Next Stop....Castle Rock!

Hey family!

So I got a call from President on Sunday morning. I am being transferred to Castle Rock and I leave Wednesday morning. My new companion's name is Sister Bjarnason and its her last transfer so I am killing her off... haha mission lingo... Its weird, I know.

Sister Clawson is doing a lot better! She has been recovering at the Williams' house since last Thursday and will probably be there until Thursday. She's staying here in Pueblo but is moving to a family ward so they are flushing the rescue team. I will miss it a lot here in Puebs and being on the YSA rescue team because it means to much to me but I know that my time here is over for now. I know that the Lord needs me in Castle Rock so I am way excited to go there! I have heard nothing but good things about it so far! Plus they have a super target and the best outlet mall that ever existed... can I get a holla!? Speaking of shopping... I need some money haha kidding... not really..

The coolest thing happened on Saturday.. Am.'s little brother, M. was baptized!!! It was so amazing to see the domino effect they had on each other. I just know that they will be sucha great support to each other throughout their lives. So awesome surprise... We get to go to the temple with them tomorrow!!! It was a last minute plan but I am sooo excited to end the transfer with going to the temple!!!

I love this gospel and I am so blessed to be here out serving the Lord. I have grown so much this past transfer and have realized a lot about myself and who I want to be. There is always more that we can be doing so we should all make the commitment to live our lives higher and as President Hinckley once said "Try a little harder to be a little better." I know that in times of trial and tribulation is when we grow the most so I am grateful for the hard times because they make me stronger and mold me into the woman that my Father in Heaven wants me to be. How he sees me is way more important then how others see me. I think its always a good reminder to make your Father in Heaven proud of you. I love you all so much and am so grateful to have each and every one of you in my life. Stay strong and become truly converted each day by the little decisions that you make. Talk to you next week when I am in Castle Rock!!

Loves from the last time in Pueblo,
Sister Peterson

I don't know about you but I'm feelin twenty-twooo000oooo

Hey fambam!

So you already know about this week so I will spare you the details again haha mostly because I don't really want to type them all out again. But yeaaaaahh my companion is in the hospital. So I am on exchanges with Sister Bautista in her area in Pueblo West until things get figured out I guess. Keep the prayers coming... we need them :) I am doing well so no worries there! Sister Clawson will be fine, she is staying again tonight to have more tests done and the mission doctor is coming to see her. Pray for her and her family! This is a very stressful situation but we all have the faith that she will be okay. I love you all and am so grateful for you in my life!! Stay strong because this gospel is what is going to get you through those hard times. I'll leave this scripture with you so you should read it: 3rd Nephi 9:14. Our Savior, Jesus Christ is always there for you no matter what! And his arm of mercy is always extended towards you. We just need to do our part and go to him. I love Him and am eternally grateful for everything he has done for me. I love being able to represent him and have the opportunity to become more like him each and every day. 

We have a huge conference with half our mission tomorrow and then on Friday we have zone training. I am so excited and ready to be spiritually uplifted! They are always a great time. 

I just wanted to thank everyone for the birthday gifts and cards that I have received so far, you're all so awesome!! Can't believe how old I am! haha. 

Stay safe and have a great week! I will talk to you more on Monday! :) 

With Love,

Sister Peterson 

Temple Jubilee and a Baptism

My dearest family and friends,

 

This week has been a lonnnnggg crazy busy one but we still witnessed so many miracles! The temple on Thursday was amazing!!! I sent the temple card with a letter telling about my experience so you can all read that together if you'd like. I just know that gma was there right beside me the whole time and that she was so happy that we were doing her temple work for her. I will never forget the way that I felt that day and it is something that I will treasure in my heart forever. I did initiatories, confirmations, the endowment session and then there was a sister that also took a family name so we were able to witness their sealing too! President and Sister Anderson stood in as her parents and then we were able to all do sealings with our mission president and wife. Cool facts: this is their last temple jubilee (yay we're special!) and they have never done sealings with missionaries before. Talk about the coolest thing in the world! The spirit was so strong in that tiny sealing room. I just imagined how happy the families are now that they are sealed together for time and all eternity. And then of course I thought of mom being sealed to her parents soon and it made me even happier!!! It was so wonderful to be at the temple and feel of the peace there. It totally rejuvenated me to get back out there and work, work, work so that everyone can receive the blessings that the temple has to offer!!

 

A. was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday!! It was the greatest experience ever! Its amazing to see how much the Lord prepares His children to hear the gospel. She was soo prepared to accept the gospel! It was a privilege to have been able to teach her. After she was baptized, they asked her how she felt and she said one word: "clean" and had the biggest smile on her face. It was truly a beautiful thing to see someone you grew to love so much make such a big step in their life. She also bore her testimony in church yesterday and talked about how much she loves this gospel and how it has helped her strengthen her relationship with Heavenly Father. She's so solid!!! It's so cute to see her and Am. strengthen one another and be there for each other. Totes presh.

 

We are planning on going to the family history center to find a family name for Am. tomorrow. Hopefully it happens this time since she's been really busy with work. Then we can go to the temple with her! And then we can go with A. soon too. We told them to go separately so that way we can go twice hahah strategy! ;)

 

Shout out to Hays getting her patriarchal blessing on Saturday!! You'll remember it forever and it will be a source of guidance and light throughout your life. So read it often. Love you little one!!

 

I love you and miss you!! Thank you for your prayers and support, it means the world to me. Have a great week and remember who you are and act accordingly! :)

 

Love from Pueblo,

Sister Peterson

Let another fabulous week begin

Hey family!! Just another fabulous week in my life as a sister missionary! It's really the life.

Yesterday for Memorial day we helped a lady plan for her son's wedding reception that will be at her home. It's cool because I want to see if the event planning life is the life for me. I am liking it a lot but maybe not so much the wedding events. Don't want to deal with any bridezillas ya dig? The elders were also working in the yard while we were being such women talking about weddings haha #typical. Then we went to a bbq at the William's (our "mission parents") house where there was food, football and fun! Totally schooled the elders in football, nbd. You taught me well, dad! I am trying to ignore the soreness as I type...

A. is getting baptized on Saturday!!! That girl is so solid and we are way excited for her! So we are just going to be seeing her as much as we can and making plans for her special day :)

As you know and everyone knows since I talk about it every five seconds.. I am GOING TO THE TEMPLE ON THURSDAY! Clearly I am stoked. I have been praying and thinking a lot about Gma this past week before I go and just hoping that she is just as excited as I am. It's going to be a wonderful day so think of her and me that day!!

Found a few new investigators and had a really great conversation with a family outside on their porch the other day. I know that as we have the Spirit with us and that we are bold, that we can't go wrong! When we bare a sincere and honest testimony, people can't argue with that. So be bold and remember it's the truth so don't be afraid to share your testimony. When you write me back, tell me about the experiences that you've had with bearing your testimony! Doooo itttt! 

Am. received her temple recommend on Sunday and we are going to the family history center on Saturday to find her a family name to take. We are hoping to go to the temple with her sometime next week!

Zone conference was so insightful last week. Sister Clawson and I also won the celestial award for the cleanest car also, not a big deal! ;) haha.Check out these totally rad pictures from zone conference....

Totes presh! I'm their fave :)

I love you, I miss you, you are the best!! Stay safe and keep being the bombdiggity. 

XOXO
Sister Peterson

The Good Life!

Hey famjam!

It's been another great week here in good ole Puebs! I never want to leave, it's so awesome here!

A. has a date to be baptized on May 31st and is super ready!

We are currently working on finding family names for Am. to take to the temple soon! She is so excited and wants to go as soon as possible. We found out that her grandma who was a member married a non-member so there is work to be done there! How cool would that be if Am. could go in a year to seal her grandparents together?! Ah, it's so amazing :)

There's some drama going on with S. so we're not sure what is going to happen with him as of now. Poor guy :( 

We did a ton of service this week, it was so awesome! On Thursday we went to the food bank to put together boxes of food for people that don't have much. A member introduced us to a couple there named R. and T. She later came over to us and said "I had just met them but felt like I needed to introduce them to you. I was so scared but I just followed the spirit!" We swapped numbers and are hoping to go over soon to help them around the house. Its really neat to see members following the spirit and talking to others about the gospel. Like I have said before, I have really gained a testimony of member missionary work. It really does have the most success!

I can't wait to go to the temple on the 29th! I got the itinerary in the mail the other day. I am so excited! 

Y'all rock! Stay strong in the gospel!!

Smoochies,

Sister Peterson

9 Months....Say What?!

It was so good to see you all yesterday! Y'all are looking good in my neighborhood haha ;) It made my life to be able to talk and hear how good everyone is doing. I can't believe how big baby Leah is getting!! It's unreal! Her singing (screaming) "let it go" was hilarious haha. 

A. came up to us at family home evening last week and said "Guess what? I have decided to be baptized" WOOHOOO!!! SO exciting!!! So we are looking at her baptism in two weeks. She is having some family drama but she notices how happy the gospel makes her. Its so neat to see how happiness can lead people to finding the truth. Especially working with the young single adults where they start to go their own way in life and don't know what will really make them happy in life, its good to see them find that true happiness that the gospel provides. It happened with Amber and its happening with A. and S. now! 

Am. was confirmed yesterday and it was so special. When she sat down I asked her how she felt and she had the biggest smile on her face. Last night she texted us and asked when we could go to the temple together. She is so excited to go to the temple, it is so cute!! 

So I am going on my temple jubilee on may 29th!! I am so pumped to go to the Denver

​temple.

I love you and I miss you!!! Can't believe its been 9 months already. It is going by so fast for me and it just makes me want to soak it up that much more!! I love being a missionary and helping people find their way back to the church or just find it for the first time. It truly has been the best experience of my life and I know that true happiness is and can be found in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Stay safe and share the gospel!!

xoxo

Sister Peterson 

Is It Mother's Day Yet?

Yesterday was probably the best day on my mission so far because A GOT BAPTIZED!! It was wonderful and the spirit was SO strong! Her friend, Dariyon baptized her! He was baptized three years ago in high school so that's where they know each other from. Her mom, sister, niece, younger brother and her brother's friend were all there. It was so great that they came out to support her. Sister Clawson and I had the biggest smiles on all night because we knew that she was doing the right thing! This is where true joy comes from! I am so happy for her and can't wait to see all the wonderful things she will continue to do with her life. She is so sweet, she spoiled Sister Clawson and I with a bunch of gifts on her special day, she is just the greatest!! #pureclass Now, we are planning on going to the temple with A for her first time soon!!! She is just so happy and seeing her happy made all of us know that we are doing the right thing and that true joy comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh yeah this is so cool! So we found out that A's grandma that passed away a few years ago went to the same ward that Amber is going to now! It is such a small world and its so cool to see how the Lord works.

So a family in one of the wards took a bunch of us out to Little Caesars on Tuesday. There were some ysa guys in their ward there so we started talking to them and this is what happened:

me: "Are you a member?"

him: "A member of what?

me: "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Were you baptized?"

him: "No"

me: "Well do you want to be?"

him: "Yes!"

....basically the coolest conversation ever. Turns out his name is S and he's a foster kid that lives with a family in one of the wards. He wants to be baptized so he got permission from the couple he lives with and also his case worker. We taught him the first lesson on Thursday and are going back tomorrow to teach him the second lesson. He's so prepared and is looking to be baptized on the 17th!! It was so crazy how it all happened but I know that it was a miracle!!

We are still meeting with A.l and she is super solid. She came to church again yesterday, the CES Fireside and Amber's baptism. She loves the church and the fact that everyone is very welcoming. Good things to come!

Hope you all got to watch the CES Fireside last night. I liked that he talked about how we spend too much of our time on technology and not on people and building relationships. I know I have been guilty of that before but being on my mission has totally helped with that and not having a smartphone...that totally helps too. He really is hip haha. 

I am grateful to be on a mission now to not have to worry about all of the things that I used to. It is really nice to not be "in the world" on a mission, its actually super legit! It gives me time to really think about what I want in life and how I can be more like our Savior each and every day.

Happy birthday to my mommy today!! I love you! You are the greatest mom in the world. I can't wait to skype on Mother's day :)

See your faces on Sunday!!!

Sister Peterson