Ought to Give Iowa a Try!

Thursday morning i get a call from president weston that started off with him saying, "So, sister Peterson. You ready for your world to be rocked/flipped upside down?" i laughed and said "not really haha but let's hear it"

Guess where i am.

IOWA!!

I am Training, serving in Glenwood Iowa, opening up the area, and full proselyting!!

It never ceases to amaze me how much trust the Lord has in me, and all of us. I have been completely humbled, but at the same time have not even been nearly as happy as i am right now my entire mission. i LOVE being here. SO much! the first day i got to Iowa i prayed to Heavenly Father basically in tears telling him i didnt ever want to leave Glenwood haha. It is awesome!!

So Thursday we get the calls about transfers, which was a crazy day. i had to pack up everything and then spent my last night at the trail center. it was definitely bitter sweet, especially having to say goodbye to some of the senior couples who i will not see because they leave at the end of this transfer. But as i was at the trail center, i felt so calm about leaving. I KNOW i am supposed to be in Glenwood. I have been at peace about it since the moment president told me. The Lord has been so good to me.

Friday, we went to "transfer point" (the mission office) to pick up our new companions. My companion is Sister Palmer from Idaho (i cant spell the town she is from - super small town up north). She is super cute, and really obedient which is awesome. The past 3 days i have probably heard her say 20 words (not even exaggerating) haha. She is SUPER quiet, but i am hoping that as time goes on she will open up more. I already love her.

After we got our companions, we grabbed all of our things and were off to iowa! thank goodness i have a gps (it has literally saved my life!). Glenwood is about an hour east and south of Omaha.

after you drive about 45 minutes through the corn fields, you will hit a little town called Tabor. There are just about 1,000 people in the town and if you blink you will miss it. We live with an 85 year old lady who is DARLING. Her name is Jean Baggs and is absolutely adorable. she has a beautiful home that she has lived in for the past 50 years. She owns half the town/fields so everything "in town" is named "Baggs ... " When we arrived on Friday she had lunch all ready for us and was SO excited for us to be there.

This has been quite the adventure haha. We get to Tabor on friday with literally NOTHING on the area. zip. nothing. there are elders in the area, but there havent been sisters in over 5 years. We are "opening up" the area to sisters, which basically means we are starting from scratch! it has been tons of fun. We got a ward list from the bishop friday night and he highlighted some less actives so we have visited almost all of them (there are a ton) the past 2 days. It has been non stop! i LOVE IT. this is exactly how i pictured my mission - serving in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. haha it is a DREAM.

Since we live in such a small town, everyone knows EVERYONE haha which means that everyone knows that we are new! it has been really fun seeing people look at us because we kind of stick out! but it is great because it means a lot of questions and a lot of missionary work! Something i LOVE, absolutely LOVE about being here is that literally the ward is SOOOOO happy to have us here! They have been praying for sister missionaries the past 2 years, and finally we have arrived! they are all so cute and have been the nicest people i have ever met. iowa stubborn? not at all.

Probably the happiest moment of my mission, i know, that is a big statement, but really, was on saturday. So a few weeks ago i wrote home saying that i took some elder's on tour at the Trail Center and it was absolutely incredible. the man that we took was set for baptism on tour and it was the elders first time at the trail center. WELL. the Glenwood Elders were the elders i took on tour, and on saturday i got to go to the baptism of the man i took on tour!!! it was NO coincidence and it was amazing. he was SO happy to see that not only was i there, but that i was in the ward now! ahh it was so cool. i was so happy i literally couldnt contain the tears.

so even though that was the coolest experience ever, that wasnt the best moment on my mission. ha. The best moment yet was sitting in a ward missionary coordination meeting after the baptism with the bishop, ward missionaries, elders, and ward missionary leader. The bishop and ward mission leader of this ward are the most INCREDIBLE men ever. they are COMPLETELY focused on missionary work. they are doing every single thing they can to provide opportunities for us, and kept saying that they know that this area is about ready to "explode". i was smiling so big the entire meeting my cheeks hurt after. it was amazing. i have never been so excited to do missionary work!!! Miracles are about to happen and i am SO excited to be here!!

Sorry this is such a long letter, there is just so much happening!! PLEASE pray for me! i am SO happy but a LOT overwhelmed with everything that needs to happen! i love this work and am so humbled that Heavenly Father trusts me as much as He does. I know without a doubt this is HIS work.

Let's Do THIS!

love you all so much!