Missionary Work at a Glance! -- It's Like Chocolate!

So much happened this week but also want to touch on what I have learned this past year because I hit my year mark!!! So I decided to copy my companion's hilarious weekly! 

From the words of Sister Hunter (all but one of the following things happened this week and the other own happened a few weeks ago).

“Missionary work is like a box of chocolates

You never know what you are going to get...

Sometimes you give out a Persian book of Mormon in the middle of a police-blockaded Stuttgart 21 protest.

Sometimes you share a cinnamon roll with a Jehovah's Witness named Frank.
Sometimes you can speak the mission language.
Sometimes you can't.
Sometimes you notice how out of control your missionary tan lines are.
Sometimes 5 appointments don't show up in one day.
Sometimes you find 7 new people to teach in an hour and a half.
Sometimes your new mission president breaks out into song in the middle of his conference.
Sometimes your eyes swell shut for no apparent reason.
Sometimes old German ladies feed you 6 chicken nuggets for dinner.
Sometimes people yell and swear at you.
Sometimes people we just met on the street ask you to come over to their house to teach their family and neighbors.
Sometimes you find a box of real, delicious American Jell-O in your cupboard.
Sometimes transfers come around and you don't get transferred.
Sometimes that's a major relief because you didn't want to be transferred anyway.
Sometimes you fake it until you make it (and dang, you make it well).
Sometimes you fake it, and you still don't make it. 

But despite it all, you still have a box of chocolates, and personally I've never had chocolate I didn't like. So what I'm really trying to say is that I'm enjoying the unpredictable deliciousness of missionary work.”

What does a missionary even do? They learn a lot about everything! They learn how to be themselves and to not care what others think but at the same time how to care and be loving and charitable towards others. A few things I have learned from companions, exchanges, members, other missionaries...

1) Who cares? It doesn't matter. Some details just don't matter enough to worry about.   As I have left my companion who said this so often, this phrase has often come into my mind, “Will someone actually care? No? Then no worries!”

2) Be patient, loving, charitable! Sometimes towards others and sometimes with myself, and sometimes with time, but the principle is always the same.

3) Lets do this baby!! That's missionary work!! Just do it!! I have seen this attitude in my companions, and although it comes through in different words, sometimes you just have to do it and the joy comes through seeing the Lord work through you!

4) Fear God, Love God, He is our Creator! The creator of the universe has created US!! He is our literal father! He loves us so much!! Faith in the Gospel can bring peace to our lives! Faith is action, hope, assurance, and evidence. Hebrews 11 and Ether 12

5) The Reality of the Infinite Atonement! The Atonement can help us forgive, heal, be forgiven, comfort, endure, and extend beyond our capabilities... The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the way we can become like our Father in Heaven!

I agree with my comp. that missionary work is like chocolate; it's all different but it's all good!! I am loving watching the Lord help me and be right there by my side, especially when I don't know if I could do it on my own!! There was an instance this week when I felt the whole world was against us and as I prayed for the strength to push through, you can feel the Savior through the Holy Ghost walking beside you!! It is an amazing experience! Faith is an action!  

Sorry I don't have very many pictures this week because technology is slow. 

Celebratory milkshake!! Chocolate and pistachio: a match made in heaven! 

Alles Liebe
Sister Anderson
Alpenländische Mission