Whoa another week has gone by. how did that happen?

For the first time i feel like we have a very solid pool of investigators. It is such an amazing difference than from before. These people are the people who have questions and are actually WILLING to search for the answers. i love it. Unfortunately yesterday when we were getting into a lotação (like a taxi) sister Murbaki sprained her ankle pretty bad. She cant walk very well and she hurts a lot. please pray for her, we have a lot of work to do these last two weeks of the transfer which is almost for sure our last transfer together. i would hate for her to not be able to work with me. We are a team, and even though i have the ability to teach with a ward member, i would like my comp to be healed.

I dont remember if i told you about Maria and Everaldo. One night i hadnt met my contacts goal for the day, it was late and i was tired and feeling sick. Sister Murbaki kept telling me that it was okay to go home a little early if i was sick. I said no. She said where to. i thought about a road near our house that usually has a lot of people. we went there. NO ONE was in the street. Then she said, what now. I looked up at a little house with the door open i clapped my hands together and appeared Everaldo inviting us in. We taught, we returned, and they are growing their testimonies. They were at church on Sunday with their two kids. That family is so cute and so wonderful. I love them. We taught them about the Word of Wisdom last week. Everaldo has been smoking since he was 9 and Maria is a coffeeholic. So interesting how willing they were to say yes, we will strive to live the word of wisdom. When i was bearing my testimony to them i explained that God gives us commandments because He loves us. In that moment Maria had an AH HAH! moment in which she said. That is true. A lot of people dont understand that smoking is really bad for them. God really gives us commandments so that we will be happy.
I firmly believe that our lives our built upon moments like this that i like to call ah hah moments. Moments in which what we may have already learned become knowledge and not just an idea that is nice. I can tell you that God loves you. You wont really know that He does until you experience it. I can tell these people that Joseph Smith prayed to know which church really had the power to act in the name of God and in response to His prayer God called Him to be a prophet. But they will NEVER know this is true until they pray and they FEEL that it is true. Last week Bishop went with us to a few lessons and one thing he said that i never thought about before was this: Every church yells that you must believe and worship there in order to be saved. They talk about salvation like it is something that you buy, and in some of the churches here, this is literally what happens. But when we teach, we dont ask for anything. All we do is Teach, give information, ask the people to read, and then with faith to pray and Ask God if these things are true. No other organization does this. They teach and expect you to gain a testimony. God doesnt work that way, we need to search, we need to have the will, and we need to listen. I have learned so much from Bishop and his family these past four months.
Last week in one of the areas we work in are a bunch of small houses on a hillside. The homes as i have said are very humble, and last week a house completely collapsed with people in it. Every one was okay, they had one daughter that broke her arm and had a few scratches but they were blessed. When i heard this story i felt so sad for this family. The next day we were contacting and Sis Murbaki found this family. We taught and the mom is VERY interested. She was telling us that she has always believed in God but never really had an interest in doing anything about it but that the moment her house fell down she felt that God has been preparing her. I am excited to teach this family more.
The word for tired is cansado. We ran into a little boy of ten years old that we were teaching the other day. I asked him why he didnt go to church and he said. Because i am sick. I said what do you have. He said i am cansado (tired) then sister Murbaki said are you sick or tired? what sickness do you have? He replied cancer. haha REally he has asthma but it was hilarious. I started laughing so hard and couldnt stop.
well family that is it for this week. i love you. The gospel is true. SO TRUE. Know it is true, search and i know one hundred percent that you will find it if you are sincere.
Proud to wear the tag,
Sister JP PETERSON

Another Week

Dear family!


Another week has gone by in this part of the world and have i mentioned that I love this place.

So literally Heavenly Father has been literally giving me blessings on a sliver plater. I feel very unworthy of all this love that I have felt in the last week, but literally He has helped me with everything that i have asked.

So it began last thursday when we decided to fast. The first time i fasted here, I almost passed out. The intense sun mixed with walking long distances without water=the feeling that i might die. Since then i fast but i always drink water. Heavenly Father understands these things. But this week I really needed blessings for me and others and i really wanted to show Heavenly Father how willing i am to sacrifice. So I decided i would try my best to not drink water during the fast. I prayed for Heavenly Father to help me accomplish this. That afternoon was the darkest afternoon I have seen here. It rained a ton. The whole factor of the sun draining me of everything I have was completely eliminated. I fasted without water, I asked, God prepared the way. This is simple and maybe seems like i am making mountains out of molehills, but i sincerely felt Gods love for me almost as if He was saying you know i love you here ya go.

If you havent realized im American and I speak English. This fact is very obvious to everyone here. And to me. My language abilities or lack of abilities are a huge source of insecurity 24/7 because really i speak this language only. This week I have asked so much for the ability to speak and understand, for confidence and a desire to speak more even when i dont want to. Heavenly Father has really blessed me. I have been feeling much more comfortable with the language. A few people have commented that I dont have an accent when i sing hymns and last night when we were visiting people with the 2nd counselor of the Bishopric Valdo, he said, wow you are speaking really well. This sincere comment was what i needed. And i recognized right away that I am the poster of the gift of tongues. There is ABSOLUTELY no way i could be speaking this well or teaching this well without it. Yeah i still butcher the language and trip over my words. BUT the progression i have experienced is not my own. in a little less than 6 months i am almost fluent and that is all thanks to someone who loves me and wants to help me in everything. He understands my heart and my intentions, when these two things are pure, He makes up the rest. AMAZING.

Lately I have had the opportunity to teach a different type of people. The majority of the people in my area are very poor and many are uneducated. It has been a great experience tailoring my methods of teaching to help people understand at a level appropriate. We generally dont have the opportunity to teach people with more of a background of studying. We have been teaching Givace, a college professor of Portuguese this past week. It is amazing having conversations with her, as she asks the questions of the soul and she finds answers that really make sense. This gospel is amazing because i can teach it to the humble and they understand and feel it. I can teach it to the brilliant and once again they UNDERSTAND AND FEEL IT. I love teaching this.

Sorry this isnt all that interesting this week. Just know that I feel Gods love for me EVERYDAY. It is real. I know that He blesses us when we strive to be diligent and obedient. i love this gospel. Straight up, it is true. The gospel of Jesus Christ makes me who i am. It strengthens me and I know it is the only thing that will heal this broken world. i love you all.



proud to wear the tag,

sister Peterson