Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

We had a wonderful Christmas eve! I got to talk in Sacrement Meeting and join in on some choir musical numbers because I was already up on the stand! When we got out of church it was snowing!! And it continued to snow all day! We spent most of the day walking in the snow delivering cookies to people who wouldn't open the door without them, hehe!

We spent Christmas morning with our Branch president and his family. It was so much fun! So much love from everyone! Thank you all for your love filled gifts!!

(I'm writing this as Sister Unferdorfer Skypes her family, so I'm a bit distracted and anxious to Skype my own... Soon!)

OK you can tell I'm anxious because I can't think of any stories to share!! I'll just jump to my spiritual thought. I used part of this scripture in my talk, and I want to share it with you as well... 

Mosiah 2:16-25 

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.

  17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

   18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?

   19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!

   20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

   21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

   22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

   23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

   24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

   25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.

I just love this scripture! It illistrates so perfectly Christ's perfect love. Even if we are in service our whole lives we are still indebted to him. The love comes by knowingthst he doesn't even ask us to pay him back! Because that would be impossible, and meaningless. He paid the price so we could return home because he loves us and gave this gift to us! All he asks in return is that we try. That we do our best to follow him and live in a way that allows him to bless us! 

On this Christmas day take time to remember Christ and the gift he gives freely to all of us! And you can do that, you can show your love to Christ by living by his example and following his commandments. 

Okay, now I can talk a bit more about the area... 

We have two little girls on date for baptism! We taught them the plan of salvation using the graph on the chalk board. They kind of took it over at the end and drew their own pictures. One of the girls was confused about who Oliver Cowdrey was (not sure why we brought him up with the first place) but she kept calling him "Oliver Cow-tree" then she drew a cow tree (I'll attach a picture) ... They are fun kids. 

Jared is the investigator who we work with the most. He is a wood worker and we always meet in his garage for lessons. He has a lot of good questions and it's hard not to go deep deep doctrine with him. I've learned that you need to understand the basics or have that core before you can branch out. It's like climbing out on the branches of a tree, the further you get from the center the less secure you will be.

But he is awesome! We brought him Christmas and we are having Christmas dinner with him and his family. 

Another fun thing we did was make "shell flowers" and deliver them as Christmas presents.

OH YES! The Christmas talent show/zone conference! It was amazing, so fun and spirit filled! Sister Unferdorfer and I didn't do anything this year (we sang at the branch Christmas party instead). But it was so great, lots of skits and songs. President Tateoka even sang!! He sang bring him home from Les Miserables. Yes, I cried! 

OK now I'm just stalling for time. Love you all!! Merry Christmas!

🎄Sister Anna Peterson

Editor's Note: It was so wonderful to Skype with Anna.  We all cried at least once and some of us a few times! Here are a few screen shots she took and sent to us....

And here are a few from our perspective... It was so wonderful to share Christmas Day with her ❤️ 🎄🎁

For Aslan! For Vernonia!!

Hello, everyone! Sorry if you don't understand understand the subject line it was the first thing that popped into my head. Someone will get it... 

Well I'm officially out of training, and shipped off to the magical land of Vernonia! Its a lovely little town hidden away in the mountains. Perfect for people to hide away in, but also everyone seems to know each other so the hiding doesn't really work... It reminds me a lot of Gravity Falls (which is set in Oregon), for any of you fellow cartoon watchers out there. 

There is one main street that we walk up and down multiple times a day. There's one blinky little stop light, five bars, and eleven churches (which makes up for the bars.)

The Branch here is so warm and loving it definitely made the transition easier. Oh we also have a car which makes things way easier! I'm the designated driver so that's a little scary but I'm re-learning fast.

My spiritual thought of the day comes from the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 10:10-11,19. These are the words of Zeniff, a commander of the Nephite army, to his men. They are about to go up against their greatest enemy the Lamanites, who are a wicked bloodthirsty people. Zeniff writes... 

"...even I, in my old age, did go up to battle against the Lamanites. And it came to pass that we did go up in the strength of the Lord to battle. Now the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the strength of men." 

Our personal battles and struggles, no matter what they might be, can sometimes seem like an enemy army coming at us with all of their strength, the adversary will give everything they have to tear you down! Even in Zeniffs old age he is still fighting these battles. The enemy can be persistent and most likely we will be fighting him our whole lives! But don't forget, the adversary knows nothing of the Lord! He is on our side! Our strength alone is never enough to overcome our weaknesses and struggles, but we don't have to do this alone! 

There is a line in one of my favorite Hymns that says "Courage, for the Lord is on our side!" I know that this is true. He is on your side whether or not you are on his side. (does that make sense?) God will never work against you. If you aren't taking the precautions to protect and defend yourself than it may seem like God is the one pounding you, but really that is the adversary and your own lack of seeking protection from the raging battle in the Lords camp. 

There is no need to stand in the battlefield defenseless. Christ invites all to come unto him and seek shelter from the battles of life in his arms. Once we are save, trained, and armored we are ready to go back out, now with His strength. We can fight our battles, and help others find refuge only after we learn to rely on the strength of the Lord. 

Zeniff rally's his army and later writes; "I did stimulate them to go to battle with their might, putting their trust in the Lord; Therefore, we did contend with them, face to face." 

I know that if we turn to Christ and put our trust in him, with His strength we will be able to fight our battles and meet our challenges face to face. 

I guess my email title really did have something to do with the letter. This is the (ver)Narnia battle cry. 

Keep smiling! Peace will come with time! I love you all bunches!! Have a great week! 

-Sister Anna Peterson

Some pics from this week. 

Old companion, new companion... 

We finally decorated the tree!!

cat crossing sign! Only in Oregon! 

Also, Editor's Note: A nice family in Vernonia sent me a text with these pictures last Wednesday to let us know that Anna had arrived safely.

TRANSFER CALLS!! EEEP!!

I'm transferring to Vernonia!! Just thought I'd get that out of the way...
It's been pretty stressful anticipating transfers all week, but now that I know what's happening and I have said goodbye to almost everyone I can calm down. All that's left to do now is to pack! Eeep!

So quick info because you may be wondering what even is Vernonia!?! Here is the information I've gathered from the ward and others. So it's at the northern most part of our mission. It's much bigger geographicly than Albany but it's an old logging town of 2,100 people. So I'll be in a little branch! We get a car!! Our zone has part of the coast so we may be able to have a P-day coast trip... And that's about all I know! Though I do know my companion already. I'm with Sister Unferdorfer!! MY MTC COMPANION!! WhhhHhaaaaAaaaT!?!??!!!!! Ya I'm pretty pumped.

OK so what happened besides transfer calls this week?? MARCI IS ON DATE FOR BAPTISM!!! We watched the hour long restoration movie with her and a member family, it was such a spirit filled night. Marci was the first to talk after the movie, and she said "There is no way this isn't true!" it was an amazing experience and she is an amazing person. Sadly I won't be here for the baptism but I might be able to go to the temple with her when she goes for the first time!!

Spiritual Thought!

Les Miserables. I don't know why but randomly one night as we were walking home we were thinking about Les Mis, more specifically Jean Val Jean VS. Javert. They have both experienced trials and hardships in there lives and they both love and worship God. So why are they so different? God is perfectly merciful and just. Jean Val Jean imbraces the mercy side of God, while Javert imbraces the justice side. I'm pretty sure this isn't anything new, and Victor Hugo probably planed it that way, but it's just so interesting to think about.
So that started me on this long study of Justice and Mercy, which I am still focusing on in my studies.

When you are prideful you are more likely to imbrace justice and think that you can satisfy justice by yourself. That is why pride is dangerous, it makes you think you don't need the atonement of Jesus Christ. Which is the only thing that will save you.

2 Nephi 9:28
"O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish."


Those who imbrace mercy are humble or compelled to be humble. They know of their shortcomings and welcome correction. They rely fully on Christ's atonement.

Alma 32:12-13
" 12 I say unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye are cast out, that ye are despised of your brethren because of your exceeding poverty, that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble.
   13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved."

OK there are my rambling thoughts today. So I am running out of time!
Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks! I'll let you decipher them.

Love you all so much! Thank you all for your wonderful emails. I wish I had time to respond to everyone separately but I hope you will forgive me for just doing a group email.

Have a great week, don't stress. Pray more, worry less!
-Sister Peterson :)

A Mighty Change!

Heyo! It's been a long week but packed full of good stuff! 

Thank you fam for the wonderful packages!! You are so amazing and I love you so much! We have been listening to the music you sent everyday, and we have been putting up decorations little by little! 

This week we had zone conference. It was amazing as always. Oh I got to sing with another sister and some elders it was super fun.

We went to a baptism this week and two or our investigators came to see. It really impressed them and one is excited to be baptized herself!!  

Spiritual thought:

I was looking back through my journal and found some notes from a devotional at the MTC. This was a thought from Dallin H. Oaks...

"Being a missionary is more than just doing missionary things. You must have a mighty change of heart."

Alma 5:12-14 talks about the importance of having a mighty change of heart... 

"12 And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.

 13 And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

 14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

Can we examine our own lives and ask honestly whether we've experienced this mighty change of heart? Mosiah 5:2 describes how after this change they had no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. How can we get to this point? How can we have a mighty change of heart?

I believe that it doesn't come all at once. You aren't going to wake up one day, or read one scripture and be changed forever. I do beleive there are moments when we are called to an awakening but it is our job to keep that fire burning and continually nurture it. A mighty change of heart is changing our fallen nature, and that's not easy. It takes time, patience, and the understanding that it will happen line upon line. Too many people sit around waiting for the change to happen to them, but true change takes work and a desire to serve God. True repentance springs from a love of God. 

So where to start? Develop your relationships with your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. You do this by spending quality time with them. Sincere prayer and scripture study are the key. Now you may still be waiting for this "awakening" or a lightning flash to start the flame before you begin to nurture it. Just remember there are different ways to start a fire. Some take more work than others but they all bring warmth and light! 

OK that's my two cents for the week. 

Thanks for the questions fam! 

Q. Do you and your companion ever call each other by your first names? Do you even know them???

A. I do know my companions first name, but no we are supposed to call each other by sister. 

Q. How often do you cook? What do you make? Does your apartment already have all the kitchen stuff you need?

A. We have a fully functional kitchen (with far too many home canned goods and Tupperware). We cook most lunches at our apartment, unless we are too lazy or it would be too much of a hassle to get home, then we eat out. We usually have a dinner appointment which is so great! Our ward is the best! Breakfast usually consists of yogurt, granola, and a banana (though this morning we had cocoa). Lunch is usually some sort of sandwich, soup, or quesadillas. 

Q. Have you done any driving yet?

A. no driving yet. No car either so... 

Q. Do you think you'll get transferred soon? (You probably can't know, but will they really do transfers so close to Christmas?)

A. I hope not, but transfers are on the 12th and we find out this Saturday. I kind of feel like I'm going to be transfered and Sister Quinton will be staying in the area. 

Q. How many investigators do you have? 

A. A good amount. I love all the individuals we work with! 

Q. Have you seen any snow in Oregon?

A. No snow, lots of rain. 

Q. Who's the strangest person you've met?

A. We met a satanist last night... He really liked to talk about politics.

Q. What's the strangest food you've eaten? 

A. It's not super strange but an investigator made us schnitzel... 

Q. What is the strangest Oregonian custom you've encountered?

A. True Oregonians don't use umbrellas. They don't even seem to notice the rain. So if you use an umbrella you are immediately marked as an outsider. 

Q. Do you still have that kitty?

A. We haven't seen it in a long time. Not since we heard this crazy cat fight one night... 

Q. Does anybody else write to you?

A. Occasionally. 

Q. What's your favorite clothes to steal from your companion?

A. Anything comfy and warm. 

Q. Do you stay in touch with anyone from the MTC?

A. A little. Two of the elders are in my zone. 

Q. Did your companion get Christmas presents?

A. Yes, her family sent a 25 days of Christmas thingy. 

Q. Does your companion have a boyfriend that she writes to?

A. I'll let her answer this one in her own words... " Yes. Jesus? In my journal..."

Q. What is your favorite scripture?

A. My favorite scripture right now is Alma 36, yes the entire chapter. 

Q. What advice would you give to your sisters as they think about / prepare to serve a mission?

A. Study the scriptures. Strive to develop your relationship with the Savior. Don't waste so much time on the internet or watching TV, it's really not worth it and there is so much more you could be doing with that time.

Love you all! Have a wonderful week!!