Ghost Peppers and The Plan of Salvation

August 24th

This week has been too awesome! Last Monday, we went with the Elders over to this recent convert's house for dinner. His name is Dustin. Dustin is an adrenaline junkie. He makes all of the Elders who are serving in the ward try his super spicy food. He's been getting them to work towards eating a dish he makes with ghost peppers. This last monday, he made a rice dish with 12 habanero peppers in it!! I could only take a couple of bites. It was too spicy. Elder Christensen and Elder Benson had like..two plates. He ordered all three of them carolina reaper peppers. If they get there today, they might be doing it today..he offered to order me one and I had to turn the offer down. Psh. I'm not that brave are you kidding me?  We've had the opportunity to teach the Plan of Salvation a lot with people this week. It's been an incredible experience, especially in telling people that God loves them, and that the Savior died for them..and lives for them now. :) We had a pretty powerful lesson with Steve this past week. He came to church for 2 minutes a couple of weeks ago, and then just left! So we set another appointment with him, and we talked with him about it. He really opened up, and got very emotional as we talked about the plan of Salvation with him. The spirit was so strong, and it was really cool to see him feel it just as much as we were. :) We taught Xavier the plan of salvation as well, and he really liked learning about it! He told us he's afraid to believe that what we're saying is true, because he feels so good about it all. It's incredible to watch him progress as he keeps seeking after truth. :) We had a super powerful lesson with a less active named Nicole. We were able to finally bring a member to our lesson with her, and Nicole opened up a lot. She struggles because her husband is very adamantly atheist, and doesn't support her at all in her endeavors to teach her children about God. She was baptized a couple of years ago, but kind of got stuck on certain points in doctrine, and fell away. But she committed to coming to church this week, and she came!! For the first time in two years!! :) It was so incredible. We said goodbye to Elder Kirk this past week. He was serving out in Chilton, but went home a couple of weeks early so he could start school. So Elder Sanders came up and is now in a trio with Elder Benson and Elder Christensen. They have to drive down to Chilton for church every Sunday now, and it's really weird not having them be at church every week. I don't like it. Mostly just cause we're the only ones teaching Gospel Principles every week. But. That's alright :) The Martinez family finally moved into their new house! We helped them get some of their stuff out of their trailer, and then the next day we came over again so the Elders could give Jenni a blessing. It was so powerful. Elder Christensen was the one who gave the blessing, and in it he told her that if she endured, and applied the principles of the gospel in her home, that eventually her family would be sealed. It was so powerful. Agh I love that family so much. Isabel gave me a hug when we were leaving on Saturday, and she wouldn't let me go :) She started to cry a little bit, and said "Don't leave me Sister Peterson" Psh I'll always be around. I dunno what she's worried about. :)  Yesterday we had the awesome opportunity to go and see Nina. She's a woman who struggles with MS, and doesn't really leave her apartment much. Yesterday we went and sang for her, and she told us she wants us to sing at her funeral. It was the sweetest and the saddest thing ever! :P ha It has definitely been a week of miracles. I love Manitowoc so much. I can't imagine my life without all of these people. I just love them so much. I finally finished the Book of Mormon this past week! It was quite the feat. But I'm really happy I finally did it. :) There was a verse in 3 Nephi that really stuck out to me though, and I wanted to share it. :) It's 3 Nephi 15:9. "Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live..." Powerful :) I hope you're all having a great week! Hurrah for Israel!

-Sister Peterson

August 31

This week has been the best :) seriously. That's mostly cause we got to spend a ton of time with the Martinez family :) THEY CAME TO CHURCH!! :D The Martinez's have been taught by the missionaries for 5 years, and they hadn't been to church once as a family...until yesterday.  It was so awesome. Giovanni was sad after church was over. We went over to their house afterwards, and he kept asking his mom when they were going to go to church again :) We went over for dinner that night and the Elders came. :) Sister Lyons is most likely going to be transferred to a different area next week, so she's started saying goodbye to everyone. She was talking about it last night, and Jaime started to cry. He doesn't want her to leave :( It was really sad. They're all going to miss Elder Christensen so much as well. He loves those kids. His mom sent him dinosaur toys last week to give to them :) Basically the most adorable thing ever. When we were leaving their house last night, Isabel gave me a big hug and wouldn't let me go. She looked up at me and said, "Sister Peterson, I wish you were my sister so you wouldn't have to leave me." :( AWWW. I love that family too much. Jenni was saying that eventually they want to take a trip out to Utah...I sure hope so! Then maybe that will help me to convince them to eventually move out west? ;)  That'd be awesome. We were able to help our investigator Erica clean out her apartment this week. She's moving to Two Rivers, and she definitely needed a lot of help cleaning. She smokes, and she has two cats and a dog..so the place was kind of a mess,  but she was so grateful we were able to come over and help her. We love spending time with her, she's just the biggest sweetheart. :) It was really cool this week, because we were working in the Family History Center, and I was going through Grandma Mills' line, and one name kind of stood out to me, so I clicked on it, and a picture came up that I totally had just seen in the Ensign! Wealtha Bradford Hatch is her name. :) There is a story about her and her baptism in the Ensign.  It was awesome. :) I was reading through my scriptures, and this one really stuck out this week. Alma 26:36 :) I love this scripture. I especially love the part where it says "blessed be the name of my God." One thing that I've noticed as I've been teaching, is that when we tell people the Lord loves them and that he is their father in heaven, it's new information. Crazy! The Lord has so much love for them. That's why we teach people, we want them to know that the Lord loves them, and that he has a plan for them and for their lives so that they can achieve eternal happiness. :) Yeah so missionary work is pretty cool. :)  I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

-Sister Peterson :) 

Sister Lyons and Sister Peterson

More letters from Hannah

July 20th

I didn't get much time to write this week so this will be short :/ We have had lots of changesl lately. Change is super scary sometimes and meeting new people can be even scarier, but its worth it.  I cannot imagine not having met all of the people that I have had the opportunity to meet while I've been out here.  We have seen so many miracles. We've mostly just met with less actives and members this week, but we were able to pick up a couple of new investigators this week as well! We were going to contact some less actives who didn't end up being home, and we met this woman named Erica. She said she's been experiencing this "hunger for truth" and I started to talk to her about the Book of Mormon and stuff, and she immediately asked me for a copy! She has a strong belief in Jesus Christ, and a deep understanding of the Atonement. We are super excited to start working with her. :) The tornado sirens went off this week so that was pretty intense! It didn't end up really being anything super concerning, but we don't have access to radio or internet or anything, so we just played it safe and sat in the bathroom for about a half hour. The storms here have been super crazy lately! A member had us and the elders come over and fence yesterday (which was pretty sweet) and we were walking back out to the car, and it wasn't raining too bad right? Well I had to back my companion, and as soon as she shut the door on her side, the clouds burst open, and the wind blew this torrent of rain into me! The member was standing on the doorstep of the apartment complex just laughing at me haha. Oh goodness. It was pretty awesome. Elder Folker (our district leader) is leaving next week! :( We had our last district meeting with him today, and he cried quite a bit. Then his camera broke! Poor Elder Folker was not having a very good day. So you know how I'm super prone to spilling on myself? As a present before he leaves, he got me a bib hahaha it was so funny. We've had a lot of very spiritual discussions this week. One thing we found ourselves explaining a lot this week is that we shouldn't suppose that God willfully causes that for which his own purposes he permits. A lot of the people we've met with have been going through divorce, estrangement from children, sickness, and many many more things that I cannot begin to understand. But the powerful thing that we know as members of the true church is that the Savior does. He understands each of us. He loves us all so much. It is such a blessing to know that we have a brother who loved us enough to atone for our sins and to die for us. How incredible. Alma 26:16 is the verse I wanted to share this week. I really like what it says at the end. "I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." There are no words to describe the love I have for my Savior. As we strive to follow his example, we are truly blessed. Love you all. Miss you so much. 

Hurrah for Israel!

-Sister Peterson

July 27th

Heyy!

Another amazing and crazy week :) We're saying goodbye to our district leader Elder Folker on Wednesday, so that's super sad. He's totally ready to go home though. :) we just got back from our last district activity with him and Elder Baldwin (who's being transferred to Green Bay this week), and we went out to the pier and ate pizza and stuff :) I took awesome pictures of it, I just need to figure out how to send them! We've had a pretty full schedule this week! It's been crazy. Mark (the Two Rivers Elders investigator) got baptized this week! Sister Lyons and I had to sing for it. It was pretty scary. I know I keep saying this but we have had lots of miracles this week! There was a stake picnic up in Green Bay that we were able to attend. We got to see a lot of the Elders and Sisters in our Zone, so that was fun. We invited this investigator named Steve, and we were kinda sad cause he didn't come, and as we were getting in the car to leave, he showed up! luckily they still had food left out, and he was able to meet some of the members of our ward! So that was awesome. :) Our investigator Xavier has slowly been learning to trust us as well which has been a definite miracle. He doesn't really trust anyone outside of his family, but he told us that he's starting to trust us as he's being taught by us. :) He also got us big containers of ice cream as presents this week! :D So he's basically the best. Well. I'm not exactly sure what to report on as I write this email today. It's been a pretty emotionally as well as physically exhausting week. But it's been great. I'm so grateful to be out here serving. Here's a good spiritual thought for the week :) Mosiah 2: 20-22. The Lord loves us and blesses us immensely. I know he is mindful of us. I know he is aware of us and the struggles that we endure and the trials that we face. I'm so grateful to be serving him, and to be serving as a representative of my Savior and Redeemer. I love you all, and I hope you've had a great week :) 

-Sister Peterson

Hurrah for Israel :) 

Aug 3rd

I'm doing pretty good. :)  I've loved being out here. It's so weird how much my thoughts are constantly centered around the people we've been meeting with. We actually have a really wide teaching pool! It's been pretty awesome. :) We've decided to have the Martinez family work towards baptism together, and we want to bring in the Elders for a good sit down family home evening lesson with them. We've been helping them move into a house in a different area of Manitowoc, so we figure that once they get a little more settled, then we can do that. :) Those kids are sooo adorable. We were leaving, and all of the kids were like, "Sister Peterson we're going to miss you! Come back tomorrow!" :) haha I love that family. :) We had a very powerful lesson with Xavier this week about faith, and you could tell that he could feel the spirit. That night though, he texted us and said he wasn't sure if he was going to make it to church because he didn't believe enough. So we stopped by his house the next day, and you could tell he fully intended to drop us. But..by the end of the discussion..he committed to coming to church? xD haha and he actually did end up coming! He's just scared to make the commitment. He doesn't really want to believe that God is real. But he does. We're excited for him to keep progressing, and I'm so super happy that we can keep working with him. There were A LOT of people at church this week. It was so awesome. :) We finally met our new district leader this week! His name is Elder Christenson. He's from Washington. You can tell he's super overwhelmed, and feels kind of out of place, but we already know that he's gonna be a great district leader :) Yep this has been an awesome week. :)Here's a good scripture that stood out to me this week :) Alma 17: 11. We as missionaries have to exercise a LOT of patience with the people we talk with. Most of them are super stubborn, and don't want to change. But as we show forth good examples, and stand as representatives of Jesus Christ, we are better able to help them understand the significance of the message we share, and the love and support that the gospel can provide :) Love you all!  Hurrah for Israel!

-Sister Peterson :) 

Aug 10th

This week was pretty super awesome. We were able to contact a lot of less actives, and we saw every single one of our investigators this week so that was great. :) We have a lot of investigators that we've been teaching, and a lot of less actives we've been scheduled to meet with, so sometimes we don't get to see everyone in one week! But we did this week. So that was awesome :) We were super blessed to see the Martinez family this week! We brought the Elders over, and Brother Kleiber from the ward so we could help them work on their house! It needs..a lot..of work. It's super old, and the people who owned it before kind of trashed it! We got a lot done. We girls sat upstairs and painted while all the guys went downstairs and ripped up carpets and stuff. So. That was cool. :) We were able to sit down afterwards and have an amazing discussion with them. We were able to help them figure out different goals for their family to work towards. It was good, because now they're all going to be working on being baptized as a family, and eventually sealed. :) It was an awesome discussion and I got super emotional. It was pretty embarrassing. We got one of our investigators, Steve to come to church this past Sunday! For like..two minutes. Then he left! We got a text from him later, saying that too many thoughts ran through his head, and that he doesn't really think he wants to go to church anytime soon. We were super confused! We couldn't stop by his house yesterday to talk to him, so we're hoping we'll be able to stop by sometime this week and address his concerns.  So I'm almost done with my training!!! YESS!!! I hope I'll stay in Manitowoc for as long as possible. I love these people too much. :) I don't want to leave. Yep so I hope things have been going great, I'm so grateful for the updates. :) Here's a scripture that specifically caught my attention as I studied this week. :) Alma 23:14. In this section of scripture, they're talking about how many people among the Lamanites were converted, and it says "And the Amalekites were not converted, save only one..." This one person was the only one to be converted out of all of the Amalekites! Wouldn't that be insane? Being the only member of the church in your community. But how worth it! The church is so worth it. It's interesting talking with people about the gospel, because a lot of the people we talk with take converting as being some sort of sacrifice or huge burden they would be taking on. When really..the gospel is on the Earth to help us and to strengthen us. The Savior's Atonement is all encompassing, and his love is eternal :) Yep. I love you guys! I hope you have an awesome week :)

-Sister Peterson :)

Hurrah for Israel!! :)