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| My district on plaid day :) |
First off,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY AND AMANDA!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!
Hope
it's a great one for you :) You two are amazing. Amanda, keep up the
good work down there in Brazil! And Emily, keep being the loving and
incredible girl that you are back home. I love you and miss you tons!
This
week Hna Giron came back to visit. She has been home for 2 weeks
already and it seems like it was yesterday that we were companions, but
it's already been about 5-6 months! It was super fun though to see her
and to be able to spend some time together. Here is picture of Hna Jones, Michel, and I! It's so weird to see Giron without a tag on! But, it was a great day :)
I have been thinking a lot about how things happen
in our lives for a reason. We meet people for a reason. We have certain
experiences and relationships for a reason. And God places us in the
road we need to follow so that we can help others to succeed.
This week we were helping a lot of people to get
started on their family history, and it is super exciting! I'm glad to
hear about all the work happening back home too! It's such a great
opportunity that we have to help those on the other side of the veil. :)
We were talking with a family that has recently started coming to
church and they are super excited to find their relatives and to find
ways to be stronger as a family as they prepare to enter the temple.
The importance of goals has really get me thinking.
Jayden is planning on getting baptized on the 19th, but his dad first
needs to prepare for the Melchizedek priesthood. So, they planned a goal
to work as a family for this to happen. It's going to take a lot of
work and preparation, but we really want to help them towards this goal
so that they will be able to progress spiritually and be sealed in the
temple. It seems to become more real when we have goals. It's not just
something that will happen in the future, it's a real goal that we can
achieve soon. It can seem scary, but it's so worth it!
We had a few very eventful baptisms this weekend
too! Saturday, there was an 8-year old girl getting baptized. But, no
one actually planned the baptism...until we all showed up at 1145 for it
to start at 12. So, the font was filling, she wanted one of the elders
to baptize her instead of her dad, so that was interesting. Then, the
son ended up playing piano for the opening and closing. I played during
the time while they changed clothes and Hna Olson sang. One of the
elders gave a talk partially in english and partially in spanish. The
mom tried giving a talk in english, but she doesn't really speak it.
And, there were people there that only speak and understand spanish, and
others that only speak and understand english. So, it was super
exciting. haha But, it was great too. Never a dull moment :)
Sunday's baptisms I think beat that one by far
though! The whole thing was planned well, but there has to be something
that goes wrong. We went down to Denver and arrived around 430 for the
baptism to start. But, the font was full of freezing cold water.
Apparently the boiler didn't start while they were filling the font. So,
one of the sisters went swimming to pull the plug. That's when we got
there. We got the font emptied part-way. Then we turned on the hot
water. I started swirling the water around to make sure the bottom
wasn't still ice-cold too. Finally we got it a little warmer, but it was
still going to be a pretty chilly baptism. The service was beautiful,
but as the people were being baptized, one kinda fell backwards. She
looked a little nervous and her feet slipped. And, the guy went back so
fast that he hit his head on the bottom of the font. Whoops! 
Then while
we were in the chapel, they got permission to do the confirmations so
that they don't have to wait for 2 weeks until after conference weekend. During the first one though, someone smelled a gas leak, called 911,
and the firemen came to evacuate the building. Yup..during the prayers.
But, they stayed, finished the blessings and got everyone out of the
building. haha At least those 3 will never forget that day! But, in the
middle of all the confusion and crazy things happening, you could see
how excited and happy each one of them looked and felt. It was amazing.
God really does work in ways we would never imagine.
This was a fun Family Home Evening we did this week with an hermana
that just moved here from Washington and her sister and niece. We were
teaching about eternal families and had them pop balloons with the
pieces of the family proclamation inside. Super funny! :)
I hope you can really take a step back and look at
your life through God's eyes. The decision to be happy is yours, not
anyone else's. We have the opportunity to know that we are His children.
As I was listening to the Women's Conference on Saturday, I couldn't
help but think about all of the people who don't know that they are
children of a Divine Being. We have a special connection and union as
members of the church. We serve and support each other. We bring others
unto Christ. We work together to have eternal families. What more could
we ever want? We have eternal goals that help us know the daily
decisions we should make. We serve God and help others do the same. We
aren't perfect, but we strive to be everyday.
I love this gospel, and the opportunity I have to
share it with everyone I see. It has changed my life-this gospel, my
mission. And it will continue to change me throughout my entire life.
Thanks for all the love and support and I hope you love
Conference this weekend! I know that I am super excited for it! So, get
prepared for some spiritual nourishment :)
Love you all!
Hermana Jessica Peterson
We didn't have any miles this week,
so Hna Browning is posing with her "Mommy Bag" that has everything we
need for the day. haha
Hermana Jessica Peterson
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