The Gift of Uvulas

Hola! 

I'm sorry that you didn't get an email from your favorite Austrian sister missionary on Monday.  We had to change our pday to Thursday because we just have so many appointments that we are drowning in the blessings of the Lord.  

So, to the weekly awesome things:

Last week we had Zone Training in Wien, which is always super delightful! And afterwards we went on tausch with the Wien 3 sisters! I was with Sister Gilmour, my MTC bff, and we had a lot of fun and some much needed heart-to-hearts! We played with glow sticks, (see attached video) and strolled down the streets of Graz in the pouring rain, and even taught a super awesome lesson to Nadine! We were actually both sick during the tausch so we also snuck some super needed naps in here and there.

This week was also full of a bazillion member appointments, and a few frustrations for me because of the fact that Europeans are just super blunt, and I am a very soft egg and can't really handle people being mean to me. I learned a very important lesson this week though: I am trying to become like Christ! Christ was the perfect example for us, and he was not angry at the people who were mean to him. He loved them and prayed for them, and served them, and that is the key! Service, the pure love of Christ, and trying to be Christlike :) 

Love your enemies!! That's actually not the answer I wanted to hear as I was moping around wondering why I was even trying so hard if the ward members were just gonna tell me I am a horrible missionary, but that's what I heard, so I decided to listen. And let me tell ya, listening is so much easier than trying to fight it and come up with your own answer! When we listen to the Spirit all of our anger, frustrations, and sadness are immediately swept away! It's such a cool thing! And took me so long to learn!

Saturday we had another lesson with Nadine, and she is still on track to being baptized on the 28! Keep her in your prayers please!! We also made quiche for a member in our ward, and for the elders because they can't make their own food apparently, and it was so good! It reminded me of the quiche my mom makes that I miss so much! 

Sunday was a crazy day, as usual! But #miracle: a random girl just walked into the church saying that she was researching the Mormon church and decided that she should probably actually come to church instead of reading stuff online!! So crazy!! So we took her under our wing and taught her about baptism and answered some of her questions, and hopefully we will be able to start meeting with her soon! These small and amazing miracles are what lift me and carry me through the hard days on my mission :) Then on Sunday evening we went to Lunar's apartment, she's our Chinese investigator, and she made us Chinese food and gave us super nice Chinese chopsticks! All those years of Panda Express served me well, I guess because she said that I was a chopstick master :) #yes 

It was such a fun night, and we taught her more about the restoration and answered her questions, and she is just so spongey!! I love all these spongey people here! It's great! We took some selfies with her selfie stick, and ordered her a Chinese bible, and learned so many cool things about Chinese culture. Best night ever!! Lunar is like my new best friend (sorry Sister Fast.)

So now to the subject of my email, because I'm sure you're all wondering :) THE GIFT OF UVULAS IS REAL. Not the gift of tongues. That's different. So in German people roll their r's, but instead of rolling them with the front of your tongue like you would in Spanish, you roll them in the back of your throat like you're gurgling water. And basically it's super hard for Americans to do without choking on their uvulas and almost dying. I have been practicing for six months now and I still sound like I'm hacking up a lugie.  BUT, perks of having a German companion, Sister Staack made me practice for like an hour one day, and I was so frustrated but I decided to say a little prayer so I could just do it correctly and she would stop making me do it haha.  WELL, YEAH IT WORKED.  MY UVULA FINALLY ROLLED THE RIGHT WAY AND I DIDN'T CHOKE OR DIE. YES!  One step closer to sounding like a native ;) 

Oh speaking of sounding like a native, this lady on the street told me that my German was so good and I sounded like I had been speaking it for four years, not six months! Best compliment ever!  :)

Well, you will probably get another email from me in a couple days so I'll wrap it up, but I am soooo so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary!  There are ups and downs, but the ups definitely outweigh the downs!!  I am learning how to be more Christlike every second of every day, and I would challenge all of you to take a look at your lives and maybe pick something that you can stop doing, and find something better to replace it with.  Try a little harder to be a little better, and remember that the Lord loves you and HE WANTS WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU!  He loves you in ways you can't even imagine!  He has a plan for you, and it's up to you to turn on your ears and listen to the directions!! 

Love y'all so so much! Bis Montag!  see you Monday! :)

Liebe Grüße,

Sister Thunell