November 18, 2013

Greetings from my new area!! Wow is this place different from where I came from...but different doesn't necissarily mean bad right? ...I hope not! haha it's been really crazy adjusting to a new companion and to a new area..but I'm really excited for the opportunities I will have here!! After dinner Tuesday night we attempted to visit a bunch of people with no luck. we ended up at a ward members home and visited with them for awhile. Really great family! So we got home that night and waited for transfer calls and that was when I found out that I would leave Leesburg! My companion and I were both completely shocked!! We definitely thought it was her leaving.. Wednesday was my last day in my first area :( We did morning studies and then went and got a winter coat, since I had been borrowing one from a ward member. I was able to find a super cute one for 15 bucks at the thrift store! BOOYA! Then we had a lesson with A. It was so hard to say goodbye, even though I'm pretty sure it was more of a "see ya later." she told me how grateful she is for my dedication and how she couldn't have done this without me. and yet the whole time she told me this, I thought the same about her. Waiting for my visa is HARD! but knowing, without a shadow of a doubt why I am reassigned has helped tremendously. I don't think it's a coincidence that I was transferred as soon as A had been taught everything!! I will definitely come back for her baptism though! So after the lesson we saw some ward members and said goodbye. one ward member who helped us out with M. She let us know how wonderful M is doing now. She said when M went into rehab she posted a picture of a cocoon on her FB. she said that she was entering into her cocoon and would be off FB for awhile. when she got out of rehab, she posted a picture of a monarch butterfly emerging from a cocoon and said that this represented her in her journey and that she was ready to fly. a few days later, she was on the phone with the ward member and started freaking out and told her that a Monarch Butterfly had just landed on her porch! It's November...butterflies aren't even out anymore!! M was so happy and just said she knew that God is helping her. Pretty cool how Heavenly Father really lets us know of His love for us and how he knows what we need!! It was so hard saying goodbye to my friends in that area, but it was a great last day I spent there. Thursday was just INSANE!It is sooo weird coming into a new area. I have no clue what is going on. but it's an adventure, that is for sure! I am sure that my new companion and I will have a wonderful companionship. she's from Utah...my 2nd Utah companion! I have a feeling the work here will be much different. We had dinner at a members home whose husband was recently baptized! We had a lesson with her and her sister who seems some what interested in the gospel! We also visited a less active member who has been coming back to church recently. she's a really awesome lady and we are going to work with her a lot. Friday I realized how I am in an entirely different universe over here. It's really awesome though and I love it. We had a meeting that morning so I got to meet my new zone! They are awesome. We had a great weekly planning session and an awesome companionship inventory where each of us explained what we want the companionship to be like. I can definitely see why Heavenly Father assigned me to be with this companion. She's very patient and kind. I will help her recognize her strengths and build upon them. She told me she loves how calm and peaceful I am because it allows everyone to feel peace. i thought that was sweet. we had dinner with a ward member who literally owns the FATTEST daschounds I have EVER SEEN! Not even an exaggeration. they are MASSIVE....haha. then we met our ward mission leader who is super awesome and WAY more involved than my last one. it's cool! we made a lot of attempts to visit people that night with no luck. The low light of my evening was about 8 pm. we went to check on this guy who has only met with missionaries once. Well we knocked, and waited, went to knock again, but the door has a window in it and all of a sudden I see bare legs, and then a big fat belly, so I turn around and go "IS HE NAKED!"? SMy companion says "yes, yes I think he is." he peeked through the window,then walked away. I just started booking it and my companion goes "I think he's getting dressed..." But I didn't wait to find out!!!! NOT WHAT I WANTED TO SEE!!! so disturbing. I'm definitely the more dominant companion...which I am not used to! But it'll be a good experience. Saturday morning we got a knock on the door and the Jehovah Wittnesses decided to pay us a visit...when they saw our tags they just walked away haha! We spent our day visiting many people! Lots of unanswered doors, but we talked to one older woman who the sisters here have been working with for a bit. she's a real character and we left her with some book of mormon reading assignments. we talked to quite a few people on the streets with not much luck, but everyone was civil! we had dinner with a young family from Utah. They are super sweet and their kids are hilarious. the 10 year old is 10 going on 30. it was a really fun dinner. after that we visited a woman whose husband is investigating the church. she was baptized a while back and was actually muslim before she joined the church! talk about a rough life. she and her husband are both attorneys but are waiting on citizenship so they work at gas stations for awful bosses who treat them like dirt. makes me so mad....we read the scriptures with them and it was wonderful! after that we visited a sweet old asian woman. she had lots of questions for us, like if women in the church were equal to men. we told her to watch this years general conference. we ended the night visiting a family in the ward who the dad is inactive. we had a great visit with them. The father has a metal shop where he makes these amazing swords and knives. Sundays as a missionary are CA-RAZYYYY. but great! I met a lot of people at church. this ward is so much bigger than my old ward. it's a litle intimidating. it's great though! Gospel principles was really entertaining. it was about honesty and this lady kept bringing up situations where you'd have to lie. the teacher was struggling to keep control of the class. gave me a nice laugh though! A lady we taught Thursday surprised us by showing up to church!! after church we had a lesson fall through, so we went and saw an inactive member. she doesn't speak english but her daughter does, and her daughter is going to come to church Sunday! she was super interested! we talked to a few people on the street who were semi receptive, but nothing solid. then we went to the assistant ward mission leaders house because they do this thing where they have one of the sets of missionaries in the ward film a little movie for the ward each week. i'm debating forwarding it to you..it's slighlty embarrassing though haha! there are 3 sets of missionaries in this ward! 2 sets of elders and 1 set of sisters!!! after dinner we had an appointment with a Muslim woman who is studying about our church. it's amazing how much more culture I am experiencing here! This morning at walmart it was crazy because EVERYONE here is a different color! I got my groceries from Laquinta and Shameeka..haha and this guy was like " if you don't mind me sayin, you look real nice today!" only here would missionaries get hit on. ;) I am excited to serve with my new companion. i'm sure it'll be awesome! we are trying to find a ride from a member to A's baptism, because we aren't allowed to drive ourselves there. so fingers crossed I can go!!!! I am hoping things are going well for her still. it's crazy how attatched I get to different areas! I feel like there are lots of things here that are really preparing me for Brasil, so that's a good thing! But yeah, there’s the weekly update! I miss you guys like CRAZY! for real... but I know that I am doing the right thing by being here. I love you all so so much and am grateful for your support!! Love, Sister Pehrson