September 30, 2013

Things in the ward have been slowing down a little. It will past though. Elder Jones and I have been getting better with our companionship unity. We met with C this past week. She has been struggling to quit smoking, but she won't allow us to help her with that. It is super confusing talking with her. She talks in circles all the time, and Elder Jones and I can get the general idea of what she is saying, but not much else. We committed her to come the RS broadcast this weekend, but she cancelled 30 minutes before, and then she also cancelled the ride to church saying that she didn't want to go if it was raining. Elder Jones and I were both disappointed in her decision, but at the same time, we don't think that she truly understands the importance of coming to church. So that will be the focus of this week with her.

We were able to meet with R this past week, and we showed her the Restoration video and then talked about the Power of the Holy Ghost in our lives. We asked her if she would like to continue to feel the Holy Ghost in her life, so we talked about how she could have the Holy Ghost in her life more, and talked about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, and what that would mean. That was definitely the highlight of the week.

Elder Jones and I have been able to talk things over and decide on a plan if we feel that the spirit of contention is entering into our companionship. We would take five minutes on opposite sides of the room to just relax and meditate and pray. Then we would go back to what we were doing. And it has worked!! We have also been reading Jesus the Christ at night together. Those two things have really made a difference in our companionship.

I am doing well right now. The stress levels have decreased dramatically. I feel like our companionship is increasing in unity and strength. It is amazing the difference between now and just a few weeks ago. Prayer and companionship scripture study really does help.

Love
Elder Peterson

September 23, 2013

These past two weeks has been kinda rough.  We have not been having the success that we need to be having for the number of investigators that we have.  But one of the things that President Morby said a while ago made me laugh.  He said that a mission is a free shot.  In marriage you don't get to divorce your wife every three months, so choose wisely.  But back to missionary life, and no more complaining.  I have complained enough to fill up my quota for the rest of my mission.  'nough said!  Period.... Ever. (I think)

This past week has been somewhat challenging, we had at least 11 lessons cancel.  But that means that we had the possibility to teach 11 lessons.  I hope that at some point we will be able to help to teach those people that cancelled.  If that can happen, then I will be more than thrilled.  I haven't ever had so many investigators to teach.  We have only had one week where we did not find a new investigator. All other weeks we have found at least 3 potentials, and anywhere from 1 to 4 new investigators.  So things are definitely picking up.  Now our investigators need to start keeping their commitments.  They don't know what they are mission out on by not coming to church and being baptized.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ can and will change their lives.

I miss dancing.  It was so stress free and happy.

Elder Peterson

September 16, 2013

It has been really hard not to get discouraged.  I went from an area that was doing amazing, and now I am in an area that is struggling more.  It has been so hard to see the Hand of God in some things.  But in other ways it is so apparent.  Just this past week Elder Jones and I were out tracting.  We knocked on this man's door, and he abruptly asked us "What do you want?"  We responded "Well, we want to make you happy."  He responded that he didn't want anything that we could give him and was quite rude about it as well.  It was a very discouraging thing, seeing someone like that completely reject any form of the gospel and God.  But the next door was a lot more rewarding.  We were invited in to talk, and we were able to get a return appointment to introduce the Book of Mormon.  

It seems like life is a lot like that in almost every aspect of life.  Things start out hard, then you progress and plateau as you overcome challenges and get used to things.  Then change happens again, and you realize that you are nothing at all.  It is a lot like King Benjamin said, that we are nothing in the sight of God,  we are less than the dust of the earth.  Which is completely right.  We can be disobedient, ungrateful people, incapable of seeing past the edge of our nose to realize that we are walking off of a cliff.  It isn't until God trips us just short of the edge  that we realize that we were acting to our own destruction.  And then from there, we can either chose to get up and repent and be grateful, or we can get made and blame God for a broken nose and the pain from the fall, and then commit spiritual suicide without a second glance.

I just hope that even after people reject the gospel, God will continue to provide a parachute to use after they fall off of that cliff.

If we knew something that would save someone's life, to what extent would we go to save that person, especially if it is someone that we love.  Now, if we know something that would save their soul, something that is eternal, to what extent would we go to save that person, especially when we know that they are family.

Love 

Elder Peterson

September 3, 2013

Things went crazy this past week.  There was a situation with an investigator and his family, who we had been teaching.  It was pretty complicated and resulted in the investigator moving out of state (we think).  The family seems to be doing well enough.  We went over on Wednesday and taught R (the mother) about the Plan of Salvation with her three daughters.  We also asked if she had thought more about baptism.  R told us that she did not want to commit to a date because she wanted to find out that the Book of Mormon was true first.  I am content with her response, because it tells me that she understands how important a commitment baptism really is.  

That was the highlight of the week.

Every other investigator that we have has been cancelling and rescheduling, or just plain avoiding us.  We have  8 other investigators and about 10 potential families that we could be teaching, but all of them are rescheduling and cancelling, or just not answering the door.  It is somewhat frustrating.  So Elder Jones and I have been doing a lot of finding, trying to find those who are ready to hear the Gospel.  Our door approaches are getting better, and more people are wanting to listen to our message (hence the 10 potential families) but the return appointments are not being awesome, and they are cancelling with out mercy.  Hopefully soon they will be praying and reading the Book of Mormon, and then getting baptized with lots of mercy.

With Faith and hope,

Elder Peterson

(Oh and lots of love, I finished the Bible this morning.)

August 27, 2013

We had an investigator come to church yesterday.  A is an investigator that we tracted into  not last Sunday, but the Sunday before that.  He is amazingly receptive, loved the message that the Church shares, and wants to be baptized.  It was really kinda funny when we commited him to be baptized.  Elder Jones extended the baptismal commitment to him on Wednesday.  it went something like this.  " A, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ----

---Yes---

And be baptised by someone holding the proper authority from God? 

Yes, how about this Sunday when I come to Church?

 

So, A is super excited to be baptized, even if he doesn't entirely understand all of it, it is something that he really wants to do.  So we are going back this Wednesday to meet with him, and then again on Saturday.  he is just on fire.

 

Things are definitely starting to catch up in Beaver Creek.  Yeah!!!

 

Oh, a little funny note, so my mom taught Uncle Brian how to flip someone out of a headlock.  So my companion and I wrestle a little bit, he was a state champion in Arizona, and he loves to try and put me in a head lock, and previously I had been able to get out if it in a couple different ways, but today he did it while I was studying, so I tucked my chin, moved my study materials and flipped him over my shoulder.  It was super funny.

 

I love you so much

Elder Peterson

Words are powerful things.  If we can master our tongues, then we can master anything.

August 12, 2013

Oh my goodness.  This past week has been rather crazy.  So last week, Elder Jones and I had tracted into twk people that we thought were going to be...  well, the first one we thought was going to be agolden investigator.  When we knocked on M's door, she promptly expressed her interest in us coming back and we quickly set an appointment, and then was super happy about that.  J, the other person, we thought that he was going to get angry at us.  He is a devout member of the Church of Christ, and he invited us back because he enjoyed talking about religon, and the way that he said it, we thought he was going to immediately start bashing on our religon when we returned this past week.

 

So we stopped by M' house, and that conversation started off rather nicely.  We introduced ourselves, and talked a little about who we were.  Then M said that God places people in certain places for a reason, and she was excited to talk with us, which made us super happy and excited.  Then she proceeded to pull out this pamphlet that her church had printed, and started argueing that the Book of Mormon couldn't possible be true, because there is no DNA evidence of an Israelite migration from Jerusalem to the Americas.  And everything just went south from there.  We left and we are planning on going back, and explaining to M that were are not in Hillsboro to argue,but to invite others to come unto Christ, and if she wants to argues, then we will leave, but if she wants to talk and listen to our message, then we are more than happy to talk with her.

 

So next we went over and met J.  He on the other hand, was a very nice man.  He is a retired police man, and he was very polite.  We spent about 45 minutes talking about him and jsut getting to know him.  It was a very nice visit, and we set up a time that we can return and talk to him about the Book of Mormon. 

 

Wow, talk about not judging.  Lesson of the week.  Do not judge, you will always be wrong.  HAHA just kidding, but be carefull when you meet people.  Looks can be decieving.

 

Then, we were able to contact one of the referrals that we had recieved in the first week out.  It turns our that Sister S's daughter is nine, has not been baptized and really really wants to be.  Talk about a miracle!!!  We were able to teach K the first discussion, and commit her to bing baptized on the  7th of September!!.  Then on Sunday, while we were out tracting, we found two more people who invited us in, and we taught them the first discussion, commited them to reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, and we have a return appointment this wednesday, and they want to feed us dinner.  WOW, they were super receptive, and really liked the message that we shared with them.  I am excited to see how this area will keep growing. 

August 5, 2013

Things this past week have been really slow.  We have done a lot of tracting and finding activities.  Unfortunately the area book is really hard to read especially since the last elders both had terrible hand writing, and they left no notes on when appointments were, or anything like that.  So the past couple days we have spent trying to call, knock on doors, do anything to set up appointments with the people that the elders were teaching. 

 

Hey so remember when I told you guys about the elder that tried to headbutt me?  He was one of the last 2 elders in the area that I am in now.  It is kinda weird.  He keeps reoccurring in the areas that I go to.  It is really strange.

 

We were able to make contact with one person that the last elders were teaching.  We taught him last night.  His name is D.  He drives trucks so his schedule is super crazy.  It was really kinda interesting how we got into contact with him.  We were coming in for the night, and just getting ready to put our bikes away when he called us.  That was the first time that some one has called us and told us that he wants us to teach him.  It was awesome.  Then when we went to go teach him, we were able to read Mosiah 4 with him, and talk a lot about church attendence.  He said that nothing would be holding him back, but you could tell that he was scared and that he didn't really want to go.  But the Spirit was strong when we were testifying about the importance of church attendance, so hopefully he will remember that and he will want to go to church.

 

Newsflash!!!

 

Tracting actually works.  While we were out tracting this past week,  both times, right before appointments, we have been able to find people who are willing to listen to us.  The first time was on Tuesday.  We were out right before dinner on the edge of our area, and it was going to be one of the last doors that we knocked, and a woman answered the door, and she said that she would be interested in listening and learning more about the Book of Mormon.  She said that she would be availible on Wednesday at 10, so we are headed back to teach M.  HAHA it was awesome.  Then on Saturday, we were going over to the bishop's house to meet with him, and we got there a little early, so we decided to go and knock on some doors.  This time, it was only a few houses in when a woman knocked on the door, and she said that no, they were not interested in converting, but her husband would love to talk to us.  Then her husband walked around the corner and said  "Yes, I would love to talk religon.  We are devout members of the Church of Christ."  And so we set up a time that we could come back.  Hopefully he is actually wanting to have an intelligent conversation, and not try to bash or bible thump with us.  But those are our tracting successes this week.  I am excited to see how this next week works out.

 

Love you

 

Elder Peterson 

July 30, 2013

Wow.  Things have just gone by so fast.  It has been so crazy.  In Molalla, I am not entirely sure if I can straighten out what all has happened.  I just remeber Saturday, and the excitement and stress of the transfer calls.  I am now Training!!! AAH.  I was totally tripping out!!  My new companion is Elder Jones.  I got transferred out of Molalla, and now I am on bike in the Beaver Creek ward in Hillsboro.  Talk about a transition.  Molalla, I covered aver 100 square miles of land, lived in a decently sized apartment, had a car and covered two wards.  Now in Hillsboro, I cover one ward, about 15 square miles, riding a bike, and live in a single room with the ward mission leader.  Important.  I am not complaining.  This is awesome.  I am so excited to go out and have this chance to help Elder Jones start his mission strong.  Kinda funny. So we went out for a run this morning, and since both of us are new to the area, we both proceeded quickly to get lost and ended up running all over the ward and trying to find the ward mission leaders home again.  We were fortunately able to get back on time so that we could clean up and get ready for studies and start on time.  It was super funny.  But when we looked in the missionary fridge, there was almost no edible food.  The last elders had left pretty much nothing for us, so we had a cup of jello and I had a small bowl of cottage cheese.  I am so glad that we are shopping today, because I am more than ready for real food.

 

Love Elder Peterson

 

Just remember,  Life is fun, but short.  Make the most of it.  Now is the time to prepare to meet God.

July 23, 2013

Wow,  I don't even know where to start.  Things are really kinda interesting.  So this past week, we were informed that we were going to be having the Spanish Missionaries coming with us to every dinner because the Spanish branch is really small and they cannot support 5 missionaries.  But at the same time, this means that we can all work closer together to find people.  This past week we received a referral from the Spanish missionaries, but the referral, a girl name F, is not returning any texts or calls.  She sounded like she was super strong and wanting to learn, but we haven't been able to contact her. Hopefully she is still interested.

But good new!!  We were out in Beavercreek on Saturday contacting people on a part member family list, and we stopped by the first family.  It turns out that family had moved or something, because the woman that answered the door was not the person we were trying to contact.  We didn't find that out until after we had shared a spiritual thought with her, and she seemed like she would be interested in learning more about the gospel.  

On Sunday, A. B. came home from the Brasilia Brazil mission, and he said that he wanted to come out to all of the appointments that we had, so now we have someone that we can rely on to go with us to our different lessons!!!

Then this Monday, we were asked to teach A's mom.  So we went over and taught her the first discussion, and she accepted a soft baptismal commitment!!!  A had been teaching her and she gave her mom a copy of the gospel principles book and her mom had been reading out of it.  She wrote down her questions and we were able to have a wonderful conversation about the importance of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Then since it was P-day, we went out to Oregon city and watched 17 miracles as a district.  Oh my goodness, it was amazing.  I nearly cried watching it!  It was so good.

Love Elder Peterson

July 15, 2013

This past week was really good.  We started out by hiking Pechuck Lookout.  It was a good four hour hike up the Molalla River Corridor, and it was a blast!  It had a great view and it was really fun.  We then ran the way down, and that took about 45 minutes to run.  On Wednesday, I went on an exchange with Elder Crocket, my district leader.  For the first time, I left my area on an exchange.  I went over to Oregon City 3rd ward.  There we had some really great lessons.  We were definitely able to capitalize on some of the comforting scriptures in the Bible, and the Spirit was super strong while we were teaching.  It was a really great experience.  On Thursday we have been keeping really busy, so doing weekly planning has been a little hard to sit down and do all at one time.  We were able to go out and teach M, N, and about  4 other people.  It was an awesome day!!  But the highlights of the week were when we taught the S.'s.  They haven't come to church as a family the entire time I have been in Molalla, and we taught them about eternal families and being sealed in the temple.  The lesson got a little uncomfortable because apparently, that is a touchy subject for them. But the entire family committed to coming to church, and reading and praying as a family,  and they all came to church on Sunday!!!  Then that night, we were able to baptize E.  She had been coming to church for the past three years, and she was baptized yesterday.  We had a little scare though.  The font filler never showed up, so when we arrived at the church 30 minutes before the baptism, the font was empty.  And the font takes 1 and a half to 2 hours to fill!!.  The miracle happened when enough people showed up to move the service to the chapel, so we could keep filling the font for another 30 minutes, giving us enough time to fill the font enough.  But the service was awesome!!

Love Elder Peterson

July 9, 2013

Wow things are really going by fast.  This past week we were finally able to meet with one of our investigators.  His name is S.  He has recently started working at a berry cannery around town, so he has been working all sorts of crazy work times.  So unfortunately all of our previous attempts to contact him have fallen through.  But this past week, due to wonderful technology and texting, we were able to get a hold of him and set up a time to meet with him.  We met with him on Wednesday, and it was an awesome pick-me-up spiritually.  We taught him the law of tithing ( a little note:  the pamphlets are awesome, but teaching from them definitely is not the most effective way to bring the spirit in).  It was the first time that I have not used the  tithing  pamphlet to teach the lesson, and the spirit was so much stronger.  It was also a little bit of a touchy subject for him, especially since that was what had driven him away from the 7th day Adventist church that he had previously attended.  We asked him what he felt about the Book of Mormon after we had finished teaching the law of tithing.  He then told us that he had been slacking off on reading the Book of Mormon because of his busy schedule, but he had recently decided to bring it with him to work, so that during his break, he could read it, and then because he was alone most of the time during work, he would think about what he had read.  He told us about an experience that he had, and then he told us that he felt like the Book of Mormon is true.  We asked him what he thought the next step for him would be, and he said that it would be baptism, and we are setting a baptismal date with him tomorrow when we meet with him.

So yeah things are going awesome in the Molalla River ward, but not so much in the Canyon Creek ward.

Recently the Canyon Creek ward has slowly started to die.  Less and less people have been showing up to work, less-actives have been cancelling appointments, and our investigators are slowly disappearing.  So this past Fast Sunday, Elder Barlow and I bore our testimonies in church hoping that it would help to spark a couple referrals.  Then unexpectedly, the ward missionaries got up one at a time, and pretty much chastized the ward for not coming to church and not being supportive of missionary work.  But one thing that really stuck out to me was what one of the people that Elder Barlow and I have recently reactivated.  She got up and bore her testimony on why she came back to church and the joy she felt when she came back.  She then said that it hurt when people would make fun of the lack of attendance in the ward.  She said that she wanted to bring everyone with her to God because she knew it would make them happy and she wanted those people to experience that same joy.  Then Sister A got up and bore her testimony of church attendance.  She talked about an investigator we have been working with who cannot go to church because of her family but wants to desperately.  We are fortunate to only have our beds in that way of going to church, while others cannot because of restricted agency. 

We then got a referral from a member in Canyon Creek after church, which was awesome.  But sacrament meeting was really good in Canyon Creek.

Love 

Elder Peterson

Exercise your agency to your fullest capability. 

July 1, 2013

Hey this is Elder Peterson.  

 

Things are going great out here.  This past week, we got a call from one of our LA that we are working with.  She has been struggling with money problems, and was working on liquidating all of her assets including her house.  But she was able to get a job this past week working at a lumber mill as a security officer  which was so exciting to hear about.

This past week was really cool.  We had our Zone Conference on Wednesday, and oh my gosh it was awesome.  I really felt like I learned a lot from it, especially from the AP's.  The focus was on learning to recognize the spirit and follow those promptings.  They showed parts of Elder Bednar's Patterns of Light.  It had some really good ways it talked about how revelation comes.  I definitely feel like Elder Bednar when he compared receiving revelation to a foggy day.  He said that he felt like he would get just enough revelation to see one or two steps in front of him, but not enough to see the big picture.  It reminded me of the song Lead, Kindly Light

 

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene—one step enough for me.

2. I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.

I definitely think that as we work with the revelation that we have, then we will be blessed as we listen to the Lord.

We also have been working with an excommunicated member of the Church with permission from the bishop.  It is so awesome.  he said that when she feels ready, she can be baptised!!  And we set a date for her baptism just this past week!!!

Love Elder Peterson

June 25, 2013

I had this really weird dream last night.

I dreamed that I was with my roommate from the MTC and we were in a military boot-camp.  We were standing at attention and I sassed the sergeant.  We were then told that we would lead the squad in conditioning drills at some point in time (but I never got to that point).  Then we went onto a survival course.  We were given a map and a compass, and dropped off with a backpack for both of us with clothes and a tarp to create a shelter, but not told where we were in relation to the map and we were told to get to a certain point.  We started running towards the direction that we thought we should be going and we ended up in the middle of a fire fight without any guns.  We wrestled a gun away from one of our attackers, and kept going.  Then I woke up.  It was really weird.  I don't know if it is supposed to mean anything or if it was just a strange dream.

But this next week we hope to be able to set baptismal dates with about 4 of our investigators.  I am super excited.  We started working with an excommunicated member and her husband last week.  She had never stopped coming to church or anything which was really cool, plus she really really really wants to get rebaptized.  We were given the okay from Bishop V. to start teaching her two weeks ago, and we are hoping to set a baptismal date with her for the 13th of July.  Hopefully she has been reading and praying with her husband M., who is a non-member, so that he is also gaining and strengthening his testimony of the church.  

Also, this last week, one of our investigators asked us to come over and give a blessing to his kids while they were away visiting family.  So that was super cool.  We haven't been able to meet with him for about a month and a half, so we were able to also talk with him and set up a time that we can come over and teach them.

Love you,

Elder Peterson

June 18, 2013

Hey, I don't have a lot of time right now, but things are going awesome out here.  We went tracting this last week and found a couple people to teach potentially, so that was awesome, but they still haven't split my area.  We don't have enough time in the day to do everything and keep a balanced area.  They definitely need to split it.  We will be all over the place and back and forth who knows how many times this month/transfer.

Hey good news though,  I am still in the OPM (Oregon Portland Mission).  But both my other companions have gone out to other missions.  Elder Jorgensen ( my trainer) is a district leader in Salem, and my MTC companion is in Salem as well, so I won't be able to see them any more.

Love 

Elder Peterson

Romans 8:16-18

Our Divine potential is outstanding.  Stand worthy to receive the blessings that come with it.

June 11, 2013

This past week started out a little rough but it definitely more than made up for it at the end of the week. By Tuesday, we had already had 5 cancelled lessons.  It is so frustrating to see people forget or just decide to cancel appointments because they don't realize the blessings that come with the Gospel.  But throughout the week, we had plenty little miracles that made up for all of the set backs.  We were able to contact a few people that have resulted from the ward mission process.  We have been trying to get a hold of the L's for almost 4 months now, and on Tuesday, Elder Barlow and I were able to find them at home and set up a time to be able to meet with Brother L and his wife for today.  We then went over and were able to contact another person to visit for this Thursday.  N has been less active for a long time because of a terminal illness.  She gets upset when people try to tell her how to deal with her illness, and a lot of that was happening at church.  So she slowly stopped going to church with the hopes that people would slowly forget about her illness.  As a result she hasn't been to church for many years.  She still has a super strong testimony of the gospel, and she is willing to meet with us.  She said that she loves 20 questions, so if you guys know some cool questions to ask, please let me know because I have never been good at coming up with those kinds of things.  

On Wednesday, we were able to meet with A, and she is doing really well.  She started coming back to church when her best friend died, and she had a lot of questions about the plan of salvation and what happens after we die.  We have been meeting with her for about 4 months now, and she went in for her interview with the Bishop to get a temple recommend!!!  It was super exciting!!!  Then on Saturday, we were able to share a spiritual thought with a less active member out in Beavercreek named E.  She left the church because she found out something that made her think that the church wasn't for her.  She hasn't told us what it is yet, but we were finally able to make contact after 2 months of trying.  

Sunday was an amazing day.  While we were in Gospel Doctrine, we were told by Brother M that his son W had decided that he wanted to get baptized on the 22 of June!!!!!  Bro M's family has been going to church for about 3 years now and W has been attending seminary, but hadn't none of them had decided that they wanted to get baptized.  Then when we went over to visit them after church, and we found out that his daughter M wants to get baptized as well on the 12 of July!!!!  Now we are just waiting for the mom to want to get baptized with the rest of her family.  

This past week was great.  Then on p-day, there was an elder who tried to headbutt me, and that was strange.

Love you all

Elder Peterson

As we listen to the Holy Ghost, it will come line upon line, precept upon precept.  That connection will grow stronger.  Then one day, we will be called upon to stand as witnesses of Christ, and we will stand as Abinadi before King Noah, testifying of truths that we cannot and will not ever deny

June 3, 2013

I had my interview with Pres. Morby this week.  It was really cool to be able to sit down with him and be able to just talk about what I am feeling instead of trying to put those feelings down in writing and send them off to him.  He was definitely hinting towards splitting the area that I am serving in which is super exciting.  You have no idea how much I miss being able to dance with someone just for fun, and not worry about making a fool out of myself. Things are getting even better with my new companion.

This past week we had exchanges, and it was super nice to have someone who is willing to teach with me instead of me just rambling on and on all by my lonesome.  Elder L is a really fun person to be around.  Just being around him helped me to be a better missionary that day.

So I was able to start studying with those materials that were sent out, and they have totally changed my studies, and I feel like I am definitely getting more out of them.

This past week in church, we had two investigators come to church.  C, N's daughter, and M, N's mother.  They are both awesome people.  But all awesome people have their struggles.  Hopefully this week we will be able to set up a baptismal date with C and things will continue to progress with that family.  R, C's son, sat in while we were reading in the Book of Mormon for the first time and that was awesome.  We were also able to pick up a new investigator for each ward.  C, and a woman name P.  We had been working with P for a while now, fellow shipping her and slipping in little spiritual thoughts, here and there, and this last time, we pretty much taught her parts of all of the different lessons because of all of the different questions that she had, so things are definitely starting to pick up.  But on the flip side with how many lessons we had, our finding time has gone down a lot.  We were only able to get in about 2-3 hours of finding time this past week.  We are relying heavily on the ward mission process to keep things going in our area.  If that goes down, then all of the work that will be happening goes down with it.

Love 

Elder Peterson

"Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words."

People watch what we do all the time.  Even when we are not out with black  name badges on, people notice everything that we do.  We need to allow our actions to reflect positively on our religion.  

"I say unto you, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming?"

The worth of a soul is precious in the sight of the Lord.  D&C say that our joy will be great if we bring one soul unto him.  The opposite is also true.  If our actions lead to the destruction of souls, we will suffer even as Alma did, except it will not be for just 3 days and nights, it will be for eternity.

May 28, 2013

Hey, so this past week has been kinda slower than most.  I know that some times it sound a little ridiculous, but we were only able to teach 16 lessons, however, we did hand out a couple Book of Mormons  But the awesome thing is that if we don't have any canceled lessons, then we will teach 27 scheduled lessons, and we still have time for other people to go teach.  It is kinda crazy.  We have a list of 32 people that we are actively teaching, or trying to contact to take the lessons. 

This past district meeting we worked on door approaches and one of the things that really stood out to me was not standing there and saying " hello we are the missionaries from the ..."  but rather trying to invite the spirit by testifying of truths.  But I don't really get much of a chance to do that because of how busy Elder Barlow and I are here in Molalla.  I am still trying to get over how huge my area is.  We cover 4 cities and parts of almost 3 others.  On Thursday, we got a couple referrals, but when we went to contact them, either they weren't home, or they weren't interested.  We also decided to contact the former investigators in our area book, and the same thing happened there too.

N wasn't at church this week.  It was frustrating. 

But this week will be amazing.  There is no choice.  I command it to be amazing.  I take away this week's agency. HAHA

Love Elder Peterson

 

Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.

If we have confidence in the Lord and strive to do our best to help those around us, then the dews from heaven, or the Spirit of the Lord, will strengthen and nourish us as we receive personal revelation from our Heavenly Father and feel love from our Savior and Advocate with the Father.

May 20, 2013

Wow those pictures are really cool.  I love it how Andrew has his pointer finger out on his lower hand.  It's just like he is saying "I'm #1 and you can't stop this!"  It is really funny.  

It sounds like things are starting to get really busy.  

 If Andrew's toe is broken, then there probably isn't anything that they can do for it.  It is too small to put a brace or something on, so it'll just hurt for a while.  A friend from team did a similar thing to one of his toes and there wasn't anything that the doctors could do for it, except tell him to stay off of it for a little while. But we both know how well that'll work for Andrew, especially if he is planning on playing football, soccer, baseball, and basketball.

Things are going great out here.  We were able to teach 17 lessons this past week, and N was baptized.  She is deathly afraid of water, so when she had said that she was ready to be baptized, Elder Jorgensen and I were super excited.  Then Elder Jorgensen was transferred.  But Elder Barlow and I were able to continue working with her.  But just this past Thursday, she was talking with one of the members about how she wanted to postpone the baptism to a later date because of all of the crazy stuff that was going on.  But her friend was able to talk to her about not postponing the date.  Then that morning, Elder Barlow and I got roped into a service project that was only supposed to take about 2 hours, but then when on for another 4 after that!!! So getting back onto schedule that Saturday was a mess.  We were helping someone move, and there were only four of us that were actually doing anything!!  Plus, the people we were helping weren't even packed at all!     All we did was move furniture for 6 hours all over the place because no one knew where they wanted stuff or anything like that.  Note to self:  Always be ready and packed if people are coming over to help you move.  It was more that slightly ridiculous.  But we were able to get to the baptism on time and baptizing Nora was an amazing experience.  

The next day, N was to be confirmed, but no one showed up to pick her up for Church!  She doesn't have any source of transportation, and so she walked, and she lives all the way across town from the church.  It was at least a 2 1/2 mile walk!!!  Elder Barlow and I were kinda frustrated with the members that we had asked to help N, because this is not the first time that this has happened.  But we will make sure that it never happens again.

Things are amazing out here.

Love 

Elder Peterson

Read "Never Forsaken" in the 2011 January Ensign. It is really good. 

When Christ was on the cross, He cried, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" In Psalms 22 it starts out the same way, but goes on to say "Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them " Christ was not giving up hope, but was expressing His faith and His trust in our Heavenly Father that He was doing the right thing. 

God has not forsaken us.

May 7, 2013

This past week has been kinda stressful.  This was the last week of the transfer and Elder Jorgensen was getting transferred.  

This past week was also kinda cool.  Elder Jorgensen and I tallied up all of the RC/LA's, other lessons, and member present lessons, and we had taught over 80 lessons in the month of April!  We nearly reached our goal of 100 lessons by the end of training.  It was a great experience learning with Elder Jorgensen.

My new companion is Elder Barlow.  I am kinda nervous about him, just because of how easily Elder Jorgensen and I got along, and all the missionaries were talking about how whenever that happens, the next companion will be difficult.  But I won't let that taint my impressions.  I am just a little wary.  He seems super nice though.  

This past week started out amazing.  We were able to attend the Temple.  It is so pretty inside.  It is the only temple with an atrium inside!!!  Then we had 5 lessons, and needed to go on splits that night we had so much stuff going on.  Unfortunately, the rest of the week, there were a couple cancels each week, but on Friday, we were able to hand out a Book of Mormon, and we tracted into a Baptist Deacon, and spend about 2 hours talking about Joseph Smith, the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  I don't think that we helped to clarify any thing, but it was a good experience.  He was a nice man.  

And then there were transfers.  But this transfer is going to be awesome.

Love 

Elder Peterson

Psalms 91: 2-7,10-11

3 Nephi 5:13

April 29, 2013

This past week has been a little strange for me.  I am finishing up my training with Elder Jorgensen and I have just realized that transfers are in a week, and I will probably be getting a new companion.  I don't feel quite ready for that to happen yet.  I am still not as familiar with the area as a should be, and I just don't feel like I am ready yet.  But if that is what the Lord wants, that is what will happen.  But also, this past week has been quite amazing at the same time.  My area decided that we would  have a fast together over the course of a week and a half.  One companionship would fast for one day, then another for the next, until all the companionships had fasted.  I was able to really feel and see the difference in my area while this was happening.

At district meeting, the AP's came and visited.  They helped a lot during the practice and training portion.  One thing that Elder V asked me to do that has really helped me was to look for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all of the different lessons, and incorporate that into my teaching.  It was really interesting and constructive.

While teaching this past week, I have really been able to see how the Spirit works in the lives of the investigators we have been teaching, especially in N.  This past week we taught her about the word of wisdom, and what was really awesome to me was how easily she accepted it.  She said that since Christ had done so much for her, then it wouldn't be hard to give up her tea.  She said that if people really put their mind to it, then the Word of Wisdom wouldn't really be all that hard to follow. 

Also this past Sunday, she brought her entire family to church with her.  It was so exciting!!

At Ward Council this past Sunday, Elder Jorgensen and I were able to see how the Ward Mission process has been going, and there have been rumors that at this next transfer, the area that I am in is going to split.  So instead of serving both Molalla River, and Canyon Creek, both wards will have their own set of missionaries.

I am super nervous for transfers this coming week.

Love

Elder Peterson

The Bible dictionary says that prayer is "the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.  The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them." 
Prayer is extremely important.  It is through prayer that we can receive revelation for ourselves, and come to know the nature of God.  Satan also recognizes the importance of prayer.  Throughout the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Modern Scripture, you see Satan trying to keep people from praying.  The one that stand out most prevalent in my mind is in Mosiah 24:8-16.  With Amulon already being so wicked and twisted, it was only a small matter for Satan to influence Amulon to keep the people of Alma from praying.  Those who were caught praying were put to death.  But the people of Alma did not stop from praying, they persisted, and were blessed with strength in their trials, and eventually, freedom from bondage.

The next is Joseph Smith.  Satan goes to such length to keep Joseph from praying out loud because Satan realizes that there is strength in verbal prayer.  Because of those efforts, Joseph almost gave up! 

Satan probably won't bind us with those same things as he did Joseph Smith, but he will send those feelings of inadequacy, those feelings that say "no one is listening" and "God really doesn't care".  When those feelings come, keep praying.  They will pass.