November 25, 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I feel like I have A LOT to update you in the past week, so I'll try and type as fast as I can:

First off, with Thanksgiving not a week away we finally found a place for us to go for Thanksgiving this past Saturday! Their two daughters are in our YSA, and they say they try and have the missionaries at their home each Thanksgiving as a tradition! Thank heavens or else who knows where we might be. :) No I am sure it would have all worked out. I don't know much about them, except Sister O says their kids were all home schooled. Seems like that is a reoccurring thing in my life. It'll be good, the mom told us that she will make us any dish that we request (though I have none- it is a really nice offer!)

Also yes, we got "snowed-in" yesterday. Which means like barely anything, but apparently Texas doesn't own snow plows- and Texans don't know how to drive in the snow. So they cancelled church (which was a BIG bummer for us: not only do we look forward to church all week, but for the first time this transfer we had 3 investigators and a less active who were all planning on being there yesterday! But we know it'll all work out.)  They also had us stay inside all day. And can I just say how happy I am to be out again! It was nice we got lots of paperwork, and letters written, but there is nothing quite like being a missionary cooped up all day! Yuck! But Sister O said it was really good for her, so there was a blessing that came out of it. 

Sister O is doing better. No more big panic attacks. This is a process though, and I am just glad I can be of service. I know that I am with her for a direct reason. For me to learn from her and for her to learn from me. I also can see how all my past experiences have given me the understanding, patience, and will to help her. So I am so grateful for this chance. I just love Sister O. 

Oh by the way transfer calls are coming this Saturday. I'll be shocked if I transfer, for my last transfer: but I do hope I stay with Sister O!

So we are teaching a guy named M, he is from Czech Republic, studying Physical Therapy here at Tech. Sister O has been teaching him for a month or so before I came. Well we finally had our first lesson with him this past week, and he won't accept a baptismal date. I declared after that lesson that young single adult men from ALL nationalities have commitment problems! What is this whole world coming to?! :)

We also have been working hand in hand with the ward council here to rescue and find all the less actives in the ward. So I have been calling all of these unknown people to try and locate them. There have been a few (one in particular) who were not so happy about us calling (I got yelled at), but for the most part it has been really rewarding! One that really warms my heart is a guy named A. He was baptized about 2 years ago, but took a job that had him working on Sundays and he moved from where we last knew he lived. So I called him up, he was one of the few who actually answered, and we set up an appointment. We met this past Wednesday and he said how he has been wanting to come back to church, and that he actually is looking at a job offer that has him working only weekdays, and that this might be his answer to take the job! It was so wonderful! We are going to keep meeting with him, and reteach him the lessons. On the way out of the lesson we asked him if he had been to the temple, which he had, and he told us he has the Aaronic Priesthood and he would really like the Melchizedek priesthood! You don't hear that everyday!! So amazing! 

We had another miracle like that this past week. We had already made our plans for the following day, but while I was preparing for bed a couple came to my mind, to try and see. Mind you I had never seen this couple, only heard about them from Sister O. But our night was already packed with other people we were going to try. But then then next morning they again came to my mind. So we changed our plans and moved things around and fit a time in to try them that evening. And miracle: they were home! I love these amazing blessing of being a missionary! the Spirit is amazing! There are plenty of times when I think I have been inspired to try someone at a certain time, but they aren't home. But we have to diligently try anyway, and sometimes it just pays off!! 

Oh I don't know how, but I almost forgot to tell you the funniest story from this week. So it was raining on Thursday night, and it froze... So our car was miserable the next morning. And due to the fact that we live in Texas, we don't have ice scrapers. So what did we use instead?! Spatulas!! It took us about 20 minutes to clear of our car- with lots of scraping, and wacking, and arm muscles! Too funny!  Always an adventure! 

Love you lots! I am so grateful for how supportive, and loving you have all been as I have been here. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Gobble till you wobble! And eat lots of cranberry frozen deliciousness for me! xoxoxoxo 

Sister Peterson

November 18, 2013

Hello Jello! (yes Avery you can now roll your eyes!!)

Missionary work is really progressing here. We still have troubles getting people to commit and come to church- but I think that just comes with the area of being a YSA. But we have lots of appointments set up, and people are reading from the Book of Mormon so things are good! The other trial that comes with YSA would probably be that since everyone is a student they just take these lessons as knowledge and not to the heart. But we know as they keep reading and praying they will come to know for themselves and it will all work out! So currently one of my favorite investigators is a quirky shy girl named E. She is catholic and more of the active kind I would say. We met her on campus and she has met with us twice. We committed her to be baptized in our first lesson and she said "probably not" but in the second lesson when we brought up baptism again she said "I'll think about it." Yay for progress! It is so fun to teach college student who read and then come to us with questions! It is so much more personal and fun that way!

With other things around here: Sister O and I get along amazingly. And that really is such a blessing because this past week she has been having some troubles. She had 2 major panic attacks and pulled a muscle in her rib cage because of it.  I was so grateful because her second one which was worse than her first one was when we were on exchanges with Sisters B, D, and C. And I don't know what I would have done without them. It is kinda scary when they happen because she is not in her right mind and I have no idea how to help calm her down. I have my own emotional issues but what helps me to recenter does not help her when she gets to that state. She met with the the mission therapist this past week, but we are still working through things. She was able to get two amazing blessings: one during that second attack and one for her pulled rib. Her hurt rib makes it hard for her to breathe and sleep which only adds on top of these other things. But what a blessing and power the priesthood is! The miracles of healing that were produced are astounding. The change in her from right before the priesthood blessing during her anxiety attack and right after was like day and night! Things will all work out and I know that Heavenly Father has placed me in this companionship with my past experiences and trials for a big reason. It is a difficult situation, and not one that is going to be fixed overnight, but it is all going to be okay. I felt impressed to ask the Bishop yesterday for a blessing after church. (Elders aren't allowed to give the sister missionaries blessings anymore) And again the power of the priesthood and the personal relationship that Heavenly Father has with me was made apparent. The Bishop here barely knows me and said exactly what my soul needed to hear, (just so you know I am doing really well even in this rough time. I am very happy and not having troubles except in small moments of how to help Sister O) but I must say that blessing yesterday was one of the most personal and special blessings I have ever received in my life. It even quoted parts of my Patriarchal Blessing. I feel very blessed to be here and to know the truth of this gospel! What a blessing our lives on earth are! 

So I guess with all of that info I just wanted to let you know what's going on on my side of the world, and if you could keep Sister O in your prayers that would be so SO appreciated.

Still have no idea what our exact plans are for thanksgiving. Hopefully some pie and turkey! even if I have to make it! (YIKES that would be scary! I set off the fire alarms in our apt last night during dinner....)   

Okay I love you all!  It is a cold day here in Texas but glad to hear dad that is should be warmer for the rest of the week! 

xoxo Sister Peterson! 

November 11, 2013

Hello Family!

Thanks mom for the package! I've almost downed all the dried apples already! and I am SO EXCITED to have the new general conf magazine! Also Sister O thinks your pillow case idea is the cutest and wants to do it for her kids all growing up! I am glad that you got my letter! It was a crazy mess to get it sent to you, but I guess I learned my lesson and shouldn't procrastinate. :)

It is a foggy rainy day here. Finally it feels like fall. But no doubt tomorrow will probably be hot and a complete opposite. 

Can I just say how funny my dear companion is? She is so great! Sister O and I teach really well together. It is such a joy to have such a companion! We are just pressing forward helping the ward and our Bishop. He told us in PEC yesterday that he is wanting to experiment and try splitting the ward East to West. He wants us to try it out and see if it works because the current way he has it split is not very even. We have a lot of "unknown" people on our side but I am excited to help the ward find and rescue those who are not currently with us. I think that Less actives are one of my ultimate favorite parts of missionary work! 

We are also working with our ward mission leader to try and strengthen the ward. The most recent convert still has not made real friends in the ward- which is mostly just a struggle because it is a singles ward and unity is something that needs to be worked on. But that recent convert: M did make it to the temple on Friday and has such an amazing time. He told us about his experience and how welcomed and important he felt. It just brings so much joy to my soul to hear of such experiences! He is so excited to go back and then on Sunday he even passed the sacrament! Yay!!  Now we just need to get him fellowship that is not the missionaries.

We had a full week of lessons and appointments. It was busy and so great! But sadly again NO ONE came to church! We knew that a lot of our investigators would not be able to make it due to prior engagements. But the less active and our one investigator who we were expecting both did not come. It was super sad! 

So funny story: this past week we were talking about me packing and I told Sister O that I might just buy a scale to weigh my suitcases. She then turned to me and said,"You're gonna buy a SQUIRREL?!" hahhaha too funny!

Sorry short letter. I love you all loads! This week I'll be home in 2 months! Lots of love!

xoxoxoxoxo Sister Peterson

November 4, 2013

First Off:  Happy Halloween to everyone! I wore a black shirt and my black and white skirt with Sister O's orange scarf to try and be festive. We couldn't go out proselyting that night so we met up with the missionaries here and played Dodge ball. Come to find out I am horrible at my aim, and I really don't like Dodge ball! I am pretty good at dodging the ball... but that also means I tend to be the last man standing and then just look like an idiot.... So moral of the story I kinda hate Dodge Ball... but my Halloween was still good because it was fun to be with everyone.  

Since we had Stake Conference last Sunday, yesterday was my first time in the ward. I really enjoyed it, though it is so different from what I am used to. I forgot how quiet Singles Wards are during Sacrament meeting! And it is very different because everyone is in that transition part of their lives so the bonds and unity are different too. BUT there are some major bonus points for singles wards because those who served missions are awesome at fellowshipping! And there is so much potential for good here! Plus we come on campus daily to find more people to teach which is so so nice! I am really happy to be here.

As for our investigators. So since we are teaching all YSA it brings a new level of flakiness to light. From our members coming to lessons AND from the investigators. So currently we don't have any progressing investigators. But we do have a lot of potential. The big hang up right now is church attendance, which is hard when also some people don't have cars. But we are focusing on that. We have a lot of people we want to help this week, and so hopefully next week will have some better results. We are trying some new stuff with the ward missionaries, and we even taught combined RS/Priesthood yesterday with the 2 other sets of missionaries in this ward. (did I tell you that we share with Sister O's old comps and the assistants?)   

Oh OH we went to the temple Monday! It was so amazing! I CANNOT wait to go back! We had a full session with about 40 of us here in Lubbock. This temple is a tiny one- like really tiny, but nonetheless beautiful! I am always breath taken by the beauty of the temple! If you are reading this and haven't been to the temple recently GO!!!! It is such a blessing! As I was waiting for the session to start I was overcome by such a feeling of gratitude! It had been SO so long for me to go to the temple and it is such an amazing place! And the work they did in the new video is beautiful. All I can say is it is all so beautiful. And as I sat in the session all I could think about is all the people outside passing by the temple who have no idea all that awaits for them inside! That's what this work is all about! Go to the temple!

I love you all so much! 16 month mark tomorrow! Can you believe it?! I can't! Gahhhh!!

xoxo Sister Peterson

October 28, 2013

Alrighty! Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Granddad!!!

Today is a foggy day here! We can't even see the sun behind the clouds- Sister O thought it might snow! How crazy is that!  But our most exciting news is that TODAY WE ARE GOING TO THE TEMPLE! So excited I can hardly see straight! They are opening it special for the missionaries in our zone today and we will have a completely full session- every single seat filled with something like 40 of us! Crazy isn't it! The rest of the mission will just come as districts but we will all be there as a zone. I am very excited- like Christmas morning excited! 

We had a smooth transfer. Traveling and all that packing made me a very tired girl! Especially since we had to be at the church by 6:30 to wait for the bus- I had to get up before that to pack my last things and get ready. So I was exhausted by the time I got here. And since I've been on my mission I struggle with motion sickness. So that was not so fun after being in a bus for about 10 hours. But it was good to talk to missionaries. Sister C got transferred up here so I was able to update her on things and I was able to sit with Sister R until Monahans. Then we got here and I am LOVING Sister O!  She is from Draper, Utah and was the first 19 year old in our mission. She went to Utah State before and is just so quirky and fun. She has been out for about 7 months. And we work REALLY well together and get along really great! She does great impersonations and has me laughing all day long! This is going to be a great transfer!

So we had Stake Conference yesterday and so I am still feeling a bit out of the loop with the ward. But that's alright, Sister O knows exactly what is going on! As I was talking with Sister R on the bus we realized how many contacts we had with YSA aged people while we were here and I recognize that maybe that is one of the reasons I am back. We have already contacted 2 of them (S and C) and set up appointments AND there were these less actives we were working with back then and so Sister O and I went my first day here to check up on them (esp since one is YSA aged) and sadly (so sadly) they had moved! BUT of all the miracles- the lady who moved in wasn't home but her granddaughter and best friend were WHO ARE YSA! So we are now teaching them! 

We split the YSA with Sister O's old companions and the Assistants. The Assistants are pretty busy so that's that. And we are still working out the kinks of sharing in a YSA. There are definitely enough to share but how to split boundaries and such is interesting. Right now we are kinda just working with what we come in contact with and going from there. Luckily we have a great relationship with the other sisters so communication and organization is fine! 

If anyone looks at my blog probably no letters in the mail from me this week. Too busy with a temple trip.. :/ sorry 

I love you HAPPY HALLOWEENIE!! XOXOXO dress up real nice for me since I can't!! 

Love Sister Peterson!

Me and my cute comp

me and my old comps.

October 21, 2013

YELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 

I have about a billion things in my head and 100 things to write about so I just hope I don't forget anything!

 

Most importantly is that we had transfer calls this week: and I'M BEING TRANSFERRED!! :( I may or may not have cried about it. Mostly just when thinking about leaving M. He was progressing so well and I just don't want that to stop. But I know Heavenly Father has a plan for him, so it will all turn out alright! So yes, I am leaving and guess who is replacing me?! None other than Sister S who I trained!! All of the sisters here will have had ME for a companion at one time. A common enemy shall we say?! No... the three of us are really sad to separate, we had a REALLY good transfer and I love these girls so much! (oh they will also be switching areas with the elders we share the ward with... cool right?) But L here I come. Oh yes, I am going to L. That is the YSA there to serve with Sister O. All I know about her is that when I was there last she was just being trained and in that exact ward. So she has been there for like 7 months. Also I found out that she will be my senior companion since she has been in the area so long! Funny right? I guess I spoke too soon when I said I would be senior for the rest of my mission!!!  

 

I do have some reservations about going to L. Especially since I don't have super warm feeling about the last time I was there. But I feel like a completely different person this go round so I am excited. I just look at the positives and am going to go and visit the people we were teaching and loved up there and tell them to meet with the missionaries again if they aren't!! Plus a few that we loved like K and C are YSA age anyway!! I am grateful to get out of the allergies here but then just to go to a windy cold city... But we will be sharing the ward with the Assistants... Which should be fine but is just intimidating! Also I feel like a kid on the first day of school. The YSA is my age!! Will they like me? Will we get along? What should I wear? hahaha no.... but I loved the YSA aspect of the New Mexico ward, but this is total YSA here. It will be good it is all just the unknown.

 

We leave here (we are the first stop) on a charter bus tomorrow morning at 7 and it is like a 9 hour bus ride since we have to stop at every zone along the way! I am almost done packing and am happy about that! It hasn't been that bad this go round and just hate the packing side of all of this!

 

So apparently it is this transfer all of us will be able to go to the temple! I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I have dreams about being home after the mission all the time. And about half way through EACH of the dreams I realize that I have been home for x amount of time and haven't gone to the temple yet and start freaking out!! So this will be awesome!

 

We had an awesome lesson with M this week. He said that he doesn't believe that this church is any different from any other one BUT he said that in the first lesson we had with him I told him that if he will read the Book of Mormon he will come to know that this is true!!! And he said he is holding on to that one thing, and hoping that it is true. He told me I have been honest with him so far so he is going to believe this too! I told him that he will never know that it is true unless he prays about it, and though he isn't yet to the point that he will commit to praying this is major progress!! He also came to gospel principles on Sunday!! Miracles are happening!

 

We also felt inspired to heart attack a family (our assistant ward missionary) he went through 2 surgeries last week and her sister is currently in the hospital. So we heart attacked them Thursday night and on Friday she called us (she said she immediately knew we did it) to say that it was crazy because he was feeling really bad so they had taken him to the hospital and during the time that they had left the house to the hospital and she came back to get clothes for the kids we had heart attacked them!! I am so grateful for promptings of the Spirit to do random acts of service!!

 

I love this place and am so sad to leave, but I know that Heavenly Father has great things in store for me! I love you all so much- and Mom and Dad I keep telling everyone we 3 will be back to visit them!! Yay! Can't wait!  Love you all!! I'll let you know my new address as soon as I get it!

 

xoxoxo Your missionary!

Sister Peterson!  

October 15, 2013

It's raining it's pouring the missionaries are soaring!

What a BUSY day!! I have had the busiest last 3 days of my mission ever. Period.

And yes it is pouring rain here. I am just glad I have water proof boots. I don't have to worry about wet socks thankfully!

Funny you should say that Columbus day is a funny holiday. All the schools here were out yesterday. And of course the library was too. So here I am emailing you tonight- because this is the only time we had free today!! So yes the work is going wonderfully- but hopefully my head doesn't fall off. Sunday we left for church in the morning and didn't come home until 9:00 that night. Then Monday we cut p-day an hour short to go to an early lesson and then didn't get home until 9:30 (which is allowed when in a lesson) and then Today we left for district meeting after studies and haven't been home since, and now here we are. We don't have such a hectic day tomorrow, which will be good.

Transfer calls are Saturday and we will see how that goes! I am hoping to stay. We are doing so much here that it will be heartbreaking to leave, but I know that Heavenly Father will inspire President to send me (or keep me) where I am needed most. So we shall see.

  

Welp, it was Sister T's 23rd birthday on Saturday. So our district leader and his companions decorated the bedroom for her! I'm sending pictures. It is about 150 balloons! We got rid of a few of them yesterday, but it was really fun. I think she enjoyed herself. We went out to Applebees for dinner to celebrate.

This past week we also had exchanges. Sister D (who is our Sister Training Leader) and her two companions: Sisters C and D came for 24 hours. It is so fun to serve with other missionaries. I am sad to say that I will forever be the senior companion- since there are no sisters "older" than Sister L and me out. It is so crazy to me how many sisters are now in the mission, and how young they are. But they are definitely ready for service. They are so much braver than I was at their age. (and yes some Elders do call me Grandma- remember how they are 5 years younger than I am. And how BP is their age- and how I babysat him. Oh yeah I remember that! - But don't worry, I don't let 'em forget it either haha)

Things are coming along with our investigators. M is out of town for the week, but we had a few lessons with him this past week so things are looking good. His hardest struggle is recognizing the Spirit- but isn't that common for all of us? :) He has sincere desire so I know things will change for him. Then also we have been working with a part-member family. We are teaching the dad M. He is atheist but he isn't. We had a breakthrough lesson with him yesterday where the Spirit guided are questions and we found out that he groups ALL religions together. So if he sees one hypocritical person who believes in God he doesn't want to be associated with them at all and so he just chooses not to believe all together. We were able to testify to him that we are the one TRUE church. That this is it. He still won't pray since he doesn't believe anyone is listening, but we are getting there.

I love you all lots! Xoxo!

Love Sister Peterson

Exchanges with the sisters Sister C is up top, Da in the middle and Du in the bottom. 

You should recognize the rest of us. 

and our District picture today