Week 72: It Will All Work Out

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

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

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

PROVERBS 3:5-6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love,
Sister Peterson

Week 71: SUCCESS!!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

Love you,

Sister Peterson :)

Random Facts:

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

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

the end

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love you all :)

Sister Peterson

*Pictures from transfer meeting and the new year

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

Week 69: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

THIS WEEK WAS THE MOST AMAZING WEEK OF MY MISSION!!!!

We have been seeing miracles after miracles as this transfer has come to a close and Christmas has been approaching!!! Last week we got 4 new investigators!! THIS WEEK WE GOT 3 MORE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS

That's one way to take your tree home!

CHRISTMAS AND PEOPLE ARE BUSY!!! God is so good!!!! This week started out super eventful!!! Sister Gartside got SO SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were leaving an appointment and oh my goodness...not good!!!! Poor thing!!! So we drove home super fast (I tried not to make her sick I promise!!) and she was up all night sick :( I tried to help her but there's not much you can do :( So we didn't sleep very much. The next day the Sister Training Leader's came and Sister Steele and I went to District Meeting and went to work!!!! Throughout the day we switched in and out that way we could all work! Sister Steele and I literally had 30 min to go out and work. We prayed and then she said "lets go find a new investigator". Literally 5 min later we we knocked on a door of a street that's been tracted out a bagillion times and he wanted to learn more. As we talked to him we found out that he has had a rough life, but he had turned his life around. As

he was talking I got the prompting to ask him If he's been baptized!!!! I was like man...that's a bold question...but I did it! I asked him and he said yes, but he should probably be baptized again and recommit! HOW PERFECT!!! We told him we prepare people for baptism. We taught him the Restoration and he was so excited to come to church and get baptized!!! IT WAS SUCH A MIRACLE!!! Even though Sister Gartside was sick we still were finding people to teach!!!! Later that night though....I started to feel sick....then THE SICKNESS HIT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DESPISE BEING SICK IT'S SO GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!! So I called the nurse, but she told me to still go out so I did....it was really hard but we made it through!!!! We were able to have an awesome lesson with our investigator Levi!!! I prayed the whole time that I would be able to make it through...that I wouldn't get nauseous!!! We talked about the Book of Mormon and gave him more of the background!! He is excited to read and pray! I made it

through the lesson fine!!! but right after...back to being sick!!! Heavenly Father definitely blesses you for doing his work!!! Friday CHRISTMAS EVE EVE!!!!!! We set up a lesson with our investigator Leslie! Her and her kids came to the Ward Christmas party last week!!!! We were expecting just to meet with her at the mall in between her Christmas shopping but her and her husband showed up!!! So we taught him and he is interested so we got ANOTHER NEW INVESTIGATOR!!! SURPRISE!!!!!! We asked them in the lesson if they would be baptized and they looked at each other and said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Their whole family is going to be changed because of this gospel!!! They are going to be so much happier and closer with Jesus Christ!!!!!!!!!!!! SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SO HAPPY FOR THEM!!!!! After we had to rush to the store and grab a rotisserie chicken....because we forgot...and we were having a nice Christmas dinner with the YSA sisters!!! It was

so cute!! Sister Steele used a white sheet (clean I'm assuming) as our tablecloth and laid out little place settings for all of us!! We had chicken, stuffing, potatoes, yams, veggies, cider....quite the meal!!!  After we were walking around downtown talking to people, and we had been invited to a party at a member's house...we didn't want to go because...we probably wouldn't be very effective...but we prayed about it and we felt really good about going...weird...but okay lets do it!! So we went and MaryAnne our investigator was there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE HADN'T SEEN HER IN ABOUT A MONTH!!! That was a miracle!! Then we talked with these two non-members for about 45 min about missionary work, the light the world video, the church

and all that jazz!!! Really a miracle!!!! So good!!! Saturday.....CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went on a random Blitz with the sisters, they felt prompted to go so we went!!! I went with Sister Steele and we were walking and talking and I said Hey there's a potential there....lets go knock it!! So we did and the lady opened the door and we got to talking!! She said she was weary of the Book of Mormon and she said, "Well if the Book of Mormon is true then I'll stand before God and say whoops missed that one!!!" We told her she could find out if it's true on her own!! No pressure we would just come teach her and she could read and pray and ask God. We taught her the Restoration and just like that .....WE GOT AN OTHER NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 for the week!!!!!!! MIRACLES!!!!!!!! Turns out she works at an old folks home too, so I asked if we could come caroling and she said they would love that!!! Yay!!!! Sister Steele and I also found a potential named Utah...we had a great laugh about that one!!! For

My Christmas Card from Gram!

Christmas Eve dinner we went to the Vaski's house!!! They do seafood appetizers for Christmas eve....IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! I FINALLY TRIED SCALLOPS!!!!!!!!!!! Yum!!!! They are such a sweet family!!! They took really good care of us :) After eating there we went and spent Christmas Eve with Sister Stevenson!!! She got baptized on Christmas Eve 20 something years ago so we celebrated with her!!!! Christmas day was so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We woke up and FINISHED THE BOOK OF MORMON!!!!!!! We've been reading it for 4-5 months now and we finished it Christmas day!!! I just flipped through the pages at all the red markings where Jesus is mentioned and the doctrine I had highlighted and just knew it was true!!! :) After that we opened our gifts!!! My family is so sweet!! They sent me all my favorite things!!!! It was like I was just at home!!! :) I love them so much!!!  Our church service was amazing because we had a General Authority come!!!! Elder DeFeo! His brother is in our Stake Presidency!! It was a sacrament meeting with
tons of musical numbers and then the General Authority spoke to us! I got to sing in a choir for one song!! So good!!! After we walked around the streets and talked to people! We went and caroled at Lisa's old folks home!!

THEN WE GOT TO SKYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My family is so wonderful!!! Even though my sSkype shut off 2 times they still stayed on to talk to me hahahahahhh Then in the middle of it....MY  NEIGHBOR....MY BEST FRIEND SINCE THE WOMB....KAILEY CAME OVER TO SEE IF WE HAD A EGG SHE COULD BORROW....IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SKYPE CALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WAS SO EXCITED TO SEE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!PERFECT TIMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!hahah It was such a good surprise!!!! LOVE YOU MAJEWSKI'S!!!!! After we had to rush to our dinner!!!! We had dinner with a lady in our ward that doesn't have much family!! She did so much for us and got us presents!!! Very humbling....I love her a lot!! She gave us so many leftovers though...oh my goodness too much!!! On the way home, I saw all of the homeless people outside and I felt like I should give our leftovers to them...so as I was driving I was on the look out!! I saw one man huddled down and I knew I needed to talk to him. So I pulled over...my companion was a little scared of why I was going to talk to a homeless man in a dark

area and scary area in town haha I said "Hey! Have you had supper yet???" He said "no I haven't." I said well here we have some for you!!! I gave him the whole thing!!!! We even happened to have an extra wrapped fork in the car from take out a few weeks ago....it was perfect!!! His name is Clinton!! We talked to him about the Gospel and what we do as missionaries!! He was just so happy to have some food :) I WAS SO HAPPY TOO!!! I've never really done anything like that before.....I'm not telling you this to seem like "look what I did" but I'm telling you because in that moment I TRULY FELT THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS....I literally felt so good!!!! So spiritual, so charitable, so christ-like, so filled with joy!!! Clinton was so happy and I know that he appreciated it!! I will never forget that :) His bright smile as we simply shared with him what we had to share and the message of Jesus Christ. This has been such a memorable Christmas :) One of the best yet! I hope you all had a great Christmas!!

Please enjoy our Mission Christmas Poem:

With clouds over head, a storm in the night. we beg and we plead for the moon to shine bright. 

To lighten our path, to show us the way, all we can think is to love serve, and obey.

Through mountains of snow, and showers of rain,

we sometime must climb for our personal gain.

if we pray and we ask we are promised his love.

His heavenly guidance, from a world up above.

Fully seeking the truth, we know he'll respond. no moon has appeared,

I guess we'll pray on. we try and we try but nothing appears,

frustration and doubt often lead us to tears.

we come in at night on our knees, in our room, when a new star appears,

 "but god, where's the moon? you promise you'd give 

what we asked in his name, am I the one lacking, or

 is my faith to blame"?

"my child, you know not what you asketh of me.

for with the light of the moon for a time you would see.

If you follow my star, this new light will shine,

forever and ever, no matter the time.

sometime when you ask your desire is pure but wait for my answer, i knoweth the cure.

The light of the world, he's the one who can heal, so keep pressing forward, his atonement is real.

Remember this star , it shone bright in the sky.  when the savior was born for all of mankind.

He is there as your guide, the light for your path, follow him home, and you'll receive all that I have" 

by Elder Lieber

Love you and Happy New Year!!!!

2017 is going to be a great one :)

Love,

Sister Peterson :)

Week 68: 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!

Well this week was pretty fantastic!!!!! Monday was rough! We had to wait in line at the post office.......TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! It took about an hour total and it was horrific!!!!!! Hopefully my family likes their presents though:) Tuesday we had such a big miracle!!! We were at a member visit and we were talking to her about how she shares the gospel and she said she just tries to be a good example. Then she said she had some cookies for us from a market she goes too and the baker there is just so sweet and always comes out and gives her a hug!! He's one of the people that notices her great example!! She said his name and we were like....THAT'S OUR NEW INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cool!!!!!! Wednesday we had Zone meeting!! It was really good!! We were trained on how we can "boil" like Jeffrey R. Holland wants us to so we have this little activity now and we set a goal for just about anything and then write specific steps to help us meet that goal. Then we take one step and break that down into another 206-212 chart...it's super inspired and we've been using it with our transfer goals and it's working. We are way more dedicated to them and we have a clear plan on how to achieve it.

GOAL

212*

211*

210*

209*

208*

207*

206* WE ARE HERE

We had a great lesson with Sandra on Thursday!! We invited her to be baptized! She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes either!! She's still in the process of researching and finding things out and she had a very spiritual experience with her baptism before so I can understand why it would be hard for her. We're going to keep working on it! She is so good though! She said she met

President and Sister Burt and Elder Nattress at the airport last week when she was working and they recognized her!!!!! It was so cool!!! I just love them!!! She said they are amazing people :) I agree!!! Thursday we had lesson after lesson after lesson!! We had a lesson scheduled with a potential Levi that we met last week, but we couldn't find a member to come with us (we can't meet with males alone...we have to have another female with us) We called through everyone on our list!!!! No one could come...we were like okay maybe he will cancel??? We know God has a greater plan!! hahah So we went to our dinner appointment with the Lemoines! Brenda is a recent convert and we told her about our dilemma...she said we can't let someone not hear about the gospel, so she made us eat fast and then we were out the door to the lesson!!! It was so cool to see her and her husband bear their testimonies to Levi!!! He is very involved in the Catholic church but has a strong desire to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. We set up an appointment for next week at the Lemoines house!!! We're so excited!!!!! Then in Ward Council on Sunday we were asking who has a background in the Catholic church and a member of the Stake Presidency said he did and he would love to come. Then he said and my brother is coming for Christmas he's a General Authority, a member of the 70, we can see if he would want to come to the lesson too. WHAT????????? THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's probably super busy, but it's a cool

idea!!!! Basically Levi's lesson is going to be great no matter what!!! Friday we had lots of lessons too and we taught a bunch of little kids about the Plan of Salvation! One of the little kids isn't a member and she asked us "Who are God's parents???" "Do we have a Heavenly Mother or does God have a wife??" THIS CHILD IS SUCH A DEEP THINKER!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha She's only 9!!!!!! Saturday was lots of fun!!! It's been around -10 to -20 the last week so we've been freezing, especially me!!! My limbs go numb within a couple minutes hahahaha but that doesn't stop me!!! We walked and talked all day and got a few good potentials that said we could come back!! Saturday night was our Ward Christmas Party and Leslie and her kids came!! Their the family I met on the bus back in November!!!! MIRACLE CONTACT!!!!!!!! We gave them a church tour before the party and taught them the Restoration!! They loved it!! They also loved the party!!! Everyone was so friendly and we had a lot of fun!!! The kids liked it and Leslie said they really like the atmosphere and are so excited to come to church and stuff!!! YAY!!!!! So with that family we got 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sunday was good!! We had a great Sacrament meeting and we had lots of meetings to attend!! I didn't feel too great all day. Felt really dizzy and light headed!! We had to teach Relief Society...I barely remember it hahahahha I took a 10 min nap when we got home and then just pushed through the night. Heavenly Father definitely helped me! I didn't feel sick while we were out, but as soon as we got back in I started to feel woozy and get my headache again! Tender Mercy!!! We taught an awesome family Sunday night!!! We read with them the Christmas

Story in Luke 2! One of the kids said "an angel is someone with a light bulb in them...wearing a white dress" hahahhahahhahhaha I died!!! Then I let them borrow my scriptures! I said I got these when I was baptized they're really old so be careful with them. Then the same little kid that made the angel comment gave them back to me after we were done reading and said "here's your scriptures that you got when you were baptized that are old and can turn into dust any second." THIS KID CRACKS ME UP!!!! He's only like 7 hahahahahaha Overall it was a great week!!! We are seeing miracles as we exercise our faith!!! I am super excited to Skype my family on Sunday!!!!!!! Yay!!!! This is my last Skype call on my mission!!! Crazy!!!! We also get transfer calls on Christmas Eve so stay tuned for that!! I could stay...I could go!!! Who knows!!!!

Love you all

Love,

Sister Peterson

Week 67: Zone Conference, Creche, & Snow!

This week was GREAT!!!

At the beginning of the week we helped set up for Creche which is a huge Nativity display this ward does every year!! They have hundreds of Nativities! We set up a table and let me tell you IT'S HARD!!!! Rearranging the table cloth, the stands, and

the nativity pieces! Gee wiz!!! It turned out really pretty though! We had a great lesson with Sandra! One of our favorite members Sister Purnell came with us! She did a really good job at explaining the deep doctrine of the Plan of Salvation really simply and guess what....SANDRA NOW BELIEVES THE PLAN OF SALVATION UP TILL KINGDOMS OF GLORY!!!! We're still working on that :) She is progressing really well!! She asked me after I bore my testimony about God's plan for us, "So you know this 100%?" I said "Yes!" There was no doubts in my mind.The Spirit was so strong in that moment and confirmed to me again that I DID know this was true and that it really is God's plan for us!  Sister Burt called and asked if a few missionaries would sing at our Zone Conference with Elder K. Brett Nattress a member of the seventy. Of course I said YES!!!! We had 1 practice on Tuesday...just 1...crazy...what were we thinking singing for a general authority and we only get 1 practice!!! hahah It turned out really good! We Sang The First Noel :)  Wednesday was Zone Conference! IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!! ONE OF THE BEST ZONE CONFERENCES I'VE BEEN

TOO!!!!!! I received so much personal revelation. One of my questions was, how can I make the last 3 months of my mission GOLD!?!? How can they just be filled with blessings and hard work and dedication! It was definitely answered! Elder Nattress is such a great man!!! He is just so relaxed and funny and has such a great spirit with him! When it was my turn to go up and shake his hand he asked about me and you could tell he has a strong love for all missionaries! His training was all about the Savior. He asked three great questions: 1) What think ye of Christ? 2) When did you know? {that christ was your savior} 3) When did you know that you know? I LOVED his training so much!!! That was another one of my questions. How can I strengthen my relationship with Jesus Christ and understand the atonement more!  I could go on for days about this zone conference...IT WAS SO GOOD!!! Thursday we helped a member and her roommate who's one of our investigators move! It was quite fun :) They were just moving down the hall, so we would just load up a shopping cart wheel it down the hall and unload hahah We looked silly but it was fun!! Later we went and

hung out at the Creche the nativity display at the church! It's a community event, so there are lots of non-members that come. We just went up to everyone and introduced ourselves. Sister Gartside was able to have a great conversation with one lady who is searching for a church. It was really successful! Friday IT SNOWED LIKE CRAZY AND IT'S BEEN SNOWING EVER SINCE!!!! The city did a bad job with the roads and so it was so bad!!! Sister Gartside doesn't drive, so I'm the designated driver...SO HERE I AM....A LAS VEGAS GIRL...DRIVING A BRAND NEW 2016 ROGUE....IN 1 FOOT OF SNOW....NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!! hahah But I've been doing good! I'm learning all the tips and tricks. I'm also learning not to walk to people's driveways because it compacts the snow and makes it hard to scrap off...so we've been shovelling our way down to our car each morning and up the driveway each night :) I really don't understand why anyone would subject themselves to this....and this isn't even bad!!! The people on the other side of Canada are getting it worse!!! Saturday was walking day...so we dressed up like Eskimos and started stomping snow!!! One of the houses we knocked the mom opened the door and came out to talk to us. Her 4 yr. old son opened it and said

"guys stop talking..." shuts the door "guys seriously stop talking" hahahhaha it was so funny!!!!!!!!!!! We went on a blitz with the sisters. Sister Hoffman and I found a really solid potential named Ash! He and his family just moved here and they're looking for a church!!! We can't wait to teach them!!! After the blitz, we found out Sister Gartside and Sister Steele got kicked out of the mall for proselyting, so now we can't go in there except to shop :( so sad!!!!!!!!! They have been stalking us on the cameras for weeks now.....oh man!!! Sister Gartside and I drove to our next area and we realized...Sister Hoffman still had our phone...and we had no way to contact them... hahahah WHY DO WE RELY ON OUR PHONES FOR EVERYTHING!!! So we knocked on a members door...no luck...not home...so we walked through the snow down the street to another members home and she invited us in allowed us to use the phone and made us some hot cocoa! We've been trying to meet with this particular member SINCE I GOT HERE, so it was a miracle!!! We eventually got our phone back hahha crazy. Later we were walking downtown and we met person after person that was interested in the gospel and meeting up! It was so cool!! We handed out so many pamphlets and we met  really cool

guy named Levi (leh-vi) not (lee-vi) he was really interested in the fact that we believe in a modern day prophet!!! Really cool! Sunday was good! We had great talks at church from the high council (makes me excited to come home and hear my dad's talks now :) hahah) All our appointments cancelled after church....I was so shocked and disappointed and I immediately went in the room and started praying. President Burt challenged us at Zone Conference to have mighty prayers and boy did I have a mighty prayer!!! I pleaded with God to bless us with people to teach and that while we were out at night walking around in the snow that someone would be outside that we could talk to....well just like always he blesses us. It seems hard in that moment. We think "I can't do that I'll freeze or I'm not capable" but all we have to do is put our snow boots on or our big boy pants and JUST DO IT {quoting Mosiah 4:10...not Nike} It turned out to be a great night! We met a lady that has met missionaries before and she is so appreciative of what we do. She offered to show us around her business and meet with us tomorrow. It was a tender mercy :) Overall things are going good...just praying for those miracles to happen each day! We have to work for them!!! It's so hard to just get over the natural

man and do it, but when you're focus is on Christ and helping others to come to know him you just do it because you know it will help them so much!! This mission is so great!!!! One thing Elder Nattress said is that our missions are preparing us for our future families. I know that's true!! I'm going through all these trials so I can know how to help my family in the future. It's hard but I know there will be tons of blessings to come from doing the will of the Lord and letting him shape me into who I need to be.

Do the Lord's will....JUST DO IT!!! 

(Mosiah 4:10)

Love you all,

Sister Peterson