Week 61: Happy Halloween!!! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND HAPPY NEVADA DAY!!!!!!!!! 

I hope everyone is having a BLAST!!! Today we all dressed up like we were from each other's hometowns so:

Sister Hoffman: Sister Peterson from Las Vegas (Gold and Black, Bling!!!!, Gucci scarf, and over the top make up! She looks stylin!!!)

Sister Peterson: Sister Steele from Hawaii (red dress, colorful lei, blanket scarf turned into a lava lava, and shell earrings) 

Sister Steele: Sister Hoffman from Utah (Teased hair, fake eye lashes, t-shirt dress, and other stereotypical things...no green jello though) :) WE look so good!!!!!!

So here's the run down of my week:

Monday we had a dinner with the Englands in our ward!! They are awesome!!! I love their house!!!! They were the first members I met when I got here! Then we stopped by one of our investigators at her work! I tried Butter Chicken Pizza! It's an Indian dish just on pizza :) She is AMAZING!!!! She had an arranged engagement to someone back in India and she called it off!! It's been so hard for her not talking to her family and close friends but she has been reading the Book of Mormon, she knows it's all true, and she even fasted with us yesterday!! Keep

her in your prayers!!! Tuesday we met with Jenny, Kendall and their babies!! They are so cute!!!! Jenny said that her friend died AND SHE PRAYED FOR HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A HUGE STEP!!!! She had enough faith to say a prayer to a God that she doesn't even know exists!!!! So cool!!!!!! We're going on a church tour tomorrow with her!! We also did a service project for this lady the sisters met like last year! She called us out of the blue and asked us to rake her leaves...we were so excited!!! We had to change in the car and it was literally the funniest 5 minutes of my life!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAH One of my companions who shall remain nameless fell off her seat while putting on her tights and I was in the drivers seat, so I had literally NO ROOM TO CHANGE!!! it was SO FUNNY!!!!!! ANYWAY I haven't raked leaves in a long time!! HOLY LEAVES!!!!! BIGGEST MAPLE TREE I'VE EVER SEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took us 2 days to finish it and we bagged like 25 bags of leaves!!! We drove by yesterday and it

looks like we didn't even rake them all up!!! hahah Fun Times though!! While we were working she came outside and said my neighbor saw you working and she wants to know who you are here's her number!!!! WE GOT A REFERRAL FROM IT!!! BLESSINGS!!!!!  We had to take our other car into the shop to get new winter tires put on! Luckily we have two cars because we're covering two areas so we were able to make it to all our appointments!!! Tuesday night we drove to Vernon, BC to meet with the Stake President and report to him on the missionaries and areas in the zone. I was driving and it was SO DARK!!! Had to watch out for deer too! I'm getting quite experienced in driving in rural Canada ;) hahah Wednesday we decided to drop by MaryAnne. I had gotten a prompting to just drop by instead of text her. So we did and we ended up having a really nice lesson with her!! She keeps saying she knows God has a greater plan for her...she feels that...so we told her IT'S BAPTISM!!!! She wanted more to read from the Book of Mormon, so we gave her an awesome chapter that will help her see what we mean!! Thursday we went on
exchanges with the sisters! Sister Hoffman went to West Bank and Sister Steele and I stayed in Kelowna with
Sister Amat from Malaysia :) We had so much fun!!! We taught some good lessons and saw some miracles!! Sister Amat is such a good missionary! She is so good at testifying in lessons! We met with Meghan a new

investigator from a few weeks back! We taught a simple Restoration lesson and she felt the Spirit! We saw tears in her eyes!!! PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR THIS RESTORED GOSPEL!! WE ALL JUST NEED TO FIND THEM!!!! She was asking so many good questions!! We brought our fav member Kendall and she did so good testifying of us! She is an amazing member of our ward!! We went to a ward activity 50's and over Halloween party! They had chili and all sorts of yummy treats!!!  Saturday we had a great day!! We had a lesson with our investigator from India! She is still reading the Book of Mormon and promised to fast with us on Fast Sunday!! She did!!!! She's amazing! with all the hardships she's going through she is doing it with grace and relying on the Lord! We met with Aileen (recent convert) at McDonalds where she works AND THEY ARE DOING MONOPOLY!!!! We got tons of stickers! I was so excited!!! We had a really good lesson with her about family history and temples! She is going to go to the temple in November!!! At the end...Sister Hoffman accidentally threw away our Monopoly board!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOW WE HAVE TO START OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Later that day we started talking to some people on the street and they told us that we don't believe Jesus Christ is our Savior!!! THAT MAKES ME SO SAD AND UPSET!!!!!!!! They were bashing us real bad and then we somehow got on the topic of the Plan of Salvation and the after life. And we were testifying of the after life and how we will go to the Spirit world. They looked at me all weird and were like

that's false. I brought up how Jesus went and taught to the people in Spirit Prison and they said that's not true at all...blasphemy!!! I was like NO IT'S NOT!! I studied it this morning! I said you should go home and read 1 Peter 4:6 and 1 Peter 3 it talks all about the spirit world....It was really cool how I was able to recall those specific scriptures. The spirit was really strong as we testified to them of the restored gospel and how parts of the Plan of Salvation are contained in the Book of Mormon. I hope they look up those scriptures :)

Sunday was BUSY as always covering both wards!!! We had really good fast and testimony meetings on Sunday! We have stake conference next week so we had it this week!  After church we had another road trip to Fintry, BC It's a little place on the west side of the lake. It takes about an hour to drive there but the YSA branch president lives there. The road was so narrow there were deer all around and it was so dark!!! We had a ton of fun being on deer watch and stuff! We made it there safely! When I turned off the car, it was SO DARK! we couldn't even see our hands!!!! PITCH BLACK!!!!! Soooooooooo cool!!! The drive back was much better! We didn't see any deer!!! It was a fun experience!! On the way back we also came across a Spanish EFY song by David Archuleta....IT'S SO GOOD WE HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO IT NON STOP!!!! We don't know the words but it's still good!! hahahah That's my week...I think...lots of fun! Lots of lessons! Lots of service! The Spirit has been so strong in our companionship! We're working so hard!!! 

I hope you all have a great week :)

Love,

Sister Peterson :)

Week 60: Living the Tri Life :)

Hello there world :) The Tri life is going good! We had a super great week!!!! First I'll spoil all the exciting stuff that happened! Actually maybe not...read my whole email :) So Monday we had a really good lesson with a part member family in Kelowna 2nd ward and we found out the non-member HAD MISSIONARIES LIVING WITH HIM IN THE 70'S FOR LIKE 2 YEARS!!!!!

CAN YOU IMAGINE LIVING WITH ONE OF YOUR INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHH LESSONS ALL THETIME!!!!! HAHAHAHHAH  We had Family Home Evening (FHE) for the Young Single Adult (YSA) Branch...man...all these acronyms..sorry for all the Mormon jargon). That was fun! They played Fugitive, but they call it Why Run? Here...While they were playing we met with the Zone Leaders and talked about plans for Zone Meeting and they told me since I went to MLC (another acronym...) I would be giving a training!!!! CRAZY!!!! Tuesday Sister Steele and I saw Sandra while Sister Hoffman went with Sister John to visit less actives (PRODUCTIVITY AT IT'S FINEST :)) Sandra's lesson was so good!!! The Spirit was strong!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE KNOWS IT'S TRUE SHE JUST NEEDS TO PRAY!!! I pushed at the end to get her to pray and I was bold and loving in all things :) AND SHE PRAYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoooo!!!! We're meeting with her again this week :)  I also came up with another ORIGINAL SISTER PETERSON QUOTE: "If the spirit's there, no one will care".  Also for dinner Tuesday...I ate...BLOOD STEW...it had real blood...it's a Filipino food...I can't believe I ate it!!!!!!!!! Wasn't too bad...just have to get over 

Sister Steele

the "blood" part of it :) Wednesday we had an amazing less active visit. The spirit was really strong and she told us how she hasn't had visiting teachers in YEARS and how great it is to just get a phone call and a visit from members! Oh my goodness it was heart wrenching...Sister Steele and I committed then that we will NEVER miss our visiting teaching!!!!! Oh my goodness....it helped me see the importance of it and how inspired it is! So Tuesday night when we were planning for Wednesday we said we were going to find 1 potential in Kelowna 2nd (K2...there goes another acronym) area. So.... I said Her name is going to be..........SAMANTHA! Well I had kind of forgotten about it and we knocked on this door (don't rush ahead of the story....) and she was super interested and said she was Jehovah's Witness, but she was interested in learning more about the Book of Mormon. Then at the very end we were like, oh yeah!  What's your name? She says SAM! I freaked out...IS THAT SHORT FOR SAMANTHA!!!! SHE SAID YES!!!! So I told her not

Zone Meeting

to be freaked out, but I had said we were going to find a Samantha the night before. I showed her my planner and how I had written it down and she knew we met for a reason!!! SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we called President Burt because he LOVES it when we call and tell him about miracles and he was so happy and shocked :) hahah Miracles like this happen every day in the mission it's literally the best!! Thursday we just laughed all day. I can't really remember what happened but I know we all were tired and crazy and laughed so hard about everything!!! Friday was ZONE MEETING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got to train the missionaries on Role Plays...my favorite ;) ahhahaha Sister Steele and I also did a musical number and Elder Edwards played Violin for us and Elder Taylor played piano it was beautiful!!! At Zone Meeting we FINALLY GOT TO ANNOUNCE THE SECRET WE'VE BEEN KEEPING SINCE WE WENT TO MLC IN VANCOUVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND IS COMING TO OUR MISSION ON NOVEMBER 12TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT'S RIGHT!!!! I am so excited!!!!!!! The whole mission is gathering in Richmond and listening to him for 2 hrs!!!!!!!!

I am so excited to meet an apostle of the Lord!!!!!!!!!Man!!!!!!! I just can't explain how excited I am!!!!! When President Burt

Aileen's Baptism!

told us at MLC you could hear a pin drop...the Spirit was so strong and all of us missionaries felt so blessed...there wasn't a dry eye in that place. Zone Meeting was just as spiritual as we told the missionaries that he was coming...this is such a great opportunity and we are working our hardest to make sure we are personally prepared to meet an Apostle!!!! SO EXCITED!!!! After Zone Meeting we decided to go work in the other Sisters Area to build it up for them...in the missionary world we call this a BLITZ. Well during the blitz we had something kind of crazy happened...we felt so inspired to go to this neighborhood in West Kelowna (across the lake)  So on this street people were just door slamming us like crazy...and we were going to knock the last house and Sister Steele yells to these 2 guys across the street and says "Hey I like your car!" She loves cars and that's how she starts conversations! She is so good at talking to everyone!! The guy says "You like me?" and she said "No, your car"  "He was older looking but dressed in ridiculously expensive clothes. He walked over to us and I could tell that his cologne was so expensive too. He had a thick Greek accent and was kinda short. Then 2 guys about 6 ft 3 or 4 came over. Literally looked like a combo of Hugh Jackman and Dwayne Johnson. They asked us who we were and

LOL! When you accidentally write Sister Wives
instead of Sister Missionaries!!! 

where we were from ..the short guy was way weird too. The other two guys kinda stood behind him. Then the short guy introduced themselves He said my name is Gus this is my BODY GUARD! The body guard was creeping me out. He was just focused on me and I was like um...awkward...so I just kept quiet and didn't talk to him and kept looking away also I just kept thinking "you look way to much like hugh jackman" hahahah We started putting two and two together and the Holy Ghost told all of us...THIS IS NOT A GOOD SITUATION YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!! But we didn't want to seem alarmed. I just felt calm and just made sure I was apart of both my companions conversations. I later learned that my companions both had the impression to just testify of Jesus Christ so that they know we are serious about our mission and that we are servants of the Lord and we would be safe. They did an excellent job. :) We told them we had an appointment and we needed to leave and they said some pretty weird/creepy things and we just bolted to our car locked the doors and sped away. Once we started driving away we drove a different way home becuase we wanted to make sure they didn't follow us hahah We all talked about our impressions. Sister Steele said she had never heard the holy ghost so clearly like it was a voice speaking to her and coaching her through it. It was a dangerous situation. We're 100% sure they were in some sort of Mob or Mafia. They were SO EXCITED when I said I was from

My Pink Hot Chocolate

Vegas...It was like we were in a movie...super surreal. We all felt like we were in danger, but because of the Spirit we were protected. I know we had angels around us and if we wouldn't have testified and been so in tune with the spirit it would have ended up differently.  We all were wondering...why did we have to go through that scary experience??  Why did we feel prompted to come here??? I know I learned that I HAVE  to be in tune with the Spirit and the best way to get out of a situation and to calm myself down is to testify of Jesus Christ. Amazing. On Saturday we spent most of our day getting ready for Aileen's baptism!!!! The font started draining....THIS HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME WHEN DIANE GOT BAPTIZED!!! AHAHHAHA but we caught it in enough time and we had plenty of water to do the ordinance!! Sister Steele and I sang again at the baptism and it was a full house!!! Aileen was so happy and we were so happy for her!!!!! She is in the YSA branch and her birthday was Friday and Saturday she was baptized!!! So cool!!! We were so busy that day, but every time we got out of the car we saw miracles!!! We were at a bus station and I struck up a conversation with a girl Naomi and she said she has been wanting to be baptized!!!!! WE DON'T HEAR THAT EVERY DAY!!!! I'm so happy I followed the prompting to talk to her!!! She works at Starbucks, so we are going to go get hot chocolates today and set up a return appointment with her!!! THIS WAS SUCH A GOOD WEEK!!!!! SO MANY LEARNING EXPERIENCES!!!! I LOVE MY COMPANIONS AND THEIR DEDICATION TO THIS WORK!!! We are having so much fun and I am just loving Kelowna and loving the mission :)

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Sister Peterson

Week 59: Craziest Week of My Mission Yet!!!

This was a rougher week!

On Tuesday my companion decided to go home :( It was a really hard decision for her, but it's the best decision for

her right now. So Tuesday night she flew out of Kelowna. I've been staying with the Sister Training Leaders (Sister Steele and Sister Hoffman) We are working both areas Kelowna 2nd and Okanagan YSA, so we are SUPER BUSY!!!!! Monday night was Thanksgiving!!!!!!! We saw some great miracles!!!!! Tuesday night was sad because I had to say goodbye to Sister Esplin! I cried like a baby after she left. The Spirit has helped me so much to just keep me calm all last week but as soon as she had left I let it all out. I was so sad! I love Sister Esplin so much!! After we went to the airport we had to rush over to West Kelowna ACROSS the lake!!! There's a bridge...{don't worry...missionaries can't go in water haahhaha} so we had a crazy
night to say the least!! Wednesday we had district meeting and I had to give a training about Becoming a Convert Missionary...and I cried!!! Uh...how embarrassing!!! I was talking about how lucky we are to be preaching the gospel and what a privilege it is to have the gospel and be able to declare repentance to everyone! Being a missionary is a blessing!! After District Meeting, we went back over to West Kelowna to teach Aileen who will be

baptized this weekend!!!! We are so excited!! She's someone the Sister's
have been working with and she is SO READY to be baptized!! We are excited!!! Wednesday was my mom's birthday as well!!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! LOVE YOU!!!! Thursday went by in a flash!! We had weekly planning and then after planning we taught Meghan a new investigator for Kelowna 2nd!!! We are so excited! She is seeking for truth and we are excited to meet with her again! She is someone Sister Esplin and I found Tuesday before we dropped her off!! Miracle!!! Then.....ROADTRIP TO VANCOUVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All 3 of us got some snacks, packed our bags, and hopped in the car for a roadtrip! We had Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) at the mission office on Friday!! The drive was kind of scary! We couldn't see because of the fog but we made it through okay! It's a 4 hr drive but took us 5 hrs because of

weather. The pass is called the Coquihalla (coke-a-holla) and it's similar to Donner Pass! It reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe area!! We stayed with the Vancouver YSA Sisters and had a super fun night! We had to wake up bright and early on Friday though!! It was so fun!! I got to see sisters I have missed so much!!!!! MLC was all about FAITH!! and how we can help us and other missionaries have enduring faith!!!! Faith to get through the hard times. Faith in all situations!! OH MAN IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! During lunch I got to see Sister Benincosa!!!! LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!! Man I miss my Surrey people!!! Friday night after the meeting we had to drive home. There was a REALLY BAD STORM on the lower mainland, so we drove careful and then when we got to the pass IT WAS SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!! So we didn't get home till 11pm! Everyone was calling and checking in on us though! President

Burt said "I'm not going to bed till you're tucked in!!" hahaha I'm sure he stays up WAY later than 11pm!!! haha It was a great experience though. It really built my faith especially after this crazy week! Saturday we worked so hard and SAW SO MANY MIRACLES!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the funnest day of my mission!!! Sunday the Sisters have church at 11 and Kelowna 2nd is at 1, so I had to have a member be my companion for church! I definitely gained a testimony of companions and the power that we have together as 2 witnesses to the truth! It felt like a little piece of me was missing!! I was so happy to be joined back with my companions afterward!!! We ended our night at a baptismal interview, and we are all set for Aileen to be baptized this Saturday!!!!!! We are so excited!!!! WE ARE SO BUSY, BUT THIS IS THE HAPPIEST I'VE BEEN!!! There is no time to think about myself or what has happened. We just have to focus on the work and work so hard! We're teaching so much and I'm so grateful for this opportunity to work with these sisters and learn so much!!!

Love you All!!

Sister Peterson

Week 58: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

So this week...was okay!!

Monday was Monday. Tuesday our lesson cancelled, so we ended up doing service for our member that was going to come with us :) She's a mommy and her son is 6 months old!!!  SO CUTE!!! So we helped her clean her house! I LOVE DOING SERVICE!!! It's just another way of doing missionary work, but it has a different spirit that just warms your heart :) We had a miracle!!! We've been trying to meet with our recent convert Sheri this whole last transfer but she was M.I.A. We felt prompted

to just stop by and see if she was home...SHE OPENED THE DOOR!!!! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME IN 1 1/2 MONTHS THE MISSIONARIES HAVE GOTTEN TO SEE HER!!!! It was awesome!! We shared a message about the atonement and the Spirit was so strong!! On our way to our next lesson with MaryAnne we stopped at 7-11 to use the washroom and as we were walking in we see a less active that we've been trying to get in contact with all of last transfer!! She was like, "Hey Sisters!!!" We turn around and we were like WHAT?!?!? She invited us over and we were so stoked!!!! Our lesson with MaryAnne went really well! We watched the Restoration and she really liked it! We read some scriptures with her and asked her to READ AND PRAY about the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith! She said she would!!!! Yay!!!! Wednesday NO ONE WAS HOME!!! IT WAS CRAZY!!! I just wasn't feeling the Spirit and Sister Esplin wasn't feeling well, so we were having a tough time! So I decided with the help of my Sister Training Leaders to read the Book of Mormon as we walked. I read 3 Nephi 11 which is Sister Esplin's favorite!! We were walking up the highway and it was A HILL and so I was out of breath!!! Also I only had my MINI Book of Mormon!! So I tried so hard to read the small print and scream the words hahhahahah you should have seen me hahahahahahha I probably looked like a crazy person!! But I read it and it both made us feel better!! Thursday we met with

Patricia! We decided to make a prayer rock for her that way she will remember to pray and read! Pics to come! We met with a less active from Venezuela and her cute little daughter who happens to be MaryAnne's daughter in law and grand daughter :) We're just teaching the whole family hahahha We had a good lesson with her about prayer and how God answered Joseph Smith's prayer and he will answer ours if we have faith and real intent. We had dinner with Sis. S and Robinette! They are so
funny together!! When it came time for dessert the pie was still frozen so we broke it with our hands hahahahahhahahah  Thursday I had a great Chat with President Burt. This week was kind of hard and I just needed his counsel going into this new transfer.  He told me "I love you and you have to believe it!!!" hahhaha I'm having a really hard time believing that I'm doing good.....that I am doing awesome that I am awesome!!  So now everytime I talk to President and he tells me his signature phrase,  "you're so good" he asks me "DO YOU BELIEVE ME???" hahha I love President Burt! He's the best!! Friday night we met with a member family and they are just amazing!!! We did a scripture chase and they were just flying through those pages!!! hahha In the closing prayer one little boy {he's 7, and about to be baptized} he said, "please bless that we'll understand the scriptures" and he blessed us missionaries that we will have success...I HAVEN'T MET A CHILD YET THAT USES SUCH SOPHISTICATED LANGUAGE IN PRAYER!!! HAHAHHA It was so cute :)  Saturday it just rained and rained and rained!! The Elders couldn't make an appointment, so we had to take it for them! SWEET!!! We taught in a member's home and she fed us lunch. She's from the Phillipines and she fed us GOAT!!!!!!!!!!!! I was really nervous at first but it was okay! It reminded me of the sweetness of beef jerky! So now I've eaten a goat :) bahahha! Later we met with that less-

active we met outside 7-11! She was sick, so we didn't make it too long of a lesson :) It was kind of a weird day...the weather is changing and because it's Thankgiving weekend not many people were outside or at home. Sunday was crazy!! One of the STL's was sick, but the other had to give a talk, so I had to go to the YSA branch....I DO NOT MISS IT!!! EVERYONE WAS ON THEIR PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were talking and I was appalled!!!!!!!! GOODNESS GRACIOUS YSA ALL OVER THE WORLD GET OFF YOUR PHONES!!!!!  After I picked up Sister Esplin and we went to church!! Family Ward...much better!!!  hahahha Since it's Canadian Thanksgiving we had talks on gratitude and all that! It was good! Our Zone Theme is an Attitude of Gratitude this transfer!! We had THANKSGIVING DINNER with Robinette and her family and Sis. S.! Oh my was it yummy!!! SO MUCH FOOD THOUGH!! I was DYING!!! My stomach was so full I was SICK!!! Oh my goodness I never want to feel that way again!! The funniest part is that I didn't even eat THAT MUCH! I took little helpings of everything! Oh the pain!!!! hahahha and we can't just sleep it off we just have to keep working!!!!!! So we went to our next appointment and they gave us ICE CREAM!!! I gave that ice cream the meanest glare of my life!!! hahhahahah but I ate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I literally felt like Violet off of Willy Wonka...Sister Esplin and I were so FULL!!!!!!!! But I'm so GRATEFUL for our wonderful members that invite us over :) They really love us!!

Today has been busy busy! Trying to prepare things for this new transfer! Who knows what miracles it will bring :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

                            Love,

                     Sister Peterson

Week 57: TRANSFERS, ROYALTY, EXCHANGES, SNAKES, HOUSE ALARMS, AND CONFERENCE!!!! FUN WEEK!!!

Hello!!! So Transfer News First...I AM STAYING ANOTHER TRANSFER WITH SISTER ESPLIN!!!!

Here's my week! Monday our plans fell through..bummer...so we stopped by one of our fav members Sis. Stevenson! We were going to surprise her...but then I got scared so we ran away hahahah then we called her and said "We'll be there in 10 but we

were really outside" hahhahahahah We had a great FHE lesson with her after that...Missionary life... Tuesday we had dinner with an awesome family in our ward! Their daughter left the same day I did and she's serving in Gilbert, Arizona!! Anyway...the dinner was great and the son reminds me of Bo and he found a little kitty in the bushes when he was dirt biking so he brought it home..didn't tell his mom...and named it Fergie. It's really cute but his mom was not too happy hahahahha It was hilarious!! We had another lesson with MaryAnne and we brought one of her friends that's in our ward!! It went great!! She wasn't taught as much as we thought in the past so we'll have to start at the beginning with the Restoration but that's okay because the Restoration is AWESOME!!! Also today William and Kate came to Kelowna!!!!!!!!!!!! The town was buzzing!!! hahah THe STL's saw them drive by and William waved at them!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahhahah This is the closest I'll probably ever get to them so I was really happy!! Also... we were tracting and I put the pass along card in the door....and I SET OFF THE HOUSE ALARM!!!!!! It

LOL!!!!

scared me!!!! hahahha So we went and knocked on the neighbors door hoping they wouldn't think we were robbing the place and stuff..they weren't home...GREAT!! WE CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY...WE'LL LOOK SUSPICIOUS!!! So we called around the ward and finally someone gave us the non-emergency RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) so we called and I said Hi this is Sister Peterson...I'm a missionary here in Kelowna and....yeah...i set off a house alarm as we were knocking...so I made a report and they had to take my number just incase the home owners asked questions...oh my goodness I lost it!!!! hahahhahahah SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday was good...can't remember.....Ah! We saw patricia and she's doing good! She wants another reading calendar for October so that's good that she still wants to read!! Thursday we went on exchanges!!! I went with Sister Steele! We had a ton of fun! We visted a member family and they had a snake...then they were like...we have 2 more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what?!?! I was freaking out!!! SNAKES ARE NOT MY FAVORITE!!! Sister Steele doesn't like them either but she decided it was the perfect time to conquer her fears so she held all 3!!! 2 in her hands and 1 around her neck!!!! OH MY HECK!!!! IT WAS CRAZY!!!!!

Manny the Praying Mantis

Our lesson with them was super good! They are missionary minded and really love the scriptures and they are going to start reading the BOM with us as a mission!! Friday Sister Steele and I had a great lesson with Sandra!! She said SHE KNOWS THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE WORD OF GOD ALONG WITH THE BIBLE!!!! sweet!!!!! Her concerns about Joseph Smith are being resolved little by little and the spirit was super strong in our lesson. I'm learning how to listen more in lessons. I realize that yeah I have things I want to say but I don't have to say it all!! I've been focusing on letting my companions speak and then If I really need to say something then I'll pipe in. i talk to much..especially when it comes to the gospel... that will be a cool change for my family hahahahhaha GET READY!!! :)  They kindly reminded me today that I only have 5 months left.. Anyway My exchange with Sister Steele was super good!! She is amazing!! She talks to everyone and she's so easy to talk to and the way she speaks about the gospel is just so natural! You can tell she really knows it to be true!! We had a Frozen Yogurt miracle too!! So all transfer I've wanted some fro-yo well we had 15 min so we decided to go! Sis. Steele is allergic to sugar so I was filling up my fro-yo cup and she started talking to the girl at the counter about the gospel. SHE WAS LIKE GLUED TO SISTER STEELE...LIKE SO INTERESTED IN WHAT SHE WAS

Sister Sassy Pants LOL

SAYING ABOUT THE GOSPEL AND THE YSA BRANCH!!! It was really cool!! She said she would love to come check it out!! yay!!! When we switched back, Sister Esplin and I went down south and we started walking to a members house and WE ENDED UP WALKING TOO FAR!!! hahah but while we were walking we found a TUMBLEWEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we started singing "home means Nevada...home means the hills!!!" hhahahah it was hilarious!!!  Later Sister Esplin had an allergic reaction because of it...that was a little less hilarious.. Then we had an activity/BBQ at the church called 50's and over! We are like over 50% water so we decided to go and see if there were any non-members and they had a great dinner!!! It was a great night!!! Saturday was of course GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!! IT WAS SO GREAT!!! PRESIDENT UCHTDORF'S TALK JUST ANSWERED ALL MY QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE!!! sweet!!! My favorite talks this day were Uchtdorf, McConkie,Andersen,Yamashita, and Oaks!! TONS OF TALKS ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK!!!!! We were so happy!!!! It was also so touching when Pres. Uchtdorf said "Aren't all our missionaries...handsome, beautiful, precious..." and all sorts of stuff!! it made me tear up!!! I just felt so much love from our

Reminders of Home (Tumbleweed)

leaders like they really understand the struggle and the joys!! Love them!! After Conference we went and contacted a potential and she ended up becoming a new investigator!! We were sitting outside and at first she was like "okay...teach me" and didn't seem to happy but as we taught the restoration her heart softened! She was really drawn to a picture of the Salt Lake Temple!! She is really cool and we're excited to teach her more!! She studies with all religions but she was really happy to learn more about ours!! So that's good!! Transfer calls happened this day too..Sister Esplin and I were expecting a call but then we woke up in the morning and NO CALL So we're staying!! Most everyone in our district is staying!! Sister Ricks is leaving going to Port Moody! It was fun serving with her again! Sunday sessions of Conference were really good too!!  I LOVED all the talks!!! They were super good!!! 

K. Brett Nattress is coming to our mission in December so we all were super excited to hear him speak!! Overall, Conference was good!! No one came :( we invited so many people though!!!! It was a great week and we're super excited to

study conference more and apply it this transfer!!

I think that's all for now :) 

Next week is Canadian Thanksgiving so P-day will be on Tuesday :) 

Love you all,

Sister Peterson

Week 56: Zone Conference, General Conference, Dried Banana Chips... and Other Miracles

This week was GREAT!!! 

Monday night we met with the Bishops...not the Bishop...but the Bishop Family....that's their last name...it's awesome!! We did a little FHE with them and it was fun :) Later we met with our investigator MaryAnne and she is

so AWESOME!!! She knows literally more members than we do and she has been prepared in so many ways!! We talked about how God's blessed her and her family. Her son and his wife are members of our ward! She was more than happy to have us back and teach her the lessons again! We're meeting with her tomorrow!! During the lesson I just had the best feeling and I just felt like I was going to help her get baptized...we'll see what happens!!

Tuesday we jumped in the car with the West Bank Sisters at 7am and drove up to Vernon for Zone Conference!! It was raining but the drive was still beautiful :) The Theme of Zone Conference was Becoming A Convert Ready Missionary and how we need to be ready to teach these people who will be converts!! IT WAS SO GREAT!!! I just love President and Sister Burt :) He said something that just really touched my heart...he said "Don't think for one second that I don't kneel and pray and plead your cause before the Lord every morning" HE'S THE BEST MISSION PRESIDENT EVER!!! He truly cares for each one of his missionary children :) During the Conference we played Preach My Gospel Jeopardy....I HAVEN'T PLAYED A GAME IN A LONG TIME SO MY COMPETITIVE SIDE CAME OUT!!!!! I was so excited and just wanted to win!!! hahahaha I see why the white handbook says don't let games or sports become competitive...I scared the

assistants I think hahahah Elder Asi and Elder Tobias told everyone...watch out for that Sister Peterson...hahahahahahahhah we ended up winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But...of course it's not about that...everyone is a winner when their on the Lord's side....(we may or may not have beat the other teams by 2,000 points)..... Anyway at the end of the conference I had a CRAZY HEADACHE!!! I couldn't even see or lift my head up...probably because I played Jeopardy so hard...So at the end I got to meet with President Burt and have a little interview and he gave me a blessing. Wow...I've never gotten a blessing from President Burt before and it was SO GREAT!!!! I really felt Heavenly Father's love :) I'm so grateful that I get to serve with the Burts!!!! They are seriously the most amazing people ever!!! We didn't get back to Kelowna till 7:30pm so it was a LONG DAY!!!! Wednesday we met with Sandra again with Bro. M!!! IT WAS SO GOOD!! We read the Book of Mormon with her and she said everything she read supports what she believes and she thinks its true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We committed her to pray about it and get that witness from Heavenly Father and we're excited because we know she will get an answer and she will be so excited!!!!! We are still meeting with

Patricia...pray that she will have the strength to stop smoking that way she can be baptized!!!! We had dinner with the Johns a senior couple in this mission from Kaysville, Utah :) they are great!!! Thursday we planned...did some service..taught some member lessons...Friday We tried as hard as we could to find new investigators by dropping by TONS OF POTENTIALS!!!! We were able to stop by a potentials house Louise.. and she had just pulled up as we walked around the corner and she said I just got back from visiting family in chilliwack...if we would have gone any sooner she wouldn't have been home...HEAVENLY FATHER IS SO GOOD!!!! We set up a return appointment for sunday!! Later that night we were wondering what to do so we prayed...I had the CRAZIEST PROMPTING!!! "Dried Banana Chips at Bulk Barn" IN MY MIND I WAS LIKE WHAT IN THE WORLD...GOD JUST TOLD ME TO GO TO BULK BARN AND STAND BY THE DRIED BANANA CHIPS...MY COMPANION IS GOING TO THINK I'M BANANANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO I told her...she was thinking stores too!!! Now..I made a vow to President Burt that I would not go store contacting for the rest of my mission unless I

felt prompted....so I was struggling with this but decided to do it!! So we drive to bulk barn...we walk in...and there is a lady we know Tracy standing in line!! A few weeks ago we got to talking to her...her daughter married a member and we were able to share the book of mormon with her and say a prayer!! I WAS LIKE "SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S TRACY!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sister Esplin had just been thinking about her this week....So I go up and say hello and ask her how she's been!!! She didn't seem too interested but it was AWESOME TO KNOW THAT MY BANANA CHIP PROMPTING WASN'T DUMB IT WAS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we found out where the banana chips were and we took a picture in front of them and we vowed to never delay a silly prompting again...ALSO I FELL IN LOVE WITH BULK BARN....ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE...AND TONS OF IT!!!!!!! We're going back today to buy some stuff :) So that was a really cool experience :) Saturday was walking day as always and we had a great day walking around!!! Then at night was the RELIEF SOCIETY BROADCAST!!!!!!!!! it was so amazing!!!!!!!!!! I loved all the talks and especially Uchtdorfs!!! 4th floor last door...i really needed to hear that!! Also it made our ward think more

about missionary work and in testimony meeting on sunday they all expressed their gratitude for those missionaries that knocked on their door..it definitely helped me realize what a privilege it is to be a missionary :) that's what I had been fasting for yesterday..that I would recongnize what a priveledge it is to be a missionary and what a sacred calling this is...that's pretty cool too :) We were able to meet with Louise on Sunday...she is amazing!!! she used to figure skate for Disney on Ice!!!! SWEET!!!!!! She basically took over our role and asked us "what are YOU expecting from me" and told us what she wanted from us...that's our job!!!!!!!! hahhaha  She committed herself to read the Restoration pamphlet and said she would immerse herself in it all and see if it changes her life....WE WERE DUMBFOUNDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW HEAVENLY FATHER JUST GAVE US A GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is amazing :) This week really helped me to see that Heavenly Father is never too far away. He is always there prompting me...even when it comes by way of banana chips. I know that I have the spirit guiding me each day. I'm grateful for Heavenly Father's impeccable timing :) he is so gracious to

us missionaries and I know he love me. I'm grateful for modern-day prophets and apostles and the leaders of this church that speak to us the words of the Lord and truly inspire us. I received so much revelation from the Women's Broadcast and I can't wait for General Conference next weekend!!! We also get transfer calls this weekend so I expect EVERYONE to be praying that I stay in KELOWNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I'm pretty sure I'll stay :)

Love you all,

Bye for now!

Love Sister Peterson