Date
July 19, 2016
Area
Cedar Rapids, IA
Companion
Sister Courtney Williams
13 MONTHS
Hey everyone!
Holy cow! Has it really been another week already?? Crazzzzyyyyyy!
This week has been good! Lots of crazy out of the ordinary things have been happening, so I should have a few more things to say than usual!(; Also, I've decided that I'm going to start writing my family emails at the BEGINNING of the email time instead of right at the end! Man, you'd think I'd be able to stop procrastinating at this point! Oh well...Also, I've decided that my emails have been FAILING so hard recently! You guys deserve more from me!
So this week was different then normal because my companion had to go to the departing temple trip for missionaries that are finishing their missions. Obviously I am not one of those missionaries just yet, so I needed a babysitter for the day! (This was on Tuesday). So I spent the day in Iowa City with 2 other sisters. It was cool because the area I got to work in with these sisters is an all Spanish speaking area, meaning that these sisters only teach Hispanic people. Obviously, I am not a Spanish speaker, so I basically I just sat there with a dumb look on my face the whole time. I tried REALLY hard to speak Spanish with them though, and I made a fool out of myself more than usual, but it was fun and if anything, the people we talked to got a good kick out of the silly white girl, missionary trying to speak Spanish! Side note: I also chipped my front tooth on Tuesday at dinner...on a fork! Don't worry mom, it's not that bad. But I was pretty upset about it. I still look like a normal human though.
TENDER MERCY ALERT:I also got to stay the night with these sisters and they live with this like 80 year old lady in the ward and she has one of THE FATTEST CATS IVE EVER SEEN. So obviously I went bizzerk and like took this cat under my wing and just totally kept it by my side at all times the whole time I was there. The cat even slept at the foot of my bed just like my kitty back home used to and I just felt like I was back home and it was great and a total tender mercy. Judge me because I'm a cat lady. See if I care.
This week we had a few different experiences in which a few different individuals decided they knew more about our church than we did and wanted to tell us that. So we spent the week defending our faith, but every time this happens, I'm confident that The Lord just wants to strengthen our testimonies a lot, because he puts them in the refiners fire! I'm grateful though because every time we leave a situation in which someone is mean to us, I ALWAYS feel a lot of peace and a knowing that what we're doing is right and true. My testimony grows because I know that a leader in our church would NEVER put anybody in a different religion down, and we as missionaries NEVER put anybody in a different religion down because that's not what Jesus Christ would do. I am in no means saying that members of the church are perfect, but we strive to love everyone and support them in their faith and belief regardless of whether or not it differs from ours!
We also taught some REALLY cool peeps this week! We started teaching this couple, and they are so funny! The husband looks like Uncle Si from duck dynasty if that gives any clue as to what we're dealing with here. They have a giant confederate flag on the one side of their home and he is always wearing his confederate baseball hat! It's awesome! We started teaching his wife Jenny first because she told us that he was Catholic and he probably wouldn't be interested. As we were teaching though, he kept standing around pretending he was doing something near us, but we knew he was listening! When we invited them to be baptized, she said she would do it, but that Kevin probably wouldn't and he finally piped in and said that it was something that he actually would be really open to! They are going to come to church this Sunday and I'm so excited for them! Also we have the cutest lady we're teaching, Heather with pink hair. I love her. She is wonderful and prayed for the first time ever with us last week and she was absolutely TERRIFIED. But we helped her say a prayer and it just showed me how important it is because Satan worked so hard to make her too afraid to do it! We should never, never be afraid though! God LOVES us! He wants to hear from us, and he is overjoyed when He does! I know that with everything in me!
Missionary work is awesome because you get to help people understand just how loved they truly are, and when people realize that, it changes them forever. How often do we truly remember who we really are and how much love our Father in Heaven has for us? I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week!
Love always,
Sister Peterson
P.S. Yes, I hit 13 months yesterday.....WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!?!