Missionary work took a turn for the better-paper work

Morning workouts! Yup, I run in the snow and my companion takes pictures. Pretty great! 

Hey everyone!!!!

So first off, I love you so much! Thanks for being such an amazing influence in my life. You are amazing!!! :) 

This week has definitely been interesting. It is a mix between feeling like a proselyting missionary and an office missionary all at the same time. So, living in a Spanish ward means that there are people that move in and out all the time, and each person has on average about 6 names. They have their first name, sometimes two, then a middle name or two, then at least 2 last names. Yup, then then they try to put all the info onto a ward list and something has to go wrong. So, we have 3 year old kids that live by themselves and have no connection to anyone else on the list. We have kids whose last names are spelled wrong so they aren't connected to their parents. Then, there are random kids placed with aunts and uncles instead of their own parents. And the list goes on. Our bishop has been trying to work with us to update the ward list and figure out who actually lives here, and it is so much work! I now understand the reality of paper work...we have ended up spending hours and hours staring at papers, comparing information, calling random phone numbers, talking to people all over the country, and little by little things are starting to make sense. When we started working on this project last transfer, we began where we thought we could, then as we continued, we found more and more information. We showed the bishop really quickly what we were doing and his face lit up so bright! It definitely is all worth it. So, we are going to be setting aside time all this week to work with our district and get this list worked out. So exciting!!

Valeria is so adorable!!

We got a ward mission leader this past Sunday too and finally had our first correlation meeting! Woohoo! Super exciting, he just got back from his mission like a month ago, and so he is super excited to work with us and make the work progress. Everything we asked him to do, he had done by the end of church. He had talked to Bishop and got things figured out, he organized paperwork we needed, set up everything to be done for next week, and we all were amazed!!! 

We are working with Daniella right now. She is a little 8 year old whose family was baptized this year. And, everything is getting ready for her baptism next Sunday! Well, we had to pull a few strings. So last week we had the crazy miracle where her dad gave her permission to be baptized. Well, she was supposed to have her interview with bishop yesterday after church and her dad drove to church at 4pm exactly and called to pick them up, so they had to leave. We called them later because they all just disappeared. Bishop wants to help it to happen, so he is going to have a special interview just for her Tuesday night! So it will still happen. :) And she is so excited. So hopefully everything works out well this week! 

Miracles...

We have our phone back!!!!

We lost our phone last Saturday..well my companion did while I was on exchanges in another area. Yup, I came back to no phone. So, we just went to work anyway. I have been trying really hard recently to not get annoyed with things that don't really matter, and it's been working! I didn't even mind really that we didn't have a phone all weekend. Then Monday morning, we had a really strange pday and we didn't get to call the mission office to get a new one. We went to visit the Salinas family that night and had dinner. After, we were talking for a few minutes and dropped off a couple copies of "The Family a Proclamation to the World" for their family. And the sister was over who is also in our ward. We were talking about how we didn't have a phone and had some miscommunications Sunday night. But, then the sister, Hermana Villescas, just pulled out her phone and handed it to us! She just said she doesn't use it, both her kids have phones, and we could have it until we can get a new one! Blessings! And then they had a car charger they gave to us and it was amazing. We called a few people that night, and got things figured out. Tuesday when we called the mission office, the Elder in charge of it wasn't in the office until Wednesday. Our dinner Tuesday night ended up calling our phone, thinking we had it back, and some random guy returned the call saying he had found our phone! We went by Tuesday night after dinner and met him in the parking lot. We got our phone back and miraculously it still worked. It had been sitting in the parking lot under the snow for 3 days when the man found it. He dug it out of the ice and brushed it off with his glove and it lit up. I have no idea how it still had battery because it normally dies after a day, and here it was 4 days later still working with half the battery. We gave him a Book of Mormon and shared a short message and a prayer with him. God really does work in mysterious ways! 

Sorry these stories are so long! But, I guess I just get carried away a bit while I am writing. :) 

We met a few new people this week, and hopefully we can help them to learn more and will want to progress! Our less-actives are coming back to church and with their new callings, are progressing so much! Exciting!! The Lord is truly blessing this area and I can't wait to see the new changes and miracles that will come! 

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

So, this was our adventure at the hospital. There were two sisters in the ward in the hospital who we had never met. So, we went on an adventure but good things hispanics have like 10 names...we couldn't find either of them. haha So, we took some pictures and headed back out to work. 

Stay safe. Stay warm. Find someone to serve. There is always a person waiting for you to cheer up their day. :) 

I know that this gospel is true. It has changed my life so many times. It is difficult at times to follow the things we know we should, but it is so important. I want you all to really seek to being more like Christ. In the last few weeks, I have been recognizing so many more of my downfalls, and I want to perfect them. I want to be better. So, I am trying to depend more on the Lord for His help. I know He can make us stronger if we really ask Him and seek for His love and guidance. 

Love you!

Hermana Jessica Peterson