The Best Time of My Life

What a great last week it has been. Wednesday I went to the temple with all of the missionaries that go home with me. It was such a special experience seeing all these elders and sisters and knowing how hard we all worked to the end. I feel a lot of peace when I reflect on my mission, and I know that's the Lord comforting me and letting me know I've done my best. I put my whole heart and soul into this mission because I love the Lord and I wanted to serve with all my might, mind and strength. 

Friday Beth and Alley both were baptized and the service was so special! Brother and Sister Given gave the talks and they did so well! After the baptism their dad asked them how they felt and Beth said "I feel warm!" And Alley said "I feel cleaner than clear water." They were glowing and just so excited! When Beth came out of the water she was so giddy! It was such a special experience. Then on Sunday they were both confirmed and wanted to sit with us during sacrament meeting. They were so excited! We were so excited! Missionaries have been teaching these girls on and off for years and we are so grateful that all the prayers have been answered. We were so lucky to be able to watch them take those steps. 

I can't believe that it's been 18 months already. It feels like I just entered the MTC yesterday where they placed a little black name tag on my shirt. I was so nervous because I didn't know what to expect. You always hear how the mission is the best and hardest thing ever, but you don't really know what that means. I remember walking into my classroom arriving last, and meeting sister Rhees. As the next two weeks in the MTC went on I had to figure out what I needed to do to be the best missionary for the Lord. I got to Oregon February 24, 2016. It was green and beautiful and the next day I met sister Sowter who would love me and train me to be my best. In those first three months I had to rely on the Lord so much to learn preach my gospel and understand these lessons I was going to teach for the next year and a half. As the next couple transfers went on  I moved from Grants Pass to Medford, and I learned to find and teach simply. There were moments where my faith was tried and I had to look back on those spiritual moments where the truth had been confirmed to me, and realize that i already know this gospel is true! As I went on to train in Coos Bay with Sister Peck it was a refiners fire experience. It was there when I had to figure out what I was doing on a  mission. What was my purpose? I prayed every night to understand why I was there and why we worked so hard and yet no one cared. But it's there that I realized that I am here for a reason and I needed to trust God that everything would work out in His time and way. It was here that I learned what it truly meant to trust him and know His plan was better than mine. A lot of change happened in this area. And I'm grateful for the change in me.

 I went on to serving somewhere I had heard about at the beginning of my mission and thought I would love to serve there, but then forgot. The Eugene YSA was amazing! I had so many experiences here where I could see gods hand at work. I'm grateful for the time I spent there. And now I am in Springfield where I have learned so much in these last couple months. So many amazing miracles have happened and I know that comes from obedience and diligence. It also comes from charity and love. And it truly comes from God. I've grown so much in this last year and a half. I'm not the same person I was when I left and I will continue to change each day to become more like my Savior. There's a quote that has helped me my whole mission "if you want to be happy, be." I had to make the choice to come on a mission, and I made the choice to stay even when it seemed impossible. Each day I made that choice to smile and be happy so that I could look back with no regrets. I look back now and smile and know that the Lord was with me every step of the way. He will always be with me. 

Thank you all for your support my whole mission. I love you all! Make the most of each moment so you can always look back with a grateful heart. And now I will look forward with excitement for what's to come. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson (the missionary for life) 

It's A Given

Mark this day as a day to never forget. When "The Great American Eclipse" came to the Oregon, Eugene mission. Sister Banner and I looked at the sun! Ahh! But we had the special glasses so don't worry (mom). We went to sister Busbys house to watch it with her and her friend Donna. They were telling us how it was no big deal because they saw the last one, and then there's sister Banner and I over there freaking out about it. Not gonna lie it was SUPER COOL!!! But let's back it up and talk about last week first! 

Tuesday we went to Santa Clara to have zone conference. We learned a lot about the Holy Ghost and about having u it's in our companionships. It just made me more and more grateful to have sister Banner as my companion because she's amazing. They talked about how to teach and the fundamentals of a lesson. It was a spirit filled meeting and by the end we just wanted to run out and share the gospel with everyone! 

Wednesday we met with the G family in the afternoon, and then we met with them again that night haha I hope they're not sick of us... it's only because Beth was supposed to have her baptismal interview but then it didn't work out so we had a lesson Instead! We taught them the Ten Commandments and follow the prophet. Then we had a great lesson with Tom and read Helaman 5 together. Tom is doing really well! He's excited for his baptism next month. 

Thursday we had a lesson with Jarrold, and had to make that hard decision not to teach him anymore. He's a great guy. He's just not ready for this commitment yet. He even put fruit out for us to eat and we got to take some grapes from his vine! 

Friday Beth had her baptismal interview! She was so excited and she's so ready to be baptized. After the interview we went to the Sabrowskis house. They are the cutest couple and they are returning to church after a while of being inactive. Our ward mission leaders son just came him from his mission in Oklahoma on Thursday and brother Jeffs sent him and his other son to the lesson with us. We felt like we were teaching with two elders. It was so good!! We taught them about prophets and Christ's atonement. The testimonies that were coming were amazing! Sister Sabrowki told us she wasn't able to read her Book of Mormon last week, and brother Sabrowski was super excited to tell us he read! Reading is a little bit challenging for Sister Sabrowksi, but a really tener moment happened when her husband turned to her and told her he would read to her. Together they are going to work towards the temple. But it starts by taking that first step, together. 

Saturday morning we prayed and felt we needed to go tracting. We turned down the wrong street, but stopped anyways and we walked up to a house where there was a couple outside. We started talking to them and the guy looked sad even though he was trying to be upbeat. While we were trying to explain why we were there we just stopped, and talked to him about his week. He said it was a little crazy and he still looked sad while he forced a smile. We asked if he had a faith in Christ and he said yes and all we could say to him was how Jesus Christ will be there through his challenges to give him strength, and when we brought up Jesus he smiled. And this time it was a genuine smile. He told us we could stop by again a different day. I am so grateful for that experience because it showed me that when we listen to people and stop to listen to the spirit then He will help us know what people need to hear. It was an uplifting and humbling experience. 

Later we had a lesson with the G family, and we asked Alley to say the prayer and she said "ok and then I have something to tell you!" She seemed so excited and after she said the prayer she told us that a couple hours before we got there she lost her phone and she was about to call her friend that moved away so she was really sad, and she told us that she got on her knees and prayed to God to help her find it. Right when we came her dad handed her the phone. Alley told us that god answered her prayer and we asked her if she knew why he did that and she said "because he loves me" she told us she believed God was real! Then she quickly said "but I'm not ready to be baptized." We talked with her and talked about how she's been living all the commandments and reading and praying and she was like oh yeah I have been! And all the sudden she said "I want to get baptized with Beth." Sister Banner, me and Sister G all had the biggest smiles on our faces. It was the answer to all of our prayers, and the answer that Alley needed to finally know that God was real. Now her and Beth will get baptized together on Friday! And Beth even chimed in and said " you have to be baptized by the government." Which are the elders haha. We had dinner with the young women's president after and when we told her she was so excited that she started to cry. We all love the G family so much and are so excited! It just goes to show me how much this ward truly loves everyone. 

Sunday we went and visited a couple people before church and when we pulled in to the parking lot we saw the G family getting out of their car and Alley said " will you sit with us?" We sat next to them all of sacrament meeting, and had a new understanding for parents that have to come to church alone, or sit in the pew alone cause kids can be cray. But it was a really good meeting and brother jeffs son spoke after returning from his mission on Thursday. There were a lot of people there, and a lot of people we invited too! Sister Banner and I taught gospel principles class on service and it went pretty well for not being able to prepare at all! After dinner with the cutest couple and some amazing recent converts of almost a year we went to the church for Alleys baptismal interview with "the government" and she looked so excited and The elders told us that she did amazing. And right after we went back to the G house to teach them about temples and eternal marriage and we even taught them to obey the laws of the land, and when we asked them if it was ok to do things that make the police come or go to prison they both yelled out "oh no! No!" Haha they kill me. They are a little rowdy but that's a "Given", haha, from having to sit for so long this day. 

I hope you all have the best week and choose someone to serve this week. You will see the miracles come and you will find so much joy. I love you all! 

Love, 

Sister Peterson 

Will Tract for Blackberries

Hey hey hey everyone! It's been a cooler week in Springfield. Still hadn't rained yet! Sister Banner is waiting to experience her Oregon rain. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with a woman named Pam and her husband and their son. They were really interested in what we had to teach and they wanted to know more about why we have the Book of Mormon and it was funny cause Pam kept saying "but the Bible says you shouldn't add anything to it, but I guess I haven't read the Book of Mormon so I don't know" and then whenever she would say that she wasn't sure her son would say " but you haven't read it yet!" It was pretty funny but it motivated me to read it together when we left! And the spirit was definitely there during the lesson so we have no doubt that as they read they will come to know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with this guy named Steve. He's a returning inactive member and he lives out in Dexter which is a super far away spread out part in our area. As we walked inside the unexpected (but probably should have been expected) happened! Five wiener dogs came from behind chairs and couches and the kitchen and ganged up to bark us out of the house. Luckily they moved but all I could think of was this movie (open season) where this little dog would bark and then speak in English and then bark again. When the dogs were away we had such a good lesson. We taught Steve and his son, who is also named Steve, about how much God loves them. 

There were even two girls there and we asked the older one if she believed in God and she told us that she went to church with her grandma when she was younger and used to pray with her mom, but now sometimes she prays on her own and we asked how that went and she told us that it helps her when she does pray. She got so excited when we had the biggest smiles on our faces when she told us that.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and committed them all to read and pray. That night we had dinner with some members and while we were eating sister Banner looks over and sees their two year old sticking his head in the dogs water dish to get a drink. I remembered then why we have dinner with members. Haha jk but it was so funny. We had a lesson with the G Family. We taught them about tithing and fasting and keeping the sabbath day holy. When we talked about tithing we named everything that timing goes to and Alley said "10 percent? I would pay 50 percent to the missionaries." And Beth talked about how she wanted to be a missionary. It is so amazing to see how much they are growing every time we meet with them. 

Thursday I hit my year and a half mark as a full time missionary. I feel so blessed to have made it this far and I know it's because of the Lord. Each day had new trials but it also was full of tender mercies and miracles. Christ has helped me so much to take another step every day. He kept telling me to keep going that it would be worth it. And it has been! I love being His missionary. So Thursday we partied it up missionary style. We tracted and we had an amazing lesson with Tom on the word of wisdom. The spirit helped Tom to see that living this commandment would bless him in so many ways and he committed to live it and step by step with the Lords help give up those things that may seek challenging, but he knows that with Christ everything is possible. 

Friday we had a great district meeting on how to plan and the importance of planning. And how to make great lesson plans, so Sister Banner and I have really been focusing on the needs of our investigators rather than just teaching the lessons to get them done. It's such a blessing to teach to peoples needs rather than our own. We had a power hour in the fifth ward sisters area after and we found the biggest black berries, so naturally sister Banner emptied her water bottle and we filled it up with giant blackberries. Oversized Blackberries for the win! When we got to our area we did a lot of tracting and met some nice people, but no one had time to talk. Later that night we saw Jarrold and he gave us some grapes that are growing in his yard and we saw Tom and he was doing really well! 

Saturday we went contacting and we saw Kyra and set up a lesson with her which is a miracle because we've been trying to set something up for this whole transfer and then some! As we were contacting I saw brads house and we went to knock. When we did he opened up and let us right inside! He went to go get ready for a birthday party but we got to talk with his wife, Samantha, for a while and she's so nice! We learned more about how they met and she even told us that when she was younger she went to her parents church but as she was older she stopped going, but now she goes with Brad and his family. And we started talking about the restoration since she hasn't heard much about our church and Sister Banner taught so well! And I was sitting next to Samantha so I couldn't see her face, but sister Banner later told me that when she recited the first vision she saw sparks in Samantha's eyes as she said "that's amazing" we have a lesson with them this next week and we are so excited! 

Later Sister Eichner took us to Lowell which is a far out place in our area and we had a lesson with Travis. He's ten and his parents are returning less actives. We taught him about the restoration and he's just so adorable. We had a lesson with the Given family and talked about Beth's baptism which is in two weeks!! She's so excited and the whole family is. They told us that they've been reading their scriptures every day. And they've been keeping the rule that you have to read for 30 minutes before you watch tv or play video games. Their mom has been a huge supporter too and example because the kids see her read every day! We had a lesson with Tom that night and taught him about keeping the sabbath day holy. He was super excited to come to church! 

Sunday guess who came to church!? TOM!!!! And he stayed for all three hours :)) he loved every second of it! Later he told us "its like bible study for three hours" haha because he always calls meeting with us "bible study." The G family came to church too. It was a good day! We even saw Joni after dinner with the Jeffs and she told us she would want to meet this Friday and we were so happy because she isn't avoiding us! We had a lesson with Tom too and we taught him the law of chastity. It was so powerful and we talked so much about how we are blessed when we live this commandment. 

Sister Eichner (our home girl) came too and shared the blessings she's seen in her life and we know Tom could feel the spirit. We could tell that he had a broken heart and a contrite spirit. It was amazing. Tom brought up how all he wants to do it help people and he's trying so hard to be surrounded by good people. He gives, gives, gives and people use that, and I remembered my personal study from the last couple days when I read Mosiah where king Benjamin talks about how we should always help those in need no matter what. He talks about how we are all beggars because we plead to god for forgiveness. I hadn't really realized that before. But I know we are all her together to help each other out. Times get hard but when we support each other and remember that God Is on our side then we will have the strength to endure and keep helping those around us no matter what. 

Today we went and played mini golf! And I tore it up. Okay I did pretty well. It's been a good day so far! 

Have the best week everyone. Make the most of it and help someone in need. Mosiah 4:16-21. I love you all. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson 

Flashback Weather

I'm beginning to remember what it felt like last summer in Medford as the thermometer in our car got up to 107. It's hot! We did a lot of tracting this week and almost every door someone would open and ask us why we were walking around in the heat. Our immediate response every time was " because we love what we do" and it's true! I'm grateful to be a missionary in any weather. Rain or shine the work never stops. The miracles continued this past week and there were also some rough patches, but the power to endure is real and I'm grateful for my savior who is there to help me with everything. Let's start at the beginning! 

Monday we went and visited the G. family before Alley left for girls camp. We bought her a journal to write her spiritual experiences in while she was away, and we hoped it would help her recognize that God is real. Then we went and talked to Joni and Winnie and shared an uplifting message and said a prayer with them. 

Tuesday We woke up and it was August. it still feels like it's June so we were pretty confused. We had service in the morning and when we got home we had companionship study and role played teaching the law of chastity which we later taught to Joni, but it was Sister Banners first time teaching it out of the MTC so we made sure to get some good practice in. And we did teach it to Joni and it was the most intense lesson on chastity ever. Sister Banner did so well as she talked about the blessings of keeping this commandment, and how Jesus Christ helps us to overcome struggles and helps us to repent. Something I will never forget and am so grateful for is when The spirit took over my words and it was one of those moments where I felt like I was trying to find a way to tell her that she couldn't live with her boyfriend anymore, and it was so hard but after the lesson sister Banner told me that everything I said was what she needed to hear and she could feel my love for Joni and Joni understood why we had to tell her. And it was that moment where I recognized that the spirit took my words and made them meaningful, and put them in a way that Joni would understand. And I'm so grateful for the spirit because that was such a hard thing to do because you never want anyone to feel like they are terrible sinners, but the experience we had was full of love and we have a lot of love for this woman and so does god, and because Joni knows that and feels that she had a strong understanding. But also sister Banner did so well in the lesson! I forget all the time that she's a greenie because she just blows me away. 

Wednesday we went to Eugene and picked up our new car La-a (pronounced La- dash-a) apparently it's a new name that's out there, but anyways while we were waiting for them to transfer our tiwi we got to hangout in the office with the office missionaries and that was a party! We had a lesson that night with a returning less active family named the S's and they are so amazing! They told us that right before we came over they tried to think of excuses to not meet for a lesson, but luckily their kids answered the door and let us in before they got to the front. And we talked about how much God loves them and their family and they told us that they've been away for so long but now they know they want to return. 

Thursday morning we had interviews with President Orton. He's so nice and such a good mission President! Sister Banner and I went tracting the rest of the day and even got invited in a couple times because it was so hot out. 

Friday we had a new missionary training where the new missionaries taught according to asked inspired questions to discern needs. They are so amazing! And all Improving so much. We tracted a lot that day and got yelled at a few times. But we got to go and talk to this older couple who are converts and they have a lot of health challenges so they can't come to church to take the sacrament, and he was telling us how sometimes they come and bring them the sacrament after church. And we sang the Spirit of God with him and and he looked so happy. It's amazing to me that he and his wife continue to do all that they know they should even with their challenges. It's a testimony to me to endure no matter what. 

Saturday we went to a far out part in our area called Lowell. We had a lesson with a returning less active woman and her son who she wants to get baptized! He's ten and we just talked about what his concerns were and when we asked him if he knew who Christ was he did! He said he was the son of God. He's adorable! 

Before the lesson we went contacting and OYMed this family on their porch. We talked about faith and after a couple minutes the husband told us to come inside and we went to talk with him and his wife. We talked about who they believe is and they said they went to church when they were in Mexico but not anymore because they didn't agree with all the doctrine they taught. We taught them about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. They took a copy and are excited to read it! It was a good experience for us and them to strengthen all of our faith in Christ. 

That night we had a lesson with the G. family and we taught the girls about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. We focused on a talk called "guardians of virtue" by sister Dalton which has become one of my favorites! We talked about keeping our thoughts and words clean including what we watch and read, and the way we joke. It was a really good lesson with them. 

Sunday we had church and the G. family came. Since it was fast Sunday we had our testimony meeting and it was amazing! A lot of people talked about how God is always there for you no matter what. And this little boy started it off by saying that Christ is there to strengthen us in our trials even when we sometimes don't feel like he's there. He's 6. Sister Banner and I got up to share our testimonies too. I talked about how grateful I am to know the gospel of Jesus Christ and how I've seen my faith grow over my mission. Sister Banner shared a beautiful testimony about coming out on her mission and the fears of leaving everything behind, but how it's so worth it. I feel so blessed to be here and with such an amazing companion! That night we saw Jonni and had to give her some strength because she felt like everything was a little too hard. But we told her that God would help her. We also had a great lesson with Tom on obedience, scripture study and prayer. He keeps telling us he knows this is the true church and he's so excited for his baptism. We are excited too! 

I love you all. Also I've been reading in Mosiah at the very beginning and I love king Benjamins words to his people. He teaches them simply and wants them to understand. He wants to finish his life strong and become like Christ, and make sure everyone around him knows who they should become like too. Remember that the little things we do count and god is there for each of us. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson 

Miracle Calls Spread with Blackberry Jam

Monday night we had dinner with some really sweet older ladies in the ward. It's so nice to be able to go to members homes and feel of their love for us. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with Tom and taught him about faith and repentance. It went really well! We saw Michael who we met last Monday and he said he was grateful that we stopped him to talk and is excited to meet with us 

Wednesday we weekly planned and couldn't wait to get outside and find and teach people. 

Thursday we had a lesson with Joni and Winnie and they are both going through a lot right now. We had planned to teach them the plan of salvation which is perfect for them at this time. Winnie lost her husband last February, and she finds comfort from talking to us and knowing she will see him again. As we taught them they were both so excited to learn and the spirit was so strong. At the end of the lesson sister Banner invited Winnie to be baptized and Winnie said she wants to learn more, but she said she would! They both committed to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray. Joni even told us that she had been reading every night before bed, but not recently and she feels the difference. 

We had a lesson with the G. family later that night and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Alley left halfway through but that's ok because she went to get ice cream with her new friend in the ward that she just met a couple days before at mutual. I can truly see the happiness that comes when members reach out to those who need a friend. It makes me want to reach out to everyone. All people want to feel wanted and welcome. 

Friday we had a new missionary training and sister Banner killed it! Then we had district meeting and learned more about effective companionship study. Sister Banner and I decided to go tracting for the time before dinner and we met a couple women named Tammy and Lorie. They were outside at their yard sale and we OYMed them and talked about how much Christ has been a part in their lives and we talked about the restorations  and Lorie wanted us to come back and her cousin Tammy said she would think about it, but as we were handing Lorie a pamphlet Tammy said she wanted one too. Seed planted! 

Saturday we got a call from elder Danley in the office saying he was coming with a washer and dryer for us!! #blessed. We got to see the Danleys which is always a great :) later we went out to Lowell  which is about 20 minutes from Springfield, and noticed they have something called a "blackberry jam" every year which is an outdoor market and music festival. Looked like fun and there were so many people out. We didn't go, but instead we went to visit a less active member named crystal. She had surgery on her knee a couple weeks ago and has been house bound. We just got to know her and she expressed how excited she was to go to church on Sunday and she can now bring her son to church after some court situation with her ex husband. She saw that as such a huge miracle because her children aren't members of the church and her son Travis is so excited to learn more and start coming! She's so amazing and has a strong testimony of what Christ can do for her and her family. 

Sunday we called Joni in the morning and sang her happy birthday! She was grateful and she said she was about the leave for church,  but she didn't come and we haven't heard from her about what happened. But we did a get a message from her this morning so no worries! The G. family came to church but had to leave early because Alley wasn't feeling well. Crystal and her son and husband were there and her son, Travis, came up to us and shook our hands and said " his I'm new here and you'll probably see me next week." So sweet! Then we got to gospel principles call and saw Jerrold! He had just gotten there, but he left after second hour. Church was so good! They had the mission moms speak about their missionaries and many talked about the blessings that come from having their kid on a mission. It was hard not to think about my family while they talked about Sister Banner and I agreed that we were both thinking of how much we love our families and are grateful the Lord is watching over them. 

In relief society we had brother Crook, who works at the institute, come and teach us about "certain women" from the last general women's conference. It was so good because we broke down the word certain and he told us that we are all "certain women and to look at the things we do well because we have more positive things than negative. It was so good. After church we had dinner with the Rhees family and we talked about some less active members they wanted us to go visit. 

When we left dinner we saw we had a missed call and we listened to our voicemail and it was from one of the people we were talking about and he said "we would like to set up a time to take the lessons" woo!! We called him and after a little phone tag he explained that his wife was baptized about a year ago and hasn't had all her new member lessons yet so this week we got to teach them from the beginning! We are so blessed. We met with Tom and had such an amazing lesson with him. Granted he didn't read his chapter but it was perfect for what we had to teach him. After a really bold and genuine conversation about keeping commitments we read 2 nephi 31 with him and he asked such good questions. I'm grateful we've built such a good relationship with him so we can be bold, but it always has to be with love or it's just rude. We explained more about why baptism is so Important especially with the authority of god. And he was paying attention that he was leaning forward to soak it all in. He said the closing prayer and we kneeled in the grass outside and he said the most genuine heartfelt prayer. He prayed to read his Book of Mormon before he doesn't anything else. He's so ready and he keeps telling us that he tells everyone this is the true church! 

Today as we were shopping we got a call from a member in the ward, but we missed it and saw we had a voicemail and when we listened to it she told us that crystal wants her son Travis to get baptized and she has a lot of questions for us! I know the Lord is blessing us so much right now and I recognize that it is only Him who could place all of these miracles on our path. I'm so grateful for what's been happening lately. I've been blessed so much my whole mission. God is very aware of me and I've seen that. And it I haven't seen it right away I can always look back and see where his hands were. He is always there for us. We just need to seek Him. 

I love you all! Remember the little things count. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson 

Gettin Lost

We survived the last week! It's been an adventure. 

Monday I got SISTER PECK!!! And we got to work for a couple of days. We went to teach Joni and planned to teach her about the plan of salvation but when we got there she asked us if we could tell her about more rules within our church so she could learn more about them and we had already had the word of wisdom in mind, so we started teaching her and everything made sense to her. She's amazing! She was so willing to live the commandment that God gave us and you could just see how prepared she is to revolve this gospel. It was also amazing to see how the spirit directs you to teach something different but it's just what they need. 

Tuesday Sister Peck and I were going to visit some members and as we got out of the car we went to walk and we saw a spider dangling in the air and so her first reaction was to drop kick the spider! She's crazy. We went to contact a couple more people and then had a lesson with Tom on keeping his reading commitments. I think we really drilled it in him this time! 

Wednesday we did a lot of finding and we had a meeting for all the trainers and they talked about the Importance of our calling to train a new missionary. 

Thursday morning we went to the church at 8 and ate breakfast with all the missionaries in the valley and we sang to the new missionaries and then we met who we were training! I had to walk up to the front of the chapel and President Orton Introduced me and said we would be serving in Springfield and said that Sister Banner would be my companion! She stood up and we gave each other a huge hug! She's so wonderful and right when we got back to our area we went out to tract and there were so many members outside in the neighborhood we were in, but we stopped and had some really good talks with people. She acts like she's already been out for so long! She's amazing!

 We went and had a lesson with Jerrold but he hasn't been keeping his reading commitments so we had a really good talk with him and told him we wouldn't come back for a couple weeks so he can keep his commitments. But he said he would come to church Sunday and he understood why we are so persistent. He's a good guy. When he said the closing prayer he prayed that he would be able to get good sleep and wake up to come to church! 

Friday Sister Banner had her first new missionary training and two other missionaries in our zone are training too. She did so well and our district meeting was great. We had a lesson with Tom that night and we taught him the last half of the plan of salvation. It was a little different than what he believes but he loves everything we taught and he was even leaning in to soak up everything we said. The spirit was so strong and Tom even kept his commitment to read! Things are looking up for him. 

Saturday we ended up going to see Joni in the morning and she told us she was moving in with her friend who we are also trying to teach! And she is doing so well and it just went to show me further of how the lord is preparing her! There was a Pioneer celebration at the church for our stake so we went for lunch and got to meet so many members, the givens even came! We wales around in the heat a lot and talked to everyone. We had a lesson with the Given family and talked about eternal families and the plan of salvation. 

Sunday we had ward council in the morning and it was Sister Banners first one! The ward was so kind to her. The Given family came to church and the talks were amazing. They were all about being who God needs us to be and also knowing that Heavenly Father is aware of our circumstances and wants to help us feel the weight of our guilt be lifted because of our savior. Then when sacrament meeting was over we walked in the hallway and we saw JERROLD!!! He came to church and he stayed for the rest of church. He even made comments in class which were so good! They were about how going to church helps us clear our minds because Satan is always trying to get in and tell us what to do, but keeping the Sabbath day Holy helps us to be rested to have thoughts only for Christ. After church some of the members even came up to Jerrold and thanked him for his comments, and one man even told him when he said Jerrold he was jealous of his beard haha I bet he is excited for next Sunday! 

We had dinner with members out in the country and then we decided to drive back but we went a different way than we usually do, and we felt we needed to stop and knock on this one house and we met a guy named Bruce and he was super nice but not interested and when we left we started driving and driving and we realized we had no clue where we were and we were super lost! So that was her first experience with getting so lost and eventually we made it back to our area.. somehow. We were supposed to have a lesson with Tom but he wasn't feeling well, so we were deciding where we needed to be for the end of the evening. Sister Banner chose to tract 59th street. And we said a prayer before tracting, but during the prayer we both thought about Joni, but she was a ten minute drive and so we tried calling her but it didn't work and so we said another prayer to know if we needed to see her or to tract the street  and we just sat not knowing what to do until we had a thought to call the woman that she moved in with. So we called Winnie and she answered and we got to talk to Joni and everything was ok and we set up a lesson for Monday and then we felt confident that we should go tracting. It was an immediate answer to our prayers. And as we were tracting we met a lot of really nice people but no one really wanted to talk for long. And when we were walking back to the car we both saw this blue house and we knew we needed to knock on it. This man opened up and told us his name was Will. He said his day was going ok because he had a lot of time consuming things happen but through it all he had a positive attitude! He told us he had some friends who were members and he knew a little about our church. He has a string faith in God and Jesus Christ and he told us we could come back Saturday! We prayed with him and we called him 5 minutes later to leave him a spiritual thought and reconfirm our appointment and he was really excited! Then sister Banner and I did our new Investigator dance because we just found her very first one!! It was the best way to end the week. 

Have a great week! I love you all and appreciate all of the prayers and Love you show me. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson 

Starting Over

This week I've seen so many miracles and I've also seen how aware God is of his children. There have been moments, whether it has been in my own life or in someone else's, that I've seen him change the course of something to make sure his child heard something He needed them to hear. It's been a great week and you always see so many miracles the last week of the transfer. 

Last Monday night sister Rhees and I went tracting and we started talking to this man outside watering his lawn and he asked us what church we are from and then he started bashing on the Book of Mormon and told us we were liars for believing in it, and trying to teach of Jesus Christ. When he was talking I thought back to my experience I had Sunday night when I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon to that man with his motorcycle and what I felt then and I know that was Heavenly Father reminding me of my testimony.  We kept going and kept getting rejected. It was almost 9 and time to go home, but I felt prompted to knock on this last door. No one answered, but there were two houses right next to it so I thought why not? Then we knocked on the second house and no one answered. So we tried the last one and we knocked and got nothing, so we knocked again. And we waited and waited, and when we finally turned to leave we saw a woman coming from around the side of the house. She asked us what we were up to and we explained that we were missionaries with an important message about Christ. She told us she just moved here from Pennsylvania! And of course I freaked out a little. And we asked her if she'd ever heard of the Book of Mormon before. She remembered that someone had given her a copy when she was in the services before, and that it was somewhere in a box since she just moved in. We gave her a new copy in case she left hers in PA, and we explained more about it. She also told us she was stressed from life and so we said a prayer with her and she invited us back. It was such a miracle to meet Beth that night. Another miracle from enduring no matter how hard it gets or when you think nobody cares there is always someone who does! You just have to follow the spirit and knock on one more door. 

Tuesday we had service in the morning and then we had a lesson with Vera! We talked about the nature of God and she believes that God loves her so much which is amazing. She shared of her experience of how she came to know Jesus Christ and it's so cool because I finally understood that god gives us little by little. She had an experience where she learned about Christ and I explained that since then god has been giving her more and more of His truth and now he has prepared her to learn of the fullness of Christ's gospel. She's so wonderful because she's always saying how everything makes sense and she knows everything we talked about is true by the way that we talk about it. We invited her to pray about it. 

We had dinner with a couple that Sister Rhees taught in Santa Clara. They took us to a southern BBQ place and we were able to talk to them more about missions even though they seem like members because they know everything about missions! Then we went to see these girls that have been taught before I got here. They are both 16 and they are twins! Only one of the girls was home. Her name is Sarah and she let us share the prince of peace video with her and she told us how she can recognize the difference of when she's doing everything that she can to read her scriptures and pray verses when she's too busy and she feels stressed out. We invited her to church and she said maybe. In a way it was kinda sad because she recognized how she feels peace now its a matter of action and faith. 

Wednesday we weekly planned. 

Thursday we had service again and then we had a lesson with a woman named Rebecca! It was a little crazy cause she has an adorable baby girl that runs around, but we were able to talk with her about what we do as missionaries and we read ether 12:27. It was really amazing because she knew exactly what the verse was talking about. She came to the conclusion for herself that she needed more faith. It was so amazing to see how the scripture spoke to her. We talked to her about Heavenly Father. She told us that since she was 13 she found god. And she knows him to be a father figure in her life. We gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read! 

Later we had a doorstep quick lesson with this guy makes Felipe heat we've been trying to contact for a while. We asked him if he really wanted us to come back and he told us that he just had a hard time saying no, but we talked with him a little longer and he opened up a lot. He said there are so many people coming to his home and trying to tell him that they are right and he was so confused why everyone thought they were right. We talked about the great apostasy with him and told him that we only teach people and Invite them to pray to ask God if it's true. Then we asked if he really did want us to come back and he said next week we could. We know that he will be ready for the gospel and the confusion will stop as he listens to the spirit tell him what's true. We had a lesson with Jerrold and read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. 

We were running late to our next lesson and so we brought the member who came to Jerrold lesson with us to the Cain family's home for another lesson which her husband was originally going to be at, but then he couldn't make it. We watched "on the lords errand" which is a documentary about president Monsons life serving the Lord. They had their grandsons with them who don't go to church and when the movie was over one of them yelled "that movie was awesome!" And then we sang a hymn and the same kid said "that song was amazing! Sing it again!" It was so adorable! But I'm just grateful that we had the chance to see what President Monson was like his whole life. It strengthened my testimony so much that he was called of god to be a prophet in this time. He gave everything and literally has always been on the Lords errand by following every prompting and sacrificing so much to do the will of God. I learned a lot about who I want to be. But I also saw Gods hand in the situation. Sister Eichner who came with us shared her testimony of the prophet and some really amazing experiences of gaining that testimony. On the way home we talked more and Sister Rhees and I realized that she needed to be at both of those lessons tonight. Even when everything was stressful and we were late all night it all worked because God knew what was going to happen. It all worked out the way it was always supposed to. 

Friday we had district meeting and we talked about pondering the scriptures to find our answers. Then President And sister Orton showed up and that was a nice surprise! I talked with President Orton and he told me things that helped me know that God is very aware of me. I felt comforted by the spirit and know that God is always there. I'm grateful for my experiences that remind me of that. When sister Rhees and I got home we got a call from the  Eugene ysa sisters and they said "Callie's getting baptized today! We hope you are free tonight!" And we were! So we got to go to Eugene and see Callie get baptized. She looked so happy and the spirit was so strong! 

Saturday morning sister Rhees and I got a phone call from the APs while we were studying and they asked us if we were ready for our transfer news. Then President Orton got on and told sister Rhees that she was going to Brookings! And she was excited because she hasn't been on the coast yet, and then he told me that I was going to train a new missionary. I'm so excited to train!! And then it gets even better because sister Peck is going to stay with me for a few days because she is trying too! Springfield better get prepared for what's about to come! 

Later we had a lesson with Vera and it went so well! She told us that she prayed to know if God had a body and she felt pretty good about it, but doesn't think she got an answer yet, but she knows it'll come and then she told us that she believes it must be true. We talked to her about prophets and when we told her we believed there was a prophet on the earth today she told us that she's never thought about it before so she was a little hesitant, but then I was able to share my testimony with her of how I know President Monson is our prophet on the earth today she told us that she was hesitant about it before, but that it must be true by the way that I talked about it. That happens a lot when we teach Vera and it's so cool to see the spirit working through us to touch her heart. She's currently praying about a baptism date! We had a lesson with the Given family and it actually went really well! We talked about the restoration with them and Alley told us that she keep her commitments and wrote down what she learned from 2 Nephi 31:17-20 which is all about the doctrine of Christ. And she's been praying to know that god is real. She said she hasn't gotten an answer yet, but if she's doing all that she can then I know she will get an answer! Beth is still preparing for baptism on August 25! 

Sunday we had church and the G. family was there. Before church we went to check and make sure the people we invited would be at church, but the G.s were the only ones that answered. Church was really great! More talks on obedience were given which I always enjoy! But they also talked about repentance and I know it's so important that we look at repentance as something good because it brings us joy and lifts burdens that only Christ can lift. We went to visit Joni in the evening and she was feeling so much better! She was so excited to see us and we sang " Heavenly Father loves me" we have a lesson with her tonight and she's doing so well!  

It was a busy and crazy week but I also learned a lot and I'm grateful to take on what God has for me and my companion this transfer. We are ready for it and nothing will stop us! I love you all. God loves you all. Have the best week. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson