Going Through the Temple With Heather

 I flew down to California a week before Heather's wedding so I could help her with last minute panning as well as so I could go to the Temple with her when she goes for the first time. She asked me to be her escort through the Temple and I was seriously so honored and excited to share this time with her. Before the day I was spending some time with Ashleigh and her kids and I brought a carton of confetti eggs that I have had since two Easters ago. I thought Atticus and Abigail would enjoy smashing confetti eggs on their heads and they did. It took a minute to teach them how to do it and those eggs were harder than I thought and hurt just a bit on my head but they really enjoyed the egg smashing and all the confetti. It really was so cute to watch them.

This picture of Atticus needed to be highlighted because how cute and fun is he doing his little jump while smashing confetti eggs on his head. Kids can be so magical

Wednesday night Mom, Heather and I drove to the Newport Beach Temple for her endowment. I loved being able to be with Heather and before the endowment the Temple Matron talked to her and gave her some really great advice and words of wisdom. During the endowment I was afraid she and I would get the nervous giggles but I was careful not to look at her too much and I think we did a good job of holding it together. When we went in we saw that Ashleigh and Mom were sitting in the first row next to the two seats saved for Heather and I and I was very happy that we could all be together. I am so excited for Heather and love that she is now able to go to the Temple and that when we are together we can now add Temple dates to our list of things to do.

Ashleigh, Mom, Heather and Elizabeth

Lorilynn Phillips,  Connie Jones, Ashleigh, Mom, Heather, Elizabeth, Pat Donaldson ( I know she has widowed and remarried a couple of times but I do not know her current last name and this is the one I grew up knowing so it is what I am sticking with), and MaryBeth Stevens

Ashleigh, Heather and Elizabeth

Sister Peterson Week 60

Woohoo yayy email!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the warming weather right now because I sure am!

This week has been lots and lots of walking. Hinckley 姉妹 does not like riding bikes, so we have been getting our steps in real good! She is amazing at finding and loves it so we naturally have been doing a lot of that. And because that is our job as missionaries... :)

We have had a lot of good, meaningful contacts and have been teaching a lot of people about the Plan of Salvation on the streets, that is if they stop for 2 minutes to listen to us. The harder part is getting another time to speak with them/return appointment. I just trust we are planting good seeds!

Speaking of... I got a call Saturday morning from the Kanazawa sisters! Before I share what they called me about, I need to give some back story. About a month ago the Kanazawa zone all met up in Kanazawa and did a big Book of Mormon Blitz. Aka, hand out as many Book or Mormons as we can. 

Beal 姉妹 and I handed out 2! (That's good for Japan!) 1 was to a group of foreigners from Africa. We only had one English Book, so we gave it to them and told them to share. One of the woman handed us her business card on exchange. We gave this card to the Kanazawa sisters hoping something would come if it, but not expecting much.

On Saturday's phone call they said they were not only able to contact her, but get a return appt to teach her more, invite her to church, and set up times to pray EVERYDAY with her! YAY! I was so excited to hear this! God always pulls through!

On Saturday we also visited an inactive member named Yamamoto 姉妹 who is actually ancient which I think is why she doesn't come to church! She was so sweet though! We sang "I am a Child of God" "神の子です" and she showed us all her family pictures! It was a really tender experience overall. She kept thanking us and telling us how thankful she was that we came! Ahhh moments like these remind me why I am out here still! 

I am almost done with my mission, but at the same time still have a lot of time left! I think like 14/18 months! That means it is my 最後まで耐え忍ぶ time! I have to endure til the end! 

3 Nephi 27:6

And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day.

This phrase has meant a lot of different things to me in my lifetime. I have found that through repentance and simply trying our best, we are doing what this scripture asks us to. Are you trying your best to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ? That is all he asks. Just try and He will help!

I wish I could say the mission gets easier, but it doesn't. I still have to deal with change, comparisons, guilt, set backs, Japanese... But I can say that I have learned how to rely on Christ more and see things through an eternal lense. Most things are not as big of a deal as they seem and Christ is truly in every detail. He. Is. Everywhere. I am so thankful for this gospel, the people, and experiences it has brought to me. I know with my whole heart, every ounce of my being that it is God's restored church. I know this. The joy it has brought me and people I have seen is too real. I love this gospel. I love my mission. I love Japan. I love Jesus Christ.

He loves you, don't forget!

Make it a good week everyone!

<3 ピーターソン姉妹

04/28/2025

scary

Nagano Zone! 

Ram 姉妹 and Yamamoto 姉妹

my girls  also let's just ignore the misspelling of my name... classic Sister McConkie

Lacrosse vs Rocky

 I signed Kefford and I up to do stats at another Lacrosse game and this one was against Rocky at Rocky. I wasn't super thrilled thinking about sitting on the sidelines with other Rocky parents because I did not think we would win and they are pretty insufferable to be around when they are winning. The couple who were doing stats for Rocky were actually LDS and they felt they knew us from somewhere and Kefford said they seemed familiar to him as well but nobody could pinpoint anything, I did not find them familiar so I was out of that conversation, hahaha. I took pictures of Rylee during her stick check, before every game the referees do a stick check to make sure that the net on their stick is regulation and does not go too deep or is too shallow. For some reason Rylee usually always has an issue with hers and she has to have her Coach fix it and then she has to get checked again and will pass the second time. This time she passed the first time which was great.

This was honestly such a good game to watch, the score kept going back and forth with who was in the lead and the game ended on a tie which was crazy. In the case of a tie they put 3 minutes on the clock and the first team to score ends the game and wins. I was shocked when Owyhee scored and we ended up winning the game, the celebration was so fun and exiting. I kept it cool on the side lines to be respectful to the Rocky parents but inside I was so happy and jumping up and down. After we were done wrapping things up in the stats book Kefford and I waited on the opposite side for Rylee which is tradition and what I always do even though we drive separate. I like to see her right after her games and she likes us waiting for her. I watched a lot of Rocky girls walk off the field crying and I felt bad for them but again inside was super happy. It was such a good game to be at and to be on the sidelines watching. 

On my morning walks I noticed that most of the corners in our subdivision have tress that blossom with these flowers. I think they are such a pretty and unique looking flower. After passing them so often and constantly admiring them I took a picture.

I asked Aileen, Ann's Mom if she would send me pictures of Anna from baby to now, I wanted to use them at the Family Dinner I was in charge of the night before her wedding. She sent so many cute pictures but this one was my favorite. I cannot get over how stinking adorable she is in this chicken costume. She and Ryker are going to have such cute babies/kids and I cannot wait!

Sister Peterson Week 59

Easter yayay

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I hope everyone had an amazing Christ and candy filled Easter! It is nice to think that this time next year I too will be eating Reese's Peanut Butter eggs! I am very excited for that day!

I figured out this week that there are not many people to actively teach, but a lot of little relationships to keep up that could turn into something. We spent a lot of time walking around, contacting people, and handing out cookies! I think this is good though, just making good relationships with people!

We found not 1 but 2 frogs this week! One was huge and I made Hinckley shimai pick it up, the other was just a cute little guy. 

There were 2 YSA members (Nozomu and Airi) in Gokiso who I loved while I was there. Well it turns out their parents live here! And they love the missionaries! We went over to their house and had an amazing BBQ! It so happened to be that Nozomu was home for Easter, so I got to see him! I love making connections like that.

There is a person named Doriana in Toyama who I was friends with, but it was hard to teach her because she was always so busy. Around Christmas time MacDonald 姉妹 and I left some notes on her door. This week Beal 姉妹 said they went to visit her and sent me a picture of her door with all the notes on it. She said that they had talked to her and she loved it so much and meant so much to her that she left it up. It is so sweet to see that something small that may not have seemed like much to me meant so much to her!

I was able to focus a lot on Jesus Christ this week (haha obvi) and a sentence he said really stuck out to me when I watched the video of Him dying on the cross. He says "it is finished". The most painful, unimaginable experience, and He did it. Can we just sit for a second and think about that? Jesus Christ gave up His pride, His comfort, His life for everyone. For me, for you, for the person you park next to, who packages your online orders haha, every single human being you look at, He died for them. It is really hard to remember this going about our day to day things, but I think it is one if the most beautiful truths of the gospel. We are all loved children of our Heavenly Father with infinite worth. Just let that sink in. 

God loves you.

Jesus Christ loves you.

I love you!

Make it a great week! 

<3 ピーターソン姉妹

04/21/2025

Ezakis!!

Oh ya, there was an earthquake! It was crazy but we are all safe! Also I could so easily make a spiritual message about this screenshot, but I'll let you do that yourself! ;)

Ezakis!!

Happy Easter from your Nagano missionaries! 

Doriana's door 

Easter Sunday

 Heather found this flag pattern when we were Black Friday shopping at JK Quilts in November. AS soon as I saw it I had to get it also because I loved it so much. I found material recently and cut it al out and sewed it all together and I love how it turned out. Every time I finish a quilt it turns into my newest favorite Quilt and this one is definitely a favorite. I love America and am so happy to have a a Quilt top that represents the Land I Love, I just now need to get it quilted.

I had a large Snoopy themed Hershey Kiss that I bought Kefford for Valentines day but forgot about it until I found it in my closet. I gave it to him a few months late and when he opened it we had to get out a Hershey Kiss, a mini Hershey kiss baking chip, a regular baking chip and a mini baking chip that I have in my pantry and do a size comparison.

I love this picture of Ryker and Anna, they are a very cute couple and Anna is beautiful as always. 

Easter morning we have church at 9 so I gave Kefford and Rylee their baskets after church. They both seemed pretty pleased with them and I felt I did a good job putting thoughtful, fun and useful things in the Baskets.

We took an Easter Sunday Picture and then changed our clothes and headed to Nyssa to have Easter Dinner with Kefford family. Kylie was their with her new baby boy so we got to meet Lincoln for the first time which was fun. Of course Rylee had a gang of Cousins following her around, she is a Cousin favorite and her little Cousins love when she is around because she hangs out with them and plays with them, it is super cute. It was a good Easter Sunday.

Hazel, Mia, Sadie, Rylee, Baby Lincoln, Maddie and Kinsley