The APs are on Santa's naughty list

Hey y'all!

Well transfer calls were last night......I am super excited because Sister Toki and I get to stay but super duper sad because Sister Wilson is leaving us   :(  Last night was rough. They called us pretty early in the night. I have never seen someone cry as much as she did she was bawling and shaking and we were up way way late. Childress won't be the same without her!! She will be going back to Lubbock (she has served more than half her mission there) to the college park YSA ward. Only a few bad words were spoken....also Elder Dilling is the one who called and gave us the news...haha! So needless to say that is who Sister Wilson took it out on last night and said that he is a child of the devil. (don't worry, she doesn't really think that she is just saying that haha! she will cool off eventually. I think if she ever had to see him again she might punch him so it is a good thing he goes home today!) I have absolutely LOVED this transfer! It was truly inspired and I will love and miss sister Wilson! I also found out that they are closing my last area, Borger North :( So we will now be a 4 person district.

​

Tuesday was kind of a rough day. We got told we were failures and flunks of missionaries by our investigator Sue. She kind of hates us now. We "embarrassed her by asking her questions about what we taught in front of her fiance" even thought we explained that we were only asking questions to make sure we taught correctly and that she understood. She is not ready for baptism but thinks she is. It is such a hard situation!!

Thursday we went to a Church of Christ service. It was really good! It was just a bunch of singing gospel songs. My companions : "if I wasn't Mormon I would definitely be Church of Christ!" haha!

We finally did it y'all!! In the missionary hand book it talks about if you have too many appointments too handle then you can do splits with the members. We always laugh so hard at that phrase because we never thought we would be there but the last 2 days I have gone on splits with a member to teach Adam because Sister Wilson and Toki were teaching someone else!! It was such a neat experience! It finally happened!!!! By the way Adam is still the most prepared person I have ever met!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is my favorite!!!!!!!!!!!!! He still is trying to see answers to his prayers but we just keep encouraging him to be patient. Sometimes we just want everything to be in our timing though! Adam wants so badly to receive an answer!!!

Saturday we had an awesome Branch Christmas party!! We went caroling at the nursing home then had dinner and watched the nativity and then we went on a hay ride to see the lights at the park. It was SO AWESOME!!!!! We had 3 investigators there (Weldon, Elizabeth, and Tommy) and 3 less actives (sister Mayhugh, Mikey, and Ansley) too!!

I am over the moon excited that I get to stay here another transfer! I totally understand why sister Wilson was devastated! These people have my whole heart!!!! I am truly praying that I get to finish my mission here!!!

Love y'all!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

#lighttheworld

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!

Hermana Peterson

So the 3 Nephites must be in a trio in Childress

The title:  that is what our district leader said to us last night on the phone hahaha!

Hey y'all!! Hope your week has been amazing! 14 days until Christmas!!

It has been a very busy week as usual! Tuesday night we got to meet with the Moore family again in Memphis. Jalene, Adrianna, and Sabel have accepted the invitation to be baptized February 10th!!!!!!!! It was so amazing!!! They weren't able to come to church this Sunday but they are planning on being there next week!! 

Wednesday morning we went to the First Baptist Bible Study that was really good. After that, we went to the museum and helped decorate Christmas trees. 

​

Thursday we did a lot of service. We delivered meals on wheels, helped at the nursing home, and we went to New 4 U (a thrift store here). Shayla (a member here) came with us to our service this week and it was super fun! We love her! Funny story, I actually graduated with her brother haha! Small world! Thursday we also had to turn Bill over to the Lord (drop him)   :(   he is definitely going through the pride cycle. He said that God didn't help him get the job (although just a few days earlier he was praying and thanking God for helping him to find it...) He doesn't want to put God first so unfortunately he isn't progressing. It was definitely sad but it felt right. 

Thursday night was awesome though! We were able to go to Memphis again and we taught the Moore family again and had dinner with the Jaussi's and then went to teach Adam again! He finally let us inside his house! Good thing because it was like 20 degrees! He said a prayer out loud this week! Baby steps!! ADAM CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing!! It is really hard for him since he works 7 days a week on the ranch but he was able to get the day off!!! He had such a great experience and it seemed like all the lessons and talks were focused on the concerns he had so it was amazing! 

Friday we went to New 4 U again with Shayla and we got the opportunity to pick out Christmas presents for the Moore family who is struggling this year. It was such a neat experience! This morning we worked on cleaning the toys and washing the clothes! 

Saturday night we went to a Catholic church service. It was interesting. My testimony was definitely strengthened as we went to our church the next morning and I was able to see and feel the difference! Sunday we had Adam and the Pierce family at church!! The Pierce family is a referral from a member. They are so so so prepared!!! The sad part is that they are going to be moving pretty soon :(  The member invited us out to lunch with them and the Pierce family after church out in Quanah and we were able to teach them the Plan of Salvation and they said that it all just made sense! It was so neat!!

I hope y'all are having a great week and finding lots of ways to #lighttheworld!!

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!

Hermana Peterson

Adam's on Date!!!!

Hey y'all!

Another great week in Childress, Texas! We had several lessons with Bill this week. We taught him the word of wisdom and he said he is willing to live it! We aren't quite sure how committed he is though. He is reading the Book of Mormon but said he would come to church and the devotional last night and he didn't :(

Monday night we drove to Canyon to sleep over with the STL's for zone conference on Tuesday in Amarillo. It was great as usual! Then we had exchanges back in Canyon Tuesday night and Wednesday. We have some great STL's! They are in a trio as well so it was a three way exchange! Canyon doesn't know what hit them! Wednesday night we drove back to Childress (about 2 1/2 hours).

​

Friday we spent the majority of the day helping out at the food pantry then we drove to Memphis and had 2 great lessons!! We got to meet with the Moore's (part member family) and teach them the restoration using blocks (for the kids) and it was great! They had committed to come to church as well but didn't make it :(  We also got to teach Adam that night! He is doing SOOOO awesome!!! He read the chapter we left him several times and also said several prayers this week!! We asked him if he has felt like his faith has increased since we started meeting and he without hesitation said "yes" confidently! Teaching someone like that is so rewarding!! He makes the whole 18 months worth it!! We get so excited every time he texts us! He works 7 days a week on a ranch but he said he would ask his boss for next Sunday morning off so he can come to church!! We are so pumped!! He also accepted the invitation to be baptized on January 27th!!! (that is if he feels he receives an answer to his prayers by then). That was definitely the most exciting part of the week!

We have been participating in and sharing #lighttheworld like crazy!! I really hope y'all are too! It is such a great way to feel the spirit even more in your everyday life! I am sure y'all have already seen it but if not go watch and participate right now! https://www.mormon.org/

#LIGHTTHEWORLD

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!

Hermana Peterson

Up to our elbows in stuffing!

Hey y'all!!

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful! We have had another amazing and so insane week! Tuesday we got 3 new investigators!!!! We were out in Memphis after district meeting and we went to stop by a part member families house, the Moores, and the member wasn't there but her son, daughter, and daughter-in-law were there. It was such a miracle! Her daughter, Sabel, came to church a couple of weeks ago with another family so we knew she might be interested. The night we were there the son and daughter in law, Joseph and Adrianna, were moving in and we weren't sure what their opinion of the church was so we were pretty nervous but Sister Toki was amazing and so bold and asked them if they would meet with us and they all said YES!!! It was so cool! They had met with missionaries before but it was hard with their work schedule but they just moved and aren't working so they have plenty of time and seemed very interested! Now the trick is just getting out to Memphis to see them! We also taught a solid investigator Adam while we were out there. HE IS THE BESTEST!!! He is a 19 year old guy who is trying to see if God is even real. We have had so many cool experiences and miracles with him!! Just last night he texted us apologizing for not coming (he had work) and asked how our talks went. He also said he loved the chapter we left with him AND (drum roll please.......) HE PRAYED!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously can't describe our excitement!!!! (:   This has been such  a cool experience!

Wednesday morning we went to the Quanah hospital to help make some Thanksgiving meals for people in the community. It was pretty fun! We were there with 4 service missionaries from the Triangle Ranch (church ranch in Paducah) and 2 elders from the Oklahoma City mission that were close. We mixed stuffing, cut turkey, scooped cranberry sauce, and cut pies!

​​

On Thanksgiving we had lunch at the Methodist church and also lunch with a member family, Mark and Marilyn Keys. I played football for the first time ever. All the 9 year olds were better than us but they let us win! LOL! Our neighbor also invited us over for pecan pie (a delicacy here (:  )!

We committed our investigator Bill to baptism!!! (yes the one who asked if sister Wilson was single, don't worry we cleared that up ;)  ) He committed to be baptized on December 30th and he has already started inviting his family!!

Saturday we ended up having to stay in all day because sister Wilson got pretty sick. It is much funner when you are in a trio haha!  We got lots of studying in and we watched Meet the Mormons and I straightened sister Tokis hair. She says I have done better than any other white girl so I guess that is a success haha!

On Sunday we all spoke in church and it went well! We are totally gaining the trust of the members, it is so awesome!! Our branch president had the branch mission leader report on our work in Priesthood and he said that the men started to get teary eyed because they have been praying and fasting for missionary work for so long!

Tonight we are going to drive to Amarillo for zone conference and then we will drive to Canyon for exchanges so we will be gone for most of the week.

Have an amazing week!!

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!!!

Love y'all!!

Hermana Peterson

Miracles!

Another crazy awesome week here in Childress! (and  all our other towns)

So we got a referral from one of our recent converts named Danna and we tried to go visit them on bike day but we couldn't find the address so we just decided to go somewhere else. On our way Sister Toki felt prompted to stop and talk to a family that was outside washing their car and it ended up being the family we were looking for. How crazy?!  

This week for service we helped deliver some meals on wheels. That was exciting! We also helped out at the nursing home Thanksgiving party. We had dinner out at Triangle Ranch which is a church ranch out here. It is huge! It is the biggest ranch out here they said.  There is about 4 service missionary couples that work there and come to our branch! 

We met a guy named Bill this week, he is kinda different but he was willing to listen and he came to church!! Unfortunately last night we had to tell him that Sister Wilson isn't single (:  We ended up getting to meet with Adam again! It was super quick because it was already 9 and he lives in Memphis which is 30 minutes away from Childress. He read the chapter we left multiple times! He seems genuinely interested in finding God! The only catch is that he works 7 days a week in the cotton fields 7-9. 

Saturday night we went out to Quanah for an event that a member thought would be good for us to meet people at. Quanah is also about 30 minutes away in a different direction. It was a stargazing event and it was pretty cool! 

We saw a miracle yesterday at church too! Last week we committed a member family to pray for missionary opportunities and they brought a nonmember family to church and it was so awesome!!!! Pray for the Pierce family to continue to desire to learn more about the church!! The mom and son had such a great time and expressed their thanks multiple times she just told us to pray that her husband feels the same way. She said she felt her burdens lifted as she came into the building for church! Last night we got to watch the YSA face2face event! It was super good! We watched it at our branch mission leaders house and we invited Bill (the investigator that likes Sister Wilson), Kasia, and Shayla (members). You can check it out  https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/face-to-face/oaks-ballard?cid=HP_SU_19-11-2017_dPFD_fBCAST_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng
Hope y'all had a fantastic week as well!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!
Hermana Peterson

Childress doesn't know what hit them!

Hey y'all!!

This has been the best week yet!!!!! Childress has been great!! My new companions are the bomb!! We are hoping and praying we get to stay together through Christmas!!! This week has also been the busiest yet!! We have seen SO many miracles  I don't even know which ones to tell you!

Transfers were super early Tuesday. We were on exchanges all morning (like 6 of us together) so we had breakfast at Chick-Fil-A since we were all ready for the day and just waiting for our new companions! It took about 2 1/2  hours to get home from Amarillo. Lot's of driving here!! My new companions are Sister Wilson and Sister Toki. They are amazing! Spiritual giants and so much fun to be around! Best of both worlds! Sister Wilson is from Grantsville, Utah. She went to a year at BYU studying exercise science. She has 4 siblings (she is in the middle). She has been out for almost 15 months Sister Toki is from Taylorsville, Utah. She came straight out of high school like I did. She has 7 siblings (she is in the middle as well). She has been out for almost 8 months. Yes, she is Tongan!

​

Most eventful part of our week was definitely Wednesday morning. So our district meeting was in Pampa which is 2 hours away so we have to leave pretty early. (they just moved it to Borger so it is 30 more minutes away). We kind of forgot to check our gas before we left and also didn't really realize quite how far we were going. We are in West Texas so of course there isn't like any gas station between here and there (seriously....). So by the time we realized we had 35 miles of gas left (and at least 45 miles until Pampa) we looked up on the gps to see where the nearest gas station was and it said there was a tiny town a little out of the way (but it was still the closest thing we found (our only hope!) It said the gas station was 22 miles away so we prayed that we would make it! It ended up being totally more than 22 miles so we were coasting on neutral down the hills (luckily there was no cars around us because we were in the middle of nowhere) At this point we had called our district leader and informed him that there was a great chance we wouldn't make it to the gas station so he was trying to figure something out. Meanwhile we actually do get there (or so we thought) so we tell them we made it. We then go in to pay and the lady tells us it doesn't work and that the nearest gas station was still 9 miles away in Pampa.....at this point we had probably been going on 0  miles for 15 miles. So we get back in the car and somehow it miraculously still starts! We continue coasting our way 9 miles to Pampa! We almost made it! We got to about 1 1/2 miles from the gas station when our car gives out. hahahaha!!! So sister Wilson and I get out and start pushing! Not even a minute later a guy stops and has a gas can with him and saves the day. LESSON LEARNED!!!!! GAS UP IN CHILDRESS!!!!!!!!!   (:   We were somehow miraculously only 30 minutes late to district meeting!!

The population of Childress is only about 6,000 but we cover over a dozen outlying towns! On Wednesday we got to meet a pretty solid investigator named Sue. Sue lives in Clarendon. Her story is super cool but I don't have time to explain! She is getting married and baptized on January 13th to a member in the Dallas area.

Some of the service opportunities here include delivering Meals on Wheels, painting nails at the nursing home, and helping out at New 4U which is a thrift store.

There was seriously so many miracles I don't have time to tell y'all!!!

We got FOUR new investigators this week! Childress (and the surrounding area ) is popping! One solid one is Jaime. He is a single dad with 2 kids. We taught him the restoration on the door step and then had a church tour with him on Saturday and he and his kids came to church on Sunday!!!!!!!! We are so excited for him!

Other exciting news, the Hales came to visit us this weekend! (that never happens!) They came for interviews at our house so that was kind of intimidating! Church was good though! We love them!

Have an amazing week y'all!

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!!

love you!

Hermana Peterson

When you step in poop and your shoe smells!

Our next door neighbor "mama bear" she made us a nativity cake

With Mama Bear's grandson

Our little house

One and Done in Borger

Hey y'all!

Yep, you read that right! I'm getting shipped out already! I am pretty sad! I was really liking Borger! We are getting white washed by Elders! This is like deja-vu! I am headed to Childress, TX which is in my same stake and district (the deja-vu continues) It is about two and a half hours away. I am going to be in a trio!!!!!! I am so pumped!!! I am going to be with Sister Toki and Sister Wilson. I know Sister Toki because she is there right now, she seems super awesome!! Sister Garcia is going 7 hours South to Brady, TX. We have to be in Amarillo by 6:45am tomorrow so I kinda want to cry, haha! Amarillo is over an hour away! Early start tomorrow! This weekend (especially today!) has been nuts trying to get everything ready and say goodbye!

​

Halloween was a normal day for us! We had district meeting in Pampa and then came back to do service at the nursing home halloween party! We were out until 6 and then came home to do studies and have dinner the rest of the night.

Well, we have a bunch of super awesome investigators that I will be leaving behind. We are crossing our fingers that the elders will take good care of them! Crystal told us that she knows everything is true! I smell a baptism coming soon!!! Moses and Esther are still doing good, she is just stuck on the gift of tongues still. We taught a lesson to Donna this week about the word of wisdom and how our bodies are temples and she said, "well, I guess I need to lose some weight, I'm stretching my temple out!!" hahaha! It was pretty funny!

I feel like this week has been super long and flown by all at the same time! That is all I can think of that happened! Hope y'all have a blessed week!

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!! 
Hermana Peterson

Donna Joy

Jason Owens

Simmons Family

Crystal Daw

Morrenos

The elders, Sisters Garcia & Peterson, and Brother Rangel (WML)

Moses and Ester

Francisco, Sis Marmalejo, Noel, and Kimberly

The Longs and Amy

Volleyball with Noy Hawley, Anita, and Marisol Hernandez

The Thayn's

Sis Moreno

Sis Mota

Sis Moreno

The Martinez's

The Nelsons

Our buddies Bobby and Bubba from Walmart

365 Days!

Hey y'all!!

Yes, you read that right! I hit my year mark this week! I still can't really believe it!

​

Last Monday we decided to carve pumpkins! It was pretty fun! Sister Garcia carved "Texas Lubbock Mission" into one and I carved a face on one side of mine and painted the Texas flag on the other side! We had a ward trunk or treat this week and it turned out really well! Only one of the people that we invited came but the elders had a couple of people there! We "dressed up" as old ladies. We painted our hair white and wore our most old lady looking dresses and jewelry and we borrowed canes from Salvation Army!

​

We had a super good lesson with Ester and Moses on Monday! I feel like they really have a desire to learn and I am so excited!! She is currently Pentecostal and was asking us questions about the gift of tongues and when she was trying to find a scripture to prove her beliefs she actually disproved them. So she found an answer to her own question! She is really interested in the idea of priesthood authority which is awesome because it is so important!

Last week we had a bet with our district of who could get the most contacts. We came in second with 27 contacts and so the elders had to buy us pizza after district meeting because they lost!

We had a really good lesson with Crystal this week when we taught the Restoration. She kept saying that it all made sense and that we were angels and she knew God had a plan for her. Turns out for the 4 years she was in Utah she even went to Seminary and everything. She doesn't remember much though. Then we went back a couple of days ago and had a soso lesson. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't that great. We taught the Plan of Salvation and she seemed more distant. She was still really nice though! We have a return appointment for Wednesday!

We had a little scare this week when I accidentally flipped the breaker by plugging in both heaters at once haha! We thought we broke the oven for a bit so we had to call our landlord but he came over and fixed it for us (:  The weather here has been nuts! Thursday it was freezing and there was 40 mph winds (at least that's how fast people told us it was). Yesterday it was in the 80's and today it is back to the low 40's! We aren't ever quite sure how to dress. The best we can do is stick our hand out the window to see what the weather is when we get dressed and hope it stays that way for the rest of the day (it never does, haha!)

I taught Francisco the Law of Chastity in Spanish by myself on Saturday. It was pretty scary but I think it went well! Now we just have to see if they're willing to actually live it!

We had a surprise visit from the Lovett's at church yesterday. President Lovett is the second counselor for the mission. That was the first time I actually met him. He taught our third hour lesson about member missionary work and then we had a really good meeting with him after church. Some of the things he taught us is that we need to work on personalizing the Atonement, "ask and ye shall receive" it is a commandment, our mission is training ground for marriage-learn to be kind and to communicate, and make God'd preference mandatory for yourself. It was super good!

Hope y'all have a good week and a happy Halloween!

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!!

Hermana Peterson

Espanol Everywhere!

Hey y'all!!

It has been a great week here!  We have met a bunch of cool people this week, I will tell you about some of them! We met a girl named Martha (she was more funny than cool) she asked us if we were JW's and we said "no, we're mormons" to which she let out a fake "scream" and acted like we were a cult and laughed haha! She then said "well I have a lot of questions. Have you watched TV lately?" So we are a little concerned and excited to meet with her again haha! She was leaving town but we are going back this week.

We have been helping a girl named Jessie redo a house. This week we helped her sand and stain her kitchen cabinets and our hands are stained black.

We had a cool member missionary work fireside this week. It was awesome! The leadership here is so so great! We used some videos from the "Missionary Next Door". She does a great job of explaining the  members role vs. the missionaries role. Members are there to introduce and fellowship and we are here to do the teaching!

We have done service at the Opportunity center this week. That is the senior citizen center here. We serve the people there lunch. They love to talk to us!

A member invited us over to a party this week where we got to have some real Mole. It was pretty good!

​

We met some other cool people named Ester and her husband Moses. She only speaks Spanish (we have found that a ton this week!) She was asking us lots of questions and was interested in reading the Book of Mormon! We are going back tonight!

We have been playing volleyball at the park on Saturday nights and this week we had a bunch of people there! It is a great opportunity to get people talking!

We also met a super cool lady named Crystal!! We knocked into her last night and she told us that she actually grew up in Utah and since she got married she has lived in several different places. A couple of months ago she was visiting her sister in St. George and she went to Deseret Book so that she could BUY a Book of Mormon??!! No one does that! So we invited her to our Halloween party this week and she was excited to bring her kids! We can't wait to start working with her!!

Hope y'all have a great week!

don't forget! READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!

Hermana Peterson

Lake Meredith

Hey y'all!

It has been a pretty good week here! Last Monday we went to Lake Meredith! It is in an outlying town called Fritch that the Elders cover. It was fun! We went on a little hike and everything! It is the most scenery I have seen in 11 months! I don't know how these west Texans are living without mountains and beautiful things! haha! 

​

Tuesday night we drove to Canyon (just past Amarillo) for exchanges. They went well! We have good STL's (sister training leaders). On our way home Wednesday night it was pouring rain and windy all the way back so that wasn't too fun. It is about an hour and fifteen minutes away. It was raining all day Thursday (bike day) but we luckily managed to get rides to most of our stuff that day thanks to our awesome members! 

A couple times this week we went and helped a lady we know remodel her house. We cleaned the kitchen and sanded down her cabinets for service. For service they have basically just been sorting clothes at salvation army (not very fun!)  so we are trying to find new things to do. The elders went and helped out at a food pantry (or tried to at least) and got told they couldn't come back because of our beliefs. We got applications to volunteer at the nursing home. We tried to volunteer at the hospital but we aren't allowed to wear our tags so that's a no go.

Saturday I taught my first solo espanol lesson! I was way nervous! It went alright. His name is Francisco and he works in Oklahoma so he is only here on the weekends. He is engaged to a LA member here in Borger (Sister Marmalejo). He was super understanding of my lack of Spanish knowledge and super grateful that we knew even the little I do! 

Saturday morning we helped out at the church waving signs for a hurricane Harvey food drive and we got sunburned. Today it is freezing cold though! (okay, so again, it is only like 50 degrees but with the wind it makes it worse (:  ) We had about 70 people at church which was pretty good! The members here all seem awesome and super into trying to help us with our missionary work, especially the Bishop which makes things awesome!! That was about all we did this week! We have zone conference this coming week in Amarillo! We are excited!

Have a great week y'all!

READ AND PRAY EVERYDAY!!!!

Hermana Peterson

​