June 27, 2016

Follow the Savior!

Man, this week was great. Really yesterday was just great. I have learned and grown so much this week. I also feels like the time that has passed in the last 7 days was actually a month.

 

Well, transfers occurred and we are staying here. The wonderful county of Madison has to put up with me for another 7 weeks :)  I love it here so much. Who knew I would actually love the south? I know all of my college friends are smirking right now.

 

This week we went back to the 1930's house that we are helping out at. I got to tear down a wall and hang a door! Man I love handiwork! This morning we went on the bike ride again. I have to correct the mileage though. A local told us it is actually 26 miles. That makes a lot more sense, being that we can finish it in 3 hours. It was so beautiful though and I will have pictures attached.

 

The highlight of the week though was yesterday after church. We taught Cedrick. To remind you all, he is a person we found while trying to find a referral. We almost didn't talk to him, but the spirit basically shoved us over there. Yesterday, he told us it is because he prayed and told God he is ready for a change and wants to be guided onto the right path. Well, we taught him and he has been loving the Book of Mormon. He understands everything we teach and has seen a change in his life. We invited him to be baptized on August 6th and he accepted! What a wonderful moment! The spirit was so powerful. This gives me so much joy, as his nephew, who he took care of, converted to the church in his teens and is living in Tallahassee. I imagine he has prayed for this day, much like I pray for my own family. I can only imagine the joy he will have when his uncle is baptized. I know I look forward to a day when I will be united with my family in God's kingdom on Earth.

 

I want you all to know that my life has been changed only by the power of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Only the restored gospel could have such a power. I have been given such great strength by my Savior and I know He loves us so much. That's why I am here for 18 months, suffering in the heat and humidity with 1000 bug bites. It's to follow Him and help people access the greatest, free gift in the universe.

 

Have a great week and stay classy everyone!

-Sister Peterson

June 20, 2016

10 Months and 40 Miles

Oof, it has been a week I'll tell ya!

Monday we went to Tallahassee to play soccer and sand volleyball with the other missionaries. My companion and I were the only sisters there! It was just a tad weird. It was also 100 degrees outside that day and we were directly in the sun. I got so sick. That won't happen again! It was fun though.
 

Tuesday, we had our farewell conference with President and Sister Smith. It was so fun and we learned a lot. The districts all came up with hilarious skits! I also got to see all my friends from the two Tally zones. President and Sister Smith taught us so much though. He couldn't go down without teaching as he said. I will definitely miss them. I am so grateful for all of their service and all that they have done for us! Our new President should be here real soon!
 

Wednesday we saw as many people as we could. We taught Frances for the first time and that went super well. She loved hearing about the Book of Mormon. One of the things I love to share with people is how the Book of Mormon clarifies things taught in the Bible. With as many churches as we have here, it is clear that everyone has a different understanding of the same verse of scripture. I showed her how the Book of Mormon is the second witness (quoting a Bible verse to her) of what God really wanted us to get from His word.
 

Thursday was even better though. We met with Cedrick, and he read the chapter we gave him. For most of our lesson, he just went on and on about how much he loved Alma 32. He knows the Book of Mormon is special and he does want to be baptized. That made our week.
 

Friday we worked all day at a sister's house. We were helping her in the long process of fixing up her 1930's house. A lot of people take pride in their "Cherry Lake" homes up here. She has one and there is so much work to do! It was fun.
 

Yesterday, we had an amazing lesson with Kyle and Eva. Thanks to Kyle's member friend and our new Branch Mission Leader, Matt, Kyle committed to start coming to church as often as he could. He really meant it!
 

And, this morning, we got up and we biked to Georgia with a member. It was so fun!!! Round trip it was about 40 miles. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect at that time of morning.
 

One thing that stuck out to me this week was the blessings of going to work and having faith in Christ. We had a lot of time that we didn't know how to fill this week, but the Lord took care of us as long as we kept on going out and kept trying to talk to people. His children are here and they are ready to come unto Him. We can't waste any time in our efforts to find them and bring them back!

I hope you all have a great week and that you keep praying for missionary opportunities. The Lord needs your help no matter where or who you are.

-Sister Peterson

 

June 13, 2016

Finding.

We have found sooooo many people this week!!! We got into our area book and just started going through it. We have been talking to everyone and anyone and it turns out they are just about all pretty open to learning more about our message.

This week we started teaching Henry, as I mentioned last week. He is doing so well! It just makes everything we do so worth it when our investigators keep our commitments and pray about our message. It is amazing.
 

This week was pretty great though. There isn't too much to tell yet, but we did a ton of contacting and now have a bunch of potential people to teach.
 

One thing I have really been studying this week has been consecration. We talked a lot in our district meeting about it too! It is amazing to think about it and how simple, yet complex it is. All we have  to do is choose God's will over ours consistently. That is super hard though! I have found that as you begin to practice it, you will get better. It just takes time though, as all things do. I have already seen a difference in my missionary efforts as I have determined to put others needs and God's will over mine. This gospel, this gift, is far too special to let anyone go without. So what if I am hungry, sick, or tired? If I let that get in the way, someone may go without the greatest gift ever because we weren't at the right place at the right time, willing to open our mouths and testify.
 

Enjoy this cool palm tree by our apartment.

 

OOOOHHH!!! Taylor got baptized in Pensacola!!! I can't believe it!!! That made my whole month!!!!!

-Sister Peterson

 

June 6, 2016

The Inescapable Heat

Man has it been hot here in central Florida!!! As we have focused on obedience and following the spirit, we have found many blessings for our sacrifices! We took time to go through our area book and organize the mess that was left from previous missionaries. We are by no means done, but we found so many potential people to teach! And everyone that we have met and visited has been completely accepting and open to us coming back!!!

We also decided the other day that we would walk to an appointment in town rather than drive. It was hot that day. I mean super hot. We were sweating every amount of liquid I had. But, on our way back from an apartment that was just as hot as the outside was, we met this group of men that we decided to talk to. I was scared as they did not look like the most friendly people in the world, but we both knew we needed to talk to them. When we did, it didn't seem too successful. But, as we turned the corner, Henry stopped us.

Henry was sitting quietly while his dad went off about this and that. He's a 15 year old boy who really wants to meet with us. We are supposed to see him today and I just can't wait to see how prepared he his.

We keep finding success in Madison. There is so much work to be done here. Nobody in the mission thought so before I got here, but we are proving that if you have the right attitude and want to work, the Lord will show you the way. It is an honor to see His trust in us with His beautiful children.

The best part of this week though, was working with Tammy and her daughter Kassiy. She read everything we gave her. We gave her a lot of things that had built up over time. She read it all though and has been praying a lot. She was really stuck on the gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet because she has an issue with baptism. I love her so much though, so I asked her what it was. She doesn't want hers to be a big deal. She knows she needs to be baptized, but she doesn't want everyone in the branch to be there or all of that. I told her, we can take care of that. She committed to pray about it all and to keep studying. She has really progressed and she attributes so much of the change to us. What an honor it is to serve these people! We are only conduit's for the Lord's work. It is just an honor to witness such change in people's lives.

We keep working hard here though. I am so grateful to serve in Madison, and President let us know that we will probably be here together for another transfer! What a blessing! I haven't even told you all how great Sister Johnson is. She is an amazing missionary. We have been having such powerful lessons together. She is bold and loving, and super easy going! I couldn't ask for more in a mission companion! 
 

I hope you all have a great week and really focus on how you can be a representative of Christ. Many of you have taken His name upon you! Don't forget that!

Love ya!

-Sister Peterson

May 30, 2016

Time to get Changing Again!

I have learned a lot this week. I went on exchanges with my STL only a few days after my halfway mark, and felt like my purpose needed to be centered on change. I know that God has really been trying to teach me something. It has kind of been like a scavenger hunt finding what that is though! I have found it through studies, prayer, and lots of pondering. The Lord wants me to increase my faith through consecration. It is so interesting how you can lose so much faith through not constantly tending to it. I had so much when I joined the church! Enough to change so many aspects of my life. But, my mission has granted me the opportunity to go back and build it back up even stronger!

 

This week has been great though. We have done a lot of service for even non members! It has also been hot, so we have been trying to not die of dehydration. I do however have a funny story from our service. We were at this lady's house, and when I got out of the car, I noticed these adorable baby raccoons. I got close enough to get a few pictures of them. When we got inside, I told the lady about the raccoons and she said "Let me go get my rifle!". My companion was so mortified. I thought it was kind of comical, but still sad. We watched her stalk the babies and shoot one's leg. She really wanted to kill the momma raccoon, but couldn't find it. Oh the joys of serving out in the middle of nowhere. 

 

Oh, by the way, I have the greatest district alive. There is also a picture attached. We learned a lot in our district meeting this week and I can't wait to see what this week has in store for us!

-Sister Peterson