The Hedge

This week was wacky!! I'll start off by talking about my day of bad luck. All of you know that I have the weirdest luck ever, and this one day proved it! I thought I was cursed. 😂 It started out the day before when we drew chalk on the sidewalk at a park with some plan of salvation questions and our number. One of them said, "what happens after we die?" Apparently someone took it the wrong way because in the morning we got a text saying that it needed to be removed immediately or they would call someone to make us remove it... awkward!! So we took water bottles and got rid of it. Then we went and did our studies at the park and guess who we saw AGAIN?! Creepy dude! We thought he was gone! A cop pulled up and talked to him while we were there and then left and he walked over to us and said his usual and then walked to the tennis courts. I didn't think much of it until I looked over and he was watching us through the bushes! Sooooooooo creepy! So we left, and soon enough we saw another cop pulling in. RIP creepy dude. Then as we were biking, a bug flew directly into my eye! It stung sooooo bad 😂 My eye turned red and it was watering so bad I couldn't see for a really long time. 30 minutes later as I was still dying from my eye, I backed up because my companion turned around and I fell into a ditch. 😂  All in one day 🙏 It was interesting for sure.

So back to the good stuff. At district council our district leader brought us Krsipy Kreme! It was so nice! They even gave us a little hat! We had problems with "interrupting" and someone got annoyed, so we used the hat as a "talking hat." Whenever one of us was wearing the hat, we could talk. It was so funny!!

Update on Willie (my blind friend) he is the best!!! He finally gets to listen to the Book of Mormon because he ordered it on audio! HUGE step for him!! He loved Joseph Smith's story and how the Book of Mormon came about, and he said he felt a special feeling every time we said his name. He called us just to tell us that he finally made the jump and ordered it!!! He told us that money was somehow left over in his bank account and he knew that that was what it was for. God is soooo aware of all of us! It was also cool because during that lesson these guys pulled up and they looked kind of scary. They were saying some weird stuff and they were obviously drunk. They started coming towards us, but something literally stopped them. They didn't walk any further and Willie said "these are church ladies" the guys apologized and left!!! Willie ALWAYS tells us that there is a "hedge" around his house and that God keeps bad things out with the hedge. I totally believe him now! Only good things are allowed in the hedge! Also, he made his own tea and gave us some. We didn't drink it of course, but I'm very curious of how he made it while not being able to see... Props to him for doing it anyways! He also called to tell us that he made a good choice and God rewarded him by winning the lottery! 😂 So funny! God answers all of our prayers differently, and I guess for Willie, He answered them by letting him win the lottery.

Another funny story: so my mission president and his wife spoke in my sacrament meeting this week! They gave me a shout out, but they called me Sister Anderson. 😂 Then they corrected it, but it was so funny! They apologized after so many times!

We also talked to some high people on the phone that asked if we were vampires 🧛‍♀️. 

The devil was working hard this week. One of our friends told us that he couldn't come to church because someone hit him in the face with a pipe... That's almost as bad as last week when someone else told us that their son was robbed at gunpoint... man.

We had a lesson with someone from Nigeria this week too! I guess Facebook does come in handy sometimes lol. Also! The Stls went on exchanges and the Sister that came to my house was a girl that I went to efy with a few years ago! So weird!!! 😂 

We had a lesson with a guy that wouldn't take off his reflective sunglasses. The entire time I couldn't tell who he was looking at! So awkward! We also went biking, but apparently there was a fire nearby and there was ash all over the air! The sky turned purple when the sun set and it was stormy! I felt like I was in a movie.

Also, I killed a spider!!!!! He was so scary! We named him Diablo Diabala. (Devil devil) I crushed him with a water bottle while he was trying to attack my companion. He used to live in our steering wheel... not anymore! 

Lastly a miracle! (And karma)

We were at service and the elders asked me to sing my school song for them. I told them no, and that I didn't like to sing in front of people. 😂 But... we are teaching this lady that has had some very traumatic experiences and she cries a lot over the phone. My companion got a really strong prompting to call her, so we did and she was not doing well. We prayed with her and she was just bawling. I got a prompting that we needed to sing to her. (The sisters that referred her to us used to do that) and I was like, absolutely not. I'm terrified to sing in front of people, and especially over the phone! But I muted the phone and told my companion and she said absolutely not. Then we unmuted and sang to her 😂. Immediately she calmed down and her whole demeanor changed. She was completely at peace and she told us that we motivated her to get out of bed. Always follow promptings! Lesson learned. The spirit works in so many different ways!! I totally got karma for earlier though...

One thing that I have learned so far is that you are NEVER too far from God. He always wants you. There is nothing that you could ever do to drive Him away. He loves you. He always has his hands stretched towards you, sometimes you just have to make the jump to grab it! ❤️

I love you all and I hope you all have a great week! Don't forget your worth! 

Gargoyles and Kidnapper Vans

 So I'm starting out my email by saying that President Pingree and God really like to mess with me together lol. We had zone day on Tuesday and President and Sister Pingree were about to do a roleplay. Last zone day they made me come up and do it with them. It was TERRIFYING! Since I did it last time I thought I was safe... nope. They called me up AGAIN. It was so funny. Don't worry, apparently I did okay. Haha!

We were walking through a Portuguese neighborhood because the Portuguese sisters sent us a referral for one English person that lives there. As we were walking I literally lost count of how many kidnapper vans there were! I didn't know they were such a popular vehicle! Then when we got to his house there were gargoyles in front as well as a kidnapper van. 😳 He answered and said he was busy and I saw a fireplace in his house which was really weird for Florida, and then he said try again tomorrow and that was that. Super weird interaction. 😂 Then we had Brazilian food for dinner! Brazilian lasagna and dessert are so much better than American!

For service this week I folded like 500 towels and put beans in bags for the homeless. Turns out I'm really weak though because I got so sore!!! 😂 RIP. 

Now for the best stories...

I went on exchanges this week and it was sooooo fun! I finally got to go to bird lady's house! The Sisters weren't joking when they said over 30 birds were just roaming around the house. I was literally dodging birds that were flying at my head and they were on the ground and on all the furniture. It was CRAZY! Bird lady's husband went OFF on his career as a "rock musician" and how he plays so much better when he drinks beer. We had no idea what to say because he just kept going and going. It was so awkward 😅 I was just standing there dodging birds!!

Earlier that morning we cleaned the church and the bishop's wife went to open the door and go outside. The whole door literally just came off! We kept telling her she was the hulk while they tried to fix the door. It was just so funny! I was also cleaning the bathroom when a brother in our ward came in to fill up the toilet paper. He just said, "oops, don't tell your mother that you met a man in the bathroom" oops... the cat is out of the bag mom. 😂 It wasn't weird until he said that.

Lastly, we were at a park and these kids came and talked to us. They look at me and go, "is she your mom?" Referring to my companion. 😂 I burst out laughing because we had just been making fun of her for being old because she called a video chat a picture call! I told him that we were just friends and he goes, "oh, well, is she at least older than you?" 😂 Yes. Yes she is. Lol. 

Miracles: This week has been so hard, but so good. Every time I want to give up, God gives me a little miracle that makes me realize that He wants me here.

I was teaching one of my favorite people (he's blind) and he turns to us and goes, "I admire all of you, but I definitely admire Sister Peterson the most. I don't have to see her to know that she is so special. Sister Peterson, you're my guardian angel." At that point I really thought that I wasn't even helpful because my companion basically teaches everything, so I feel like that was God's way of telling me that I am making a difference. Similar things happened all week! It was insane how much people enjoy shy missionaries 😂

Anyways. I love you all so much and I miss you! I pray for you every night! ❤

Bird Lady Gave Me Her Comb

 This week was a rollercoaster! First, last p-day was so fun! If any of you have taken the color personality test I want you to send me what color you are! We spent all of p-day as a district taking the test 😂 it was so funny! I am a white. 100%😂

Next, I got ROASTED this week by two old men. The first one we met on the street and he was so funny! We love him. He pulled up in a new Dodge Challenger and I complimented it and he said, "you have your license?" HE WAS GOING TO LET ME DRIVE IT! Stupid mission rules... 😒 then he looks at us and goes, "you two look like dorks in those bike helmets" 😂 ouch!!! We know okay? Don't have to rub it in Gary.

The next roast was when we got to go to the temple and do baptisms with our new convert Deion! We got to the changing room and I realized that I didn't bring a hair brush! I was going to use the other sister's but she had already left. The only other person in there was bird lady. Now when I say bird lady I mean this woman has over 30 birds that just roam free in her house!! She LOVES them! Anyways she offered me her comb and my choices were: look ugly, or use bird lady's comb. I chose the latter. Apparently it didn't work very well though because when I went and sat in the chapel Deion turns to me and goes, "Sister Peterson,  your hair is a mess!" Ouch!! 😂 so funny. The temple was gorgeous though! It was so fun to go.

We also got to go to a baptism this week!! So cool! The girl that got baptized used to have a giant lizard as a pet that she loved as much as her own son. When it died she was heartbroken and she cremated it and made it into a necklace. We didn't know this at the time, but apparently the lizard got baptized with her! It was under the jumpsuit! Eek!! 😂 Also her son (he's 3 and he has ADHD) almost threw a SpongeBob toy into the water during the baptism! Luckily they caught him in time!

We also got sang to this week! We were talking to this lady when all of a sudden she broke into a gospel song! So funny and awkward!

I also drove for the first time this week! I am moving up in the world 😂 

Last funny thing, we were playing basketball with the elders and I hit into my companion's shoulder. I thought that it was fine because it didn't hurt that bad, but then I got a bloody nose! So embarrassing! 😂 anyways... now for the miracles!

Crazy story: one of our friends has had a lot of struggles throughout his life, but he's so amazing!! We passed him to the Portuguese Sisters because that is his first language. They came running over to our apartment bawling and said that he was threatening to commit suicide and said he needed help. They called the mission president and the police and they told us that they needed us to call him for them because they told him they would call him back and they were crying too hard. We called him and it was hard and then we heard the police show up and he hung up... then he called us back and was kind of angry that we called the police. We felt bad, but he had asked for help. He finally understood that we did it out of love and we had to say goodnight to him. The Portuguese Sisters got blessings because they were pretty upset and then we had to go to bed. I was so calm during the whole thing and then it finally caught up to me when I was going to bed. I was so worried about him and everything just felt so scary! I made myself a night light and started praying and crying. Somehow my companion woke up and we listened to primary songs together. She said a prayer that all the darkness would go away and that there would be angels watching over us. I could literally feel a circle of angels over my bed all night and I was able to sleep.  Heavenly Father is real and loves us so much. 

We also taught a Plan of Salvation lesson to one of our super cute families with chalk and when we turned around there were like 30 people watching! It was crazy!

We also taught a really good lesson in church for the 5th Sunday.  Everyone loved my comment for some reason. I basically just said that you can be a missionary in so many different ways. Like I don't love to talk in front of people, but I can decorate their doors or bring them cookies or pray for them! Even just smiling at people is missionary work. So I challenge each of you to smile at someone today! Love you all!! ❤

Avocado Trees Are Real?! 🌳

 You know, I knew avocados came from somewhere, but I never imagined them actually on a tree and looking so weird! 😂 We went over to a member's house and she is OBSESSED with her avocado tree. She let us each pick one and it was so funny.

Florida has soooooo much wildlife!! I feel like I live in the jungle! I saw over 15 iguanas, this giant bird in the middle of the sidewalk, and I almost ran over a squirrel with nuts in its mouth... 😬 oops! All in the same bike ride.

Good news! I overcame my fear of talking to people in public! These were the weird interactions I got from the week... 

Me: Hello! Here's a free picture of Jesus!

Him: I'm trying to enjoy my day here please. RIP!!!! 😂

We saw our druggy friend Jovan yesterday and he told us that he got into some voodoo 😳 His eyes were yellow! Definitely staying away from him.

Funny thing: So, we are teaching this guy named Marcos and he speaks Portuguese and English. When the Portuguese sisters came over, we had them talk to him on the phone and he said, "can I get subtitles for that?" Apparently he didn't think their Portuguese was very good 😂 When we invited him to church he said he was scared to leave the house alone and go on the bus. Then he said, "I have a scooter? I could ride that to church?" The church is 11 miles away! It was adorable!! 😂

Elder Rundquist wore a fake mustache to district council and no one could take him seriously the entire time. The worst part was that there was a funeral going on, and he had to go, so he just wore a mask to cover it up 😂 No one even knew.

 

Lastly, we met this little 6 year old and he is soooooo cute! He told us that he loved pretty girls and Jesus! It was soooo cute 😂 We are teaching him and his mom this week!

Also, we saw creepy dude playing basketball! We keep running into him!!! Luckily he didn't see us because he was getting into a fight... awkward.

 

Miracle: my companion got a blessing and it was amazing! The spirit was so strong!! I am staying in this area another transfer which means that we get to go to the temple with Deion (our favorite Jamaican bobsledder/skydiver convert) and go to our other friend's baptism!!

 

Also some of the English sisters were put into a Portuguese music video because the Portuguese sisters didn't want to do it, so when it gets posted I will let y'all know!! Also, we had a dance party and I saw a Lamborghini and got really excited and the dude let me take a picture, so here it is! I've been teaching my companion all the car names 😂 I love you all! Email me if you need anything!