A winter wonderland and the lost email ❄️

🤗Hello everybody! So sorry about last week's group email! I really did write one, and send it off but it must have gotten lost in cyber space! I did find a piece of it though... for some reason it saved part of my email as a draft, so to prove I'm not lying, to start off this email here is what is left from my group email from last week....

Hello fam!

We've got some big plans (as in get groceries, fix car, get sister Unferdorfer's hair cut, and go to Good Will) today! Because little Vernonia is hidden up in the mountains it takes a while to find civilization, so it's going to be a shorter email today.

I hope all is well with you wherever you are because it truly is a beautiful world and Gods love shines over it all!

It's been a good week here in our little broken Vernonia. We have come to the conclusion that everyone who lives here is hiding from something. And as missionaries who's job it is to find people it's not always the easiest mix.

But as was taught in our Zone conference this week, God is preparing people to hear the gospel, our job is to act in faith and as we follow the promptings of The Holy Ghost we will be lead to those who are ready.

We had some cool experiences with this is week. Nothing crazy, just simply feeling peace that some people are ready and some people are not, but we need to talk to everyone to give them that opportunity.

We were walking along the street going to an appointment when we passed a lady who was across a parking lot from us. As we walked past her and she was blocked from view by a building I immediately was pulled back and started walking back and to her. As a missionary we walk up to strangers all the time but I have never had the experience of being pulled towards someone until now. As we walked towards her she actually walked towards us as well, which is big haha. We talked and by the end she accepted a pamphlet and gave us her number. Nothing huge, but who knows where it might lead.

We were walking back from an appointment and decided to take a slightly different route. This took us past an investigators house who we hadn't planned on visiting. In seeing her house we both felt like we needed to go see her. She was having a really bad day and needed a listening ear. So we talked and listened and shared a comforting scripture or two from the Bible. She then opened up to us that she was struggling putting together her chicken coup so we were able to call a member and they immediately came over to help! 

... Yup that's it! OK on to this week! 

This week flew by! Seriously it was crazy fast, even though it was snowing all week and we had to walk a lot more because of the icy road. They even canceled the last two hours of church, not this Sunday but the Sunday before because of the snow. But we NEED those church hours! Seriously those three hours get me through the week! So we stayed at the chruch, along with the branch presidents family and played the piano and sung hymns it was very peaceful, and very needed. 

Highlights of the week! 🤣😄😂

-Late night (as in 8:30pm) Snowball fight with our neighbors! I slipped, but I also got a few headshots so it's all good haha! 

-Having a "Studio C" service lesson with the little boys we teach. We've come to realize that sitting still is not an option, and they love to perform for us, so we played service themed charades or as they call it "Studio C". 

-Finnally getting back at a member who always trys to scare us when we are at the chruch. We got him good! 

-a less-active member calling us and asking questions he has about the chapter he is reading in the Book of Mormon! 

-talking to a lady outside one of the bars. When she saw us she immediately said "oh great it's the Mormons!" then gave us both huge hugs... She told us she is a member who has been inactive for 27 years. Her father was a bishop, her husband then walked out of the bar saw us and walked back inside, she explaining that he is avoiding us... I mean that happens a lot and we all knowit but it's good to have someone just come out and say it. She was an interesting lady. She ended up taking a pamphlet and told us that it's been long enough she needs to revisit it again. It was a very interesting exchange... 

-Oh big highlight! Our lesson with David this week was really good! He has a very different way of thinking and speaking, but for some reason I can understand and connect with him. I think it's the gift of tongues haha!! Well we tried giving the first couple lessons but they really just went over his head, example: He thinks Joseph Smith saw future halogram versions of himself appear... So we decided to come back to the actual lessons later and just focus on reading the book of Mormon for now. He really likes it, and this last time we talked about the Holy Ghost as we read and he told us... "I believe - no I know that the spirit is here!" you have to understand that when we first started meeting with David, he was very much about personal "interpretation", anything can be right or wrong it's just what you personally believe that matters. To hear him say he knows something is true, is a big sign that he is progressing in his own unique way! It was awesome! 

We found out that next week is transfers ahhhwhwwhww!!!!! We thought we had two weeks until transfers but nope! So we are going to start preparing ourselves for the inevitable! Most likely I will be staying and sister Unferdorfer will be leaving :( but nothing is set in stone until Saturday! Eep! 

Spiritual thought😇

I made it to Alma!! Yay!! I just love the Book of Mormon! There is something new to be found every time you read it, and it's perfectly tailored to what you need in the moment! A verse that stood out to me as I read this time was Mosiah 29:20.

"But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him."

I have been working this week on better being able to put my trust in God. I tend to want to do things my way, but I'm learning that God knows best and as I humble myself and seek His will and His plan then things will go much more smoothly, and ultimately work out for the best in the end. 

Well have a lovely week my beautiful fam! I hope this email gets to you this time! I hope you will never forget how special you each are! Love you all so much!

-Sister Peterson😁

Guess you get a double dose of pictures this week! 

💛OYMing & Service!

Hello all!!

Another week has flown by here in Vernonia! One of the unique challenges of a small town, such as this, is that EVERYONE knows who you are! They have either talked to us themselves, talked to someone who has talked to us, or seen us walking the streets every day. Now this isn't a bad thing until you notice people crossing the street to avoid you, or you go up to introduce yourself to someone and they tell you that you talked to them last week... We have been feeling a little frustrated.

Well in our mission we have this thing called the standard of excellence. Which is simply talk to 10 people a day (OYM or open your mouth), and find 2 new investigators a week. We try for this but often fall short. Our district leader has started to do daily calls to see if we are reaching this, and actually the accountability has really helped us to step up our game. It helped us to push past the "we already talked to them and they rejected us" and instead think "people can change who knows what they will say this time?!?" It is still super awkward but we are learning to embrace the awkwardness!

Along with talking to a lot of interesting people this week we also had a lot of opportunities for service! 

Helping Jared's mom to crochet...and I discovered I am a little rusty :/

Heart attacking an investigators door. When we came over later in the week she told us that we had perfect timing. She had been having an awful day but the hearts really helped her. (pics attached) 

We had a lesson with Jeanette and after asked if there was any service she needed. She got this grinchy grin on her face and said "you can wash my dog." so we washed a super old, flee ridden dog... and then washed ourselves! 

A lady we met told us of an old man who needs to socialize and talk with people so we went over to meet him and are going to go over weekly and play checkers with him. 

We made a lot of cookies Saturday morning and delivered them to members, investigators, and potential investigators. They were all very well received, though one person thought we baked weed into them... But he became a new investigator so it's all good! 

Making a get well package for a sick investigator and door bell ditching in the middle of the day. (pics included) 

Cookies, hearts, crocheting oh my! That's just the life of a sister missionary haha! 

💛Service and simply opening your mouth to talk to people are two of the greatest ways to turn your day around because you are forgetting yourself, your pride, your way, your time and giving it to someone else.

 "Unless we lose ourselves in the service of others there is little purpose to our own lives." - Thomas S. Monson 

Sending love and prayers from the magical kingdom of Vernonia! 

-Sister Anna Peterson :) 

The supernal gift of PRAYER 🎁

Hello Fam! 😊

It's that time of the week again! Monday always seems to sneak up on me, yet at the same time comes at just the moment I need it most! 

Though this has been a challenging week, with the rollercoaster of situations going ever on, it has also been a very good week. Looking back on the week I keep remembering little stories that all have a common thread... 

Remember David? He is an ever more interesting fellow. He has his own strong beliefs and that's ok, he also continues to meet with us and is loving reading out of the Book of Mormon. He has his own form of prayer but he has started to get excited to say the prayer "our way" at the end of the lesson. The spirit is so strong and you know he can feel the difference every time he prayers "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." 

Craig is a Less-active member who we have been starting to teach. He said a prayer at the end of our lesson and his wife told us it was the first time she has ever heard him pray vocally! It was awesome! 

Another Less-active member was having a hard week, last week, and we promised him that if he would pray everyday he would see his week improve. When we went to follow up he told us that it worked!! He had prayed, almost every day, and he saw a distinct difference in the days he started his day with prayer and the days when he did not. He is going to continue to try to pray daily! 

After church on Sunday we were feeling a little discouraged because no investigators came to church and our numbers of things like that we have to report were all at zero. Well we decided to walk to an appointment instead of drive and we ran into a guy we have seen a bunch of times but never talked to because he is always rushing past on his bike. For some reason when we said hi this time he stopped and talked with us. He told us of some family struggles he has been having and asked if we could pray for him. So we all stopped right there on the main st. and said a prayer. Us meeting was a little tender Mercy from God to both of us because we got to help him and now we have a beautiful number 1 among all those zeros to report :) 

We had the chance to help Jared make a 5 year plan this week, and we also made plans. We were setting goals and every time he had a question about whether a certain thing should be a goal we directed him to prayer. He may have gotten a bit annoyed but that's OK because if he sincerely wants to know the right path to take he needs to consult with God. 

Last little miracle! Jeanette, who I believe I have talked about before, has been coming back to church!! She hadn't been to church in years but now she has come for the last three weeks! She even got up and bore her testimony in fast and testimony meeting! She talked about how she fell and broke her shoulder, and how she couldn't get up. She was out on a walk in the middle of the night and there was no one around. She said she realized that she wouldn't be able to get out of this situation on her own. So she prayed, and minutes later someone came and helped her home. She had been glowing ever since! 

Prayer is so important! I have done a lot fervent prayer myself this week. I have felt the fog of stress and the winter months pressing on me recently but the more I pray the more that is cleared away and lifted. Help and answers don't always come immediately but they will come in time, and in God's own way, which believe it or not is the best way. 

🙏Here is a quote about prayer, by Richard G. Scott, to wrap it all up in a bow! 

"Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father. Actually, because He knows how desperately we need His guidance, He commands, “Thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.”1

It matters not our circumstance, be we humble or arrogant, poor or rich, free or enslaved, learned or ignorant, loved or forsaken, we can address Him. We need no appointment. Our supplication can be brief or can occupy all the time needed. It can be an extended expression of love and gratitude or an urgent plea for help. He has created numberless cosmos and populated them with worlds, yet you and I can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer."

Love you all so much!! Hope this week is amazing and I hope you will always remember that the gift of prayer is ever available, and your Heavenly Father ever listening!

💙Sister Anna Peterson :)

Just some missionary life pics, and a video of Cucamonga the shoulder cat who ate sister Unferdorfer's hair! 

Click this link to see: Cat eating Sister Unferdorfer's hair