New Additions in the US and in the PI!

First things first - we want to introduce the sweetest recent addition to the Peterson Family:

Brodie Durant Peterson.

Born to Brady and Janay on September 22, 2020. Yup - he melts our hearts and we have been spending a nice amount of time looking at videos and photos of this new little guy!

The miracle of a new baby never ceases to amaze me. I love Heavenly Father's Plan!

Another addition to the family; Our granddaughter, Tiara, after finishing her mission in Fukuoka Japan, came home and didn't waste much time in finding her eternal mate. She and Justin were married in the Draper Utah Temple on October 10 and we are so SO happy for them!

A Silver Lining of COVID is more time for Mark and I to attend baptisms. Our ability to attend them before was minimized by our busy schedule, and now, although we still cannot cross two of our provincial borders, we have been blessed to attend quite a few and they are the highlights of our week! Some are in the ocean, some in the river, some in an outdoor baptismal font and some in the regular indoor font.

No matter where they happen, the joy of seeing others find peace in Christ is unforgettable!

It is amazing to remember that baptisms like these are happening all over the world. They may seem small and insignificant to most of the world, but the Gathering of Israel - as foretold in the Bible - is the most important work on earth as we prepare for Jesus Christ to come again.

Before we left to come to the Philippines, Mark got me a special gift; a port-a-potty complete with a pop-up tent for privacy haha. One of my worst fears was for us to be on the road with no place to stop. I am happy to say we have never once had to use it for that purpose - however, a much better purpose came along; This baptism was held at the river. There were 9 people being baptized and they were using branches and a sheet for a makeshift dressing room. That is when we remembered our pop-up tent. It became quite the novelty and everyone was excited to use it.

A MUCH better use than it was originally intended for.

Usually, members or missionaries perform the baptisms, however, once in a while there is a special request for President Peterson to perform the baptism.

This is the first time Mark has performed a baptism in the ocean.

Timing the waves was essential.

All of these cute kids quickly became Mark's friends after he handed them each a piece of gum.

Enjoying some "Grandma Cathy" time while teaching all our grandkids how to make

Mango Smoothies via Zoom!

This is the Handyman to beat all Handymen! His name is Satur and he can pretty much fix anything! Recently we got a flat tire about 30 minutes from the Mission Home. Satur arrived at the site within 10 minutes and changed the tire like he was part of a Daytona 500 pitstop.

Wish we could take him back to the US with us...

Yes, Missionaries are still completing their missions and heading home...

...however, for the first time since February of this year, we actually received new missionaries! Hallelujah!

These are missionaries whose homes are within our mission boundaries and their original calls are to other missions in the Philippines and throughout the world, but because the pandemic does not allow them to travel, they are temporarily assigned to our mission and we are ecstatic!

26 came like the armies of Helaman to give strength

when our numbers seemed to be dwindling with no incoming in site.

We don't know how long we will be able to keep them before they are able to go to their

original calls, but we will just enjoy them for now.

These are the ones within our province that we could meet with in person.

These are the ones from the two provinces we cannot travel to. (pictured with their trainers)

This scene of feeding missionaries at the mission home used to be a common one - at least 3 times a month. On September 23rd, it happened again for the first time since February

and brought some normalcy that felt really good.

Just a few words about The General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: In a world where many things are extremely discouraging, this is a place where hope, peace and understanding are given, questions of the soul are answered, and the future looks so very bright: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

We look forward to General Conference family traditions like our daughter Lacey's cinnamon rolls!

And I love seeing how our grandkids participate in this highly anticipated bi-annual event ❤️

This is our 5 year old grandaughter Desi and she is often seen carrying her Book of Mormon.

She already knows that this book tells her about Jesus and how He is her best friend.

Here, our daughter Sadie is teaching our 3 year old grandson Rudy about prayer. I love the intent look on his face as he thinks about how much his Heavenly Father loves him and wants to hear from him.