Week 1: August 30- September 7
Hello everyone! This is actually my second p-day, I just didn't write any emails last week because I had only had one day of training. But I've got plenty to share this time.
The home training has been great! I've enjoyed studying the Gospel and how to teach it very much. I have been studying well with my first companion, Elder Frogley. He is a great guy and I have no doubt that he will be a fantastic missionary. Last week was full of zoom classes and online devotionals that for the most part filled up my time. When I have no classes or devotionals to watch, I have been trying to study the scriptures, Preach My Gospel, or other Gospel related books. I've learned so much already from just one week of training, so I am super excited to fly out to the actual MTC tomorrow morning where I'll get to train in person with my awesome district.
I will probably spend most of today packing and getting everything ready to take off, which is good because that will keep me somewhat busy. I don't really know what else to write, besides how excited I am to start, so I'll end with that.
Thank you everyone that has supported me up to this point, I'll try to make you proud
Sincerely,
Elder Peterson
p.s. I apologize now for this email and the future ones. I am not very good at gathering my thoughts and typing them out. And I'm sure it will take a while to get better, so just bear with me.
Week 2: September 8-14
I have been at the MTC for almost a week now, I got here last wednesday. I'm adjusting quickly and I'm loving it here, they're working us hard and I'm learning a lot. We've been focusing on how to teach people effectively and I think I'm progressing well. We wake up at 6:30 and get ready for the day and then head straight to breakfast. Then we have 3 hours of class and then lunch, afterwhich is 3 more hours of class and then dinner. Usually we have stuff going on at night after dinner, but the point I'm making here is that we are busy and working hard.
I'm sure I mentioned this last week, but I love my district. It's full of missionaries that have strong testimonies and that are excited to serve. Elder Saathoff has been called as District Leader, which I fully support. He handles leadership well and has no problem pointing out things that should or shouldn't be happening. I have been called as senior companion to Elder Frogley, and we both are called as Zone Leaders. It took us by surprise, but I think we are doing well.
I'm trying to think of some actually interesting things to talk about... Me and Elder Frogley are teaching a guy named Benjamin through the "Helping Others" thing. We are pretty sure the guy is an actual investigator (90% of the people that work in this program are actors, it's to help us learn how to teach) which is awesome and we are excited to meet with him again.
The other day we were all playing some sports when a buck ran across the field, which was odd because I have no idea where it could have come from.
I'll finish this with a funny story. The other day Elder Frogley and I were headed up to the 6th floor ponder room to do some studying. He had the amazing idea to try and pry the doors open while we were moving. Suddenly the elevator jerked to a stop and would not continue. We pressed the help button and waited. After about 20 minutes the elevator started working again and we hopped off and went to our dorm. It was pretty funny and I'm not (and wasn't) angry at him at all. I could tell he felt pretty dumb, but we laughed it off and I told him not to worry about it.
Hopefully that's enough to satisfy y'all. I'll be sending my next email when I'm in Texas!
Sincerely,
Elder Peterson
1) District 23-C after our temple trip (Careful who you have take your photos 
)
)2) Elder Frogley and I in front of my favorite mural
3) Elder Frogley thinking he's some kind of brilliant bartender
4) Me getting attacked by a bunch of weirdos (the Elders in my district) who think I need a hug because I always look "depressed and angry."
5) Elder McEntire and Elder Tucker who are good friends from back home
Ryker also sent me some pictures through Facebook Messenger. We got to talk to him today and that was fun, he is doing good and really enjoying the MTC life.
He said he took this picture on Sunday as the missionaries were heading to their sacrament meeting. He thought it was pretty cool being in a sea of Missionaries.