Willkommen in Munchen

Mmmm, I can smell that Bayern pride already!

Surprisingly, as adamant as I was to never ever EVER go to Munich, I actually feel right at home here. Since day one, Sister Erdenetsogt and I have been able to jump right back into the groove of things, it feels really normal and comfortable to be here with her so far. I will say that it does feel a bit weird for ME to be the one who is following HER around everywhere; but I have absolutely no idea where we are or what I am doing yet in this new town! I am not complaining though, it is a fun change!

Back together again- the first time just seemed too short

Munich is HUGE, especially compared to my other areas; I have gone from quaint little Freiburg to a little bit larger Linz to a huge city with lots of missionaries. I've gotta get used to that!

For those of you who I didn't get to Skype with on Mothers day, I got a haircut! It was so impulsive, but I guess not really...I have been planning on cutting my hair ever since I came to Linz, I just didn't know how short I wanted to cut it. Well, after 7 months of debating, I finally decided it was unhealthy enough to get a cute little trim. One of our investigators in Linz is a hair-dresser, and we were over at her house on Wednesday to give one last lesson before I left. At the end, she asked if I wanted her to cut my hair before I left. Ja, freilich!!! Then she asked how long I wanted to keep it and then...

CHOP!!

Good-bye's- I am really going to miss her, it seems too soon

I about had a panic attack when I saw how much hair was on the floor. Sister Pentz took some pretty good pictures of my panicked faced. I think I am fine now, but it is pretty drastic! I've always felt that only older people wore their hair short, so I feel like I instantly got 10 years older just because of the haircut.

Matching Missionaries

Munich is a much different city than where I have been so far. First of all, it is a much more modern city with so much International influence. There are so many Americans in my new ward! Well, actually, in this entire area, which is pretty weird to me. I have never realized how much we American's stick out like sore thumbs. For my entire mission, I have heard a lot of English at church just because almost everyone in the world learns English at school. It is very likely to have two people from different countries communicating in English to each other. So it really wasn't weird to HEAR English being spoken, but it has been a little strange to watch the other American families in the ward, observing their mannerisms and hearing the phrases we say, it makes me laugh.

Dinnertime in Munich with an American family eating Japanese food- talk about International

I asked sister Erdenetsogt how obviously American I am, and she just laughed and told me I'm about as American as it gets. Oh, how I have missed working with international companions, they say the darndest things :P

A youth activity in Munich

We have been seeing miracle after miracle here in Munich! 
But I actually wanted to end with a miracle that Sister Pentz and I saw in Linz the day before I left. It started off a few weeks ago, when the Elders gave us a woman investigator of theirs. She only has time to meet at times where most men are at work, so the Elders could never find any one to joint teach with them. Since the Elders can't teach her alone, they asked us to teach her. Well, we have had a hard time getting in contact with her, so we decided to go by her house with a card and some cookies. Cookies and treats are definitely one of the tricks I have learned on my mission! It is hard to resist someone with a sweet Personal Touch, no matter how much they think they don't want to answer they door- really, who can resist a yummy treat?

We got to the address when we realized that we didn't know her last name, so we didn't know which doorbell to ring. We knew she is from Africa, so we looked for all of the African last names on the doorbell box. We found two; one of them didn't answer, and one said that we rang the wrong house! So much for that approach.
Then we decided to ring random people and ask them to open the door so that we could drop the cookies off on her doorstep and leave. Literally nobody was home except the African man we had rang before. But he let us in and asked how he could help, and then he saw that we were missionaries and asked what we believe, what we do, and offered to let us to come by another time and teach him. We gave him a Book of Mormon to read and set up an appointment (for last Wednesday.) Well, we went by with a member, and he is so GOLDEN!  He had already started to read in the Book of Mormon, and he had so many amazing questions, like 'What happens with us after we die?'  'I have a hard time believing the perfect go to heaven and the bad go to hell, what happens with the rest of us?' and 'If God is the same forever, then why are there so many churches on the earth today?' 
It was so cool to hear every question and want to jump up and shout WE HAVE THE ANSWERS!  Man, it was so cool to see how God had prepared such an amazing person to accept the gospel, and how we just accidentally happened to meet him because we were dropping off some cookies to an investigator. Those moments help renew my excitement for finding :) 

I am going to miss this girl!

Hugs from Linz

 

The Didenhover's

Companion Selfie's

One more for the road

I was struggling to think of a spiritual thought to give a family on Mothers Day, and so I wrote down a lot of my favorite things about my mom and what I learned from her. I looked through the list and decided on a scripture that fit with the list
So in honor of all mom's today, I want to close with that scripture 
D&C 64:33  "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great."

Well, it is getting late, and I better go! I hope everyone has an amazing week :)

Tschüßie!

Sister Peterson

And Just Like That...

Hello All and Happy Cinco de Mayo-

There are two common American phrases that I keep thinking about
that could define this email- First, 'don't shoot the messenger' and the second phrase is 'learn to expect the unexpected'.
One thing I can say for sure is that the Lord is a big fan of throwing curve balls, especially at the person who is serene and comfortable where they are! Just when I start to feel like I am feeling comfortable again, the rug gets pulled out right from underneath me! Maybe it's because the Lord knows how easy it is for me to get stuck in a rut when things are too comfortable, so He always has to do something to keep me on my toes :P

Julia is going to go on a mission. She will be wonderful!

My in-field ''birthday'' was this week, which means that when I read in my journal entries from a year ago, I am finally in the mission field!  It is a really neat experience to read through the problems I had at the beginning of my mission, the ways I coped, the miracles I saw, the lessons I was learning, and to remember how odd it was to transition from a ''normal'' person into a missionary, and how long 18 months seemed to be at the time. 

A beautiful Spring morning- I love this time of year!!

Well, now, one year later, I am having the same experiences, but reversed! My mind is trying to get used to the idea that at some point, I will NOT be a missionary, and how fast the next 4 months will fly by. I feel like I am counseling with myself, just by reading in my journal every day. Previously, writing in my journal was always something that I would do as a means to vent my ideas and thoughts, I never thought about how much value it would have in the future. But it's cool to see how I have grown, and how the trials that I went through a year ago help me cope with the trials that I go through at this point in my life. Maybe it has something to do with hindsight being 20/20, Hmm. The prophets are pretty smart people when they tell us to keep journals!

Good-bye M

Cute and crazy kids- Abscheid is always hard

Towards the end of the week, I asked Elder Didenhover for a blessing of comfort and counsel. I just felt tense and distracted all the time, and a little bit of uneasiness. Like something big was coming; a big change- and my body didn't know how to process this change, so it reacted by always being sore and tense and heavy. I asked for a blessing, just to kind of calm me down, and it was a very helpful blessing (especially in hindsight.) Surprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot that was said about specifically about Linz or my position as a trainer. There was just a lot that was said about trusting in the Lord, trusting that He knows best and He knows my position, and that I will be qualified to do the work that I was called to do; nothing too specific, it was all very general. I just had to shrug my shoulders and be content with the fact that I didn't know everything and would understand someday. But I was blessed with peace of mind and heart for the rest of the week. Which was really helpful, because I needed as much peace and comfort as I could get to prepare me for Saturday morning!

Just so you know, I USED to think transfer calls were so exciting- 

I might have quickly changed my mind!

Saturday morning was the day scheduled for transfer calls, but neither Sister Pentz nor I were thinking much about this transfer because Sister Pentz has six more week of her training. Sister Pentz and I had just assumed that we would be together for the full 3 months of training time. Although there was always the thought in the back of my mind that it was possible that I would only train Sister Pentz for half of her training, it just never felt right- it was never a worry.  

But there were so many times that I would get the impression that I needed to prepare Sister Pentz to take over this area as soon as possible. It was a very uncomfortable thing for me, and at times, it made me feel like the ''mean trainer'' because of the things that I was prompted to ask Sister Pentz to do.  There would be times were I felt that she needed to walk us to appointments, even if it meant we got lost and were 30 minutes late somewhere. Or I would get the impression to give her the phone and NOT to take the phone back when she didn't know how to communicate in German and would try to give me the phone back. It was very weird, because in all the times I have trained, I have never felt the urgency to do such things. I was actually always such a firm believer in NOT forcing companions to do things, no matter what good intention it was. But as frequently as I got these promptings, the thought in my mind was never that I would have to leave. It was never a question-in my mind, I was staying in Linz until mid-June. Honestly, in my mind, it was totally possible to stay in Linz until September when I went home!

Saturday morning rolled around, and that's when it hit me. The uneasiness, the understanding, the realization... 

The Zone Leaders never called to say we were staying together. I seriously felt every imaginable emotion possible; it felt like the situation with Sister Erdenetsogt all over again. I remember how hard it was for me to get separated from her, feeling as if we weren't done learning from each other, that Sister Erdenetsogt's and my time together was cut short. And in all honesty, I didn't like it, and I struggled a little with it!  

Heavenly Father truly is merciful because it didn't take long for my emotions to turn from crazy to completely content. I was still sad that I only got to spend one transfer with Sister Pentz, but I felt at peace. I totally know that she is ready to take over Linz (she really is an awesome missionary) and I know from my own experiences that she wouldn't have been called to take over unless she was ready for it! So even though we were only together for 5 weeks, I was able to see her grow so much :)  

 

... SOOoooooooo where in the world am I going, you ask?

Munich!! Wait, let me say it again the way it sounds in my head MUNICH!!!

Which is crazy, of all the places possible to serve in the mission, I told myself that my top two places that I would NEVER want to serve as a missionary were Vienna and Munich.  

They are just much too big of cities for me (I thought), and they have both have so many missionaries!  

Especially since Munich is the headquarters of the mission, and that's where the AP's (Assistants to the President) and President and Sister Miles are located. It just always sounded way, way too intimidating to me!  

I am really going to miss Sarah

Well, yep, that's where I will be going on Thursday! Munich 2 ward.  

And the best and most surprising part is that I get to work with Sister Erdenetsogt again!  

Which is crazy! I honestly thought that I would never be able to see her again, and here we are! I know there is a sweet and tender mercy here and I am so grateful for it.

It's sad to leave Linz and Sister Pentz behind, and if I wasn't going to work with Sister Erdenetsogt, I do not think I would have accepted the call to go. Well, I guess I would have, because I support my leaders and have no other choice...

but I do not think I would be too happy about it! 

I am very excited to get to go back to Germany. I started my mission in Germany during summertime, and I get to finish my mission in Germany in the summertime :)  

It'll be just like going home! Except Munich is a lot bigger than Freiburg!

We did have our little YSA Cinco de Mayo party. Of all the things I have done on my mission so far, this was probably the most awkward thing I've ever had to do :)

Left, two, three, four and Grapevine to the Right

Elder Croft has his dance face on :)

On Saturday morning we got together at the church with the Elder's to practice the line dances. We invited the Didenhover's to ''babysit'' us. The Elders and Sisters are not allowed to go places or be alone with one another, let alone dance together, which is pretty understandable! We got all of the awkwardness and weirdness out of the way so that we could teach the line dances to the Young Single Adult's (YSA's) on Saturday night. It was so much fun just be involved, to get to know them better and to just dance. It has been nice because we have more and more people who are coming to the YSA activities. There was quite a while that nobody ever came to the events, so this felt like HUGE success! Things are finally starting to pick back up again, which is what we have all been praying for in Linz. 

We had worked up quite an appetite

The Erlacher's

Before I wrap up, I wanted to add one of my favorite scriptures. I am not sure if I have already shared this or not, but I have really tried to make this scripture my motto for missionary work. It's easy as a missionary to remember that we are trying to share the gospel with others, but it's not as easy to remember HOW we do that. One thing that I have really come to understand in Linz is that the work comes so much easier when you love those you serve. You are better able to understand their needs; you know what to say to comfort them and you are able to have patience with them when it would otherwise be hard. Missionary work and love must go hand in hand, or it is not as effective. 

1 Thessalonians 2:8   "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us." 

I know that as we pray to develop this love that missionary opportunities will follow naturally. Service opportunities will come to the surface, and it will no longer become a burden to share the gospel, but it will become something that we honestly and sincerely WANT to do.

I love this work so much and am so grateful to be a part of the Lords great work! Have an amazing week, and greetings (for one last time) from Austria!

Bis Aufwiederhören!

Sister Peterson

... And for your viewing entertainment, here is a video from the YSA Line Dancing Activity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJUGCxtgTJY&feature=youtu.be

 

Vienna: Third Time's a Charm

Hello All-

... or in honor of the line dancing class we are teaching this weekend "Howdy Y'ALL!" By the way, I wish you all could see the hilarious videos of line dancing that my sisters and brother sent! The first thing I am doing when I get home is post those on YouTube (is YouTube still a thing?)

Sister Pentz and I on p-day

I will start with last Monday for p-day. It was a holiday in Austria so pretty much everything was closed, so we hadn't made any really big plans for the day. Randomly, Schwester Seyr and her husband called us us to see what we had planned for the day. 

Schwester Seyr & her husband- we love them so much

Schwester Seyr said "well, that is just not acceptable to be in Austria for a limited number of Monday's and NOT have any plans!!  

Another selfie :)

They invited us over for lunch (a special curry and rice dish, which ended up being an answer to Sister Pentz's prayers!!) and then they took us on a fun little hike up to a place called Lichtenberg. It was a bit of a drive away, but I had no idea that Linz was so GORGEOUS!  

I wish pictures could do this natural beauty justice

Lichtenberg

 

It reminded me a bit of Schwarzwald (the Black Forest) where I started out my mission. It probably has a lot to do with the time of year, because it was this time last time last year that I first arrived in Freiburg. Whatever the reason, I just felt so "at home" in those rolling hills!

I gotta say, I love the members! I don't think that any of us have any way of truly realizing how our little, seemingly simple acts of kindness make a huge impact to someone in our path. 

Everyone needs an ice cream break

I definitely know I didn't think anything of having the missionaries over for dinner at home, but NOW- we live for and thrive from our interactions with the members and their families. You might think a smile and a sandwich is no big deal- but to those kids who are far from home- it's the difference between crying and laughing sometimes! :)  

The view from a member's home here in Linz

I love this view of Linz

When I got the call two transfers ago that I would be working with Sister Ackerman, I pretty much knew that I would be staying in Linz for 5 transfers (7 and a half months) and I was pretty intimidated. Five transfers is a LONG time to be in one place! I was only in Freiburg for 4! So when I was told I would be with Sister Ackerman, one Elder here told me to be grateful for the extra time. He said that I would be amazed at how well I get to know the ward, the area, and the people. That has proved to be more true than I thought possible. I love how comfortable I am now in Linz, the friendships I have made, and how much I feel at home :)  Now the trick is to make sure that THEY don't get sick of ME...teeheehee

Kirchschlag means 'church slap'

On that note, the Didenhover's offered me one of the kindest things this past month. They have been here in Linz with me and talked to me the other day about a special fast they had decided to do. They had been fasting that one of our investigators would be baptized before I leave Linz. I know from my own personal prayers that if I don't ever have an investigator choose to be baptized that all is well- I'm here for more than I can truly comprehend. But it was so nice that they were thinking of me on that level to have a special fast on my behalf. We really do make a difference in each others lives. I'm telling you, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass! Don't ever forget that.

Sister Pentz's first Doner

We had a really cool activity in the church last week. There are a lot of Persian less actives in the ward who struggle coming to church. I think one of the biggest challenges in getting investigators to come to church and stay active is the language barrier. Imagine how intimidating it is to come to a church where the culture is different, the way of worship is different, the ideas of doctrine are different, and add on top of THAT the inability to speak the language of those around you. It IS pretty scary! I know it was scary for me my first few weeks in Germany, and I am a missionary!  

But the ward organized an activity based on the talk from conference about how we ''are no more strangers''. The Persian members were asked to prepare presentations, introduce themselves, and cook dinner in order to demonstrate their culture and show themselves to the ward. It was probably one of the coolest activities I have visited on my mission. Just to watch the Persian members connect with the ward, and feel involved, welcome, and just excited to be there! 

I often think back of my attitude on missionary work in America. How often would I see the Elders bring an investigator to church, and instead of being a friend, I judged?  Excuses of 'they cant speak English, they aren't wearing traditional church clothes, they have different standards than I do, they won't think I am genuine if I say "Hi"- these kinds of thoughts ran rampant through my mind all too much.  

But now, as I missionary, I realize how much trust and patience and faith I ask of the members every time I bring someone to church. And how grateful I am at the help we do get! We are not strangers!!  We are all Gods children! 

That person sitting next to you on the bus stop, who might not speak very much English, might actually be the funniest person that you ever meet. That girl who sits behind you in Sunday School who is really shy and dresses a little differently might actually be one of the most spiritually in tune people you'll ever meet- and she might be able to answer one of your much needed questions.  

It's kind of cool to think about. That lady that always checks out your stuff at Target might end up being your best friend. Her and her newlywed husband might end up accepting an invitation to come to the ward barbeque, which will help them feel comfortable enough to come to church, take the missionary lessons, get baptized, and be sealed to each for time and all eternity in the temple. You just never know- but the only way you'll find out is if you open your mouth and be a friend first. I'm telling you, friendship, love, fellowship! Every member has a story of a friend who made a difference! So go out and be a friend- who knows where it might lead you and the person you meet?  

Romanian Easter eggs

The Easter Egg Game

This Monday, all of the missionaries from Salzburg and Vienna zones met up in Vienna and had a massive finding day. I was able to work with Sister Green to go finding. It was so super, incredible, over-the-top fun! I love going on splits with other missionaries and just seeing how other missionaries do the work in their own areas.  

On Tuesday, we had Mission Tour. President and Sister Miles came to Vienna with Elder and Sister Dyches (from the 70) and led some pretty good discussions and lessons. It was overall a very spiritual and uplifting few days. I definitely learned a lot.

But, for me, it wouldn't be a trip to Vienna unless there was stress involved...

I don't know why, but lately I have been having a really hard time dealing with TIME. I have always told myself that no matter how ''old'' I get on my mission (age is defined by how many months serving not necessarily year of life), I won't have to worry about going home and all that that entails until a,b,c, and d happens. For example, until my year mark, until I have 5 months left, until my field year mark, until my last general conference, until my last time skype home to my family, etc etc etc. To focus on the work and keep my head in the game, I have definitely been procrastinating thinking about going home or ending my mission until it gets much closer....

But while in Vienna, it was so amazing to meet up with and see lots of missionaries that I have worked with throughout my mission. There have been so many people who were instrumental to my first few months trying to learn the language, feeling comfortable with a new way of life and feeling confident as a missionary- I have looked up to all of these awesome missionaries and have just kind of never thought of them as much more than my missionary mentors- but in Vienna, talking to them I realized that many of them are going home. Like going HOME NEXT WEEK!!  

I remember meeting them, hearing them say that they would be going home in May, and thinking that that was forever away. May is only 3 transfers earlier than me and I have all the time in the world left to be a missionary! 

Sister Garrett and I (I'm going to miss her)

I always look forward to seeing Sister Allman and she is going home too

But seeing them all together, especially because Elder Dyches made them all stand up and come to the front of the room, I think it launched a little panic attack. A few missionaries have told me that the 3rd to last transfer is the hardest to deal with. This is the transfer when you finally start to realize the reality of the fact that going home is going to happen, and sooner than you were expecting. Like really Soon. Fast. Schnell. 

They all have warned that you feel like you haven't had enough time to learn yet, that you are just barely getting the hang of missionary work and finally can cope with up and down days. It's so easy to think that it is in the distant future. But than all of a sudden it is looking you square in the face and you are afraid of becoming trunk-y and NOT focusing on the work, you start to get stressed about what you still have to learn and do, and it is emotionally and physically draining! Since it is still not close enough to your release date, you don't have the excitement and anticipation about going home yet, so it's all stress and panic.

Sister Lohmann: one of my first tausch's (going home next week)

Yes, I thought they were all crazy, but it is all happening now to me. My 3rd to last transfer begins next Monday. And I am already feeling it. I'm afraid I think about this a lot more than I should. I think this is one of the biggest blessings about my companionship with Sister Pentz. She is ganz neu auf Mission! She needs as much help as she can get to adjust to missionary life, to learn to love the language, the culture, the people, the rules. She, just like every other Golden I know, needs all of my time and attention. Her enthusiasm and the novelty of everything we encounter keeps me well grounded and joyful at our days together. I am very grateful for the opportunity to train again for this (and many other) reasons! 

I have already noticed how when my thoughts are on her (and my investigators and members, of course) I am happier. I am carefree, and time is not an issue, because I am not living for time, but I am living for the moment. But how to learn to do that all the time?  I have no idea!  I will let you know when I do ;)

One more selfie- I love this girl!

I love you all so much, and have a wonderful week!

Sister Peterson