Amazing blessings of a mission

February 29, 2016

I can't believe it's only been a week. It just seems like so much has happened!

Sister Weldert is here! And she is awesome. She is handling the change in area/assignment like a boss!! She's already teaching me a ton. She is a super bold missionary, and reminds me the importance of talking to everyone. She's seriously great, from Idaho, and such a prepared missionary. Love her lots, already :)

I picked her up on Tuesday, and we went straight to work! We had an appointment with the O. family, and it was fantastic! H. had done his reading, and he had so many questions. He's starting to have that thirst for the gospel, which is so awesome to see! We had a couple other awesome lessons that day as well!

We were able to see almost 100 percent of our investigators this week, which was amazing! We had a ton of just really powerful, uplifting lessons. And find a couple new people to teach! One was the G. family, which we are super excited about. The father is a member, and the mom and the youngest son, J., are not. The dad was super excited to have us over, he stopped us at the church a couple weeks ago and asked us to come see his family. He said he's ready to be active and living the gospel, and wants his youngest son to be baptized as well. I'm just amazed at how much the gospel brings happiness. It's so clear sometimes! I love it.

It's been great getting to know our sweet sisters! We have 5 sets this transfer, and 3 of them are training! Which is always so fun. The new sisters seem so happy and full of excitement to be missionaries :) I can't WAIT for exchanges with them!

I had a neat experience this week at district meeting, which I had the opportunity to bear testimony of in MLC the next day. I was asked to lead the district in reciting D&C 4, which I hadn't done for a couple months! I've always been a little intimidated by verse 6, "Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence." Sometimes it's tempting to see that as an overwhelming checklist of virtues we need to strive for and obtain on our missions. But as I read that with all the missionaries, I suddenly had a perspective change--suddenly I saw that as a list of blessings that I've received on my mission! I remembered all the times that God has given me the faith I needed to see a miracle. When He's given me that extra strength I needed at the end of the day to be truly diligent to the end. I thought of all the people he's taught me to truly, deeply love. I thought of that boost of patience I received when an investigator just needed a little more time, or when the work was slow. When he's humbled me with his blessings. Those many, many people in my life that I now think of as brothers and sisters, because I've been blessed to serve them. And I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude! I realized the extent of the enabling power of the Atonement in helping me become a consecrated, Christlike missionary. AHHH. I am just so grateful. It's all come from Him! I love what my mission has taught me.

We had a fantastic Leadership Council on Friday. It was all themed around repentance, both our repentance and our investigators. It reminded me that enduring to the end is repenting to the end. I'm excited to teach that in our upcoming trainings and exchanges this next couple weeks!

I failed at taking pictures this week, but here is one of sister Weldert with a BRAND NEW CAR. 2016 Nissan. yeahhhh we're spoiled :)

Sister Weldert and our new car!!

Love you all!

Sister Petrie

Starting Transfer 13!!!!

February 22, 2016

Oh my goodness. This week has been insane! But amazing. Hopefully this email isn't too all over the place.

Shout out to my amazing companion, Sister Sommer, who is boarding her flight home RIGHT NOW. It was another really hard goodbye this morning...that girl changed my life! But it brings me so much joy to see her move on to the next phase of her life...returning with honor! Seriously she was an incredible example to me of a sister that worked hard to the VERY end. She gave her all to the mission, and the blessings that came from it are amazing! She blessed so many lives, and I look to her as an incredible example of how to end a mission right :)

Me and Sis. Sommer - Aren't we not cute. I love her!

Right now I'm in Glen Carbon with Sister Williams (Centralia sister) and Sister Furniss (my MTC buddy)! We are all waiting to pick up our new companions tomorrow morning :) Sister Williams has been with sister Sommer and I since Thursday, which has turned out to be an amazing blessing! She is the sweetest sister ever, has only been out for 5 months, and her mission has been eventful! She was training last transfer, and her trainee decided to return home on Thursday :( So she has been hanging out with us, and we have been working Glen Carbon and Centralia! What an adventure. She seriously kept us positive and sane this last week, with all the craziness of Sister Sommer leaving. I'm so grateful for her! She will be training again in Centralia, and I am so excited for her.

So on Saturday, all 3 of us spent the entire day in Centralia! It was paradise. Best throwback ever! I love and miss that place with all my heart, just like all of the rest of my areas! The best surprise was being able to visit the P'S, who are as amazing as ever! Both J. and R. are doing so well. They are Sunday School teachers and J. is in Young Women. They told me they are progressing towards being sealed in the temple, and invited me to come when they are sealed later this year in the Salt Lake temple! So much joy. I can't even. AH! I love them so much, they taught me what Christ's love really is. I'm starting to realize how long-term the joy of missionary work is. These people--companions, converts, members--will FOREVER mean everything to me, and we will all continue to progress together! That's real joy. I'm so grateful!

The P Family!

We were also able to see the M.'s (my missionary grandparents!!) and eat at Cracker Barrel again, just like old times. Man. I love these dear Centralia people.

We had some amazing lessons this week, I would need another 10 pages to tell about them all. It's just been a miracle to see all of our amazing investigators progress so well in the gospel. I love this area! It's just teaching me to deeply love people, all over again.

Highlights: 1. D. coming up to us at church, and saying "Oh by the way, I prayed about March 20th as a baptism date, and my answer was YES." Oh my heavens I love her. 2. Everyone crying in C.'s lesson as we testified of the Savior and His love, and Sister Sommer giving her her favorite picture of Christ as a parting gift. SO TENDER. 3. Picking up a part-member family this week! 3. Dumpster diving for the keys....YIKES. That may be a story for later. 4. Wearing fake mustaches and taking selfies and laughing until we cried....good times with Sister Williams!

Mustache photo!

I am so ready for this next transfer, and so excited. So many miracles, just waiting to happen! :) :) :) I totally forgot, my next companion will be Sister Weldert, who is one of OUR rockstar sisters in Sikeston! She's amazing, and she is a fantastic missionary. I'm so excited to have her as my companion! I have a feeling...it's going to be a good transfer!!

Our District!

Last week of Sommer and Petrie

February 16, 2016

It is so hard to believe that this is the last week of the transfer. Part of me wanted this transfer to last forever! It has been a BLAST being with Sister Sommer, and Glen Carbon is just the best. Sister Sommer goes home next week, and I'll miss her a lot!

....just a glimpse into our companionship :)

This week was another fantastic one! We were able to see almost all of our investigators and have a lot of great lessons. There are so many progressing towards baptism. I am just SO grateful!! The longer I'm out the more I realize how much the work is in Heavenly Father's hands. ALL flesh is in his hands (D&C 101:16) and he knows what each individual needs, and when they need it. I'm so grateful to be a part of filling those needs!

My favorite lesson this week was with our investigator C., who's girlfriend is a member. We were able to bring the PERFECT members to help us teach and fellowship him! They got along so well, it was magical. I love when that happens! We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he basically taught himself! We asked him, "C., what is repentance?" And then he went on for about 10 minutes about what repentance means to him and how it's more than confessing sins, it's deep and lasting change. It was perfect! His desires of learning the gospel have recently changed I think, from learning out of curiosity to deeply seeking to be spiritually filled! C. is amazing, I love teaching him.

We were also able to pick up a solid new investigator this week, M.! He referred himself online :) He is so great! We taught him the restoration, and he just soaked it up and expressed a strong desire to read the Book of Mormon! When we asked him if he had any questions, he said he wished that everyone could know about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, so we could be unified. Way to go, M.! Already a missionary after the first lesson. So golden!

I think my favorite moment this week was meeting J. We went up to Highland to find a lady that had showed up on our ward roster. She didn't live at the address, but J. did! We talked to J. for a little bit about the church, and then she burst out like she couldn't hold it in any longer, "You ladies are just BEAUTIFUL. Both of you!! And it comes from your eyes! You don't even have to say a word, I feel the love that is in your eyes." We were both a little surprised! But what a great opportunity we had to testify of the Savior, that it is HIS love we have in our lives because of the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon. She didn't want to learn more about the church, but I was so grateful for the opportunity to share the love of Christ! I wish with all my heart that I could help everyone understand that the happiness and peace in my life comes from living the restored gospel and from daily feeling the love of Jesus Christ in my life. HE is the light of the world. He is the light that shines in our eyes! I am so blessed to be a missionary and have that extra measure of Christ's love in my life. AH. THE CHURCH IS TRUE! Ok, sorry for the rant. It's just so real and so important!

I love the gospel! I'm way excited for a great last week of the transfer :) Let's do this!

Sister Petrie

We went to the City Museum yesterday!  SO fun!

Long Post Today!

February 8, 2015

It was another amazing amazing week. Yesterday in church Sister Sommer and I wanted to pass out with happiness and gratitude--everything is going right and we are seeing so many blessings in our area! I love these people more every day.

Our excited faces! We love good weeks!

We had a couple of exchanges this week :) Both were awesome adventures! Tuesday I got to stay in our area and be with Sister Neilson--who happens to be the coolest human ever! She's just about 4 feet 8 inches tall, and is so full of fire and love for the gospel! She taught me so much about loving the people I work with. The exchange we had was literally perfect for both of us!

Sister Neilson

We got to teach our investigator D.--she is doing so well. Also, D.'s sister K., who we haven't been able to teach for a couple weeks, randomly came walking down the street as we were having our lesson outside! God's timing is perfect. I was able to talk to K., and she still wants to learn and come to church! While I was talking to K., Sister Neilson talked to D. about why she wants to be baptized and basically committed her to pray about a baptism date! YESSSS.

That night, our wonderful sisters in Centralia got in a car accident. They called us, slightly panicked and very shook up, and we got to drive down that night to Centralia to be with them! It was a neat experience for Sister Neilson I think, we got to comfort them and do some hardcore stress-relief coloring in my coloring book I got from A. :) :) It was just some great quality time with the sisters, and I really grew to love them even more! I'm so grateful I get these opportunities to serve and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort."

Columbia, IL sisters!

The next morning we got to rush back to Glen Carbon to teach our YSA investigator M.. It was so perfect! We had a couple minutes of small talk, opened with a prayer, and then M. stopped us. "Before you start your lesson, I should probably let you know that I got my answer that the church is true and I need to be baptized." AHH. She just casually dropped that bomb! Needless to say we were pretty excited!! So we set a baptism date with her for May! M. is pretty awesome, her dad is a Methodist preacher and her mom is anti-Mormon. She expects a pretty harsh reaction to her decision to join the church, so she has to wait until May to be baptized, because that's when she's moving out of her parents house. Prayers for her and her family would be much appreciated! All that aside, I LOVE MAGGIE. She's so cool! I thought it was so neat how she described getting her answer that she needed to be baptized. She said she basically had a moment of realization that she had been gradually gaining a testimony this whole time! It wasn't a lightbulb moment of testimony, more like a gradually unfolding testimony that she suddenly realized was there. It was cool to reflect on how God answers our prayers. Sometimes it's so gradual, we hardly recognize it until it's right in front of our face! I think we can always trust that we know more than we think we do.

Thursday we got to teach L., our 9-year-old investigator. She is so sweet. We love her! We got to talk with her mom, and officially set her baptism date for February 21st! I love when we get to work with families and help them come to the gospel all together :) Speaking of, I just heard from R. H. in O'Fallon, and apparently their family has come to church every Sunday since I got transferred! YES!!!!

Friday and Saturday I got to go to Sikeston, MO with Sister Mainord! She is the cutest human ever. She is so happy and bubbly, and super musical! We got along great, and she did a great job leading out the area. Sikeston got me all nostalgic, because it reminded me so much of Danville!! Sometimes I miss that amazing place and the things I learned there :) I just love each on of my areas/companions/sisters. I have such a testimony that we are where we are for a reason!

Sister Mainord

Sikeston Exchanges

Saturday I got to meet our investigator C., who has been out of town. It was pretty much a life-changing experience, because C. is one of the coolest ladies I have ever met! Her son and daughter are both members of the church, and her son recently got back from his mission. She basically knows the gospel is true, and talked about baptism like she knew she was eventually getting baptized! She just needs to do it in her own time. So we are helping her read and gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon :). How she was found by the missionaries was an undeniable miracle, we know it and she knows it. Sister Dunn, a missionary that served here not long before I did, randomly met a friend of C. in a hospital in Utah, right before she left on her mission. This friend gave Sister Dunn C.'s address in Glen Carbon, saying that she should go see her sometime if she ever served in that area. So Sister Dunn gets out on her mission, and completely forgets about C. Then, believe it or not, she gets transferred to Glen Carbon for only 6 weeks, for her very last transfer before she goes home! She remembers that random referral, shows up to C's house, and the sisters have been teaching her ever since! SO COOL. How things work out literally blows my mind.

Sunday was amazing, because D., L., and C. all showed up to church! Testimony meeting was amazing, both Sister Sommer and I bore our testimonies and it was a neat experience :) Also, a recent convert we have been working with, S., came to the YSA branch for the first time, loved it, and is going to start coming there! YES. Next time, I will tell you about S., cuz she is awesome and one of our best friends!

I am so excited for this next week! We plan to blow it out of the water for Sister Sommer's last couple of weeks :) I love being a missionary! It makes me happier than anything!

We built a fort to weekly plan in!

Getting to know Glen Carbon!

February 1, 2016

It has been a fantastic week, full of many miracles!!

I'm a little short on time, so I may try and send a lot of pictures instead!

The highlight of this week was being able to go on exchanges to CENTRALIA, which was my 2nd area!! It was amazing, I loved being back and seeing some of the amazing people I adore. I love that place, and I testify that people are in our life for a reason!!

Sister Petrie and Sister Williams

We also got to exchange with Potosi, MO sisters this week. They are AMAZING. I got to be with Sister Hill, and we are the same person! She taught me so much about enjoying the moment in missionary work. I love her!

Exchanges

I love all of the people we are teaching right now. We have the most adorable 9-year-old girl who is preparing to be baptized later this month. We gave her the children's version of the Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago (the one with pictures) and it took her about a week to finish the ENTIRE THING. Talk about soaking up the gospel!

We started teaching our recent convert's (M.) mom! She was so excited this week and was full of the spirit, she basically taught us the gospel!

Life is great here in Glen Carbon! The longer I'm here, the more I love it :) I'm so grateful to be a missionary!!

Sister Petrie

Worldwide Broadcast!

January 25, 2016

This week has gone by SO fast! I'm so filled with gratitude for the gospel, for this area, for my companion, for the people we meet and interact with every day. I love my mission!

We started out this week with interviews with President Morgan. I LOVE THAT MAN. He is inspired, and every time I talk with him I come away uplifted and motivated to do my best. It was so neat to be reassured in our interview that he does trust me and also expects great things of me. I asked him what I could do to help him, and he told me to work diligently in my area, and make it a great area full of miracles! I'm so glad he told me to do that, because ever since then the Lord has been blessing us and providing us a way to do it! We've been able to start teaching some solid, great FAMILIES this week, get our investigators to church, help them progress, and invite several of them to baptism. YES! I am so excited about this area and the people here, there are so many prepared for the gospel.

One of the families we started teaching this week was a couple, C. and M., that one of the members of the ward introduced us to. They recently have been through a lot, including the death of their teenage son. It's amazing to see how open and prepared they are for the gospel, searching for answers to their questions and a purpose to their lives. We had an incredible Plan of Salvation lesson with the two of them, and it was like watching a lightbulb turn on! They loved what we taught, and they felt the spirit so strongly. They just thirsted for more of the spirit, and were so excited to have us come back! It was such a powerful lesson, and I am so grateful.

We are also teaching a family with two adorable children, age 8 and 3, with a less-active mom and a non-member dad. They all sit in on the lessons, and we basically spend the whole time all trading off answering the 8 year old's questions hahaha. She is ADORABLE, and wants to be baptized. We want her dad to baptize her... :) After he gets baptized, of course.

We also started teaching D., a YW aged sister of our investigator K.. We taught her twice, and she came to church Sunday and loved it. She felt the spirit so strongly, and told us she feels like we were meant to teach her. We feel the same way :)

The highlight of the week was Zone Leader Training this week, we got to give a short training and get everyone excited about our new baptism goal for the year of 380. YES. I am so excited. That goal is straight-up revelation, and we are going to make it happen this year. After that we had a worldwide missionary broadcast from Salt Lake, from apostles and members of the 70. We got to hear from Elder Bednar, Elder Anderson, Elder Oaks and lots of other amazing people. They really focused on our true purpose as missionaries, and it motivated me to focus on the basics and keep strengthening my foundation--my belief in Jesus Christ.

I love you all! Have an amazing week, sorry about the lack of pictures :)

SIster Petrie