Day 279

It was a good week. Steinbach is good and It's a lot of fun.

Are you still glad you are in a walking area?  I bet once it gets warmer, it will be wonderful to be outside.

I am glad, sometimes it is a hassle to walk everywhere, but It is worth it because of all the people we've been able to talk to. Everyone has been pretty nice, surprising because Elder Coleman said that before I got here people were pretty mean. Probably because of all the chilly weather. It's also nice to be walking because if we are ever having a slow day, we just go outside and try to walk to people's houses and it keeps us busy.

Are there parks or public places that you like to contact people?

Kind of, we just try to be outside where we can talk to people. That's what seems to work best for finding so far. It would be way easier if we could just go to a designated spot and just see people all the time. :P

How is your ward?

The ward is good, there are a lot of other missionaries there, and I kind of just feel part of the crowd. That's ok, everyone is pretty nice. We are kind of secluded here in steinbach, which is good. Still in the ward but out of the way a little bit.

So when you have to play organ or piano, do they already know that you play or do you tell them?  Just wondering if the mission pres sends a bio of all the missionaries wherever they go...

I tell them, usually I don't get asked very often but I do step up when the opportunity is there.

Is there more than one ward in Winnipeg?

yes there are probably 5+ wards in Winnipeg, I think there are four or five church buildings.

Are you still loving the pull-up bar, does your comp like to exercise?  (Notice:  two questions here)

I love the pull up bar, I haven't been as good at using it as I should, but I do use it. My companion likes to exercise but we haven't done a lot of it.

What did you learn this week?

I learned a few things this week. I think the biggest thing that I learned was that in order to get answers to prayers, The Lord needs to see that we are stretching and pondering, not necessarily to show him that we want an answer, but to show ourselves that it's something that we value.

Did you speak in church?

No ma'am.

Do you ever have to help in church like with lessons, does the ward/branch involve you in their activities?

I've had to a lot in the branches that I've been in, but as far as the ward I've not had to do much.

Do you miss your kitty, are you working at another animal shelter?

I miss that cat a little bit. I swear if he's still there I'll find a way to get him from Kenora before I come home.

This week was good, We didn't teach as many lessons this week but we did teach new people lessons. We were able to be out and about and talk to lots of people. We work well, and we work hard so we should see miracles this transfer. 

I miss you people a lot and I always enjoy hearing from you and seeing pictures. Steinbach is a good area and I am still excited to be here.

Love Elder Peterson

Day 272

So, duh, how is your new area?

Really good. It's a nice compact little city, we've been street contacting like animals. Animals of course that are looking for people that want the gospel. Its a walking area, the other elders have a car. It's nice actually because we see and talk to a lot more people than if we had a car. If we are at a loss of things to do we just walk across town to stop by someone and usually run into someone on the way.

We looked up your comp (stalked really) and he looks like a great guy. 

He's a really good companion. We get along well and he is really missionary minded. I'm excited for this coming up. We make a pretty good team, I think that we'll go far together.

Did the Kenora folks send you off in style?

Yes. We had dinner everyday up until leaving. It was really good. 

Do you know what kind of new service opportunities are in Steinbach?

Not really anything new, just normal service, It's just nice to be out and about.

Have you met many Mennonites?

We've met a few, they don't really seem that different from regular people, they still have tv and houses and cars and stuff. Even Iphones. so I don't really know what the big deal is. 

I don't think Jordan is going to wait for you....

Oh I don't really know. He might get married. I guess that's his decision.

I didn't understand what meant about the Christiansen ward is in Winnipeg, are they from Kenora?

Brother Christensen is the High Council speaker for the ward that I attend. So I'll see them often.

How come you guys are always in khakis?  I didn't think that was part of the regular missionary attire...

It's allowed. The missionary dress code has changed a lot. you can look it up on lds.org. but we can wear Khakis, sweaters, and we don't have to wear suits at all except for meetings. It's supposed to make us more approachable when we aren't just in dark suits all the time. 

Its a good thing Elder Paulsen posted that pic of you two, or we wouldn't have any evidence of your companionship. 

I have a few other Pictures. I just haven't sent them home.. ;) I suppose that I am just a slacker. I thought that was a decent picture. :)

Oh, I've been meaning to ask this for a while,  when Elder Allred took that pic of you sleeping through the restoration, are you really sleeping, or posing for his post?

I was really sleeping. We both took a nap and he woke up before me to take a picture. You'll notice in the post he says #itsokbecauseitwasduringlunch Or something like that.

Day 265

This week was a pretty good week. Last Thursday the Christensens left to go to Provo to see their daughter, who is dating Jordan. I was able to get a blessing from Brother Christensen before he left which provided a lot of insight for me. It was a good call because I got transferred and won't see them before they get back. This week we finished most of the service projects that we were doing, including the Drywall, and more woodsplitting. A good week for meeting new people, not as good of a week for finding new investigators. We had ZTM in the states, I had to buy a new pair of jeans while I was there because I outgrew my other ones by a lot. We did plenty of driving and it was lots of fun.

Lets hear about transfers-any changes?

I am getting transferred.. I'm going to Steinbach, It's a Mennonite community about an hour south of Winnipeg, they attend church in Winnipeg, so I'm excited for that. I'll be serving with a missionary named Elder Coleman. Just finished his training. Looks like a pretty solid guy. It's good that you emailed me last night because we are doing some service this afternoon, and we had to email early. Elder Aultz is replacing me here in Kenora.

So we drive to Winnipeg for transfer meeting on Thursday. Luckily Brother Christensen's Ward is the London ward, the ward in Winnipeg that I'll be attending. That made me pretty happy.

Are Tess and Eric and doing ok?

They seem alright, up and down. I'm sad to leave them.

How about Robby?

He's good, we have an appointment set up with him on tuesday, I'm excited to go over there.

How old is Columbus?   We have a vacancy now  :[

That's sad. :( Everyone must be a little heartbroken. Columbus is probably two or three. I don't know how you'd get him.. Can you mail a cat?

Do you ever see northern lights?  I guess you aren't far north.

I guess I could have seen them the other day around midnight, but I didn't think it was worth it to wake up then to see them.. 

If you could a pick a place to serve (within your mission), where would you choose and why?

I am not really sure, I think it would be fun to serve in the States, but I don't know. I'm pretty excited for steinbeck, I've heard a lot of good things about it recently, and the district that I'm going into is supposedly really excited about the work, so that will be really nice. :)

What song are you singing in your choir?  I would love to see/hear you singing...

We are singing the songs from guys and dolls, they are all romantic, and it's kind of weird to sing them as a missionary. But it's all good. They might not let the next missionaries perform because they haven't put in the time.

Also, if you need to get a hold of me, it is appropriate to send a message on facebook. As a general rule I don't message people from home unless It helps me fulfil my calling as a missionary, but It's probably better than emailing the mission President.

Anyway, I love all of you so much! and I miss you!

Love Elder Peterson

I thought I would send you my spiritual insight from last night

I read a verse last night that stuck out to me last night. It's in Second Nephi Chapter ten, verse thirteen.

It says something like: "If any man fighteth against Zion, He shall surely perish, saith God." I thought to myself, what if that man, isn't necessarily us, or our neighbor, or my friend, but what if that man that shall die, is the Natural Man inside us all?

Think about it.

Day 258

This week has been good. We found one new investigator, his name is Robby, we split a bunch of wood for him and Brother Ladd. We also did some service for a lady named Val who we sing with in the Choir. She's a sweetheart. We'll have to invite her on Wednesday to learn more about what we have to share. You'll be excited to know that everyday I write in my journal, and read my scriptures at night. I find that it helps my spiritual progress to look more linear. I've been working out fairly constistently and I feel better. So all in all I feel pretty good. Tess and Eric are probably going to split up, which will probably be good for Tess. I just feel bad for her kid. It makes me pretty sad to be honest. Hopefully they'll break up, Tess will get baptised and then move to British Columbia where she'll find a nice Mormon guy and get married. It's improbable, but it could happen. Robby is a fourty year old guy who just had a heart attack, It looks like we may have a little Word of Wisdom issues to clean up, but he is married so that would be about the only thing. He wants to meet with us. Elder Poulsen is doing good, his strengths are mostly my weaknesses and vice versa, so most of the time things work out pretty well for us. Overall I've been improving as a missionary and am looking forward to the future! :)

You liked my handicap ramp analogy? I've been working on that for a while. It just stands out to me, that we need to learn line upon line, precept upon precept. We don't need to run faster than we are able. but we do need to be moving in a direction that brings us closer to God. I've been reading Jesus the Christ. Holy cow what a great book, it really helps me step into a little bit what Christ's like could have been like. Talmage has a analytical writing style that is fairly easy to understand most of the time.

Best Moment?

see paragraph above.

Do you have a favorite cat?

Yes there is an orange cat named Columbus, we get along well. if he's still in there by the time I get done I'm will take him home. He's a playful dog in a cat's body.

Were there any  ah-hah moments for you or your investigators this week?

Ah hah? I suppose. Just that Christ Literally had to learn and grow up like us, He was tried and tested. In every way shape and form. just like Us. While he was perfect, he still had the capacity to fail. He being perfect and the only begotten descended below all things in an attitude of humility. We being the dust of the earth decend below a few things, and still are prideful. Chew on that.

Can you use your K's on p-day like a day trip somewhere?

Yes I think so, but we don't really. There's nowhere to really go.

Any more fishing?

Nope. Fine by me, Last time it was cold and miserable.

How's the pull-up bar?

Really good. I'm getting stronger. It adds a lot more balance to my work out routine.

Do you ever have to use your scouting abilities?

Not really. I acquired a pretty nice knife and I don't carry it around as a missionary, so it just stays in the apartment. I rarely use it.

We were discussing who we wanted to be left on a deserted island with, someone who won't drive you crazy, but has some good skills....  Who would you pick (if you weren't on your mission)?

Probably Kent... Of course. 

Man, Elder Allred moves pretty fast....

Yeah, that's the Christensen's daughter that everyone in the whole branch set them up with. They are under Oath to wait to get married until I get home. 

Isn't this transfer week?  Do you know if anything's changing?

This Friday or Saturday we will know.

Are things starting to green-up up there, we already have flowers, CRAZY!!

Not really. It's supposed to be fourty degrees on wednesday, CRAZY!!

Anyway. That's about all for this week. It's been good, really good. No complaints! Getting a haircut today whoo hoo!

Love Elder Peterson

Day 251

How was your week?

My week was good, although fairly busy, Except saturday.. Saturday was sooooooper slow. Other than that, it was great!

What did you end up doing with all your extra K's?

We just didn't do anything, Hopefully they won't reduce our K Allotment.

How's Eric the pizza guy?

Eric the Pizza guy is getting closer, but he's got a long way to go. He keeps trying to imagine a situation where he is in charge of his destiny, Kind of thinks that prayer and luck and that stuff exist because people believe it does. Ticks me off ;)

Is Tess interested also?

Yes, she is the driving factor. She would like to be baptised, but the only thing holding her back is that she's still living with Eric, with a kid, Moving out would be difficult and she hasn't shown that she's ready for that.

So are you enjoying this area more than swift or is swift special just because it was you first area?

I do like this area quite a bit, I think I do like it more than swift, but that could be just because I'm here right now. We do however have a meal every day this week, that's really amazing :)

Best Moment?

We ran into one of our investigators who lost someone they loved, at Walmart. She ran up to me and was going to hug me and then stopped, and said "oh I was going to give you a hug but your a missionary" and I said "yeah I know it's lame right?" then she hugged me anyway. I don't know her that well, but it was nice, then she told us about how she'd been struggling. So we listened. We had just prayed before that we could run into someone that needed us, and then we ran into four people that we knew and were able to help in some small way. That's the best moment. 

Did Eric do his reading assignment?

Nope, what a slacker. We are supposed to meet with him this week.

Any new PI's

Not really. :/ a few I guess.

What made you laugh this week?

A lot of things, I'm hilarious. Naww just kidding, but I do make it a point to laugh everyday. You know those laughs that come from your stomach and make your whole body shake. Most of the time When we go to Eric and Tess' house we laugh a lot, Eric is pretty funny. Do you know why the lamanites legs were sore? Because of all the Knee Fights!

Why didn't the nephites have a dinner? because Moroni hid the plates!!!

What did you learn this week?

Faith is Power. Power from on high to do work and improve. Faith is reading your scriptures, staying healthy, Praying, going to church. Faith is a Verb, it's what you do. #Ifaithprettyhard #doyoufaith When we sin it damns or stops our progression, If we are experiencing a time when we are not progressing, it's probably because of something that we are doing that is wrong, or something we are not doing. If we continue to show faith, and learn and grow. we will progress. Also, President Uctdorf said that "If we are going the right direction, it will always be uphill" But I learned that hill isn't so much a mountain, It's probably more of a handicap ramp. We just take slow and simple steps, and we can make it up. The mountain we are called to climb is handicap accessible. We are human, therefore we are handicapped. It's not easy, it's not comfortable, but it will never be too hard or too uncomfortable to bear. Don't focus on all things, focus on the most important. Lastly, It is near impossible to change, unless you change something small that you do everyday.

What do you and elder Peirson Poulson do for fun this week?

It's always a lot of fun to go to member appointments. Especially with the Christiansens. Did you know that Brother Christensen is the son of Dr. (Gordon?) Christensen. He's like a world renowned dentist. Any dentist would know who he is.

This week was good. We had quite a bit of service in the last week. Being a missionary is Great!

Love Elder Peterson