Oh How Lovely was the Morning

Oh heyyyy!

Another week! man oh man. i can't believe it. does the time go as fast for you all as it does for me??!! hahah it is insane!

This week was so wonderful. i love being a missionary. so much! i love being continually humbled because i know that the Lord is just putting me through the refiner's fire. i pray every day that i can live up to the potential that God sees in me!

we saw miracles this week. well, we see miracles every day, but this week was incredible. I feel like things are FINALLY picking up and we can start the harvest! There is a CD that we have called "The Work" all about missionary work, and one of the songs on there is all about thrusting in the sickle and reaping with all your might. haha it has been playing in my head non stop all week! it's just about that time!

So this week we had an AWESOME lesson with our investigator, Tom. His wife is less active and we have been visiting him for the past few weeks. We talked to him about the book of mormon, and he knows that he needs to read it in order to have any sort of testimony of the church. we are praying for him constantly. we have been working really hard at having a member at all of our lessons, and with this lesson in particular it was so powerful to have a member there. he is so great and needs to be baptized!

We had an awesome experience with Sister Tillman - the first one was on wednesday. we went to her house to have a lesson, and it was sister palmer's turn to take the lead in the lesson. well, long story short, she didnt ever take the lead. ha. and i have been trying really hard to not just do it for her, so we ended up just not having a lesson. it was a great learning experience for her and me. so we set up a time to come back on friday, and we brought a member with us. it was such an incredible lesson. i felt like the words coming out of my mouth were literally solely the spirit's. it was awesome. i told her (well, the spirit told her) that she was breaking her baptismal covenant with God by not coming to church, and we committed her to coming on sunday. the spirit was tangible and she said she would come. having the member there to testify as well was awesome. yay for members!

So.... Sister Tillman (Less active of about 5 years) came to church on Sunday!!!!!!! ahhhh it was the best feeling sitting next to her and watching her take the sacrament for the first time in 5 years. it makes me cry just thinking about it! the sacrament is SO important, and to be a part of her decision to keep her covenants again is such a sacred privilege. it was a tender mercy.

On Thursday we had a specialized training for all of the trainers and trainees in the mission. it was awesome, and just what i needed. it is hard not to feel inadequate and to feel like i am not living up to my potential. but i was really humbled, and am starting to work even harder, and also go about my missionary work differently. i have realized that i havent been focusing enough on helping my companion, and selfishly worrying about the success of our area. when really, we wont have success until i teach sister palmer more effectively. please pray for me. the work is progressing, but it is all on the Lord's time! 

Fun news: 

1. Our ward has created two assistant ward mission leaders, and have called 10 ward missionaries! it is so awesome, and seriously this area is just about ready to explode. i love being a part of it!

2. this sunday is our missionary fireside/concert! there are songs written by sisters/elders, and lots of hymns/efy songs. i am singing Praise to the Man or something like that... its an efy version that is super pretty. 

3. it has been 95 degrees with high humidity the past 4 days. haha no need to shower, because you step outside and sweat instantly!

4. i spent my p day running around the park while sister palmer wrote in her journal. i was in heaven. it felt good to know i can still run 4 miles! havent lost it all..yet... haha. moo.

love you all! so grateful to be here. so grateful that Joseph Smith had the faith to pray on that "lovely spring morning". i know this is what the Lord wants me to be doing right now. This truly is "the Good Life" :)

all my love,

Sister Peterson

The field is ripe!

Hello!

another week has flown by, i seriously cant believe it! sorry i am emailing today, i hope it didnt throw you off! haha just expect an email either monday or tuesday every week... because i never know when we will be emailing.

thank you thank you thank you for the package!!! i was able to get it because we had a zone meeting! man alive it made my day! if i closed my eyes while eating that plum jam, i was sitting in our backyard! haha thank you so much. i love you all!

this week has been nuts. haha. it seriously was a crazy week, and i feel like so much happened! it was a week of trials and miracles. i loved it.

here is a short look at my week:

1. our car got a flat tire.

2. our phone is broken.

3. i got stung by a wasp and had an allergic reaction.

4. no one could drive us home after church so we had to stay there for a good hour before someone could pick us up. we would have walked but it is a 30 minute drive to our building.

haha. it was awesome. I feel like the Lord has been testing my patience, and it has been a great learning experience! i love the scripture Mosiah 23:21-22 because i really believe that the Lord often "sees fit" to try our faith and patience, so we can more fully rely on Him. i can say that i am so grateful for the hard times in life because they remind us of who we are. and "whose" we are, like sister dalton has said. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father who wants to continually make us better people.

This week sister palmer and i have really focused on obtaining our set goals. we felt like we were setting inspired daily goals to reach, but then at the end of the day we were coming short of them. To fix our problem we have been praying continually throughout the day to accomplish the goals that we have set, knowing that the Lord would help us. And like always, He did. and continues to! this week was full of miracles, and we were able to see much more success. it was awesome!

some highlights:

1. man do i love having dinner appointments at member's houses. I love being able to see the way in which they run their home, and the spirit that resides in each of them. the members of the ward are amazing people, and i am continually in awe of their desires to serve. i love them. We had some amazing conversations and lessons with members this week, and i really feel like the work is about to explode because of the faith of the members. it is incredible.

2. We helped out a family in the ward this week, the Milbourn's, set up for their daughters birthday party. haha. (we literally look for any service opportunities we can get!) but it was so much fun, and my job was to "dice" the onions. well, my eyes were watering like crazy and my dicing job was less than satisfactory... haha. Brother Milbourn came over and saw what i was doing and while i wasnt looking, threw away all of the onions i had cut! he then says "those are the worst cut onions i have ever seen! let me do it!" haha i was crying and so the big joke was that brother milbourn "made me cry". haha sooner or later though, after he was cutting onions, he started crying as well (and his dicing job was not any better than mine!) we ended up laughing and crying together the rest of the night. haha it was awesome.

3. Miracles. we were able to get into 3 less active members houses this week who we have been trying to contact since we got here. it was incredible, and i really feel like the Lord is blessing us so much. Although none of the less actives came to church (ah i was so mad), they are doing great and we are continually trying to strengthen their faith. i love them all and it is so fun to see them rediscover their testimonies.

4. We found 2 new investigators this week! that was our set goal, and the Lord blessed us with them! one is a man named Jeff, and he is awesome. He has met with missionaries before, but it was many years ago. He is a single dad of 4 kids, and lives in Tabor. He has had a crazy life, but is slowly changing it and the gospel is exactly what he needs! he is our miracle for the week, and we are SO excited to teach him! the other investigator i found while on exchanges this saturday. Sister Palmer and i were split up, and another companionship came to glenwood. it was awesome to be able to have 4 sisters in our area! sister vance and i met Emily outside of a less actives house. she is in her early 20s, has a child, and her dad is a pastor for another church. but she has always wanted to know about the LDS church and was super anxious to learn more. we are praying our guts out that they stick with it. we already love them.

exchanges this week were a HUGE HUGE HUGE stepping stone in our companionship. Sister Palmer is a new person, and is really working hard at opening her mouth and talking. it has been the biggest blessing, and i am so grateful. thank you so much for the prayers on mine and her behalf. what i thought could not happen is happening, and i am so thankful.

i love you all! the corn here is about ready to harvest, and that is EXACTLY how i feel with this area! Sister Palmer and I memorized D&C 4 this past week, and truly the field is ripe! "those who have desires to serve God, are called to the work!"

i love you! this church is true! arent we blessed??

Sister Peterson

We'll Sing and We'll Shout!!

Family and Friends!

This week has been awesome. I LOVE being in Iowa! i havent gotten sick of it yet, and am so grateful to be here. Thank you for your continual prayers in my behalf! i feel them every day, so thank you!

Happy Anniversary of 30 years to the best parents!! – [Parent’s note: August 6^th is the real day but Lauren knew we were celebrating this week with a little get away] 30?! oh my goodness that is so crazy and awesome. that is such an accomplishment and such an amazing blessing. thank you for setting a practically perfect example to me of how a marriage should be/work. I love you both and couldn’t have asked for better parents. i love you. so much. too much.

What an exciting week! the work is hastening on and i love being a missionary. it amazes me every night how no matter how the day went, i can still go to bed with a smile on my face. The Lord truly strengthens us more than i can even comprehend. 

Some of the highlights:

- A woman in our ward has been having us paint her basement the past week. We have probably painted for a good 7 hours straight on cement wall. haha. it has been so fun and my arm is exhausted. but it is definitely nice to be in a cool basement compared to the outside heat!

- We had an awesome experience on tuesday. It was 8:45 pm and didnt want to head home early, so we prayed to know what we should do for the next 15 minutes. I prayed that we would be able to see a miracle. After we prayed i had the impression to walk down the street towards an old referrals house. As we were walking, there was a woman outside planting in her garden. we went up to her and started talking with her and she instantly opened up to us how she has a ton of LDS friends and she has had the elders over several times. i got so excited and asked her if we could come back and teach her more. she said that we could and so we went back this week and saw her again. she is awesome and we are PRAYING that she continues wanting to meet with us! miracles happen! it was such a great reminder that when we are exactly obedient, the Lord blesses us. it would have been so easy to justify going in early, but because we didnt the Lord helped us. small and simple things. i love it.

- Sister Palmer and i gave the training at District Meeting on wednesday and it went awesome. i was so proud of her - she gets super nervous talking, but she gave her "part" perfectly and just like we practiced. the Lord is strengthening her open her mouth and in turn we are being strengthened as a companionship. it is wonderful.

- on wednesday we went and saw the Tillmans. we had a great lesson with them, and then asked if they could drive us to our next appointment to save on miles. Sister Tillman agreed, and oh my goodness. we got lost in the corn fields. haha. we were driving down gravel roads, in a storm, for an hour trying to find our dinner appointment. so. we were an hour late to dinner. haha. but, the Lord works in mysterious ways because through getting lost we were able to grow closer to sister tillman and teach her more. it was awesome. downer: we totally thought she would be at church but she didnt show. that agency. man. she'll be there next week though!

- Thursday was the 4th! we had interviews with president weston and it was the best part of the week. ah. he is so incredible i love him. he sits me down and with his bold way says "is the work you are doing in your area ready to be the example for the rest of the mission? Because you have been sent there to do so." it was a great knuckle sandwich that i needed. ha. he promised that every less active member we are working with, if they are brought back to church, there will be a baptism because of it. big promise. and i know the Lord will provide. there is so much work to do and it is stressful! but so exciting as well. 

After interviews we had a ward party out at one of the members farms which was awesome. i got to talk with this muslim man that was there for a good 45 minutes. we talked about the similarities of islam and mormonism, which was super fascinating to me. i committed him to reading the book of mormon. he is awesome, and it was a perfect 4th of july. preaching the gospel. it was 80 degrees, we were out in a bunch of corn fields, and eating pulled pork sandwiches, so i was in heaven! :)

- After interviews with President, i had such a renewed desire to have members at every lesson that we taught. So, sister palmer and i have been trying really hard to accomplish that goal and man have we seen the miracles! nothing huge has happened, but just having members at lessons makes SUCH a difference. i am a believer in member work! haha it is so powerful. 

I think that's about it... i can't remember anything else i had planned so i'll just end there! ha. I had a member ask me how i know that the church is true after i bore my testimony to him, and i realized that i need to testify with more explanation more often. And so i told him that i KNOW this is the Lord's church because i have read the book of mormon, prayed, and received a confirmation from the holy ghost that it is true. i have fasted. i have prayed. and i have felt of the Lord's love more fully in my life because of my willingness to follow Him. 

This IS Christ's church. if it wasnt i would be on a plane home. but it IS. and so i will spend every day preaching His word, His way. 

1 Thessalonians 2, 2 Timothy 1:7-8.

Love you all! Hoorah for Israel! :)

Sister Peterson

If you knew what I do, you would be a Mormon too!

Hello!!!

What a crazy week it's been! i am still LOVING Iowa. man. i love serving with these people and feel so blessed to be where i am.

It breaks my heart to hear about what is going on "in the world" right now... honestly i feel like i am on a different planet! ah. but i am so grateful for the assurance we can have that if we continue to press forward with faith, and trust in God, we will be protected from the corruption and wickedness around us. I will be praying more earnestly for this nation. man alive.

The Johns Family (Js and Chrissy!) Thank you SO much for your sweet notes/package! i love you all and know that it made my week to hear from your family!

Thank you all for your prayers! it is amazing to me how right when i am about to have those moments when i just want to sit down on the curb and cry because no one wants to listen to us haha, i am instantly strengthened and given the courage to keep my chin up. i know it is through your prayers, so thank you!

This week has been an interesting one. It is hard being a missionary! i think it hit me this week that what we are doing is kind of hard! haha. BUT. it is so rewarding as well. We had a lot of "persecution" this week which was kind of fun: definitely gets your blood pumping! here are some stories:

- we were going to visit a woman who is marked less active on our ward list, but ended up talking to her husband instead. He was really friendly at first, and started talking to us about the church. i was talking about the book of mormon and then he stops me mid sentence by him laughing saying that Joseph Smith was so and so and our religion was a cult. ha. awesome. So, i listened to what he was shouting, and then calmly but powerfully bore testimony of the restoration and the book of mormon. it silenced him. such a cool moment. And it re-taught me that no one can argue with a pure testimony. although he definitely wasnt converted, haha it strengthened my testimony and am grateful for it.

- there is one little store "in town" (side note: everything in Tabor is referenced off of town. for example: "oh , he just lives three blocks north/south of town" or "im going in town to grab some supper") where sister Palmer and i get our groceries. The woman who checked us out started talking to us about the church, and her first question was how we paid for everything. we told her that we had each funded our missions, so we paid to be here. I offered her a mormon.org card before we left by saying "hey, here is a card to our online website called mormon.org. it answers any sort of question you may have about the church!" harmless, right? well. She refused the card and told us that she would never even look at such a website that was revolved around a cult. ha. it was awesome. Once again, we bore testimony about the restoration. she was silent. she then said that her church was talking about other religions on sunday and that we should come and teach about the LDS religion! so. this experience definitely taught me that 1. again. pure testimony is unarguable. and 2. even through the bad, the Lord still provides! how AWESOME is it going to be to be able to teach a whole congregation of people about the gospel?!? ah. the Lord is so good!

Anyway. enough of the fun missionary moments. haha. here are the highlights of the week:

1. We did a TON of service this week, one of which was helping a woman in our ward pit her cherries! i literally think i pitted over 1,000 cherries in the past week. we made cherry cobbler and used Ms. Jean's ice cream maker and had a blast. so fun/summery!

2. This weekend was the "Tabor Merchant/Farmer Picnic". They have a carnival in tabor every summer, where a carnival comes with rides and food and everyone in town comes to it. it was a lot of fun to see everyone gathered together, and a great opportunity to talk to people! Ms. Jean couldnt believe that we hadnt had a "maid rite" before, so she took us down there for supper. She bought us a maid rite and when we got it we laughed because it is just a sloppy joe! haha she gets so excited about the little things. i love her.

3. Sister Tillman - i think i told you about her last email, but this week was AWESOME! ahh. she is doing incredible. she opened up to us about being offended at church and that she really wants to come back. she told us that she has been praying for a sign or some way that would lead her back to church, and she knew that we were the answer to her prayer. it was so powerful and she is reading the book of mormon! so cool. that book changes people. i love it.

4. Tom (Bro. Brammer) - ah this is so cool. so we go to the Brammer's house, a less active woman in our ward, and we saw that her husband, tom was outside. We have been praying for someone to teach since we dont have any investigators. We talked to him and come to find out he is not a member. I asked him why he wasnt, and he said he just didnt think he could believe in Joseph Smith. i asked him if he had read the book of mormon, and when he said no, i testified that the only way he could know if joseph smith was a prophet was if he read the book of mormon. he said that he would, and we are going to teach him again this week! he is so awesome and sister palmer and i left his house knowing that he is going to get baptized. so cool. i cant wait to see what happens!

The church is true. i love my savior. I am so thankful to have the knowledge i do. a woman in my old ward used to say " if you knew what i do, you would be a mormon too! ". i feel the same way, and am so grateful to "know what i do!"

i love you all. i am so grateful to be serving the Lord. I know He lives.

Sister Lauren

The corn is as high as an Elephant's eye!

Hello from IOWAYY!

I have been singing "Oh what a beautiful morning" from Oklahoma all week haha because the "carn is a' growin!" as the locals like to say!

What an amazing week. What a crazy week. I dont think i have ever been so exhausted in my life haha. or as sweaty! It is SO HOT. I feel like i was just writing home saying that it was SO COLD, and now i am drenched in sweat 24/7! it is HOT, and HUMID, and i love it. Nothing better than taking a freezing cold shower and not having to wear make-up because it just drips off. i'm in heaven.

haha first off, can you believe that i forgot how to spell the word "ought" last email?? what is happening to me?!? haha thanks for correcting that!

Here are some of my favorite words/sayings of the past week that i hear every day:

1. the word "waRsh" : for example: "you better warsh your hands before you eat"

2. the word "Meelk" : for example: "meelk is up to $3 a gallon!" (sister baggs says it so funny, i have to bight my tongue every time she talks about milk.)

3. everyone loves the word "sure" : for example: "that shirt there sure is too loose for you, honey" or "it sure is a nice day" or "it sure looks like a starm!"

4. "it ain't got nothin to do with nothin!"

5. preface: i have heard this line/joke AT LEAST 6 times : "On a 90 degree day with high humidity, you can sure hear that carn (corn) a growin'!" hahaha.

i love the midwest.

Sorry to be e-mailing so randomly. The situation is that the Tabor library (which is an old victorian house - so cute. i will send pictures soon) is closed on mondays, which is our P-day. So, we have to drive out to Glenwood (which is 20 minutes away) if we want to email on mondays. yesterday it was super starmy(!) so we just waited till today. sorry if i threw you off!

Here are some highlights of the week:

We have been visiting a TON of less actives this week, and really trying to get to know the ward. it's definitely different for me, to not have any investigators and to only be working with less actives. but, the Lord's work is all the same, and so i have been loving it! On Saturday we went to the "Victorian Inn" (Sister Baggs little Hotel) and helped her clean it! it was SO much fun. and it is absolutely SO beautiful and Anne of Green Gables-esque i was in heaven. Sister Baggs is 85 years old and still gets up every morning and goes into her "shop" to sew and quilt, and then heads over to the inn to clean! she is incredible. (when we come back here after the mission hint hint we are going to stay in the inn, k?) :)

One of my favorite things about serving here, and being a full proselyting missionary (finally!) is that we get to do a ton of service/manual labor! haha that probably sounds strange but i love it! We have helped people garden, been painting a ton!, and cleaning. it is so much fun. We have been working with a less active woman named sister Lamkins, and boy is she a character. haha. i love her. we have been helping paint the entire inside of her house, which has been quite the job! i have been reminded of painting our house a couple of years back... anyone need a painter? because i am becoming quite the expert!

One of the best moments yet since being here was visiting a couple named the Tillmans. They have been less active for about 5 years. We saw their name on the list the bishop gave us, so we stopped by to meet them. Sister Tillman opened the door, saw that it was sister missionaries, instantly started jumping up and down, CRYING!, saying "FINALLY!! NOW we will go back to church!!!" hahahaha! sister palmer and i busted up laughing. She LOVES sister missionaries and has now become our best friend. we love her. (side note: we have met a ton of less active members and almost all of them have said they prefer sister missionaries over elders. It is amazing how the Lord works, and how He has put us here to help reactivate these amazing people!)

So. let's talk about the BROADCAST on Sunday! oh. my. goodness. Ain't that the best thing you've ever heard!?!? If you arent exciting to do missionary work after hearing Elder Perry, Elder Holland, Elder Andersen, Elder Nelson, Elder Packer, AND the PROPHET bear their testimonies about member missionary work... i dont know what could excite you. AHHH. I cried. and have not stopped smiling since that broadcast. i hope we ALL have a greater desire to share the gospel! because truly, this is the LORD's work not just the missionaries! i am so grateful to be on a mission RIGHT NOW. I dont know how i got so lucky.

I hope we can all take Elder Perry's advice in being so bold as to ask "Are you a Mormon?" and if the answer is no, to say "Well, you should be!" i loved that. definitely going to try that one.

i love you all. the church is TRUE! and Let's ALL do this?! Keep praying for me, and i will be praying for you!

Here is a commitment that we have been leaving with the members we visit, and i leave it for anyone who is reading this letter: pick a day to fast and attend the temple to know who you should invite to hear the message of the restoration. i can promise you that the Lord will inspire you, and will help you with this great work!

love love love you all!

Sister Peterson

ps. add me on facebook? haha. just kidding. but really, can't wait to hear how the computer thing works out! we havent heard anything yet, but i will keep you posted on what happens! :)

Ought to Give Iowa a Try!

Thursday morning i get a call from president weston that started off with him saying, "So, sister Peterson. You ready for your world to be rocked/flipped upside down?" i laughed and said "not really haha but let's hear it"

Guess where i am.

IOWA!!

I am Training, serving in Glenwood Iowa, opening up the area, and full proselyting!!

It never ceases to amaze me how much trust the Lord has in me, and all of us. I have been completely humbled, but at the same time have not even been nearly as happy as i am right now my entire mission. i LOVE being here. SO much! the first day i got to Iowa i prayed to Heavenly Father basically in tears telling him i didnt ever want to leave Glenwood haha. It is awesome!!

So Thursday we get the calls about transfers, which was a crazy day. i had to pack up everything and then spent my last night at the trail center. it was definitely bitter sweet, especially having to say goodbye to some of the senior couples who i will not see because they leave at the end of this transfer. But as i was at the trail center, i felt so calm about leaving. I KNOW i am supposed to be in Glenwood. I have been at peace about it since the moment president told me. The Lord has been so good to me.

Friday, we went to "transfer point" (the mission office) to pick up our new companions. My companion is Sister Palmer from Idaho (i cant spell the town she is from - super small town up north). She is super cute, and really obedient which is awesome. The past 3 days i have probably heard her say 20 words (not even exaggerating) haha. She is SUPER quiet, but i am hoping that as time goes on she will open up more. I already love her.

After we got our companions, we grabbed all of our things and were off to iowa! thank goodness i have a gps (it has literally saved my life!). Glenwood is about an hour east and south of Omaha.

after you drive about 45 minutes through the corn fields, you will hit a little town called Tabor. There are just about 1,000 people in the town and if you blink you will miss it. We live with an 85 year old lady who is DARLING. Her name is Jean Baggs and is absolutely adorable. she has a beautiful home that she has lived in for the past 50 years. She owns half the town/fields so everything "in town" is named "Baggs ... " When we arrived on Friday she had lunch all ready for us and was SO excited for us to be there.

This has been quite the adventure haha. We get to Tabor on friday with literally NOTHING on the area. zip. nothing. there are elders in the area, but there havent been sisters in over 5 years. We are "opening up" the area to sisters, which basically means we are starting from scratch! it has been tons of fun. We got a ward list from the bishop friday night and he highlighted some less actives so we have visited almost all of them (there are a ton) the past 2 days. It has been non stop! i LOVE IT. this is exactly how i pictured my mission - serving in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. haha it is a DREAM.

Since we live in such a small town, everyone knows EVERYONE haha which means that everyone knows that we are new! it has been really fun seeing people look at us because we kind of stick out! but it is great because it means a lot of questions and a lot of missionary work! Something i LOVE, absolutely LOVE about being here is that literally the ward is SOOOOO happy to have us here! They have been praying for sister missionaries the past 2 years, and finally we have arrived! they are all so cute and have been the nicest people i have ever met. iowa stubborn? not at all.

Probably the happiest moment of my mission, i know, that is a big statement, but really, was on saturday. So a few weeks ago i wrote home saying that i took some elder's on tour at the Trail Center and it was absolutely incredible. the man that we took was set for baptism on tour and it was the elders first time at the trail center. WELL. the Glenwood Elders were the elders i took on tour, and on saturday i got to go to the baptism of the man i took on tour!!! it was NO coincidence and it was amazing. he was SO happy to see that not only was i there, but that i was in the ward now! ahh it was so cool. i was so happy i literally couldnt contain the tears.

so even though that was the coolest experience ever, that wasnt the best moment on my mission. ha. The best moment yet was sitting in a ward missionary coordination meeting after the baptism with the bishop, ward missionaries, elders, and ward missionary leader. The bishop and ward mission leader of this ward are the most INCREDIBLE men ever. they are COMPLETELY focused on missionary work. they are doing every single thing they can to provide opportunities for us, and kept saying that they know that this area is about ready to "explode". i was smiling so big the entire meeting my cheeks hurt after. it was amazing. i have never been so excited to do missionary work!!! Miracles are about to happen and i am SO excited to be here!!

Sorry this is such a long letter, there is just so much happening!! PLEASE pray for me! i am SO happy but a LOT overwhelmed with everything that needs to happen! i love this work and am so humbled that Heavenly Father trusts me as much as He does. I know without a doubt this is HIS work.

Let's Do THIS!

love you all so much!

All is Well, All is Well

Surprise!

We had P day on Monday today, sorry i forgot to tell you last week!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mother! love you so much!!! wish i was there to laugh and do a happy birthday dance (you know which one) with you! love you and thank you for being the most incredible and amazing mom. i love you with all of my heart and more.

Happy Father's Day to the best dad! i dont know how i got so lucky to have you as my dad, but i am so grateful! i love you so much. eat some mint chocolate chip ice cream for me and you, and know that i will be thinking of you all day sunday! love you!

You know how everyone says that the days feel like the weeks and the weeks feel like days on the mission? well that is totally true. My days and weeks and everything in between is all mixed up - the time is just rolling! it is so crazy. Transfers are this Friday! can you believe it?? i feel like it was just transfers, and here they are again. mind blowing. it is going to be a crazy week, but i am excited and ready to find out what the future brings!

So, to start off, here is the fun fact for the week:

1. The Liz Lemon Swindle paintings that have been down in the basement of the Trail Center are leaving in the next few weeks. We are all so sad (myself totally included) to see them leave. they add a huge dynamic to the Trail center. BUT. guess where they are headed? yep. OAKLAND! i hope you all take the time to go see them, because they are truly incredible. And know that a little piece of me is being sent back home to Oakland!

2. Sister Morrison played the piano for a duet in our ward on sunday. it is always so fun to see her!

3. On saturday we had our trail center training, and my companion was running late so we were super late to the meeting- my biggest pet peeve. i am ashamed to admit i was not in a good mood that morning because of it haha. we got there right as the last verse of the opening song was being sung, and guess what song we sang? "We are all enlisted" ..."happy are we!" haha it was a tender mercy from the Lord basically saying "hey smiley". haha it instantly put a smile on my face

Here are a few things that happened this week in the Trail Center and also out in Rockbrook!
 

Trail center:

Miracles. Seriously the Trail Center never ceases to amaze me. i LOVE serving here. So i took a man on tour, and at first it was a little bit awkward haha. He wasnt talking a ton, and just seemed a little bit distant. Also, he kept saying "you are doing a good job" so i felt like i was being critiqued on my "tour guide" skills haha. BUT. it ended up being an incredible tour. As we stood in front of the painting about the mississippi river freezing over, i bore testimony to him about how God has a plan for each of us, and just like in 1 Nephi 3:7, he will prepare a way for us to accomplish that plan if we trust in Him. The man instantly started sobbing. He opened up about how he had just been called as the bishop for his ward in colorado, but was down in Omaha for the weekend trying to find a new job. He didn't know what to do, and where he needed to be. It was so cool to be a witness of him receiving revelation from God. he said "This is why i needed to come to Winter Quarters. I know that God will provide a way for me to get a job back in Colorado so that i can also serve as Bishop". AHH. it was AWESOME. i love this work.

 On Sunday a couple came in who were on their way to Nauvoo to be married in the Nauvoo temple. The woman was in a wheel chair, and the husband was literally glowing. haha they were adorable. I took them on tour, and the spirit was amazing. I told the story about Francis Webster near the end of the tour, and while i was reciting it i was so overcome with the spirit that i literally couldnt finish. I was so touched - The story/his testimony talks about how when things were hard on the trail, and he thought he couldnt keep going, his cart began pushing him. He says " i looked to see who was pushing my cart, but my eyes saw no one. I knew then that the angels of God were there. Was I sorry that i came by handcart? no. neither then or one moment of my life since. the price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and i am thankful that i was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart company". The couple i was with started crying and we all realized who this woman's angel was - her almost husband was literally "pushing" her "cart" to zion. i am so thankful for the angels that helped push my "cart" through out life. i would not be here without you, so thank you. it was such a tender experience.

Rockbrook:

Man i dont even know where to begin. the miracle we witnessed this week was INSANE and i will try to condense it as much as i can because it kind of is long! but here we go:

So the beginning of last transfer, sister whittaker and i received a referral from church headquarters. we went and tried the house, and i am pretty sure i told you about this? but a man opened the door named Brian and once we told him we were members of the church of Jesus Christ he instantly let us in and wanted to attend church. WELL. we never saw him again, but it was still such a cool experience.
...

I was singing in church the beginning of this transfer, and while i was singing i saw a man in the audience who i recognized but didnt know how. I instantly thought of Brian, the man we had met, but it didnt make sense for him to be there. He left before the meeting was over and so i didnt get to meet him or see who he was. but i have been thinking about that man for the past 6 weeks.
....

This last Saturday we had an appointment cancel, so we decided to try some old referrals. I looked and saw Brian's referral. I knew instantly that we needed to go over there. So, we went over and sure enough the man that had come to church a few weeks back was Brian! i probably scared him a little by how excited i was to see him haha. But we had a lesson with him, and he kept saying "i feel so empty and distant from God, i dont know why" and "My life is missing something". I bore testimony that he was missing the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told me that he believed me and wanted to continue learning!! it was INCREDIBLE.
....

Next day. Sunday. guess who walks into church? BRIAN. He and his son came to church and LOVED it!! i had the dorkiest smile all day i was so exciting.

this work is so fun. i love being a missionary! and i love being able to meet amazing people who uplift me and make me want to be better. i love you all! Remember that no matter what, the Lord loves us. And we can sing "All is Well" if our hearts are right with the Lord, even when everything around us seems to be disagreeing.

Love you all so much! The Church is not only true, but it is Jesus Christ's ONLY church on the earth! We are SO blessed.

Sister Lauren