Week 49: Holy Toast! Another Week Has Gone By!

HOLY TOAST!!!!! We had a great week!!!

Funny Story: 

So Sister Benincosa (Senior Sister Missionary) says Holy Toast...I personally love it, so I stole it and I'm saying it now. Confession though, it's partly because I can't say Holy Cow anymore. I teach a lot of Hindu people who part of their religion is that they worship cows and saying that apparently can be offensive. So I adapt....and now say Holy Toast. 

Alright back to this week....having P-day on a Tuesday throws everything off! This week FLEW BY!!!  Tuesday we had such a fun day planned to go to White Rock and explore, but it was raining!!! Sad day...up side...IT FINALLY RAINED!!!!!! YAY!!!!!! It's been so hot here, and it's starting to get brown so we needed that rain! So we decided to do crafts for P-day!! We bought small canvas' and we PAINTED!!! I'll show you my poor artistic ability next week when It's all finished!! Tuesday was my 11 month mark...ooooo!! hahah It was nothing special I actually forgot which is AWESOME!!! It means I'm not worried about it anymore! I'm to the point where the time I have left is starting to scare me..AHHH!!!! Wednesday we had a great district meeting! Sister Benincosa was taking pictures of us during it and posted it on Facebook!! Luckily she got one where I actually look half decent!! We were accounting for our area!! Last week our percentage was low and this week it was high so I was really excited to account for the work we had done!! Anyway...so District meeting was great!!! We had some really good trainings and I learned a lot! The one I liked the most was on opposition and why we have so much in our lives! I've been reflecting on that lately as we've tried to find new people to teach and struggled to help them progress! My mission is literally a roller coaster! Later that day we stopped by a potential's house and the wife answered and said he wasn't home and that they weren't interested. We kept the conversation going with her, and as we were talking and about ready to leave she says "Oh there he is!" He was walking home from work!!! HE HAD THE RESTORATION PAMPHLET IN HIS HAND!!!!!!!! We asked him if he had read it he said YES!!! Then he said I have a question! He opened up to the picture of the 1st vision and we noticed that the part of the pamphlet that talks about The Restoration and the Restoration of the Priesthood was MISSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Simoa our awesome Member Missionary!

It had the picture of the 1st vision, but then it had the Book of Mormon page next...NO WONDER HE HAD QUESTIONS!!!! THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PAMPHLET WAS MISSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S THE UNIQUE MESSAGE WE SHARE TO THE WORLD!!!! Oh...face palm! BUT HERE DO A PUZZLE WITH YOUR SALVATION & ETERNITY! So we gave him a new pamphlet ...obviously.....and he asked us his questions and it was AWESOME!!! The fact that he still wanted to learn even after half of his pamphlet was missing showed us that the Spirit was working on his heart!!! His wife stayed with us the whole time and she asked questions too and we set up another appointment with both of them so THEY BOTH BECAME NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!!! It was sweet!!!! Andre has so much desire to find truth! You can see it in his face when you are explaining things! it was really cool!! We were so happy we kept talking to the wife and caught him coming home from work or else we would have never gone back....Heavenly Father is just so good!! Right after that we had to run to a dinner appointment and right after that we had a GREAT lessons with the kids of a less-active in our ward!! They are so ready to be baptized we just have to wait until they have permission! But they love the gospel so much!!! They love reading their Book of Mormon! We taught them about sacrament meeting and it clicked for them. They finally understood what it means to take the sacrament and we set alarms on their phones so they can wake up for church! The 7 yr old girl was saying the closing prayer and she said "I'm grateful we can go to church! YAY!!!!!!" It was the cutest thing ever! Then when we were talking about how they felt when they took the sacrament she said "you feel good, it's like a clear spirit." I loved the way she described it!! Little kids are
so close to the spirit!!! It was great!! Thursday was THE BIGGEST MIRACLE OF ALL!!!! So we had tried to get a female member to come to a lesson with one of our potentials whose a man. WE COULDN'T FIND ANYONE!! So we just decided we were going to stop by and reschedule. So we go and explain a little and he says, "Let me just ask my tenet Debbie." In our minds were like yeah she will LOVE to meet with the missionaries hahahahahah So

The Summer's from Salmon Idaho!!!!

he asks and she says, YES AND JUST WALKS IN WITH US TO SIT DOWN AND HAVE A LESSON!!! WHAT?!?!?! So we're teaching Joslyn the Restoration and he is asking lots of good questions and the Spirit was really strong!! We taught him in like 20 min because we were worried about Debbie the tenet getting bored and wanting to leave! But the whole time she was saying things that made me wonder...had she met with missionaries before???? So we asked her and she said, "I WAS ACTUALLY ON MY WAY TO BECOMING A MORMON...I TOOK THE LESSONS IN 100 MILE HOUSE AND I WAS 2 LESSONS AWAY FROM BEING BAPTIZED. ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MORMON" WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY TOAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We would have never of found her or knocked on the side door of the house, but Heavenly Father was looking out for us and he provided a way for us to meet Debbie the Tenet!!!!!!! She said she hadn't prayed about he Book of Mormon yet, and we invited her to come to our next lesson on Thursday and do you know what she said people, "Any time!" MIRACLE MIRACLE MIRACLE!!! SO....WE GOT 2 MORE NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We couldn't believe what had happened!! We were planning on just rescheduling and we were kind of bummed but HEAVENLY FATHER GAVE US SOMETHING SO MUCH BETTER!!!!!! It was awesome!! Then Joslyn called us 20 min later and said that Debbie asked for his Book of Mormon because she couldn't find hers and he needed a new one!!!!! SO AWESOME!!!!!!! They are keeping each other accountable for reading and coming to church too!! hahahah  Friday was way good as well!!! We asked a new member of our ward Simoa from New Zealand to come with us to a lesson!!!

She's an RM from the Philippines and so she was so excited!!! Our investigator didn't show at the church, so we were just standing outside and a family starts walking through the church parking lot...we started chatting and they say their from Idaho...WE IMMEDIATELY ASKED WHAT PART...Sister Magleby being from Idaho Falls and all...and they said SALMON, IDAHO!!!!!!!!!!!!! What!?!?! My wonderful grandparents live in the really, really small town of Salmon, Idaho. I asked if they knew Bill and Merlene Peterson(my grandparents), The Bills (my aunt, uncle, and cousins) the whole Clan basically and they said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome!!!!!! They are in the same ward as my awesome cousiin Nathan and Elisha!!! Their last name is Summers! I almost cried it was so great!!!!!! They were on their way to Vancouver Island and they stayed the night in their super sweet tour bus by the Stake Center!!! It was a little tender mercy :) So after our investigator no showed...we were planning on dropping Simoa off, but SHE ENDED UP STAYING THE WHOLE DAY WITH US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10am to 8:30pm!! She's a rock star!!!!!! She helped us so much!!!!!!! We had a really fun day and taught so many lessons!!!!! Saturday we were walking to our investigators house, and the street we were walking down was closed off and there was a Sikh temple celebration going on!! We thought it was just one block so we kept walking through every one...well it lasted 10 blocks!!! And it ended just before our investigators house!!! We stuck out like a sore thumb in the crowd and everyone kept looking at us!! Oh my goodness it was funny as we tried to pass by!

There was SO MUCH FOOD!!!! It was really cool to experience that! Canada is so culturally diverse!!!! It was like we were in India with the music, the language, and the street food!!! Pretty cool :) Today we are going to try and find Sari's the clothes they wear!!! Sunday was really good! We had a great Sabbath and we were able to go on splits with Sister Benincosa and she taught me my new phrase: Holy Toast!!! ahhahahahaha It makes me laugh so hard!!!! We had a great dinner appointment with Simoa and her aunt and uncle and they made some GOOD FOOD! The spirit is always so strong in their house and we always have such good gospel conversations there!! I'm sad they are moving soon :( At the end they gave us the leftovers...including some corn on the cob!!!!! YUM!!! We didn't have time to run it home so we just left it in our car...after we came out of our lesson we got in and I about hurled you guys!!!! hahahah OUR CAR SMELLED LIKE CORN AND IT WAS SO STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love corn...it's my fav food...but the overwhelming smell of corn was so bad!!!! Sister Magleby made me pull over and she got out and moved it to the trunk but the damage had been done! So we drove home with the windows open and heater blasting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahhahahhah It was hilarious!!!!!! I'm excited to eat Corn on the Cob for lunch though :) Overall we had a GREAT WEEK FILLED WITH SO MANY MIRACLES!!!!!!! Love you all and thank you for your good thoughts and prayers on my behalf :)  It's wonderful to know I have such great support back home :)

Love,

Sister Peterson

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Week 48: 11 Months Today! Holy Cow!

Sorry i didn't email yesterday...ANOTHER CANADIAN HOLIDAY....I SWEAR THERE IS ONE EVERY WEEK!!!!!

So this last week was super good!!!!!!!!! We were able to meet with so many people!!! We were also able to have members present at lessons which are GOLD!!!!!  Monday after we emailed we went to the mall...no judgements okay!!! We went back into charming charlies (Sister Magleby's mom sent us some coupons during emailing!!!!) And I bought a new bag because mine is falling apart!! Literally as soon as we got home...MY OLD BAG BROKE!!!

It was a miracle I had just bought one!!!! Anyway :) After P-day we visited my best pal Sister Curd and we had a great lesson...SHE GAVE US 6...COUNT EM...6 REFERRALS!!!!!!!! She also used the funniest phrase after I told her about my bag breaking...she said "It had the biscuit!!" hahahahahhah It was great!! I also found out that she's a writer and wrote a series that takes place during the war. I can't wait to read them all when I get home!!! Tuesday was the best ever!!!! We had 2 member present lessons with Sister Benincosa and USA friend Kalyn from Florida...she's up here doing an internship, so we took her out for a lesson!! She's an RM from Brazil and she served with Cambria's sister!! She was so good in our lesson with our investigator Jolene..yes another Jolene :) hahah {You know you've got the Jolene...Jolene...song stuck in your head!!!!} Anywho!! So we had some great lessons!! Then we went to the Rameka's for dinner Jess and Jessie. I'm sure i've talked about them before! They are SO FUN!!!! I've decided that I need to visit Australia! We had a really good lesson with Sis. Rameka about the Plan of Salvation! We taught her how to teach it and bring it up in daily conversation!! It was really fun!! Then...She told us she was going to the states to buy groceries...So we BEGGED HER {she was actually pretty willing} to buy us AMERICAN OREOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People, there is such a big difference between Canadian and American Oreos!!! She bought us 2 FAMILY SIZE PACKAGES!!!!!!! We were so happy!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!!! The Ramekas are the best!! They are new to Surrey and don't have many friends to refer us to but they have joined our mission prayer at 9am every morning and pray that we'll find people to teach and that they will find people too!!! THEY ARE THE BEST!!! Wednesday we had an awesome district meeting! I trained on Patience...ah that HEAVENLY VIRTUE!! All week as I was preparing I had no idea what I was going to do!!! I wasn't being prompted this way or that way...so I just prayed that I would figure something out!!! THEN IN MY TRAINING I DID!!!! It was so cool!!!! I just

talked. I didn't use my notes very much and I felt like my training was really coming from the heart! I shared the story of when Jesus forgave the adulteress and how he had patience with her, with himself, and with her accusers. It was a really powerful moment as I related the story and talked about how we needed to exercise patience. As missionaries we represent Jesus Christ. If we aren't patient with our investigators, our companions, our members, our leaders...we ARE NOT representing Christ. I have come to love this story...you should watch the bible video...here's the link: https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/go-and-sin-no-more?lang=eng#gallery= Just think about how you can be more like the Savior whenever you face a tough time and how you can have patience like he did. Gosh I love that photo...Christ is SO GOOD!!!  The rest of the week was pretty good!! We had a commitment as a Zone for each companionship to set 2 baptismal dates!! That was a tough task for us because no one is really progressing right now, but we just decided that we would invite people. So we stopped by our friend Sainaaz's house. Her and her kids are taking the lessons. We invited her and her son Rihan to be baptized and they said they would pray about it and let us know!!!! That's 2 people praying for a baptism date!!! We weren't able to set 2 dates, but we have people thinking about it which is much more than we had last week!!! On Thursday we got home around 9 and our street was completely blocked off with cars!!! We had to beg this guy who parked in the middle of the street to move so we could get home hahaha We got out of the car and it turns out they were having an Indian Wedding!! The wedding was on the 31st but the whole week before they celebrate! So one night was Henna night...we got invited by the dad but had to decline :( But this night with all the cars they had a DANCE PARTY IN THE STREET!!!! With drums and other instruments!!!  IT WAS SO COOL!!!!!!!! There were about 80-100 people that just piled out of this small house on our street and they were wearing Sari's {I think that's how you spell it...the beautiful colorful outfits with scarfs!!} and they were all so happy!!! Sister Magleby and I took a video of it!! IT WAS SO LOUD!!! We were saying our prayers and all we could hear were drums hahahaha We had a super sweet lesson with Jean on Friday! We met with the Benincosa's at the Church and then we had a conference call with the Chinese Sisters!! Jean and them

The couch before....

just talked and talked!! They asked her questions to make sure she was understanding what we taught and she is!!!! IT WAS SO GREAT!!!! She loved talking to them and learning about the gospel in her own language!! It was so cool!!We had another lesson with Simon and we went over the Restoration again. We brought the Benincosa's because last time he told us that we are young and we can't teach him because he's old and knows more...:) hahaha so While we were teaching, the Benincosa's were trying to teach, but Simon would only listen to me because he knew me and "we were friends." That put a lot of pressure on me to do a good job!!! By the end he told us that he didn't think Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that we're just some other church :( It made me really sad because I know that's not true!!!!!  SATURDAY WAS THE BEST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! President and Sister Burt came and studied with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We role played a lesson and they played the members. We had to teach the Restoration in 7 minutes! IT WAS SO NERVE-RACKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They had this whole plan to throw us off and distract us...but they didn't. They said they tried and we just left no room for them to distract us. They said we did such a good job!!!!!!! PHEW....it was really fun!!! After we studied together and they toured our humble abode we said a prayer and President re-dedicated our apartment!!! It was the best moment ever!!!! He prayed for so many things that we needed!! After that we all went upstairs and had a brunch with the Prasads!! Bishop and President talked about their vision for Surrey 3rd ward and it was really great!!! President saw some of the Indian Wedding Celebration and was SO EXCITED!!!! HAHAHAH It was a great day!! He even mentioned us in his weekly newsletter!!!

Funny story on Saturday: We were tracting and this guy answered the door...he looked like a mix between Happy and Grumpy from Snow white. He wasn't very interested in us coming back, so we asked him if he would watch a video on the internet...he says, "What's the internet???" We were like....you've got to be kidding me....he said "We're amish." Oh....okay then never mind we started to leave hahahahh super embarrassed!! Then he started laughing and said, "Do you see our horse and buggy in the drive???" We look...they have like 4 cars...HE TOTALLY GOT US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was funny!!

The couch after.....Bahahahahaha!

Sunday was good! We got a text at 5am saying we needed to teach Gospel Principles so I had to quickly make up a lesson before church!! It worked out well and we actually had a really great time!!! SISTER RAMEKA BROUGHT OUR AMERICAN OREOS TO CHURCH!!!!! MIRACLE!!! We stopped by Beatrice's house! We've been trying to meet with her and today her friend was there. We got started talking and she said that she had met with the Elders in Smithers..more north/middle of British Columbia...ish... So we were like WHAT!?!??! She said she had an English Book of Mormon and she had read it!!! HOLY COW!!!! So now Beatrice and her friend Faziea are investigating together!!!! SWEEET!!!! We got a call from Elder Wilson saying that President Burt said we needed new furniture. He obviously wasn't too impressed when they came to visit! Oops! So Elder Wilson said he would bring us some new stuff!!!!!! So he came with 2 other Elders and took away our couch, but it woudn't fit up the stair well so they had to rip it apart!!! It was really funny!!!!! All they had were a few hammers and a cro-bar...but it worked and they got that couch out of there!!! New pics to come :)

Overall it was a GREAT week!!!!

We saw some sweet miracles and had lots of laughs!!! I'm so grateful for my mission!!! I've learned so much!!!! I'm grateful for President and Sister Burt!!! They are such a fun couple and the best Mission President and mission mom i could ask for!!! Hope you all have a great week!!! 

Love,

Sister Peterson

Week 47: Another Email :)

This week was good!!! I definitely gained a testimony of trials :) I know that Heavenly Father gives them to us because we need to grow in some way. He is slowly shaping me into the daughter of God that he needs me to be. As I come through these trials, I see that while I was sad then I am even more happy now! It's AMAZING!!! I really felt the love of my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ this week as I had to do hard things. As I prayed, I felt support. I randomly opened my scriptures and it fell to my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon Chapter 24 that I ALWAYS read when I am down or need some comfort. I know that wasn't a coincidence. I felt God's love surround me. The words from the Primary Song "A Child's Prayer" were just running through my head the whole week "Pray he is there, speak He is listening. You are His child, His love now surrounds you." I learned so much this week about my commitment to Heavenly Father and this missionary work. I surprised myself as I made decisions that PROVED that this experience as a missionary HAS changed me. I am becoming more like Christ and I have never been so happy or at peace with my life and the way I'm living it :)

So on to how my week went and what happened!!! Monday, Sister Magleby and I basically lived at the mall. We needed to do some much needed shopping on P-day. I bought a new skirt and I, of course, had to stop at my fav places....Bath & Body Works AND Charming Charlie's!!! 

We had a great day and got ourselves ready for the week ahead!!!

***Future Sister Missionaries. Don't take tons of clothes because when you get to my point 10 months (or earlier) you will get sick of wearing the same clothes every day. You will just want to get rid of them and never wear them again. Bring the essentials and then you can add cute things to your closet throughout your mission. Then you can avoid a crazy shopping trip where you just want to buy everything...like what happened on Monday with me :) ***

Mission tan lines :(

Monday night we met with an older lady in our ward Belle Curd! She is the greatest!!! I love her so much!!!! She LOVES the gospel and is the funniest lady!! We're meeting with her again tonight and talking about how she can share the gospel with her friends!! YAY!!! Tuesday we helped the McGonigals with some service!! They are tearing out their kitchen and putting in an all new IKEA KITCHEN!!!!! It was lot of fun!!! Their kitchen looks great!!!! We met with an investigator Lily Tuesday night and she said she was hoping this (meaning the gospel) would change her life around. She is so prepared!!! We just have to build up her testimony of the Book of Mormon and get her to church!!! It was really cool because President Burt always promises us that if we will just sacrifice a little something we will be blessed...he always talks about dinners with this. and he promises us we will be fed!!!!! So we had lesson after lesson Tuesday and didn't get a chance to eat dinner...but when we showed

Sister Grant

up to Lily's house she said, "I didn't know if you had eaten so I made you dinner!!" PRESIDENT'S PROMISES ARE TRUE!!!!!!! It was awesome!! Wednesday we had District Meeting and Sister Magleby gave an AWESOME TRAINING on diligence and faith!!! We read in Alma 37 about how Nephi and his family used the Liahona and they had lots of diligence and used so much faith to follow that thing around to the promised land!!! My favorite verse was 46: O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.

It was super good!!! Friday was good! We went on EXCHANGES!!!!!! I went to Surrey 1st ward with Sister Grant!! We had a great exchange and got so much work done!!!! Their area is on FIRE!!!!! Sister Grant is seriously my best friend!!!! We were meant to  be on our missions at the same time because we will be friends

The Royal Family Coloring book!!

forvever!!  In the middle of our exchange we realized our phone wasn't ringing and their phone is really busy!!! So we looked and the phone said IT WAS JANUARY 1ST 1980!!!!! That's a problem!! So we run into subway to grab a quick dinner and we ask the lady if it's still 2016...she says uh yes...OH MY GOODNESS THANK GOODNESS!!! So we had to find a members house so we could call our "phone guy" in the office and get it fixed. Well he wasn't in the office!!! So we took it into the mall kiosk and the tech guy took out the battery and the sim card (we had done that 20 times before!!!!!) and BAM it just works!!!!! CRAZY EH?!? It was so funny!!!!!! Saturday we had Stake Picnic in White rock!!! It was so fun!!!!! Lots of members and lots of fun!!! None of our investigators could come :( Saturday I had the opportunity to sit down with President Burt for a little bit! Let me tell you He is just the best!!!!! I definitely needed him as my Mission President!!! I love him so much!!! He always tells us he's our mission president for Eternity!!! I'm happy about that hahaha Sunday was good we got told we had to teach Relief Society!!!  It was about Temples and I think we did a pretty good job for not going to the temple in 10 months!!! Goodness I miss it!!!

This week was good! Sorry I don't have more time but I hope you all have a great week!!! 

Love,

Sister Peterson

Week 46: New Transfer, A Birthday Surprise, And SO MANY Tender Mercies

So this week started out CRAZY CRAZY!!! {Side note from Sydni: when you're on the mission apparently you haven't heard of the phrase cray cray Hahahaha} So after we emailed we went about doing our normal P-day things and we got a call about 2:30pm that Sister Macaso needed to be packed and gone ASAP!!! We were out and about with our Investigator Reina so we were like OH NO!!! We didn't get home until 3:30pm and she had 1 HOUR!!!!! 1 HOUR MY FRIENDS TO PACK AND GET READY TO LEAVE!!! Poor thing was so stressed!!! But Heavenly Father slowed down time because we were just sitting around for 10 min before the car came for her!!! SWEEEET!!!! So instead of getting Sister Magleby Wednesday, I got her Monday night!!! It was crazy but I totally know why she needed to come that early!!! Anyway...before Sister Magleby came I was with Sister Grant and we met with the Rameka's a super sweet AWESOME couple from New Zealand and Australia. We had such a good lesson with them!!! They are so funny!!! I love Australians!!!!! So I got Sister Magleby at like 9:30pm Monday night!!! Poor thing had only 12 hours to pack up everything in Vanderhoof and get on a plane!!! She thought she was staying so she had nothing packed!!! SURPRISE!!! Tuesday Sister Nelson came with us part of the day because she didn't have a companion yet and we went and visited a potential named Michiko. She's from Japan and {reason why Sister Magleby came early...I'm convinced...here's why....keep reading.} Sister Magleby's dad served his mission in Japan and SHE HAS A JAPANESE NAME TAG!!!!!!!!!!! AND CAN SAY THINGS IN JAPANESE!!!!!!!!!!!! It was fantastic!! Because of that Michiko is interested!!! We had a sweet lesson with Bhupinder and we watched the Restoration DVD in Hindi!! It was cool!! I could even recognize some words as we watched it!! I'm learning!!!! Us missionaries are doing a scripture study class now so Tuesday night we went and did some spying on the Delta ward's study group muhahahah. It was good! Jean came with us :) Then we ended our night with a visit to a sweet little family! They met each other on their missions and have an amazing story!!! It was so cute!! Wednesday was crazy! We were still trying to get all settled in so we had to unpack and organize a little. We had Sister Tripp with us today :) Sister Magleby and I thought we would have our first day together!! hahah then the STL's {sister training leaders} called and said they needed us to be in a tri {3 companions} today. #missionterms  Oh well!!

Add caption

It was a ton of fun!! We REALLY wanted Wendy's and we started driving...and driving...next thing you know we're CLEAR ACROSS TOWN IN DELTA HAHAHAHAHA good thing we had our Sister Training lLeader with us so we didn't break any rules :) The Wendy's was good :) totally worth it. Later in the day I got a super bad migraine!! We ate at a members house and I felt so bad because I was so sick I couldn't eat!!! They remind me so much of my Mom and Dad!!! haha Anyway so we left and went to our next appointment with Sister Tanner a member and she could tell I was so sick...so she got me some cucumbers to put on my eyes and started giving me a massage!!!! hahahaha It wasn't funny then!! I was so sick and out of it!!! She commanded me to drink more water and go straight home...so I called the Mission nurse and we called it a night :( I had to go home and lay down it was really bad!!! That headache lasted for the next day too :( It was really weird!! Anywho! Enough with that! Thursday was fun! We got to meet with Lee Jones again! She's the best!! She has been getting so excited about the Gospel lately!! I gave her some smiley stickers to put in her scriptures whenever she finds a good one and HER SCRIPTURE STUDY HAS SKY ROCKETED!!!!!!! Man she texts us everyday about how her studies went that day!! She is so wonderful :) No longer less active either so that's AMAZING!!!!! So proud of her!!! Friday we went to a lesson with our Zone Leaders so they could pass off an investigator to us. Her name is Sainaaz and she has 2 boys and a 2 month old little girl!! The Boys LOVE the Elders and were sad to see them go, but i think they are warming up to us too! One of the boys is 9 yrs old and he was just glued to us as we taught him and his family. They are very promising!! The little baby is adorable too!!! Man I really miss holding babies!!!! Saturday was THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!! IT WAS SISTER MAGLEBY'S 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! She was sad to leave her last area because she had so many awesome birthday plans so

Meet Sister Magleby!!!!

I tried to make it the best day ever!!! The Sister Training Leaders showed up at 6:30am to exercise with us!! It was fun but we all are SO sore now...Sister Magleby and I look like old people as we try to sit down in lessons hahahhaha It takes us forever!!! Then we had a Birthday breakfast with the Prasads who we live with!! They invited us up and fed us so much food!!! Then one of their Birthday Traditions is that each person in the room has to feed the Birthday Girl cake...imagine the Grinch when he's eating all the pudding and cake and stuff!!!! hahaha IT WAS SO FUNNY!!!!! Sister Magleby was so worried someone would shove it in her face but even the 3 yr old was nice and didn't do that!! hahaha I'm totally going to do that in my family!!!! Then the best part: So before Sister Magleby came we had set up a surprise birthday lunch for her with the Benincosa's. So I had to figure out how to still keep it a surprise! So I told her that I felt like we really should go visit this potential investigator that lives by the Church (the Benincosa's live out of our area in Delta...kind of far hahaha) So she was all game! I said her name was Sarah and she had a cute little baby boy and she was really interested in the gospel!!  It was all good!!! I felt really bad though because Sister Magleby was praying so hard all day that "Sarah" would become a new investigator!!! hahaha oops!!!! So it comes time for us to drive there and I was worried she would realize we were driving far and out of our area so I told her I wanted to read Neill F. Marriott's talk from Conference and asked if she would read it to me as we drove...GENIUS!!!! The spirit definitely gave me that idea!! So she's reading..in a southern accent... hahaha and I'm trying so hard to drive fast and not let her see where we were actually going. We get there and all is good...We walk up to the door and ELDER BENINCOSA answers the door hahahhahaha SHE WAS SO CONFUSED!!!!!! Then all the sisters yell "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She was so surprised!!!!!!!! It was so fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!!!! We had CAKE and PIZZA!!! It was a blast!!! Afterward we still wanted to see a birthday miracle and get a new investigator since...Sarah was fake and all...so we were finding and the thought came to me to stop by Jessica's {a potential we've been trying to see for a while} So we stop by and she had just gone through a really rough thing and we showed up at the right time! She invited us right in and was so open for anything that would help her in her life right now!! So we got a new investigator!!!! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! BIRTHDAY MIRACLE!!!!!! 

Time For A Funny Story <3

One funny thing that happened today... was we were walking along and I said my Cousin (Derek) is in Uganda...Sister Magleby starts singing opera.....I stop "What are you doing?!" she said "I'm on a Uganda!!!" LOL HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH "THAT'S A GONDOLA SISTER!!!!" hahahahaha it was so funny!!!!!!! 

Sunday was good too!! Sister Magleby had to speak in Hindi sacrament (it's like initiation into Surrey 3rd ward) So we went to that! Always good and spirit filled!! We had some great lessons with some members. I swear one lady is Rhonda Johnson's Sister...they are twins (looks and personality) hahah We had an awesome dinner with a family that reminds me of the Weavers (Matt and Kaylene). Their boys are too funny!!!! We saw lots of miracles this week and had a fun time!!! I love my companion!!! She is so great!!!! We are going to have a great transfer!!! Get ready for lots of funny stories and tons of great spiritual experiences!!!

Love,

Sister Peterson

My favorite quote from this week<3

Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble—perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He LOVES you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you RISE up and become the person you were designed to be.

-Preident Uchtdorf

Week 45: Transfers & Last Minute Miracles!!!!!

FIRST TRANSFER NEWS: I am staying in Surrey 3rd another transfer!!!!!! Sister Macaso is going to Abbotsford!! My new companion is Sister Magleby! She was serving up North! I think she's from Idaho...not too sure on that...I'm usually safe on Guessing Idaho or Utah :) hahhaha

Okay now for the BEST WEEK EVER...well Best WEEKEND ever!!

So...the week started out GREAT with the 4th of July!!!!! We had a GREAT BBQ at the Benincosa's with hot dogs, burgers, potato salad, beans, root beer floats...the works man!!! AMERICAN FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so wonderful!!! We had so much fun together!!! I bought all of us Kit Kat Chunkies as a present because they are red,white, an blue..... well I realized after that those are a Canadian thing...THEY ARE THE BEST INVENTION EVER!!!!! SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope by the time I come home they will be in the states...if they are in the states let me know ASAP!!! Anyway...So Monday was so good! After our BBQ we went and taught Simon and Josephine! They are from Burundi Africa and speak Swahili!! We met them at the bus exchange and they invited us right over!!  It was a good lesson! He was a pastor in Africa for 37 years!!!!!!!  Monday night we got a text super late...from our investigator Reina!!!!!! She's been MIA for a while so we were SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She said she wanted to meet up!!! So Tuesday we had a big breakfast with her and had a great lesson about how we need to put God first!! She is so stressed!!! She is

Lee! Our Sticky Note Miracle

from El Salvador and living in Canada isn't the easiest thing at times. The rest of the week was a little crumby....cancellations again :( We were so stoked about our plans, and then all at once it all crumbles! But we just got to move on and keep working!! No time for that!! So we did! Friday we had Zone Meeting!! It was FANTASTIC!!!! We got two new pamphlets for missionaries to use when teaching recent converts and less actives!!!!! 1st: Families and Temples and the 2nd: Serving in the Church!! THESE ARE GAME CHANGERS!!! We've already used them a few times and it is just helping people understand so much more about "church culture" and helps them see why the temple should be our goal! After Zone Meeting we met with a potential who we've been trying to catch for a long time! We met her at Superstore. She's from Iran and she's Muslim! We started our lesson...all was going good then we had the impression to ask her why she wanted to meet with us...she thought that we taught people English. She was so happy to meet with us. We thought man she really wants to

Making Cinnamon Rolls! I mean Buns...

learn about this!!! But nope...she just thought we were English teachers. So that was a little funny! We met with Sandy, a former investigator, the one who bakes us TONS OF TREATS EACH WEEK!!! She bakes on Wednesdays, and then delivers treats on Thursdays :) She is so great!! We went back to return her tupperware. She's not interested in the gospel AT ALL...or anything God related, BUT we were praying we'd be able to get to her some how!! Well, we show up and she gives us treats :) (I really feel like Hansel and Gretel at her house...) and I see an ancestry.com DNA test on the table!!! FAMILY HISTORY....MORMONS LOVE FAMILY HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had to contain my excitement and slow my brain down and I started talking to her about how we have one of the largest family history libraries in the world...SHE WAS INTERESTED!!!! Thanks Heavenly Father!! SO SATURDAY WAS THE BIG DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! It started out with a super fun Relief Society activity at the church. We made homemade jam and cinnamon buns (rolls...Canadians call rolls buns...LOL). Jean came and she LOVED IT!!! She was not shy at all, and just got in there and started helping out!! The dough had to rise for like 30 min, so we took her aside and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We asked her about baptism again....she still wants to learn more...we're hoping she will read the Chinese pamphlets and be able to understand that way and then we can teach her in English! Side note: the STICKY BUNS WERE SO GOOD!!!!!!!!! After the activity it was a walking day and we decided to walk to Beatrice's house {one of our investigators}. We've haven't been able to meet with her either!! So we took a short cut through these trees and we had to cross the train track {later we found out that's a huge spot for "crime"...oops...we did feel a little

My pin from Ted Kendall! Thank you! My new way of
getting people to the waters of Baptism!

weird, so we ran through the trees...never again though...never again!!!} So we got there and SHE WAS HOME!!! She had just gotten home from a funeral {perfect timing Heavenly Father}, so we asked her about her beliefs and where she thinks her friend is. She said, "He was good, so he's probably in heaven." It was perfect because it gave us the opportunity to share the Plan of Salvation with her. SHE LOVED IT!!!!!! We told her about eternal families and she said she wants that. :) YAY!!! She also told us that she read the Book of Mormon we left with her, but she couldn't understand it because she reads better in Arabic!!!!! I was so happy she still tried to read even though it wasn't her language!! It shows that she really wants to learn!!! So now we have an Arabic Book of Mormon and pamphlets, and we are so excited to give them to her!!!!! As we were leaving Beatrice's house a man hopped out of truck and said "LADIES!!!!!" IT WAS RISWAN!!!!!!!!!!!! Another investigator who lives on that street {we call it Miracle Lane} hahahah He was in a really bad car wreck last week, 

Sister Wilson! She's going home next week!

but he invited us right in! We retaught the Restoration and clarified the Book of Mormon. Once we said the Book of Mormon has only been translated once (he added...like the Koran...) he said "Now we're talking! I'm going to read this book!" IT WAS SO COOL!!!!! Saturday night was transfer calls!! I always pray and ask Heavenly Father about transfer news a few days before and he ALWAYS TELLS ME THE RIGHT NEWS!!! hahahahh So I prayed one night and was told that I was going to Stay in Surrey and Sister Macaso would go...i didn't share this with her because I knew she would be sad :( She's excited for an new area, but sad to leave her first area!! I'm excited for her though!!!! She's going to do great!!! My Filipino BFF!!!  So we got the call around 10:00PM Sister Macaso freaked out hahahahahhahh So like I said my new companion is Sister Magelby..hopefully I'm spelling that right...I am so stoked for this new transfer!!! Especially after this killer weekend!!!! We taught so many lessons to people we've been trying to meet up with for weeks and it all just got served to us on Heavenly Father's silver platter!!!!! Literally fell in our laps!!! Hard Work pays off!!!!!!!

Sunday I gave MY SECOND TALK IN THIS WARD!!! 1st was a month ago in Hindi Sacrament and this one was in English Sacrament. I talked on Pioneers and my Family History! We always get these kinds of talks in the States, so I just did my best with the limited resources I had and shared some sweet family history stories. As I talked people were crying and afterward everyone came up to me and thanked me like I had given  THE BEST GENERAL CONFERENCE ADDRESS OF ALL TIME!!!! I asked them why they liked it so much...I was SHOCKED!!! They said that most people in the ward are 1st generation Converts or

Our American  Sisters!

from Other Countries and they don't have stories like that...let alone know people that have stories like that!! It was really eye opening to me. I am so grateful for my family history and that I was raised in a family that kept good records and loves genealogy!!! I talked about the 2 treks I went on and cried so hard!!! That was such a great experience for me!! I will never forget!!! So all in all this week was GREAT!!!! We are trying to hurry, so we can get everything ready for Transfers tomorrow!!!  Since Sister Macaso is going, so close and Sister Magelby is coming from so far I will be companionless {is that even a word?}for all Tuesday, so I'm going to be in White Rock with Sister Nelson!! BACK BY THE OCEAN!!!!!! Whoop Whoop!!! Then I get my new companion on Wednesday!! Here's some great quotes from this week:

-At the Relief Society activity we introduced Jean to everyone, and she was talking about her life in China and her recent travels there. Then Lee our favorite ever whispers to us, "Can you imagine going to China!!!! Everything's made in China!!!!!" Oh  my goodness it was so hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Then on Sunday we were learning about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and a member of the class noticed how it said no fishing...she said, "Why don't the animals get to rest on the Sabbath????" hahahahh We then had a 5 min conversation about how hunting should be banned on the Sabbath...all in good fun... hahahahahahahhha

That's it!!! Great week!!! So stoked for this new transfer!!!

Round 8 here we come!!!!

Love, Sister Peterson

Week 44: HAPPY CANADA DAY AND HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!

So...let me just say...IT RAINED ON CANADA DAY AND IT'S RAINING ALL DAY TODAY!!! What's up with that?!?! Anyway!! this week was fun and patriotic!!!!

Monday was so good!!! One of our members gave us a referral!!!!!! She was at a pool with her family and she started talking to this lady and she gave her a mormon.org card and she wants to learn more!!!! It was so awesome!! she's so cute she called us right away and told us!!!!! Member Referrals are the best!!!!! Tuesday we had a busy day!! It started out with tons of HILARIOUS STUFF!!! So First...we are tracting...and this man opens the door...picks up his dog...then his dog jumps out of his arms and does the biggest leap of faith I've ever seen and just falls!!! IT WAS SO SAD BUT WE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO RECOVER FROM THAT SO IT TURNED SUPER AWKWARD.... hahahahhahhahahhah The dog is okay...I think it learned it's lesson!! Then we went to stop by one of our potentials and I didn't feel completely right about it so I said lets just park outside and we'll call (Missionaries are the best stalkers in the universe FYI) So we call her and she said "Sorry I can't meet today we are just headed out the door" Sister Macaso and I look at each other in a panic!!! WE ARE RIGHT OUT THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I keep her on the phone...frantically search for the

keys...turn the car on and we peel out of there!!!! hahahahhah just in time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We escaped and she doesn't know we are stalkers yet, so she still wants to meet with us tomorrow :) phew!!! Then we got a call from the Sister Training Leaders and they asked us to come over for lunch...on them. We were like "Sweet!! Free lunch!!" They said they used the rest of their money to buy this meal for us...because it was so good...it was fried chicken and french fries lol!!!!!! They had been craving it all week and didn't want to eat it all alone hahahahhahahah We had dinner with the Benincosa's and they made us Mexican Casserole and surprised us by bringing our favorite recent convert Lee!!! {this computer is telling me "favorite" is spelled wrong and trying to spell it "favourite"...Oh Canada} Wednesday was a good day too...nothing too exciting happened today except we shared the gospel with tons of people and had a SWEET district meeting!!!! I love our district!! We all got American Skittles and took a picture :) It was a nice little surprise from one of the missionary moms!! We had dinner with the Prasads (Bishop of Surrey 3rd ward)  and they got us pizza...and they told us we had to eat 4 pieces each with fruits, veggies, and lots of other stuff!! DO THEY THINK WE'RE ELDERS!!!!!!! We tried so hard but didn't make it...too stuffed!!! It was really funny!!! Thursday  was awesome!! We met with Sandy a former investigator and she made us treats and homemade ice cream and tons of yummy things!!! She is so talented!!! She bakes all day Wednesday and then delivers free desserts to people in Surrey!!! She is also like Snow White and feeds all the animals that cross her path hahaha She wasn't interested in the gospel but she is just the sweetest lady ever!!!

**later that night we took those treats and shared it with the elders in our coordination meeting...they ate them all...IT WAS 3 PLATES OF TREATS!!! At least we still have the homemade ice cream :) FRIDAY WAS CANADA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure if I just wasn't in the right part of town but people are not as excited about Canada Day up here as they are about 4th of July in the States...we would say "happy canada day" and people would just stare at us like we were crazy ahhahahah

Anywho....Thursday night we pull in and we are doing our k/miles report and I see the Sister Training leaders in their car in the rear view mirror jamming out to EFY music hahaahahahha  I got out and they asked if they could have a sleep over!!! hahahahahahh So funny!!!! We of course said yes...It was awesome we got to be together for Canada Day and we had lots of fun adventures spreading the gospel at the bus exchange and downtown. 

We even found a piano on the sidewalk downtown!!! There was an old man playing {HE PLAYS JUST LIKE GRANDPA!!!!! IT ALMOST MADE ME CRY!!!!} Then he gave us a turn!!  I tried to play...I literally forgot every song I have ever played hahahahaha Then this random guy came along..wearing a Carrot Top shirt from the Strip...so I mentioned I was from Las Vegas and we started chatting it up told him I was a missionary up here!!! Then we played the dun dun dun....song...I hope you know what I mean hahahahah he played the hard part I played the easy dun dun dun part and it was really fun!!!

All day we wanted to find a lady in the stores that was wearing purple...we just felt like we were going to find her...WELL we walk into Dollarama and this lady is hardcore staring at our tags...she says "I used to be a member of your church!" SAY WHAT?!!? She says she's been

less active and wants to start going back to church!! So we exchanged info and we are meeting with her this week!!! BEST PART!!!! SHE WAS WEARING PURPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! Saturday we walked SO much!! I haven't had a solid walking day since Campbell River and the first bit of my time in Brookswood, so I thought I'd show Sister Macaso what the old days used to be like...BAD IDEA!!! It was so hot!!!!!! We only walked 8k's but man oh man we were dying!! At first I thought I was doing okay..then we got home I started getting super cold even though I was hot...I got really nauseous...so i had to call my best friend Sister Rolfson the mission nurse. Not fun!! I was really dehydrated and too overheated!! We endured and ended up having a great day!!  Sunday was good too!!! We had church and Sister Macaso and I got to bear our testimonies in Hindi sacrament. Love that little twig (not a branch or a ward yet...we're working on it!!) 

Jean our only progressing investigator came to church for 5 min then said she had to leave lol We gave her some chinese pamphlets to read over to make sure she understands what we are teaching her!! Then...she told us the greatest story known to man. She said this man was on her street trying to sell her and her family some illegal substances aka drugs hahah and she walked right up to him and said "no drugs are bad" and gave him her WORD OF WISDOM PAMPHLET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We were laughing so hard!!!!!!!!!!! It was awesome!!!!! She asked for another one so she could read up on it because she gave hers away!! I'm so proud of her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Our Sunday was a good one...we tried so hard to find a new investigator!!! We got close a couple times we taught the restoration a lot on the doorstep yesterday, but no one wanted us to come back :( But this is a new week!! And we're kicking it off with one of the BEST HOLIDAYS ON THE PLANET!!!!!! 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!! Sister Macaso is trying to understand my excitement...this is her 1st July 4th :) Today all the Surrey Sisters are going to the Benincosa's and we're having an old fashioned BBQ!!!!! Whoohooo!!!!! We were so happy when we got invited!!!! Holidays as a missionary are not the best, but when we have things to go to it's AWESOME!!!! And it's p-day today so it's going to be super fun!!! Also...congrats to The Kendalls who had their little adorable baby this week!!!! He is so precious and handsome!!!!!!! I can't wait to meet him when I get home!!!!! 

Hope you all have a safe and awesome 4th of July in the Best Country in the World!!!! GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Peterson