I Am A Child of God

Hi my amazing family!! 

I'm jealous of your snow, we've been praying for snow here. It it not beginning to look like Christmas. We finally started listening to Christmas music though and we really want there to be snow for Thanksgiving! Speaking of Thanksgiving I'm really excited because we are going to a an absolutely fantastic member's house and they are going to make us a Mexican thanksgiving dinner. It will definitely be one I remember. 

Hitting nine months this week was also pretty crazy! Time goes so fast and so slow. Thanks for all the letters and emails, it made it a special day. We did get Chick-fil-a's peppermint shake which is a synonym for Christmas so that was special too. #ad.

This week was full of teaching which was a huge blessing because it's been FREEZING. Our lessons were cool because I brought out my object lessons that Sister Mutter and I made in Mt. Airy and we made them into Spanish sets. And I think having familiar lessons made it so much easier for me to speak in Spanish which felt really good!

We taught Mary the restoration again using blocks. She followed along really well but when we invited her to be baptized she reminded us that she's already been baptized in another church. We went over authority again and she's praying about it. We have a Sister in the ward who had a conversion story similar to Mary's so we are going to bring her next time and have her bear her testimony.

We had TWO lessons with Alejandro and his son Sergio, the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. He's been taught for a while now so this is a review. Alejandro knows it's true we know it!! He is just scared  to be wrong. We committed him to really pray because God won't let him choose wrong. 

Our lesson with our 11 year old friend actually was loco. After we got about halfway through the lesson she lost all focus so we didn't finish haha. We are going back tonight. 

We also had a great lesson with George and Jamie (haha I don't remember what names I used for them last time). We went in to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ and and they basically taught it to us. They just already believe the principles of faith and repentance. Now we're working on baptism! We're going to have a lesson with a member to really help them understand the baptismal covenant. We're excited.

Those are the main people we taught this week. A few other cool things, we went to a referral on Wednesday out in the middle of an area in West Baltimore that we'd never been to before. He is so cool!! Very religious man who speaks Spanish, African, and English. We had a return appointment with him but we had to cancel that because we had to cover the English class for the Elders last minute. 

We had 4 people come to the classes which is not as good as last week but still awesome! And then, one of the boys who came CAME TO CHURCH! We were just sitting there and we looked around and there he was on the back row. Shocked. He stayed for both hours and said he really liked it! The Elders are going to be the ones working with him mostly but I'm excited to see what happens with him. 

Speaking of sacrament meeting, it was the PRIMARY PROGRAM which is my FAVORITE!!! They did such a good job. The song that made me cry was I am a child of God. As I watched all of those amazing little humans up there singing that song, it hit me harder than it ever has because I know how different each of their background and lives are. Most are from all different countries. Many of them are from part member families. Some speak English, some don't. But that divine truth surpasses all differences. Every single one of us are children of God and we each have a great purpose here on Earth and in the eternities. NO one can fulfill what we've been sent here to do. No one can be a better you than you. 

Oh part two story of that song, we got off the bus somewhere and were walking down the street when I was certain I had heard someone singing "I am a child of God". We traced it back to this guy at an ATM. We debated to ask or not but we had to know, so we were like, excuse me, were you singing I am a child of God? And he just grinned and said, "Yes! I saw you Sisters and that song came into my head". Turns out he's a member in a different ward who hasn't been able to go to church for a long time because he has to work on Sunday. He said "I really should sing that song more, it makes me happy" and then walked away still singing I am a child of God. I was like...man, we should ALL be singing that song more often! What more powerful knowledge than that. 

Romans 8:16-17

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together

Joint heirs with Christ. That's a big deal. That makes me want to try just a little bit harder to be a little bit better and that's my invitation to you! Find one simple thing to work on, pray for help, and I promise you're going to find joy as you come that much closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I love you!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

Love, Hermana Peck

Never too early to be Thankful

This week was funny. By all outside terms it looked like a slow week because we didn't find anyone new to teach and no one made it to church, but progress really is being made. We taught a lot of lessons and had a lot of adventures. 

First one was after Preparation day ended last Tuesday. We decided to drive into the city but once we got down into the city somewhere along the way we got a flat tire. Like, found a huge nail in our tire. Yikes. Please tell Uncle Shaylin a million times thank you for teaching me how to change a flat tire last year (Dad you 100% get credit too because I'm sure you've taught me at some point but I forgot until Shaylin showed me again). Our Senior missionary over vehicles made us call the Elders (because he didn't believe we could do it) which made me quite mad mad so I was determined to have that thing changed before they got there. Mission accomplished, by the time they got there all we had to do was get the jack out from under the car. Ha. Thank you Shaylin. Also Mom you would be shaking your head so hard because guess who hadn't taken their big coat because they were planning to be in homes all night...me. Yep the day finally came when I was stuck on the side of the road with no coat. I'll say it. You were right! I was...less right. 

Wednesday after District Council we went to a member's house to help her kids with homework and then introduce the family plan. We are going to teach them the 5 missionary lessons and they are going to help us fellowship some people we are teaching. Super sweet family. Then we had a lesson with a less active Young Adult who is SO fun. They made us amazing food. You can't beat their rice and beans and meat and pico and fresh tortillas. So yummy. 

Thurday we bused a lot in the frigid cold because we had to go clear to the bottom of our area for a return appointment we set up- they weren't there. So we rode back into the city to Naomi and Anna and Ally's. They are the mother and two daughters that moved here really quick from Utah. Usually Anna, the mom, isn't home because she's working but she was home! We had a quick little lesson and read the story of Ammon. It was nothing huge but the Spirit was there really strong. Super sad story-they wanted to come to church on Sunday (she didn't have work-MIRACLE!!) but their taxi never showed up! Sooo sad! They were dressed and ready to go and everything. So sad. 

The Elders in our branch started a weelkly English class so we sent out a mass text to like every contact we have (hundreds) on Friday and had so many people call and text us about it. So Friday was a little weird. Then Saturday we had a lesson in the morning (One of my favorites I've had in so long, the Spirit was SO POWERFUL) then had to metro across the area to go "pick up" 3 people who wanted to come to the Enlgish class. We just showed them how to use the metro and bus to get to the church. It was such a busy day but worth the craziness. 

That night we had a Thanksgiving party with our branch! It felt like home. I loved it. Sure, the food wasn't really close to traditional but was so fantastic nonetheless. I love that because of the mix of cultures (Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, El Salvador, Mexico are the main ones) we get to have all different types. We sang songs and had a little program. It made my heart happy. I also got to make apple pie scones for the party and that was super fun.

That's basically the highlights for the week- in between all those are more wonderful member lessons and some other lessons with the people we are teaching. 

Oh yeah transfers-I'm staying here with Hermana Whitehead!!! YAY!!!! So excited. Grateful we get to carry on with the momentum we've finally built up. 

We were walking down one of the more ghetto streets of Baltimore one night in the freezing cold with my pepperspray in my hand and I had a moment of what in the world am I doing when I saw this sidewalk block- "You've got this". Thank you Jesus. He's our cheerleader all day every day! You've got this everybody!!! We can do hard things! Through Jesus Christ. I love Baltimore and I love these people so much. I love Jesus.

I love you all so super much! Thanks for the emails and the love! I miss you especially much as the holidays are coming. Just know I'm thinking about you and praying for you. Keep being amazing. 

Love, Hermana Peck

Todas las fiestas

This week I wanted to be more detailed about the people we are teaching with. I'm usually very vague because we aren't supposed to share names or details of those we work with but I really want to share some awesome stories. So just know that all names have been changed :)

This week has been bitter cold. We pulled out all the layers and pray extra hard that people let us in haha! 

We had a great start to the week on Tuesday. We had district council, then hit the buses and metro over to Pikesville where we had an awesome lesson with our focus family Garret and Jamie and their two adorable kids. We were reading 1 Nephi 8 and Garret started commenting about 1 Nephi 18 and 22 and we were like wait have you read this?? And he was like yeah I've read all of 1 Nephi, I really like it. WOW. And they came to church for their FOURTH TIME. Our ward mission leader has done an amazing job of fellowshipping them. They said like everything about the gospel :) They still have things to learn but they are progressing so much!

Later that night we had a member lesson about favorite scripture stories. The Book of Mormon is full of so many great and inspiring examples. They also made us the best hot chocolate I have possibly ever had. 

Wednesday shook things up pretty good...We got a call from President saying that Hermana Henrie needed to be packed and ready to go by the next day, so quick! We are sad that she's gone but happy that things are working out for her to get to Ecuador. 

We had a lesson about temples with our 11 year old Natalie and her little sister and friend. They have like NO attention span so after we talked we made a temple out of marshmallows and toothpicks while we listened to "I love to see the temple". I always have to remember that they remember more than we think they do :)

Later that day we went to Mary's house, she's 17 and her uncle is a member. She's the one who's come to church and Young Women activities a few times. SUPER sweet. We watched the Joseph Smith movie and had popcorn and everything and it was a lot of fun. She connected with Joseph Smith a lot. 

Thursday was Hna Whitehead's birthday! I made her the white beanie and she liked it! That day the SWEETEST old lady in the branch had us over for lunch and she got Hna Whitehead a cake, so sweet.

Saturday we went to two more birthday parties! Spanish work, so many parties ;) One was our ward mission leader and 3 people we are teaching came! Heck yeah. And the other was of a recent convert (she loves Harry Potter haha). I love this branch, they are so loving and fun but their testimonies are POWERFUL. 

On Sunday we felt like we should go somewhere at the very bottom of our area, super far away, even though we would only have like 30 minutes there. It was a miracle because we found this guy named Alex who at first was super confused but then got that we were "Mormons" and started singing "I am a child of God". His grandparents are members and he used to go to church with them! We are meeting with him again this week, super excited. 

So many sweet and simple miracles this week. In interviews President reminded me of Alma 37:6, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. God knows what He's doing and the little miracles are still miracles :) 

I love you all so much!!!

Love, Hermana Peck

No, malvaviscos!!!

Wow what a week. Highs and lows and everything in between. But through it all, this week was a huge testimony builder to me that this is God's work and we are just the servants in the vineyard. Jacob 5. This last week I've felt the heat of high expectations from our mission leaders and missionary life in general and it kind of made me feel like a terrible missionary, like I couldn't accomplish what they wanted and therefore couldn't accomplish what God wanted. But I learned yet again that what God wants to happen will happen when He wants it to happen. 

For example: we were getting chastised a little because as a mission we weren't getting in with our member families as much as we were asked to. Somehow this week we got in with 5 member families (which is SUPER hard in this area). 

Another- we were not able to find many people last week so we were feeling kind of down. This week, we found 5 people! Those were miracles I will definitely talk about.

We were also getting told that our Spanish needs to be better - this one really hurt because I was trying SO hard but my Spanish felt worse than ever. Those who I talked to on Halloween saw just how discouraged I was. But then- on Saturday we had a lesson with someone we miracle knocked a few weeks ago and the Gift of Tongues was REAL! I was saying stuff I didn't even knew I knew. It happened again at our next lesson! And then I was able to teach the message at our Branch President's house and I was super nervous about that but it went well! And then yesterday I was able to understand our Sunday school lesson better than I ever have! I feel so blessed. 

It definitely feels like some weeks God is withholding his blessings from us. But I can almost, ALMOST say I'm grateful for those really rough times because it's right after that that there is so much growth and progress. 

So the finding miracles! We just decided to knock the doors of some potentials and the very first one they invited us right in, we sat down and taught the restoration. The significance of the message didn't hit them because they just love hearing about God but they want to come to church so that's awesome! But they work Sundays...that's kind of the problem with like 90% of the people we teach. Anyway, we knocked on the next potential door and they want us to come back this week! Miracles! 

So even though we don't feel like we're doing so hot sometimes, we look back and realize that Heavenly Father had His hand in all of it. ALL of it.

Funny stories...We found lots funny stickers off of the poles and signs! That's always a highlight. 

We were reading the Book of Mormon with someone we are teaching but her 7 year old son wanted to quiz us on our Spanish so he would point to things to see if we could say them in Spanish. He pointed to some marshmallows his sister was eating but none of us knew the Spanish word for marshmallows. "Malvaviscos" he said. "Malbabos?" I say. "No, MALVAVISCOS!!". He is so funny. And now that's my favorite Spanish word.

We went to the diner our friend works at again and he made us these Nutella stuffed waffles with ice cream...can you say heaven? So good. 

Halloween!!! We carved a pumpkin in the morning and roasted the seeds and I made pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes. I borrowed a blue and white checkered dress of Hna Whitehead's and braided my hair and called myself Dorothy. She was the Grinch haha which just means a green shirt and bow. Missionary costumes. Where the only one who knows you dressed up is yourself. 

Halloween itself was pretty chill, we had a member lesson and then a meeting. We went to B'more Licks and they had a special pumpkin ice cream, sooo good. Then that night we were at another members house so we were off the streets. 

I played the Lorax again. 

And the picture with all the bags, we were helping someone take their groceries but they had a ton...our car was stuffed. 

This week was fun. We taught a lot of lessons, members and nonmembers. The gift of tongues is real. It wasn't an easy week, but I just kind of decided to have fun so it was :) 

It was so good to talk to you all on Thursday! Keep being fantastic!!! I love you!!! Keep saying your prayers and reading your scriptures and try to see people like God sees them. I'll try too  I love you! 

Love, Hermana Peck