Life is Full of Miracles! All day everyday BABY! :]

HAPPY 19TH BiRTHDAY SPENCER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.  that is so crazy. like I can't even think about it because it's just so wild ya know?? 

So yesterday was the confirmations of my three Recent Converts and it was awesome! The Holy Ghost is cool. 

This weekend we had a Mini Missionary come stay with us and it was so much fun! She is sixteen and we saw SO many miracles while we were searching for new investigators! Like you want these things to go well because it builds their faith and strengthens their testimony so witnessing miracles was our highest priority! no pressure right? The first person she talked to was a new investigator.  Pretty awesome.  this one time we had like ten minutes left to find people to teach and we hadn't reached our goal for the day yet so we said a prayer and the next thing we knew, we were talking to a person and then he went in the house and got his two friends and all three of them became new investigators! Are you kidding me?!  God's awesome like that. 

Sometimes being a missionary is overwhelming because just when you think nothing is happening, that's when everything is happening!!!! You look back and realize just how much God's hand was in the details of it all and it's pretty killer.  Well I don't know what to really say this week.  So much happened and guess what!?! Spiritual stuff makes ya tired. I've received a lot of revelation this weekend as well as inspiration and my mind has been enlightened concerning God's Plan of Happiness!  I know His plan is true!  I know that God is my Father in Heaven and that I have the potential to become like Him!  I know he provided me a Savior to help me achieve exaltation!  I know Jesus Christ is that Savior and the only way back to the Father.  I can not wait to be with my Family forever in the Kingdom of God! I know God Loves me and that I am his Daughter! I hope you're all doing fabulous! If you didn't have the best week last week, well then this is your week! :)

Be Strong and of a Good Courage! Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Haters gonna hate. Aligators gonna aligate! Choose the right! Keep calm and Carry on cuz truth will prevail baby  1-10-15 & 3-2-1 five stars! long live the walls we crashed through! WORK iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOUR MISSIONARY! -Sister Petersen 

Stand Ye in Holy Places!

Oh Hey! :) I LOVED TALKING TO YOU GUYS ON THE PHONE YESTERDAY! :] so awesome. 

Well things are going pretty well here in Richmond! I want to tell you about a few of my Investigators! Ok so first there is Maracell.  She is the Cutest little Filipino Lady ever! Oh my heck I love her.  She married This member in our Ward two years ago in the Philippines and it has taken her that long to get over here to Canada! Well She got here about a month ago and we have been teaching her ever since! She is extremely shy, but she understands everything we teach and she is getting baptized!!!!! YaY! Next there is Emily and her nine year old son Brad. They are from Taiwan and investigated the church over a year ago, but than changed their mind.  Well just recently, they have come back to the church (because of the on going fellowship of some very beloved members) and this time they have an even greater desire to learn and understand the Gospel! Last week we had a lesson with them and the Tilleman's, and it was such an awesome lesson. Words could never describe.  When President Tilleman asked Brad about baptism, He threw his fists in the air and enthusiastically said, "It Sounds Exciting!" hahah they are getting baptized too:) We went to the Park yesterday with them and had a picnic and played frizbee and it was so great!  

 I just love my investigators.  They are all SO different from each other and they each have different concerns and needs and there is no way we could help them without the Spirit.  I rely on that thing like you wouldn't believe!  One of my favorite things to do is go over the baptism questions with people.  So before anyone becomes a member of the church, he or she is interviewed by a worthy Priesthood Holder.  There are Six questions asked to make sure they understand and are prepared to make and keep those sacred covenants with the Lord!  This Past Week We reviewed the questions with a couple different people and their responses were priceless.  One person Took a picture of the questions in my planner and than wrote down all the answers and said she would study for the interview. haha it's not a test! I was dying and she was serious.  Another person was super confused at this one question ans was like, "Why would I be getting baptized if I was committing a serious crime!?" hahaha and then she just started laughing so hard. Then one of My favorite Investigators from Jamacia, read the first question which is, "Do you believe that God is Our Eternal Father? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world?" and as sassy as can be she responded, "OBVIOUSLY!" hahah you just had to be there.. and then when asked about abortion or a homsexual relationship she was so so annoyed and disgusted with the very thought and was like, "ABSOLUTELY NOT."  again, you had to be there. so funny.  The Baptism questions are inspired and they help us know where people are at.  Sometimes even after someone has passed the interview they still don't get baptized.  This was a case just a couple months ago.  Usually being taught long enough to actually have the interview in the first place is a big deal, but after one of our investigators was interviewed and ready to go, three days before her baptism, she calls us and goes, "I completely forgot! I don't believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and I don't believe he died on the cross." ha I guess it slipped her mind every single time we taught her or something.. ha anyway,  

I am so happy I am baptized.  I am so happy I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! I know this is the only true and living church on the face of the planet.  I am so grateful it was restored and that I have the Privilege to be a missionary and tell people the good news!  

I hope you all remember your baptism covenants this week and try a little harder to do a little better by doing those small and simple things! Be strong and of good courage! get five stars! do the 1-10-15 & 3-2-1 Be you and only you! Keep on Keepin on! WORK iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Long live baby! I love you all so much!!!!!!

Sister Petersen

9th Transfer Baby :)

Hi! So last Monday I found out that I was getting transferred, but not only that, Penticton got closed down for Sisters! WHAT!? I was so shocked... we have been doing real well... probs the best I've done... we had really solid investigators and baptisms coming up and we handed everything over to new Elders! SO surprised! 

Doing my stretches on the Greyhound

I LOVE MY NEW AREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO I am opening the Richmond English Sisters Area with Sister Struempler!!!!! :) This is the same area where the Mission Office and Home are! The Tillemans are in our ward (even though the are probably never there) and all the Office couples! :) This is also the Assistants to the Presidents Area and they haven't had any Sister Missionaries here before!  Apparently this was a lot of Sisters in the Mission's Dream to open this area and I never even knew it was an option! They told me a week before transfers that I would be transferred and that it would be close.. I didn't think it would be that close! ha. So Richmond is a HUGE city and it is its own Island. The only way in or out is a tunnel or bridge. This is where we always come for transfers. The Airport is here and it is also about 90% ASIAN!

Sisters Li, Struempler, & Ding

In fact, our apartment is not ready yet so we have been rooming with the Chinese Sisters and OH my Heck I love them! It's Sister Ding and Sister Li.  They are SO cute and they laugh at everything and they are just such a good stress reliever. Plus, they cook real food and it actually tastes good and they have been feeding us since we had nothing! ha so that was great.

I'm still a tich sick but on the mend.  I LOVE MY COMP! Sister Struempler is from all over cuz she has moved a lot in the U.S. But she is currently from Dallas Texas. She has been out 6 months and is 19.  Her and I are a lot alike and I just love her. She just gets it.  I would be so happy if I got to stay here the rest of my mission and was comps with her! So Pray for that! 

Anyway.. These last few days have been hectic and strange, but we are finally starting to get our area together! (still living out of a suitcase though)  Yesterday at church this Part-Member family came up to the Missionaries and said they were ready to be baptized!  The Mom is not a member, but the Husband and their two oldest are. They have been coming to church ever since they were married and met when he was on his mission in Japan. Any-who, The Mom said she would be baptized when the youngest turned eight. Well that time came and she wasn't ready so the youngest Daughter Rebecca, who is now nine, waited for her mom Wendy to be ready so they could do it together! Well now she is ready so she had her interview after church and we are going to go over everything with them for the next two weeks until their baptism! SUCH A MIRACLE!  I just can't even believe it.  So My first Sunday at church was pretty good to say the least;) Um what else.. I had to give the closing prayer in Sacrament.. We switched cars with the Chinese Sisters; So now I am driving a mini van.. whatever. Umm.... I am in a Chinese District now! I love it! :)  Elder D. Todd Christofferson is coming to our mission with three other General Authorities at the beginning of March!!!! The show "Once Upon a Time" is filmed here in Richmond.. Just a few blocks away is the clock tower and Granny's and Mr. Gold's Shop... Or so I heard from the Office! Ha we are like best friends with the Office! :)  Richmond is just so huge.  We went Street Contacting our first night here and ended up standing where all the people got off the sky train and it would be all crowded and crazy and we would be like frantically trying to talk to people and then 30 seconds later it would be completely empty! hahah and then an entire batch would show up again after two minutes and we would start all over! It was pretty ridiculous. haha :) Change is always interesting and before I left Penticton, I just promised myself that I was going to have so much Faith and Trust in the Lord in where ever he sent me! Well I can tell you that the Spirit has been with me through out all of this and I know that the Lord trust and loves me! I am back.  I feel like this is where I belong. I know that some of my finest moments as a missionary for the Lord will be in this area! I am ready to work hard and love the people and be exactly obedient and GO FOR SECOND!  I have struggled and gone through a lot so far on my mission and it has made me the person I am today and that is a disciple of Jesus Christ.  I know that he is there and last night during my prayers, thoughts entered my mind concerning why we go through trials and suffer tribulation... My mind was then enlightened with The Plan of Salvation and particularly the Kingdoms of Glory! This caused me to really ponder this morning during my studies on our Agency and how we will obtain and enter into the Kingdom of God and to what degree we will achieve. I was led straight to the Book of Matthew in the Bible as well as my Patriarchal Blessing and it brought further light and Knowledge into my view concerning these things.. I know that Obedience to the Laws of the Heaven is vital and I know that we show our faith in Christ when we are Obedient to his commandments.  I know that God hears and answers our prayers and he wants us to be happy.  I know that we go through hard times because it is a trial of our faith. I know that if just endure and hold on, then the good things and the blessings will come.  Sometimes we don't know why things happen the way they do and we don't know why it has to be us that has a certain trial, but I can promise in the name of Jesus Christ that if we put all our Trust in the Lord and have patience with a firm hope that one day we will rest from all our afflictions, then we will be forever happy in the Eternities. I know that The Gospel of Jesus Christ is True. I know it has been Restored on the earth and that we have living day Prophets who lead and guide us towards our Savior.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the most correct book of any here on the earth today.  I know that I am a Daughter of God. I know that there are Angels round about us that lift us up and support us. I know that Families are Forever. I know that My Redeemer Lives.  I know that we must be strong and of Good Courage in this life.  I know that the small and simple things make all the difference. I know that keeping calm and carrying on shows Heavenly Father that we trust and have faith in him. I love my family and I am so grateful I am a missionary.  I love everything about it and to think I am 2/3 done is mind-blowing! Long Live! 1-10-15 & 3-2-1 five Stars! WORK iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :]
LOVE YOUR SISTER MISSIONARY FOREVER, 
Sister Petersen :)

Just Keep Swimming

Hi!:) I haven't been able to read through all of your emails yet, but it sounds like Grandma's service was very good! I just love our family! :) we are so blessed to have each other ya know? I love being a Petersen.

Well, tonight is transfer calls and I am pretty sure I am going to get transferred, So I guess you will find out next week! :)  

It's a picture, I have to smile :)

This past week I have been way sick! I was just in a ton of pain in my neck and shoulders/back.  I went to a walk-in clinic on Monday and the doctor didn't even look at me or anything! Our two minute convo was him telling me that I should get counseling from my church cuz I'm stressed, and maybe a massage. Um ok. what a waste of money!  So then I did get a massage from this lady in our ward who has a business, on Tuesday, and it hurt so bad! I was so sore and tender.. it's like as if someone has a sunburn and you go up and slap them! that is how I felt! So Wednesday morning I woke up just in so much pain and I was just like this is ridiculous I'm not putting up with this anymore! So we totally didn't even do our studies or anything! I was still in my Pajama's and I just drove myself to another Walk-in Clinic.  When we went out to the car, it had snowed the most it ever has, here during the night and I was so not in the mood to see how Canadians drove in the snow. 

Headed to the Clinic in the SNOW :(

Anyway, we made it to the Doctor and he was WAY more helpful then the other one.  He explained what the pain was and gave me medicine and and all this stuff. So great. Well later that day I went to a Physio-Therapist who was also very, very nice and he was so good.  He gave me all these stretches to do and he put like this electro thing on my back and yeah.. crazy stuff.  Anyway towards the end of the week I was doing a lot better! The pain has gone away mostly so that is good! I've just been resting it up.  Thank goodness for modern medicine. Such a blessing. Oh that reminds me that I got a Priesthood blessing last week for my pain! Gotta love those:)  Other than that, not much has happened this week.. I gave a dang good District Meeting despite being sick.. um our lesson in Relief Society lesson was way good yesterday! It was about how sometimes when we are going through a hard time we often ask ourselves, "How Long?" but really that hard time is just a "Small Moment."  It was really good and I totally agree! I loved it! I bore my testimony Yesterday! I didn't get a chance in Sacrament, so I bore it in Relief Society.

Alright, so there is this lady named Sharon who is an investigator and I love this woman.  I have known her since Thanksgiving and she is 80 years old and weighs about 60 pounds. she is just a tiny little thing.  Well anyway she is kinda crazy.  We haven't really been teaching her cuz she just isn't prepared yet for baptism, but she comes to church most Sundays and kinda just hangs around.. haha it's so funny. She absolutely loves me! I have no idea why, but she thinks I'm so cute and she always calls me her Angel.  Lots of strangers call us angels.. kinda odd. ha but nice.  One of my investigators named Brian came to church yesterday. Such a miracle.  We have been teaching him for 3 months and that man just will not keep his commitments so two weeks ago we reflected him.  We decided if he was truly interested, than he would take some choice and accountability, and progress.  Well yesterday he asked me after Sacrament when his baptism was, (cuz he had two dates previously) I asked him if he was still smoking and he said yes.  I told him that when he starts to live the Word of Wisdom then we can talk and set a date. he said ok. haha so that was that.  People have their agency and you can't control what they do.  It's their choice whether or not they want to live the commandments.  We simple invite and teach them.  

Well that is all I have time for this week! I love you all and I am so grateful for God's Plan for us! I know it's true. Well have a great week everyone! Remember the small and simple things and to BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE! long live. 1-10-15 and 3-2-1 baby.  Five Stars! WORK iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! keep it calm yo and carry it on.
LOVE YOUR SISTER MISSIONARY FOREVA.. Sister Petersen. 

Families are Forever :)

WELL HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR, AND JEREMY, AND BRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO WOO.

That is so sad about Grandma passing away.. I know that she is in such a better place now and she is no longer in pain.  I am so grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation.  It's beautiful:] Families are forever my friends. don't you forget it! :)

Well this has been a long week! I've been sick:/ I've got lots of pain in my back and neck and head. Stress.. it'll getcha! I swear it'll be the death of me. I was talking to Sister Tilleman on the phone the other day and she was like.. "You know that last scene in the movie, 'Incredibles' when Dash is in that race and the family is yelling, 'Slow down! Go for second! Go for Second!' Well I'm going to start calling you Dash! You are not a superhero! We can't have you get trasnfigured yet! We know if we just let you loose, you'd be off! Slow down and go for second!" hahah well, I just thought that was funny... I love her! :)

Me with Tanya & Sis Foley

So I have to tell you about this lady named Tanya! So a couple months ago, Sister Allen and I were about to go tracting.  I think it was the end of November or start of December... anyway before we got out of the car I was just like, "Sister Allen do you have faith that we will find a new investigator tonight?!" she was like, "HECK YA!" So, we said our prayer and told the Lord we would.  The very first door we knock on is Tanya's.  I kid you not, it was one of the best door approaches I have ever done. All I remember is while I was talking, it wasn't really me talking.  Like it was all the Spirit! I distinctly remember thinking that this is what it must feel like when the Lord loosens your tongue.  Well she was so optimistic and said we could come back, which made her a new investigator! Well the first lesson with her, I was not here! I was in Osoyoos on Exchanges, but apparently it was real powerful. Can't go wrong with the Restoration.  So the follow up lesson the week after that, we show up and no one answered! We were SO disappointed! The next day We were driving around and I just had a feeling we needed to go to her house.  So Sis Allen and I go there and Tanya was home but only had a few minutes to talk cuz she was about to leave! We simply bore our testimonies to her and the Spirit was so strong.  I invited her to be baptized at the end of December and she willingly accepted.  This meant that she had to give up coffee and get work off on Sundays.  She felt the Spirit and she said she would do it.  Well, We dropped by a couple days later and she said there was just no way she could get work off on Sundays. There is just not even a chance. Shoot. This was a setback.  Her date was dropped and we had lost contact with her for 2 weeks.  Then, there I was at the Christmas dinner Serving Stuffing, and all the sudden Tanya is just standing in front of me with Some guy! I was like AHHH!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT?! I was so shocked. She said she wanted to surprise us! The whole time I was thinking, "who is this guy?! we are going to have a law of chastity issue! It's ok, we can work with that!"  Well turns out that this guy's name is Bill, and Bill is an ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHHHHHHHAAAAATTTTTTT!!!??????!!!! apparently they met at work and started dating the same time we knocked on her door and she thought that he sent us to her! MIRACLE!!!!!!!!! he Lived in Kelowna, but he just moved down to LANGLEY and into the BROOKSWOOD WARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is that not the biggest sign ever?! Bill was just so happy about all this.  He wasn't sure how he felt about dating a non-member and this was an answer to his prayer! Well the day Sister Allen and I were going down for transfers in December, we were supposed to go See Tanya so we texted her and asked what time and than she texted us back and was like, "I'm not interested anymore. I'm happy with my faith and future visits are unnecessary." WHAT?! oh man.. i just cried.  So this whole time I still prayed for her and I prayed that she could get work off.. in the meanwhile, the holiday's happened and things were going ok.. than Sister Foley and I get a call from Bill after Christmas and he was like, "Why haven't you seen Tanya?? She says you haven't called or dropped by!" WHAT!?! we were like no she dropped us. and explained it to him.  Well he just couldn't believe it cuz this was a make it or break it for him! so he called her and she was like I didn't say that! AHHH!!! were like did one of her daughters text us?! we were so confused.  So then we go over to her house and she was like no I'm still interested! we compared texts and it turns out that we texted a different Tanya in our phone! WHAT A MISTAKE!!!! so embarrassing. so we took care of that and then a month ago we had a lesson with Tanya and Bill.  The Spirit was so strong and she told us that she still had to work on Sundays, which is so hard cuz I prayed and fasted that she would somehow get it off.  WELL! she then goes on to explain that for the next five Sundays, her work is doing renovations and she can't work! WHAT A MIRACLE!!! as soon as she said that, tears filled my eyes and the spirit confirmed to me that this the Lord providing a way for her to be baptized. AMAZING! Well two weeks ago, her dad died and it was devastating so she wasn't able to come to church because of that. We brought her a gift and I think this was prepping me for Grandma.. anyway She came to church for the first time yesterday and she just fit right in! We haven't even seen her in like 4 weeks and as of today She has been living the Word of Wisdom by herself for an entire month!!!! are you kidding me right now?! We weren't even encouraging it cuz we didn't want to add stress.  Well she is doing amazing and I know she will be baptized.  
I love Tanya and Bill and I know the Lord prepares his children. 

I know the Lord is in the very details of our lives. SO remember the small and simple things. Be strong and of Good Courage. WORK iT!!!!!!! five stars. 1-10-15& 3-2-1 LoNG LiVE. keeep calm and carry on.  I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! the church is true.

LOVE YOUR SISTER MISSIONARY FOREVER, Sister Petersen.

11 months baby! :)

Hi! I loved all your emails! Thanks for sending them! :) Sounds like things have been pretty intense with the grandparents.. I hope that everything works out! Just keep repeating to yourself, "I'm too blessed to be stressed!" :) 

YESTERDAY I GOT THE BIGGEST SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!! Merle & Babs came to the Penticton Ward to see me!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!! They are my converts from the Brookswood Ward! I was SO excited and happy! The closing hymn was, "God be with You till we meet again" and that is how I felt as I sat with them! :) it was great.. 

Merle & Babs & Me :)

Well today is my 11 month mark! Can you believe that?! It's bitter-sweet really.  I've been pondering about all the miracles I've seen thus far and all the things that have taken place on mission up to this point and it is overwhelming.  I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me and the people of British Columbia.  
The Week ending January 12th, the Mission had a new record of New Investigators found in a week... collectively we found 1,085! Sister Foley and I found 15 and last week we found 10.  We have just been so blessed.  The Lord is truly hastening his work and I feel like I have a front row seat!  When I first came out, we were finding 200-400 new investigators per month! Now we are finding 500-700 Per week! It's incredible.  The Lord is the one doing everything.  We are all simply his tools and instruments. 
We might be dull and a little out of tune, but he qualifies those he calls. I know from personal experience that this is true.  And you know who he calls? ALL latter-day Saints. There is no way we could have done this without such faithful members!  The members of the Church in this Provence are something else. let me tell you what. I feel very humbled to be serving along such strong disciples of Christ.  The active ones make the church look real, real good. 

So I don't like telling you too much about my investigators in case it goes sour, but whatever. YOSO<<-----hopefully more than once but hey..  So, We have been teaching a couple people, one of which is named Edith.  Edith is 67 and super cute! Her mother joined the church in 1979 and passed away in 1997 I believe.  Anyway, Edith was born in Austria and has had an extremely difficult life She was born Catholic and became Lutheran.  Studied with the JW's for a bit, and has traveled a lot.  I met her at the Creche open house in December and gave her a tour of the church building. She became a new investigator and we have been seeing her ever since! Her biggest leap of faith was letting go of tea and with the help of studying the Book of Mormon and prayer, she has been able to do this so easily.  Well, She was scheduled to get baptized in February, but we know she is ready, so this week we are going to invite her to be baptized at the end of January! (she has to be living the word of Wisdom three weeks or we would have baptized her yesterday)  Unless something comes up, I don't see any red flags.  She has an incredible true friend helping her progress and I love Edith with all my heart! Yesterday day at church she casually said to me, "Yeah, this church is the one." :)    yeah it is. It really truly is.  I love this church!!!:) I know this is the church of God.  I know it was restored onto the Earth through Joseph Smith. I know the Book of Mormon is evidence of this. I know the things written in there are true. I know God is with us. I know we are all children of a VERY LOVING Heavenly Father and I know He sends angels to watch over us. 

I know that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass

Be strong and of good courage! 

Keep calm and carry on! 

1-10-15&3-2-1 

BE YOU AND ONLY YOU! 

five stars! 

LONG LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

WORK iT!!!! :) :) :)   
LOVE YOUR SISTER MISSIONARY FOREVER!!!! 

Sister Petersen.

Work iT!!

Well Hello there! :)  AHH! So much has happened this weekend! I don't know where to begin! 

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY WHITNEY!!!! :] ahh.  I remember last year I think I made ya a bouquet of candy! ha that was fun..

So, on Saturday our wards helped with the BC Thanksgiving Food Drive and it was so fun! I love doing service projects! I haven't done that many on my mission, but this was really neat.  I just feel soo good helping ya know? I love it when everyone comes together for a good cause.  Like the peach orchard story..incredible. Well, Sister Galbraith was with me on exchanges and we went around with Sister Towns and did a couple routes where we picked up bags of food on peoples steps! We then went to the church where they had people boxing it and organizing, and we helped out there! I loved organizing.  There ended up being so much food!  We filled this huge truck full!  Brad and Loretta were in charge and they nailed it.  The Mayor of Langley was there and he was so impressed with our church.  It was cool, so there were some non-members there and of course I'm like, "oh hello:)"  So, Sis Galbraith and I talked to these two korean non-member volunteers and gave them a tour of the outside of the temple and they became new investigators!  boom baby.  That's how it is done.  :)

Yesterday, at church our Ward Mission Leader gave a talk and he started and ended it by saying, "if you are happy and you know it, refer a friend!" ha.  Classic.  Let's just say i'm gonna be singing that lots this week to members! ;) cuz ya know.. we are the only people in the entire world who know where true happiness comes from.  Also yesterday, we had a fireside on Prayer at our Templeview Chapel.  Oh my heck! It was sooooooo good.  

So storytime, last week I was sitting by this lady in sacrament who was in charge of the musical number for last night and I accidentally, sort of, came up with this idea and then volunteered all the missionaries in our stake, to sing at this fireside. oops.  So I called up a couple leaders in the Missh and thirty of us missionaries and about 15 little kids sang "A Childs Prayer" and it was so powerful.  President Tilleman was supposed to be the main speaker, but when it started, he was flying over head on his way from Prince George! What?! The thing started at 7 and he arrived at 8:25, and he felt so bad!  He was only going to talk for five minutes, but then he ended up speaking for like a half hour and dang it was good.  I have never seen him so emotional.  Afterwards, I was talking to him and his eyes were so red, and with tears streaming down his face, he told me how proud he was of me and asked me to find someone else that he can baptize for October.  I promised him I would. 

Our teaching pool is just a puddle right now.  It took us SEVERAL MONTHS to prepare the people we did for baptism.  I know as to my own strength and ability, I AM SO WEAK! There is no way on earth I can find someone who will be prepared to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone who holds the Priesthood Authority... if I do this alone.  But, the beautiful thing is that I am NOT alone. In fact, I am NEVER alone!  Not in the slightest.  I am a Daughter of God who loves me and I love him and I know that as I put my faith and trust in him, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! I will stop at nothing to find someone to teach and baptize.  But not just one, SEVERAL! I am determined to baptize as many people as the Lord puts in my path.  I am nervous and scared and I want to have success and do well.  I know that as I try my best, the Lord will help me find a way to fulfill my promise to him and my Mission President.  But only if I try my very best.  The Lord blesses us by virtue of our Obedience to his laws and commandments.  This I know to be true.  So, how am I going to baptize in October? BY WORKIN iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! duh.  Plus, by being exactly obedient! I'll Work iT like it all depends on me and pray like it all depends on the Lord. 

Yesterday, Brad spoke at the fireside, as a recent convert, and shared his experience with prayer.  He said and I quote, "There is this famous quote that a certian Sister Missionary ALWAYS says which I quite love and that is to, 'Work iT'.  I know we all must do this.  Hey look at that, I quoted her all without saying Sister Petersen's Name!" haha he's a punk. But I truly know that if we Work iT, the blessings will come.  They may come now or they may come late.. they might not even come till heaven, but I can promise you that they will come.  So don't you give up.  You hold fast to what you already know to be true and you WORK at IT. 

Anyways, after the fireside was over and the crowds died down, the missionaries sang for President and Sister Tilleman.  We sang "A Child's Prayer," "We'll Bring the World His Truth," and "Called to Serve." It was special to sing to just the two of them.  President gave us permission to go have refreshments, aka stay awhile, so we didn't get home till after 10:00! What? That NEVER happens! miracle. 

Oh also, yesterday this guy in our ward made us these necklaces and it was just one piece of stone that he polished from the TEMPLE! cool huh.  So now I have a piece of the Temple from the mission where I served. Love it. 

Man all last week and still, I have a killer headache.  It's the worst. AND, I keep waking up with charlie horses! What?! I don't even know what that means..! random fact: there are spider webs everywhere! pretty much on every porch you find a spider web and they are huge spider webs and they have huge spiders too! It's disgusting and guess who always walks into them? me. gah. So basically I need to stop taking charge and let Sister Gale go first.  I can't help it though! I am just a fast walker! 

Oh, hey I was gonna tell you to go on lds.org and check out the Canada page.  There are a couple stories about our mission and Moroni's Quest.  The lady who does the Website is in our ward. Surprise, surprise.  Well anyway, I love you all so much!!! Thank you for all the love and support! You have no idea how much it mean to me that you think of me.  Hope I don't bore ya! I just know that this church is true and that Jesus Christ is at the head of it and that He lives.
Did you hear that? HE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love my Savior and I am so grateful for the Atonement!  

Well please remember to keep things small and simple! Be strong and of good courage! keep calm and carry on! <<long live>> 1-10-15! five stars! and hey, Work iT!! :] I Love You!
LOVE YOUR SISTER MISSIONARY! JAYNANNE PETERSEN!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

BEST MISSION WEEK EVER :)

Hey it's me Jaynanne!
So this past week has been the best week of my entire mission! no lie.  I don't even know where to begin! For starters, We tripled the Standard of Excellence with our Member present lessons AND our New Investigators this week!!! What.  We worked so hard to bring this to pass. You just have no idea!

haha so I'm gonna tell you about yesterday.  So yesterday Sister Gale and I had the opportunity to go to this fireside in Burnaby(which is bascially Vancouver and about 20 or 30 minutes away)  The reason we got to go to the fireside was because we had one of our Investigators with us!  The Second Counselor in our Ward and his wife drove the three of us.  I was really nervous about taking her ya know, cuz she has never even been to church or anything! Well, as we pulled up to her house, she got out of her car to get in ours and guess what?! her Car looks just like the one that Jake Ryan has on the Classic hit, Sixteen Candles! (that's an 80's movie people) I thought, 'hmm is that a sign?!'  I wasn't real sure and still super anxious! Well the Lord, in his clever little way, confirmed to me that YES! it in fact was a sign, because as I sat there contemplating this, the song 'Don't you forget about me' came on the radio! WHHHAATTTT?! The Spirit was like... 'Don't you forget about how the Lord is in the tiny, tiniest details of our live's! Don't forget about him!'... So after that, I was totally fine and I just put all my trust in the Lord, and just to make sure I got the hint, at the beginning of the meeting the speaker talked about Indiana Jones. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! 

The fireside was given by Hyrum Smith's third great grandson and his wife.  They brought the clothes that Hyrum was shot and killed in, as well as other objects that was the Smith Families, including the box that the Gold Plates were first carried in! We got to go up and look at everything after and it was soooo cool.  It was so real.  I felt the spirit testify to me that all the stories I was hearing were true.  I have an even stronger love for the early saints and for Joseph Smith and his family than ever before, now.  It was so powerful and I know without a shadow of a doubt the the true church of Jesus Christ is back on the earth.  The Smiths thanked me for serving a mission when I went to the front to look at the stuff! That was pretty cool. 

I have to go right now because the librarian is mean and won't give me my full time, but one quick story... Yesterday this kid in our ward gave his farewell talk and he talked about how four months ago they had the sister missionaries over for dinner and that one of the sister missionaries was SO excited that he was getting his call in four days! He went off on how she was just so happy and stoked for him and he didn't understand why.  He told everyone that because she was so happy for him and thrilled, that for the first time in his whole life, he was actually looking forward to his mission.  Well after the meeting was over, his mom came up to me with tear filled eyes and told me, "thank you."  She hugged me and told me she loved me and told me that I have made my mission proud.  Jason later told me that he was talking about me if I didn't guess! haha It made me feel good to know that I have done some good here.  

Tomorrow is my six month mark.  I just can't believe it has been six months! that is insane.  I'll be home in a year! This coming week is just crazy hectic.  We have transfers on Thursday and Elder Aidukaitis of the first presidency of the seventy is coming to speak to us on Saturday, (he spoke to me at the mtc) also on Saturday, my investigator Merle is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

President Tilleman is coming to baptize him and he is going to see if Elder Aidukaitis can come too! ahhhhhhh. I'm So excited! :)  I feel like this transfer while I have been training, I have become a Jedi Master! haha We had a mission fast yesterday and I hope that everything goes well this week. 

 I love you all so much! thank you for the support! 

Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass! 

BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE! WORK iT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

1-10-15 five stars baby! long live. keep calm and carry on.  

I can't wait till the day that I get to throw my fist up in the air as I see you all. 

 ha just saying. I know this is the only true church.

LOVE SISTER MASTER JAYNANNE PETERSEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :]

It's ALL in your ATTITUDE!!

SIGNED! SEALED! DELIVERED! I'M YOURS! ha so hey I got your package!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhh! I absolutely loved loved loved it! like you have no idea. 

 The Scripture case is perfect! THANK YOU SO MUCH! and Mollie that Bracelet...classic.  Everything was perfect.  I loved the book mark and YW theme and carmel popcorn! it tasted like home! :) thank you.  SPENCER IS LEAVING ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhh. who else is freaking out right now?!? I haven't stopped talking about it for like 2 weeks.  Basically all of Canada knows that he's leaving for his Missh.  SO COOL. I am so proud. ahh. I love him.  He is only of the bravest and strongest kids I've ever known.  What a Stud. So I got a call from my RS president.. apparently she got an email from my mom talking about a raincoat.. haha AT ANY RATE, I gave it to her and she is sending it back for me. SO SWEET.  

I Had such an amazing week here in Brookswood.  We set three Baptism dates and it was awesome.  They aren't for a couple weeks, but please, please, please, please pray that they will happen.  The Investigators with these dates need this in their lives right now, more than ever! So please pray.  We taught one of them last Wednesday, and gave her the Book of Mormon, and invited her to read the introduction. On Saturday we followed up to see what she thought and in all seriousness, she was like, "I'm not that far.. I only got to the Book of Jacob!" um come again?! WHAT!? We were like, that's amazing!!!! ahhh. So that was totally radical.  

So Storytime.  On Friday it was 8:45 pm so we had fifteen more minutes before we had to be in for the night so after debating whether to head in or not, we decided we were going to quickly drop by this less active sister in our ward.  Well when we knocked on her door,  she answered,and tears were just streaming down her face. Mascara everywhere and she was holding her baby in one arm and on the phone with her mom in the other hand. She was all hysterical and told us there was a mouse in her kitchen! hahah I immediately dropped my bag and ran to the kitchen and she had somehow managed to capture it under an Ice cream bucket. So Sister Gale and I went into action mode! we got a rice crispy cereal box and ever so carefully slid it under the bucket.  than we got this square piece of wood furniture and slid it under that so we would be able to carry it without it being flimsy. this took like 15plus minutes mind you.  So together we both carried it out into the backyard onto this pavement away from the house.  I had a shovel and sis Gale had the broom. The plan was that we would put it in a box and than put that box in another box and than I would mail that box to myself! and when it arrived, I'D SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!!!! ha no jk! The plan was that she'd knock the bucket off with the broom and than I'd SMASH it with the shovel! Well then we were afraid that it would be quick and run away, or run towards us, so we found this big bucket like the ones at Home Depot, and ever so carefully slid it into the big bucket! Well then we were like, we could drown it, but that seemed cruel, or we could just like stab it, ha but then after we started looking at it, it looked so innocent and weak! So there we were, the member was still just bawling, and she kept going back inside cuz she just couldn't watch, and it's getting dark, and the neighbors are just staring at us from their deck, and we don't know if we should kill the rat or set it free! We didn't want it to get back inside, but at the same time, it's one of Gods Creatures! I just didn't know what to do. There I was, shovel in hand, and I felt like Nephi when he was told he needed to kill Laban.  I was led by the Spirit to her house, not knowing before hand the things which I should do.  Than the Lord put this mouse in my path to kill and never before had I shed the blood of mouse/rat.  SO! When in doubt, pray it out.  So we said like two prayers and than we just killed it! ha Later, my District Supervisor said that it is "better that one rat should perish than have a whole nation dwindle in unbelief!" I still feel bad about killing it, but I did what needed to be done, and the member is eternally grateful!  The whole time she was just like, "I will sign any list! I will buy you groceries! I'll go out with you! I'll do whatever! we are like family now!" haha I just told her getting someone for us to teach and share the gospel with would be more than enough! :)  We told our ward mission leader and bishop this story and yesterday at church they were just laying on the jokes and announcing our rodent exterminating services to the ward.  haha Bishop called us the Sista Mafia.  I was like Kay too far. haha  

Oh so I didn't have pink eye at all last week and I wore my glasses everyday and than yesterday, I put my contacts in and my eye was completely red by the end of the day and all itchy. LOVELY! so I thought I cleaned my contact enough but I guess I should of just got a new one.  So we are back to square one.  

OH, my recent convert Karen had a baby shower thrown for her last week by some women in our ward and she handed out these numbers on paper and whoever had the number she picked got this candy bar that was like the size of my arm! Well she totally rigged it and gave me the winning number! hahahah I just love her too pieces. so funny. 

Oh, one last thing, so in ward council they always make jokes about the High Priests and how they don't do much but sit around and all that, and this one just just cracked me up and I could not stop laughing yesterday. So the YM Pres was like to the High Priest guy, "...a couple years ago the high priest cleaned my gutters, you could do that again.." (he was lying kay) and then the hp guy was like, "ya and they've been in the gutters ever since!" ahahaha, ok, well I thought it was pretty hysterical. haha anyway I have to go because I am out of time! Oh, I had a good talk with president Tilleman and ZC. 

Hey the church is true and the book is blue! seriously though. 

I love being a missionary.  

I love my area.  I love the Brookswood ward. 

I love my Savior.  

So remember, by small and simple things are great things brought to pass! 

BE STRONG AND OF GOOD COURAGE! We are all a part of God's army, people.  

    WORK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     1-10-15. five stars!!!!         LOVE SISTER JAYNANNE PETERSEN