Happy happy happy

March 28, 2016

Hello hello hello!

I hope your Easter was amazing. It was so great to hear about your experience with the Savior of the World play! Sounds like it went awesome. And how neat that so many people got to come!

Comp Unity

Our Easter was super special. We woke up a little stressed, due to a crazy week and being super behind on several things, but I just prayed that I would be able to feel the easter spirit and have peace! Prayers were definitely answered, the day went so smoothly and I felt the spirit so strongly! Both sister Weldert and I spoke in the YSA sacrament meeting, and both talks went well! It gave me a chance to really think about how much I love easter, and I even talked about how "The Savior of the World" performance a couple of years ago blessed my life! Sister Weldert shared a personal experience about gaining a testimony of the gospel in her talk, and it turned out one of the YSA's in the congregation is currently going through the exact same struggle, and her testimony was really able to touch this YSA sister! That was really neat to hear. I'm so grateful that the spirit guides all we say and do as missionaries. We never know the impact we can have!

We colored eggs for a Sister's P day! #Hallelujah

In YSA relief society, we had a super unique lesson on the Savior, where we all took 5 minutes or so to share something about the Savior that meant something to us personally, whether it be a picture, a hymn, song, story, etc. IT WAS SO POWERFUL. The spirit was so strong, and everyone was just so open about their real feelings for the Savior. There was no judgment, no comparison. Just all of us, sharing things that really had changed us. I love YSA's so much! They just love the gospel. It's so real to them! Also, M. was there, and took the opportunity to share her love for the Savior! I love M. so much, she is the greatest and sweetest human alive.

Women's conference. AH. I hope you all watched it! I loved it so much. So much about service! That's exactly what I needed to here. My mission has given me such a strong desire to serve everyone I can, for the rest of my life! I love it. It keeps me going!

We had our last exchange this week, I got to go to Columbia IL. We had so many awesome lessons as well! You will all be happy to know that I am working hard, and I am holding it together :) I only cried once this week :) Sister Weldert is the greatest person ever. She is helping me a ton!

I hope you all are pumped for conference this week. I love conference!

Petri street! Guess they'll never get my name quite right... :)

Easter is coming!

March 21, 2016

I hope your week was as wonderful as mine. I am so happy to be a missionary.

We had two more wonderful exchanges this week :) They taught me so much. Both exchanges I got to be here in my area with a brand new sister! One was with sister Hubbard, and one with Sister Hansen. They are so full of fire for missionary work, they can't help but be contagious! They reminded me--yet again--how much I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

We were also able to start teaching several new investigators this week, which was such a blessing! One especially powerful lesson was with D., the friend of a returning member. D. came to church last week, and felt the spirit so powerfully. When we visited her, she expressed how difficult her life has been in the last couple years. As I listened, I felt the Lord's incredible love for her. It was so easy to testify of Christ and invite her to take the lessons, because I knew that was exactly what she needed to find the healing she is looking for. It was powerful, and the spirit was there.

Both Sister Weldert and I also had an opportunity to receive a priesthood blessing of comfort and counsel this week! It was amazing. Our district leader didn't know either of us very well, but the things he said were so personally meaningful. The power of the priesthood is amazing! After I received the blessing, I was looking back on a "1-year plan" I'd made just a few days earlier, and the goals I'd made for myself matched almost exactly the advice in the blessing I'd received. It was incredible, and reminded me how much the Lord loves me and my dear companion.

Here's my top 10 things I learned this week!

1. Exchanges are amazing but exhausting
2. The power of the priesthood is REAL.
3. Never eat ice cream twice in one day.
4. Never EVER eat McDonalds twice in one day
5. If you get sick at the end of the week, it's probably because you ate McDonalds and ice cream all week.
6. It is not good to spend 24 hours pretending like your not sick when you are running a temperature.
7. You know you're insane when you wait until your companion says you sound and look like a crazy caveman before you slow down and get better.
8. THANK GOODNESS for Dayquil
9. A smile and a hug make everything better
10. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY

Sorry about no pictures this week. I love you all so so much. I feel better now and am ready for another awesome week :)

Sister Petrie

HALLELUJAH

March 14, 2016

The mission life goes on! This week was crazy. Like CRAZY.

First time eating dippin dots! Worth it :)

Tuesday was great! We got to have a couple of lessons, and that night we were able to watch the YSA Q&A broadcast by Elder Holland! If you didn't get a chance to watch it, it's definitely worth the time. The testimonies borne were so powerful, and I had a lot of questions answered myself. Also, the love of our church leaders is so powerful, and it's real! They really do care about the young people of this church.

Wednesday we had another fantastic Zone Conference! It was one of the best I've been to. Everyone came so prepared to learn and share and become better missionaries. Our training went really well, and I learned so much about repentance and the importance of teaching our investigators HOW to repent. The repentance process is part of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!

Thursday we got to teach M. :) She is just doing so well. We had a really powerful lesson on chastity, and read "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". The spirit was so strong! I realized what an anchor strong families are, and just how vital of a role they play in helping God's children progress in the gospel. I've seen so many different types of families on my mission, many of which are struggling and broken. There are a lot of resources out there to help struggling youth and kids, but honestly there is NO substitute for a strong family where Christ is the center. I'm so grateful that the church recognizes and teaches us the importance of family.

Friday we had another exchange with our Potosi, MO sisters! I got to go to Potosi with Sister Grover. That girl is hilarious! We had a great time, and got to teach a lot of great people.

Exchanges :)

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET. Go to followhim.mormon.org and watch the church's new initiative video it's released for Easter, "Hallelujah." Then share it! I love this video so much! Each time I watch it, it reminds me of what the Atonement has done for me! "In Jesus Christ, I have found new life." I truly have found new life in Jesus Christ! He means everything to me.

What we look like on Sunday night. #nuffsaid

Love you all!!

Sister Petrie 

Zone Conference!!

March 7, 2016

It has been an great week! :)

We had to spend a lot of time preparing for zone conference this week! It was on Wednesday, and it was great! We gave a training on the importance of repentance. It's been really neat to see our mission focus back on the basics recently. Sometimes we get so caught up in other details of missionary work...but the basics always work the best! We were very prepared for our training, and we invited a lot of people to share their experiences with repentance...which really brought a special spirit to the meeting! I was reminded of the importance of repenting daily, even as a missionary!

We also had exchanges this week :) YAY. I love exchanges, and I love our sisters dearly. We got to exchange with the Jackson sisters, and they are whitewashing the area (they're both new to the area) and also Sister Hulme is training! Needless to say...it's kind of stressful for them! But they are handling it like pros. I loved being with Sister Desmond for the day! She reminded me of that pure faith that new missionaries have. I really needed to feel that faith again, and remember that it really is in the Lord's hand! I'll be honest, it's really hard to be on my last transfer! I have just loved my mission more than I can describe. I needed to remember that I can have just as much faith in the next phase of life as I did when I was just starting out :)

Sister Desmond and Me!  She's adorable!

My mission is a constant reminder of how much joy comes from bringing others to Christ :) I feel joy from having the gospel, but that FULL joy and overflowing happiness comes when I see others come to Him as well! I think that's why need to be sealed to our families--so we can bring them to Christ and into the celestial kingdom and feel that fullness of joy. Everyone has someone that they need to bring! For me right now, it's the random strangers on the street. Later in life, it will be my family, and my future children. It's all the same, amazing work, and it brings more joy than anything. I LOVEEE THE GOSPEL.

Us taking the ferry across the Mississippi! We may have gotten a little lost....

Our Nissan Rouge on the ferry :)