Comin' at ya from Westerville!

Hey everyone!

I was emergency transferred this week to Westerville, which is in the central area of the mission, in between Columbus, Powell, Dublin, and New Albany. One of our areas is actually in Columbus. Compared to Zanesville, it's more upscale and can be described as a sprawling suburb. I really love it. I don't have my address yet (just haven't looked at it or figured it out), so sorry about that, but you can keep sending mail to the mission office (packages have to be first class or priority though to be forwarded). The mission office is only like 10-15 minutes away so mail can be forwarded here pretty quick. 

Monday night at 7:30 pm we got the call from President that Sis. King was going home the next day and that we both needed to pack everything up and be at the mission office at 9 am the next morning. It was stressful packing up so quickly, especially since our area was going to be temporarily shut down so the apartment had to be spotless. 

Tuesday morning I met my new companion at the mission office, Sister Baldridge! She's from Murray, UT and has been out for 11 months. We get along great. A week and a half earlier, her companion had to go home for medical stuff, so she was put in a trio companionship with the Westerville 2nd ward sisters. It worked out pretty well, because then we got to get put together and go back to just the Westerville 1 area. We have a nice apartment complex too... it has a gym!! I was super excited about that, haha, and I've been able to run on the treadmill every morning!

Since President and Sister Nilsen were running late, we had to run over to the mission home and it was a quick drop-off for Sister King. Sister Baldridge and I then left in the car we had in Zanesville, and it's weird because I also still have the Zanesville phone, so we have two phones right now for two different areas. There were members calling me about dinner appointments there, and I had to say, "Um... we're not in Zanesville anymore..." We literally disappeared overnight. Thankfully though the elders in that ward are actually going to take our area now. 

This week has been a COMPLETE 180 degree turn on my mission. It's so great. We're out all day and doing the work, and I absolutely love it here. I've been drinking out of a fire hose this week, trying to take in all new info, especially since there's a lot more investigators and things going on out here. And Sis. Baldridge has only been in the area for a couple weeks, so we've been figuring out a lot together. 

Had a couple lessons this week. I met Carmen, who has two children and we're going to set her up for a plan towards baptism this week. We got Linda to church, another investigator, who we are also going to try and set up a date for. It's funny, because she feels like she needs to "bear her testimony to the Church" before getting baptized. 

We've focused a lot on finding, and found 3 new investigators. On Saturday when we were going to see a potential, we said hi to this guy, and then he came back and stopped us to give us a card advertising his upcoming book he wrote. We exchanged cards with him, giving him a mormon.org card, and started telling him about what we do, and explained the Book of Mormon. He thought it was so cool that Christ came to America. He then said he had actually been praying while walking over there and then felt impressed to stop us and give us a card for his book. His name is Theophilus, and we set up a return appointment to teach him more. He's so cool.

We had a specialized training this week, and it was my new zone meeting with my old zone, because both zones are in the same stake (it's a HUGE stake geographically). It was crazy to see my old zone, and friends like Sister Burton and Sister Pollock! I do miss my first zone, and I miss some of the people in Zanesville, but otherwise I was fine with packing up my bags and leaving. I just really love my new area. Also, it has the Inniswood Metro Gardens here (google it), so we'll go there one day. It's so beautiful around here.

Being a missionary is great. I've been tired a lot, but it feels good to hit the pillow each night knowing that I worked hard that day. I also attached pictures from this week, with the redheads in the OCM at training (saw Sis Mathis again!), and with Sister Baldridge. I'll send more this next week of the area.        

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

GO BUCKEYES! (The madness is increasingly setting in)

 

Love, 

Sister Petersen  

Easter in Zanesville

Hey Mom and Dad, 

(First off, note to everyone: THANK YOU THANK YOU for the letters and packages!! I got three packages in a week! But please, no one send me any more sweets or food of any kind for at least a couple months, haha- I have plenty now! :) But seriously, I felt very loved this week! Also, there may or may not be some changes occurring in the next week or so, so if you send me a letter please send it to the mission office address so it can be forwarded to wherever I am. Thanks!)

Easter was nice, and don't worry, we got fed a very nice dinner at a member's home, with other friends from the ward over as well so it was definitely enjoyable. We also had a combined Sacrament Meeting with both Zanesville wards, and it was pretty good! Yesterday I really felt the power of the Atonement and the importance of what Christ has done for us. 

So you know how I said the weather was getting so nice here? Well, the next day it SNOWED and didn't get out of the 30s. I'm not kidding. The night before, it was in the high 60s. Ohio.... I just don't even understand haha. But what was great about Tuesday is that we went to the TEMPLE! YAY! The Columbus temple is the tiniest, shortest, temple I have ever seen in my life. But it's super nice, and I really liked it. 

On Wednesday, we had interviews with President Nilsen, combined with training for the whole morning. The Assistants gave some really good stuff on desire, motivation, dealing with stress, and envisioning success.  A member of the mission presidency also gave a great training, and what I gained from that is the quote: Perception becomes your reality. It's so true! It's really all mental, when you get down to it. 

We met with Mike again this week, and after a 2 hour discussion with him, and the lesson starting with him saying, "I'm not Mormon material," he accepted a baptismal date for May 17th!!! This is a HUGE moment, as he's been attending church for almost two years now. We really went in depth with the enabling power of the Atonement, and that it's Satan who tells him to doubt. It got pretty intense. Somehow this leaked out onto Facebook (probably our member who was at the lesson), and so lots of people were really pumped up on Sunday when they saw Mike, haha. So he better stay committed now!

Not much else I can report on for the week. The people we were supposed to start teaching this week were unavailable. One of them actually had a cousin who got in a car accident and burst a main artery, so she was spending her weekend at the hospital and wouldn't be able to get to church. Go figure. The adversary is REAL, people! 

So hopefully spring will stay for GOOD this week! And the church is SO true, and the Spirit is SO real, I have felt its presence so many times on my mission that I can't even count the instances. Love you all!

Love, 

Sister Petersen

Spring has arrived in Ohio!

Dear Mom and Dad (and everyone else):

Spring's here!! It's been so nice. Things are really greening up here, and there's a lot of trees with huge flowers blooming on them. We went down to McConnelsville again on Saturday, our outlying area in the huge ward boundaries, and got to give service at the Griesmyer farm. We weeded and cleaned up their deck for spring, in our skirts- it was AWESOME. I also took advantage of their hammock and rope swing that was up on the hill, haha. I attached a picture of their driveway, and another of me with their chickens. Unfortunately, their pigs didn't make it into the picture. We also helped the youth in the ward with delivering mulch for spring. Kind of nasty, and I could barely lift those huge bags of dirt, but I got to wear jeans and felt pretty normal that evening! Haha.

In other news this week, we had a solid zone meeting on Wednesday, and we got addressed on the desire that's needed in serving a mission, and being the obedient missionary who wants to be there and try her/his best. Later that day we saw Gary again, and I FINALLY got the opportunity to teach the first lesson to someone for real!! We also gave him the Book of Mormon he requested. His wife was a little unsure, but she wants us to keep coming back to see her because of her health problems that keep her at home, and wants us to always pray for her. Gary seemed interested though, so we'll definitely be stopping by again this week to see how his reading is doing.

Had exchanges with Sister Burton and Sister Pollock again, this time they came to Zanesville. I absolutely love them, and got to work with Sister Burton for all of Thursday. Also, Sister Burton is the BEST, we went RUNNING OUTSIDE the next morning in the rain!! It felt SO good and we loved being out. I learned a lot and I finally got to go tracting too, with the change in companionship. It was an AWESOME day. We found several potential investigators and got a few return appointments. We got invited into some Jehovah's Witness's house, and she talked to us for a LONG time... there was just this sick feeling in there when she talked about this memorial they do for Christ's death (the scripture reference they go off of regarding "do this in remembrance of me" TOTALLY references taking the sacrament, but they see it as celebrating/remembering his death).

There was also this house I've been wanting to knock on for a long time, by one of our less-active's homes. Turns out this family with 4 kids lives there, and the mother was sick, but they wanted us to come back. Next door, we talked to the oldest daughter who was babysitting over there and we gave her the first lesson on the porch and she was interested! Sister King and I went back yesterday but it wasn't a good time (we were originally supposed to come back Saturday but we were out of town); however the mom told us to come back on Friday when she isn't working. As we left, one of the kids in their backyard waved and shouted, "It's the Mormons!!" Even before I knocked on their door, I have felt really good about that family. While on exchanges, I finally saw the huge amount of potential that Zanesville has. There is SO much work that can be done here, and I'm dying to do it.

Today for P-day we had another zone fun day, and played volleyball, capture the flag in the rain (we were sopping wet!) and had a barbecue. Good times.

 

Exchanges were SOOO beneficial for me. I sat down with Sister Burton and she helped me with planning, and then she totally had my back when we knocked doors and talked to people.  Seriously though, bless Sister Burton! She's there if I need to call her for any problems, and we have so many similarities it's not even funny. We're going to be really close after the mission at BYU.

Pictures for the week:

#1: The Griesmyer farm in McConnellsville

#2: A moment with chickens.

#3: Daffodils in the Griesmyer's garden. We cut some and took them to people.

#4: Me, Sis. Burton, Sis. King, and then Sis. Pollock before our dinner appointment on Thursday.

Love,
Sister Petersen

Thank Goodness for General Conference!

Hey everyone, 

 

Again, your lives sound awesome right now. I'm so grateful that you are being blessed while I am away. I'm somewhat jealous you guys get to go shooting though, I had a lot of fun when I did it with the Heckamans. And I'm not surprised that Matthew (Whitney's cousin) is now the AP in Italy. He's awesome. I hope you all enjoyed General Conference too, the talks were incredible. Sunday morning session really spoke to me the most, and my favorites were Elder Bednar, Elder Holland, Elder Anderson, Elder Zwick, Pres. Uchtdorf, Sister Jean Stevens, and of course Pres. Monson. A few key things I got from Conference are these:

 

1) Replace your fear with faith. 

2) What is the load that you're carrying? Will it give you the "spiritual traction" to move forward? If it will, do you just need to make the decision to actually move forward? 

3) Trials make our faith stronger and our spiritual roots run deeper. 

4) Stop the corrupt communication with each other!

5) Obedience does not show weakness, it shows wisdom, especially with obeying God's laws (which never change)

6) Gratitude is the way you can find peace right now, whether the times are bad or good. 

What was weird about Conference is that it starts at noon here for the morning session, then the afternoon session starts at 4 pm. Kind of late compared to what I'm used to! Also, we went to the church building for all 4 sessions, and the turn-out was pretty scarce because everyone was home. For the Saturday afternoon session, it was just the two of us, and the elders serving in the other ward! 

I would be lying if I said that mission life has been sunshine-y and great. But hope is never lost. Despite the figurative storms that really came down over the weekend, I have seen some tender mercies from the Lord. We went to a potential investigator's home, and I was able to do a very fluid door approach that came naturally to me. The man, Gary, was interested to read the Book of Mormon, so we are going back to drop one off to him and hopefully teach him more. Members that we have had dinner with show such compassion to us, and the other night, this sweet 6 year old girl just came up and gave me a hug. So Mom, keep giving the sister missionaries hugs, because they totally need them! At other times, when I am literally left on my own to make plans and figure out what to do because my trainer is not helping me, I have plead in prayer and felt the arms of the Spirit embrace me. The power of the Holy Ghost is real. Christ suffered all things and knows exactly what we feel. We are never truly left on our own. We just need to put our trust in Him and pay attention to the whisperings of the Spirit. 

Regarding investigators, we have had to leave Ron and Suzan alone for a little while, because both of Ron's parents passed away within a week of each other and family life is crazy right now. We got Mike, our "eterna-gator" (eternal investigator) to Conference, and one of the talks really called him out, that he shouldn't be putting off receiving the ordinance of baptism any more! Another eterna-gator, Hailey who's 21, watched it yesterday too, and we actually have dinner with her tonight! She's awesome. 

Letters are veryyyyy appreciated- and seriously, I have replied to everyone right away, so I GUARANTEE that you will get a letter back :)

One funny story though- I got attacked a dog this week (classic missionary incident). These less-actives had three small dogs, two dachshunds and a Yorkie, which all attacked us at the door. One dachshund was super bratty and latched onto my leg, leaving a huge bite mark in one of my boots. Stupid dog. The Yorkie was nicer though, and sat on my lap while we visited the couple. Holding puppies makes up for not being able to hold people's babies for sure! (mission rules state you can't hold children). 

Love you all, 

Sister Petersen

(sorry, no pictures this week!)

 

1201 Colony Drive #42

Zanesville, OH 43701

Another Transfer in Z-ville

Hey everyone, 

It sounds like things are going really well for everyone!!  We watched it (last week's Womens' Conference) at our ward building, because our stake center is almost an hour away... haha. In the middle of watching it, one of the Relief Society sisters turned on the lights and informed everyone that it was snowing outside and the roads were getting pretty bad, so whoever needed to leave should go. I was like, what the heck. On Sunday morning I was walking through snow, then yesterday it got up to 70 degrees and was super nice! So weird. 

I haven't heard from Shelby, but I think she's okay (this is Whitney's former roommate who is serving a mission in Ukraine). Haven't heard from Megan either (COUGH COUGH- WRITE ME!). And Janel, welcome to my e-mails!! I'm dying to get transferred to Dublin in the future, and if I do, you need to send me some referrals :)

One thing I continue to realize on my mission is how fortunate of circumstances I grew up in. I've been in some pretty slummy areas this week, particularly in Newark while on exchanges. I went to see a former investigator with Sister Burton (love her!), and this woman lived in a rotting house with two little girls, with cigarette butts and food smashed into the carpet, who-knows-what all over the walls, and it was just a sad sight in general. Also went through a lot of sketch apartments that reeked of smoke. And drove through a part of southern Zanesville with shack-like houses where there was definitely illegal activity going on. We've got it REALLY nice!!

Now, about some people from the week. I finally met Mallory, a member's granddaughter who would have been baptized long ago if it weren't for the mother, who is punishing Mallory by not letting her go to church (doesn't even make sense...). She's 16 and we connected really well, there's not a lot we can do for her right now but I'm praying she will have to opportunity to come to church soon. The Bausermans, a member family in our ward (and our ward mission leader), I can't remember if I've already mentioned them, but they're my all-time favorites. They serve all these home-grown, natural foods to us and they're just really down-to-earth people, who I've come to feel very close with. Also this week, we saw Mike again and Sister King gave him this inspired lesson on how he is just as accountable as he would be if he were already baptized, because he knows it's all true. He decided he needs to redouble his efforts and get super serious about getting baptized, and we've left him with the commitment to find his answer during General Conference. We are also starting member lessons with the family that Cayenne works for as the daughter's nurse. It would have happened sooner but there's been a lot going on with both ends of the situation that's postponed it. 

The unique thing of the week is that we took a day-trip down to McConnelsville, a town that's 30-40 miles south of Zville that's in our ward boundaries. The members down there, the Griesmyers, took care of us for the day, and the oldest Sister Griesmyer went out with us to visit lots of less-actives (a lot of them were old and physically couldn't make it to church, but at the same time, it would be hard to stay active when you live so far away from church!). The Griesmyers' farm consists of the parents, two grown kids and their families, cows, chickens, sheep, and a donkey. And dogs and cats. When we first pulled up, we met one of the daughters, who was holding a lamb that was born just an hour earlier. The grandkids showed us around the paddocks outside where we got to see the cutest lambs (sorry I didn't get pictures!). That afternoon, we drove wayyyyy out into the boonies and visited some rather talkative people (and we were way out in the hills, the edges of the Appalachians actually). We also ate lunch at a store that's owned by some Menonites. So I've met the Amish and the Menonites now! 

Preparation day was today because of transfers tomorrow. However, I'm staying for Sister King another six weeks. I've come to love the members here, and I've adjusted to Zanesville and am glad to stay here a little longer. There's a lot of work that can be done. 

SO EXCITED for General Conference this weekend. It's amazing that we have living prophets to speak to us today, as the mouthpiece of the Lord. I ask everyone to write down questions or concerns in your life beforehand, and I promise that answers will come! I wrote down three concerns last time, and I got tons of personal revelation on those matters, and more! It felt like a personal conference just for me!

Fun picture of the week: At district meeting last week, our district leader brought two ducklings that he had purchased for a gift for a recent convert. I got to hold one! 

Oh, and do you remember those mounds that are in Ohio, that are possibly from Book of Mormon people? They're not too far from me, just past Newark! There's actually a ward in our zone that's called Moundbuilders. Haha. 

Letters and packages still appreciated :)

Love, 

Sister Petersen