Christmas and ano novo!‏

My amazing family,
Wow! what a week. Christmas was great. Talking to you all was AMAZING. I am just seeing how much the Lord is blessing me. How much he is blessing our family and how blessed i am to have such wonderful friends and family.
For Christmas a we and a few other missionaries sang christmas songs and brought toys for little kids at the hospital. I felt the pure love of Christ in every word I sang. I saw it enter into hearts of these families and men and women that are truly experiencing hard times. This was the best Christmas of my life I understand what Christmas means now. I think for the first time in my life. I served. I was more concerned about others than myself and what I was needing or what I was getting. I taught about what it means and I felt the Spirit testify that the small child who was born in a manger, the man that taught on the mount, and that same man who died on the cross truly is the Savior of the world. I felt it in every Christmas song I sang, in every prayer I offered, and in every testimony that I bore. Jesus truly is the Christ, Savior and Redeemer of the world.
I know that he lived a perfect life to show me the way. I know that through that example and his sacrifice I can be saved from all of the stupid little things (and big things) that keep me from becoming like my Father. I know that this is His work. I know that I have a perfect example of how to do this work through the scriptures. I know that the scriptures and words of living prophets are here to guide us in every situation. I love this work.
Sorry this is so short but i am happy and i love you all.
Happy new year this week!!
Proud to wear His name next to mine,
Sister Peterson

Paciencia‏

Dear Family.
I have even less time this week. but i just want to send my love to everyone.
This week monique and Maiara were baptized. Monique, after many years of waiting was finally baptized. her mother and children that are already members were so happy. Another family a little more complete.
Maiara is a young woman that we worked with since I got here. she is a very special young lady and teaching her was a blast.
This week was tough. Lots of walking and appointments falling through. But the Lord knows best and what we need. When i started to get a little down one of the most inspired men i know, Bispo Messias(Bishop) called us and said, "Thank you so much for what you are doing here in this ward. I visited Flavia and Cristiane (two of my recent converts) and my testimony has been strengthened." He excitingly told us of their progress and how our work is really making a difference. I want to be just like Bispo Messias when I grow up. Truly it was a wonderful encouragement not only from him but from the Lord. I know he is happy with our work. I am learning patience and faith. Reacting without complaining or questioning why. its hard sometimes. The sun is so hot and my legs hurt but the reward is so worth it. I really love working. I have never really appreciated the benefits of hard work but i am learning here.
This week we are working with flavias three kids. Paula (9), Fabiula (11) and Felipe (13). These kids are so special. I am so excited to teach them even more. Especially when they share their simple testimonies with me.
Yesterday i felt like a mom. Flavia brought all her kids and a neighbor kid and her nephew. 6 in all. so i sat on a pew with three rowdy boys 8 and under. Man i loved it. Her nephew Darlan has been coming to church every week for the past month. He wants so bad to be baptized....we will see. We have tried to get his mom to church but she always has something come up. But that little boy has a testimony like a rock. I heard him explaining to a five year old about the sacrament, "and right now we need to eat this bread and think about Jesus. Its Jesus Bread." Then the rowdy fiveyear old replied in a loud voice, "I want somemore Jesus Bread." haha. we are working hard to get his parents to go too!
welli loveyou all,
proud to wear thge tag,
Sister Peterson

Coca Cola

i have even less time this week to write...ugh.
Transfers: i am staying Nigrissima is going...next week I will tell you about my new companheira when we find out.
Lately Thayrone has been studying the Word of wisdom and about coca cola...Quote from Thayrone: "You need to stop drinking coke. You need your bodies healthy to serve Jesus." I have such a huge amount of love for that kid and that family. I told him that if he doesnt serve a mission i might cry.
We have been teaching a very humble woman. The first time we taught I doubted her. I doubted that she would go to church and even more that she would be willing to change. This was her second sunday at church with her children. She recognizes the blessings that she is receiving and is a lot happier. Just a little reminder that I am not here to judge or doubt. As Sister Oaks cited, "If you judge people you dont have time to love them." This is the gospel of Christ and We must be a means for people to feel His love.
This week we had conference. The assistents gave an awesome training on dreams. How we can achieve them and the importance of goal setting. I have made a goal, I have four months left...I want four families. I have made goals and i will follow through. This is my dream. I want to give this fruit to at least four families. Please help me with this goal. Please pray for me to be atent and to find these four families.
Proud to wear the tag,
Sister Peterson

happy birthday late Jerry! Also happy birthday this week for Kalena and Braxton! i love you all!

CASAMENTO‏

DEAR FAMILY,
Another week ran away from me. We worked a lot and had a ton of lessons this week. The Elders were in Sergipe all week so we followed up with all of the investigators. whoa. All in all I am happy. I am still seeing miracles everyday here and just so you know i love being a missionary.
This week we contacted a young man, Junior, who has a lot of faith in the Lord. He is a member of an evangelical church. During the lesson and our discussions I felt that he is a very special son of God. I went home and prayed so hard for him. A very sincere desire that he would receive a response that the church is true. This whole week i have prayed for him. When we followed up with him, he said these words, "I prayed. I know that your church is true." The but. "but I like where I am." We taught about authority and the difference. Sister Nigri asked him to pray before we left but to once again ask to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. He kneeled down and he prayed. Silence. He said once again, "I received a response again. your church is true." He says he will visit the church. unfortunately he doesnt want to leave his comfort zone. I reflected on my prayers. The Lord answers my prayers. Junior received an answer...he just chose not to follow it. Man that hurts. But my faith in prayer has grown and next time I will try to be more specific i guess.
Amidst a ton of lessons and missionary life we also planned a wedding for this last weekend and baptized Katia and Cristiane! The wedding was stressful but simple and beautiful. Katia was so happy. A few of the irmãs in the ward approached me saying, it wont be long till that will be you. i laughed. everyone wants to make me trunky.
Katia has been waiting a long time to be baptized. Beto, her husband will be baptized this week. We have been working with this family since i arrived. They have overcome a lot of challenges and I have seen hearts changed because of the gospel. It has been a rollercoaster but amazing to see this family take one step closer to being eternal.
It was also a miracle to see cristiane enter the waters of baptism. Truly a strong and amazing woman. I have so much love for that family it is ridiculous.
This week we are preparing Beto and a young woman, Fernanda for baptism. This coming week is also transfers. My heartaches to think that I might leave aeroclube...but the Lord knows what is best and I am grateful for this amount of time to work in such a wonderful and organized ward and to see the example of inspired leaders.
The church is true. It just is. I love it and I am so grateful that the Lord led me to make this decision. it truly is the best thing i could have done. I feel and understand a little better how crucial the gospel is. how it is apart of everything. The simple laws and ordinances make so much sense. it is perfect. i love it. i love teaching it.
Proud to wear the tag,

Sister Peterson

Wow. what another great week. We had 9 people at church. NINE! Sorry this letter will be super short because i dont have a lot of time today.
Cristiane will be baptized this week. man i love her. Such a humble and wonderful person. In Sacrament her son, Gabriel was running all over the place. I think before my mission I would have been irritated but I am learning so much here. I have really recognized the fact that I am learning a lot more about patience here. I have so much love for her son its ridiculouse.
I am still having a lot of amazing experiences here. One that I would like to share is that someone prayed us to there house. Solange joined the church a few years ago in the interior of Alagoas. Due to many difficulties and situations she left. She always thought about the church but started going to another. She moved to the capital recently. One night she prayed to know if the church was true and asked God to send missionaries to her house if it was. A little bit later an americana and Paulista showed up on her door step. She is excited to return to church with her husband and her two young children.
Today I am in Bebedouro for PDAY. I visited Bishop Elias and His family. His four year old son Thomas is my best friend since i arrived here in the Northeast. I had so many memories of S. Murbaki. I am so excited to visit a few more families after.
I know Christ lives. He is our Savior and Redeemer. Through His infinite Atonement we can be made whole. We can be cured and then perfected. This is His church. His university of eternal progression. I know through obedience and diligence and selfless sacrifice we can become more and more like Him. The gospel truly is perfect. I get so excited to think of eternity and the possibilities that are made through His plan. I have always been a fairly stressed person, especially about the future, but as for now, I only have hope and faith. I know that we are here and we have the power to change the world.
Happy Birthday this past week mama. you are the best ever.
Proud to wear the tag,

Sister Peterson

I still love aeroclube‏

DEAREST FAMILY!
This week we baptized an amazing family. A family I have known for two weeks but the love that I feel for them is so strong that I feel as if they are my family. Their oldest son, Thayrone (20 years old), is amazing. He was baptized one week before we came here. He is a young man with so many natural gifts. Everybody falls in love with him, he literally puts God first in every aspect. He prepared his family to be baptized, we had the priviledge of formally teaching them the lessons, but in reality he already taught everything. This week as we were teaching His family-Francisco (dad), Joelma(mom), oscar and Tainá-and preparing them for baptism the Joelma had a question. She asked about tithing envelopes because they had been saving their tithing money for the past few months since they stopped going to their other church. They have been so willing and ready to give up coffee and complete every commandment that we teach. I love it.
Thayrone is also giving us a ton of references. I asked, do they seem interested in the church and he looked at me and said, "Do you think I´d give you rough land to till? The land is well prepared." I laughed so hard. As we visited these references he bore testimony and we really saw how much he loves the Savior and how much he is ready to give all his heart to the gospel. He has three weeks in the church and is a better missionary than I am!!! My only comment, I wanted to baptize Thayrone! =).
This week we have been working with a widow, Neide. Her husband died 3 months ago. She has been in deep depression during this time, she wasnt eating right, leaving the house or anything. When we arrived there she was so distraught that almost everything we said didnt even enter into her understanding. We told her of the Atonement of Christ and of the Plan of Salvation, that she can be with her husband again. She told us that this thought brought a little bit of relief to her. We taught her how to pray and I felt the Spirit very strong as I witnessed the first prayer this 50 year old woman had ever made in her life. I saw the pain that she felt as she cried and pleaded for Heavenly Father to help her to overcome this sadness. We returned the next day. We started teaching about the first principles of the gospel, after faith and repentance I understood that still she was having difficulties paying attention or at least retaining the information. We focused on faith and how she could grow her faith and how through faith she could overcome anything. We also had a member who also passed through this same situation and she bore powerful testimony to neide. The next time we visited, she changed dramatically. She was smiling, she had energy because she started eating again, making visits, and as we taught she explained the blessings that she is witnessing in her life because of faith in Jesus Christ. She knows as we know that Christ is capable of curing us not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. She will be baptized in november!
Last night we taught a young woman. Her husband served a mission a few years ago. I tried SO HARD to discover her needs. She was a little more closed than I am used to, but I did my best. I sincerely felt like my best wasn't enough. Her husband bore testimony for her and told of the desire he has for her to be baptized so that one day they can be sealed for all eternity. He cried, she cried, I and Nigri almost cried. Her problem is that her family is very catholic and very much against the church. If she would choose to be baptized her family is very against it. She wouldnt even pray to know if Joseph Smith really was a true prophet. I left the house a little discouraged. I did all that I could to reason, to ask inspired and thought provoking questions, I tried all that I could, but she wouldnt pray. My companion, as we were walking away said, wow sister, that was amazing what you said. I thought she was just trying to make me feel better. When I told her how I felt about it she told me I was crazy. I really am my own biggest critic. I realized that I did do my best and i wasnt perfect but the problem was that this woman just needs a little more time. I know she will be baptized and that their family will be eternal...it just will take some time.
Speaking of eternal familiies...yesterday before lunch we visited a family where the son is serving a mission. Needless to say this family has many problems. They are very disunited and there is a spirit of contention due to hypocrisy and selfishness. The adversary loves this situation. We left, very sad, thinking of how the adversary works so hard to bring misery to God's children. We entered into the members house for lunch-an atmosphere completely opposite. There on the wall hung a cross stitched pattern: Nenhum sucesso no mundo compensa o fracasso no lar. No type of success in the world compensates for weakness at home. The Spirit entered into my heart and testified that that home was a reflection of that homemade cross stich pattern. There was a huge difference in the feeling of that home and the home before. I know very well how the adversary works, in secret and 24/7 he doesnt eat or sleep, but I know that we have power to overcome him and it is through living obedience to the gospel principles. My mission is so preparing me to be a good mom and wife. whoot whoot.
BY THE WAY. Presidente Beynon is the best mission presidente in the world. Fim. This week we had interviews and he gave me amazing counsel without even knowing what my current difficulties have been. I have been feeling tired, and then I feel guilty for feeling tired. I have been praying a lot to overcome this phyical and sometimes mental exhaustion. It is 18 months, that is it. Why am I so tired, I wondered.His counsel, D&C 64:33-34. Never weary of well doing. My call is something so sacred to me, and this scripture and the counsel Presidente gave me has helped me a lot. We are literally building Zion here in Northeast Brasil, the church is so very new here and yes it requires ALL of my heart might mind and STRENGTH. All of it. I have made goals and plans to be better, stronger, and to not be tired. I think at this point it is literally a choice of mine and I am learning to choose the better part. I am so grateful that I have a Presidente who is so atuned to the Spirit to be able to give me the exact counsel that I need.
Also Aeroclube is the best place ever. Before it was the area of the Assistentes to the President but unfortunately they get to work very little here because of there duties as assistentes. Actually it is still the area of the assistentes but now we are here to help them. we are here working together with them to improve the work because it has been the AP area for so long, they baptize a lot, but it is because the members now how to followup and help in the work. Literally the field is white ready to harvest. It is great I am learning a ton of things from the assistentes, my amazing companion, and the leadership of this ward. I love building up Zion! whoo!

This week Elder Oaks, ya know an Apostle of God, is coming to our conference! I am sooo excited. Two apostolós that I will get to shake hands with. I am more than a little bit excited. Whoa!!! I will fill you all in on how amazing it is next week!
I love you family. Never forget how grateful I am for everysingle one of you. For many of the sacrifices that you are making so that I can be here and for the support from each one you.
PROUD TO WEAR THE TAG,

Sister Peterson

aeroclube=paradise‏

Dear family,



I have a new area a new companion and I haven't been so excited since i arrived on the mission. Wow the ward is Aeroclube.


My companion is Sister Nigri from São Paulo. She is amazing, I always love learning new things, new styles of teaching, and having new opportunities to serve when companions change. The Lord has truly blessed me to have amazing companions.

WOW. AEROCLUBE=PARADISE. I love this ward. They truly understand that you dont need a missionary tag to share the gospel. I feel how excited the leaders and members are for the work and it compels me to be better to strive to always be worthy and give my best. Not that I wouldn't before but it is a very conscious thing for me. Many of the leaders here are the type of member I want to be in a few months when I no longer have this sacred call to serve full time. The Bishop the first day we ate lunch with us he was telling us everything about the area the leadership and his attitudes toward this work. WOW. I almost cried. The way he talks to and about the people in this ward is inspiring. He makes every single person he talks to feel like they are someone crucially important and of great worth. I want to be like this because the truth is, every single person is crucially important and of great worth.

This ward is a miracle.

Last night we visited a less active couple. They have been less active for a long time, but when they frequented church they were very very involved. The husband told us of his call as president of the young mens program, how he gave everything he could to rescue those young men from the world, drugs, problems of life in general. He told us that in the many years he served a few of them passed away and I felt the sadness in his voice. His wife also was very active as presidente of the RS she loved to serve. As often occurs, they were offended by a few things that happened 10 years ago and never let it go. As I and my companion talked to them and shared a message and our testimonies with them I saw the same light in there eyes that they has as they talked about there old calls when they were active. I shared Helaman a5:12 and they cited the scripture. We challenged them to go to church next Sunday, the husband accepted and also accepted the challenge to prepare a family for us to teach. Wow. I really felt the spirit testifying that the time had come, in fact the husband said that we came at just the right time...I know how difficult it is sometimes when the vision and trust people have in leaders is broken. It is very hard to accept the faults of others sometimes, but I know that it is possible to forgive and move on and this is a goal that we have to help this family back to the path.

God hears and answers our prayers. He knows each one of His children personally and He has provided an amazing plan of happiness for us to progress through the example and sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that it is in and through His atonement that we can be made whole that we can be cured from our sins, our weaknesses, our sorrows, and our enfirmidades. I know the Savior loves us and I am incredibly indebt because of the love that He has shown for me and because of the love He has enabled me to feel for people that in any other situation I never would have had the opportunity to meet. What a blessing it is to know the truths of the gospel and to be a means of which many can receive this message.

sorry so short, i dont have much time today but i will attend to the rest of the emails i received next week!

Proud to wear the tag,


Sister Peterson