The one where you would think we were in a South American mission 3/27/2018

Hey fam, 

I have wanted to do a German transfer for a long time, and Sister Cook has been aware of that. Anyway, we decided (sweet, wonderful, patient, brace, and awesome Sister Cook and I) that this transfer we would do a ONLY GERMAN TRANSFER. it's been so fun! She's only been in the mission for 7 weeks but she's now spoken only German for 7 days! (Besides when we speak to English speakers of course.) I am so proud of her, and I'm enjoying myself silly. The secret to learning a language is speaking it and so that's what we've been doing and we've seen the fruits of our labors. It's like we are in South America or something. 

This transfer we also decided to do as much finding as physically possible. We've fast driven ourselves crazy with how much dooring we did last week, but we have found some really nice people, and had some really great experiences. So let me tell you about two of our nice peeps. 

THOMAS, he was very open to us and did our survey at the door and we just kept talking. I told him we were American and he was actually shocked. He thought it was a joke to keep him talking. Apparently Americans can't speak German. (Proved that wrong, go German transfer!) Apparently he has a second house in California about 10 minutes away from the San Diego temple and he has always found it beautiful and interesting but never knew very much. We gave him a book of Mormon and He gladly took it. He also told us about how he feels towards health and so we gave him a word of wisdom pamphlet. He emailed us back the other day and told us that he will never drink a hot drink again. He's awesome, but sadly going to California again. 

BASIRU, we left our apartment, walked down the street, said hello to a mailman and BAM. We got to talking, exchanged numbers, and then he came to church on Sunday! He's super nice and interested to know more about us as Mormons since he has always seen missionaries and they've been nice, and he even recognized some members! 

This week my heart has actually just wanted to explode. We hadn't seen Deyanira for a couple weeks and didn't have very good contact. I've been praying like never before because it just crushed me and I have so much love for her. She called last night and I was able to talk to her for about 30 minutes about this and that and then she said "tomorrow you'll come to me and we will talk about baptism. I want to be baptized. I have prayed and I have my answer. I want to be baptized." I straight up almost cried. Today we met with her and it was so good to see her again, she is like family. We talked a lot about baptism and how she can do it. When we told her she didn't have to pay or provide anything she was shocked, she asked if she could at least donate some money! Hahaha. She's so precious. We set a baptismal date for May 26, the day after her birthday, because as she said it she would like to be "reborn" and start a new year of life completely fresh and clean. We are so happy for her! My heart is just exploding and bursting at the seams with love and happiness for the help and guidance and answers she as received from above. The Lord works wonders. 

On the way to Deyaniras we were able to speak to a man on the bus and he was so impressed with what we are doing and why that he wants to know more too! We exchanged numbers and talked about an appointment. About 30 minutes later we received a message from him just thanking us for our conversation and saying he was glad to have met us. 

Missions are special, you get to meet so many people who have such a special place in your heart. It doesn't matter if they are companions, other missionaries, members, friends of the church, or just people you talk to on the street, every single one of them is a child of God and it's so crazy how aware of that you can become. I love every person I have met on my mission,  and for the opportunity and privilege to do this work, and to be a representative of Jesus Christ and His church. I just absolutely love this work. It's the Lord's work. It's perfect. His church is perfect. The members are not perfect...if we were wouldnt need the church. But we do need it, and it can help anyone and everyone. It doesn't matter how smart someone is, how much money they have, their education, family situation, gender, ethnicity, background. The church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is for everyone. And can change the life of anyone. 

“Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so.

With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again” President Thomas S. Monson, "I know that My Redeemer Lives!" Liahona May 2007. 

I love you all, and wish you a happy week, a lovely Easter, and an uplifting conference weekend!

With all my love, 

Sister Lundskog ♡

(PICTURES! Patricia and Lani!- Lani reminds me so much of Emma it's crazy!; another great thing to the list of a billion others that make missions great is you learn how to do things and you get to develop talents- now I can make cute paper Easter baskets, thanks to a fun FHV service activity- you can call me crafty; doughnuts for breakfast-health am I right?; Eiken, Switzerland; Zürich, Switzerland) 

PS, I forgot to give a S/O to my Mom and also to Ammon for the yummy packages! Cadbury eggs and sour watermelons always hit the spot! Thanks dle being the best you two! 

Sister Carley Lundskog
Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Uhlandstraße 24
79713 Bad Säckingen 
Deutschland

The one where I'll finally be in one place for more than 3 months! 3/20/2018

Hey dear ones, 

This life sure is a fun one, that I certainly do love. We've had so many fun experiences and have just been blown away by the Lord the last two weeks! Here's a few stories... 

So three weeks ago we had planned on getting Deyanira a blessing after church but we don't have any Spanish speakers in our branch so it was going to be in German. But then she hadn't been able to come to church because she was sick. She came the next week and the same day someone who served in Argentina and speaks Spanish was there! She was able to get a blessing in her mother language and the spirit was so strong, wow it was just so cool to see how the Lord works and how His timing works. 

Saturday our branch had a mission activity with workshops and presentations from the missionaries in our district. It was way cool to see how all of the members share the gospel, to hear their ideas, and give them more ideas. Sharing the gospel is not as hard as we make it up to be in our heads ;)

Yesterday while finding we were talking to this guy who speaks French and it was absolutely chaotic because of the barriers but with all the chaos I had pulled out a lot of our resources-book of mormon, pamphlets, and was just holding them as we were talking to this man on the street. Some other man walked by and came back, tapped on the restoration pamphlet that was in my hand and asked if he could have it. He looked like he was having a rough day and really just needed some hope so I gave him it, and then handed him a book of Mormon with a short and simple testimony and them told sister Cook to take over so I could finish talking to the French man. Sister Cook was a little terrified since we haven't done split contacting yet but she did an awesome job. It helped us see that we were in the right place at the right time with the right message. 

Today we went to a members home and she taught us all about healthy eating and how we can do it. We made some food together and it was AMAZING. We made Alfredo sauce from nuts as the base and cucumbers were the noodles, and jams, other sauces, cinnamon rolls out of bananas and dates. It was a very interesting time but way cool.

I don't have much time to write, much like last week, but I love you all and wish you the best! 

“Though I suffered then, as I look back now, I am grateful that there was not a quick solution to my problem. The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me truly how to pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a very practical way to have faith in God. I came to know my Savior and my Heavenly Father in a way and to a degree that might not have happened otherwise or that might have taken me much longer to achieve. … I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I learned to walk with Him day by day.” -Elder D. Todd Christofferson 

(Pictures... Murg, what happens when the members leave the room and there's cucumber noodles, feast of health, classic train pic...)...more to come...stand by ;)

Sister Carley Lundskog
Kirche Jesu Christi HLT
Uhlandstraße 24
79713 Bad Säckingen 
Deutschland

The one in the Schwarzwald 3/6/2018

Hey friends,

Weekly riddle: What was it that Adam and Eve never had and yet they gave to their children? (Earthly parents)

This week flew by, but time tends to do that when you're having fun spreading JOY! There is too much to tell about it all so I'll just hit some highlights and some fun stories. 

Wednesday we were invited to the family Lopez-Yao to share a spiritual thought and eat some cake. We planned a thought on Nephi (because honestly I could probably talk about Nephi for like a day straight he is so neat). We talked about when the bow was broken and how Nephi didn't murmur but he got to work. I asked the son how he behaves when he is hungry and it was too funny. Apparently earlier that day he had been a real pain about being hungry and wanting other people to fix his problems. So it fit great and we all had a good laugh. Hanger is real, but we should be more like Nephi and just get to work.

Thursday we met with Deyanira again! Ahh she is so great. She calls us her Amigas. Sister Cook led the lesson (3 weeks in the field and leading lessons like a pro, that's my girl!) and it was so good! We taught the last half of the plan of salvation and she just loved it, she expressed how much hope it fills her with and how it just makes sense. Ahhh ♡♡♡ she also told us that she randomly got in contact with an old coworker in Venezuela that she wasn't even really friends with but it turns out he is Mormon! He and his wife have been so supportive of her and have answered her questions as well! God works in mysterious ways and it's fun to see how He puts everything together. He certainly has a plan!

We also met with Niaga on Thursday and Sister Cook practiced teaching us the restoration in German (what a boss!). It's so fun to see her German skills improving and it's always fun to meet with Niaga and see his knowledge and testimony in the gospel grow. ♡

Friday we were supposed to have a lesson with Christa but she was worried the bus wouldn't take us back home because she lives in the middle of no where and it was a blizzard. So we went dooring and we talked to this woman, she told us we could come back another time but now was not the time. We started to pin her on the map (in front of her house, we just felt she needed to be pinned asap..) and she came out and started yelling at us!!! But nice yells!! We went back and she asked us where we were from, I said Utah and she got so excited! Her son lived in Utah for a year with a Mormon family and she has so many questions! She also has the address and wants to look at maps with me! She asked us to PLEASE come back! Guys-your member work is so important! 

Sunday we had two children baptisms in our ward! It was really fun to see it and reflect on when I got baptised 12 years ago Sunday. It was my 12 year mark of being a member of this wonderful church! I am so grateful I made that decision 12 years ago to be baptized. I am also grateful that I was able to make the decision for myself and it wasn't something that I had to do, or that I was too young to know what was happening. I chose to be baptized, and I am grateful everyday for that decision. 

Monday we went contacting in Freiburg after district meeting. Except, we decided to start on the bus and not just when we got to the city. Sis Cook and I talked to this lady (shown in picture below) and she loved us right away. She wasn't interested in the church but she wanted to take us to a lake, when we said we couldn't she asked if we would at least walk with her to the bank. We said okay, since she was old, alone, and adorable. She gave us a tour of Freiburg!! She was the sweetest lady. At the end of her long tour I asked if we could take a picture with her and she said only if I post it and say that she was the lady who guided us through the beautiful city of Freiburg. I love nice people!

Today we had district pday in the Black forest! We hiked to a waterfall and spent some time touring the cute city of Triburg. Sooo beautiful. It was so fun to spend a day with the Gassers, our lovely district senior couple. 

"I know this for a certainty: it is often in the trial of adversity that we learn those most critical lessons that form our character and shape our destiny." -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

It was just a fantastic week, I love you all and wish you the best!

Liebe Grüße,

Hermana Lundskog ♡

Sister Carley Lundskog 
Kirche Jesu Christi HLT 
Uhlandstraße 24
79713 Bad Säckingen  
Deutschland