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