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