Week 25: Virgin Hair

So, I just have to confess something to you right now: this long hair thing? I tried it, and I made it a good 6 months without cutting my hair while on my mission. But, my love for short hair resurfaced, and, while Sister Smith and Sister Medina were at their departing temple trip, I had to stay in Paris with the other sisters (one of who was a cosmetologist before her mission), So now my hair mayyyy be short again. It may also have a few highlights in it now too (Sister Pressley said it was super dark in the back, what was I supposed to do??). I literally told myself I wasn't going go do this, that I wasn't going to cut my hair again until after the mission. Even when cleaning out my Facebook a few weeks ago, I was like "wow, I didn't look that great with super short hair after all", but here we are. So yeah, I no longer have virgin hair and that explains the title of my email for this week. 

Okay this week has been just absolutely CRAZY as I've been helping Sister Smith and Sister Medina get ready to leave. We've had to set aside a lot of time so that they can pack, visit all their favorite people one last time, and also still somehow get missionary work done this week. Every day I think I've just come home and collapsed on the floor, no joke. Sister Medina was also sick on Tuesday, so we were all trapped inside not doing anything for an entire day. Me and Sister Smith finally put our entire area book online though, and I baked a cake, so some good came out of that day! And, on Thursday, I had to go to a special training meeting up in Pokey, so our whole day was spent road tripping up to Pocatello and back. I guess some good that came out of that day was 1. I feel more prepared to train a new missionary now 2. We got Cafe Rio out of our trip so it ultimately became a good day. 

My cake!

This week has been a very stressful week of my mission you guys, I'm not going to lie. With both of my companions going home, and trying to prepare for a brand new one straight from the MTC, I've just become very frazzled. There were plenty of times this week where I thought to myself "Can I...even do this? Can I keep doing this missionary thing?" I love being a missionary, so I think that just goes to show you how stressed I have been. One of my favorite lines from the hymn I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go is: 

"So trusting my all to thy tender care,

And knowing thou lovest me,

I’ll do thy will with a heart sincere:

I’ll be what you want me to be."

Us and li'l baby Hannah (and kitty!)  

There have been so many times in my life where I have had to put my will into the Lord's hands. So many times where I have had to learn that His plan for me is not the plan that I have for me, and that's okay. Heavenly Father knows me and loves me perfectly, and anything He has in store for me is so much greater than anything I could have in store for myself. 1st Corinthians 2:9 says, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him". I love my Heavenly Father so much, and I know that no matter what happens in my life, my reliance on Him will help me overcome anything and everything -and I just want to make a simple promise to you, that, as you put your will in the Lord's hands, you will see so many great things come from it. That's kind of the whole reason why I'm out here on a mission. I love you all so much, and I hope you all have a wonderful week. 

- Hermana Peterson 

Before, during, and after

Our district tried to take a High School Musical picture

My plan

So, I think I've already said this before, but every single week Sister Smith and Sister Medina have had to do something called My Plan, which is where missionaries in the final transfer of their mission have to plan what they are going to do once they go home. So, while they were doing that each week, I took these ugly/sad photos, and I finally want to share them with you. Enjoy! 

Week 24: Winter Wonderland

Hola todos! I am currently buried under like, 3 feet of snow. We walked into church yesterday and it had just started snowing, and 6 hours later when we finally left, Garden City was completely white. Also, my companions have had me start driving so that I can learn the area, and I think I forgot how to drive in the snow. I feel like I have let someone down right now (probably just myself, but when was the last time we had a good snow in Kansas, let's be real with ourselves for a minute here.) 

Where did all this snow come from?

So, since my last p-day was only a few days ago, I don't have very many things to say. But, I will tell you about the few good things that happened!! 

• Speaking about church, our less-active, Claudia, came to church for the first time in a long time! And she brought all of her kids too! She was so happy, and she got up to say the prayer and she started to cry because she could feel the spirit so strongly. We also had a super good lesson with Vero, who we hadn't been able to see for a while, because she's allergic to roses so she's been having really bad allergic reactions because of Valentine's Day??? But, she was well enough for us to come over and have a li'l visit. Ahhh I just love this family so so much!!! 
• The sisters in Paris had to get their apartment fumigated, so they came over to our house and we had a giant, 5 person exchange pretty much. It was fun, we went to a lesson and a dinner appointment - could you imagine a lesson with 5 sister missionaries? It was actually a Spanish lesson, so only three of us were speaking, but still. It was a lesson with Maribel, and it went so well! We talked a lot about faith and where she wouldn't be in her life without faith. It was super powerful. It was fun to be in a big group, but the Paris sisters just have so much ENERGY, the three of us went home and just collapsed on the floor because we were all so tired. 
• A few things happened at district meeting: 1. We went to go get some lunch afterwards and all the sisters decided to go in our car for some reason?? 2. Our district leader had some Carolina reaper peppers, which are the hottest peppers in the world, and Sister Smith ate one and she was literally crying because it was so hot. And then, Sister Quist, one of the Georgetown sisters, ate TWO and was like "guys I'm good". 

7 sisters in a car

So, this is some big news: I'm training next transfer!! That's right, ya girl is about to be a mom. I'm a little nervous, because I could make or break this new sister's entire mission, but I'm also super excited to help lead and guide someone and help them become the missionary they are supposed to be! I will write more about this in a few weeks once she is actually here lol. I love you guys and I LOVE being a missionary. Have a good week!!!

-Hermana Peterson 

Our crazy Valentine's Day night!!!!!!

Us during weekly planing. Aren't we cute? 

Vero's girls!!! 

They gave us potato balloons at the grocery store???? 

We went to this house that literally was full of cows and it was amazing 

All us girlies at dinner 

Week 23: Me encanta ver el templo

Hola todos! Sorry if you were anxiously waiting for my email on Monday. My p-day got moved to today for a super awesome reason. Me and my companions got to go to the Star Valley temple today! Even though the Logan temple is only 40 minutes away from our area, it's unfortunately a different mission, so we have to drive an hour and a half to the Star Valley temple haha (this same thing happened when I was in Blackfoot with the Idaho Falls temple). But, the Star Valley temple is technically in our zone, so we got to go! It was such a neat experience to be able to go to the temple, especially since I haven't been since I was in the MTC. But, let me tell you guys right now, the Star Valley temple is TINY. So, so itty bitty. You might think the Kansas City temple is small, and you might think the Winter Quarters temple is small. You should probably think again, because this temple is just the tiniest thing you have ever seen. I think some of the houses in my area are bigger. But, it's still the temple, and it's still as good and beautiful as all the other temples. I LOVE THE TEMPLE SO MUCH Y'ALL.

The temple!

So, this past Sunday, the three of us were somehow roped into singing in church. It was this sweet girl Katie's mission farewell, and we just couldn't say no for some reason. We sang "Armies of Helaman" and, even though we weren't super good, it was super spiritual and we made everyone cry! Mission accomplished.

Another pic from the lake photoshoot

Another interesting thing that happened this week: we went over to our dear sweet Liesel's house for lunch! She is kind of crazy, but I just love this old lady to pieces. We've been working so hard with her so that she can a really understand the gospel, it blows my mind sometimes that she actually got baptized, because she doesn't understand anything about the church. Well, we went over to her house for lunch, and she made us some super yummy German food! We then asked if we could share a message with her, and she said "no". I think that is the first time someone has ever said they didn't want us to share a message to me. She'll want one next time, I just know it. We also went over to her house pretty much every morning this week also to help her with her computer, since she doesn't understand technology at all lol. She's a cutie!!!

Me and my Smith 

Speaking of food, we had lots of yummy food this week that I just have to share with you guys. For a dinner appointment this week, this lady who served her mission in France made us an authentic four-course French meal?? The next day, the man we ate with caught us fish out of Bear Lake and fried it and made it for us. It was Bear Lake white fish, which is only found in Bear Lake. Now, if you guys know me, you'll know I hate fish. With a passion. But this fish was actually so good, I think I might be converted now.  And then, yesterday, this one family asked me what my favorite food was so they could make it for dinner. So I told them what is was pad thai, and instead of using noodles they used spaghetti squash? It was actually so tasty and good (and healthy!) Also, me and Hermana Smith have just been making quesadillas on quesadillas for lunch this whole week, so i have also become super quesadilla obsessed. That's the end of my food tangent. Sorry. 

So, pretty much everyone in the Spanish group is related, so when we have a lesson with them, usually we teach like half the family when we go over to someone's house lol. So, we went over to our less active, Claudia's house, and Vero was there too! So we taught them a super awesome lesson about God, and everyone had super awesome comments, even Claudia's kids, who haven't been to church in who knows how long. One of them even prayed!! I have seen so many little miracles with this family and it just makes me so so happy. 

Oh yeah, remember how one of the elders in my district threw a squirrel at our car last week? Well, the other day we get a call from this crazy guy who was talking about the Book of Mormon and asking us about the prophet and the priesthood and all these crazy questions and about how the elders in Montpelier wouldn't talk to him for some reason, and we were trying to calm this guy down and answer all his questions, and by the end we were feeling pretty good about helping this guy out, and he was like "so, just wanted to remind you guys that district meeting is at 10 next week". The Elders literally called us from this random number to try and PRANK us I'm actually like super mad about this. Why can't people just be mature around here. 

Me and my Medina 

On Friday after district meeting, we were driving down the road and we saw a lady who looked a lot like Joy, the lady me and all my companions lived with when we served in Blackfoot. So we turn around, and it WAS her! Her son was in Montpelier for a basketball game and we caught her and her husband, which is probably the biggest miracle of the week. They were some of my favorite people in Blackfoot, and it just made my day so much better to see them!! Miracles all around; I feel like this whole transfer has just been me talking about miracles. 

When we found Mike and Joy!

Welp, that's about it for this week in Bear Lake. I feel like all my info in this email is super random, but it's all super good, because missionary work is the best ever. Les amo muchísimo, and feliz dia del amor y la amistad! Go watch the greatest love story of all time, Troy and Gabriella from High School Musical, for me today. (We have been listening to all three soundtracks a lot so High School Musical is kind of on my brain all the time now.)

-Hna Peterson 

p.s. Apparently the Olympics are going on right now???? I actually no idea 

p.p.s. Please tell me if you think the Bear Lake monster is real. I want to get a poll going.

(hint: it is) 

Prettyyyyyy

We had a spa night 

Wearing her "thinking cap"??? 

Li'l baby Harley let us play with her toys. She is the cutest thing. 

Week 22: Semana loca

Hola mis amigos y mi familia! This week was the craziest of crazies so I think, for this email, I am just going to describe what happened every single day: 

Lunes: día de preparación!! This p day was a li'l bit different. There is typically nothing fun to do here in the Paris area, but we had to drive all the way up to Montpelier to get our car serviced, which is like a 45 minute drive. After that, we went to mama Vicki's house (one of our less actives) and taught her a lesson! Most of the time she was just trying to set me up with a Spanish elder who had served there a year before. lol

So for Facebook we had to change our profile picture to a picture of us and our nametag so we went down to the lake and had a photoshoot lol

Martes: We went BACK to mama Vicki's for breakfast and to help her wash all her dishes and clean her house. She ended up getting mad at us for not washing them fast enough, so she just made us sit down and watch her wash the dishes instead. We then tried to leave, but she was like "no, I'm not letting you leave, I'm going to make you tamales." So we kind of got kidnapped for a little bit and stayed at mama Vicki's house for like 5 hours. Whoops. We then went to Laketown and went on splits with this super cute girl who's leaving to go to Georgia on her mission next week!

Miércoles: Had a really good lesson with our investigator Maribel!! She is the one I mentioned a few weeks ago that is so so so close to getting baptized. We asked her today what is keeping her from baptism, and she told us about how hard change is and how she doesn't want to mess up. But, she knows that the church is true, and told us all about her testimony of the restoration. She is going to get baptized while I am here, I can just feel it!!! Also, my mission president told me and my comps that we had to clean up our FACEBOOKS this week for Mission Leadership Conference (MLC), so we spent a huge chunk of time today doing that. It was weird to be on my Facebook again and to see what was going on in all your lives. I knew that life was going on without me, but to see it going on without me was just super weird. I went home that day and thought to myself "wow, have I done anything important in the last 5 months? Am I just wasting my time?", But, as I thought more about it, this short time in my life where I am a missionary is so precious and special. I am bringing others and myself closer to our Savior. That certainly doesn't sound like a waste of time to me! Also, I had to untag, hide, and delete a bunch of stuff from my timeline, so if you are looking for something on there, it's probably not there anymore. Sorry folks.

Jueves: This day actually wasn't super exciting, sorry if i lied to y'all. We just did weekly planning. And, when you are in the last transfer of your mission, you have to do something called My Plan, so my comps just did that.

Viernes: we went to MLC!!!! We had to wake up at 4 in the morning to get ready, and then drive 2 1/2 hours to Pocatello. I was actually super nervous about going, since my comps are the sister training leaders, and I am not. I actually asked my mission president if I had to go, and he was like "yes, please come". So I was super nervous, since I am still a baby in the mission, and I was nervous that all the older, more experienced missionaries were going to be mad that I was there. But that didn't happen at all! I was actually already friends with a bunch of the missionaries there, and they were all so happy to see me there!! Even the mission president's wife told me she was happy that I got to be there, and one of the AP's was like, "hey next transfer you will be here for real Sister Peterson!" I really doubt that I will get called to be an STL any time soon, but hey, at least other people have confidence in my skills as a missionary haha.

MLC!!

I've said it before and I will say it again, Spanish missionaries are the cutest missionaries

Sabado: We had district meeting today, and as we pulled in to the church parking lot one of the elders in my district threw a DEAD SQUIRREL at our car. That was nasty. but anyways, other than that, we had a good meeting and I gave a training on humility!!!

Domingo: We were in church for like, 7 hours today. I was asked to lead the music in the Spanish group. We were asked to teach the lesson in the Garden City 2nd ward and then we were asked to sing in the choir too. Oh yeah, that girl we went on splits with earlier in the week?? The Laketown choir director asked us also to sing a song at her farewell. So we had to practice for that as well. Finally in the evening, we had a lesson with Vero (mama Vicki's daughter), and it was so so good! She shared her patriarchal blessing with us, which was so sweet and special. These are the kind of moments where I just love being a missionary.

This email was a li'l long and I am sorry, but so many things happened and I just wanted to tell you about all of them. I love you all so much. Have an amazing week!

-Hna Peterson

Us and the Paris sisters!  

The sunrise one morning. Aahhh, I love this place so much