Jequié: Vol 1 Chap 3

Hello!

This week was soooo amazing - I dont really feel like I can do it much justice just by writing, because the feeling wont be there.  We found a family this week!  They are so amazing and they came to church this last sunday and liked it a lot - they all have baptism dates and I am feeling really, really good about them and how they are progressing.  We also found a senhor, who is seriously looking for the truth.  And he knows that he has found it.  He had a dream the other day that he got baptised in green water and he thought it was a little odd so he asked us about it.  Well, i thought it was a bit odd, so we didnt say much.  But this weekend he came to watch a baptism and when I came the Elders and the branch presidente were talking about how there was something wrong with the water filter and so the water was green... The hand of the Lord is in everything.  That man has told us that he will be baptized.
I am so excited to hear about how you guys are doing, how the branch is growing there in Chilton.  I cant say that I am ready to come back home, but at least I know that there will be work for me to do when I get there!  I am so excited to see how the Lord is blessing me, my companion and everyone that I know.
I love you all!  sorry this is so short!  I am doing really, really well (this computer is dumb and its a little hard to type)  Pray for us!

Beijos!!

Sister Petersen

Jequié: Vol 1 Chap 2

Hey hey!

This week has been sooooo good.  Have I told you recently that I am so happy that I am a missionary?  That I have the chance to share this gospel and feel the Spirit working in my life and in the life of others?  It really is such and amazing experience.

So!  I picked up Sister Boone this week from Salvador!  Shes from St. George, and it is sooo great to have her here with me - she reminds me a lot of myself when I arrived, which is kind of funny to have this time to reflect and think back to how I have changed in this last while.  Its also great to be training, to remember all of the things that we are here for and to realize that I really have put these things into practice and they have become a part of my life.  Its been a really good personal evaluation.

We have gotten a little lost here in Jequié these past days, but it hasnt been as bad as I thought it would be - we have been able to get around and to find people and to really feel the Spirit in our lessons, which has been such an answer to prayer for me.  So much has happened this week, but its a little hard to explain... I was writing in my journal last night and I realized that its  hard to put into words the things that I am feeling and learning right now.
One thing that I have really learned about is that the power of the priesthood is real and that our Heavenly Father waits for us to ask for things before he gives them to us.  I was still having a few problems with anxiety this past week and I was praying to know what to do, what i needed to do to make this time here on the mission most effective. I got a very strong answer that I should ask to be cured from the problems that I am having.  So I asked my Zone Leader the next day to prepare to give me a blessing and explained to him what I was asking for. In my personal study I read DC 24:13-14 which was rather amazing to me.  Sunday he gave me the blessing, and I dont know how to describe how I felt... but I know I am different.  I feel so much better than I have been feeling.  I feel so much more in tune with the Spirit and that I am able  to hear and know what the Lord wants me to do.  Its amazing.  Its so incredible what this gospel does.  I love this work.

Até logo!

Sister Petersen

(as a side note for mom, I am not going to quit taking my medice, dont worry (=  And happy birthday tomorrow!!!!  I love you soooo much!  And remember, you are only as old as you feel! )

Jequié: Vol 1 Chap 1

Well, I have been on the road again as well!  I had to come back to Salvador to renew my prescription, and so Sister Cornwall and Sister Lima.  It was quite the experience - our bus left at 11:30 last night and Sister Lima couldnt find her identification, so we almost missed our bus.  But we made it, and at 5am we arrived here in Salvador, had to call the assistants because we didn't know what we should do to get to Stella Mares because of all of the bags that we had.  They loved hearing from us so early =) And then we showed up at the sisters' house, and they didnt even know we were coming.  Its been great.  But Sister Cornwall got her visa renewed, we went to Subway and I went to the doctor, and now I am writing to you - and now you know everything.  Well, almost everything...

This week went by so fast... I am really trying to remember what it was that we did.  And it was so much fun that when we actually got down to turning in our numbers Sister Cornwall (and I, for that matter) was really surprised at how much we had gotten done.  It really is amazing, that we can work hard and still have so much fun that it doesnt even feel like we are working.

We met with one lady this week, and one of the main reasons that she hasnt wanted to leave her church is because of a dream that she had.  She told us the dream, and I felt so odd that I kept thinking about it until suddenly it clicked in my head (and by that I mean the Spirit told me the interpretation thereof).  It was such an interesting experience, to tell someone about their dream and know that it was something that came from the Lord.  Well, what I said came from the Lord, her dream I am not so sure about.  And what was more interesting was just to be reminded of the fact that people hear, listen, and follow things that they want to hear, listen, and follow.

Sister Cornwall and Sister Lima were really busy showing me around the area and helping me get to know some of the members and the investigators here.  I am really praying that I remember the things that are the most important.  We also have a senior couple here - the Morgans.  I love them so much.  Pretty sure that Sister Morgan is one of my best friends.  She really is so smart and has the Spirit so strongly.  This couple and the Sisters have made such a difference in this branch it is amazing.  To see the reaction of the members, to feel the love that is in this branch, it is incredible.  I am praying so that I will be able to follow the Spirit and do what the Lord needs done here in this branch for them to grow.

There is one my reason that I am here in Salvador - I will be training!  There are two Sisters that are coming in this transfer, both are American, and I found out this morning that I will be training one of them.  I will find out tomorow who it will be, and I will spend the day in a training session and with the other trainers.  I am really excited.  I know it will be different than anything else I have done, and at the same time, it will be the same thing.  Just let the Spirit guide.

I am so thankful for this gospel, for all that it gives me and all that it lets me become.

amo vocês, viu?

Sister Petersen

Exchange Sister Chap 3

Alright, I am a little bit sad because its not letting me send pictures, and I have a few that i would like you guys to see... but I guess we will all live until we get to see them.

So!  about 7pm last monday I found out what was happening with me, and that same night I went to Mussurunga, another area in Salvador to stay with Sister Rosado and Sister Freitas!  It was sooo amazing to have the chance to be her companion again and to see the changes that she has made.  It really was amazing to get to teach with her again, to see how we are still really in tune with each other and with the Spirit.  It made me really happy, and was exactly what I needed after the stressful week before.  I was definately feeling better.  which is good, because on Friday I got the news that I was being transfered - for good this time.  My time as a "analista de Sistens" has come to a close and I am now here in Jequié!  Guess who my companion is!  Just guess!  Try to figure it out!
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Nothing?  Alright, I will tell you........... Sister Cornwall!!!! Tada!!! I will have the unique experience of sending home my companion from the MTC and going home at the same time as my trainer. I can not explain my joy to be here with her and with Sister Lima as well.  They are AMAZING women who really understand our purpose here, not just as missionaries but as women, and it is so amazing to working with people with vision.  They are both leaving next week to go home, so this week and a half that we have together is time for me to get to know the area, the members and the investigators that they have.  I dont know how to explain how right it feels that I am here, and as they talked about the area and about the things that have been happening... I dont know how to explain it, the feeling of gratitude that I have for my Father in Heaven for giving me this blessing.  In all my other areas I feel like I was prepared to serve in the area.  Here, I feel (and have had the confirmation of the Spirit) that this area was prepared for me, that all the things that are falling into place here and now are in large part answers to my prayers and to my personal worthiness.  For example - this past week the sisters found 20 new investigators.  They were working with a few investigators that had baptims dates for this past week and the coming week and all of the dates fell through and they were trying to figure out why, and Sister Lima received the revelation that it was because these people were being saved for the next set of sisters that were coming in, that these people will be baptised and they are a fufillment of the blessings that the Lord promised for the next missionaries that would be coming to the area.  Which so happens to be me.  The liders here in the branch have opened their vision.  The liders of the mission here have opened their visions, and now... the only thing I have to do is stay close to the Spirit and follow his promptings. As they were sitting and talking to me, telling me all of the miracles that have happened here in the last little while, my eyes just conintued to leak tears of joy and gratitude, because i know, I Know that this area is a blessing and a fufillment of promises for me.  I know that.  In the MTC I prayed for two things - patience and humility.  I am in no way perfect in these two things, but I have learned them.  I know what it means to be patient, I know what it means to be humble, and I know part of it is believing, expecting, and receiving the blessings that the Lord hands to us.  And he does hand them to us when our hands and our hearts are open.

I am so greatful, so imensly thankful to my Father in Heaven that I am here in Jequié for the last transfer of my mission.  This is an area of miracles.  I know that.  I know that the Lord has saved blessings for me to harvest here, and I will.  I know that, whoever my companion will be, she will have the vision of missionary work as well.  I am so thankful for this gospel, for my Savior, for my Father in Heaven who loves me so much that he tests me and he tries me, and through it all, He blesses me with all his tender mercies.  The veil truly is thin here, because it is a sanctified land for those who are serving here now - a land of promise.
Thank you so much for your prayers - they truly are making a difference here, and in me.

com todo meu amor -

Sister Petersen