Wicked!

 

Saturday Mom, Rylee, Matt, Emily, Tyler, Heather, Kenedy and I went to the theater to watch Wicked part 1. I have been so excited for this movie to come out! I have seen the musical a handful of times and have loved it every time, my first time going with Heather in LA. When they announced they were adapting it to be a film I was really excited and finally we were able to go and see it. It did not disappoint. The movie was so good, it was a lot longer then the stage production but everything that did only added to it and made it even better. I cried, I laughed, I got chills, it was so good and I cannot wait for part 2 to come out next year.

Bonnie, Rylee. Matt, Emily, Heather, Tyler, Kenedy and Elizabeth

Kenedy, Heather and Elizabeth

Heather and Elizabeth

Mallory asked me a couple of weeks prior if we could celebrate Amos birthday the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I was happy to say yes and to be able to be a part of the celebration for my nephew. Mallory made Taco Joes for dinner which was so nice to not have to worry about making another meal and Amos picked a chocolate cake from Costco which was delicious. Kefford and Tyler bought streamers and balloons and decorated the house for the birthday celebration. We had a lot of fun celebrating the birthday boy and then we made sure to take a picture of everyone before the littles were put to bed. 

This was a really fun thanksgiving and I am really glad so many were able to make it. Our house was completely full but it was fun and I loved every minute of it!

back row: Ryker, Andrew, Kenedy and Tyler

middle row: Kefford, Elizabeth, Mallory, Leona, Joshua, Bonnie, Emily and Matt

front row: Fredrick, Amos, Heather and Rylee

Thanksgiving and Scentsy Lights

 Every year that I go through pictures from Thanksgiving I always think why didn't I take more pictures, I then think to myself next year I will do better. But then the next year comes around and it is the same story of lack of pictures. This year is no different, I got two pictures from the day and I wish I would have taken more. This year Avynlea called and I was on the phone with her as we were siting down to Thanksgiving dinner so my excuse is that I was distracted by the call and that is why the lack of pictures. I did enjoy talking to Avynlea although I worried that it would be hard for her to see all of us together. 

Kenedy and Kefford kept their tradition of cutting up the Turkey together and we make sure to get a picture of them doing it every year.

The only other picture we have from the day is a picture Rylee took of her and Leona. Leona found my shelf with all of my baking chocolates and she made herself. little bowl of candies that she would eat from. She didn't put a ton in the bowl and I thought it was pretty funny that she made her own little mix.

Friday we did some Black Friday shopping, I went to Athleta and was able to use the gift cards from my birthday. I got some leggings and a top and I was really excited and love what I got so much. I got a one piece but they didn't have my size in store so that one will be shipped and I am excited for it to arrive.

That night we went to dinner at Culvers and then we went to see the Scentsy lights. It was a lot of fun to go through the light tunnel and to see all of the pretty lights.

Elizabeth and Heather

Elizabeth, Mallory, Heather and Emily

Elizabeth and Kefford

Amos, Heather, Kefford, Elizabeth, Ryker, Joshua, Bonnie, Fredrick, Leona, Andrew, Malory, Emily and Matt

After the lights we came home to get warm and played a couple rounds of Werewolf. True to my luck in the game I was a werewolf every round except the one where Kenedy rigged it so I did not get the werewolf token. In the first round I was a wolf with Joshua and Heather which was funny because we all were sitting next to each other. We were able to convince Mom to join our "team" and we ended up winning the game, it was so much fun!

Elizabeth, Joshua, Heather, Tyler, Mom and Ryker

Festival of Trees

 teaching was not the right fit for Kenedy and she is taking a break from it while she figures out what she does want to do. Meanwhile she has started Nannying again and matched with a family that had two little ones. She sent us a picture of them at the aquarium and had a good day with them. Kenedy is really good with little kids and I am glad she is still able to have a job where she can be with the littles.

I was hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year and for the first time mom decided to come to Idaho for Thanksgiving. She and Heather flew in on Monday and Kenedy, Tyler and Ryker came Tuesday. I hear about the Festival of Trees every year and have had a spark of interest but have never gone. With some of my family here this year before thanksgiving I thought we could go check it out. Elevated Dance Project also was performing and I wanted to go and see them dance. The Festival of Trees was different then I imagined, I pictured one huge ballroom filled with the decorated trees but what it was was many smaller rooms filled with trees and there were also a lot of wreaths and wall art on display that I did not know was a thing. It was fun to see some of the trees but I was not a fan of the layout, it felt overwhelming and confusing to me. We got there early enough to look at a lot of the trees before EDP had their performance. When it was. nearing performance time we found chairs in the audience which was nice for my Mom to sit down and have a rest. I liked some of EDP's dances and some of them, the more modern ones, I did not, but they all did a good job and it was fun to see kids that I have previously taught in my Littles classes.

As we were leaving we stopped to get some pictures in front of their picture spot. On the way home we stopped at Slim Chickens to get some food and then we food prepped for Thanksgiving and waited for the rest of our family to arrive.

Ryker, Kenedy, Elizabeth, Heather, Bonnie and Ryker

Tyler and Kenedy

Heather and Elizabeth

Later that afternoon Joshua and Mallory arrived with their kids and Emily, Matt and Andrew arrived. The house all of a sudden got very full and I loved every minute of it. I loved being able to see my little buddies again, Amos, Fredrick and Leona and took some pictures with Leona.

She and Kefford had a lot of fun together and spent time playing games and video games.

Sister Peterson Week 38

My mission "days left" counter number is now officially smaller than my "days ago" number! I think that is crazy! It was another crazy week! But filled with lots of fun!

Last week we went to monkey park for zone pday! A zoo with only monkeys, It was wild! So many monkeys, I loved it. The place was pretty sketchy, but like, of course it was ya know. We all had lots of fun looking at the monkeys!

 We got to volunteer at this little kids activity and serve them food! I was having so much fun with the kids! They liked practicing their English by playing a game where I said a color in English and they had to go find it! I was impressed with how well they knew their colors!

 We went on an adventure with one of our friends and the elders to see the beautifull fall trees. Thsre was a pretty lit up area too. I don't really know how to describe it haha, but it was pretty and fun. Also cold, but fun!

 I don't know who remembers the woman we are teaching named Mami, but she is doing so good! Every lesson we have with her is so amazing! She is doing good at reading the book of mormon and is studying lots on her own. When she said the prayer to close our lesson, the member we were with was shocked. Her prayer was so good it "sounded like a member". She really is trying to understand the gospel before she makes the commitment of baptism. So far, she is doing great!

 Us and the elders got to go to a members house to help them pick all their persimmons. It is a yummy fruit that I don't know how to describe! Sorry! We ended up with about 900 from the tree! Afterwards they fed us an amazingggg lunch!!! We love the Imaizumi Family!!

 Last night we had a mini mission devotional and after everything, our president opened the floor for some comments. An elder said something that i thought was so cool! I hope we all know that Heavenly Father only gives us trials He knows we can overcome. I have heard it lots of times. That being said, a way to measure your strength should be on the trials you are given. Because He knows you are capable! You are strong enough!! Sometimes we can be caught up in a hard time thinking why me, why is does God do this. It's because He knows we can overcome it and more importantly grow from it! He is #1, always on our side! 

He loves you!

I love youuuu

Make it a great week!

<3 Sister Peterson

11/25/24

Sister Peterson Week 37

*I'm sorry! This email was drafted last week, but I was not able to send it! So you get 2 emails this week!!*

This past week was busy busy!!

Remember Mel? ha. Well we were able to teach him with the elders this week! And we left that appointment suspecting Mel was on drugs... he is sus. So maybe we will just pass him to the elders,m and pray for him. He also keeps asking us where the golden plates are, I think he wants them.

We also went with the elders to meet a woman they found! Her name is Reonita and she is from Africa! She is sooooo so nice, an amazing cook, and taking in all our information so good! After the lesson we had with her, all 4 of us missionaries were on cloud 9, full of the spirit. It was amazing! Pray for Reonita!!!

Saturday the Relief Society had a Thanksgiving party! The relief society president lived in the United States for a long time, so she likes to bring some traditions over to Japan. The food was delicipus of course! I think the turkey was one of the yummiest turkeys I have ever had! (Sorry family). I do miss my Mom's delicious rolls and gravy though. 

We had a combined Zone conference and of course got to see a bunch of my missionary friends!! It always makes me so happy to see my friends I have served with! A bunch of them are going home this transfer, so I had to say bye. That was sad.

Elder and Sister Kim from the general 70 came and led our conference! They are so nice! 

Something I love that Sister Kim talked about was being kind to yourself. She said even if things don't work out the way you thought they would, Heavenly Father knows your effort. That really is all that matters! 

He loves you!

I love you! 

Make it a great week!

<3 Sister Peterson 

11/18/24

Sister Peterson Week 36

Hi everyone! I feel like I have not written a very sufficient email in a while. Oops, sorry about that. 

Last Pday we went to the Zoo with our district and it was so fun!! despite the AWFUL STRAIGHT UPHILL BIKE RIDE, it was a very good time. I will say, it is pretty sad to see the animals all locked up in like tiny cages, but i guess they don't know any different... so its okay? 

I had exchanges this week, so I was able to work with 2 other missionaries for 2 days. The first day was me and Sister Hinckley and we were able to talk to this guy from Texas who seems interested. The miracle with him was that he told us that usually every night he is drunk, but that night he was not!! #Godisreal. 

The second day I was with Sister Jung and who is on her last transfer which actually breaks my heart. We talked a lot and she gave me a bunch of good advice. The miracle I saw with her was the Donuts we ate for dinner. It is a miracle that I got the donut I wanted and it was the last one!!

We had another sushi party which was fun. Slowly but surely I am becoming a sushi master. Kinda ironic that I don't really like sushi all that much. Our friend told us he was teaching us, so when we go home we can teach our country. Haha. I will gladly teach my country how to make authentic Japanese style sushi!!

During exchanges, my companion and Sister Hinckley found a man from the Philippines who has lots of questions! I was able to meet him yesterday and talk with him. He had told us that a week before his door had been knocked, he prayed to God to help him find the true religion. It was so cool to see him recognize we were sent from God! Yay miracle. We will continue to teach him and I will keep you all updated! His name is Mel! Please pray for Mel!

Japan Tips

- I was really shocked abt how different the rice is. It is so much more sticky. That is why it is so easy to eat with chopsticks!

- The potatoes are so tiny. I guess I am used to Idaho potatoes, but I really did not know the rest of the world was living like this. I feel sorry for them.

- Driving on the highway costs money!! 

*Jibun no yushu saga kowai means I am afraid of my own excellence. May have spelt it wrong. The members think it is really funny when I say it to them! 

woop

God is just proud of you where you are. He is proud that you have made it this far. He is proud that you wake up every morning, even if you are negative about it. He knows you, He knows exaclty where your mental state is. He is proud that you were able to find something to smile at. Heavenly Father is proud of you. The big things are important to Him, but so are the small things. The little things you do each day to make it through. Since Heavenly Father is always proud of you, that gives you permission to be proud of yourself!

Heavenly Father loves you infinitely, always, so big that you don't even know. You got this!

I love you too of courseee!!

<3 Sister Peterson

11/11/2024