Sister Shelby Peterson: Week 3: The Field is Green...Beautiful...and Super Rainy

Welp!

President & Sister Burt

I made it to Canada! It took 3 hours to clear customs! By then all 15 of us were beat! But we had training the rest of the night! I got to meet President & Sister Burt which was the best!! They are so amazing!! I met my trainer and was assigned my first area. CAMPBELL RIVER, BC! I was so excited! Campbell River is on Vancouver Island and it's SO PRETTY like it's almost fake its so pretty! My knowledge of Canada is like 0 and I thought it would take us like an hour to get there...uh no it's like a 5 hour trip!! We took the ferry from the mainland to Vancouver Island which took 2 hours!!!

Holy Cow! Then we drove to Nanaimo and stayed the night at our Sister Training Leaders apartment because it was too late and we were tired! The next morning we drove another 2-3 hours and finally made it to Campbell River...the promised land!! When I first got here it was 14*C (a.k.a 57*F) and rainy. I was like wow what a great island...but now its SO great! When we go street contacting we walk by the ocean and it smells like trees everywhere!

Ocean view

My companion/trainer is Sister Ricks from Texas!! She is AMAZING!!! I'm so blessed to have her as my trainer! We live in an apartment on the edge of the woods and people have seen cougars and bears right there! SCARY!! Every night we walk home and see Bambi and his mother...it's so cute! I tried to snap a picture, but I think it was too dark. Right now Sister Ricks and I are doing a lot of finding! We are walking all day trying to meet new people and set up appointments! We are walking because we are running out of K's (kilometers) because of the trip to the mainland. We have met some really great people!

Sister Ricks

Everyone here thinks we are nuns...Mennonites...or brainwashed which is interesting and gives us a great opportunity to explain exactly who we are and why we're wearing skirts in rainy and windy weather :) The ward here is very small and our chapel is like 1/2 of a normal one! The members are so nice and welcoming! We haven't taught very many lessons yet but I know that we'll start finding more people who are interested soon! We just have to keep working! To my family: we taught a lesson to this nice old woman D. and she reminded me just like Great Grandma Morgan!! It was crazy! The way she spoke reminded me of her! It was like she was right there!

Blackberries

I'm starting to learn the ropes and get adjusted, but the field is WAY different than the MTC! Different in a good way! Yesterday the rain let up for a little bit and we hiked to the top of this hill and I got to look out over the ocean and got to see Quadra Island (in our area) and other little islands! The water was so blue!!! It was a beautiful day until it got kinda dark and cold and we left our rain jackets in the car and had to walk back to the church far far away...memories right?? One day this week we were so tired that we walked back to the church and just laid on the floor like zombies for 5 minutes!!! One of the best places to go street contacting here is on Ocean Highway! So pretty! Along the pathway there are blackberry bushes and I ate one off the side of the road!! They are so good and fresh!! The members love to give us missionaries homemade blackberry jam!!! BEST THING EVER!! I really love this area because on one side you have the ocean and the other its dense forest with pine trees!! Score!! We're guessing that I will be here for at least 3 transfers so until the end of the year/beginning of next year! The members say it doesn't snow here very much, but it does get cold -10*C...I think that's like 20 degrees....hopefully...!

I'm still learning how to be a "real" missionary which is stressful, but when I'm out there meeting people, knocking on doors, and teaching I feel such peace and happiness. I forget that my feet hurt, that my hair looks like a troll doll, that I'm soaked or cold, and I'm focused on the Lord and his work. It's amazing how much we can get done and how much we can change when we choose to turn to the Savior to help us. He loves us and helps me so much during my days when I feel inadequate or tired! He is always there lifting me up! I may have said this before...our purpose as missionaries is to bring others unto Christ, but one thing I've realized is that most of all as missionaries we bring ourselves unto Christ. It really is true that its through challenges and being outside our comfort that we grow the most! My motto as always is: Keep calm and carry on!

Love you all,

Sister Peterson