Knock Knock. Who Is It?

It was a great week!! It was a great and hot week. Something that I've Learned basically every day on my mission is that we need to be patient and keep working hard to see the miracles. It's not in us to give up if we want to have the reward. This past week was that lesson over and over again. There were times where it was hard and I would ask "is there anyone who wants to listen to us?" But God showed me that I only needed to keep knocking doors and talk to everyone and we would see the miracles from enduring. And they always come. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with K. We ate with her at a member's home and then we taught her the beginning of the restoration and she was so focused on what we were teaching even though there were children running everywhere. That showed to us her real intent of learning and feeling the spirit! We also focused on her relationship with god and how she is a daughter of god as well as her daughters and her husband is a son if god. We talked about how much this gospel will bless her family especially as they read and pray together. She told us she read the restoration pamphlet to her husband!!! Her desires and effort it all there. We are so excited for her and her family We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She said she would continue to read the Book of Mormon and I know she will come to have a strong testimony of Christ by reading that book. 

Thursday we had service at meals on wheels and then later we met this woman named J as she was walking around our apartment complex with her children. She told us she has a faith in Jesus Christ and has seen so many blessings because of it. We talked about how much what we have to teach blesses families and how god put us here in our families to learn and to grow. And also to strengthen our foundation in Christ together. She told us she would love to meet with us and her boyfriend talked with the sisters before! 

Friday we had district meeting and it was so good! President and Sister Russell came to our meeting and we talked about working with less active members more and helping them come back to church. And then we did role plays on inviting someone to be baptized and helping them over come their concerns. 

Then sister Rhees and I went out to a far off place in our area called Lowell. It was very hot outside and we had to walk up a huge hill to get to the street we wanted to tract. We knocked on this one house and a man opened up and told us they already went to a church and they wouldn't be interested. But then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and he said "wait you're Mormons?" And we hear a woman in the background yell "let them in!" So we go inside and sit down and the woman holds up a book that says "temple records" on the front cover. It was her genealogy from 1750 and noted that their temple work was done. She told us it was her moms Book, but her mom passed away so now she has it. She also told us that her mom was a member of our church but that she was not. 

They told us they loved Mormons because they've lived in a community where all their neighbors were from our church. It's nice to see people have good experiences with members of the church! But we talked with them for a while and she told us she doesn't believe in God but we shared with her that god still loves her and her husband no matter what. They were the sweetest people and she was our personal self esteem booster because she kept telling us how lovely we were. 

We also had a lesson with a part member family. The partners are members but their kids are not so we've been trying to teach the kids, but this night we just talked to the mom about how much this means to them and how Important she is making this. She told us she really wants her family to come to church and her daughters to come to know Christ and his teachings. She said right now she is has to be the strength for her family. We told her that may be true right now but one who has that strength helps others to become strong too. We read D&C 84:106 with her and i love that scripture so much. We also told her that because of her strength in the lord her family will become strong as well. 

Saturday we went on exchanges with the sisters in 5th ward. It got a little above 100 degrees so it was a little warm. Ok it was super hot! We taught a lesson outside so we were a sweaty mess. I was with Sister Hammond and she is from Argentina. She's a fantastic missionary! We tracted a lot and realized halfway through a street that we were in the wrong area, but we found a couple less active members for the elders to go see! We also met a woman on the sisters side of the street who took a Book of Mormon and is excited to read it with her family! 

Sunday was the best day ever! Church was amazing and C came :) she's a woman we've been trying to set up a lesson with for a couple weeks, but she doesn't feel well most of the time and regardless of that she came to church! She's amazing. Aubrey Crook gave her farewell talk and she's leaving for The MTC and then to Brazil! We were in the ysa together and now I'm in her home ward! Then we went to Eugene for N's baptism!!! When I got there and saw him he was so shocked cause we went sure if we were going to make it and he said "Sister Peterson!!!" It was such a beautiful baptism. The talk on baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost were amazing and N looked so happy. When the baptism was over I asked him how he felt and he said he was overwhelmed with the spirit. It's just so amazing that when we met him two transfers ago on campus he told us he wasn't sure if god was real, and now he is making his way through the Book of Mormon a second time and he has a testimony of god and Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. It's amazing what god can do for his children when they are ready to listen to the spirit. 

When the baptism was over we went back to our area and a recent convert of last October was ordained the the Melchizedek Priesthood and we were so lucky to have been there. It's amazing to me that Gods power is on the earth today and I know it because I can feel it. When we left sister Rhees and I were looking at a list of people's names to go and contact and one name stood out to both of us, so we went to contact him and he was sleeping. I am a firm believer that god always has a plan for where we need to be and whatever it takes to get us there he will make it happen. Sister Rhees felt prompted to walk down one of the streets close by so we did and we talked to a couple people that were super uninterested. But then I felt prompted that we needed to knock on one door in particular and we heard a woman tell her kids to get ready for bed so we were like oh no she is not going to be happy to see us! But she opened up and was so nice! Her name was J. We told her who we were and she told us to come back next week because it was bed time, but she was really open to letting us talk about how much God loves her because she is his daughter and she gave us a time and day to come by again! 

Then we were walking down the street again and talked to this woman that kinda was mad towards us but then sister Rhees felt we needed to knock on this other door, so we did and another woman opened up! But she looked behind her and said "you were right!" So in my mind I was like oh no... but this woman told us that she hadn't been to church in a long time because bad things have happened in her past, but the spirit took our words and talked to her about how we won't ask probing questions and we don't know her challenges or what happened but we do know that people are not perfect, but that god and Christ and His teachings are and that's what I know and why when things happen you good on to the truth and your rock. It never changes. She seemed to really relate to that because she told us that she wants her daughter to learn more about Jesus Christ and God and so she told us that we could come back and talk to them both! Their names are A and A. I love how the spirit works in people to show them that God is always aware of their needs. And it's amazing how we felt like we needed to see Jeremy, the man on our list, and we ended up meeting more of His children. Miracles! Everything happens for a reason. 

I love you all! Have a great week. And when it gets hard remember that God is very aware of you and when we are patient we will see that his blessings do come when we endure. 

Love, 

Sister Peterson