I Am a New Missionary!

September 21, 2015

I think this week has made a new missionary out of me. There are so many exciting things going on in this mission!

A member of the Seventy, Elder C Scott Grow, came and toured our mission this week! We had two mission conferences, one for the Illinois half of the mission, and the other for the Missouri half. Thursday morning we had a leadership conference with Elder Grow, and it was amazing! It seems like we as leaders are always trying to find complicated ways to motivate and inspire our missionaries, but Elder Grow made the answer so simple. Get them in the scriptures. Make the word of God part of who they are, and they will be converted, they will have the Spirit, they will work, they will see miracles, they will baptize. And it's starts with us leading by example! We all felt the urgency of refining our studies and getting the spirit, every day, every day, every day!

So that was Thursday. Friday's mission conference just multiplied that spirit by a million. Elder Grow and his wife spoke to us, and gave us some pretty intense chastening! The first thing Sister Grow said when she stood up to speak was, "Honestly, you guys aren't working very hard." Talk about a rebuke! The rest of the conference they continued to teach us about setting goals, about our vision and our purpose, and they did it with such love that all I felt after the conference was complete motivation to be better! They told us about a lot of changes that are going to be made in the ward level especially in the ward council that will allow us to do better missionary work. We are SO PUMPED. To say the least :) This mission conference could not have come at a better time to the mission. It was exactly what we needed, and Sister Hayden and I are sooooo excited to apply it in our area and to go on exchanges with our sisters and teach them what we are learning. I LOVE THIS WORK! We are literally all on God's rescue team, saving souls. If we have faith, we can save thousands. There is nothing better any of us could be doing.

So just a cool little follow-up story, that same evening Sister Hayden and I were heading to an appointment, and just filled with so much faith and desire to see miracles, always praying to be led to those who are ready to be baptized into the Lord's church. Our appointment was a no-show, so we went to a potential investigator down the street. We were praying in the car, and when we looked up we saw two men on their porch, and both of us were like "we need to talk to them." No questions, no doubts, total unity. I LOVED IT. Anyway we went and talked to B. and G., and ended up having a little lesson right there! G. was more quiet, but while Sister Hayden was talking to B., I asked him what he thought about meeting with us. He said, "I've been going through a really hard time. I need this." So we set an appointment and came and taught him the next day. The spirit was AMAZING as we testified of the Restoration, and he ended up in tears as he told us about his past experiences with the Spirit. We invited him to be baptized on the 24th of October and he accepted it! He texted us a little later after the lesson, and I want to quote the text, it was so cool. "I'm reading [the Book of Mormon] right now. Just sat down, it will be a good night. You girls have gave me hope. I'm very blessed to have met you. You gave me a reason to go on this journey. Thank you...also I have decided to quit drinking. I will do whatever you tell me to do so I can join your church. I really want to be baptized. Will you arrange it for me please. And I would like you to be there. You girls are awesome. God bless." I know 100 percent that there are people prepared to be baptized, who are searching for truth, but just don't know where to find it. I keep thinking what would have happened if we hadn't talked to Gary? I don't know. I just know that I feel an urgency to follow the spirit and invite ALL to come to Christ. 

Columbia, MO STLs hang out with us for a day!

We also had a neat miracle teaching E. this week, a referral from the S. family in our ward. We taught him the very first lesson and invited him to be baptized on the 17th of October, and he accepted! He is completely prepared to hear the gospel, he watched the Restoration DVD and knew the gospel was true. It was that simple for him! I love the converting power of the spirit. I feel so blessed to be teaching all of these wonderful people, and I love them all so so so much.

Have an amazing week! Thanks for your prayers and support

Sister Petrie

Ran out of gas on the way to Mission Leader Training

Families are FOREVER!

September 14, 2015

What a great first week of a new transfer. 

We spent the first few days in a tri-companionship (?) with one of our sisters, Sister Caruso! She was super sweet, it was a blast to hang out with her for a couple days. We got to see a lot of neat things happen together! We got to teach our investigator, C. It was a fantastic lesson. C. is 17, and I love her so much. One of my favorite things to teach people as a missionary is who God is and how much he loves them. Sooooo many people are missing this basic truth in their lives, and it's no wonder it's so hard to live in the world without the gospel. C. is feeling the spirit for the first time in her life, and she is changing so much! 

We also got to pick up G. H. as a new investigator, and it was AWESOME. She was super hesitant to talk to us at first, but as we testified of the gospel, the spirit was unmistakable in the room, and she was excited to read the Book of Mormon and have us come back for another lesson! She had been to so many different churches and was beginning to give up on finding the right one, and it was so wonderful to be able to share with her that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been restored on the earth, and that she can find all the truth there! I think the best part was that we brought S. A. with us (her son X. just got baptized) and she got to share her powerful testimony of the gospel. It's neat because she's felt those blessings of the gospel in her family so recently!

I LOVE this family!

Highlight of the week: G's baptism!!! SO so so so amazing. The coolest thing about the L. Family is that J. has several active members of the church in her family, and they all love each other so much. So G. getting baptized was a big deal to his family, and the room was FILLED with so many of the people that loved and supported him! Also, B. got to baptize him, and B. has only been a member for a couple months! It was amazing. The gospel brings families together, I have no doubt. Also, families are not meant to have endings :) They are forever and ever, and that love and loyalty just gets stronger. It's amazing. 

G's friends and family. This picture is my favorite, EVER.

Oh and we got a new bishop this week! Bishop P.. He is on FIRE for missionary work and we are so so SO excited to work with him and see some miracles coming up! YES!

I love you all, this gospel is true :)

How they showed up to the baptism :) :)

Giant Spider!

 September 7, 2015

It's a little crazy to think the transfer has ended! Transfer calls came in on Saturday, and both Sister Hayden and I are staying in the area!! We are pretty happy about that. It was pretty neat to be able to give transfer calls to our sisters as well. Some transfer calls are hard, some are exciting, but you just feel that each companionship in each area is inspired by Heavenly Father, and it's neat to be able to testify of that to the sisters. 

The classic name tag/St Louis Arch shot! :)

We are setting some awesome goals for next transfer! It will be Sister Hayden's last transfer, so we are expecting Heavenly Father to really bless and guide her in this area :) Can we just talk about how awesome goals are? I LOVE setting goals!! They stretch me and change me and help me rely on Christ and his Atonement.

It's been a great week. We've had some incredible miracles! Let's see if I can fit it all in this email.

We've been praying to be led to those who are prepared for the gospel (always) and on Tuesday, we got to start teaching a family, the H's! They had requested a Bible online, but when we went to deliver it, the let us right in and were happy to talk and talk about what we believed. We shared a Book of Mormon, and we're going back to see them tomorrow! I'm so excited about them.

Later that day we went to teach the L. family. We love them!! J. has been a member all her life, B. (the husband) got baptized right before I got here, and now we are teaching the 11 year old son, G.! He's getting baptized this Saturday :) We were able to have a really spirit-filled lesson. G. is so adorable, he calls us "my missionaries". He is so humble. I have loved teaching all of these younger kids! Anyway, short story. That night we had been joking around with B., he's a huge 6 foot tall biker and we found out he is terrified of spiders! So the whole night we were teasing him about his fear of spiders. Then, right after we say the closing prayer, this HUGE spider drops from the ceiling and hits the floor (you could hear the thud, it was seriously huge). Needless to say, all chaos breaks out. The kids are screaming, B. jumps up yelling and RUNS out of the room, J. is screaming, "Get me a boot! I need a boot!" The spider runs underneath the couch we're sitting on, so we're scrambling out of the way, tripping over each other. B. gets the courage to come and lift up the couch, the spider runs out, then J. and I team-killed it, she threw the boot and stunned it, and I smashed it with my shoe! (I've included a picture :))

Giant Spider

Hahaha anyway, so then we were all relieved and laughing hysterically and joking around, it was just one of those bonding experiences I'll always remember! Surviving giant spiders seriously brings people together. I LOVE the Little family, they are so special and the spirit in their home is incredible. We are all excited for G.'s baptism this weekend.

Another miracle is J. Oohhhhh man I am just so so so excited about her! I get chills thinking about her story. So originally, J. was a Bible referral for the sisters in this area. They dropped off a Bible and a Book of Mormon and she was DEFINITELY not interested, very closed off and unreceptive. While they were talking though, her Hispanic husband G. came out and started talking to the sisters, asking them if they could help him learn how to forgive. So they referred him to the Spanish Elders in the area, and they started teaching him. To make a long story short, this weekend we attended and did a musical number at G.'s baptism!! They day before, we went over to meet J. and answer any questions she had. Her attitude had COMPLETELY changed, she was humble and open. As we taught her about the Restoration and about the healing that comes from Jesus Christ's Atonement, the spirit was amazing. She cried as she told us about how the gospel in G.'s life had basically saved their marriage. Apparently it was really very rocky, and ever since the missionaries came he has been sending her cute little texts from work, buying her flowers, and just little acts of kindness. SO ADORABLE! Anyway she was there at his baptism, and while he was in the font, I watched her get the biggest smile on her face. It may take some time, but I definitely see her following his example in the near future! The gospel truly blesses families and brings them together. I love it!

One more awesome miracle was N. she is a young woman from Kenya who just walked into our sacrament meeting yesterday! She felt the spirit during fast and testimony meeting, and wants to learn more about the gospel. We'll go see her later this week. 

Hanging out by the arch! LOVE these sisters!

Anyway, sorry about the marathon email. I do love this area, I love these people, I love my sisters! I'm so grateful that God has blessed me with this opportunity. The gospel is absolutely true, and it is powerful and will change us!

Love you all!

Sister Petrie

Shoutout to my wonderful, amazing trainer who goes home TODAY :) Love you Sister Biddle!

Paint Louis! It's a 3 mile long wall of graffiti downtown

Fabulous week!

August 31, 2015

I don't have too much time today, we've decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and the fact that we're in the city and spend the day in St Louis!

It was a fabulous week. I've felt so much relief from stress this week. I've had moment after moment where I've felt over and over that this gospel really is true, and the Atonement really is real!

E. got baptized this week! It was so perfect, and like half of the ward showed up to the baptism! We also had 5 or 6 non-members/investigators there to feel the incredible spirit. I love E., she is the sweetest girl ever! She has a really special spirit, and I'm so grateful she had the chance to learn and accept the gospel. Her mom and brother will follow her, I'm sure!

E's baptism

Church was also fabulous, we got to watch all of our recent converts walk in the door, and one received a calling! These people's lives are really changing!

I also got to go on an exchange with a brand new missionary this week, Sister Favero. She is the sweetest human alive, and she reminded me SO much of myself just about a year ago! So excited and so diligent and full of faith. We had a great exchange, and got to set a baptism date with P.! I'm so excited about P., he is really wanting to change his life at this point. We taught him about the power of fasting to overcome addictions, and he was like, "alright. I'm doing that tonight!" Way to apply what he learns :)

Hope you all have a fantastic week, I love you all so much!

Sister Petrie