This transfer is going so fast. I can't believe we are already starting week 4! I feel like I just barely got back from transfer meeting!
Winter is over!! I feel like I can say that now, without jinxing it. :) But seriously. It is getting so warm. This last week, at one point, it was up to 16-17 degrees Celsius, which is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. So nice. And it means that I don't have to worry about freezing. Except when I think it is warmer than it really is and I walk outside with short sleeves and then remember to grab at least a light jacket. It cools off pretty fast still after the sun goes down. But I am so blessed to be in the Okanagan right now. The Lower Mainland and the Island right now are super rainy, and the North is still cold. So it is perfect right now. I am so grateful that I only have one winter and that I get two summers. I'll take a Canadian summer over a winter any day. I don't mind the heat, but I can't stand the cold. :) And I'm starting to get my foot tan back already. Blessings!
We had so much fun this week! We got to help the P's (a family in our ward) cut down the huge tree that was in their front yard. What I wanted to know was why the only ones helping were the missionaries! Brother P is 89! And no one was helping him! So the elders went over on Wednesday morning for an hour and we went over in the afternoon for two hours and cut and piled branches. Then we went back on Friday morning for just over 2 hours and piled the branches that were already cut in the truck and then helped him cut the rest of the branches. It was a blast! And the Ps are super cute. I love them so much! And they are working on introducing their neighbors to the gospel. There is a couple who lives next door who they have been helping out quite a bit recently, because the husband fell down an old elevator shaft and nearly died. So they've been helping them with errands and getting to the hospital and all sorts of things. And they've talked a little about the gospel, and they are going to give them a Book of Mormon this week! It is so wonderful to see how Heavenly Father gives everyone an opportunity to do missionary work. I remember a while ago Brother and Sister P telling us that they couldn't do missionary work because they didn't know anyone, and they never met anyone because they didn't go out much. But Heavenly Father has opened up the way for them to share the gospel with their neighbors through service, and their example, and now by sharing the Book of Mormon. So wonderful. And they are so excited about this. They have been asking us all these questions about how they should give them the Book of Mormon, and if they should mark favorite passages and so on. It is so cool! I love member missionaries! Prayer makes all the difference! I've included a couple pictures from the tree. The one with Sister Manaso and the pile of branches is what we cut and piled on the first day. The one with the truck is all of those branches, plus the elders' pile in the truck. There is a lot more in the truck than it looks like. Sister Manaso had a lot of fun jumping on and tramping down the branches. :) The last one with me is what we cut and piled on the second day.
E didn't come to church. :( She went on a weekend trip with her daughter instead. But she is going to go to church in Creston next week (she promised!). And we are going to see her again tomorrow. She is going to get baptized soon. She knows it is true. The elders in Fort St Johns have taught her a bunch, but she wants to start over, because it has been a while. So we need to teach her everything (that shouldn't be too hard) and then we need to get R out here to baptize her (that's the hard part. Why does he have to live in Calgary?) But we can totally do it! Heavenly Father has been blessing us so much lately, it is unreal. I am so grateful for all of the blessings that He has showered down on us lately!
This Sunday is Easter, and I am so excited. Easter is such a wonderful time of year. I am just so grateful for everything that Christ has done for me, and for everyone. Over the last year and a bit, I have come to know my Savior even more than I ever thought possible. He has been with me through it all, every heartbreaking, impossible, defeated or just plain old hard moment. But I think what means even more is that He has not just been there for the bitter, but also the sweet. I have felt Him in the moments when my soul was overflowing with joy and thanksgiving, so much that I couldn't even say a single thing. Jesus Christ didn't come just so we could get through our hard times, but so that we could have joy and gladness! We were created to have joy, to soar, to love and to live! We don't have to spend our days in sadness. Even when times are rough, through Christ we can be happy! He knows our pains, but He also knows our joy, and because He knows our joy, if we let Him, He will magnify that joy so that it reaches the point that it is almost too much for us! It is such a wonderful gift, and I am so grateful for this Easter season that we have to celebrate that gift!
I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister Peterson
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