Letters from July 21st & 28th

Here are the last 2 weeks of Lauren's letters:

Letter from July 21st, titled "3" (I am assuming this means 3 more letters)

Hello  again from Omaha!

It is a nice humid and blistering hot day here, and i couldnt be happier!

 Life as a missionary is so awesome. I was reading in Helaman 5 today, and i thought the words describing Nephi and Lehi totally explain how i feel: "and they were filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory." The joy of sharing the gospel IS fully of glory, and i feel so privileged that the Lord has sent me "to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls." This is HIS work. and, the Book of Mormon is true.

It was a wonderful week. It flew by! It was one of those weeks that we weren't completely sure how much time we would actually have in our area, so i questioned if we could actually accomplish the goals we set. Such terrible faith. BUT the Lord forgave me for my doubt, and we were able to reach all of the goals we set by wednesday! ha can you believe that? the Lord consecrates our time as we are diligent and  obedient. I am so grateful for His guiding hand and for the miraculous moments He lets me witness every day.

The greatest miracle:

- The Summer Fireside Series started on Friday, and i don't know if i have ever been so nervous in my life! haha it felt like i was throwing a party and then had to wait anxiously, biting my nails to see if any of my "friends" would come! Sister B and i worked so hard to put it all together, so when the time came for the actual event, i was so excited/nervous. Sister Hanks and i were scheduled to be on shift that night at the Trail Center, so we actually weren't able to attend the fireside (i don't know why we scheduled ourselves on that day! ha what were we thinking.. oh well. ha). BUT. A family came in to the trail center around 6:40 (the fireside started at 7) and so i honestly missed all of the rush. i think Heavenly Father knew that i needed a tour to calm my nerves. As we walked around the gallery, i took the family into the memorial room that looks out over the cemetery and the temple. As we walked in there, i literally began to weep. I had been praying that we would have a good turn out for the fireside, and that at least 20 people would come! (once again, "oh ye of little faith!") But as we stood in the memorial room, i was able to look out and see the entire parking lot filled with cars, the entire STREET lined with cars, and tons of people walking in to the Trail Center. Members brought their friends, missionaries brought investigators, and we ended up having over 100 people in attendance. It was such a miracle and success, and i will never forget the feeling of gratitude that encompassed me as i stood in the memorial room. Thankfully i was able  to bear testimony to the family of the Lord's hand in our lives, and so they didn't think my tears were crazy haha. But i KNOW that the Lord lives, and i know that He loves each of us individually. I am so thankful to be here.

Other wonderful miracles:

- John Lawrence (our recent convert) blessed the sacrament last week and this week! Last week he had to repeat the prayer 3 times, so afterwards he was really discouraged. I prayed all day yesterday that he would nail it.. and he totally did! My heart once again was so full as i sat in the congregation, realizing what change has come about in his life, and how he has totally embraced the gospel. I am so proud of him, but more importantly i am so thankful that the Lord has been strengthening John so that he can continue in the faith.

- We had interviews with President Weston this week, and they went great. i love that man. i laugh every time i remember how scared i was of him at the beginning of my mission! haha. i have just come to realize how he shows his love, and have felt that love as he has continued to serve us in the mission. He talked a lot about how the mission is pushing to have ALL member present lessons - whether we are finding or teaching investigators/less actives. It got my super pumped. i am excited to work more closely with the members in our ward. I have seen SO much progress in our ward since i have been there, and love that their focus is now on hastening the work. It is FUN doing missionary work, and even helping the members catch the vision as well.

- Sister Hanks and i trained in Trail Center Training this week on asking inspired questions. We had very little time to prepare the training, so i know that the Lord helped us immensely, as it went over really well. Since the training i have been praying and trying a lot harder to ask more questions as i give tours, and also teach lessons. I had probably the best tour of my mission after the training - and i know it was because i was able to seek the guidance of the spirit to ask certain questions. The tour i took was a darling little family from Boise Idaho. Their kids were so cute and well behaved, and the parents were totally open to the spirit and to talking. We ended up spending about 2 hours back in the gallery together, and i was able to learn so much from their Christ-like attitudes, and through their willingness to "seek first the kingdom of God". i was so impressed as they were telling me that they realized how worldly their family was getting, and how they recognized they weren't teaching their children the right things through their constant pursuit of "having the nicest this or that". They decided to make a "course-correction", and they moved away from the big city into a smaller, more humble town in the mountains of Idaho. They bore testimony to me of the difference it has made in their life, and how they know they were led by the spirit because it has saved their family/marriage. AH i want to be like them! talking with them made me so grateful for the many blessings that i have in my life, and i know that even greater blessings come as we prioritize - ALWAYS keeping the Lord as #1.

- We are teaching this part member family, where the dad is a less active and his girlfriend and son are not members. We ran into the son, bruce, a few days ago and asked him if he had ever prayed about being baptized. His mom is a wicken, and his dad is mormon, and so he has been trying to decide which route he wanted to take. he told us that he prays, but had never specifically prayed whether or not he should be baptized. we challenged him to do so, and told him we would follow up with him at our next meeting, which was yesterday. as we started the lesson, we prayed and i knew we needed to follow up with Bruce right then. I asked him if his mom knew about what he was praying about this week. He said that she didnt, and then turned to his mom and said, "Mom, i want to be baptized". Not only did it floor his mom, but it floored us! The spirit was so strong, and thankfully his mom was totally accepting and excited for her son. I know that as we follow up with those that we teach, that we are helping them utilize the atonement, and are helping them receive answers to their prayers. it was a total miracle.

- Lena is set to be baptized on Saturday! We are praying that all goes well, and that she passes her baptismal interview. Pray for her :)

- Chris is doing well! He went out of town for the weekend which set him back a little bit, but he is still pressing forward. he came to church yesterday and he LOVED it. he said it was the best meeting he has ever been to - which i would agree, it was ward conference and it was totally awesome. Chris made the comment this week that asking him to give up coffee is like asking him to give up food, ha so we are praying that he can have the strength to hand those addictions over to the Lord so he can enter into His kingdom.

- our returning member, Sue, is doing really well. We were able to do service for her this week and it was amazing to see how strong the spirit was in our lesson afterwards because of it. I know that service softens the hearts of those that we serve. She was much more willing to keep her commitment that we extended, and the whole atmosphere of her home changed. Not only does having a clean home make ALL the difference for the spirit, but also having a heart full of gratitude.

Now that i have rambled your ear off! my goodness hahaha. I guess my heart is just so grateful today for the blessing of the gospel. I love my Savior and i know that He lives. I know that happiness comes as we are obedient to the commandments that the Lord has set.

If you havent already, read this talk that President Uchtdorf gave at the Pioneer Day Celebration in Ogden. i may be a little biased because i have an obsession with the pioneers, ha, but seriously this is such an incredible talk! I LOVE these pioneers, and i too have learned so much from their optimism, hard work, and compassion. We have a big legacy to continue forward, and all i have to say is "bring it on!"

https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/all-is-well?lang=eng&HPWE071614334

love you! The church is true!

Sister Peterson

Letter from July 28th titled "2" (I am assuming this means 2 more letters)

Hello from Nebraska!! 

I love this place. I love the people. i love the weather. I love the Trail Center. I love the pioneers. I love the temple across the street. What a joy to be here.

First things first:

-Happy Birthday to Mindy!!! I hope you had a wonderful day, because YOU are so wonderful! i love you and can't wait to see you!!!

-Congrats to Jessi/Will Bangerter: BEAUTIFUL baby! SO happy for you two!

Fun Fact:

-CLARK: Roy Helu's first cousin (and family) just moved into our ward from Sacramento. They are active members of the church! small world!

I am kind of at a loss of words this week, probably because the wheels in my brain are turning too fast! I have had such an incredible week, and i can't even believe that this next week is here. I am so thankful for the Lord's hand guiding and directing us each and every day, and i never get sick of the many miracles He pours out on us!

I had one of, if not THE best lesson of my mission this week.

A member in our ward, Sister Kortus, referred us to her friend, Brooke, a few weeks ago. They have been friends for quite some time, and have had many discussions about the gospel and religion in general. Sister Kortus was very anxious to have us meet her, and kept saying "if we do this right, Brooke will be golden". It was hard not to get too stressed out about having a perfect first lesson.. wanting it to be "just right". I know the Lord blessed us immensely. Sister Kortus invited Brooke over to her house, and we came over to have a first lesson. Sister Hanks and i had been at the Trail Center all morning, and then we served at the Clinic and so we didn't have a ton of time to prepare a lesson. But we prayed and felt like we needed to start very basic, and help Brooke just feel the spirit. I had Helaman 5:12 come into my head, and we decided that we would share that with her as well. 

So, we start the lesson, and everything was great. We were able to get to know Brooke, and understand her background a little bit better. It was SO awesome having Sister Kortus there, IN HER HOME, because she was able to bear SUCH powerful testimony of the blessings of the gospel in her own life and how it has blessed her family. I was able to then share Helaman 5:12, and bear testimony of how the gospel provides a solid foundation for our family, one that will stay strong no matter what life throws at it. As i was speaking, Brooke instantly started crying and said "is that what your church teaches? will the gospel teach me how i can have that type of foundation??" We all let out a resounding YES!! And were all in tears. We were able to point out to Brooke that she was feeling the spirit, and that He was aware of her and wants this for her and her family. Her husband passed away 10 years ago, and her kids are everything to her. She wants what is best for her kids, and she committed to being baptized :) It was such an incredible lesson, and i know it was not because of anything we said, but it was because the spirit touched Brooke's heart, and helped her feel of God's love. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to teach her. It was such a testimony to me of how missionary work is supposed to be, with members completely involved. 

We had another AMAZING miracles happen this week. We got a text from some elders who told us that they had received a call from a woman, named Heather, who was wanting to learn more. She had found the number in a Book of Mormon left at her house by a previous roommate. She is going through a difficult divorce, and so she found the Book of Mormon and decided to call. Well, the ward she lives in doesnt have sisters, and so the elders referred us to her. We were able to have an awesome first lesson with her, get in touch with the relief society president of the ward she belongs to, and she will be coming with us on tuesday to meet Heather! I know that the Lord is SO aware of His children.. There is no doubt in my mind that the gospel is HIS. He leads His children to the church when they are in need of help, peace, love.. and it is because it works! This IS CHRIST'S CHURCH!

This week we were able to go to the Temple! ah. it was so wonderful and peaceful... SO peaceful actually, ha that i found it extremely hard to stay awake! ha but it was seriously so great to be in the Lord's house. I have missed being there. Something that really stuck out to me as i was there was how the covenants we make in the temple are everlasting. They will apply to us forever - not just while on my mission, or even just in this life - but they will be covenants that will effect our eternities. And oh! how grateful i am for those covenants!

I had a really neat and sacred experience after the session, while in the celestial room. Sister Weston was there, giving hugs to all the missionaries and softly talking with each of us individually. When she came over to me, we both started crying and i felt so much love for her. She is so amazing, and has really been a "mom" for all of us missionaries since ours are far away! While i was talking to her, she was saying such sweet things, and i had an incredible moment where i saw the face of my REAL mom.. it reminded me of when Brigham Young was speaking in Nauvoo, and the whole audience saw and heard the voice of Joseph Smith.. i was looking at Sister Weston, and listening to her, but i was with my actualy mom! it is hard to describe, but it was one of the greatest tender mercies i have ever experienced, and i will forever hold it sacred. I am so grateful for the temple - i am so grateful that we can be a family for EVER. There is nothing more important to me than my family, and doing everything i can to make it back to live with our Heavenly Father again.. AS a family. What a blessing that will be!!

We had  a cool miracle this week as well as we went out on team-ups with our Bishop, Bishop Ostler. First of all, i love that man. I love his family even more - they remind me SO much of when our family were the ages of their kids: 2-14 ish age. They are hilarious and make me laugh so hard haha with their elementary school boy jokes. We had dinner with them on sunday and it made my life. But ANYWAY. ha. We went out with Bishop (he goes out with each set of missionaries once a month) and we visited a less active that sister Brough and i found, named Dennis. It was 8:55 when we got there, and so we really were just going to introduce Bishop to him. But, the opportunity was too precious to not teach! so we ended up having a lesson with him as well, even though we really needed to get home and get the car back to the other sisters. i prayed silently that the time would stop. I would say that we probably had about a 45 minute lesson with him, but when we got back into the car it was 9:15. there is NO way that the lesson was only 15 minutes. I KNOW that the Lord stopped the time for us! we were able to get home right on time. The Lord provides miracles for us each and every day if we just have the faith to ask Him.

We had a great lesson last night with our investigators Bruce and Christy. Bruce is set to be baptized in 3 weeks! Please pray for them. Christy's boyfriend is a member of the church, Jimmie, and as we talked last night about temple marriage and the sealing power, she completely softened. i know that she wants that for her family, so we are praying that she will have the faith to change. She told us last night the coolest thing though.. she said "there is no doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet. It is like how i know that my mom IS my mom, there is no questioning it. I know that Joseph Smith really had that vision". It was such a cool one liner! ha and i too know that Joseph Smith is a prophet!! so wonderful.

I could continue to talk forever.. haha i guess my stumped brain began to work! ha. But i love you all and i am so thankful for the gospel! We are so blessed. Yesterday at church, our recent convert John was talking with us before sacrament about how he wishes he would have had the knowledge of who God really was, earlier in his life. We had taught gospel principles about our Heavenly Father, and the discussion was so good. After he made that comment i said, "isn't the gospel amazing?" John stopped and then said, "ya.. but learning about it for the first time is even better". He has been blessing the sacrament every week, he has a calling, and is doing so great. it is pure joy to see him progress in the gospel.

Love you all! See you... :)

Sister Peterson

Picture: Dinner at the Ostler's house :)