4-20-15

Hello my wonderful Family :)

Well! This past week has been crazy! (A good and a bad kind of crazy ;P ) Transfers went well and Sister Pi is now in Suwanee! She's a real sweetheart and has an awesome sense of humor. :P She's normally quiet, but boy once we're about to go to bed we have the longest discussions! Haha, when we had our conversation last night I just thought this, "Note to self: I need to start writing in my journal in the morning because once it's dark, Sister Pi loves to Talk! :P" Which is so funny because she's more quiet during the day. But she's very brave, and isn't afraid to be bold with people and have her way. Maybe it's just Taiwanese culture to be more quiet?? Ah well, I just call her my crazy Asian friend :) I just hope that I don't start falling asleep on her because it's gotten a lot easier for me to sleep at night! (Thank goodness :) ) It's all good though :) And the bad kind of crazy is just the stress of taking over an area, but that's pretty normal and should settle after awhile :) 

A lot of miracles this week. The work has been picking up slightly! We've got a lot more appointments with members this week and we're planning on teaching a part member family on Tuesday! Which is so great and such a blessing. We also have another part member family that we're planning on seeing soon. I guess the husband hasn't been to church in thirty years, but his wife happens to be from China :] And just so happens to speak fluent Mandarin.... And what do you know, I just got a companion who just so happens to speak Mandarin :] Coincidence? I Think NOT!! So I'm hoping that we'll be able to meet with them and help them to come to church. 

Oh! Another crazy cool miracle. We ended up making an appointment with a half active, half less active family and visited them yesterday. I honestly didn't know what to expect because I had never met them before. But when we got there, the woman was just really open that her husband had cancer. The visit ended up just being us and her. But anyways, she said that They were winning the fight. (The doc gave them 3-4 months to live. And they were running at 13 now). But she was just so afraid to lose him. She kept saying how much he was just her best friend and that she loved him so much and she couldn't handle the thought of saying goodbye to him. (They're in their early forties). And so she's just been running. She's been running away from the church, from everyone, and has been working 24/7 because she doesn't want to have to think about it. She kept saying over and over that she knew God's plan, she knew God loved her, but she just couldn't accept the idea of saying goodbye to her husband. She wouldn't do it. I just had to give her the biggest hug and I just started crying. The spirit was just so strong, and I just felt so much of her pain. She just didn't know what to do except run, but all she really wanted was to live. It just broke my heart. But we were able to just listen to her and she was able to come to the conclusion that she really needed to get her family sealed in the temple. She said that she wasn't ready for that yet, but she knew that we would help her to get there. (She's afraid that if she does go to the temple, that that will start the process in where she might have to let go of her husband and she does NOT want to have to do that.) And I just figure that's fine. Right now, I think she really just needed someone to listen to her and tell her that she's okay. That what she's doing is okay. And no one wants to force her to have to do anything. But we're seeing her again this Thursday and going out to Breakfast, which I'm really excited about :) She just wants to be able to have a good time with someone and not have to worry about what's happening. To be able to really live and not feel like she has to run. And honestly, who wouldn't want that?

Anyways, other than that, things are going well :) The work continues to move forward and we're keeping busy :) I miss y'all and think about you all the time! I hope that y'all have a blessed week!

Love ya!

Sister Petersen

4-12-15

Hi Family!

Well, Transfers are here and Sister Davenport is heading out to Fort Yargo to white wash train!!! She's getting a brand new missionary on Wednesday and is going to her area blind!! I'm super excited for her though! She's awesome and confident and I know she's going to do amazing things there in Fort Yargo. 

My new companion is going to be Sister Pi (Said like Sister Bee). I believe she is from Taiwan, but I'm excited because I got to come with her to the mission back in December and I hung out with her on the Marta. She's super sweet and really awesome and I'm excited to get to know her more. I'm not quite sure how much her English has improved. We will see :) But I'm really excited about it!! 

Anything exciting?? Hmm... well we have an appointment on Tuesday which is Super exciting! We met this man a little while ago and have been going over to his house a couple of times just to see how he was doing and if he wanted to learn more. And he actually asked a lot of sincere questions and went to the right websites. And he said that we could come back and teach him more so we're really excited about that! Other than that, we've just been building relationships with the members and it has been so wonderful to get to know the people here.

Ohhh goodness. Okay, total craziness this weekend. So, do you ever get that feeling that everything just seems to happen all at once? Well, that's been happening with me and Sister Davenport this week. Haha! So, basically she found out the news that she was white wash training which is super stressful in and of itself. She also found out that her family is more than likely going to be moving to Tennessee due to her dad trying to find a job (all this while she's out in the field. Which is insane) We also found out that we were going to be getting our carpets replaced the exact same day as our P-Day when we want to be able to pack and get things ready for transfers right? Well, we had to get EVERYTHING off of our carpets and move it onto the tiles. (Everything, tables, desks, our mattresses.... ridiculous. Therefore, no packing until carpeting is done...) Not to mention my doctor appointments which were happening also on the same day. And Sister Davenport really wanted to be able to get pictures with everyone and be able to say goodbye of course since she's been here for six months now. And then come to find out today, being P-day of course when all of this is going on :P, our carpets aren't going to be replaced and that they have to reschedule. D: Honestly, when I found out about that, I just laughed and laughed. It was So ridiculous!! So we'll have to get all of our furniture back in place and then scramble to get everything packed and ready to go for transfers. I tell you what! Sometimes you really feel like you're just being pecked to death by a duck!! But, today had a lot of tender mercies and little miracles that we've just been able to laugh and have a good time even though all of these crazy things are happening. I figure, the Lord has a plan, and everything works out in the end. He's helping things to move forward smoothly. Sometimes life just gets a little hecktic and all you can do is laugh :) . 

Well, I hope that everyone is doing well! I'm excited about the reunion and that you get to go and visit Dallas and Helen soon!! Send pictures :D I'm glad the kiddos are doing well! I love them so much and I love y'all!! Have a blessed week!

Just Believe,

Sister Petersen