Look Not Behind Thee

HI family!! It was seriously so good to see and talk to you on Christmas!! Even though I was sick, it made me happy for many reasons!!! :) I'm so glad that everyone is doing well! I was also happy that Nicki, Rob, Casey, Matt and Nathan were there even though I was a hot mess, haha sorry not sorry. The rest of the day was pretty chill, I just laid on the couch trying not to move too much. Sister Stock and I picked The Last Song for our movie to watch. I know its pretty random but we wanted a chick flick and it was a pretty long one so we just went with it. Its a pretty cute movie! The rest of the week was pretty good, I am still recovering from my illness which is always fun! Especially on a mission! Said no one ever. But the Dalton's are amazing and took really good care of me so no worries I am feeling a ton better! 

Well last Tuesday, our zone and the north zone had a Christmas conference all day which was pretty great! They mainly talked about creative ways to find people to teach and for us to remember that every moment is a teaching moment. The mission gave all of us missionaries a picture of the Denver temple that says "Begin with the end in mind". One of the apostles gave a talk with that title to all of the new mission presidents this past summer so President Rehm really wants us to focus on that. What it means is that when we meet people and start teaching them that we need to being with the end (the temple) in mind. We need to see them in temple clothing and see who they can truly become. Its a really great talk! Here's the article: https://www.lds.org/church/news/begin-missionary-work-with-the-end-in-mind-says-elder-nelson?lang=eng

Also, during our lunch break one of the AP's came in dressed as Santa Claus to hand out us the pictures. It was pretty hilarious. Near the end of the meeting, President Rehm asked all of the missionaries that are going home in January and February to come up on the stand to give their departing testimony. WAIT, WHAT? I don't remember much of what I said but I remember that I talked about how much I have changed on the mission. I am proud of the person that I am becoming because I have allowed the gospel to change me. And I gave some grandma mission advice to all the youngins haha. It was really surreal but I was glad that I was able to stand in front of other missionaries and bear my testimony of the happiness that I have felt while serving the Lord.

I seriously love this work and I I know that God has a plan for us. That knowledge helps put it into perspective for me that the decisions that I make, even the small ones, do matter. And that I can only help others make good decisions as well but that its up to them whether they want to act on those promptings or not. God is good!! As the new year of 2015 approaches, we should all be making resolutions to come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Watch this Mormon Message, its really good and also hilarious. 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-12-21-new-years-look-not-behind-thee?lang=eng

"The past is to be learned from, not lived in." Elder Jeffery R. Holland

I love all of you!! Stay safe and have a great week! Talk to you then :)

Sister Peterson 

He is the Gift!

Hey family!! Oh my word, I am so excited to Skype y'all on Christmas! I know that you're excited too ;) It's always so nice seeing your faces! You're all so precious! 

My week was pretty good, Sister Stock has her physical therapy appointments for her wrist twice a week in the Springs so we do quite a bit of traveling. We had exchanges with the sister training leaders on Wednesday. I went to their area in Gleneagle with Sister Fisher. We had a first lesson with this girl named Julie whose in high school. They had tracted into her dad a few weeks ago and he actually referred his daughters to the sisters which is different but hey it works! She was way cool and had an open mind about learning about different faiths. Its interesting because a lot of people who want to learn more about different religions, usually say that the Mormon faith sticks out to them more than others. Hmmm... I wonder why that is. Oh yeah, I know. Cause its the truth and somewhere down inside people, their spirits know that and they yearn for that truth whether their head knows that or not. 

Our recent convert, Cameron baptized an eighteen year old girl named Megan on Saturday! That was so cool to see because he just got baptized in September and now he had the privilege to baptize someone else! He was so excited and nervous that it took them two times, but its all good though. He did great! 

Sad day.. there is a member in the Calhan ward that is in the hospital right now. She has an infection and had to get surgery on Saturday and then has to go through surgery again in three weeks. She is one of my mission moms who I just absolutely adore. Please pray for their family, it would be so hard especially at this time of year to be in the hospital away from family. On Saturday night, Sister Stock and I snuck into her hospital room when she was in her surgery and decorated her room for Christmas. Its neat because Sister Stock's mom had sent her lights a few days before this and Sister McGee had mentioned how she wished that she could have lights up in her room so we made it happen. As we were decorating her room, I was just thinking to myself how that right there is the true meaning of Christmas. Its not in the presents or in Santa Claus but its in doing those small acts of kindness for those around us. Its putting others needs above our own and that is something that I have really learned on the mission. Its a knowledge that will bless me for the rest of my life. 

There's a really good article in this month's Ensign by President Howard W. Hunter and he said "This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again." I LOVE that so much. That's the true meaning of Christmas and that's the gift that we can give our Savior, who gave us everything.

http://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HPFR112814529 Watch it. #sharethegift

Love you!!! See your faces on Thursday!! :)

Merry Christmas!

Sister Peterson 

pictures:

Sister McGee's decorated hospital room

We may have decided to test out the bed to see if it was comfy or not.. it passed.

I totally held a bearded dragon. I was only kind of scared. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year

Soooooo.... we moved. Again. Haha I feel like I'm getting really good at this whole moving thing. Now we live with the Dalton's aka the best family ever!! We live with the mom, dad and their twelve year old daughter, Grace. They have a son on a mission in Peru who just left in October. They are so sweet and I really love living here! 

So here's my new address:

12144 Pine Valley Circle

Peyton, CO 80831

We're teaching a returning less active named C. We meet in a member's home and she tells us what she wants to learn that day. So we read the chapter on that subject from the Gospel Principles book with her. Its really cool because she's the one that sought out the missionaries because she wanted to be active again. Her husband's not a member but he lives in Missouri right now so she's moving there in January.

The relief society had a Christmas gala/gift exchange on Thursday which was a lot of fun. J and K were both there! Cool fact: K's husband came to sacrament meeting yesterday because their daughters were singing. That was a miracle because he has never been to church before and that made K super happy! He also went to the stake Christmas devotional last night which is a huge deal for him to even step foot inside a church building! So we are hoping that her husband's heart is being softened and that we will see miracles from this.

I have seen a ton of tender mercies from my Father in Heaven this week with Him just letting me know that He's there and that He loves me. Its really through those simple, small ways that we can feel God's love. I have been privileged to feel even a little bit of how Heavenly Father feels about His children. I know that as we serve others, we are serving God. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to give back because we have been given much from them. So, go out and serve someone this week and help them to feel of that love. 

I finished Alma a few days ago and am now on Helaman! I love reading from the Book of Mormon and feeling the peace that it brings into my life. How's your Book of Mormon reading going? Also, I hit sixteen months yesterday which is completely crazy. I can't believe that Christmas is next week! I am so excited to skype y'all!!! You all mean the world to me. Love you!! Have a happy safe week! 

Love,

 Sister Peterson 

SHOUT-OUTS!

Happy birthday to my main girl, Nicki! Okay I just have to say... I dunno bout you but I'm feelin twenty twwoooooooo! When did we get so old?! I am so grateful that I have you in my life and I hope that you had a wonderful day! I love you!! 

Happy birthday to mama fresh on Friday! You are one of the coolest moms ever! Thanks for always being there for me :)

#Bethlehem

Hey everyone! How was your week? Getting in the holiday spirit?! 

Mine week was pretty great! Let's see...

Transfers were Tuesday. My trainer, Sister Mangisi went home. That was hard to say bye because she has become a really close friend and I love her a lot! But I'm excited for this new chapter in her life! 

We had zone training on Friday where we received "He is the Gift" pass along cards which y'all should have in your December issue of the Ensign so look out for those! And pass them out too, that would be great! People need to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas and that Christ was the first gift that our loving Father in Heaven gave to the world. 

The ward Christmas party was on Saturday. The theme was A Night in Bethlehem so they had all of these food booths set up that we had to pay for with our gold coins and we sat on the floor so it felt like we were outside and they put on a program about Christ's birth.

This brother in our ward invited his boss and her family who invited other families so there were about fifteen or so non-members there which was awesome!! Sister Stock and I tied Joy to the World DVDs to BofMs to give out as gifts and two of the people took them. One of the guys that we talked to for awhile told us that he's divorced and his two sons from his first marriage just got baptized into our church. That was pretty cool! He said that he would read the BofM and go from there. It was neat because he said that it would give him something to talk to his sons about. K also came with her two daughters! YAYY! 

The First Presidency Christmas Devotional was amazing! I really enjoyed all of the talks especially Elder D. Todd Christofferson's about how all of our experiences will be for our good because I wrote about that in my email last week. Its like I knew! I just love this time of year because people seem to be a little bit kinder and are more willing to listen to us testify of Jesus Christ.

I am incredibly grateful that my brother, Jesus Christ came to earth for me personally. I know that He knows exactly what I am going through and because I know that, I know that He walks side by side with me at all times. I love Him! 

I also got a letter from my mission president saying that I am one of the most senior missionaries in the mission now and I got that "finishers wanted" talk by President Monson. Soooo that was weird. Trying to ignore that... haha. 

Love y'all! Talk to you next week :)

 Sister Peterson 

For Our Good

I'm so happy to hear that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I did too! We went to like five different member's houses to visit and eat (confessions of a foodaholic). And we watched Frozen which was a cute movie!

So we taught S twice last week and that went very well! He is so excited for his baptism in January! He left for Utah this morning so we had to say goodbye to him last night and that was not fun!! He has become such a good friend and I am grateful that I had the privilege of teaching him. He wanted our emails so that he could send us pictures of his baptism. Literally can't wait to get those!!

We volunteered at the soup kitchen again. We drove down with Jackie and her mom and that was super fun! I love being able to serve others who are less fortunate then us.

This is a cool story! So a little background information first. So Sister Stock has been super sick since Friday morning so we have been in since then #cabinfever so I have been going slightly crazy (well we both have but I won't tell you about that haha its pretty embarrassing) But anyways, so we get a call from our bishop and he tells us that a mom and daughter just randomly walked into church and he gave us their number, we called them and have an appointment set up for Wednesday and the mom sounded really excited! The cool part about this is that a family who lived in the ward nine months ago invited the daughter to last year's trunk or treat but she didn't go and now nine months later they just walk into church! That is just a testimony to me that its so important that we invite people to activities even if they don't come because you never know the impact that it can have on them. Pray that our appointment goes well!!

Transfers are tomorrow and I'm staying in Meridian with Sister Stock for six more weeks. I am really excited because she is awesome and this is a great area!

I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have been given to serve my Father in Heaven and the people of Colorado. It has been a huge blessing to me. I know that this Gospel is true and that through it people can change and become better. I know that I have changed and become better because of it. I know that Jesus Christ knows exactly what I am going through because He went through it first. I know that we are given trials for our benefit, learning and growth and that they will be for our good. (D&C 122:7). I know that God loves me and that He loves every one of you. Let Him in and let him change you! Also, check out christmas.mormon.org!!

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Peterson