Day 538

Dear Mom,

It's been a pretty good week, We found some more people to teach, I went out with two missionaries this week, one in Brandon, another in Winnipeg! Tommorrow is Zone Conference, when I'll get all those christmas packages that you sent me.. Full of love! Ps. when should I open it? It's going to be hard to not open it right when I get it... On Wednesday I'll get to go up to Flin Flon. It's about 8 hours north of me. I'm excited for that. It's going to be a long exchange, I probably won't be back to my area till late on thursday. :/ But the weekend is prime time so that's when I want to be here.

The Azarcons came to church this week, (The Fillipino Family) and even though they only stayed for sacrament, everyone loved them. They were a huge hit. I hope we can have them back!

The Spanish Elders had a baptism this week, It was the daughter of a guy that was baptized a transfer and a half ago. so that was really good!

Other than that... I gave a talk in church about the gift of Christ. It was good, I read a story in the Dec 2012 ensign that made me choke up a little bit. It was a good story.

We ate papoozas this week (I think that's how you spell it..)

(from previous letter)  How long were your braces on?

I think it was right around a year!!!

Do you spend more time doing administrative, or ministrative duties?  Which would you rather do?

Definitely I'm still mostly a normal missionary, don't you worry.

Are you considered an old missionary?  (not because of years, but time out)

Yes I am. It's sad. 

Do you know when you will be calling us?

Probably in the morning or early afternoon time!

Did you say something about transfers coming up soon?

No, transfers won't happen until Jan 7 I think. Don't you worry.

I love you!!

Love Elder Peterson

Day 531

Brandon is going well, I'm enjoying the service out here. I like Elder Griffin, but I miss Elder Owens in some aspects as well. We just clicked well, which I didn't think would happen before we served together. He sent me an email today.

Do you have any Christmas Ideas for me? Last year I remember clocking in really late on getting Dad his present. Earrings maybe? I don't know. 

Ok, well, I'll get started with my day.  So here are the questions

Do you remember doing that? ( memorizing and reading before  you were 12)

I remember people attempting to convince me to memorize before I was 12.. I knew the fourth Article of Faith for a long long long time. It wasn't till I entered into the MTC that I realized what it was all about.

Do you have any gift ideas for family members? ( I think you have Kamas this year)

What am I supposed to do for her? I can't even find anything that I want to do for anyone

Do you still wear the boots you got when you came?

I've only wore those boots a few times, they're good and everything but they're so heavy. I miss the boots that I have back home. I would say that if he has a good pair of boots (probably warm work boots) he should bring those, otherwise I don't think it will matter all that much if he buys some back home or out here. 90 percent of the time when I need boots, I just wear some black cover-the-ankle (I don't even know what that's called) church shoes that have some insulation and good grip, that I got at a thrift store for two dollars. those are good for anything except maybe service. Sometimes my feet are just cold.

Hows Sandra? Bro Olenick?  Maria?

Sandra is doing just wonderful, I haven't talked to the other two for a week or so. I thought Maria would have come to church but she didn't :/

Hows the weather?

The weather is good, it's still right around freezing, sometimes above, sometimes below. 

Whats the best DL or ZL experience you've had so far?

I really liked being a district leader in Brandon because all of the missionaries that I worked with were in Brandon. The best part was district meetings that were very spiritual and prepared for where you could see that everyone was very active and involved. Being a zone leader is fun too, I like the level of trust and the information that you get, also you can contact more other missionaries than before, but It seems that I rarely have time to do so. I also like to go on exchanges.

I also know that The office has a bunch of old missionary stuff, what's there and the quality of such I couldn't tell you, but they do have some.

I've been glad to get to meet all of these people in Brandon, we have a bunch of exchanges coming up in the next few weeks, hopefully something exciting happens. :) Also I love it here, I could totally stay here the rest of my mission

 

 

Other than that, I know that this gospel is true. It's worked in my life and I've seen it work in others. I am a child of God. So are you. Isn't that enough to help us be good, to reach a little farther, and see our true potential?

I would like to remind you of a line in my Patriarchal blessing about you, which paraphrased is "you have been given kind and loving parents who love the Lord with all their hearts" a literal snapshot of what heavenly father thinks of you. Keep up the good work.

I love you! 

PS. 

If I'm allowed to watch a family movie for christmas, which should I watch? I was thinking maybe big hero six? heard lots of good things about that one.

PPS.

You're the greatest!!

Day 524

Dearest Mother.

This week was good, a lot of driving to Winnipeg and such. I got to spend a little more time with Elder Bingham (not my Elder Bingham) and it was fun. I'm with Elder Griffin now, and he's pretty good. I like the vision that he has and I think that I'll come out of this a lot better than when I went in.

What is your favorite discussion to teach?

I like teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because those plain and precious things are all what it's all about. It's applicable as well :)

How was your awesome Thanksgiving Dinner with the Olenicks? (After I told her we put marshmellows on the yams, I  realized, I hardly ever do that, just butter and brown sugar... ha ha)

It was so good, I was suuuper stuffed after that. I had two pretty big plates and then pie

How is Elder Griffin?  ZL too?  Please elaborate, where from, how long out, etc

He's Zone Leader as well, he's from Spanish Fork Utah, been out 4.5 months. Nice Kid, good morals, good christian background...

The teenage witch thing came from a story we heard about you and a late stop for ice cream at McDonalds... care to share?

Well I'm a little bewildered that you know that story, and I'm not sure why you're asking if you already know, but even so, we went to get ice cream, and then she came to the window, her name was Sabrina, and I knew right off the bat that she was entranced by my dedication to serve the lord.. and also my good looks and charm. So Elder Madsen told me that he'd give me a loonie if I asked her if she was a teenage witch. So I did.

How are your new investigators?  Bro O?  Mission Leader Cousin?

They are about the same. Bro O is being a little bit stubborn, and we haven' t seen "mission leader cousin" for a while.

We were able to teach a lady named Maria, she is such a sweetheart, although she doesn't speak much english, she seems to like us. We all made Baleadas together (very el salvadorian) and had a good lesson. The spirit was strong.

Do you get to help with Christmas stuff?

Yes we do, that's why I'm rushing a little bit, trying to get out of here because we're supposed to help today.

This week was pretty good. Elder Griffin works super hard, it's hard for me to keep up with him. He still needs a little breaking in ;) but he's great.

Do they tell you to get flu shots?

Yes they did, so I did. Watch me get the flu... and kidney stones.. and ulcers. ;)

I love you all, might I remind you that I'll be talking to you within a month!!

Love Elder Peterson

Day 517

Hello!

It's been a really good week, I can't remember what it was I was going to talk about.. I got a flu shot, Elder Owens is getting transferred.... Home. That makes me laugh that you sprayed yourself. Just know I've thought of that as well and I would totally do it again.

We went out to a reserve this week, also we got an appointment for christmas eve a month and a half in advance.. ;)

We have started teaching (Somewhat) two of the people that we've been trying to work with all transfer. Sister Olenick's husband, and Our ward mission leader's cousin. Super great!

I got to go to Winnipeg on Exchange, that was super great, I got to see one of my favorite missionaries, and my favorite member Argentinian family Super great!!

Hey, I hope you have a great week!  Do you have many members from the states up there?  Where are you spending Thanksgiving?

I'm not sure we'll have a place to spend thanksgiving, although we are getting fed everyday until then, that's when we go in for transfers. Good place.

How is your Filipino family, do you still have much contact with them?

Yeah we saw them yesterday, they like us, but we're not sure they really want to progress.

We are, of course, having it here with Grandma and Grandpa.  I get to make the pies.  I'll have to think of some yummy ones.

I didn't hear how your non-birthday dinner was.  I'm sure it was delicious.??

It was really good! Pizza and Cheesecake! how can you go wrong?

I guess I'm doing questions first this time.

What other baptisms are coming up, or is that Charee?

Charee should be coming up, although she's dropped off the planet again, so we're going to have to put her on hold. :(

How was the rededication?

It was good, I enjoyed it, although it was in french. President Eyring was there, he did a good job, although he had one slip up, he said secret rather than sacred and then corrected himself.. Kind of an unfortunate slip huh?

What were Sandra/daughter's reaction to it?

I'm not sure, I think that it was good, but I think it may have weirded them out a little bit. I didn't get to talk to them a lot.

Who did the confirmations?

I did one, and Elder Owens did one.

Is Elder Owens from Alaska, or am I thinking of someone else?  That's nice that he gets to go home before Christmas..

Elder Owens is gonzo, :/ Sad day, he is a good companion.

Have you seen any teenage witches lately?

I don't know where you're getting that from.

Do you know who your new companion is?

I do, his name is Elder Griffin, Nice kid I've heard.

That's all from me this week! have a great one!!

Love Elder Peterson

Day 510

This week was good, we had two exchanges, one with the assistants and one with the Dauphin missionaries, It was a lot of fun I love them all. Drove lots this week, I enjoy that!

How was the baptism, we want to hear every detail?

The baptism was good.

Charee still going strong?

Hit and miss with her, she won't be able to get baptized on the 28 because she didn't come to church, but she probably has a little more to work on. But I believe she could be baptized.

Have you had any other issues with pets?  Stray cats.., etc

Never had any other issues with pets. Not bad!

Do you still help at a shelter?

No we don't. But that's ok, I'm a little allergic anyway.

Whats your favorite "regular" service activity?

I guess I like working at the soup kitchen, and I just like to do dishes.

Is this ward the best at helping with investigators?

They are doing really well at it. There's kind of a revival going on with missionary work, I don't know if that's happening everywhere around the church, but in Brandon it seems like people are getting excited about it. I hope we can teach other people, hopefully these baptisms we've had, and the ones coming up will get all the members just surging with referalls ;)

Sister Olenick said her husband is Catholic, do you get to talk with him, about the church?  She said he comes sometimes

We talk to him sometimes, I don't think that he is super interested, but he did try to refer a guy to us the other day, He's definitely on our side!

Kamas wants to know if you ever see any totem poles.  She said they talked about how Canada has lots of totem poles, in one of her classes at school. 

I Don't think I've seen very many, sad huh?

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

I don't know what my plans are, thats right around the time that Elder Owens goes home.

Did you already have the temple rededication?  How was that?  Did you get to go?

We do get to go, and it's on sunday. Should be pretty good!

Does Sandra get to go? How old is her daughter?

Sandra and her daughter do get to go! It's going to be so exciting!

PS. 

You thought you were going to get jipped on a baptism story?? It was pretty stressful, we pretty much planned the entire thing. It ended up going well, we had a few good speakers, and then Elder Owens and I sang the spirit of god, because we needed a musical number and didn't have one. Also I got to baptize Sandra and Elder Bingham baptized the daughter Becca. The Confirmation was on Sunday. It's pretty relieving today to not have to worry about it, I'm glad for the experience, definitely a really positive experience for me! We had a potluck after church on sunday and it was really nice, It seemed like she really fit in with the members, It's amazing how much difference it makes!

I've also been asked to not publish the picture of Sandra, so if we can respect that, that would be great :)

Love You!

Elder Peterson

Day 503

Dearest Mother,

This week was a fantastic week, We got a lot of things done, we are doing well, and definitely feeling the Lord's hand in our missionary work. We've been working well and since we've changed the way that we plan (Put goals first) it's been a lot more efficient missionary work. 

I had something else to say, but I can't remember, Also I have to tell you that I'm not supposed to email back and forth with you, but there isn't any limit on the emails you can send, but I'm really only supposed to send one-ish. ;)

We had a bunch of lessons with Sandra, and One with Charee, and we've had members to all of them! so great!!

OK, here come the questions, your favorite part, right?

Of course!!

So I had a question about the picture you put on fb, about the nametag.  Is that another Elder Bingham?  If not, who is that, Elder Binghams, companion? (He posted a picture on his fb page)

No there are multiple Elder Binghams, and both are in our Zone. :)

I'm getting pretty good at recognizing former companions in pictures, even companions OF former companions.  So its important. 

Have you had stake conf?  How was it?  We had one of our sister missionaries speak at the Saturday adult session.  She did a good job.

We did have stake Conference, and it was good. I'm Glad you have good sister missionaries, ours here are really good as well!

Have you had any other health problems?

No?? Not that I know of...

Is your comp also a zl?

Yes he is, We're both reeeeallllly important ;)

Do you ever have any problems with dogs, I may have asked you that before?

Never had any problems with dogs, I never run away, I just stare it down and if it gets close and looks mean than sometimes I lunge at it. I just pretend that I'm not scared and try to show that it should be intimidated by me, not the other way around.

I'd like to hear the pizza story, it sounded like she said it was for your birthday... (I got a message, and later a phone call from a sister in Brandon that told me I had a wonderful son and missionary, we talked for a while)

She just wanted to know what I would ask you to make, and I didn't know so she asked for your phone number, You'll have to call her back you know.. Not for my birthday though, I just told her that's what I would ask you to make if it was my birthday...

How often do people get to go to the temple up there?

The Ward here goes quite a bit, Regina is only four hours away..

Are there any church historical sites up there, it seems like there were some early missionaries up there.

Not really, not that I know of.

How are Charee, and Sandra?

Sandra is getting Baptized along with her daughter this weekend, and Charee has a date for November 28. Super exciting!! Sandra originally had a date for the 21st, but we bumped it up because of the temple rededication. Also I'm not sure what happened with Charee's dad, but we stopped by and he was pretty nice, didn't seem to have a concern, so that threw a little bit of a red flag, but we are working with her again. She came to church on sunday so that was so great to see her. I love what's happening in the mission right now and I am really behind this support for baptisms. I'm so excited today!

Mom I love you for days and I can't tell you how tempting it was to go over to Sister Olenick's and hear her talking to you!!!

You're the best! and God is good!

Love Your best son!!

Elder Peterson

Day 496

We got a letter from his mission president telling us that Ryus was recently made Zone Leader.  He didn't tell us.

Yup I guess the secret is out. But I knew they would send out a letter so I thought I would let it be a surprise. It's been a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of scheduling. Kind of stresses me out because we are having to change things in Brandon and move things around. It's good. We were able to go into Winnipeg and get trained on how to plan correctly. So much Fun!

How were the pyrogies?  Aren't they a polish potato thing?

They're pretty good, but even though they aren't as good, you can get about two pounds of them at walmart for 1.47 CAD

It seems like you have been in Brandon a long time, does it to you too?  We looked and it only since june, but I guess that is a while, 5 months...

Is that the longest you've been in one area?

Swift Current was longer, but my companion goes home this transfer, and I could see me staying one more, making it a seven and half month area.

How are your wonderful investigators?

Really good, We set a date with Sandra to be baptized on the twenty first, church the Sunday after will be cancelled en lieu of the montreal temple dedication. Bishop said that he is willing to have her confirmed and then interview her for a limited use recommend all in the same night. That could be a lot of fun! Not all sales final yet though so we'll see what happens.

 

Kate asked me last night to envision her finishing college and holding a degree.  Then she asked me to tell her what was on the diploma.  I told her what I thought.  What do you envision?

I envision her with a great big... Cosmetology degree!!

Just kidding. but she can do what she wants. I could see her being a lady engineer.

Do you ever use us as examples in your talks, or lessons?

I have, Dad talked to me about home teaching and why it was important to him, and I shared that in one of our district meetings. A few other things as well but none that come to mind.

How was your Halloween?

It was good, we helped someone move, and then we spent the rest of it in our ward mission leader's house. We weren't allowed to proselyte during that time.

Where was that big elk? ( I put this on fb)

On the way from Dauphin. It's a great place. Not really, nice town but the walmart there is kind of run down. Elder Owens was just serving there. we were visiting some missionaries there because it was "White Washed" so we went so he could tell them what he used to do there.

Does it rain lots?

Not really. It's been raining today though.

What did your President do before he was mission president?

i guess you can search him on Google. Tell me what it says.

And I don't even know what to ask for. I want my knife, I'm not too worried about winter, I have tons of things. I even found some electric Gloves that are pretty nice. I don't know what it is. I kind of just aquire things. I have all of the characteristics of a hoarder, so I'll just have to limit those tendencies. I like snacks but also I can buy a lot of those things here. Except for nutter butters I guess. Haha. I Love You Mom.

We talked to Charee's parents and they seem alright with her being baptized. a little perplexing, more to follow.

Love Elder Peterson