So Long, Farewell

Augsburg
It has been quite the adventure in the 2000-year-old Roman city of Augsburg... but for these April showers I'm prepared for Singen in the rain! 

Haha.

Ok, my sense of humor has seriously depleted on my mission. Yes, I am getting transferred to Singen, which is down south in Baden-Württemberg (where a number of my ancestors were born).  Since it is in the Zurich zone, I will likely be traveling often to Switzerland.  

 Summary of my week: We set more appointments for my last ten days in Augsburg than we have had the past several months (combined?).  This seems to be a trend because that happened in Vienna as well haha. It has been way cool getting to meet so many people from different religious backgrounds! We also got to attend 2 baptisms, and roleplay with the youth on how to answer tough questions. 

Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg 
Augsburg
A COUPLE RANDOM THINGS I LEARNED IN AUGSBURG:
  • how to clean a cat who is too fat to clean himself 
  • how to talk with strangers on the phone
  • how to botch a cake (for example forgetting the baking soda)
  • how to more comfortably public speak in German 
  • how to confuse people with your accent because they think you're sharing an ocean message instead of an Easter message  
  • how to make dooring fun 




Last night I had a dream that it was August.  It was less than 24 hours after I had stepped off the plane and I was at the Safeway behind my house... grocery shopping like a normal person with a normal life.  As I rounded 'bout the produce aisle I just started bawling-- it hit me!  The mission was over! 

It's funny because, to be completely honest, I have always looked forward to going home... not in the "homesick" sense but in the way of like "ok it will be awesome seeing my family / being a normal person again." But I felt so relieved waking up from the dream realizing that I was still in Germany with this calling.  

So put aside the exhaustion, the dirty looks, or the feelings of inadequacy when people tell me my German is bad.  Forget the days and even weeks of seemingly fruitless labor or the heartbreak when someone says they don't want to meet anymore. I LOVE THIS CHANCE THAT I HAVE HAD TO BE A MISSIONARY. Yes it is the hardest thing I have ever done... but it has changed my whole life.  My testimony has been strengthened, my endurance built, my perspectives changed.  So I am happy that I DO have these next few months, because no matter what, it is so wonderful just being able to work for 18 months with the sole purpose of bringing others (and myself!) closer to Christ. 

 Love Always,
Sister Lundgreen
A few pictures from our district P-Day in Munich last week:










The Grand Ding-Dong Odyssey

Augsburg
Day 366 of being a missionary began bright and early on the train, a stash of oatmeal cookies most definitely stowed away in our purses.  We joined the elders and headed for an hour across the plains from Augsburg to Donauwörth and Donauwörth to Möttingen. 


    "The travel plan was wrong!" one of the missionaries panicked. "The bus to Oettingen isn't running!"
    "We could take the train to Nördlingen instead... It's not too far from here, close to the edge of our area. But the next train doesn't even come for another hour!" 
    "I don't see a problem with that," my findingtastic companion replied. "We're here to share the gospel with everyone!"


    And so the day began spontaneously in a small village, where every house had an aggressive guard dog but every person who turned us away was extremely nice.  




   Once we arrived in Nördlingen, we climbed the ancient fortification wall (complete with arrow-shooting niches and everything) on the way over to a cheap lunch, and then we split up.  


Although the historic city center was quaint and colorful, the outside suburbs were industrial.  Door to door we went, smiles wide, Book of Mormon in hand, ready.  Street to street we knocked, doing this crazy thing because the joy the faith has brought us is something we want to share. 



   "Hello, we're from the Church of Jesus Christ and we--" 
   "Children," the lady interrupted, wagging her finger.  "You cute little girls. No.  You can go along and visit other people, but not me."  Alright then.
Some other responses, which I COULD ACTUALLY 100% UNDERSTAND:
-   "That's alright, I'm not super interested. I was in the middle of my afternoon nap."     -   "Oh thank you! But I can't right now, I'm about to take so-and-so to the hospital."
Yet a different woman and her son invited us in.  We shared an Easter video and offered our service, and though she was devout in her own her own faith and had no interest, she was incredibly kind and offered us water.
   After a couple hours we caught another train on which we chatted with some young guys from Pakistan who were extremely excited about the fact that I am American, haha.  "Which state are you from: New York or California?" (As if those are the only two.) We invited them to our sport night, so of course another guy who had apparently been listening in on us asked if he could also join.  The more the merrier!



   We exited the train out in the rolling country hills and crossed the gurgling creek over to the teeny-tiny town of Katzenstein (translation: catstone).  Katzenstein has surely never seen missionaries before and still exists probably for the sake of its geese products. We rang every doorbell before strolling back over the little bridge to the adjacent village, which is overlooked by a magnificent castle.  By the time the train came to pick us back up, energy still surged through me and I could have continued on for hours.  Forget the rejection!  Forget the hours spent on foot! There are some days when no matter what, the love of the gospel just overpowers all.  


   But we headed back to Augsburg before the sun could slip down beneath the Bayrische-forested horizon.  The day ended with some studies and a big-ole scoop of Mozart-Kügel gelato.  


Oh, the life of a missionary.

 Love Always,
Sister Lundgreen

Some pics from last week's District P-day in Munich:



  

Faschings

Augsburg
This week Germany has been bursting with all sorts of and flavours and colours.  Sugar-dusted Krapfen, town-square concerts, rainbow-assorted streamers, glittery masquerade masks, tie-cutting traditions, straw-witch burnings.... it's all a part of Faschings, a holiday I can only compare to Mardi Gras.  We made the most of it by celebrating with primary kids.  
One day we were on a train overflowing with people in creative costumes, where one guy dressed as a garbage man lugged around a giant metal trashcan filled with cans of beer and a stereo blasting crazy carnival-sounding German music. 
Welcome to Bayern. Was kann ich sagen?




 Quotes of the Week
- "I don't wanna smell like Chubacca."
- "You're drinking tea from a bowl?"
- "Sass level: moon."



Was Wir Getan Haben: 
- Went on a walk with a member; we strolled past ducks and the Danube and a big castle-looking building that might have been a retirement home?
- We talked with three different families about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what we can do in this life to return to our Father in Heaven 
- I thought my companion was being dramatic about how terrible it was to get down from her top bunk bed..... and then I tried to get down and next thing you know we just heard this terrifying riiiiiipppp, my scalp was in pain and for the next 24 hours so much of my hair fell out, I don't even know what happened....



- In the space of a single hour on exchange we assembled a vacuum, played with cats and dealt with a scammy insurance company 
- We went finding in Kissing
- We learned a lot of Star Wars vocabulary from the bishop's adorable kids
- Plans for next week: My year mark on is Thursday, when we shall travel out to another far-away town in hopes of sharing the message!

MTC Memories

MTC Memories

MTC GYM :)
Seriously, I cannot believe it's been a year since I left. I mean, I can but I can't. It feels like an eternity since I have seen my family or done "normal person" things, but yet it's just wild to think that I am already 2/3 done with this crazy adventure of a mission!

To be honest, I thought I would have "mastered the mission" by this point. That my German would be perfect. That I would be a fantastic teacher. That this shy/soft-spoken part of my personality, which frankly makes me nervous to talk to people, would just go away. 
But as the prophet Alma said, "It is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass." Our Heavenly Father has blessed us all with our own strengths by which we can work. He has never asked us to move a mountain, but to simply work hard, serve others, and continually strive to become better. That is the first step to making an impact.  As Apostle Jeffery R Holland said, "The best thing about the gospel is that it gives you credit for trying... So keep trying, keep trusting... heaven is cheering you on, today, tomorrow, and forever!"    

Love Always,
Sister Lundgreen

Some People Have Absolutely No Shame

Augsburg

My favorite part of Augsburg is Innenstadt at night.  As we walk home past the closed-but-still-glowing shops, through quaint alleyways and across the cobblestoned town square where the silhouette of Rathaus dominates the skyline... it's peaceful. Some days are incredibly frustrating, filled with all sorts of fallen-out appointments and downright mean people. But some days as we walk home, I just cannot rid the smile from my face. There is absolutely nothing like the feeling that the gospel is bringing joy into people's lives, a little bit at a time. 


For fun, here is a list I made before my mission of why I love the gospel so much!

SOME FANTASTIC THINGS THAT WENT DOWN:
- we gave out 2 Books of Mormon in ten minutes! Well, almost. The second lady in the end decided that the script is too small for her eyes to read so we will bring her back a book with bigger print.
- We led the mutual activity and made a mini MTC experience! I got to act out the part of a "nice" person, so when the youth knocked onto my door pretending to be missionaries, it was so awesome to hear their testimonies!
- We met with the same family again this week; we did a few hours worth of service and then they fed us Macedonian food! Since the parents are baptized but the children are not, we then taught a short white-board version of the Plan of Salvation.  T
heir friend who was there remarked, "When you hear this, you know there is no reason to fear death!" The next morning, we were able to take the kids to church again!! 



AND THEN, THE WEIRD THINGS!:

- SOMETIMES MEN ANSWER THE DOOR NAKED AHHHHK 
- No like seriously I used to complain about guys opening the door in their underwear but OH MY HECK WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU RING SOMEONE INTO YOUR APARTMENT BUILDING WITHOUT ASKING WHO THEY ARE, SHOUT HELLO DOWN AT THEM, WAIT FOR THEM TO WALK ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP FLOOR, BE WAITING FOR THEM OUT IN THE HALLWAY AND NOT EVEN FLINCH WHEN YOU MEET THESE POOR STRANGER GIRLS WHO NOW GET TO SEE YOU, WEARING A SHIRT BUT ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE DOWN SOUTH  
- We've been spending a lot of time trying to help our landlady figure out how to convince the government that her 97-year-old mother (whom we also visit every week) is actually not dead and actually still needs her retirement money..........
- Turns out a different elderly lady we bring the sacrament to every week is the grandma of a German celebrity who has literally acted alongside Brad Pitt 
- There are frequently stories that people will bring up from last December that I'm just like wait what that happened? I was so ill and out of it that I literally forgot everything. For example, the elders having to get permission from the APs to come and give me a blessing?... I had no memory of any of it. Or Sister Franchino telling our zone leader he reminded her of a short fat dinosaur from the Land Before Time because it was 3 AM at the ER? Apparently a lot of weird things happened those few weeks when I was sick in lalaland. 
- 19% sales tax on my conditioner whoohoo 
- I'm hitting my 6-month countdown on Thursday....... WUT










On my mission I have met a number of people who are bitter with Heavenly Father about the difficulties in their lives. They wonder why, when they pray so much, God still allows them to have problems. 
There is a part in Mosiah 24 that really stuck out to me:
14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

The reality is that this life is the time to be tested, to do our best no matter what. We should pray to our Father in all times, good or bad, and whatever comes in our path we must continue to have trust in Him. Prayers will not always make the trials go away... But through our faith in God, He will give us the strength to endure it! 

Love Always,
Sister Lundgreen

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