EMAIL:   Mon, April 1, 2013   10:09 AM

Subject:  I Love the BOM!!!

Hello Y'all!

First news is that I will be staying in Plano 6th Ward for at least another 6 weeks, which is great! Sister Brown and I will be staying together, which is surprising because every other sister is training someone this next transfer. We are still going to be riding bikes. They have also changed this next transfer so we will not be the only biking sisters anymore- almost half of the sisters will be on bikes now! It is pretty funny because many of the sisters are frantic trying to figure out how they will do things like wear skirts on bikes. I talked to the assistants yesterday, and they said they can't even imagine how to answer the sisters questions, so they are going to have all of the sisters call Sister Brown and I for questions about beings a sister and riding a bike.

I am really excited to stay in Plano because all of the work seems to finally be progressing. One of the investigators that Sister Brown and I have been working with is Patty. She was the referral from one of our other investigators. Patty grew up Catholic and went to Catholic school, so she is very hesitant to come to church because it is not what she is used to. We have been having some amazing experiences with Patty though. Last week we decided to watch The Restoration DVD to help her better understand Joseph Smith and feel the spirit. Right as Joseph Smith was about to have the First Vision, Patty's phone rang and killed the spiritual moment. I was a little bit annoyed, but we kept watching the movie. At the end, Patty couldn't wait to tell us what had happened to her during the movie. She had been putting up walls to not feel the spirit or believe the story, but then the phone rang. When we hung up the phone, she placed it on top of the Book of Mormon. She glanced down and saw right under the phone the words, "Fear Not"... This was a little miracle because Patty cannot read without her glasses. She did not have her glasses on and the book was far away on the coffee table, and so in a typical situation Patty would never have been able to read any words. But she saw "Fear Not" and it was a miracle because it helped her not put up the barriers and actually be able to feel the spirit of the Restoration DVD. It was amazing!!

So then Sister Brown and I went back to teach Patty this week. Previously Patty had read a few chapters of the Book of Mormon, but she was "fearing" that it might be true. We had planned to read with Patty from the BOM that day because she had before struggled to do it on her own. I asked Patty where she was at in the BOM so we could read it together, and she responded that she was in chapter 27 of Nephi. I was puzzled because I knew there are not that many chapters in 1 Nephi, so I asked again where she was reading. Patty responded that she was in 2 Nephi 27! In one week Patty had read from 1 Nephi 8 all the way through First Nephi and the majority of Second Nephi. She has been reading every night for at least 15 minutes, which is amazing!! Patty admits that she has been reading partly because Sister Brown and I are so disappointed when she doesn't and also partly because the BOM told her to "Fear Not" in a miraculous way that could only come if the book was truly from God. What a miracle!!

Sister Brown and I are still struggling to get Patty to church, but we are looking forward to this weekend of General Conference. Patty loves, loves, loves to watch TV - so conference is going to be great! It will be a great experience for us to talk about living prophets, modern revelation, and the feeling the Holy Ghost - then Patty will hopefully be happy to watch conference because it is on TV. I love General Conference and I pray that Patty will be able to feel the Spirit and further desire to make changes necessary in her life and be baptized. I love the Book of Mormon and how we can have amazing, miraculous, spiritual experiences even when we just glance at it. What a beautiful gift from our loving Heavenly Father! I am so thankful that Patty is having personal experiences with the BOM are going to shape her testimony.

It has been funny this week because Sister Brown and I have been called some funny titles. We were stopping by a family that had learned from the Elders before (we are going to be teaching them tonight). This family is only familiar with the boy missionaries, so it was interesting for them to meet sisters. As we left the house, the mom waved goodbye and said "Thanks for coming by, Sister Elders!" So we were called "Sister Elders" by her. Then there is a recent convert family in our ward that I just adore. The Solano Family was baptized in October and were actually introduced to the church by President Durrant. They have 3 children. The smallest is Sofia and she is 3. She's so cute in her little spanglish language that she speaks. This family too has only know Elders before Sister Brown and I. Little Sofia is still trying to figure out who exactly we are- she knows that we are missionaries and she knows that we are sisters. So she calls us "sistermaries". She even called us the sisitermaries in front of President Durrant a few days ago, and he just laughed. It is so cute! The final name we were given this week is my favorite. We recently found and activated a less-active named Sister Burns. She has a roommate named Leia, who is not very familiar with the LDS Church and she can never remember what Sister Brown and I are. So we are called by Leia the "Sisters of Mercy". Maybe the name comes from her Catholic background. She always asks Sister Burns if the Sisters of Mercy are going to be coming over soon.

I love being a "Sister of Mercy"! I love being a "Sistermary"! I love serving my Savior Jesus Christ and bringing the gospel unto those that are longing for it. The gospel is a beautiful thing!

I love y'all so much! Have a great General Conference weekend!!!

Love Always, Sister Peck