November 20

So ... I have a slightly better idea of what I do in the Office. We arrive, hang up our coats, say hello to Elder and Sister Walters, then to Elder and Sister Gardner. We check the email for the Office Sisters and get to work. The biggest project we have been working on is arranging the travel plans with trains for the 175 missionaries in our mission to attend Mission Tour in Wien, München or Zürich. It's been a really big task and it is almost done. Mission Tour is 24 November in Wien, 25 November in München and 26 November in Zürich. Our poor Mission President and his wife! They are always somewhere else. They care so, so much about each missionary in this mission. We sometimes stop for lunch and sometimes just loose track of time.

Sister Hansen is truly a soldier. She is in a lot of pain, but she wants to badly to stay in the mission. I want her to stay, too. She went to the doctor on Thursday and had some homeopathic anti-immflamitory stuff injected into her ankle yesterday. We will return three times a week. Her ankle is hurting more since the injection. Great! We are always very busy in the office and often making phone calls. It is nice to learn where everyone is serving and sometimes to even call them up to tell them a ticket number or something.

So, the Senior Couples we work with are awesome. Elder and Sister Walters deal with finances and Elder and Sister Gardner deal with Supplies and Supply orders from missionaries. We have staff meeting every monday morning with President and Sister Condie and the Assistants. I learned this week that we are the Secretaries--I thought the Elders were still doing that for some reason, but they aren't!

Funny thing happened this week. So ... our apartment is a little chilly and Sister Hansen asked me to come look at her feet on Wednesday. Turns out she got Frostbite again, but don't worry--we already told Sister Condie and we do all we can to stay warm at night. I love the socks I brought with me. When it was really hot outside, I didn't think I would need them, but I am so grateful, now! Sister Hansen is also more prone to Frostbite and got it the last time she was in München last year. I had never seen Frostbite before!

Well, I will close, but know that I know without a doubt that this is the true church. I love that the Lord sends out ignorant and unlearned missionaries to preach it. The Spirit will testify to all those prepared to recieve it and if they listen, their lives will be blessed. I know that Jesus Christ is my Redeemer. This is the sweetest message because it is the greatest gift that we can have eternal life because he suffered and rose again. His birth was a miracle and his life was an example. He is truly our light, our life and the way to Eternal Life. It's true.

--
Sister Carla June Carroll

November 13

Dear family,

Now I am in Munich serving primarily in the office as well as covering two wards. Sister Hansen and I function the same as secretaries and are often called the sister assistants. I was surprised with the great responsibility of the new area. Sister Hansen is from Provo, UT, is 5'5" and studied music, Bassoon being her primary instrument. She is absolutely fantastic and we get along really well. I feel like we have been companions for several weeks ... but it's only been two days! As President Condie told me yesterday when I asked what I am supposed to be doing, or what my purpose is in this area, he told me that we are the glue that holds the mission together. No pressure! I am really excited to serve and to help the mission. From the moment I arrived, we already had tasks to deal with, problems to solve and adventures to undertake. I am starting to understand a lot more of how an entire mission needs to function.

So, normally Sister Missionaries do not serve in the office, however, Sister Hansen has a little problem with her feet (understatement of the year), which has impacted her ability to walk. She returned to Provo last year, but was able to come back to the mission. She is clearly needed where she is and she is a blessing to all around her. We are working in the München II und IV wards as well, which I will experience tomorrow. München IV is an international ward, so the meetings will be in English. We have already taught Grace, a mother with three children, a little more about the Restoration. She is very open and excited to found out if the Book of Mormon is true.

München is beautiful and very different from Wien. It is certainly cleaner and does not feel quite like a big city (Wien is a LOT bigger than München, though). It was hard to leave my precious Wien, but I know the Lord has a need for me here with Sister Hansen in this area. Another thing that is different is that our Vorbereitungstag (Preparation Day) is on Saturday!! Surprise! This way we can be in the office when missionaries need things on Monday and we can plan for the week with President Condie. In Wien I knew the Bahn system and area really well and I forgot what it was like to not know exactly where I am and where I want to go and the quickest way to make that happen. Now, we just find the best way that involves the least amount of walking!

So, earlier this week we met with several people in Wien including Frau and Viktoria Varga, Sabrina, Sr. Henkel, and Sr. Urban. It is a very odd feeling to think that the work goes on when I am not there! Sister Covey, Sister Sjoberg and Sister Downs are great missionaries and I know they can handle the work in Wien, but everyone we taught was so precious to me! My responsibilities here are very different than they were last transfer and I look forward to the growth and understanding I will see in the time I have to be here. I know the Lord has a plan for all of His children and he loves them. He may work in mysterious ways, but he can do His work. That I know.

--
Sister Carla June Carroll

November 8th

Dear Family,

So ... we got a call from the assistants to the President yesterday while I was in the shower. Sister Downs told me when I came out that I was being transferred and I thought it was a pretty funny joke ... until I checked the phone and realized they really called! They could not tell Sister Downs where I would be serving, so I had to call back. I am going to .... MÜNCHEN! Actually, I'm not entirely sure what I will be doing next transfer as I will be serving in the Office with Sister Hansen, who has tendonitis, but does not want to go home again (she came back with my group and after a transfer serving in Bruck an der Mur went to serve in the Office). She is a fabulous missionary. Bruck an der Mur is just south of Wien and there were many weekends with events such that she and Sister Alder came up to Wien, so I was able to get to know her a little. Sister Downs will be in a dritt with Sister Covey (from Provo, UT) and Sister Sjoberg (from an Island north of Scottland). I was expecting to stay in Wien a lot longer, so I was really surprised. Oh, and no, it is not transfer time, but the new missionaries from Europe that speak German (almost always from Germany) arrive half-way through each transfer and our mission received one new sister, so things moved around. Crazy!!

Excerpt from letter;"Dear President Condie,

I admit the call from the Assistants was very unexpected yesterday morning. I am excited to be serving in München with Sister Hansen. I wanted to thank you for the opportunity I had to serve in Wien. We saw many miracles, especially the baptism of Christine Bräuer. This week we prayed and fasted that Brigitta Varga would fast and receive an answer to her prayers that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and that this is the church with the authority of Jesus Christ. We both feel that she will be baptized and she said this week that once she really knows this is true, she would want to be baptized. We taught her and Viktoria (and Herr Varga) about Fasting, specifically as a way to receive revelation. We have are continuing to teach Anne Urban the lessons and we learn from her each time we visit. She prays and reads the Book of Mormon every day and is truly willing to do whatever the Lord needs her to do. We found out this morning that we will continue with the baptismal date of 20 November unless we hear otherwise from Salt Lake City. She says "es ist mir egal" as the Temple in one year is truly the goal. We met with Sr. Bräuer once this week and she told us of some amazing experiences she has already had with the gift of the Holy Ghost. She is making great progress and is truly excited to be a member. She cried when I told her I was being transferred."

I felt a lot of love from several members of the ward when I told them I would be leaving for München this week. I was expecting to stay in Austria for a long time since I have a Visa until September 2011, but I am sure I will return. I will be near the mission office, so I can finally get the package Sarah sent me! Once that happens I can send pictures with each email. :) Missionaries love packages.

--
Sister Carla June Carroll

November 1

Dear family,

Today is a holiday (All Saints' Day), so everything is closed, but we were able to find a shop open so we could email our families. First, excerpt from letter to President Condie, "Schwester Bräuer was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints yesterday and received the Holy Ghost. We have been working hard to increase our finding and have scheduled to go door to door for at least an hour every day. We have seen great improvement in our courage and ability to share the message of the Gospel. We met with Sr. Urban three times this week and are still waiting to find out if she needs to be baptized or not. Either way, the Temple is the ultimate goal anyways, and she appreciates us going through all the lessons with her. We find out last week in Relief Society that there are 125 less active sisters in our ward alone, so we planned to make contact with at least one new less active sister every week. We met with Frau and Viktoria Varga this week and reviewed the Wiederherstellung. We better understood that she understands that she wants to be baptized once she really knows that our message is true. We invited her to continue to pray and come to church. We made contact with Sr. Ochoko again (after 7 weeks) and met with her this week. She does not remember much about church or the gospel, but we will go through all the lessons again."

We have tried to improve our finding and start meeting with new people, so we have consistently started dooring (our mission does not have a schedule for dooring, just that it is a possibility for finding). We found a few people interested, one with whom we made an appointment. We are excited to start finding like crazy.

Sister Downs and I made some really good progress in making goals for this new transfer together and how we are going to leave this area better than we found it. We are both doing our best and hope that we can see more results from that. The field here is white, already to harvest.

Tomorrow is our 5 month mark on our mission and we are excited!

--
Sister Carla June Carroll