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.