RM LIFE

The Philly airport @ 1am.
That's a normal time to be at the airport, right?
Friday, February 27th 2015

Welp. I'm home. I'm a Returned Missionary... That's crazy to say. But also so so so awesome.

This is week two of being home.

It's weird.

But a happy weird.

<---Here's proof

I love reconnecting with family, old friends, mission companions/friends. Its been super fun. But I do miss my mission a ton. I miss Colorado. I miss wearing a nametag. I miss teaching the gospel. And I even miss having a companion... did I just say that? Totally kidding but that alone time thing though...

RM life is a tad bit awkward. Even though I didn't learn a new language on my mission. I feel like I did! (mission lingo for the win) I keep mixing up words and phrases, stumbling over my words. I think the universe just likes the fact that RM's are super awkward. I'm sure that its charming, right?

Enough about my awkwardness, lets get to the spiritual aspect of this post...

I LOVE my mission for several reasons but just to name a few:

It changed me. You can't learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach it every day and NOT become more fully converted to the gospel.

It strengthened me.

It made me think about my life and how I needed to change to be who Heavenly Father knows I could be.

It gave me hope. The kind of hope that helped me to know that I can get through anything with God.

My relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ is so much stronger because I was allowed to feel just a sliver (probably smaller.. so maybe a speck? or a dot?) of how he felt while he was on the earth.

It helped me understand the scriptures/doctrine better.

It helped me to gain a better eternal perspective.

It was the best thing for my life.

It helped me make better goals for myself.

It helped me to know where I want to go after this life.

It helped me to know who I am and to act accordingly.

I was able to feel Godly love for those around me. You just learn to love people when you see  them through God's eyes.

The people that I met. (Probably one of my favorite things about the mission)

 The laughs, inside jokes, awkward funny moments AND the hard trials, the heartache, and the  disappointment. I know that there must be opposition in all things. And that's okay.

I just like to look at it as: I'm Kyra 2.0 ;)

I couldn't have asked for a better experience and I thank my Father in Heaven every day that I was able to serve a mission. It may not have been part of my life plans a few years ago but I KNOW with all my heart that I needed to serve a mission. There are people that I met on my mission that I know that I needed to find and teach. We can have such powerful influences on others lives whether we realize it or not. I learned that its important to share the gospel at. all. times. We can do that by our words or actions. Choose to do both!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. It changes people. It saves their lives. I know this because that's exactly what it did for me.

                                            Happy Monday y'all!

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!

Guided Safely Home

Hey y'all!! :)

This week was been super busy and exhausting... pretty sure I say this every week but yeah... its the truth! We have been preparing for C and A's baptism on Saturday and almost have the programs done! So we will be running around like crazy this week preparing for that. We are so excited for them to make these covenants with their Heavenly Father. They were so prepared and it just goes to show that timing is everything! 

Welllll the ward caught us and had Sister Bush and I both speak in church yesterday. It went super well! I spoke on President Monson's talk "Guided Safely Home" that he gave in the Priesthood session last October. It talked about how we need to not let our personal rudders get jammed. So I gave some examples on things that jam our rudders and then things that un-jam them. I talked about how pride, sin, discouragement, not going to church, not reading your scriptures and now praying can all jam your rudder. Now the way to un-jam your rudders is to have faith, go to church, read your scriptures, pray daily, follow promptings from the holy ghost, and doing missionary work (my personal fave. whaddup!). There are a ton of things that we can do to un-jam our rudders but its our choice whether or not we will allow those distractions into our lives or not. We can all choose to follow God or not and we have been given the map to get back home. That's what its all about.. going home back to our Heavenly Father. We have the responsibility to share that knowledge with those that don't know. It will change their lives. 

This week will be really busy with appointments, the baptism, specialized training on Wednesday and getting everything ready so bring it on! Serving a mission has helped me to know that I CAN do hard things with the Lord's help. He has blessed me so much in my life and has given me the strength that I need. I have literally felt Him carrying me through some of the toughest days of like ever and has lifted me up to higher grounds. God is our loving Father in Heaven and Jesus is our savior and elder brother. They love us more then we can comprehend and that love is worth all of the hardships that you may go through. That love can carry your through the darkest times and can help you to know that you are sons and daughters of the Almighty. When you have that knowledge you will act accordingly. I also started over on the Book of Mormon again! I love this gospel and I love all of you so much. I believe that I have the best family in the world (because its the truth!) Stay strong and keep going. You can do hard things!! Have a great week and I will talk to you next week! 

XOXO

Sister Peterson 

Pictures:

selfie with sweetpea, A's dog

Totally burned a shirt for my eighteen month mark... good times!

Eighteen Months!

Hey everyone!!

I had a great week. Very very busy which is like basically celestial for missionaries. Also, celestial is a great word. Use it. It will change your life.

C is still planning to get baptized on the twenty first  so we have been seeing her every day and helping her prepare for that. She has cut down a ton on smoking! She told us yesterday that she was fasting (her choice, we didn't tell her to) to help her to quit smoking. Its amazing to see how much faith she has. She's had a really rough life and it just goes to show that the gospel is really for EVERYONE and that the gospel does change lives. Miracle! A said that she wants to get baptized with her mom now! We were like kind of shocked when she told us because lately she has been pulling back from the church but she's really started to realize that the gospel makes you the happiest that you can be. Still waiting on T to see what he decides to do but we think that he will be baptized too! The gospel is all about the family so why not make it a family day?! They really are so great and I am so blessed to have met them.

Saturday is my eighteen month mark and something else is that day too but I can't seem to remember it right now.. oh well! I can't even believe that I am hitting eighteen months!! It almost feels surreal. I have been reflecting on my mission lately and thinking about everything that I have done. I know that I am a better person, disciple of Christ, missionary because of all of the experiences that I've had. Its been an amazing ride and I am glad that I still have time! Its been busyyyy with the member lessons and we got twenty one 45 minute preach my gospel lessons this week! (the goal is twenty other lessons each week and we finally accomplished that goal! plus one!) WINNING. And our zone leaders in zone training on Friday might have asked us how for tips for the other missionaries to learn from. That's what's up! The mission is great. Life is good.

Y'all are great! Keep the faith and help someone out in need this week! Sorry there are no pictures. I have been slacking with taking them lately:(

XOXO,

Sister Peterson

A family that prays together stays together

Hey everyone! My week was super great. I really love it here! The people, the area, my companion.. its pretty perfect!

C is still working on quitting smoking but its been A TON better. Last week, she texted us and asked us to teach her about family home evening so we went over that night and told her what it was and then had fhe with her family. A picked "I love to see the temple" for the opening hymn. So Sister Bush, me, T and A sang it together and the spirit was so strong! It was a really neat experience to have with them. And the rest of fhe was great as well, we talked about the Book of Mormon and how important it is. And they all came to church yesterday!!! WINNING! Its amazing to see how the spirit works in people's lives and to see the change in them in just a few short weeks. We are praying that T and A will get baptized on the same day as C so that they can do it together as a family. I love them so much and want this happiness for them!

Between seeing C basically every day and teaching the member lessons, we have been super busy. So, yes still tired all the time but loving what I'm doing! We have been teaching a less active girl whose our age the lessons and those have been going really well. When we recited the first vision to her she said that she felt the spirit for the first time in years. That's just a testimony to me that these things are true! We went on exchanges with the stls on Saturday and I went to Monte Vista which is a retro sketchy little town. So that was fun! I really love it down here in the Valley. The people are so humble here and treat us like family. I am kind of sad that I know that I will only have one transfer here but I am making the most of it! I totally want to come back and visit in July because they go all out for pioneer days!

We had interviews with President Rehm on Wednesday and of course he talked to me about going home and finishing strong. I really am committed to giving it my all these next few weeks. I know that Heavenly Father is pleased with my efforts and I am grateful for the time that I have had to serve him. Also, you should check out the new Mormon Message just cause they rock. I shared my testimony yesterday in fast and testimony meeting since its my last one on the mission and I talked about how much this gospel means to me and how it has changed me. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to serve a mission and to see how much Heavenly Father and my Savior love me. Its changed my life.

Well family, I gotta run now but I love and miss y'all! Try to stay warm and not get snowed on! (I guess for Ami this means try not to get burnt hmmm)

xoxo

Sister Peterson  (meooo000oowwwwww)

Miracles Never Cease

HI!!!

Its been a busy, awesome week!! I am so tired so hopefully this makes sense. Just sayin...

First things first.. C, our investigator has a BAPTISMAL DATE!! Its for February 21st! We had a lesson with her on Tuesday and were talking about baptism and seeing where she's at with that and she was like "yeah, I'm ready" so we were like okay let's set a date because we know that you can do quit smoking by then and Heavenly Father always blesses us when we act and put forth some effort. So she looked at her calendar and said February 21st looks good to me and we all felt like that was right. We have seen her practically every day since then and talk to her about her baptism and she is still good for that. And yesterday her, A, T and N (T's friend) all came to church!! Its crazy because it always seems like bad things happen whenever your investigators are trying to get to church because she said that she woke up with a migraine, had a flat tire and fought with her son that morning but they all still came to church. She said that she would walk to church if she had to. SOLID right? She is so great and just such a good person. Sister Bush and I are lucky to know her! So we are REALLY excited for her baptism in a few weeks. So please pray that she will have the strength to quit smoking and work out some other things in her life. We gave her the 12 step program so she has been reading that and then on Sunday she is getting some medicine that can help her quit so she wanted to give that a few weeks to kick in I guess. Its amazing to be able to witness the change in people when they know that this is what true and what God wants for them in their lives.

I, who I mentioned last week that we are trying to work with bailed on us last week so we were waiting for him for like forty minutes trapped in this old ladies house, that was interesting. I find myself having so many stories where I say "only on the mission..." haha too true. So we are going to see him this week to see what's up. We do have a new investigator named B! He's a Hispanic guy that's like in his sixties or seventies. Who apparently thinks that we're dating and calls me dimples? Yeahhh.. its weird but once again only on the mission! He lives by himself in a tiny little trailer in a field. He is progressing though! So far we have given him a restoration and plan of salvation pamphlet and he has read both! We also gave him a Book of Mormon and in like three or four days he was at the part where Nephi slayed Laban and went back to his family with the gold plates. So that's pretty impressive. We go and see him a few times a week and we all have a feeling that he will be converted without even knowing it and will join the church.

We have been so incredibly busy this week so that means that we are so incredibly tired but in the happiest way possible! We've had back to back appointments all day every day with our investigators, service and teaching the active family missionary lessons. Its a blessing to serve others and be apart of their conversion process whether they are members or not. We all need to continually be converting ourselves over and over gain to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God and Jesus Christ live and they love us! And that should give us the motivation to keep going even when its hard because we are all made of the divine, strong stuff.

I love and miss you all so much!! I hope that you have a great week! Make good choices!!

Sister Peterson 

So the first picture is of the cute yellow house that we live in and the second picture is in a town near us called Antonito and apparently this guy made his house completely out of trash. Pretty sweet!

Welcome to Manassa

Hey y'all!!

Well I finally made it to the Valley safely on Wednesday afternoon. We had transfer meeting on Tuesday but then we stayed the night in the Springs with some sisters because it was storming and the roads were terrible. The La Vida pass that you have to take to get to the valley was iced over and some elders flipped their car because they tried to head back on Tuesday night but we were like oh heck no! They are fine though!

So we headed for Manassa on Wednesday and we had to drive through Pueblo so we decided to make a pit stop to see Amber and the Williams which was so fun! I love them so much!! It was so weird being back in Pueblo with Sister Bush since its been almost a year since we served there together. It was funny because we pulled up to the Chick Fil A drive thru and one of our YSA was working, he got a pretty good kick out of that. Everyone is surprised that we are companions again because its pretty rare that that happens (we found out that one of the AP's hooked us up. #winning!) But of course we both know that the Lord needs us here to work together to bring souls closer to Christ.

This area is BOOMING. We have a ton of potentials and we have a few investigators. We are teaching a woman named C who has been taught by missionaries before and has had baptismal dates but couldn't quit smoking. She has three children so we are also teaching her daughter A (12) and her son T (10) when they are around and they are all pretty solid! We had a lesson with C on Saturday night where we read 1st Nephi four with her because she was stuck on the part where Nephi kills Laban (a lot of people get hung up on that fact) and so we read it with her and explained it so now its not an issue for her. Its always cool to see how the spirit works though people and softens their hearts. We invited her to be baptized and she said YES!! But that she knows that she needs to quit smoking first. So we are having a lesson with her on Tuesday night and we are giving her the 12 step program to help her quit. And if she gets baptized then her two children will most likely get baptized as well!!!

We are going to start teaching an investigator named I. this week at a member's home and he seems really solid! So I will keep you posted on that.

This ward is awesome at giving us referrals even though like 90% of the town of like 1,000 people are members of the church because Mormons founded Manassa. But there are still quite a few non-members and less active members that we are working with/trying to work with. We are also teaching a ton of the missionary lessons to members. I feel so blessed to be finishing my mission in this area. Its such a cute little town that is so different from any other areas on my mission but I just already love it here. I will try to send pictures of it next week so that you know what I'm talking about.

I love you all and am so grateful for all that you do! Keep sharing your testimony with others because as you do, it will be strengthened and it will become more natural to talk about the gospel with others. Have a great happy week and I will talk to you later! :)

Sister Peterson