12-28-15

I love the picture.  It was a nice surprise.  You were also very sneaky and only boring stuff was to be seen on the custom form.  I'm happy the frame survived too.  I love it.  And everything else.  It was funny, I pulled out the pen, and Sister Riser said "Is that a dolphin!?"  It was hilarious.

I'm good on clothes actually.  While they do wear out faster than suits, most Sisters leave cloths behind when they move areas or go home, so there's a constant supply of clothing.  When the zipper on my black skirt broke, I managed to find another one.  Although I do understand why they leave things behind.  They do get worn, and wearing the same things every week is boring.

It's so cool that you shared the pioneer stuff.  On Saturday, we watched 17 Miracles.  So good.

So, we went to Tina's to bring her to church.  She wasn't there and her phone was off.  The Hausmeister said she was at a friends.

I'm so happy I got to see you guys Friday.  I loved the chaos and excitement, it felt like home.  I'm so glad you're my family.

I love you all and have a wonderful New Year.

Love,

Rachel

 

 

12-21-15

Mom.  Do you realize that this is the first time I want to go see a
movie.  I was fine with Avengers, Cinderella, I was even okay with you
all seeing Little Mermaid in Hales Theatre.  But Star Wars?  There's
so much merchandise everywhere! Last p-day we turned a corner to go to
C&A and there were two giant Star Wars posters on the building!  This
is torture!

It's also been really entertaining to see how some people are so mad
that the books are no longer canon.  Or debating if they should see it
our not.  My last companion was like that until we were walking past a
screen that had the trailer playing.  Then she's was all over it.

At least I get to eat Star Wars themed chocolate.

Anyway, this week was crazy.  We had Zone Conference with Elder
Johnson of the area presidency.  Found out I went to school with his
nephew, who plays violin, for two years.  Learned a bunch of stuff.
We also went by on potentials and dropped Christmas cookies off to
members.  Tina didn't show up to church, so she's still not confirmed,
and talked to some awesome people.

So much happened this week, and I barley remember it.  That's what
journals are for.

Oh, I'm attaching Last Christmas German style.  While at Gemiko (I
have no idea what the English word is.  We talk with the Ward Mission
Leader about missionary stuff.) Ther daughter played it for us, and
Sister Riser recorded it.  It's a million times better in German.
Sadly, I can not send you it all, but it's really, really funny.

For Skype, Sister Fahl asked us to do it whenever works best for you.
So just send me a time.  It'll probably be between 9-11 am Christmas
Day.

Merry Christmas y'all!

Zone Conference

12-14-15

Missions holding onto our gifts.  And yes, people are more willing to listen.

Transfers happened, and Tina got baptized!  Sister Riser is awesome, as expected.  I don't even know what else happened this week.

Transfers were fun because I wasn't alone I got to spend four hours with Elder and Sister Hart.  They are among my favorite mission couple.  I love missionary couples.

Nice to know Jake's not dead, and all the Star Wars stuff is making me trunky.  I'll live though.  I guess Star Wars can wait.  Besides, there's plenty of other Christmas things to distract me.  

There aren't a lot of Christmas decor outside of Christmas markets.  It's a German tradiation that the decoration goes up on Christmas Eve while the kids are gone.  Because the Christkind Angel comes and puts them up.

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Love,

Rachel

12-7-15

Baptism is this Saturday.  Transfer are Tomorrow and I will be joined by Sister Riser.  Sister Jackson made me promise to send her lots of pictures.

I'm glad you got to go to temple square, and be seeing some baptisms of your own.

I think that'll be perfect for Kersten.

I have a confession.  I my have bought me a stuffed panda bear last week.

Sorry this letter is short.  I don't really know what happened this week.  I got the hat Kersten made.

Love you all!

11-30-15

So, Tina's going to be baptized next week.  Both us and the ward feel it's best to make sure she really understands and can get to know the ward better.  She is so prepared though.  There is no doubt that she will make it to the waters of baptism.  She's awesome.

Weihnachtsmarkts are up!  I feel so lucky to be serving in the Nürnburg Zone right now.  And, the ward fave all the missionaries chocolate advent calendars.  I'm so excited for the season.

And the new Christmas video is amazing!!!  If you haven't seen it yet, you should do that. Right now.  It's incredible.  I love the invitation at the end to discover why.  Sharon that video with people this Christmas Season is going to be so much fun!  I love Christmas.

Guess what, Germans to Christmas a bit like us.  Open all the gifts on Heiligabend. I'm not sure about Christmas morning, I've heard mixed things.  But Our way of doing Christmas Eve is not as strange as people think.

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

11-23-15

Tina has a tauf date.  I don't really believe it either.  Right now it's the fifth of December, but we're going to double check that she's okay with that.  Two weeks really isn't a ton of time, but we can schaf it.

That was a lot of danglish.  Sorry.  Baptismal date and we can do it.  Tina is just amazing.  

That is hilarious.  What did the Elders think of it?  I'm sure they loved you.  Dinner appointments are the best.

I love all the talks you send. Money are brilliant.

This week, we were invited to a music night at Bishop's house.  Basically a few people, member and non member alike, get together and have an informal music talent show.  I wound up playing If You Could Hie to Kolob on the violin because everyone was trying to get Elder Morris to play, but he hadn't for three years and was super nervous, so I took one for the team.  I was shaking so bad and was impressed I even remembered it.  It was nice to hold a violin again though.  And the Ackermann's violin is so nice.  Like Grandma's standard.

That's really it.  Teaching Tina and talking to everyone.  Being grateful weekly planning is on Friday because it rained non stop all day.  We also got snow. Yes, I'm happy.

I don't know any to get Kersten!  I'd make her something, but I can't really do that...Maybe something chicken related...or Doctor Who because she's obsessed...or something to do with tea...or knitting...do you have any thoughts?  I'll make my final decision in a week or two.  I need to think.

I love you all!  Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Rachel 

P.S. There will be a YSA thingy on Thursday and an American member is having us over on Saturday. (It's not a holiday in Germany and they want their kids there)

11-16-15

For the musical number we did Nearer my God to Thee.  I messed with the chords a bit, first verse was normal in German, second verse, Sister Jackson sang tenor in German, third verse was verse five in English, and we repeated the last line in German.  It went okay.  Not terrible and no major mess ups, so I'm alive.

This week we did a bunch of contacting activities with the Elders, and found Tina.  This adorable lady from Nigeria.  I didn't get to meet with her because I was on a split in Coburg, but she sounds amazing.  I'll get to meet her tomorrow:)

Time is so weird on a mission.  The days are weeks, but the weeks are days.  I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving already.

Hopefully you get another peaceful week before the craziness of Thanksgiving happens.

I love you all and promise to wait until Christmas to open it.

Lots of love,

Rachel

 

11-9-15

My week has been pretty boring as well.  We went by on less actives, who either moved or weren't there.  That about sums up my week.  Liver and onions sounds more exciting.

Oh, Sister Jackson and I have been asked to do a musical number at zone training this Friday.  I'm going to be accompanying her on the piano.  We'll see how this actually goes...

I love you all and hope you have a more exciting week;)

Love,

Rachel

11-2-15

This week was crazy.  Between transfers and working in both Nürnberg and Feucht for the first half, I have no idea what happened. But on Saterday, we did a street display in Nürnberg.  I simultaneously felt like I've improved when I comes to talking to people, and need a lot of work to be better.  It was way fun though.

I love that we need trails to be happy.  How else could we know what true happiness is?

I'm jealous that you got to go to Manti.  Maybe the room experience will keep you from going on fun adventures without me;) 

I hope you all have a wonderful week.  I love and miss you all!

10-26-15

Guess what! I saw Sister Oscarson!  She had a Fireside for our stake that we totally got to go to.  It was awesome.  Our Nürnberg Drit is crazy, as expected.  We never really know which area we need to be in.  It's super fun though.

I want to go to Manti Temple.  I just want to go to a temple.  

Funny story, so we were in Nürnberg to teach an investigator, but her Mom wasn't home so we had to wait.  We heard the family next door having an argument and the girl said she was afraid of them.  We decided they needed the gospel, and wanted to show her what missionaries do (we were on that lesson anyway) So we went and knocked on the door.  An African lady answered, let us in, likened to us, invited us back to teach her the lessons.  We were all in shock and didn't really know what to say, but it worked out and Sister Knutsen and her golden will have a new investigator when they come to Nürnberg Thursday.

Oh yea, transfers happened.  Sister Hyatt is going to Coburg and two new Sisters are coming to Nürnberg.  Sister Jackson and I shall stay in Feucht together.

I hope you all have a great week!  And tell Jake to email me please:)

10-19-15

Ya, so Morgana tchüssed us.  We think her pastor talked to her.  But she still would like to see what our church services are like one Sunday.

That sounds like fun. I'm glad you guys are enjoying yourselves.

So, this week, I went to a hospital for the first time in almost a year.  The wife of the first Albanian family we were teaching is going in for an operation.  Due to language barriers, we don't really know why.  And I may have needed Sister Jackson to tell me what was even said.  I was fine when we left, but it may have been a different hospital, but it still had the hospital feel.

This week we are going to be in a drit with Nürnberg and try to balance working two areas.  Sister Hug got her visa to go to Utah so that she can serve in the Temple Square mission.  This will only be for a week and a half until transfers.

Good luck with finding names!  I'll send anything I find to you if I have a moment to look.

Thank you so much for all you've done for me.  Dad too.  

I love you guys!

10-12-15

The weather doesn't know what it's doing here.  One minute I want a coat, the next a t-shirt.

Sorry the email is later, we went to Walhalla. (aka Valhalla) My German is the same as usual. As for teaching, almost all of our appointments kept falling out.  But because of that, we doored into Morgana.  She is very open, and we're hoping to see good things.

I have been looking at our German ancestors because I'm looking at what Länder they are from.  So far I have been to both Hessen and Bayern.  Unfortunately, I could end up anywhere but Saarbrücken.

I did get my packages!  They all worked out.  The lip balm you gave me is going to drive missionaries crazy though.  For some reason Reese's is the one American chocolate everyone misses.

My birthday was awesome.  Crazy adventure to a random city and some doughnuts.  Doesn't get much better.  Elder Fultz even used my birthday as a way to shake up the conversation with an English guy we met on the train.

I can't believe you are out of jars.  I never thought that was possible.

I hope everyone as a fantastic week and Michelle has a wonderful birthday!

Love you,

10-5-15

Spencer's married? How come no one tells me this sort of stuff?

Thanks for sharing me that story about Nicole.  It's hard sometimes
when you're surrounded by people who don't really know Nicole.  You
can tell them stories and try to explain who she is, but it's not the
same as talking to someone who already knows Nicole and i don't have
to explain little things.

Ya, I tried not to remember the chaos of last year... But conference
was amazing.  What I saw of it anyway. (Still have to see Sunday
Afternoon) This was the first conference that made me cry.  It wasn't
so much what was said, although that did effect, but what I felt.  I
can't describe it, I just know without a doubt that Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ are looking out for me.

Aside from Conference, this week was full of train rides, splits, and
fountain pens.  Just a normal life for for a missionary in Germany:)

Wish Miranda luck for me!  If you approve of the guy, he's okay;)

Thinking of you (Seriously, Elder Holland made me miss you terribly)
and lots of love,

9-28-15

Just heard about it.  We went to get on a train to Nürnberg, and
nothing was running because of "Person im Gleis".  But it reminded me
of Uncle Brent.

No.  I don't get to see it until Sunday.  Stupid time zones...

Michelle told me all about canning.  I want to spend four hours
canning.  That doesn't seem to be a thing here.  Maybe I just don't
know where to go to volunteer our services.  I also don't know if my
companion would be as appreciative of canning...

So, I do not know when I will get your package, but I shall inform you
when I receive them.  Zone Conference is coming up so I can check for
the Amazon one.

Uh, I don't even know how to request having my American first address
changed.  Is it because I pulled out of Bayern instead of Hessen?  I
don't know.  Money is annoying.

I actually really appreciate you telling me about stuff like that.  It
makes me feel less alone in random things making me sad.  It's kinda
irritating when everyone thinks they have to "fix" you when that
happens, when you really just need to be left alone or given a hug.

So, with the Albanians, The investigator's translator is now an
investigator, and the first investigators dropped us, but another
Albanian family wants us to teach them because they heard about the
church in Italy.  Yes, it is as confusing as it sounds.  And it all
happened on Sunday when they wanted to come to church.

Ana's pictures are gorgeous.  No Elders are allowed to see them.

I love you!

9-21-15

Yea, it's getting cold.  Not enough for a coat, but cardigans and jackets are in use.  Speaking of that, with buying a winter coat could you move some money from checking to saving?  I don't know why but it pulls the money out from there and nowhere accepts American cards.

I should be fine without a journal till Christmas.  I have enough paper left in my current one.

This week has just been full of getting Sister Landeen ready for transfers, transfers, doors, getting hit in the face with a volleyball (both glasses and nose are not broken), and a street display in Coburg.

I am getting nervous about Nicole.  It'll be the same week of transfers.  Halloween will be awful.  If I get a new companion they are going to think I need psychological help.  I already warned Sister Jackson that I have no idea what I'm going to be like next month.

Also, this morning someone jumped on the tracks.  Due to that trains from Feucht to Nürnberg where verspätend.  And everyone was more concerned about jot getting to Nürnberg than that someone killed them self.  So people where being irritated while I was sick to my stomach.  The past four years have changed the way I see things, and no one else really gets it.  And I can't help them see it.

I can't wait to see the General Women's conference.  I will probably see it later, but I'll let Laura know when I see her:)

Good luck with everything, and thank you for being my Mom.

Love you!

9-14-15

Yay!  I'm so excited!  And I'm not surprised you can't read German.  I
can't either.

I'm glad I got the dress too.  Now all I need is Weihnachtsmarkt and
my German adventure will be complete.  Luckily, Christmas is coming!

We actually figured something out with why we get along so well.  Most
drits have one person joining two people who are already use to each
other, so the third person messes that up.  With us, all three of us
had never been companions before.  We had no idea what the other two
would be like.

We do tracking and area book work.  Area books are amazing.

Transfers happened.  Sister Landeen will be leaving to open Sisters
Hamm.  And train.  She's freaking out.  But she'll do great things up
there.  I'll be staying in Feucht with Sister Jackson.

I'm so excited to see Laura sing in the choir!  That will be fabulous.
Although, why is it just Laura?

I miss canning.  Even tomatoes.

Love you!

9-7-15

Yay! You know me so well.

As for my birthday, you know I'm terrible at specifics.  Although I
wouldn't mind Reece's...  I also don't know how long packages take to
arrive.

I miss canning!!!   It it's okay.  A member let us go weed his pumpkin
patch and pick pumpkins.  So much fun!  It was a pig pumpkin patch and
we were out there three hours and I barley noticed.

So, for the craziness of last week, basically the translator for the
Albanian couple is waiting for the government to decide if he'll be
deported back to Costivo, and the couple themselves have seemed to
realize that our church is more different than they originally thought
and basically tchüßed us.

The craziness for this week is that Thursday night, President called
to ask if Sister Landeen would like to go to Bonn for a week.  A
Sister there is in the hospital with Kidney Stones and the hospital
won't let her companion stay with her.  And Bonn is too busy to be
neglected by sending the non sick Sister to Köln and be in a drit
there.

So, Friday morning Sister Landeen headed to Bonn.  It's actually
really entertaining to us.  Most drits have a third wheel, but with
us, each of us have third wheel moments, but we get along great.  We
actually like to compare our relationship to the Golden trio.  And
right now, Sister Jackson and I are going through that moment in the
seventh book when Ron left.  We can function, but not as well without
Sister Landeen.

But, the work moves onward.

I'm glad you get to teach primary again.  I know it's your favorite.
And your questions are very insightful.

Love you too!

8-31-15

Music is wonderful.  As Dumbledore said, music has a magic not even they can duplicate.  Or something like that.  It's been a while since I last read Harry Potter.  Although, why is only Laura in the choir? What about the other girls?

This week has been mental.  That is the only way I can describe it.  It was just completely crazy.  I don't even know what happened.  Between missionary work and going to the Temple for the last time, it was insane. 

I miss canning, and all y'all. 

Love you!  

8-25-15

So, last p-day, we headed to the Doku-Zentrum.  It's a museum about
the Nazi rallies in Nürnberg and the Nürnberg trails after the war.
It was so cool.  They gave us each this magnifying glass looking
thing, and every poster had a number on it that you would type into it
to get an English translation.  They also had films playing.  (They
were silent unless you pushed the number so as not to disturb the
others)

I took a lot more pics with my actual camera, but here are some I took
with the iPad:

1. Nürnberg the German city
2 & 3. At the end they had this rail track and it talked about all the
people who were transported to concentration camps via train.  Each of
those cards has one name on it, yet represents a thousand people.
(They actually didn't talk about the Holocaust that much.  Or the
actual war.)

we went to the church yesterday to call Albania.

I leave and you do all the fun stuff.  I'm sorry it's so quiet.  Good luck with adjusting to school life again.

So, about calling Albania...there is this cute Albanian couple we're teaching.  They speak very little English or German, so this amazing refugee whose been her seven months and has better German than me is translating for us. (They live in a refugee camp together and he translates for everyone he can.  He's amazing.) however, it is still difficult to teach and the poor translator has to do so much already, so we got permission to call the Albanian missionaries to see if they could teach them via Skype or FaceTime.  Whichever works best.

 

Love you too!

8-17-15

It's actually not hard to ride in a skirt.  We have those bikes that scoop down instead of the sport bikes with the bar across.  If that made any sense...  I've also learned a lot about bike gears, and Elder Bednar's talk about the parable of the truck makes a lot more sense.  Sometimes, you need more traction or else your going nowhere fast.

Is Jake still going to Snow?  He kinda stopped emailing me.

That's way excited for Laura!  I bet she's thrilled.

As for my week, German gives me a headache, but even though I don't understand completely ever single time I go into a lesson I just feel this overwhelming felling of love for the people.  It's amazing.  I love Germany.

Although Feucht lives up to its name.  It's really humid.  You know it's humid when cleaning makes you sweat.

I wish you luck with school and give you all my love,

Rachel

8-10-15

Guess what?  I get to ride a bike!  Feucht is one of the few Sister biking area and it is so fun! It's true that you never forget how to ride.  And the Ward is amazing.  It's small, but strong.  I love my new companions too.  We are all like different versions of the same person.  Their names are Sister Jackson and Sister Landeen. (I can't remember if I mentioned that yet or not.) Also, the members are awesome about my "German skills".

Laura's going to Willow Valley!? When did she get old?  

I don't know.  You'll come up with something awesome.  

Oh, and Michelle does look like Grandma. I can't get to the website because everything is restricted on the iPad.  Even mormonchannel.org.  And I would be interested if I knew who those people are...

Love you!

Rachel

8-3-15

This Thursday at 13:10 my time I will be on a  four hour train ride to Feucht.  (Technically 3:40) My new companions names are sister Jackson and Sister Landeen.  Feucht is just south of Nürnberg.  I know once I get there I'll be okay, but currently my heart feels like it's being ripped to shreds having to say goodbye to all the amazing people I've had the opportunity to get to know and love.  Sunday was rough and the next two days are going to be just as bad.  How do missionaries do this?

Do you think you could let Sister Rolfe know?  Also that a love their family and that they a re all amazing.

I actually do miss canning green beans.  That was my favorite thing to can.  That and juicing tomatoes.

Cool fact: Family History is addicting.  Even for nonmembers:)

I love you all and wish you luck getting canning done,

Rachel

P.S. Sorry I'm late, we had a crazy day

7-29-15

I go to the Temple now everyone thinks I'm dead. (Rachel didn't tell us that her p-day was moved.  We wrote her and told her that we were planning her funeral since we didn't hear from her on Monday)

 I love going to the Temple though.  It's closing in September for two
years, so I only have one other chance to go, no that's if I don't get
transferred next week.  Going only once every six weeks is hard
enough.  I don't know if I can wait 10 or so months.  I defiantly
appreciate having so many temple so close by back home much more.

I'm jealous that you got to see The Little Mermaid.  And Nicole would
have loved it.  Although, I hear Hale Theater is showing Beauty and
the Beast next summer...

I have no clue what I want from home.  Sister Rolfe is so sweet to offer.

The only news from over here is that Sister Aschle, an inactive who
became active on her own, is having her interview with the stake
president to go through the Temple tomorrow!  She's planning on
getting her endowments out before it closes.  She's just amazing.

I love y'all!

Rachel

flammkuchen

selfie at the Temple

1-20-15

I also wish I could just call you whenever.  It would make my life
easier.  Or get random texts about Kersten's dreams.  It's been a few
weeks since she's told me she dreamed I died though.

I do not think I could go out on that balcony.  Some members showed us
pictures of their trip to Garmisch, and you can walk along gorges on a
man made steel mesh thing.  Pretty as the Alps are, I'm not sure I
could do that. Nor do I think I could walk out onto that balcony.

So, Nicole's birthday.  My bad day was Wednesday, and then the next
day I saw God's hand in the tiny Miracles that cheered me up.  On
Saturday,  the German Ward Sisters took us to Lucy on the Rhein. (They
know about Nicole and wanted to do something for me.) we ate Asian
food and ate spaghetti ice cream. (whipped cream in the middle
surrounded by vanilla ice cream squeezed through this thing to make it
look like spaghetti with strawberry sauce and little white sprinkles
that look like parmesan cheese on top.) it turned out to be a good
day.

Lots of love,

Rachel

P.S. Here is a selfie Sister Roderer took on Saturday

 

7-11-15

Ya, Sister Rolfe is pretty amazing.  And I greatly enjoyed the gifts:)

So, now that I'm gone you do fun stuff. I see how it is.  I hope you
have fun and Ana doesn't get too excited about Beauty and the Beast.

Missionary work helps a lot with Nicole.  It helps get my mind off it.
I'm still not excited for Saturday.

 I taught my first lesson this week!  Her name is April and she shares
a stairwell with a member.  She wants time to look over the Book of
Mormon and stuff before she talked the next discussion.

Have fun down in St. George and good luck with everything.

Love,

Rachel

7-6-15

Happy birthday!! Sorry I'm a day late.

So for the 4th, there was a German, American friendship festival going on all week from noon to midnight.  It was a mixture of German and American fair type stuff, from food to games.  There was a Bierstein game where you bounce ping pongs into the booth, and of your ball lands in something, you get to keep it.  I got three glasses and two Biersteins. I gave one to another missionary that didn't get one.  We also went to a BBQ.  There were fireworks, but because it doesn't get dark till late, we didn't get to see them.  Honestly, it didn't feel much like the Fourth of July to me.  Just another day of work.

I'm glad you guys had fun though.  I miss Dad's turkey.  At the BBQ we went to, there was chicken that looked similar, but it wasn't.  I was very disappointed.  And I'm sure Valerie will cling to you soon enough.

Weather wise, last week has been a record high for Germany.  Over 100 degrees.  Not to mention the humidity.  I don't think. Y hair will ever fell dry again.  You walk outside, say nope and want to go back inside.  Then you remember the only AC you can find is in cars and the occasional bus/train if your lucky.  So your going to be roasting inside because there is no way your going to cool down very quickly.  But we still have fun.  And it's a lot cooler now.

I found out you told Sister Rolfe my favorite things.  Should I be worried about the conversation you had with her?

She also just took us to Burg Rheinstein.  So cool.  This castle was actually renovated and everything.  I took most of the pictures on my camera, so I don't have any to show you right now... But we had fun.

I love you!

Rachel

6-29-15

I love that quote.  I know I have felt like I was in Never Never Land
 

I like your umbrella analogy.  With my thinking about it, I came up with that only one person can hold the umbrella (multiple people holding it makes things difficult), but it covers multiple people.  I don't know if that was what you were going for, but that's what I got.

I'm glad you survived Girls Camp.  I had no doubt you would.  If any bears did attack you, Michelle would have scared them off with her scream:) 

Love you!

6-22-15

Guess what! I get to stay in Little America for Independence Day!

I'm glad you got to talk with Sister Rolfe. She told me about it and
that she loved talking with you.  I adore her girls.

So, we haven't been able to get an appointment with the Oden's to
start the lessons.

I will definitely read Moses 1 again.

I'm so jealous that you get to go to Girls Camp as a family.  All of
you camping together.  Let me know how it goes. And don't worry about
bears.

I love you!

Rachel

Rhine River

Sister Peterson with Sister Lyman

6-15-15

Well, we cover four bases: Heinaburg, Aukam, Crestview, and Clay.  Or you could just say Wiesbaden, that should work.

I will send Laura my condolences.  That cannot be fun.

Things are going great with Sister Lyman.  She's definatly adjusting and is actually coming up with great ideas for things we can do during the day.  I think the reason they have missionaries on military bases is becauase there are members there that need us, and non-members too.  We may not be able to klingle or do streets on base, but we can do service and help people anyway we can.  I love it here.

That's so cool about Nicole.  Summer's hard.  There are so many memories of Nicole going through my head and some days I wake up and want to ignore the world.  But whenever I get up and talk to people, that feeling just goes away and I'm happy again.  I know it's because of the enabling power of the Atonement that I can do that.  That and your prayers.  Today was the first day since Wednesday I woke up without feeling a hole in my chest.

One thing I love to do with my companions is that before we leave the apartment we say a prayer and hug each other.  It sets the tone and helps dispel any negative feelings.  And in companionship inventory that we do every week, we get a chance to tell the other person everything about them that's awesome.  That also makes you forget little frustrations that don't matter. 

I love you so much Mom.

Love,

Rachel

1-8-15

So, this week we got to talk with the Oden family and introduce Sister Lyman to them.  I can't remember if I told you, but Sister Oden has been investigating the church for about 13 years and her 11 year old is thinking about being baptized.  We had a wonderful talk with them and Sister Oden wants us back to talk about the Sacrament and who is and who isn't worthy to partake of it.

Other than that, we've got to meet with plenty of members.  I love the members and getting a chance to visit with them.  We've actually been asked to do Family Night for a family tonight.

We also went to Kaiserslautern Wednesday for a Military Missionary conference about Family Mission Plans and how we can help members be more comfortable with missionary work. 

Finally, we've come up with some ways to be on a base so people can see the tag.  We may not be able to directly talk to people about the Gospel there, but if they ask us who we are and what we're doing here we can answer that.  The hardest part is getting signed on.  2 out of 3 bases we need a member to sign us on, and one of those has the PX, Commisary, and schools on it. (PX and Commisary are like the mall and grocery store,)

That's all I've got for now.  I love y'all and wish the best for you.

Love,

Rachel 

1-7-15

Sorry I'm late.  A member took us up the Rhein this morning and we just got back.

Sister Lyman is from South Jordan, Utah.

This week has been crazy.  We have so many member appointments.  We also did a ton of service for them.   One sister is doing the Tiny Tears project and we helped cut fabric for that, we did lots of cleaning, and we offered adult talk to people who don't get much of that:)  We'll be going to Kaiserlautern this week for a Military Missionary Conferece thingy.  It should be good.

I'm glad your excited for summer.  I really have no clue what to do either.  Michelle should enjoy the exercise though.

Whatever you guys do, I'm sure it will be fun.

So, with the Rhein drive, we saw a ton a castles.  I'd send pictures, but my camera died.  

Love you!

5-25-15

What!  You say Jahn Bytheway, Meg Johnson, and Hank Smith!  I'm so jealous of you right now.

Sister Lyman is my new companion and she is amazing1  She's so exicted for the work and we've been brainstorming things we can do during the day when finding things to do is hard. |'m super excited for this transfer.  I hope you enjoy the pictures I sent.

Also, iPads is a real thing now.  Missionaries in leadership positions got theirs this week, and we'll be getting them at Zone Conference this transfer.

5-18-15

Transfer Calls were this week.  I get to stay in Wiesbaden, but half my Distrikt is leaving.  I don't like transfers.  You get to know the missionaries you work with so well, and then someone ends up leaving.  I'll be getting a new companion, so I'll have to get use to another persons habits.  The joys of missionary life.

On the bright side, Sister Roderer is getting a Golden!  I'm so excited for her!  I have a feeling I'm going to end up spoiling that Golden.  I'm already working on making a gift for her first day in Wiesbaden. 

I love teaching lessons.  I don't even feel like I'm teaching.  We have wonderful discussions and everyone participates.  I've only taught new member lessons so far, but I love them.  They Spirit is always so strong.  Especially this week as we're helping the new member prepare to enter the Temple. 

I'm sorry you're not getting the castle pictures.  The computer I'm emailing from today's USB port doesn't work.  Eines Tag.

I hope everything is wünderbar! I love you!

5-11-15

Sorry emails are late.  We just got back from a zone P-day in Königstien,  We got to see castle ruins! (yes, Kersten there are pictures.  However I do not have my camera cord with me to attach any. Next week.)

Other than thatl, I don't know what to write.  I just talked to yall yesterday, and ya.  Nothing else happened since then aside from the castle.

Love you!

Rachel

5-4-15

I miss the temple.  I miss getting to go every week.  I had no idea how much I missed that until we went last Wednesday.  It felt like going home.  I also took like 35 pictures of the flowers there.  I think I'm crazy, but pictures are better than taking one home.  They'll die, pictures keep their beauty for longer.  We also wound up taking the back roads on our way there.  Inbetween the smaller villages, there were so many trees.  They were like mini forests everywhere.  It was gorgeous.

I'm glad you got the names I sent.  I figured you'ld get them done faster than me.  I love what you shared about women's conference.  I'm glad you got to go.  

I can't think of anything else.  The temple was the highlight, and everything else is a blur.  I added five of my favorites flower pictures for you.  

I love you all and can't wait for Mother's Day!

4-28-15

I know I said p-day would be Wednesday, but with the Temple and an out of the way dinner apointment, we're doing emails now:)

Oh my goodness, the mission conference with Elder Bendar was the greatest thing ever!!!!  The Spirit was so strong and I learned so much.  I heard the Elder Bendar is always interactive with all the missions he goes to for talks, but nothing good have prepared me for what it was actually like.  He started of with two guidelines,  1) Write little plates.  Instead of writing down what the speaker is saying, write what the Spirit tells you.  That way your notes will be more meaningful.  You'll look back on them and actually remember where they are.  2) The speakers wouldn't mess with us.  He warned us that he would be talking with us, not at us, but that they wouldn't play "Guess what's in my head"  Elder Bednar actually warned against doing that.  He said that it drives away the Spirit and takes away agency.  You turn the person into an object to be acted upon instead of an agent to act.  With those two guidlines in place, that was one of the greatest Spritual experiences in my life.  We didn't even really talk about iPads.  Elder Bednar asked us what we think is good about them, and then what we think is bad about them.  Basically everything spoken lead back to another gospel principle and our purpose as missionaries.  Then we skimmed over everything in the two booklets they handed out about iPad uses and being safe with them.  We talked a lot about agency, repentance, pride, grace, and everything in between.  It was increadible.

As for the weather, currently it is raining.  The rest of the week was pretty sunny though.  

 Let me know how women's conference goes to.

Ich liebe dich!

Rachel

Sorry I don't know how to flip the picture around;)

Rachel is loving the spring

4-20-15

It's actually pretty fun being busy all the time.  You never have to wonder what to do.

I have never wondered about what my "water of Mormon" experience is.  I am definatly going to look for that now.  

As for getting use to girls that aren't my sisters, it's different.  At home, everyone knows everyones habits, likes, dislikes, what pushes buttons, what makes them happy, and how they react to certain things.  You don't have that with people you don't grow up with.  You have to learn about that stuff for them; you don't just know it.   Honestly, the 4 girls 1 bathroom wasn't a problem for me.

Gues what!  Bishop Anderson did this Seder Passover thing last Friday.  It was so cool.  There were two Jews who helped us figure stuff out, and Bishop did a ton a research.  He thought it would be a good idea to learn about what the Last Supper would be like and why they do things the way they do.  It was way fun and I learned a lot.  

We got a new Bishopbric this Sunday.  Bishop Anderson is PCSing next month to Spain, so a change was needed.  The new Bishop is Bishop Horner, and I think he's going to be great.  We actually teach his daughter German every Thursday. 

This week was awesome and I look forward to this one.  David A. Bednar comes this Friday!  I'm so excited!  Also, just a heads up, next week we're going to the Temple on Wednesday.  So emails will be Wednesday and later than I usually do them.  I don't know how much later. Probably 3 or more hours depending on when we get back.

Thank you so much for your love and support.  I'm so glad you're my mom.

Love,

Rachel

P.S. We helped the Elders go suit shopping last P-day.  They wanted blue European suits and needed brown shoes to go with.  That was an adventure.

4-13-15

That's so cool!  It will be so much fun to hand those out.  Even if I don't get them all out, I can leave them for the next Sisters.

This week was boring, because it was still Spring Break.  It was a good thing though.  With the American Elders closing their area, Sister Brown and I moved into their apartment.  Why?  Four girls, one bathroom.  Anyway, we moved in and got to clean!  It actually wasn't too bad.  They basically packed everything they were taking with them, and left everything else were it was.  So, it was mostly picking things up, organizing, and throwing away dirty socks.  It's been really fun making it a "Sister's apartment"

The greatest part of this week is that Perry and Sylvia came to church again!  They've come two other times, and really enjoy it.  There moving back to the States this summer, but said that they will definatly keep going there.  As for teaching them, with moving, they're super busy.  Once all of that is taken care of, they would love to have us over to teach them.  

This next week is going to be crazy.  We have something going on every night and have plenty of things to do during the day.  It's wonderful having members back.

I love you and hope you have a great week too,

Rachel

Easter

With the potential at the Bishop's house, we haven't meet with him again, because they had Spring Break also, so nobody's home.  Everyone's out on grand European adventures.

Easter was so much fun!  These wonderful American members invited all of the missionaries to their house to watch the Saterday Afternoon and Sunday Morning Sessions. (the German Sisters couldn't come, they already had arrangments.)  We had an Easter Egg Hunt, and they even set up baskets for us.  Inbetween Sessions, we played bored/card games.  Tell Dad that he would love the game Dominion.  The entire time we played it, I thought, "Dad would love this."  It's a stratagy game with multiple ways to get victory points.   We also had a Nurf Gun war.  Sister Brown totally won.  We played a German Easter game too.  It's called splay.  What you do, is you take a hard boiled egg, and two people slide their eggs across the table at each other.  Whoevers egg cracks looses.  It's a fun way to break up the shells before eating them.  It was so much fun, and I ate so much sugar.  I'm done with chocolate for a while. The Elders also discovered that if you lick the outside of a Robin Egg, you can put it on your lips like lip gloss.  

We watched the Saterday Morning Session at this sweet older couples house Saterday evening.  (The sessions aired in Germany at 6pm and 10 pm.  The Priesthood Session was at 2am.)  That was a much calmer setting and it was so much fun listening to their stories.

What Germans do for Easter, is close everything from Friday to Monday.  Nothing's open.  They also hang plastic eggs on trees and bushes.  They don't have the plastic eggs that open up, so they do what we do and hunt for their basket full of goodies.  

Transfer Calls were Saterday morning.  There will temporarily be no more American Elders in the Wiesbaden area.  I don't know why, but that's what happened.  So, in our area, there will be four Sisters and Two Elders.  When does that happen?

They also made some anouncments.  Elder Bednar will be coming to our mission on the 24 of April, and he will be talking to us about how to use technology in our missionary work.  Then we will be getting mobile devieces.  I'm not sure about details about that or anything, because everyone was freaking out.  President Stoddard also only used the term mobile devieces.

I also had a conversation with some Jehovas Witness missionaries.  It was good.  We didn't try to bash each other, just listen to the others believes.  They even asked us about what we believe about the Second Coming.  It was almost all in German too.  One of them starting speaking English when they found out we're from America, but the rest was all auf Deutsch.  And I understood most of what was said!  That was fun.

That's all for this week. I hope you all had a fantastic Easter.  

Love you,

Rachel 

 

3-30-15

Jake emailed me Mom.

Anyway, most of this week was spent helping Sister Wildt move out.  We spent a day and a half cleaning.  She leaves this week, and I don't want her to go.  She's awesome!

We also meet a potential on Tuesday at the Bishop's house.  He's a first grade teacher and seems very open to learning more about our church.  Bishop Anderson gave him a Book of Mormon earlier and without us even promting him told us he'd been reading it.  We also had an incredible discussion around the dinner table about scriptures and the gospel.  It reminding me of talking with Dad about that stuff. 

I alos discovered why we need to bring flashlights.  For when the landlord sends the electricity bill to the wrong adress and we get to spend 24 hours without it while they sort that out.  We had fun though.  And, because of that, the German Sisters finally got into the apartment across the hall from us.  They'd been trying for a while now with no sucess.  Because we had no power, the woman helped us out, and they got to talk to her. 

That all for this week.  Thank you so much for everthing!  

Love you.

Pictures of Rachel arriving in Germany

Sister Peterson with her mission president and wife and her trainer

Sister Peterson arriving in Germany



 

Picture

Rachel first visit to the Frankfurt Temple

3-23-15

I got you're package Thursday at Zone Conference.  I love it!  My companion was also very impressed by your skills.  With stuff sent the the mission office, I don't know when they arrive, but whenever the Zone Leaders are over there they'll pick stuff up for us, also at transfers and Zone Conference we can get them.  I don't really know how that all works.

One day it's warm and sunny, the next it's cold.  It always seems to deciede to be cold when we do street displays too.   It's getting warmer though.  I'm not looking forward to summer though.  No air conditioning plus humidity.  It'll be fun:)

With the Temple, it depends on how close you are to it.  If you're close enough to go, it's once a transfer.

We had the coolest sacrament meeting yesterday.  They had Brother Brown, the word choir director, talk for a few minutes about music and how important it is, then they let anyone come up, tell their favorite hymn and why, then we sang the first verse of said hymn.  Or whatever verse they requested.  It was so amazing, and the Spirit was so strong.  Even the primary children came up.  One did "Hymn 300 Families Can Be Together Forever, because I want my family to be together forever."  Everyone just did little things like that so that we could sing as many as possible.  I loved it.

Zone Conference was fun.  There were four zones and I saw a lot of people from the MTC.  We talked about chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel: Use Your Time Wisely.  It was fun, inspiring, and all around awesome.  We also got to preview the new Easter Video, Because He Lives.  It will air March 28, and is incredible.  I strongly encourage everyone to watch it.  

That's all for this week.  I hope you all have a wunderbar week!

Love,

Rachel

3-17-15

Sorry I'm late, we went to the Temple.  (Yes Kersten, I took pictures)

It's a bit hard right now because Spring/Summer time is when people move.  But, a member family brought they're friends to church last Sunday and said they want to meet with us!  The entire ward is way excited about missionary work.  The bishop makes every activity planned in ward council about that.  We've also been going around to member's homes helping them come up with a Family Mission Plan.  We basically help them think of things that they can do to help missionary work.  It's just little things: pray for the missionaries, let people know you're LDS, have a picture of Christ where people can see it, not being afraid to answer questions, regular family home evening, etc.  Everytime we've done that, the members start talking about how they can see an area where they can reach out more.  It's been way cool.

So, the Frankfurt Temple.  It's incredible.  It's small, but it's just as detailed and majestic as any other Temple I've been to. 

Side tangent.  One thing I love about Germany is that there are bakeries everywhere.  There's at least one on every block, I'm not exagerating.  We pass I think four on our way to a bus stop that's about three blocks from our apartment.  It's the greatest thing ever.j

I love you all!

Rachel

3-9-15

The military base is interesting.  We can't go door to door, because that's illegal, so we have to be more creative.  One thing is listening for English on the streets and buses, and then relying a ton on the ward.  We also work a lot with less active members. 

The ward here is amazing.  Everyone is so incredible.  Bishop Anderson is constantly looking for people that the missionaries can go by and never stops smiling.  He's so happy all the time, it's awesome.  The other ward members are just as cool.  I've gained a deeper appreciation for our military.  These people are so cool, and thinking about what they're doing blows my mind.  They're so humble too.  Some of the stories I've heard could come straight out of an action movie, but they don't boast about it.  They don't show off.  They see and recognize God's hand in their lives and are just amazing.  I can't wait to get to know everyone better.

 

I love you all!

Rachel

P.S.  I'd gloat about not having daylight savings, but we do that next week.  America has way too much influence sometimes.  But they have peanut butter and pop tarts, so it's okay.

3-2-15

So, a lot has happened.

First the flight.  I love flying.  I got a window seat for both flights, and looking out over the world, I just felt so much peace and comfort.  I was in awe of this beautiful world our Heavenly Father made for us.  I can't even explain it.  I also very much enjoy take off.  Landing, not so much.

Now I'm in Germany.  The first day was crazy with orientation and all that fun stuff.  We slept in a Hotel then got our Trainers and area the next morning.  My Trainer is Sister Brown, and she's amazing.  I'm serving in the Wiesbaden Military Ward, and you know what that means?  English!  I still speak German to People on the streets and buses, but church is in English and most of our investigators too. 

Our appartment has five rooms, kitchen, bathroom, study room, and two bedrooms.  We share it with two Sisters in the German Ward. They have desks in their bedroom, so they study in there. 

So, you know how I was so happy not to eat Mexican Food.  First dinner appointment, Mexican Food.  Gotta love Americans. 

That's all I can think of right now.  I love you all and am so grateful for all of you.

Tschüss,

Sister Peterson

Sister Peterson arrived in Germany

Dear Peterson Family,

We're happy to inform you that Sister Peterson has arrived safe and sound here in Frankfurt, Germany! She looks great, and we're thrilled to have her positivity and talents here among us in this mission! She'll change many lives.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Alles Gute,

Germany Frankfurt Mission Office



Rachel MTC branch

2-18-15

I am so ready to go to Germany.  I am terrified of not being able to teach effectively with my limited vocabulary, but I want to help people who really need the Gospel, not my teachers pretending to be investigators.  I also want to be immersed in the language.  I pretty sure being forced to learn will help me feel more confident in speaking.

I love the Valentine's letter you sent me.  And I keep forgetting to thank you for the pillow case.  I think it helps me sleep better:)

I haven't seen the musical, but I love the play.  And since when is Ana not drama?

This is my last P-day in the MTC, so I'm going to tell you what I learned.  The language of the Spirit is more important to learn the the language of the people.  Keep it simple stupid.  That is simultaneously easy and hard when you can't really say what you want to say.  And my personal favorite, all you need is Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust.  Have Faith in God, show Him He can Trust you through obedience, and the Holy Ghost is the Pixie Dust.  You can't fly without it.  I came up with that on my own; I watch too much Disney.

I love the talk you gave me, and I will defiantly reread it all the time.  Thank you for that.

I need $75 cash for the bike fund once I get to Germany, so I'll be pulling $20 out of my account at an ATM here so I'll have $80.  Also I will probably eat at our layover in JK and there is a $100 fee for our second bag that will be reimbursed on arrival.  There may also be other fees for when I get to Germany, I don't really know.  But now you know somewhat about that stuff.

Well, that's all.  Next time I email you I'll be in Germany!  I don't know when my P-day will be, so ya, whenever I write you next.

Love you!     

2-11-15

We're getting our travel plans tomorrow! And we have a countdown in our classroom of how many days we have left til Germany.

This week was the same as last week.  More and more studying.  Such is the life of a missionary.  I'm actually getting scared to go to Germany, because then it's real.  Right now, even though we are teaching people, they're just our teachers pretending to be their old investigators.  In Germany we'll be teaching people who don't know what we're talking about and won't be as forgiving about our German.  That will be interesting.  I keep saying French words when I talk too.  My brain goes "Don't know it in German, say it in French."  It's quite entertaining to see all the confused looks I get when that happens.

Other than that, everything's going good.  

2-4-15

figured out pictures!

The days are all blurring together.  Last week I got a sore throat, started coughing on Thursdayish.  My distikt was so nice about it and offered me medicine and cough drops.  I'm okay now, I only cough 2-3 times a day and at night.

I don't remember Jake's new email account.  I know he changed it before leaving, but I never used it.  Just tell him that I hate verb kickers and that grammar is stupid in English and German. 

With the language, I can talk about the gospel pretty good, but don't ask me how I'm doing.  I'll either say gut or wünderbar cuz that is all I know. 

Elder Bootcher's mom gave us all matching scarfs and ties. I sent her a thank you note, and gave you a picture.  And the purple one was totally by accident, and there is a random Japanese Elder in the suit who was walking by with a purple tie.

I have just been called as a Sister Training Leader with my companion.  We basically watch out for all the Sisters in our zone and make sure they're okay.

Thank you for everything, and tell Jake I miss him.

 

1-28-15

So, I'm still trying to figure out how to photos.  They are very strict about what we can do on computers.

So, our first "investigator" is now our second teacher.  So now we have an instructor with us for 6 hours.  

German isn't really as harsh as everyone made it out to be.  I haven't heard any natives, but it doesn't sound like our teachers are yelling at us.  Both Brother Rowley and Sister Almond went to the Alpine mission and spent a lot of time in Switzerland and Austria, so they don't really sound like what I'll hear.  Even though French is defiantly pretty, German isn't that bad.  Besides, the French people purposely make it sound pretty.  

With how my German is going, I can mostly understand and read, but I can't speak.  And my grammar is terrible.  I also can talk more about the Gospel than everyday conversation.  I only know how to say I'm good if someone asks me how I am.  Or wonderful.

My district loves to sing. Whenever we have extra time, like on Sundays, we just pick hymns or primary songs and sing for 30 minutes to an hour.  We sing in both German and English.  We are also working on memorizing Ich Bin Ein Kind von Gott.  I have the first verse and some of the second down.  But they don't have If You Could Hie to Kolob in the German Hymnbook!  But they make up for it by having Come Thou Fount. 

That's all I can think of right now.  I miss you and love you.

1-21-15

Thank you for the poem.  I needed that.

 The food is pretty good, but they have giant portions.  I don't think I've ever cleaned the plate, which worries my companion.  There are 9 sisters in my branch, but it's just me and Sister Helmick for our district.  The language is totally overwhelming.  Sometimes it feels like they expect you to already be fluent.

When I asked what the MTC was like, people would say it's like EFY on steroids.  It is not.  The only similarities between EFY and the MTC is you sing a lot, you pray a lot, and the spirit is very strong.  I literally just study all day. You wake up and study, then breakfast, then gym, then study, then lunch, then study, then dinner, then study, then get ready for bed, then sleep.  And you only have an instructor for 3 of those hours.  There is a lot of being responsible for what you do.  

Elder Ballard came and gave a devotional last night.  I am officially motivated to memorize the First Vision. 

I love you mom, thank you for teaching how to take care of myself.