Friday, August 9, 2013

Scripture Power! Keeps us safe from sin!

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 


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