2 Timothy 4:7.....Bis Auf Wiedersehen

(From Sister Motto's mom:  This is Sister Natalie Motto's last missionary letter!  Thank you all for your incredible support and love for her and for our family throughout this unbelievably special 18 month journey.  We are humbled by her service to the Lord and we are eternally grateful for the work she has brought to pass while serving in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  Thank you dear family and friends -- we love you all! We will be picking her up on Dec 5 and traveling with her for a few weeks. We can't wait to hear about all her amazing missionary stories!) 

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

What an incredible week. 

We met with the Torkos family yesterday for the first time in MONTHS. Laszlow found an apartment, and his family recently moved from Romania. We taught them last night, and found that they've been reading in the Book of Mormon. They have many questions, but agree with what they've read so far, and are eager to learn more. They want to be sure they are on the right path back to their Father in Heaven.

The Scholz family came to church yesterday, and have been the past several weeks. It has been a neat opportunity to work with this sweet couple and help them find their testimonies in the Gospel again.

We went bowling with Mathias Goeb for his birthday, which was super fun! Sister Ahlm and I got to talk to Baigal and Juergen separately one on one as each of us took turns bowling and watching the 11 year olds score triple the points I did. We'll be visiting the Goeb's on Wednesday this week so I can say goodbye.

We had a very special Thanksgiving weekend!! We were invited to our Relief Soceity president's house, and along with the Whatley family enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner. Sister Ahlm and I had the chance to talk to nonmembers that Schwester Duckert invited, and teach them about Joseph Smith! Saturday we had a second Thanksgiving with the Sneddon and Bowlden families, along with President Auras and his family, and nonmember friends the Sneddon's and Bowlden's invited. The Elders provided a very moving spiritual thought, and during the dinner the four of us missionaries had the unique chance to talk to many of these people about the Gospel. This week I was particularly grateful to be a missionary! 

The most marvelous event of them all this week was on Saturday, the 29th of November. Not only was it my official "18 month mark", but most exciting is that Spacs was baptized!! On Sunday the 30th he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is looking forward to, hopefully, serving a full-time mission, and still has his special goal of entering the House of the Lord in one year.

This moment alone was worth each and every second of my mission.

Over the past 18 months I have had the opportunity to teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about the unique and special message that the Church that Jesus Christ established while He walked the earth is here once again in it's fullness. It's been an opportunity to come to better understand the Gospel, and to recognize the importance of applying it into my life, to LIVE the things that I learn.

Christmas Gifts for the Missionaries at the mission office

My mission is the best gift given to me. Though there have been many times of incredible joys, the mission has also been a time of testing and proving. However, I am grateful for the experiences I have been given to test my faith, and to become more refined. The Lord has taken a rough edged, uneven stone, placed me in deep rushing water, and gave me the opportunity and gift of becoming smooth in His care.  I have continually learned how to apply the Atonement in my life in learning that the Lord has made up for all my shortcomings. As I look back, I see that He has provided for me all along. Ether 12:27 says,

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble;and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble 

themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, 

then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

He has indeed made me strong. I am a different individual than when I left on my mission 18 months ago. I am thankful that the Lord placed enough trust in an inexperienced, inadequate, young 19 year old girl, and helped make her into one of His instruments.

One of my favorite scriptures in 2 Timothy 4:7 goes as such,

 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

The greatest blessing of being a missionary, even after the name tag comes off, is in our baptismal covenant, when we promise to take upon ourselves Christ's name. We are ALWAYS and thereafter His disciple.  Jesus Is the Christ and we have a living Prophet on the earth who will never lead us astray.  I am so grateful for my knowledge and testimony of His beautiful, perfect Gospel plan.  

My dearest friends and my family, I want to thank you for your support you have given me each and every week throughout these past 18 months. Whether it was through emails, letters, or little notes of "thinking of you", I felt your love and your numerous prayers on my behalf, for I know the Lord has heard and answered them. I love you all dearly. I want you to also know how much I LOVE the people of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The Lord placed me EXACTLY where I was needed, and with those whom I needed. It had been made clear to me over and over again that as I have tried to pay back the Lord my debt by serving Him, He has only given me so much more back. Sister Bonnie L Oscarson once said that "Where much is required, much more will be given." How right she is.

Thanks, indeed.

Until we meet, Bis Auf Wiedersehen!

Sister Natalie Hannah Motto

Walking In The Sunlight

Liebe Familie und Freunde,

This week was SO GOOD!  Being a missionary is simply the greatest! I love each and every day. I've learned to even enjoy the hard moments, because I know the Lord provides a way for us to be refined and made something new. 

Last Monday Sister Ahlm and I had the opportunity to go to Dachau Concentration Camp for Pday. Even though I had been there a couple of times before, this was an experience to remember. The day was kind of grey and cloudy and cold, which for me brought a little more reverence to the memorial site. Walking around the camp, looking in the bunkers, and staring at the vast, empty plot where prisoners were called for roll call each day was a sobering, humbling, and peaceful experience. The events that took place at Dachau were tragic and unjustified, but I left that place with special sense of peace in my heart and mind that I knew came from my knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, recognizing in many ways that the grounds we had just walked are very hallowed and almost sacred. 

We met with Spacs a couple times this week, and were able to teach him a lot. Yes, his name is Spacs. Because of his thick African accent Sister Ahlm and I assumed that his name was Sparks. Well, he never noticed, or never bothered to correct us, but now we feel really silly for calling our investigator and soon to be new member by the wrong name for the past 2 months! (Can't blame it on a rookie mistake)  We finished teaching Spacs about the Plan of Salvation, talking about where we go after this life, judgement, resurrection, and the kingdoms of glory. Spacs posed the question, "so what happens to the people who don't hear about the Gospel in this life?"  We are going to be talking about temple work later this week, and help make a plan for the next year to prepare Spacs to go to the temple! 

On Thursday evening we went to the Sneddon's (Our lovely Bishop and his family) with Spacs and our district leader companionship for Spacs' baptismal interview. We had a delicious Swiss raclette for dinner and watched a Mormon Message. Spacs said he totally related to the man in the short video, because he also had to go on his own search for the truth. When he shared his testimony, I felt the Spirit wrap me up in a warm blanket, and I was immediately filled with gratitude for the opportunity to teach such a neat man the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Spacs' baptism is on Saturday (my 18 month mark, I also just noticed) and we are SO EXCITED!

We met with Juergen and Baigal again this week after a little while, and it went very well. We read in 2 Nephi 31 about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In this lesson, Juergen and Baigal asked so many questions that were good and relevant to what we were teaching. I was a little surprised of how involved they were!! We encouraged them to begin/continue reading in the Book of Mormon together as a family. In return they invited us to go bowling for Mathias' (their son) birthday on Friday. 

Because next Sunday will be the Primary program in our ward, I had the opportunity to give my closing testimony in Sacrament meeting yesterday. That was sort of a surreal moment for me. I saw a lot of familiar and unfamiliar faces in the congregation, but it didn't matter to me. I loved each individual who was sitting in that chapel. Afterward, I was still so full of that joy. During that Sacrament Meeting, I just couldn't help but feel peaceful, happy, and grateful. Being a missionary has brought me a fullness of joy, like it talks about in Doctrine and Covenants 18. Now I'm most definitely not a perfect person, nor a perfect missionary, and it's more incredible for me to think of that joy being magnified when I one day am perfect!! That is something beyond my comprehension. 

Having the Gospel of Jesus Christ I have noticed is like walking in sunlight everywhere I go. Especially as a missionary, I have been more aware of this "light" given to me (meaning the Gift of the Holy Ghost received after my baptism) than I ever have before in my life. I see so many sad, disheartened individuals everywhere I go, and all I want to do is give them just a little taste of this light, of the warmth that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we act upon the principles and commandments taught in the Gospel, we receive blessings beyond our understanding or imagination.  At the very least, when we are obedient and strive to obey the commandments and keep true to our covenants, it really is like walking in sunshine, even on the cloudiest day.

I love you all!! Have a marvelous week.

Your Bavarian/Alpine missionary

Sister Natalie Motto

Gift from the McCormick's! 

Munich Hauptbahnhof decorated for Christmas!