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