Family and
Friends!!
What an amazing
week! i am so grateful to be serving the Lord in Iowa! i LOVED hearing all
about what is going on at home this week! the Book of Mormon read-a-thon sounded
absolutely incredible. I will never forget reading the Book of Mormon for the
first time. it was life changing, and was a huge stepping stone in getting me
here, on a mission! i have such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, and
that testimony is continually growing every day as i read it! i will finish the
Book of Mormon for the second time since being on my mission this week, and i
cant wait to read it another 1,000! i love that book. if you havent read it, go
read it. it will bring you so much joy!
Grandma
Bonnie/Grandpa Rex - thank you for your package!!! it was such a fun surprise,
and it lifted my spirits. thank you!!! love you!
Let's start with
some funny moments that happened:
1. to help
sister palmer out, i have been having her do all of the "door
approaches" when we are out tracting. she has been getting a lot better,
which is such a blessing! Well, we get to a door and she knew it was her turn
to "take the lead". so, she knocks on the door, the man opens
it, and sister palmer goes "hi, i am sister peterson and this is..."
hahahah and she looks at her name tag then looks at me. i busted up laughing
hahaha and luckilythe man was really nice too. we got a good kick out of it. at
least i know that sister palmer has been watching my example! ha.
2. another
sister palmer moment: haha. i was driving, so she grabs the phone to call a
member of our ward. she calls, and a man answers (she thinks that its the son)
so she says "hi, is your mom there?" the man on the other line starts
busting up laughing, and says "my mom has been dead for 10 years". it
was the dad, not the son! ha luckily he thought it was hilarious. we got a huge
laugh out of it as well.
3. sister
peterson moment: we were at a dinner appointment this week, and since there
were quite a few people there we were sitting on the couchesrather than at the
table. well, i was talking to the member there and while i sat down i dropped
my plate of food all of myself/the ground! haha. it was so embarrassing. and so
funny. we stopped by a few days later, and the members had bought an apron for
me. awesome. ha.
it was a fun week,
haha if you couldnt tell from those stories!
we saw miracles.
again. they never cease to amaze me.
Miracle #1:
We have been
working with a woman named Sister Howlette, who is a less active member. she
hasnt been active for 4 years. We have been working with her, trying to build
her faith, but she still wasnt coming to church and we couldnt figure out what
the deep reason was behind it. well, this week we set up an appointment to
visit her and when we got there, no one answered the door. i was so
disappoionted, but the spirit told me to come back later. so we went and
visited a few people and then came back after dinner. And guess what? she was
home! ha. we had an incredible lesson with her, talking to her about the
sacrament and the importance of church. she finally opened up to us about how
she feels alone at church, and how she feels isolated because she is a single
parent and the church focuses all on eternal families. We were able to address
her concerns, and she, for the first time since working with her, admitted that
she needs to come back and that she actually wants to! ah it was so awesome.
and, it was just another reminder that if every active member of the church
reached out and befriended a less active member, there would be no less active
members!! this work is all about love. l.o.v.e. if we love the members of the
church who have fallen away, we will be friend them and bring them back.
Miracle #2
Our neighbor has
a tumor that is behind her eye that makes it stick out of her face... it kind
of scared me at first when i saw it, not going to lie, but she is the most
incredible woman. Her name is Debbie. Well, Sister Baggs has been friends with
her for years, and a couple of weeks ago she asked Debbie if she would like a
priesthood blessing. Debbie said she would think about it and get back to her.
Well, two days ago we met Debbie for the first time. She was so kind and we
were able to just get to know her. After she left the house, she called Sister
Baggs and told her that she has decided to have a blessing. So last night,
brother saufley (our ward mission leader) and his father-in-law came to Sister
Bagg's and gave Debbie a blessing. before they did though, she said that she
had been reading in the bible and had read about turning to the elders of the
church to have a blessing and annointing. she explained that she had gone
to her church and asked for a blessing and showed the minister the verse in the
bible, and the minister said that they didnt do that. she explained that
she didnt understand why they werent able to do that when it talks about it in
the bible. well, that same week was the week the Sister Baggs offered to have
her recieve a blessing. coincidence? of course not. so debbie received the
most incredible blessing of healing and strength last night, it left all
of us in tears. i talked to her afterwards and she kept saying that she
felt goosebumps all over, and complete peace. i was able to explain that that
was the holy ghost testifying to her that God loves her and that this
was "good" thing. she wants to meet with us to learn more.
incredible. highlight of the week.
some other fun
news:
this week
we "harvested" corn!! sister baggs has a sweet corn patch
outside of town that she took us to, and we were able to pick corn! ha she
thought we were crazy for getting so excited about it. but it really was so
much fun! brother saufley and his kids and ourselves went back the next day and
picked 200 (at least) ears of corn, and shucked all of them as well! i
felt like a true Iowan.
i am so
incredibly grateful for this gospel, it is the reason that i am able to get out
of bed every day. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon. I know with
every thing that i am that that book is the word of God. I love my savior,
and i know that we have a God in heaven who is aware of us. I love Him.
This church is Christ's church. I love being able to wear His name each
and every day. Aren't we blessed?
love you all!!
Sister
Peterson
No comments:
Post a Comment