Week 25: Another Week Gone By

This week was GRRRRREAT {say it like the frosted flake commercials!!} We had some really great visits and lessons this week! I am just surprised at how this area has blossomed since I got here 6 months ago!!! I can't even believe it's the same

Diane & I (our recent convert)

Campbell River! The only thing that convinces me otherwise is the crazy bi-polar weather!! Transfers are coming up this next week though...DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!! I find out Saturday if I will be leaving or staying another 6 weeks!!

It could really go either way! I've been making preparations and warning people earlier that way we both have time to mourn! I REALLY don't want to leave Campbell River! I love the people we are working with and I love this ward so much! All 35-40 of em!! My mission president came up to me at a meeting recently and said "Sister Peterson how long have you been up there? I said almost 6 months! He said 6 months huh....do you know there are other areas in this mission?!?!?" hahahahah It was so funny!!! He always drops little hints to keep you thinking about transfer assignments hahaha Anyway back to this week! Wednesday we had an awesome district meeting over the phone and I had to give a training! I love doing training and teaching! It keeps me in practice for when I return home and go on to grad school :) My training was on the Blessings of Change! I've been really working hard lately on

Lisa Marie (one of our investigators)

accepting change and working on changing my nature to become the missionary I need to be. IT'S HARD!!!! But this training helped me out a lot as I prepared for it! Later we taught Steve our new investigator the Word of Wisdom! It was so great!! We were able to bring Diane {our recent convert} along and she talked to him about quitting smoking and what worked for her. I loved that out of all the tricks the one she emphasized the most was prayer and scripture study! It's so true!! God will help people so much more than patches and gum will! It was a neat lesson!! Steve has such a strong desire to be baptized and to align his life with God's will! He is so prepared for the gospel!! He loves the Book of Mormon and knows that it can bring him personal revelation that he needs! It was cool to hear his testimony in one of our lessons this week! He's progressing and it's awesome!!! Wednesday night we met with a family in the ward that has young kids! We LOVE them!!! Little kids are so cute! We were talking about how Nephi and Lehi the Second were named after Nephi and Lehi the first in the Book of Mormon and how they had to live up to that name. It was

YESSSSS!!!!!!

perfect because the little boy in the family is named after his Dad. So this little boy piped up and said "so I'm named after Bush?" We all looked at each other and I said uh....is he talking about the past President of the USA? hahah His dad said No he would have no clue! hahah So we were trying to figure out what he was trying to say....he eventually said my name means bush so I'm a bush...HAHHAH HIM AND HIS DAD'S NAME IS BRUCE!! When it clicked we all just laughed and laughed!!! Little kids are so simple!!! hahah Anyway we said that no he doesn't have to live up to the example of a bush...then we talked about how when he's baptized he will be an example of Jesus Christ and bear his name..It was great! haha Thursday went so fast we seriously had no time!! We planned all morning in our apartment and by 2 o'clock we were SO READY to get out of thehouse!!! We were busy all day which was good! We had a really good lesson with Wayne and Dorothy about Repentance. We used the Article in the Ensign The New Testaments Message of Repentance. It was a great message!  Friday was fun! We GOT SO SOAKED!!!!!!!!! But I finally got smart and

Seriously....pure deliciousness.

wore my super cute rain boots so we played in the puddles which made us feel like children again :) I'm sure people thought we were crazy :) We had a really good sit down with this lady we met a while ago and she told us she is a JW {Jehovah's Witness}!! She was so nice!! We talked about some of the doctrines that are different and similar in our religions and it was really good! She talked about how the Jehovah's Witness religion started up and it was quite interesting. We got to share the Restoration with her and her only hang up was the Book of Mormon which is usually everyone's hang up!! It was nice to learn about the religion from someone who lives it instead of just hearing things as you go door to door. 

Saturday is walking day!! We were lucky and didn't have much rain!! We had a great lesson with Steve in the morning about the Book of Mormon and how it's blessed our lives. I shared with him my go-to scripture which is Mosiah 24:13-15. I LOVE it so
much!!! A few years ago up at school when church really wasn't a priority for me I was just attending these Book of Mormon reading groups to socialize with friends and stuff. Well we started reading Mosiah 24 and we read these verses and they REALLY HIT ME!!! I wasn't even going through something BIG

Our Fireside

but at the time it seemed big and the message in these verses stuck with me and gave me tons of comfort!!! I have always referred back to them when I'm going through a hard time or when someone else needs some help. I know that the Savior does ease our burdens and that God does visit us in all our afflictions. When we were having lunch we smelled a camp fire...I ran to the window and the family we live with were making SMORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy and I was talking about how I hadn't had a smore in a long time just earlier that morning!!! So they made us one!!! Mmmm...it was so good!!! Later in the day we were tracting and we were talking to another really nice Jehovah's Witness lady and all the sudden I felt super sick! I almost blacked out!!!! I can't really remember what the lady was talking about but I cut her off mid sentence and said "Can I come in and sit down? I know that's weird but I'm feeling very ill." She was so nice and took me in even though she just met me 30 min ago!! It was kinda scary! I didn't recover from it as fast as I wanted so we called the mission nurse and she sent me straight home!! As much as my body needs sleep and loves sleep...I hated that I had to

Valentine's Day Package!

stay in and take a nap!!! hahaha As a missionary it's the worst feeling to know that you're resting when you're supposed to be working. I chose to go to the lessons we had scheduled for that night  and I'm so glad I was feeling better because they were SO AWESOME!!!!  Sunday was good!!! I taught in Gospel Principles about our Heavenly Family and how we are all children of God! Then later that night we put on a Missionary Fireside and our theme was No Effort is Wasted. We had a really good turn out and had a lot of fun! We talked about how our efforts to reach out to others are never in vain and that we don't know what God has planned! We also role played some scenarios where we could introduce the gospel in regular conversation! The members had so much fun and we did too! Overall it was quite an eventful week! This next week is going to be so fun because we are going on exchanges today and tomorrow with our lovely Sister Training Leaders and then it's Sister Christensen's last week as a missionary so we're going to work so hard and make it the best ever!!!

p.s. thanks for the package family :) I LOVE the hand sanitizer I use it like 20 times a day and A big thanks for the mini sweet tarts!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY ARE THE BEST!!!!!!! Canada needs to get with the program and start selling them! :)

Love you have a great week!!!

Sister Peterson