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

Week 57: TRANSFERS, ROYALTY, EXCHANGES, SNAKES, HOUSE ALARMS, AND CONFERENCE!!!! FUN WEEK!!!

Hello!!! So Transfer News First...I AM STAYING ANOTHER TRANSFER WITH SISTER ESPLIN!!!!

Here's my week! Monday our plans fell through..bummer...so we stopped by one of our fav members Sis. Stevenson! We were going to surprise her...but then I got scared so we ran away hahahah then we called her and said "We'll be there in 10 but we

were really outside" hahhahahahah We had a great FHE lesson with her after that...Missionary life... Tuesday we had dinner with an awesome family in our ward! Their daughter left the same day I did and she's serving in Gilbert, Arizona!! Anyway...the dinner was great and the son reminds me of Bo and he found a little kitty in the bushes when he was dirt biking so he brought it home..didn't tell his mom...and named it Fergie. It's really cute but his mom was not too happy hahahahha It was hilarious!! We had another lesson with MaryAnne and we brought one of her friends that's in our ward!! It went great!! She wasn't taught as much as we thought in the past so we'll have to start at the beginning with the Restoration but that's okay because the Restoration is AWESOME!!! Also today William and Kate came to Kelowna!!!!!!!!!!!! The town was buzzing!!! hahah THe STL's saw them drive by and William waved at them!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahhahah This is the closest I'll probably ever get to them so I was really happy!! Also... we were tracting and I put the pass along card in the door....and I SET OFF THE HOUSE ALARM!!!!!! It

LOL!!!!

scared me!!!! hahahha So we went and knocked on the neighbors door hoping they wouldn't think we were robbing the place and stuff..they weren't home...GREAT!! WE CAN'T JUST RUN AWAY...WE'LL LOOK SUSPICIOUS!!! So we called around the ward and finally someone gave us the non-emergency RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) so we called and I said Hi this is Sister Peterson...I'm a missionary here in Kelowna and....yeah...i set off a house alarm as we were knocking...so I made a report and they had to take my number just incase the home owners asked questions...oh my goodness I lost it!!!! hahahhahahah SO FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wednesday was good...can't remember.....Ah! We saw patricia and she's doing good! She wants another reading calendar for October so that's good that she still wants to read!! Thursday we went on exchanges!!! I went with Sister Steele! We had a ton of fun! We visted a member family and they had a snake...then they were like...we have 2 more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what?!?! I was freaking out!!! SNAKES ARE NOT MY FAVORITE!!! Sister Steele doesn't like them either but she decided it was the perfect time to conquer her fears so she held all 3!!! 2 in her hands and 1 around her neck!!!! OH MY HECK!!!! IT WAS CRAZY!!!!!

Manny the Praying Mantis

Our lesson with them was super good! They are missionary minded and really love the scriptures and they are going to start reading the BOM with us as a mission!! Friday Sister Steele and I had a great lesson with Sandra!! She said SHE KNOWS THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE WORD OF GOD ALONG WITH THE BIBLE!!!! sweet!!!!! Her concerns about Joseph Smith are being resolved little by little and the spirit was super strong in our lesson. I'm learning how to listen more in lessons. I realize that yeah I have things I want to say but I don't have to say it all!! I've been focusing on letting my companions speak and then If I really need to say something then I'll pipe in. i talk to much..especially when it comes to the gospel... that will be a cool change for my family hahahahhaha GET READY!!! :)  They kindly reminded me today that I only have 5 months left.. Anyway My exchange with Sister Steele was super good!! She is amazing!! She talks to everyone and she's so easy to talk to and the way she speaks about the gospel is just so natural! You can tell she really knows it to be true!! We had a Frozen Yogurt miracle too!! So all transfer I've wanted some fro-yo well we had 15 min so we decided to go! Sis. Steele is allergic to sugar so I was filling up my fro-yo cup and she started talking to the girl at the counter about the gospel. SHE WAS LIKE GLUED TO SISTER STEELE...LIKE SO INTERESTED IN WHAT SHE WAS

Sister Sassy Pants LOL

SAYING ABOUT THE GOSPEL AND THE YSA BRANCH!!! It was really cool!! She said she would love to come check it out!! yay!!! When we switched back, Sister Esplin and I went down south and we started walking to a members house and WE ENDED UP WALKING TOO FAR!!! hahah but while we were walking we found a TUMBLEWEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we started singing "home means Nevada...home means the hills!!!" hhahahah it was hilarious!!!  Later Sister Esplin had an allergic reaction because of it...that was a little less hilarious.. Then we had an activity/BBQ at the church called 50's and over! We are like over 50% water so we decided to go and see if there were any non-members and they had a great dinner!!! It was a great night!!! Saturday was of course GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!! IT WAS SO GREAT!!! PRESIDENT UCHTDORF'S TALK JUST ANSWERED ALL MY QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE!!! sweet!!! My favorite talks this day were Uchtdorf, McConkie,Andersen,Yamashita, and Oaks!! TONS OF TALKS ABOUT MISSIONARY WORK!!!!! We were so happy!!!! It was also so touching when Pres. Uchtdorf said "Aren't all our missionaries...handsome, beautiful, precious..." and all sorts of stuff!! it made me tear up!!! I just felt so much love from our

Reminders of Home (Tumbleweed)

leaders like they really understand the struggle and the joys!! Love them!! After Conference we went and contacted a potential and she ended up becoming a new investigator!! We were sitting outside and at first she was like "okay...teach me" and didn't seem to happy but as we taught the restoration her heart softened! She was really drawn to a picture of the Salt Lake Temple!! She is really cool and we're excited to teach her more!! She studies with all religions but she was really happy to learn more about ours!! So that's good!! Transfer calls happened this day too..Sister Esplin and I were expecting a call but then we woke up in the morning and NO CALL So we're staying!! Most everyone in our district is staying!! Sister Ricks is leaving going to Port Moody! It was fun serving with her again! Sunday sessions of Conference were really good too!!  I LOVED all the talks!!! They were super good!!! 

K. Brett Nattress is coming to our mission in December so we all were super excited to hear him speak!! Overall, Conference was good!! No one came :( we invited so many people though!!!! It was a great week and we're super excited to

study conference more and apply it this transfer!!

I think that's all for now :) 

Next week is Canadian Thanksgiving so P-day will be on Tuesday :) 

Love you all,

Sister Peterson

Week 56: Zone Conference, General Conference, Dried Banana Chips... and Other Miracles

This week was GREAT!!! 

Monday night we met with the Bishops...not the Bishop...but the Bishop Family....that's their last name...it's awesome!! We did a little FHE with them and it was fun :) Later we met with our investigator MaryAnne and she is

so AWESOME!!! She knows literally more members than we do and she has been prepared in so many ways!! We talked about how God's blessed her and her family. Her son and his wife are members of our ward! She was more than happy to have us back and teach her the lessons again! We're meeting with her tomorrow!! During the lesson I just had the best feeling and I just felt like I was going to help her get baptized...we'll see what happens!!

Tuesday we jumped in the car with the West Bank Sisters at 7am and drove up to Vernon for Zone Conference!! It was raining but the drive was still beautiful :) The Theme of Zone Conference was Becoming A Convert Ready Missionary and how we need to be ready to teach these people who will be converts!! IT WAS SO GREAT!!! I just love President and Sister Burt :) He said something that just really touched my heart...he said "Don't think for one second that I don't kneel and pray and plead your cause before the Lord every morning" HE'S THE BEST MISSION PRESIDENT EVER!!! He truly cares for each one of his missionary children :) During the Conference we played Preach My Gospel Jeopardy....I HAVEN'T PLAYED A GAME IN A LONG TIME SO MY COMPETITIVE SIDE CAME OUT!!!!! I was so excited and just wanted to win!!! hahahaha I see why the white handbook says don't let games or sports become competitive...I scared the

assistants I think hahahah Elder Asi and Elder Tobias told everyone...watch out for that Sister Peterson...hahahahahahahhah we ended up winning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But...of course it's not about that...everyone is a winner when their on the Lord's side....(we may or may not have beat the other teams by 2,000 points)..... Anyway at the end of the conference I had a CRAZY HEADACHE!!! I couldn't even see or lift my head up...probably because I played Jeopardy so hard...So at the end I got to meet with President Burt and have a little interview and he gave me a blessing. Wow...I've never gotten a blessing from President Burt before and it was SO GREAT!!!! I really felt Heavenly Father's love :) I'm so grateful that I get to serve with the Burts!!!! They are seriously the most amazing people ever!!! We didn't get back to Kelowna till 7:30pm so it was a LONG DAY!!!! Wednesday we met with Sandra again with Bro. M!!! IT WAS SO GOOD!! We read the Book of Mormon with her and she said everything she read supports what she believes and she thinks its true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We committed her to pray about it and get that witness from Heavenly Father and we're excited because we know she will get an answer and she will be so excited!!!!! We are still meeting with

Patricia...pray that she will have the strength to stop smoking that way she can be baptized!!!! We had dinner with the Johns a senior couple in this mission from Kaysville, Utah :) they are great!!! Thursday we planned...did some service..taught some member lessons...Friday We tried as hard as we could to find new investigators by dropping by TONS OF POTENTIALS!!!! We were able to stop by a potentials house Louise.. and she had just pulled up as we walked around the corner and she said I just got back from visiting family in chilliwack...if we would have gone any sooner she wouldn't have been home...HEAVENLY FATHER IS SO GOOD!!!! We set up a return appointment for sunday!! Later that night we were wondering what to do so we prayed...I had the CRAZIEST PROMPTING!!! "Dried Banana Chips at Bulk Barn" IN MY MIND I WAS LIKE WHAT IN THE WORLD...GOD JUST TOLD ME TO GO TO BULK BARN AND STAND BY THE DRIED BANANA CHIPS...MY COMPANION IS GOING TO THINK I'M BANANANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO I told her...she was thinking stores too!!! Now..I made a vow to President Burt that I would not go store contacting for the rest of my mission unless I

felt prompted....so I was struggling with this but decided to do it!! So we drive to bulk barn...we walk in...and there is a lady we know Tracy standing in line!! A few weeks ago we got to talking to her...her daughter married a member and we were able to share the book of mormon with her and say a prayer!! I WAS LIKE "SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S TRACY!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sister Esplin had just been thinking about her this week....So I go up and say hello and ask her how she's been!!! She didn't seem too interested but it was AWESOME TO KNOW THAT MY BANANA CHIP PROMPTING WASN'T DUMB IT WAS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we found out where the banana chips were and we took a picture in front of them and we vowed to never delay a silly prompting again...ALSO I FELL IN LOVE WITH BULK BARN....ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE...AND TONS OF IT!!!!!!! We're going back today to buy some stuff :) So that was a really cool experience :) Saturday was walking day as always and we had a great day walking around!!! Then at night was the RELIEF SOCIETY BROADCAST!!!!!!!!! it was so amazing!!!!!!!!!! I loved all the talks and especially Uchtdorfs!!! 4th floor last door...i really needed to hear that!! Also it made our ward think more

about missionary work and in testimony meeting on sunday they all expressed their gratitude for those missionaries that knocked on their door..it definitely helped me realize what a privilege it is to be a missionary :) that's what I had been fasting for yesterday..that I would recongnize what a priveledge it is to be a missionary and what a sacred calling this is...that's pretty cool too :) We were able to meet with Louise on Sunday...she is amazing!!! she used to figure skate for Disney on Ice!!!! SWEET!!!!!! She basically took over our role and asked us "what are YOU expecting from me" and told us what she wanted from us...that's our job!!!!!!!! hahhaha  She committed herself to read the Restoration pamphlet and said she would immerse herself in it all and see if it changes her life....WE WERE DUMBFOUNDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY COW HEAVENLY FATHER JUST GAVE US A GOLDEN INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is amazing :) This week really helped me to see that Heavenly Father is never too far away. He is always there prompting me...even when it comes by way of banana chips. I know that I have the spirit guiding me each day. I'm grateful for Heavenly Father's impeccable timing :) he is so gracious to

us missionaries and I know he love me. I'm grateful for modern-day prophets and apostles and the leaders of this church that speak to us the words of the Lord and truly inspire us. I received so much revelation from the Women's Broadcast and I can't wait for General Conference next weekend!!! We also get transfer calls this weekend so I expect EVERYONE to be praying that I stay in KELOWNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I'm pretty sure I'll stay :)

Love you all,

Bye for now!

Love Sister Peterson

Week 55: Fall Has Arrived

Man..another week....WHAT?!?!?

Real fast: The leaves are changing here and its gorgeous!!!!!!! SO PICTURESQUE!!!! {You can kind of see it in the pictures.}

Sister Esplin & I

Monday was good we finished all our p-day stuff and all our appointments fell through so we were like oh man...we already did our backups what should we do!!! Then we remembered our Recent Convert Robinette lives right up the street so we decided to stop by and see if we could have a little Family Home Evening with her!! It was perfect!! She said she really needed a visit and we were able to offer to help her with the Food Drive this weekend! IT WAS PERFECT!!! I also was reading in the scriptures on Monday...not sure which one...but I came up with the motto DESIRE*BELIEVE*ASK*RECEIVE

Tuesday was good! We taught Sandra and she is so good!!! She is a bible researcher for a living so we were a little nervous but we have total faith that Book of Mormon can stand any test she gives it!! So we went with our member Bro. M (they are friends and he sounds exactly like Jeffrey R. Holland...identical I promise!!!) and we had a great lesson answering her questions and we FINALLY helped her see that the only way to know the book is true is to READ IT AND PRAY ABOUT IT!!! So we followed up with her this week and she said she had read some!! We are praying so hard that she will gain that witness from the spirit that it is true!!!! SHE LOVES JESUS AND SO I KNOW SHE WILL JUST FALL IN LOVE WITH THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!! So exciting!!! Bro. M shared a Jeffrey R. Holland clip off YouTube...SAFETY FOR THE SOUL!!! It's my all time fav!!! Look it up!!!  Then we had to RUSH to our other lesson right down the street with Jenny our member and the two cute adorable babies!!!! There weren't as many "uh ohs" this time with the babies they were quiet and so sweet this time!! We watched a Mormon.org clip "Hope of God's light" to help her see how good god is and how just a small belief in him can change her life! We're going to give her a couple weeks to read and pray...and see how her faith grows after that!! We helped deliver bags for the BC Food Drive today! It was fun! People thought we were proselyting and we were like NO JUST TAKE THE BAG!!! HAHAHAHAHAHHA  All day today we just weren't feeling good...it was weird... We had dinner with a member family and they are so cool!!! They live far away from Civilization and their property is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Sister Steele :) I love her!

We had never met them before. They have lived here for 30  years, but they have gone on 3 missions!!!! We found out while we were there HE WAS A MISSION PRESIDENT IN ITALY!!!!!!! How cool is that???? MAN WERE WE NERVOUS NOW!!!!! We had a really good lesson with them about sharing the gospel with those they come in contact with and it was perfect! They said they had just been talking with their daughter about how to casually bring up the gospel! We all went through the Restoration pamphlet and took turns teaching the points!! It was fun!! By the time we were headed back home I was NOT feeling well!! All day I felt off...now remember...these members live FAR AWAY FROM TOWN!!! So it was a fun ride home through the winding roads through all the winerys and orchards...I ended up being okay though!! SURVIVED!! We ended our night just walking around town and we saw this guy across the road..he was the only one at the bus stop so we made our way over there and started talking to him! He was from the Philippines! Sister Esplin's brother served there so we had a good conversation! We told him about church and invited him and gave him a pamphlet to read! When we got home we were looking through our ward list and we found a less active with HIS SAME NAME from the Philippines and his story matched up perfectly with this member!!! WE WERE LIKE WOAH!!!! WE WERE TOTALLY LED TO HIM BY HEAVENLY FATHER!!! Wednesday we had district meeting and I trained on "Developing the Faith to Find". Funny how we always train on the things we need to improve on...I focused on how we can develop the faith and motivation by remembering that we're all children of God!!! It's a privilege to go and seek out our brothers and sisters and help them out!!  We double booked appointments so we had to separate and go with the YSA sisters! I went with Sister Steele and we had a fun time teaching and preaching :) We both like Sushi so we planned that we need to do a sushi lunch one day hahaha We ended our day with Coordination and man was it funny!!! Bro. Burgess is seriously the funnest member I've ever met!! He was cracking jokes all night!!! it was a VERY PRODUCTIVE coordination we came up with a game plan on how we can help this ward get more involved with missionary work...the age old question of all missionaries hahahha In the middle Elder Edwards was saying, "yeah she's super down to read the Book of Mormon too" Brother Burgess goes "Wait..what does DOWN mean?" hahhahahahhahhahahahahha we had to explain it and it was SO FUNNY!!!!!!!! Then he cracked a tennis joke about Serena Williams and had us all dying...Sister Esplin still doesn't get it...maybe by the end of the transfer!!! ; Thursday our sickness finally caught up with us!!! We planned went out for about 30 min and had to come right back in! The nurse think we caught a stomach bug...GROSS!!!! So we hunkered down and worked in our area book!!! We found so many miracles though!!! I talked to a potential for like 15 min and it was GREAT!! By the end the conversation turned to politics and all that...so I ended it pretty fast seeing as I know NOTHING and I only hear the extremes from those we talk to on the street...so yeah....then I found some YSA people and passed them off to the Sisters and they went and visited one of them that I had a really good feeling about and she said she wanted to learn and come to church SWEET!!!! MIRACLES HAPPEN EVEN WHEN YOU ARE SICK!!! Here's something funny: while we were in Thursday and Friday we were trying to find this street a member lives on it was called PRETEND ST. we had laughed at it before but once we tried to find it IT DIDN'T EXIST IN KELOWNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My New Convert ;)

HAHHAHAH IT WAS REALLY PRETEND!!! MAN THAT MEMBER IS REALLY FUNNY!!!!!!!!  Saturday was the BC Food Drive! We went around and helped Robinette pick up bags full of food and then took it to the Food Bank!! It was raining so we got soaked!!! It was like a winter day!!!! :) We had a great day and talked to lots of people had some really good member visits...i'm starting to get vague because I'm running out of time hahhahahaha Here's a funny joke from today of course supplied by Sister Esplin" "Hey! What do you call a one legged woman...I was trying to think so fast about what it could be so I yelled "PEGGY"!!! Good one eh??? Well Sister Esplin looks at me weird and goes NO...AILEEN!!!! HAHAHHAHAHAHAH THEN WE DIED LAUGHING ABOUT HOW MY ANSWER WAS EVEN BETTER HAHAHHAHAHAH Sunday was good :) went to church! We have it in the afternoon so it feels like it takes the whole day up!! Then we were working in an area contacting referrals and a member family invited us in to have pie with them :) We were walking and we hear some one yelling "Sisters!!!" we got excited and then we turn and see it's a member hahhah They gave us homemade lemon meringue pie!! YUM!!!  Overall it was good week!!! we have Zone Conference tomorrow in Vernon, BC so ROADTRIP TIME!!! Then of course there's the Relief Society Broadcast this weekend then next week is General Conference!! MY LAST GENERAL CONFERENCE ON THE MISSION!!! What????? It's going to be the best!!!  I'm excited for these next couple weeks and i'm looking forward to the spiritual boost!! I love this gospel :) I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon :) I love my family and so grateful I was raised with this knowledge and given the opportunity to serve a mission at this time in my life :)

Love you all,

Bye for now!

Sister Peterson

Week 54: Short week!!! and Happy 23rd Birthday!!!

This week was great!!! I have less to write because I JUST EMAILED ON TUESDAY!!! HAHAH My letters will probably still be long...as always :) The rest of Tuesday was so good!! We went and visited a member in our ward! She is blind and we went to

Birthday Candy Stash from the fam

read the book of mormon to her!! It was a really humbling experience. Her love for the book of mormon is stronger than ever and she has to rely on others to read it to her so she was THRILLED when we said we wanted to come visit her!! I can't imagine loosing my sight. She grew up in Germany and she was explaining to us what she remembers about where she grew up. She still has all of those images in her mind and the way she described them was so vivid!! Oh man!! I must go to Germany now!!!

Wednesday September 7th was my birthday! THE  BIG 2-3 hahahahha I feel so old now!!! hahahah Birthday's on the mission are alright....we try to make them fun!!! So my companion was so sweet!! We played tennis for exercise with some cheap BRIGHT PINK rackets from the Dollar tree it was HILARIOUS!!! People were staring at us like we were crazy! Then she made me YUMMY pancakes for breakfast!! We had district meeting and had lots of good trainings as always!! After the Sister Training Leaders Sister Ricks (my mom/trainer) and Sister Steele took me to Wendy's and got me lunch...FROSTYS!!!!!! woohooo!!! I got my birthday packages from my family and my dad sent me a list of my favorite candy I made before I went in to the MTC and he sent me all the candy on the list!!!! hahahha I SCRIBBLED

My favorite scent!!!

THAT LIST 1 YR AGO AND MY FAMILY KEPT IT!!!!! THEY ARE THE BEST!!!!!! We then visited a less active in our ward. The theme of our lesson was "I am a Child of God" and we used Elder Hallstrom's talk from last conference. We were talking and she said "I haven't sang that song in a long time"...we decided to sing it!! She had forgotten the words but we couldn't help but feel the spirit as she closed her eyes and tried to sing the words with us. It was a tender mercy to see how she felt Heavenly Father's love for her through this simple song. Sometimes we take lightly the knowledge that we are children of God...THAT'S NOT GOOD!!!! WE ARE HIS CHILDREN!! HE LOVES US SO MUCH!!!! WE NEED TO BELIEVE IT!!!  We then had a good lesson with Patricia! She asked us for a Book of Mormon reading calendar so we made one up and she's really excited to keep reading the Book of Mormon!! We ended our night with Coordination! Let me tell you I love our Ward Mission Leader here!! He is SO FUNNY!!!!!! We had cupcakes and all that fun stuff!! Overall it was a good birthday!!! I missed my family as always but I felt so loved by everyone else :) Thursday we had a sweet member visit with one

Our Investigator Patricia

of our favorite members Sister Stevenson! She is an artist and she paints the most beautiful pieces!! She paints brides and they are AMAZING PAINTINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She needs to be famous!! I wanted to take a pic to show you but I thought that might be weird and against some sort of law or something...her house is like an art gallery!! She is so talented!!! Friday we had a lesson with our investigator Jenny and her baby!!! We brought a member that has a baby around the same age and it was so fun!!! We had some interruptions...crying...exploding diapers...feeding time...teething time...BUT  it turned out to be a good lesson!!! Jenny's faith is growing little by little and she is coming closer to God :) It's awesome to see!!!! Also I just LOVE BABIES!!!!!! I found out like 4 of my cousins just had new babies or are having a baby in the next couple weeks (Kaley :)) and all my friends are having babies and I just miss them!!!! I'm going to come home to a whole clan of babies though!!! Woohoo!!! We ended Friday night with a visit to a sister in our ward!!! She's a hoot!! We LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!! She makes us laugh so hard!!! We read a GREAT chapter in the Book of Mormon and she messed up one of the words and we just couldn't stop laughing!!! She's such a great member!!! hahahah After we left her house we were in a rush to get home it was 8:50pm...almost pumpkin time (Cinderella

Birthday Breakfast by Sis. Esplin

reference for all those that are still thinking about that one...) We were walking out and we passed this lady on the steps...then Sister Esplin said "Wait!" She went back and started talking to this lady! She gave her a Jesus Picture and the lady said "How did you know I needed him right now?" IT WAS SO COOL!!!! THE SPIRIT TOLD SISTER ESPLIN SHE NEEDED...NEEEDED!!! TO GO TALK TO THAT LADY!!! So we had a full on conversation with her about Jesus Christ and her belief and we explained to her the Book of Mormon and shared some uplifting scriptures! She accepted a copy and we said we could call her in the future!! It was a really great experience!! God is always putting people in our path but if we are moving to fast or not focused on our purpose we can pass them by just like that! I'm so grateful for my companion and that she followed that prompting!!! Awesome miracle!! Saturday was fun!! I GOT TO SPEND THE WHOLE DAY WITH SISTER RICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHA We laughed so hard about our time in Campbell River it was seriously so fun to just remember and go back!!! oh my goodness we had so much fun there!!! So

Sister Selfie

many miracles too!! We met with Gertrude our 103 yr old investigator! We talked to her about the Book of Mormon and she was so excited to read it!!! We were going to read a verse and to our surprise she started reading it and loved it!!! We had a lesson with one of our recent converts Jenny!! She is so good!!! She is a single mama right now and she just loves the gospel!!! She ordered us Chinese Take out (she makes her 9 yr old daughter order it..."It's a life skill" she says) hahahahah  We had a really good lesson about Abinadi and we put our tag on her little girl and told her she was the missionary and she needed to teach her mom about God. It was so cute to hear her little testimony about how God helps her and how she prays!!! Oh I love it!!! Sunday was good! Patricia came to church!! AMEN HALLELUJAH (she always says that hahah) We had a good rest of the day..nothing too exciting happened! We just talked with a lot of great people here in Kelowna!!! I love it here!!! The people are awesome and it's just now beginning to feel like fall and all the trees (so many trees here!!!!) are changing color!!! I will send more pics next week of that!!

I think that's it for now :)

Really good week!!!

Bye for now!!

Sister Peterson

Week 53: 525,600 Minutes, 2 Huge Miracles, and 1 Big Move!

Welp.....everyone reminded me this week...I have been on my mission for 365 days...525,600 minutes, and 1 year!!!! THAT IS SO CRAZY TO ME!!!!!! I can't believe one year ago I was a greenie in the MTC. I have learned so much since then!!!! Oh my goodness...I knew nothing about the gospel compared to now!!!! This week was good... A LOT HAPPENED!!!!! So grab a snack and get comfy :)

Meet Sister Esplin!!!

Monday - Sister Esplin and I decided we were going to RELAX, so we took a stroll on the boardwalk by Okanagan Lake. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!! It REMINDS ME SO MUCH OF LAKE TAHOE!!!! Clear water!!! We got some gelato...oh my goodness it was the BEST!!!! So great!!! Later that night we had dinner with one of our members!! She's Filipino, so she made us some really good food! There were two other ladies there and we got to talking and found out that one of them wasn't a member!!!!! We were like "YOUR NOT A MEMBER!!?!?!" SHE SAID "NOT YET!!!!" {love that phrase}So we taught her about the Book of Mormon and she said she wanted to learn!!! Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much!!! Little miracles just keep falling in our laps!!!!  Later that night we got a call from President Burt, and he asked us if we would MOVE into a new basement suite!!!!! We looked at our beloved vaulted ceilings and sky light and mustered up our Nephi like courage and said YES.... :( So all week we were preparing for that!!! Tuesday - We got a text from a random number and they said they were a member and they needed a visit at the hospital!! It

was awesome because the night before we felt like we needed to be around the hospital and this is why!!! She was in the ICU, so we got escorted to her room!! She was in pretty good condition and we chatted and laughed and we shared a short message!! It really brightened her spirits and ours!! Sister Esplin thought of a new joke this day too: 'Are you nuns...we'll have nun of that!!!!!" She laughed pretty hard!!!

Wednesday - We had district meeting. It's pretty much an Elder's Quorum meeting...with us sisters...I gave a training on a DVD and we watched it like game film and stopped it whenever we had a comment, so I think the Elders liked it hahaha or at least they stayed awake ;) hahah jk...but honestly though!

SO CRAZY STORY....SUPER AWKWARD: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA We met with an investigator Hilda today she's 90 something and afterwards we were driving away and this biker came out of no where on the sidewalk and I almost ran into him, so I rolled down my window and apologized. Well he started talking to us. I'm just chillin in the middle of the street like 'uh excuse me....I can't see the on coming traffic...stop talking hahaha' but we told him that we were missionaries. He said his name, I can't remember it and that he was from Jamaica...and he wanted to be my friend. I was like, "oh thats cool! Well we just teach people about Jesus Christ." He then asked if I was married...I said "No, I'm a missionary!!!!" He said okay well after your mission will you get married...I said yes, when I go home to the states....and he said, "Okay so we will be friends now and then we'll get married after your mission." People, at this point I was pretty creeped out and not at all flattered hahahaha. I just met this man and now he wants to marry me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!!! I politely told him no and that if he was interested in JESUS CHRIST he could call the Elders and then we sped away!!!!!!! hahaha WE LAUGHED FOR SO LONG AFTER THAT!!!!!!! I WAS LIKE WHAT IN THE HECK JUST HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!! So yes I got proposed too. The only way to describe it is in a way only Pride and Prejudice fans would understand...It was like I was refusing Mr. Collins!!!!!!!!!

Thursday- We finally stopped laughing about me getting proposed too. We did some service for a lady today and as we were working she was just telling us stories and she knew so much about the church it shocked us!!! It was like she was a member!!! hahaha We had a rocky lesson with one of our investigators this day. We were teaching and one of them  kept bringing up things against the church, and we were so surprised because she is usually so for the church!!! We had to stop the lesson short because it was just getting too confrontational and the spirit was leaving!!! It made us so sad :( It made us realize how much we love this church and how much we love all the aspects of the church!!! I apparently said a really cool phrase as I was trying to rely on the spirit and not on myself.. hahah I said, "As representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and of Jesus Christ himself we stand by the church and all it's endeavors." That's a pretty sweet testimony!!! Thanks Spirit!!! You don't realize how much you love something until it's attacked and you're put on the spot to testify of it!!! :) Missions are wonderful!!! We had dinner at a member's and they have a Great Dane named Max and I'M IN LOVE WITH GREAT DANES!!!!!

Friday - Today I hit my 1 year mark, and to celebrate I got a Blizzard :) Typical Canada Vancouver Sister Missionary :) We taught our investigator Patricia again, and she is so ready for baptism!!! She wants to quit

smoking SO BAD!!!! We have been working so hard with her!!! She is so ready!!!!! Almost there!!! She won't be baptized on September 24th, but in the future for sure!!!!! We had another lesson with one of investigators, Suzanne. It was really good!! We brought one of our favorite members and they both are artists, so they got along well!!! It was such a relaxed lesson. We prayed. Taught. Felt the Spirit. Prayed. THEN SHE GAVE US REFRESHMENTS {bonus!!!} She was so sweet!!! The lesson went really good and she loves the Book of Mormon!!! :)

Saturday - MOVING DAY!!!!!!!!!!  This day was stressful!!! We had to move everything into our new place and the Elders were moving in!!!! We were sad to leave our old place, but our new place is SO GREAT!!!! The members we live with spruced it up for us :) There's a washer and dryer which is a huge blessing to us missionaries!!! A TUB WITH JETS!!!!! What?!?!?!!  It's like we're in a hotel!!!!! And a heater that looks like a fireplace :) IT'S SO NICE!!!!!!!!! We love our new humble abode :) Everything went well and we got everyone situated, and then we went back out to work!!!

Sunday- BEST FAST SUNDAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a really cool meeting with some

Okanagan Lake

less actives that are coming back to church and we watched the Restoration DVD with them after dinner and she said, "I haven't felt the Spirit in a long time!!!" All of us were teary eyed!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SYDNI TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU SISTER!!!!!

Monday- Labor Day now to be named DAY OF MIRACLES!!!! Mark that on your calendars people! We were walking down the street and a lady just stopped us and asked are you Mormons???? We said uh heck yes!!! She said she had just met the Elders yesterday and wanted to meet up again!!! So we set up an appointment for them and she was so happy!!!! Then just a little further down the road we met another guy who just happened to be baptized 24 yrs ago and hasn't been back since!!!! We gave him a new copy of the Book of Mormon and he said he had actually been thinking about going back to church these last few days!!! WHAT?!?! Then we got a call from our Recent Convert Rick and he said that his friend Gertrude wanted to learn about the Gospel. She's 103 yrs old, and no one has ever talked to her about an after life!! {are you kidding!?!?} So we ran over

there to the care home and taught her the Plan of Salvation and she understood it all!!! We told her she could  be with her husband for eternity, and she started crying. It was the sweetest thing!! This woman has been through a lot in 103 years!!! She is so great and the Spirit was so strong!!! Then to end our week. We were leaving our members' house and I got out to get my cardigan out of the trunk and I HEARD A BEAR GROWL AT ME!!!!! I grabbed my cardi and ran so fast into the car!! We both were like, "Sister! Did you hear that!!!!!!" Oh so scary!!! That was it for this week :) A lot of fun eh?????

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!!!

Love,

Sister Peterson