Mission Accomplished

After we got Ryker from the airport Kefford and I took him to the Temple so he could see his Grandparents. Bob is in the Temple Presidency and he and Alison were on shift that day so they were not able to come to the airport to see Ryker. It was nice to be able to take him into the Temple so they could see him.

The Stake President was not able to meet with Ryker to release him until Saturday in the early evening. Kefford was not thrilled with this but we didn't want to throw a fit so we let it be. Ryker wanted to go to the Temple to do a session so he and Kefford went on Saturday and then would be done in time to go get released. As the time to meet with the Stake President got closer and Kefford and Ryker were still not back I decided to just get changed and drove to the church to meet them there. A small part of me thought that I wouldn't put it past Kefford to just take Ryker on his own if they were pressed for time leaving the Temple. It was a big deal for me and my family who were there to be a part of it so we just got changed and went to the church to wait. I got a message from Kefford shortly after we left saying they were on their way and I told him where we were and to just meet us there. 

President Kroft met with Ryker on his own first and then came out to talk with all of us. He would have had us in his office but there were too many to fit in so we met in the foyer. He talked with us about Ryker's mission and then gave us all a opportunity to talk about the blessings we saw from Ryker serving. I went first and talked about how Ryker was blessed to become more positive and not to focus on the negative. I said more but I don't remember and everyone all spoke but I don't remember much of what was said. Mom started talking and as she was speaking I had the thought of how happy I was that my family could be here and be a part of this and I started crying a little. mom thought it was because she mentioned dad but it was just because of how happy I was that they were able to be here. We also told President Kroft how thankful we were that our ward still zooms the sacrament meetings because that us another way that my family could be a part of our lives. They were able to watch Ryker give his farewell talk and the ones who were not in town with us were going to be able to watch his homecoming talk which is such a blessing. 

It was a good releasing and when we were done we went outside and took some pictures.Ryker and Heather                      Ryker and Grandma BonnieRyker and Erin                                             Atticus, Ryker, Abigail and Ashleigh

A proud Mom with her returned missionary

Elizabeth and Ryker

Elizabeth, Abigail, Ashleigh, Ryker, Atticus, Erin, Grandma Bonnie and Heather

Ryker is home for about a month before he leaves for school and when asked he said yes to serving in the Temple while he was here. After he was released Kefford and I took him to the Temple so that Bob could set him apart as a Temple Worker and then Alison took us around to show Ryker where he goes to get his Jacket and meet for Prayer meeting. it was neat to see more of the inner workings of the temple.

After we were done we met up with everyone at Tin Roof Tacos for a yummy dinner.

It was a good day

Ryker Returns With Honor!

Ashleigh and her kids, Mom, Heather and Erin came into town Thursday to welcome Ryker home. Friday morning we getup and went Blueberry picking. I thought it would be fun for Atticus and Abigail to pick blueberries and this was the best time to do it. 

After Blueberry picking we went back home and cleaned up and got ready to go to the airport for Ryker's arrival. Of course his plane was delayed but luckily by only about 30 minutes. I was anxious and excited and ready for Ryker to come home, luckily the days and hours leading up to his arrival went pretty quick.

We had a lot of family come to the airport to meet Ryker. His MTC companion Elder Frogley was also flying in so we had double the crowd and it was a lot of people waiting outside the gates. The security kept telling us to move and didn't want us blocking the way for the people arriving. We tried our best to make room for them to get through and I thought we were doing a pretty good job. Of course Ryker was one of the last to come through and I was feeling pretty anxious for him to finally appear so when he did it was pretty exciting. As he was walking through the gates the security asked if all these people were here for him and when he confirmed they were the security told him to make us all move. We tried our best but like I said there were a lot of people waiting for the two missionaries so it was hard. I was finally able to give Ryker a hug and of course I was crying. I don't know why I have become so emotional but that is where I am at I guess.  Once I got my hug we all moved over and out of the way and Ryker got to greet all of his family he has not seen in two years.

Caleb, Ryker, Garrett, Leah and Michelle                                   Ryker and Bailey

Qiana, Asher, Hazel, Kelsey, Brielle, Xander, Ryker, Brit and Tayvia

Sadie, Madison, Ryker, Laney, Whitney, Kinsey and Dillon

Elder Frogley and Elder Peterson

Grandma Bonnie and Ryker

It was so mice to have Ryker finally home, I think he was a little shell shocked and still in the missionary mode so it was hard for him to just sit around and visit. I love having him back home and love seeing the positive changes in him. It is nice to have my family all back together and complete again.

Avynlea skipped out in the early evening and went with her friends to the High School to be extras in a movie that is being shot. She had fun and maybe we will get to see her on the big screen in the near future.

Avynlea, Anna, Saide and Madison

 

Come on Barbie, Let's go Party

Jessica Lewis was celebrating her birthday and she rented out a small movie theater and invited friends to come watch the Barbie movie for her birthday. We were encouraged to dress up and I thought about a couple of different outfits that I could do. I finally decided to wear my hot pink dress, floral wedges and I got some heart shaped hot pink glasses from Amazon. I flat ironed my hair, put it in a high ponytail and I was ready to go. 

I had fun at the theater, the movie had some funny parts but it wasn't anything I would want to watch again. After the movie w went to the party room, took pictures, ate cookies and visited with one another. After a while I was ready to go, I had had enough of being with people. I drove Emily Walker, Emily Young, Abby Eaton and Laura Johnson so I went around to see if they were ready and they were so we left. Keri Shoemaker asked for a ride home, she was dropped off and I had room so she came for the ride back. I dropped everyone off with Keri being last which was a mistake because she was chatty and sat in my car outside her house for over an hour talking about whatever was on her mind. I normally wouldn't have minded but I was super tired and just wanted to go to bed.

Elizabeth and Jessica, the Birthday Girl

On Wednesday Kenedy came into town for Ryker's homecoming, I wanted to go to the Mountain Starlight theater for a while and they were putting on High School Musical so I got tickets for us girls to go. I thought Tyler would be coming and bought a ticket for him but he wasn't able to come until Friday so I had an extra ticket. I told Rylee and Avynlea they could invite someone and they invited Avery Miller. We had a fun time and enjoyed the show. 

 

Elder Peterson Week 96

Here's the deal. Our car got towed last night because one of the people in the leasing office failed to put in our car's information when we gave it to them 2 months ago. So we are busy figuring out this mess, so I don't have a lot of time to write those. To keep it brief I won't talk about my week. Just know that it was good and we talked to some cool people and had a couple lessons. I will write my testimony and then leave it at that.

Over the past two years I have learned more than I ever expected I would. My faith in Jesus Christ has grown and my testimony has been built high upon the foundation of the Lord himself. I've heard His voice through the scriptures and the testimonies of others and I have seen His hand through countless miracles and what can only be explained as divine intervention. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ and the only begotten of the Father. Jesus Christ is our Savior and the only reason the Plan of Salvation is possible. Through His eternal sacrifice, the Atonement, we have the possibility and privilege of repentance and change. Our purpose and destiny is to return to the presence of our heavenly parents and to inherit all that the Father has on condition of our faithfulness to His Son. Jesus Christ did restore His gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith, for he did, in fact, see and converse with God the Father and God the Son through the power of God the Testator (the Holy Ghost). The Godhead consists of 3 separate personages whose work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Joseph Smith was given power and authority from God to restore eternal truths that we need to know in order to receive all that the Father has offered. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth, and that is an unalterable fact. This church is led by a modern prophet who was chosen by God to lead His church and deliver the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. I was called of God to serve in this mission and to these people. I know that Jesus Christ leads this work and that His Gospel will be heard by every nation, kindred, and tongue before the Lord's inevitable return.

I know these things, and much more, by my own experience, by overwhelming evidence, and by the power of the Holy Ghost. This knowledge is granted unto all who sincerely seek it. God is not a respecter of persons and loves all of His children. This is my testimony and I thank my God for it. I testify of these things by the power of and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen(?)

(I don't know if closing a written testimony with "amen" is necessary, but whatever).

I'll see some of you soon!

- Elder Ryker Peterson

Blueberry Picking with the Petersons

I did a half up crown braid I my hair for church on Sunday. I videoed myself doing it and liked how it looks in the pictures. I sometimes get the urge to post YouTube videos of me doing my hair but I then chicken out once I am done with the recording. I still have it and others so maybe someday...

On Monday we went blueberry picking with the Peterson family in Emmett. It is a fun tradition and gets us lots of blueberries every year. We had fun being with our family and getting delicious blueberries.

Maddie, Tayci and Rylee

Avynlea and Leah

Joshua, Caleb, Garrett, Maddie, Brielle, Dillon, Tayvia, Avynlea, Leah, Rylee, Sadie, Kinsey and Asher

My girls had fun playing with the .5 setting on my phone...

 

Elder Peterson Week 95

We had a couple cool miracles this past week. Here's two of them:

We were over in a neighborhood near our place and talked to one lady who believes in reincarnation and it was an interesting conversation. Very respectful though, I'm grateful that she was a kind woman. We got a text from Dexter saying that he needs to cancel our lesson, though, because he was going to his neighbor's home to wax her car. We asked if we could come help and he told us where he was at. We helped him wax her car and talked with both of them as we did. Ann, whose car we were waxing, asked us some questions about missionary work and was actually pretty interested in the Book of Mormon. Dexter helped testify of our work as well, which was cool. She took a Book of Mormon and agreed to try reading it. After we finished all the work and she had gone inside we talked a bit with Dexter. I once again explained the importance of reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and he said that he will start reading it for real. I hope he means it. 

We got taken out to lunch by a member and the food was really good. It also wrecked me for some reason. Later when we were finding in the evening I REALLY had to go to the bathroom. So we sped to a gas station and I found the restrooms "out of order." I panicked a little. We got back in the car and sped to another gas station that was further away from where we had planned to do our finding. That restroom was in order. Finally we were able to get back to work. We didn't know exactly where to go because we didn't have enough miles to go back to where we had been. Luckily there was a nice little neighborhood right behind the gas station, so we started walking around there. I wasn't super hopeful because the one other time I had walked that area it was not reseptive at all. We were walking around though and eventually, when we were getting ready to leave, we met a guy named Reggie. He was not very interested at first at all. But I had questions coming into my mind as well as things to say and the conversation got deeper and more Christ centered. He opened up about some questions he has about God and desires that he has. We talked about how God provides answers to anyone who diligently and sincerely seeks them. We found out that he lives in Baytown, but we were able to convince him to meet with the Elders over there (Elder Heiner is one of them, thankfully. I trust him a lot). We testified more of God's love for him and that he can get closer to God one step at a time. He seemed a lot more hopeful by the end of our conversation and we all felt the spirit. As we walked back to the car I just pondered the series of events that led to meeting him. Kinda strange, but definitely divinely orchestrated. I'm grateful that the Lord provided a way for me to share some of my testimony with someone this evening. 

The week was hot, but good. The Zone Conference was a good way to end the week. It was probably the most spiritual zone conference I've had. Lots of testimonies were shared and there was an AMAZING musical number by Elder Nestripke, Elder John, and some sisters I don't know. It was awesome though. At the end of the conference it kinda hit me that it was my last one and I got a little sad about it. I'm glad the last one was a good one though.

That's pretty much all I've got. One more email next week. 

- Elder Peterson

We also got to go to the temple to do baptisms, that was awesome.

Check out this monster wasp. Makes me a little less sad to leave Texas...