3-6-15

Hey Fam!

Hah! Alright, alright, before I forget here's my new address :) It's 2115 Breton Hunt Lane, Suwanee, GA 30024. And Oh My Goodness, I am in LOVE with Suwanee!! This is the absolute most amazing ward that I have ever been in! Like everyone that I've met here has been so friendly! At church on Sunday, so many people just came right up and introduced themselves. The bishop announced that I was here, and I was asked to give the opening prayer. People sign up on our dinner calendar months in advance. It's almost ridiculous how amazing it is here!! I've almost been feeling like it's been too good to be true :P 

I love my new companion Sister Davenport. She's from Utah and is the middle in her family of all girls :) She's been out on her mission for about four months now. She loves to sing (she's been in choir for a lot of her life) and is So funny :) we laugh all the time! (We've already started a quote wall :P ) And best of all, we both want to work. I love it :) And let me tell you, she has been an answer to my prayers.

Can I also tell you how many other tiny little miracles that this area has? One miracle is that I have a comfortable bed, our apartment is small and cozy, which means it's so much Warmer than all my previous ones (I don't have to wear a sweater and sweat pants to bed!!!!! :D ) And our apartment doesn't have ANTS Hallefreakinlujah!! The people are great. We have a car. We listen to music all the time. The area is big and the members are so wonderful. Like just the other day, we went over to a member's house to print something off of their computer and then they asked us if we had a lunch. We said "No, we were just going to go and get Chick-fi-le" and they were like, "I think it's time for lunch. How do you feel about going to Chickfille?" And they totally took us and paid for our lunch!!! I'm just amazed every single day by the members here and by how generous they are to us! 

As for the work, we've got a lot of potentials in our area, but the couple of investigators that we have been working with are very strong baptists. Our lessons with them, kind of turned into a small bash. They have a hard time with Grace and Works and would often pull out verses from the bible that say you only need faith in order to be saved... Which is frustrating, but we've been doing a lot of research on it. I remembered there was this great talk called, "My Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox that I was able to find. And there's this amazing talk by Tad R. Callister titled "The Blue Print of Christ's church" (That one is a bit of a smash down, but it was so amazing to listen to when we found it :) ) We also had some great team ups who were able to answer their questions and explain things in a way that we couldn't. So That was a blessing! 

We've also got transfer calls, and we're both going to be staying in Suwanee for the next little while. Thank goodness!! All I can say is, is that I feel so truly blessed and humbled to be here. I am so grateful that God put me here. I am so grateful that I've been through the experiences that I have been, so that I can see how great of a place this truly is. God is so wonderful. I feel so so SO blessed. I know that the gospel is true! And I know that God does answer our prayers. Even in the most difficult of trials, God is always there, providing miracles, even if they're sometimes too small to even see. He's always there, and He always is listening. And I just wanted to tell ya'll that I love you so much! I know that we met for a reason and each of us was supposed to come down here at this time to be with each other and learn from each other. 

"Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men (or women ;) ) that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name." 

"Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land."

"Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen"  (Alma 26:35-37).

Can I get an Amen to that? :]

Thanks for all that you do. I love you! Have a blessed day!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen