My eighteen month adventure

Hey everyone!!

So the baptism on Saturday was amazing and  a huge miracle!! C, A and T ALL got baptized. Probably the best day ever. Everything ran smoothly and worked out perfectly, we couldn't have asked for anything better! So let me tell you how that happened. So we went over to their house on Tuesday and C said "T wants to be baptized but he said you never asked him. (but we all know that you did)" So we talk to T and ask him why he wants to be baptized and then we had the elders talk to him to see if he was ready and they agreed that he was! So they were all interviewed and were ready for Saturday! Talk about a miracle! The Spirit was so strong and it was a good reminder to us all that this gospel is all about the family. They are great examples to me of faith and hope.

This is weird (I've been saying that a lot lately). I have loved the past eighteen months of my life while I have served the Lord and the people in the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission. It has changed me for the better. Here's a little re-cap about what I've been up to for these eighteen months:

NorthGate

Sister Mangisi

Sister Ercanbrack
My first area where I learned HOW (honestly that took me my whole mission because we are constantly learning and messing up and then trying again) to be a missionary because I had an awesome trainer that showed me the ropes plus I literally had no idea what I was doing. I was in this area for six months and I learned a ton here because then straight out of my training, I trained a new missionary which was really scary but I needed it to help me learn and grow more. I did a lot of growing in this area, it was a good place to start my mission!

Pueblo YSA Rescue Team

Sister Bush

Sister Clawson

My second area was sooo different from my first area because 1. its pueblo haha (you have to go there to know what I mean!) and 2. we were working with the ysa, talk about awkward moments (like all the time, awkward). But I loved being here and working with the less active ysa. I learned the importance of bringing those lost sheep back into the fold. This is also where I met Amber and Alyxx who both got baptized! I love those girls so much and am so grateful that I met them.

Lone Tree

Sister Bjarnason

Sister Harrop

This area taught me to work no matter what is going on in an area. There were a lot of days here that I wanted to give up because we literally had nothing to do. It helped increase my faith in God and in HIS timing. I learned that things will work out the way God wants them to, not how we want them to. Transfer of 1,000 ringing a bell? Highlight of my mission for sure! Also, that it doesn't matter which ward a baptism takes place in just as long as that person makes those sacred covenants with their Father in Heaven. Its not about the credit, its about helping others.

Meridian

Sister Stock

This area taught me to love people no matter what. It doesn't matter how they treat you or what they may say about you. We are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. I can now say that I see people through God's eyes and I try to see the good in people because everyone has a family that loves and cares about them. "We are just simply walking each other home" President Uchtdorf

Manassa First Ward

Sister Bush

Welp, I couldn't get away from this companion. She just loves me too much (she's watching me type this... pressure haha but really). I was only in this area for my last six weeks but I learned a ton here. I learned that people are prepared and some of us may plant the seeds and others may harvest the seeds. It doesn't matter who does what, as long as we are in the right place at the right time. God has many people that are prepared to hear the gospel and it is our responsibility to find them! This work is so important. We are talking about our brothers and sisters that are lost and need to be found or those that don't know where to find it. I was so blessed to meet Crystal, Akyera and Tarzan and to be able to witness their baptism. It isn't anything that I did because we don't convert anyone. The Holy Ghost does the converting but that we need to make sure that we live our lives so that He can work through us.

All of these places and these companions have changed me. I have grown and learned so much about this gospel. I KNOW without a doubt that my Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ love me and want me to come home. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He is my rock and that we have a really good relationship because I have let Him help me in my life. Seeing the gospel change lives has been worth all of the hardships, trials, tears, heartbreaks, emotional breakdowns because it has taught me how to love others more fully, how to be happy and to have joy which is what this life is all about. Serving a mission was by the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life but it was the BEST thing that I could have done with my life and I will never regret or forget these memories. Colorado stole my heart and I am so lucky that its close enough to come back to visit. I now understand God's plan for me and who, with his help, I can become.

I love you all so much. Thank you for the support and prayers, they have meant to much to me. SEE YOU ON THURSDAY!!!

Love from Manassa,

Sister Peterson

P.S. Please pray for the snow to stop!! Its insane out there!