January 7, 2020

(Elder Petersen)

Hey everyone how's life going? I hope all is well in the lives of those who read my emails. To start off my email today I wanted to give y'all two quotes that may be helpful to you if you are struggling at this time. The first quote is from Orson F. Whitney

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God...and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we came here to acquire and which will make us more like our father in heaven..."

The next one is from Gordon B. Hinckley

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration; most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey...delays, side tracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

These are a couple of quotes that have helped me come to terms with changes that have been happening in the last couple of weeks. I hope these will help you as well in any times of struggle that may beset you.

Now to my actual letter there has not been very much that has actually happened this week. All in all it has been a pretty boring week. One thing that was interesting though is that I was out Proselytizing on both new years eve and day. It was interesting to because I found it very interesting to see how many people were actually home on new years eve and new year. I hope y'all have a good week this next week and I will try and make this week a little more exciting for y'all!

The Square is Backwards

(Sister Slade)

I know what most of you are thinking. You're thinking, "How can a square be backwards. It's a perfect shape and would be the same forwards and backwards." That's what I thought too. Sister Jelderks and I were doing an escape room game that we found in our apartment and got the correct answer but the machine kept telling us it was wrong even after the game told us what the correct answer was. We tried flipping the other shapes around like the rhombus and triangle that were not the same of they were backwards. But no, the answer was that the square was backwards.

Holidays as a missionary are always kind of awkward because no one wants their family time interrupted and all of our services are closed. So on New Year's eve and on New Year's day we worked on the magazine and sewed some dresses. We also made bread to drop off to a few members.

But then on Wednesday night I started coughing. On Thursday morning, I had a fever and a really bad cough. On Friday we had zone conference but I still had a fever over 100° and a cough. On Saturday we went to urgent care and found out that I had not one, not two, but THREE ear infections. I didn't even know that was possible. I still had a fever and a bad cough yesterday so we weren't able to go to church. But I feel much better today. I think the antibiotics finally kicked in.

Even though it was a kind of miserable week, I had an interesting experience. Someone asked me yesterday why I'm on a mission. But then they asked me why I'm still on a mission. It struck me kind of hard. There are so many reasons why I could have gone home. I've struggled with anxiety and depression for most of my mission and at two different points it got so bad that I thought about going home. Everything with the headache fiasco at the beginning of my mission. The two times I've been to the ER and the three times I've been to the urgent care. I could have used any one of these and gone home but I didn't. I stayed on a mission because of the joy it beings me to bring joy to others. The gospel has blessed my life so immensely that I have to share it with others.

God is good!

Sister Slade

Pictures:

1-2. we helped set up for the youth new years dance and had to take a picture

3. At the urgent care with 3 ear infections

4. Sister Jelderks laying on the floor

5. Creepy shack on our way to a meal with some members

6. I was too sick to do much so we watched the Life of Christ videos

Blessings Come in God's Time But They Do Come

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope everyone knows that I love them and that God is Good. I know during this Christmas season there can be hard times for many people. I know that each of us go through our own trials but I know that God will never give us more than what we can handle. While on the mission I have been able to put myself in many different types of homes and situations and I am really grateful for the perspective that comes from looking through another person’s eyes. These last couple of weeks have been some of the most rewarding times in my mission. I have been able to cry, pray, and perform miracles through the grace and power of Jesus Christ. I know that God is real and that he loves his Children.

This is Liliana, Julian (11) and Ian (8 years old). Hermana Allred and I were able to start teaching them. With their permission they said that I could share a little bit of their conversion story.

We first met Julian (11 years old)  at a members house and were able to teach him the 10 commandments with a hand game. He was so excited to show his mom what he had learned that we all had to walk over to his house to show his mom. After a month of teaching them we were able to help them take the steps necessary toward baptism. Julian and Lililina were always so ready to be baptized but Ian was having a harder time praying, reading and getting answers to his questions and therefore did not have a desire to be baptized.

One day when we were stopping by to talk about the baptismal interview questions with Liliana and Julian I was able to sit in the kitchen with Ian (Still able to see my companion and Liliana)  who was having a hard time. I got to ask him what was going on as we sat on the kitchen floor and why he did not want to be baptized with his family.  He just told me that he didn't feel ready and was scared of messing up after baptism and that he didn't know if God wanted him to be baptized. After listening to his cute 8 year old concerns I invited him to kneel down with me to ask God what he wanted him to do. Kneeling with a young child as he asks God for an answer to a prayer was the most sacred opportunity that I have had on my mission. He quietly whispered the simplest prayer and would stop everyone once in a while to ask me what he should say next. The spirit was so strong and so peaceful. At the end of the prayer he pauses and says, "HE DIDNT ANSWER!!"'

I wanted to laugh because I realized there that he didn't understand what it meant to feel the spirit. After asking a few questions about how he felt and if his mind was a little clearer he was able to understand what God wanted him to do. He told me that God wanted him to be baptized but to wait until his mom and brother were baptized so that he could see how it is and so he could have his own baptismal service.

So this weekend

Liliana and Julian were baptized, Julian received the Aaronic priesthood and this is him with the two other deacons.  and Ian will be moving toward baptism this next weekend. Thanks to God and his mercy this family has been able to make huge changes and become united in Christ through the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be a part of this moment with them. Thanks to the members and family that has been helping me on my mission God is able to work his best work in the hearts and lives of the individuals.

Hello!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Hello Friends and Family!!! We have had an amazing week in Humacao as we prepare for the Christmas season :) Christmas is Puerto Rico is still very hot and sticky. But we are seeing some amazing miracles in Humacao. The Lord is always keeping his promises. We are still working hard on our boxing skills with Nelson and he is killing it on his Book of Mormon Reading. Jaileen is working on her Family history now.

One of the best experiences I had this week was listening to an 11 year old boy recieve how Heavenly Father let him know the Book of Mormon was true and that he needed to be baptized:) he couldn't fully describe the warm fuzzies and chills and love that you feel when you feel the spirit but he tried acting it out with hand motions as to what it is like to feel the spirit.  It was the most amazing thing. Him and his family have accepted the invitation to be a disciple of Christ through the waters of Baptism and I am very excited to continue working with them.

Sadly, Hermana Allred is leaving me this transfer but HERMANA HAHNE is coming to Puerto Rico! I love her so much and it will be so hard to let Hermana Allred go to Bayamon but Transfers are a great way to grow and trust in the Lord. The Lord needs me to be in Humacao and I AM SO PUMPED TO BE HERE!!!

We are still working hard and the best part of being a missionary is the friendships that you get to make that can change the eternities. I LOVE YOU ALL AND HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!

ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY STINKING CUTE LITTLE SISTER AVERY!!!!!!

Dec 30 2019

(Elder Petersen)

Hey everyone so this week has been a hectic week for everyone it seems with family members ill and Christmas as well as for me two baptisms on Saturday. Now these baptisms took up so much of our week in order to arrange for and reserve buildings for those baptisms which happened to be on two separate buildings, two hours apart. In both baptisms the people being baptized truly wanted to be baptized one of which had been waiting forever to be baptized due to this and that getting in the way. But they both happened and were both confirmed yesterday at the same time in again two separate buildings, so because of that we were only able to make it to one of those confirmations, so we went to the one in which I was the one who confirmed. That was an amazing experience, one filled with the spirit and one that I will never forget. This converts name is Heather and after she was confirmed a member of the church she was so excited and happy that she was crying. These experiences and these moments in which I am able to bring so much joy to those around me is the reason that I am here on my mission. It is because I know that I can make a difference that I am out here serving those around. I love my savior, I love my God, and I am proud to be a missionary.

Have a great week every and a happy new year!

Does your music say whole fart?

(Sister Slade)

So my companion has a music book and the title looks like it would be pronounced "whole fart." So last night I asked her about it and it took her by surprise when I asked her if that's what it said. It was so funny.

For christmas we visited a lady named Cathy. She lives in a nursing home and calls us her granddaughters and we call her grandma. Apparently she takes the title very seriously because she told us that she added us to her will. Anyway, we made her a sock monkey and bought her a statue of Christ for christmas. When she opened the statue of Christ, she almost cried and pointed to the lamb that was part of it and said, "And there's me, the hundredth lamb." It was such a tender moment. I don't think I've ever really thought of that parable in that way. I've always thought of me being the one who needs to go out and find the lost sheep.

Another cool experience happened on Sunday. Someone we're teaching that has been coming to church for the last 3 months has been refusing to take the sacrament. She said on Sunday that she needs to make sure her heart is in the right place before she feels that she is ready to take the sacrament. It was a cool experience for me because it made me wonder how often I actually think about how prepared I am for the sacrament. Taking the sacrament should be a sacred experience and reminded me of that this week.

God is good!

Sister Slade

Pictures:

1. Sister Jelderks bought a squishmallow but the color she wanted was at the very bottom

2. Britney got me a chipotle gift card for Christmas so we got lunch today

3. The music book that is the inspiration for today's title

4-5. We deep cleaned the apartment and this is what the tops of our fans looked like

6-7. Gabe got me this puzzle for Christmas and we finished it in less than a day

8. Someone sent one of the other sisters a nativity for Christmas. it was made out of rubber ducks

9-12. We didn't have a dinner on Christmas eve so we made our own dinner with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and rolls. It turned out really good.

13. I got my flight itinerary for when I go home. Not ok.

14-15. We did the 12 days of Christmas for a family

December 26th 2019

(Elder Petersen)

So this week we had a lot happening. On Tuesday we went to the temple to go through a session, by the time that we got to the temple and we were all checked in I realized that I had not put on a tie which didn't matter all too much at the temple but I felt stupid. So I went and bought some five dollar ties for me to wear. After that my week was pretty much normal until Friday when we had zone conference and frosted some cookies. We also during zone conference did a lot of Role-play's and games for the last zone conference before Christmas. Then we had Sunday which was when most of our wards did their Christmas programs and it was a day filled with the spirit just listening to the Christmas songs as they were sung to us. It really was just a special occasion filled with love and songs. After all that we had some member visits which were fun and interesting. And that was our week.