Man, I feel like a Woman.

CAN WE ALL JUST AGREE HOW AWESOME IT FEELS TO BE A SISTER IN THE CHURCH AND A WOMAN IN THE WORLD?!?!

~We deserve Donuts

Okie doke smokes. Tuesday morning we had interviews with President Smith and that's always fun. Then I had to train at District Meeting on contacting people/HTBT. It was funny because I'm not used to teaching solo haha so every time I said something I'd look at Sister Evensen to chime in. HAHA. She did, like a champ. 

We hunted down Tracy at her work because she has not been answering any texts or anything. When she saw us come in she just started crying. Tracy is probably one of the most solid people I have ever met on my mission and basically her boyfriend is an alcoholic and very abusive and he's anti-ing her hardcore. She's in a very sticky situation. But she assured us that it had nothing to do with us or her testimony of this gospel. She just needs to figure some stuff out because he won't even let her see us. It was heartbreaking. I've never left Pizza Hut sad until that day. 

~ Our cute Buddy Bella (: (:

Later that night, we had a few minutes before we left to go to the ward Relief Society activity. We decided to go find a recent convert of 4 years that we've never met before. As we were driving, we were both a little down because of all the events of the day, and then we couldn't find the address anywhere! Alex Boye did a cover of "Have I Done Any Good" and it came on in the car. We were kind of laughing trying to get pumped and this line pierced me, "Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?" Just then, I looked up and saw two older gentlemen, one in a wheelchair, who both looked homeless. I told Sister Evensen to pull over! Bruce and Charles were NOT interested to hear about the gospel and they made that known as soon as they saw us. But, as we talked with them, they invited us inside into the Rehab Center they were in front of.

The next day we went back to the facilit,y to talk to the activity director to volunteer in the week, where we met Antonica, a young mom from Jamaica, who recognized us because she's seen missionaries a lot back home on their bike! And while we were talking to Antonica, a woman rolled her chair to Sister Evensen and in a very hard to understand pleading voice she said, "Are you Mormon?" Sister Evensen said, "Yes, I am!" And the woman replied, "Me too." We didn't discover until later, that Debbie was the recent convert we were originally searching for!!!! She had a stroke shortly after her baptism and she's been in this rehabilitation center ever since.

How marvelous are the workings of God? I know I did my best to explain this story in words but it's impossible to explain how miraculous it was to meet Debbie. And her tender spirit is just hungering to be close to the Savior. Everyone we told this story to didn't realize the magnitude of what had happened, but we know it, and we know that God knows it. "To God each good work will be known."

~ DEBBIE!

Ok, ok, ok, I know that was heavy stuff but I can't control the miracles that we saw this week. This is a quick one. A few weeks ago I wrote about my bee sting story.  🐝 So on an exchange with Sister Whatcott, we went back to go see John, the old man with the bee cream. Well, his wife was not warm and fuzzy to say the least, and she turned us away. So we went across the street to knock some doors and the neighbor we went to was also quite uninterested. But right as she was shutting the door, Sister Whatcott asked if any of her neighbors had recently moved in, and she directed us to their other neighbor. When we went and knocked on the newly moved in neighbors, we woke Ashley up from a nap. She was pretty groggy but really nice. She told us we were more than welcome to come back it was just a bad time.

This initial contact with Ashley happened about a month ago. Wednesday, during our daily planning, we looked at our whiteboard of names and we both zeroed in on Ashley. When we went to her house later that day her husband Blake answered. He was so, so nice. He explained how he grew up Jehovah's Witness and he left that organization because he felt like he didn't really know God. He believes in God but he wants to know the God of justice AND mercy. He wants to know the God of commandments AND love. We had a really great conversation with him and we hope to teach their family very shortly. Send prayers because they are searchers of the truth. There is too many things that have led to them being found, God does not design coincidences!

~Sister Viola at Sister's Conf (:

Also we had a mission wide Sister's Conference on Friday, and I'm pretty sure President Smith saw that me and Sister Evensen are getting along way too well, so with transfers coming up next week, extra prayers are welcome to the #SaveSistersEvetersen companionship! HAHAHA

~A little piece of home (Cafe Rio Salads) 

                                   My soul cannot wait to hear the words of our prophets this week at General Conference. Friends, the true and living church of Jesus Christ is on the Earth today. I know it. And I know that God is working miracles through His servants to bring to pass His children's happiness. It's like when a loving parent fills your car with gas without you asking, or folds your laundry, or has your dinner ready on a plate when you are running in and out of the house, or gives you their gloves when you're at a soccer game in a blizzard. Yes my parents did all these things because they love me, and you don't realize it until you look back how much the Lord loves us and he is cheering us on every step of the way. (: I love you all so much!                                                                            SISTER  p e t e r s e n 

LC. Life Changer.

This Week Changed My Life.

Last Monday I had the opportunity to participate in an extended exchange that went from Monday to Thursday! Yeah it was a crazy long time not being with my sweet Sister Ramadhar. In those few days I was with Sister Saunders. SHE IS SO AWESOME. you know those people who you know for a fact God handpicked and placed in your life?? Yeah that is Sister Saunders. We had so much fun in her area in Crestview and I learned a lot from her. I love how much you can learn from others and how the Lord uses people to answer our questions and prayers. HE IS SO MINDFUL OF US. Meanwhile down here in Fort Walton her companion Sis. Jamison and Sis. Ramadhar were organizing our area. It was so fun being on exchanges! But I love love loved coming home to my sweet Trinidadian comp hahaha. I love when she says my name "sista peta sen" hahaha she is so cute!

ROAD TRIP: Friday afternoon we drove to Georgia and stayed with some sisters so we could go down to Tallahassee in the morning for a mission conference... basically it was party central the whole way there.

drum roll please....... I got to shake Elder Stevenson's hand. Elder Maines. and Elder Parker. Three General Authorities of the church. One of them an Apostle. WHAT THE WHAT! It was so so so so so cool. Definitely an experience I will never forget. We all go to the chapel and I went straight for the front row but after some disagreement and bargaining we settled for the second row. But like c'mon, and apostle of the Lord was coming to speak to us, what can ya do? When he walked in with President Smith the Spirit in the room overwhelmed us. We all went through a line very reverently and shook their hands. When I shook his hand, he looked deep into my soul and said "Sister Petersen thank you so much for your service." Whether by mine own voice, or by the voice of my servants it is the same. 

All three of them addressed us and we learned a lot that morning. When Elder Stevenson was talking he came off the stand and stood right in front of me. Obviously no one sat on the front row because they all though the same thing as my companion, so the only thing separating me and an apostle of the Lord was a pew. The power that he spoke with was insane, it was a good thing I was as far as I was because I almost couldn't handle it!

When he started speaking he told us he knows that many of us feel inadequate, maybe because we're new, or we hold a leadership position, maybe because we have never been this spiritual before or we're uncomfortable with all the experienced people around us and we feel like we don't know what we're doing..... and then he paused a moment and said............."I have absolutely no sympathy for you." hahahahahaha. He said when he was called into the Quorum of the 12, he replaced three apostles who combined had 112 years of experience, between him, Elder Renlund, and Rasband, they almost have 3. Hahah. He told us that his first meeting he participated in the Quorum he sat in a room with Elder Holland and Elder Oaks and Elder Bednar, and all of these spiritual giants and he has never felt as small as he did in that meeting. haha. It made me feel a lot better about being in my first transfer still. haha it could be so much more intense!

He gave us an apostolic blessing and he specifically said "Since you are here on the Lord's errand, He is sending special specific angels to your families and life back home to take care of them and protect them." I know Heavenly Father is ultra aware of my family. He is sending countless angels to uphold them on their left and on their right. When I was driving to the MTC I thought to myself "Oh man, what is my family gonna do without me" haha. I know the Lord is taking care of them while I take care of His children in the Fort Walton Beach 2nd ward. 

Heavenly Father blesses us every single day. The sacrifices we make are sufficient. I am making a sacrifice being out here and the blessings of heaven are being poured out to my family and all the people I love in my life. God is so so very aware of us and the things we struggle with. He allows us to have these experiences to help us grow and learn and rely on him. Don't forget who you are and your purpose when you wake up in the morning. Have a perfect brightness of hope and love those around you. I'm so incredibly grateful for all of you in my life. I am grateful for every sacrifice that has been made so that I could be here in this moment. I love serving God's children. I find so much joy in serving and sacrificing. So here's my challenge to you, if you are struggling, if you are hurting or lacking something in your life, if you feel distant from God, or you feel lost, Find some way to sacrifice to God. Whether it be your time in serving others or something you need to let go of to allow yourself to grow. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. But while you thing about the changes you can make...

"Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are build, which is a sure foundation, and foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. Through the atonement we have access to the boundless blessings of heaven. Angels are surrounding you my friends. Heavenly Father is blessing you. Stand Tall and Remember that YOU are a child of God. I love y'all

DCK. 

-Sister P E T E R S E N

Sis Ramadhar & me

(Hahaha the Georgia State line pics are a straight joke. Lol we def struggled on that)