I CAN DO HARD THINGS!!

Hello familie og venner!

(Hello family and friends)

So this week was probably the toughest week at the MTC.  However I know that the Lord wants me to be here and that he does hear and answer prayers because he has definitely been helping me so much!!   This week was very emotional, stressful, and just rough, but also very humbling.  The language is difficult and I felt like I haven't been progressing and I still can't roll my r's which really frustrates me!! Haha.  I know that with patience, hard work, faith and trust in the Lord he will help me though! Søster House and I asked one of our favorite teachers Bror (Brother) Smith who is so awesome if we could talk to him because we were both having a rough day.  At first we talked about how we were doing when we teach our investigators and the first thing he said (not knowing we were having concerns) was that the lesson we had just given was the best he had ever seen us do and it was the best Norwegian he had ever heard us speak.  I literally burst into tears because it made me so happy and was an answer to my prayers!  He helps all of us out so much and is just so inspiring and knows exactly what to say!  So in my last email I totally forgot to say that Søster House and I are the Sister District Training Leaders!! Way exciting!! (Except on Sundays because we have to wake up extra early to go to meetings) As district training leaders we are in charge of the søsters in our district! We talk to them, make sure they are doing okay, attend meetings, etc... This Sunday we got to watch the Ogden Temple get dedicated as a temple of our church. That was an experience that was so cool!! It was awesome to see and hear the prophet of our church Thomas S. Monson speak!  We also had M. Russell Ballard speak to us at our devotional on Tuesday!  He talked about missionaries and how he wants to make sure we know that we are on the Lord's errand and we are being servants for Him!  He also focused on making sure we knew that EVERY soul is great in the sight of God and that everyone is a son or daughter of God.  Being a missionary is seriously the best thing ever!  Yes, there are hard times, but the good definately outweigh the bad!  It is such a life changing experience and I am growing and learning so much!  I have a new love and appreciation for the church!  It is so awesome to think that the Lord needs me in Norway and that he has called me to go there for a reason!  Something awesome happened the other day!  We were doing an activity in class and our teacher told us to write down a question that we wanted to be answered than we were to go off on our own and just take our scriptures with us and see if we could find our answer.  I had no idea where to even start to read, so I prayed then closed my eyes and opened to a random page and just started reading and GUESS WHAT!!! The answer to my question was literally right there!! It was soo cool!! Søster House and I are becoming better at teaching our investigators and started not to rely on our notes as much and just listen and go with what the Spirit is telling us to say!  When we do that, our lessons have been so much better and more of a conversation than us reading from almost a script.

Jordan's Tidbits:

·         I saw Elder Chris Isaac this week!!! So great to have him here!

 

·         Søster House and I memorized our first scripture in Norsk! Moroni 10:5

·         I definitely know how people gain weight here.... All you do is eat and sit in a classroom and teach!

·         The food is slowly becoming unappetizing....

·         I absolutely love love love everyone's letters and packages!! Thank you, thank you so much! I cannot express how much I love them!! I'm trying to write everyone back, so if I don't write you back right away I will soon!

·         It is never a dull moment in the Residence hall with my Søsters! hahaha 

 

·         My grandparents sent us this big glass bottle of cider to celebrate our halfway mark so of course we were going to go out with a bang!  However, we had a little difficulty opening the bottle... and when we finally popped the top off - it exploded everywhere and on everyone and everything!! We were all dying!!

Halfway done in the MTC!

Sharing my goodies!

 

 

·         Søster House and I tried to run and bump bellies with pillows in our shirts.  We full on sprinted from opposite sides of the rooms and her being so much taller than me, I totally bounced off her and flew onto my back!! All the Søsters were dying laughing!!!

 

·         My district is seriously the best! The Eldste's (Elders) and Søsters are so awesome and are so helpful! I don't know what I would do without them!

(Clarification: District is the eldste's and soster's going to Norway. Zone is the missionaries going to Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, and West Indies)

·         There are 4 elders and 11 sisters in my district and about 40 plus missionaries in my zone

·         I do not go outside very much, when I do it's to walk to other buildings or for class activities and even when we are outside literally everywhere we walk has coverings above us.  So I don't get much sunlight....

·         I was asked if I sing a lot..... hahaha!!  Søster House loved that question because we literally sing all the time and she isn't a fan of singing!  However; we have to sing in Norwegian, but it's nice to sing in English when we have meetings or devotionals with all the missionaries in the MTC

·         The friendships I am making here are seriously going to last a lifetime!!

 

·         A mission is the best thing ever!!!

·         I'm nicknamed as the "Sister who gets all the letters" haha

I would like to invite those that would like, to do a Book of Mormon challenge with me!  I will be starting today and reading the Book of Mormon from start to finish.  I will be reading a couple of chapters a day, however; you can read just one or just read for time like 15 min a day.  If you do not have a Book of Mormon and would like one - email my mom at texaspetersons@gmail.com and she would love to get one for you! 

Any questions or curiosity about the LDS church go to www.lds.org!

Thank you everyone for all the love and support!!!

Jeg elsker dere,

Søster Peterson

General Questions I have been asked:

1.     What is your schedule every day?

Every day I wake up at 6:30, personal study time till 8, breakfast at 8, then gym from 8:30-9:15, then class and teaching instruction with teachers for 6 hours -basically for the rest of the day including lunch and dinner and personal study time, companion study time, and language study time

2.     What do you do on your "P-Day"?

We email, relax, basically do what we want, than we go to the temple and then after dinner at 6:30 we have class

We dress "comfy" on P-Day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.     Does a General Authority speak to you every week?

A General Authority doesn’t always come, we   have just been really lucky!!

4.     Is Monday still a "no English" day?  All day?

No. there’s not a “no English rule”, but sometimes our teachers make us and we do a thing called SYL which is “speak your language” and we have to speak Norsk, but the words we don't know we can use English

5.     How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

I usually get 6 hours of sleep a night

6.     What are your favorite foods there at the MTC?

The food is kinda gross!! hahaha

 

Mom sent a box of Oreos and peanut butter!!!  Jordan's favorite!!

Thanks for all the packages and treats!! 

 

 

ONE PROUD MOMMA!

Post from Mom:

I was at church last Sunday when I turned the corner heading to the bishops office and I saw this:

Yup!!  You guessed it... my eyes filled with tears!  But I will say they were happy tears!  Even now as I write this, sometimes I can't believe... my little Jordan is on a mission heading to Norway!!  WOW!!  She has been gone almost 3 weeks and it is amazing the change I see in her, the change in our family, and the effect her example is having on so many.  Needless to say, I am so very proud!  I received a letter from her on Saturday.  She and her companion have been made the new sister district training leaders! She said the language is really tough and can't believe she has such a short time left at the MTC.

I am truly grateful for Jordan and her decision to go on a mission!  I am so very proud of Paige, Chase, and Cody for the love and support they have shown their sister. 

CONTAGION.... otherwise known as the MTC!!

Hallo!!!

So I cannot believe it is already P Day again!!! I have been in the MTC for 2 weeks now and I cannot believe it!!  As always the MTC is awesome and wonderful and I am loving every second of it!!  But, I literally look forward to P Day!!!  However here is the story about my title.... Let's just say that here at the MTC, if one missionary gets sick it spreads like wild fire!! So many missionaries are getting sick!!  We had devotional yesterday and all you could hear was coughing and sneezing the whole time!  Kinda funny and gross at the same time.  4 of the 6 Søsters in my room including me are sick :( but oh well!  That doesn't stop and won't stop me from learning! 

This week at the MTC we are starting to focus more on teaching and memorizing lessons and sentences in Norsk to help us teach our investigators.  It is still rough at learning, but I know with faith and trust in the Lord he will help me!!  I seriously love my district!  They are so awesome and spiritual and we are all helping each other learn and grow so much!!!  Richard G Scott from the Quorum of the 12 Apostles was here and gave a devotional yesterday which was sooo awesome!!!!  He is really, really old....  He talked about prayer, missionary work, and focused on missionaries who are learning a language. 

Something that I really liked that he said was that God answers our prayers in 3 ways:

1. We feel peace, comfort, confidence and assurance and the answer is yes

2. We feel unsure or unsettled and the answer is no

3. No response, he doesn't always answer because he wants us to learn and grow

I saw Elder Josh Williams a friend from school!! It was so great to see him!! He is going to New Hampshire!  The MTC has literally made me grow and learn so much about myself.  Missionary work isn't just about converting others to come unto Christ, but you convert yourself as well!  I have learned that God doesn't call the qualified, but the unqualified.  He wants us to learn, grow, learn to rely on him, trust him, and have faith in Him, that he will help us be successful!!

(This is the Søsters and Elders going to Norway)

(Elder Brink, Elder Abril, Elder Christansen, Elder Rial)

 

Jordan's Tidbits:

·         It is so awesome to have friends like Søster House and Søster Boud, we can have super spiritual moments and discussions than we can be laughing and basically wetting our pants and literally having the best time!  I love those girls to death!!

·         There is a place in the cafeteria where you put your food and trays when you are done... we have nicknamed it the “nasty abyss” because it's so hot, humid, moist, it smells, it’s disgusting, and makes you want to gag just being in there for the couple seconds to drop your tray off!

·         I fell going up the stairs in front of a whole bunch of people.... I looked back to see if anyone saw and they did... Søster House was dying laughing as I ran up the 5 flights of stairs to save myself from embarrassment!! hahaha

·         Me, Søster House, and Søster Boud have a nightly routine we do every night before bed.  It consists of exercise, spiritual talk, then we end up laughing until we are crying.  (Søster Boud had a cramp in her leg, so we were rolling it out for her.)

(Seems that the girls have a GREAT time!!)

 

 

 

·          There is supposedly a tree that smells like cream soda?? I will smell it when I can breathe out of my nose again.

 

·         Again I walked out of the bathroom with my dress tucked in the back... but luckily Søster House caught it before I got into the hall where people were

·         It is never a dull moment with Søster House!!



·         Weekends are the worst because no mail or letters!!!

·         Me and the Søsters literally chase Elder Abril who is in charge of getting our mail down to go get our mail.  We get our mail after dinner!

·         It's true when people say you have crazy dreams in the MTC!! Mine have been so weird!!

·         I dropped my ring in the trash can in the bathroom and while Søster House was dying laughing, I was digging all the way to the bottom of the trash can to find it.... yes, I did end up finding it!

 

·         It is funny how there are so many days that some of us will dress alike without even planning it!

(Søster Boud, Søster Peterson, Søster Heywood)

 

(Søster Firth, Søster Peterson)

 

·         Me and Søster House were getting water and I couldn't push the thing to make the water come out... It was stuck or something!!! So I got in a stretch stance, hiked up my skirt a little and was pushing as hard as I could and struggling to get the water out!  While this process was going on, some Elders walked by looked at me and started laughing down the hall.... Yeah talk about embarrassing

·         Søster Boud and the girls know how scared I get, so

       they planned to scare me and they did!!! They had made it look like someone was in my bed so I would go by the bed and I went by the bed and they grabbed my ankles from underneath!! hahaha

 

 Thanks again for all the love and support and for the awesome letters, dear elders, and packages!!!  I appreciate them so much and literally look forward to them!!  Even if I don't email or write you back don't stop sending them because I do appreciate them!! I don't have a lot of time to write everyone so I am trying to make my way to writing everyone back, it may just be awhile!!

(Yummy Krispy Kreme)

(Loves getting her packages)

 

Jeg Elsker Dere!!!

(translation – I love you!)

Søster Peterson!!!

Jordan was so blessed to have a close friend with her for the first few days while she was at the MTC!  Lauren is now headed off to the West Indies!  So glad the two of them were able to share that time together!  Good Luck Lauren!

 What a special experience to share this time with friends!  Another friend of hers from school is in the MTC as well.  Whitney Wilcox is heading to Japan!

 

Jordan with her Søsters!!!!

Søster House

Søster Boud

Søster Heywood

Søster Hoggard



Søster Firth



Søster Hudson

Søster Sorenson

Søster Johannessen



Søster Neilson



Søster Williams



 

YOO HOO BIG SUMMER BLOWOUT!!

                                  

Hello,

SO IT IS FINALLY P DAY!!!  I can't believe I have already been in the MTC for a week!  It feels like I just got here yesterday!!  I feel like I have so much to say to cover everything that has happened this past week and won't have enough time!  So here it goes...

 

So the first day here was a blur!  It was definitely overwhelming and there was so many things to learn.  I felt like it was the first day of kindergarten.  After dropping my bags off in my room I had to go straight to class and let me just say... the no English rule is real!!!  I walked in and my teacher Brother Smith (who is literally the best ever) was talking straight Norsk (Norwegian) and was like asking me questions!!  I think the look on my face was pretty priceless because he began to laugh at me.....Everyone here is so nice and helpful though!  I love the environment and the atmosphere here; it is so spiritual and unreal.  So in my district which is the Norwegian missionaries here - there are 11 Sisters and 4 elders.  Our zone consists of Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, and the West Indies.  Our district is the biggest the MTC has ever had and so is our zone. The elders are freshly graduated from high school except one and they are like babies haha.  We all consider them our younger brothers.  My companion is Sister Sydney House and let me tell you she is awesome!!  I absolutely love her and we hit it off right from the start!  We both like similar things, love to work out, and it feels like I've known her for more than 7 days.  We are always laughing and having a good time, but know when to be serious and work.  The other sisters in my district are so great!!  We all get along so well!  We all have the best time and are so great for each other!!  I know that we were all put together as a reason and that it is no accident that me and Sister House are companions.  I saw Sister Christansen (Lauren) right when I got to the MTC and her room was right next to mine!!  She was such a big help and definitely helped me adjust to the MTC.  I am so glad we were able to be her together even if it was for a short time! 

      

We have a very specific schedule that we follow by we wake up at 6:30, have personal study time, have breakfast, workout (30-45 min), have 30 min to get ready than have to be in class by 9:50 and are basically in class till 9:30 at night with the exceptions of meals and meetings or devotionals.  The food here isn't too bad, however I am learning what not to eat hahaha.  So I'm sure you are all wondering about the language.....  Yeah Norwegian is not easy!  It is very difficult, but I am slowly picking it up.  I know how to say some everyday words and we were taught how to pray and bear our testimony but it is still sounds rough haha.  We had our first real life teaching experience the 3rd day we were here and our investigator speaks no English only Norwegian.... You could say my companion and I's first lesson was a disaster!  We had no idea what to say, knew very little, and when we did try to speak the language we sounded so wrong and didn't say half of the words right hahaha.  At one part we were trying to tell our investigator to pray to God like he was a friend and it turns out we were telling him to pray to God like he is wine.....  We have had 3 more lessons with Erik (our investigator) and they have gone pretty decent!  I am starting to piece together what he is saying by picking out the words I know.  He talks very fast and likes to make faces at me and Sister House when he has no idea what we are saying.  On Saturday we had to wake up at 6 to do our service cleaning as well as on Monday morning.  Cleaning with Sister House is always fun because we laugh and try to make it as fun as possible.  Sunday was fast Sunday and that was interesting....  We went from 6:30 am to 5:45 pm without any food or water!  It wasn't too bad if you kept your mind off of how hungry you are and focused on the lessons and talks being given.  The past couple of days here at the MTC have been filled with much laughter with my district Sisters.  It is so fun being here with them!!  I love the constant spirit that is here at the MTC. 

It is just such a wonderful place and I know that I am doing what the Lord wants me to do.  Seriously I don't think you can comprehend how exciting and happy it is to get mail/dear elders!!  I literally do a happy dance and get so excited when Elder Abril brings the mail after dinner.  Thank you for everyone who has sent me mail, dear elders, and packages!!  You have no idea how much I love them, so please keep it up!!  Don't feel like you are overloading me because you’re not!! 

                                     

My district has a joke with me because I have gotten mail every day and they are always like "we know Sister Peterson got mail today, or how much did you get today?"  The Elders like to mess with me and make me flustered by seeing how long they can go without giving me my mail haha.  The MTC is an amazing experience!!  I constantly feel the spirit and just love being here!!  It is hard and I am definitely praying for the gift of tongues, but I am so excited to learn every day.  I look forward to going to class and just love the gospel and this church so much!!  My district is so awesome and we all help each other and are like family!  It amazes me how many missionaries are here and I just love to think that we are all here for the same reason!  I feel like there's so much more to say, but I don't have enough time!  If you have any questions or want to know more details please, please, please write or email me!!

 

Much love,

Sister Peterson

 Things I have learned/funny and random things:

·         Don't drink the orange juice

·         Do not sleep by the door

·         I have never relied on a watch more in my life

·         Your picture you send in with your mission papers is on everything so make it a good one!

·         Don't get discouraged

·         Do not let anyone make you feel or tell you you are unworthy.  If you have repented, taken care of business, and are worthy to get a temple recommend, YOU ARE WORTHY!!

·         Take care of business before you come, if you don't it will eat you alive and you will feel so guilty and will go home

·         It is funny to think that we don't know or use first names

·         Definitely getting used to having my companion with me 24/7, but it feels so weird if I am ever by myself now

·         We are called the Nords for short

·         Magnetic mission tags are genius!

·         Saying "guys" is a no no in the MTC, it's elder or sister

·         Don't eat the rice Krispy treats

·         I walked out of the bathroom with my dress tucked into the back of my undergarments....

·         Be fearless!!

·         Sister Neilson and Sister Hoggard said to their investigator poop instead of pope, so they were calling the pope poop.... hahahaha

·         Flashcards are so helpful

·         They serve BYU creamery ice cream on Sundays and Wednesday!!

·         Baby powder works miracles for sweat on armpits

·         Blueberry Muffin top cereal is heaven!!