I finally got out to Wisconsin!!! :D I
feel so separated from the real world because literally everything out here is
farmland. A bunch of stubborn old farmers with missing teeth. It's great I love
it This is my first area! Manitowoc! My address is 3131 Southbrook Court #1104
Manitowoc, WI 54220 if you were wondering..or wanted it My trainer's name is Sister Lyons! She's so
patient with me. It's been a pretty hard week, not gonna lie. There are so so
many rules! Our mission is pretty strict cause there's been a history of
disobedience with missionaries here in Wisconsin I guess? So yeah. Bleh but I'm
so blessed to be out here! I've already seen so many miracles! Sister Lyons
keeps telling me that since I got here people have been opening up a lot more!
I've already kinda adopted a little accent. Not even joking. She makes fun of
me all the time. There's this place called Culver's here! It's like In N
Out..but it's actually good! Apparently you aren't really living if you haven't
eaten at Culvers. It's a huge thing here.. They grill the patties in butter.
Clogged arteries aren't really my thing so I felt like I was gonna die when I
finally ate it! It was SO GOOD though. They also serve fried cheese curds.
FRIED. CHEESE. CURDS. We're going to a dairy in about an hour so I can actually
eat some real cheese. I'm so excited. Well the interesting thing about this
mission is that we as missionaries tract and everything, but really a huge
focus is on the less actives. There are 300 people in our ward, and only around
100 show up every week. The sad thing is that the ward even covers a huge area!
It contains Manitowoc, Two Rivers, and another town. These aren't small towns.
And there are only 300 people in the ward? Some work definitely needs to be
done! Like some of the Elders said in the MTC, "Some of these people just
need a spirit sparta kick to the face!" A sister was telling me, the three
main religions here are Catholic, Lutheran, and Green Bay Packer. People won't
answer their doors on game days apparently. That's what I've been told. They'll
scream at you and throw beer cans at you. That's another thing. A lot of people
here struggle so much with smoking and alcohol. Our apartment smells like
smoke. It's everywhere. but in all honesty, everyone here is so nice. Even when
they tell you to go away, it doesn't sound mean. We go and serve at this place
called Peter's Pantry. All the local grocery stores give up their stuff that
has gone past it's "sell by date" to Peter's Pantry, and then we give
all of that stuff to people who can't afford food. It's incredible. The people
here are incredibly poor, but so loving. It gives you a lot of perspective. We
got a referral from a missionary who used to serve in this area, and we went
and visited the referred family, and holy moses. They are incredible! The
Martinez family! They haven't been visited by the missionaries for 8 months.
Ugh. Apparently they didn't really get any warning, The sisters just kinda
stopped showing up. That was pretty frustrating to hear. That kinda goes along
with the whole disobedience thing I mentioned earlier. Sister Lyons and I kinda
have to clean up the mess that the previous sisters have left. It was a true
blessing to find them though. The boyfriend speaks Spanish, and doesn't really
speak very much English so he didn't really stick around for the discussion.
We're hoping to bring in a member who speaks Spanish so that he can come and
listen and understand with his family. We're going to meet with that family
regularly now though. :) It was really just a blessing that they were so
willing to have us come over! Yesterday we got one of our investigators named
Xavier to come to church for the first time! He's this big black guy who is
kinda hesitant about the church, but he had a good experience. :) He didn't
want to take the sacrament, but when they passed around the water cups he
turned to me and was like, "They serve mini water shots?" xD hahaha I
thought you would think that was funny. We went
and sang some hymns for a lady named Helen in the nursing home down the street
on Sunday. She's 87! Oh but she's the sweetest. We sang All Creatures of our
God and King for her, and she told us that when she stands before her maker,
that she is going to ask him if he remembers when we sang that to her. We're working
very hard to make sure that all of these people feel loved, but it all really
comes down to making sure that they can develop the faith that is necessary to
have strength in this life. It can get pretty discouraging, but we have seen
many miracles this week, and we know that there are more to come! Oh I love you
guys. I pray for you every night. I miss you so much, but I'm so blessed and
grateful to be doing this work. My love for you guys, and the opportunity I
have to live with all of you forever because of you and Dad and your
faithfulness to the Lord and his gospel is what fuels me in wanting to help
these people find that same joy through their own faithfulness.
I was reading this scripture earlier this week
and I thought I'd share :) Luke 22: 50-51 This part of scripture may seem so
insignificant when you're reading about the Atonement, but it's so special. The
Savior had just atoned for all of our sins, and these people come to take him
away to his death. One of the guards who comes to take him gets his ear cut
off. Immediately, the Savior reaches out to him and heals him. Because he knew
exactly what that man felt. He took the time to heal him. Because he cared
about him. Applying that to us, he knows exactly what we go through. He loves
us perfectly, and will never forget us. How incredible is that?! Love you so much! Hurrah for Israel!
-Sister Peterson
