Sister Jordyn Kealoha Lani Petersen: Week 27

This week has flown by so fast!

I feel that mission time is different than other time. I never understood it when missionaries said “the days are like weeks and the weeks are like days”, but now I do. I can’t believe it’s the end of another transfer. I like to look at is as the beginning of a new one! AHH! So tomorrow is transfers and ...... I AM LEAVING THE VISITORS CENTER! (just temporarily though) yes that is correct I AM GOING FULL-FIELD! I am being transferred to Redondo Beach, Redondo 1st ward. I will be finishing Sister Tanton's training! I have met Sister Tanton before and she is such a sweetheart! She is here waiting for her Visa for Brazil! So we will see how long I have with her!

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS TRANSFER!!!!!!

This is most likely the longest letter I have ever written in my life but it’s because there were so many great inspirations, revelations, and miracles that happened this week! (This is the letter I also sent to president with some added stuff for you all)

So this Saturday morning we had a special zone conference with Elder Richards of the First Quarum of the 70 and I am still just blown away with how inspiring and revelatory it was! Elder Richards is so incredible and it was such a blessing to be able to hear from him and receive his guidance! His counsel along with yours and Sister Weidman and Sister Richards made for me personally a very revelatory and inspirational experience. It is interesting for me to see how Heavenly Father has been preparing me personally to receive this training. I love how he used Gideon and his army in relation to us and what we are capable of. I have been thinking a lot lately about how we as a mission are so much like the missionaries in the Bible and Book of Mormon. In a training I gave last transfer I compared us to Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah. We are going two by two into a city full of people that want to destroy us. (Spiritually for us) Luckily for us there are 241 of us going into the same city. I think of the change that they made and how much of a difference WE CAN make if we but have the faith that they had. When Elder Richards used Judges 6:14 “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?” It heard it as ““Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save California from the hand of the LosAngelites : have not I sent thee?”. We are here to save this people and I know if we have the same faith that the ancient prophets and missionaries had, then we can!

During studies at the Visitors’ Center the day before Zone conference I had an insight and then at zone conference it became even more clearly an inspiration. My thought is “why is the Visitors center such a powerhouse of miracles and inspiration?” There are many reasons. It is dedicated to the Lord just as the Temple is; it is on Temple grounds, the different displays and exhibits, etc. But, then I think to before it was remodeled without all the fancy touchscreens, we are still hearing about the miracles that occurred then. I have figured it out. The Visitors’ Center isn’t anything except a pretty and peaceful building without the sister missionaries here. And then I ask “why are we so effective?” It is simply because of the unity we have here. In ALL aspects of the work we come together. We are ALWAYS praying together, sharing spiritual experiences, getting to know one another, trying to figure out how to best utilize the tools we have, role playing together, and helping each other come closer to Christ. We have become more than just 20 women in a building all day every day. We are a family of Sisters and recognize each other as true sisters and daughters of God, not just because of a name tag but because we love each other. Yes not all companionships are perfect and some sisters get are closer to some than others, but there are no “cliques” or groups, it’s our focus and unification that truly brings us as one. Also, with each person that comes in, we have only a very short amount of time to be with them, which means we have to apply Elder Richards invitation of teaching plainly, simply and with clarity so that the spirit can testify. (After zone conference we have been role-playing this way of teaching even more and the tours we have taken since have been even more incredible!) I clearly see that it is that FIRM unity that allows us to be a clear conduit of the spirit. It is this that allows the spirit to open the hearts of so many people that we teach here and allows them to change. Now the big question is how do we achieve this same unity as a mission? I know your vision would quickly become a reality if as a mission we carried that same unified spirit. It wouldn’t just be bringing the investigators to the Visitors’ Center, but bringing the Visitor’s Center to the investigators. And now I am literally going to do this by going full-field! The Lord just knows where we need to be! The same media we view here is available online to use in our investigators homes now it’s bringing that same sense of mission unity that we need to work on.

I have been fervently praying to know how we can achieve this. I have gotten bits and pieces of my answer. I went back in my journals to see when first, our areas have been most successful, two, when my districts have been the most successful, and three, when my zones have been the most successful. Our “successful” times in my eyes were in the following areas. As a companionship so far it has been when Sister Nordhagen and I had been struggling and through praying for unity we were able to come together almost as best friends to teach the lessons in such unity that we would finish each other’s inspired questions and the spirit was so strong we didn’t hardly teach, the spirit just testified and our investigator was baptized exactly one month and one day from the first time we met her. In that time she had read the Book of Mormon, (she had ordered and had her own quad to reference from) given out three copies of the Book of Mormon, attended church in our ward and found a ward to attend in OK while visiting her family there and brought them with her and then came back and was baptized after her 3rd church attendance. That fire we all had radiated to our other investigators and helped them start keeping commitments too. As a district and as a Zone it would have been my third transfer when I was in West Wood Zone. As a small district it was easy to focus on each other’s needs and be able to focus on one topic. We were able to have great learning experiences by praying together and searching the scriptures together. We were able to achieve 100% referral contacts and goals by constant reminders and follow ups with our District leaders and from the other missionaries when we saw them. It was truly that support that unified us. As a zone it was a smaller zone, I think it was that that gave us more motivation, we knew everyone better and wouldn’t want to break the unity. For zone goals each companionship was held accountable and if one didn’t make it, it would affect the rest of the zone. It made it easier to see how we were growing as servants of the Lord as we each had a part in the same purpose. As a missionary at least for me, my districts and Zones are like a family. When our family is unified and supportive of one another it is easier to do our Fathers work and the closer the family gets to Heavenly Father the closer they get to each other. (The triangle effect) Even the times when we struggled the most, the support and love of our zone automatically would bring us closer together and we were able to accomplish our goals and see miracles because of it. I’m not sure if this makes any sense… but as I am seeing these patterns I am better able to apply it to where I am now and can see us being more unified and getting more accomplished in this hastening of the work.

Elder Richards also brought me back to when I was in the MTC (Missionary Training Center). This way of teaching is how I was taught in the MTC! I couldn’t believe that I had allowed myself to get caught up in how other people were teaching instead of how I was taught in the first place! It was a bitter sweet moment. I was able to go through my notes from zone conference and compare them with my MTC notes and see in what ways they were aligned. Teaching plainly was engraved into my head while at the MTC. I can see where I changed at the end of last transfer and beginning of this transfer my teaching changed. I start off teaching simply and then add more and more unnecessary information as I search for what to say instead of letting the spirit testify, I try to testify. No more of that! The hardest part to admit is that I would even confuse myself! Luckily I was brought back to remembrance by Elder Richard and have brought my MTC notebook to be a constant reminder to me as well. While in the MTC my companion and I, as well as the other sister companionship in our district were able to help our MTC teacher actually create and prepare a 3 hour training that he was giving for the Provo mission’s upcoming zone conference. Its focus was on simplicity and no longer “teaching” but guiding through the spirit. We are not supposed to do any real teaching if we think about it, but guide our investigators to Christ through the Spirit and we do this just as Elder Richards explained, through plainness.

We were actually able to apply this yesterday in a lesson we had and it was the most progressing lessons we have had with this investigator! It is sad to leave but Sister Jones will be perfect for this area!

Now in plainness and simplicity I am going to go guide our brothers and sisters in Redondo back to our Heavenly Father! I am overjoyed, to the point of giddy about this upcoming transfer!!!!!!!

My mission is going by so fast! I seriously can not believe it. I love it so much! The psirit and this work is incredible! I love you all for your love, prayers, and support! Thank you!

RAP OF THE WEEK:

REDONDO BEACH IS WEAR IM AT

SOAKIN UP THE SUN

TRACTIN IN THE BREEZE

PREACHING HIS WORD

IT COMES WITH EASE

LEADIN BY THE SPIRIT, ITS WHAT I DO

FOLLOW HIS WAYS

HIS WORDS ARE TRUE

Love,

Sister Jordyn Petersen

jordyn.petersen@myldsmail.net