March 3, 2014

hey hey family! it was a really good week! rough for sure! but it was wonderful as always!! on Monday after we emailed we went over to some members and they taught us and the Elders in our ward how to cook! that was an adventure and was really entertaining to watch those Elders try to cook! after that we did a little more shopping and then got to work! we visited a few people who haven't been out to church in a while. after that we headed to family home evening with La'vonne and Teya. Everything was just great! Heavenly Father takes care of us all the time and i'm so so grateful! He always provides the answers that I don't have! so for FHE we talked about service. we made cookies and challenged La'vonne and Teya to give them to someone who they know needs a pick-me-up. it was really cool because Teya chose these 2 people who really aren't her friends at school, but she knew they needed them! it was a really great lesson! On Tuesday we woke up to SNOW!! it all melted off by the afternoon though. we had district meeting and we talked about the book of Mormon. After the meeting we came home and ate and had a great companion study! we talked about what the area needs and how we are going to accomplish our goals. After that we went and did FB at the church. We got an email from President Riggs the day before telling us more rules regarding facebook so I spent time trying to clean mine up! we then had dinner with some members. it was just the wife and her 2 little boys. she is a convert so it was fun getting to know them! after dinner we had a lesson. it went so wonderfully! we weren't expecting to teach the whole family, but they all were there and we had such a great lesson with them! right now the father is trying to find a job where he doesn't have to work on Sunday and one that is closer to home. we challenged them to fast as a family for him to get a job! it was so powerful and the spirit was so strong! after that we had a member lesson which went wonderfully! On Wednesday we got more snow and got stuck inside in the morning! I studied that day about being a successful missionary and there is a part that talks about serving other missionaries and how charity will be developed as we serve others. well i had not been feeling very charitable the last few days! but as i read that i knew i needed to focus on others not myself! so once we got permission, we went and got on facebook. from there we went and had dinner with some members. afterwards the member took us to meet one of her neighbors, which was awesome! she didn't have much time but she is a really sweet lady. after dinner we went and had a lesson with Sister Bryk. she is such an awesome person! we talked to her about how to gospel blesses families. it turned out to be a really powerful lesson. after the lesson we went to mutual. we left about halfway through the activity and decided to visit Sister Ketch. we talked to her about the Savior's earthly ministry and atonement. the last few days I'd gained a very strong testimony of the atonement and i knew that no matter what I was going through, Jesus Christ knew exactly what I was feeling! and he made it possible for me to overcome those feelings! so it was great to be able to testify of that to sister ketch. Thursday was a lot of fun! i had amazing studies in the morning. i studied about Christ's atonement in Matthew. it really struck me as i read how completely alone Christ was during that time! all of the disciples just ran off when the wicked men came to get Jesus. I love the quote that says that because Christ suffered all of that completely alone, we don't have to go through anything alone! it made me have even more love and respect for the Savior as I read that that day.after language study we went and helped sister Everly in her shop! she's the one who owns the wedding shop in old town. it's sooo cute and she let us try on dresses! it was so much fun! we had an amazing talk with her and I was glad we could finally see her again after such a long time! after that we went and got on FB. that night we got to go to teya's birthday dinner. there were quite a few ward members there and it was a lot of fun! On Friday we had weekly planning. we set a lot of great goals and then headed out to do facebook. after dinner that night we went and checked on a few names of people we didn't know, we ended the night visiting the Day's and their chubby dachshounds :) Saturday we had an appointment with sister Thompson so in the evening we went over there. we had a good visit with her Sunday we went to Church. It was really really great though. sacrament meeting was especially wonderful because sister Thompson got up and bore her testimony for the first time since she was a teenager! it was so powerful and it made me so happy to see her progress! there really is no greater joy in life than being able to watch people grow in and accept the gospel! after church we ate with some new members of our ward and then we finished studying. we visited a few people and then went to the mission office. I am so so SO grateful for president Riggs! my companions were really surprised when he asked if he could interview us all individually. he started with sister Phelps and then he interviewed me. in our interview i explained to him the help that i needed! he talked about how everyone is on very different levels when it comes to motivation, but that it is my job to love and help lift those around me! he talked about the day he was sealed the sealer said that there is no such thing as unconditional love, because love in itself is without condition. He talked about how Jesus loves all of us despite our flaws and weaknesses and we must try to do the same even when it's SOOOO hard! in the middle of the interview he stopped and went over to the big board with all the missionaries pictures and the areas they are serving in. he said that right now we have 2 trios of sisters in the mission. he talked to a bishop today who has sisters serving in his ward that cover 2 wards and he said he is thinking that it may be a good idea to open a new area!! but he is still praying about that. we talked about our interviews on the way home. i am feeling a lot more positive now. I realize that I have such a long way to go and i just need to love my companions and be their friends. i know that right now i am learning a lot and whatever happens is what heavenly father NEEDS. so i will really be okay either way! i am so grateful i got to have that interview with President though! he is so amazing and I know that everything he said was exactly what Heavenly Father wanted him to say to me. I'm really grateful for all that I'm experiencing right now! there are so many ups and downs every day, and i am learning how to handle the hard stuff so much better! it kind of scares me to think of what my life would be like if i wouldn't have served a mission. I'm sure i would have learned this all in a different way, but I'm just so so grateful that i get to learn it all now! i am so incredibly blessed and it blows my mind more and more each day of how much I'm learning and how far I've still got to go! thanks for all of your support!!! I'm sure you all have seen the weather reports. we got a ride to the church from sister Thompson but the weather is ca-razy right now! hopefully the snow will clear up by tomorrow but we will see! it looks beautiful and will make for some fun work! we are going to do some shoveling tonight for service and then just try and visit people who live nearby us. i love you all so much! i hope that you have such a great week and have fun in Boise! i miss you all and will talk to ya soon! love you! Sister Pehrson