1-20-15

Hey Fam!

Yes, I did get the citrus and it made the bestest best lemonade ever! I was so pleased :P I'm DEFINITELY going to be taking that box with me to my new area!!

AND.... my new area is... (drum roll please :) ) The Lilburn First Ward! So I'm heading back to the big 'ole city! My new companion is Sister Summerhayes (I have no idea how to spell her name :P ) And in a word, I am Really excited :) I'm sad  that I'm leaving Dahlonega so soon, but I'm excited to go to Lilburn! And Sister Grayson is headed over to Kennesaw with actually a sister who she got trained with. Which is really cool. And Crazy news, tomorrow both Sister DeBry and Sister Hooker are going home! Crazy right? It's so weird how time flies. Then in the next transfer, Sister Madsen will be heading out! All of my companions are dropping off like flies! But it's so exciting too.

Anyways, what were some miracles that happened this week... hmmm.... Sister Grayson and I both survived, definitely a miracle :) We had our baptism on Saturday and confirmation as well which was SO wonderful :D A lot of people that we've been working with showed up at church on Sunday. And life is good. That is the biggest miracle of all. Life feels good :)

There were a couple of things that have really stuck out to me a lot from this transfer with Sister Grayson. One of them is the importance of humility. If I hadn't had been proud during all of this transfer, I believe things would have gone so much smoother. I had to be broken down a lot by the Lord and realize that I needed to make a lot of changes if I was going to make it this transfer. But that's okay, because it taught me SO much. God has never been so close before.

(Oh gosh, I could really list so many things that I learned from this transfer) One of the biggest things that I've been trying to learn about is charity. It's amazing to me what charity truly is and how HARD it is to have. Especially when you really don't want to have charity :P I wonder how difficult it must have been for the Savior to have loved everyone including those who rejected and crucified him. It amazes me that in the bible Jesus would call Judas Iscariot "Friend" even though he know that Judas would soon betray him. It always amazes me that no matter what, no matter how stressed we are, no matter how angry we get, no matter how afraid, no matter how much we abuse or ignore the Savior, He is always there. He's always right outside the door waiting for us to let Him in. That no matter what we do, He will always love us. He will always welcome us back. And that just Blows me away just how much He really does love us. That His love truly is pure and untainted. It's not motivated by selfishness. He's not expecting a reward. He usually doesn't get a reward. Most of the time He's just brushed aside. And yet, He's still there serving and giving even when we don't recognize it. All that He truly wants is for us to be happy. That's it. And He knows how to help us be happy which is why He asks us to do things for Him. Which is why He asks us to give Him our whole heart because that will make us happy. Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are just so wonderful!!

I am really grateful for what this transfer has taught me. I really needed it. And I'm really grateful that Sister Grayson was my companion because I never would have learned these lessons with anyone else. I would never have gone through the refiner's fire if not for her. And I'm really grateful for that and for her :)

I hope that ya'll are having a wonderful week! I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well especially Andrew!! Let me know if there's anything that I can do for ya'll! I will get that address sent to you as soon as I get it :) Love you!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen

1-5-14

Hello hello!! I hope that all is going well!

Thank you so much for the birthday package!! I love it oh so very much :) I'm excited to read that story today (I've been saving it for when I actually have a few minutes to just not worry about anything). And I'm really really really excited to get more. Also, a fun little surprise, Sister Grayson ended up decorating the apartment for my birthday. She made this Huge sign of Happy Birthday Sister Petersen and then decorated around my desk too. And I'm pretty sure that she told the members that we were eating dinner with that night that it was my birthday too, so we ended up eating cake, and I got a vase of flowers and a blue forget me not book. It was so sweet of them!!

I would love to watch that movie as soon as I get home! I actually think that I've seen part of it, and what I remember of it, it was really cute. AWE I'm SO jealous that you're going to the zoo!! Take lots of pictures please :D And that's so exciting that Andy got put on date dad!! Isn't the Spirit so wonderful?? I love it so much :)

Hahaha, I'm glad that you guys finally got the lights taken down. (Even though I actually liked turning them on every so often to give our house a little flare ;P) For New Years, we actually got to go on exchanges, so I went over to the Coal Mountain ward with Sister Childs which was so fun :) We got Wendy's to celebrate and then set our alarm to go off at midnight so we could welcome the New Year. And funnest of all, there were fireworks that went off right by our window which was Super fun!! When the alarm went off, I just said Happy New Year and then went right to bed :P I was way too tired.

Fun news! We have a girl on date for baptism on January 17th!! Which is so awesome! She's twelve years old and I guess the sisters have been working for her for awhile, but we've finally got her on date again and her family is okay for her to get baptized. It was so awesome! Also, another family that we've been working with actually came to church on Sunday!! It was SO great to see them :D The dad had been baptized a little while ago, but he had been so ill for the past few months that he hasn't been able to make it to church, but we've been visiting them just about every week. The rest of his family aren't members, but his two boys did end up showing up at church which was also a miracle! His wife was planning on coming, but ended up not being able to (if she had made it that would have been the biggest miracle of all) The missionaries have been working with this family for Years and years. So who knows what's going to happen in the next while :P

Anyways, things are going good. They're not perfect, but they're better than they have been :) I'll send you another letter in the mail that's more specific, but I am surviving and it truly is all thanks to the Lord. He has been blessing me so much with so many little miracles and I am so grateful for Him. I hope that ya'll have a fantastic week! I love you!

Just Believe,
Sister Petersen