Week 76: Culture Shock

This week has been an emotional roller coaster! Leaving Kelowna was pretty much the hardest thing EVER!! 

I left my <3 in Kelowna

Monday I went and said goodbye to people and cried!!! Uh...it's the worst! We met with Sandra M. briefly! At the end of our little chat we were leaving and I felt really prompted to give her an Articles of Faith card that has a picture on it that really helped me through this last week in Kelowna. It's called Security Blanket. I just found it in the supplies one day and I love it! Anyway so Sandra is going through some really hard things right now and I just felt like she could use it. I really loved it so I wrote down the name in hopes that I would find that picture again. She really liked it and put it on display in her entry way next to all her Las Vegas pictures hahaha  Tuesday we left for the airport at 5:50am.....SUPER EARLY!! We dropped Sister Hoffman off for her flight and then we went to go get my stuff to check me in..."where's my purse???" Oh my goodness...I left my purse
on the seat of our car which was back at the chapel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 min drive both ways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE ONLY DONE THIS ONCE IN MY LIFE WITH CAMBRIA AND IT WAS SO STRESSFUL!!! SO WE GOT IN THE CAR SUPER FAST AND DROVE OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND THROUGH THE HILLS....FINALLY GOT THE PURSE....AND WE MADE IT BACK TO THE

AIRPORT WITH 50 MIN TILL MY FLIGHT. So I go to check in....the kiosk isn't working....so I had to wait in line and by that time...I missed the 45 min deadline and I couldn't check in...so I MISSED MY FLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told the lady what happened and she ended up giving me another flight for free!!!! IT WAS A MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I ended up waiting in the airport for 3 hours until my flight left!!! I read SO MUCH of the Book of Mormon it was quite wonderful! I talked to some cool people too!! Anyway when I got to Vancouver Sister Tripp and Sister Pitts picked me up and we rocked out to "The Circle of Life" MoTab version on the way to the mission office. Those sisters are crazy!! hahaha They were blasting it with the windows down.. Everyone was like...THESE GIRLS MUST BE BONKERS!!! I met my new companion, Sister Amat, at the mission office and we got to Port Moody later that day!!! IT IS SO BUSY HERE!!!! driving a different car through the streets of Vancouver and the lower mainland was not my favorite part of the day! It's so different here! So many cultures! Especially Chinese and Korean people! It snowed so everyone is driving like crazy because they aren't used to it! Anyway we stopped at DQ for some lunch and I look out the window and behold ....IKEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY HEART WAS SO FULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHH I WAS SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The rest of the week was good!  We don't have a ton of people to teach right now,

so we are doing a lot of finding!!! We taught one investigator this week though Rose and she has been baptized 3 times before in different churches so convincing her of why she needs to baptized again was kind of difficult. She finally said, "Are you saying the ones who baptized me are not qualified???" YES!!!!!!! Your baptisms were great acts of faith and spiritual moments in your life but we need the proper priesthood authority!!!!! IT WAS A GREAT BREAKTHROUGH!! She said that she will pray and ask God if she needs to be baptized for the 4th time!!  Thursday we met with a returning less active Sister Chen and her husband is taking the lessons! They just had a baby and she is SO CUTE!!!! Then we had coordination! This ward just got a new ward mission leader and he is AWESOME!!! So on top of things and he has a degree similar to mine, so he always ties everything that happens in the ward back to social work, family structures, or psychology...IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!! HAHAHAH We all had to go around and introduce ourselves which was awkward because the Elders were there.We try not to tell the Elders things about our lives...it's kind of like

a secret. So it was really awkward, but I learned that one of the Elders that's new to the ward is a Japanese rock star and was on the front of the Japanese Rolling Stones magazine!!!!!!! hahahha I learned that Sister Amat was an accountant back in Malaysia. And I learned that the rest of the people there like basketball hahah Friday was good! IT RAINED ALL DAY!!!!! CRAZY!!! I learned about a condition here called "SAD". It's seasonal depression and a lot of people get it here because it's so gloomy. I'm taking some Vitamin D as soon as I can!!! Basically this is all so new to me...so different! I'm having a hard time understanding people. I thought this young man said he couldn't speak English, so I continued to make a fool of myself trying to communicate, but he actually asked if we knew each other....he then ran away from us....FAIL.  Sister Amat is great though! She is helping me out so much! She's teaching me her Malaysian ways. I've learned how to call a chicken and a pig if you want to feed them. I've learned how to speak some Malay, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and all sorts of stuff! Sister Amat cracks me up! She is still learning English and sometimes she'll mix up words and says the funniest things!!! 

                                

Example: "Today I'm going to teach people to pray in the dark" hahahhahaha

"Wait I mean how to pray when we're on the street!!" hahahahhaha 

Sunday was good! The ward is interesting! They love to take care of missionaries!! I'm so surprised at how much I'm remembering about the area! The Spirit has quickened my mind and I am remembering people's names, addresses, areas, all sorts of stuff! It's really a blessing!! Yesterday was family day and it was so fun! IT WAS SO SUNNY!!!!!!!! SO WARM!!!!!!!!! We talked to so many people about the church, and I felt so successful!!! Today we are going to go to Metro Town which is in Vancouver!!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!! Also we were told this week that WE ARE GOING TO THE TEMPLE NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVEN'T BEEN SINCE I WAS IN THE MTC SO I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all your prayers and continuously praying...I need a lot of help hahahah

I'm loving it here and I'm so excited for this transfer!!!

Love,

Sister Peterson!

Also HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 75: Peterson Tears it up in Port Moody

Welp....I am getting transferred!!

I'm going to Port Moody, BC!!! It's East of Vancouver and Burnaby! To be honest when I first got the call...I was heart broken. I

literally felt so SAD to leave Kelowna!! Sunday was really hard for me! I bore my testimony and I'm not even sure if it was audible....I was a WRECK!! After sacrament I had a receiving line hahaha  People were coming to give me hugs and I was trying my best to write down people's emails through my tears!! I literally have given my heart and soul to Kelowna and I am going to miss it so much! I call Kelowna my "Refiners Fire." I have changed and repented and become so refined since I've been here. It's been SO HARD but SO GOOD at the same time. I have learned to trust Heavenly Father more than anything. I've learned how to use the Atonement appropriately in my life (I know I can always learn more and will!). I've learned that people are soooo different from on another and I've learned what I want in my eternal companion and what I don't want!! Lol I've learned how to help others, how to comfort those that need comfort, and how to recognize the Holy Ghost.....oh my goodness the list goes on. All of these things came about because of trials. They were all tender mercies. I've been promised many times in my life that the

majority of my blessings in life will come as tender mercies. I know that when I think I can't continue, when I think all hope is lost....THE BLESSING COMES. And it really is a tender mercy!!! Ah...Kelowna!! I've learned so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so special to me!!! Anyway.....it's time to move on and I know that there is a really good reason I'm being sent to Port Moody for my last 6 weeks!!! God needs me to do great things! President Burt called me this morning to "pump me up" for transfers Lol He's so in tune with the Spirit!!! He told me "GO TEAR IT UP!!!" He told me that I need to just work so hard and that there are so many miracles awaiting me there!!! NOW I'M EXCITED  HAHAHAHAHA So today is just crazy!! We have so much to get done!!!! I'm kinda stressing out! Staying 6 months in an area makes it hard to pack because you've accumulated tons of stuff!! So I have 3 piles "donate because I never wore it/never will," "send home because it's too heavy," and "to

pack...the bare minimums." I've never been good at packing light....my overnight backpack usually weighs 50 pounds. Hahahaha Today I get to start something called MY PLAN! It was introduced like 2 years ago or something to help missionaries transition from mission to home. It is like little online tutorial things and then you have to make goals for home like scripture study every day, temple attendance, service, school, dating {oh heavens}, and all sorts of things! At the end of the 6 weeks we share "My Plan" with President Burt and he gives us commitments for our LIFE and helps us, so we can stick to the plan that we have set. I'm excited but this is all so surreal. I can't believe this is happening....here I go...I'm going to cry again. TIME FLIES BY SO FAST!!! I am just going to try and make my last weeks here THE BEST EVER!!  I know that I can ENDURE TO THE END and that I will see great things happen in Port Moody!!!!  As for other things that happened this week....IT HAS SNOWED SO MUCH LIKE 2-3 FEET OF SNOW!!! SO CRAZY!! IT'S GOES PAST MY BOOTS SOME TIMES!!! On Tuesday we had

specialized training with President and Sister Burt! I love them so much!! My interview with President was great! He gave me such good advice and dropped some hints about transfers...but I still was holding on that I would stay in Kelowna hahahah We also had Zone Meeting on Friday and I got to sing a musical number! Whenever there's a musical number...I get transferred.....it's like an omen hahahaha Zone Meeting was so good! We learned about teaching about the Doctrine of Christ and how we can incorporate it into our lessons!! Everything we do is centered on Christ and when we focus on his Doctrine (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) OUR LESSONS GO SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! We spend the whole time focusing on teaching them how they can gain that personal relationship with Christ instead of just focused on teaching the facts. I love it! That's the way it was supposed to be the whole time, but we need to be reminded of these things sometimes!! Repetition is important!! Saturday we had lots of things happen!! It snowed a ton so it was really slippery!! We walked out in the morning and our car was cleared off....we could see the foot prints around our car! It was either the Elders or our British friend that lives in our apartment that keeps me updated on Football. Then later that day I shoveled a drive way!!! It was a less active and they weren't home, and their shovel was right there. I've never shoveled a full drive way, so I just decided

Peterson's SuperBowl Sunday Salutation to their Missionary!

to have that experience. MY BACK HURT SO BAD!!! LOL IT WAS SO MUCH FUN THOUGH!!!! Later We were walking down a street and we hear "ahh!!!" We look behind us and this old lady had fallen in the street!!!!! I STARTED RUNNING THROUGH THE SNOW!!! "I'M COMING I'M COMING!!!" We got over to her, and she was so weak she couldn't get herself up. We tried so hard and she kept slipping!! Finally we got her up!! She was shaking like a leaf and she clung to me as we walked across the road! Oh my goodness!! I made sure she wasn't hurting or had anything wrong! She was so sweet!!!! As we were making sure she was okay this man came up to us and asked if we were okay. He saw what ha happened, then he said "YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON THE GIRL SCOUTS!!" HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHA I DIED LAUGHING!!! WE AIN'T GIRL SCOUTS....WE ARE MISSIONARIES!!!!! HAHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAH He said we were girl scouts like 5 times hahahahahhah She did read our tags though, so she knew who we really were!!!! It was such a scary, but sweet moment! I know we were in the right place at the right time!! No one was close to her and she would have been there in the road with no way to get up!! Miracles!! Anyway!!! That was my week :) It was really great! Lots of changes, but I'm ready to embrace them!

Pray for me :)

Love you lots,

Sister Peterson

Week 74: CHANGE

Well I always thought I was someone that enjoys change, but this week I'm second guessing that. On Wednesday we had a worldwide Missionary broadcast where we were invited to attend the Missionary Executive Council meeting held at church

headquarters! It was really cool!!! We learned about the Doctrine of Christ and how each person has their own timeline for their conversion and how we can't force people to have faith or repent just so we can get a baptism. Just for the record, this has been my thought process the whole time. I DO NOT LIKE pushing people into baptism. I like them to make that big decision on their own and I want to make sure they are converted to the gospel first before making that commitment. Second, we learned that there are now changes to the missionary schedule!!! We still arise at 6:20am, but they took companion study from the morning and it's now "as needed" throughout the day, so we have a whole other hour in the morning to get ready and prepare for the day and Plan!! Yup they moved nightly planning from the night obviously to the day now!!! It's so weird!! I feel so unprepared for the day, but I'll get used to it soon! Now we come in at 9pm and write in our journals, pray, and go right to bed! IT'S SO WEIRD!!!! We definitely have to use our agency more! We aren't told exactly what to do anymore! It's up to us and our individual companionship. It's been hard because I've been doing it the same way for who knows how long now and now it's all different!!! CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!

Little Sister Yodi

This week also had a lot of change because we passed off the majority of our investigators to the Elders because they were men and it's easier for them to relate lol. So we have about 1 investigator right now and she's not really that solid....rough. BUT I know the Heavenly Father is going to bless us just like he did when this has happened before!! Monday we continued making our rings!!!! Now they are made!!! We had to melt down our own metal and use a centrifuge thing to make it!!! Today we will polish them to make them pretty!! Wednesday we saw a miracle! A few days before we were tracting on this road and we met a Telus guy going door to door (similar to Cox cable or Charter!) We talked to him about door approaches and what he sees that works best. He was SUPER COOL! HE'S AS OLD AS US AND HE HAS READ THE BIBLE 5 TIMES!!! That was before he was 12 or something! CRAZY!! So we told him about the Book of Mormon and gave him a pamphlet! Well I wrote him down on my little prayer role I have in my planner (everyone I say "i will pray for you" to or anyone that asks us to pray for them I write down!) SO I wrote Brody down and on Wednesday we come in at 9pm and guess who is standing in the lobby of our building....BRODY THE TELUS GUY!!! He

Little Sister McDowell

says "fancy meeting you here!" hahah He asked if we were going to knock the doors of the building like they just did...we said uh...no we actually live here....hahahahah We were able to follow up with him!! It was super cool!! Thursday we had dinner with the Lambs!! They are this awesome family in our ward!! We did a Plan of Salvation game where they have to put together a Plan of Salvation puzzle as fast as they can!! Their son was going on a mini-mission this weekend so we gave him a pamphlet and told him to study it and it will knock the socks off of the Elders he's going with hahah

Friday we met with Bishop at his office!!! IT WAS SO PROFESSIONAL!!! It reminded me of college!! hahah We talked about the ward and how our new focus is to get people to the temple!! Later we got our mini-missionaries!!!!! {Quick reminder: these are high school aged kids} First we had Sister Yodi! She's in the Kelowna 2nd ward, but then we had to switch and we got Sister McDowell for the weekend!!! SHE IS SO FUNNY!!! She was playing pranks the whole weekend! She put syrup in my apple juice....tried to put a mormon.org card in someone's car! Oh my goodness it went on and on! She's so full of energy!! She is so bold too!!!! She has no fear!!!! She was talking at doors and she even defended her testimony to a random guy on the street who was saying we were a

cult and that we were mislead...it was interesting, but she was so strong!!! She also got a door slammed in her face...IT WAS ONE OF THE WORST DOOR SLAMS I'VE EVER HEARD! Sister Limb and her were at the door and I was in the street on the phone and all the sudden I hear "Hi!" SLAMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!! I SWEAR THE EARTH SHOOK WHEN THAT LADY SLAMMED THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! So crazy!! She didn't even shed a tear! She just talked about how she knows that it wasn't anything personal...and it built her testimony!! We had a ton of fun!!! We tried to show her what missionary work is really like, and she said she has a pretty good idea now! Today she goes back to high school and she still has 3 years until she can go on a mission, but I hope this experience was something she will look back on when she is making her decision!! Over the weekend our district leader was calling and giving us the new missionary schedule. He says "6:30 arise, pray, SHAVE....oh wait...you're not elders....uh......oh man....pretend that didn't happen....." hahahahhhhahahahahhahah I COULD NOT CONTAIN MY LAUGHTER!!!! POOR ELDER I WAS LAUGHING

SO HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sunday we went and tracted down in South Kelowna and we found the most amazing view!!! I took a panoramic photo on my camera!!! Hopefully it turned out good!! We had dinner with the Purnells that night and they have a dog Beja that is about to have puppies!!!! We are so excited!!!! They always have their family over and the little kids thought it was so funny to tickle me on my neck during the lesson hahahaha I AM SO TICKLISH!!!! So my companion Sister Limb had to take over while I engaged in a pillow fight and tried to get them to stop tickling me hahahah They are 2 and 4...they won...I ended up on the ground with a blanket over my head and they just thought it was the funniest thing in the world!!! hahahah  Overall this weekend was super good! We had some tough times, some awkward moments, some miracles and some great laughs!!!!!! 

Love you all!! Transfers are coming up so pray that I stay in Kelowna 1 more transfer!!!!!!!!

Sister Peterson

Week 73: :)

If one more person asks me about Trump I'm going to go crazy...I just tell them....I have no idea what's going on down there!!!!...I didn't even know he was sworn in LOL Literally every person we talked to somehow switched our convo from the gospel to

Trump....it was so weird!!! Anyway What happened this week..... Monday we went and continued working on our rings that we're making!! Today we are going to "cast them!" We are putting them in an oven that is SUPER HOT like 7000*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO cool!!!! Later that night on P-day we took a small road trip to this members house...they have the most beautiful view of the lake, the whole town of Kelowna. Oh my goodness! It was dark, but it was still so pretty!! While we were in the lesson they were asking about our lives like always and they said "how long have you been out?" Sister Limb says, "2 weeks" I say "just over a year". For those of you that don't know I'm keeping it a secret from Sister Limb that I only have 1 transfer left. It makes it easier for her because she's new and all that....anyway so after I say that the member says, "Oh that's just what everybody says when they don't want their companion to know how long they've been out or is it like your mission rule to just say that??? How long have you really been out..." I was like NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Somehow we got over that convo and Sister Limb still didn't know lol!!!!  The rest of the week was interesting.

None of our investigators could meet up or wanted to meet up! Bummer!!! We did a lot of finding!  Thursday the sisters came over and we did weekly planning together!! We decided to order a pizza!!! So Sister Nelson and I went downstairs to pay for it and the driver wasn't there...so we waited for like 10 min...we're just in our slippers and socks....then the driver calls and turns out she is WAY OUT ON THE MAIN ROAD AND WAS SEVERELY CONFUSED. So we had to run outside with no jackets! Sister Nelson in her socks and me in my little sock slipper things and get the pizza. HAHAHAHH We looked like crazy people!!! We got the pizza and ran back. We tried to hide it because there are 2 sets of Elders that live in our complex BUTTTTT they could totally see us hahhahahahaha Anyway we eventually made it back and our feet were SO COLD!!!! The pizza was good though :) Friday we had a good day. We had a lesson set up with our investigator 2N (Tune)...yeah interesting! He is friends of one of our members. We had it all set up the member had even made a little cute cracker and cheese tray and.....HE NO SHOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The member was so sad :(
She was so excited, and so we shared with her Alma 26! This is like a mission motto for me: 27: Now when our hearts were

depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. 28: And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world - not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God. 29: And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in thier streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their temples and their synagogues and taught them; and we have been cast out, and mocked, and spit upon,and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again. 30: And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some. 

31: Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? 

I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yeah, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us. She Felt much better after that!!!!!! Saturday was a very weird day....I learned a lot but it definitely wasn't the best day of my life. Sunday was really good! Leslie and her kids couldn't come to church :( but we had a great Sabbath! We were asked to teach Gospel Principles 2 min before class started!! So we just taught the Plan of Salvation!!! We did some great finding and we found a son and his mom that are actually looking for a church to join!!!! MIRACLES!!! For dinner that night we went to the Adams!!! They are the best!! One of their kids (he's 12) is giving a TED TALK!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!! Anyway, so it was their youngest sons birthday dinner and he asked for scones!!! So for dinner we had yummy buttery syrupy goodness!!!!! YUM!!! Later, we stopped by a potential that we had been trying to get in contact with for a while!! The Elders happened to tract into her and gave

us her address! So we stopped by!!! I was praying so hard she would be interested!!! She let us in!!!!! Wasn't creeped out at all that we knew where she lived!!!!  We taught her about the restoration. She believes there are multiple stairways to heaven.. She wants to meet up again to figure out what we believe!!! SO WE GOT 1 NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!! Then we ended our night at another member families house! We taught their kids the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I made my own cut outs where there's a school and then a river and a home and the steps of the Gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and enduring to the end) are the planks to the bridge to get across the water. Well their 8 yr old girl was SUPER SMART and she was saying, "there's not actually a river between earth and heaven or our school and our house." She then continued to tell us how she made a covenant at baptism and how when she was baptized she became an OFFICIAL member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... HAHHAHAHAHAHAH She was just slamming us....telling us our lesson was not realistic hahah They are way too smart for our kid lessons. hahahhaha As

we were leaving they gave us a loaf of homemade bread!!! They won back brownie points with that lol  Overall the week was good! It always is in retrospect! It's tough in the moments and seems unbearable at times but at the end...it always ends up good!!! This week there is a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast!!! There are lots of changes happening in the mission and in all missions throughout the world!! Stay tuned!!!!

Love you,

Sister Peterson

Week 72: It Will All Work Out

Usually stories have the moral or main theme at the end but this week mine is at the beginning..... 

  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart ; and lean not unto thine own understanding .

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths . 

PROVERBS 3:5-6

So this week I learned a ton about trusting in Heavenly Father!!!! Someone asked me what's the biggest thing I've learned. My answer: How to receive personal revelation and How to trust in God. 

Tuesday we met with a few of our former investigators and really tried to figure out if they were ready to progress

again. One of them has so much real intent, but because of some of her daughters poor choices she as the grandma has to take care of her grandson. Because of that she isn't able to come to church or really take lessons consistently. You could tell she believed what we taught, but this is holding her back big time. In the middle of the lesson we were reading the scriptures and her grandson was a little rowdy and he came up and RIPPED PAGES OUT OF SISTER LIMB'S SCRIPTURES......my heart literally ached...,...I felt so bad!!!!!! Oh my goodness...I wanted to cry....Sister Limb was like...oh no don't do that...she is so sweet!!!! We both wanted to cry!!! Our scriptures are so important to us!!! We tried to tape them back together after ward...we'll see if they stay!!! The scriptures we were reading with her was Mosiah 24:10-16....some of you know that those are my favorite verses of all time!!!! We felt really inspired to share those with her to show her that if she trusts in the Lord he will help her bear her burdens!! After we read, She said I've read a lot of passages but none of them ever make sense.....this is the first passage I've read in my life that I understand and can apply to my life....I WAS SO HAPPY RIGHT IN THAT

MOMENT!!! I was happy that I could help her understand the scriptures. That she now had something she could use in her life to help her! I was happy that I had prayed and asked if we should share that scripture or another one. I was happy that Heavenly Father answered my prayer and that he knows our investigator so well that he inspired me to share that with her. Tuesday night we had too many appointments, so we had to do a split with the sisters!!!! Sister Nelson and I went and taught Levi!!! It was a good lesson. We taught the 1st part of Gospel of Jesus Christ about Faith and Repentance! He was telling us about confession in the Catholic church and how it used to be (imagine how it is in movies) and how confession is done now in the church. We told him that we can pray and receive forgiveness straight from The Savior and if we do need to talk to a church leader we can. He seemed unfamiliar with the concept of personal revelation.....it made me really grateful for the knowledge I have
that I can communicate with my Heavenly Father whenever and I can tell him the true feelings of my heart and go

straight to him! We ended our night (wow....looking back this was quite a busy day!!) visiting the Bishop's family!!! Bishop Oliver is the BEST!!!! He loves BYU football....but aside from that he is a great bishop for this ward!!! We brought our name tags and made the kids missionaries!!!! They have such strong testimonies of the Book of Mormon!! it was so cute!!!  Wednesday we met with Wilma! She is friends with one of the ward members, and she invited us over to talk more about the church!!! SWEET!!! We really had to reign in her questions about all sorts of stuff and just tell her that we teach the basics!! By the end she understood that she needed to read the Book of Mormon and see if it's true!!! Later that night we dropped by a member families house and to our surprise they used to be Catholic! We told them about how a lot of our investigators have a Catholic background and they told us how we could best help them! Especially teach them about personal revelation!!! It was definitely inspired!!! Thursday we planned! We spent our day down in South Kelowna and man was it cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My feet were numb the whole time hahahaha We had dinner with one of our favorite members

Sister Stevenson and we were going to ask her to start praying about someone to give her Book of Mormon too and she had already been doing that!!! GOLDEN!!!! Our night plans cancelled...which stinks because it's freezing....people don't like last minute lessons....and we are stuck wondering what we can do with the remaining 2 hours of the night!! So we really had to trust in the Lord!!! So we prayed and got a prompting to visit our friend Marta in the ward! She is blind and we usually read the Book of Mormon to her each month! I just really felt like we needed to visit her. So we went and she said she had been praying that day because she wanted to phone her friend the next day for her birthday, but she had forgotten the number and because she can't see she was unable to look in her address book. She had been praying that someone would help her. We helped her memorize the number, so she could phone her friend in Germany for her birthday!! It was SUCH A LONG NUMBER and she memorized the whole thing again!! I still have it memorized hahaha  It was such a little miracle!!! 

Friday we went on exchanges!!!! I went with Sister Nelson and we had planned a great day the night before
and Friday morning rolled around and something happened and we had to ERASE OUR WHOLE DAY OF PLANS.....once again I needed to learn to trust in Heavenly Father!! So we erased it all and wrote down some
more stuff in a different area and went to work! We followed the Spirit the whole day!! We met some amazing people we wouldn't have met otherwise!! Some guy talked to us on the street and said he has actually been thinking a lot about Jesus Christ lately and wants to learn more about his life....perfect!!!!!! We met some other

people who were less interested, but we were able to clarify some things about what we believe! It was great! Later that night our plans cancelled AGAIN and so we prayed and started walking! We ended up meeting these two guys...Donovan and Nelson...they were like a dynamic duo! We asked them what they were up to! Nelson said "I convinced him that this is the best season to walk and go and buy ice cream because it won't melt on the way home" hahahahahahahhaha They were like those 2 guy friends from a Tuesday night sitcom or something hahahaha Nelson actually knew a lot about the church and had been before!!! He said he met with the Elders and then started saying random facts about our church and missionary work lol it was super funny!!! He wasn't interested anymore, but it definitely made our night!!

Saturday was the Miracle Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL OUR APPOINTMENTS CANCELLED YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We really used the Spirit!! ALL OF OUR SET APPOINTMENTS and MPL'S (member present lessons with investigators) cancelled!!!! Oh my goodness!!! I was like wow...Heavenly Father must really need us to run an errand and be somewhere!! So we tried SO HARD to find the reason!!! We DID!!!!!! Our appointment with Sandra (investigator) cancelled and the reason was so we could be walking past Erin's (less active)  house. She hasn't let us come back in 4 months....we had a prompting to just say Hi!!! She let us in and we were able to rekindle that relationship we had before!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! Karen (a less active) cancelled her lesson and it was so we would stay in an area a little longer and receive a prompting to go visit Cheri (a recent convert) who has been MIA for a while and

she is NEVER home!! We stopped by and SHE WAS THERE!!!!! Because our lesson cancelled we were able to spend some time with her in the scriptures and praying.  Before she didn't want to come to church because she can't take care of her daughter alone, she didn't feel worthy, she hadn't been in a long time....the list went on and on....at the end SHE COMMITTED TO COME TO CHURCH AND SHE CAME ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE (SINCE AUGUST) THAT SHE HAS COME!!!!!!! Everyone was so happy and she was so happy and she really did receive revelation through coming to church!!!! She's coming next week too!!! Then our appointment with Tim (current investigator) cancelled and it was so we could meet with the member that was going to come to the his lesson and she could invite her friend over that has questions and we could make him a new investigator!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED THAT HEAVENLY FATHER HAD A BETTER PLAN!!!!!!! It made for a great day!!!!!! 

Sunday was EVEN BETTER!!!!! Leslie and her kids came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Patricia came too, so we had 4 investigators at church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was sitting next to Leslie and her kids and Cheri our recent convert and all their fellowshippers!!! It was a bench of love!!!!!! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY AT CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE THAT WERE MAKING GREAT CHANGES IN THEIR LIVES BECAUSE OF JESUS CHRIST!!!! I REALLY FELT LIKE I WAS FULFILLING MY PURPOSE AND DOING MY JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Words can't even explain how happy I was yesterday!!!!!! I am just loving my mission so much!!!!!!! It has been such a successful week!!!!!!!

Even though all our appointments fell through and some investigators called and dropped us, dissed the Book of Mormon, told us we were crazy for doing this....in the end it all strengthened my testimony and it turned out to be great!!!!!!! I loved it :) 

Love,
Sister Peterson

Week 71: SUCCESS!!!!!

This week was so good!!!!!!!!!!! We worked so hard and we saw a lot of success!!!!!!! MONDAY WE HAD A SUPER FUN DAY!!! We went to a members' office. He's a denturist, but makes rings as a hobby and we started the process of making our own rings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have a Canada Vancouver Mission seal on it!!!! We had to melt wax and put it into this little

mold and then we had to make the band out of wax and IT TOOK FOREVER BUT IT'S GOING TO LOOK LEGIT!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! It's quite the process!!! I'll send you some pictures!!!!  Tuesday we stopped by the house of this potential named Heidi! She let us right in and the first thing she said was, "I don't really have a religious background." We took that into account and we just started chatting and the Spirit was so strong! Our conversation just turned right into a gospel conversation!! She was asking so many good questions!!!!!!! EVERYTHING JUST FLOWED AS WE TAUGHT THE RESTORATION IT WAS SO COOL!!! When we told her about the First Vision she said, "That's amazing!!! How do we know that actually happened???" PERFECT QUESTION!!!!!!!! We told her about the Book of Mormon and how she can come to know through reading and praying!! It got me thinking WHY WOULDN'T SOMEONE WANT TO KNOW IF SOMETHING LIKE THIS IS TRUE!!! IF GOD CALLED ANOTHER PROPHET...WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO KNOW AND FOLLOW HIM????? IF GOD RESTORED THE SAME POWER AND AUTHORITY CHRIST HAD WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO ACCESS THAT????? It made me so thankful for the knowledge I have of this gospel!! She wants to bring her family to church! She has two step daughters and two little girls of her own!! WE FOUND A FAMILY!!!! SO EXCITING!!! Later that day we taught another lady, Erin, and he

lesson was different. She wasn't super interested and it was harder to teach. She was just not having it....so it was a great teaching moment for Sister Limb!! Now she knows when lessons are Spirit-filled and when the people are prepared and when people aren't prepared to hear the message we have! There is a clear difference!! Wednesday was a crazy day!! We didn't do much proselyting! We had District Meeting and then right after all the Elders came and helped us move!!! Sister Brimhall and Sister Eyanson moved into our apartment and then Sister Limb and I moved into a brand new apartment closer to our area!!! It was crazy!!!! After we got everything moved in I went with Sister Brimahll and Sister Eyanson back to my old apartment ( now their new apartment) to organize some things. The other sisters came about 45 min later...they said we organized the furniture and we started the dish washer for you!! **RED FLAG WENT OFF IN MY HEAD....WE DON'T HAVE ANY DISHWASHER SOAP YET..... I asked did you use dish soap...like dawn???? "YES!!!" I ALMOST DIED AND FELL ON THE FLOOR......I SAID YOU CAN'T USE DISH SOAP IN A DISH WASHER.........I SAID GO BACK NOW!!!!! In my mind I was imagining our new apartment flooded with bubbles...water  seeping through the floor...NIGHTMARE!!!!! I was praying so hard it would be okay!! They got back to the apartment and our kitchen floor was only half covered with bubbles!!!! Whew!!!! They said I was like their mom....but I was so worried!!!!! hahahhahahahh Now we have little dishwashing packs for the dishwasher and all is well. Later that night we were invited over to a Scrabble Party with one of our members. She gave us a heads up that one of her friends that comes asks very deep doctrine questions and that's why she wanted us there. So we went and she gave us dinner while they played scrabble...then the questions started to come....about all sorts of stuff!!!! Temples, our eternal

progression.....All we could think to do was STICK TO THE BASICS!! We basically just taught her the Plan of Salvation!! She said I want to keep playing scrabble but lets meet next week Tuesday at my house! SWEET!!!!!!  Thursday we met with a less active that we ran into while tracting! She is so sweet!! She has THE STRONGEST TESTIMONY!!! She said, "You're probably wondering why I don't come to church?" hahah Then told us all about it. She's had a rough life!! When she bore her testimony to us it was amazing!! We're going to keep working with her to bring her back to the fold!!! Friday we taught a few lessons!! We met with Jenny! When we first started teaching her she didn't have a belief in God...kind of considered her an Atheist. But in our lesson she said she has found a respect for God. She understands why he's there. And she believes God is real!!!!!!! It was really cool!!! She has come a long way!! She even said a prayer at the end of the lesson and it was perfect!!!!!!!! Saturday was a great walking day!!! We live closer to our area now, so we can walk all over!! Sister Limb had her first KinderEgg today!!!!! Yum!!! We got Frozen toys in ours hahaha We had to pick up our member for a lesson, but she got out of class early so we took her tracting hahah She loved it!! We found a potential for the Elders too!!! Then we went to our lesson with Tim!! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he was really close with

his dad who passed away , so he loved the idea of the Spirit World and that his dad is learning this stuff right now too!! At one part we were explaining that without the gospel we wouldn't really know our purpose in life and wouldn't have that example to follow...he said "thank goodness for the restoration then!!" MY FACE WAS BEAMING!!! LIKE A PROUD PARENT!!!!! I WAS SO PROUD OF HIM AND I WAS JUST SO HAPPY!!! HE FINALLY GOT IT!!!!!! THE RESTORATION IS SO IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!! I'M FULFILLING MY PURPOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! Our Sunday was pretty good aside from the fact that our Sunday School lesson was all sorts of awkward and I got sick later in the day :( I get super bad headaches when I go without food and so yesterday I was down for the count!! I tried everything though!! Just like previous times though...Heavenly Father always relieves the pain while I need to work or teach and then when I am sitting down or in the car it comes full blast again!! Blessings!! So I decided to get a Priesthood blessing from The Johns one of the senior couples. I haven't had a blessing in quite a while...I have always been focused on my companions and helping them get better and back to work that I never thought to get one...but I decided it was time!! So I asked for one!! I really needed it! I was assured that God knew of my righteous desires. That he is so proud of the hard work I'm doing!! I needed to hear that! :) Later Sunday night we got a call from the Sisters that they were stranded....they were cleaning the snow off their car and they locked the keys in the car....while it was running!!!! hahahahha They called roadside assistance, but we went and gave them our gloves and they were covered with snow....they had been outside their car for an hour hahahahahahahahahha Everything is going good so far!!! Training is a work in progress but we are working it out!! We are enjoying each day and I am just loving Kelowna!!!!!!  Most of all I just love being a missionary right now :) The Work is going so good! We are seeing progress!!!  I know the Lord is blessing us in so many ways!!! I know this is where I'm supposed to be!!!

Love you,

Sister Peterson :)

Random Facts:

**I haven't drank coke/pepsi in over 2 months now!!!

**Did you know squirrels scream??? We can hear them outside...it sounds like a baby...that's the only logical thing we can think of.....there is nothing else outside our window!!!

the end

Week 70: First Week of Training!!!!!

Where in the world do I begin....MY WEEK WAS CRAZY!!!!!

So because of the Holidays transfers were really messed up!! Sister Gartside didn't end up going to Abbotsford. She got switched to Surrey 3rd, which was my last area!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE SURREY 3RD!!!!!!! So she didn't fly out til Wednesday and then I spent a whole day working with Sister Hoffman and Sister Nelson in their area! Then I

flew out to Vancouver early Thursday morning!! It was just me and another Elder flying from Kelowna and we literally flew on the smallest plan I'VE EVER BEEN ON!!!!!! IT DIDN'T HAVE JETS....IT HAD PROPELLERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So small!!!! hahah We got there okay though! 

When we got to the mission office it was kind of dead because we were the first ones there! President Burt saw me and pulled me into his office!!! I HAVEN'T BEEN IN HIS OFFICE SINCE I CAME OUT...OH MY GOODNESS 15 OR SO MONTHS AGO!!!! He sat me down and gave me all this advice about training a new missionary! Some of it scared me, but most of it just made me super excited!!!! He also told us that we are going to be....MOVING APARTMENTS!!!! I've been in the same area for 6 months, but I've moved about 5 times now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe this is preparing me to move a lot in the future!!!! WHO KNOWS!!! So yes we are moving tomorrow into another apartment and the new Kelowna 1st sisters are moving into our basement suite!!! So mom I will have yet another address for you!!! :) Anyway, as I was leaving his office I looked at the board with all the pictures of the new missionaries and I kind of had a feeling I would be training a certain sister...it was weird...like I knew...but I really had no idea. Anyway, so we had a training meeting on Thursday for just the trainers and we were prepped on how things might go!!! It was SO GOOD!!! It helped me feel a little more comfortable about training!! Then we met all together in a big room and had lunch with the new missionaries!! At this point we still didn't know who our companions were!!! Also President and Sister Burt's kids and grandkids were

there!!!!!!!! They are so adorable!!! I was able to see Sister Steele and Sister Tripp and all my favorite sisters!!!! Ahhh!! It was so exciting!!!! They all took bets on who I would train. Then came the transfer meeting....the moment where we learn who we are going to be training!!! President Burt said....Sister Peterson will you stand.......Sister Peterson serves in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in Kelowna 2nd ward!!! She will be training a sister from Good ole Copperton, Utah......SISTER LIMB!!!!!!!  THAT'S WHO I THOUGHT I WOULD TRAIN AND WHO EVERYONE GUESSED!!!!!!!! We had a LONG meeting about missionary things and then we were shipped off to the airport again! Luckily we rode on a bigger plane this time!!!! The lady we were sitting next too started talking to us and we were able to teach her the Restoration!!!! She is super interested in coming and checking out a church!!! IT WAS A MIRACLE!!!! Her name is Teagan! Ever since we've gotten back we've just been trying to work so hard!! I've been having to slow down and make sure I explain EVERYTHING!!!! I've been reading my journal of when Sister Ricks trained me and trying to remember how I felt as a "greenie". Sister Limb is SO GOOD THOUGH!!! She is so ready to just work hard, and she has such a strong desire to serve!!!  Friday we had a lesson set up for a member to come with us and everything...and

our investigator Tim didn't show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was Sister Limb's first experience with a cancellation...unfortunately they happen a lot...but we didn't give up!! We set up another appointment and we were able to meet with him on Saturday and we brought a different member and it turns out SHE WAS THE PERFECT MEMBER FOR HIM!! She had been through similar experiences and could relate to him. We taught him the Restoration! We had asked him about baptism on his doorstep last week, but Saturday we invited him to be baptized once he came to know this was true he said, "Yes!!! Absolutely!!" That's what I love to hear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He even set his own date!! He said...How about April 2nd?! If I did it on the April 1st God might think it's a joke!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHHAH WE DIED LAUGHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's still pretty far away, but he set that date on his own so we're going with it!! We are really excited!!!! Then that night...NEW YEARS EVE!!!! We had a dinner with one of our members and she brought her friend Nora, so we could teach

her!!!! We taught her the restoration and made her a new investigator!!!!!! After that we had to rush home because all missionaries had to be in by 6pm!!! We can't be out all night partying and talking with the crazy people!!! So we had a quiet evening and weekly planned!!! I tried to make it fun though! We bought sparkling cider and a cheese ball....just like home hahahhahahaha That's something both me and Sister Limb's family like to eat on New Years!!! Church was AWESOME!!!! The talks were so good I felt like I was in general conference!!!!!! We worked really hard after church on Sunday...Sister Limb CRASHED when we went to bed! hahhahah She is such a trooper though!! I am so proud of her for running hard with me!! I have never felt such a urgency to do this work before!! I
LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY SO MUCH!!!!!!! I LOVE BEING A REPRESENTATIVE OF JESUS CHRIST AND SEEING PEOPLE'S LIVES CHANGE!!! I AM SO HAPPY I WAS ABLE TO SPEND EVERY DAY OF 2016
SERVING THE LORD!!! THAT'S SO COOL TO THINK ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 365 DAYS....EACH

MOMENT...EACH DAY....IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD!!!!! Happy New Year everyone!!!! 2017 is going to be great!! I'm excited for the miracles that Heavenly Father has in store for us this transfer!! :) If you guys could!!! Please pray for Sandra our investigator!! that we will be able to meet with her and strengthen her testimony of the Plan of Salvation!! Pray that we'll be able to find some solid new investigators!!! Pray that Levi will come to know the Book of Mormon is true! AND PRAY THAT WE WILL HAVE A BAPTISM SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am trying so hard to do everything the way that Heavenly Father needs me too! Especially now that I'm training!! She copies everything I do which is so funny, but also scary!!! I'm trying to make this transfer so good so that Sister Limb starts out her mission right!! So I could use all the prayers you can muster up!!!

Love you all :)

Sister Peterson

*Pictures from transfer meeting and the new year

**I'll tell you about the Hawaii temple cards....so Sister Steele is from Hawaii so I
would always give her these cards...then it turned into hiding the cards in her journal, jacket, everywhere and it annoyed her so much!!! hahahahahhahaha NOw that sister steele is gone SIster Hoffman has been hiding temple cards and annoying me!!!! hahahah Karma!!!!!!!! Anyway I'm pretty sure I've found about 20 of them so far!!!