The Miracle on 16th and Alder Street

This week was the strangest and best week. 

Monday morning we woke up to our alarm and then a text saying that we had a mission wife conference call. Sister Wilson and I were super disoriented as we tried to get on the call but somehow we made it on. President Russell came on and told us he felt inspired to have us all participate in a mission wide fast from 6 that night to 6pm the next day. It's a fast to help us stay focused and be led to people who are prepared to listen to our message of the restored gospel! We had another call at 6 to pray and begin our fast as a mission. 

That night after p-day we talked to people on campus and met this guy named k while he was playing with his dog. He told us that he searched a lot of religions before, and started going to an Islam church because everyone there is equal. We shared the scripture 1 nephi 17:35 with him and talked about how those who keep the commandments receive the blessings that he has stored in heaven for us. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he had a lot of great questions. He's a little lost right now and wants to believe but doesn't know how. 

Tuesday was so hard. We had been fasting all day and while walking miles on campus it began to get really tiring. We had so many great conversations with people and I think we walked the most that day than any other day. At one point we started to feel really sick and my lips turned blue. We decided to get in our car and say a pray for strength. Sister Wilson said the prayer and right when we got out of the car we both had a burst of energy! It didn't last super long but just enough to get us going again, and we felt less sick! We really saw the miracles of prayers being answered and God giving us strength to endure. We had another mission wide call to end the fast and President Russell shared a really great message about how amazing this experience has been and how our mission has decreased in the number of missionaries over the years, but we are still working just as hard. 

After we ate we had the best lesson with Joh!! Sister Russell came and so did a guy from the ysa. He told us that he read a couple more chapter in the Book of Mormon and asked some really good questions so he couple understand. We taught him the plan of salvation and he loved it! Sister Russell explained Christ's atonement and it was so beautiful! Sister Wilson explained that you can "cut the spirit in the room with a knife cause it was so thick." And then orson said that he loves the plan because he loves his family and it helps him know he can live with them again! And Joh loves his family too so it was perfect! When we taught about the celestial kingdom Johnny said that's where he wants to be. And we asked him what he would be willing to do to get there and we gave him a gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet and invited him to read it and then orson invited him to write down everything that he was Impressed to do. It was such a good lesson! Joh is so great! 

Friday we had the best district meeting! We all studied the Christlike attribute of charity as a district, but on our own throughout the week and we talked about it on Friday. I found out SO MUCH while studying that I didn't know before. Charity is the strongest form of love that you can have. I was reading in 1 Corinthians 13 and I liked verse 13 a lot because it says that above everything else even faith and hope we need charity. That's what's most important!! Without it we cannot inherit the kingdom of god. That's pretty important stuff. So every day this week sister Wilson kept saying "where is tour charity?" Instead of "where is your faith?" It was a good study! Also it's a gift and god will only give it to us as we ask him for it!  

It's a good thing we had that study about charity because we had to put it in to play with a really hard lesson after district meeting, but we were blessed because we sat down on some stairs on campus to regroup after our lesson and this guy was passing by us and we waved to him and because of that he came up to us and started talking to us! He said his name is Christopher and he's met missionaries before and he has a Book of Mormon and he's read a little of it and then we told him to keep reading and he asked where he should start! He also wants to meet with us again! It was such a miracle. 

Saturday was a little rough. It was just a hard day and we were on campus and saw k so we stopped to talk to him and we had the best conversation about God and how he can come to know God is real. And he really wants it but he is just so confused right now and it's really sad but we told him every time we see him it's god showing him that he is very aware of him.  I was nice to be able to help him and we both feel like we've known him forever. We just want to help him! 

I don't think Sunday actually happened because everything felt like a dream! Church was amazing and it was sister Wilsons first Sunday at the the ysa since transfers so she got to meet everyone. A, L and P were there looking as happy as ever! We are still meeting with all of them and teaching them the new member lessons and like I always say they teach us more than we teach Them! They're amazing. And L got called to be a ward missionary!!! Woo! 

We went on campus to OYM people and the bishops wife gave us two Books of Mormon to pass out and she wrote her testimony in each of them. So at 3:30 we were determined to hand them out before we had dinner at 5. We said a prayer and right when we got on campus we met a guy named M. He told us he believes in Christ but he hasn't been to church since he's been here and wants to eventually strengthen his relationship with Christ again, and we started to talk to him about how he can strengthen his relationship with Christ by reading the Book of Mormon and we handed him a copy that sister wight wrote her testimony in and when he took it he said "this is not a Book wasted! I will really read it if you give it to me!" He was super excited to read it!  

Then right after that experience with M we saw a guy sitting on a bench near the library and we went over to talk to him and he was the nicest person ever! His name is K and He told us that he is super open to listening to us and as we were talking with him we told him about the Book of Mormon and if he reads this book he will know how to fully follow Jesus Christ. He was super pumped about it and he took the other copy that had sister wights testimony in it!! We talked about how Christ is the example for us in all things that we do including the way he was baptized and invited him to be baptized when he came to know these things we are true for himself and he said yes!  

We had dinner with the wights and got to tell her that we passed out both of the Books of Mormon that she gave us. That was pretty exciting :D  

After dinner we went back on campus and we saw K walking home!! He stopped to talk to us again and he said he was super excited to meet with us on Thursday. He's basically our best friend now. When we were done talking to K we kept walking and started talking to a guy sitting on a bench and his name was also K !! He told us that he believes in God but that Christ is only a really good teacher from what he's studied. He asked us how we came to know that Christ is our savior and we talked about the little things that have brought us to our faith, and we told him that the spirit is a still small voice not a loud burst of thunder or lightning and we have to pay attention to it. He agreed with that and we talked more about Christ and his atonement. How much he suffered for us because he loves us. And we asked him how he would feel to know that someone cares so much about him to have done that and he told us he would want to know that and feel it. We showed him the prince of peace video and he really enjoyed it! Then we pulled out a Book of Mormon and had him read the last two paragraphs of the introduction which promise that as we read the book and ask god if it's true then we will know the truth of it, and we will also know that Christ is our savior! It's the promise that he needs! He took the Book and said he would be very willing to read it and meet with us.  

Right after that experience with K we walked around campus for a while and talked to more students and as we were coming back to the institute to sync or iPads we stopped this guy who was coming back from being at his frat house. He told us that his name and that his parents are Christian but he is struggling with his faith and asked us what Christ does for us and I said that he helps me know that there is always hope and right after I said that he said "I think that's exactly what I needed to hear because I'm going through trying to get in to this frat and It's hard but I'm hoping it'll work out and that just really hit me." 

He told us that it was fate that we all met because if there was ever a more perfect time to find his faith in Christ it was now. We gave him a Book of Mormon and set a time to meet. SO MANY MIRACLES!! We feel so blessed here and know that god is watching out for us and his children here on campus. 

Something that  i love about with being a missionary on campus is that you meet so many students that you see all the time! There's this one guy we've seen a couple times last week and he's always wearing a hot pink LA dodgers bag and whenever we see him he tells us about his day, and then we invite him to church but he says no. He's basically our homie. 

I love you all! Have the best week and shout out to my beautiful mom for being born on May 5!!! I love you ma :D 

Love, 

Sister Peterson