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