Day 125

 

Today it finally snowed. I've been waiting forever to be able to wear a coat or jacket and today was the first day that I could! ha-ha, cheese is pretty expensive, but I am still trying to see how these will fit in our budget, maybe they will.  (I emailed him some of his favorite recipes). Elaine said if we gave her a recipe she would get the ingredients and we could make it.  thank you for mailing my package :) that was nice of you, how much did it end up costing to send it? we've had a good week and we are excited for some of the things that are going to happen with the work in swift current, mainly just finding Ideas like games night or sports night and so on..

So how did your meeting go?

the meeting went great, I think what I took was that in meetings like this we have to be willing and humble enough to change, so I considered a few things that I could do to be better at missionary work and be an effective missionary. he was pretty interesting to listen to, I would tell you what stood out to me but I don't have my notes in front of me..

Hows Elaine?  Did she miss you guys?

yeah I think she did, but we weren't really gone that long, we only didn't see her for a couple of days

How are the coats?

the coats are great, today is the first day that I really had to use one.

Did you get some wool socks?

not yet..

Is there a common meal that people make for missionaries?

I don't know if I've really had the same thing twice, mostly the members seem to like making different kinds of food (indian, thai, steak and potatoes, etc.) everyone has been really good.

Do you have a favorite/least favorite?

no, I always like Chinese food when it comes around though.

Does Swift Current feed the other missionaries too?

yeah, but a lot of the people in the small town like to feed them, not really investigating but they'll have them over. they get fed quite a bit.

For the most part, are you able to get everything you need to do, done on P-days?

yeah, for the most part, we rarely have to do anything outside of P-day. there isn't a lot to do on P-days though.

Are you still meeting new people or do you know most all the people by now?

we meet new people, the town is pretty big.. like 14,000 people, we keep trying to get involved in more service so  that keeps us meeting new people.

Do people ask you what your first name is, and do you tell them (probably multiple times spelling it too)?

yeah sometimes, it kind of bothers me when people try to call me by my first name out here, especially after I tell them that we are called elder.

Are there as many FLIES up there as there are down here?  (Im always killing flies)

there were, there are a few in the trailer right now, but we'll get them.. we'll get them.

Is the ice cream/exercise guy still around there?

yeah, we kind of flopped on that for now, but I'll get better. he did end up buying me ice-cream.

Day 118

Today will be a little short, we are meeting with a seventy tomorrow in Saskatoon and we have to leave in an hour or so.

a lot of miracles happened this week it was really interesting, it's been a good week.

How goes the time management/getting things done that are important and letting the other stuff fall into place thing?

Things have been really good, we have been trying to start an open Gym night that we can invite whoever to it. we prayed about it and didn't have a lot of luck with any of the local churches (we don't have a gym in our church) we exhausted our resources and didn't really have anywhere else to go, then we were eating dinner at one of the members homes that feed us pretty consistently, and we told him about our Idea and he said that he was thinking about renting the rec center once a week so that his kids could go to it and said we would be welcome to use it for any of our purposes if we get back to him on the rate (I think it's like 20 an hour) so our prayer was answered in that way, in the lord's way and in his time. That was a really neat experience.

Has Elaine been pretty consistent in coming to church or hit and miss?

Two really interesting things happened with Elaine this week

first, she prayed for us for the first time in a while, in her prayer she said that she knew that she needed to join the Mormon church and that she needed to quit smoking, it was probably my most favorite prayer that I have heard. 

Second Elaine has been pretty consistent, she wasn't at church this last week but she was sick. we went over to visit her later Sunday night and she had talked to her son about the Mormon church and instead of negativity her son told her that the Mormon church is a good church, and he told her that she should become more active in the community with service and such especially since "The Elders" had helped her so much, maybe it was time to give back. He also independently reiterated that she should do a lot of things that we have tried to help her do so far. it's really neat because Elaine was Concerned about getting flack for becoming a member of the church and it sounds like her kids fully support her. Elaine is truly being prepared by God.

Is driving up there different at all?

Not really, weather has been nice

Has anyone had any accidents?

Last winter I guess was pretty bad, but I haven't seen any

Best moment?

Probably with Elaine

Any food at all this week?  (that makes me so sad)

yes, A member family fed us on Saturday, the food was really good.

How do you meet new people if you don't tract, only through members?

it's really hard, especially in Swift Current, we are trying to get more involved in the community and gain more member trust. I kind of delivered a zinger to our branch president yesterday but we asked what we could do for him and he said "baptize ten people" and I said, "give us someone to baptize and we'll have it done, if ten people in the branch gave us one person, we could teach and baptize them all" he may not have quite liked that too much, but  I don't regret what I said.

Can you use our money up there? or only Canadian $

yes of course, the allotment card that we have is a bank of America card. it's pretty nice.

thank you for thinking of me, you're really great, you'll have to apologize to everyone for me being short in the email department, there is a family the C's that has a daughter named kate, just kate, thought I'd let you know, their the ones that feed us and rent the rec center for us. have a wonderful day and I hope I didn't forget anything.. oh this week I got a big down parka from the thrift store, so that's pretty neat. the zipper even works. it's pretty ugly, I'll have to get it dry cleaned. but yeah, I'm all set on winter coats now for sure. I'm becoming a pro thrift store shopper, grandma would be proud. have a great week. love you!

Love you!

Ryus

Day 111

(I went to see the movie "Meet the Mormons" and asked if he had seen it yet)


I would love to see that movie, I'm wondering if president will let us watch it.. I bet he will especially if we watched it with investigators. lately I've been trying to work on things that impact other things, that way I have to worry about less things.. (eg. if I get up on time, work out, and am on time to studies, and study well, the rest of my day I know I'll do my best because I have my heart and mind in the right place, or something that a regular person might do, I've been trying to drink at least three water bottles of water a day, or about 3/4 gallon. that way I eat less and what I do eat is healthier.) just focus on a few things that impact the rest of the things and do those, then everything else will fall into place. It's kinda a bummer that dad didn't get to go hunting though :( too bad I don't get to see the birdies, I love those little guys...

So tell me whats going on with you?

Today is thanksgiving in Canada, so we didn't have a lot to do, we don't have a lot to shop for, so my companion and I played chess for three hours or so.. he knows how to play, and I usually play with one of the other three missionaries in my district anytime we have lunch together.. it's pretty fun, they've beat me a few times, but they are getting better quick and it makes me nervous..

So the mission fb page says 2013-2015, does that mean you will get a new mission president half-way through your mission?

yes ma'am. kinda nervous about that, but it's ok

Best moment?

best moment? we are still teaching Elaine, and she is still progressing. she came to church this week, I think she's starting to come because she wants to, not because we want her to.. we are working on getting the branch to love her, and I think it will work because she is a very lovable old lady, we are trying to help her quit smoking and I think it will happen, maybe not while I'm here but It should happen. 

You didn't answer my question about your conference shirt, how did you get monson and are those their ages on the front?

haha, yes those are their ages, and a member of my district said "Hey elder peterson, get in this picture and put this shirt on.. I love president Monson, but I didn't really have a choice.. 

Are you cooking more, with this new companion?

yes, it's not very hard, it doesn't really bother me. just mac and cheese, spaghetti, bananas, this morning I had a baked potato for breakfast, we got some little hashbrown patties for pretty cheap at the store.. Perogies, usually just pretty simple things to make, I like to make eggs and just flip them in the pan and pretend I'm some chef or something..  

How do you want me to send the recipies?  on paper, or email, thumb drive?

Just email them, paper would be fine

Can you print things out there?

yes I can, we just use the clerks office at the church

Do you ever do any family history stuff?  Elaine might like that.

we should work with her on that, but she does know that the church is big into that.

We are pretty much the only ward feeding our set of missionaries, so we kind of know how your branch feels, kind of.  Best meal this week?

no meals this week :(

Do you ever go sight seeing (on pday of course)?

haha, there isn't anything to see around here...

Did you ever get to go to the temple during the time you had transfers?

no ma'am, I haven't been to regina yet.

 

Day 104

This week has been good, not a lot went on, drove to moosejaw, spent a few days there, I really enjoyed General Conference, my favorite talk was probably that jorge guy. Elder Bednar was good, and I really enjoyed that talk. It seemed this conference was focused on leaving behind excuses and being the best kind of person you can be. This transfer I feel like I need to work a little on how I respond to direction, I've been trying to be better about making small course corrections, it's been going alright, you just have to pay more attention to your thoughts and desires rather than your actions and words, then you catch and correct before you even have to worry about anything.

Hows the new companion?

He's really great, His name is Elder Hawkins and he is a good guy.

Best thing about him?

He's really Laid back, but still a hard worker, We've just been watching conference so.. that's fun

Where's he from?

South Jordan Utah, same town as Elder Allred, but they don't know each other.

What kind of car do you have? Is it 4 wheel drive?

A Chevy Malibu.. not four wheel, and it's kind of a massive car..

Do different areas have different types of cars?

Yeah, but not for any rhyme or reason that I can tell, some people have Subarus, and they're pretty nice. A couple Elder's have trucks, and there are a few Equinoxs  

Did Elaine go to conference?

We watched the sunday afternoon session at her house, so she got to hear Elder Bednar's talk, I think she enjoyed it, I don't remember if I told you, but she also watched the Woman's broadcast and thought that was good, although she thought the women were a little whiney, she liked President Ucktdorf.

Best Moment?

The best moment was watching conference with Elaine, she made us a ton of bread! it was pretty good and we have tons left. Afterward we spent some time with her and discussed it I spent some time in Moosejaw this last week and that was fun, I was with an Elder Hornberger. He's a really nice guy from tremonton Utah, He's about as tall as I am, but he's an Ox. He wrestled throughout Highschool and really strong. I tried to surprise him and take him down, but he just manhandled me like I was a child. I got him back though, he's a little bit awkward, and I teased him that he had a crush on a sister missionary in his district.. he doesn't (that I know of) but he still went a little red and got defensive.

  

With your new comp, are people still excited to feed you?

So far, we've been fed once, it's been good, mostly we've just been watching conference... so much conference, I don't know if I've ever sat down and watched all ten hours of conference...

Have you gotten a new coat yet?

I did, I got a down vest from a thrift store for two dollars.. but it's a womens vest, but you can't really tell, it just says "firefly" pretty small under the back collar, but it's warm (duh it's down). also I bought a nice looking brown leather coat from Salvation Army, it is great in the wind and has a wool Liner. I'm still looking for coats because the leather one is pretty nice and I might just want a regular coat, but I'm pretty set at this point, I won't be cold..
 

Getting cold yet?

it hasn't decided weather it's going to be winter or not.. (get it? weather?) it was around zero degrees last weekend (Celsius) ps. metric system is stupid.

Any news about Ipads now that its oct?

no news yet, we'll find out.

When you drive do you do the 'get out and watch while I back out' thing?

Yeah we do that, it's kinda dumb, but I don't really mind.

Snow?

it tried to snow a few weeks ago, but it was so insignificant that I didn't mention it.

Other than that, everything has been really really good, no complaints at all. I hope you're having a great one! 

so much Love,

Ryus