Sunday, October 13, 2013

Doubt your doubts, not your faith!

hello!
i am racking my brain to know what to write you, because i feel like i was emailing just yesterday! haha i cant believe another week has flown by. SO crazy.
What an incredible week! Wasnt conference the most amazing thing EVER?! i KNOW that President Monson is a prophet of God, and that he leads and guides this church with full confidence from the Lord. I was so enveloped by the spirit this weekend listening to all of the messages, and i cant get over how blessed i am to be a member of this church. The church is true. If you dont know that it is, watch general conference. The spirit will change your mind and heart.
I feel ultra blessed to have been able to watch all 4 sessions of conference, and to be able to watch 3 of them at President and Sister Weston's home. Sister Weston invited us over, along with anyone we wanted to bring. so for each session we had a few investigators and some less active members with us.. it was amazing. i loved being in their home to feel of their spirit. We had a testimony meeting at the end of the last session, which i guess is a tradition in the Weston family. it was amazing to hear the testimonies of less active members, thanking their heavenly father for the words spoken in conference, and to see their new commitment to follow Christ. it was unforgettable, and strengthened my testimony of the reality of the spirit. If we allow the spirit to "prick" our hearts, our lives can be changed. i have seen it time and time again, and i never get sick of it!
this week has been a crazy one. i feel as though satan was working REALLY hard this week, trying his very best to discourage and thwart the spirit. but guess what, Satan ALWAYS loses. we had an interesting experience on Sunday night, visiting a less active member. She is going through a ton right now, and her life is truly falling apart. it breaks my heart, because if only she would turn towards the savior rather than away from Him, i KNOW her life would be better than it is right now. We were having a lesson with her on Sunday, and she started to explain her deep hatred for someone who has been hurting her... and i will never forget the feeling that came into the room. it was disgusting. The spirit sprinted out and replacing it was a dark, evil, skin-crawling feeling that makes me sick just thinking about it. yuck. i felt as Joseph Smith did as he began praying in the sacred grove... the adversary was trying his hardest to stop the most incredible experience from happening... as filthy as that feeling was though, i am so grateful that i was able to experience it. BECAUSE, i NEVER want to feel that way again. the spirit is REAL... oh boy is it. i guess i have gotten so used to it that i forgot what it felt like to be without it.  i cant describe how thankful i am for the spirit. SO grateful for the protection and safety and peace that it brings.
we had an amazing miracle happen this week. we have been trying to contact this woman named Debbie for several weeks now. she is a former investigator from several months ago, and everyone in the ward is always asking us about her. we have been praying to be able to contact her for weeks now. well, after dinner on sunday, we felt like we should try and see her. We prayed, and my prayer was a lot more specific than usual. i prayed for a miracle to occur and instantly i knew that we would have one. long story short, we were finally able to meet Debbie.. and she is absolutely amazing. She confided in us that she has been having dreams about the church, and that the happiest she has ever been was when she was attending church. she KNOWS it is true, and she continually thanked us for coming over, that we were an answer to her prayers. it was awesome. she will be baptized.
fun fact:
 i took a group of cub scouts on tour at the trail center last night, and it made my week. they were adorable first grade boys, and i loved every minute of it. dad, it made think of you (obviously) to talk with the boy scout leaders (who were not lds). it was a tender mercy.
i just want to tell you all that i know that this is the Lord's true and only church on the earth today. i know that God lives. i know that Jesus is the son of God. the man that we are teaching right now, Walt, doesnt believe that Christ is the savior. and let me tell you, every time he says those words, the spirit instantly testifies into my heart that He IS. i love Him, and i know that the only way we can successfully survive this life is through Christ! (exclamation point!!) I loved Elder Ballard inviting us to pray for one person, just ONE who we can share the gospel with. I have total faith and confidence that if we do, we will see the miracles that he professed. He is an apostle of the Lord, and so we need to trust Him.
i hope that conference gave us the motivation to do missionary work. President Monson, once again, declared that NOW is the time for missionary work... how many times does he have to say it before we listen? i hope our desire to participate in this work has been strengthened... i know mine has!
i love you all! thank you for your prayers/letters/packages/love!

Sister Peterson

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