You ain't seen nuttin yet!

Transfers are always bitter-sweet but this week has been probably the funnest week of my entire mission!

I said all my goodbyes to my FW crew and headed out for Marianna! Holy smokes it was a long day for transfers. We finally arrived at the transfer spot and my new comp Sister Viola was just waiting for me! Next to our red car~ and no car share here!! But we have to bike a TON! Because our area is huge!!!! Like half the county huge! Our ward covers the whole county and the elders have the other half! My district is smaller, only 6 missionaries and the senior couple, but the other sisters are an hour or so away so we only see them at district meeting once a week! Our Elders just whitewashed this area and one of them is straight from the MTC and the other just got done being AP and this is his last transfer, basically we have the dream team in the mission!

Sister Viola

My companion is probably the funniest person I've ever met, and I know some pretty hilarious people! She is so random and honestly just amazing. She is so hardworking and literally never wastes a single second of the day! Sister Viola is from Ohio and she has been out about 8 months. This is her 2nd area.. nothing too exciting to tell about her but she is always laughing and just an all around goofball! I love being with her! I am learning so much from her everyday! The other night we were about to go to sleep and she says, "Goodnight Sister Petersen, don't let the........... Oh hey I forgot to tell you, you have bedbugs.. anyway Goodnight!" I SPRANG OUT OF BED! LIKE WHAT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Don't worry we're bed bug free but it was so, so, so funny! Hahahah.

We work so hard here. We have appointments on top of appointments and it feels like we don't even have enough time to see everyone! Every night we get done with area book and every thing at like 9:50! Oh man. But this area is so fun! Nobody does anything away from their homes around here, so everyone always keeps their appointments! Hahah it's so crazy! And everyone is willing to talk to us! At least until they find out we're mormon! Hah. This lady invited us in, found out we were mormon, and like the black plague or the devil himself she kicked us out! "Behold, they were cast out of the synagogues". Oh well. 

But everyone is such a hoot down here! This is the deep deep South. If I thought I had any idea what the South was, I was wrong. Hahaha. Movies got it all Hollywood and glamorized, this is real. I ate boiled peanuts! hahahah.

It's so fun down here! Details to come.. but the coolest thing about being down here is the people. The love down here is just shining in everybody. One fella said "We give respect until you do something to lose it, and we give love because you can't do anything to lose it." People are just amazing here. And they truly worship the Savior. Testimony meeting yesterday blew me out of the water! This is not a Mormon congregation, it is a congregation of Saints. They sat shoulder to shoulder in the chapel, said amen, sang loudly, and testified boldly of the Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of the world.  I add my testimony to theirs. He is our Savior and this is the Kingdom of God rolling forth. 

I love this place. They are my people. (:

-sister P E T E R S E N