"The task ahead of you is never as great as the Power behind you"

Family and Friends:

hey. this week was the most incredible week of my mission. I have not been able to stop smiling for the past 4 days! i have been so humbled this week, filled with the love of God, and so grateful.. SO grateful to be serving our Lord.

thank you Mom for the "english" package! i absolutely LOVE the scarf (and will need it soon...yikes!) and of course, loved the cookies. thank you!!

i seriously dont even know where to begin. this week has been SO MIRACLE PACKED that i cant even handle it. ok, yes i can because it is AMAZING haha but truly the Lord is DUMPING blessings. last week i think i said that He was, but THIS week doubled that. last week was "light rain" compared to the "flash flood" of the past few days.

fun facts:

1. this week sister barton and i were asked to give a zone training. (i have given one now at every training... ha i am getting a littler worn out!) but it was wonderful. we talked about the Book of Mormon and the influence/importance it plays in bring souls to Christ. i had a really neat experience while standing there, giving the training. i felt a re-confirmation that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. something i will never forget. it was awesome, and i feel so blessed.

2. Nebraska football will be the death of me. i love the sacrament talks that all relate to football in some way, ha but not being able to set up appointments because of a game... no bueno.

on to the MIRACLES. best. week. EVER.

sister barton and i have been praying to find people to teach. since we are at the trail center half of our week, we have been praying constantly to be able to see miracles for the short time we have in our area. and let me tell you. the Lord answered our prayer ten fold.

since last week, we now have 6 investigators.

i have been so humbled this week by the goodness of our Heavenly Father. He has literally led us exactly where we have needed to be, and has given us the courage to open our mouths and share the good news. it gives me so much joy and cant contain it.

since i dont have time to write about every single person we are teaching, let me tell you about 2.

Walt:

he is a miracle. Walt has been investigating the church on and off for over 2 years. The elders have been going over there a lot, but he is really an eterni-gator (i.e. an eternal investigator). The first week that we were in church, walt came and sat by me for sacrament. i obviously had no idea who he was, so i hit up a conversation with him. I started asking him about how long he has been a member of the ward, and he quickly told me "im not a member. missionaries have been trying to get me baptized for years". my ears perked up and I jumped on the opportunity to meet with him the next week.

well, we met with Walt a few days later. we had the most incredible lesson with him, and really got to the bottom of why he has not been baptized. He has a hard time believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God. We bore powerful testimony, and helped him realize that he really DOES have faith in him because of his actions (walt reads the book of mormon every day, prays, attends church weekly.. the whole bit). at the end of the lesson, we committed him to be baptized. at first he said, "i dont know..." and then i just said "walt, what is holding you back? you know enough. trust in God. pick a  baptismal date". he sat there, and finally said "ok. how about January 24". sister barton and i jumped out of our seats we were so excited. after 2 years of investigating he has never set a date... i KNOW that the Lord has been preparing him, and that he will be baptized (hopefully even sooner than january haha!)

We had a follow up appointment with him two days later, and then the elders brought him to the Trail Center, where sister Barton and i took him on tour. We sat in the memorial room and talked about how faith works, and how we need to have the desire to believe in order to have that faith strengthened. I have given 1,000 tours, and never before have i felt prompted to sing while on one. well, the spirit, very profoundly, told me that i needed to sing. i was so mad haha, not really. but i was definitely nervous. but i knew the Lord needed me to sing to help bring the spirit so that Walt's heart would be touched. I sang "Lord Save Me". afterwords, i asked Walt what he was thinking. he said "that you have a nice singing voice?" and i quickly said " No walt. WHAT are you thinking and feeling right now?" he got serious, and said "i feel really good". i was able to then bear testimony that what he was feeling was the spirit, who's main job is to testify of Jesus Christ.. the spirit was thick. like dry corn bread. it was amazing. he is making so much progress, and i KNOW he will believe in Christ. pray for Walt.

Caleb:

i had the best experience of my mission last night. hands down. i know i say that all the time, but really, this experience was the best yet.

so last night we had an appointment with a less active member, but as we were driving over to her house she called to cancel. we prayed to know what we should do and INSTANTLY, no delay whatsoever, i felt prompted to go to another less active, Karla.

we drove over there and when we got there, we met Caleb. Caleb is karla's sons friend, who actually lives with Karla right now to help with rent. We kind of just meet Caleb and then go inside, and have a lesson with karla. nothing crazy, but really good.

So then, it is 8:55, and we need to be home by 9 (unless teaching a lesson to an investigator, (9:30)... So we were rushing out of the door. Caleb followed us outside, and we started talking. i asked him if he was religious at all, and he said that he was. we then had a full length conversation about the church, the book of mormon... everything. I have never felt so comfortable sharing the gospel... it was truly the spirit talking through me. Caleb is SO awesome and he has such a strong belief if Christ it is amazing. well, we committed him to reading the book of mormon. which he said he would. then, sweet sister barton said, "will you come to church with us too??" he kind of laughed and was like... "lets try the book of mormon thing first".

sister barton and i left, and made it home perfectly at 9:30. miracle. Well, we are writing down the miles we travelled, and the phone rings. i pick up the phone and Caleb goes "hi, this is Caleb... i know you sisters just left and everything, but as i got into my car to drive to work i had to pull over because of the burning sensation i am having. there is no coincidence i met you tonight... when does church start and what is the address?"

i almost passed out. literally. but thankfully the Lord calmed me down so i could finish talking with him. Caleb is the most prepared person i have met on my mission, and i know that the spirit was confirming to him yesterday that this is Christs church. he has been seeking and is so willing to learn. AH i cannot contain my joy! best moment of my mission.

i love this work so much. you want to be happy? do missionary work. it works like a charm! ha. i know that when we trust in God, the "power behind us" is so much greater than any trial before us. i love my heavenly father. i KNOW that Jesus Christ is our savior.

the church is true.

Sister Peterson