piña coladas. CAUGHT IN THE RAIN

WOOOOOOOT WOOOOOT! Last Pday we hit up the beach as a district and played in the sun all afternoon. Basically we have the best area, just sayin. The picture attached is my district and they are such a blast! I love them! 

Tuesday we went out to our appointments and WE GOT STUCK IN A HURRICANE!!!! Legit we were riding along having little success and I threw my arms up and said "Bring it on God" and then IT STARTED POURING! hahaha be careful what you ask for! So we rode home real fast and watched as the streets flooded! It was insane....! But no worries Tracy, I kept my hair dry and it still looked decent when we got in (;

Sister Ramadhar is teaching me how to rap it's pretty gnarly.

So Friday night we ended up going to our ward Valentine's dance unexpectedly because of some miscommunication haha, and while we were there I met my best friend Ashley! She is so hilarious! We told her we weren't allowed to dance so she taught us how to dab. hahahah I loved her sweet sweet spirit. She was great. Honestly my favorite thing on my mission is seeing families. In my homeward the kids sang this song for the primary program and they scream/sang, "God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be" SOOOOOOo True!!! And the best part is, we're all part of God's family!!! I love it. 

I love how you can meet people and have completely different backgrounds and feel so connected with them.  It's because we truly are all children of God.

Ok ok ok I'll tell you a story, stop begging. Thursday afternoon we set out to go tracting. While riding to our neighborhood we chose, we decided to stop at this investigator's apartment who we've been trying to drop. This investigator has some crazy life issues and she hasn't been progressing so we have not been meeting with her. Well when we knocked on her door she didn't answer and so we were leaving the complex when her neighbor came outside and stopped us. He was very nice at first and asked us if we were JWs. We went on to explain we were missionaries for the LDS church. On a dime he started screaming and cussing at us, waving his cigarette at us like we were of the devil. He said some pretty nasty stuff about how awful Mormons are and told us we were wasting our time on missions. 

To be honest I wasn't scared or hurt, I was angry. I was so frustrated with everything he said because he was so rude. Like some people down here say they love Jesus but then they treat others with so much hatred. Like Breh, cmon. "They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." So as we were leaving, Tammy's other neighbor ran outside and apologized that for what just took place. We assured her it was no big deal and we were fine. She promised us we would have success that day because there is opposition in all things. AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH! 

Tabitha. The sweetest most charitable woman welcomed us into her home and we talked about Jesus Christ for a very long time. Tabitha taught us so much about Jesus Christ's love and treating others as he would. Her example and life story truly inspired me that day. We haven't confirmed her as an investigator yet, but Tabitha is very much elect.

There are so many amazing people in the world. Don't put your head in the sand as a member of the church and think that everyone who isn't LDS is wicked. Christ is gathering His sheep. We are searching out the elect and the humble hearted followers of Christ. Most days here are kind of crappy without much success, but like Tammy's sweet neighbor told us, there is opposition in all things. When you are discouraged or upset or unhappy with the trials that you are going through, please please remember how great your joy is going to be. Men are that they might have joy. Enjoy to the very end.

I love y'all so very much. DCK. Love  S I S T E R   P E T E R S E N !!!!! 

Pday with the crew!

Golden Investigators?? Nah, Golden CORRAL

This week was straight solid. Me and Sister Ramadhar just cruise the town on our bikes and try not to get hit by cars, it's fine. The other day we biked like 8 million miles to go to a referral and then we were turned away haha. It made for some good riding though. 

Oh man so many people have dogs or cats and Sis R is way allergic so whenever we leave a house she basically douses herself in hand sanitizer haha. I feel so bad. 

Even though we don't have any "golden" investigators.... or even *any investigators currently lol... we have GOLDEN members!!!!!! They are so awesome down here and they feed us like it's going out of style! I love our members to death but if I eat Golden Corral again I'm gonna explode. I'm pretty sure I've gained 17 hundred pounds since I came to Florida, and the Elders serving in our ward always give me candy. Why do people have to be so generous?!?! So annoying. (; but real talk our members are incredible. Not gonna lie I was pretty skeptical coming from Utah what the church activity would be like away from home, but the members here are so dedicated to Christ it is UNREAL. They are such good people and amazing examples of the believers. I love them.

We had the opportunity to attend Zone Conference this past week and watch the General Missionary Broadcast. Hot Dang it was soooooo good. It got me so pumped to be a part of God's army. The biggest thing I learned from it though was building the church from within. As members of Jesus Christ's church, it is our sacred obligation to sanctify ourselves and be steadfast in Christ. 

My favorite thing about serving down here is hearing people's conversion stories. Everyone has one. My comp is a convert to the church with her mom and dad and her dedication to missionary work is a constant reminder to me that people like her are ready and waiting to hear the gospel. Yesterday at dinner the sweetest little old sister who was feeding us told me, "God sent us here to know each other and to love each other. Not to walk as strangers but to be a family" Those words really struck my heart. We really are all God's children. It doesn't matter your race, wealth, age, appearance, trials, WE ARE ALL CHILDREN OF GOD. If everyone in the world really accepted that we would all treat each other so much better. Christ always had such pure love for everyone and that's all we are asked to do. In the words of my dad's favorite holiday singer Jewel "In the end, only kindness matters." 

SO THIS WEEK: Be kind to everyone. Seriously and truly. Show your love to God by loving His children. They are your brothers and sisters and they need you.

I love you all so much. Don't forget your divine worth. DCK. and don't get fat like me.

-Sister Petersen

DCK - Destination Celestial Kingdom