Shall we not go on in so great a cause

Hey!

It has been an amazing week. The theme of the week has definitely been FAITH. Faith that we can see miracles, faith that things will work out, faith that the Lord is aware of us and will help us. I know that as we have enough faith to even exercise faith, the Lord will ALWAYS bless us, and give us greater strength. I feel as though my faith IN faith has become more of a knowledge.. it is always worth putting forth faith.

Miracles:

- This week Karla, the woman Sister Barton and I helped re-active in the Ralston ward, went through the temple! Ah! i was able to attend the session, and it was honestly one of the greatest experiences of my life. To see her SO excited, and SO happy to be there was something that i will never forget. She alone has strengthened my testimony of the atonement because of the change/transformation she has made. It was a beautiful day and i am so grateful for the gospel.

- We gave the Trail Center Training on Saturday, and it went so well. The Lord was helping us out big time. It was amazing because we couldn’t get the internet to work, which totally ruined our plan of having a powerpoint presentation and we had a video to show. Sister Brough and i went out and prayed, reset the router, and had the faith that is would work. We went back in and RIGHT as it was time for us to train the internet turned on and the training went just as we had planned. The Lord ALWAYS helps us if we just have faith in him. We had a neat encounter after the training, when our historian, Sister Latey, came up to us sobbing. She told us that she had felt angels around us through out the training, and that she knew we were not alone. It was an incredibly sacred experience, and i couldnt help but to think of Uncle Max, Ken, and other loved ones who have passed on. It makes me cry just to think about their continual support of us still on earth.

- We went on exchanges with the other set of sisters in our ward, Sister Bowles (who came out with me) and Sister Tune (from Fiji). I went with Sister Bowles, and we saw the most incredible miracles! We were able to find 5 new investigators! it was so humbling to have the Lord literally place people right in front of us who are searching for the gospel.. it was so much fun. We found this amazing family. The grandma is Loretta, her daughter is Penny, and her daughter is Diamond. They are so cute, and i am sure we will have more details to come, as we are teaching them again tonight! cant wait! i know that the Lord will bless us as we have enough faith. We had set our goals high for the exchange, and because of the faith and work we put forth, the Lord dumped the blessings. I am so grateful.

- We were driving in the car, and we noticed we had a missed call from a random number. i called it back, and this man named Cyril answered the phone. this was the conversation we had: "Hi my name is Cyril. I used to learn from the missionaries when i lived in Omaha, but now i have moved to Georgia and really want to continue learning so that i can get baptized into the church. Can you help me?" hahah!! i almost passed out. so cool. we were able to send the local missionaries to him to start teaching him. God is good.

-- Sister Brough met a boy named Devin, miraculously, at the Trail Center. She and Sister Seguin were waiting for a tour, when they saw Devin walking down the street. They ran outside and invited him in to take a tour. He agreed, and they had an incredible/converting tour. Miraculously, he lives in our area (!) so Sister B got his info. We were able to meet with him a few days later, set him for baptism on April 5th, and then he went to church on Sunday! The only sad part is that we have to turn him over to the singles ward, but still! he is incredible and is going to get baptized. We had another awesome lesson last night with him, and he is seriously so prepared. I know he will end up being an apostle or something.. he is solid. So fun.

- We met this amazing man named John this week. He lives with a recent convert named Kitty, and she is seriously an angel. John has been prepared his whole life to join the church, he just doesnt exactly know that yet. But it was SO cool to talk with him this week. He kept saying how every time we come over, we dont even have to say anything and he finds himself more and more interested in the church, and how he hasnt been able to sleep because it has been on his mind so much. AH! we were able to bear testimony about the truthfulness of the gospel, and help motivate him to read the Book of Mormon. It is amazing how the spirit teaches. I honestly think we each said about 10 words in the whole lesson, ha but by the end of the lesson his heart was completely softened and willing to learn. More details to come, im sure.

Fun Fact:

- We got invited to a less actives Mary Kay party this week. She had told us we could come over to get a free facial, so we were thinking it could be an awesome "in" to getting to know her. haha. little did we know what we were getting ourselves in to! It was this crazy party (crazy meaning so worldly i almost died) where these women were standing up talking about how many cars they had earned and how Mary Kay answers prayers, etc. I just about lost it when they asked the question "What would you rather have? The car or the money?" and the whole room yelled either CAR or MONEY. yuck. it was quite the experience and sister Brough and i laughed for a good hour or two about that one.. it was ridiculous. i am so glad i am a missionary.

- My talk in church went really well. Like i have been saying for over a year now, haha the Lord is seriously so good. He helped me a ton, along with Sister Brough, in kind of organizing my thoughts. My talk was on the atonement and grace/works. kind of broad, but i feel like it all came together really well. Go read the talk "His grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. it is my favorite and i have loved reading it this week. I really love how he talks about the more we understand GRACE, the more we understand the requirements that Christ asks of us. So profound.

i seriously could go on and on and on. it has been the most miraculous week. These werent even half of the miracles we saw. I feel so humbled to be a missionary, and i know the Lord is blessing us big time.. i guess it is our job to keep the faith and be worthy of these great blessings!

All my love to you. Keep the faith. The blessings of living the gospel may not come right now, but to "those who keep the faith, they ALWAYS come".

Love,

Sister Peterson

One Year!

Hello!

Can you BELIEVE it has been a year? MAN ALIVE. Best year of my life, hands down. I am so thankful to be a missionary, and am holding on to every minute that i have as one. It is the greatest blessing.

Dad: Happy Birthday!!! I am so grateful for you, and i love you so much. I will think of you all day on the 6th :) I feel so blessed to have you as my dad, and i hope you can feel my love on your big day! Miss you!

I was so sad to hear about Uncle Max Pinegar's passing. I will be praying for grandpa and all of the family. I am so thankful though that he is now in a wonderful place, away from pain and suffering. Thank goodness for the plan of salvation.. what great peace comes from our savior.

This has been such a great week, full of miracles! I absolutely love serving in Lake Cunningham. It is so much fun, and the people here are awesome. A little crazy, haha but awesome. I love serving with sister Brough because she laughs at everything, like me, ha and so we have had some great times this week at some of the situations we have had. here are two examples:

1. We were driving down the street one night when we saw this guy walking. Sister Brough turned to me and said "should we talk to him?" We already knew the answer. She hurried and parked the car, we jumped out, and then proceeded to literally chase after this guy (no joke.. we were running haha)  up this big hill in order to talk to him. When we finally reached him, we were out of breath, and had been yelling out to him for a good minute or two, so he looked at us like we were insane. haha, BUT, we were able to teach him, give him a book of mormon, and set up a return appointment! The rest of the night we giggled thinking about how we had literally chased after someone in order to share the gospel! Check off my bucket list :)

2. We were street contacting one day this week, in 0 degree weather ha, and were not having a ton of luck (most people stay inside when it is 0 degrees.. go figure). So, we decided to knock a few doors. We noticed this one house that had puzzles taped to the front door, a skeleton decoration, and unicorn posters in the windows. We laughed a little bit, and then for the fun of it, knocked on the door. A man came out to talk to us named Raymond, and he was actually really nice! The conversation was centered on the plan of salvation and at one point of the conversation he said "well, i know that God is real. ohh i know it. He saved me life! Get this. i am dead. I died twice already.. police come to my house and they cant find nothin' about me in them records cus i ain't alive!" ... haha it was at that point that we decided to try someone else.. but we got a good laugh at how we had taught a "dead guy" that day.

3. We helped a less active in our ward clean up her house this week, and i prayed "mightily" that i would not get sick. it was pretty bad. We cleaned up tons of dog hair and urine, cockroaches, and, to top it off, i was the lucky finder of a little mouse! haha Mom i thought of you the whole time. it was amazing how the Lord helped us be calm, and have a "strong" stomach, where to we were able to help with no problem. The song "when we're helping we're happy" was stuck in my head the whole time we were there... haha and through Heavenly Father's help i definitely WAS happy!

haha so awesome. i love serving in Florence.

This week we had Zone Conference which was SO wonderful. i absolutely LOVE Zone Conference. Not only was i totally uplifted and edified, but we had the Finals for Zone Olympics, which was a riot, and which was so fun. Sister Brough and i make a good team - She won Gold in Ladders, and i won Gold in sit ups. It was super fun (see pics.)

Something that President Weston trained about in our Saturday morning training this week has been sticking with me, and i have had a whole new insight on the laws of Obedience and Sacrifice. He talked about how they are inseparable, and how you cannot have one without the other. I have totally seen that. But what is so neat, is that once we decide to be obedient or to sacrifice because of our utmost love for God, it no longer becomes either thing. It just becomes a part of who we are. Since being out on my mission i have grown to understand this principle, as i have felt no great sacrifice or resistance to be obedient because i WANT to do the things God has asked. i LOVE being obedient. It has been the coolest transformation, and i can now strongly testify that following Christ is the ONLY way to be happy. Sister Brough and i have talked a lot this week about how we literally change as we follow Christ.. our temperament, our desires, even our personalities change and become better and more like God. It is beautiful, and i want to live the rest of my life with a continual progression forward in becoming like Christ.

We saw some amazing miracles this week, i wish i had time to share every little one. But here is one that was incredible:

- We went to visit our investigator named Charlie. We had set up an appointment, but when we got there Charlie had forgotten we were coming, and so he had company over. Thankfully, he still let us in, and we were able to start talking to one of his friends who was their, named Kenyatta. She lives just down the street from Charlie, and has been going through a lot lately. We jumped on the opportunity to help her feel of God's love and awareness, and said a prayer together. Instantly the spirit in the room changed, and she recognized it. She then decided to listen in on the lesson with Charlie and his son, Joshua. Joshua is absolutely adorable. He has cerebral palsy, and kind of goes in and out of reality. We were able to teach all three of them about the love that Heavenly father has for all of His children, and how he has reached out once again to us through the Restoration. We sang I am A Child of God with Joshua, and the spirit was so strong we all started to cry. the coolest part was, as sister Brough and i sang, Joshua joined in and he some how knew every single word to the song. it was miraculous, and i know that he is a choice spirit that is SO close to our Heavenly Father. In zone conference we had a training about setting investigators for baptism on the first contact, and so i knew that we needed to set Kenyatta for baptism... we had a ton of faith, and the Lord directed the conversation to where we were able to invite her to be baptized on April 5, and she willingly accepted! it was honestly one of the coolest lessons i have ever been in. It is amazing how the spirit is able to soften our hearts, and also how when we exercise our faith, God makes up the rest. amazing.

I am so grateful to be a missionary.. it is the best thing ever. It has been fun to read over my journal from a year ago this week, and realize how different i have become, in the sense of how much i have learned. It is the greatest blessing. I am so thankful to have this time to consecrate all of my efforts to serving the Lord's children.

This week we are giving the district meeting training, Saturday morning Trail Center Training, and i'm speaking in church again.. ha pray that i have the energy i need! It has been an exhausting week, but the Lord ALWAYS, without fail, gives us enough strength. it is honestly pretty remarkable. And i definitely need all the strength i can get!

Till next week! All my love,

Sister Peterson

"Humbly kneeling sweet appealing"

Hello!

Thank you for all of your sweet notes, cards, and love! i am feeling 100% better than last week ha and am grateful for the humbling experience of being sick. It is amazing how the Lord is able to heal us, and get us back to work so fast. It really is remarkable, and i have felt his love more this past week than ever before. I know that He lives. I know that He is perfectly aware of us.

It was transfer week, and "the phone rang" on thursday morning. I had felt like i was probably going to leave Ralston, and now looking back the Lord really prepared me to do so. I was able to see everyone that i have come to love there, and saying goodbye was not as hard as i imagined. However, when President called on Thursday to tell me that i would be moving to Lake Cunningham, and would be serving as the new Trail Center Leader, i was completely shocked and overwhelmed. I think my heart literally almost popped out of my chest, it was beating so fast ha. I have been humbled, and have really come to learn this week that the Lord doesnt call the strong or the perfect to do His work. All He asks is that we strive to follow Him, and He makes up the difference. I am so grateful for His trust.. it honestly amazes me, and i have never felt so inadequate. I also feel like it has been a dream because i am now serving with my best friend on the mission, Sister Brough. We came out together, and i never imagined actually being companions! it has been too fun, and i am so grateful to have the chance to learn from her. She is incredible.

I had a really neat experience on Friday, the day that all the craziness started! we went to transfer point, changed companions, and then Sister Brough and i went back to the Trail Center to start working on the schedule for the transfer. Before we started, we went into the memorial room to squeeze in our personal study and companionship study. In my personal i read Alma 32, which i have read a 1000 times. But this time it was so enlightening, and i really felt the Lord's confidence in me to be able to fulfill all of the new responsibilities i will have. As i cried in prayer and asked "How am i going to do this?" i was quickly, and sweetly chastised by the spirit with the answer "YOU arent the one doing this work. It is through HIS strength that we can do all things". i immediately knew that i needed to repent, and completely trust in the Lord.

That trust and reliance on Him has been greatly used the past few days! we were able to finish the schedule, figure out the training for Saturday morning Trail Center Training, and also plan the new sister orientation that was on Saturday afternoon. My brain felt like jello by the end of saturday night, ha but without fail the Lord gave us just enough strength to get everything done.. along with having it all run smoothly! It really was a miraculous weekend.

We had a ward coordination meeting on sunday morning, and i just laughed the whole time as we discussed some of the problems in this ward. parole, house arrest, abuse were all the hottest topic. It was a great welcome to the area. ha but it all sincerity i am SO excited to be in this area. It is so prepared, and i know we will see miracles!

I was able to speak in church on Sunday, and i already love the ward. The people are so humble, and they love the missionaries. I am excited! there is a lot of work to do. Sister Brough and i also taught the 14 year old sunday school class, and we basically taught the Plan of Salvation to them through song. it was super fun to sing primary songs and hymns in order to teach.. sister brough and i will be singing a lot.. i cant wait.

Because of the business at the trail center this weekend, We had just a few hours in our area. But it was amazing to see the miracles that happened in just a short amount of time. I know that the Lord consecrated our efforts. We were able to find a new investigator, named Carla, who we will be teaching tonight! we were trying a potential investigator when we met her, and she is so prepared. We also met a less active woman named Ashley, who is darling and has invited us back to teach her and her 8 year old son. The Lord led us to so many different people, and i feel like all we had to do was just "be there" and the Lord did the rest. i am so grateful.

Sorry this is such a long email, i hope you were able to read all of it. I am doing so well. I love Omaha. I love being a missionary. I am so thankful for the many opportunities that have been handed to me, and i know it is because the Lord needs me to improve. and i am excited to do so.

i love you all, and feel so grateful to have such wonderful support from back home. know that i love you all as well!

Sister Peterson

It's a great day to have a good day!

Hello! 

Thank you SO much for the gifts, notes, and love i felt so strongly on my birthday! ah. i just feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. I am so grateful.

I have been so excited to write this e-mail, haha because of the events of the week. it has been quite the week! 

Here we go:

1. On wednesday night an investigator named Andrew, who we met while serving at a health clinic on thursday nights, invited us for dinner. He is a gourmet chef, and so for valentine's day he wanted to cook for the sisters that serve at the clinic. He served us a 7 course meal (since we didnt have time for the 11 courses he had planned!), and i dont think i have ever eaten that good of food in my whole life. it was delicious. i was definitely "miserable" by the end of the night.

2. Thursday, were the "try-outs" for the Olympics. haha. it was so fun. Everyone was so into it. i was still SO full from the night before, haha but it ended up working out ok. the event i won was the sit ups. I did 110 in 3 minutes. also, i totally thought i had the push ups too: i did 85 in 3 minutes. the girl who won i think got like 90... but you'd be proud, because mine were "real" push-ups :) so fun.

3. it is transfer week, and my beloved trainer, Sister Whittaker goes home tomorrow. It is crazy to think how fast the time has gone.. i feel like i was just emailing home telling you about how much i love being companions with her! that was almost a year ago. I am so grateful for the friendships i have made while being here.. i know that they will last much longer than just the mission.

Friday:

My birthday.. haha one i will never forget! So, Sister Hamilton and i woke up, went running in the snow, and then followed the daily schedule. I was able to study, and then get ready/open presents! it was a great morning. Well, during companionship study at 9 o'clock, we started reading from the white handbook, and all the sudden i knew that something was not right. i felt super dizzy, hot, and nauscious. yep. You can guess what happened...haha Thankfully i made it to the bathroom before getting sick! ha so, i spent the day in bed, throwing up. haha can you believe it?! thinking about it now, it is honestly hilarious. i know that the Lord was keeping me humble - the one day a year (or on your mission) you can think about yourself, and i end up sick as a dog... which is the only time i have ever been sick on my mission! haha. But, looking at the bright side:

- we never get to rest on our missions.. maybe it was a birthday present from heavenly father to let me stay in bed all day? :)

- i lost 5 pounds?

- i avoided eating a bunch of junk food!

- because it was my birthday, i was able to read love notes from my wonderful family, open presents, and still feel super loved even though i was stuck in bed. if i wouldve been sick any other day, it would have been a lot harder to not feel bogged down.

- it made my birthday last longer, because i was able to ACTUALLY celebrate it the next day!

ha. definitely a journal entry moment! i am so thankful for Heavenly Father and always allowing me to improve, and to never get prideful.

Other than that, the week was great! Bill was able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday, which was so wonderful. He is doing great. it was so neat to be able to be in Ward Coordination this week, and have a game plan to help him feel fully accepted into the ward. I am so grateful for those members of the ward that have been reaching out to him, sitting with him at church, inviting him and Joanie over for dinner, and really helping him feel like he is "a member". it is wonderful to see.

I know that God is extremely, and perfectly aware of us. Today we needed to get our oil changed, and so we went over to Jensen Tire and took the car in. We had planned to have lunch with some of the sisters serving near us, and they were going to pick us up from the tire place. Well, we waited there and they were running behind. While we sat in the waiting room though, we noticed a boy sitting in the chairs across the room, and sister Hamilton and i both felt the need to go talk to him. We started chatting with him, and he quickly opened up to us about how he feels so overwhelmed with the decision of where to go to school, what to major in, and who he wants to become. It was an amazing opportunity to bear our testimonies to him about the peace that comes through Christ, and through His restored church. While we were talking to him he kept saying that he knew it was by no chance that we met. We were able to set up a time to teach him this week. Total miracle. It is so amazing to me how there are SO many people around us who are struggling, and who need direction in their lives... it is just up to us to open our mouths. It was awesome. It definitely strengthened my testimony as well of doing missionary work after my mission. I didnt need a name tag to bear my testimony to him and give him a book of mormon. The spirit can prompt all of us to open our mouths and share what we know.

I love my Savior. I love the gospel, and i am so grateful for the peace it brings.

love you all so much!

Sister Peterson

Best Week Yet!!!

Hello!

I am already crying even just typing this letter. what a miraculous, beautiful, crazy week. I am so humbled and thankful to be a missionary, to do the Lord's work. I know without a doubt that it is HIS work. He is in charge, and oh how grateful i am for His continual love and support.

I came on a mission not really knowing what to expect.. actually, i had no idea what i was getting myself into! ha. But i think i did have a few expectations, and things that i wanted to "see" on my mission. The past few months i feel like those "expectations" of sorts have been met, something that i can only owe to my Heavenly Father. Being able to find someone, teach him all of the lessons, and then see him baptized is unlike any other joy i have ever experienced. It is a miraculous feeling. I now truly understand the verse "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

Bill's baptism went perfect. It was a beautiful, snowy Nebraska day, and the spirit couldn't have been stronger as He was baptized. Many of the ward members came to support Bill, and all left in tears as Bill bore a powerful, simple testimony of Joseph Smith and how he knew that he had "found Jesus". While Bill was changing, sister Hamilton and I were able to teach the Restoration, and i think i cried through the whole thing. ha, i RARELY cry since being out here on the mission, but it was almost like the spirit forced it out of me as i recited Joseph's vision. It all hit home as i realized what a sacred, and amazing ordinance baptism really is, and how because of Joseph Smith we have Christ's authority on the earth again. I teach that every day, but i think it "sunk in" on Saturday. Oh, how grateful i am for that power of God. What a beautiful day. i will never forget it.

This whole week has been crazy in every way possible. ha. So many journal entries came from this week! haha.

some fun things:

1. i got a haircut today. finally. (sad that that is fun to a missionary, but honestly i was so excited. it's been a good 8 months since my last haircut!)

2. Our mission is doing an Olympics competition, which includes push ups, sit ups, ladders, jug curl, and stick pole. We have competed in districts, so next will be at zone training, and then the winners will go to zone conference. It was honestly so fun to get a little competitive and win some of the events. I will be competing in the push-ups, sit ups, and ladders this thursday for zone training.. haha. i'll try to send some pics!

So, we got some snow this week! on Tuesday we were on exchanges, and i was out in Fremont with one of the sisters. while we were out there, the snow was pretty crazy, and the sister i was with accidentally dropped the phone in the snow somewhere, and so we went the entire day without a phone. We continued on our day driving to appointments and visiting people, and then drove 45 minutes that night back to Omaha to switch back. Well, come to find out when we got to Ralston that the cars had been "grounded" all day, and so we were supposed to be on foot because of the terrible snow! ha. we had no idea since we lost the phone, and i guess the AP's, ZL's, and the sisters were extremely worried about us all day.. thinking we had crashed somewhere. It was quite the day/event ha. But super fun.

Wednesday, the weather was still crazy, so cars were still grounded. Even though the cars are grounded though, it doesnt mean we still dont do missionary work! ha so sister hamilton and i bundled up, and started walking around Ralston to visit people! ha i honestly thought i was going to die, and everyone who was on the road literally thought we were crazy. It was awesome, and definitely something i will never forget doing. I am so thankful we have a car! man alive. 

We were able to teach a lot of lessons this week, and i really feel like the Lord led us exactly where we needed to be, right when we needed to be there. We were able to contact people that we have been trying for months, and able to get a new investigator named George which was so awesome. His wife is a less active member, and we have been teaching their son who is turning 8 and will be baptized in May. It was so cool to see that because of Joey, the little boy, having the desire to be baptized, this whole family has had a "return to God" experience, wanting to learn more. It is a miracle. I love teaching families.

This week was Leadership Council, and sister Hamilton and i gave part of the training by doing a "role play" helping the missionaries use the members. i realized how awkward i am going to be when i get home, because we were "role playing" with elders, and i honestly couldnt even look at them. i am going to be in deep trouble haha. But it went really well, and the spirit was super strong! 

ha i am so happy. The greatest birthday present i have received is my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful for His sacrifice for me so that i can be happy in this life. I know that He lives. 

in Sacrament this week one of the speakers said something i really liked. he said:

"Yesterday's meal won't sustain us through today. We need to be FEASTING on the scriptures EVERY single day". 

I loved that. Our ward is committed to reading the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes every day this month. It is wonderful, and i find so much strength from the Book of Mormon. We are so blessed to have that source of strength.

love you all! Happy Valentine's Day!

Sister Peterson

Lauren is the one in the middle (in the lead!)

 Bill and his wife Jonie on Bill's Baptism day

 Bill on his Baptism day!

Brother Stimpson and Bill

2 letters Jan 27 & Feb 3

Letter from January 27 - "Cut your own firewood. It will warm you twice."

Hey.

Another great week has flown by, and as always i am filled with gratitude today for our savior Jesus Christ, and for His gospel. I have been thinking a lot about agency this past week, and what a beautiful gift that is. I am so thankful that the Lord loves us enough to let us "choose liberty and eternal life... or to choose captivity and death". As a little girl in our ward said as we were talking about this, "I choose ETERNAL LIFE!" i hope we all do. Thankfully, through Jesus Christ, we can all choose eternal life and happiness.

We read the talk "Waiting Upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done" by Elder Hales in Gospel Principles this week, and i was moved to tears. We have the most merciful Father in Heaven. it really hit me as we were studying this talk, that God already knows what choices we will make. He is all knowing, and all powerful. So the reason we have agency is to, really, prove to ourselves what choices we will make. As we make righteous choices, that is when our will and God's will are aligned and we receive power. My favorite line of the talk is one of the last.. He says:

"May we wait upon Him by PRESSING FORWARD in FAITH".

Waiting upon the Lord is not sitting around, waiting for Him to send us happiness, or an answer to our prayer, or help we are in need of. Waiting upon the Lord is using our agency to follow Christ in faith. Waiting = DOING. what a wonderful concept. I want to wait upon the Lord all the days of my life.

This talk, and the doctrine of agency, have been the theme of all of my experiences this week. Whether in lessons, at the Trail Center, or in my own personal life, i have had my testimony strengthened of Dad's classic saying "you have the choice to ACT or be ACTED UPON". I choose to press forward in faith, or to ACT.

While we were visiting with Walt this week, we talked a lot about the hope that comes from Christ. Hope in the future for both ourselves and for the world. I have seen that time and time again as i have turned towards Christ, interestingly enough, my HOPE has increased. Hope always comes as we turn our focus towards Christ. Walt struggles with the idea of hope, and sadly feels hopeless in all aspects of his life. As he turns to Christ and believes in Him, that is the only way that he will find hope. Because a "brightness of hope" only comes from Christ. Unfortunately, we have our agency to choose who we believe in.. and so it has been quite the process of finding that hope for Walt. But i have perfect hope that He will discover his own testimony of Christ, because Christ truly is our Savior.

Jonathan is progressing and is very in tune with spiritual things. He has been loving reading the Book of Mormon, and finds hope in it's pages. We have met with him twice, and will be meeting with him a third time tonight. I am so excited. I love teaching people who are wanting to learn and change. it is so fun. I know that the Lord sees Jonathan as his child, and i can feel the Lord's guiding hand each time we talk to him. He is so aware of Jonathan, and each of us. As we taught the Plan of Salvation this last week, once again my testimony of agency was strengthened, realizing that God really has a plan for us and wants us to choose to come back to Him. And thankfully He loves us so much that He has given us the step by step process to do so, found in the doctrine of Christ. Hopefully Jonathan will accept to be baptized tonight!

I am so thankful for the scriptures, and for our prophet and the apostles. I know that they are men of God and they really do receive revelation from God for us. We are so blessed, it is overwhelming! I hope we each use our agency righteously to keep God as our number one priority. As we do so, that is when we find true, lasting happiness. 

I love you all! i am so thankful for you!

Sister Peterson

Letter from February 3 - "Make the decision to do what Jesus Christ has asked us to do"

Family! Friends! Loved One's! Everyone in-between!

what a beautiful, snowy day it is in Omaha. Nebraska. The sun is shining, and it is beautifully cold. I never thought i would see the day when i was grateful for snow. But snow = warmer weather and less wind. Hallelujah!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Eddie! Love you so much! I've been thinking about you all week, and am so grateful for you! i have absolutely LOVED hearing about your family party/love notes/memories. You are such a great example to me, and i absolutely love you with all of my heart.

We have seen so many wonderful miracles this week, and i am so grateful to be a missionary!

I have very little time this week to e-mail, so it is going to be super short. sorry.

Miracles:

We met a less active we have been trying to get in touch with for over 3 months! SUCH  a miracle. the greatest part is that we had met her non-member fiance a few weeks ago, and he is so cool and willing to learn. ALSO, their 11 year old daughter is not a member, and we are now teaching her! i have always wanted to teach a family, and so i am so excited! the Lord is so good.

Bill is getting BAPTIZED this saturday! AH i could scream! He has slowly been giving up smoking, which is his main hurdle. He got a blessing this last week, so we are praying so hard that he can make it without smoking this week so he can get baptized. i have total faith that he can. the Lord can do all things! Saturday @ 12 :)

Our investigator Deborah, who i love so much, is doing great. her granddaughters were over at her house this week, and we were able to teach them how to pray! it was the sweetest experience. They each wanted to pray like 6 times ha and their prayers were so sincere and pure. i loved it, and am so grateful to have been there to hear their first prayers to our Heavenly Father. what a tender blessing.

Karla, who we re activated, is almost done with temple prep classes and will be going to the temple in like 2-3 weeks! AH! it is so amazing to see how far she has come. she honestly looks like a different person from when i first met her. She received a calling on sunday, is staying for all three hours of church, and is on her way to receive her endowment. what a beautiful blessing. the gospel changes us.. it is incredible to witness.

This last saturday Sister Cleverly, our director's wife, threw a "birthday brunch" for all of the February birthdays. it was COMPLETELY pink ha and there were hearts everywhere. i love valentines day.. and i think i ate enough for everyone that was there. it was totally fun and excessive. haha.

I love this work. i love the Savior. i am so thankful for him. I love the quote by Elder M. Russell Ballard in the subject line. following the Savior is a lot about our own personal decision to do so. i am so grateful for Him.

love you all! 

Sister Peterson

3 Letters from 12/31/13 to 1/13/14

Dad’s Note: I am finally getting Lauren’s last three letters out.  I, again, apologize for the delay.  I have put the three letters in chronological order with the earliest first and the one that came this week at the bottom.  Note that Lauren’s preparation is now on Monday’s so when you write your letters adjust accordingly.  Lauren also found out that her return date will most likely be the first week of August.

Letter from December 31^st.”… and a Happy New Year”

Hello!

It was so wonderful to be able to talk to you on Christmas! Definitely the highlight of the day. I have the best family... in the world. I can't get over how blessed i am to have such amazing support and love all around me. i was so overwhelmed with the spirit of gratitude this Christmas, it truly was the most wonderful day.

I want to thank each of you who sent me gifts! holy cow, i am so thankful, and know that i loved everything that i received! everything fits (maybe not now after i have eaten all of the christmas candy! haha) and i am so grateful for the time put into each present. thank you thank you. i love you all so much. thanks for making my Christmas special!

This truly was one of the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing Christmas's i have ever had. The peace that filled my heart the entire season is indescribable. To know that i am here, serving the Lord has been the greatest gift. I am so thankful to be a missionary.

We had an absolutely incredible week. 

We have been teaching this man named Bill for about 2 weeks now. We met him while we were over at a less active members home, and Bill came over because he had heard we were there and wanted to meet us. He is SO prepared, and the first time we met him he had so many "golden" questions, i couldn't wait to start teaching him.

well, this week we went on two exchanges, back to back, so i was absolutely exhausted ha. but they were amazing, and so miracle-packed. I was out of Ralston in a different area, but sister Hamilton was in Ralston and they set Bill for baptism! I had brought up baptism with him the first time we met, and he was excited but anxious about it. so on exchanges, sister hamilton and her companion for the night were able to have dinner with members and have Bill come, and then address concerns and set him. He is getting baptized February 8 :) so incredible. He came to church on Sunday, and while we were in gospel principles this is what he said:

"We are made in the image of God, so we naturally seek truth. There is a lot of falsehood in the world trying to pull people down, but the other day when i met these two sisters (sister hamilton and i) i felt Jesus. I know that this is Christ's church".

ah!!! isn't that incredible?! he is absolutely amazing, wants to learn, and has been diligently searching the Book of Mormon. He is a miracle.

That same night that Sister Hamilton and her companion for the night set Bill for baptism, i was serving in the Walnut Creek (i know.. funny..) branch with sister Whipple! She is my "grandbaby" in the mission (sister palmer trained her). We saw SOOOO many miracles, and were able to set one of their investigators for baptism as well! ha it was a miraculous night. This woman, named Kathy, she had been invited to a church activity, and was so blown away while there at how friendly everyone was. She couldnt get over it, and it sparked her interest. she came to church the next day, and loved it. So sister whipple and i went over while on exchanges to basically follow up with church, and see if we could start teaching her. Well, that visit ended up with her being set for baptism! ha it was awesome. missionary work is so fun!

I also was able to go on exchanges with another set of sisters who are serving out in Fremont, Nebraska. I got to go there for the day, and it was such a tender mercy.. it brought me back to serving in Glenwood. Such a small town, where the people are so humble and willing to talk about Christ. i loved it. we topped the weekend off with dairy queen soft serve dipped cones (thought of you dad). it was so humbling to see the Lord truly working through us, and leading us to people who are prepared. there ARE people out there who are prepared! it is our job to "beckon them" (1 Nephi 8)

One of the highlights of the week was receiving a package on Christmas from a woman named Cathy. Several weeks ago when sister Barton and i were companions, we saw Cathy raking her leaves outside her house. We had felt inspired to bring our service clothes that day, and when we saw her all by herself, we knew we needed to jump out and help. We did so, had a lot of fun, and then left her with our number. We never heard from her, so we went back a week or two later and brought her an invitation to the gingerbread festival. She was SO kind, and her heart had been softened. she told us that we could even come back and visit her/share a thought about Christ with her :) we were stoked. Well, transfers came, and life just got hectic ha. Come Christmas, i get a call from Sister Weston, saying that Sister Barton and i received a package that was sent to her home. I had NO idea who it could have come from, and was SHOCKED to see it was from Cathy! She send us a package of apples and pears and chocolate, just to thank us for helping her with her yard! it was SO sweet, and was such a testimony builder to me of how even a little service can go a long way. I am so grateful for the spirit, and how it can lead us to those who are being prepared, and those who are in need of the "master's touch".

I cannot believe that it is the end of 2013. It has been the best year of my life. i am so thankful to be on a mission, to be serving the Lord and His children. What a life.

2014 will be even better. Let's do this!

Anne, Happy 17th! i hope you got my card :) i love you, am SO proud of you, and i feel so blessed to have you as my sister!

All my love and more,

Sister Peterson

Letter from January 7, 2014 “Mormonism is the joy of my heart.  It is my love, my jewel!”

Hello!

hahaha.

the weather... 

Some fun Facts:

- it was -38 (including wind chill) yesterday. THANKFULLY i served at the trail center all day! tender mercy.

- yesterday morning our car wouldnt start because it was so cold! we had to call our mission "car guy" and he came out to jump it in - 11 degree weather. bless his soul.

- frost bite is a real thing.. who wouldve thought. you can get frost bite here in less than 15 minutes with any exposed skin outside. i am staying bundled up!

- If you throw boiling water up in the air when it is negative degree weather, it looks super awesome (see attached photos)

This week has been absolutely wonderful. The Lord is so good to me, i can hardly stand it. i am so thankful to be on a mission, even here in freezing cold Omaha. it is so great.

The Miracles:

- we are teaching a woman named Deborah right now, who is so awesome! She lives in a lower end part of the ward, and she is just so humble and willing to learn. i love it. We have taught her a few times, and this last time we taught her we were able to set her for baptism! She is getting baptized on February 22. I just love the spirit so much... it was so cool, because going into the lesson sister Hamilton and i planned to only set her for baptism if the spirit was right. Well, the spirit was "right" and the words literally just came out of me. i was planning on saying something different, but right as i opened my mouth i was saying something totally different than what i intended to, and asked her to be baptized! ha it was so awesome. She is so willing to change her life, and come closer to Christ. I love her.

- Another one of our investigators, Bill, came to church again this week, but this time brought his wife! It was fast and testimony meeting, and they really felt the spirit as the testimonies were born. It was so neat because that morning Bill had called us to say he couldnt come to church because it was so cold. I was able to talk to him and challenged him to pray and ask God what He wanted him to do, and then to call us back. So, 20 minutes later we get a call from Bill who said "well, i am coming to church today. and my wife is coming with me". haha. the spirit is so awesome, and i am so grateful they came. what was even cooler was President Weston was the first person to bear his testimony, and as he was doing so he said "i just want to let all of you know that you made the right choice to come to church today, even though it is freezing outside and you probably wanted to stay home. The spirit has confirmed to me that the Lord is extremely pleased with your decision" !!! totally inspired and exactly what Bill needed to hear. Such a wonderful day.

- On Saturday i was able to attend Ty's baptism! She is the little girl i taught in my first area. the spirit was so amazing as i watched her less active (now active!) father, Troy, baptize her. I will never forget it. I cant get over how the gospel LITERALLY changes people. I didnt even recognize Troy.. he has become a new person, and i am so proud of him. It was a beautiful experience and i am so grateful i was able to attend.

Other:

This week is transfers... can you believe it? it is so crazy to think that another transfer has gone by. I am so grateful to be serving in Ralston with Sister Hamilton. it has been wonderful. a very difficult transfer with a lot of business and emotions ha, whatever that means, but we have been so blessed because of it. I love being here.

Since the trail center has been slow, i have had a ton of time to study! it is such an amazing blessing. Right now, along with the scriptures of course, i am studying and reading a book called "Did You Know?". it is all about different pioneer individuals and who they are, and what made them so important. i have absolutely LOVED every page and story and find myself day dreaming about the pioneers. i know.. it is so weird. ha. But i am so grateful for the legacy these people left us! here are a few of my favorite quotes of those i have studied about:

Heber C. Kimball: 

"Mormonism is the pride of my heart. It is my love, my jewel."

"When i went into the water of baptism i made a covenant i would forsake the world with all that pertains to it, and cleave unto the Lord God with all my heart all my days. This is the covenant that i made, to turn away from the world. That is the covenant you made, or the one you should have made. Now, will you fulfill it?"

John Taylor:

"What did Jesus come to teach? To teach men how to be happy. He came to teach men how to provide for themselves in this world and in the world to come. He taught them the true science of human happiness"

I love this gospel! i am so grateful for it! 

Love you all! make it a great week :)

Sister Peterson

Letter from today, January 13, 2014 “Hallelujah”

Hello!

Hallelujah i am still in Ralston with Sister Hamilton! such a blessing. This is my 4th transfer in Ralston, and i absolutely love it so much. i am so grateful to have this transfer to start harvesting what we have been sowing for the past 4 1/2 months! it is so fun as well to be able to start a transfer off running... literally sprinting. we have seen SOOOO many miracles this last week, the Lord has been so good to us. but then again, what's new? He is always so good.

I have so much to say. so many miracles.

1. I went on exchanges this week with the spanish speaking sisters here in Omaha. haha. talk about the most humbling exchange/experience i have ever had. I was in Omaha with Hermana Kennion, and the day felt like i was down in mexico! not one word of english was spoken in any lesson, haha so i literally had to rely on the spirit like no other. But it was so amazing, and thank goodness i took 3 years of spanish so i could kind of pick up some words, because i was able to flip to scriptures while Hma Kennion was teaching, and then have the investigator read a scripture to go along with what she was teaching. ha i had to have total confidence and trust that the spirit was guiding me to scriptures to do with the lesson, and it totally worked. The spirit does not have a language. it can speak to everyone, even if we cant communicate with our words. it was so fun.

2. One of the less active members we have been working with since i got into the area a few months ago FINALLY came to church on sunday! it was so awesome! she stayed for all three hours, and absolutely loved it. The ward enveloped her with love, and she has made it a goal to continue coming because her work schedule changed. such a miracle. It is a perfect example of how when we study behavior, most likely our behavior wont change. But when we study and apply the doctrine of the gospel, our behavior changes. It has changed her, and now she is wanting to come to church. love it.

3. Man alive so many people to catch up on. here is a one liner for each of them:

- Walt: he is not getting baptized on the 23rd. such a bummer.. he is still progressing but cant stop smoking. his goal now is to stop smoking on the 23rd so he can get baptized after that. pray for him, he is my favorite person. i love him.

- Bill: still set for baptism on February 8th.. hopefully we can baptize him sooner. has to stop smoking as well, but i totally think he can do it. He has come to church the past 3 weeks, and is SO prepared to be a member of the church. he throws out words like "atonement" and "gospel" and wanting to "align his will with God" all the time. so cool. so miraculous.

- Deborah: the woman we set for baptism last week. well, we went over this week and found out she is in the hospital. we havent been able to see her since, but she is still set for baptism on february 8th as well. 

- Debbie: AHH this is SO COOL. so there is this woman named debbie that we met several months ago. she is a former investigator, and is so solid. she knows the church is true, but is scared to tell her husband she wants to be baptized. well a couple of days ago we had about 30 minutes left till we needed to be home for the night, so we prayed to know where we should go. Debbie popped into my head. Sister Hamilton hadnt met her yet, so we went over there. before we even reached the door Debbie opened it and let us right in! we have been having such a hard time contacting her that it was a total miracle. we were able to teach her about the restoration, and rekindle her fire to want to learn. we were able to set her for baptism on March 8th, so that is the plan! she is SO awesome and totally prepared. i love the spirit so much.

Angela and Jonathan: Angela and Jonathan are not related at all, but i put them together because their story is about the same! they both live with members of our ward, and we have talked to them many times but never have taught them. well, this week we were able to set up appointments with both of them to actually teach them! 2 new investigators, and they are so amazing. 

didnt i tell you the Lord has been so good to us? and seriously that is only a FEW highlights of the week. i am so eternally grateful to be serving a mission. it is so FUN!! i am so grateful to be 

here in Nebraska. it has been warmer the past few days which has been a God-send. ha.

the church is true. the Book of Mormon is the word of God. i am so thankful to be able to read it every day. 

all my love and more!

Sister Peterson