Sister Peterson Week 8

Another week down!

I feel like I do not have much to report from this week because we are doing the same things each day. Filled with classes and meal times. 

I did forget to mention last week that me and Sister Merrill did our second Helping Others (fake investigator lessons) in full Japanese and we are so proud of ourselves. It was a 15 minute lesson and she asked questions that I partly understood!! It was very exciting. Most of the time she talked though, we just smiled and nodded at her. She is very kind and patient with us!

We have been here for about 6.5 weeks now and have seen so many people come and go. The stateside missionaries are only here for 2 weeks which is absolutely wild to me. 2 weeks was right when I got past the hard adjustment and started liking this place. Which is weird to say that I will be very sad to leave. But we do not have to worry about that right now.

Visas! Half of us got ours and half got reassignments. We got girls going to West Virginia, North Dakota, Virginia, Canada, and England (The last 2 are from around those places). Such lucky people these girls are going to bless in those places! We are all very excited for them.

I gave a talk on Sunday! I will attach a link to it! My district sang Love at Home in Japanese in Sacrament meeting too! The spirit was real strong that meeting;)

Here is a thought that has been on my mind a lot this past week. I am a firm believer in the importance of trials. Something that I love to think about is that God gives us trials according to our spirits. He gives us trials that He knows we can overcome (with His help of course) and that He knows will strengthen us into a better person. When you are going through something hard remember that it is for your benefit and your benefit only. God trusts you with this trial and He trusts you to get through it the right way. Through HIM! Remember that He loves you! And I do too!!!

Have a great week :)

<3 Peterson

Good morning!

Growing up I knew the Book of Mormon was important so I read it every night. I cannot tell you one thing I learned from all those years because I was just doing the motion, checking the box off. It was only until I really understood how important the Book of Mormon really is that I actually started to get things from it. Instead of just hurrying through a chapter or a page every night, I now go into the Book of Mormon looking to take something out of it. My life has been blessed so much since this mindset change and I have been more excited to read it and share about it. 

Starting my first semester at Byui Last September, I signed up for a Book of Mormon class. My professor challenged us to take 30 min out of each day to study the Book of Mormon. Not in a particular order, wherever we wanted at the time, and to heavily record our thoughts and feelings. 

I started out really strong at the beginning of the semester and absolutely loved the challenge. I was filling up pages of my notebook every study and sharing all the cool things I found with my roommates. After a few weeks the craziness of 1st semester at college got in the way and I was back to hurrying through a chapter each night. I found myself missing those 30 minutes of pure revelation, and i am glad to say i have reconnected with thay habit since being here.

One night before coming here me and my dad were talking and I had some realizations. I also recently found Preach my Gospel talks a bit about this too. When we strengthen our testimony of the Book of Mormon we can't help but strengthen our testimonies of almost every other category in the gospel. For example, Joseph Smith. If we believe this book was true, we naturally believe that Jesus Christ used Joseph Smith to translate it. We then naturally believe that we have modern day prophets who are God's mouthpieces. When you put it like that it really makes sense on why it is considered the keystone of our religion. Joseph Smith once said, "take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion?"

Since being here at the MTC I have heard almost everyday that the Spirit first of all but second the Book of Mormon are our most important tools as missionaries. I always believed in the Book of Mormon but I was confused on why it is so important. I started to dive deeper into and and read chapters, applying them to my life. One of my favorites was talked a lot about last week during fast and testimony meeting and that was Jacob 5, the story of the lord of the vineyard. While I read it I thought of my mission. I found so many truths and comfort through this chapter. I highly encourage each of you to read that story and apply it to you. 

The reason the Book of Mormon is such an important tool is because it is a source that the spirit can talk to us easily. When we are fervently studying this book the spirit will teach us and help us feel exactly what God needs us to. I can testify that it will be the exact same for our friends that we invite to read it. 

As we strengthen our testimony of the Book of Mormon, we will become better missionaries! In PMG chapter 5 it says

 "Your own testimony of the Book of Mormon can lead to a deep and abiding faith in its power to help others become converted. Help the people you teach recognize the enlightenment they feel as they read it sincerely. Emphasize its powerful witness of Jesus Christ. Encourage them to pray to receive their own witness that the book is true."

Our friends can receive their own personal conversion through this book, but it is most important to first gain your own firm testimony of its truths. As individual missionaries we need to recognize the Book's enlightenment, the powerful witness of Jesus Christ, and pray to know of its truth.

 I can promise that as we strengthen our own testimony of the Book of Mormon, our power to help others strengthen theirs will be unbeatable. I know this Book of Mormon is true and it has been so neat to dive into it and listen closely to what Heavenly Father needs me to hear out of it. 

I know this church is true and I know we are doing God's work. We are right where he needs us to be, so we need to be prepared for what he needs us to do. Remember God loves you and is proud of you!

I will end on one of my favorite scriptures that comes out of the Book of Mormon. 

Jacob 3: 1-2

1 But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and apray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will bconsole you in your cafflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down djustice upon those who seek your destruction.

2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his alove; for ye may, if your bminds are cfirm, forever.

In the name of Jesus Christ amen!

Benson Boone

 Rylee had another Lacrosse game and it was a bring your own chair type of seating and so I had good seat to take some action shots of Rylee (number 7). Bodi came with me and after the Varsity game the girls had to stay and cheer on the JV girls. It started raining after the Varsity game so Bodi and I hung out in the car during the JV game. Luckily the JV game goes much quicker and we didn't have to wait too long.

Ty got Kenedy two tickets to the Benson Boone concert in Salt Lake City and told her she could take anyone she wanted and she wanted to take Rylee who is a big fan. Rylee needed a ride to Utah but I really did not want to drive to Utah again so I drover her to Burley early Friday morning where we met Ty who drove her the rest of the way to Utah while I headed back home. Rylee had a lot of fun being with Kenedy and at the concert. I got up early Sunday morning to meet Kenedy and Rylee in Burley so I could take Rylee back home. It was a lot of exhausting driving but Rylee had a really fun time at the concert with Kenedy and I am happy that I was able to help her get there.

I took pictures of some quilts I have made the last year...

Strawberry Jam Quilt

Holiday House Quilt

Bodi has been going to church with us and meeting with the missionaries. It has been fun having him with us at church, he was at church the day Kefford wasp in as Bishop and that meeting blew his mind. This Sunday was his Birthday and he had plans with his family after church but I made him a cake and got him some Strawberry Lemonade which Avynlea said was his favorite. he was able to stop by after church real quick to get his treats and for a picture.

Bishop Kefford

Our Stake Conference was in March and during the Stake Conference our Stake was split and we got a new Stake Presidency. Brother Bond and Brother Winter from our ward were put in as counselors and the new Stake president is President Bennett. About a week later Kefford got a text from President Bennett asking if he could come over and meet our family. He came that night and we had a nice visit and that was that. I assumed it was because Kefford is in a Bishopric and President Bennett was trying to meet people serving in the Stake. About another week later we get another text asking if he could come back to meet with us and I knew what it was going to be about. Kefford knew as well though he tried to deny it, we knew it had to be a new calling for Kefford and he mentioned several callings within the Stake it could be though we both deep down knew what the calling was going to be. What I liked about this visit and the previous one was he sent the text to us in the morning to meet with us that evening. I always disliked the habit of being called in to meet with someone about a new calling and the meeting being days away, too much time to stress and speculate. So I liked that he is a get it done quick kind of guy. When the doorbell rang that night I went to answer it and found not just President Bennett at the door but President Bond and President Winter as well. I was a little taken aback and just said "Hi guys" in a surprised voice. They chuckled about the surprise and we invited them all in. They wanted to meet with all of us including Rylee which was unusual but I really liked that she was part of the meeting. After some small talk they got down to business and called Kefford to be the new Bishop of the Bainbridge Ward. Like I said deep down we all knew what was coming but it was still a shock for Kefford and he looked a little over-whelmed as they were talking to him. It honestly was a really good meeting with the men in our Stake Presidency and as they talked to Kefford and expressed their confidence in and love for him I felt the Spirit and felt a love for them. They are good men and I am really excited about them being the leaders of our Stake and know that they will do so much good. I also know that Kefford will be an amazing Bishop and I am excited to see him lead our Ward and be a source of good for the members.

President Bennett told Kefford to pray about who he wanted as counselors and to let him know when he has decided. After a couple of days of watching General Conference, praying and going to the Temple Kefford felt good about Jeff Johnson as his first counselor and Rod Givens as his second counselor. Jeff was going to be out of town the next Sunday so we had to wait two weeks for the new Bishopric to be announced. It was a bit of a hard secret to keep especially because the Ward knew that Bishop Eberhards time as Bishop was about up and there was a lot of speculating going on. I walk a two times a week with my friend Erika Lish and the week following President Bennett issuing the call to Kefford she was naming names of who she thought would be the next Bishop. She said that Kefford would be so good but didn't think he would be called because he was just in a Bishopric. The entire time she was talking I was dyeing inside and just had to remain quiet, it was rough. 

I was pretty anxious the Sunday that Kefford was being put in, I was happy for it to finally be out there and done but I also was told I was going to be asked to bare my testimony and I was not excited. I do not like public speaking and was really nervous all through the meeting. Of course I went next to last and I was a sweaty mess by the time I got up there. I told my family I would be baring my testimony so a lot of them were able to tune in which I like but I was still so nervous. I got a new dress a couple of weeks prior and I decided to save it to wear on this day to give me some confidence, I don't know that it worked but maybe it helped me a little bit.I was on the phone with Heather that morning and she wanted to see my dress so I sent her a picture.  I bore my testimony and then got down as fast as I could. Bob and Alison came and were sitting with Rylee and I during the meeting and when I got up I saw that Jeremy was there with Michael Hartley(Kefford's childhood friend) and Brit and Kelsey were also there with their kids. It was nice for Kefford to have the support but it just made me more nervous, ugh.

After the meeting we went to the stage where Kefford and his counselors were set apart. All three men were emotional and received really neat blessings,  I am really excited for our ward and for these men who are willing to serve. I know they will do such a great job and be so good for the members in our ward. After sacrament meeting and after church I received nothing but support and love for me being the new Bishops wife and I heard nothing but positive feedback about this new Bishopric, it is nice to feel so much support for Kefford and his counselors.

Kefford met briefly with his new Counselors after church but was told to not have any serious meetings this first day. We were able to spend the rest of the day relaxing and chilling as a family of three.

Bodi is friends with Rylee and wanted to come watch her play lacrosse whenever he could and he was able to come and watch a good handful of her games. he missed seeing the games the week they won every game and this game they did not win but it was still fun to watch Rylee play. I like being able to hear her boss around the other girls on defense. She is not doing in a bossy I am in charge  type of way just helping her teammates know where to be and who to defend. 

On Wednesday Class 14 met at my house for a night of Blind, deaf and mute baking. The girl who is mute has to communicate the baking directions to the deaf girl who then had to tell the one blindfolded what to do. I have cookies, muffins and cupcakes for the girls to bake with and we had three groups of three. It honestly was a fun night, messy and chaotic but really fun.

Adele Williams, Casha Shoemaker and Claire Eaton

Alexa Lish, Sophie Hansen and Avery Ham

Claire Eaton, Casha Shoemaker and a friend

 

Sister Peterson Week 7

Dracula's Holy Mansion

Hey everyone! 

I hope everyone's week was amazing! A lot of fun things happened this week here at the MTC. Except bad news: I am sick again. Like are you kidding me. But luckily I have an amazing district who has been feeding me with medicine and lots of vitamins. On the road to a healthy happy missionary!

On Tuesday my district had the opportunity to go to the Provo City Center temple and it was amazing! The coolest temple I have been to. The inside looks like it would be Dracula's mansion if he was a holy man. Even the exit signs matched the vibe and I loved it so much. A beautiful building and the grounds were beautiful too. If you ever have the opportunity to at least walk around it, I highly recommend!

For our Tuesday devotional (it was a great tuesday), we were lucky to have Elder Dale G Renlund of the Quorum of the 12 talk to us and he did amazing. Talked on temple covenants AGAIN. I swear that was the theme of general conference too and it has me thinking. Obviously the time Christ comes to the Earth is getting closer and our leaders are trying to prepare us in every way possible. One being the importance of temple covenants that bind and yoke us with Jesus Christ's will. 

I have been reminded, told, and know that these next 18 months are going to go by so quickly. I mean I am past half way of my time at the MTC and I really do not know where all the weeks went. Obviously I want to make the most of my time here. Leave it all on the field is what I have been telling myself. I want to work so hard and I want to make my Heavenly Father so proud, so the way I am going to do that is to leave it all on the field. This doesn't only apply to my mission but everyday life too, don't you want to look back on your life and be able to feel like you "left it all on the field" with everything you did? I sure do. Just something to think about! :)

The Sistrict is going strong and better than ever. You can hear our giggles and squeals from a mile away. The other day in the cafeteria one of our sisters got a package and we are all squealing for her when an elder came up to us. Once he saw what we were screaming about he looked very confused and said "I thought someone got a reassignment or something" HA nope! We just get excited about little things and can only express it in our girly screams. The name of the sistrict is being well represented, don't ever worry!!

A scripture I am going to leave you with is Jacob 3:2 

"O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever."

Aka GOD LOVES YOU! Take advantage of that news and let it sink in. Everything he has to offer is good. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

<3 Peterson しまい

also, I GOT MY VISA!! So basically when I am done at the MTC I get to go straight to Japan WOOPWOOP

Pictures...

I accidentally dressed up as Shrek. 

You very quickly learn how to fall asleep sitting up at the mtc 

We got a selfie with Uchtdorf!!

jk but we thought it was Uchtdorf for a split second. hehe

Rylee wins Ground Ball Queen

On Thursday I went to dinner with a cheer mom friend, Tara Bailey, and it was fun to catch up with her and to hear all about Hannah and how she is doing. Because of the dinner I was a little late getting to Rylee's game at Centennial. When I arrived I saw that we were winning which was exciting and I was told by a lot of the other parents how well Rylee was doing, that she was killing it. I was so excited to settle in and watch the game and to watch Rylee play. She was doing so good and was fighting for those ground balls as well as keeping the other team from scoring. I had so many proud mama moments during this game hearing people cheering for Rylee all throughout the stands whenever she did something great which was often. I love that she is so good that people know her name and will cheer her on, it was such a fun game and even better that we won again and Rylee was named Ground Ball Queen of the game. 

 

Ryker played in a volleyball tournament in which he was the captain and set up his team of 8, his team won the tournament which was fun for him and his team. We like being winners.

On Thursday Kefford and went to Scheel's to walk around and see what it was all about. It was surprising with how much stuff they have inside and all the different items they have for sale. It had hunting stuff, sports stuff, toys, a candy shop, bowling alley, a Ferris wheel and more. I liked walking around and exploring it with Kefford but it wasn't my thing and I don't really have a desire to go back. 

Saturday Rylee had another game and this time it was at Mountain View but they were playing Idaho Falls. The game went into overtime with a tied score, they put 3 minutes on the clock and first one to score wins the game. We won the overtime which was so thrilling and so exciting! Winning 3 games in a row was so much fun and I loved watching this game. Rylee's friend Kinsley made the overtime goal and we were all so excited for her.

Owyhee was "Mountain View" on the scoreboard

After the game I went over to the Young's house to do Raegans hair for her baptism. They sent me a picture of what they would like it to look like and I was able to recreate it really well. Kefford and I went to her Baptism as well and the hairstyle help up perfectly even after being dunked.

Saturday night Kefford and I watched Whitneys kids minus Maddie who they took to the temple for baptisms. Kefford let Dillon explore fun things in the garage while I played Barbies and listened to Newsies soundtrack with the girls. They have recently become obsessed with the movie and I loved talking to them about it as I have loved the movie and the main actor since 8th grade.

Owyhee's First Win!!

 

I got back from Utah in time to take a nap and make it to church. After church we went out to the farm for Bob's birthday. I love my father-in-law and am grateful for him in my life and the relationship I have with him.

I wasn't able to deliver the package to Avynlea but Isabelle works close to the MTC and she took it over for me and got it delivered. I am super appreciative of her willingness to help me out and it made Avynlea really happy to get the packages.

On Monday Rylee had a game against Capital and for the first time in her Lacrosse career Owyhee won! It was such a fun game and so exciting to watch the girls gain some confidence and play so well. Rylee has gotten so good at defense and it was awesome to watch her play and stop the other team from scoring. Kefford and I were helping in the score box we had good view of the game and had fun watching us win for once.

Meridian High got a much needed new cheer coach and it is Alyssa who helped Avynlea with her small stunt group senior year. I loved seeing Avynlea's picture being used to advertise for open gym for the 24/25 year tryouts.

On Tuesday I got a craving to make braided bread. I found a recipe online and was able to actually make a successful loaf of braided bread. It was a fun accomplishment and delicious as well.

Sister Peterson Week 6

Hi everyone again! 

The weather here has been so good! You will never believe it but I got sunburnt again, Sorry mom I forgot to use the sunscreen you sent hehe.

Being able to watch general conference here was so cool, I didn't even fall asleep!! I loved all the talks and have loved even more being able to go back and read them. A way that I have loved rereading them is printing them off and writing all over them aka annotating them! I have felt the spirit so much and have been able to apply it better to my life doing it that way, I highly recommend doing it that way! 

Life here at the MTC has been SO fun! Honestly the first 2 weeks were hard just getting adjusted, but now that I've got my routine down it's been good. We have made so many new friends and it's good seeing faces I recognize around here! 

Elder Gaynor (elder that used to be in our district who was very good at Japanese) left on Friday! He got reassigned to Salem Oregon while he wants for his visa and when he told us that I go "LOOK OUT FOR THE WITCH TRIALS"  I got laughed at and I was confused for a minute then I realized that the witch trials did NOT happen in Oregon. Anyways we will miss him and wish him lots of luck!

My brain feels like it's going to explode any minute now with all the Japanese I am learning but so far it has been okay. Me and Sister Merrill had our first helping others (a lesson with fake investigator) IN 100% JAPANESE!! It was rough and spent half of it flipping through my notebook looking for things to say haha but overall it was alright. Still praying very hard for the gift of tongues woooop

Something that I got out of one of the conference talks I annotated is to trust in God. I am about to quote myself haha but I take no credit. This came straight from the spirit because He knew I needed it. Okay.. "trust in God. Dont stress, let His plan slowly unfold as life goes on. Be strong in prayer and do what you know YOU need to and can control! If there is nothing you can do about it, there is nothing to stress about! God's got it!!" I hope that helps someone because I know it will help me as my life goes on! 

I love you all and don't forget God does too! He knows you personally and cares so much about you so don't forget to show Him you care too! Give a little prayer, it's the least you can do! Have an amazing week!!

<3 Peterson しまい

Sister Peterson Week 5

Happy General Conference weekend!! I hope everyone was able to watch at least a little of it! Such amazing things!

This week was really good and flew by. Although it feels like Easter was forever ago. (time is really weird here). I hope everyone was able to really enjoy it because I sure did. I have never been good at focusing on Jesus Christ when it came to Easter, but here at the MTC it was an amazing experience, because it was so Christ centered. It makes me think and puts it into perspective of how amazing each day would be if we woke up and decided to dedicate it to the Lord. NEW GOAL ALERT!

This was a rollercoaster of a week when it came to Japanese. (Honestly each class is a rollercoaster) We had a substitute for half our classes and he was very strict. Each word of english we spoke = 2 pushups. The most we had to do in 1 class was 12 pushups which I recognize shouldn't be that bad. But coming from a person who's max pushups is about 5... was not easy. But we made it through. It is so cool to look back on all the progress I have made. It reallly helps and encourages me when I am feeling inadequate.

I have made friends around the MTC and its fun to walk around and see familiar faces. There are only a couple people who I knew before but even them I barely knew. So that has been fun. haha I am really trying to think of anything interesting that has happened but i just really cannot right now. 

One of our substitutes this week talked a lot to us about what she loved about Japan when she served there and it got me so excited. Apparently they have amazing fruit! My heaven!!! I am very very excited! Only about 1 more month left here 

Noo it's been great!

I love you all and so does Jesus and dont you forget it! Remember what he went through for you! Have an amazing week!!! Also if you email me thank you so much I literally love it, but please do not think ill if I do not respond because I am so busy!! hehe

<3 Sister Peterson!!