Elder Peterson Week 22

Last Tuesday we were invited to dinner at the Olvera's. We had to wait about an hour for them to finish making the meal, not that I am in any way complaining. Their 5 little girls were running around, literally doing cartwheels around the room, as we waited. It was very funny actually, one of their girls, I think her name was Vanessa, kept asking for our number. I had shown her the stickers I have on my tag and she immediately became glued to my side. She had all 6 of us missionaries write our names in her journal and then she started begging for me to put our number in her journal. I eventually took it and pretended to write it. She looked at it and then started begging me again. I said "I did write it dow- oh... you're not 8 yet, right? Yeah, you have to be at least 8 to see the missionaries' phone number." She scrunched up her face at me and then stopped asking . Also, the dinner was amazing. Jalapeño poppers and lamb chops. Very very good.

          We had two more lessons with Dallas this past week. Both of which went incredibly well. Tristan showed up for the second one and they both were asking amazing questions. As we answered their questions and taught them about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation they seemed to get more and more excited. They said the stuff we taught makes sense and that they want to keep learning more. They promised to make greater effort to read the Book of Mormon and come to church. Tristan said he wasn't going to come to church, 9 am is too early for him ,  but Dallas wants to. He didn't actually make it to church yesterday, because he wasn't feeling good (sure) but we gave him the zoom link and he said he'll watch. We'll see if he actually did next time we see him.

     A couple days ago Elder Child and I were walking around Lamar College, just to be outside trying to talk to people. We came across this group of people who had a couple animals they were letting people hold since it was homecoming week for the college, or something like that. But we got to hold a snake, baby gator, and bearded dragon. It was pretty cool. I've been waiting this whole time to be able to hold a gator and it finally happened. Sweet. Pictures below.

     I finished reading Jesus the Christ yesterday! It is a very good book that I recommend it to all who haven't read it. I've learned so much about the life of Christ and all the good works he did. The book also talks about revelation of the Second Coming of Christ, which is also very interesting. My testimony of the Savior's love for each of us has grown so much. Not just from that book, though it was a huge boost, but also just from being a representative of Jesus. Being a missionary is hard, there are a lot of expectations and disappointments. But boy is there a lot of blessings! You learn so much about Christ when you dedicate everyday to testifying of Him and loving others as He did. I've talked about it before, but I've grown to love all the people in Texas, especially the ones who threaten me and yell at me . The joy that comes from sharing the gospel with others is indescribable and I'm excited to further develop my ability to serve others. 

     I hope you're all doing well, I pray for you!

-Elder Peterson 

1) Snake

2) Gator

3) Bearded Dragon 

4) Sunset

5) Big Boat