Letter From Sister Motto in VIENNA!!! "The Modern Day Miracle"

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

Servus Servus from chilly Vienna!! And what do you know....in honor my arrival in Vienna the Christmas lights are up and Christmas markets open TODAY....really, how did they know?! ;)  

Ok.....mission life. I am LOVING VIENNA!! My new favorite city on earth. I cannot believe this transfer is almost up. I feel so at home here. My ward is absolutely incredible. Bishop Christoph Soucek is President Thomas Soucek's brother, and he is seriously an older version of Elder Quinn Black. I'll send you a picture sometime. We have a cute 91 year old lady who gives us Manner candy bar each week: needless to say my Manner supply is good for a while. I love being a missionary in a big city: the work here is simply different. Many missionaries in our mission call Vienna "magical" because the member-missionary work is very, very strong. There are times I really miss my cute little quaint Göppingen but like I said I feel very at home and very comfy cozy here in Vienna. The peace I felt from Day 1 has not left. I know this is where I need to be.

So much happened this week!  I'm out of breath just thinking about it.....  First, we were informed last Monday of a new policy in our mission where we are able to write emails on Thursdays for one hour to participate in some ONLINE missionary work! We email our investigators, potentials, and "familiarize ourselves with the LDS websites". So neat!  These emails will be strictly for the pure essence of missionary work and not to email home, sorry Mom.

This week we also had our Zone Training meeting, and this upcoming Friday we will have Zone Conference.  At Zone Training we talked about HOPE, our Christlike attribute for this month picked out by Sister Miles, and focused on the talk by Elder Uchtdorf "The Hope of God's Light."  We had a discussion on what we thought the opposite of hope was. I didn't quite think about it, but the opposite of hope is DESPAIR.  Hope is like a beacon of light, and when we don't have hope we are walking in darkness, whatever our personal darknesses may be. What a blessing and heavenly gift it is to have a testimony and knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ, who is our ultimate Source of light. Faith and hope go hand in hand: you cannot have one without the other.   Our Vienna Zone is something special...all of these missionaries are united in faith.  They are all stalwart, strong and believing....and of course...so much fun!  I loved seeing my local friend Sister Winters and meeting some of the other newer missionaries.  This is a GREAT place and an amazing time to be a missionary!

In the upcoming weeks the 280 strong missionaries in the Alpine German Speaking Mission will be exercising our FAITH and HOPE as we have promised with the Lord to participate in a modern-day miracle. We, as a mission, are fasting twice this month and exercising our faith as we work each day, to bring to pass 180 more baptisms by December 31, 2013, to reach our 2013 year goal of 290 baptisms. Now, this miracle is not going to be easy, and as missionaries and members we are going to have to put forth our very, very, very best efforts to accomplish this goal. Hope and it's dutiful partner Faith are the two attributes and elements we will hang onto as we go out and work each day to fulfill this goal in bringing 180 precious, beloved Sons and Daughters unto Him. President Miles has encouraged each missionary to read "It's a Miracle" by Elder Neil L Andersen and to pray with the Lord to figure out what our personal contributions to this goal are. I have such a strong testimony of this promise, and I KNOW the Lord has in mind a great plan for each individual Elder and Sister in the mission, because He does for me. I have never wanted to work harder on my mission! I realize now that I have always had this drive, but now with a divine, beautiful, personal witness of how I as a missionary can contribute to the Lord's work.  Asking the Lord and recieving this answer was something I've needed to do all along. I can happily say that from this moment on, my mission has improved and changed for the better!

Guess WHAT?! On Tuesday the national Austrian Soccer Team plays a friendly with the USA!!!  And we get to go!!! Tor Tor Tor….can you believe that???!!! We are shortening our pday today so that we can have some "saved" over for Tuesday night.  I am so excited and will be thinking about my soccer obsessed family during the entire thing!

A couple of days ago we were able to meet with Nicole Mörwald (who was found by Elder Moon [E Moon is from our home stake in Lindon] when he served here in Wien 1!). Nicole is an individual I feel like I really connect with. Nicole has had all the lessons, but because of a source Nicole cannot control,  denial from her husband, she cannot yet be baptized. Our lessons, therefore, are always discussions and are really interessting as we help Nicole's understanding of the Gospel grow. We talked about Joseph in Egypt and how the main message of his story is the beautiful gift of forgiveness. We also talked about faith and prayer, and together kneeled in prayer for the families and people in the Phillipines, and the people who have been effected by this natural disaster. Nicole offered the prayer, and what a prayer full of faith and humility it was, as she prayed specifically for the missionaries, their families, the members of the Church, and the children. It was such a beautiful moment.   Please continue to pray that her husbands heart will soften.

This weekend we were able to attend the baptism of Pouria Baktahr, Elder Richmans and Worthens investigator!!  Pouria refers to himself as Pouria Nephi as he LOVES Nephi and wants to strive to become more like him.  This baptism was full of support and love from the sweet saints in this ward.  Sister Judd and I have had the opportunity to sit in and teach Pouria a few times with the Elders and the 5 of us have created a great circle of friends. This past Saturday Pouria was baptized by Richard Huy, one of our ward missionaries (Baagi's husband). Richard and Baagi have become surrogate parents for Pouria, and the overall baptism was very, very touching.  I adore this ward -- they are strong and supportive and diligent in all things. Pouria was first introduced to the missionaries in Innsbruck and met them on the street, and that was the only interaction he had with them.  See, there are lots of successes with street contacting! A few weeks later after moving to Vienna, Pouria had a dream about 2 missionaries. He awoke the next morning, which happened to be Sunday, and had an overwhelming prompting to go to Church. He looked up our address, Silbergasse 2, attended Sacrament Meeting, and asked Elders Richman and Worthen if he could be taught everything to know about the Gospel. He was baptized 7 weeks later. In his blessing when he was given the gift of the Holy Ghost, Pouria was complimented on his ability to recognize the truth of God, and that this spiritual gift will bless his life and family in the future. Pouria is an example of just one out of many who are prepared and ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ: it's our job as missionaries to find those sheep!  No one can claim that Germany and Austria and Switzerland are not ready to hear the Gospel...the Gospel is going forth stronger than ever! We are a baptizing mission!

Newest Member of the Wien 1 ward

I was deeply touched as today I read "Being A More Christian Christian" from Oktober 2012 General Conference, by Elder Robert D. Hales.  For me, I will never forget December 31, 2001 on a very cold morning in Chicago, Illinois: the day I was baptized. Second, I will never forget February 28, 2013, as I further made promises with my Father in Heaven and took once again myself the name of Christ when I was blessed to receive my endowment

As we make these promises, namely at baptism, we are to "forsake our nets and follow Him" just as Peter and Andrew. We are to leave behind worldly habits, customs, and traditions. That also means leaving behind regret, doubt, fear, and looking forward to a new day and promise to be better. We are literally made new in Christ, and as Elder Hales says "our very natures change, and we are no longer wanting to go back to our old ways." This process is called CONVERSION. Even as we become converted and steadfast and rock-solid faithful, there must needs be for opposition in all things. Even the most faithful of Christians and members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints will be, as Elder Hales says, BLESSED with the opportunity to experience difficulties and disappointments. What? I would have never guessed my trials would be considered to be so much as a blessing. A learning experience, most definitely. Something to make me a better person, no doubt. But as a blessing? Wie so? These challenges Elder Hales describes as refining challenges, challenges and hardships that will ultimately, if we hold faithful, shape and mold us to become new Disciples of Christ.

He is there to bless us. He is there to lift, encourage, comfort, and build us. Jesus Christ is our Savior who loves us! I am so honored to be in His service.

Ich wünsche Euch Alles Güte und wünsche dass Ihr alle eine wunderbare Woche haben werdet!

Liebe Grüße,
Sister Natalie Motto

Week 23 -- Do You Know What Is Even Better Than Vienna? MISSIONARY WORK!!!

Hallo Familie und Freunde!

This week, as all the rest, was absolutely fantastic!  Vienna is already treating me so well. :) :) :)  I can't help but compare it to being a Disneyland for grown-ups. This city is MAGICAL!  The beauty of the architecture, the tree lined, cobble-stone streets all intertwined with thousands of people from all walks of life.  There is a sense in the air of deep rooted cultural history that you can't help but appreciatively acknowledge.   Even though Vienna is huge, this large city lends itself to being personal and comfy.   VIenna's history is perceptible in everything -- the flavor of food, grand pedestrian walkways and the peaceful flow of the Danube, impressive museums and cathedrals.  Oh I wish I could transport you all here this second!  I love that I have a Vienna connection with Mom-- living here at the exact same age....and in the same seasons.  How great is that?!  And the music...the MUSIC!!!  I am standing in the same places as my favorite composers....Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss's, Lehar and Schubert!  Talk about a hot bed of musical creativity. WOW!  I am blessed and honored to be here -- and I am happily soaking it ALL in!  

Do you know what is even better than Vienna??? MISSIONARY WORK!!

This week we met with Nicole  and her family. Nicole is a mother of 4 beautiful children, ages 13 years to 18 months. Nicole's husband is not prominent in the family, and therefore is restraining Nicole from being baptized. She is an amazing woman though, who loves the scriptures and praying with her children. This past week we  taught them the story of Nephi building his ship, and we drew pictures to involve the kids and also see their understanding of the story. Cute 5 year old Davin, upon finishing his picture stood in front of everyone and shouted "SIEHT IHR MEIN BIIIILLLLLD!" Everyone look at my picture!! He was quite proud of his sketch, and I was very impressed. He drew Nephi and his entire family, even the pet dog! (Davin REALLY wants a pet dog and often compares himself to Nephi, so I think that explains the picture a little more.) In our lesson, we talked about faith and being obedient, and with our joint-teach Theresa (our GML's wife) we sang Nephi's Courage. This was probably one of my favorite lessons on my mission! This couple are pretty special people, and we are praying that Nicole's husband, Dennis' heart will be softened that Nicole and her daughter Alena and her son Elias can be baptized.

We had an appointment with a former investigator this week, Frau Gosch, who met with missionaries about 7 or 8 years ago. Frau Gosch let us in and we had a very pleasant discussion and talk about the Church. After our lesson I asked her if she had a copy of the Book of Mormon and challenged her to begin reading it. Frau Gosch then went off on a complete rant about how awful the Book of Mormon is, and how no one could get closer to God by reading such a book about war and destruction. I didn't know what to do, and Sister Judd and I were stunned.  This was my first real experience with someone disavowing something so sacred to me right in front of my face.  It was such an awful feeling.  How could she NOT know how beautiful and true the Book of Mormon is?  We closed with a prayer and left, and it took everything I could to not cry. Really, it broke my heart to hear such words about the Book of Mormon, and that this sweet woman and daughter of God did not understand the principles and messages between the stories of the Nephites and the Lamanities.  Missionary work isn't always sunshine and rainbows and baptisms -- living in fairytale cities....it is hard work!!  Although we have plenty of hard days and people can say really mean things,  there is so much peace and comfort in knowing that one day people like Frau Gosch WILL understand the Gospel, and accept it in it's fullness.  I know who is leading this Church and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

This week I have come to realize the importance of being a consecrated missionary. This is something that I have learned about from Day 1 on my mission, and will not finish learning until I return home, and even until my spirit leaves my mortal body. In a conversation with Sister Judd, saying that at the end of our missions what could we describe it as in one word, I decided that my mission is the most REFINING experience anyone could have. I know I have brought that up a few times, but each and every day, each and every second, I feel the incredible power of God shaping me to be the best I can. Now, I have also come to realize quickly, that that kind of change doesn't happen unless we are willing to give God our hearts, and often that is much easier said than done. Our WILL and HEART and MIND is the only gift God has given us that He cannot willingly take back. He can take our homes from us, our wealth, our families, and even our very lives. But God cannot and will not ever take our will, because He loves us. He has given us the most beautiful and precious gift of agency, because He trusts us enough as His beloved children to make the correct decisions to return back to Him. How blessed and humbled I feel as a missionary, a full-time representative of Jesus Christ, to take upon myself that responsibility to help God's children REMEMBER the Gospel. As a missionary we are not teaching them the doctrine and fundemental basics of eternity for the first time. We are simply reminding these people of their divine nature. The Gospel rings truth and goodness, and people feel that in their hearts when they openly listen to our message. 

As a missionary, I have come to understand the importance of selflessness and humility. I want to kick myself sometimes thinking of how, in the past, I was so selfish with my time and energy. My mission has taught me the importance of giving back, because God has given us everything, and I am simply "borrowing" these precious gifts of time, talents, and life. I have made resolutions over and over to be better.  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a MANIFICENT talk last year titled "Of Regrets and Resolutions". Reading this talk helped me recognize of living in the moment, taking advantage of it, and also of giving it everything one moment at a time. Elder D. Todd Christofferson also gave a talk, "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread." We cannot supply ourselves with a yearly supply of manna, otherwise it will spoil. Yes, natürlich, it is important to plan for the future and make specific and realistic goals for ourselves. But we must nourish, each and every day, our sensitive spirits. Our Spirits are DIVINE! They are literal, beautiful, magnificent creations from Heavenly Parents that are so susceptible to outside influences, that we must constantly feed goodness and light to them. That is why the "primary answers" of prayer, fasting, attending church regularly, reading in the scriptures, is so important. This knowledge and testimony I have always known, but here on my mission I have come to UNDERSTAND. And how grateful I am for that!!

"Denn siehe, wer denn wunsch habt, Gott zu dienen, seid ihr zu dem Werk berufen."  ("Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work")  There is no better motto for a missionary than D&C 4!! Oh how I love those precious, uplifting and godly verses....they are what help me get through the days and nights of rejection and weariness.  "For with God, All things are possible!"

Well...this letter must end for Vienna and His work awaits!

My wonderful friends and family, have a GREAT week! You are in my prayers and thoughts always.  Thank you for being my support team!  I love you all.

Sister Natalie Motto

Horse-love in every city….The Vienna ones are SO COOL!

Appreciating the Viennese pastries:)

Vienna Füssgängerzone right by Stephansdom --Stephansplatz

HELLO Sachertorte!!!

Week 22 "A Mission Is A Family Affair"

Servus liebe Familie und Freunde!!

This week was wonderful, but a little long because I was sick for about 3 days with a sore throat and a fever.  I hate being sick:(  So you can imagine how hard it was for me to slow down in any way. Tis the sick season! With my companion's recommendation I had to rest a little and I took some medicine and drank lots of water to speed up the healing process. The other sisters have been healthy, which is good, and we are all taking extra precaution to stay healthy.  It's really hard being sick on the mission, I hate the feeling of not being able to go out and work, so I'm grateful that I am now on the mend and on the way back to my healthy self!

This week was stake conference in Vienna, as well as interviews with President Miles!  We were able to have a sleep over for stake conference: the Graz sisters came and stayed in our apartment Saturday night because of the long train ride to Vienna. It was really fun getting to know Sisters Kervinen (from Finland. She is hilarious and is a very good missionary) and Sister Reginer (from San Fransisco, California, we rode the train together to Vienna. She is so sweet and is a great example of expressing true, genuine charity for everyone.) We had 6 sisters crammed into a small apartment -- needless to say it was a little hectic in the morning getting ready for stake conference, but it all worked out. Yeah for some more sunlight! It helps that it is now the end of daylight savings here....so strange that we start a week before you-- that means we are only 7 hours apart, for one week! :)  (Can you believe that we forgot about the extra hour of sleep....so I woke up at 5:30 instead of 6:30. Naja....OH WELL...Sleep is overrated, right? :)

Wonderful weekend!  President and Sister Miles spoke at our stake conference, and so we were able to be with them for about 2 days. I love when the Miles' come and visit and spend time with us: they have a really busy schedule but I am very grateful for the time they do take to visit each one of us and remind us of their love.  They told us how much they appreciate our optimism, hard work ethic and desire to be the best missionaries we can be.  I. Love.Them!

The big theme for this stake conference was the temple. It was a little hard, because I became homesick for the temple, but the messages shared were beautiful and definitely something I needed to hear. President Souceck, one of the counselors and Dad's former missionary companion, spoke about the importance of remaining pure and chaste so we can worthily enter the Lord's house. I never really understood the importance of this until I was able to go through the temple last February and recieve my endowment. (What a special experience that was! Sometimes I wish I could go do it all over again.) An outpouring of love from the Spirit testified to my heart the great importance for me to one day marry in the temple, to search after that goal of being sealed to my future eternal companion. I have always been amazed the way the Lord teaches me and gives me revelation, because sometimes it is in ways I least expect it.  President Nally in the MTC once said that "A mission experience is the MTC for the rest of your life, as well as the next."  Now I recognize how serving a mission, when served with full purpose of heart, might, mind, and strength, is a blessing for my future family, and I am forever grateful that I have chosen to serve.

This week we had the opportunity to meet with our investigator "Dory", a mother of 6 with her 2 youngest being 1 year old twins, "P and L."  Dory's husband will not allow her to be baptized at this time, and so we are teaching her continually more and more about the Gospel as we wait in faith for her husband's permission. Dory is a woman of solid faith and firm understanding, just as the Book of Mormon describes we should be. She really wants to be baptized so we are praying that her husbands heart will be softened.  She purchased a kindle to download all the standard works, so she can read them wherever she goes. We just gave her a copy of "Jesus der Christus" and are meeting with her on Wednesday. As I entered her home and began talking with her, I felt such an overhwhelming love for Dory, and I could not deny the impression that I have come to Vienna to meet her.

Interviews were fantastic! President Miles is such an inspired man. My interview was actually quite brief, maybe only 5 or 6 minutes, but President Miles challenged me to do something. He said, "Sister Motto, I want you to find out why you are here in Vienna. By doing so, I want you to study the scriptures. I know you do each and every day, but tonight kneel in prayer and plea to the Lord to see what He expects out of your scripture study, and how you can be better." I have always thought I was really good at my scripture study, but I did exactly what President Miles asked. And the answer came! I need to be studying more and utilizing it in my every day proselyting, the words of modern day prophets. Together with the standard works, talks from the Ensign/Liahona and General Conference are JUST AS POWERFUL in every day missionary work.In my studies I have made the goal to read 15 minutes in the Book of Mormon, 15 from the standard works, 15 from Verkünet mein Evangelium!, and 15 from a conference talk.  

In regards to my language and this new Viennese dialect...es geht gut!  I am having fewer times of misunderstandings and more confident moments of total understanding-- yay yay YAY! :)   German is not the easiest language to comprehend but my love for it grows every day.  Yet another blessing which comes from serving a foreign speaking mission!  I did have a small "oops" when in visiting with a member family who have 6 kids....I encouraged them to be "fruitful" rather than to say how "terribly" important it is to be a good member missionary.....they reminded me kindly of my "obvious" mistake..."Sister Motto...we are fruitful...we have 6 kids!"

In relation to my new resolution in studies, the impression came to me the other day to read a talk from April 2013 conference by President Monson. In there I found a quote that I could not help but weep as I read. It says,

"A mission is a family affair. Though the expanse of continents or oceans may separate,
hearts are as one."

Simpler truth could not have been better stated. I am so grateful for the mountains of support and love I feel each and every day from home. Sometimes I get homesick, mostly because I wish to share my experiences here on the mission with you at home. I wish you were right beside me! This work is too beautiful and wonderful. It was exactly one year ago this week I  wrestled whether or not I should serve. How clearly I remember the soothing peace of the Holy Ghost as I knelt in prayer and begged for an answer. I remember the feelings of fear and inadequacy I felt as I thought about serving a mission, but there was such a sweet spirit as the Spirit testified to me that the Lord doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies The called. This mission truly has been the greatest blessing to me. No kidding, it has been the most difficult thing I have done, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, but there are so many blessings that come when we simply turn ourselves over to the Lord and let Him take care of the rest. I'm simply striving to be a Werkzeuge, a work tool, in His hands, to help Him bring to pass the great and marvelous work of proclaming the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

How grateful I am to be here! I love being a missionary in Austria at this time of this marvelous dispensation!  "Geh immer Vorwärts", and press on until the work of the Lord is finished!

Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Natalie Motto

Elder Pugmire, our DL and Me with Sister Woods at our last district meeting in Göppingen

…..On the Blue Danube!

My awesome Göppingen District…miss them! Elders Rodgers, Durrant, Chapman, Garett, Oviatt, Philips, Pugmire, Carlson and Me and Sister Woods

Me with my new companion, Sister Judd!

The magnificent Stephens Dom Cathedral in WIEN

Week 21 -- Servus von Wien!

Servus von WIEN!!!!

Meine liebe Familie und Freunden,

Goodbyes to Göppingen were so hard! It was really sad leaving the branch I "grew up" in. The members were actually really sad to be getting 4 Elders....they love the Sisters!  And why wouldn't they?:)  We are wunderbar!   We had so many eating appointments last week, we really only needed to buy groceries so the Elders could have food when they got to Göppingen. Yup, we are nice...we made them "Welcome to Göppingen" treats!  I know Göppingen is in good hands with Elders Bartholemew, Thompson, and their goldens.  I'm really excited to see the success there!  But I will miss it.

Transfer day was......crazy and stressful!  Probably the craziest travel experience I've had, ever. Welcome to mission life, right? We left Göppingen at about 10 am Thursday morning to get to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof by 11, and our train to Munich left at 11:40. I traveled as a "solo sister" with 5 elders to Munich. My posse consisted of Elders Fuchs, Mohn, Morey, Philips, Smith, Christensen and a few angels to boot.  You didn't need to worry one bit Mom, I was in excellent hands.  Elder Philips, coming from my district in Stuttgart, is in St. Pölten and we traveled the whole way to Vienna together. Elder Smith also traveled with us the whole way, headed to Klagenfurt. Our train got into Munich 15 minutes later than scheduled -- yikes! -- and as a result we had a 1 minute Umsteig (disembark) to get to our train headed to Salzburg. We BARELY schaffed that train; it was a tender mercy from the Lord we did, otherwise we would have had to wait for another 3 hours for the next train to Salzburg connecting to Vienna. Strong and capable missionaries waiting in Munich Bahnhof rushed to help us get our luggage onto the next train, and thankfully none of our luggage was left behind. Whew.  It was a minute and a half of pure chaos! The ride to Salzburg was breathtaking, but we weren't able to enjoy the scenery for long. When we umsteiged in Salzburg, which our steig was supposed to be for a half hour, we found out our train getting to Salzburg was late, and as a result of that we had only a 3 minute Umsteig to get to our train to Vienna.  I did get to see 30 seconds worth of beautiful Salzburg, and my heart kind of ached that I wasn't able to see more.  As I looked at the Hohensalzburg castle, I remembered how great our trip was there last year and fun it was to climb that with you Mom and Dad.  

The trian ride to Vienna was absolutely gorgeous!!! Seeing the Alps was like coming home. :) From Munich I was able to travel with Sister Reignier, headed to Graz, and we talked about the incredible beauty of our mission. I cant get enough of it!  After 9 hours of travel across 2 countries, we safely arrived, a little exhausted and travel weary, in Vienna around 6:30 PM, where we were greeted by the missionaries and my cute companion. Sister Judd is amazing!  She is from Las Vegas, and is in her 9th transfer. Her German is spectacular, and she knows how to work hard. We get along very well: our personalities are extremely similar, but different enough that we compliment eachother. She has an impressive drive to do missionary work, and I'm excited to learn from her this next transfer.

We had just enough time to drop off my luggage at the apartment and then head off to an appointment with our investigator Andie.  Andie is about 29 years old and is just about the sweetest most genuine person I know. She loves the Gospel and we are preparing to set a baptismal date with her!  Even though I was so tired that night, I was very happy to get right to work in our new area and meet our investigators.  A happy missionary is a busy missionary! Stimmt.

We also met with Nicole this week, another incredible investigator. She is a mother of 4, and her kids are all under age 11. Remind you of someone Mom? Little 4 year old Davin is my new favorite person, and he is convinced we are now boyfriend-girlfriend:)  Nicole is preparing to be baptized, after we recieve permission from her husband who is often times not home. Nicole loves the New Testament stories, particularly the illustrated children`s book version made by the church, and so we read and explain them to her. We read about "The Widow's Mite" and she was very intent about it. As we had a 5 minute Pause and talked with Davin about Star Wars, we noticed Nicole reading the Bible story book alone. Following our Spiel with Davin, Nicole asked us questions about the ministery and miracles of Christ. It was really neat! We are planning on using this story book not only for Nicole's kids, but also for Nicole, because of her childlike knowledge about Christ and His Gospel. Childlike faith is beautiful.

Every Friday night we have Waffle Night at the insitute, and we attend when our investigators are there, to help them feel welcome and help incorporate them into the ward and JAE (young adult) group. We went with Andie, and were able to introduce her to some of the JAE'`s in our stake. Funny thing about going to the JAE Center: I met the BYU Vienna Study Abroad Group!  Ha..can you believe the coincidence?! ((Sidenote...Natalie was seriously considering Vienna Study Abroad right before the age change for missionaries was announced.  She would have been studying there right now!) Needless to say it was somewhat surreal for me to be among them, talking with them, when I could be standing among them and talking with a different Sister missionary who could have been in my shoes, in my current position. My heart swelled with gratitude and love as I realized that the Lord has blessed me by sending me here to Vienna. Ever since I got off the train, I have had a constant sense of peace, love, and happiness to be here in Vienna. Perhaps it is because I have always dreamed of coming here, but on a deeper sense I know it is where I need to be. I KNOW there is a great purpose for me here in Vienna and that purpose is to preach the true and everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, to share the joy, to tell people where they can find happiness, and to assist in His work and help these precious souls find their way back to our Heavenly Father.

Yesterday, Sunday, was awesome. I felt right at home in my ward. I LOVE this ward!! And I met President Soucek Dad! In Sacrament Meeting he had me stand and then told about how you and he were companions and what an amazing missionary you were.  (He was Kevin's missionary companion in Hamburg) The Vienna 1st ward has incredible members of the Church with a zest and fire for missionary work. Our GML Perry is fun and hilarious and dedicated to us.  He and his wife Teresa are newlyweds of about a year, and they LOVE the missionaries.  Both are RM's and are so helpful to us. Serving in a ward will be much different than my little branch in Göppingen, and I am excited to see what things I learn here. 

No biggie but last night on the way to an appointment, I got proposed to by a guy from Yugoslavia. His German wasn't very good, but he knew enough to say "Du, mich, heiraten?" It was quite funny, and I made up the excuse I had a boyfriend back home in the states (thanks Jameson!). Sister Judd laughed and then we talked to him about the Book of Mormon. We are going to pass him over to the  Elders (Elders Richman and Worthen) tomorrow to reden more about THE CHURCH and not how to marry one of us.

Short week this week and these past few days have flown. I LOVE being in a big city!! (You were right mom!) I'm excited to see what new things I will learn, more than I could from my time in Göppingen. I gained so much in my time in Göppingen, and in many ways I am "homesick" for it. Serving in Stuttgart Zone was something that helped me grow and develop as a missionary and into a better "myself", and to better learn German and "figure things out". Although I am still doing both those things (Wienerisch seems like a whole different language-- very different than Schwäbisch and very sing-songy --it sounds beautiful), I feel right at home in Vienna. Yes, it's of course an adjustment, but it has been much much easier than I thought it would be. I know that there will be hard days, those are unavoidable. How I go about tackling those hard days, and learning the experiences from them, is what matters most. I need to always remember this wonderful feeling of being here, this peace and love and joy, and reflect on that when times get tough.

My heart is so full!  I LOVE this Gospel with my whole heart, and for the chance to be in the Alpine German speaking mission. This Church is true, and there is nothing that can stop this Work of Salvation.

Til next week! (I PROMISE I will put pictures up next week....with transfers and getting settled taking pictures slipped my mind....es tut mir leid! Sorry. )

Alles gute!
Liebe
Sister Natalie Motto