Qualicum Beach Transfer 11, Week 2, June 23, 2014

What a wonderful week! Full of crazy stuff, but great all the same. G's baptismal interview was on Friday, and he passed with flying colors! Now all we have to do is wait for the S family to get back from Switzerland, and he will get baptized on Saturday. I am so glad. It was a little crazy at his interview though. We almost couldn't go, because we couldn't find a female member to come with us. We had a male member, so that the zone leader who wasn't interviewing G wouldn't be alone with females, but we couldn't be alone with them! Luckily, we were able to find a member last minute. But when we showed up, G was having an allergic reaction to aspirin! Nothing super serious, but his hands were really red and itchy. He told us a few days before that his doctor told him that he was allergic to aspirin, and that he needed to stop taking it, so he did. But then he decided Friday morning that he needed to make sure that he was allergic, so he took some! AH!! Luckily, it wasn't any worse than itchy red hands! Crazy. That is just so G though.

So, President Tilleman only has one full week left on his mission, and it is definitely an interesting adjustment. It is really cool though, because I already feel like I have a connection with the Burts. I am really excited to meet them. I actually get to meet them for the first time on the 4th of July, at our mission council. The assistants also called yesterday, and they told us that we are going to have an interview with them on the 6th, and then have a zone conference on the 8th. So, I will get to see quite a lot of them right after they get here! They also asked Sister Gibb and I to be available to help them with anything they need and to make sure they get to their plane and other places on time and show them around. No pressure. None at all. But it will be great. As sad as I am about President and Sister Tilleman leaving, it doesn't feel bad. It's not like I'll never see them again. They live in Arizona, and that's super close to Utah. :)

Oh, I forgot to mention last week, but Sister Gibb cut my hair! It was getting super long and lots of split ends, so we just chopped it off. It took two or three tries to get it all done, so I just wore it in a braid to hide the uneven parts. No one noticed at all (or at least, they didn't comment if they did!).

So, we are also teaching an older man named D, and he is doing so well. He came to church this week, and he brought his niece as well. They are super great. He tried to come the week before, but somehow, times got mixed up and he thought we had said that church started at one, when it actually started at 10! So he showed up for the last 5 minutes, which was a little awkward. But this time, he was there on time. :) Sister Slocombe, our branch president's wife, had come with us to one of his lessons, so as soon as Sacrament meeting was over, she came over and grabbed him and his niece and dragged them off the meet President Slocombe, and one of our recent converts who lives really close to them, and then continued to introduce them to everyone else she could. It was actually really funny, because she would get them talking to one person, and then look around, and go grab another person by the arm and bring them over to introduce them. It was fantastic! We didn't have to do a single thing!

I just love missionary work! it really is the best. Even when you have ups and downs, everything works out the way it is supposed to. I know there were definitely times this week when I was lacking faith in some things, but then Heavenly Father sent us the help we needed. Even when I didn't have enough faith, as I started and asked for help, He provided. We aren't meant to do anything in this life on our own, but we are meant to ask for the help we need. God will provide.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 11, Week 1, June 16, 2014

It has been a crazy and blessed week. So many miracles! I don't even know where to start. I finished off my 10th transfer, and this transfer has probably been one of my favorite transfers of my mission. I don't know if I have ever worked so hard, or been blessed so much by Heavenly Father. Honestly, I just love Sister Gibb so much! I have learned so much from her, and it is just so easy to talk to her. This is her last transfer, and she is probably going to stay for about 3 weeks into the next one, but in all likelihood, I am going to kill her. But I am so grateful that we both got to say. Qualicum Beach is a little paradise. I just love it here.

G is doing so well. He is just so excited to get baptized. We ended up moving his date back a week so that some of his true friends would be home from vacation for his baptism. They have been working with him for years, and we didn't think it would be right to baptize him just four days before they came home. I would be so sad if that was me.

Also, the lady that I talked about a little while ago who met missionaries in Winnipeg is doing great. She and her husband are Catholic, but super open. She just doesn't get it yet. She really wants her husband to be baptized though! Our last lesson was probably one of the weirdest ones that I have ever had. We invited them both to be baptized, and she said no because she has already been baptized and confirmed in the Catholic church (so she didn't understand when we explained about the priesthood and apostasy...) but she really wanted her husband to say yes. She actually spent about 5 minutes telling him why he needed to say yes. She doesn't think that his baptism and confirmation in the Catholic church was really valid, so I'm a little confused about that. But it's great. She came to church yesterday (her husband was sick so he couldn't come) and it turns out that she knows one of our members who used to be Catholic, and our branch president had some of the same teachers in high school back in Winnipeg! That was a crazy coincidence. Or just a crazy miracle. She is so awesome.

Also, I'm probably going to get fat this transfer! So many people are feeding us. The branch has finally caught the missionary spirit, and they keep inviting us over for dinner WITH people for us to teach! With the meals from this past transfer and what we have scheduled, in two months in Qualicum Beach, I will have been fed more by the members than the whole rest of my mission combined! I'm not used to this at all, and it seems really weird to me. But I am so grateful that the branch is so excited to do missionary work. I think they finally realized that they don't have to invite someone over who wants to be baptized, just someone who we can teach, and if they aren't interested, we will leave it at that. Blessings!

I am just so happy. I really don't know when I have been more happy (besides other times on my mission). This is seriously the best thing that I have ever done, and I am so grateful that I have this opportunity to serve my Savior, my Heavenly Father, and my brothers and sisters.

I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 10, Week 6, June 9, 2014

So, they did transfer calls last night for some reason, and I get to stay in Qualicum Beach! So does Sister Gibb, so we won't be going to transfer meeting. That will be the second one that I miss, which is kinda sad, but I am glad that we both get to stay!

This week was absolutely amazing. We had mission council on Wednesday, and it was President Tilleman's last mission council. It was so powerful and spiritual. We sat in council for 4 hours without a break, just being trained by President and Sister Tilleman and Dan Tilleman (one of their sons who returned from his mission about a year ago). It was just such a powerful meeting, and I learned so much. Even as I have reviewed my notes and as Sister Gibb and I prepared a training for zone meeting, the Spirit came back again and bore witness to me of the truth again. I really am so grateful that I have this opportunity to serve with and learn from President Tilleman, but I am also so excited to serve with and learn from President Burt. It is just going to be amazing.

I think one of the biggest things that was reemphasized for me was obedience, and how we simply have to be obedient. Dan Tilleman talked a little bit about the Spirit and obedience and miracles. Something that he said really struck me. When we are being exactly obedient, if we need to, we can call miracles down from heaven. It's an interesting concept, because we can't just demand things from God. But when we are being exactly obedient, our hearts are in the right place, and we won't ask God for things that we don't need, and we will have the faith to work the miracles. I have definitely seen that in my mission. But the miracles that I have asked for that I have received have never been directly benefiting me. when I am asking for me, that's being selfish. But when my heart is in the right place, and I am humble, it works. It doesn't always happen right away, although it has done that before, but it happens. God does answer prayers. But we have to be in the right frame of mind to hear the answers, and that requires obedience. Sister Tilleman also said that obedience is God's love language. That is how we show that we love God. We can't just say it, we have to do it too.

We really just saw so many miracles this week, and I really am so grateful to be serving a mission in this little corner of paradise that God has sent me to. Vancouver Island is something else. It's just magic. People here will tell us that they are in their 70s, 80s, and sometimes even 90s, but they look like they are in their 60s, maybe 70s! It's crazy.

Oh! Also, I don't know if you remember N, who I taught in Westbank on and off again. She sort of progressed, but then she didn't and it just went back and forth and she was in reflection when I left, but still coming to church. She got baptized yesterday!! It was complete out of the blue miracle that I totally didn't see coming. When I left Westbank six weeks ago (it seems like years...) she still didn't think she wanted to get baptized, and she had a ton of concerns that we just couldn't resolve. But Sister Manaso and Sister Biggs were the right combination! The Spirit softened her heart, and she got baptized. Such a cool miracle!

I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 10, Week 5, June 2, 2014

This last week was such a miracle week for us! I love Qualicum Beach more and more every day, and I am so grateful that I get to serve here with Sister Gibb! She really is just the best. this week we have really focused on following the Spirit while finding. It's really cool. We focused super hard on our goals, but when we were talking to people, we tried our best to make it all about them, and what they needed, not just teaching them about the gospel, and it has really helped us. We saw a ton of really cool miracles, and we were also able to identify things that we can work on to become better missionaries. I feel like this was one of the most productive weeks of my mission, even if my key indicators weren't as high as they usually are.

So G is doing really well. Last week (the week before the one we just finished) he ended up going into the hospital because he had some really bad chest pain. Turns out some of his arteries were blocked and his one stint was failing. So on the 29th, they put four stints in his heart, and he was back home by the 1st! It was actually a super cool miracle, because he has been struggling to quit smoking, and because he went into the hospital, he couldn't smoke! He was there for about a week, and while there, he decided since he had already made it the first few days, he just wasn't going to pick up with smoking when he got home. When we talked to him the first time after he got home, he was super excited, and told us that in not smoking for those 8 days so far (10 now!) he had saved $80! That is a ton of money! he even said that he could pay tithing and still save money not that he is not smoking. He's just the best.
Also, super cool miracle yesterday where we got to see a seed that someone else planted begin to blossom. We tracted into this woman who was going through a bit of a hard time. She told us the coolest story. Back when she lived in Winnipeg, she was going through a rough time, and ended up talking to her sister who passed away, asking for some help. Well, a couple hours later, the sister missionaries showed up at her door. One of them had the same last name as this lady's sister! No joke. She spent a little bit of time with the sisters, but it didn't really go anywhere. So yesterday, when we knocked on her door, she thought it was crazy, because she has been going through a hard time again, and she was looking for help, and we showed up. And apparently her maiden name is the Polish version of Peterson. I kid you not. I don't know if it means anything, but she was blown away. Anyway, she is super excited to see us again. Then, a little while later, just before 9, we were trying super hard to talk to everyone and use the last few minutes of the day to our best ability. We spotted two people walking down a street, so we ran over to talk to them. Lo and behold, they are investigators from Los Angeles who are on vacation! So we were able to teach them a short lesson. I am almost positive that their missionaries were praying that these two would run into missionaries on their vacation, because that is exactly what I pray for when my investigators go on vacation. I am so grateful that we were being obedient and trying to talk to everyone and using every moment of our day wisely. Unfortunately, I probably won't ever know what happens with them, but I am glad that I was hopefully able to play a small part in their journey into the gospel. this is really the best work ever. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the gospel. Yesterday, we had a special stake conference, which included a Canada wide broadcast from Salt Lake, with Elder Perkins of the Seventy, Sister Linda K Burton, Elder Holland, and President Eyring. I was especially touched by part of Elder Perkins talk. He told the story of an Elder Johnson from Alberta, serving in the Toronto mission. Several months into his mission, he was struck by a car, and carried 50 feet. They thought he wouldn't make it, and he was nursed for 5 months in a Toronto hospital before he was able to be transported home to Alberta for additional recovery. He underwent 18 hard months of rehabilitation, learned to live with one blind eye, and one deaf ear, and WENT BACK TO FINISH HIS MISSION. He could have accepted an honorable release, and no one would criticize him. But he knows this is the only place to be. He knows this is the Lord's work. At the end of the story, Elder Perkins made a very pt point. If Elder Johnson can do all of that, we can give up anything, be it job, school, hobbies, relationship, whatever we need to, to do what God has asked us to do. We just can't hold back. God has given us too many blessings for us to hold ourselves back when He asks for our help. When the Lord commands ( or just asks, it's the same thing!) we need to do it.

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

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 10, Week 4, May 26, 2014

Who says you need an ipad to use technology? Not that I'm knocking ipads or anything. But out "dumb" phone works miracles. It was so cool, we were able to have two member present lessons with an investigator over the phone, which meant we were also able to include members that we normally couldn't. For instance, it can be really hard to take our ward mission leader to lessons with male investigators, because our ward mission leader is single and we need another female, and we don't want to overwhelm the investigator. But we were able to have him on a call last night, and so he is able to be more involved in the progress of the investigators. It is awesome. Technology can be such a blessing, but it doesn't have to be the latest and greatest to work. I love it!

So on Monday, we got to go to this place called Goats on the Roof for part of P-day. Super cool. I've included some pictures. :)

Also, we had an awesome zone conference on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was my last one with President Tilleman. I am so glad I get to go to mission council, otherwise, that might have been my last time seeing him. I am so sad that he leaves soon, but I am also so excited to meet President Burt. Mixed feelings all around.
I'm just so grateful for miracles. I see little ones every day, and I can't even begin to count them. It is the best.

Also, we saw this really funny sign while I was on an exchange in Duncan and we just had to take a picture of it. It's the best.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Peterson

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 10, Week 3, May 19, 2014

This week went by so fast!! Time is so weird on your mission. I feel like everything is going twice as fast and twice as slow, all at once. One day will seem like a week, and then you blink and you are almost halfway through a transfer! It's nuts!

Also, this branch is amazing. So the whole thing with member dinners is that for a little more than a year now, our mission has had the rule that if members want to have us over for dinner, they have to have a non-member, less active, or recent convert for us to teach as well. Since that rule has been introduced, member dinners have been a very rare thing, which most of the time, I feel okay about. I feel super awkward at them, probably because it is still a very new situation for me. But in this last week, we had two member dinners, we have two this coming week, and one the week after, with more to come! And all of them have people for us to teach!! I've been trying to think, and with just the ones that we have scheduled so far, that might be equal to or more than all the member dinners that I have had my entire mission so far. It's crazy, but a really good crazy. Also, the whole branch council yesterday was dedicated to the question "How can we as a branch council hasten the work?" It was amazing! by the end, our branch president extended the invitation for everyone to study PMG daily and to pray daily for missionary opportunities. These ideas did not come originally from Sister Gibb or me! They came from members of the branch council sharing their experiences they have had, and discussing what they can do to help us hasten the work. I don't know if I have ever had that many members so focused on hastening the work in one unit! I'm just blown away by it still. I love my branch! :)

Also, I have developed a huge testimony on the power of specific requests in prayers. The more specific you get, the more specific your answer. One thing that I have seen is that periodically throughout my mission, I have asked specifically in every prayer that I have said, for Heavenly Father to send me and my companion to someone who we could help. I've done it multiple times, and it has always had amazing answers. E, A and S is one of those examples. So for the last week or so, I have been doing the same thing again. Now, in my defense, I am always praying for missionary opportunities, and I probably should always remember to be very specific in my prayers. It's something I'm still working on. But for the last week, I have made a conscious effort to pray specifically to find someone who needed our help, trying to use that particular phrase in my prayers. And it worked! On Friday, we tracted into this woman who is so prepared. She has recently had some very traumatic events in her life, and she has been looking for and praying for help. And she said that we showed up at her lowest point. But there is another part to the story. Every Thursday, we sit down and plan. We look at the rest of the week we are in, and make sure our plans are solid, and then plan out the next week. When we looked at Friday, we realized that we were in Parksville all day, except for during finding time, where we had scheduled Qualicum Beach, which is 20 mins away. It just didn't make sense. So we chose some streets to go finding on in Parksville. And one of the streets was her street. It was so inspired, but we didn't know it at the time. But I am so grateful for inspiration and for the opportunity that I have to be a missionary, to serve my brothers and sisters around me and to help them in any way I can. It is the greatest thing that I have ever experienced. I just love it.

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

Sister Peterson

 "And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe -- that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power." Alma 57:26

Qualicum Beach, Transfer 10, Week 2, May 12, 2014

This week had been crazy! Qualicum Beach is so different from any other area I have been in my whole mission! But it is so pretty and I just love it. Everything is super green and there are so many trees and bright colored flowers. It is awesome. But sometimes, when we are finding a little closer to the ocean, I can smell the salt water, and it throws me off a little bit. But it is great. :)

We spent a lot of our week finding and following up with former investigators that the elders found. They have some really solid people in the formers. Some of them have turned out to not be truth seeking, but some of them are super solid. One of them came to church yesterday and he said he "just wants to be a brother." he's an older man, and except for his word of wisdom issues, he is a member in everything. He thinks like a member, acts like one, everything. Apparently if he is at church on a Fast Sunday, he will even go up and bear his testimony! He's such a cute old man. And he wants to stop smoking, so we are going to work on that. It's just perfect. Obviously, that sort of thing usually isn't an overnight change and it takes a whole ton of work, but it can be done with the Lord's help. God is more powerful than any addiction, and He can help us overcome anything, as long as we are willing to let Him help us.

We also got to do an exchange with Courtenay and North Island Sisters this week. It was really cool, because Sister Carroll (my trainer) started in North Island, and she absolutely loves it there. That was all she ever talked about. So being able to go and see the place and do some missionary work there was super cool. Sister Shelley and I went out to Port Hardy, one of the towns that North Island covers, and we had a super cool experience. It was raining quite a bit, and we were just walking around. It was still Sister Shelley's first week in North Island, so she doesn't quite no everywhere yet. Anyway, we parked in the shopping center at Port Hardy, and decided to walk to where we were going to tract, so that we could talk to more people. Well, we took a wrong turn, and by the time we realized it, we were on the opposite side of town from where we had originally planned to go finding. So we just decided to find somewhere over there. There was a man walking down one of the side streets, so we went to try and talk to him, but he wasn't interested. But because we went and talked to him, we saw a woman working in her garden. So we went and offered to help her. This is where it gets really cool. She looked up and saw us, and said yes! She was so excited that we offered to help her! So we got down in the mud and started helping her pull weeds and haul branches. It was definitely a little difficult, because my shoes got super slippery with all the rain and mud, but so worth it. Apparently, she had been working in her garden earlier, but had gone inside to dry off. While she was up in her room, she said that God told her that she needed to go back outside and start working again. She hadn't been outside for more than two minutes when we walked by! While we were working, we started talking about church, and God, and the Bible, and then Sister Shelley asked if she had ever read the Book of Mormon. Turns out she had dated a member a long time ago, and she had read a little of the Book of Mormon then, but nothing came of it. But about a week ago, she had been in a thrift shop and they had a copy of the Book of Mormon for sale. She had looked at it, and felt like God wanted her to buy it but she hadn't, and then when we brought the Book of Mormon up, she said it was a sign from God and that she was going to go back to that store and buy the book. So we gave her a free one instead. :) Super cool. She is so solid, and I know that was definitely a miracle and a tender mercy from Heavenly Father.

Missions are just the best thing ever. I love being able to be a missionary so much. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. There is just so much you learn and so much you can do to help others that you would never be able to do anywhere else. It is just amazing.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Sister Peterson