Qualicum Beach, Transfer 12, Week 3, August 11, 2014

So... I know that a lot happened this week, but I can't tell you basically any of it. Sorry. My memory seems to be going the longer I spend in Qualicum Beach. I think my body and brain are just adjusting to the average age of the population here. :) I do remember a few things, so bear with me.

E is doing so great and she will be getting baptized on Saturday! It is so exciting, and the branch can barely believe it. Everyone seems so shocked. I guess it has been a bit of a really dry spell for them, and they are really happy to finally have people coming out to church and getting baptized. E has changed so much since we met her. She is so much more confident in herself and she is so much happier too! I love it. Seeing people change and seeing the gospel lift them is the best thing ever.

G finally came to church too! She looks a lot better, and she can actually walk pretty normally now too. It was a bit of a surprise, because she has said that she would come for several weeks now, but hasn't made it due to health. I'm so glad she was finally able to come!

Also, Friday was crazy. I finally got to go to Victoria! John Bytheway was speaking to the youth in Victoria Friday night and President Burt arranged for him to do a missionary meeting right before. So it was a day of meetings. Zone meeting in the morning, John Bytheway in the afternoon and again in the evening. Lots of driving. But super fun. Brother Bytheway was very good to listen to. He made some very key points about the Spirit and coming to Christ. I wish I had my notes with me so that I could share them with you. One of the things that I remember strongly though was that often, we don't even recognize that we are feeling the Spirit, and that most of us don't ever feel a strong "burning of the bosom" as in a caloric heat. Usually that refers to an intense emotion. But even that doesn't have to happen for it to be the Spirit!

We got to have some sisters stay with us on Thursday night before that, and two of them had been out for a year, and they brought a cake, so after planning, we were able to celebrate with cake and decorating their faces. Sharie gave me some oil face paint crayons, so we had fun with that. :) That's what the picture is from.

Also, this week coming is going to be super crazy. It's Sister Gibb's last full week as a missionary! Crazy! In 9 days, I won't have a companion any more. I still don't exactly know what will happen. Hopefully by the time I email next week I will. Otherwise I will be extremely lost as to what to do with myself without a companion!

As I said earlier, a lot of other things happened this week, but I honestly do not remember most of them. Sorry! I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 12, Week 2, August 4, 2014

It has been the most crazy week this last week, and I don't think it is over yet!! Everything is going great, but it also keeps trying to fall to pieces. Luckily, Heavenly Father is very kind, and has blessed us immensely, so everything held together, even if only barely. Also, it seems to be a thing that every time we have mission leadership council, we also do a blitz exchange, so we have almost no time in our area. But we see so many blessings, so I really don't want to complain. We were with the Nanaimo Sisters all day on Tuesday, and I got to work with Sister Teeter. She came out the same time I did, and I think she is just the best missionary. She is so inspired, and she works so hard. She is going home at the end of this transfer, and instead of being trunky or slowing down, she is working harder than ever before. She has had some really difficult times on her mission, but you would never know!! She is just a fireball. I love working with her, and I am so glad we got to do this exchange so I could work with her!!

Then on Thursday, we took a ferry over to Vancouver, because we had mission leadership council on Friday. The only problem: Today is a holiday (BC Day... I don't know why. Canadians really like long weekends.) so everyone was trying to ferry over to the mainland for the long weekend. Luckily, we got there early enough that we were able to make it onto our ferry. :) We also had Sister Holbrook with us because she needed to go to the airport to get her visa fixed, because they spelled her name wrong on it, and she couldn't get her license. So she came with us, and her companion stayed with some other sisters. Then we had to drive through Vancouver, and we did some street contacting with our last 45 minutes of the day. Street contacting in Vancouver makes me so anxious, because no one speaks English!! And if they do, I'm so surprised, I don't even know what to say. I'm just not a big city person, which would be why I am in Qualicum Beach! :) But it was really good. We were able to talk to some amazing people, and it was a really good experience for Sister Holbrook, because her area is teeny, so she was able to learn some new things. I'm starting to enjoy the city more each time, but I don't know if I'll ever be super comfortable with it!!

Friday was the best. Hands down. I love love love attending Mission Leadership Council. The Spirit was so strong and it just great. That's all I can really say. We talked a whole ton about increasing our faith and our vision. I love the Burts so so so much!!!!! They really are exactly what this mission needs, and exactly what I need right now. I learned so much from them and from the others in attendance. It really was so special. I am so grateful that I get the privilege of attending these meetings. There really isn't anything else like them. 8-9 hours with a short break for lunch of straight Spirit-driven counseling on what this mission needs and direct revelation on what we need to train our stewardships with. I stand in awe of the power that is contained within those meetings. There is a huge difference, just walking into the room. If you are in tune, you can just feel the Spirit humming. Usually, I would leave events like that just interested in the things I learned, and maybe motivated to do more, but every time I leave MLC, I am ready to run and I feel like I can conquer the world, but I am also dead tired. It's just the best.

Friday night was the real adventure though. To explain, there are two different ferry location in Vancouver, one south of Richmond, and the other at the northern end of North Vancouver. It's about a 40 minute drive with no traffic between them. Both ferry locations have ferries that go to Nanaimo, where we were headed. So we tried the one south of Richmond first. Not a chance. We got to the ticket booth at 5:45, and they said the ferries were full until 10:30 (which is the last crossing) and we might not even make that one. The one in North Vancouver was still pretty open, so we decided to head to that one. Unfortunately, we were going through rush hour, so it took us a little longer than we wanted to. We got there at about 7:05, and they were selling for the 9:30 ferry (their last crossing) and it was full. So no crossing Friday night! We went to Deep Cove and stayed with the sisters there for the night. We planned to catch the 6:20 ferry in the morning, so we left at 5:00 am and got there at 5:25, and the ferry was all sold out. We missed it by just a few minutes! So we caught the 8:30 instead, and made it back to Nanaimo. The Nanaimo sisters were absolute gems, and brought us smoothies, because we hadn't really eaten, and off we went. Honestly, I would be so happy if I never have to drive through Vancouver again. It is so stressful. Lots of traveling this week!

To top it all off, our kitchen sink is backing up. It's really fun, because today is a holiday and the plumber can't come until tomorrow. So until then, buckets under the sink, and plugs in the drains, and washing dishes in the bathtub! Always a new adventure.

But there are still so many miracles!! See what I mean about everything barely holding together? I think Heavenly Father is just giving Sister Gibb an exciting end to her mission. :) Honestly, I am so grateful for this last week, challenges and all, because it puts us exactly in the right place at the right time, to talk to the people we need to talk to. There was a person on the ferry Saturday morning that had talked to missionaries in Vancouver, but he drove a summer tour bus, so he hadn't been able to see them again, and had mostly forgotten about it, until we saw him while going back to our car! Crazy! If we had made the ferry we wanted to, we would have totally missed him. Heavenly Father has a plan, and we rarely, if ever, see all the pieces of it. We just have to trust that He knows what He is doing, and not question it. Everything worked out great. We met who we were supposed to meet, and talked to the people we were supposed to talk to, and if I have to lose sleep and eating time and my mind to do Heavenly Father's work and to fulfill my calling, well, I'll worry about that later. You only get one mission, and it is so short!

I love you all!!! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 12, Week 1, July 28, 2014

So... no transfers!! Sister Gibb and I stayed together, and I will be her last companion! No idea what will happen after I go home, but I'm not really worried about that yet. I'm sure they will tell me when they figure it out! Until then, I am going to enjoy every minute that I have with Sister Gibb. I am definitely a little better off when it comes to sending a companion home than I was at the beginning of my mission. Honestly, I had no idea about anything at all then!! It's amazing what time and experience can do for you. :)

Also, I'm staring at the computer right now, trying really hard to remember what happened this week, but honestly, I have no idea. I know Sister Gibb and I have had a lot of fun, and that we have worked really hard and seen a lot of blessings. I think one of my favorite things about being a Sister Training Leader is having a front row seat (well, not really a seat... we don't do much sitting!) to all of the miracles that happen with the sisters in the Nanaimo Zone and really seeing so clearly how God is hastening His work and blessing everyone so much! It really just makes me so grateful to be a missionary, and to know that God is there, that He loves me, and that He will help me! It simply requires diligent effort and lots of faith!

We've been teaching E a lot this week, and it is really making such a difference for her! She is changing so much, and she is really excited to come to church and to continue learning more!! Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make it yesterday, because her silly dog has either severely sprained or broken her foot. Also, that dog loves me. It's a little hard to teach with a big dog trying to crawl into your lap! But I am so excited for her!! This is making such a difference in her life, and she is so so happy!!

I love you all so much! Have a great week!!
Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 11, Week 6, July 21, 2014

And here we go again... Transfer calls tonight! I honestly have no idea what to expect. Sister Gibb is going home in the middle of next transfer, so we have a billion and one options running around that could happen. One of us transferred, no one transferred, becoming a tri, closing the area for the last two weeks of next transfer, getting a new companion for the last two weeks of next transfer... or any combination of those possibilities! It's so exciting and just really anxious. I just want to know. I don't care what happens (I probably actually do...) I just want to know!

But it was an amazing week. So much fun. We spent a ton of time tracting, but I love it! There really isn't anything better than getting out and talking to people about the gospel, even if they don't want to hear you! I think in this last week, we have spent anywhere from 2-9 hours tracting. It's bizarre, but that is really the thing that lifts my spirits. You honestly see so many miracles tracting, and sometimes you see things that are simply hilarious. Having a bad day? Just go talk to people and bear your testimony. You would be absolutely amazed at the difference that it makes in your whole outlook on the day!

Also, E is doing just great. Sister S is such a good friend! She came to church yesterday, and although she wasn't able to stay for all three hours because she was in a lot of pain, she really enjoyed the first two hours. I was a little worried about gospel principles, because the subject was something that was a little sensitive, but she was great. I just love her so much, and you can really see the difference that this is making for her. The gospel is just so true!!!

Also, we had a zone meeting this last week, and we decided to try something new. Both the zone leaders and our companionship really felt that the zone needed more companionship unity and help following the Spirit, so that was what we were training on. Usually one companionship will train on one part, and the other will take the second half. But in the spirit of more unity (which is one of President Burt's big areas of emphasis), we decided to have all four of us train together. It was fantastic!! The Spirit was so strong and I learned so much! Honestly, one of the most powerful meetings I have ever been in! I can't wait to do it again! This emphasis on unity is truly inspired, and I am so grateful to serve with both President Tilleman and President Burt, so that I can learn exactly what I need to learn!!!

I love you all! Have a great week!!
Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 11, Week 5, July 14, 2014

It has been so so so hot here this week!!!!! Like crazy hot. It is so humid and I am just dying. Somehow, when I was packing to come to Canada, I didn't think about the summers, even though I had two of those, and only one winter! However, the last summer, it wasn't as humid where I was, so I didn't sweat as much. Good thing we aren't worried too much about how we look! The most consistent comment we get at doors is "Aren't you hot?" Oh, yes, we are. But that's okay! Because it is worth it! There are some really nice people though, and a lot of them will give us water if we need it. Because there are so many grandparents who live here, they are always worried about us, even if they aren't interested! It's really funny!

We have really seen so many miracles this week. It's such a blessing. The week started off really really slow, and we kinda got in a rut. But towards the end it really picked up and finished off with a bang. I was really able to see the Spirit leading us to exactly the right place at the right time for everything! We had a couple drop by lessons with people who really needed us to show up then. So special.

We taught this one lady who we met several weeks ago about prayer and how she can have a completely open conversation with Heavenly Father, and it totally changed her completely. She had never heard of praying in such a personal way before, and it has really helped her. She said she woke up the next day excited for the day! Such a blessing. I love being a missionary!

So, the pictures are from a challenge to take a picture daily. You know you are getting to the end of your mission when your socks have holes! We are just hoboing it around here, because both Sister Gibb and I are getting ready to die! And we were tired. It's great. :)

Sorry it's so short this week! I love you all so much!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 11, Week 4, July 7, 2014

This last week has been one of the most busy weeks of my mission, but also one of the most fabulous! I love being a missionary so much. It is honestly been the best thing ever. Heavenly Father just sends so many amazing miracles to us and helps us so much, especially when we follow his promptings, even if it doesn't make sense! This week was totally a case in point for that. Monday night, we were out finding, and Sister Gibb got the strongest prompting that we needed to do an exchange with North Island the next day. So we did. It's a four hour drive to their area, so we left Tuesday morning and were there for the afternoon and evening and then left the next morning. But while we were there, the sisters were able to find 8 new investigators! And they are so so so solid!!!! It was amazing. Heavenly Father needed them to be in Port McNeill and Port Hardy that night, and they couldn't do it on their own, so He sent us to help them. I am so grateful that Sister Gibb listened to that prompting! We also had mission council this week and Sister Gibb was sick for a day, so with all of that, we only had about 25-30 hours of work time in our own area this whole week. But Heavenly Father just showered down the blessings, and we were still able to find so many people to teach and see the people we needed to see. It just doesn't make sense, but it really doesn't have to. Heavenly Father just provides when we are obedient. We work as hard as we can, and He magnifies our efforts. I just love it so much!!

Also, mission council was amazing. We got to meet the Burts for the first time that Friday, and they are honestly the best. I love them so so so so so so much!!!!!!!!! They are just amazing! The Spirit at mission council was just so strong. It was so cool. It felt no different from President Tilleman's mission councils. And their vision for the mission, is exactly what we are already doing. their theme/motto/focus is "Love, Serve, Obey" which is exactly the same as Love Everyone, Be Exactly Obedient, and Work as Hard as You Can! I honestly don't even know how to describe the Burts. I really do love them so much and I am so excited to get to know them even more. We actually had a zone conference this morning, and we are waiting to have an interview with President and Sister Burt right now.

Also, coolest miracle of the week. So, the Burts flew into Nanaimo last night, and they hadn't had any food because they were fasting, and they didn't have any food waiting for them. The original plan had been for them to fly in that morning and so the Assistants had asked us to provide lunch if they needed it, so we had prepared food, before we found out they weren't getting here until later. So the Assistants called us, and we left our finding to go take them food. That first off was a blessing, because we got to see the Burts again. Secondly, we decided for the sake of our k's that it would be foolish to drive out past our apartment, and since we don't get to Nanoose (a part of our area) super often and it was on the way back from Nanaimo, that we should stop and spend the rest of our night there talking to people. So we did. And we found 4 new investigators!!! Biggest miracle ever. We could have seen it as an inconvenience to stop and bring the food, and complained about the lost time or the lost k's (which we desperately need!), but Heavenly Father totally made up for it. The very first door we knocked on was a lady who was interested. And even better, no one was rude for the whole 3 hours. That was a huge miracle too!! You just don't tract for that long without running into someone who is rude. Blessings!

Also, in district meeting this week, we were challenged to take one picture as a companionship every day to help with comp unity. Sister Gibb and I get along great, but we are just laughing so much more with all of these pictures. I'll send some of them along. Basically all of them are taken late at night, so don't judge!

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 11, Week 3, June 30, 2014

G got baptized!! It was so cool. This was literally years in the making. Apparently, the first time G was introduced to the Church was back in 1961, when he went to church with his girlfriend, who was the bishop's daughter! Crazy! And he was finally able to get baptized. It was just really really special. It was a little weird though, because he called us on Sunday night, and he now wants us to have someone follow us in a car when we go knocking on doors, because he doesn't think it is safe for us to be going to houses where we don't know people. We convinced him that we would be okay though, mostly because Sister Gibb is a black belt. :)

It really has been a crazy, blessed week. We saw so many miracles, and were able to consistently find new people to teach, but something just came up consistently as well, and none of them were able to make it to church, so all of our baptismal dates were either dropped or in G's case, got baptized. It was a little weird, but it will all work out. There are going to be some amazing miracles that happen this next week as well, which will more than make up for what happened this week.

Also, crazy story of the week! So one of our investigators who was progressing moved to Chilliwack on Saturday. So we got her information, and we are about 95% certain that she lives in the 2nd ward, which is where Sister Ellgen and Sister Smigel are currently serving. So we called them to pass her off to them, which was a blessing by itself, because I love them, and I was so glad to talk to them! But it gets even better! That night, as they were finding, they were talking to this woman who was really interested, and it turns out that she is from Qualicum Beach!! It was so cool! So we got to trade investigators. Heavenly Father is so generous in his miracles, and it really is just so amazing to see how He works. I mean, what are the odds, that someone from Qualicum Beach, who is prepared to learn about the gospel, would be in Chilliwack (which is at the eastern most part of the Lower Mainland!) on a Friday night, right where the Chilliwack Sisters were finding? And that they would have our number to give her because we had texted them earlier that day? Missionary work is so inspired, and sometimes, we don't even realize it! It is just so crazy!! Miracles like this just wouldn't happen if the church wasn't true! It just couldn't work. I am so grateful that I know about the truth, and that I can share it with my brothers and sisters!

President Burt gets here tomorrow! And I get to meet him on Friday! I am actually really excited for this! It's going to be a great 4th of July!

I love you all! Have an amazing week!
Sister Peterson

PS The picture is from a field we saw the other night. It was just so pretty!