Sister Peterson Week 1

First Week in the MTC!!!

Hello everyone!

I flew into Utah last Wednesday and have been at the MTC since then! It has been a blast (that's not sarcastic). The sisters in my district are so much fun, in just the few days we've known each other we've gotten so close and are already dreading when we will have to leave each other. My companion is also so much fun, I love her so much! My classes have been really good and I have been learning a lot! 

I feel like there is so much I could talk about but I know when I see a long email I don't read it. So I will try to pack as much in in a short email as I can haha.

We've been to the temple twice since we got here and both times it was so fun and good. I LOVE THE TEMPLE, and the Mount Timpanogos Temple is so pretty. It was also HUUUGE haha. I swear I got lost just in the dressing rooms, it was a maze.

General Conference was so good! We were all sitting in this big room on these hard chairs (my rear is still recovering) but I think it was the first time I actually paid attention to the entire 8 hours woohoooo. I got such good notes and man there was so much good stuff! I hope most of you listened to it but I will highlight some of my favorite things:

- SO MUCH talk about love and charity (unfortunately I probably needed to hear it all...)

- "Jesus is not the weight He is the relief" 

- Jesus is our guide!!!

- We are the Lord's treasure

- How can I despair when I know God is with me?! (Answer: I can't!)

- Clement Matswagothata's entire talk

- Emily Freeman's entire talk

And so so much more, but it was the coolest experience watching this as a missionary. I feel like I was able to relate EVERY talk back to mission work. It was also fun being in a room full of missionaries and to hear the apostles praise us

Easter night we had a music devotional and man it was so good. The first three people got up and I was thinking it was going to be another long hour in the hard chairs, but then this one man got on the piano and my jaw dropped. IT WAS INSANE! They got three random songs for him to play about Jesus - I will walk with Jesus (suuuuch a good song) Jesus Wants me for a sunbeam, and Amazing Grace - and this guy whipped out a beautiful medley of all three songs on the spot. I swear I could hear angels singing, I am not joking. It was the most beautiful thing ever, I was crying my eyes out. Then this one Elder got up and His voice was a m a z i n g. So so good.

Today I was put to work. We got a service assignment and I was like oh, maybe some gardening or helping with meals (IDK I'm used to young women activity service) and it turns out I would be elbow deep scrubbing toilets. I was like are you kidding me. It was only an hour and it went by fast due to the fun girls in my district but still. But then I was thinking about it and I was like if I owned a training center, yeah I would make the people attending clean for "service". It's actually pretty smart. I would also make it a lot harder than what we had to do... that's all I can say. So no hate to the MTC, I get it.

To end on a spiritual note, I want to say I know I am doing what Heavenly Father needs me to be doing right now. During the Easter Music Devotional I said a prayer saying "here am I. send me" (Susan Porter' talk ;)) and I felt confirmation that I am where He already sent me. He needs me here right now and that I am doing the right thing by serving a mission. I love my Heavenly Father and I love Jesus. I love that I get to spend the next year and a half teaching about Him and bringing others home. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Sister Peterson

My district in front of the beautiful Mount Timpanogos Temple 

Me and my GORGEOUS companion

Elder Peterson and Sister Petersen (look at the tags)

Random group of Elders that became our friends. They are all learning spanish and everytime we go outside we bump into them. We love to see them!

Me and the sisters in my district in our matching shirts. Yes, those are shirtless men. Yes, it was sold in the MTC store.

Goodbye Sister Peterson, See You In 18 Months

rylee's flight to Provo left at 6am so we were all up super early to go to the airport to see her off. Rylee has never travelled by herself before and was a little nervous about where she was supposed to go and how to get there. This first picture is us showing her on her ticket what gate her plane was departing from. Luckily it is a straight shot to Utah and she does not have to have any connecting flights she needed to find. 

We al hugged her goodbye and then waited until she got through security and was on her way. I cried, I will miss her so much. I know she is off to do amazing things and to be. alight and to grow in the Gospel but I have a hard time watching my kids leave. They are my best friends and I miss them so much when they are gone.

Later that day I went to some stores with Ryker and Anna. I was wandering Barnes and Noble with Ryker while Anna went over to a different store and I found Ryker playing with the Duplo blocks in the Toddler section. I thought it was a funny picture.

Rylee was picked up from the airport by Dustin and since she had a lot of time until she was supposed to check in to the MTC she went to his house where she took a nap and also hung out with his youngest two Sophie and Nathanial. 

Sophie, Rylee and Nathanial

Dustin and Nathanial

Avynlea sent me a picture of her Boyfriend bringing her some sweet treats for Easter.

Rylee made it into the MTC and I was happy to see pictures that she was there and making friends. Her companion is the one in the brown dress.I was happy to see another sister who was as tall as Rylee, she was one of Rylee's favorite MTC friends.

Roof of the Temple

I went shopping with Anna and Kenedy with the intent of having Anna pick out some things that I could buy her for her birthday. We went to a couple of spots at The Village and then the Boise Mall and I was able to buy her some clothes she had picked out and a pair of sunglasses. I had fun being with the two of them and I hope they had fun as well. While I was at the Boise mall with them I went into one store while they went off to a different one. I got finished and was waiting for them and upon them questioning where I was I took a picture to send to them. 

Tuesday night, the night before Rylee was heading to the MTC we went to dinner and then Kenedy and Tyler went home while Ryker, Anna, Rylee, Kefford and I went to the Meridian Temple to meet Bob so he could take us to the roof. Kefford has been wanting to take the kids up there for a while and we had to get it done before Rylee left. It was nice to be up there to see the views and to go where not many people at all have gone. After being up there for a bit we took some pictures and then headed back down. It is cool to see the inner workings of the Temple and we went through a lot of storage and technical areas to get to the roof.

Elizabeth, Bob and Rylee

Rylee and Elizabeth

Ryker, Anna, Elizabeth, Rylee and Kefford

Avynleastarted dating a boy from Idaho Falls named Isaac. She sent me this picture of the two of them so I could show people her boyfriend when I got asked, and I got asked alot, hahaha, people are curious.

Easter Egg Dyeing

I ordered this set from TikTok shop and I was happy that when it came and I tried it on that I liked the look of it. I think it will be a perfect outfit for the trip Kefford and I have planned to Costa Rica in a couple of months.

Ryker and Anna came into town the week before Easter and were here for Rylee's last days with us as she was finishing out Home MTC and getting ready to leave for the Provo MTC. On Sunday I told everyone that I wanted a picture after church so they had to stay in their church clothes until Kefford came home.

Anna, Ryker, Tyler, Kenedy, Elizabeth, Rylee and Avynlea

That night we dyed Easter eggs and it was so much fun to have everyone dying eggs. We missed Avynlea and I really wish she could have been with us. We have not dyed Easter eggs in a very long time and it was fun to do it again but to also see how everyone chose to decorate their eggs. I thought they all turned out fun and unique.

Anna and Ryker

Kenedy and Tyler

Kefford and Rylee

I dyed 5 eggs and I just wanted to do one in every color and to get them as bright as I could. They turned out better then I imagined and I was super happy with the look of them.

Ryker was using the white crayon to put butts on his eggs and then when he dyed the egg the butt was revealed and he thought it was so hilarious. He secretly drew. a butt on one of Kenedy's eggs which wasn't revealed until Kenedy dyed it, that was pretty funny.

Kenedy, Tyler, Elizabeth, Rylee, Anna and Ryker

Keffords Egg

Elizabeth and Rylee

Rylee's Mission Farewell

Rylee gave her farewell talk this Sunday and she did a really good job. Rylee is going to be an incredible Missionary and I am so excited for the people of Arizona, they are so lucky to get her. She had a lot of support from family, the local Peterson's came to our Ward and the out of town Peterson's and the Lutes's all watched on Zoom. After church I hosted a dinner and just kept it simple with lunch meat, cheese, rolls, salads and fruit and vegetables. Avynlea was able to come home for the weekend and before she left to go back to Rexburg President Bennett came to set Rylee apart as a missionary and then we got some pictures with out cutie missionary.

 

Elizabeth, Rylee and Kefford

Kefford, Rylee, Elizabeth and Avynlea

Avynlea and Rylee

Avynlea, Rylee and Kenedy

Rylee and Avynlea

St Patricks Day and a broken arm

 I wish I would think to take more pictures of things. I did a delicious meal for St Patricks day but didn't get any pictures. I made corned beef and potatoes as well as green jello and rolls. I also sent Ryker and Anna and Avynlea boxes of Lucky Charms and Avynlea sent me a picture with hers.

Cutie girls

Avynlea and Rylee

Leona broke her arm and so I sent her a little unicorn garden that she can put together from Amazon. Mallory sent me a text when the package arrived and she said that Leona was so excited to get a package with her name on it. Hopefully the Unicorn garden will help take her mind off of the broken arm