Is It Spring Yet?

Familia! How is everyone doing? Whats new? MLK day of service looked like it was so much fun, that's awesome that you are still doing that! It's funny because we helped a family paint their bedroom and bathroom this week. I really like painting, there is something relaxing about it. Is baby Leah walking yet?! What's the word on that?

There were a few exciting things that happened this week! For starters, our car has been in the shop since Wednesday so we have had to bike. Yes, mom you read that correctly, I have been BIKING...IN A SKIRT. Well, the first two times we biked to in our service clothes thank goodness. But yesterday we couldn't avoid that any longer. Let's just say biking in a skirt was interesting... not as difficult as I thought it would be but definitely not the easiest. The wind is not your friend...we'll just leave it at that. But aside from biking struggles and getting rides from the lovely members in our ward whenever we can, this past week was great!

S came to church on Sunday and we actually rode with his fellow-shippers, the Massey's, to and from church so it was cool to talk with him about how he liked church and if he learned anything new. He still is kind of confused about a few things but we are starting up his lessons again this week! We are planning on re-teaching him all of the lessons so that we can start from the very beginning to see where he is at. Last week, when Sister Ercanbrack and I were doing our weekly planning we weren't sure what to do with S so we decided to say a prayer and ask for help. After our prayer I felt impressed that we should sing a hymn to him.. I know right?? We both looked at each other like you sure? But as we talked about it more we both felt like it was the right thing to do. We told the Masseys and they are fully on board and even want to sing with us as well! We are planning on teaching The Restoration and then singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer". Of course we need to practice... a lot but we have faith that it will be an amazing spiritual experience for everyone!

Exciting news! G (the lady who has been less active for over 20 years) called us on Friday and wants us to come over sometime this week to help her organize her apartment! We were sooo excited to listen to that voice-mail and we just know that The Spirit has touched her heart and prompted her to call us. We see great things happening there!

Yesterday we focused on visiting less actives and we had great conversations with two ladies and even gave a Book of Mormon to a part member family. I know that Heavenly Father provides a way His good and faithful servants. I know that as I try my best to be a true disciple of Christ that I will see the fruits of my labor. I know that He leads and guides us to those who are honestly seeking for the truth. He promises that "I will not fail thee nor forsake thee" and I testify that that is true. I have felt His hand guiding me on my mission more then I have ever felt before. Jesus Christ is my Savior and He loves us more then we could ever imagine. He loves YOU and they both want you to return to live with them again. Never loose sight of that eternal perspective.

Well, family its time for me to go now but I love and miss you all soo very much! I am so grateful for your support and encouragement now and throughout my life. I pray that you will have missionary opportunities to share the Gospel with those around you because it will make you happy. Have a great week and stay safe and know that I am thinking of you!!!

xoxo
Sister Peterson

Sister Missionary-No Greater Call

Can you believe that 2014 is already here?! It's crazy to me! So what are some of your New Years resolutions? Congrats Jared on starting your new job today. good luck bro! I must say that I am a tad bit jealous that you two are only 15 minutes away from Disneyland. Also, Leah took a few big girl steps??!? Videos please!!!!

We had a wonderful week! We saw a lot of miracles both big and small! This past week was definitely a testimony builder of my faith. We all need to be striving to have the faith that Heavenly Father knows we can have. We need to trust in Him that He will deliver us out of bondage and that He will be there when we will. We don't always know all the reasons behind why people sometimes reject our message but we can take comfort in the fact that The Lord plants the seeds in their hearts and that He does prepare people for us to find and teach. Now it is just up to us to find those people and I know that they are out there! We should be regularly doing a self evatulation on where our faith is. I know that as we do that, we will be able to see the areas that we do well in and also the areas that we can all improve in. Heavenly Father doesn't expect us to be perfect but He does expect us to try our best. I love Him and all that He has done for me by sending His son, our savior, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. What an amazing example of unconditional love!

We took two different members out with us on two different days and saw miracles! A few people said that we could come back so we are going to this week. We totally saw how helpful it was to have members with you because their perspective is always needed. We had a Young Woman come out with us and she took us around her neighborhood and introduced us to her neighborbors as her "missionary friends" it was a really awesome expereince. And if you haven't gone out teaching with the missionaries yet, you should go! It will be an amazing experience for everyone involved :)

My ward is now from 2-5pm so that was a little rough yesterday especially with it being fast Sunday. We taught the ctr 5 class and they were so cute! Thankfully nap time didn't cut into primary time or we would've had some issues...

I love and miss you all sooo much! I know I say it every week but I really mean it. You all mean the world to me and I am so grateful to have you in my life! I have never been happier in my life and I know that my happiness stems from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Birthday shout-outs to Jennie Duncan and Bonnie Hilton. You both are amazing woman and I admire and love you!!! 

xoxo
Sister Peterson

Happy New Year from Co. Springs

Oh my! Oh my! It was SOOOO good to see all of your faces on Christmas day. It made my life! (I won't say my year because well, as you know, that's almost over) but it meant so much to me that we were able to Skype and see each other!! It was the best Christmas present that I could ever ask for! You all mean the world to me and I love you all so much! Baby Leah is getting so big, I can't even deal with that haha.

After we skyped, we watched Elf and laughed so hard because it is hilarious. And then we basically got to relax and eat lots of food (...ooops). We went to the Ricks house (member's in our ward) because they wanted us to drop by to give us a present. (more baby lips makes Sister Peterson a happy missionary haha) Everyone here is so great and spoils us so much. We also watched The Lizzie McGuire movie and sang along to the whole movie. #childhoodmemories. Christmas was an amazing day and I felt so much love that our Savior and our Father in Heaven has for the people around us.

My week has been pretty awesome. On, Saturday, we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders and we focused solely on finding using the area book. We divided up all the names we could find between the two championships and went to see those people! We ended up handing out six copies of the Book of Mormon and talking with a lot of people. So we have a few potential investigators now. There was an older couple that we went caroling to last week that we stopped by and taught The message of the Restoration and gave them a Book of Mormon and she said "I have never actually sat down and read the BofM but this looks really interesting!" We left her with our number and she said she would call us. She also works with a member so she said that they have talked about the church before. There were three other people that said we could come back as well and talk with them more. So that is looking hopeful! We all maily focused on our faith because if we have that faith just that small particle of faith that Heavenly Father will put those people in our path that are prepared to hear our message, that we will find them. And I believe that to be true!

The craziest thing happened yesterday at church! I stood up after Sacrament meeting and turned around to this girl with her hand out saying "Hi I'm Kallie Stolk" (she was my roommate at BYU-I this past winter and she is from Colorado Springs! Her family lives in the High Forest ward in the Stake where I am currently serving) I basically freaked out and ran around the pew and we gave each other a huge bear hug!! It made my day!! Thanks for stalking me, Kal! I love you! This is my shout-out to you, girl ;)

I can't believe that 2014 is almost here... for New Years Eve we have to be in at 6pm. Party in the USA... haha we will probably just ring in the New Year, East Coast style so at 10 our time and then go to bed at 10:30. We are pretty wild as missionaries, I know hahaha. As we think about the New Year, what are some things that are most important to you in life? What are some of your goals? I know most people set goals to work out more/lose weight but as we reflect on 2013 we can think what we want to do better this New Year and what we want to work on. So, with the New Year approaching its really important to remember whats important in life. Like family, your testimony, temples, sharing the gospel with others and developing Christlike attributes just to name a few. I know that being on the Lord's errand for the past almost five months has really put into perspective what is truly important in life. So I would just invite you to think about what is important to you and if there is anything that you could do without, do without it! Start a new fresh year and know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is REAL and that it is for you and me. You are all so important to me and I couldn't have asked for a better family! I love you and miss you all soooo much. Have a safe and happy new year!!

xoxo

Sister Peterson

Week 18 aka Merry Christmas from Colorado Springs

OKAY I am soooo excited to talk to you all on Wednesday. That is going to truly be the best Christmas present that I could ask for on my mission (well, that and baptisms of course. Had to slip that in there haha) But seriously it is going to be wonderful talking to ya'll!!! It is currently really cold and snowy here and its only okay because tis the season, right? But any other time? Yeah...no. No snow please. Brrrrr! Little Leah is too cute in that sled. The pictures of her and everyone melt my heart! Oh! I loved the family Christmas letter and the picture of me and the big bear. Tried to convert him...that silly bear haha. Let me know when you all get my Christmas surprise in the mail

 

Last week was so much fun. I just love this time of the year. It seems that people's hearts are softened and they are more willing to talk about the Savior and his birth. Its nice to see that we have that much in common. Its the perfect opportunity to share the Gospel with the people around us just sayin... We have been reading Luke 2 without a lot of families and explaining the true meaning of Christmas and that if we take a step back and remember our Savior and all that He has done for us that we will find more peace in our lives and will be a little more happier.

 

So, this week we saw S and talked to him about prophets and watched The Restoration video with him and the Spirit was so strong and afterwards we asked him how he felt and he said that he didn't feel the same way as we did and that he didn't feel the Holy Ghost. It was such a bummer!!! But the Massey's are going out of town for the holidays for a few weeks so all decided to take a break from lessons until they get back. We want to see how he feels and if he notices a difference in his day to day life without us teaching him. We are still going to go over and visit him probably once a week to see how he is doing and give him that spiritual uplift so we will see how that goes.

 

A is doing really well. He told us that he wasn't going to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true because he believes that he already has the truth but we told him that if he wants to know the truth either way that he has to pray specifically to know if the Book of Mormon is true and he said he would so we are so excited to see what happens!! I think I mentioned it before but he doesn't live in our ward boundaries sadly so we told the Elders in his ward to go over and introduce themselves just so him and his daughter have more exposure to the Church and maybe they can even go to church with them!!

 

On Wednesday, we had a Christmas conference with two other zones in the area. President Fink (in the mission presidency) The AP's and President and Sister Anderson all spoke. It was a very uplifting day! They reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas and showed us a few Mormon Messages that were really cute. Between each video they had question up on the screen that they wanted us to write down and answer later. Some of the questions were "what is the true meaning of Christmas?" and "how will you serve Christ and others this year?" It really made me think how I am going to serve Christ and others this new year and how I want to try my hardest to bring others unto Christ because that is the source of my ultimate happiness.

 

On Friday we went caroling as a district to some of the Less-Actives in our ward and in a ward next to ours. It was so much fun to be able to bring the Spirit of Christmas to them. We gave them little presents with some cookies and the Joy to the World DVD. It just makes me so happy to serve others! We also went caroling on Saturday night with the elders in our ward and some of the youth. We basically went "carol-tracting" hahah and a really precious older couple let us come in and gave us chocolate (they obviously know the way to my heart) and the little grandma gave us a hug! She is a southern Baptist and said "sorry ya'll" but its really cool because she works with a member in our ward. It's awesome how there always seems to be those connections.

 

The Spirit of Christmas is SO strong on the mission and I am loving it!! Later today a member and her daughter are taking Sister Ercanbrack and I to get pedis!! #spoiled. I almost cried when they offered because my heels are pretty nasty from walking so much... sorry bout it. And then for Christmas Eve we are going to a less-active family's house to spend it with them and then the zone is meeting up at the church to do a secret Santa. On Christmas day we were invited to three different houses to celebrate with them so it is going to be a great day! So that's my plans for the next couple of days and I will talk to you on Christmas!!!!! I love you and miss you all sooo much! I pray for you always.

 

Happy birthday to Uncle Chris and cousin Susan this week!

 

Feliz Navidad yaaaaaaa'll! (proud family anyone?)

 

xoxo

Sister Peterson

 

 

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