October 7, 2013

So, I'm going to start by apologizing for the lack of letter last week. Myldsmail was having trouble last Monday, so none of the emails sent on last Monday got to my inbox, and I spent most of the time waiting and hoping I would get an email. And then I realized after my time was over that I hadn't sent you one. Sorry!

 

So, transfers are over, and I am still in Kamloops. Not really a big suprise. I still have at 6 weeks of training Sister Foley, and I have a feeling I might be here for a long time. There is a lot of work to be done here. There are a lot of people who need the gospel, and there are a ton of less actives. It's absolutely overwhelming sometimes. We just don't know where to start sometimes. So we just go and work, and somehow work it out.

 

Conference and transfer meeting in one week was spiritually filling and exhausting. And we have a zone conference this week as well, which is going to be pretty exciting. It is so invigorating to be taught by our leaders! I can't believe I ever took conference for granted. It was amazing, and I can't wait to see what comes from applying the direction received.

 

There was a lot of messages about missionary work. So what are you doing all doing to help the missionaries? One thing that we challenged a family to do recently is to develop a family mission plan. In the last chapter of Preach My Gospel, it talks about working with stake and ward leaders, and it also talks about the ward mission plan. The ward mission plan is what directs the missionary efforts of the members of the ward, but the principles can be applied to a family as well. There is someone out there who needs your help, but you have to act to help them. Developing a family mission plan will give you the direction and the plans to help them. One example of such a plan can be found in the September Ensign in the article entitled "Two New Deacons." I want to extend the same challenge to you as we did to this family. Develop a family mission plan in the next two weeks and then begin to implement it. Fast and pray about who you can help. The Lord will place you in the path of someone, or place them in your path.

 

Biggest news in Kamloops is that Sister Peterson is completely unobservant. Sister Foley and I were approached after conference yesterday by a young man named J who wants to take the missionary discussions. It was super cool, but he has been in church for the last three Sundays now, and I didn't know that he wasn't a member. So, I need to get to know this ward a lot better. We are teaching him tonight, but it smarts a little that I didn't know that he wasn't a member. I feel a little stupid. But that's okay, because he is ready!

 

I love you all!

Sister Peterson

September 23, 2013

It is absolutely ridiculous that this transfer is almost over. I think I probably say this every week, but I can't believe how fast time goes.

We are finally getting some solid investigators, and it is really making a difference. It's crazy how having one or two teaching appointments with solid investigators in one week makes everything so much better. But really, as a missionary we are called to invite people to Christ, and when no one will listen, even if you are trying, it can be really hard. But if just one person listens, it makes it all worth it. And right now, we have three.

 

B is so funny. He works in construction and is super relaxed. His wife, A, is also an investigator, but she is so busy with school that she isn't there most of the time. So we always have a member with us. But he loves it. He is so interested in the Book of Mormon, and he is willing to read it, even though he says he has trouble reading. It is going to be amazing. He wants to start going back to church, so hopefully we can get him to come to church with us, instead of the Catholic church. He is amazing to teach.

 

J is 16, and has no religious background at all really, but she wants to learn about people and what they believe and when Sister Foley and Sister W found her, she agreed to meet with us. She has a lot of questions, and I think she is really looking for something to help her. She's a little different to teach, because we have to start at the very beginning and move very slowly, but it is working, and hopefully she will be able to gain a testimony for herself, instead of just having an intellectual approach.

 

The third person is a miracle. Her name is C M, and the senior couple found her at McDonalds last Monday when they were trying to facetime their daughter (senior couples have completely different rules!). She lives near some of the elders, and she came to the corn roast and to church on Sunday! She is super solid, and we haven't even taught her yet... But since it was the missionaries (myself included) giving the talks on Sunday, on the subject of conversion, she ended up getting basically the whole first lesson over the pulpit. It was kinda funny. The elders didn't even know she was there, and there was one of them, basically reciting the first lesson to her. She seemed really excited about it. So here's hoping and praying that it works.

 

Also, we are supposed to baptize in October. President Tilleman has given the whole mission the challenge for every companionship to baptize in October, and since we don't have any baptismal dates yet, this is going to take a miracle. So our focus right now is on finding/teaching someone who can get baptized in October. It seemed impossible a week ago, when President issued the challenge, but since then, we have seen miracles, which, if we are able to follow through on, will make it possible for us to do so. It's going to be amazing.

 

Also, can't wait for General Conference! I am so excited for that. I just love it! It means so much more to me now that I am on a mission. I can't believe I ever took it for granted before!

 

Love you all!

Sister Peterson

September 16, 2013

This week, like all others, has been hectic and crazy. Lots of finding, not a lot of results. But there have been some, so things are getting a little better. It's very interesting. We are seeing a lot of really cool miracles, and I have had the opportunity to be involved in quite a few, but they aren't for Sister Foley and I. We just happen to be a little part passing them along.

 

For instance, yesterday. A few minutes after sacrament meeting started, our elders quorum president, Brother B, came over and pointed out a woman and her two kids who are not members who had just come in, because they wanted to see what our services are like. So, after sacrament, we went over and introduced ourselves. Her name is G, and she is from Romania. She has never met the missionaries before, and her only contact with the church is nothing short of a miracle. It's a bit of a long story, that starts a while ago, so hang in there. So, a while ago, the Kelowna YSA sisters were teaching this young man named M. He has had a lot of trouble, and he has smoked weed for the longest time. But through a series of miracles, M was able to get clean and be baptized. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. M works as a server at a restaurant in Kelowna, that G and her kids are eating at, and he is their server. She overhears him talking to a friend about the church, and what we believe, and our values. G told us that she absolutely loved what she overheard him saying, so she asked M about the church. He told her about it, and told her that there was a ward (acutally two!) in Kamloops that she should visit when she got home. So she did. Yesterday, she called a cab and paid $20 to come to church, without knowing anyone or anything else about us, beyond what M had told her. And she wants to be baptized. It's crazy! She lives in the 1st ward boundaries, so either the senior couple (who work with that ward and just got here on Thursday) or the other sisters will teach her. They'll have to work that out. But she is absolutely amazing! Usually we have to work really hard to get people to come to church, even when they are actively investigating, and she came and asked about baptism, before we said anything! The actual question was "So do you do baptisms here?" What a question to ask missionaries!

 

The Lord loves us! That was such a pick-me-up, and I really desperately needed it. Even though I won't get to teach her, having G in church really made all the difference. It would have been 4 weeks without an investigator in church without her, and I was so tired. But having G there really re-energized me. The Lord knew that I needed something small, and so He allowed me to be part of that miracle, and I am so grateful! Is it still hard? Yes. Do I still have trouble keeping up my spirits sometimes? Definitely. But have I had a day yet in Kamloops where I haven't had something good happen, even if it was just having a member glad to see us? No, every single day, the Lord has given us something. I have just have to look for it. There are so many things to be grateful for!

 

Love,

Sister Peterson

September 9, 2013

This week has been exhausting, but better than last week. I still feel like I really don't know what I am doing, but at least we are starting to find people. It's really hard to be a missionary with no one to teach. It is so easy to get stuck in a mindless rut, and then it is even easier to get discouraged. Especially if you start to compare yourself to other missionaries around you who aren't struggling. But each area is different, and each companionship is sent to where they need to be, when they need to be there. It's kinda funny though. There is another set of sisters in Kamloops, who serve in the Kamloops 1st ward. They got here the same time we did, and they are having a ton of success. But everyone keeps mixing the two of us up. We got a call from the zone leaders the other night asking about our baptismal date. We don't have a baptismal date, and we kinda laughed, because we are so far from a baptismal date right now. :) 

 

Anyways, We finally found some new investigators this week. Sister W and Sister D came up to Kamloops for exchanges, and they really helped us out. Sister W and Sister F found 4 new investigators, and Sister D and I were able to find one as well. Only one of them was at their return appointment, and he really wasn't that interested, and doesn't want to meet anymore. So, we keep moving, keep looking and keep believing that there is a reason we are in this area. Maybe it is to learn patience. 

 

One thing that I have really been thinking about lately is how much God really does love all us, and how little some people understand about that love. I'll share two examples to illustrate what has prompted this. 

When I was still is Surrey, we knocked on the door of this woman from England. She and her husband are ministers, as well as her father and brother. She and her family had taken the missionary discussions back in England, but have some doctrinal points that they just can't wrap their minds around or agree with. But the one thing that she said really stuck with me, and really bothered me. She told us that until we accept God, He does not love us, and we are not His children. When she said that, I was absolutely horrified that someone could not only believe that, but teach that. To clarify, I asked a few questions, and discovered that, according to her beliefs, unless you are a Christian, you are not a child of God. This makes my heart ache for her and everyone else who believes that. The second experience happened this last week. One of the new investigators that we found (also the one who doesn't really want to meet with us anymore) told us that the only reason that the Gentiles got the gospel was to make the Jews jealous. He also hinted that he believed that if the Jews had been righteous, the Gentiles would never have gotten the gospel, because they were not God's "chosen people" and God cared that much about them, that they were just a means to an end.  Beliefs like that make my heart break. 

 

How grateful I am for the knowledge that God loves not only me, but all of us, that we are all His children, and He cares and would do anything for all of us! That is why we do missionary work! Because God loves all of us and wants us all to have the fullness of the gospel! "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" This is a promise to all of us! He loves us all and He sent His Son for all of us. We are saved through following Christ, and we are sons and daughters of God, loved regardless of our choices. We may break His heart when we choose to be disobedient, but that doesn't mean He loves us any less!

 

I love you all, and I hope that you have a wonderful week.

 

Love,

Sister Peterson

September 2, 2013

Tomorrow is my 5 month mission birthday. This is moving way too fast for my liking. I just want everything to slow down so that I can have more time. It's been an absolutely crazy week, and not much to show for it. Lots and lots and lots of tracting. And no one to teach. This really brings home the point that President Hinckley made when he said "The big initial task is first to find interested investigators. So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the members of the Church." We really can't do this on our own. We could tract every street in Kamloops and not find people who the members can find.

 

 I am so tired right now, and I am sorry this letter is super short. I can never think of what to say. So much happens, and I write it all down, but I never remember to bring the stuff with me to tell you. I will definitely write a longer letter next week. Love you!

 

Sister Peterson

August 19, 2013

Our grandfather passed away on August 15th.  So when she's talking about "finding out", that's what she was finding out.

 

It has been a hard last few days, but everything is working out. I actually didn't find out until Saturday night, because of problems with Sister Tilleman being able to get a hold of us, but that actually ended up being a blessing. Sunday was really hard to get through at first, and I think if I had known any earlier, it would have made Saturday impossible. Heavenly Father really does orchestrate everything.

 

As part of her advice to me, Sister Tilleman recommended that I study Doctrine and Covenants 138, and then share what I learned with you. Some of the things that I learned, I think you already know, because they are very similar, or the same as what you told me in your letters, but it is important, so I think it is worth repeating. 

 

Anyway, D&C 138 is a very beautiful revelation, dealing with the missionary work on the other side of the veil. I probably learned a lot more than I realized, but these are the things that jumped out at me.

Verse 7: This is a quote from 1 Peter 3:18. I love that the Atonement is for all of us. It is not just for the favored few. It is for the living and the dead and everyone who will ever live.

 

Verse 18: the very end of this verse was so powerful to me. Christ came "declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful." Jesus wants nothing more than for us to be free! That is why He has done so much and suffered so much for us. He did it so that we could be free and happy. His goal is for all men to be free from death, free from sin, free from worries and cares and problems. And this is all possible through the combined redeeming and enabling powers that make up the Atonement. All He asks is that we be faithful, that we follow the doctrine of Christ and endure to the end. He wants to bless even those who did not follow Him. But He can't personally visit them because of their choices.

 

So what did He do? Verses 29-32 explain that clearly. He organized His missionary force on the other side. He sent them forth to bring His light into the darkness. He set in action the greatest rescue mission in all of creation. Missionary work here, missionary work on the other side of the veil, and temple work are all to rescue God's children. Is there any greater calling that we could have, then to carry out this work on both sides of the veil, wherever the Lord calls us to go?

 

Verses 33-35 outline what they are to teach to the souls in the Spirit world. They are to teach the same things that we teach as missionaries here. They are to teach the Doctrine of Christ. It is often said that Preach My Gospel was written on the other side of the veil. Sometimes, I feel as if Preach My Gospel was written long long ago, and they were just waiting for us to be ready for it here. I think that they probably use it in the Spirit World as well. If so, Grandpa has a head start. I remember being told that while on his mission, Grandpa was taught to follow the same things that Preach My Gospel teaches, even though it was long before it was written. He was always so good at adapting to the needs of those he was talking to. I remember that while his advice to many of us was similar, it was also always adapted to our own individual circumstances. That is how Christ taught, and it is how we should teach as well. I learned so much of how I teach from watching Grandpa teach.

 

The final verses that I was strongly impressed about were verses 56-57. I can't summarize them properly, so I will just quote them. "Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men. I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead." This is where Grandpa has been called. We are all called to labor in the vineyard of the Lord, but each of us is given a special assignment. Grandpa has just been called to work in another part of the vineyard for now. There is a quote in Preach My Gospel on page 164 from President Spencer W Kimball that says "I hope to see us dissolve the artificial boundary line we so often place between missionary work and temple and genealogical work, because it is the same great redemptive work!" How true this is! As I was looking at my family history fan chart this morning, I noticed that there were some holes in it, and that some of those holes are Grandpa's ancestors. I am sure that he will go and find them, that he will teach them, and he will help us find them so that we can do their work. If it is our responsibility while on earth to find them and help them, how much greater that responsibility to help them when we are in the spirit world!

 

I know Grandpa is helping me and all of us right now. He loves us to much to leave us alone. How grateful I am for the Atonement right now. We usually focus on the redeeming power of the Atonement, but lately I have been learning quite a bit about the enabling power of the Atonement. The enabling power gives us strength to do things that would normally be beyond us, and that, along with the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation is what allows me to keep pressing forward. It really is true! Our Heavenly Father loves us so much, and all He wants is for us to be happy, and so He provided this for us. How appropriate it is that the Plan of Salvation is also called the Plan of Happiness! How blessed we are to have temples on the earth so that we can be sealed together for all of eternity! We don't ever have to wonder about life after death, or be afraid of what is going to happen. We know! It brings us so much peace to have this knowledge, and it is unbearable to think that there are people suffering without it!

 

I love you all so much. I will probably have some crazy cool things to tell you next week, because this Saturday, Elder Aidukaitis of the First Quorum of the Seventy is coming to speak to us! And it's transfer week, so who knows where I will be or who I will be with next week!

 

Love you,

Sister Peterson

August 26, 2013

 So, I got transferred. And so did Sister Ellgen. And so did Sister Mullen. They pulled all the sisters out of Surrey and put two brand new ones in. And now I'm in Kamloops. It's a city up in the mountains in the eastern part of BC. You are going to have to look it up on a map, because I don't know how to be more descriptive than that. Sorry. And I'm training again. My new companion's name is Sister Foley, from Liberty, Missouri. Apparently she knows Laura. Small world. The broadcast with Elder Aidukaitis was amazing. He talked a lot about being a new era missionary and working hand in hand with the members. It was so cool!

 

Anyway, it has been a crazy week. Lots of goodbyes and packing. I do not like packing. I can't remember how we did it when I went to or left the MTC, so it was a little stressful. Also, I did not want to leave Surrey. I love Surrey and all of the people there. It is so sad to leave. I'm definitely going to try and go back some day soon. And M! She is so close to getting baptized, and now I won't be able to help her or to see it. It breaks my heart, but I now that I am here in Kamloops for a reason. Now I just have to find that reason. Since we have gotten here, it has been nothing but finding. Since we are opening, we really have nothing to work with. The elders gave us a few potentials and some formers, but most of them haven't been contacted for at least a year, so we don't even know if the information is current. It's crazy. But the ward is wonderful. 

 

We are only teaching one family right now, but that in and of itself is a miracle. We have a family to teach and we haven't even been here a week. The husband doesn't seem as interested, but I think that as we teach them more, he will be. He had a son, her step-son, that died four years ago, so I think that the Plan of Salvation will really resonate strongly with him. I am so excited to be here. I can't wait to see the wonderful things that are going to happen to Kamloops. President has doubled the number of missionaries in Kamloops. There are two wards, each of which had a set of elders, and now each has a set of sisters. Sister Benson was also saying that whenever President sends in the sisters to an area that has never had them or hasn't had them in a while, he expects big things. So we are here to do big things!

 

Love you!

Sister Peterson

August 12, 2013

This week has been absolutely nuts. Just crazy. Monday night, we got a call from the Assistants, wondering if we would have room for another sister. They said they would call us on Tuesday if she was going to be staying with us. So on Tuesday, at 1:45ish, we got a call from the Assistants, saying we needed to be in Richmond at 4:30, to pick up a new sister, Sister Mullen, who was going to be our new companion for the next little while. Sister Mullen is from Calgary, and she is assigned to the Portugal Lisbon mission. She was there for 3 transfers, but the government gave her a tourist visa, so she had to come back here to get a new visa, so we are in a trio for the next two or so months. It has taken a little adjusting, because our apartment is very big, but I love it! It is so much fun. Not to mention, on her second full day here, we found a new investigator from Portugal. She speaks really good English, but I think it is easier for her to talk about some things in Portugese.

 

We have found so many new investigators this week! Before this week, it was super amazing if we found 2, and that was usually our goal. This week, we found 8! It's kinda funny, because the second week of the transfer, Sister Ellgen and I set a goal to quadruple our numbers, especially when it came to the key indicators. We have key indicators for baptismal dates, sacrament meeting attendance, member present lessons, progressing investigators, and new investigators. Well, as of this week, we have hit the goal of quadrupling our number of new investigators. Now we are going to focus on sacrament meeting. Once you find them, you have to get people to church. If you can find them and get them to come to church, everything else will start falling into place. They will meet members, who will come to the lessons. They will be more willing to keep commitments, which means they will be progressing. They will have a greater desire to be baptized, which means we will set a date with them. Church is so important!

 

L has continued to be such a miracle! She comes with us to so many lessons, and she is always willing to come on short notice, which can be really nice when a member cancels last minute. She just gets it, when it comes to just about everything with the gospel. There is an unendowed member temple baptism trip on the 21st, and she is going to go! I am so excited for her to be able to do baptisms for the dead. I can't wait to here about her experiences in the temple!

M came to church yesterday, and she hadn't smoked for a day. So we are going to see if it holds for a few more days, and then we are going to pick her up again. I really really want to be able to help her! Heavenly Father can do so much to help and bless her, she just needs to let Him! It is so frustrating sometimes, to see these people who need His help, but they won't let Him! Gah!

 

Anyways, I love you all! Transfer calls are in a week, and I'm a little afraid I'm going to get transfered out of Surrey. There are times when I don't think I would mind just staying here my whole mission. I love Surrey, and next transfer is going to be great. They are sending another set of elders to this ward. Right now, we cover half the ward, and the elders cover the other half. But next transfer, the two sets of elders are going to split the ward in half and we are going to cover the whole ward. Something crazy is happening is Surrey, and I can't wait!

 

Love,

Sister Peterson

August 5, 2013

Anyway, things are going a little crazy here. Saturday was my 4 month mark from entering the MTC. Crazy isn't it, how fast everything goes! Everything moves so fast. I feel like I am already running out of time, which is scary. Every day and every week seems to move so fast!

M is done. She is just not doing anything, she isn't willing to work for anything, nothing. She told us last time that she doesn't care that her smoking controls her, and she doesn't want to control herself. It breaks my heart. She is struggling so badly right now. She is getting evicted tomorrow, and 5 of her 6 kittens have died in the last three days. She just won't do it, so we are waiting for her to contact us, and we will move on from there.

L, on the other hand, is doing amazing! She was confirmed yesterday, and she is already doing missionary work. She came to two lessons with us last night, and she also told us after church that she has someone she wants us to teach. So we are going to her apartment on Tuesday afternoon and we are going to teach this woman she met on the street! She totally gets the idea of member missionary work! I don't know how I got so lucky as to be able to teach her and work with her. Her sister, Sister M, also came with us to the two lessons, and she is thinking about going on a mission! So cool! I am so excited to be able to see this family progress in the gospel. Sister M has been the only member for 12 years, and now she has her sister, and they are working on the rest of their family. They just get it.

I got to go on exchanges with Sister Cho and Sister Lee in Burnaby YSA this week. Driving in Burnaby is scary! The roads are super narrow, the turns are sharp, and the drivers are crazy. If I never have to do that again, I will be grateful. I was driving their car, and it has such a wide turning radius! I'm just grateful nothing happened. We found a new investigator for them! Her name is B, which means smile in Egyptian! Her name definitely fit. She was so happy. We also found a potential for the Burnaby family ward. She was so excited about the idea that she could have a personal relationship with God, and when we gave her a Book of Mormon, she held it like it was so precious. The missionaries who get to teach her are going to be so lucky.

Heavenly Father has really poured out his tender mercies on us this week. We found 4 new investigators, which is the most I have ever found in one week. On Saturday night, some of the Filipino ward members were having a BBQ, which they invited us to. Unfortunately, it was during finding time, and there wasn't going to be anyone there for us to teach, so we decided to go tracting instead, which was kinda sad. Anyway, we were knocking on doors, and one woman opened the door, and we started talking about having questions answered, and she mentioned that she had several questions that she really hadn't ever figured out, like where are we from, why are we here, and what happens after death. Funny questions to ask missionaries! Anyway, we had a great discussion about answering those questions, and we got an appointment to come back this next weekend. So we kept knocking doors. After a few more doors, we got a call from one of the members, who was at the BBQ, who said she had some friends for us to come meet, who wanted to learn more! So not only did we end up getting to go to the BBQ and to meet and teach some nonmembers there, we found a new investigator! Not to mention the Filipino food they fed us. It is so good. We are spoiled with all of our wonderful members. We really are blessed as we are obedient. It's so cool!

Love you all,
Sister Peterson

July 29, 2013

L was baptized last night! I've attached the pictures, but I realized a few minutes ago, that I forgot to take the date stamp off. Luckily it's not covering up anything important. I guess I'll never forget the date. For more reasons than just one. :) Her baptismal service was absolutely amazing. She asked me to sing The Lord is My Shepard, and I was really kinda nervous, because I wasn't sure how well I would be able to hit the high notes, but it ended up working out well. The elders also had an investigator baptized last night, A, and so it was extra special. Two baptisms this week and two confirmations next week! L was so prepared for this and she is so happy. It was such a spiritual experience.

 

The Surrey 1st ward has also started something special in the last few weeks. Every Sunday, right after church, the missionaries, ward missionaries, ward leaders, and any members who want to, gather in the kitchen, have a quick lunch, and then divide up into groups of 2-4 people and go out and visit as many less actives and recent converts who weren't in church as we possibly can. This has already seen some success. One of the members who was visited last week actually came to church this week and came out with us afterwards. The elders last week were able to have a wonderful experience with one of the members and give them a blessing to help with some issues they have been dealing with. Yesterday, we were able to teach a woman who was baptized just over a year ago who has been struggling quite a bit lately, and by the end of the lesson, she was fully committed to reading the Book of Mormon everyday. As we were leaving she said that she would try to, but then she corrected herself and said she would, no matter what, and then she repeated it several times. Missionary work is never over. She may have been baptized, but she still needs help. And her fiancee is expressing interest in the church. It never ends, it just keeps on giving.

 

M is still struggling. We have taught her, as simply as we possibly can, everything that we can and everything that the Spirit leads us to, and it is up to her now. If she can't keep her quit date for this Wednesday, we are going to have to place her in a reflecting pool. Every time we go to teach her, we start with our lesson plan, but the Spirit leads us back to how much her Heavenly Father loves her and how she needs to give up smoking now. But I don't think she is really listening. It's up to her to exercise her agency and make the right choice, but I don't think she is. She kept telling us on Saturday that she wasn't ready to quit yet, and I don't think anything is going to change dramatically enough between now and Wednesday to make her ready. But I don't know that. There may be a miracle. I desperately hope so. She needs this so badly.

 

This has been so hard, but so good. And yesterday was just the thing I needed after an exhausting and long week. We have three appointments for tonight, and hopefully all of them will go through. If they do, we should have at least two new investigators, on a Monday night. That would be a wonderful miracle.

 

Love you all!

 

Sister Peterson

July 22, 2013

This has been both a wonderful and bad week, all at once. We almost hit the standards of excellence. Once again, we were just one short. We only had one new investigator this week instead of the two we aim for. But we will get it next week. It's going to happen. I feel like I am constantly bordering on overexhaustion, but I am feeling wonderful about it. We are working so hard, and having so much fun together and I am absolutely loving it.

 

L had her baptismal interview on Saturday night. She is all set to go and will be getting baptized next Sunday at 5:30! I am over the moon about this, in case you couldn't tell. I love it. She is soaking everything up and just loving it all. She is so prepared, she really doesn't need the missionaries. Her sister did a lot of it, and we just showed up. So cool.

 

Our new investigator, My, is golden as well. She has three kids, and the oldest turns 8 tomorrow, so we are hoping that she will start listening and participating in the discussions so that she can be baptized as well. They came to church yesterday, and I was reminded of how our family used to be when everyone was smaller. Her two other kids are 3 and 1, and they were a little wiggly and crazy. The only difference was that I couldn't hold them and help keep them still. But My enjoyed church and we are going to see her hopefully tonight. Her baptismal date is currently for August 18th, which we set after the first lesson!

 

M, on the other hand, has dropped her baptismal date. She's still smoking, and I don't think this is going away overnight at all. She has been smoking for over 40 years! We just found that out. She told us last night that the church is for her and that praying and reading the Book of Mormon has helped her moods and makes her feel good, but she can't seem to give up the smoking! She is under so much stress from different situations, which just makes it worse. But we challenged her to throw it all away and to trust that Heavenly Father would take care of her, and she almost did it, but backed out at the last second. She did say she would pray about doing it when we came to see her tomorrow. I honestly feel like she is one of the big reasons that I am in Surrey, and I desperately want to help her. I don't know if I have every wanted something so badly! Please pray for her. She needs every last bit of help she can get right now.

 

Sorry it's a little short, but I am out of time. Love you all!

 

Sister Peterson

July 8, 2013

I have an awesome foot tan. I'm attaching a picture that I took during dinner at the library the other day. Guess that's what happens when it is summer and you are out walking all day. It looks a little weird though. But I like it. :) Everything has been crazy this week. It's our final week (fingers crossed really tightly) on the bus, so hopefully that will help with my exhaustation. I also get to take a long nap today, because Sister Carroll is going to spend most of the rest of P-day packing. I drop her off in Richmond tomorrow morning, and then I have no companion until Thursday, so they are putting me in a tri with the Langley sisters! I am so excited to get to work with Sister Wright and Sister Stewart. They are absolutely amazing and I love them so much.

There is no time to even breathe right now. M is still progressing towards baptism, but I'm a little worried. This week is critical, because her cigarettes run out either today or tomorrow, and after we see her on Tuesday, we won't have the chance to see her again until Saturday at the earliest. I am so grateful for cell phones, because we can stay in touch, but I am worried about her being alone with nothing to distract her this week. I am just praying that she won't buy more cigarettes and that she will come to church this sunday. She has to do something, or baptism on the 4th won't happen.

On the other hand, K and L are amazing! Not to say that M isn't, but they love it all!! They came to church, stayed for all three hours, and L actually particpated in answering questions in Relief Society. They believe that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet and everything! They are so golden and sweet and just amazing. The only thing holding them back is that some of their family is a little disapproving, but they have Sister A, who already has done all this on her own, who is supporting and helping them with everything. It is a little ironic that we have been working our hardest and searchign everywhere to find people like K and L, and they live right down the hall from us, and we already knew them. Right under our very noses. Gah!

Please, please please! Be careful about the example you set! There is always someone watching and you never know what it might do! One member slandering another on facebook nearly lost us the T's. They came so close to telling us not to come back, because one member had an immature moment on facebook. It is only because several other members have been wonderful examples that they are still willing to learn. It is so important that we always always set a good example in everything we do. When we are baptized, we covenant to take upon ourselves Christ's name, and nonmembers know that. As a missionary, I wear his name everyday. We have a high standard to live up to and we have to do it! Just as a member found us the M's, a member nearly lost us the T's. Everything in missionary work is intertwined with the members.

Anyways, I am so excited for this week. Transfers, the sister conference on Friday and just meeting new people and teaching them! It's going to be a great week. Also, the other pictures are from last night as we were walking home. Sometimes Surrey is just too pretty. It just needs less power lines :)

Love you!

Sister Peterson

July 1, 2013

The fireside went so well. Three of our investigators showed up and they had the chance to meet President Tilleman. They all felt to Spirit so strongly and it was absolutely wonderful! I am so excited for the progress that they are making! We actually set a baptismal date with M. She said she will be completely done smoking by the 14th, and she committed to be baptized on August 4th, exactly 3 weeks later. This is really going to work this time. She really will do it this time. I know it.

The T's have dropped off the map a little. Brother T. had to go to Calgary for business, but because of the flooding, he didn't know when he was going. So he has now gone and is back, and hopefully we will be able to meet with them this week.

 

I know that finding so many people is still useful and wonderful work, but sometimes it is just exhausting. You get so much energy from talking to someone and then to realize that you won't be involved is a little draining. But I met one of the guys we passed to the elders yesterday at church. He is really solid and I am glad that he is progressing.

 

I actually had to give a talk yesterday. The topic was whatever I chose, and I ended up changing at least three times, before I wrote an outline Sunday morning. I focused on Alma 5:26, and how we can "feel so now" if we don't currently and how we have to share that feeling with others, even those who are strong in the church. Apparently I said some really profound things and helped a lot of people. I actually talked for about 25 minutes, which I have never done before. One of the members actually posted a quote from it on facebook and her friends from all around the world have been sharing it. I kind of want to get the quote from her, because I don't remember what it was. It's a little intimidating, but this is the exact kind of thing that the broadcast was talking about. Missionary work on facebook and other social media. It's wonderful to see how our members are so involved in sharing their testimonies with others in simple ways.

 

Sorry it's a little shorter this week, I am super tired. Definitely going to try for a nap at the end of P-day today.

 

Love you all,

Sister Peterson

June 24, 2013 Pictures!

So, these are just a few pictures, I haven't really taken many here in Surrey. There's one with my name tag and a Canada tag that someone had on their suitcase, 

 

 

one of my apartment, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and one of the origami swan that an investigator gave me. 

 

I love that swan. The investigator really isn't that interested, but she is fun to visit with and she lives just down the hall from us, so we still see her occasionally.

Love you,

Sister Peterson

June 24, 2013

So, I was going to record something on my camera and send it to you, but I didn't. Well, I did, but it is super shaky and crazy and everything, and for some reason, I turned the camera on it's side halfway through, so I decided not to send it, because it probably would have made people a little dizzy. It was just the view from my apartment and me talking, and I can say the same thing in a letter and it might make a bit more sense. I'll send a few pictures instead.

 

This week has been ridiculous. You know how I said last week we had that referral? Well, we got a hold of her and taught her and she is absolutely amazing! Super golden, one of those miracle investigators. But she is 22. So we had to hand her over to the YSA sisters, which is kind of a bummer. In fact, in the last two weeks, we have had 11 people that we have found that we have had to hand over to other sets of missionaries! These people range from genuinely interested to absolutely golden. We even had appointments set up with some of them, and when we got their address, they lived outside our area! We have absolutely no idea what is going on and why we can't find anyone in our area to teach! We are finding so many people for other missionaries. It's a little discouraging. A few of those people even contacted us, or approached us first. That so rarely happens. Almost never do you get a call from someone who wants you to come teach them, and very rarely do you have someone come up and ask you about the church. It just doesn't happen. So when it happens and you have an amazing conversation and set up an appointment, only to realize you won't have the privelege to teach them, it can be quite a blow. And it has happened repeatedly. These people are so prepared, but they aren't prepared for my companion and me. They are prepared for others and we are just a conduit to get them to the right place.

 

We are hoping that the fireside will help us find people to teach. It is this Sunday, and we are desperately hoping everything works out. The ward is supposed to be doing a potluck dinner thing after, and we haven't heard anything about that yet, and yesterday was Stake Conference, so we are desperately hoping we are just out of the loop on the food. Otherwise, we could have a little bit of a problem, since it says on the invite that there will be refreshments afterwards. Hopefully, everything will come together and we will be able to have a lot of success. We really need it, not only for investigators, but for our ward. There are so many less actives and inactives and not a lot of support in helping them. We don't even know where some of them live, so it can be a challenge to visit with them. Lots of detective work going on here.

 

On the upside, M. is doing so much better. We think we finally figured out what her problem is with getting answers to her prayers. Usually, she prays and read the Book of Mormon, right before she goes to sleep and after she has taken her sleeping pills. No wonder she doesn't get much out of her reading and she can't get an answer to her prayers! She isn't even really concious when she is reading and praying! We also got her to commit to come to church next week. She wants to be baptized after she kicks her smoking, but we couldn't get her to come to church. So we just told her that she can't be baptized if she doesn't come to church. She looked a little shocked at that. Apparently she hasn't ever been told that by the missionaries that she has met with before. But she said she will work out the things with her meds so she will be able to come, so I guess it worked. She has also cut back to 6 cigarettes a day! She is timing herself to see how long she can go and right now, she can go up to three hours without smoking! That is amazing. She used to smoke 10-15 a day and she has almost cut that in half in the two and a half weeks we have been meeting with her.

And we finally got to meet with the T's. They are so awesome and we are going to be seeing them again tonight. They are kinda at that point where it is not "will they be baptized?" but "when will they be baptized?" I think they already know it's true, they just don't know that they know. And Brother T. smokes, but we can get past that. We just need to teach them the Word of Wisdom. Tonight is going to be great. They are coming to Bishop C's for family home evening and the kids are going to have a blast. M. and C. T. are 4 and 18 months and I. and G. C. are 4 and 18 months, plus Bishop's two older girls. I'm a little afraid of what the house will look like when the kids are done with it, so we told Sister C. we would help her clean up if they made a big mess.

 

And the broadcast yesterday! That was absolutely amazing. So often, missionaries have to fill their own spiritual buckets at the same time as filling others, but with the stake conference we had on missionary work and then the broadcast, I feel like mine has been filled more than it has lately. I am so excited for the changes in missionary work. I get to be a part of it! President Tilleman got a notice from the missionary department that they are going to be implementing those changes and that they are going to be complete by this time next year! I get to serve at such a changing time! It is so exciting! If you haven't seen it, go watch it! There is so much about what members can do to help missionaries. And we need the help of members. We need them every step of the way, because there is only so much that we can do. We need those who can truly befriend and lift investigators and less actives. I can't wait to see what happens as we all follow the advice and counsel of our leaders.

 

Love you all,

Sister Peterson

June 17, 2013

It's been a very interesting and exhausting week. I don't know why I have been so tired lately. I just don't seem to have much energy, which is no good, because I need to walk everywhere!

 

 We taught M  twice this week and she is doing a little better. The first lesson this week, we invited her to be baptized and she said yes, but when we invited her to set a date, she said that she wouldn't because she smokes. But she is willing to let us help her stop smoking, which she hasn't been willing to let missionaries help her with before, so there is progress there. When we met with her the second time, she had cut back from 10-15 cigarettes to 8 cigarettes a day. It is wonderful progress, but she is trying to do it all on her own willpower, which isn't going to work. She isn't doing anything different when she gets a craving except trying to ignore it. She needs to be more diligent in her scripture reading and praying. The problem is that she doesn't exactly believe in God. She wants to believe in a lot of things, but she isn't willing to act on something to get that belief. It's a little frustrating.

 

We also saw R again on Saturday. That has to have been one of the most crazy lessons I have been in. Not that I have been in a lot, but still. We have slowly been reviewing the Restoration with her, and we talked to her about the Book of Mormon.

 

We've started passing out the invitation/pass along cards for the fireside at the end of the month. We have had some really cool experiences with that. On Thursday, we got a call from a guy named J. Someone had given him one of the cards on the Skytrain and he wants to learn more about how Christ can help him in his life. We haven't been able to get a hold of him since then, but he does want to meet. And people are more willing to take this card then a normal pass along card. Hopefully, this fireside will be a success.

 

We also got a HQ referral this morning. Apparently a woman in this area was looking at mormon.org and has requested missionary visits and she put down her number and address. So we are going to be following up with that this week. Hopefully she will be a really solid investigator. We definitely need some of those right now. Everyone seems to be flaking out lately, which is rather discouraging. I have a really cool foot tan though. I'll send you a picture of it soon, when it has a chance to darken a little more.

 

Love you,

Sister Peterson

June 10, 2013

It has been a very interesting week, trying to get used to the bus schedules. It takes nearly an hour to get anywhere and we aren't allowed to proselyte on the bus (according to transit rules, but there is no rule against friendly conversations about religion!), so we have to plan very carefully. My shoulders are killing me from hauling everything, including food and water around all day long. And sometimes I feel like I am just going in circles. Luckily, the bus system is relatively easy to figure out. We just have to make it to the bus stop on time, or we could be waiting for any where from 30-60 minutes for some buses. Which makes for excellent finding time, but it's not so good if we have an appointment. But we haven't gotten stranded or missed an appointment yet, so everything is working out so far.

There have been a lot of ups and downs. We have had some really solid potentials and formers that we set up appointments with, only for them to fall through. We are still teaching M, but there is only so much that we can teach a five year old that will also help his dad progress. We are honestly not even sure what we are doing, since M is very spiritually connected, but he doesn't seem to remember anything that we teach him. It's a little weird. We also started teaching K and L M, who are the mom and sister of a member who lives just down the hall from us. We really don't know how much they understand, because they are older and speak mostly Tagalog, but Sister M really wants us to teach them, and they are very friendly. They just seem pretty firm in their beliefs, and her other two sisters are not so keen on the idea, so it is going to be interesting. We also got a hold of a former named M. She struggles a lot and it's just a really sad situation, so hopefully we will be able to help her. The best part of the week was R and W. We finally had a real sit down lesson with R, not just a quick visit at work. She committed to be baptized when she knows it's true and when she feels like she can commit herself, but it will probably take a while, because she works almost every day. She does do the schedule, so hopefully she will try to arrange some time so she can come to church. W is a potential that we found while tracting one night. She said we could come back on Sunday, so we did. I don't think she was expecting us to come back. The rest of her family wasn't home, so we just talked to her. We taught her about the nature of God and talked a little about what we believed. She mostly seems interested in the fact that we aren't super serious all the time. Apparently the church they used to go to in Vancouver was full of people who were always stone faced and super serious, even outside of church. Honestly, that sounds a little depressing. She said she is going to talk to her husband and find out when we can come back and teach her whole family. It was really cool, because she didn't really seem interested at first, but as we talked, she really warmed up to us.

At the same time as all of this, we had so many appointments fall through, both with active investigators, former investigators and potentials. These people are really solid, or so we thought, but they just don't want to make the time for us. I guess we are one of the adjustable things in their life, and they figure that we will always be there. They just don't get it and we can't ever teach them, so we can't help them understand! It is beyond frustrating, especially when they don't let us know ahead of time. Now that we use the bus system, it takes a lot of time to get anywhere and we can't just run from one place to another. It takes a lot of careful planning and when they just aren't home or they don't show up, it really stinks. Hopefully, this next week will be better.

Love you,

Sister Peterson

June 3, 2013

This week has had a lot of roller coaster moments. I loved getting to see everyone who came in for transfers. I have missed some of the sisters so much! And transfers was so good. President Tilleman had so much good counsel. I think this is the first time that I have seen him that I haven't had an interview with him. We did have to talk to him about Y for a moment, but that was it. We also started the 40-day fast on Friday, and it has been working wonderfully. We are working with the elders to visit all the people and when we sent around the calendar again yesterday, it filled up completely! There were some definite suprises on some of the people who signed up, including a part-member family. This was a big deal, because it is the dad who is the non-member who signed his family up! The elders have been trying to work with him for a while, so they are really excited about being able to use this as an opportunity to teach him. We also managed to set up an appointment with a former investigator. Her kids are members, but she was never baptized. She comes to church with them and everything, so we don't exactly know what is holding her back. We have been trying to meet with her ever since I got here and we finally just dropped by, and she was home, but leaving soon. So she told us when we could come back to visit her!

 

The best part of the week was on Sunday though. We have been teaching a 5 year old for about three weeks now. His mom is a member, but doesn't want anything to do with the church. The dad has had some contact with the church, but isn't really interested in learning. They do want us to teach M (their son) though, so he can make his own decision when he is older. Yesterday, M and his dad came to church. I'm not exactly sure what Brother T thought of it, but M loved it! He was a little antsy during sacrament, but his primary teacher said he was so well behaved and engaged in the lesson! After church, we got stood up on two appointments we had, so we decided to drop by the Tb's and see how they were doing. The Tb's were former investigators that we put in a reflective pool, because they kept dropping appointments with us. But they were home and we had a good lesson with them. We spent most of the time getting to know them, because Sister C had only met them once and I had never met them before. Brother Tb has an amazing story. He used to be addicted to crystal meth and he fully credits God with saving his life and helping him get clean. He has been clean for 6-7 years now. We also taught them about the Godhead and how they are three seperate beings, which they totally believe. They seem to be one of those families that is not a question of will they be baptized, but when will they be baptized. Brother Tb's parents and brother are all recent converts within the last two years, and that is why they started looking into it.

 

The rest of the week has been absolutely a mess. We had a lesson with Y on Wednesday, and she doesn't want to meet with us for a while. She says that if she were single, she would already be baptized, but it hurts to much to know all this and continue learning and not be able to share it with her family. She also doesn't want to make commitments that she would have to break to keep her family happy. It is so sad! It's her husband who is causing all these problems for her and it makes me so upset! We did give her a family history card and encourage her to check it out with her husband. Hopefully that will help.

 

We have just had such a hard time finding people to teach! We only had four lessons this week, and only one of those was a member present. It is so discouraging! We have two actual investigators right now, and neither one of them are ever really available, so I'm not even sure they count. One of them is T. She is in and out of the hospital all the time, so it is absolutely impossible to ever schedule an appointment with her, and she doesn't want us to teach her girls without her, which makes perfect sense. But at the same time, it is so frustrating. The other one is R. We can only ever meet her when she is at work, because home is not a good place for her to meet. So it just depends on what her work schedule is and how busy things are, and right now, it is always busy. So we just pop in every once in a while and see how she is doing and share a quick scripture. But we never have time to teach.

 

We are getting our bus passes tonight, so away on the bus we will go for the next two or three weeks. We actually are really really lucky. The damage to the car is going to cost of 3000 to repair, and if it weren't for President Tilleman, we would lose all driving priveleges for the rest of Sister C's mission, and mine would be severely limited, meaning basically not allowed. But President Tilleman is incredibly merciful, and we get the car back after it has been fixed, so in two or three weeks. Such a relief. And hopefully spending time on the bus will allow us to find people we wouldn't have found otherwise. Who knows, maybe that will be where we find our next baptism. I really hope so.

 

Love you all,

Sister Peterson

May 27, 2013

This week has been both absolutely amazing and really really bad all at once. So, we are going to start with the bad stuff first so that everything will end on a happy note.

To start, my companion crashed the car on Friday. Everyone is okay, and there actually wasn't anyone else involved. She took a turn too sharply and nearly sent my side of the car into a ditch. We didn't go in, luckily. However, we did scrape up the front and passenger side pretty badly and the passenger side doors were jammed until Saturday morning, when we got that fixed. But sometime soon, we are going to have to park the car for two weeks. They are letting us wait until after transfers, because we are supposed to pick some sisters up, but it is going to be a long and exhausting two weeks. We are really going to have to rely on members and walk a whole lot. It's a big area, so I'm going to be really tired. I'm so glad my shoes have good support.

We also still don't have any new investigators, and we don't have any baptismal dates. We keep trying and trying, and everything keeps falling through. And no one will answer their phones when we call them! It is a little ridiculous. What is the point of having a phone if you never answer it? But that is all the bad, at least for this week.

So the good stuff! We have a half new investigator. The only reason she isn't a new investigator is because she doesn't know her schedule for this week and we weren't able to set a return appointment. She does want us to come back though, and she is within walking distance from our apartment, so she will be a new investigator this week! She does live in the elders' area, but because she is a single female, we are going to be teaching her.

Y is progressing well, she just has some really difficult choices to make. She talked to her husband about coming to church, and he said she could either go to church or she could spend time with her family. So now church feels like a choice between herself and her family for her. We are really trying to help her see how even just her coming to church will help her whole family, but it is all up to her. Sometimes, agency really stinks. President T is coming to her lessons as well, and we are going to ask him to give her a blessing to help her. She really does want this. She just has to take a leap of faith first.

We sent around the calendar for the 40-day fast yesterday, and it is almost filled up! There are only five days left to be filled, which is absolutely amazing! We are specifically fasting for three things: strengthen our recent converts, increase church attendance, and find two strong families to teach. With the faith and the full participation that our ward has, there is no way that we won't be able to accomplish these things. It does mean that we will be incredibly busy for the next long while. Which will be hard without a car, but maybe being without a car will allow us to find those that we need to teach. Lots of people on buses to talk to!

We have found a lot of great potentials lately. We just need to set up appointments with them. Lots of great things are starting to happen, we just have to push past the bad things. Transfers are this week, and we find out tonight what happens with that, but President T has already basically told us that both Sister C and I are staying in Surrey. But because I've only been here six weeks, we still go in for transfers. I'm really excited for that, even though it does mean less time teaching and finding.

I love you all!

Sister Peterson

May 20, 2013

This week has been a little crazy, both good and bad. We had so many lessons either set up or had a possibility of setting up, but almost all of them fell through. The two investigator lessons that did go through were complete opposites.

We taught I. again on Wednesday. We planned to get to the church a little early so that we could set everything up and make sure that everything was in place for the church tour. That plan went a little awry. Right before, we were tracting on a random street, and there was a guy walking up and down the street, with a little boy that turns out to be his nephew. Usually, I have a hard time approaching someone just walking on the street, but we had seen him two or three times, so I decided to cross the road to talk to him. Turns out, he is one of our potentials. He lost contact with the elders who used to cover this area, and his information isn't in our area book at all. So finding him was a miracle. He seems to be really interested, we just have to find a time to teach him. He really doesn't know when we can, because he is looking for work and his schedule is never the same., Anyway, it made us late to set up for I.'s lesson. He didn't seem very interested and a little preoccupied, but he did want to see the building, so we took him on the church tour. It was a little distracted, because he kept bringing things up like The Da Vinci Code. At the end, while we were in the chapel, everything started to fall apart. I love the member that we were with dearly, but I think she might have had a bad day or been under a lot of stress. She really started pushing him on church attendance. Even after we sat down to finish the lesson, she wouldn't let it go and basically told him that he was ignoring the Spirit. At the same time, I. had some very specific questions he wanted to ask, but couldn't get out, because the member kept interrupting him and us. He got very frustrated. Eventually we were able to begin to address his questions, specifically about the Godhead. We gave him some chapters to study and told him that we would teach him more about the Godhead next time. Looking back, we can see that this has been a concern for a while now. Apparently, both the lessons that were taught before I came involved the Godhead and the first lesson I taught did as well. My companion and I honestly felt like we nearly lost him with that lesson, and we were very worried about the next one. We shouldn't have been. Thursday, he called us up and told us he didn't want to meet with us anymore. He said that he appreciated us, but that we weren't professional enough and didn't show enough concern towards him. While we take these concerns at face value, Sister C and I believe that while we could have done better, I. was looking for a reason to get out, and this provided an easy one. He just wants a philosophical discussion, and we were trying to help him change for the better. So we probably would have had to place him in a reflective pool pretty soon. He did say that he is still going to read the Book of Mormon, so there is a little bit of hope for him.

Our other lesson was with Y. It also involved a church tour, but it couldn't have turned out any different from I.'s. Last week, we asked her to start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning, specifically 1 Nephi 1-2. She loved it. She was drawing all the parallels between her life and Lehi and Nephi's experience. She even said her husband was a little like Laman and Lemuel sometimes. We hadn't even taught her about applying the scripture stories to her life. She is honestly amazing. She absolutely loved the church tour. We talked to her a lot about how this is all because God loves her. She loved the Young Women's and Young Men's programs and the Relief Society theme. She really really really wants this, she is still just hesitant in talking to her husband about coming to church! She felt the Spirit so strongly, especially in the chapel. She committed to talk to her husband this week sometime, so she should be coming to church really soon! President T is coming to our next lesson with her, and hopefully, he can help give her the extra assurance that she needs, because his family had a similar situation at one point. He has also agreed to give her a blessing if she wants one. She is so close! She just has to come to church!

We also had some less active/recent convert lessons. We never seem to have a problem getting those lessons done. We hit or exceed our goal every week. But we never seem to get our goal for investigators, even though that is our main focus. We usually have the appointments, but they almost always fall through! It's really frustrating, especially now that we aren't teaching Ifti anymore, we really only teaching Y. But we have some wonderful finding ideas that we are going to be putting into play within the next month or so.

The first one is a 40 day fast. The idea is that every day, a member or family will fast for missionary work and for the opportunity to do their own missionary work. Then either the elders or we will visit with the person or family and share a spiritual thought and see if they have any referrals for us or people that they have had experiences with that we could teach. Sister C has done this in other areas and it has been really successful. It's also a good way to get members involved, especially with the changes we have made to our dinner calendar.

The other one is kind of my brain child. In the front of the planner, there is a list of finding ideas, and one of them is a fireside. So at the end of June, we are going to have a fireside on Faith in Jesus Christ. President and Sister T are going to come speak and we are going to get as many people who live in the Surrey 1st ward boundaries in the chapel as we possibly can. The ward has also decided to do a potluck kind of thing afterwards, so that we can keep people there and talk to them. I really think that this will be good. This has also been incredibly successful in other areas, and we are talking to other missionaries who have done similar things and figuring out how we want to get people there and let them know about it. It is going to be really good.

Some people really have an interesting perspective on us. Last night, we knocked on the door of a man who really doesn't like Mormons. He claims to know all about us, but here's the funny thing. We started off by identifying ourselves as missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We talked a little about prophets and he asked who our current prophet was, so we told him it was Thomas S Monson. It wasn't until we mentioned Joseph Smith that he realized who we were. For someone who know all about the church, he is missing some crucial facts, like our name! He is also of the opinion that Utah lives in the medieval times still and that girls are all but imprisoned. When I told him I was from Utah, he was very shocked, and asked me how I managed to escape. At the same time, it was very sad. He was adamant that God exists, but that you can't know anything through the Spirit and that we are completely deluded. It's sad, but we tried. He just doesn't want to listen.

Hopefully, this week will have a lot more lessons! We really need the investigators.

I love you all,

Sister Peterson