Day 489

So that's really exciting, one that across the last several months of my mission, we've found a new investigator almost every week, but usually just one, and Elder Owens and I did our best to show faith to increase that to two investigators, and then we got it done. How great is that!? The other crazy part is that Sandra, while she hasn't been meeting with us for lessons, has been reading The Book of Mormon, and pamphlets on her own. She's great and I love her, and we're excited to see her get baptized and further her relationship with Christ.

That's our week, it's been really exciting, we saw lots of people, lots of missionaries, we've been able to get work done and have fun. Elder Owens is a really good companion, very positive and upbeat, happy go lucky guy.

Thank you for your prayers. I love you.

<3

Love Elder Peterson

Day 482

Sister Peterson,

Well that will be exciting taking Kamas out of school for those, how is she doing with those subjects? how about Korinne? how is life for her?

This week we Made Contact with Charee again, she said she would really like if we tried talking to her Dad. That would be really great if it works out, but man am I nervous!

It was kind of sad everybody had to say goodbye to Elder Bingham, but since he's just in neepawa, he's standing next to me now! 

Prod away for the family history.. just remember how similar Korinne and I are to each other ;)

The only thing that I was thinking would be nice to have, is my leatherman. :) Elder Bingham had one and it made me sure did miss mine.

I found some nearly new Insulated Coveralls at the thrift store today, I thought they only wanted like thirty, and that probably would have been worth trying to pack home, but they wanted 75, they're probably worth between 150 and 200 Can. So we'll see if they're still around when they get cheaper. Any thoughts?

The ones from last letter, favorite scripture hero?

I really like 3rd nephi. He is a great prophet. He sticks in my mind as having some of the most humility, but the most power is given to him as well. Great guy. good morals. Good christian background

The special senior recognition thing, why didn't we do that with you? (remember how Kate was honored at the football game)

I am not sure If I was ever that important. :)

How is the new companion?

I really like him. We get along well! Really positive and upbeat, and I think that he does a really good job.

So Kate said Elder Bingham is finishing as a trainer, how does that work? 

Training lasts for two transfers, so Elder Bingham is finishing someone's training.

Is Halloween big there?

I think it's decent sized, Not like Canadian thanksgiving which is pretty small.

Best service for this week?

We moved two people this week. Some really good members, we helped them pack up their things. They are headed to Kenora. :/ They were really good to me while I was here.

Filipino family?

We haven't seen them Since Elder Bingham left, But I'm sure they will have us over with Elder Owens.

Any new investigators?

No :(

Are you still a DL?

Nope. But we did get a car!

Love you soooo much!!!

Love Elder Peterson

Day 475

This week was good, No complaints. Except I'm getting a new companion, his name is Elder Owens, he was in Dauphin. He is a good missionary, he used to be my Zone Leader so you know he's good. He's kind of a goofball from Alaska. but he is good. It's funny because in the last district meeting I looked at him and I just liked him all of the sudden. I didn't really know what to think before, but it was like someone whispered to me and said "he's a good Elder"

Oh, the question I had last week, maybe its more for a foreign missionary, like things that will help you remember your mission, things you want to share with your family, things that are unique to Canada or your area?  That's what I meant...  Also, when I was asking about Christmas, I meant something like this, something to help you remember the experiences you've had there, momentos, I guess.

Canada doesn't have a lot of Unique things.. except for things with moose on them. One thing I do like about Canada is everyone seems to have a good amount of national pride. Other than that, everything is more expensive up here. Haha.

How is your Filipino family?

They are doing well, We haven't been able to talk to them much. We had an appointment set up last week and it fell through so we were sad, we're going to try and see them before Elder Bingham leaves.

Did the lady watch conference with you or just provide refreshments?

She watched it, I think she even enjoyed it!

What was your best moment this week?

I got to play piano at the other Elder's baptism. The spirit was very strong and I really enjoyed being there. It was nice to contribute to it.

What will you miss about your companion when/if you get transferred?

Elder Bingham is a good missionary, I'll miss his example of service that he shows. He's very thoughtful. Probably my favorite companion.

Are you still helping other missionaries find what they need for a small fee?

Haven't had any treasure finds lately; I usually have my eyes open for garage sales and so forth, but no such luck.

How are your other PI's, did they come around?

Not yet. We're still working on them.

Anything Else? We're expecting to baptize next transfer, so that will be really exciting!

Love Elder Peterson

Day 468

Conference was really good, I really enjoyed it. ps, everyone gave us food yesterday, we had lunch as bishops, then we went to a less active ladies house named Tina, she is a sweetheart, we haven't been able to get her to church, but she feeds us every Tuesday. I don't even know how she does it, but she has all six missionaries every Tuesday, and she always makes the best dinners. We got to go to her house to watch conference for the last session, and she had a bunch of foam fingers and snacks for us to eat. I even tried to let her off the hook for Tuesday night dinner but she said that all of her friends and people are accustomed to her being busy on tuesday night, and if they saw her standing around they would start coming, so "we'd better keep that going"  after that a lady named Sandra dropped off Indian tacos, we put them in the fridge and went to have dinner at our little fillipino families house. We've started teaching them this last week and it's really exciting for me because they are a wonderful little family and the first one I've had the chance to teach. They only sad part is that I'll likely be transferred in a week and a half. :(

My favorite talk was definitely Elder Eyring's he is really the best. He had a good one in priesthood session as well. A lot of the talks for me centered around faith and trusting in the Lord. I think that the thing that stood out to me is that while I believe and even know what the church teaches is true, there are some things that aren't really a reality, things that need to be a little closer to my heart to be impact my life more. I loved Elder Holland's talk on a Mother's love and it made me just want to give my mom a big hug! You're a sweetheart Mom!

Are there very many areas without cars?

Only a few, Now I've had two in a row! :) But that's not a bad thing. It really puts you out to contact people more, walking and riding the bus..

Are you starting to make mental checklists of things you want to remember or take back with you?

Not sure what you mean by that... :)

How was this week, hopefully better?

Really good, especially since we got to teach our family. We taught them about the restoration.  

Has your President given you any advice you could share with us?

I wouldn't mind sharing his advice, but I can't think of what he's given me, He interviewed me a couple months ago, and told me a few of those nice things that when you hear your heart grows three sizes, but when you share, your head grows three sizes, So I'll probably keep those to myself. ;) He's really been changing the mission, he's said now that every companionship should expect to baptize every transfer, so I've got to get behind that and expect it to happen, and then it will!

Best moment for the week (an oldie but a goodie)?

Best moment? I'm not sure, this last week was all pretty good. We were trying to figure out how to teach our fillipino family, then we just said "can we share a spiritual thought with you?" and they Obliged. I was surprised. Simplicity and Boldness are often the best tools to use.

Can you remember getting custom advice from the spirit like Elder Larry Lawrence talked about?

I've definitely had that happen, I think all of us do more than we realize, I think you're talking about the speaker that talked about the girl getting advice to clean her room. The thing is that the Spirit doesn't need us to pray to give us custom revelation, If we're living worthy we should wonder why we're not getting custom revelation all the time. I think it's rarely monumental, but often small things that are the vehicle. Just think back to all the times that things have popped into your head to do, and that was probably the spirit talking to us.

What do you need for your pantry this week?

We didn't spend much, most weeks we only spend about ten or fifteen on groceries, except the beginning of each month we spend close to sixty or eighty together, this week though we're both leery of transfer calls so we are being careful. but today we bought milk, butter, oatmeal and 

What was the best service you did last week?

We got to volunteer for Brandon's largest Garage sale, we met a few people and helped everyone load their junk into a big room, they all set up on little tables hoping to make their fortune, and I wasn't there till the end, but I imagine a lot of people just took their old junk back home. Nothing was very good. We did like the service though. It was like moving someone, except minus the heavy piano and other things.

Ps. What do you mean something meaningful after I get home..? like what?

Day 461

Of course I'd like an update on your people...

All of our people are gone! We had two progessing, one with a Baptismal date. Her parents forbid her from joining, or investigating, (Although she is 19, maybe we can talk some sense into her) and the other declined from having more visits.

Tell me about an interesting person you met recently.  Not necessarily someone you are teaching...

One Drunk guy in the park wanted to fight with me because I told him to not swear at me. haha. we got him calmed down alright and he decided that there was someone else he wanted to fight more.

How are your newly weds doing?

We're supposed to see them on Tuesday, but they haven't really been progressing. We want them to though!!

Is the weather changing?  It cant make up its mind here

Its been in that fifty and sixty degree range, it got up around 80 yesterday though

Are your ward members pretty good at fellowshipping?

They do alright, we're really trying to get them more involved in the work, I think when they meet the people that are coming to church, they'll fellowship them better.

Are you ever scared to talk to people?  or feel intimidated?

All the time, but it often works out for us when we overcome those feelings. Like the other day there were two big white guys in black t-shirts that we walked over to talk to, turned out we knew one of them, and we were able to set up an appointment. He didn't keep the appointment, but it was still good.

Do you ever have preachers confront you?

A little. Actually twice last week we had people confronting us about different doctrinal points. Not preachers, just passionate people that want to shove their thoughts about our faith down our throats. The second was nicer, he invited us to read the book of John, and we gladly accepted if he read three chapters out of the Book of Mormon.

What is the hardest part about being a trainer?

It's not too hard, sometimes I wonder who is training who, although there is a definite weight to it, knowing that everything you do will make a huge impact on this person's mission.

What is the best part about being the senior comp?

You usually get to drive the car. But we don't have one. ;)

Elder Bingham says hello as well, by the way all of you write so late at night, you and dad around midnight, and grandma, taking the cake at 12:50 AM.

Love you so much!

Elder Peterson

Day 454

Speaking of Dentist, I am going to see if I can get to Kenora, Brother Christiansen Will look at my teeth for free.. Now if only I can get over there. Although I've been keeping great care of my teeth and I would be obscenely mad if i had one. haha. This week was good, Everyone got sick except for Elder Bingham and I. Also we had three people say they would convert if we would reintroduce plural marriage.. I told them (None of them were married) that they couldn't even hold on to one, less two! and that once they all have wives (one each) then we could talk.

Thanks for all of your encouragement. You're the best kind of people.

What do you tell people about your magic underwear? (from above)

That's one I'm not really sure what to say anything about.. They'll say something like "You got your magic underwear on?" and I just laugh somewhat awkwardly and say: "haha yup..."

What is the big thing that is happening this week?

I don't know of any big things happening this week, did I say anything about a big thing? I'm just hoping that we can help these people that want to know, to act and get to know for themselves.

What amazing moment happened last week?

Larry And Georgina got married. They've kind of slacked on the commitment level, but we are still working with them.

Well we were kind of in a famine for lessons, but we finally were able to teach a man named Curtis, He's so prepared and I don't think he's quite realized that yet. He says that he believes what Joseph Smith saw one hundred percent, he actually got kind of emotional as we read through the first vision, I did as well.. That's never happened to me before. He's got a lot of opposition, but he is searching for the truth, and he's not willing to take anyone else's word for it. He told us that he wanted to focus on the Bible, so we explained how the Bible and the Book of Mormon are really the same great work.

What are transfers going to bring?

I wish I knew. I'm probably not going to stay in Brandon, that's my best guess.

Do you ever talk to youth about missions? (like pie)

I talk to youth whenever I can but we don't really have enough youth to have anything like pie. I think we only have 5-6 young men.

How are your people ( Charee, etc)

Our people are doing fairly well. Charee has been frusturating lately. She texted us that she was coming to church on Sunday, at eight oclock, and at ten oclock she wasn't there. So we have yet to find out why she didn't make it for a third week in a row. She's definitely prepared but she needs the fellowship, because her friends aren't very supportive.

You want an Analogy for the week? If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Vehicle to getting us home safe, than the things we do daily to come closer to the savior is the Gas. We can get out and push if we want, and we can probably get some movement, but the movement we'll get is abysmally less than if we would just PUT GAS IN IT.

Love Elder Peterson

Day 447

Hello!

Thanks for all the wonderful emails that you sent me this week!

Today I'm doing well... I'm sitting here at the church just emailing.

Maybe I can think of a few things that you probably don't know about me.

1. Part of the cap on my front tooth chipped. It's not terrible, but it is noticable

2. I have a monster Zitt in the middle of my forehead, I think that my skin is trying to sprout a unicorn horn.

3. I weigh about 185 pounds. Just about exactly what my starting weight was

4. I routinely get asked about my magic underwear

5. I can walk on my hands and do one armed pushups

6. I want to do a backflip, but I'm too scared.

7. I really like the new mission president, It wouldn't surprise me if he got called as a general authority.

8. I expect and want to baptize someone, but I'm willing to keep working and be patient.

9. I eat pretty well, even when not at members houses. Elder Bingham and I buy all of our food together and have a variety of meals. We also have food storage, we only bought milk and syrup this week.

10. I love growing spiritually. It may seem like a no brainer, and an obvious statement from a missionary, but I am sometimes surprised how fulfilling it is to grow spiritually. Real changes happen, things that seemed big, now seem small. Lives are changed, simply because someone cares enough to accept the help that Christ gives, and put in their effort. I always thought of that as something that was too hard, it wasn't a desire in my heart, but as I've done so, I've gotten better. It was funny, when I came out, I don't know if I expected it, but I hoped that I would just become a different person. A dedicated servant of The Lord. And then I got out, and I was no different, I wanted to serve, but what I had to serve with was exactly the tools I had before. It's both a positive thing and a negative, because while it would be nice to have been able to zap into mega missionary mode, It would also mean that when I got home, I would be able to Zap out of it. So because the Lord requires us all to work diligently, persistently, and continually, it means that doesn't all just go away. in order to regress, we have to diligently, consistently, and persistently make wrong choices and ignore the feelings that we have to do the right things!

In other words, we can't make a train go from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, but neither can we stop it that fast. It is good news!

So that's what I've enjoyed, seeing that everyday is a new conversion, building a new testimony. Learning something about the Gospel everyday. It's a pattern I want to have for the rest of my life.

I feel like that's the message that we proclaim. Forget about your sins and misdeeds, start doing good things things. keep doing good things. Christ says "Give your life to me, and we'll make it great!" Faith comes in, just like that Believing Christ book, do we truly believe that Christ can do what he says he will do?

This week we had Elder Renlund of the Seventy come and speak to us. He had a conference talk "Latter Day Saints keep on trying" He was really good. He had a very practical outlook on how we can live the Gospel, and what it does for us. I have to say though, the way that President Craig teaches, he is a very powerful teacher about the real reason we do the things that we do. He always ties things back to basic principles and the spirit is always so strong. We've been talking about how to work better with members, (truthfully one of the hardest yet most rewarding parts of missionary work) I think the church is really moving forward and is very progressive in this work. It's so amazing to see them get involved and help this great work move forward.

I've rambled a lot. My mind has been really all over the place in the last week. I think maybe my brain is being rewired for something else. I'm not for sure though. almost like I'm getting a software update or something.

We planted a bunch of trees in the community, It's been a lot of fun, it was a really good opportunity to get out there and meet new people in a non confrontational way. All the missionaries paired off with people that weren't missionaries and it was successful. Charee hasn't been doing very well, She's dealing with a lot in her own life and her family so we are trying to be sensitive but still show her how this can help her through it.

Also a really nice experience this week was that I was praying before we went to Winnipeg to see Elder Renlund, we had been asked to fast to be receptive to spiritual truths, I had also prayed the night before that I would have the opportunity to help someone, I'm not sure why I prayed for that but when I got there, there was another missionary who I knew really well. We of course sat together and were talking. I found out that he was going through a hard time. I did some digging and found that he was a lot more emotionally distraught and worn out than he showed on the surface. I don't know if what I said made a big difference, but I do know that I felt a spiritual impression that he was the person I had prayed to be able to help, so I did my best. I thought what a tender mercy that I would be privileged to help someone that I cared about, and had in turn helped me before as well. We are called to invite all to come to Christ, that means non members, members and missionaries alike.

Do you often do service in whites and ties?  Why jeans?

I'm not sure why you said "Why Jeans?"

But most of the time if it is a planned service activity, we were jeans and t-shirts, depending on what it is and so on. Like if we are helping people move or going to get very dirty, we'll wear service clothes, if we are just volunteering at a food bank or something than we wear our regular missionary clothes.

Did you like the sushi?  Have you had it before?

I like sushi quite a bit, I had it once in Moose Jaw, it was pretty fun.

Where is Sister Wray going?

She's going to Winnipeg, so not too far. Our new Sister is really good, she works hard and is really enthusiastic.

It feels like its going faster, for you too?

Yeah. It's going faster. I remember how long it felt like it took to get through my own training, and this is taking almost no time at all.. we only have four more weeks of it and It's only felt like it's been a few weeks. :/

Love you all, Have a great week, The Church is True!

Love Elder Peterson