Panda Express=Miracles and Good Food

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mothers out there! Thank you for all that you do and more. We need you and I'm so grateful to have an amazing mom who loves me so much and helps me through it all. 

We had our pass off lesson with N and the elders on Monday and we talked with him about faith. He's a little scared right now to take that leap, but we promised him that if he chose gods will over his own then he would be so happy! He's now meeting with the elders but we managed to get a picture with him before he left! 

Tuesday sister Orr and sister McDonald came to campus so we could go on exchanges! We walked on campus talking to people all day and night! I was with sister Orr and we decided to eat dinner on campus and then we saw the other sisters on our way so we invited them, but since dinner was on campus and there are so many people to talk to on campus it took us over an hour to get to where we needed to go! Eventually we made it and ordered Panda Express at the EMU. The cashier was so nice and really easy to get along with and when we sat down to eat I kept feeling like we should've given her a card, and at one point I even got up to get soy sauce and I forgot the card! But third times a charm right? Because as we were leaving she was on the side of the counter and not dealing with any costumers so we offered her our card and she was super excited to take it. Her name is R and then the biggest miracles ever happened. She told us she sees missionaries all the time in line and always gives them discounts, but wait there's more! She also told us she grew up religious, but doesn't go to church now and she's been wanting to find her faith in Christ again, AND she went to early morning seminary for our church when she was in high school with her friends, and she knows a lot about our church cause she's also been to girls camp and church a few times. She told us we were the first missionaries she's actually talked to, and THEN she set up the lesson with us!! She said "are you guys free at all?" And we were like "YES" then she told us her only day off is Thursday and she wanted to meet with us!! After we talked a little we asked if she needed to get back to working and she said "oh I forgot I was working!" Sister Orr and I walked until we were in the clear and then we did a miracle victory dance and freaked out a little. #exchangemiracles 

Another miracle that happened: sister Orr and I were walking back to the institute at night and I had been praying all day in my head to see k who we met a couple weeks ago, and I hear sister Orr say "look at the cute dog!" And it was way dark so I couldn't see the owner face, but I said "please be k! Please be k!" And as we got closer guess who it was!! IT WAS K!! God truly answered my prayers. We talked to him for a little and we invited him the read Alma 32 all about faith. He said we could start texting him things to read from the Book of Mormon. It was a short encounter but it was a prayer answered! 

Wednesday we finished up exchanges by walking on campus a lot. Sister McDonald and sister Wilson had a lesson with A and taught him the restoration and I heard it went really well! He's still working towards baptism on June 25. Those sister are so amazing! Sister Wilson and I were reunited and we had a lesson with P. She's so funny and amazing as she continues to study the scriptures and strengthen her testimony. 

Thursday morning we had an AMAZING lesson with K. We taught him the plan of salvation and really put an emphasis on how he lived with god before and has the chance to live with him and his family again! The spirit was so strong during his lesson, and we explained to him that when we invited him to be baptized before it was so that he could enter this gate and be on the path to living with god again! And we told him that after he is baptized he will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost which will help him on that path because as we know it gets a little bumpy and dark, but we are promised that if we are willing to obey we can hear that still small whisper. K told us he is still willing to work towards being baptized on June 4! We are so excited for him!! He also told us he would come to church! 

After K lesson we went on campus to try and find people to teach, and guess who we run in to! It's Dog K again! He's out playing with his dog Bella, so we go over and talk with him, and every time we've talked with him I've seen his desire to know Christ and find joy grow more and more. He told us about what he just learned in class, and it was different view points on who God is, and he told us he wasn't sure how he felt about it and he knew it was different from what we believed in. This time we focused on helping K. We testified of Jesus Christ and talked of how Christ knows everything that we go through and wants to help us. How we are promised help because it's right there for us to take. And when we asked him if he would just want to sit down with us and let us teach him our lessons to see how he feels and see if we can help, and this time he said Yes! And he also told us he would read Alma 32 that night! Then he also told us that we are super brave for talking to people all the time and he admires our confidence, but he also said he has to try and not laugh at us when he watches people uncomfortably listen to us hahah now every time we get rejected we imagine K somewhere nearby laughing at us!  

Later Thursday night sister Wilson and I went oyming on campus, and we talked to this guy that we really had to force a smile with. When we finally walked away we were both pretty upset, and not one minute later this super cute Chinese girl comes walking down the sidewalk and we muster all the loving energy we have to say hi to her! And in the blink of an eye we weren't angry anymore because this girl turned our whole attitude around. She was the sweetest person I've ever met! She's from china and she told us she's heard of Jesus Christ through her aunt. We showed her the Because of him video and talked about how everything is made possible and made right through our savior. SHE LOVED IT! she was so happy and we told her how much our lives have been changed because of Christ. She told us she would love to meet with us, and we texted her later asking if she would like to come to church and she said she would be there! 

Friday was new missionary training for sister McDonald and district meeting. It was all about stress and how to deal with the stress of begin on a mission. Our district is the bomb and make it easy to know that we are all in this together. We ate lunch on campus because there was a street fair going on in the middle of campus. So many different foods! It was the best because there were so many people there. We also thought we saw J at one of the booths, and we haven't heard from in weeks, so we made our way over there, but it ended up not being him and we got told about recycling instead. 

Saturday we helped out at the Pacific Northwest marathon and stayed at the finish line to give people medals when they crossed. It inspired to me run a marathon one day, and also it just made me super happy to be around people who just ran 26.2 miles and were smiling as they hugged their families and crosses the finish line! Even when it was raining. And then it poured all day! The most it's ever rained in one minute! 

Sunday was Mother's Day so we made pancakes to celebrate the moms all around world! Church was really good! When we walked in we started looking for K and as we were coming up on the side doors he walked in!! We were so excited! And then right before church started Q walked in!! They both stayed for sacrament meeting  which was all about the roles of women, and also about making the future what you want it to be. Our stake president and his wife spoke. And there was a quote that sister Barnes used in her talk that says "there is a difference between what you've done, and who you are." I love that because it's saying that you can't let the past define you, but you can become someone that you know God knows you to be, and learn from the past. It also relates to president Barnes talk about making the future what you want it to be. He told a story of his dads childhood compared to his childhood, and how his dad took what he saw happen and changed it so that his children and family could have the love and joy in the home. He was able to learn what he wanted for his future and his family and make it just that. We can learn from the things we do as well as the things that others around us do, and make our own future! A, P, and L were all at church too. They're all doing so well! I'm so blessed to be able to know them and be a part of their lives and watch their testimonies grow every day. 

I love you all! Have a great week :) 

Love,

Sister Peterson