Monday, January 6, 2014

Happy New Years!!!!!!!

So, this holiday season has been crazy! With being sick and visiting and strange traditions, nothing seemed to be the same! 

First off, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve, well at midnight. Everyone parties and has huge celebrations on the 24th and then they stay up all night to party and open gifts at midnight when Santa comes. Their presents from santa are under the tree on top unwrapped and then the ones from their parents are underneath in wrapping paper. Our family left a glass of milk and a nutella sandwich for Santa this year. Precious! haha it was super cute! Oh, and things are still up :) Remember how I'm pretty much obsessed with Christmas decorations. Well, because of that, I really don't have the desire to take any down. So, I think we are going to see how long we can get our tree to stay up. I like going downstairs at night and laying under it looking up at all the lights. 

Utah boys, remember how we didn't take down the Christmas tree for months after Christmas and it was my favorite! I'm pretty sure is was getting warm out and we decided it was time to not pretend it was still cold. haha I don't know what it is, but I just love trees. :) And, there were a few real ones I could go and smell too! The best ever! 

For new years, it was pretty interesting. We had a big ward party and we got to go for the first little while before heading home. Then...we found out that there was some problem with the toilet in our house. Our family said that there was water that was coming out of our bathroom upstairs. Yup, they have carpet. Worst decision of someone's life! So we got to have a fun little trip up to Walmart New year's eve to buy a plunger, disinfectant and something to scrub the carpets clean. Luckily after a few days the smell is starting to go away after scrubbing it for an hour. haha When I have my house, there is no way carpet will be allowed in the bathroom! haha 

This week has been full of surprises. Nothing has gone according to plans, and everyone we are teaching seems to not be interested, some huge emergency gets in the way, or something happens where they aren't progressing. In our area, we only have about 8 active families that we can visit. Then about 20 less actives. So, we have tons of work to do! We have been trying to find in different ways and find those that are really prepared to accept the gospel in their lives. We were on exchanges yesterday and I went with Sister Hunter. She is awesome! We went back to their area for the day, but they are the English sisters that cover our same area, so we could work a little in both and one of us would continue teaching them. We went to find a few potentials that they had and they had both moved. But, the people we found were blessings from God. 

After knocking a door and finding that the guy was not interested and the one we were looking for didn't live there anymore, we decided to knock a few more of his neighbors. It was freezing outside so it was nice we were inside an apartment complex and not freezing in the cold! But, we had a feeling to go to one side of the floor. Irene opened the door when we knocked. She didn't speak English, so I spoke to her in Spanish and Sister Hunter just sat patiently and tried to pick up a few words of the conversation. It was amazing. She was from Mexico and had met the missionaries and gone to church about 20 years ago. She had moved right after though and never returned. When we came to the door, she recognized us as representatives of Jesus Christ. I had a BOM in Spanish in my bag, and had been wanting to give it out all day, but it was saved just for her. I handed her the book and she looked at the book and said she remembers it. She hadn't read it before, but she wanted to now. I opened the front and explained what it was. She looked at the picture of Christ. I turned the page and she remembered the story of Joseph Smith. She saw the picture of Jesus as He came to the Americas. She started crying. She told me about how she had seen Christ just like that with His arms open coming down to her in a dream. He testified to her. It was amazing. She wants the gospel in her life. She wants to change, and hopefully this is the time where we can help her to do that! 

Things have been amazing. We are working with a recent convert family right now. The mom and oldest daughter were baptized in July, and the youngest daughter just turned 8 a few weeks ago. So, we have been working to get her prepared to be baptized. Their dad doesn't support them much in the gospel and it is difficult to get his permission to do things. Because of that, they haven't asked him if she can get baptized. They were all scared. He isn't ever home when we com over though, so we have only met him once or twice ever.  We went over the other night and as we were teaching them, I asked the 8 yr old if she would be baptized. She said yes. Right then, the door opened and their dad walked in. Everyone froze and no one knew what to say. So, I just said
buenas tardes! so the conversation wasn't super awkward. I felt impressed to just ask him. I told him that his daughter wanted to be baptized. He came back saying how she was already baptized and how everyone was. But, then I explained how she wanted to be baptized in this Church. After explaining the process of the baptism(because he hadn't gone to the baptism of his wife or daughter) he said yes!!! We were all freaking out!!! It was soooo exciting :) We talked about a date and she will be getting baptized on January 19th. They came to church yesterday and set up her interview with the bishop for next Sunday. And, they planned it for Sunday after church so that her dad isn't working. We are all hoping and praying that he will come! 

We had an apt last night with a family we have been working with to be active and prepare for the temple. She is already endowed and amazing, but he isn't very active or strong in the gospel. We had an awesome family home evening with them Monday night and had fun talking about the temple and eternal families. But last night, they weren't home! So, we went to see another family. Their family hasn't been to church in awhile, and he came once, but that's it. He has been doubting a lot recently about the gospel and wants to find out where he needs to be. It was perfect. We shared a message and bore our testimonies. He is fasting this week and going to start reading the Book of Mormon everyday to find out. God answers prayers and he will definitely answer his! 

It's been amazing, seeing the miracles that come as we strive to help others come into the gospel and depend on the Savior and His guidance. These are the children of God and He knows better than anyone else where to find them! 

Hope you all have an amazing week! Read 2 Nephi 1:15 I feel like this all the time! Accept the atonement more in your life and be blessed. :) Feel the arms of the Savior wrapped around you! Also, Alma 5:45-46 is amazing. Any questions you ever have, ask God. Pray, fast, search the scriptures. God wants to answer you, so ask Him! :) 

Love you all! 
Hermana Jessica Peterson
 
19792 E 49th Ave
Denver, CO 80249
 
Mission Home Address:
 
Colorado Denver North Mission
Hermana Jessica Peterson
1250 Main St.
Broomfield, CO 80020

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