working like crazy and trying to find a way for all of them to be together. They have been super busy the past few weeks so we have not been able to meet with them recently. Our first day together, Sister motto and I baked some bread, dropped it by with a note saying how much we love them and to let them know we were thinking of them if the needed us for anything.

     Well, the next morning during companionship study, they called us and asked 'what are you doing today? can you come visit?  NOW?'  Excited and a bit confused, we packed up our stuff and went to visit them. When we got there, they told us that Frau Torkos was heading back to Romania to be with the kids, and Herr Torkos was going to stay behind to keep working and support them financially. It just broke my heart to see how humble they live, how many trials they go through, how exhausted they are, but they continue to hobble forward in faith, grasping hold to whatever faith they still have.  

      The very first time I met them, I got the huge impression that my role in their life would be to TEACH them the gospel. I felt the spirit confirm that I would NOT be the one to lead them to baptism or bring them to church. It would be my job to love them and to introduce them to the Book of Mormon and that I would need to let the missionaries in Romania do the rest. I really could not understand it at first why I felt this way, I just knew I needed to love them. Now I feel like I understand it all a little better. It is always such a blessing to look back and see the Lord's hand in my life and the lives of others, especially to see the timing of everything. 

     They live in Romania but speak Romanian and Hungarian. We have a Hungarian and Romanian missionary in our zone right now, so we will still be able to write letters and communicate with each other while they are still here. I think planting seeds is still as important as reaping the harvest! 

I final glimpse before she left the station

     Here is my funny story for the week- actually, it wasn't so funny to me at the time, but it might seem funny to y'all! We visited a member this week, Schwester H, before Sister Erdenetsogt got transferred away. Sister H asked how long she had remaining on her mission, and Sister E. said 10 months. Sister H. then went on and said ''Whew! That is a long time, just wait until you have 6 weeks left! That is the WORST! My last 6 weeks on my mission went by so fast, I was so miserable! Eventually you have to take off the name tag and BOOM it's like half of your heart just got ripped away! Just be grateful that you don't have 6 weeks!''  

Mom's influence on my morning sport

     ... She just went on and on and on; I kept sinking lower and lower in my chair, having a mental panic attack. Would that be true? Would all of that spirit and comfort that I have felt for the past 18 months just go away? Would I all of a sudden become a nobody, with no calling and no purpose? Honestly, I was freaking out a bit.  

     When we got to go to the train station, and I saw all the missionaries going home. They were all of the missionaries that I have served with my entire mission and I have looked up to for the past 16 months. I have seen them frequently over the last year and a half, but when I looked at them on this day, in this moment- something about them was just... odd. I couldn't explain it, there was just something off...

Sister Jenson & I saying good-bye... she's going home!

      I was talking to Sister Motto that night, and she said that it is "the glow"... the returned missionary glow. They had fulfilled their purpose, and they were going home to fulfill another purpose in a different part of the world with different people.  

When I thought about it, I realized how right she was. It wasn't that these missionaries weren't radiating the spirit; they had a different light about them, a different spirit. It wasn't bad, it was just different. I will be different when I go home, I have to accept that. But it is not bad! I will just have different tasks to do, different people to touch, different responsibilities. But I won't lose an ounce of the spirit I have, the strength I have received and I will continue to grow.  

     After Sister Motto helped me see it a little different, it was a lot easier to accept the fact that I am going home. That is a fact and I can't run away from it and I really can't deny it any longer; nor can I allow it to make me sad or can I allow it to demotivate me. Sister Motto has actually been really, really good for me. It was hard to say goodbye to Sister E for sure, but change is EXACTLY what I needed at this time. It has been a lot easier to focus and to not get distracted. There will be some obstacles that I will need to face head on, but I have to accept that this is all a part of life! Sister Motto has agreed to let me have my 'freak out' moments AND I know she is just the right person to beat me back to reality!!

A countdown too cute to be angry about it

Treats from home to help when I feel "B-IZZE"

     Sorry if I talk about going home a lot! If I have to deal with battling with these thoughts then I'm gonna take you all down with me!! I have started to write a list of "moments that have changed my mission or changed ME on my mission"; miracles that I have seen and the lessons that I have learned from them. It has been a wonderful way to reflect and enjoy memories of my mission. In case you are curious, it has been done in a very "non-trunky" way!!

     In all seriousness, I love my mission. I love the people I meet, the miracles I see, the trials I go through, the companions I serve with, and the people on the street that I want to give a knuckle sandwich to; I love the stormy days, the sunny days, the tender mercies, the newly discovered scripture verse needed that day, the children who smile at everyone on the bus, and the realization that this is all possible because I have a Father in Heaven who loves me. If we stop to see the little things, that is where we can truly see God's hand and love in our lives.

     Thank you all for your love and support!   

Last One, Fast One

*** Note from Mom: The reality that Sister Peterson's next transfer call will bring her home has definitely set in. She is so blessed to have been given Sister Natalie Motto as her final companion. I know Sister Motto is not only perfect for Sister Peterson, but this is an answer to my prayers as I did not want Kori's mission to end without an opportunity to serve with this amazing young woman. She is from Utah County and will return to BYU January 2015 when Kori returns. There is no better person prepared to help Sister Peterson end her mission strong and focused. If you would like to cyber meet Sister Motto, her blog can be followed here

I would so appreciate if Sister Peterson's final six weeks could be flooded with words or encouragement, strength, and your own testimony. Her address is: 

Kirche Jesu Christi

Sister Kori Lee Peterson

Alfred-Schmidstrasse 35

81379 Munchen

Deutschland

Thanks so much- now on to why you're really on this page!

Hello Friends & Family, 

 

All my swimmer friends and family should definitely recognize the title of this email. It is going to be my motto for the next several weeks! I might be headed in for the last swim, and I know it's going to be a fast one- but I'm going to give it all I've got! 

This week has been much needed for Sister E and I. As much as I love being in Munich and serving here, we have always kind of struggled finding new investigators here and finding people who actually have serious interest and will progress! We have seen a few miracle families and people, but its been kind of rough to get in contact with a lot of them lately.However, the past two weeks have been filled with miracles and we've seen many areas of our work finally starting to pick up! 

I was especially grateful for the blessing of serving in a companionship this week. Sister Erdenetsogt and I decided to go to a city that takes a while to get to on the S-bahn in an effort to visit a less active sister in our ward- unfortunately she wasn't home. We really had nothing else to do, so we headed back to the S-bahn station to go back into Munich.  

I was praying in my heart, explaining to Heavenly Father that we had planned to visit this lady but she wasn't home. As I shared my feelings about how much time in travel  it takes for us to get here and back, I asked Heavenly Father to please let us find SOMEONE so that our trip wasn't in vain. 

Well, we sat down to wait for the Bahn, and two people, a sweet lady and a very drunk man sit next to us. The man sees our name tags and immediately starts ridiculing us for believing in God and serving in Germany; he was not being very friendly and he just would not stop.  

The lady was sitting on the other side of the man, sending us sympathetic smiles whenever she can and when the S-bahn finally got there, we tried to sit down next to the lady to talk to her; but the man would have none of it and he followed us to sit next to her as well.  

I tried desperately to get a conversation going with her, but every time I did, the man would interrupt and start asking weird questions again. Finally, I just to give him my full attention and talk to him for a bit. The whole time I prayed (and prayed, prayed, PRAYED) that Sister Erdenetsogt would talk with the lady.  

We got off the S-bahn, and sister E not only talked to her, but got her number and address and set up an appointment! We visited her family a few days later, and they are so amazing! They are so ready and so open to the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I still cannot believe that none of this would have happened if we weren't working with a companions, if we weren't unified in our purpose, and if we hadn't gone to that city to contact the less active woman! There are many things I hope to keep alive in post-missionary life and this is one of them. Being unified in such a way that the Lord's work can be fulfilled; if not by my hands, than by the hands of someone I am trying to support. 

One a boat with Mathias

The Senior sisters in the office, Sister Sonomura and Holmgren, are going home this week, so we decided to invite them over for dinner after our apartment inspection. It was so much fun, but it felt so backwards! Normally we are the ones who are invited over, but this time we got to prepare for the missionaries. They even gave us a spiritual thought at the end of dinner which was so nice that I about died with excitement haha

King Ludwick's memorial on Starnberg Sea

One of our investigator families, the Göbs, have started to become some of our best friends.  We have visited them every week for about 2 months now, and we have really enjoyed going over. They heard Sister Erdenetsogt and I talk once about how we want to go to the Zoo so badly because we live right next to it, but that we don't want to pay ourselves so we haven't gone. A few weeks later, they arrived at church so excited and presented us with Zoo tickets! We have been trying to go week after week, but with other commitments, limited time, and bad weather it just never worked out.  

Well, it is extremely obvious at this point, be we knew we were getting limited on p-days before it was possible that we would be separated again when transfer calls came up, so we decided that we would go on Monday, rain or shine, no matter how much time we had, we were going!  

Just a little sad that it is raining

"I spy with my little eye..."

Well it definitely turned out being more rain than shine, but WE WENT! 

It was pouring rain the entire day, but being the determined little missionaries we are, we bundled ourselves up, grabbed our rain gear and left headed straight to the ZOO! 

It was still fun, there was no heat nor long lines; we got the whole zoo to ourselves! 

I just really want to touch him!

As we left, we saw some nicely dressed people in the distance. As we got closer we saw the name tags and realized they were missionaries too! 

One of these things isn't like the other...

 

"In the USA, there is a law against tying a giraffe to a light post"

The Kohler's and the AP's had decided to go to the Zoo as well. Ha, even though Munich is huge and there is a ton to do, I guess going to the Zoo on a rainy day is THE THING to do. 

As for transfers, we will be making a companionship swap with the Tübingen Sisters. Sister Erdenetsogt is going to work with Sister Pentz in Tübingen and Sister Motto is coming here with me!  Though I will miss Sister E and we both dreaded the thought that one of us was leaving, we were blessed to get to work together again! 

Aside from saying good-bye to Sister E, I am so excited to get to work with Sister Motto!!! 

It was definitely weird in church yesterday to see Sister E say her goodbye's to the members; it doesn't feel real yet. I already saw her say goodbye in Linz, now I have to do it all over again?  But we will still see each other at MLC, so this isn't my last goodbye :)

Making cinnamon rolls

Well, I think this is all for me today. I have one final request from everyone- that is simply that you all will please pray for me!  

Pray that I will be able to keep my wits about me and that I do not get distracted; that I will stay focused this last transfer! I want to give it my all!  

Sleepover with the Munchen III sisters

There are so many miracles in Munich waiting to happen, so much potential waiting to be discovered! I can feel it!! 

I know I only have 6 weeks left, but like we would always say on swim team, Last One, Fast One!

Love to you all,

Sister Peterson