The field is ripe!

Hello!

another week has flown by, i seriously cant believe it! sorry i am emailing today, i hope it didnt throw you off! haha just expect an email either monday or tuesday every week... because i never know when we will be emailing.

thank you thank you thank you for the package!!! i was able to get it because we had a zone meeting! man alive it made my day! if i closed my eyes while eating that plum jam, i was sitting in our backyard! haha thank you so much. i love you all!

this week has been nuts. haha. it seriously was a crazy week, and i feel like so much happened! it was a week of trials and miracles. i loved it.

here is a short look at my week:

1. our car got a flat tire.

2. our phone is broken.

3. i got stung by a wasp and had an allergic reaction.

4. no one could drive us home after church so we had to stay there for a good hour before someone could pick us up. we would have walked but it is a 30 minute drive to our building.

haha. it was awesome. I feel like the Lord has been testing my patience, and it has been a great learning experience! i love the scripture Mosiah 23:21-22 because i really believe that the Lord often "sees fit" to try our faith and patience, so we can more fully rely on Him. i can say that i am so grateful for the hard times in life because they remind us of who we are. and "whose" we are, like sister dalton has said. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father who wants to continually make us better people.

This week sister palmer and i have really focused on obtaining our set goals. we felt like we were setting inspired daily goals to reach, but then at the end of the day we were coming short of them. To fix our problem we have been praying continually throughout the day to accomplish the goals that we have set, knowing that the Lord would help us. And like always, He did. and continues to! this week was full of miracles, and we were able to see much more success. it was awesome!

some highlights:

1. man do i love having dinner appointments at member's houses. I love being able to see the way in which they run their home, and the spirit that resides in each of them. the members of the ward are amazing people, and i am continually in awe of their desires to serve. i love them. We had some amazing conversations and lessons with members this week, and i really feel like the work is about to explode because of the faith of the members. it is incredible.

2. We helped out a family in the ward this week, the Milbourn's, set up for their daughters birthday party. haha. (we literally look for any service opportunities we can get!) but it was so much fun, and my job was to "dice" the onions. well, my eyes were watering like crazy and my dicing job was less than satisfactory... haha. Brother Milbourn came over and saw what i was doing and while i wasnt looking, threw away all of the onions i had cut! he then says "those are the worst cut onions i have ever seen! let me do it!" haha i was crying and so the big joke was that brother milbourn "made me cry". haha sooner or later though, after he was cutting onions, he started crying as well (and his dicing job was not any better than mine!) we ended up laughing and crying together the rest of the night. haha it was awesome.

3. Miracles. we were able to get into 3 less active members houses this week who we have been trying to contact since we got here. it was incredible, and i really feel like the Lord is blessing us so much. Although none of the less actives came to church (ah i was so mad), they are doing great and we are continually trying to strengthen their faith. i love them all and it is so fun to see them rediscover their testimonies.

4. We found 2 new investigators this week! that was our set goal, and the Lord blessed us with them! one is a man named Jeff, and he is awesome. He has met with missionaries before, but it was many years ago. He is a single dad of 4 kids, and lives in Tabor. He has had a crazy life, but is slowly changing it and the gospel is exactly what he needs! he is our miracle for the week, and we are SO excited to teach him! the other investigator i found while on exchanges this saturday. Sister Palmer and i were split up, and another companionship came to glenwood. it was awesome to be able to have 4 sisters in our area! sister vance and i met Emily outside of a less actives house. she is in her early 20s, has a child, and her dad is a pastor for another church. but she has always wanted to know about the LDS church and was super anxious to learn more. we are praying our guts out that they stick with it. we already love them.

exchanges this week were a HUGE HUGE HUGE stepping stone in our companionship. Sister Palmer is a new person, and is really working hard at opening her mouth and talking. it has been the biggest blessing, and i am so grateful. thank you so much for the prayers on mine and her behalf. what i thought could not happen is happening, and i am so thankful.

i love you all! the corn here is about ready to harvest, and that is EXACTLY how i feel with this area! Sister Palmer and I memorized D&C 4 this past week, and truly the field is ripe! "those who have desires to serve God, are called to the work!"

i love you! this church is true! arent we blessed??

Sister Peterson