Wie sagt man kleines Hund?

Hallo Freunde,

So the title translates to: How do you say small dog? We were looking for the German word for puppy but our cute nine-year-old investigator looks at us and says uh Chihuahua... so funny!!!

This week we had transfers, but nothing is going to change here in Salzburg! We do have a new district leader, which is fun. We were able to talk in Distrikt Meeting yesterday about our areas and ask for any help we needed. It was cool.

We had a Musikalischer Abend on Saturday night (music night) it was a program created by a missionary in Switzerland (see musikalischerabend.com) Hopefully it is in English, ha ha. Basically it is a program with songs sung live (by members of the ward) and a video that is played. It is a story of a dad and his daughter, and his daughter asks him to read her this story book. And through the book he also starts to think about how to find God. And he finds it through the Book of Mormon and praying to know if it is true!!! It was really well done and professional!! I want to do the same thing back home but it is auf Deutsch. Ha ha.

Earlier on Saturday we had a lesson with our new investigator and we weren't sure if his mother language was Persian or Arabic, so we brought both. He was Persian, but we still had the Arabic one at the Musikalischer Abend, and a nonmember came and wanted a Book of Mormon from the program, and his mother language was Arabic!!! It was a miracle!!

We have two new investigators this week and two progressing investigators and we have started working with two less active members and we had two member appointments where we asked them to pick something off the list we had that they could do this week to be a member missionary! I guess this week was full of 2's haha! 

As a short spiritual thought this week, remember to doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith! The Lord has provided us with so much and He loves us so much, He wants us to rely on Him, and to keep going too. We can do anything through prayer. Have patience, trust and hope in the Lord, and then act on that hope! You can do it!! 

Today my companion bought a dirndl!! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson 
Alpenländische Mission

Pictures:

1. It snowed this week

2. A picture of a cool door (#lionsarecool)

3. Elder Jensen's response when we told him we had 2 new investigators found through streeting (it says "we are proud of you")

4. A really pretty dog

5. We had to go further into Germany for my companion's visa 

 

 

 

Denglisch all the way!!!

Hallo Freunde!!

For your information our P-day is being moved to Tuesday so no emails will be sent until then. 

This week we had some adventures: Tausch (exchange), transfer calls, and zone training!!

This week we had some challenges with appointments falling out and a rude guy ripping my card and throwing it on the ground (first time). On top of those times though, we had an amazing appointment with a girl who accepted the Book of Mormon and we had a super fun Easter dinner with a half-American half-German family (they are masters at denglisch). And today we are having a relaxing P-day catching up on end-of-the-transfer to-do lists!!! 

We had a Tausch with the sister training leaders, and it is an amazing experience. She is an amazing example to me of wholly and completely relying on the Lord! We talked about my goals and my fears of finding and her answer—although varying to fit the situation, always echoed the same truth: God is always there. He loves you and He can help you when you turn to Him. How amazing is that? When we have a problem, we can try and find an answer and then take it to the Lord. He will guide us to find our own answers and help us fix our own problems! I love the opportunity to learn from others!

Zone Training was really good. The sister training leaders did an amazing part on President Monson’s talk on the Book of Mormon! This amazing talk can be applied to those who are not members, are new members, or have been members for a long time.   I encourage you to read it! I copied and pasted it below for you. I encourage you to take the challenge. Read the Book of Mormon and find out for yourself if you see a difference. No matter how many times you have read it before, you will always learn!

For P-day today we hiked to a little castle in Salzburg!! Super cute!! Pictures below!!

Transfers: We are staying after being worried that we would be split up. Have no fear; the fantastic Salzburg team will be staying together for another transfer (Elders included)!!! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission

The Power of the Book of Mormon

By President Thomas S. Monson

      My dear brothers and sisters, I greet you most warmly as we are met again in a great general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before I begin my formal message today, I would like to announce five new temples which will be built in the following locations: Brasília, Brazil; greater Manila, Philippines, area; Nairobi, Kenya; Pocatello, Idaho, USA; and Saratoga Springs, Utah, USA.

      This morning I speak about the power of the Book of Mormon and the critical need  we have as members of this Church to study, ponder, and apply its teachings in our lives. The importance of having a firm and sure testimony of the Book of Mormon cannot be overstated.
      We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you. If it is true—and I solemnly testify that it is—then Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
        Because the Book of Mormon is true, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church on the earth, and the holy priesthood of God has been restored for the benefit and blessing of His children.
         If you do not have a firm testimony of these things, do that which is necessary to obtain one. It is essential for you to have your own testimony in these difficult times, for the testimonies of others will carry you only so far. However, once obtained, a testimony needs to be kept vital and alive through continued obedience to the commandments of God and through daily prayer and scripture study.
        My dear associates in the work of the Lord, I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives. I so testify with all my heart in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

Wait, what just happened? 😄 (And hump day to boot)

Freunde!

This past week was crazy!! A couple of days we had appointments before 10, which means leaving apartment pretty early... We were able to visit quite a few people, members, and non-members!! Quick overview into life in Salzburg:

Monday: We had an FHE appointment with a member, and it was a ton of fun!! We played a game with dice and guessing how many numbers will show up each round. It was explained to us in German, and I am bad with understanding games in English, so I learned as we played. It was really fun, and I was the last missionary in the game, so… 

Tuesday: We had Distrikt meeting, always a highlight. I felt like we learned quite a bit from talking and it was refreshing to meet with other missionaries, and to hear how they are doing, and to try and help each other. We also had an appointment with one of our progressing investigators. It ended up being a service project, but that is fine too. 

Wednesday: Crazy day number 1! Our first appointment for the day was supposed to be at 10, and we had planned back-to-back appointments (four appointments total). Three of the people were able to meet, and that was so cool! It was fun; we were able to go visit a member who broke her foot and she was so cute and helping us get to know the ward better. And we showed her the new Easter video! (Have you watched it yet? No? Go watch it at mormon.org!) We also met with a little old lady who showed us pictures of her grandkids (and we know one of her grandsons, so it was really funny). She is so cute!

Thursday: What even happened? We had three appointments, which all went longer than we hopped for, but that is okay! We had an appointment with a referral, and he only speaks Persian. So we spent two hours explaining Jesus Christ and how we can find answers through prayer, I now have a Persian keyboard on my tablet if anyone needs one, ha ha. We are also teaching a member German and that is super fun! 

Friday: We had weekly planning and we had a member lunch appointment with three super cute kids!!! We also met a person on the street when passing out cards, and she invited us to her birthday dinner Saturday night!

Saturday: We passed out cards to share (#princeofpeace) and shared the peace of Easter and then we went to our new friends birthday dinner. It was really fun, talking to and getting to know new people!

Sunday: Two of our progressing investigators came to church!!!! We were super busy with that, helping members to introduce themselves, and sit with them (this ward is amazing), and helping them understand and feel comfortable!! It was the most fun Sunday ever!!! It was great!! Tiring but amazing!!! Then a random guy we talked to on the street showed up for Sunday School and invited us over for dinner. Unfortunately we couldn't go, and now he isn't answering us. But we had two people at church and we meet the older kids of one of them!!! It was amazing!!

I just want to invite you all this week to take some quiet time. This life is so busy and either spend it with family or alone. But read in the scriptures or go outside on a nature walk. Spend some time, maybe 15 minutes or more, and just see God's hand in your life. I have come to KNOW that God loves me as I have noticed Him in the small moments of my life!

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission

I hit 9 months this week and my adorable companion decorated for me!!! Ach, that's crazy!!! Nine months!!! 

 

 

 

Conference and other Adventures

Hallo Freunde,

I wanted to first give you a quick insight into the world of Sister Anderson this past week! 

Monday: We toured Salzburg and had a leisurely snack at a small cafe on top of the old city wall. 

Tuesday: We had an amazing District Meeting. The Spirit was so strong, we learned a lot and I even participated in German!! We then went and got ice cream with Aflique. Anyone who has served in Salzburg knows her! She is so cute!! 

Wednesday: We had an appointment with our investigator, and our Ward Mission Leader came as a joint teach!! It was so good! As a missionary being able to have members come along helps to solidify what we say as a living example—that the principles we teach can be lived and it is worth it!!

Thursday: We had a lunch appointment and unfortunately that was all we did that day because I ended up being sick, but all is well, I slept it off, and my companion called every less active on the ward list!! 

Friday: We did weekly planning for this week and it took us a few hours (that's normal), but we are so ready for this next week!! I am so excited!!! Good planning and goal setting really invigorates and motivates you!!

Saturday and Sunday: We watched General Conference!!!!

So General Conference!!! Did you watch it??? No? Repent ye. Repent ye. Just kidding.

But it was really good, and I highly suggest watching it either for the first time or again.

I really felt that most of the talks this week were geared towards us getting ready for the Second Coming! (Visit www.mormon.org if you don't know the Latter-day Saint belief on Jesus Christ's triumphant return). The time is coming and we need to be prepared! Our testimonies must be firmly rooted in Jesus Christ. We must know God the Father and the role of the Holy Ghost. We need to be reading, studying and applying the Book of Mormon in our lives!! We need to be helping others, serving, and supporting!! But one thing that really hit me in General Conference is that we need to be loving!! The Lord is always there for us in a kind and gentle manner. We should also be there for our fellow man in a kind and supportive manner. This song we have to sing has some tricky parts and some people may be tempted to leave the stage or to just go silent, but when we stand by them and sing with them, then they have the courage to keep singing and to finish strong. As Elder Holland said we all have part to sing in this beautiful worldwide choir. We all have a part that is needed. When we seek the Spirit, we can discern what our part is and how we can help others. 

I also want to share with you a beautiful video the Church released this past week for Easter (go visit www.mormon.org), it testifies of Christ's rolls as our Savior and Redeemer!! I want you to know that He lives and that He loves us, and that when you are struggling, He is there. And when you aren't, He is also there!! He is always there!!  

My challenge? For your go watch and re-watch General Conference, and for your friends to watch and share the Prince of Peace video!!! It's so good!!! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson 
Alpenländische Mission

Pictures: ice cream, when you have 400 to stamp and love it!! Mirabell gardens, my Dirndl for Conference and Salzburg

 

 

 

Just keep shoveling sand

Alle meine Freunde,

This week quite a few things happened: good, bad, and indifferent. We are facing some struggles with our friend who had a baptismal date, which is causing us to rethink the date and push out a little further. If you are the praying type, please pray for my investigator (and if you’re not, I can teach you how in English and German). With that aside, we happily celebrated the 175^th birthday of Relief Society (and our investigator came too!) with a party and a dinner prepared by the men of our ward! It was really fun!! Relief Society is the biggest and oldest women's organization in the world, created to help women lead and serve others!! 

This week we had 2 appointments with our progressing investigators! Yeah!! We were able to help set up for the FHV Activity and then participate in that. And on Sunday we were invited to a member’s home with the Matthews (the senior couple serving in our area), and that was a lot of fun!!! Their children are so cute, and the couple is so cute too. When I grow up I want to be like them, ha ha. It was really fun and then we had FHA (Family Home Evening) at the Matthews! We have been doing quite of bit of finding, which is amazing because it can be a ton of fun and really rewarding!! We had some off days but that is the amazing part about [having] other missionaries in the same area. At FHA I was able ask Elder Smith, (whose birthday was yesterday—Sister Matthews made a cake for him) for some ideas, and I think Sister McClellan and I have a new approach that will help our efforts!!  Sister McClellan is also really good at working with members and learning names and that is definitely something I need to work on, which is great because I get to learn a lot from her!!

We also had Zone Conference, which included all of Austria!! President and Sister Kohler both spoke about being patient and enduring. It is amazing how close they are to the Lord to know exactly what we (or at least I) needed to hear and it is amazing. We really are just free standing obelisks... wait what?!?! President Kohler explained how to build an obelisk in ancient times and basically they just dug sand forever with very little notice of improvement. They were told that what they were doing was important but they couldn't see it. Sound familiar? We all go through times where we are seeing no improvement even though we are working so hard. He encouraged us to just keep digging sand don't stop, or you won't ever get anywhere. We are all free standing obelisks or we are obelisks working on becoming free standing. When you get tired of praying or reading your scriptures, pray harder, and study with more intent. 

With the words of Sister Kohler  Be patient in becoming who you want to be. Be patient in waiting for answers from the Lord. And be patient in trials and pains. 

We toured Salzburg today for P-Day and here are some pictures!! 

And yes, du brauchst Jesus (you need Jesus) 

Alles Liebe,

Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission