Two P's in a pod - October 23, 2017

Hi fam!! Wow, what a week! Such culture shock. My new area in Mountain view is seriously the middle of nowhere and is the very southernmost part of our mission. It has definitely been a change going from busy city life in Manette to farm life in Mountain View. Our area covers tiny little towns such as Winlock, Toledo, Ryderwood, Vader, and Salkum. It's beautiful and makes my small town farm girl heart happy! My new companion Sister Pullins is amazing! She makes training the easiest and has taught me so much! She seriously is my soul sister and we've gotten along so well! Our 2nd day here after a rainy cold day, we built a fort, watched a church film, made some hot chocolate and popcorn, and put on some matching pajamas. We've definitely had some good times already and are looking forward to many more to come. On our 2nd day here, we found a new investigator named Lauri who calls us "the two P's in a pod" (Peterson and Pullins). It was a complete miracle how we found her! We had the prompting to go check up on a former investigator and ended up knocking on Lauri's door instead! She's the sweetest 65 year old lady with a lot of religious background and I definitely know that God has been preparing her because she said that she's talked to a lot of different missionaries, but somehow she felt more receptive and open when we talked to her. We taught her the Restoration right as we met her and shared scriptures about God's love for her. She got really emotional and wanted to keep meeting with us. As we were leaving, she said "Wow you guys must have known each other forever!" And we said "No, actually just since yesterday!" Haha. This week we had a lesson with a woman named Thunderstone (coolest name right?) She's from Texas, has absolutely no religious background, and has never had a lesson with missionaries before. We felt inclined to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach her about baptism. She LOVED it and is excited to be baptized at the end of November! Sister Pullins and I worked extra hard this week and were able to see so many more miracles. It's been so fun figuring things out together as "greenies" in the mission field and coming up with new ideas for missionary work. So funny story, somehow I have the WORST luck with getting chased down by aggressive animals! This week we were knocking in a foresty area on a day that was pitch black and pouring rain and had a flood warning. But as we were walking up to someone's house, a huge mad dog jumped out, starting growling at us, and starts chasing us down. I hit the dog, then ran so fast as it was chasing me and jumped a huge fence while wearing a pencil skirt and rainboots. I'm not sure how I was able to do that, but somehow the Lord provides. I love you all and am so grateful for each of you! Have a great week!