This week gave us all a bit of a scare as we got to understand
the protective hand that the Lord has over our parents. My mom had started
cooking some pork chops in their gas oven and noticed that they weren’t cooking
so, in her words she said, “Silly me, I tried to light it (the oven) again and
was engulfed in flames. I burnt my arm but was truly saved. I know Heavenly
Father was watching over me because my face and my eyes… so many other things
could have burnt... but it was only my hair and I can grow hair back.” It was
actually about the bottom 3 inches of her hair that burned! The next day they
had a zone conference (no time to rest and feel sorry for yourself!) so she cut
her hair all on her own (she did a great job!) and after the zone conference
she relayed a bit more of the story. She said “To give a little bit more
detail.. I was on fire… the aftermath was that as I looked at my arms, every
single hair was black.. and I had big burns on the inside of my right elbow and
the top of my right hand. So, I read online what to do? Dad started pouring
cold water on it and we put Neosporin and lavender oil on it and this morning
you wouldn’t even know that it happened! Truly! How can you singe all the hairs
on your arms and see the big burns, have the hair all around your face on fire and then wake up the next morning and, other than shorter hair, see no evidence? Truly a testimony to me” She continues.. “For all of that, I am none the worse- only better, because I know that Heavenly Father was watching out for
me and it came to me that the Savior suffered the results of those burns so that I could continue to serve...” We all feel so thankful she is ok, and I smile thinking about her
positivity, the true nature of “Sister Peterson” in ALL things. SO thankful
that my Dad was there in that moment.
This week they spent some time doing “surprise visits” which
my Dad says has been “The best”. Their hope is to try to see how things are
running aside from when they are expected to be somewhere. My Dad said they popped in on a district
meeting, sacrament meeting and an Elders apartment and in his words, “Man did
they scramble!” They are learning a lot from surprise visits and get a clearer
picture of how things really are. They are trying to change a few things but in
my Dads words are first “trying to see why these fences were built before we
tear them down”. One thing they are
currently brainstorming is how to motivate the missionaries to keep their
apartments clean (ideas welcome!). They are considering some type of
goodie/award for the missionaries who have their apartments up to par at a
surprise cleaning check.
They are currently out of town in “Vigan” to speak at a
fireside. They are staying at a hotel and word is that it is the best shower
they have had in the Philippines yet. The water was hot, good pressure on the
shower head and the water was clear. They were shocked that the tub still
looked white when filled! Things we definitely take for granted!
Next week their first big group of missionaries leave (so
far it has only been a couple at a time). They are sending 18 home and will
probably be getting about the same size of group shortly after that. They are
very excited because this will be the first group that will start and end with
them! The sisters leaving will sleep in the mission home (which hasn’t been
done in 6 years) and the elders will be in the apartment above the mission
office. They seem excited!
Enjoy the videos and pictures below of zone conferences and
other happenings..
-Lacey
(Quotations underneath the pictures written, as usual, by "Sister Peterson")
“Everyone has gotten flu shots at the zone conferences. I get to assist the nurse by doing the alcohol prep and the band aid afterwards. I like doing it because of the caring interaction it provides.”
“Everyone has gotten flu shots at the zone conferences. I get to assist the nurse by doing the alcohol prep and the band aid afterwards. I like doing it because of the caring interaction it provides.”
"Mission home"
"Mission office" (The mission home and office are right next to each other)
“Rat #2. Trapped in our roof. The first one that was caught
horrified us, but this time, we hardly flinched haha! We will just start
keeping track of the numbers now. These are tree rats and are not aggressive-
almost kind of cute ;)”
“Almost exactly one month after our arrival here our “stuff”
has arrived. We can hardly remember what is in all those boxes. Obviously
nothing that we have missed too badly haha. The most important things are our
family pictures”
“So much stuff from home! Most of it is holiday decor that I
will enjoy putting up in the mission home when those times arrive.”
"We visited the Santo Domingo branch in Vigan today. Spoke in Sacrament mtg and then taught the youth SS class. The youth are so eager to learn and progress... and their English is great!"
"Before they began, Elder Morehu told us that this Haka was about a father teaching his sons the way of life. He said that he dedicated it to us because we would be teaching them."
"This is (a clip) from our zone conference. Dad is so awesome with giving our missionaries practice. This Elder was to teach Dad ( an investigator) about family history and he was off the charts! All the missionaries are trying hard to use their English and it is really endearing"