Before Mother Theresa left Baltimore aboard the U.S.S. Washington, to return to Europe, all the sisters gathered at St. James, Baltimore, to receive Eucharist, renew their vows and make a solemn promise to remain in close union with the Motherhouse in Munich. Mother Theresa understood that distance and pressure from bishops could split the congregation. She knew the sisters were devoted to the mission of the Congregation, for in one year she saw how they were willing to set up schools. In her travels to Milwaukee, which was considered on the edge of the wilderness, Mother Theresa realized the potential of this new land but also the strangeness of the culture. She put it all in God’s hands and returned to Munich in 1848.