Week 64: New Transfer and It's Getting Cold!!!!!

Well...I'm going to be honest this week was a little less exciting then last week's Roadtrip and Elder Holland! BUT IT WAS STILL SO GOOD!!! KELOWNA IS GETTING SOOOOOOO COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRRRR!!!! We are breaking out the winter coats, jackets, scarves, boots, mittens, ear muffs...ANYTHING IN ORDER TO STAY WARM!!! They say it gets to -10 here so we'll see if i survive the winter!! If you don't hear from me next week I either died in the cold or they changed our P-day again...

Monday was CRAZY!!! I had to run to the doctor...then we had to clean the car and apartment...I had to pack...I got sick....oh my goodness!!! CRAZINESS!!!  Tuesday we dropped all my stuff off at the Kelowna 2nd apartment...I'M MOVING BACK!!! It was weird!! I haven't been in that apartment in so long!! We then went and dropped Sister Amat off at the airport! Her bags were WAY HEAVY!!! Even her carry on, but the lady must have felt the spirit of God or something and she said she would check it for free this time!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! Then Sister Steele and I went and contacted at the University of British Columbia Okanagan campus!!! aka... UBCO it was SO FUN!!! It made me miss college ;) crazy to hear me say that but school was so much fun!!  Anyway..this was our last day as companions! I miss Sister Steele and Sister Hoffman so much!!!!! They really changed my mission and taught me a ton!! I love them so much!!! Then at 4ish we picked up Sister Gartside and the other new Sister from the airport and off we went into the new transfer :) Sister Gartside is from Maryland, and she has been out for 7 months! She is super sweet and loves doing dishes...hahah so i think we'll do fine!!! haha She works so hard and we are ready for a great transfer!! We FINALLY met with MaryAnne this week and taught her the Plan of Salvation!! It was so good!! We drew it out and it really started to make sense to her! She asked us...if it's so simple why do we complicate the plan??? GREAT QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It really is just so simple!!! We met with Patricia again and taught her the Restoration. She really has a strong testimony of it! We had a lesson with a lady, Laura, on Friday at Starbucks! She's a yoga instructor and she is curious about what everyone thinks of God. She really just wanted to know "Mormonism in a nut-shell" and wasn't really interested in learning much further, so that was kind of a bummer but at least she has heard the truth now!! Friday we walked around a ton!! It was so cold and dark!!! It starts getting dark here around 3:45 so we really have to make the best use of time during the daylight hours...as my dad always says when us kids are running late  "come on we're burning day light!" hahhaha Saturday we walked a ton too and just tried to be seen! We have really great investigators, but we need to build up our teaching pool more so that we never run out!! I made it a goal to just talk to everyone I could and not pass judgement because everyone needs the gospel! That's something Elder Holland taught us about. We never know who is ready and EVERYONE needs it. It was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I did it and we found so many that had family members that were Mormon...knew members...were curious about God's plan for us! It was super cool :) Definitely gained a testimony of that! Saturday night we went to Marta's house she's a lady in our ward who is blind! She is so wonderful! I just feel the Spirit everytime I see her! She made us Sauerkraut...{spelling might be off} but she's from Germany and IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved it!!! Sunday was church and it was pretty good! Patricia didn't show  :( but we had a great day. Sister Gartside got to meet the ward and everyone is super excited to have their Kelowna 2nd sisters back FULL TIME!!!  We had dinner with a family in our ward who has a daughter out on a mission and we came out at the same time. She's in the Gilbert, Arizona mission! She asked "what should I send her for  Christmas?" I SAID IF SHE'S LIKE ME DO NOT SEND HER STUFF THAT SHE HAS TO PACK AROUND...it's too close now and we are wanting to get rid of stuff not accumulate more!!" We talked about how her mission is going and Elder Holland visited her daughters mission too!! So fun!!! I can't believe it's almost Christmas time!! Canadians already had Thanksgiving so everyone has their lights up already and their tree!!! I'm excited for this transfer! It's going to be different not as hectic but still fun :) Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving :) Eat some real American food for me!!!

Love,

Sister Peterson

NO PICTURES THIS WEEK! SORRY GUYS!

Week 63: The Week I Got to Meet Jeffrey R. Holland an Apostle of the Lord :)

OKAY MY WEEK WAS SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So many awesome things happened!!!!!!! 1) We called this lady on the phone Sheila and she was super happy to meet up. We met with her on Tuesday and she said that God has blessed her so much and she just wants to show him her appreciation and she's been looking for a church. GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!! 

We invited her to be baptized and she said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!! She came to church on Sunday and she just understands everything! it's amazing!! She has such a strong desire to strengthen her relationship with God and she'll do anything for God! Amazing :) 2) Another awesome thing....THE ELECTION IS OVER!!! Being an American In Canada this past week was pretty awful....hahaha 3) We met with another woman Louise and she became a new investigator!!!!!!!!! She works at DQ too so that's where we have our lessons...pretty awesome hahah 4) We had a roadtrip to VANCOUVER on Friday to see Elder Holland!!!!!!! A huge charter bus came and picked up about 40-50 missionaries from the  Okanagan and the North! There were only 5 sisters....we each got to have a whole row to ourselves :) The bus ride was 5 hours! Not too bad!! We were able to catch up on journaling, we watched a church movie, we got to catch up on some sleep :) It was pretty wonderful! We got to work in White Rock for the Night! It was so much fun!! We went to a Pho place and they had baby sharks :) We weren't allowed to take our cameras to the conference with Elder Holland, so I didn't snap any pics!! I got to see the ocean :) Yay! I miss the ocean so much!!! I got to stay with Sister Brimhall and her companion!!!!!! I LOVE SISTER BRIMHALL SO MUCH!!!! She hits her year mark this week!!! CRAZY!!!! 5) Saturday we woke up early and drove to the Richmond chapel and anxiously waited for ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND!!!!!!!!! When he walked in the room.....THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS THE COOLEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!! We each got to shake his hand and tell him our name and where we were from. I was tearing up a TON because it was such a special moment to meet an apostle of the Lord!!! He shook our hands talked to us for a second and looked into our eyes (he told us later he was interviewing us haha!) I had been praying to get something in particular out of his visit, but I got so much more. I didn't get that exact thing but I got it through his words. He gave me the tools I needed for the rest of my mission and really for the rest of my life, so that I could obtain that thing myself. It reminds me of the give a man a fish or teach him how to fish....he taught me how to fish. We heard first from President and Sister Burt...LOVE THEM!!! Then from Elder Murray of the Quorum of the Seventy and then Elder Holland spoke to us for 2 hours!!! IT WAS EVERYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE!!! He testified of Christ's love for us...HE CHASTISED US. FIRE AND BRIMSTONE AT TIMES.

Then he said I can see a few of you are about to pass out, so I'll stop hahhahah It was the most uplifting and spiritual experience I've ever had. I've never been to General Conference, so this was my first time being in the midst of an apostle or general authorities. They truly are called of God. I know it and all doubts have been dispelled. I know that we have prophets and apostles today that lead and guide the church just like in the days of Christ. Christ leads this church and then to help us gain salvation and have happiness in this life. I KNOW IT. I KNOW IT. I KNOW IT.!!!! Some of my favorite quotes from him was: "IF YOU CAN'T DO THIS...YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING!" That was the fire and brimstone part! He was trying to help us see that we need to be more urgent in our work and that we are doing such good work but we're not anxious enough and that we're a smidge too comfortable in our work right now. SO I AM GOING TO WORK SO MUCH MORE HARDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE LORD EXPECTS MORE OF ME AND THIS IS PREPARING ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!! I also liked this quote. "If that's the cup you've been given, you drink it" He was talking about the Savior and how he didn't want to do it. He asked if there was any other way...but there wasn't, so because he was obedient and loved God he did it and finished his earthly mission to be our Savior and Redeemer. It was amazing! I love that saying...I think this world is getting to good at just "getting out of it" we make up excuses, so we don't have to work hard or endure hard things. We are just cheating ourselves of life experience and soon enough all those things are going to come back to teach us a lesson.  In the middle of his talk he said he asked an olympic swimmer one time what makes a champion they said, "Kick when you don't want to kick, and stroke when you don't want to stroke, go clear to the end of the pool." That really stood out to me not because I LOVE SWIMMING, but because that's a life lesson that we all need to learn and me especially. I can't give up halfway through...I can't

shy away from the opportunity to learn and grow...what kind of life is that???? We will never progress....how will we EVER be successful in life...better yet how will we ever return to live with God again??? We won't if we don't do what's required and what God expects of us.  President wrote to us and said "try to imagine Elder Holland at the pulpit, he was so intense, fist pounding, finger shaking, and a voice to shake our souls...as he related this story "come to the edge he said, No, I'll fall. Come to the edge He said No I'll fall. Come to the edge he said, SO I DID, and he pushed me! And I flew!!!" This story showed me how inspired President and Sister Burt are...at our last Zone Conference they talked about this exact thing. They talked about how we all need to have the faith and we need to find our "push" so we can fly! IT WAS SO COOL!!!!!! THEY ARE SO INSPIRED!!! He gave us so much more counsel about how much we are loved and how he could feel how much Heavenly Father was proud of our mission. We got a picture with the whole mission!!!! All 200 missionaries!!! Or as Sister Burt says her 200 stripling warriors!!! hahaha  I am so grateful for this mission. I don't know what I did to get such a great Mission President and Mission Mom but they are amazing and I'm so glad they made this happen for our mission. It has really changed my life. My testimony has grown. I feel so much stronger and dedicated to work so hard for the remainder of my mission and have no regrets. On the bus ride home I was able to record all of this in my journal and re-live it again. As I read my notes I can hear Elder Holland saying it.This was one of the highlights of my mission that I will never forget. Amazing. 6) We got transfer news....the assistants didn't call us till Sunday, so we totally thought we were staying together!!! But NOPE!! I am staying in Kelowna another transfer!!!! My new companion is Sister Gartside from Maryland! Sister Steele Trained her and she's been serving in Richmond ward!!! I'm excited! It's going to be a great transfer!!!

Hope you all have a good week :) 

Love,

Sister Peterson

Week 62: B.U.S.Y.W.E.E.K :)

                                    

This week was SO BUSY!!!!!! Monday was HALLOWEEN AND NEVADA DAY!!! so we had fun :) Our day was switched around and we proselyted from 2-5 and then we had to be in from 6-9 so we got to finish p-day and have tons of fun and make yummy food :) Tuesday we

taught Sarah (YSA investigator) the plan of Salvation!!! THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!!! I was explaining resurrection and the 3 kingdoms of glory and she gasped and just started crying when I said there wasn't just heaven or hell.....IT WAS SUPER POWERFUL!!! It was like some burden had been lifted off her shoulders like she had finally found what she was looking for or wanted to know!!! It was amazing!!! I love the plan of salvation! I've been studying it alot lately and each time I do I learn more and more and it just makes sense!!  We also taught Jenny on Tuesday!!! Kendall came so we had the moms and the babies again!!! We gave Jenny a church tour and it was really cool!!! She has never really been to church before so this was a big step on her part!! When we walked into the chapel at the end THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was like I hope she is feeling this!!!!!! She is still reading the book of mormon and she's slowly finding her faith in God :) We did some service for a lady named Melanie! She used to be a member

and the missionaries just tracted into her! We painted some trim and doors for her...BUT we first had to use OIL-BASED PAINT!!!!!! I'VE NEVER DEALT WITH ANYTHING MORE HORRID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was SO STRONG....LIKE THE POWER OF 1,000000,00000000,0000000 SHARPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also Sister Steele ran into me while I was painting the trim and she GOT IT ON MY PANTS AND IT DOESN'T COME OUT WITHOUT TURPENTINE SO I WAS LIKE NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good thing we don't wear pants every day hahahahahha She hit me with the brush and said "oh....sister....." hahahhhaha it was so funny!!!!!!!!!!! Later that night we had THE BEST LESSON I'VE EVER TAUGHT ON MY MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!! am boasting of my God okay...not myself!!! (Alma 26) hahah a member in the Kelowna 1st ward had a friend that wanted to be taught by sisters so we went over and

taught a simple first lesson. It was so spirit-led and spirit-filled it was SO INTERESTING I was just wrapped up in it all the time flew by so fast!! We all taught so well because the spirit was so strong! This lady Suzanne really had the desire to learn and find out for herself and I think that's what made the difference. Everything was just perfect!! We were like man we should have filmed it and made our own District videos!!!! I WAS SO GOOD!!!!!! Wednesday We had district meeting in West Kelowna so we went over the lake :) We had dinner with the Johns the senior couple :) they are just wonderful!!  I also hit 14 months....it's so surreal....so weird!!!! Thursday we met with Shona (YSA investigator) and we had a super sweet lesson!! One of the members in YSA just got back from his mission in India so they met and chatted and talked about indian food and that fun stuff :) Shona is so good she just has a ton of stuff going on with family, work, and school!!!!!!!!!!! Next week she is going to let us try on her punjabi suits and indian dresses!!! yay!!! Friday was SISTER BRIMHALL'S BIRTHDAY!!!! so i called her in White Rock and wished her a happy birthday!! I miss that woman..but she just emailed me and said that WE ARE SLEEPING OVER AT HER HOUSE WHEN WE GO DOWN FOR JEFFREY R. HOLLAND this weekend so i am so stoked!!!!!! Friday we had interviews with President and Sister Burt!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't know what I did to have him as my mission president but let me tell you!!! THEY ARE SO AMAZING!!!! OKAY....HERE'S THE COOLEST STORY YOU'LL EVER HEAR...ON THIS EMAIL!!! So we have been planning in "Holland" rd in my area for THE LONGEST TIME!!!!!!!! We never got around to doing

though...when i say we are busy I mean we have 5 min lunches and we have no time to dilly daddle around....always on the run!!! So we planned it in as a back up and as a main plan one night to MAKE SURE WE DID IT....well the day arrived!!!!!!!!!!!! FRIDAY NOV. 4TH.....WE TRACTED HOLLAND ST. We wanted to take a picture in front of the sign and make a thank you card for elder holland....admit it that's cool and you're jealous hahah anyway cheesiness aside...we couldn't take a selfie and get the sign...then this girl walks by. I yelled and said "hey could you take our picture!!! I told her all about elder holland and why we needed it!!!" she gladly took the picture, we shared the gospel then she said it's kind crazy you stopped me because my last name is actually Holland......WHAT?????????? ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE WAS

INTERESTED IN COMING TO CHURCH TOO.....IN THE WORDS OF SOMEONE "IS THAT ODD OR IS THAT GOD!!!!!" IT WAS SO FUNNY AND COOL THE ONLY THING WE COULD THINK TO DO WAS TAKE A SELFIE WITH HER HAHAHAHAHHA SO WE DID :) Anyway we tracted the rest of Holland and we found a FAMILY :) awesome!!! Holland rd was so inspired!!! Don't worry the pictures will be included :) Friday night we went to Sushi with some YSA members ;) it was tons of fun and we committed them to TEXTIFY (TESTIFY AND TEXT) or send their testimony to someone on their contacts or facebook friends :) it's been quite successful lately :) Saturday we had another cool experience! We had missed our turn so we parked somewhere else. As we were getting out sister steele started talking to this girl trying to set up a lesson and appointment. She said to be honest today is the only day that would work but I'm going to get sushi....we were like that sounds fun let's go and we'll teach you! So WE GOT SUSHI AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We taught her the restoration and she was so thoughtful!!! her heart

This is Sister Holland!!!

was definitely softened and you could tell it made an impact on her! We're meeting her this week again...NOT FOR SUSHI!! hahah We had a lesson with Patricia she contacted us again and said she is ready to quit smoking. There's a different light about her a motivation  to do something so we'll see where it goes. Sunday we had stake conference!! it was super good! President Burt said it was one of the best stake conferences he's been too!!  Last night we were rushing home after a member visit and we saw this lady outside raking her leaves!!! IT WAS FREEZING and SO DARK!!!!! we asked her what was up??? she said she was going through some really hard things...we had 5 min....till we were really pushing it....we took of our bags really fast...grabbed her rake and started raking her whole yard!!!!! Sister Hoffman and I grabbed black trash bags and started loading them with these wet cold leaves!!! Sister Steele raked them all up and we got most of them packed up and in trash bags in 5 min!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS SO FUN!!!! .she said

we were angels and that she knows that God is aware of her now!!!! It was such a good missionary moment :) Good week overall...we got a lot accomplished...WE ARE SO BUSY AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!! This weekend we get to see Elder Holland :) we are taking a charter bus on Friday morning to Vancouver its a 5 hour bus ride and we're instructed to catch up on our journals, read the Book of Mormon, and sleep.....what??!? sleep!!! yes!!! hahahah I am so excited we don't get naps very often haha :) This weekend with Elder Holland is going to be the best!!! The spirit is going to be so strong!!!!

You'll hear all about it next week!!

Love,

Sister Peterson

<------CUTEST

<------ DOG

<------EVER!!!!!!

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