"Come Unto Christ, and be Perfected in Him"

Hello there friends. I have news to share with you! 

If you weren't already aware, I had to return home from my mission this past Saturday. 

Now, I know what you might be thinking: "What? How did this even happen? Are you doing okay?"

Yes, I am doing just fine. I am doing and feeling much better now that I am back in Kansas with my family. I had to come home to take care of myself. Depression is a very real thing and it can also be a really scary thing. Most of you probably didn't know, but I've had problems with major depression for a very very long time. But I wanted to go off to college and on my mission not worrying so I worked really hard to get better and I did!! I had such a wonderful time and decided it was time I give back to my Heavenly Father and go serve a mission. So that's what I did! And everything was really good!

But, while I was out in the field, my mental health started to decline. I thought I wasn't working hard enough or my testimony just needed to be stronger so I did my best to shove it out of my mind and focus on the Lord. That was working for a while, but things would eventually get bad again. I was becoming so confused and hurt. I had become so converted to the gospel and my relationship with the Savior was the closest it had ever been. Why was this happening to me? Isn't the gospel and aren't missions supposed to bring you joy? I kept on trying to work extra hard, even though I felt like my strongest efforts were not enough. Before my old mission president went home, he contacted me and told me to consider leaving the mission. I was like "no no no no no no no no no no no no NO I am not leaving my mission. I'm not giving up. I can't do that". But as these weeks have gone on, I realized it was time for me to go home and that I needed to take care of myself. I still tried everything I could to stay. I won't go into any details, but these past few weeks have been some of the hardest and scariest in my entire life. It finally came down to the missionary department telling me they were going to send me home. So I spent the last few days packing up all my things, woke up super early, and headed out to the Pocatello airport. and now I am here at home!

As for plans after my mission, I'm going to take some time to heal and to be with my family, and then I will be returning to BYU in January. So if you wanna hang out before then hmu 

During my whole mission and this whole experience, I have learned that Heavenly Father knows us perfectly and He is so merciful and loving and kinder than we can ever imagine. I have learned that the atonement is the most powerful gift we have been given and we have that assurance that no matter how we feel or what trials and pains we are going through, the Savior is right there beside us every step of the way. And because of that power, we can be truly healed and be "perfected" through Him, just like it says in Moroni 10:32-33. "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot." I am so so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve a mission and to serve my Savior. I'm so grateful for the gospel and how it can literally change lives. I so grateful God trusted me enough to send me to a place I once thought was weird and to speak a language I once thought was ugly. I know that He lives. I know that He loves us, and that's why He gave us this gospel. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church upon the earth.

I love you all so much. Thank you for sticking with me and reading about my adventures these past 10 months. Your love and support have meant the world to me. Take care. 

Love, Hannah 

Week 45: The Spirit of God like a FIRE is burning

Explanation for the title of my email: so the Spanish branch in Aberdeen covers the entire stake, so sometimes we get to drive all the way over to American Falls for dinner. Yesterday while we were on the highway we see all this black smoke coming from American Falls, so as we drive into town me and Sister Bernal immediately look at each other and say "lets go find that fire". So for 15 minutes before dinner we were chasing this smoke to see where the fire was. It was fun because I had some really intense music video game music playing in our car. Turns out it was just a field that had caught on fire somehow in the middle of town. No one was hurt and no houses burned down, so do not worry! It has been so dry here in Idaho I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner.

Selfie

I had a lot of other adventures this week, so here are some of them: 

• You might have thought I was some perfect little angel, but turns out I am not because this week I got a SPEEDING TICKET. I'm still a little bitter about it. We are on our way to zone conference and there was a lot of construction going on in Aberdeen so we were a little late and so I might have been going a little too fast and I see a police officer behind me. Literally in every missionary car there is a little box telling us if we are speeding or driving too aggressively or even not wearing a seat belt and in that moment it decided to turn off. Cool. I was hoping since I am a missionary and since Idaho is super Mormon I would be let off the hook, but nope. I got a ticket and made us even more late to zone conference. It's alright though. We all make mistakes. Repentance is real. 

Ticket

• Speaking of zone conference, that was really great! My new mission president is so hyped up about hastening the work here in Pocatello. He compared us doing missionary work to fishing, and how, no matter how big or small the fish are, in the end we all caught something and was able to bring people back to Heavenly Father. 

Zone conference

• Yesterday the NEATEST thing happened. Okay so there is this lady we have taught a few times. Her name is Reina. We haven't seen her in a couple of weeks but yesterday right before church she called us and was like "Hey, I really want to come to church today. Can I get a ride?" So we found her a ride and she brought all her kids with her to church and she wants to come back next week. :) What a miracle. 
• I had to go to the doctor this week and I'm just sitting in the room waiting for her and she comes in and first thing says "oh my gosh you are so pretty!" and I think that is the nicest compliment I have ever received in my life ever. It still makes me happy just thinking about it. 

Ramen

• Went to the Spanish branch president's house for dinner and his wife was talking about how she didn't like the trees in their backyard and she was like "yeah I'm just waiting for him to die so I can take those trees out" and the branch president was just like "umm......." 
• I took some medicine this week and I went up to Sister Bernal and I was like "hey my medicine isn't doing anything" and she was like "oh my goodness Sister it's been an HOUR just chill out." 
• The YSA sisters who cover this area got us drinks and left them on our doorstep and it was so sweet and kind. I love people. 

Soda

• Guess how many pounds of sour gummy worms I bought at the store on Wednesday? 2. Guess how many pounds of sour gummy worms I ate from then until Sunday? 2. I have a problem. 

Worms

You guys God LOVES you so so so much and all He wants is for you to hear his voice and know how to follow him. Personal revelation is amazing! Try your best to get some revelation this week. OKAY I LOVE YOU ALL GOODBYE. 

-Hermana Peterson 

Fire

Week 44: Number monkey

Hola todos! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. This week, I thought I would describe to you a little bit about what my past week was like in statistics, because we ALL know that missions are about numbers. *sarcasm*

-Days I wore dresses: 2/7

-Days I wore skirts: 5/7 (i'm in a skirt phase right now) 

-Days of the week I ate the Korean ramen from Walmart for lunch: 4/7 

-Birds I hit with our car: 1 

-People that wanted to talk to us on Independence Day: 0 

-Sidewalk drawings that we drew since no one wanted to talk to us: 6 

-Sparklers I lit on Independence Day before I realized it might be against missionary rules: 10 (hey, fireworks are illegal in my county back home but they still sell sparklers, so it's probably fine) 

-Letters Sister Bernal got in the mail: 409589374092384

-Letters I got in the mail: 0 

-Days I took naps: 1/7 (a new record) 

-Money I spent in Pocatello: a lot 

-My love for the chili-covered dried mango I discovered at Winco: 100% 

-New investigators we made: 2! 

-Birthday parties we went to: 1

-Days we ate ice cream: 7/7 

For my spiritual thought this week, I triple dog dare you go to read all these talks: x x x x x

I'm so happy that we have prophets and apostles on this earth today to lead us and give us direction in our lives. As you study their words, you will be able to see the hand of God in your life better. Have a good week! I love you! 

-Hermana Peterson ​​

Week 43: Next Door Neighbors

Hola! This week we got a new mission president, President Southward. In one word, he is a straight up BALLER (literally, he got a basketball scholarship when he was in college). Here are some cool things about him: 

- He's from Oklahoma, but he's also lived all over the world (Hawaii, Greece, Japan, etc). His wife told me that their temple is under renovation right now so their closest temple is the Kansas City temple and that they love it!

-He's the CEO of an petroleum company! Fancy! 

- He has three kids, who are 12, 10, and 8. They are the cutest things ever and I think their whole family could be models.

-He loves technology! Our mission is about to become way more technology-centered and i'm super excited.

- He already loves all of us so much. He just got here and he just has so much kindness and love in his heart and it's amazing.

Mexican candy

This is changing subjects but I just wanted to bear my testimony real quick about prayer. It is so powerful. It is our way to converse with our Heavenly Father and get our own personal revelation about life. And, sometimes, our prayers don't get answered in the way we want, but that is okay. I like to listen to Hank Smith a lot and in one of his talks he shares 1 Nephi 7:17-18, which says: "But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in Thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound. And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again." He says that one of his seminary students came up to him and said this same thought came to her while reading this verse and he was like "uh, what are you talking about". She told him that Nephi wanted his bands bursting off of his hands, but they were simply just loosed. His prayer was answered, but not in the way he wanted. And that is okay. God knows you. He will answer your prayers and show you His love. Just pray. I love you. Have a great week. 

also i know this is 20 minutes long but please watch it, it will change your life 

- Sister Peterson 

A picture I forgot last week

A dinosaur

 It's not summer without Sonic 

Accidentally went too many miles in a day

Week 42: Agridulce (bittersweet)

Hola! Today, I wanted to start off my email with a scripture: John 15:13-15. 

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

In these past few days, I have really grown to love this scripture a lot. Jesus in not only the Christ, our Savior, and Redeemer, but He is also our friend. He is our dearest, most best friend we can ever have. And because He loves us so much, He laid down his life for us. For you, the person reading this right now. He laid down his life for YOU because He loves you and you are His most cherished friend. His work and his glory is to bring to pass YOUR immortality and eternal life (see Moses 1:39). What are you doing in your life to live up to the sacrifice He made for you? Are you following the commandments? Jesus is a good friend to you, but are you being a good friend back? I invite you this week to remember that thought: Jesus Christ is your friend. He is your BEST friend. And don't let anyone else tell you other wise.

Holding a bunny

Speaking of friends, one of my dearest friends I have made on my mission is my mission president, President Hancock. No matter how silly or superficial my problems may seem, he has always been there to give me counsel and to encourage me to work harder and to do better. He and his wife are going home this week, so we had a special zone conference to hear their testimonies one more time and to say goodbye to them. I'm really sad. I will miss them a lot, but I know that our new mission president, President Southward, will be great too. 

Saying goodbye to President

Sister Shill

I made my mom and daughter take a generational pic with me 

Some other neat things that happened this week: 

• Last p day we got to go golfing! Since golf is so boring to watch I thought it wasn't going to be fun, but I actually loved it! I also got permission from my mission president to drive the golf cart, so that was fun too. The only bad part was I forgot to tell them I was left-handed, so I had to golf with my opposite hand. But it was still awesome!

Golf!

• Here in Aberdeen there is a special little festival they hold every summer called Aberdeen Days, which is just to celebrate the town. There were SO MANY PEOPLE here, I think the town grew 3 sizes. We got to meet so many people, get a free breakfast, and eat lots of yummy comida mexicana. 

Comida mexicana (elote and mangoniada)

Italian soda

• I made Sister Bernal teach me a bunch of Phineas and Ferb songs in Spanish ( in-verano )
• When we went to Pocatello for zone conference I mayyyy have gone back to Bath and Body Works and bought more candles. (I have a problem). 

Candles

• We volunteer at this senior center all the time and this week they played bingo and I won!! Proud of myself 

Also, we got transfer calls, and I am staying here in Aberdeen with Sister Bernal for another 7 weeks. Who knows what the future has in store for me! Love you all so much! Take care! 

Love, Hermana Peterson 

I'm low key glad I haven't served in Pokey yet because I know I would spend all my money at Soda Barn 

Aberdeen days! Including my dream car

My family had a family reunion and my grandma had everyone write me notes and this is all my cousin wrote to me

Week 41: despacito

Hola! This week was a little slow (hence my Justin Bieber song subject line), so I don't have much to say today. But I will do what I can.

- We have this investigator, Arturo, and he is so so prepared to receive the gospel. Every time we go over and teach him, he's just like "wow, that makes so much sense!" and he even reads all the chapters we give him out of the Book of Mormon. The only thing though, is that his wife isn't a huge fan of learning about the church right now and he keeps telling us "if my wife wants to go to church, then I will go". So, obviously, that means he hasn't been to church yet. We invite him every lesson and he says he will come and then he doesn't! I feel like those 2 sisters in the district 2 who just need their investigator to come to church and she never ever came.

- I was telling Sister Bernal about Avatar the Last Airbender and I was trying to tell her about this one episode and I just started laughing because I remembered how funny it was and I couldn't stop laughing for like 5 minutes.

A ramen/pho movie party 

- We went to Pocatello last Monday and I may or may not have spent all my money on candles (Bath and Body Works was having a sale okay, don't judge me.)

Candles

- Thought we were going to get a really cool referral but then found out it was someone who lives in American Falls so we had to hand over to the Elders over there. That seems to happen a lot.

A giant dandelion

- We do a lot of service at this senior center here in Aberdeen and this cute old lady kissed my forehead one day and it was the cutest thing.

Some flowers

- Discovered the Korean ramen from Walmart is actually really good.

Okay, so not every week as a missionary is very glamorous. Some days, being a missionary actually kind of stinks, I will not lie to you. But a thing to remember is that not only are my investigators learning, but I am learning too. There is a story from the July ensign called "Failure is Part of the Plan" that I really really love. It gives all these examples of people in the scriptures who failed, but they were able to learn from it. In the Doctrine and Covenants, there is this guy named Oliver (not Oliver Cowdery) who was given what he thought was an impossible task by the prophet Joseph Smith. He felt like a failure and turned to Joseph for comfort. Joseph went to the Lord and He said “I remember my servant Oliver Granger; … and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase” (D&C 117:12–13). From Oliver, we learn that the result God is looking for is not always for us to come up with the right solution to our challenges, but for us to grow from facing them. Lately I have felt like I've run into more failures and challenges than solutions and successes. But it's okay. I am here as a missionary to learn and to grow closer to my Heavenly Father. I encourage all of you this week to take a trial and learn something from it. I promise you that when you do that, your weak things can be made strong through the power of the Savior (Ether 12:27)   also here is that article, check it out yo

Love, Hermana Peterson 

A sunset