12-22-14

Hello Hello!! MERRY CHRISTMAS :DDD I hope that everything is going well for you guys! I'm so glad that you guys are going to be kazooing tonight and watching the Christmas carol! Take lots of pictures for me please :D

On Christmas day we're going to be going over to a member's house around three o'clock so we probably won't email until around 3:15/ 3:30 ish? I can't remember what time that is in Arizona. I think we're two hours ahead? Anyways, that'll probably be the time that we can skype. I don't know if you have skype on your computer or not. If not, I'm sure that we'll be able to face time or do something else.

Anyways, things are going a lot better this week. I've got another letter coming in the mail that details things out a little bit better. I don't know when you'll get it due to the holidays, but it explains more. Things are getting much easier. The ward is becoming more familiar to me and I'm getting better at remembering people's names. We have a lot of work going on in this area as well which is also really helpful. Every day brings its unique challenges and mountains to climb, but I'm taking it slow and learning as I go. I know that God is making everything possible and I just have to keep letting it go and putting everything in His hands and I know that He will provide. Haha, "Let it Go!"

I'm excited to hear about Christmas from all ya'll!! I'm glad that the temple lights turned out to be great and that Lisa was able to go! I'm sorry to hear that Herb and Carol were sick, I hope that they can get to feeling better soon. And I hope that Renee can get to feeling better!! That's not good at all! I'll keep her in my prayers!

The Christmas party last week was SO fabulous!! I got to see so many of my old friends and be able to catch up with them. It was so good to see Sister DeBry, Sister Madsen, Sister Hooker, and my Sister District again :) We also of course performed in the choir and we got to go to the temple which was sooo wonderful!

It's been difficult, but God has been close by. He's been listening and He's answered many of my prayers. The biggest thing is that I just need to not be so hard on myself and just love my companion and this ward with everything that I've got. I'm here for a reason and I know that God is aware of my needs.

I love this gospel and I love that I'm back out into the field. I know that things will be a challenge, but it will be worth it in the end. The mission wouldn't be so wonderful if it wasn't so difficult :P The church is true and the book is blue. I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for this time of the year. Everything is possible thanks to Him and I am so grateful that we can rely on Him and be truly changed because of Him. I know that everything will work out for the best and I'm hopeful for the future.

I hope that ya'll have a Merry Christmas!! I'll see you soon :D

Just Believe,
Sister Petersen

10-13-14

Hello everyone!

 

Wasn't General conference incredible? Oh! It was such a blessing! And let me tell you, Sister Madsen and I have been making a lot of changes in order to be more obedient and follow the Lord. Haha, and let me tell you, it has not been easy! We've definitely faced some dragons the past couple of days but it has been so worth it. And the Lord has been blessing us immensely. Just the other day we got a referral about a girl who has been taught the first three lessons, is on date, and lives in our apartment complex. What a blessing! Also we went to a restaurant the other day and we ended up getting our waiter's information and said that we would get in contact with him shortly. (He also paid for our dessert which was so sweet of him!)

 

My back is just about the same, but I've been going to see the chiropractor every week and that's been helping a little bit. Haha, she's been having me fix my posture and change the way that I walk so that (hopefully) I won't be getting so many sprained ankles and so that my knees and my back will be able to feel better. She's also been giving me some stretches and exercises to help me improve. Also, I talked to President Bennion about it as well. He wanted me to go and see a doctor so I'll be seeing one on Wednesday and we'll be able to figure out what he has to say. But President said that if this keeps getting worse and that they can't get things figure out, they might have to send me home to take a break for a month and a half and then see how I feel afterwards. I hope that it doesn't come to that, but I don't really know. Hopefully, we'll be able to find a way for this to improve. But whether I stay out in the field or end up going home, I'm at peace with either decision. I know that whatever happens, it will be the will of the Lord and all that I can do is the best that I can. And it's okay :)

 

Let me tell you, this week has definitely been one that's been a trial of my faith and courage. But it has been so incredible. I have seen so many blessings from our efforts and I'm excited and hopeful for what the future will bring. Also, I am soooooooo grateful for the Atonement. I am so grateful for its healing, strengthening and lifting power. How grateful I am for my Savior Jesus Christ, who loves me no matter what I do. And I love that as long as we lean on His arm, keep the commandments, and have faith in Him, we are able to do all things. Life truly is wonderful and I am so grateful to be serving the Lord at this time. I love ya'll! Have a great day!

 

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

10-6-14

Hello hello Family,

Well, this week has been a week of trials, but oh conference was so Wonderful. There were so many answered prayers in each session and they really helped to boost me up. So I saw the chiropractor on Tuesday and she ended up adjusting my back and giving me some exercises to do for my neck. It felt great a couple of days after, but last night I felt like I needed to stretch my back and that was NOT smart AT ALL. I'm in a lot of pain today if I twist and turn a certain. And with Sister Madsen's migraines we've had a really tough time getting out and working. But I got a priesthood blessing yesterday that really answered a lot of my prayers. The funny thing was a lot of it had to do with seeking my own personal revelation and getting the answer that God gives us trials that we can handle and that this too will be for my good and that I need to not run faster than I am able and be willing to rest when I need to. Sooooooo... apparently this trial won't be taken away soon :/ Haha, but that's okay. I know in the strength of the Lord all things are possible.

I loved Brother Lynn G. Robbins talk. That was such a good one and one that I really needed to hear. Rather than being afraid of man we need to focus on fearing the Lord and what He thinks. That one was probably my favorite as well as Jorg Klebingot?? (Spelling?) who talked about Spiritual confidence. Those were definitely answers to my prayers. And then President Uchtdorf's talk is always wonderful. All in all it was such a great conference and such a motivator for me :)

Sorry I don't have much of an update for this week. But things are going well. We're doing the best that we can to keep on keeping on. I know that God loves each and every one of us. I am so grateful for you all. I hope that you have a wonderful week! Take care!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

P.S. Thank you so much for sending that talk in the mail!! I really enjoyed learning more about your Aunt Nita! That was really interesting! I love you!

9-22-14

Dear Fam,

 

Hello hello! How is everyone doing? I'm so sorry to hear the news about London! That's so awful! I can't imagine that happening. I hope that her family is doing okay.

 

WHAT!??? Danielle is having twins!!??? Haha, oh my goodness that's going to be CRAZY!! But that's super exciting! Tell her congrats for me! And that's so exciting about Andrew and Amy!! Congratulations to them for their baby boy :D That's so much fun!

 

Well, we survived the transfer! Sister Madsen is staying for another six weeks! And the work is actually starting to improve more. (Which is such a nice change!) We've got a couple more people that we're teaching. The elders gave us a referral and she was a rockin first lesson! Her name is Kimberly and she's fourteen years old. When we met her she just told us that she was looking for a church and for a place that would answer her questions. The spirit was just soooooo powerful when we taught her the first lesson! She said that she would pray about it and read the Book of Mormon. It was so awesome! We've got another appointment with her this friday, so hopefully all will go well :)

 

I think I've mentioned this before, but something has really struck me the last couple of weeks in my studies and overall about missionary work and life. It's really about loving people. That's what this life is pretty much all about. Loving the people around you and helping them come closer to Christ. I mean you think about it, Jesus Christ and God are all about relationships. They want us to build a relationship with them and to build a relationship with our families, our spouses, our children, our friends, and just with everyone around us. Nothing else really matters. Wealth, fame, power, worldly pursuits... it really doesn't matter at all. The way that you gain confidence is by having a firm relationship with the Lord and knowing where you stand with Him. And I think that's so fascinating. When you are a righteous person, and you have charity towards all men, then your confidence can wax strong in the Lord. (I can't remember where that scripture is, but I'm pretty sure it's in the Doctrine and Covenants.)

 

I love that quote from Miguel de Cervantes. It's so true. Our greatest foes are ourselves. We make the choice to be happy no matter our circumstances. We choose to smile and have a positive attitude even in the face of discouragement. I love that quote :)

 

I hope that ya'll have a wonderful week! I love and miss you so much! Take care :)

 

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

9-15-14

Hello hello!!

I hope that everyone has had a great week! Boy! It sounds like things have been getting exciting in Arizona! What with flooding and all! Good grief, I hope that this fills up the lakes a little bit at least! Haha :P

There's not much really to report for this week! We've got a couple of referrals that I'm really excited about! Hopefully it'll be able to pick things up around here. We're going to meet with them this week and see if they're really interested in what we have to say. You know, it's funny. You come into an area with a total mindset of how things are going to go. You expect that maybe you were sent there to help the area. That maybe you can make a difference there with the people and you're there to help your companion and whip them into shape. Hahahaha, that's not been the case for me here. I swear I haven't helped or changed this area, this place has changed me. And I'm so grateful for that.

Today was really fun! We had sisters p-day! We got up super early and went to Walmart to grab supplies with the Spanish sisters. Then we all went down to the church and made ourselves breakfast and had our personal studies and a ginormous comp study together. It was really fun being able to hear all of the sisters insights in their studies. And then after that we played the game Why Not Testify. We were each given a subject and then we testified of it to each other. It was awesome and really powerful. I had the topic The Book of Mormon. (Classic ;) ) And you know, the more that I read it, the more it amazes me how it truly was made for our day. It is the word of God, made specifically for us. And I love that!

Transfer calls are today! I don't know what's going to happen, but Sister Madsen could possibly be leaving! I hope not, but whatever does happen, it will be according to the Lord's will. But honestly, I'm excited :) I'm nervous for the future, but I'm also excited for what may come! I hope that everyone has a great week! Ya'll are so great! I'm glad to hear that the trip was so fun! (Except that you had your clutzy moments :( I'm sorry about that... you're turning into me :D ) I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Just Believe

Sister Petersen :)

9-8-14

Hey family!

Boy that quote definitely fits for me this week. I have some wonderful news!! Both Beverly and Taylor from my last area got baptized in August!! I was able to go to the temple on Thursday and I got to see Both Sister DeBry and Sister Hooker and lots of the people who were in my previous area! It was truly so wonderful and such a great blessing! I really needed it, but I think because we got such a great blessing, there has been such a load of opposition this week! Haha, it's been rough but I've been learning so much about myself and about the people around me. It truly has been a great blessing and miracle.

There were a lot of things that I learned this week. A lot of hard things. It's been very trying, but the Atonement is real. And I'm so grateful for it. Sister Madsen has pretty much been sick for a lot of the week. I got sick as well which was not fun (If you must know it was diarea and bleh stomach stuff) But while she's been sick, I've just been learning how to take care of the area and getting things done. She still has cold systems (We're not really sure where she got it, she kind of just woke up with it) And Yes I did get the book on oils! It's been so fun! I haven't taken a lot of time to read it, but skimming through there was a lot of cool stuff, so I will definitely read it!! And yes I did get to sing in the choir which was super fun. We're also singing in the ward choir (I feel so bad for the director, not a lot of people come) which has been really fun too :)

I think one of the greatest things I learned (And I'm still learning this one :P ) Is how important it is to love the people around me. And to love myself. That I truly can be okay with the person that I am. That I don't have to try to be this ideal perfect image of something that I can't see but imagine what God expects me to be. But that God loves me for me. I don't have to be anyone else. He still loves me even when I fall. He loves me in my imperfection. I'm never going to be happy as I'm trying to be things that I'm not. I'm never going to be happy if I keep trying to be a robot. But when I open up about who I am, when I reveal my true self, I no longer have to be afraid of what people think. It won't matter. I can be me and it's okay. I still haven't figured out how, but God's helping me :) And it's okay.

I hope that everyone is doing well! Life is wonderful and I'm learning so much! God is real and He is good. I am so grateful for Him. And I am so grateful for the people that He has placed in my path to teach me and for the people that He has allowed me to reach out to. What a great blessing (Haha and hardship) it is to be alive. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I wouldn't trade this mission for the world.

Also I still want Ryan's address for when he leaves! Haha, I love that you chased the frogs! I would've totally been there with you! (Oh my goodness there are so many frogs in our apartment complex! It's crazy! And they're HUGE!! They only come out at night or when it rains, but they're so cute haha! We have to be careful where we step because they look like giant leaves!

Anyways, how's everyone doing? Anything new or crazy happening? How's gardening going? How are the gardenias? Have a fantastic week! I love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

9-1-14

Hello Family! :D

I hope that all is going well for you guys! This week was awesome! We had exchanges with the STL's and I got to go over to the Paper Mill area. We have really awesome Sister Training Leaders and it was just fun to learn some new things from them. (Not to mention I got to take a break from biking and ride in a car again ;) ) Anyways, I'm trying to think if there were any crazy miracles that happened this week or anything really awesome.... Oh, the Spanish elders were really dumb and zip tied the spokes of our bike tires to the metal bar so I couldn't move the back tire of my bike. Those silly heads :P Luckily it just broke right off, but we're almost tempted to pull a prank on them now. I think the biggest thing that I'm learning from this transfer is learning that trying hard is good enough. That even though I'm not perfect at everything, the fact that I'm trying my best is good enough to the Lord. I still haven't learned that yet, but I'm getting there :P

At the moment we honestly don't really have anyone to teach. We're really working at trying to get to know the ward better and get more hours tracted. We're still seeing some Less Actives, but I think the biggest thing that we could do is try to get this ward more gung ho about missionary work. In a way, it's hard, but at the same time, I have an awesome companion, and I'm trying to do my best every day, so I honestly don't have much to complain about :P It sounds like you guys have some fun things coming up! I'm excited to hear how the Primary Program goes and hear about St Johns and the Brown Reunion :D

To answer Dad's questions: We're just in one ward here. The Roswell ward. There are three sets of missionaries in our ward. The Elders and the Zone Leaders actually work in our area. The Roswell elders are on bikes and the Zone Leaders drive a car. In our district we also have a Spanish set of sister missionaries and a Spanish set of elders. They're in the Cumorah Branch. We all go to the same building, but the Cumorah branch meets at 11:00 and Roswell meets at 2:00. Sister Madsen and I are both feeling better so that's definitely a good thing!!

I hope that all things are going well! I love you all so much! I love the mission and I am so grateful that I got to serve! Have a fantastic week!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

8-25-14

Dear Family,

Oh my goodness! It sounds like there were a lot of things that happened this past week! Welcome to the family Emma Maree!!! That's super exciting :D

Goodness gracious! Okay, so not cool! I want to hear more of what that woman said about the near death experience! That's super awesome! And that was really cool that the White Mountains are a sacred place. Definitely true! And that's interesting that they said the Snowflake area is as well.

Well, not all that much happened to us this week. Sister Madsen and I got the plague so we were pretty much stuck in our apartment for most of the week. Then on Sunday right after we had dinner, we were walking back from the church. Sister Madsen had awful blisters from her shoes and then I happened to twist my ankle :/ how typical. I would love to say it was such an amazing story where I fell down and hurt myself in the process of saving some child from a mad driver in the middle of the street..... Yeah, no... I'm just a klutz and totally biffed it while walking on the sidewalk :/ Needless to say, it's not too badly hurt and feels better today. It didn't swell up too bad. My pride's only hurt a little :P And Bring it Cameron! We are totally having a race when I get home :D

All in all, there's not much to report this week. Just pray that Sister Madsen and I will have good health :) (It's crazy I haven't been ill or hurt at all until this transfer.) I'm glad that ya'll got to go up to the cabin and were able to get things fixed. I'm definitely missing it! Mom, I don't know why you can't send pictures. Did you click on the little paper clip image at the bottom of the emails that you send? That should allow you to attach files to the email. Anyways, sorry that this email is so short, but I love you all! Have a wonderful week :)

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

8-11-14

Hello hello!!!

 

Great news! I've been moved to a new area :D AND I LOVE IT!!!! I have the best companion in the whole world! And it is so awesome! And I'm an all biking missionary XD Hahaha, so that's definitely been a change! We rode our bikes sixteen miles on Saturday, and let me tell you, I was super sore on Sunday! I think there are only about three to five companionships who are biking sisters, so... yeah, it's crazy hard, but I love it.

 

And news for mailing! So, the mission office can no longer forward mail to us, so here's my personal address :) 116 Hemingway Lane Roswell GA 30075. So yeah, all packages and mail and stuff need to go to my apartment. Sooo.... I'm kind of excited :D

 

The area here is super awesome. The people I've met so far are so great and super sassy! Haha, I love it so much! We went over to a woman's house who's less active and she taught us how to cook food and we taught her the gospel. I loved it, because she pretty much looks at a recipe and then makes it the Natalia way (her way ;) ) There are so many people here who are just blunt and sarcastic and super laid back and it's just so great! Definitely some getting used to, but it's awesome!

 

Biking all day is definitely a challenge, but we take plenty of breaks and I bought this awesome water bottle that keeps the water cold all day so I'm keeping hydrated! My companion is so awesome! Her name is Sister Madsen and she is such a sweetheart! She's super open and care free and just Loves people! She's so great at building relationships with people and we're getting a long so great. This transfer is going to be so awesome and I'm Super excited!

 

I hope that all is well! I hope that your song went great Mom and that you're able to get those stories written! You can do it! I believe in you :) Have fun at the cabin and don't get too stressed out :) I love you!

 

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

8-4-14

Hello Family!!

 

Well, the news has arrived! I am heading out to Roswell on Wednesday! It's the Roswell ward in Roswell city! My new companion is going to be Sister Madsen and I am SO stoked! (She trained my MTC companion and I think they got along great! Also one of the sisters here trained Sister Madsen so I've been getting the lowdown on what she's like.)

 

Oh my goodness this last week has been so incredible! Tuesday was a super hard day. Probably one of the hardest that I had ever experienced out here. We just didn't know what to do, but Saturday was one of the most incredible days that we experienced that everything just turned out alright. Beverly is still on date and slowly progressing towards baptism! We taught her the Word of Wisdom on Saturday and it turned out fine. Actually, I have to tell you the story. Right after we said the prayer, she immediately started with, "I don't think I can get baptized in your church." My heart sank as well as everyone else's and then Sister Hooker responded, "How come?"

Her answer, "Well, I just don't think I am willing to give up my two cups of coffee and two cups of tea to join the Mormon church!"

 

Haha, luckily we had prepared earlier that morning to teach her about the Word of Wisdom so it was actually perfect timing! So we gave her plenty of explanations and testified and read scriptures. And essentially it came down to whether or not this revelation was from God and whether or not Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. Because if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith is a prophet. And if Joseph Smith is a prophet, then he received revelation from the Lord for our day. After the end of the lesson, she had softened up quite a bit and I ended up telling her that I was going to be leaving. She was sad about it, but as we were leaving she said, "Well, do you think you'll be able to be here for my baptism?" And that made me smile inside. I don't think I'll be able to, but I was glad to hear that she was still preparing herself for baptism.

 

Another miracle, We have another person on date!!!! This girl is the sister of one of the members we've been working with ever since I've been here. The member, Sister Gruber, never really had that strong of a testimony so we would often go to her house and try to help her see how the scriptures applied to her life and help her to understand better. Her husband is Super awesome! Way gung ho about missionary work and the Book of Mormon. He goes out with the Elders all the time. But Sister Gruber's sister was here and is staying at their house for the school year and she's not a member. We knew that she liked the church and was curious about it, but that was about it. Well, on saturday sister Hooker got the feeling that we needed to go and visit them that evening. So we text Sister Gruber to set up an appointment. Everything else fell through for the evening, but they said that we could come over. So when we get there, we were just planning on visiting with Sister Gruber, but everyone was there. We have a casual conversation and Sister Hooker gets impressed to ask Tayler if she was a member. We knew that she wasn't, but she felt impressed to ask. Tayler responded that she wasn't, but she wanted to get baptized and was wondering if we could teach her. Hahah, we were like... YEAH!!! So we start off with a prayer and immediately jump into the first lesson. We ask her to get baptized and she said yes and it was SO AWESOME!!! Her date is going to be August 23rd and we are so excited!

 

But the best part for me this week was Fast Sunday. Sister Gruber actually went up to bear her testimony. And that's saying something. She was a convert to the church when she was nine. She had never really known why she had joined the church, and she felt like she had never had a testimony. She'd never read the Book of Mormon all the way through, and had never bore her testimony before. But seeing her up there and bearing her testimony just filled me with so much joy. I felt so much joy and gratitude to be a part of this work. So many good things have happened here in Webb bridge that I had an opportunity to be a part of. I felt truly so blessed yesterday, and I knew that it was time for me to leave. Sunday just felt right. I was able to say goodbye to a bunch of the members and I was able to see Garnica there and she had brought her family to church. So many miracles happened, but the best was seeing Sister Gruber go up there and bear her testimony.

 

I am so excited for the future. I don't know what God has in store, but I can't wait to see. I hope that ya'll have a great week this week! I love you all so much! Take care!

 

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

7-28-14

Hello fam!

Wow, sounds like you guys had an awesome time at the cabin! That's so much fun! I've been thinking about you guys a lot lately. I hope that everyone is doing well! I can't believe that both Becca and Amy are pregnant! We're going to have bunches and bunches of babies come the new year!

This week was a good week. We were able to keep really busy and visit a lot of the members. I'm trying to think if there was anything exciting that happened this last week that I need to tell you guys. Hmm... well, we meet a lot of families that we've been trying to get in with for the past couple of months. School here is going to be starting up in about a week and a half (School is starting SO EARLY!!) But it's exciting because that means more of the members are going to be home from vacation and a lot of families are going to be home. Which will definitely be good for tracting purposes :)

Oh! A lot of the Less Actives that we've been working with this past transfer came to church this week! Both Lynn Davis's made it to church! Which was super awesome! The younger Lynn Davis hadn't been to church in a Really long time. She and her husband only stayed for Sacrament meeting, but it was so good to see them both there. Also! Garnica came to church as well. She's a lady that was baptized in February and pretty much dropped off the face of the earth. Sister DeBry and I had started working with her and trying to get her to come to church for the longest time. We didn't think that we would be able to, but She finally made it! It was incredible. She's been going through a lot of financial difficulties, and will actually have to end up moving by the end of the month. We're hoping and praying that she'll be able to straighten up and be willing to come to church and keep moving forward. She has a lot of problems with all of the commandments. She's one of those people who pretty much got baptized for the missionaries and wasn't really converted :/ Which is super frustrating. But, we've slowly been able to see a little progress and honestly I feel like if there was any reason for why I came to Webb Bridge it was in order to meet her.

Anyways, I hope that everyone is doing well! I pray for you all! Thanks for all that you do! Take care!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

7-21-14

Hello hello!!

I hope that you guys are having a great time at the cabin! I'm so jealous! I miss you guys so bad.

Things are going so great here on the mission. I've been learning so much. This transfer has FLOWN by. I can't believe that there are only two weeks left in the transfer 0.0. I might be headed out to a new area come August 6th. We'll see what happens!

Haha, sounds like you guys had a fun time with the horses! Did you take pictures? I've got some pictures that I need to send off to you! I'll try and get them printed today and get them sent off to you this week!

I think probably the biggest miracle that happened this week was that it was a good week. There was so much more unity and friendship in our companionship, which has definitely been a big blessing. Beverly Taylor is still on date! (She's reading from the Gospel Principles manual, Ensign, Missionary Pamphlets, AND the Book of Mormon. It's so awesome! I didn't realize that the Gospel Principles manual went into such deep doctrine! It talks about in the last chapter how God was a man on another earth before he was God. And of course Beverly happened to read that while she was studying. Haha, both Sister Hooker and I were like Oh, shoot! But we were able to answer her questions, so hopefully it's okay) Her son is coming into town this week so she probably won't be able to make it to church. We're kind of worried about what may happen, so we're trying to inoculate her like crazy and let her know that Satan is going to be on her like crazy.

These last two transfers have been teaching me ALOT. A lot about how to be a better missionary and how to be a better person. Haha, I've definitely have had to have quite a few spiritual slaps in the face. I still don't feel like I have any idea as to what I'm doing, but I know that the Lord is near. As long as I'm worthy of having the Spirit, everything is okay. It's interesting to me how Satan works. He really likes to hit us right where it hurts the most. Which is the family. (And for the mission, the companionship.) If he can strike at the heart everything falls apart. This transfer has really helped me to see how important family is. It's made me really grateful for the things that I have. So, shout out to ya'll! I'm so grateful for my family!! Thanks for all of the lessons that you've taught me. Thank you for teaching me about life and how to be a good person. I'm so grateful for you Mom and Dad. And I'm so grateful for my brothers and sisters. Dallas, Helen, Andrew, Amy, Amelia, Pete, Cameron, Becca, thanks for all that you have taught me and continue to teach me. I'm so grateful for your examples. I feel truly blessed to be the last one in line to learn from those who have gone before me. I look up to you guys a lot. Thank you!

Cheers to a new week and a new adventure! I'm praying for ya'll! Keep the Faith :)

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

7-7-14

Hi Fam!

Wow, it sounds like there's been a lot of stuff going on back home :) I'm SO glad to hear that the cabin didn't get burned and that the homestead is alright. And that's so much fun that you guys had a great fourth of July :) How's the book coming mom? Were you able to read a chapter with the ANWA group? Oh man, I miss the Arizona storms. Those were the best. The storms here are so weird. They only last for like ten minutes. It just makes me think: That's it? Where's the lightning? Where's the wind? That was nothin'!

Well, let's see... this week had a lot of miracles :) One of our Less Actives has been coming to church every Sunday for the past three weeks!! We also showed her a way to be able to answer any questions she had about the gospel on her phone and got her the whole gospel library uploaded on it. Her name is Lynn Davis and we've been helping her ever since I got into this area. She has a beautiful garden in her backyard so we often like to go back there and help her out with weeding and stuff. (Sister Hooker and I are now professional weeders :P)

We had one of our investigators also come to church. Her name is Beverly Taylor and she's a sweet older woman that we've been working with since pretty much I first got here. We were able to give her a Priesthood blessing on Sunday (She's been going through a lot of family hardships. Her husband has gone blind and is almost deaf which happened a couple of years ago and he's been struggling.) We've been wanting her to get this priesthood blessing for so long and finally she accepted and the spirit in the room was SO powerful. It was awesome! We're determined to get her on date this week, but it's been so incredible seeing her slowly progress and grow closer to the Lord.

I hope that everyone is doing well back home! Things are going so good here :) I've learned so much these last two transfers and continue to learn so many things. It's been such a blessing (And a hardship ;) ) but it's definitely been worth it.

Missionary challenge!

So we've asked everyone in the ward over here to start praying for their missionaries in their ward. And so I'm giving ya'll the same challenge. Pray for the missionaries in your ward that you're working with by name. Pray for their investigators. You don't need to pray for me, because the ward has been praying for us, but please pray for them and help them out :) And that's so awesome that you guys got to feed them!

I hope you guys have the best week ever! Love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

6-30-14

Oh my goodness! I am NOT excited to hear about what's going on at the cabin. I will definitely keep that in my prayers from now on. Please let me know if there is an update on that one. Haha, I guess I didn't realize where I was when you were doing all of that missionary work with Sister Valentino, but that's awesome! How are things going with Lee? Is she enjoying all of the Family History stuff? I sure hope so. Well, I don't have all that much time to write to you because we've had a lovely computer situation here, but I hope that everything is going well.

Things this transfer have been going so much better than the last transfer. Sister Hooker and I are getting along so much better. I think last transfer I was just SUPER stressed about so many things and I was just really REALLY struggling to be okay with everything. The work is still progressing. We've got a couple of people that we're teaching right now. Nothing Super solid, so we're really working hard to build up our teaching pool. But the members are great and we're getting fed every night, so that's awesome :) How are the grandkids doing? I'm glad that you guys were able to go to St. George! I hope that you're having a blast with the plays! Haha, make sure you give dad a good break and go to the game and fish store or something that he'll love too :P But I love you all! I hope that you have a great week! (Sorry for the shorter email :/)

Just Believe,
Sister Petersen

6-22-14

Hello Fam!

I hope that everything is going well. Well, the heat has come! It's crazy humid, but honestly, hot is hot :P whether it's humid or dry, it's still hot. As long as there is a bit of a breeze, it's not too bad, but that doesn't always happen. Sister Hooker and I decided that we just need to go tracting at night where the heat isn't half so bad. And I'm staying in Alpharetta with Sister Hooker! And I'm actually kind of excited to see what happens this transfer. There are a lot of things to look forward to and I'm excited to see it :) 

Ah man, I'm sad that I missed the apple picking fun stuff. It's funny that you talked about the peaches here. They're actually not all that popular. The peaches in North Carolina are much better so I've heard. Most of the people here say they weren't sure where that phrase of the Georgia peach came from :P 

Those oils are miracle workers. I love those things. And THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the Avon spray!! It has been a life saver! I swear the little buggers here are a nightmare!! Luckily they haven't invaded the house! Only the fruit flies have gotten in, but those things don't bite, so I could care less about them. 

Things here in Webb Bridge are going good. The ward is being awesome about going on team ups and signing up to feed us. We're still trying to work on everyone signing up for all the missionaries (we've got three sets here. It's nuts!). But we've got a rockin' relief society auxiliary leader working with the relief society and our ward mission leader is awesome! We're still working on building our teaching pool. We've got quite a bit of work going with less actives and part member families, and there's another family that we might be working with in a couple of weeks that I'm excited about! Oh, I've got to tell you the story on them. 

So this happened yesterday. After church on our planner it said that we had a dinner over with the Maycock family. So we drive down there and get there a couple of minutes early. We decide to do a little tracting beforehand since we're early and end up knocking on a door. We decide to do one more door before we head in and end up meeting this family. They tell us they'll be out of town for a bit, but when they come back in July they want us to come back. Apparently they knew the Maycocks. They had gone to a couple of meetings in the past and were totally open in hearing what we had to say. So get this: we head back over to the Maycocks to tell them the good news and find out that we actually didn't have dinner with them that night. They had cancelled on the paper and another family was actually planning on feeding us. The other sisters thought they had told us that we were going to the other family, but we didn't remember. But it was so awesome, because if we hadn't had made the mistake of going over to the Maycocks we never would have met that family! It was super awesome!

Well, I hope that you guys are enjoying the summer heat! It's crazy. It rains here all the time. But it's so sporadic. The skies will be completely cleared and suddenly it's pouring! And then there was this one time where we were driving and it was a total downpour. The windshield wipers were going crazy. And we were like Geez, this is insane. I kid you not, five minutes later we drive and suddenly the rain is gone. It was like we had gone through a waterfall or something. It was crazy! It was pouring like crazy in one spot and the other was completely clear. Haha, the weather here is soo bizarre. I now know that I need to carry an umbrella with me all the time because it rains so randomly. And then I kid you not, about ten minutes later, it's completely clear and the sun is shining. It's insane. 

I love you all and miss you! I hope that you have a great week! Thanks for all that you do! 

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

6-16-14

Hi Fam!

I love that quote mom! It's definitely true. Well, this week we had more success concerning investigators and exciting news. We've got an awesome golden contact that we're working with at the moment. Her name is Chastity and we're going to be meeting with her again this evening to teach the second lesson. The first lesson with her was rockin! She totally engaged in the conversation and she had her friend over so we gave them both a Book of Mormon and they both wanted to learn more. Chastity just soaked up the first lesson and even wanted to ask us for a return appointment. Sister Hooker and I were on Cloud Nine it was sooo awesome!!

We also have another family that we were working with, the Perry's, but we're going to have to refer them to the other missionaries. It was sad because their job was in our area and we taught them the first lesson. We tried to refer them to the other missionaries before, but they never called the family. So the family ended up calling us and wanted to have a sit down lesson with us. They were Golden! But, because they're not in our area, we still have to refer them to the other missionaries :( But that's okay, I hope that they can get baptized soon!!

All considering, life here in the mission is good. I'm still having my struggles, but Heavenly Father has been there the whole way. I can definitely see the hand of the Lord in this work. I'm excited to hear about any news for Anwa! Also, you didn't tell me about working in the homeless shelter! What were the details on that? I'm glad that you're still talking to Lee! Is she still friends but completely closed off to the gospel? I'm glad to hear that you gals are still talking. 

Hey, have you ever gone on a team up with the missionaries before? Since dad has his calling, I'm guessing he has, but have you mom? It's really cool! Haha, and since I'm a missionary I can totally advocate for it, but I bet the missionaries would love it if you could go with them, or even have one of the investigators their teaching come over to the house. It's crazy to have this new perspective on missionary work. Now that I am a missionary, it makes me want to be a better member missionary. Since the missionaries have to worry about miles, I want to be the kind of person that's willing to drive them to places and be like, I'm free for the night, where do you need to go and what can I do for you. I bet the missionaries would love that! The ward is being so awesome at getting the missionary bug going. More people are signing up to feed us and to go on team ups with us. It's insane what all is happening! 

And and!! We got one of our less actives to come to church!! We didn't even have to invite her! We just saw her sitting on the bench and we were both dumb struck to see her! It was a miracle. It was almost even more exciting than getting a baptism it was so cool. 

I hope that all is well back home! Have fun at the cabin and picking those apples :P Love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

6-9-14

Hi Fam!

Oh my goodness it sounds like there have been some fun things happening back home. Sorry it's been so hot, but I'm glad that the mornings and evenings have been great. It's been pretty warm and muggy around here. It's AWFUL when there isn't a breeze when we go tracting. It feels like the air is just Stagnant and you're walking in a sauna. I hope you guys can get some rain soon. I do have a subway in the area, and I have yet to use my card that I want to use, but I'm excited to use it :) Congratulations to Jason getting married! That's so fun :) I'm sure if you pointed her out to me, I'll probably recognize her. I'm glad that you got to sit down in a session. Man! I can't wait to go to the temple!! And that's awesome that the Seagull Bookstore is closer!

That's SO Exciting for Bobby and Bowen!! Congrats to them! Oh, that's so awesome! And Ryan got his papers in!! IT'S ABOUT TIME!!! Good! He's going to love it soooo much. It'll be hard, but he'll love it. I'm so stoked for him! When he finds out where he goes, will you send me his address? I'd love to write him some letters :)

This week truly has been better than other weeks. It's been tough, but I've been learning so much and God has been with me all the way. We've got some families and people that we're excited to start teaching this week. We've got the Ding family. They're from China. When we went tracting, they welcomed us into their home and let us share our message. They don't have much of a religious background and wanted to learn more. Their kids were so cute! They're named Tracy, Teddy, and Terry. The Dad's name is Jason and the wife is named Ping. (Awful name, Ping Ding, I feel so bad for her). 

And And!! We had another awesome miracle! So we had a referral from exchanges. Sister Hooker went to Johns Creek and found out about the Perry family. They work in our area, but their home is outside of it. So we were asked to just check in on them and see how they were doing. They said that'd they might be interesting in getting the lessons. They had friends who were l.d.s. and had been working with them for a while. We did so and told them that we could stop by every so often, but the other missionaries in Atlanta would have to teach them. Well... the other day they ended up calling us and told us they wanted us to come talk to them! And not just talk, but have a sit down lesson with them at their office! It was so awesome! I guess the other missionaries had never contacted them, so we're going to see them this week and start teaching them. It was super exciting! Sister Hooker and I were on cloud nine! We've also got a couple of other people that we tracted into this week, so we're hopeful that they'll turn out to be some awesome contacts.

Thank you for your prayers and your fasting. They truly have been helping out. Please don't stop, transfers are coming in about two and a half weeks, and I get the feeling that I might be leaving. It's also possible that I'll be staying for another six weeks, but I won't know until later :) I have no idea what to expect, but it's probably going to be a little rough. They're going to be June 25th, soooo if I happen to be a bit of an emotional wreck during that time, that'll be why. But, things are much better than what they were. Thank you for the letters. They really mean the world to me. It means a lot knowing that I have a family who's awesome and is there for me. So thank you.

 I hope that everyone is doing well! Keep up the good work and don't give up on the missionary efforts :) Have a great week!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

6-2-14

Hello hello! 

I hope that everyone is doing well this week! Things have definitely had their ups and downs this week :P But things are slowly moving forward. Time just always keeps on ticking away. Sister Hooker and I are trying to get more people to teach. We've been working with a woman named Beverly this week and we actually ended up teaming up with one of the members of our ward who got along really well with her. Which was awesome! We've been really needing someone to get with her to feel more love from the ward. She didn't end up going to church, but we're hopeful for next week. (Her husband has been having trouble, he's pretty much blind and almost all deaf. So she's been really struggling to try and take care of him. It's been really hard for her.)

Alot of what we've been doing is trying to get to know the ward better here. And it's been really cool. This ward has a lot of young families so it's been interesting trying to find fun activities for the kids to do while we try to also teach the adults. We did a fun little experiment with food coloring and 1% milk in a pie tin. You drop a drop of food coloring in the milk and then touch it with the tip of a q tip with dish soap on it and the color bursts out and hits the other colors. The kids loved it! And then we shared about how our testimonies do the same thing. And that the more we share it, the more seeds that are planted. 

Well this month of June we've had a mission fast to become more consecrated missionaries. The goal is to be more diligent and dedicated for the work. We had zone conference last week all about it. And I'm excited for the new President that's coming in. His name is President Benyen (I think that's how you spell it) they look like a really nice couple and I'm really excited to see what things will happen when they come! 

There have been a lot of little miracles that I've seen this week. So many times where we meet people that share something that we needed to hear. (Oh my goodness, last week we had a day filled with just biking and walking in the humid weather. We were trying to save on miles but it was ridiculous. We didn't go inside at all that day. It was such a blessing when we were able to go and visit the old bishop in the ward who let us in and talked with us. He normally wouldn't have done it because his wife isn't doing well, but he let us come in. It was such a blessing.)

But God is good and the work keeps moving forward. I'm learning so much and it's truly been such a blessing to be out here. I hope that everyone is doing great! Oh and the weather today has been gorgeous!! It hasn't been half as humid and there's been such a nice breeze. I think it's been in the eighties, but it's been soooo nice today and yesterday. Anyways, thanks for all that you do! Have a fantastic week!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

5-19-14

Hi Fam!

I hope all is well in the great AZ. I'm sorry to hear that not much work is being done in the temples. I hope that changes soon. It's such a blessing to be able to have so many temples in Arizona, and if people aren't going that's really sad. I know that as soon as I get home I want to go there as often as possible. I know it'll be difficult, but I definitely want to go through the Gilbert temple and the Mesa temple bunches and bunches of times! It's such a blessing having a temple so close to the house. Being here I can't go until the end of my mission or unless my zone gets at least 42 baptisms, so I hope more people can figure out how important that work is!!

This world really is getting tragically messed up. Things going on in Ukraine, our political leaders, media, everything. It's just sickening. I'm glad that ya'll were able to help out that couple. I'm sorry that it was so disgusting there, but I know that it probably really helped out that couple. Who knows what spiritual potential they had before this life and what they will become in the next :) 

I'll be honest, Transfers were hard. It was really difficult to say goodbye to my trainer and greet my new companion. Sister DeBry and I had gone through some rough patches but we became really good friends, and it was hard being in this area without her. But now I've got my new companion Sister Hooker and she is the bomb! She's really awesome! Haha, we're actually a lot alike personality wise. And both of us are striving to become self confident and appreciate ourselves more rather than believing that other people are naturally better than us. Haha, both of us have struggled with that a lot so it's nice to get her opinion of things. Her dad is also a therapist which is really interesting and he has quite a lot of good advice. Just that if you're not going to care about yourself than nobody else is going to want to care about you. (Sound familiar mom? :P) But it was good to get the reminder. Especially out here on the mission where there are so many new things happening constantly.

And with that book on the personalities, I agree with you. Haha, soap box time: It's true I am a sensitive type person. And it's also true that I have to take time to think things through. But I also know that I try very hard to be kind to people and I'm trying every day to be a good listener. I can bless God's people in different ways than other people can who are naturally louder and more authoritative. It's not a bad thing. God needs all of us in order to help out His kingdom. I am the way I am and I like myself the way I am. If people think that I'm slow or that I'm odd just because I don't always pipe up when others would, so what? So what if I take my time? So what if things affect me deeply? It just means that I pay attention to my emotions and I care about people. If I take my time to say something it just means that I care about what I'm going to say and I want it to be the right thing to say so that I can best help the person that I'm talking to. It doesn't mean that I'm perfect. And it certainly doesn't mean that I should do the same tasks that other people are naturally capable of doing. It just means that I'm different and that I like being me :) God has need for all kinds of missionaries. And He has a lot to teach me, which makes me really grateful that I decided to come out here :)

Anyways, end of soapbox :P . The work is moving forward. We've been striving to build up our teaching pool this week. One great thing about Sister Hooker and I is that we're both determined to go tracting two hours every day even if we both don't like it :) That way we can find more people to teach. And it was awesome! We found a random less active in the neighborhood that hadn't had their records moved into the ward. So we're planning on working with her and getting her records moved in. Also we had two people come to church this week!!! Beverly (pretty much our top investigator at the moment) and Naomi! Sister DeBry and I had ran into Naomi before when we were trying to contact Garnicka (a woman who was baptized in February but ended up stop coming to church :/ ) Naomi is Garnicka's cousin. So while Sister Hooker and I were trying to get in contact with Garnicka again to invite her to church, we ran into Naomi and ended up inviting her instead. We figured why not? And she CAME TO CHURCH!!!! It was Awesome!! She looked so great! (She and Garnicka share a home. They don't live in the best living conditions, and Naomi smokes, but she looked beautiful with her hair all styled and in her dress. It was amazing to see her there!) We did not expect her to come AT ALL. It was fantastic! So we're going to try and meet with her again this week to see how she liked it and hopefully try to teach the lessons with her. Who knows? But God was definitely blessing us with so many miracles this week.

Transfer weeks are hard. It's like your best friend gets taken from you who you're not going to see for months and then you're expected to take over the area with someone that you've never met before. Those first two days were rough. But Sister Hooker was awesome and we both managed to pull through to Sunday. Haha, they always say make it to Sunday. And it's so true! Once you can make it to Sunday everything just seems to improve. You have P-Day next and then you're a lot more comfortable with your companion and you feel much better about the changes. I am NOT excited for when I have to leave this area. Then I'll be taken right out of my comfort zone once more and placed with another brand new companion. Ah well, it makes me learn a lot. 

Anyways, I really have learned a lot this week. The mission really teaches you how to grow up. You can't rely on mom or dad anymore. You've got to take care of the area and act professional. You've got to be spiritually prepared for what happens and there are a lot of disappointments that you face. You're constantly thrust out of your comfort zone and you're constantly relearning things over and over again in different ways so that the message gets stuck in your head :P Probably the biggest lesson to learn is just how to love God, people, and yourself over and over again. How to let go of everything that you can't control (which is just about everything :P ) and allow God to take care of it. And that's a hard lesson to learn especially after coming from a life where you feel like it's yours. You make your own decisions and then when you come out here, you've got to turn to the Lord and trust in your leaders that they're making the right decisions for you. And that's very humbling :) Mornings are usually the hardest. I don't know why, but you start thinking about things and sometimes you realize just how long 18 months really is. And then over time you start to realize how short 18 months really is. (Time is so warped here hahaha) 

But it's incredible and it's wonderful. It's difficult and it's humbling, but it's teaching me sooooo much. I know there are going to be hard times, but those times are also when we have the greatest growth so I'm grateful for the hard times. I've learned a lot and I'm excited to see where things take me. I hope that ya'll are having a great day! Haha, have fun reading this super long letter! It makes up for last time's letter :P I love you all and I hope that you have so much fun this week! Have fun at the cabin! And I got your package!! Thank you so much!! Haha, right when I got it I immediately put one of the cds in our player and turned up it way loud. It was SO nice :) Thanks for all that you do! I love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

(P.S. Tell Grandma the weather has been fine here. I'm not up North where they've had some tornado warnings. Things are good in these here parts :P It's a little rainy, but other than that, the weather's good. No more blossoms, but it's SUPER green :) And the Magnolia flowers are blooming!!!!)

5-12-14

Hello hello!!

It was so nice to hear from you guys! I'm glad that everyone is doing well and all the grand kids are getting SO BIG!!!! It's CRAZY!!! Well, we found out this morning that Sister DeBry has been called to go to the Athens first ward to be a Sister Training Leader!! We exchange on Wednesday and she's going to be companions with one of her companions from the MTC, so she's stoked!! I'm so proud of her. She's really excited and still can't believe that she's leaving. My new companion is Sister Hooker. Sister DeBry said that she's a real sweet heart and a hard worker. She said that I'll really like her so we'll see how it goes!

Well, the work continues to move forward. A lot of our investigators that we've had in the past have now been dropped and so we're really on the hunt to find some more people to teach. But there are a lot of potentials that we're planning on looking into, so this week is going to be fun! :P 

I'm not quite sure what all to say. With transfers coming up I'm kind of nervous to see what happens, but I know that it'll be exactly what God wants it to be. I'm nervous to start working in this area with a new companion, but we've got a new ward mission leader and he's been doing awesome trying to get the ward motivated to come and help us out!

Anyways, this letter is probably going to be shorter this time around. The work keeps moving forward and I'm excited to see what happens. I know that there's still so much that I need to learn and see. It amazes me that it truly is all about being obedient, working hard, and loving the people. That's really all that it takes and you'll have a successful mission. Anyways I'm glad that you had fun at the cabin! Have the bestest best week ever!

Just Believe

Sister Petersen

5-5-14

Hello hello!!

Well! I'm super jealous that you're headed up to the cabin! But that's super exciting :) And we BETTER take a road trip up there right when I get home! I am SO Stoked for that!! 

This week went pretty well. There's not much that happened. A couple of people dropped us and we've just been on the run trying to hunt down more investigators and schedule appointments. So we pretty much ended up tracting quite a bit and meeting with less actives and members. BUT one of our investigators ended up coming to church for all three hours :D It was soooo awesome! She's a really sweet older lady and the other sisters had started meeting with her since January, so we've been working with her for quite a while. But she's been making her way through the Book of Mormon and we've taught a few times. So I'm pretty excited about it!

And Phone Call! We're planning on calling at 7:00 pm over here. Sorry it's not later, but that's the time that works out best for both of us and the people that we're going over to. I can try and get the Gashler's to text you the information so you'll know it :) Oh! And I have a HUGE favor. Transfers aren't this week, they're the next week and when Sister DeBry leaves I'm going to be pathetically short on good music. (Like I've been dying already.) I don't know if you guys would be willing to send me some more CDs, but music gets really old. Really Fast. I don't know if you want to send Motab or anything, but I really really would appreciate some more music. It mainly needs to be gospel centered. But I would really appreciate it! (I've been aching inside for some good Seussical or Wicked music, so if there's any way to find some music that's a musical that's about Jesus Christ or Joseph Smith or whatever that you can belt to. I would be sooooo happy. Not that I'm not already happy, haha I've just been craving for some music :P )

To answer Dad's questions: for P-days we usually end up just cleaning the apartment and emailing. The time for emailing varies, but I tend to be on at around 11:00. Soooo if we timed it right, we could be emailing at the same time and be able to talk back and forth. I can't message, but emailing is usually pretty quick. So if you wanted to try that next time that would be really fun :) Next week we'll probably be on more around 12:00 since we're emailing first this week. And yeah we do most of our shopping on p-days and sometimes members feed us in the evenings. In the past we've been going over to a less active and sharing a little spiritual thought, but she's been canceling on us quite a bit recently so i'm not quite sure what to think about that :/ Also recently we've been hanging out with the other sisters that are in our ward. And today we had Sister's day! So we went and hung out with the sister missionaries in our zone and had a yummy breakfast and a fun water balloon toss game/water balloon fight :)

It's crazy to think that I'm just about almost done being trained 0.0... and I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get a new companion. (We're pretty sure Sister DeBry is leaving. She's stayed here for three transfers already, and that's about the most a missionary usually stays in an area. Although Sister Stout has stayed in Webb Bridge for about four transfers. So... who knows? :) But usually a trainer doesn't stay with their trainee more than the first two transfers, at least, that's what everyone keeps telling me :)

And yes I did get the soap! I haven't started using it yet. (I'm considering just leaving it by my bed so I don't have to worry too much about bugs in the night. Maybe I'll just cut it in half so I can keep one there and use one in the bathroom :P I am NOT excited about the mosquitoes... Oh oh!! speaking about the quote you sent me about flowers, there are a Bazillion magnolia trees here!! So I'm Stoked to see their flowers! The buds are just starting to appear so I'm getting excited for the huge flowers to come :D 

Anyways, life is grand. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well and that things are starting to warm up. (Although I'm sure you're not excited for the hundred degree weather :P ) Things are warming up around here as well. It hasn't gotten humid yet, but this week should be in the eighties with a lovely cool breeze. :P Haha, we'll see how Arizona heat compares to Georgia heat. I get the feeling that Georgia is just going to be dog gone worse since I'm going to have to be walking in the weather. Ah well :)

I hope that ya'll have a wonderful week! I'm excited to see and hear from you on Mother's day! I love you all!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

4-7-14

Hello my wonderful family :)

Oh my goodness Conference Weekend was fabulous! It was so nice being able to take a couple of days and just sit and be renewed by the Spirit. To answer Dad's questions what I've been studying in Preach my Gospel was the little section on listening (Whoever it was that spoke on the story about the car and the husband and wife who jumped out of it was really awesome!) I've also just been reading the Book of Mormon from cover to cover and familiarizing myself with it so I can know more verses to share with investigators. And this time to spice things up I decided to go from back to front. So I started on the last chapter of Moroni and I'm going from chapter to chapter. A lot more stuff is sticking out to me as I'm going along :)

Those talks would be awesome to share! Karl wasn't able to watch Conference this weekend because he was driving up to Augusta to watch his boys. (Legally he can't attend a church down there because he's the only one that can watch his kids and if he gets a babysitter it has to be approved by his wife. And they're only allowed to go to a certain church, so he's honestly stuck in that when he goes there) Was he thinking about setting another baptism date?? He hasn't made any comments to us about that. But he has told us that most of his concerns about it are pretty much resolved. He's still listening to the Book of Mormon and he still hasn't gotten all of his questions answered, but he's still okay with getting baptized this weekend. 

The mission president told us not to share our personal addresses with our families just due to issues in getting mail sent and other things. So.... I'm sorry :( But I'm in Alpharetta :D It sounds like things have been a little crazy with all of the grandkids! Poor Melanie getting her hair stuck D: I hope that everyone is doing good! And yes please send one of those pictures from Audrey :) 

I'm sorry to hear that Dean Whiting passed away. I hope that everyone is doing okay over there. That's really incredible that he walked all that way in order to go to the funeral. That's really awesome. He must've been a really incredible and humble man. I hope that you and Dad are able to have a safe trip up to Oregon! Have fun listening to those CDs :) 

As for me, things are going good :) I'm still learning a whole bunch and realizing a lot of important things. General Conference was really just what I needed to hear. Having the spirit there and getting my questions that I had answered was really just what I needed. Hahaha, I've been learning a lot! Just the whole reason why I came out here in the first place. Why God wants me out here. Building my own relationship with the Lord. It's really been eye opening. Challenging? Absolutely, but really good. 

My focus on life is definitely changing for the better. It's been really humbling, but exactly what I've needed to go through. Haha, I've been trying for a long time to find the easy way out of things. The easy way to find happiness and the easy way to find blessings and strength in this life. But I'm figuring out (FINALLY) that there truly is no easy way with life. Haha, none of us technically are getting out of this alive. If we choose to follow the Lord, then He will bless us. We don't earn anything out of our own efforts. Honestly, everything comes from God and all of the small things we think we did on our own were truly because He was helping. If only more people realized that in this Country, who knows what would happen :) Of course that doesn't mean that we don't work for things. We definitely have to work for things. But it's by our reliance upon God and the hope that we have in Him that things work out for the better.

The only way that we are going to be strong, is by going through difficult things. That's the best way that we learn is by going through challenges. I loved that talk by Elder Bednar about the new truck :) But it's so true, the burdens that God has given us are what are going to carry us through to the end. We don't have to go through it alone. We don't have to add more than we can carry. We can rely upon the Lord when we go through our struggles and He will help us make it through. We are given challenges that often seem unbearable, but it's because they allow us to fall upon our knees and ask the Lord for help. When we do that, He'll give us the strength to keep moving forward. No matter what obstacles we may face, we can always put our trust in Him, because He has endured it ALL. We never need to be alone. We never need to believe that we're a burden because God knows our worth. He knows our potential and He wants us to reach it. Soooo.... yeah, I've been learning a lot the past couple of weeks :) 

 Oh and I hope that everyone had a fabulous April Fool's Day :D My companion loves to have an awesome April Fool's Day with her siblings, so she really wanted to pull a prank on the other sister missionaries in our Ward. Well, I got the idea to change our contact information on their phone so that the name said Tanner Tag. (He's a boy that one of the other sisters has a crush on that's back home :P ) So if we called them his name would pop up on the screen. Hehehe, well we managed to accomplish our mission before District Meeting. We both decided it would be best to wait until after the meeting was over and we were headed to lunch before we called. So we wait, and wait until we're in the car. Then we grab our phone and call them up. It rings and rings and then they answer. They're both laughing so hard and the sister who had the crush on Him said, "NO!!" It was sooooo great! Their initial reaction was like WHAT? NO WAY!!! And then they realized it was us, but it was sooooo fantastic haha!! Anyways, it was a silly form of entertainment, but it was great :D

I hope that everyone is doing great back home! I love you all sooo much and I'm so grateful for all that you do! Thank you for the letters and your love! Oh! And Mom would you mind sending me my colored pencils? I believe they're in one of the left drawers in my desk in my room. They're either in a plastic box with a black lid on them or they're in their original container. Just send all of the colored pencils that you find :) I'd really appreciate it! 

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week! Thanks for everything, I love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

3-24-14

Hey fam!

Haha, Karl is so solid. I'm glad that he was able to talk with you guys for a little bit. And no it's not bad that he's talking with you. I'm glad that you've been able to enjoy the nice weather and that things have been going so great. I don't have as much time to write today because we're in the library and we've got a time limit to use the computers for 41 minutes so let's see how fast I can write.

You asked me how the mission is hard. Well, I don't want to worry anyone, because I truly am happy out here. There are a lot of things that are so amazing about the mission and so many things that I love. And there are also A LOT of things that are hard about missions. It is physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. I think I might have described it before, but it's like being placed in a room with a lot of mirrors that reveal every single flaw that you have. In order to perform the work, your talents are enhanced, but at the same time your flaws are also enhanced. It's hard to explain, but you just notice things more. Anyways while you're in this room of mirrors it's like you're expected to perform a balancing act of playing juggle with a partner you've never met before in front of an audience that is questioning your every movement and almost expecting you to fail. And you're expected to also try and say something clever and witty while you're doing this balancing act, but you can't remember the words that you need to say, and you can't remember how to do everything even though the circus director has entrusted you to do this performance and tells you that you can do it and you already know everything that you need to do. But you feel like you don't have a clue as to what you are doing, and often you feel like you're a failure because you can't seem to get your act together. Whether it's because you don't know how to work with your companion, or you just can't say the right kinds of things. That's the human side of the hardness.

However, at the same time, there are moments when the spirit takes over. There are moments where things just happen that you don't even expect. God helps you and gives you the strength to endure these things. You suddenly realize more and more that your companion is just trying to help you and is in the exact same situation. There are people who are in the audience that aren't very kind, but then you have the small few that are amazed by the performance. Who want to keep watching and they want to keep learning more. Those certain few are what makes the difficult challenges worth it.

I'll be honest. It's hard to go tracting. It's hard going up to a random person's door and try to talk about the things that you love and know to be true and have it get slammed in your face. The other day we tracted into a guy named Cameron, he was about nineteen and started to ask us a bunch of really deep questions about what we thought on salvation and how Joseph Smith was a drunkard and stupid things like that. My companion tried to answer his questions. (I honestly didn't have a clue how to answer them in the right way, because by how he was acting and reacting he was trying to throw us under the bus) But we're told that when someone tries to do that, all you can do is testify. And that's what I did. I just testified to him about what I knew to be true and that I didn't come there to argue with him. All that we wanted to do was invite others to come to know for themselves whether it was true or not. It seemed to surprise him and he asked how I could know those things and I just told him that it was by prayer and by the process of doing those things that I came to know for myself. That finally stopped most if not all of the questions. He couldn't argue with my testimony. We also found out that he hadn't read the Book of Mormon, so honestly it was just all ridiculous anyways, but he wouldn't let that book into his house so.... haha it was kind of pointless.

Another hard thing about the mission is being placed somewhere where you don't know a single soul. It was almost overwhelming going to church for the first time and not knowing anybody. The doctrine was the same, the spirit was the same (Which was a huge blessing), but I didn't know anyone. And I was trying to work with someone who i still didn't know all that well. And I'm a missionary so we're kind of already expected to be at such a high standard of excellence anyways, it's just interesting. So... for the past couple of weeks I've honestly just been in survival mode trying to do all of the things that I'm supposed to do but feeling like I'm almost drowning half the time because I don't really know anybody and there are so many expectations (from myself, from my trainer, from the mission president, from my family etc.) There's A LOT of pressure on a lot of fronts. I'm not surprised that some people just can't do it, because it is really hard.

However, I'm learning. This past week, I've finally gotten out of my stressed out survival attitude and things are getting easier. I know more people. Haha, I honestly have the best companion ever and she's always striving to help me. I'm learning how to focus on this area rather than myself. I'm learning how to forget myself and rely on the spirit. I'm learning how to stop focusing and judging other people and learning how to love them. I'm learning that people aren't just out to get me. That everyone has their own problems. It's hard living with a companion twenty four seven when they've had their own life before hand and their own beliefs about things. No matter who my trainer was, it still would've been hard. Luckily I happened to have a sister who's very compassionate and loving and understands me a lot better than I originally thought. I'm just learning a lot.

So yeah, there are a lot of hard things about the mission. There are a lot of things that we are expected to do. There are numbers that we got to keep track of. There are areas that we need to go see and people that we need to meet. There's a strict schedule that we've got to adhere to. We're thrust out of our comfort zone ALL OF THE TIME, and honestly you really have to just learn how to trust the Lord and realize that everything is going to be okay. And I'm learning more of how to do that.

Even though the mission is difficult, I can see the Lord's hand in everything. There are tiny miracles that happen every single day. There are moments where I say things and I know that it didn't come from me, it came from the Spirit. All good things come from God. It's sooooo true. There are moments where I'm tired and stressed, but I'm learning how to take a step back and try to figure things out. There are moments of joy, moments of pain. I have fun times where I can just laugh with my companion. And there have been times where we've both cried and had to comfort each other because of all of the pressure and stress. Haha, that's the mission. It's the best and the hardest 18 months of my life and it's definitely holding true. But, I'm loving it. I love that I'm seeing so many new things about the gospel that I never realized before. I am meeting so many different people and getting immersed in a brand new culture. Haha, I love it here. I truly do. I feel like the Lord is constantly by my side and guiding me because this is His work. He called me to it with all of my flaws and weaknesses. He wants me to do the best that I can to help His children because He believes in me. And I am coming to know that I can believe in Him and believe Him. And that's what makes it all worth it.

My testimony has definitely changed because I've been out here. You kind of have to learn how to grow up and focus on those around you. It's extremely humbling realizing that your actions can directly affect those around you. It's humbling to realize your flaws and to be human. It's humbling to know that you're not perfect and you never will be. But, you can work with the spirit. God knows that we're not perfect. We don't have to beat ourselves up about it. When we beat ourselves up about it, it just makes things worse and we can't feel the Spirit. Haha, and when you don't feel the spirit out here, you can't do the work. So it has been hard, but I'm grateful for it. I've been learning a lot and I'm so grateful for that. Even with all of the hardships, God has been blessing me one hundred fold. He gives us the strength to keep moving forward. He allows little moments of happiness to come so that we don't have to be bogged down by our load. And for that I am very grateful.

Anyways, I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for you. Thank you so much for your prayers and your letters. They really do mean the world to me. I'm so glad that you've been praying for those mission experiences. I'm sorry that they've been hard to find, but I know that if we keep praying and looking for those opportunities, we'll find them. As long as we stay true and always remain grateful for what we have, things will turn out for the best.  I definitely have had to learn that a lot out here. Thanks for all that you do. Thanks for being such an awesome support and wonderful family. Anyways, I'll talk to ya'll later!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

3-10-14

Hi Mom!

It sounds like you've been crazy busy! But I'm glad that everything is going good for you! And I'm really glad that you're praying for missionary experiences. That's so awesome :) I'm truly grateful that I have you for my mom. You really are an inspiring person. 

Oh the mission, phew, it's been a crazy busy week. There have been ups and downs and a lot of spiritual awakenings that I've definitely needed from the Lord. Elder Cook also came on Saturday which was really awesome! He and a couple of other speakers came and spoke to us. Haha, I was worried that it was going to be a smack down because it was a complete surprise and no one had been planning on him coming! But it turned out to be amazing and really just what I needed to hear. He also gave us a special blessing and just spoke about a lot of great things about missionary work and trying to get the members involved and really trying to have the spirit with us as we taught.

I am learning SO much on my mission. So much. Haha, and not all of the lessons have been easy to learn. Some have actually been quite painful and humbling, but they've been what I've needed. There are a lot of things that I still need to learn and a lot of things that I want to learn. Our investigators are really progressing and we've got  two of them on date!! Karl (I learned that his name is spelled with a K :) Is set for March 23rd and Sterling is set for March 22nd. So cross your fingers that everything will go well. Sister DeBry said that that was really incredible to have two people on date so quickly and in this area. She said that for the last transfer they didn't have as much luck. Which is interesting because I feel like there's so much potential here. I know that there is potential here and I know there are people here who need to hear the gospel and in many places all over Georgia. But I'm really grateful for these experiences. God has been really good to us here, and he's been so merciful.

It's interesting. There's quite a few things that I learned this week and there's one that I want to share if ya'll don't mind. (Haha, I get the feeling I'm going to start saying that all the time. All the missionaries do, even though many of the members here don't have Southern Accents which is weird). Just that life is just like a set of different doors. And that with each door there's a room that's filled with many hardships and different experiences, but many more opportunities for growth and joy. And eventually you'll have to close the door to that room and open the door to a new room. You can't turn back, but you'll always have the memory of that previous room and what you learned. And sometimes you find yourself in a hallway where you're just waiting for things to happen. But that doesn't mean that you can't have joy studying the things around you and learning more. I feel like that's how a mission is. There are going to be many stages here that I'll have to go through. Many opportunities for growth and learning, happiness and hardships. Then that door will close and I'll move to a new area and that will be filled with different things. It's like with parenthood I guess. You get filled with a lot of new opportunities of growth and happiness that you never experience until you are a parent. Haha, I don't know I just find that to be really interesting.

I hope that everyone is doing great! Keep on praying for missionary work for your area and for ours. There is so much potential in the world today. There is so much still to be done and so much that Heavenly Father wants us to do before He can declare the work as finished. Haha, not that I know much, I'm still learning A Lot, but I know that you guys can add a lot more to the mission effort. The mission is nothing without the members. Missionary work is nothing without membership and fellowship. Haha, I just hope that all of you will continue to get out of your comfort zones and be good neighbors. Be good friends and listeners. Be the kind of person that you'd like others to be, and be the kind of disciple that God wants you to be. (Which you're all amazing at doing anyways, but whatever :) ) Haha, it's not meant to be easy. It wasn't easy for our Savior so why should it be any easier for us? But I know that in these last days, we can be good missionaries. I know that if we put the effort in and really try to find those who need that light, we will meet success. And maybe it's not the success in numbers. Maybe it's not success that we'll necessarily see the fruit of our labors. But it's the success knowing that we did our best. That God is proud of our efforts and we can meet Him at the Judgement Bar and He can say "Well Done." At least, that's what I'd like Him to say to me :) 

I love you all and I hope that everything is going great for you! I love my companion and my area. Haha, both are teaching me so much about how to be a better missionary and how to be a better person. Mom you missed your quote this week! But that's okay, I've got one for you :)

"Come What May and Love It."

Take care!! I love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen