London, Prophets, and Singing OH MY!

With business trips to London, singing in a German choir for the prophet, and beautiful autumn walks through Scöneck Kilianstedten, how can I not say that I have the best internship ever?!

Today I took a Sunday walk on this beautiful cobblestone path winding its way through the most breathing taking forest.  In my mind it could be compared to my own sacred grove.  As I strolled along, I reflected on the some of the things that had happened over the past year. There are no words (or perhaps I need a larger vocabulary) to explain the peace that filled my heart as I expressed gratitude for this opportunity. Here I am, 23 years old, living in a foreign country by myself- a country I know nothing about. I can’t understand a word of the language and yet I am chasing a dream that has been infused in my soul. When I returned home from my mission, I had a perfect little plan for my life. I thought I knew what was in store and it didn’t involve moving half way around the world. I never could have dreamed that I would be living in Germany and interning for the Church Public Affairs. While I don’t know what the future holds for me, I know that the Lords hand is in my life.

So here I am, about halfway done with my internship. How am I feeling? There are times where I just want time to stop and soak everything up. I never want this to end and freak out about going home. I absolutely love Germany and the people here but I have moments where I miss “my” culture. I never realized how much I love America, and Mexican food. It’s harder to out find here. I miss being able to converse with strangers. Something as simple as grocery shopping makes me miss familiar things but I love the adventure. That aside, what a wonderful opportunity I have and I couldn't be happier!

For the past couple weeks I have been working hard a video project that will be launched on the Church newsrooms. It has been such a wonderful learning experience. I have been involved since the beginning stages and this past weekend we started filming. Once again, I ventured off to London but this time with the other intern/volunteer Hollie McKee. Thursday night we went to Leicester Square and had fish and chips, minus the fish because neither of us like fish. The Rolling Stones were there and we saw glimpses of the excited crowds.  But honestly we were mostly excited about out 3 scoops of Hagen Daz ice cream. Oh sweet Jude, I am still thinking about that ice cream

Friday was spent in the Hyde Park chapel calling all the National Directors of Public Affairs (NDPA) from 27 countries. I am working on another project that will highlight all some of the wonderful things happening with the Church throughout Europe.  One thing I learned, about myself, I still hate calling people on the phone. I never have liked it. I remember once crying for like 15 minutes because my mom made me call the dentist to schedule my own appointment. Well I toughen up and made the phone calls.It was a little difficult considering most of these people, English is not their primary language but I did it. Toot toot! (That was me tooting my horn)

Saturday has been probably the highlight of my internship so far. We went to a youth conference to interview the youth, YSA, and recently returned missionaries. I have been preparing for this event for 2 weeks. I was in charge of contacting over 100 people to interview, creating a media-briefing packet containing questions that would be asked, as well as all the in’s and outs of an interviews. I was so in my element as I worked one on one with youth to prepare them for their interview. I sat in on some of them to make sure all went smoothly. I felt like such a proud little mommy as the youth I trained so eloquently shared their experiences with gospel.  Can I just say how impressed I am with the youth here in the UK! Remarkable people!

After the training, we hustled back to the airport and flew back to Germany. We needed to be back that night because President Monson was speaking to us the next morning. And I did a rather bold thing- I signed up to be in the choir. I’ll be honest, I was really nervous about this. Not only do I feel super self-conscious about singing in front of people, now I am doing it in a foreign language.  I was so proud of myself for going out of my comfort zone and doing this. A moment I hope to always remember is singing We Thank Thee of God for a Prophet, in German with the congregation of German saints 

Photo Courtesy of presse-mormonen.de

This was especially touching for me because I have done some research on President Monson’s relationship with the members in Germany. You could feel the love they have for the prophet as they sang with their hearts. I am so grateful to be a part of it.

I'm in the top left hand corner

I had the chance to draft up the newsroom for President Monson’s visit. It can be found here. I also wrote an article for the Church News. I am not sure if or when it will be published but keep your eye out.