FAMILY - January 29, 2018

Hi guys! First off, thank you for all the prayers and support! This week has been a complete miracle and we've truly been able to see how God answers prayers. Sister Fisher and I have been praying and fasting the last few weeks to find a family to teach. Our prayers were answered! Not only did we find one family to teach, but THREE! On Tuesday, we went on exchanges with the sisters in Soundview. They border our area so it almost felt like we were still working in our area! I went with the lovely Sister Ellertson who is amazing! Each of you may have heard the story in the news, but her 15 year old brother just recently passed away a few weeks ago in a motorcycle accident. She shared her experiences with me and it was such an amazing experience to see her dedication to the work despite her trials. I also felt as if her brother was the 3rd member of our companionship that day. There are angels among us! On Wednesday, we found Lyubob! She's Ukrainian and lives in a bright pink house! We taught her the Restoration and she was very receptive. She has faith in everything that we taught her and loves the gospel, but is a caretaker for her mother-in-law and can't leave the house. Which means that she's unable to come to church. Please pray that she'll be able to make it to church! On Friday, we knocked and knocked and knocked. As missionaries, we stay out until 9 each night. We know that diligence and exact obedience brings miracles, so we stayed out knocking until 9. And at about 8:55, a very active family in our ward pulled over and told us about how their 11 year old son Collin just received permission from his dad to be baptized! He's gone to church his whole life, but just hasn't been baptized. So they asked if we could teach him the lessons and help him prepare for baptism! Exact obedience brings miracles! Saturday was round 2 of knocking doors the entire day long. I'm not going to lie, it felt like the longest day of my life! Not even one person let us into their house the entire day and it was one of the coldest days we've had this winter! Luckily, we had a church tour with Monica at the end of the night that was very peaceful. I played the piano for her in the chapel and Sister Fisher sang. However, Sunday redeemed itself! Miracle after miracle happened the entire day long. We had a regional conference in the morning that was very uplifting! Then we had another lesson with Lyubob where we taught her the Plan of Salvation and brought church to her! And then we found miracle family round 2! The Lees. The mom is Japanese and the dad is American but has lived all over the world. He has had very positive experiences on the Pacific islands with Mormons in the past and is very open to learning. They have the cutest most well behaved kids that are ages 9,10, and 11. The spirit was overwhelming in the lesson that we had with them. I'm just so excited to teach them! Then we had dinner with my cousins (the Betteridges). They make the best meals in the whole world. And even better, our investigator Monica came as well! After dinner, we knocked doors and knocked into a cool Samoan family. They of course gave us water bottles and a ton of food and we shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. They were very appreciative and said that God had sent us there to deliver the message to them. Then we had a lesson with Mandy and her 3 kids! Miracle family round 3! We met them earlier in the week and taught them the Restoration. On Sunday we read the Book of Mormon with them and they were just so nice and receptive. They are the cutest kids and I love them so much! Please pray for: -The Lee family that they will recognize the truth of the gospel. -Monica that she will overcome her anxiety and come to church -Collin that he will be baptized -Mandy and kids that they will be able to come to church -My ASL that I will remember how to sign again and carry on a conversation (we've run into a lot of deaf people this week) -Lyubob that she will be able to come to church -Sister Ellertson's family Let me know if there's anything that I could pray for! xoxo, Sister Peterson Pic: our cute homemade knitted hats on a freezing cold day.