Week 17 aka Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

FAMILY,

How is everyone doing? I hope that you are all having a fun time getting ready for Christmas jamming out to some Amy Grant.

We taught S about the importance of following the Prophet and we felt that it went really well. Now he just needs to accept a baptismal date. We have faith that it will happen soon!!!

This week, we taught A about family history. We were trying to find his adopted daughter's grandparents. We were able to find her birth parents but then had some trouble finding her grandparents. He has started to read the Book of Mormon and wants to meet more often to have Gospel discussions.

The Stake President's wife who is in our ward took us out to lunch and then spoiled us with See's Candies. She is so sweet spoiling us! Sooooo yummy.

Last week for P-day we went to this gymnastics gym and jumped around on trampolines. It was a ton of fun and hopefully got rid of a little bit of that mission weight if you know what I'm sayin.

On Saturday, we held a sister missionary class for the laurels in our ward and another ward. So, us and the other sisters in the ward next to us held this class and only one girl showed up but its okay because we are just getting started. We started off talking about why the four of us decided to serve missions and then what our purpose is as missionaries. She had a lot of good questions for us and at one point she said "I want to go on a mission!" It was AWESOME. We hope that as the word gets around more that more girls will come!

That's about it. I love being a sister missionary! What a great calling that I have!! Well, I love and miss everyone! I can't wait to talk to you all next week and see everyone's faces!!!

Happy Holidays!

Sister Peterson

SHOUT-OUTS!

Happy birthday to mama fresh on the 19th! Love youuu!

Week 16 aka Family, It's cold outside. (you know the tune)

How is everyone doing? Little Leah is getting so big! I can't handle it! The snow has arrived people!!! Apparently this is rare weather for Colorado Springs because usually it snows and then the sun comes out and melts it all in the same day. But we are so lucky to have the coldest days in the past three years. Take the sister out of Rexburg but can't take Rexburg out of the sister I guess... 

In other news... this past week was busy!

We taught S about the commandments and explained that there are more then just the ten commandments and we placed a special emphasis that baptism is commandment haha. And we invited him to be baptized again but he said not yet because he is waiting for two specific signs from God and we explained that it doesn't quite work like that. He came to church yesterday and always makes comments during Gospel Principles so we know that he is getting closer! Hopefully by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Sister Massey made a really nice compliment to Sister Ercanbrack and I after our lesson with S. She said that we are a very powerful companionship and that we both bear very powerful testimonies. She told us to not take our time together for granted because it is rare to see in companionship. That was a HUGE blessing because all day we had been praying for unity in our companionship. The Lord really does bless us as we humble ourselves and seek to improve in His way. 

We also met with A again and talked with him about the Articles of Faith. He is starting to see the similarities in our beliefs and his beliefs. On Saturday we went to his house and helped him and his twenty year old daughter decorate for Christmas. It was so much fun to spend time with them and to feel the joy in serving others. We also made a gingerbread house with them which was a lot more stressful then any of us remember being. I started laughing at something someone had said and snorted SO loudly (thanks for the trait, Mom) hahaha. 

This past weekend the stake put on a two day event called the creche which is where people donate their nativities to put them on display. They had nativities from all over the world. They asked the missionaries in the stake to attend to be ushers and talk with people. On Saturday night as Sister Ercanbrack and I were walking around I felt impressed to talk to this older lady and as we got to talking we found out that she was visiting her daughter here and wasn't a member. We talked with her about the Christmas season and how nice it is to all be able to celebrate Him and all that He did for us despite our difference in beliefs. We felt prompted to give her a Book of Mormon as a gift to her from the Savior. She wanted out number so we went to grab a pen to write it down on a mormon.org card and when we got back she was already reading the introduction page! Sadly she lives in Ohio so I don't think that we will she that woman again but I definitely know that we planted a seed in her and I have faith that she will join the church some day. 

 

SHOUT-OUTS!

Wishing a happy birthday to Aunt Stephanie this week! 

Happy birthday to my mejor amiga, Hermana Infanzon! You light up my life. Have the best day ever! Te amo mucho!!! 

Family, I love you all and pray for you every night!! Always remember that "Jesus Christ is the reason for the season." Share the Gospel with someone this week!

xoxo

Sister Peterson 

Week 15 (aka Gobble Gobble Y'All)

Hey family! 

 

Tis the season to be fat... #stretchypants. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is on Thursday. Where does the time go?! And more importantly: baby girl, Leah is turning ONE!!! Give her lots of kisses and squishes from me!

 

My week has been fantastic. As you know, I got my baby on Wednesday! Her name is Sister Ercanbrack from Roosevelt, Utah and is 21. I've been taking her around to meet members in the ward so we have been very busy these past few days. We have been challenging the members to think of three things each day that they are grateful for and to write them down or discuss it as a family each night. I always tell people how my mom writes in a journal three things she is thankful for each night and that I am every one of them hahah kidding. But, Sister Ercanbrack and I have been doing that each day and we have already seen the joy that it brings to us. 

We met with A at the car shop to role-play to him because he is letting us practice our lessons on him but we are secretly teaching him at the same time...#missionarytactics. So, on Tuesday, Sister Mangisi and I taught him The Restoration and invited him to be baptized but he said that he couldn't do that because he didn't want to crucify Christ again by being baptized. But! He is letting us come back to teach him The Plan of Salvation so good things are going to come out of this! He is super nice and has been through a lot in his life so we really feel like we can help him out! 

Our "boyfriend" B, is going to call us next week for us to meet and have a real sit down lesson with him which is very exciting! The work is moving forward here in the Springs. We also now have the zone leaders in our ward so the ward is going to try their hardest to keep all of us busy!

Well, family I have to run now. But I just hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love and miss you all!! Just remember how truly blessed we are to have this beautiful gospel so share it with someone this week! What are some things that you are thankful for?

xoxo

Sister Peterson

Week 13

Hey ya'll (everyone seems to say that around here and it is sort of sticking... sorry bout it) 

Last week and this week have been a whirlwind. A lot has been going on between meetings and appointments. The work is going forth here in the Springs! 

For the past few weeks, Sister Mangisi and I have really caught the Spirit of Elijah! Tomorrow, we are going with S. to the Family History Center to try and find some of his Chinese ancestors. We talked about the Temple and baptisms for the dead and he seemed pretty interested in doing that. So hopefully that will be a great benefit to him and will help him move along!

So we received some referrals from a family in the ward last week so on Saturday Sister Mangisi and I went tracting in that neighborhood and weren't having much luck. There were some older men that were landscaping outside of a member's home so I had this impression that we should go up and talk to them. It was the perfect opportunity! So we walked up to them and struck up a conversation and one of the first things that he said was "you aren't Jehovah's Witnesses are you?" We had a good laugh about that.. haha. And then we started talking about what we do on missions and we exchanged our business cards (ours was a mormon.org card with our number on the back. It's how we roll.) And he was so enthusiastic for us to call him back. Oh, by the way his name is B.. Pretty sweet, right? So we called him back yesterday and went over to the member's home where he was working again. We showed him our missionary handbook because he was curious about that and then we gave him a Restoration pamphlet and explained what was in it. He promised he would read it if he got to quiz us about something next time he sees us. Also, he calls us his girlfriends which is actually hilarious and slightly a bit awkward. Gotta love old people! I just feel like he is so prepared to hear this Gospel and I am so excited to see where this goes. It was just a great testimony builder to me to talk to EVERYONE. Because you literally never know who Heavenly Father is preparing. 

I also got to go to a "Train the Trainers meeting last Wednesday which was really neat. President Anderson talked about how that we are going to be trainers this next transfer because only we have the abilities and personalities to train these new missionaries. I am so excited to meet my greenie! 

I just wanted to share a few thoughts about the zone conference we had on Friday. It was all centered around love and that if we truly learn to love everyone then sharing the gospel will become so much more natural to us. It was a great reminder that I think we can all benefit from. If we truly love others and understand the Atonement then we will want to share that with everyone we come in contact with. 

This week is pretty busy!! We have a broadcast on Thursday night, our mission tour on friday where Elder Shayne B. Bowen of the Seventy is coming to speak to us. The sisters in my zone are going to be singing "I Stand All Amazed" there with a bunch of other zones in attendance. Wish us luck! And then there is a funeral for a senior couple who served a mission here a few years ago on Saturday. I was so sad to get that e-mail and even though I didn't know her, I still feel for her family because Colorado Springs was our mission together and that brings us close.

So, now you're all caught up on last week and this week. Busy, busy! And will most likely become even busier with the holidays coming up. I love you and miss everyone dearly!!! Just know that I am doing fabulous and I'm loving my mission. There is no place that I would rather be! The Atonement is real and through it, people CAN change. I have witnessed that first-hand. Stay warm, everyone! 

xoxo

Sister Peterson 

Week 12

Goodness it has been a fast week! There is so much to tell you all!

 

I don't have a lot of time and I am so sorry that this will be short but I am doing well! The Lord's work is moving forward here in the Springs. I just love it here! The mountains, the people, everything is just so perfect. Every day that I wake up, I am so grateful to be on a mission and there is no place that I would rather be.

 

This week flew by. We helped some of the elders move a non-member family and were able to tell them about the church. They were so sweet and grateful for us helping them and they want to have us over for dinner when they get more settled in. We are helping them put stuff away in their new house tomorrow so we are excited to see them and share more about the Gospel with them. 

So there is a family in our ward who owns their own car business and they called us to have Sister Mangisi come over to their car shop to talk with someone. So it was pretty legit that we had a lesson in a car shop. So we were sitting there while cars were being worked on and talked to him about family history because his daughter is adopted so they were having questions about her family. We were able to ask him about what he knows about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he blew us away with all he knew! He is going through a really tough time at home right now and is such a humble guy. So we are excited to do family history with him this week at the family history center. 

We also worked with a less-active grandma and her daughter and with the help of the family history elders we were able to find names for her grandson to take to the temple in a few weeks. It was so cool because we found some names for C. and we are planning a youth temple trip! We definitely caught the Spirit of Elijah this week!

We are going to be starting a sister missionary class with our ward and another ward on Saturday. Missionary work is BOOMING and it is just so neat to see everyone catching the wave. I love this gospel and I love being a missionary! What a wonderful calling I have!

 

So I have some news to share....guess what?! I am going to be TRAINING a new missionary next transfer which is in a few weeks. I am so excited and humbled to be able to train my very own baby!

 

 

Shout outs!

 

Happy birthday, Crystal on Saturday! Thanks for the Halloween card, it was super funny. Love you, girl!

 

Sarah- I can't believe that your mission papers are in. I am sooo excited for you!! You are going to love it! Missions are the best thing ever :) You are going to do great!

 

I love and miss everyone! Don't forget to share the Gospel with someone this week!

 

xoxo

Sister Peterson

Week 11

HAPPY WEEK OF HALLOWEEN! 

How is everyone? Send me pictures of your costumes! Ami and Matt and Lauren and Jared did and they looked so legit. I'm so proud! 

Can't believe that it is P-day again. Here's a re-cap of my awesome week:

So we taught S about personal revelation and it went pretty well. He seems to be progressing  but gets stuck on the little things. We had a brother in our ward who speaks Chinese come to talk to him and it was so cool to see them talk! He helped out a lot with explaining certain things to S. It was really good to get his perspective because he also knows a ton about the Chinese culture so he was able to relate what we were talking about to how S was raised. It was awesome! 

We had our ward's Trunk or Treat on Friday and it was a lot of fun! A family in the ward gave Sister Mangisi and I a pumpkin full of goodies like pens, notebooks, flashcards, and candy. It was so sweet! Love them! And of course I couldn't help myself so we walked around to the cars and got some candy. We were trying to go around and talk with everyone so it was the perfect opportunity plus they insisted that we take some candy. Can't say no to that! A few of the children in the ward brought their non-member friends with them so we had the opportunity to be introduced to them which was nice. Hopefully something will come out of it!

Stake conference was this weekend. Elder George R. Rhodes Jr. of the Seventy came to speak to the stake. He was pretty intense but a funny cute little old man. He wanted all the missionaries in our stake to go to the Stake Leadership Priesthood Meeting so it was cool to be there! A ward in the stake did a role-play of their ward council meeting and how they should be conducted. Elder Rhodes came down to them from the pulpit and asked the elders to see their planners and then grilled them. You could just see all of us missionaries cringing for them. And it was my district leader and his companion but they did a really good job. And Elder Rhodes complimented President Anderson on his great job with us missionaries :) The Adult Session had a lot to do with missionaries and members working together. So if you can go out teaching with the missionaries! It means so much to us and to the people we are teaching. The Temple President and his wife came to the Sunday session and talked about how important it is that we try our best to go to the temple. I am so excited to go to my Temple Jubilee (its when we get to go to the temple at our half way mark!) It was a very uplifting weekend. Fun fact: the Stake President is in our ward so its like a little piece of home here with me in the Springs :) 

A district goal of ours is to create a family mission plan with every family in our ward and so far, so good! It's amazing to see the families working together to share The Gospel with the people around them. The wards are just so great here! 

Wishing happy birthdays to Stephen, Aunt Barb, Aubrey and Hermana Graff this week! Love you all! 

I love and miss everyone and I am so glad to hear that all is well and that you all are staying very busy! Hays how was your birthday?! Keep sharing the Gospel with the people that you meet! Be fearless ;)

Much love and xoxo's,

Sister Peterson 

Week 10

FAMILY!! 

Time just seems to fly by faster and faster! I can't believe that I have been out for a little over two months now! They saying is true- time goes by fast when you are having fun. And missions are SO much fun because you are bringing the happiness and joy that this wonderful restored Gospel has to offer! 

S is progressing! Last week we talked to him about prophets because he didn't really know that much about what they do. So, we went over the basics with him. And it went really well! We challenged him to pray to know if Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson are and were prophets and he accepted so we will see how that goes. Tomorrow we decided to talk to him about personal revelation and are hoping that talking about that will help him to realize how he receives revelation to his answers. It was so funny because last week he told us that if he joined the LDS church that he would be a good missionary so we said okay then why not!? haha he is a great guy :)

We went on exchanges with the sister training leaders on Thursday. They are so much fun! We knocked on some doors, contacted some referrals and set up appointments with the ward members to make family mission plans. We made six this week and have appointments to make 6 or so more this week! Needless to say this week was very busy and awesome! Fam-fam, if you don't have a family mission- make one! I know that as you have those people in mind that you know that you could share the Gospel with that Heavenly Father will bless you. And don't forget its all in the INVITATION. D&C 68:6 reads: "Wherefore be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the Living God, that I was, that I am, and I am to come." That's a promise!

Saturday we helped a sister in the Explorer Park Ward in our zone help her non-member friend and husband move into Northgate (our area) and there were about twelve or so of us missionaries helping them move. And the lady that we were helping move told us that when we all walked into her house that she almost started to cry because she was so touched. They are an awesome southern couple and they live just down the street a bit from where Sister Mangisi and I live so we got her number and she invited us for dinner when they get more settled in. Just a really sweet couple that we would love to teach! So we will see what happens there.

Well, everyone just know that life is good and God is good. The church is true and the book is blue! I love this gospel so much and would be lost without it. Share the gospel with someone you know this week and then write to me about your experience. Will you accept this commitment #missionarymode haha. I love you all so much and am so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends! Have a wonderful week and be safe!

Peace and love from Colorado Springs!

Sister Peterson 

Shout outs!

Happy birthday on Sunday, Hay Hays! Can't believe my baby sista is going ot be 15! That is just too crazy! Are mom and dad getting you everything Tay Swift again this year? haha I love you little one!

Happy 21st birthday tomorrow Sarah! I hope you have a fab day and remember to add a little bit of Arabian nights into your day hahaha. I love youuuu, Sarebear! 

Today is Sister Mangisi's 20th birthday so of course I had to give a shout-out to my amazing trainer/companion and my friend!