Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Bonus Pictures!!!
From Genevieve: I grabbed these cute photos from another mom's post in our Salem, Oregon Parents Group on Facebook. They are older, from the MTC.
September 25, 2017: First Week in Oregon!!!!
Hello everyone! I finally made it! I'm in Oregon, more specifically Albany (ALL-bany if you say AL-bany they will shun you) Oregon.
Ok from the beginning... We got up at 3 at the MTC took the MTC shuttle to the train, from the train to the TRAX and from the TRAX to the airport. There were lots of nice strangers even in the early hours of the morning helping us along the way. One man at the airport even let me borrow his phone to call home because there were so many missionaries in our group that all the pay phones were full. The airplane was actually really fun and exciting. I took a video of coming through the clouds and our decent into Oregon, my first glimpse! (I'll send the video). Once in Oregon it was so weird to see how people actually do stare at your name tag. Its so different from the Salt Lake Airport where everyone immediately knows what it means.
We met President and Sister Tataoka at the airport. They are so sweet. Sister Tataoka is defiantly the one in charge, and President Tataoka loves to laugh at his own jokes, it's great.
Once we got outside I could feel the different in the air immediately, it's just like the air in California I can feel the moisture and breath better and my skin is super soft. I love the air! (except for the weird steamed broccoli smell in the morning that no one can explain.)
I have to just quickly sum up some things because I'm running out of time (its been a long P-day) ok...
The Mission home was FREEZING!! (Sister Tataoka says it keeps her more alert and helps her be more productive, It makes me want to curl up in a blanket and go to sleep, which we got to do. I took a 3 hour nap at the mission home. All the sisters slept downstairs on the floor.)
I met my trainer the next day. Her name is Sister Quinton, she has been out for 9 months, she is from Farmington Utah (so we are neighbors). She is very sweet and we were both thrown into this area together. Its what you call a "pink wash" (white wash for elders pink wash for sisters) when they take out the whole old companionship and start fresh.
So we have been spending the week getting to know the area. Thankfully we have a car! We are actually in a car share with the other sisters (Sister Call and Sister Lindalle) in Albany but they are letting us use it the first couple weeks, which is such a blessing.
We have been spending our time meeting our ward (which is so amazing!) We've met with so many kind and missionary minded members its crazy! I did not think there would be this many people willing and excited to have missionaries in the ward. The ward is Takena ward, just so you know. Everyone around here, and through the whole mission knows that it is the best ward.
The first night we got a call from a family in the ward who said they have a friend who they have been helping learn the gospel and read the book for mormon with but they want the missionaries help. So we have our first investigator!! Her name is Amanda and she is 18 years old. We taught her the restoration on Friday and she came to church on sunday. She is just really amazing and has really taken off. There were so many times in the lessons at church where she commented and Sister Quinton and I would just look at each other and go "She should be teaching us!" But she has lots of mental health problems and we have to be careful with that. She is great though.
We have also street contacted a couple people and I've just been so impressed by how easily Sister Quinton can guide the conversation into talking about the gospel. Its crazy! I hope I'll be able to do it that easily one day.
But it defiantly hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine (though it has been pretty strangely sunny around here...) There have been quite a few moments where I just thought nope, I'm going home, What was I thinking I can't do this! But God has helped me through. I have never prayed so often and so sincerely in my entire life! I have never read so diligently from the scriptures truly searching for answers and guidance. And I have found it. I have found daily peace and patience, and answers to deeper questions that have troubled me. I know that I have so long to go before I'm even remotely going to get the hang of things but I know that I'll never get there alone. Always rely on the Savior! Let him support you and lift you out of yourself and into the service of others, because that is where true relief is found.
I'll quickly tell you about my apartment (because everyone wants to know about that...) Its ok... the elders were the last to live in it so its pretty shabby but we are slowly fixing it up, we bought some cheep decor today so thats good.
My emails will be more detailed next week (hopefully we will have more time) but for now know that I love you and God loves you and that is all that matters!
Oh if you didn't have a chance to listen to the women's broadcast watch it! so great!
Love you all! BYE!
-Sister Peterson
(Not sure what order these are in but they are on the shuttle, plane, with the Tataokas, with sister Quinton, with the other sisters and just some pics of Oregon. don't have any of the apartment though sorry. The video is our my first glimpse of Oregon.)
***Editor's note: from Genevieve - I didn't include the Tateoka's pictures because they are in the previous post. Also, I will "definitely" tell Anna how to spell that word, so she won't write so "defiantly" anymore. 😉
Ok from the beginning... We got up at 3 at the MTC took the MTC shuttle to the train, from the train to the TRAX and from the TRAX to the airport. There were lots of nice strangers even in the early hours of the morning helping us along the way. One man at the airport even let me borrow his phone to call home because there were so many missionaries in our group that all the pay phones were full. The airplane was actually really fun and exciting. I took a video of coming through the clouds and our decent into Oregon, my first glimpse! (I'll send the video). Once in Oregon it was so weird to see how people actually do stare at your name tag. Its so different from the Salt Lake Airport where everyone immediately knows what it means.
We met President and Sister Tataoka at the airport. They are so sweet. Sister Tataoka is defiantly the one in charge, and President Tataoka loves to laugh at his own jokes, it's great.
Once we got outside I could feel the different in the air immediately, it's just like the air in California I can feel the moisture and breath better and my skin is super soft. I love the air! (except for the weird steamed broccoli smell in the morning that no one can explain.)
I have to just quickly sum up some things because I'm running out of time (its been a long P-day) ok...
The Mission home was FREEZING!! (Sister Tataoka says it keeps her more alert and helps her be more productive, It makes me want to curl up in a blanket and go to sleep, which we got to do. I took a 3 hour nap at the mission home. All the sisters slept downstairs on the floor.)
I met my trainer the next day. Her name is Sister Quinton, she has been out for 9 months, she is from Farmington Utah (so we are neighbors). She is very sweet and we were both thrown into this area together. Its what you call a "pink wash" (white wash for elders pink wash for sisters) when they take out the whole old companionship and start fresh.
So we have been spending the week getting to know the area. Thankfully we have a car! We are actually in a car share with the other sisters (Sister Call and Sister Lindalle) in Albany but they are letting us use it the first couple weeks, which is such a blessing.
We have been spending our time meeting our ward (which is so amazing!) We've met with so many kind and missionary minded members its crazy! I did not think there would be this many people willing and excited to have missionaries in the ward. The ward is Takena ward, just so you know. Everyone around here, and through the whole mission knows that it is the best ward.
The first night we got a call from a family in the ward who said they have a friend who they have been helping learn the gospel and read the book for mormon with but they want the missionaries help. So we have our first investigator!! Her name is Amanda and she is 18 years old. We taught her the restoration on Friday and she came to church on sunday. She is just really amazing and has really taken off. There were so many times in the lessons at church where she commented and Sister Quinton and I would just look at each other and go "She should be teaching us!" But she has lots of mental health problems and we have to be careful with that. She is great though.
We have also street contacted a couple people and I've just been so impressed by how easily Sister Quinton can guide the conversation into talking about the gospel. Its crazy! I hope I'll be able to do it that easily one day.
But it defiantly hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine (though it has been pretty strangely sunny around here...) There have been quite a few moments where I just thought nope, I'm going home, What was I thinking I can't do this! But God has helped me through. I have never prayed so often and so sincerely in my entire life! I have never read so diligently from the scriptures truly searching for answers and guidance. And I have found it. I have found daily peace and patience, and answers to deeper questions that have troubled me. I know that I have so long to go before I'm even remotely going to get the hang of things but I know that I'll never get there alone. Always rely on the Savior! Let him support you and lift you out of yourself and into the service of others, because that is where true relief is found.
I'll quickly tell you about my apartment (because everyone wants to know about that...) Its ok... the elders were the last to live in it so its pretty shabby but we are slowly fixing it up, we bought some cheep decor today so thats good.
My emails will be more detailed next week (hopefully we will have more time) but for now know that I love you and God loves you and that is all that matters!
Oh if you didn't have a chance to listen to the women's broadcast watch it! so great!
Love you all! BYE!
-Sister Peterson
(Not sure what order these are in but they are on the shuttle, plane, with the Tataokas, with sister Quinton, with the other sisters and just some pics of Oregon. don't have any of the apartment though sorry. The video is our my first glimpse of Oregon.)
***Editor's note: from Genevieve - I didn't include the Tateoka's pictures because they are in the previous post. Also, I will "definitely" tell Anna how to spell that word, so she won't write so "defiantly" anymore. 😉
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
September 20, 2017 Flying to Oregon
From Genevieve: I had a special treat this morning and got to talk to Anna from the airport! She and her companion tried to use the pay phones but they were busy with many other missionaries. A kind stranger offered his cell phone to them instead. It was wonderful to hear her sweet voice again. After I said hello, she was quiet and started to cry. "Are you ok?" I asked. "Yes," she said, "I just didn't expect to get so emotional when I heard your voice." That made my mommy heart happy - I know she's grown so much over the past three weeks, but I'm glad she still loves her mama.
I tracked her flight on Delta to make sure it took off and and landed safely. Later in the day, we received an email from her mission president:
Dear Brother & Sister Peterson,
Sister Tateoka and I were so pleased to greet your missionary! Attached you will find a photo of your newly arrived missionary. We thank you once again for sending your missionary to us. We will take good care of them and know the sacred trust you place in ourselves and in the Lord.
Kind Regards,
Oregon Salem Mission
Friday, September 15, 2017
MTC Week 3! Almost there!!
I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. This is my last p-day at the MTC! My next letter will be coming to you from Oregon!!
The theme for this week would have to be "the refiners fire". I tweked my neck last friday and couldn't even look left without feeling a lot of pain, that lasted a couple of days but its better now. On wednesdy I started getting sick, I caught the imfamous "MTC" cold that's just constantly going around. So my head feels like a bowling ball, i'm sneezing and snifilling and coughing every few minutes but I'm still going to all the classes and activities, and I think i'm getting better slowly
On top of being sick we also got a new teacher. His name is brother Jolley (holy jolly christmas was stuck in my head the first day we met him.) but sadly he doesn't live up to his name. He is a very take no crap, my why or the high way, tell you exactly what I think, kind of teacher. Its not bad, its just very different from our other teachers who have been super gentle, go with the flow, talk about feelings, "everyone close your eyes and on a scale of 1-10 tell me how comfortable you are with this" type teaching. Like I said, refiners fire.
Again, choir was amazing. We preformed Nearer My God To Thee for the devotional. So before choir practice and the devotional the rumor that elder Holland was going to be the speaker was being spread around. Sister Unferdorfer and Sister Hill were so excited, I tried not to get my hopes up but during choir practice we found out that the arrangement we were singing was made just for elder Holland so we were all pretty much convinced that he was coming. Sadly it wasn't Holland, but it was a member of the presidency of the seventy Elder Kearon. He was a great speaker and had an amazing brittish accent so that was good.
We had new TRC's this week and one of them never showed up to any of the appointments so really we just had one TRC this week. Her name was Daryl. Yes HER name was Daryl. So all we get to know about these people is their name and we were so sure before we went it that Daryl would be a boy, it was quite a shock. She was pretty obviously a byu returned missionary mormon girl. But she as an investigator didn't know anything about religion or God. It is so hard to teach people with no religious background. But we did get her to pray with us by the last lesson so we are considering that an accomplishment.
We also had "in-field orientation" this week which was kind of disappointing actually. We basically went over planning, finding people, and including members. Which we have already talked about a lot. The only fun part was in including members when they put on a "Play" it was really cheesy, had no conflict whatsoever but it was also fun to take a break and just watch a "play". NO ONE ELSE IN MY DISTRICT HAS EVER REALLY SEEN A PLAY (except for one elder who knows some, his favorite song from Hamilton is say no to this... so ya.)
Ok I've realized that I haven't really told you much about my companion and the other sisters...
so Sister Unferdorfer is my companion. She is from Fairview Utah? I think. She is coming to Salem with me. She has been working as an athletics trainer at snow college the past year since graduating. She comes from a big family, and is very money conscious. We will go to the bookstore and she won't buy a book she needs because its 5 dollars. thought sister Johnson has been loosening her up and gotten her addicted to buying pens.
Sister Hill was the other sister in our companionship but because Sister Johnson's companion never showed up they split us into two. Sister Hill is from Orem, she says she can see her house from the top floor of the new building. She is going to the Portland Temple Visitors Center, so she has to stay an extra week to have special vistors center training. We're all sad to have to leave her here alone, she is the only one going through the training that week so she will be a solo missionary for a while.
Sister Johnson is from Mesa Arizona, she is also coming to Salem. Sister Johnson is a sarcastic, movie quoting, star wars/harry potter nerd.
I should also probably mention the Elders in our district. Ok so there are four elders coming to Salem with us; Elder Heaton (the most talkative.) and Elder Dehart (from Texas, loves chocolate milk.), Elder Dunn (he is very quiet but knows everything and always has the best insights) and Elder Spencer (hes from the country and killed a cow with a rock once...) Then there are five others who are going to Alaska. Elder Lot (he's a lot... best way to describe him.) and Elder Hedges (also very quiet), Then there is the trio (because one of their companions had to go home.) Elder Poulan (our district leader, the Hamilton guy, very good at art always doodling on the whiteboard), Elder Bell (quiet, but always has a smirk on his face) and Elder Yearsly (from the south and can't stand the cafeteria food because it has no flavor.)
Lets see.... Its been kind of rainy the past week (just preparing us for Oregon). I got to sleep in until 9 this morning instead of going to the Temple because I was feeling horrible, but that extra sleep really helped me. The showers didn't have hot water for a couple of days so when it finally came back on there were shouts of joy (including from me) Then everyone started harmonizing and singing the parts to a childs prayer in the shower. It was great. We have been having a debate about what scones are within our district. Those from out side of Utah think its baked like a biscuit. But those from Utah know it's fried. Right? Its hard not having google to settle debates.
Ok spiritual experience of the week. The thought thats really been sticking out to me this week is that Heavenly Father loves to give us gifts, and he misses us. Think about it, everything we have has been given to us from God. He gives us prayer so we can talk to him. He give us family so we don't have to be alone and so we can remember what it was like to be with him in heaven. He gives us prophets and scriptures so he can talk to us and guide us through this crazy life, he gives us all the good qualities that we can learn how to develop, faith, hope, love, charity, joy, everything good comes from God. I think sometimes we take for granted how much God has given us, how would you like to never be thanked for a gift you gave someone, and they never even acknowledge that the gift came from you? I know I wouldn't be very happy, but no matter how ungreatful we are God will never stop trying to give us blessings.
I've been thinking recently about how my dad acted the couple of days before I left. He wanted to give me so much advice that I could hardly take it all in. Of-course I was overwhelmed with the fact I was leaving, but I didn't really think that maybe he was overwhelmed as well with the worry that he wouldn't be able to tell me all the things he needed to. I imagine this is what it was like before we came to earth. I imagine Heavenly Father pulled us aside and tried to give us advice even though he knew we wouldn't remember it all. He must have told us that it would be hard, but that it would be worth it, and that he is only a prayer away if we need to talk. I love my father :) and my Heavenly Father! I'm so greatful for both of them.
I love this scripture because I can feel already that it is going to be so relevant in the mission field. Its Alma 26:27
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said; Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will GIVE unto you success."
When we are feeling down, or just not having the best day remember that you have a Heavenly Father who wants to send you gifts to help you, and all you have to do it be willing to hold out your hand.
Love you all! Have a wonderful week! See you in the mission field!!
-Sister Anna Peterson :)
Doing laundry last P-day
Going off campus to take Sister Unferdorfer to the eye doctor. It was weird leaving the bubble of the MTC but really the only people we saw was the eye doctor and some other MTC missionaries.
It rained last P-day which made us super excited for Oregon! plus we all love the rain :)
Some pics of our daily planning as a district... (and just the beautiful new buildings...)
a beautiful sunset from our building
and me and the other sisters emailing right now!
The theme for this week would have to be "the refiners fire". I tweked my neck last friday and couldn't even look left without feeling a lot of pain, that lasted a couple of days but its better now. On wednesdy I started getting sick, I caught the imfamous "MTC" cold that's just constantly going around. So my head feels like a bowling ball, i'm sneezing and snifilling and coughing every few minutes but I'm still going to all the classes and activities, and I think i'm getting better slowly
On top of being sick we also got a new teacher. His name is brother Jolley (holy jolly christmas was stuck in my head the first day we met him.) but sadly he doesn't live up to his name. He is a very take no crap, my why or the high way, tell you exactly what I think, kind of teacher. Its not bad, its just very different from our other teachers who have been super gentle, go with the flow, talk about feelings, "everyone close your eyes and on a scale of 1-10 tell me how comfortable you are with this" type teaching. Like I said, refiners fire.
Again, choir was amazing. We preformed Nearer My God To Thee for the devotional. So before choir practice and the devotional the rumor that elder Holland was going to be the speaker was being spread around. Sister Unferdorfer and Sister Hill were so excited, I tried not to get my hopes up but during choir practice we found out that the arrangement we were singing was made just for elder Holland so we were all pretty much convinced that he was coming. Sadly it wasn't Holland, but it was a member of the presidency of the seventy Elder Kearon. He was a great speaker and had an amazing brittish accent so that was good.
We had new TRC's this week and one of them never showed up to any of the appointments so really we just had one TRC this week. Her name was Daryl. Yes HER name was Daryl. So all we get to know about these people is their name and we were so sure before we went it that Daryl would be a boy, it was quite a shock. She was pretty obviously a byu returned missionary mormon girl. But she as an investigator didn't know anything about religion or God. It is so hard to teach people with no religious background. But we did get her to pray with us by the last lesson so we are considering that an accomplishment.
We also had "in-field orientation" this week which was kind of disappointing actually. We basically went over planning, finding people, and including members. Which we have already talked about a lot. The only fun part was in including members when they put on a "Play" it was really cheesy, had no conflict whatsoever but it was also fun to take a break and just watch a "play". NO ONE ELSE IN MY DISTRICT HAS EVER REALLY SEEN A PLAY (except for one elder who knows some, his favorite song from Hamilton is say no to this... so ya.)
Ok I've realized that I haven't really told you much about my companion and the other sisters...
so Sister Unferdorfer is my companion. She is from Fairview Utah? I think. She is coming to Salem with me. She has been working as an athletics trainer at snow college the past year since graduating. She comes from a big family, and is very money conscious. We will go to the bookstore and she won't buy a book she needs because its 5 dollars. thought sister Johnson has been loosening her up and gotten her addicted to buying pens.
Sister Hill was the other sister in our companionship but because Sister Johnson's companion never showed up they split us into two. Sister Hill is from Orem, she says she can see her house from the top floor of the new building. She is going to the Portland Temple Visitors Center, so she has to stay an extra week to have special vistors center training. We're all sad to have to leave her here alone, she is the only one going through the training that week so she will be a solo missionary for a while.
Sister Johnson is from Mesa Arizona, she is also coming to Salem. Sister Johnson is a sarcastic, movie quoting, star wars/harry potter nerd.
I should also probably mention the Elders in our district. Ok so there are four elders coming to Salem with us; Elder Heaton (the most talkative.) and Elder Dehart (from Texas, loves chocolate milk.), Elder Dunn (he is very quiet but knows everything and always has the best insights) and Elder Spencer (hes from the country and killed a cow with a rock once...) Then there are five others who are going to Alaska. Elder Lot (he's a lot... best way to describe him.) and Elder Hedges (also very quiet), Then there is the trio (because one of their companions had to go home.) Elder Poulan (our district leader, the Hamilton guy, very good at art always doodling on the whiteboard), Elder Bell (quiet, but always has a smirk on his face) and Elder Yearsly (from the south and can't stand the cafeteria food because it has no flavor.)
Lets see.... Its been kind of rainy the past week (just preparing us for Oregon). I got to sleep in until 9 this morning instead of going to the Temple because I was feeling horrible, but that extra sleep really helped me. The showers didn't have hot water for a couple of days so when it finally came back on there were shouts of joy (including from me) Then everyone started harmonizing and singing the parts to a childs prayer in the shower. It was great. We have been having a debate about what scones are within our district. Those from out side of Utah think its baked like a biscuit. But those from Utah know it's fried. Right? Its hard not having google to settle debates.
Ok spiritual experience of the week. The thought thats really been sticking out to me this week is that Heavenly Father loves to give us gifts, and he misses us. Think about it, everything we have has been given to us from God. He gives us prayer so we can talk to him. He give us family so we don't have to be alone and so we can remember what it was like to be with him in heaven. He gives us prophets and scriptures so he can talk to us and guide us through this crazy life, he gives us all the good qualities that we can learn how to develop, faith, hope, love, charity, joy, everything good comes from God. I think sometimes we take for granted how much God has given us, how would you like to never be thanked for a gift you gave someone, and they never even acknowledge that the gift came from you? I know I wouldn't be very happy, but no matter how ungreatful we are God will never stop trying to give us blessings.
I've been thinking recently about how my dad acted the couple of days before I left. He wanted to give me so much advice that I could hardly take it all in. Of-course I was overwhelmed with the fact I was leaving, but I didn't really think that maybe he was overwhelmed as well with the worry that he wouldn't be able to tell me all the things he needed to. I imagine this is what it was like before we came to earth. I imagine Heavenly Father pulled us aside and tried to give us advice even though he knew we wouldn't remember it all. He must have told us that it would be hard, but that it would be worth it, and that he is only a prayer away if we need to talk. I love my father :) and my Heavenly Father! I'm so greatful for both of them.
I love this scripture because I can feel already that it is going to be so relevant in the mission field. Its Alma 26:27
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said; Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will GIVE unto you success."
When we are feeling down, or just not having the best day remember that you have a Heavenly Father who wants to send you gifts to help you, and all you have to do it be willing to hold out your hand.
Love you all! Have a wonderful week! See you in the mission field!!
-Sister Anna Peterson :)
Doing laundry last P-day
Going off campus to take Sister Unferdorfer to the eye doctor. It was weird leaving the bubble of the MTC but really the only people we saw was the eye doctor and some other MTC missionaries.
It rained last P-day which made us super excited for Oregon! plus we all love the rain :)
Some pics of our daily planning as a district... (and just the beautiful new buildings...)
a beautiful sunset from our building
and me and the other sisters emailing right now!
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Week 2 at the MTC
September 8, 2017
Hey everybody!! I've officially been a missionary for 10 days now! and I have grown more in these past 10 days then I have in my whole life. Each day has been packed with spiritual experiences and crazy stories and I don't even remember half of them.There is no better way to describe how it feels at the MTC then to say that the days go on for weeks and the weeks fly by like days.
Sunday really was the turning point. Up to sunday people would ask us how we were adjusting and tell us to just wait for sunday, that sunday would make everything better. I didn't really believe them but it did. Even though sunday has been one of the hardest days so far, i'm calling it my breakdown day because I just couldn't stop crying. I feel now like I was given the "gift of tears" in order for me to break out of my shell and confide in my companions my feelings. We really bonded as a companionship after that and my stress levels have been decreasing. But the main reason why sunday was so great was because of Choir practice and watching a film called "The Character of Christ" which is a devotional given by Elder Bednar. It was amazing I can't even describe, or remember what exactly was talked about but I just remember the promptings to come closer to Jesus Christ and strengthen my relationship with him. Choir practice was great because it felt good to sing again and the choir directer Brother Eggett is amazing. He is a seminary teacher, so very funny, and some how manages to teach a spiritual message while helping us learn the song. We sang Lead Kindly, Light at the tuesday devotional which they didn't tell us until that night was going to be broadcasted live to all the other MTCs around the world. It was also amazing because Elder Dallin H. Oaks and his wife came and spoke to us, WE GOT TO SING FOR AN APOSTLE!! This was the first time in a couple months that they have had one of the twelve come and speak. So it was super exciting. But super hard not to look at the screens while singing.
We also started TRCs (Teaching Resource Center) this week. What they are is basically you are assigned an "Investigator" to teach and go to the building and meet and teach them throughout the week. Most of the "Investigators" are students from BYU pretending to be investigators but some of them are real investigators, so that is nerve racking because they never tell you. BUT its pretty easy to tell who is real or not. Our first TRC was a girl named Ericka, I'm pretty sure she wasn't a real investigator. Ericka in our first lesson was very distant, she was yawning the whole time and never really took it seriously. Well in our next lesson we really tried to rely on the spirit for what to teach, showed her a video called Prince of Peace about Christ and we "Broke her down". We teach her one more time on Saturday I'm excited to see how it goes.
One thing you should know, Sister Johnson's companion never showed up so our Trio was split. So I just have one companion now. though we still all go everywhere together, but I've been teaching now with Sister Unferdorfer.
Our second TRC is Alexander (I can't stop singing Hamilton when I hear his name!) He is a very sweet guy who just got here a couple months ago from Peru so he has a pretty thick accent still. He is going to school at UVU and his roommate who is Mormon said he should come here to learn more about the church. The moment we walked into the room with him I felt the spirit tell me "This is a real investigator, take it seriously." We had just had our flop lesson with Ericka that morning and I wasn't really excited to teach again, but the spirit was just so strong in his lesson and we left him on the first meeting to read Alma 7 and pray. He eagerly accepted and when we left Sister Unferdorfer and I couldn't contain our excitement. We practically skipped down the hall. It was honestly a feeling of Joy that I had never felt before, I don't think I ever understood up to that moment what true joy felt like, or even understood that the spirit can be felt like that. I couldn't stop smiling, and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. People have always told me that you will come to love your investigators so much and I really wasn't sure how that was possible, but having just met Alexander I can tell you honestly that I feel such love for him and I know of Gods love for him. Our last meeting with him was yesterday and it was so hard to say goodbye, we asked him if he would go to church with his friend on sunday and he said yes. We also asked if when he came to know that the things we were telling him are true if he would be baptized, he also said yes. Hopefully he will keep coming and a different set of missionaries can help him continue on his path to conversion.
I've just been learning so much everyday. One of the most important things I'm learning is how to rely on the spirit while teaching. It is impossible to teach without the spirit. I've felt times in my lessons when things have been going great and I think to myself "ya I've got this!" then instantly the spirit is taken away and we crash and burn, and I have to humble myself and just pray that the spirit will come back. a scripture I've really come to understand and love here are the MTC has been Alma 29:9-10....
"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.
and behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord hath done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."
Its been hard leaving my family, my music (I just randomly hum sections of my favorite songs), sleeping in, and comfy clothing. It's been physically exhausting, emotionally draining, the food lines are insane, and there is no alone time but its also been so amazing already and brought me closer to my Savior then I've ever been and I wouldn't give up this experience for the world.
I love you! God loves you! Everything is good :)
-Sister Peterson
Photos:
Sister Hill caught us studying at the temple.
Both of our TRCs went really well so we just had to celebrate with a selfie
Because we just had to do a cheesy map photo
The whole district + our teacher who just started school so she had to leave.
Ok these need a little more of an explanation... When you walk down these steps they are practically invisible. We say "STEP" everytime we walk past them. We have almost tripped on them so many times and a new sister actually tripped and broke both her ankles on them so we had to take an angry pics with the step. Then yesterday we noticed they added blue tape to help people see them so we just had to take a happy pic...
Also included...
Relaxing in the grass
Favorite mural
And new super comfy MTC sweatshirt.
Hey everybody!! I've officially been a missionary for 10 days now! and I have grown more in these past 10 days then I have in my whole life. Each day has been packed with spiritual experiences and crazy stories and I don't even remember half of them.There is no better way to describe how it feels at the MTC then to say that the days go on for weeks and the weeks fly by like days.
Sunday really was the turning point. Up to sunday people would ask us how we were adjusting and tell us to just wait for sunday, that sunday would make everything better. I didn't really believe them but it did. Even though sunday has been one of the hardest days so far, i'm calling it my breakdown day because I just couldn't stop crying. I feel now like I was given the "gift of tears" in order for me to break out of my shell and confide in my companions my feelings. We really bonded as a companionship after that and my stress levels have been decreasing. But the main reason why sunday was so great was because of Choir practice and watching a film called "The Character of Christ" which is a devotional given by Elder Bednar. It was amazing I can't even describe, or remember what exactly was talked about but I just remember the promptings to come closer to Jesus Christ and strengthen my relationship with him. Choir practice was great because it felt good to sing again and the choir directer Brother Eggett is amazing. He is a seminary teacher, so very funny, and some how manages to teach a spiritual message while helping us learn the song. We sang Lead Kindly, Light at the tuesday devotional which they didn't tell us until that night was going to be broadcasted live to all the other MTCs around the world. It was also amazing because Elder Dallin H. Oaks and his wife came and spoke to us, WE GOT TO SING FOR AN APOSTLE!! This was the first time in a couple months that they have had one of the twelve come and speak. So it was super exciting. But super hard not to look at the screens while singing.
We also started TRCs (Teaching Resource Center) this week. What they are is basically you are assigned an "Investigator" to teach and go to the building and meet and teach them throughout the week. Most of the "Investigators" are students from BYU pretending to be investigators but some of them are real investigators, so that is nerve racking because they never tell you. BUT its pretty easy to tell who is real or not. Our first TRC was a girl named Ericka, I'm pretty sure she wasn't a real investigator. Ericka in our first lesson was very distant, she was yawning the whole time and never really took it seriously. Well in our next lesson we really tried to rely on the spirit for what to teach, showed her a video called Prince of Peace about Christ and we "Broke her down". We teach her one more time on Saturday I'm excited to see how it goes.
One thing you should know, Sister Johnson's companion never showed up so our Trio was split. So I just have one companion now. though we still all go everywhere together, but I've been teaching now with Sister Unferdorfer.
Our second TRC is Alexander (I can't stop singing Hamilton when I hear his name!) He is a very sweet guy who just got here a couple months ago from Peru so he has a pretty thick accent still. He is going to school at UVU and his roommate who is Mormon said he should come here to learn more about the church. The moment we walked into the room with him I felt the spirit tell me "This is a real investigator, take it seriously." We had just had our flop lesson with Ericka that morning and I wasn't really excited to teach again, but the spirit was just so strong in his lesson and we left him on the first meeting to read Alma 7 and pray. He eagerly accepted and when we left Sister Unferdorfer and I couldn't contain our excitement. We practically skipped down the hall. It was honestly a feeling of Joy that I had never felt before, I don't think I ever understood up to that moment what true joy felt like, or even understood that the spirit can be felt like that. I couldn't stop smiling, and my cheeks felt like they were on fire. People have always told me that you will come to love your investigators so much and I really wasn't sure how that was possible, but having just met Alexander I can tell you honestly that I feel such love for him and I know of Gods love for him. Our last meeting with him was yesterday and it was so hard to say goodbye, we asked him if he would go to church with his friend on sunday and he said yes. We also asked if when he came to know that the things we were telling him are true if he would be baptized, he also said yes. Hopefully he will keep coming and a different set of missionaries can help him continue on his path to conversion.
I've just been learning so much everyday. One of the most important things I'm learning is how to rely on the spirit while teaching. It is impossible to teach without the spirit. I've felt times in my lessons when things have been going great and I think to myself "ya I've got this!" then instantly the spirit is taken away and we crash and burn, and I have to humble myself and just pray that the spirit will come back. a scripture I've really come to understand and love here are the MTC has been Alma 29:9-10....
"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.
and behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord hath done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me."
Its been hard leaving my family, my music (I just randomly hum sections of my favorite songs), sleeping in, and comfy clothing. It's been physically exhausting, emotionally draining, the food lines are insane, and there is no alone time but its also been so amazing already and brought me closer to my Savior then I've ever been and I wouldn't give up this experience for the world.
I love you! God loves you! Everything is good :)
-Sister Peterson
Photos:
Sister Hill caught us studying at the temple.
Both of our TRCs went really well so we just had to celebrate with a selfie
Because we just had to do a cheesy map photo
The whole district + our teacher who just started school so she had to leave.
Ok these need a little more of an explanation... When you walk down these steps they are practically invisible. We say "STEP" everytime we walk past them. We have almost tripped on them so many times and a new sister actually tripped and broke both her ankles on them so we had to take an angry pics with the step. Then yesterday we noticed they added blue tape to help people see them so we just had to take a happy pic...
Also included...
Relaxing in the grass
Favorite mural
And new super comfy MTC sweatshirt.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Week 1 MTC
Wow it's been a crazy, wonderful, tiring couple of days. I have already had so many wonderful spirit filled experiences. But before I get to those I'll give you some quick stories...
So when I first arrived I thought day one was going to be a slow orientation make sure you know where everything is and what's expected kind of day. NOPE it was packed from the start with learning and teaching. I dropped my bags off at my "residency" and was off to class (didn't come back until after 9:30). I met my companion(s) there. Yes companions. Sister Hill and Sister Unferdorfer they are sweet and with our combined knowledge we have been able to navigate the grounds. There is also another sister in our residency who has basically been another companion. Sister Johnson, her real companions apendix burst so we don't expect her to be here for a while.
The cafateria is huge and always packed with people. The fabled never ending chocolate milk was running out when I got to it but I did get to taste it. The rest of the food has been... ok.. but I've gobbled it up anyway because I've been soooo hungry. You wouldn't believe how hungry you can get from sitting down all day.
I've had a wonderful time learning and growing though. I already feel like I've grown so much. It really is like drinking from a fire hose, but you just have to take in as much as you can.
I've already had the opportunity to teach an "Investigator" (who was really just our teacher but in another room so we didn't know who it would be until we got in there. I was so nervous before going in because what if it was a real investigator? but once I got in there, after getting over the anital stunned silence, it went really well. We taught her a simple message of Gods love for her and invited her to pray and read the scriptures. she said yes ;) But in all seriousness leaving that little practice room I felt so good and the feeling that it could only go up from here.
Today as you now know is P-day, and I didn't know this until now, but every P-day we get to go to the temple. So that's the first thing we did this morning. It was wonderful the spirit was very strong.
I'll send pictures later once I can figure out how to attach them.
I will write again next week with more details, hopefully I'll have the hang on things by then.
I love you all, God loves you all, have a wonderful week!
-Sister Peterson
ps. feel free to email me throughout the week, I can read them anytime but only have an hour on P-day to respond so if I can read them in advance that would be perfect :) thanks.
pps. This computer isn't letting me spell check so you get to see all the words I don't know how to spell ;)
So when I first arrived I thought day one was going to be a slow orientation make sure you know where everything is and what's expected kind of day. NOPE it was packed from the start with learning and teaching. I dropped my bags off at my "residency" and was off to class (didn't come back until after 9:30). I met my companion(s) there. Yes companions. Sister Hill and Sister Unferdorfer they are sweet and with our combined knowledge we have been able to navigate the grounds. There is also another sister in our residency who has basically been another companion. Sister Johnson, her real companions apendix burst so we don't expect her to be here for a while.
The cafateria is huge and always packed with people. The fabled never ending chocolate milk was running out when I got to it but I did get to taste it. The rest of the food has been... ok.. but I've gobbled it up anyway because I've been soooo hungry. You wouldn't believe how hungry you can get from sitting down all day.
I've had a wonderful time learning and growing though. I already feel like I've grown so much. It really is like drinking from a fire hose, but you just have to take in as much as you can.
I've already had the opportunity to teach an "Investigator" (who was really just our teacher but in another room so we didn't know who it would be until we got in there. I was so nervous before going in because what if it was a real investigator? but once I got in there, after getting over the anital stunned silence, it went really well. We taught her a simple message of Gods love for her and invited her to pray and read the scriptures. she said yes ;) But in all seriousness leaving that little practice room I felt so good and the feeling that it could only go up from here.
Today as you now know is P-day, and I didn't know this until now, but every P-day we get to go to the temple. So that's the first thing we did this morning. It was wonderful the spirit was very strong.
I'll send pictures later once I can figure out how to attach them.
I will write again next week with more details, hopefully I'll have the hang on things by then.
I love you all, God loves you all, have a wonderful week!
-Sister Peterson
ps. feel free to email me throughout the week, I can read them anytime but only have an hour on P-day to respond so if I can read them in advance that would be perfect :) thanks.
pps. This computer isn't letting me spell check so you get to see all the words I don't know how to spell ;)
Welcome to the MTC!
We took Anna to the Provo Missionary Training Center on August 30, 2017. We had a nice lunch at Thanksgiving Point. Then we drove up to the Provo Temple and took some pictures and said our goodbyes. The MTC was packed! They put a little pink post-it note on our dashboard to indicate we were dropping off a Sister Missionary. And before we knew it, we had arrived at the drop off spot in the underground parking. It was so hard to watch her walk away, knowing that I wouldn't hug her or see her again in person for 18 months. We all cried a lot as we drove away. But we also felt a huge sense of peace and joy; she is in the right place, doing the right thing.
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