Midnight Pearl Background

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Week 69: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

THIS WEEK WAS THE MOST AMAZING WEEK OF MY MISSION!!!!
We have been seeing miracles after miracles as this transfer has come to a close and Christmas has been approaching!!! Last week we got 4 new investigators!! THIS WEEK WE GOT 3 MORE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS
That's one way to take your tree home!
CHRISTMAS AND PEOPLE ARE BUSY!!! God is so good!!!! This week started out super eventful!!! Sister Gartside got SO SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were leaving an appointment and oh my goodness...not good!!!! Poor thing!!! So we drove home super fast (I tried not to make her sick I promise!!) and she was up all night sick :( I tried to help her but there's not much you can do :( So we didn't sleep very much. The next day the Sister Training Leader's came and Sister Steele and I went to District Meeting and went to work!!!! Throughout the day we switched in and out that way we could all work! Sister Steele and I literally had 30 min to go out and work. We prayed and then she said "lets go find a new investigator". Literally 5 min later we we knocked on a door of a street that's been tracted out a bagillion times and he wanted to learn more. As we talked to him we found out that he has had a rough life, but he had turned his life around. As
he was talking I got the prompting to ask him If he's been baptized!!!! I was like man...that's a bold question...but I did it! I asked him and he said yes, but he should probably be baptized again and recommit! HOW PERFECT!!! We told him we prepare people for baptism. We taught him the Restoration and he was so excited to come to church and get baptized!!! IT WAS SUCH A MIRACLE!!! Even though Sister Gartside was sick we still were finding people to teach!!!! Later that night though....I started to feel sick....then THE SICKNESS HIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DESPISE BEING SICK IT'S SO GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!! So I called the nurse, but she told me to still go out so I did....it was really hard but we made it through!!!! We were able to have an awesome lesson with our investigator Levi!!! I prayed the whole time that I would be able to make it through...that I wouldn't get nauseous!!! We talked about the Book of Mormon and gave him more of the background!! He is excited to read and pray! I made it
through the lesson fine!!! but right after...back to being sick!!! Heavenly Father definitely blesses you for doing his work!!! 
Friday CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!!!!!! We set up a lesson with our investigator Leslie! Her and her kids came to the Ward Christmas party last week!!!! We were expecting just to meet with her at the mall in between her Christmas shopping but her and her husband showed up!!! So we taught him and he is interested so we got ANOTHER NEW INVESTIGATOR!!! SURPRISE!!!!!! We asked them in the lesson if they would be baptized and they looked at each other and said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their whole family is going to be changed because of this gospel!!! They are going to be so much happier and closer with Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!!!! SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY FOR THEM!!!!! After we had to rush to the store and grab a rotisserie chicken....because we forgot...and we were having a nice Christmas dinner with the YSA sisters!!! It was
so cute!! Sister Steele used a white sheet (clean I'm assuming) as our tablecloth and laid out little place settings for all of us!! We had chicken, stuffing, potatoes, yams, veggies, cider....quite the meal!!!  
After we were walking around downtown talking to people, and we had been invited to a party at a member's house...we didn't want to go because...we probably wouldn't be very effective...but we prayed about it and we felt really good about going...weird...but okay lets do it!! So we went and MaryAnne our investigator was there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE HADN'T SEEN HER IN ABOUT A MONTH!!! That was a miracle!! Then we talked with these two non-members for about 45 min about missionary work, the light the world video, the church
and all that jazz!!! Really a miracle!!!! So good!!! 
Saturday.....CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went on a random Blitz with the sisters, they felt prompted to go so we went!!! I went with Sister Steele and we were walking and talking and I said Hey there's a potential there....lets go knock it!! So we did and the lady opened the door and we got to talking!! She said she was weary of the Book of Mormon and she said, "Well if the Book of Mormon is true then I'll stand before God and say whoops missed that one!!!" We told her she could find out if it's true on her own!! No pressure we would just come teach her and she could read and pray and ask God. We taught her the Restoration and just like that .....WE GOT AN OTHER NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 for the week!!!!!!! MIRACLES!!!!!!!! Turns out she works at an old folks home too, so I asked if we could come caroling and she said they would love that!!! Yay!!!! Sister Steele and I also found a potential named Utah...we had a great laugh about that one!!! For
My Christmas Card from Gram!
Christmas Eve dinner we went to the Vaski's house!!! They do seafood appetizers for Christmas eve....IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! I FINALLY TRIED SCALLOPS!!!!!!!!!!! Yum!!!! They are such a sweet family!!! They took really good care of us :) After eating there we went and spent Christmas Eve with Sister Stevenson!!! She got baptized on Christmas Eve 20 something years ago so we celebrated with her!!!! 
Christmas day was so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We woke up and FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!!! We've been reading it for 4-5 months now and we finished it Christmas day!!! I just flipped through the pages at all the red markings where Jesus is mentioned and the doctrine I had highlighted and just knew it was true!!! :) After that we opened our gifts!!! My family is so sweet!! They sent me all my favorite things!!!! It was like I was just at home!!! :) I love them so much!!!  Our church service was amazing because we had a General Authority come!!!! Elder DeFeo! His brother is in our Stake Presidency!! It was a sacrament meeting with
tons of musical numbers and then the General Authority spoke to us! I got to sing in a choir for one song!! So good!!! 
After we walked around the streets and talked to people! We went and caroled at Lisa's old folks home!!
THEN WE GOT TO SKYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My family is so wonderful!!! Even though my sSkype shut off 2 times they still stayed on to talk to me hahahahahhh Then in the middle of it....MY  NEIGHBOR....MY BEST FRIEND SINCE THE WOMB....KAILEY CAME OVER TO SEE IF WE HAD A EGG SHE COULD BORROW....IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SKYPE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!PERFECT TIMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!hahah It was such a good surprise!!!! LOVE YOU MAJEWSKI'S!!!!! After we had to rush to our dinner!!!! We had dinner with a lady in our ward that doesn't have much family!! She did so much for us and got us presents!!! Very humbling....I love her a lot!! She gave us so many leftovers though...oh my goodness too much!!! On the way home, I saw all of the homeless people outside and I felt like I should give our leftovers to them...so as I was driving I was on the look out!! I saw one man huddled down and I knew I needed to talk to him. So I pulled over...my companion was a little scared of why I was going to talk to a homeless man in a dark
area and scary area in town haha I said "Hey! Have you had supper yet???" He said "no I haven't." I said well here we have some for you!!! I gave him the whole thing!!!! We even happened to have an extra wrapped fork in the car from take out a few weeks ago....it was perfect!!! His name is Clinton!! We talked to him about the Gospel and what we do as missionaries!! He was just so happy to have some food :) I WAS SO HAPPY TOO!!! I've never really done anything like that before.....I'm not telling you this to seem like "look what I did" but I'm telling you because in that moment I TRULY FELT THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS....I literally felt so good!!!! So spiritual, so charitable, so christ-like, so filled with joy!!! Clinton was so happy and I know that he appreciated it!! I will never forget that :) His bright smile as we simply shared with him what we had to share and the message of Jesus Christ. 
This has been such a memorable Christmas :) One of the best yet! I hope you all had a great Christmas!!

Please enjoy our Mission Christmas Poem:
With clouds over head, a storm in the night. we beg and we plead for the moon to shine bright. 
To lighten our path, to show us the way, all we can think is to love serve, and obey.
Through mountains of snow, and showers of rain,
we sometime must climb for our personal gain.
if we pray and we ask we are promised his love.
His heavenly guidance, from a world up above.
Fully seeking the truth, we know he'll respond. no moon has appeared,
I guess we'll pray on. we try and we try but nothing appears,
frustration and doubt often lead us to tears.
we come in at night on our knees, in our room, when a new star appears,
 "but god, where's the moon? you promise you'd give 
what we asked in his name, am I the one lacking, or
 is my faith to blame"?
"my child, you know not what you asketh of me.
for with the light of the moon for a time you would see.
If you follow my star, this new light will shine,
forever and ever, no matter the time.
sometime when you ask your desire is pure but wait for my answer, i knoweth the cure.
The light of the world, he's the one who can heal, so keep pressing forward, his atonement is real.
Remember this star , it shone bright in the sky.  when the savior was born for all of mankind.
He is there as your guide, the light for your path, follow him home, and you'll receive all that I have" 
by Elder Lieber

Love you and Happy New Year!!!!
2017 is going to be a great one :)
Love,
Sister Peterson :)

Monday, December 19, 2016

Week 68: 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!

Well this week was pretty fantastic!!!!! Monday was rough! We had to wait in line at the post office.......TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took about an hour total and it was horrific!!!!!! Hopefully my family likes their presents though:) Tuesday we had such a big miracle!!! We were at a member visit and we were talking to her about how she shares the gospel and she said she just tries to be a good example. Then she said she had some cookies for us from a market she goes too and the baker there is just so sweet and always comes out and gives her a hug!! He's one of the people that notices her great example!! She said his name and we were like....THAT'S OUR NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cool!!!!!! Wednesday we had Zone meeting!! It was really good!! We were trained on how we can "boil" like Jeffrey R. Holland wants us to so we have this little activity now and we set a goal for just about anything and then write specific steps to help us meet that goal. Then we take one step and break that down into another 206-212 chart...it's super inspired and we've been using it with our transfer goals and it's working. We are way more dedicated to them and we have a clear plan on how to achieve it.
GOAL
212*
211*
210*
209*
208*
207*
206* WE ARE HERE
We had a great lesson with Sandra on Thursday!! We invited her to be baptized! She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either!! She's still in the process of researching and finding things out and she had a very spiritual experience with her baptism before so I can understand why it would be hard for her. We're going to keep working on it! She is so good though! She said she met
President and Sister Burt and Elder Nattress at the airport last week when she was working and they recognized her!!!!! It was so cool!!! I just love them!!! She said they are amazing people :) I agree!!! 
Thursday we had lesson after lesson after lesson!! We had a lesson scheduled with a potential Levi that we met last week, but we couldn't find a member to come with us (we can't meet with males alone...we have to have another female with us) We called through everyone on our list!!!! No one could come...we were like okay maybe he will cancel??? We know God has a greater plan!! hahah So we went to our dinner appointment with the Lemoines! Brenda is a recent convert and we told her about our dilemma...she said we can't let someone not hear about the gospel, so she made us eat fast and then we were out the door to the lesson!!! It was so cool to see her and her husband bear their testimonies to Levi!!! He is very involved in the Catholic church but has a strong desire to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We set up an appointment for next week at the Lemoines house!!! We're so excited!!!!! Then in Ward Council on Sunday we were asking who has a background in the Catholic church and a member of the Stake Presidency said he did and he would love to come. Then he said and my brother is coming for Christmas he's a General Authority, a member of the 70, we can see if he would want to come to the lesson too. WHAT????????? THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's probably super busy, but it's a cool
idea!!!! Basically Levi's lesson is going to be great no matter what!!! 
Friday we had lots of lessons too and we taught a bunch of little kids about the Plan of Salvation! One of the little kids isn't a member and she asked us "Who are God's parents???" "Do we have a Heavenly Mother or does God have a wife??" THIS CHILD IS SUCH A DEEP THINKER!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha She's only 9!!!!!! Saturday was lots of fun!!! It's been around -10 to -20 the last week so we've been freezing, especially me!!! My limbs go numb within a couple minutes hahahaha but that doesn't stop me!!! We walked and talked all day and got a few good potentials that said we could come back!! Saturday night was our Ward Christmas Party and Leslie and her kids came!! Their the family I met on the bus back in November!!!! MIRACLE CONTACT!!!!!!!! We gave them a church tour before the party and taught them the Restoration!! They loved it!! They also loved the party!!! Everyone was so friendly and we had a lot of fun!!! The kids liked it and Leslie said they really like the atmosphere and are so excited to come to church and stuff!!! YAY!!!!! So with that family we got 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunday was good!! We had a great Sacrament meeting and we had lots of meetings to attend!! I didn't feel too great all day. Felt really dizzy and light headed!! We had to teach Relief Society...I barely remember it hahahahha I took a 10 min nap when we got home and then just pushed through the night. Heavenly Father definitely helped me! I didn't feel sick while we were out, but as soon as we got back in I started to feel woozy and get my headache again! Tender Mercy!!! We taught an awesome family Sunday night!!! We read with them the Christmas
Story in Luke 2! One of the kids said "an angel is someone with a light bulb in them...wearing a white dress" hahahhahahhahhaha I died!!! 
Then I let them borrow my scriptures! I said I got these when I was baptized they're really old so be careful with them. Then the same little kid that made the angel comment gave them back to me after we were done reading and said "here's your scriptures that you got when you were baptized that are old and can turn into dust any second." THIS KID CRACKS ME UP!!!! He's only like 7 hahahahahaha Overall it was a great week!!! We are seeing miracles as we exercise our faith!!! I am super excited to Skype my family on Sunday!!!!!!! Yay!!!! This is my last Skype call on my mission!!! Crazy!!!! We also get transfer calls on Christmas Eve so stay tuned for that!! I could stay...I could go!!! Who knows!!!!
Love you all
Love,
Sister Peterson

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Week 67: Zone Conference, Creche, & Snow!

This week was GREAT!!!
At the beginning of the week we helped set up for Creche which is a huge Nativity display this ward does every year!! They have hundreds of Nativities! We set up a table and let me tell you IT'S HARD!!!! Rearranging the table cloth, the stands, and
the nativity pieces! Gee wiz!!! It turned out really pretty though! We had a great lesson with Sandra! One of our favorite members Sister Purnell came with us! She did a really good job at explaining the deep doctrine of the Plan of Salvation really simply and guess what....SANDRA NOW BELIEVES THE PLAN OF SALVATION UP TILL KINGDOMS OF GLORY!!!! We're still working on that :) She is progressing really well!! She asked me after I bore my testimony about God's plan for us, "So you know this 100%?" I said "Yes!" There was no doubts in my mind.The Spirit was so strong in that moment and confirmed to me again that I DID know this was true and that it really is God's plan for us!  Sister Burt called and asked if a few missionaries would sing at our Zone Conference with Elder K. Brett Nattress a member of the seventy. Of course I said YES!!!! We had 1 practice on Tuesday...just 1...crazy...what were we thinking singing for a general authority and we only get 1 practice!!! hahah It turned out really good! We Sang The First Noel :)  Wednesday was Zone Conference! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! ONE OF THE BEST ZONE CONFERENCES I'VE BEEN
TOO!!!!!! I received so much personal revelation. One of my questions was, how can I make the last 3 months of my mission GOLD!?!? How can they just be filled with blessings and hard work and dedication! It was definitely answered! Elder Nattress is such a great man!!! He is just so relaxed and funny and has such a great spirit with him! When it was my turn to go up and shake his hand he asked about me and you could tell he has a strong love for all missionaries! His training was all about the Savior. He asked three great questions: 1) 
What think ye of Christ? 2) When did you know? {that christ was your savior} 3) When did you know that you know? I LOVED his training so much!!! That was another one of my questions. How can I strengthen my relationship with Jesus Christ and understand the atonement more!  I could go on for days about this zone conference...IT WAS SO GOOD!!! Thursday we helped a member and her roommate who's one of our investigators move! It was quite fun :) They were just moving down the hall, so we would just load up a shopping cart wheel it down the hall and unload hahah We looked silly but it was fun!! Later we went and
hung out at the Creche the nativity display at the church! It's a community event, so there are lots of non-members that come. We just went up to everyone and introduced ourselves. Sister Gartside was able to have a great conversation with one lady who is searching for a church. It was really successful! 
Friday IT SNOWED LIKE CRAZY AND IT'S BEEN SNOWING EVER SINCE!!!! The city did a bad job with the roads and so it was so bad!!! Sister Gartside doesn't drive, so I'm the designated driver...SO HERE I AM....A LAS VEGAS GIRL...DRIVING A BRAND NEW 2016 ROGUE....IN 1 FOOT OF SNOW....NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!! hahah But I've been doing good! I'm learning all the tips and tricks. I'm also learning not to walk to people's driveways because it compacts the snow and makes it hard to scrap off...so we've been shovelling our way down to our car each morning and up the driveway each night :) I really don't understand why anyone would subject themselves to this....and this isn't even bad!!! The people on the other side of Canada are getting it worse!!! Saturday was walking day...so we dressed up like Eskimos and started stomping snow!!! One of the houses we knocked the mom opened the door and came out to talk to us. Her 4 yr. old son opened it and said
"guys stop talking..." shuts the door "guys seriously stop talking" hahahhaha it was so funny!!!!!!!!!!! We went on a blitz with the sisters. Sister Hoffman and I found a really solid potential named Ash! He and his family just moved here and they're looking for a church!!! We can't wait to teach them!!! 
After the blitz, we found out Sister Gartside and Sister Steele got kicked out of the mall for proselyting, so now we can't go in there except to shop :( so sad!!!!!!!!! They have been stalking us on the cameras for weeks now.....oh man!!! Sister Gartside and I drove to our next area and we realized...Sister Hoffman still had our phone...and we had no way to contact them... hahahah WHY DO WE RELY ON OUR PHONES FOR EVERYTHING!!! So we knocked on a members door...no luck...not home...so we walked through the snow down the street to another members home and she invited us in allowed us to use the phone and made us some hot cocoa! We've been trying to meet with this particular member SINCE I GOT HERE, so it was a miracle!!! We eventually got our phone back hahha crazy. Later we were walking downtown and we met person after person that was interested in the gospel and meeting up! It was so cool!! We handed out so many pamphlets and we met  really cool
guy named Levi (leh-vi) not (lee-vi) he was really interested in the fact that we believe in a modern day prophet!!! Really cool! 
Sunday was good! We had great talks at church from the high council (makes me excited to come home and hear my dad's talks now :) hahah) All our appointments cancelled after church....I was so shocked and disappointed and I immediately went in the room and started praying. President Burt challenged us at Zone Conference to have mighty prayers and boy did I have a mighty prayer!!! I pleaded with God to bless us with people to teach and that while we were out at night walking around in the snow that someone would be outside that we could talk to....well just like always he blesses us. It seems hard in that moment. We think "I can't do that I'll freeze or I'm not capable" but all we have to do is put our snow boots on or our big boy pants and JUST DO IT {quoting Mosiah 4:10...not Nike} It turned out to be a great night! We met a lady that has met missionaries before and she is so appreciative of what we do. She offered to show us around her business and meet with us tomorrow. It was a tender mercy :) Overall things are going good...just praying for those miracles to happen each day! We have to work for them!!! It's so hard to just get over the natural
man and do it, but when you're focus is on Christ and helping others to come to know him you just do it because you know it will help them so much!! 
This mission is so great!!!! One thing Elder Nattress said is that our missions are preparing us for our future families. I know that's true!! I'm going through all these trials so I can know how to help my family in the future. It's hard but I know there will be tons of blessings to come from doing the will of the Lord and letting him shape me into who I need to be.
Do the Lord's will....JUST DO IT!!! 
(Mosiah 4:10)

Love you all,
Sister Peterson

Monday, December 5, 2016

Week 66: Tender Mercies!!!!!!

Well...this week was full of Tender Mercies from Heavenly Father!!!!
Monday after we emailed we went to Walmart per usual to shop! All the check out lines were super long and there were only a
Sister Steele
few open (typical walmart) so I found one that was super short and I booked it!!!! The lady behind the till started smiling at me!! It took me a split second, but I realized it was Leslie from the bus last week!!! The One who knew a girl from Quesnel...you can look up the rest of the story...anyway she was like YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!! She said this is no coincidence!!!!!!! 
TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cool!! So we got to chat with her and invite her to all the Christmas activities happening at the church!!! She said she was looking for a church for her daughter and is really excited to check out ours!!! Tuesday our plans didn't work out very well, so we did a lot of spirit finding and just trying to figure out where Heavenly Father needed us! We rode the bus for a little bit because it's free till the end of November!! WE SAW SO MANY MIRACLES!!! We got on and this lady was just chatting it up and everyone on the bus could hear us talking about the gospel!!! hahah then the bus stopped to switch drivers and it was us and one other lady left on the bus...we started talking to her and she said "I'm less active. I was baptized in 2005 in
Sister Gartside
Hong Kong!!!!!!!!" WHAT?!? So cool!!! That definitely isn't chance people!! 
TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were able to testify of what church can do for her and invite her to the Christmas Devotional this weekend!! So cool!!! Then the bus started going again and it stopped and ANOTHER LESS ACTIVE got on the bus!! I recognized her and luckily I had a seat open next to me! We started talking and she said she really wants to get involved with Church again! Her 4 yr old loves Primary and she wants to come to activities!!! PERFECT!!! So we got her number and wahbam!!!! TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so fun!!!
Wednesday we had a super good District Meeting. I love my district! Everyone just has such a strong desire to do this work that the spirit in our meetings is electric!!! After District Meeting we went on exchanges!! I got to go with Sister Steele and we covered Kelowna 2nd area!! I miss that girl!!! Oh man...last transfer was GOLDEN!!! So much fun and so many miracles!!! I miss Sister Steele and Sister Hoffman!!! It was great to work with Sister Steele again! We had a great day and we went on the buses again..it's free why not...right? So we got on and had some super good conversations and then {just like the day before} the bus stopped for a driver change and it was just us and one lady...we started talking and she said "yeah about 2 years ago I was all ready to be baptized with my daughter, but then we got scared and it didn't go through." WHAT?!?!? We asked her what she was scared of and she
said she didn't know. I asked her if she still knew it was all true...the Restoration...the Book of Mormon...she said Absolutely! TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully we'll meet up with her in the New Year!! She was too busy right now! While I was talking to this lady......Judy......Shona and Rimpy got on the bus!! That's the YSA Sisters' investigators from India!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so happy........we were so loud hahaahhaha But it started a group conversation
and even the bus driver was asking us where we were from and all that!! Once they got off we still had a ways to go and another girl got on named Tristan! I started talking to her, and she said that she needed to make more friends...good friends. I invited her out to YSA branch and she said she would love to come before I knew it....we were AT OUR STOP....oh no....I frantically said "We have to get off here!!!" She said "Oh no!!" I asked for her number and she gave it to me so fast like as I was running off the bus!!!!!" We called it afterwards and it went 'beep.beep.beep' like it was the wrong number :( I WAS LIK.....NOOOO......THIS CAN'T BE....I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! So I texted her and she texted us back 20 min later!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Thursday was fun. We had an appointment down South with a potential and he wasn't home, so we decided to go visit one of our members that lives down there in the middle of no where. We start driving through all the orchards and vineyards...it's pitch black...MY GPS
LOSES THE SIGNAL....we were like oh no....So we got a little lost hahahahhahah, but good thing I know how to read a regular map!!!! hahahh We were a little late, but got there okay and didn't hit any deer  :) success!!!!
TENDER MERCY HAHAHAH Friday...GUESS WHAT....IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!! The first Snow Fall :) IT WAS SO COLD!!! All the people from Eastern Canada are laughing at me, but I don't care!!! It's way to cold!!! It's only low 30's hahahaha, but tomorrow it's going to be -12*c which is about 5*F. burr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to buy me some Long Johns today!!!! Let's be honest maybe 4 pairs!!!! Saturday we met with Robinette SHE'S BACK!!!! Yay!!! I've missed her! She's one of the best recent converts ever!!! We did a lot of walking and actually forgot about lunch and realized about 4:30 that we should probably eat something!!! Luckily, the Nicsners our Landlords were having a dinner party and invited us to come!! Everyone there was from different countries, so we had some African food, Hungarian, Filipino, Australian...all sorts!! It was so good!!! After our plans fell through, but we felt super prompted to go downtown, so we did and we saw one of our Investigators walk out of a restaurant. At first we didn't recognize her, and we complemented her friends boots...then I said Wait hold on! You're blah blah blah!! She said yeah!! I thought you were familiar!!!! IT WAS SO COOL!! We haven't been able to meet with her again since October and it was SUCH A GOOD LESSON, so this really was a.......wait for it.......TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Also I learned about a Newfoundland Christmas tradition called Mummers......it's kind of weird...look it up...it's like caroling ghosts...hahah 
Oh Canada....you can learn about Mummers/Mummering here --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlEduy-2Mlc
Sunday was great!! Really good testimonies were shared from our ward!!!  I LOVE KELOWNA SO MUCH!!!!!!!!! After church we had a Linger Longer, and then we watched the Christmas Devotional! Our investigator Joan was there!! It was a good broadcast! I just love our church :) Things are going really good :)  We are praying so hard to find some new investigators, so we can keep teaching and keep this process rolling along!! We could really use your prayers :)

Love you all & Have a great week!!!
Love,
Sister Peterson

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Week 65: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I don't have much time so here are the highlights from this week :) We had an awesome lesson with Sandra and she said she FOR SURE HAD A SPIRITUAL WITNESS THAT THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE WORD OF GOD!!!!!
YAYAYAYAYAYYA!!!!! She is now working on the Plan of Salvation and trying to study that out :) We had an amazing District Meeting on Wednesday!! Everyone in our district is just fired up and we're so ready to baptize Kelowna!!! We made some great goals for our transfer and as a zone we are NOT TOUCHING OUR CAR ON SATURDAY... we are walking all day!!!! So we started planning that way we can get members to drive us around! It's a little harder for us because we live 4 miles out of our area and everyone else lives in their area...so it was tricky! Thanksgiving on Thursday was....well...not like home hahahahha We found a place called WrapZone that makes a thanksgiving dinner wrap....so we got those and then we went and bought a pumpkin pie and apple cider and we were parked far away so we walked back through town and ate it in the car hahahahhaha Well when we got home we wanted some cold apple cider so I put it in the freezer till after planning...well planning went a little long...we got a little tired...and we FORGOT ABOUT THE CIDER!!! I remember waking up and hearing weird sounds from the fridge but didn't think anything of
it....then in the morning during my prayer...I remembered it....I KNEW WHAT HAPPENED....I slowly opened the freezer and BAM....THERE WAS MY PERFECTLY GOOD APPLE CIDER BLOWN TO PIECES AND FROZEN TO ALL THE WALLS OF THE FREEZER!!!!!!!!! My heart ached!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE APPLE CIDER AND IT'S SOOOOOO EXPENSIVE HERE!!!!! Oh my goodness. We had apartment inspections that day too, so we had to clean it all up and it was such a sticky mess!!!! Happy Thanksgiving :) 
Saturday was our WALKING DAY!!! We had to pack everything with us!!! My bag weighed so much!!!! It was also rainy and cold, so we had to take the umbrella...rain jacket... all of that!!! WE WERE SUPER PREPARED!! The Johns the senior couple picked us up in the morning because all the members were at a craft activity at the church (super saturday) So we got dropped off and we walked...and walked...and walked....and walked {you sang that didn't you? ;) } it was A REALLY GOOD DAY!!! We
talked to so many people!!! We had 2 miracles this day :) 1
) We were eating at a little cafe place and the lady next to me was eating sushi, so I asked her if it was good. We got to talking about Kelowna, and she said she met missionaries in West Bank and they gave her a Book of Mormon and she even went to church!!!!!! I was able to teach her The Restoration and she said she would want to meet up with missionaries again!!!! She said "I'm really glad you are outgoing and asked me about my sushi!!" hahah ME TOO!!!! Really cool!!! 2) So there was a bus strike for 2 1/2 weeks so the buses are up and running and free for the rest of the month!!! So we decided it would be good to try out some bus contacting for a change. I get on the bus and I sit down and THERE IS NO ONE AROUND ME...I WAS LIKE SISTER PETERSON WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU CHOOSE THIS SEAT....WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!! hahahh 5 min into the ride...this mom and her two kids come up from the back of the bus and sit in front of me....TENDER MERCY!!!!!!!! So I started talking to them and she said she was from Alberta...that led into Mormons....and then she said, "Yeah my friend just got baptized up in Quesnel her name is so and so." That triggered something....a story that Sister Hoffman had told me a while ago about her companion who's brother married a recent convert in Quesnel. I asked do you know her last name now? I said the name and she said THAT'S HER!!!!!!!!!!!!! No way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE HOLY GHOST TOTALLY HELPED ME WITH THAT ONE!!!! I have never met this Sister Missionary that served here and I heard that story for like 5 min....it was so cool!!!! Anyway I asked her...Do you want to meet up and see why she chose to get
baptized??? She said YES I DO AND HER KIDS SAID YES TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I got their number and names just before they got off the bus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS IN AWE AND SHOCKED AFTER!!! THAT'S CRAZY!!!! The world is so small!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway :) 
Those are my miracles this week :) Oh wait one more!! A member family invited us for dinner yesterday and it was AMERICAN THANKSGIVING WITH THEIR WHOLE FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tender mercy :)  I love my family so much and I miss them tons!!! I'm so grateful for the family I was brought up in and for the things I was taught so that I can be here in BC teaching people the gospel!!! It's amazing and I'm so grateful :) Hope you all had a great week :)

Love
Sister Peterson