If the Lord Wasn't On My Side, I Don't Know How I Would Get Through The Day

Dear Family and Friends,

Today, Sister Peterson and I are going to see a castle.....literally.  In the midst of a beautiful early Autumn day and in the beauty of the Allgäu rolling hills and mountains....we get to see the beautiful Disney castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein. Sound familiar? ;) A member is so sweet and offered to take us. I'm grateful that Sis Peterson gets to see it the week she leaves.  We're super excited! I will send pics next week.

Well, I got some transfer news! Looks like the Lord sees it fit to challenge me even more....I'm training!! This week I will be getting a brand new, shiny, sparkly "Golden"  fresh out of the MTC. (FYI: A "golden" is what we lovingly refer to a brand new missionary because they are so "golden" like in quality and dedication) We had a fantastic Mission Leadership Council on Friday, and as every one got their transfer calls President Kohler pulled me aside and asked me if I would stay here in Munich and would train. Of course I said yes, although for a minute I wanted to look around the room and be like, "you mean me, President?" I'm really excited for these upcoming weeks, and for the challenge and responsibility, learning opportunities and miracles that come with training a new missionary. Pray for me and this sweet new missionary! (I won't know her name until I pick her up at the Mission Office come Thursday:)

Sister Peterson and I had so much fun this week. We have been running around like a whirlwind but it's been just amazing. We've just been so busy getting to and from appointments, talking with the most hilarious people (Oktoberfest is coming up...oh my!), going on Austausches, that sometimes I just have to sit and breathe deeply and take a second to express gratitude and yes, laugh at myself a bit. I love being a missionary. Each day has a new challenge and new way of presenting itself, and there are many moments that I realize "Mensch. If the Lord wasn't on my side, I don't know how I would get through the day." I love reading back in my journal from a year ago and to see how much I've grown, matured, and gained a deeper understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

We met with Tenzin this week and started talking about the Word of Wisdom. Tenzin, who does massages for a living, related in his own unique, funny way of how reading the Book of Mormon is like recieving a brain massage. For him, the peace that comes from reading the Book of Mormon each day brings that sense of relaxation and revival like after a massage. I found the analogy kind of funny...a little fascinating and Tenzin found himself to be quite profound. Which he is! He's a smart cookie, and it's great going into lessons and coming out realizing we probably learned more from Tenzin than we taught him!

This week we met with the "S" family, a family in our ward who have been inactive for over 20 years. Their personal struggles and misunderstandings of the Gospel in the past have come to a point where they know they should, and at the least they very much want to, come back to the Church. They understand the blessings that come from the Gospel in their lives. They misunderstand that when they have questions or do not understand Gospel topics, that it is a lack in testimony. Which is completely false!! We all have questions and we all have moments of doubt, but just like President Uchtdorf so beautifully said last conference, "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith". This cute older couple is working so hard to find their testimonies again, to rekindle that flame of faith, so that they can once again sing the song of redeeming love. It's an interesting experience being the missionaries on the other side, and how one can feel so much love, so intensely, for another individual in one moment. It was a great appointment, and as we continue to meet with this sweet couple, we will help them prepare to recieve their patriarchal blessings, and then within the next year, help them come back into full activity so that, at the ages of 71, they can recieve the full blessings of the temple and be sealed together for time and all eternity.  

We met with Herr Muanza this week and had a fantastic review-lesson on the Restoration. We watched the Restoration video, and Herr Muanza loved each mintue of it. He is still reading in the Book of Mormon each day, and told us for about 10 minutes how much he loved reading in 3 Nephi 18 about the Sacrament, and then was making connections all on his own about his experience at Church last week. It was a really neat experience to witness his testimony grow right before my eyes! Herr Muanza is progressing wonderfully, and although we extended the baptismal commitment to him and he said no, becuase he was already baptized, there is no doubt that as we explain the authority of the priesthood and continue teaching the Restoration, there will be a "click" and Herr Muanza will fully embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Sidenote: Muntean's come back this week! Juhu!!)

I am also very grateful for Sister Peterson. We have had a wonderful 6 weeks together. I've learned a lot from her. Without her, I don't know if I could have accomplished all that I have these past 6 weeks in Munich! She's so steady, patient, and faithful. She was what I needed in this place and time on my mission. She's easy to be myself around, and that's I think something that brought our companionship more together in unity. She's a very special individual, and I know she will do great things after her mission. I would be saying goodbye, but seeing as we'll be seeing each other at BYU in the Winter, it's only Bis Auf's Wiedersehen. :) Danke Sis Peterson, Ich habe Dich sehr Lieb!!

I am so grateful to be a missionary. I love this work. Although I don't always understand all the rules or the meaning of particular guidelines or why things happen the way they do, I've learned to put my trust in the Lord. In Him is my trust full and complete. He knows each thought, each concern, each joy that I have. He knows me PERFECTLY. On Friday morning during my personal study, before MLC and transfer calls, I read a line in my patriarchal blessing that admonished me to accept each calling with a willing and happy heart. That is something I really needed to hear as I go into another new "trainer" phase.  As transfer calls came and the butterflies and stress and worries about training came, I looked down at my planner to see what I had written. There in my own handwriting, I had written exactly that phrase, "a willing and happy heart." I was so grateful for that prompting I had had that morning, because now that fear is gone! I'm still a little anxious for this experience, but I know---through the perfect example and experience of my fantastic trainer and me---that President Kohler calls us trainers purely by revelation and through the promptings of the Spirit. The Lord knows there's a new little Sister ready to help encourage, strengthen, teach me, and bless my life as a missionary. And hopefully I have something to offer her too.  

I love you all and am so grateful for all your marvelous, loyal, incredible support. Have a magnificent week my dear ones!!

Love

Your little Alpine Bavarian Miss

Sister Natalie Hannah Motto

How Sweet is His Work!

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

Man......I just love being a missionary. The fact my whole life is enveloped in the opportunity to teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, devoting each minute to this work......I cannot imagine my life WITHOUT my mission. These 18 months have become engraved on my soul and have forever changed my perspective of eternity. For these precious moments--whether they be incredibly difficult or incredibly rewarding--are moments I will never, ever take back.

Der Glockenspiel in Munich

Sister Peterson is just the best! I LOVE working with her! We have so much fun together, but at the same time we both know how to buckle down and "get work done". I've learned a lot from Sister Peterson in the past few weeks, and I am really grateful for her example of patience, love, and sincerity.

Planning Day….playing a game to motivate us to plan better and speak better German…:)

Last Monday we were able to go see the beautiful Starnberger See with Schwester Djantar. Although a little rainy and cloudy, it was still breathtaking!! Following such an eventful Pday, Sister Peterson and I went by on a referral we got from Italy a few weeks ago for a man named Klaus. Klaus has been in Italy and Russia getting leg surgeries, and after a month of waiting, we thought we would go by to see if he was back in Munich. We arrived at the address, found Klaus' name on the klingel, rang, and were let in!! "Yes!!" we thought, but then we quickly realized we didn't know what level Klaus lived on in this HUGE apartment building. So what did we do? We tag-teamed it, and SIster Peterson and I checked ALL the doors on ALL the floors for Klaus' name on the door.....and we didn't find it. After 15 frustrating and quite humorous minutes, we went back outside to klingel Klaus one more time to make sure us being let in wasn't an accident. We rang a second time and we were once again let in, and right when we walked through the door I noticed a small white "3" next to Klaus' name. I asked Sister Peterson if we checked the 3rd floor, and realizing we didn't, we rushed to the elevator, only to be greeted in the elevator by none other than KLAUS. On crutches and completely puzzled, we quickly explained who we were and that we wanted to see how he had been doing, all while the elevator doors kept opening and closing during our conversation. Klaus found the situation only semi-humorous (wouldn't blame the guy), and thankfully still agreed to meet with us later on this coming week. It was probably the most awkward contacting a potential moment on my mission so far.......

We had a great Zone Training this week and following I was able to have a fantastic exchange with the darling Sister Arnold in Passau! Sister Arnold is the most tender hearted and thoughtful missionary I know. I had the priviledge of knowing her in Stuttgart when she was getting trained by my good friend Sister Winters, and I am so impressed with how much she has already grown as a missionary. In her third transfer, it already seems like she's in her 6th or 7th. She's confident, loving, and fearless to do missionary work. I'm so grateful that I have the chance to do exchanges with the Sisters in the Zone and get to knwo them better!! :)

After we changed back from exchanges, Sister Peterson and I helped an Italian family who were lost find their way back to their hotel. They recognzied our nametags and knew they could trust us, because they've been taking English classes from the missionaries in Italy!! So neat!! Gibt's keine Zufälle in diesem Werk, ge? (Translation: There are no coincidences in missionary work)

We met with T this week and helped him put a gigantic rug into an attic, and he showed us a Tibetian temple here in Munich....which happens to be on the top floor of an apartment building. It was really beautiful! T also came to a baptism for a woman in Munich 4 ward this weekend, and he's all the more excited for his baptism at the end of this year!!

We met with my favorite Romanian family again this week. Adrian has NOT SMOKED in the 2 weeks since he completed the Stop Smoking Program. As a family, Adrian, Nikolina, and 15 year old Adele are all reading the Book of Mormon together, and this weekend we taught them about prayer. Nikolina said a half Romanian-half German verbal prayer, and it was one of the most spiritual and sweetest experiences on my mission so far. This family is SO prepared, but has a lot of questions and doubts that are preventing them from progressing at the speed they are capable.,...could you dear friends and family please, please pray for them?

Last of all, we met with the hilarious Nigerian less active family in our ward with lots of kids, attitude, and who love God. 16 year old Regina, who just came back from EFY (called FSY here in Germany) told us how much she loved her experience there, and wants to go on splits with us more often! She came and played football (soccer) with us and the other missionaries Saturday afternoon, and is going to start inviting her friends and her less active brother. Yay for missionary work!! :)

This week has been one of those weeks that I just think to myself of how BLESSED I am to be here. I live in one of the most beautiful cities in Germany, and I have these daily "am I really here?" moments. The surreality of being here I had as a golden has not left, and I am so grateful for it. It makes each moment a little bit sweeter to recognize that I have the blessing of being in a land among a people that are so dear to me and my family. It's one of those "now I know EXACTLY what Mom and Dad mean" things. I am so grateful to be a missionary.

Wonderful members and friends from Tübingen Ward visiting in Munich

I think that's one of the great blessings here in this life, that we don't remember exactly what our trials were, we just know that we had them and that we learned from them. So it is with a mission. When I look back on the past time I have been on my mission, I see where I grew, where I was made stronger, and in vivid colors remember each joyful moment. I am so grateful to be a missionary. This is truly the Lord's work, and I feel HONORED to be a servant in His vineyard.

I love you all dearly, and wish you all the best week!!

Your Alpine Missionary,

Sister Natalie Hannah Motto

Munich could possibly be the headquarters for Miracles

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

As this city is slowly preparing for the onset of Oktoberfest, I can still hardly believe that I get to serve in this incredible and absolutely beautiful city!  In the heart of Bavaria, the accents are thick, the food is lecker and the people have a strong sense of "gemütlichkeit" It is certainly wonderful to be a missionary here! I feel so blessed...and this is why:

Munich could be the headquarters for miracles! Sister Peterson and I seem to be running around with baskets above our heads trying to catch them all and right when we think we've got something cool going on, something more amazing happens and drops into the basket!  In addition to getting "cornered" by Jehova's Witnesses while "heart attacking" the Munich 3 Sisters for Sister Smith's birthday, this week has been pretty eventful.

Our most exciting miracle is Adrian, the father of one of the Romanian families we are teaching. We began the Stop Smoking program with him the Friday I got into Munich, and on Monday we followed up on his progress. In the three days it had been since we introduced the program to him, Adrian had only smoked one cigarette! We were so proud of Adrian! We were able to teach him and his 16 year old daughter Adele about the Book of Mormon. Adrian was determined to find the stories related to the pictures in the front of his book, and wouldn't let us leave until we had shared everything with him. At the end of the appointment Adrian gave his very first verbal prayer. The Spirit filled the room like a hot air balloon. It. Was. Amazing. Adrian and Adele promised to read in the Book of Mormon, and on Friday when we had our party to celebrate that Adrian was done with smoking, they said they had read the whole first sections of the Book of Mormon before 1 Nephi! Adrian's wife, Niki, is a little more hesitant to accept the Book of Mormon, but with a little push from her daughter and husband, she also commited to begin reading. The Zone Leaders were at the appointment, Elder Spencer and Elder Vitel, and Elder Vitel is from Romania so he was able to communicate with the Muntean's a little better than we could. It was a very spiritual experience, and once again the Spirit of the Lord filled the room. The Spirit knows no language barrier!

We were able to have 2 last minute miracle appointments with Tenzin this week. He's progressing well, but the one thing that keeps him from progressing fully is his church attendance. He is always trying to help others with their various needs on Sundays and sometimes forgets to come to Church. He's reading in the Book of Mormon each day and is praying each day, and is preparing himself wonderfully for his baptism in December!

Sister Peterson and I had just finished visiting a sister from the international ward (we consider ourselves responsible for the old women in the international ward because they have no sisters) when we got a phonecall from our hilarious investigator Scott. Scott is often in Hamburg, but requested to meet with the missionaries there when he is up North. After our less active lesson we saw on our phone we had 5 missed calls, spacing within minutes of eachother. We called Scott back and he said "Hi Sisters! I'm with Elder Casper!"  So slightly confused, we asked "You're with the missionaries?" Scott said "Yes! Here he is!" and promptly handed his phone over to this Elder Casper serving in the Berlin Mission. We had an awkward 3 minute conversation consiting of "How's your mission going? Do you like Hamburg? How's Scott doing?" before hearing the wonderful news that Scott is keeping all of his commitments and reading in his Book of Mormon each day. I look forward to meeting Scott finally in person when he comes back to Munich next week. :)

We had an appointment with Matthew, another African investigator, and wonderful Sister Kohler came along! Matthew's mother just passed away, and so he has been very busy with funeral arrangements back in Nigeria. However, he wanted to definitely meet with us this week, so we invited Sister Kohler as a joint teach so we could meet in the church. We gave Matthew a church tour and had our lesson in the chapel. Sister Kohler is a ROCKSTAR! We love her so much and she has so much wisdom and love. We read in Alma 40 about the Resurrection and were able to teach him the beautiful doctrine of the Plan of Salvation. It is always a humbling and wonderful experience feeling the Spirit and comfort that comes when we bear testimony of the truth of the Gospel. Matthew promised to read in the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. We're hoping and praying that he will want to partake of the great joy that the Lord offers and be baptized.

This week I have been studying an interesting topic, that being of Godly Sorrow. It's been on my mind a lot lately trying to understand the difference between guilt and of remorse. One thing stuck out to me today that added to my understanding. As found in Preach My Gospel in the Gospel of Jesus Christ under reptenance, it talks about how godly sorrow, or remorse, leads us to repentance and change in our hearts. I read in 2 Corinthians 7:10, which reads "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but sorrow of the world worketh death." Paul teaches in this verse that godly sorrow in repentance is necessary if we are going to truly repent. Guilt does in deed lead to action, but in a much more prideful way. I took some time to reflect on my repentance process, and I am grateful that the Lord was able to teach me it today. Remorse leads to a softer, more moldable, changable  heart. Here on my mission as I have prayed for humility, or charity, or patience, the Lord has thrown me into the fire of test and trial. I made mistakes along that path of learning, but through repentance I can gratefully say that I was changed. When we repent with a sincere, broken, gentle, honest heart, we need not fear! Repentance is BEAUTIFUL, and I am so grateful that I have the chance to repent and be made better each and every time I get on my knees to pray. President Miles once said to repent like you pray....meaning, do it often!

 I'm so grateful for the blessings of the Atonement! The Savior is there for each one of us... I know He is! I've seen Him bless my life in an uncountable amount of ways. Don't ever deny the blessings that await you.

I love you all! Thank you for your letters, emails, and pictures each week. It's always good to know that I am still loved :)
(Sorry for the lack of pictures this week.....dropbox won't load. Next week there shall be an ÜBERFLUß! Sei bereit.)

Alles, alles liebe
Your Alpine Miss
Sister Natalie Motto

Servus Aus Bayern - I Made It To Munich!

Hello Family and Friends!! 

Servus Zusammen!

Well....I made it to the amazing Bavarian capital and majestic city of München!!!  I arrived here safe and sound and was greeted by a wonderful missionary companion, Sister Peterson. Goodbyes in Tübingen were hard, they always are, but it's comforting to know that there is still such thing as Facebook and email and Skype outside of the mission life :)

Last Monday Sister Pentz and I had a very neat experience! Our last Pday together had kind of been a little anti-climactic, and after walking around the main Tübingen Innenstadt, we noticed a flyer for an organ concert that night at 8pm. It was to be held at the big, beautiful Stiftskirche right in the heart of the city in honor of Johann Sebastian Bach's death day. Sister Pentz and I started our 3 hours of proselyting time right then so we could attend the concert! It was so neat!! A thunderstorm rolled in right at the beginning of the concert, and you can only imagine what a magical experience that was! Lightening would flash occasionally across the stain glass windows, and thunder would rumble and echo over our heads, all while listening to the most beautiful Bach Preludes and Fugues. A wonderful last day in Tübingen!!

Onto Munich! Sister Peterson and I have already begun to see many miracles, and I am eager and anxious to help the ball to continue rolling. So many great missionaries have left an incredible legacy in this ward. 

This week we met with Tenzin and Nga Wang. They are from Tibet, but do not speak much German. We communicate with Tenzin in English (who speaks English completely fluently), who then will translate for Nga Wang. We are setting a calender baptismal date with Tenzin this week, and we are so excited! He's truly incredible. Tenzin keeps expressing his excitement to help the Church translate the Book of Mormon into Tibetian, and then to share the Gospel with every Tibetian he knows. He said "Sisters, my people are ready. With your help, we can bring them this happiness I also have in my life." WOW!

I also got to meet a wonderful family from Romania. They are a family of a father, mother, and 14 year old daughter, who came to Germany about 18 months ago to live here. Their German is actually very, very good for the amount of time they have been here, and on Friday we were able to introduce the stop smoking program to the father. The wife, Nikolini, was as excited as a little 3 year old and kept telling her husband to "Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!" so we could start the program. Herr M is a quite the talker and after the appointment said "Next time, it's my turn to talk!" We told him he could only talk the whole time if it was what he learned in the Book of Mormon. He accepted. (Update: 3 days on the 7day stop smoking program, and he hasn't smoked once!)

Sister Peterson and I also met with the "T" family, a Romanian-Hungarian couple who are looking for an apartment so their family can move to Germany. They have the money, but the apartments around here are sparse. They live in a Wohnwagen, and we got to meet them again before Jolie (the mom) went back to Romania on Sunday. They are some of the most humble, loving, and kind people I've ever met. We shared with them Mosiah 24:14 in their discouragement with finding an apartment for them and their 4 children, and Frau T found it so beautiful that she wrote down the scripture in a book she saves only for "precious words." It is such a powerful thing on a mission to have individuals you meet, teach, love, and see them embrace the Book of Mormon. It is so incredibly rewarding.

Church in the Munich 2 ward was wonderful yesterday, and right when I began to feel a little overhwhelmed with getting to know all the names, Schwester Djantar from the Göppingen branch walked into Relief Society!! She was the Relief Society President when I was in Göppingen, and I cannot begin to describe my happiness in seeing her again! It was a mini spirit-world kind of reunion. We talked and talked and it was so wonderful catching up. Seeing Schwester Djantar was a tender mercy amist my fear of being a brand new missionary 14 months ago.  It was also a neat experience to share my testimony yesterday at the same pulpit where I gave my first testimony out in the field as a brand new golden literally the day I arrived in this incredible country. Not much had changed in 14 months, but I have and it was a humbling and tender feeling for me to have the sweet spirit of the Lord testify to me that I am where I need to be and that I still have so much work to do. As a then very tired, jet lagged missionary, I recalled the first time I bore my testimony in Germany….I had SO many of emotions…I remember the fire I had behind what I shared.

Being a missionary is the sweetest and most beautiful thing I have ever experienced, and I never, ever want to give it up!

I love you all. You do not understand what courage and hope I recieve through simply knowing what kind of team I have at home backing me up. You're the best support crew ever. :) Thank you for everything!

All the best this week!

Your little Alpine/Bavarian Miss,

Sister Natalie Hannah Motto

Whirlwind of A Week…Life as a Missionary for the Lord in Germany

Dearest Family and Friends,

What a whirlwind of a week........it was also kind of a weird week. Sister Pentz and I just can't seem to have one normal day!! But it definitely makes for a lot of way hilarious conversations with people on the bus and trains, and we feel so blessed to see even the smallest of miracles in our every day lives.

This week was one of the more exhausting ones on my mission......and you would think we get used to the fast paced life of missionary work? Noooope! Sister Pentz and I were everywhere and anywhere this week. We were able to meet with another "miracle-that-we-have-contact" less active by the name of Valeria. She is from Hungary, and it's kind of sad that Sister Wunderli and I could never make contact, but our prayers and attempts to get in touch with Valeria payed off. She called Sister Pentz and I and asked that we meet. We headed out to a little dorf called Sirchingen and had a wonderful appointment with Valeria. Yesterday she called us (she thought it was fast sunday) and bore her testimony to us because she felt bad she wasn't at church! Valeria even gave us a referral for a family of 5 that we will got with her next week to visit. Miracles, and God's perfect timing. That's all I gotta say :)

This week we also had cleaning day and spent our day from 9 am to 9:30 pm DEEP CLEANING Tübingen apartment. (Deep cleaning day in the mission) We were SO EXHAUSTED!  We scrubbed, dusted, scrubbed again, threw out, and did some more scrubbing until we collapsed with fatigue. Our goal was "Sanitize, Organize, Reorganize, and Feminize" our apartment. It felt so good and I am grateful to have learned wonderful cleaning habits from my mom....And it worked! There is a noticeable difference in the Spirit when our surrounding area is clean and tidy as opposed to disorganized and messy. Our apartment was never super bad, but even in the reorganizing and throwing old furniture out has made the biggest difference in the Spirit in our apartment.

Thursday was exciting!! We have permission to watch 2 World Cup games, and as a district we were invited by a member to watch the USA-Germany game. It was AWESOME. We had so much fun!!!! Although the US lost (I must also admit I was cheering for Germany..........everyone called me Sister Benedict Arnold) I am happy that both Germany and the US can play forward in the tournament. 

We had wonderful Finding Day this week as well. We spent our time in nearby Reutlingen-Betzingen, a really cute and family oriented village from neighboring Reutlingen. Sister Pentz and I had prayed to find one new investigator that day, and it happened! We will be getting to know Marion a little bit better on Tuesday this week. We left with her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and she was eager to begin reading in 1 Nephi 1. As a district we had the goal of 25 potentials and to give away 16 copies of the Book of Mormon, and we surpassed that with 28 potentials and 25 copies of the Book of Mormon. We are BLESSED!

Yesterday at church we met a really cute and hilarious lady named Simona, a friend of our Relief Society President's. I went to introduce myself and we began to talk, and then I realized she had super funny German. Come to found out she is true blue, through and through from Saxony, and spoke with the craziest Sächsisch accent!! Mom....I wish you were there to hear her. Her dialect was super, super thick. I understood her fine, but I must admit that I prefer the flowy, lazy speech of Schwäbisch compared to that of the long vowel-led Sächsisch dialect. Naja :)

This week at District Meeting we had a wonderful conversation on Accountability, and how accountability is an attribute that is a catalyst for all others. Accountability is something that I have really been trying to develop more on my mission. It is an important skill to have, and what no better place than a mission to learn it? When we hold ourselves accountable to the Lord each day for the work we did, we become more obedient and focused on the work. Developing the attribute of accountability (most importantly accountability to the LORD) is what our missionaries this month in particular will be focusing on. 

When I go out each day after I pray and tell the Lord exactly what I am going to do, I feel more obligated to hold to that responsibility. It pains me at the end of the day sometimes when I recount to the Lord my works, and if I fulfilled exactly what He asked me to do. My heart only hurts and aches because of the guilt I feel, and through the Atonement that hurt is taken away. It's in those moments that we apologize and promise to be better when the Spirit encouragingly whispers, "Get off of your knees and get to work." My Father in Heaven expects me to communicate regularly through efficient prayer, recount to Him my works, and then to get off my knees and work harder to be a little better. And it makes all the difference. No matter where we are in the world, what stage of life we are in, or whether we be full time missionary or not.....I KNOW that being accountable to the Lord brings thousands more blessings than we could imagine.

Sorry this is short...gotta run, work, find, teach and preach!  

I love you all and am so grateful for you!! Thank you for your support and encouragement and words of advice :) Have a marvelous week my loved ones, and know that you are in my heart and prayers!

Your little Alpine Missionary,

Sister Natalie Motto

Don't You Love How This All Works?

Hello Family and Friends!!

Greetings from Tübingen!! Today is a holiday, and everything is closed. No one is on the street...but us, almost no buses are running, and Sister Wunderli and I are trying everything to try and not feel "stranded" on Tübingen Island. :) Germans take their holidays VERY seriously I have come to find out.

Furthermore my wonderful Germany has been acting a lot like Utah lately and decided that it was bored of last week's cold rainy weather, and the past few days have spiked from 15 degrees C to 35 and 36. Today is supposed to be somewhere around 35 I was told.....and right now it's 34 (That's 95F!!). This dry-climated Utah girl isn't used to the 92% humidity.......tis HOT HOT HOT here in Schwabenland and I'm melting!  

Naja sonst, otherwise, geht's mir sehr gut. This week was a little bit crazy and for a short while we were running around like chickens with our heads chopped off, but because we are determined sister missionaries we eventually got things under control. :)

Tuesday we met with a really sweet less active by the name of Schwester Prein. Missionaries have been having a really hard time getting a hold of her in the past, and one day Sister Wunderli and I tried calling and guess what?  She answered!  We set up an appointment and headed out to beautiful Bad Urach following District Meeting. Schwester Prein was a little, timid and cautious of us when we first arrived, and it was initially a little awkward trying to talk with her. We began asking her about her family, her hobbies, and soon enough she opened up to us. Our one hour scheduled appointment ended up being 2 hours! We began a discussion on the scriptures and the importance of prayer, and Schwester Prein told us about her conversion story when she met some of the first missionaries to be in East Germany.  She talked, and talked, and talked, (to make it all better it was all in Sächsisch-- you would have loved that Mom!) and she needed to, so it was A.O.K with us! 

Personally I have been always amazed at the faith and stalwart dedication the early German Saints had, especially those born in East Germany....and that makes me much more grateful to have been born in a time and in a land where religious freedom is given.  I used to hear stories from my parents about many of the early East German saints sacrifices -- in order to be able to worship how they chose.  What a blessing the ending of the cold war was for thousands and thousands of LDS saints who were able to see a temple built in Freiberg and to be able to see their once very small congregations grow with the flood of missionaries.  At the end of our appointment a happy, bubbly Schwester Prein asked us "now my lieblings. When will you come back?"  Well...nothing short of a MIRACLE!  This woman has wanted no contact from anyone in the past few years, and now wants to start meeting with us regularly and wants to eventually come back to church.  This was no credit to us...we are simply His humble servants who desire to bring Christ's message of hope and faith to the world.  She felt the Spirt from a loving Heavenly Father.  Don't you just love how this all works?

Wednesday we had an eating appointment with Schwester Anders, the mother of Britta Weilguni in Göppingen Branch, who I know very well. Schwester Anders' husband is not a member of the Church, and has been investigating the Church for 40 years. It's a long and somewhat complicated story, and he has a desire to be baptized, he just wants to feel the Spirit first..... Anyway, Bruder Anders is WAY cool. And guess where he is from?......That's right. VIENNA!  Because both the Elders and Sister Wunderli and I have all served in Austria, that's all we talked about during lunch. We ate schniztel and kartoffelsalat, and enjoyed for dessert fresh strawberry shakes. The food is awesome in Germany-- have I mentioned that before?  At the end of our lesson Sister Wunderli and I went to go by on a few former investigators and less actives in the area. The first lady we choose to go by on lives right by Schwester Anders, and after talking with Frau Braun (the lady who lives there currently), she has been dead for 15 years, and our ward list simply hasn't been properly updated. Frau Braun started speaking to us in German, and after I told her I was from America she began speaking in very poor English to me to make sure we knew where Frau Anders lived. "You's Mormone missionaries, yes? Frau Anders....uh....live.....on corner." It was really sweet that she was so helpful to direct us back to Schwester Anders. We met with Schwester Anders, laughed about the embarassing situation, and then went on. Schwester Anders told us that she had wanted to talk to this neighbor about the Church for some time, but just never knew how to begin.....another small miracle that we happened to go by on the wrong address!! Schwester Anders began a conversation with Frau Braun and we hope to maybe meet with her again soon.  Once again.....Don't you just love how this all works?

I had an amazing Austausch, exchange, with Sister Beth Winters this week in Stuttgart. Oh I love her!  It was so wonderful being reunited with my cute Lindon and elementary school friend!! We had a lot of fun together, including meeting a woman and having an appointment in a Psych ward......and that was a fun, laughable experience that I will have to share with you later. My computer time is running short.....

Love sister missionary exchanges with this sister!! 

Thanks Sister Winters for your hard work and great attitude!

I wanted to share what I learned this week during my personal study. I was reading in my "personal revelation journal" and was reflecting on the gift of personal revelation. What a special thing it is that our Heavenly Father answers our prayers, and so directly and personally. I have had a question in the past while, and through scripture study and prayer I have been hunting for my answer. Ofttimes, most of the time, we do not get our answers right away, and sometimes we have to act "blindly", using our best judgement. But because God cares about us SO MUCH, He will always answer. Pertaining to my concern, I was sitting on our couch one evening before bed listening to some quiet peaceful church music. It was then, in perfect stillness the thought came clearly, albeit softly to my mind "Give me your time now, and I promise I will make it worthwhile." And then the thought was gone. I can testify I know it was as in the scriptures, that as I was still, God would let me know my answer. I found that to be true with my mission as well. I got a "kind of, sort of, halfway" type answer, and as I acted upon my very small amount of knowledge, using my best judgement, Heavenly Father directed me to letting me know that yes, indeed, this was the right decision.  Don't you just love how this all works?

"Learn from the past, Dream of the future but live in the present"

I am so grateful to be a missionary. Sometimes, a lot of times, it is really hard. It is such a daily growing experience. And it's personal -- everyone faces challenges and its designed for each of us to figure it out for ourselves. How are we going to grow from this? What am I going to learn because of this? No one else could have, can, or ever will be able to learn and grow the same way I am learning and growing, even if they were in my exact position.....because my mission is personal and was made for me. Bottom line....... How grateful I am to be the Lord's servant here in the amazing Alpine German Speaking Mission. It is the most incredible gift I have ever been given.  I am just amazed how this all works. 

Me with Rachel from Goppingen.  It was so fun to see her again!

I love you all! I pray for you, and I hope you all have an amazing week!!!

Your little Missionary

Sister Natalie Motto

"There IS Safety for the Soul"

Hallo Meine Lieben!

Greetings from a bright, blue-skied Vienna Austria! We were able to enjoy a beautiful Sunday yesterday at Church. Sundays have become my favorite day because we get to take the Sacrament! Each Sunday during the Sacrament prayer I love being able to sit quietly and contemplate and really think about the words being used. Pretty great stuff.

This week we saw many little miracles, which has been a testimony to me that the Lord really does work in the small and simple things, line upon line and precept upon precept. On Wednesday Sister Green and I did something we have never before done in Vienna: we went DOORING, or tracking and we did it for over three hours. We would "klingel" until somebody buzzed us in (doorbells are on the outside of apartment buildings, and you wait until the person you klingeled lets you in) and then we would run up to the top of the stairs and do missionary work the old fashioned way.  The joke in our mission is that you need to klingel 1000 doors to find one person who will let you in. At least in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, that's the norm.  Well, Sister Green and I klingled only about 31 (31???!!!)  before a cute young woman answered the door. She had long brown hair and it was apparent she was getting ready for something. We introduced ourselves as LDS missionaries and that we had a message for her about how her Heavenly Father loves her. This girl looked us up and down, gave us a funny look, and then laughed and said she was getting ready for work. She's a flight attendant and doesn't have a lot of time, and when she does she likes to spend it with family and reading. Sister Green then asked if she would like a free book, a book that meant so much it has become priceless, and that she would like to share it. We then shared testimony that if she read the book, we promised she would know God and how much He loves her. Not wanting to take up too much more of her time, we gave the book to the girl as well as our contact information, and she told us to come back in a week or two when she would be back in town on one of her longer breaks! Not even 45 seconds after, President Miles called us, and we were able to tell him our small but neat success story.

As a missionary it's always the little things that add up and make your work most rewarding. Even when you go an entire day without getting a single telephone number or having a single appointment, if you talked with everyone near you and gave your best to share your testimony about the Gospel, you go home feeling GOOD. Missionary work is exhausting, tiring, discouraging, stressful, maddening, frustrating and yet....we are able to love it because you lose yourself in His service AND when we are in the service of others..guess what?  WE ARE HAPPY!    It has been my experience and now I have such a strong testimony of it, that when we press forward and simple KEEP GOING, the Lord blesses us and will support us in our work..........We saw this with our miracle woman Natasha this past week.   

Former missionary sisters contacted Natasha in the early spring of last year. Not having any record of how much contact she has had, we decided to give her a call. When I called and after I explained who we were, Natasha got really excited and asked if we still had a book for her. The note written by Natasha's name was that she wanted a Book of Mormon. Thursday we went to her house and were able to give it to her. Natasha is a super cute and classy lady, is about 55, and comes originally from Bosnia. At the moment she was on her way to meet a friend, so we couldn't teach a lesson, but we were able to walk with Natasha to the strassenbahn and tell her more about our message and about the Book of Mormon. Natasha got SO EXCITED and her voice got higher and higher with excitement when we made our appointment. We made it for tomorrow, Tuesday, because Natasha wants her husband to be home as well. We were SO joyful to hear that and are preparing to teach her and her husband.

We were not able to meet with Nicole this week, but we keep daily contact through text messages and phone calls to discuss what Nicole is learning in her reading. We send her texts with quotes from prophets and notable speakers like Sheri Dew and Marjorie Hinckley, and she just LOVES it! We are meeting again Friday. I always look forward to appointments with Nicole. There is always such a special and unique Spirit there.

I have taken upon myself the great project of translating my patriarchal blessing into German. And man, is it HARD. But through it all (I've only translated the first 3 paragraphs) I have gained an ever stronger and more powerful than ever testimony that I am truly a Daughter of God. In translating my blessing, I have had to really focus on word choice, which has also led me to pay attention to what my blessing says. New details have been sticking out and I have begun to understand specific precautions or blessings, that I have never noticed before. There is no better gift than the scriptures, and think of having your very own personalized revelation directly from Heavenly Father!

I am so grateful to be a missionary. This work is hard, and exhausting!!! There have been many moments on my mission where I felt like I wouldn't make it one more step. Emotionally and mentally this work is draining. Just as muscles need to be worked out each day to be strengthened, my testimony has undergone the exact same endurance. Each day is a new marathon to run, but each day the marathons get easier, because we have done it before. As we nourish our aching souls with precious knowledge from the scriptures, the personal armor of prayer, and the soul-saving gift of the Atonement and sacrament, we will be given the energy to push forward, even when the storms come our way.

One of my very most favorite talks is by our dear Elder Holland...."Safety For The Soul".  I encourage you all to read or watch it.  Read these AMAZING quotes from that talk and enjoy this godly truth... for which I also testify: 

"Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.” -- Elder Jeffrey R Holland

AND

"I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies, given today under my own oath and office, be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven. I hope I have a few years left in my “last days,” but whether I do or do not, I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days."  --Elder Holland

I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful special week.

Liebe Grüße,
Sister Natalie Hannah Motto

Beautiful stunning Vienna and her  "Volksoper"

SOOO tired today…...