Letter
sent June 9th, 2014: (“Tornado’s to Miracles”)
Hello!
Greetings Earthlings.
Guess
what?... yep. you are right. another incredible week full of miracles. I feel
SO blessed to be out here in the best part of the country, among the most
amazing people. I don't know why the Lord has been blessing us so much lately,
but man am i grateful and humbled. This is seriously the best work on earth.
First
things first:
1.
Congratulations to Hayley! Her wedding pictures/the musical looked SO beautiful
and fun! So happy for her. Beautiful bride and couple.
2.
Happy Father's day to the best man alive! I am so grateful for you, Dad! You
are my favorite and i love you so much.
3.
Happy Birthday to the greatest Mom! It's kind of fun to be able to celebrate
both of my parents on the same day this year! Maybe president will give me
permission to skype home? ha just kidding. But really i love you so much and
can't be more grateful for your example to me. Love you!
4.
Happy Birthday to my fav French missionary, Kales!! Love you! Miss you and
can't wait for the reunion of a life time.
...
and happy birthday/anniversary/wedding to anyone and everyone i may have
missed!
What
a great week. Literally so much happened this week that i dont know how i am
going to be able to fit it all into a tiny little email. Ill try my best
though!
We
started off the week with a bang, literally, seeing that we had a tornado on
Tuesday! I was on exchanges with Sister Pettyjohn, which was way fun, ha except
that right around 4 oclock the sky started turning green/black and the rain
started to pour. We drove as fast as we could to get back to the Trail Center,
and by the minute the weather was drastically changing from blue skies to
"the jaws of death". We had no food at the trail center, haha so we
decided to drive through Jimmy Johns to pick us up some food in case we
actually got hit by a tornado.. dumb idea. We were ordering and the sirens were
going off, and the lady that was taking our order was so slow sister pettyjohn
almost had an anxiety attack! ha we grabbed our food and rushed to the trail
center right as the hail was starting to come down. It was awesome. We all went
down into the basement, including guests ha, and waited it out. it was a fun
adventure.... yesterday at church we had our lesson on "signs of the
times" and it was so fitting for our experience this week. The Savior's
second coming is drawing near, and there is no place i would rather be than
here!
A
lot happened this week, tiny miracles every day. I wish i could tell you
all of them, but i aint got no time. Just know that the Lord is involved in the
very details of our lives, and is aware of every single one of His children. If
we look, we will be able to see His hand in all things.
SUNDAY:
Yesterday
was one of the greatest days of my mission.. Big statement, i know. But it
really was so miraculous and i attribute it to fasting. We decided sunday
morning that we were going to fast for our investigators to come to church. We
saw Chris this week, and really were praying that he would come to church
because he is seriously so solid. We also had invited several other
investigators and less active members, so we knew we needed the Lord's help in
getting them there.
Sunday
morning one of our investigators, Lena, called to say that she wasnt coming to
church. We were totally bummed, but didnt give up hope! We knew that the Lord
would provide a way. And he totally did. In relief society, our less
active/returning member, Sue, walked in right after the meeting started. We
havent been able to get ahold of her all week, so we were extremely worried
about her.. seeing her walk into church and then stay all 3 hours was such a
huge miracle. We then went to gospel principles, and there was John, in a white
shirt and tie (!), with our other investigator named Michael! I couldve cried.
John looked SO good all dressed up and i felt the Lord's love for him so
strong. He is getting baptized this Saturday at 10, and he couldnt be more
prepared or more excited.
After
gospel principles we went into Sacrament, and were waiting for a text or a call
from Chris to tell us he was there. We waited and then had the feeling to go
outside and wait for him. Right as we opened the door to go outside, there he
is, with his girlfriend Girly, in their sunday best. Elder and Sister Cleverly
were there as well to welcome them in and to help fellowship. They loved
Sacrament, and the ward council is on board to helping them feel completely
fellowshipped. I am so excited to see what happens with them! Please pray for
them!!
As
we were sitting in sacrament, ( which sister Brough and i werent even together,
we were both sitting with different families because of the number of people
there - not a bad problem to have! ) in walks our less active/recent convert,
Rochelle. We didnt think she was coming because of her heart attack, but there
she was, smiling from ear to ear. Ah! it was amazing!
Sister
Brough and i sang Savior, Redeemer of my Soul in sacrament meeting, and that
was another miracle because it went over great, even with only running through
it once. It was a sacred experience as i know that the Lord helped strengthen
my voice.. there is no other explanation to it. The harmony went perfectly, and
we were truly able to bear testimony through song. The spirit was so strong,
and i really hope it touched the investigators/less actives hearts that were
there.
All
in all, i KNOW that the Lord lives and that He blesses us as we sacrifice and
show our obedience to Him. He is so good. He wants us to be happy and so He has
prepared the perfect way for us to be! It is only through the gospel of Jesus
Christ, made possible because of the Savior's atonement. I feel His love every
day, and it is the greatest gift.
I
love you all! Continue to endure!
Sister
Peterson
Letter received June 16, 2014 (“John the Baptized”)
Hello
from Omaha!
My
heart is full of gratitude today, and i am just so thankful to be a missionary.
I remember when i first came out i would get kind of nervous to have people
notice i was "different" .. wearing a skirt, and a big black name tag
on my chest. I dont know what i was thinking, because now it is literally the
greatest joy of my life to wear Jesus Christ's name over my heart each and
every day! What a blessing, and i wouldnt trade it for anything!
We
were able to witness a miracle on Saturday, as John entered the waters of
baptism! it was a beautiful day, and my heart was so full as i realized, once
again, the sacred nature of baptism and the importance of that covenant. It is
the only way back to live with our father in heaven, and is made possible
because of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed to have His authority on the earth
today so that we can have hope that one day we will live with God again.
Saturday
was a crazy busy day - by the end of the night my head felt like a bowling ball
and i couldn't even make it through my nightly prayer without dozing off! i
love days like that. We started out the day with Trail Center Training, which
was so totally awesome! We had asked the Assistants to train on obedience, and
they did such an incredible job. I have had so many trainings on obedience, but
this one was still so enlightening. Some points i loved:
-
There are 3 motivations to be obedient:
1.
Fear
2.
Praise of man
3.
Love
Love
is the greatest motivator, and as we obey the 2 great commandments (to love God
and to love our fellow men), obeying all other commandments will come easier.
-
Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient to the Father. His will was "swallowed
up" in the will of the Father. Even though He asked for the "cup to
be removed" three times, He still was able to say "not my will, but
thine be done". He set the perfect example of loving God and His
"fellow men" (us) by suffering the atonement, and therefore being
exactly obedient.
-
Being exactly obedient doesnt mean we are perfect. It means that we are trying
our very best, and then continually repenting.
-
Why am I obedient?
I
was so motivated after this training to be obedient in every aspect of my life,
and to evaluate my standing with God in order to become more exactly obedient.
I have a lot to improve on, but i know that being obedient is the only way to
bring the greatest amount of blessings!
So,
if you can't tell, the day started off AWESOME.
THEN.
We rushed off to the stake center for John's baptism! It was supposed to start
at 10, but right at about 9:55 we got a call from John who said that he had
lost the keys to his car, and he was still at home! The stake center is about
30 minutes away from where we live, so we quickly said a prayer and petitioned
the Lord for a miracle. And of course, right after we prayed he was able to
find the keys! Satan is one tricky guy. But John was able to make it by 10:30,
and the baptism went just great. Sister Brough and i sang "I know that my
Redeemer lives" and it went so well. The spirit was the strongest it has
ever been, and John broke down in tears as we were able to sing TO him our
testimonies of the Savior. It was powerful, i wish you could have all been
there. I know Sister B and i were blessed and that the angels in heaven were
singing along with us.
*
a little side note about John. He is a talker. He has come into the trail
center many, many times and each time stays for at least 4 hours. He LOVES to
talk and it is one of my favorite things about him! Well, after his baptism was
performed, he bore his testimony and he was literally speechless. He talked for
about 5 minutes but that was all he could say - it was so cool. He was
completely overwhelmed with the spirit, that all he could really say was that
he felt "glorious". What an amazing day.
After
the baptism, Sister B and i and the Cleverly's drove down to Nebraska City to
help with a fair they were having in the town. We had a booth all about the
Mormon Trail Center/Pioneers. It honestly was a really small turn out, but the
best part was that i got to spend the whole time with my trainee, Sister
Palmer! She serves there, and is doing great. It was like being reunited with
family to see her - i love her so much.
We
were able to see SUCH an incredible miracle this week with Chris! AH! Here is
the week's break down of events with him:
Wednesday:
We had a lesson at his house with Brother Portwood in our ward. They
totally hit it off and we had a great lesson about the gospel of Jesus
Christ/tithing/ a bunch of other things. Brother Portwood was going off on all
sorts of tangents, haha but it totally worked. The spirit was there and it was
exactly what needed to happen.
Thursday:
Chris calls and says "Did you girls say an extra prayer for me last
night?" we told him that we always pray for him at night, but nothing in
particular! He then went on to say that he woke up Thursday feeling totally
energized and like he had been re-born. He said that he got a bigger check that
day, bigger than he had ever received and had really no way of explaining where
it came from. He also said that he was feeling so peaceful, and that he was on
"the right track"! The greatest thing about it is that he attributed
everything to the Lord, and him coming closer to Him. Chris said that if things
continue going the way they are, there will literally be no denying what his
next "step" in life is.. baptism! SO awesome! We were able to bear
testimony over the phone of the reality of God, and how blessings truly do come
when we are obedient to Him.
Sunday:
Chris and his fiance Girly came to church, and they loved it. Second week in a
row(!) which is such a huge miracle.
Continue
to pray for him! He is so awesome, and i feel seriously so privileged to be
able to teach him.
We
were able to see the Lord's hand every second of this week. I really felt like
every prayer offered was answered, and that is a very humbling thing to
experience. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and His great love for us,
His children.
Love
you all! Have a wonderful week!
Sister
Peterson
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