January 25, 2016

Strangest Week of My... How Long Have I been here?

This was the strangest week for a missionary. I mean, it could be stranger, but this ranks high. One thing I know is that we have been immensly blessed here in Pensacola. I don't understand why, but it has pushed me to become a better missionary so that we can take advantage of those additional blessings. The Lord has truly taken care of my spirit this week though. I couldn't ask for a better place or situation at this time.

 

Monday: "Puppies!" Nothing too exciting other than we went to this pet store and played with puppies with an investigator. It was awesome. I have pictures, but I forgot my camera cord this week. Muhahaha, you all have to wait to see the adorable puppy :)

 

Tuesday: "Progress". What a day. We were all over the place. A super solid investigator dropped us, but we had a great lesson with Ermilisa that day. She is doing so much better. I was super worried about her for a while there, but when her meds are all right, she will be doing a lot better. We also had a fun lesson at Taylor and Travis's. They are really progressing. I can see the spirit talking to her and he is really trying to become a better member of the church by kicking his bad habits.

 

Wednesday: "Knowledge is Power... And Interesting". So, we had district meeting and the giant worldwide training broadcast for missionaries this day. My whole morning and early afternoon were filled with the spirit and awesome training. I felt so edified and I learned a lot. I have a greater resolve to work harder and refine some of my skills. This will help us take care of the extra work in Pensacola. That afternoon, my STL came by and we drove for three hours to the other side of the mission for an appointment we had. That was fun! I love her. While we were staying with some other missionaries that night, I met one who knows the missionary who taught me! Her companion also had a couple classes with me at BYU! How crazy is that?

 

Thursday: "Longest, Most Spiritual Day of 5 Months". I don't know where to begin. I had a very helpful appointment in Bristol, and then we drove back for another three hours. First we had super good, authentic fried chicken. Man I love that stuff. I picked up my companion again and we got to our lesson with Ermilisa. That night we ended up feeling like we needed to go to the bishop's house. I needed a bathroom anyways and we were in that neighborhood. While we were there, I felt impressed to ask his wife if she was reading her scriptures. She wasn't, so I helped her out a bit. Then, he felt impressed to ask if either of us wanted a blessing. I knew I had to say yes. That blessing really helped me with exactly what I needed. God truly is aware of all of us and knows our struggles. That family has truly become like my own family.

 

Friday: Lemons Make SWEET Lemonade". We were super busy this day. Just incredibly. I had my interview with the mission president. He gave me some great counsel and guidance. He really gets it! We tried visiting a lot of people from our new area that day. We had a ton of success! We are now teaching this woman from Peru (shout out to Mila!). I am so excited to work with them. I really want to speak Spanish now.

 

Saturday: "Long Day". This was a long and busy day. Days with the car are quite valuable. We had lessons all day. So many that we had no choice but to go through the Little Caesars drive through for a late dinner on our way to our last appointment. It was a rough, but gratifying day.

 

Sunday: "The Strangest Sabbath". Just an odd day. We saw Jonathan again! Church was super full with the new ward! Relief society was packed! Taylor and Travis invited us for dinner. The craziest thing happened. She left the pan of chicken on the hot stove. Being glass, it exploded all over the kitchen. While cleaning it up, the chicken caught on fire! Things were crazy! I helped her clean up the kitchen and we basically just laughed about it all night. That was not our most productive teaching appointment.

 

With that, I will bid you all farewell for this week. It makes me sad every time, because I love you all so much. I know that Christ truly is our Savior and that He knows you and your struggles better than you do. He is there to make up the difference every time you fall short. He has done it for me more times than I care to share. He loves you. Have a great week, all of ya!

-Sister Peterson

January 18, 2016

Tis another Week in the FTM

Good tidings I bring you all from the Pensacola area of the Florida Tallahassee Mission in the year of 2016. This week has been quite the indescribable so I will just tell you what happened.

 

Monday: "My kind of Pday" Pdays with Sister Hilton are kind of whatever I want them to be. I love it!

 

Tuesday: "Deep Doctrine..". So we took an investigator to institute...Then we talked about the pre earth life and the council in heaven. Deep doctrine. I think she handled it well though. She was fasting too, maybe not for that, but hey, the spirit will be there anyways!

 

Wednesday: "We Don't Want You to Leave". After learning some troubling information from our bishop about an investigator, he let me know that he really doesn't want me to be transferred any time soon. That brought me a lot of comfort. Apparently I am doing something right here!

 

Thursday: "Pine Forest?!". We spent a lot of time in what used to be Pine Forest Area. We also met Ashley for the first time. She is awesome!!! She is getting baptized on February 6th and she just reminds me so much of myself. I am so excited to work with her and help her to prepare for baptism.

 

Friday: "Giving Back...Finally". More about Ashley. After the most random day of missionary work in my life, we get a call from Ashley at about 10 pm. She invited people to her baptism and got super negative responses. Many of you may know just from that, that I was able to relate pretty well. It felt so good to give back what the missionaries helped me with. That is exactly what brought me on my mission.

 

Saturday: "Learning to Trust the Spirit". Everything fell apart this day. Nobody was answering, and we were using tons of miles on the car. I followed a few promptings which brought us to Ermilisa's house. I had been worrying about her and we hadn't seen her in a while. She is doing better than we thought and we set a return appointment with her. God truly blessed us as we followed all of those weird promptings.

 

Sunday: "Just Go With It". What an awesome and odd day. We had a giant area conference with Elder Rasband, Hales, and Whitney Clayton talking to us, along with Sister Reeves. A shout out to my other South Eastern States friends! It was great. We had a good turn out too, because of the boundary change. Then, we had a little social after. One of our members had a seizure. That was different. I had never seen one before, but I knew he had epilepsy and that it happens all the time for him. He is so chill about it too! Then, we later took a member who speaks Spanish to these people we want to teach. They just went off while we just stood there. Just go with it.

 

Overall, a good week. This week is going to be epic with all that is planned! Stay tuned for another update on Sister Peterson's life in the FTM!

I love all of you a ton!

-Sister Peterson

PS, enjoy these super cool and funny pictures :)

January 11, 2016

Transfers! New Companion!

This week was INSANE!!! So much happened! To start, I have a new companion. Her name is Sister Hilton. She is from Idaho Falls, and we went to BYU together. I totally saw her all the time. Who knew we would be companions on our missions? Our ward now has 3 out of 4 BYU kids. No one stands a chance now ;)

 

Monday: "A Grand Pday". This pday was legit! We went to Olive Garden for our last meal together, courtesy of one of our investigators. We also had a zone activity where we played dodgeball. I love running around and hanging out with all the other missionaries.

 

Tuesday: "Goodbyes". We were BUSY. Sister Wood had to say good bye to every one, and we had no car, so we were hoofing it everywhere! It was good though. At institute, I learned some valuable lessons on how to retain the spirit. Whenever we feel we are losing it, we must remember the promise in the sacrament prayers. As we remember Him, we will have His spirit to be with us. Applying that has brought great blessings into my life.

 

Wednesday: "Transfers". I said goodbye to Sister Wood. That was super hard. I actually cried! I never do that. It is scary carrying the area, but Sister Hilton is the bomb and super chill. We got work done that day even! Then we had a great mutual fireside where she got to meet some really great members and the youth.

 

Thursday: "New People". I got to drive and roadtrip to the doctor. That was awesome. It's kind of fun going to the doctor and having him be the Stake President in that town. Poor Sister Hilton; 24 hours after she left her area, we were back in it for the doctor! I don't get this title anymore, but it is going to stay.

 

Friday: "Figuring it Out". This is when I really felt the weight on me. We changed plans a lot, but it all worked out in the end. God does bless us with revelation as we humble ourselves and take time to do what He has already asked us to do.

 

Saturday: "Blessings from Above". We had Stake Conference. We have a bigger ward now. We gained a new investigator from the elders with a baptismal date. We have twice the amount of active members. It is literally Christmas for the Pensacola Ward's missionaries!!!

 

Sunday: "Good Sabbath". I think that title is always really similar. I loved Stake Conference. The talks were great, I introduced Sister Hilton to a bunch of people that she probably has already forgotten, and I was spiritually fed. We also had a great lunch and lesson with an investigator afterwards. We had tons of lessons and were really productive. What a great week!

 

I love you all and hope you are staying warm this winter. Cozy up to the Savior as President Smith would say. He will be there for you in all your trials and will bear you up. He has definitely been there for me in every difficult situation that I have turned to Him during. Have a great week in 2016!!!!

-Sister Peterson

January 4, 2016

What a Week

So, for all who may have been interested, I am staying in Pensacola for another six weeks. I have been here for 4 months now. This means that I will be here for at least 6 months. That's a whole third of my mission!!! I am getting a new companion though. Her name is Sister Hilton and we actually met each other at BYU! It will be nice to have someone to talk about BYU with. I miss that place often.
 

Monday: "Count Your Blessings"". It was just a good day. Nothing too exciting in regards to the work, but there were tornado warnings and I did spend our companion study in our bath tub because of it. Oh the excitement!
 

Tuesday: "They Found Me" We had a great district meeting, saw a new investigator who is just super fun, and had a good night at institute. This title comes from when I was doing family history. I was looking at when all the people I am related to had their work done. All of them are by different people from the times of 2011 to 2013. I started investigating the church in 2013. I know it is them that led people to me to teach me the gospel. It is because of them that I have found the restored gospel. Now I am doing the research to find their family members that got overlooked!
 

Wednesday: "I've Seen Prayers....And Rain". What a day. It started out really rough for me. We got rained on when we went to volunteer, then got a ride home. Then we got soaked on our way to a less active member's house. We got a ride home from that. Then we went out again and got soaked on our way to an investigator. My clothes were drenched! I love the rain though and it felt just like home. I couldn't really be upset.
 

Thursday: "It's a 2 in 1!" This day felt like two. The beginning was good. We helped someone move. I love to get some heavy lifting in. It makes me feel like I am contributing. Then, we went out and had some good lessons. That night we had a good dinner and played ukulele.
 

Friday: "Keep Trying". All of our plans fell through and so we came home and made new ones. Those worked out. It was a really hard day.
 

Saturday: "Not a Fall Through Day". Everything worked out and it was actually a great day! We were teaching all day. I needed that a lot.
 

Sunday: I didn't come up with a title. This was a good day though. I love the Sabbath. The spirit is powerful.
 

I wish I could write more. Hopefully next week the computer doesn't constantly freeze so I can write stuff! I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and support!

-Sister Peterson