Final Words

Hey everyone!

I come home in 2 days! I am so excited! The past week or two I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my mission and what it's done for me. For a while I questioned if I had done enough or did well enough, but increasingly I have come to feel calm assurances from the Lord that all is well, and that I should be satisfied in finishing my mission. The past year and a half has been the experience of a lifetime, both good and bad. While it seems sometimes that missions are outrageous, ridiculous, and often a waste of time, I wouldn't change a thing. I am so happy that I followed the Lord's will to serve a mission! It has blessed me and will continue to bless me throughout the rest of my life. I have come to love the people I worked with in Ohio and will miss all of them along with the physical beauty of this state. When I first received my mission call to Ohio, I was like, "Wait, seriously?" But now I KNOW why I was assigned to this mission. I don't know ALL the reasons, and won't know until the next life, but I know there were specific people I needed to meet. There were lives I needed to touch, and there were people that blessed my life in return. I have made so many friends here that I can't even count them. 

Though this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, I know that all the opposition I faced throughout my mission was worth it.  A survivor of the ill-fated Martin Handcart Company once said, "The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company." Looking back on my time here in Ohio, I realize that my mission was nothing what I had expected it to be. But after all the blood, sweat, and tears, I can honestly say that I am privileged to have served in the Great OCM. I feel privileged to have become more acquainted with Heavenly Father and my Savior, and I am overwhelmed by their love for me. I know the Atonement is real because I have experienced it here in Ohio. I know this is Christ's true Church, and that He is with me every step of the way. He is the one who is carrying me across the finish line. I know I have only been able to finish my mission by His enabling grace. 

I love you all, and thank you for supporting me on my mission! I can't wait to see you all soon! 

Love, 

Sister Petersen

 

 

11 Days!!!

Hey everyone,

It was a pretty normal week. It's still been very rainy though,
and I
can't wait to leave all the gloominess behind soon. It rains so
much
it's ridiculous, if only I can make all the storms move out West
where
they need it so much more!

The biggest news from this week is that we
had two people at church,
our new investigator Jenny, and her 15 year old son
Shane. Her son has
really been thinking about being baptized this past year,
and so he
joined our lesson this week and was really interested to hear what
we
had to say and read the Book of Mormon. It was honestly a miracle for
me to
see two new people come to church this week, because throughout
the entire
course of my mission, I had only brought one other person
to church that I had
found myself that had not been previously taught
by other missionaries. What a
positive way to end my mission! Jenny
and Shane stayed the first two hours, and
we don't have a return
appointment yet and honestly have no idea what they
thought or if they
will be coming back. But I feel good knowing we did
everything we
could, and the topics for Sacrament and Sunday School were
really
good, so if they decide not to come back for now, then they are
just
not ready yet. I feel at peace with handing them over to the Lord
and
seeing what happens from here.

I only have one full week left of being a
missionary, and I am looking
forward to seeing you all soon. :)

Sent from my
iPad

18 Days

Hey, 

So you've probably heard about that tropical depression storm that hit Texas and Oklahoma. Well that moved east and then north of that, and we've been under flash flood warnings. It rained all day Wednesday, then on Thursday, Friday, and especially Saturday. Thankfully, Wednesday was our P-day and we enjoyed going to the temple in Columbus, and throughout the week we stayed busy with just enough appointments, meetings, and other things to do that kept us inside. Lucky us! It really did rain a ton though, and we noticed that there's part of the carpet in our bedroom that's sopping wet, because we're in a basement apartment in the corner of the building. We should probably call maintenance about that!

One thing that's keeping us busy is now we are using our planner and Area Book (all the teaching records of people in this area that we keep) on the digital app on our iPads. So we had ANOTHER training meeting, and now we have time set aside each day where we just input all of our records for the next two weeks. That's mostly what I'm doing until I go home, haha. 

We have a new investigator who is really promising. A couple weeks ago with our mini missionary, we were walking along the sidewalk when I felt like I should stop and at least give this lady our card. Normally I would've just kept walking, because she was busy with a garage sale and was with a group of people. But it turns out that Jenny, the woman we talked to, is super interested to know what we believe. We finally came back this past Saturday for an appointment, and answered a lot of questions she had. She had read through the Restoration pamphlet and loved it all. She's really concerned about how to best raise her family in this world, and wants to come to church next week. Wow. Talk about a miracle! She's really seeking for the truth and we are excited to meet with her again on Thursday. 

Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Petersen

Pictures: A pretty field after the rain cleared up. Also a sign that's in the parking lot of a church building across the street from us. We should have this sign at our church parking lots too. 

 

 

25 Days

Hey, 

This last week was pretty good. I forgot how fun it can be when you are in a tri-companionship. Our mini missionary, Sister Groover, made things so fun! We had some good experiences too with talking to people and just living the missionary life. We also got a new investigator, Pat, who is this super nice older lady who we taught the Restoration to. She was amazed by the First Vision, and we are going back tonight to see her again. 

This transfer is busy with meetings and trainings. We had a "mini" zone conference last week where we role-played a ton using the iPads. This weekend we are rolling out the Area Book/Planner app, which means that we will start inputting all of our paper records by hand into the digital format, and our planners will also be on our iPads. That will be exciting! 

I'm out of time, but here's some pictures! Also, Sister Malloy, one of my old companions, was here this weekend for a visit and attended the other ward that meets in our building, so she caught me at church yesterday, that was fun!

Love, 

Sister Petersen

 

Mini Ipads and Mini Missionaries

Hey, 

This was a pretty good week. On Wednesday, we finally received our iPad Minis, and have been doing a lot of training and set-up for those. In another week or two, we're going to input all the information in our huge area book binders with all the records. It's good to know there's extra stuff to keep me busy these last few weeks! I'm also grateful for the opportunity to see how missionaries are integrating the more advanced technology into their work. The Church has produced these new digital pamphlets in place of the paper ones, and they are SO cool for teaching, whether it's in a sit-down lesson or on a doorstep. Anyone can download the app, it's LDS Pamphlets, and I totally want to use them for anyone who has questions about the church after my mission as well. Everyone should check this out! I'm also becoming acquainted with everything on the gospel library app and relearning how to use technology- it's been 16 months since having my own device, and I struggled a bit the first couple days! How embarrassing! On the bright side, it won't be hard for me to make the adjustment when I come home, haha. 

We received a "mini missionary" for the week on Saturday, Sister Groover, who is a 17 year old youth from a different ward in the stake. She's pretty cool. As I work with Sister Gustaveson, and now with our mini missionary as well, we have been seeing some miracles happen in this area. Sister Gustaveson has also put a fire under me, which is helping me finish my mission strong. As we've committed to talking to more people (which is SO much easier to do during summer, I'm telling you, being a missionary during winter is THE WORST), we've been getting return appointments with several potential investigators. And that makes everything so much better. 

We currently meet with 3 less-actives weekly, and have had great experiences with that. Isaiah is also going to the temple for the first time this Friday, and we're trying to pull together a ride in order for us to get to Columbus as well. 

I am grateful for this final transfer because I am finally noticing some positive changes in myself and I am finally feeling the power that can come as a missionary again. Missions are probably the hardest thing you can ever do, but I can't deny that I've learned a lot from it. It may not be the best 18 months or 2 years of your life (let's be honest, it's not), but it's the best 18 months/2 years FOR your life. What I've gained (and what I am still gaining) from my mission will shape the rest of my life.

Love, 

Sister Petersen

Pictures: 

#1: First selfie on the iPad. You should have seen the missionaries in our zone that day, people were skyping each other from different rooms and were SO excited, haha!

#2: Some cornfields down the street from us. Actually, this field is technically in the Cincinnati mission, that's how close we are to the edge. 

#3: A huge dead bee we found (and Sister Gustaveson's thumb)- check out the detail in those iPad cameras! Haha!

 

So just kidding... I actually got a new companion!

Hey everyone, 

So on Thursday morning at 6:35 am, we got a phone call from the mission home. I was already on the treadmill when Sister Fox ran into the living room, freaking out and pointing to the phone. I hopped off the treadmill as fast as I could! Sister Fox got transferred a few hours later (thankfully there were some members who were already going to transfer meeting in Columbus to see other missionaries, so we just snagged a ride from them), and I got a new companion. So yes, believe or not, I am finally the senior companion! I almost went my whole mission as junior companion, haha. But basically President told me that I would be getting a newer missionary so the area could be built up when I go home. 

So I am now with Sister Gustaveson from Cedar Hills, UT. She went to BYU for a year and a half, and has been in Ohio for 3 transfers now. She still has enough greenie fire to kick me into gear. I was definitely forced to step it up a bit the past several days! We get along pretty well and the transfer should go smoothly, at least I hope. 

We've done more finding, and finally gained a new investigator, Cliff. He was sitting on his porch when we met him, and his wife passed away 3 weeks ago. He was very receptive to what we had to say, and we'll meet with him again this weekend. 

....and I come home in 39 days. That is all. :)

Love, 

Sister Petersen

PS- here's a picture of me with some chocolate scones I made this week for people. I can bake anything now! haha

6 Weeks Left!

Hey everyone, 

So it's down to the final transfer of my mission, and Sister Fox and I are staying in Beavercreek for a third transfer! The hard thing about that is that we both go home in 6 weeks, so motivation is wayyyy down, but we'll make it good as we finish out our time.

Several good things have been happening. We've done a few more service projects, one of which included gardening work and we got to drive a riding lawn mower for the first time ever! We are now true Ohio-ans. Think our front yard at home is big? That's nothing compared to people's lawns in Ohio, I've never seen so many riding lawn mowers in my life. 

Between teaching a couple of lessons, we have done some other fun things as well. We spent the end of our evening one night at this park with the coolest slide ever. And today, we went to the National US Air Force museum with a couple of members and the Fairborn sisters. You guys would really dig this place, I think it's the biggest air and space museum in the country, and we will have to go through it when we come back to Ohio. 

Last week was our mission-wide conference in preparation for getting iPads. It was different than what we expected, and very principle-based, especially about the Atonement. It was really good and I got a lot of things out of it that had nothing to do with technology. However, we still have not been given the iPads yet- we will receive them in a week at zone meeting and be trained further on setting things up. Sister Fox and I will literally get a month with them before our missions are over, haha.

Also, there was a tornado that touched down just outside of our area yesterday, which ripped off the building of a gym and flipped a few cars. What's funny is that we were less than a 20 minute drive away, and we had no idea that there was even a tornado watch, but we got some good rainstorms out of it, haha. 

Have a great week!

Love, 

Sister Petersen

Pictures:

There was this plane called "The Fiery Ginger IV"- obviously needed a picture of that one. 

And the Air Force is spot-on, "return with honor?" "self before service?" Their slogans were totally ideas from a Mormon 

 #6: Me in front of a Beavercreek sign/painting. It was slightly awkward as this was outside of an alcohol carry-out place. But we needed a picture of it!  

#7 and #8: Evening at the park! (these are only 2 of the many that we took, haha)