FS....yoooo who big summer blowout

He said "Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying."

I don't know why, but I've had this looming feeling like death is on the line! HAHAHAHA.

weird.

This week was hot hot hot hot hotttttt. Wow. Sometimes I forget that I'm not from Florida and then a week like this week comes and you're like... how is anyone from Florida, and why do humans want to live here? So, yeah it warmed up a bit this week. (: BUT I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT OBVIOUSLY!

Monday we found a girl named Iliana! She is so cool! We've met up with her a few more times this week and it was raining so she's been showing us the in's and out's of campus, and how to get past 'student only' areas. Haha she's actually the greatest answer to prayers! But really she is a miracle! So we've been meeting up with her. Campus is like a zombie apocalypse scene.  The only people within miles are construction workers! Hahaha we found Iliana sitting at a table and right after we met her the elders came up and contacted her too, hahahaha, because she was literally the only person on campus! I kid, I kid, there are more than just her. Surprisingly we met a lot of people this week because you actually talk to EVERYONE that passes you! We met Lee, who we gave a Chinese - Book of Mormon to! Sadly there aren't missionaries yet in China to teach him over the summer, but let's be real, President Nelson is fighting for Lee (: 

We were walking on Thursday and met this kid named Lucas. He was a searching soul. I LOVE when people have actual conversations with us! They actually think critically about religion and they don't just blow us off! Lucas was so cool and we're gonna start meeting up with him more. 

Honestly this week consisted of sweat, rain, sun, sunburns, and sweat. and blisters. and sweat. Not sure some days if I'm sweating, crying, it's raining, or it's just the humidity. HAHAHAHAAH oh man I can't wait to see snow again one day. Literally everyday we come home and just lay on the ground in our apartment until we stop dripping sweat HAHAHA.

Today we got to talk to some of our sisters in another zone and they were telling us about the miracles they've seen and it sent chills up my spine and through my core! We are a part of such a marvelous work. This is truly my favorite period I've ever had in my life. I love waking up knowing every breath that I give that day is a sacrifice to the Lord. He is gathering his chickens, and the elect harden not their hearts! I know that Jesus Christ is coming again. These are the last days of the harvest. His servants have been sent to the four corners of the earth! WOOT WOOOOOOT! This is so exciting and awesome! 

"Missions are like Mission Impossible missions, but they actually matter."

the tcc sisters ate all my trail mix. little heffas. 🐄

-SISTER  p e t e r s e n

525,600 miracles

One year ago I walked into the MTC and embarked on a journey that has forever changed me. Every minute the Lord has allowed me to wear this tag, this last year, has blessed my life, and so many others. I am just so truly grateful I have had the privilege to serve as a Full-Time missionary representing Jesus Christ. How great is my calling!

-My beautiful wonderful perfect companion scraping ice
off our windshield with an apostate cd so we could go see our sisters

This week was off the CHAIN! Like, picture the Beast on Sandlot chasing down Benny the Jet Rodriguez, but I'm not as fast as that kid so I actually have been gasping for air and had to pull out my inhaler! This week we woke up to a FREEZING COLD SNOW-ICE STORM! Then we had to leave and go to Gulf Breeze but all the freeways were closed because of the ice and then they wanted me to feed Sister Smario TUNA! I can't feed a fish TUNA! That's an ABOMINATION! So we were driving to Gulf Breeze ,and no joke this was like a movie I kid you not, I had to decide last minute to pull off an exit because we were completely out of gas! Like I went over the triangle with the lines on it and we were screaming! Still a miracle that our minivan made it up that ramp #angels. 

The best part of being out of Tallahassee... we went and served at our Bishop's Storehouse. It was so fun to load food and help out the saints in need! Oh I just loved it! Then we went to Fairhope and it was a blast!! I got to work with the one and only Sister Hulstine again and I was like BAM back in action in Alabama!!!! It was fun!

-All the lovelies in the #POUND#

Ok last story... 

We got permission to watch The Sound of Music for New Year's Eve. So because this film is from the stone age and it's like three hours long we only got through the first half and stopped at intermission. The next day was not our designated Pday but we all wanted to finish the movie! So I pulled the short straw and had to be the one to ask President Smith. 

This was our conversation.

"President Smith, this is urgent. Can we please, please finish The Sound of Music tonight? I don't know if Maria ends up being a nun or if the Captain marries the Baroness! Does Hitler invade Austria?!? The world may never know.."

"(; Please finish the movie."

HAHAHAHAAHAH we finished the movie and now we can't stop singing "How do you solve a problem like MARIA!"

-Sister Houston is literally my fav!
She gave this to me when I was sad
about leaving my pillow pet in Tally

Oh dear friends serving a mission is quite literally the best thing in the world! I know that this church is still led and guided by God. He will call another prophet and I will sustain him with my soul! I thank God for the prophet who guides me in these latter days! I love you all! Have a great week!!

-SISTER  p e t e r s e n

Sylvester died and we had to clean it 

I look around me and I see it isn't so

The world is BEAUTIFUL! I don't care if it rains or pours or storms the world and the people in it are BEAUTIFUL!

From getting donuts with our Soul Sister, Sister Dykes, to Tallahassee, to Church Tour adventures with Bishop Boxx! This week was SO MUCH FUN!

Thursday we drove to Tallahassee for an exchange. We were on FSU campus! It was so fun! Tons of people to talk to!!! We got to teach some awesome people! And basically we walked allllllll day hahaha. It was great! We had to sprint across campus to meet someone and I felt like I was in a movie! It was so fun and Sister Jenkins is legit the coolest person I know. 

Sunday was awesome! We had a crazy storm blow in and got stranded at the church. Meanwhile, Bishop took us on a tour of the rafters. And then later that night, everyone came to the church for ADDY'S BAPTISM!!! AHHH. Here are my thoughts. Heavenly Father knows us. He knows each and everyone of us by name. I had a couple of very personal experiences this week and I cannot deny that God knows me. He knows it and I know it. And I know what we're doing matters. When Addy's dad confirmed her a member of the church he gave her a blessing from her Father in Heaven and it was powerful. I felt the power of the Holy Ghost touch every person in that room. We did a small talk about rainbows and the promises we make at baptism. We are all colorful lights making an impact on the world! And the amazing part is that everyone has the light of Christ! Every single person is a child of God! 

I have cared too much about what everyone in this town thinks about me wearing a nametag and I have cared too much about walking up to their fancy houses. I have cared too much about people loving their own church. I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. Because the joy and love I felt in Addy's confirmation blessing, I KNOW they do not have that in their lives!

SO WHO CARES!!! WHO CARES IF YOU FILL THE WORLD WITH SILLY LOVE SONGS Y'ALL!!?! WHO CARES?! Let me say this again EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH IS A CHILD OF GOD! 

Go out and love them to death (: (: (: (: I promise you that's what we're doing. We are ALL enlisted. We might not be perfect 

missionaries. We might get a little distracted by their cute dog or the weather, but I can tell you one thing...

I LOVE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN FAIRHOPE ALABAMA.

I love you all!

-SISTER  p e t e r s e n 

Rainy days and Mondays.... ALWAYS GET ME PUMPED ON JESUS

I LOVE HURRICANE SEASON! Scary, but so fun.

Man I don't even know where to start with all the #MiraclesinMarianna! 

Clint & Lana Brock- We got referred to a family from our bishop and as it turns out the Brocks who took extremely good care of missionaries in Fort Walton is Clint's uncle! So now we're teaching his family and man, it is so amazing to teach a family. Every single time I even think about them I get emotional because I realize that the gospel is truly centered on families and connecting generations. So I'll keep you updated but extra prayers for them, they are my reason in FWB and Marianna <3

OUR HOUSE, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE..............woods? HAHAHAH We contacted a potential from our area book and she told us "I live in the woods." Well listen, EVERYONE lives in the woods... so we thought she was just mistaken us for a couple of sissies. As it turns out, this lady wasn't joking. We were with a member who was determined to find this woman and we drove miles and miles on the winding dirt roads, in and out of trees, around a lake, over a bridge, across the Mason Dixon line and back, and finally ended up at this tiny little cabin. Needless to say we did not have cell phone reception or GPS and the thought crossed my mind many times that we could very possibly be in a poorly filmed horror movie. Well it turned out that the lady has been working on her Family History for MONTHS and she was absolutely thrilled to have us back... It's therapeutic and we're connecting generations = worth the drive.

Angerita! We got a bible referral from SLC for this house. So after driving on this road, oh ps only the main highways in Jackson County are paved, everything else is dirt, so we finally get to this house and turns out this 8 year old kid ordered the bible. Well we end up talking to his cousin and she just graduated high school and she is amazing. I love her so much. She is very prepared and the spirit was just beaming in her eyes as we shared the Book of Mormon with her! She has amazing things in store!

Confederates Baby. We asked this sweet sister in our ward what it's like learning about the Civil War in the South and she told us that the confederates are highly praised! HAHAHA She said one time growing up the North sent them text books and the schools got so mad about the perspective, they sent them back!

Ok last thing. I swear the members here have a competition to see who can make us gain the most weight in one dinner appointment. Well IT AIN'T GONNA WORK ON ME FOLKS! 

House #1- A gallon bag of Spaghetti sent home, that was served on my plate and I ate about 1/5 of it! 

House #2- TBONE steak from their cow THE SIZE OF MY THIGH! Sent home with tin foil

House #3- 4 Fried chicken breasts, brought it home in a box

House #4- potatoes, collard greens, and grits...!!!

you already know I've been doing my daily sprints every morning pretending Hansen is standing there yelling at me. Geez Louise. 

Master the Moment- sister  P E T E R S E N

Pics for the record of my father: 

We role played bible scenes for Sister Jones' Sunday School class. Hank Sims(14) asked "Jesus" (far left) if any of the feet he washed were nasty. 

Country Roads...take me to the homes of the prepared.

I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I GOTTA POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE

well not only did it storm like crazy this week, but we had tornado warnings and ALL that fun stuff. It was great.

So tender mercies all arounnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd towwwwn. Wednesday night Sister Ramadhar realized she had lost her wallet some time that day.. Thursday morning after searching everywhere we set out on a wallet man hunt.

 We went everywhere, called everyone, even the police. It wouldn't be that big of a deal typically but since my comp is from Trinidad her ID cards are like uber important to get home haha.

We prayed a lot as you can imagine missionaries would. And both bishops in our building stopped by the church to see if we needed anything. As Sis Ram called everyone she had to in order to get her cards cancelled we gave up hope on finding the wallet. As we knelt in prayer one more time the phone started ringing, we both paused in the prayer and I hurry and said "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen!" 

WELL THE WALLET WAS FOUND! We rushed back to the church to contact everyone again! to not cancel the cards! It was a miracle and a half that no one took money or anything from the wallet! Anyway she must've left it at this smoothie shop ( SMOOTHIES ) we went to which turned out to be owned by members and they were so awesome! It was really cool and I know our prayers were heard!

In other news...

- I had a frosted lemonade from chick-fil-a

- I jumped in rain puddles

- I picked up scrap-booking as a hobby 

- I bought a pillow pet

ok keep it classy. some people dance in the rain.............others just get......wet.

-sister  P E T E R S E N

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!