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.

April 23, 2013

Wow.  Things sound like they are super rough around at home.   This past week has been a little more stressful out here as well.  We had a bunch of people cancel lessons, and another lesson that didn't go very well.  The guy said that he is willing to listen, but he is also trying to get us to leave our religion.  I was not very comfortable at all in that lesson.  Elder Jorgensen and I later talked about the lesson, and how it went.  That investigator hasn't been keeping commitments, or even trying to progress.  He doesn't work, or really do anything productive, he sits around all day playing video games, so it’s not as if there is anything of value keeping him from reading, or attending church or anything.  It is just super frustrating to see that he isn't progressing or putting any effort into anything.

Something that was cool though.  At the Stake President's Council, we were given a paper outlining how the work has been going in our District.  Elder Jorgensen and I have been teaching the most lessons with 37 lessons in Canyon Creek and 10 lessons in Molalla River for this past month.  So it was really cool to see that even though some days, people cancel and things don't go according to plan, things really do add up, and make a difference.

This past week, we were able to go out tracting a couple different times.  But on Tuesday, it was super cool.  We had been knocking doors for about 45 minutes, and a young woman opened the door, and we were able to talk to her for a little while, and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon!  Later, we were able to talk to other people, and we were able to get a service opportunity, and another person accepted a pass-a-long card, so hopefully, those people will act on what we talked to them about.

I have started to sleep better, but not much better.  If it continues to be bad, I am going to call Sister M about it, to see what we can do about that problem.

Love,

Elder Peterson

Life all around us is filled with temptation.  In the book of Alma, it talks about how those small choices that we make, make all the difference in our lives.  

Living on the edge: Alma 31:3

False Doctrine or relying on supposition rather than true doctrine and faith: Alma 31:15-17

Pride: Alma 31: 24

Those things will lead to our eventual spiritual destruction.  However through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can overcome the Natural Man and those mistakes that we have made.

Overcoming Spiritual apostasy, and perversion

Alma 32:13-14

Alma 32:21

Alma 32:33

John 14:18-19 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.  Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.