Letter #76

Hey everyone!

What a week! Missionary life can definitely be stressful at times, but
we are seeing some great things happen. We are still working with
Mike, and wow he is so solid! He just loves everything we have been
teaching him. He wasn't able to come to church yesterday because of
work, and he was really upset about it. He has let them know that he's
not working Sundays anymore so he can go. He wants so bad to change
his life and receive the blessings that come from living the gospel.
Family is super important to him, and he can see so plainly how it
will help him with his little young family. He is still planning on
getting baptized next month.

We started teaching None (pronounced no-nay (it's Tongan)) this week
as well. He is Mike and Nami's older brother, and he's a lot more
interested and serious about it than we originally thought. We also
started teaching Jasmine, a friend of their family. She's a nice girl
who comes from a really good family. She's pretty interested as well,
especially when we invited her to be baptized, something that she has
been thinking about doing but wasn't sure which church to do it with.
We hope to help her learn the truth for herself as she studies, prays,
and comes to church.

I cannot believe all the things I am still learning. I just...well
it's awesome. All I can say is that the most valuable thing I've
learned over my mission is how to follow the promptings from the Holy
Spirit. If you can learn to do that one thing, you will always do the
right thing. And you'll always be happy, even when the world around
you is crumbling.

Love you all! Have a great week

Elder Petersen

Letter #75

Hey everybody!

Wow, it's been a good week! So, training a new missionary is stressful, and so is being a district leader. And apparently the Lord and my leaders think enough of me to entrust both responsibilities simultaneously. Being a district leader means that I am over several companionships in my area. I actually have the biggest district in the zone. But it helps that we have just as many sisters as we do elders, and I have a few less responsibilities with sisters than I do elders. I also have the privilege of interviewing candidates for baptism. I was able to do that for the first time this week, and it is a wonderful experience.

Elder Coleman is my new companion. He is from St George and comes from a large family, oldest of 12. And he is a great missionary! We have been working and teaching and finding like no one's business. Training a new missionary has helped me to stay motivated and energized. Saturday we had kind of a rough day, everything seemed to be falling through. After dinner we went to go contact a potential investigator. As we were walking down the street through the neighborhood, a man parked his truck and started yelling at us and saying all sorts of terrible and derogatory things. But we ignored him and kept walking. Silently I prayed to be lead to anyone who would be willing to listen to us. Well, when we got to where we were going, the family wasn't interested at the moment, but his mom was there. We started talking to her and showed her a short video. Without us asking, she gave us her phone number and indicated that she wanted us to call her and teach her more. So we taught her the first lesson briefly right there. She does not live in our area, so we helped her find the church building where she does live. And then a little bit after that, this family was willing to listen and we are going back tonight. God hears and answers prayers.

Oh! So Bobby came up to us after sacrament meeting yesterday and asked if we could move his baptism up. Um. Yes! He originally wanted to wait until August, but he's just too excited and loves it too much to wait that long. Besides, he's progressing so well that he could get baptized next week. So we are going to meet with him soon and figure out what day he wants to do it. So that was really exciting!

Love you guys, have a great week!

Elder Petersen