Ola!

So, spent another two hours at the doctor today waiting to get the results of the exames and the results are in..... and..... Sister Petersen is perfectly fine.  Which is good.  And annoying at the same time.  All the doctor could say is that I need to rest more during the day.  I was diagnoised (i hate not having spell check and I hate not remembering how to spell in english) with fatigue.  I always thought that sounded really whimpy, but I can honestly say that I understand what fatigue means now.  She asked a little about our schedule (we leave at 11, eat lunch 12-1, work until 9 stopping for half hour to an hour for dinner) and her suggestion was to break up working more: start at 9 work till noon, rest for two hours, work from 2-7 and be done for the day.  We left the doctor and the Irma that went with us to help basically said ´These doctors dont know anything.  They dont know the work you do, they dont know why you do it, they dont know the power you have recieved and they dont know the blessings you are receiving and how the Lord is watching over you.´ It made me happy.  That being said, Sister Vecchi will be advised as to what the doctor said and she will talk with the area medic for the mission.  I am in good hands =]  And I have been feeling a lot better, so dont worry.

And my package arrived in Salvador!  Hooray!!!  It so happens that my old Zone Leader became the Assistent to the President, and he was nice enough to call and let me know that it got there.  He may or may not have had an alternative reason for calling, since he knew that there was stuff in there for him... but we will say that his motives were pure =]  Its a little annoying that it showed up when it did (Saturday) because if it had come a week earlier, I would have it now, because this past Thursday we had Zone Conference.  Which was amazing, I might add.  One of our leaders told a story, and it went a little like this:

Once upon a time there was a kingdom of Ducks.  One day, the king of the Ducks made an amazing discovery and called all the Ducks in the kingdom together so he could tell them about it.  When they all arrived, he proclaimed My beloved Ducks!  I have made a discovery that will change our lives: We Ducks can fly!!!!

The whole kingdom of ducks was so excited, everyone was talking about it and how they couldnt wait to fly for themselves.  And then they all walked home.

And that is how we live life so many times.  We are told in Conference and when we read the scriptures and pray and receive answers from God they things that we are capable of doing.  We hear these things and think Wow... thats so amazing.... but we never do anything to apply it, to do the things that we are capable of doing.  We are capable of so much more than we do at times.  I read the stories in the Book of Mormon and the Bible and realize that I am no different than any of these men and women.  I have the same right, the same capability to see angels, to perform miracles, to change lives.  And you do too =]

And this is Sister Petersen´s very short letter!

(brought to you by the letter ´B´and the number 7)

Beijos!!!

Term Paz Minha Alma (

Today, we spent the morning practicing music because our zone has been asked (by the lovely assistents to the president) to present a musical number at zone conference this thursday.  Let me tell you, its difficult learning a piece of music in one day when practically no one knows anything about music =]  I love my zone.  And I am excited for zone conference. We finally figured out that we will sing Be Still my Soul, which I am excited about - I really like that hymn.  And want to know what else I did today?  I ate at Subway. !!! =O !!!! How exciting is that?!  Let me tell you, it was really exciting... a foot long, chicken teryaki with sweet onion sauce... yumm....  The Elders were a little surprized I was able to eat it all, but to tell the truth.. I am still kinda hungry.  We will go home soon and I will figure out something else to eat.

I feel like every time I get on here I talk about someone new, so theres no way you ever really get to know the people I am talking about, which makes me feel a little bad at times.  We really do go through people so fast at times.  But thats what happens when practially everyone lets you in the door, even when they are not the least bit interested in the message we have to share.  And everyone believes in God and thinks that what we are doing is good and the message we have is true... just not for them.  Just not for now.  Just not if they have to come to church =]  But thats not what I wanted to talk about!  I wanted to talk about Jackson, who we have worked with off and on for months now.  I met him with Sister Freitas, and he has come in and out of our investigator pool a couple of times.  The lessons we would have with him would always be so good, I would always feel the Spirit really strongly, and then I would always get really confused, because he never progressed at all.  But this past two weeks he has made sooooo much progress and yesterday he went to church (and as I sidenote I may add that sacrament has NEVER been that reverant in the 5 months I have been here!) and he liked it a lot and said that he knows that this is the right path for him!  Sister Petersen did a little dance of joy inside her head when he said that.  You would have to know him to understand completely, but he likes to joke around a lot and sometimes he will say something and I am not sure if he is being serious about it, so it took a little bit more to convince me that he was being serious when he said that, but he was =]

I am excited.  Say a prayer for him =]

Beigjos!

até mais - 

Sister Petersen

Onward, ever onward

Olá meus amigos - 

Once again, I went to the doctor this week, but this time just for a check up to see what was wrong and have them test me for things.  We were scheduled for 8am.  We didnt get in to see a doctor until 12:30.  And then we only talked to her for maybe 15mins and she ordered a couple of tests to be done which I couldnt get done that day (I got them done this morning).  Yeah.  Not a big fan of the health care system here in Bahia, but what can you do but smile and try to ignore ´Dungeons and Dragons´ that is playing on the tv in the waiting room?

Other than that, we have been helping Carlos to stop smoking, which will take a lot of faith - he usually smokes more than a pack a day.  But the other day when we came to visit him at 4pm, he had only smoked 1!  Hooray!!!  Milagres acontece!  

Our mission has talked a lot about

And... I am not sure what else to say about my week.  I am a little frustrated because we have been spending a lot of time in the house because of sickness, and I am tired of it.  Especially when nothing is done to make it get better...  We are going to chalk this one up to the Lord teaching me something that I am going to need later on in the mission/life.  It doesnt help that while we teach a lot of people and we have really great experiences during the week, everything really comes down to whether people show up on Sunday or not, and these past few Sundays have been terrible.  Hardly no one has shown up, and when someone does show up, its not someone we have been working with through the week.  Which makes it feel like everything we did during the week, all the experiences we had, were in vain.  Which isnt true.  But its hard not to feel that way at times.

So, sorry this is going to be another short email, but I cant think of much else to say.

I love you lots!!

Até mais - 

Sister Petersen

Oi!

Sorry that all this is is answering questions - I had a lot of emails because I didnt get a lot of them last week and I wrote to more people than normal (dad, nicholas, emma, carmen, ect)
I love you, this week was good, hope you are doing well in Utah ( i kinda miss Utah to tell the truth) try to see Emily for me if you have time =]

Beijos

Sister Petersen

1. How are you feeling?  Are you gaining any weight? 
I have gained about 2.5lbs and its staying steady at that weight, so I am not too worried.  i have been feeling great!
2. Have the medical tests been set up yet? 
I will be going to the doctor Thursday.  Say a prayer for me that I will remember and know how to relay all the information I want to.
3. Did you get the package in the tube yet with your camera cord in it?  I know it was delivered a couple weeks ago to the mission office.  I thought you would get it when you were there for the sister's conference but you didn't mention it.
     I did! and I love it!  I have to figure out how to put it up now... thanks so much!
4. Do you still love me? ;)
Of course!  You are beautiful!  Thank you sooooo much for the pictures in your last email.  I miss seeing you and the rest of the family.  Pictures really do help
5. Who do you hear from?
Um.... You... Dad... my siblings... companions from the MTC... Carmen... and Elder Bahr.  The End =]  But I really dont have a problem with not getting mail - it really doesnt phase me the way most missionaries say that its so important... my english is going out the window, goodness gracious....  Elder Bahr is the only one I have gotten letters from, besides the ones you send through mission ties
6. Any Christmas requests? We will need to send off the package very soon.  We won't be sending you a pinata, it is just too expensive to ship stuff, maybe you can buy one there and we cold send the stuff to fill it.  Let me know.
 Um.... I dont know. Marshmellows! My hymnbook in english! shout or tidepens... umm..I will think about this...
7. What is the funniest thing that has happened to you so far.
Oh gosh... I am near about brain dead when I show up to write these emails, I will let you know... Um... I might have to think on this one for a while.  a lot of them have to do with circumstances... Oh!  This past week Sister Taylor and I were teaching a woman and she is a little... emphatic about things.  Overly dramatic.  So she was telling this story about how she went to a different church and a missionary there ´said a word that offeneded me´ to translate roughly.  Sister Taylor then asked with a completely straight face ´what word? ´  And I about lost it for the rest of the lesson.  Every time I would catch Sister Taylor~s eye, I would have to try sooo hard nott to start laughing
8. Did you listen to General Conference?
I did.  All in portugues.  It was a little terrible (ask Nicholas to explain) but wonderful at the same time.  I loved the talk that Elder Uchtdorf gave - I really felt like he gave that talk especially for me.  and the talk by Elder Anderson was terrible, too.  I do not know how to explain it; I have always wanted to get married, always wanted to have kids, but there have been a couple of things that have happened on the mission and my desire to have kids has grown 40fold.  It is completely ridiculous.  Especially because I cant do anything about it right now.  And I sit there and ask the Lord if He thinks Hes funny.  He thinks He is =]  Or maybe just smart.

Óla!

Alrighty, so it turns out that the reason we went to Salvador is because we had a conference of all of the Sisters in our mission!  It was amazing - Sister Forester, Sister Cornwall and I were finally reunited after all this time =]  It was wonderful to get to see everyone, to hear about all the different areas, how things are going, and to get some training as well (training is always good!).  The next day, Sister Taylor and I spent the day in Salvador because she had to renew her visa, and that was a bundle of problems.  Leave it to Elders... they tell us to be somewhere at 9:30am... no, 10:30am (they changed their minds), not tell us how to get there and not tell us what we needed when we were there.... we were on the bus a lot that day going back and forth between places.  But it was neat to get to spend the day in Salvador with the secretaries, learn a little bit about what they do, see a little bit of areas that we will never serve in because apparently they are dangerous or something... I wish Id taken more pictures, but its a little difficult.  I also learned just how much fun it is to go out with the secretaries, because they have lots of money.  Like, lots.  I will not tell you how much money we spend on busses and taxis (all of which were necessary) but it was a little bit disgusting.  But we were also able to go out to eat, and that was kind of nice.  After we got all of the visa stuff figured out, the Elders didnt know what to do with us, so we ended up back at the office and did.... a lot of nothing.  Which drove Sister Taylor and I a little crazy.  We were able to have a little bit of fun; we had a rubberband war and the letter openers they have are these little samuri swords... so we played with those, too.  We also got to see the all-powerful whiteboard that has all of the pairs of missionaries on it, where they are serving and their companions... and I´m not there =[ Every missionary is supposed to have a little card with information on it, but apparently the printer broke, and I still dont have one.  After nearly going crazy in the office, we finally convinced Elder Clemmens to let us go teaching with him, and we got to walk the slums of Salvador... and I fell in love with them a little bit.  Salvador is completely different than Itabuna, and I have such a desire to serve there.  But the area we were in happens to belong to the assistents to the president... so I am going to have a little chat with President Vecchi and see if we can work something out...

All this traveling means that Sister Taylor and I havent had much sleep.  Monday night and Wednesday night we spent on the bus, and I dont think I slept at all, but we have been getting over that today (we slept a lot already)

And mother, one of the wonders about being the the office of the secretaries, I saw your letter that you wrote to Pres. Vecchi.  Just so you know, I did talk to Sister Vecchi the day before at the conference, and she is looking into scheduling an appointment for me.  Dont fret =]

Love you!!

Até mais - 

Sister Petersen

                                                                                              Reunited at last!

                My mother and father of the mission... the story behind this picture would be that I have beat them with the things that they are holding in their hands... I am not a very good child at times... =]

                                Our night with the Sisters in Salvador.  They never use that bedroom, and it looked and felt like a haunted house.  We were scared, if you cant tell.

                   Daniel (who was baptized two weeks ago) baptized Rafael - one of the neatest experiences ever =]

One more transfer in Itabuna =]

So, you asked a lot of health questions, and they will be very simple to answer.  The hospital here did very, very little. They didnt ask me anything about background, I just went and told a doctor my symtoms, he checked me out really quick and gave me an IV of dromin because I was feeling dizzy.  They give IVs for everything here.  The doctor just thought I wasnt eating enough, and thats all he said.  I really do think that is a lot of the problem.  And dad asked what I normally eat durning the day, so here in the lowdown.... In the morning, we are looking at fruit, maybe a grilled cheese sandwich and chocolate milk (they have something called Necau here, and its kind of like nesquick, but its got a lot of vitamins and such in it).  At lunch usually its beans and rice and farina (which I love) some sort of chicken and salad.  And dinner... lacks a little bit.  Usually its something like a mix between a hotpocket and a sandwich that they sell at the bakery here.  Its really good.  And I think I told you about my rule that I have to drink 2 liters of water every day... thats been a little difficult, but I have been trying.  Also when we eat with the Elders, Elder de Campos has taken it upon himself to dish my food up for me... I am actually quite amazed at the amount of food I am able to eat.  The problem is that its hot here, and when I am hot I dont feel hungry... so its hard to tell when I have actually eaten enough.  But I have been eating much, much more. And I will be going to Salvador tomorrow, so I will talk with Sister Vecchi and Pres Vecchi in person and I will bring up what you said and we will figure out what to do.

As for how I am doing today: I am tired, and my body is begging for sleep (I will explain that in a little bit) but other than that, I am really, really happy.  Sister Taylor and sat down and I practically yelled at her, but I think she was happy about that, because she is kinda like you, how you hate it when certain people always keep their cool all the time when they are fighting with you.  So the fact that I yelled at her actually made things better.  And we were able to (finally) get down to the root of what our problem was.  After that, we went teaching, and it was amazing how well we taught together.  Amazing.  I have no other word for it.  I am really, really excited, even more so because we learned about transfers today, and I will be staying here in Itabuna with Sister Taylor.  And today I beat her with a pillow because she didnt want to get out of bed =D  And we are happy.

I am really tired today, because this past week, Wed, Thurs, and Friday I spent all day in Ilhéus, once again on a split with the sisters there.  I Looove Ilhéus, and I was almost certain that I was going to get transfered there this transfer.  Obviously the Lord has other plans for me.  But I know that at some point in the future I will serve there.  And working with Sister Oliveira was soooo good!  I learned so much from her.  Friday it rained three times during the day, and we were blessed every time to have someone let us in right before it started to rain and the rain stopped right as we were leaving.  But at the end of the night, our luck ran out.  We had to walk about 45mins to get back to the house and it was downpouring for 30mins of that time.  We were walking really fast, trying to avoid the big puddles, until Sister Oliveira realized how stupid that was (since the rest of us was already drenched) and the rest of the way home we looked for the biggest puddles and we splashed our way through them!  We were dripping wet by the time we got in the house, but somehow, the Book of Mormon that I had in my bag managed to stay dry... =]  But I wasnt able to sleep very well there (I had the weirdest dreams...) and Sister Oliveira and I may or may not have talked a little late a few nights...

And then today our Zone had a activity and we played volleyball and basketball, and I learned a little better how to play futeball... so I did a lot of running this morning.  And then we found out that Sister Taylor and I and Sister Freitas and Sister Arcoangol are going to Salvador for a training meeting.  We are not sure why, since as far as we know its just us four sisters and then the Elders who are going home.  But I am excited about that.  So we are leaving tonight at 10:40 and we will get there probably 5 in the morning or so.  I am actually thinking that I will sleep better on the bus than I have been since I like sleping in the car =]

So, yeah.  Thats that.  I am sorry if I havent had much to write.... its hard for me to get here, only have one hour to write and have to sum things up... and so much happens in a week that I feel like it was a month ago that I wrote you last, and I dont know what to say because I dont remember half of it.  I have been keeping a journal almost every day this past transfer, but even so, there is so much that goes on here that I dont know how to pick what is most important.  So I talk about the work, because thats why I am here.  I want you to know that I am having fun, that we do things to make sure that things arent too serious, the members here LOVE us and a lot of them are really interesting.  I will make sure to tell at least one fun/interesting story every week from now on.

I love you, I am sorry I have been stupid and made you worry (gosh, I feel like I am 16 again saying that)
And I am sorry I dont have any pictures to send - the computer wont recognize the camera for some reason =/

Oh, and the scripture of the week (I dont remember where it is in 2 Néfi...)  ´And we lived after the manner of happiness.´  Thats just beautiful, isnt it?
=]

Com amor -

Sister Petersen

My dearest, dear mother...

1. read the first part of my email first before you open the pictures
2.Amanda
3.Taylon
4.Daniel is the one standing


Oi!

 I know you have questions, so first of all, I want you to remember that Im not dying.  Ok.  That being said, you can open that first picture..... Openned it?  Ok, so Sister Petersen got to experience the wonders of Brazilian hospitals.  I have really been up and down this last weeks, and Sister Taylor has been worried about me, expcially since we found out how much weight I had lost.  And I had been getting dizzy during the day and completely lacking energy and animo... So the Zone Leaders and us took a trip to the hospital (which I wasnt very happy about) and we got to wait half hour and watch The Incredibles in portugues until I was finally called in.  And bascially I just havent been taking care of myself.  Apparently stress can heighten your metabolism, too, which I am sure didnt help.  They put people on IVs for everything here, so Sister Taylor and I got to wait for two hours as I got some sort of medicine in me.  And then we did nothing that day and the next day.  Which just about killed me.  But, you will be happy to know that I am eating three or more meals a day now, and I have also been ordered by Sister Vecchi to drink 2 liters of water every day and my Zone Leaders have forbidden me from fasting.  I am feeling great =]
And let me tell you about a miracle.  A week ago Saturday, we had a long day of not a lot of nothing, and I was tired.  We were headed back to our neighborhood to try to talk to a reference we recieved few days before.  But this reference lived in an apartment building thats locked at the front and doesnt have an intercom.  We already were let in one time, but our reference (Daniel) wasnt home.  Well, no one was there to let us in, and I was sick and tired of doing nothing.  So I knocked on someones window and asked them to let us in (a very un-Sister Petersen thing to do) and thankfully, the lady did.  And Daniel was home.  And we taught him the first lesson, invited him to church the next day, gave a baptism date, ect.  He is 16 and has been living in Belgium until this past year, which means he speaks French and Dutch and will pray for us in French (because he feels more comfortable with his French) and it is the neatest thing ever.  The first miracle is that he showed up the next day for church, and he stayed talking with people until the church was locked up for the afternoon.  We met with him again Monday and Tuesday, and Tuesday we invited him to be baptized the following Saturday because he was completely and totally ready.  He was a little surprized, but said yes, if we thought he was ready he would be baptized.  Wednesday I was in the hospital, but Sister Taylor called him and he said he wouldnt be baptized Saturday.  Thursday we found out that he didnt want to because someone in the church told him that our only goal as missionaries is to baptize as many people as we can, and afterwards we basically abandon these people.  So we tried to explain about that, taught a lesson... Friday we couldnt talk to him, but Sister Taylor and I still felt like he should be batpized Saturday.  So we showed up Saturday all prepared to explain the importance of baptism, explain why it would be good for him to be baptized earlier rather than later (we prepared for this lesson a LOT).  We show up and he says that he and his family are going out of town that night but would return in the morning.  So we said we would like for him to be baptized in the morning.  He thought for half a second and said  `Tão bom´ which basically means ´ok´.  Sister Taylor and I were a little startled, but we called the Zone Leaders who showed up 5 minutes later and interviewed him.  And Sunday morning he was baptized =D  I am a very happy sister =D  Amanda was also confirmed this Sunday, which is amazing, too.  Our two elect teenagers =]
We have also been working with another teen, his name is Taylon, and I love that kid.  He is a little punk - he likes to joke around with us and will give us a hard time about our accents - but he is such a good kid, really honest and very willing to keep the commandments.  now we just need to work with his mother a bit more so shell let him be baptized... =]
Thank you so much for your love and your prayers - they have made such a difference, I know.  This week was really difficult, but we also were so very blessed to see the hand of the Lord in our work.  He really does make up for what we lack.

Love you! Até mais -

Sister Petersen