Going to the temple!

Hi!
Well, this is  a really short email today because I am in RIVERHEAD!
:) but, we had a great week with our sisters exchange at our mission
presidents house & the temple trip on saturday! It was a bit hectic
getting everything taken care of but it all worked out wonderfully and
Elmie and Sister Dillon looked beautiful :) covenants! They're the
best.

This week we have four exchanges so it will be pretty crazy but a good
week! And I get to be on an exchange with my favorite, Sister Acosta!
I love her and am so excited to work with her for 24 hours. There is
just something special about the sister you trained.

So...here are some pics! Have a great week & I will write you a longer
letter next week.

Love you!

Sister Peacock

happy president's day!

This week has been pretty interesting! I apologize if the email is a
bit lengthy, but kind of a lot happened!

Monday, we started off the week by picking up the new sister from the
airport. She is the first Mandarin speaking sister called to this
mission. Her trainer is trying to learn Chinese also. It was fun to
think back to when the assistants picked ME up from the airport and
how it feels now being the one who has been here "for a while" and who
is giving advice. WEIRD. It was really fun to get to know her though.
We had a fireside at President's house and also went to PF Chang's for
dinner. The next morning, Sister Hales and I went for a lovely run!
Our ears were completely numb but it was worth it. President lives in
Port Washington, and with all the snow, it felt like a little winter
retreat.

Our phone broke on Monday, and we went to resolve the issue on
Tuesday, but alas, they wouldn't be able to give us a phone for
another week because it had to be ordered. We were determined to find
all of the miracles that came from NOT having a phone. And, we have
been blessed! Ready?

Tuesday night, we were able to see Liz and Angela again. They were
pleasantly surprised by our unexpected visit and the lesson super
spirit strong, as usual with them! I felt especially prompted during
the lesson to bear testimony of the importance of coming to church,
since it has never happened even though we have invited many times. I
promised them that greater peace would come and they would get an
answer IF they came to church. Angela said she wanted to be a part of
a church that was a commitment, that didn't just fade away, but that
she wanted to be committed and make a promise...um...obviously in our
minds we just heard, "Baptism! Covenants! Promises!" So we talked
about that and then Liz ended with a prayer. She is usually really shy
about it, and whenever an investigator prays,it just makes me super
happy. More than that, I know it makes God really happy too to hear
his children praying to Him!

We were so excited leaving the lesson that we ran down the street to
our car, and ended up helping push a guy out of the snow. We have
muscles...or faith. :)

Wednesday, we dropped in on a lot of people, and ended up having a
really awesome lesson with Sister Dillon. It was her last lesson
before going to the temple. She has been having a hard time at home
with her children who aren't members but it was a really good feeling
to see how happy our visit was making her. And to see how excited she
was to go to the temple. In her prayer, she said, "bless my children,
including the missionaries." I love her!

We had a few other lessons, but the other really powerful one was with
MANNY. He made us dinner (lemon chicken...except it was made with
limes,but he is Jewish and has a thick accent so maybe he thinks
that's what they are!) and I helped his wife with her resume for a job
(Glad I can use my editing skills out here!). But, we had a super
powerful lesson about the Savior. Obviously Manny doesn't believe in
the Savior, since he is Jewish. But, he opened up to us that he knows
he needs to find out if this is true. He said that because he is
getting older, he has to find out the truth so that he can make a
decision if it IS true. He knows that by learning,his eyes have been
opened and if it is true and he DOESN"T accept, then he will be held
accountable. That was HUGE. We want to teach him tonight about how to
receive answers and praying sincerely. We both feel like he knows it
is true, but he is a bit stubborn and a bit holding on to his Jewish
heritage. But, I know he can get there if he prays with sincere heart.

Thursday was ... well, a terrible snowstorm. We were supposed to have
president interviews that had already been canceled the week before
because of the snow. Without a phone, we didn't know they had been
canceled again. So, we drove to the stake center, which ended up
taking an hour. We saw some pretty bad wrecks, but     said a lot of
prayers. Then we got to the church and found an unplowed  parking lot.
When we finally made it back to Little Neck, we found out we were not
supposed to drive at all so were stuck in the church for the rest of
the evening. I was going crazy!! I am glad we were safe driving but
staying inside was making me lose my mind. Luckily the weather cleared
up the rest of the week!

Friday, we had a zone training meeting & then sister hales and I baked
cookies to take around for valentines day. We included this quote from
president Uchtdorf:

"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are
imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without
compass, God's love encompasses us completely. "(The Love of God)

I went a little overboard making the dough when we were stuck inside
on Thursday ... 3 kinds. But it only took an hour!

It was great to help the sisters feel appreciated and remembered :)
ALso, thanks for the packages mom and Jenni! And thanks for the card,
Jake!

We had exchanges on Saturday and I was with Sister Lee, who goes home
in two weeks. She was here with me in Little Neck, and we were able to
visit 7 people! More miracles of not having a phone. 7 attempts and
they were all home?! I was able to learn a lot from her, and we got to
know a few members   better too.

Alright, let's wrap this up! Sunday, we drove over to Liz and Angela's
house. We couldn't drive them, but we wanted to take the bus with them
so they knew where it was. The bus ended up being late, so we made it
to church like 20 minutes after it started. BUT, Liz came! Angela was
sick. But Liz came! :) This is the first investigator that I've had
come to church since I've been here. WOo! HOpefully the 10 week
drought is over!

We also taught a lesson at our Bishop's house. They had invited their
neighbors over and we have a return appointment! This was my first
lesson where a member   had invited a friend to meet with us. We'll
see what happens this week!

Okay, this email is super long! I can't believe it's already week
five. It is going by far too fast this transfer! Mostly, I just don't
want Sister Hales to leave,, so I'm praying she stays...if it is the
Lord's will and all.

I love you all and hope you're having a great President's Day! :)
Sister Peacock

{ny south|forever changed}

jews, figs, & chinatown.

Hello & Happy Valentine's Day! So much love from me to you.  I apologize. I'm in a funny mood so this email could be interesting!

Today we are going to the airport to pick up a new sister who is coming in mid transfer, like I did. She is going to speak Chinese! The first sister to be called that here & 3 more will be coming next
transfer. We are also getting ASL sisters in the coming transfers. The work is growing!! But, we are picking her up with her companion & then spending the night at President's house with her. It should be a fun day!

Miracles this week?

MANNY!
So, Manny is a Jew. His wife is Chinese. She is a member. They are
awesome! So funny. We love them. The elders have been teaching Manny
since the summer but last week we asked if we could visit Sister Zohar
(in an effort to meet a lot of ward members) & ended up having an
awesome lesson with her and Manny! And we committed them to read the
Book of Mormon together. And they DID! Sunday, he came to church & he
asked us when we were coming over again. It was also funny because on
our first visit, he kept giving us food to try...like these "oatmeal
cookies" that had dates, figs, oatmeal, raisins, banana chunks and
absolutely no sugar. Also, this poppyseed "cake" that was kind of like
a cracker cause I don't think it had flour. It was ... interesting.
But, at church he said, "So, I shouldn't give you so much starch.
You'll gain weight. Next time you come, I"ll make lemon chicken." It
made me crack up!

We ended up teaching another lesson yesterday after church. He made us
homemade peanut and almond butter (my favorite!) on the spot in his
vitamix.  He also had a new type of "cookie" to try...But, I liked the
almond butter! They're always making us laugh. She had an aloe plant
and was talking about how she had used it in cooking before and Manny
kept saying, "What?? Cooking? No! You use that on your SKIN. Not on
your food!" It isn't funny to read but his Jewish accent is BIEN NICE.
And they just have a cute, funny relationship. SIs Zohar told me I had
eyes that looked like cougar eyes. And Manny told me that my companion
was the genius and I was the actress. It's funny too because they
think I"m quiet. HA! I explained once you get to know me, you know I
won't stop talking!

And, it would be really, really, really great if Manny got baptized
because then they could be SEALED as a family! So, that's our goal :)

As far as Liz and Angela, Liz had the flu this week so we weren't able
to visit her. Sad face. But, hopefully we can visit them tomorrow
night. They still haven't come to church, but I think it is just
because they are so awesome that Satan is working harder on them!

Speaking of Satan working hard...our dear Sister Dillon, who was
supposed to go to the temple this Saturday, is in the HOSPITAL! She
has diabetes and her blood sugar over the weekend was 15...so, she
ended up in the emergency room. I blame it on Satan not wanting her to
make essential, crucial COVENANTS this weekend. But, we'll get her
there! I know it.

We also had exchanges this week. I was in Flushing, a super Chinese
area of Queens (supposedly it is the second most populated Chinese
area in the United States). It was really fun getting to work with
Sister Baker and seeing other areas of the mission.

I also tried Filipino food this week. We have quite a few Filipinos in
our ward and they are hilarious! We had shanghai this last week, which
is basically like an egg roll/taquito mixed. It was delicious! Better
than the Filipino balut I tried a few weeks back. Also, not sure if I
mentioned that I ate tripe two weeks ago at our member Sandy's house?
She is Haitian and served us a Haitian meal, which was also
delicious...minus the tripe. Not a huge fan of cow intestine!

We did service last week for a woman whose husband had just died at
the beginning of the week. She was a former investigator but the
elders have been doing service for her family for quite some time. We
went and helped a few days after her husband died. We cleaned her
house and the elders shoveled the driveway and walk. She called us an
"army of angels." Her husband was sick for about 3 years with a very
rare condition that basically shrinks your brain. So, his mental age
was that of a child and for almost the last year. She had to change
him, feed him, do everything like you would with a child. But, I know
there is hope that she will see him again. There is no doubt in my
mind that this life is not the end. Hopefully we can visit her soon &
share that message of hope with her. This life is not the end!

I mentioned a few weeks ago how our goal this year is known as "5/5/5"
which is 500 baptisms, 5,000 in church, and 500 recent converts/less
actives to the temple. Well, on Friday, we had MLC (mission leaders
conference) and the whole meeting was about 5/5/5 and how each zone
was doing. It was really interesting to be a part of MLC, sitting on
the council with President, the zone leaders, and the APs. I left the
meeting with a huge sense of URGENCY. We have a great work to do here!
It has been a struggle to find new investigators..for most of my whole
mission. But, finding is baptizing. If we don't find people, we don't
teach. If we don't teach, there aren't baptisms. So, we are really
trying to find new ways to find people. THe best way is through the
members, obviously. Anyway, we haven't quite  figured out the HOW but
that is what our goal is...FIND FIND FIND!

So, those are the highlights of our week! The rest of it was a lot of
meetings for various things. But, hopefully we will have some temple
trips in the near future! And, I am really excited to spend time at
President's house with the new sister. What a flashback to my first
day in the mission! I remember how special I felt, going out to dinner
with President Calderwood and his family. Hopefully she will have the
same experience!

Sending lots of love!
Sister Peacock

PS

I almost forgot! I have to throw in the two pics from my exchange in
Flushing. There is a legendary crossroad in Flushing. I had to take a
pic! Kissena + Elder. Get it?

The Video Referred to in the Post this Week.

miracle week.

What a miracle week! After starting off a little rough the first week,
we exceeded our goals this week! Well, most of them. We were able to
have 6 member presents (the most I have had here has been 2 or 3).
Five of those lessons were with recent converts/less active members,
but I have definitely gained a testimony of the importance of having
members help teach. They add so much to the lesson & are vital in the
process of missionary work. Every investigator, recent convert, or
less active member needs a friend. And it's far better if that friend
comes from the ward they do/would attend than just having missionaries
who will eventually leave. Through and through, I've seen how much it
helps to have members teaching with us. What a blessing this week!

Monday night was our miracle lesson night. We were finally able to
teach Liz and Angela (the mother and daughter duo we taught once last
transfer). THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG. We talked about the Book of
Mormon and started teaching about the plan of salvation. I can't
describe to you exactly how it felt, but the Spirit was definitely the
teacher. We could see that Liz and Angela were understanding and that
they were learning about their purpose in life. And, we committed them
to be baptized. They both said yes! We want to set a date this week,
but they havent been able to attend church yet, so it will most likely
be sometime in March, if all goes well. Angela gave the closing
prayer, which has come to be one of my favorite mission things ...
hearing someone pray for the first time! She was nervous, but her
prayer was so sincere. She even prayed that she would be open to the
message we had to share and the Mormon religion. We definitely left
that lesson on cloud nine...Sister Hales and I were so pumped that
after nightly planning, we got out her guitar and wrote a little song
about the evening.

Speaking of the song...we decided it would be so funny if we sang it
during district meeting the next day, unannounced. So, when the elders
asked on Tuesday how our week was, we said, "Oh, funny you should ask,
elders. We wrote a song about it." They thought we were joking. But
then she got out the guitar... It was pretty funny! I love Sister
Hales. She just has so much energy and desire for the work. And we
have a GREAT time together. And she continues to be patient with me as
I get lost driving in this new area....or when we go running and it's
snowing something fierce and our run ends up being an hour long
because I wasn't sure where we were (yeah...that was this morning).

So. this week we had exchanges in RIchmond Hill and I got to
experience city life for 24 hours. It was beautiful and so fun! We
took the subway into east New York (Brooklyn). It was really different
to walk all day, to and from, and to have our conversation interrupted
by the subway every few minutes. But, I loved it!

We also exchanged with YSA sisters, but Sister Lugo came with me to
Little Neck. It was really funny because when we started the exchange,
she said, "So...I have to tell you...I read your blog before I came on
my mission!" Ha! She got her call in October and I guess one of her
friends had found my mission blog and told her about it. She has only
been here 2 weeks but is super sweet and a great teacher! We had a
miracle day and two great lessons with less actives. One of them said
she didn't realize that we can be cleansed each week with the
sacrament, that it is literally a chance to renew our covenants and
begin again. She said she understood more why it was important to go
each week to church ... yes! Exactly! It felt so good that our lesson
was lead by the Spirit, because that is definitely not what we had
planned to teach her. But, we committed her and her son to come to
church the next day. And when her 12-year-old son prayed, he asked
that they would be able to go, take the Sacrament, and be cleansed. IT
WAS SWEET! And then they came to church! Such blessings.

Finally, I think I've told you that we've been teaching temple prep to
two sisters here in the ward? Anyway, so we are planning the temple
trips now and I am so pumped! IF all goes as planned, we will be going
on Feb. 15 and Feb. 22. Two temple trips in one transfer?? Awesome.
Going to the temple is one thing I miss as a missionary. So, if you
have one close by...GO. :) IT will bless your life! It has been an
amazing opportunity to teach these sisters the importance of going to
the temple and of ordinances and covenants. Part of one of the lesson
mentioned how important these covenants are ... it says that beyond
being important or vital, they are CRUCIAL for us for our salvation.
Wow. I can't wait to send the pics from those two days! Keep them in
your prayers (Sister Dillon and Elmie) as the time gets closer. I know
this will bring blessings in their lives. Both have been members for
20+ years so this is a big step!

Anyway, love you so much && know this work is guided by God. What a
blessing to be a part of this!

Love,
Sister Peacock

Here are a few winter pics.

Transfer 8...Bound to be GREAT!

Hello!

Best week ever. Okay, actually, we had a lot of lessons fall through
and as far as "numbers" report, it wasn't that successful of a week.
BUT, I love, love, love my new companion! AH! So happy.

Alright, so Sister Hales (yes, very close name to my first companion,
Sister Hale, who also became a sister training leader this transfer
and took Sister Hales' spot in Queens -- fun!) is mi nueva companera.
She is from Salt Lake City, like downtown/the Avenues area. She only
has two transfers left, so she will go home in April. We are so
stinkin' similar! She likes to sing, play guitar and piano, run, and
graduated in 2009. This is her 4th transfer as an STL so she is pretty
experienced in that area. I am already learning so much from her. And,
interestingly enough, when I saw her at our womens' conference last
transfer, I thought, "She is going to be my companion/I want to be her
companion." but I just thought it was a silly thought in my brain!
But, we have had so much fun together already this week and have some
great goals for the transfer. She is such a fun, bubbly person (I feel
like I'm companions with Hollie!) and we can already talk about
anything. She is a great example too and a great teacher so I feel
like I will learn a lot with her too! She is super fun and
enthusiastic. It's funny because people think I am sarcastic because
of my semi mono-tone voice and people think she is sarcastic because
she is so enthusiastic. Ha!

Anyway, the highlight of our week was the first exchange we had! So,
in the past, the STLs would have around 14 exchanges each
transfer...weeks would be pretty crazy with usually 3 exchanges each
week. But, with the addition of a third set of STLs (here in Little
Neck), we only have 9-10 exchanges, which is much more manageable. So,
we have the West STLs, who go on exchanges with Brooklyn sisters, then
we have the Little Neck STLs and we go on exchanges with Queens
sisters, and then the East STLs who go on exchanges with the island
sisters. It is kind of funny because we live on the island, but we
will be exchanging in the city. So, it will be fun to see what that
missionary life is like .. of which I have no clue!

But, our first exchange was with Jamaica Queens sisters. It was so
interesting to se how we felt the spirit to know who should go with
who and when the exchange should be (when we were planning it out).
Well, I had felt strongly that I should stay here with the sister from
Jamaica. So, we start the exchange and within minutes, she was opening
up to me and confiding in me. I felt several confirmations and
promptings of what I needed to say and what would help her. It was a
neat experience! And amazing how much LOVE I feel for them just the
minute we were together. I know I will learn so much this transfer,
and I am grateful for this opportunity to help the sisters in this
missionary work.

So, no news with our investigators but we are still working with the
two women, preparing them for the temple. Super excited for that in a
few weeks. Plus, there is a new video!

Anyway, the work is great and I can just tell and believe we will see
miracles this transfer.

OH! And one other thing, last Monday I ate balut with a Filipino
family. Do you know what balut is? It is boiled duck fetus. Yep! Now I
can say I have eaten something weird :)

Love you!

Sister Peacock

PS. Sister Acosta took Sister Hale's spot in Jamaica and Sister Price
took Sister Acosta's spot in Riverhead. So funny how they all sort of
switched around.

Photos: the 6 STLs for the mission; me and Sister Hales with unplanned
matching and the street sweep pic from our exchange