The days are starting to go by a lot faster. It feels like last zone conference was a week ago.
Elder Child and I pulled up to Elder Nemelka flying a drone around recording all of us missionaries. So I made sure to give it a good stare down. President and Sister Larkin talked about faith and how we help people see that faith isn't simply believing, that it is action as well. Elder Rascon showed up as well and talked for a while. He testified of our importance in the gathering of Israel. He's a very powerful speaker, so it was great to hear from him. Towards the end Elder Jones called on me from the stand to say the closing prayer. Apparently he forgot to ask me earlier, oh well. I did it anyway. It's funny how I still get really nervous standing up there. I've been approaching strangers and starting a conversation about Jesus Christ for the last 5 months and I get shakey knees when I get called to speak or pray in front of fellow missionaries. Pretty fun...
Our lunch was really good pulled pork sandwiches. After the meeting I went and talked to Elders Paulsen and Frogley. I miss them (and Webb and Bowers) a lot. Elder Frogley and I are convinced we'll be companions again. We work too well together to not be companions. Dream team guys. Dream team.
Last night Elder Child and I were walking around Port Arthur, looking for people to talk to. We ended up talking with two people. Julie was the first. We found her digging through some garbage. We approached and started some small talk. Eventually I asked if we could pray with her. She agreed and after we prayed I asked her if she was familiar with the Book of Mormon. She said she was, and that she had actually read it before (I doubt, but that's okay). I asked her if she had a copy, she said no, so I gave her a Book of Mormon and Bible. We talked for a little more after that. Elder Child tried to get her background, but once she said she was from space we finished up and let her go on her way. The other contact was a spanish woman. She knew a little bit of English and since I know a little spanish, we communicated just fine. I told her who we are and that we could have the spanish missionaries come visit sometime and she said that would be great. We left and called the Spanish Elders and then I realized we had not gotten her name. Whoops. They'll figure it out.
We were supposed to have a lesson with Ebony last week, but something pretty cool happened. We showed up and she said she was just about to go give snacks and water to the homeless camp near her house. I was pretty surprised, that's a really cool thing to do. I asked if we could help and she said yes! We followed her there and handed out some treats to a couple people. There wasn't a lot of people there, but the ones who were received them with a ton of gratitude. Then Ebony offered a prayer and said something very nice things. We gave her the invitation to read the Book of Mormon once again and told her how important it is. Once again she agreed to read it, so we'll say. I'm praying for her.
2 Nephi 31:20 has been on my mind a lot recently. It is a very good scripture:
"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
I love the concept of hope. We may not have perfect knowledge of all things, but we can hope for good things to come. And if we have the faith and hope of good things to come, should we not love our fellow men (and in turn, our God) by helping them receive the same faith and hope? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for all of God's children. As members of the restored church, it is our duty and privilge to bring others to the fold of God. In order to do this, we must strengthen our own spirituality through studying the words of the prophets (both ancient and modern) and enduring to the end. We cannot share with others the things we have not yet received. Therefore, we must study the scriptures and increase our knowledge and testimony of the Savior and the Gospel. This isn't just the job of us full-time missionaries. The gathering of Israel involves all of God's children. We all have the responsibility to build and share our testimonies. I know that in doing so we will be blessed beyond measure, and others around us will be as well.
Thank you for letting me soapbox to ya'll. I know this Gospel is true, and I have gained this knowledge by "feasting upon the word of Christ." I pray you all will seek to share and obtain your own testimonies by following Nephi's counsel in this scripture.
Until next week!
-Elder Peterson
1) Steelers house
2) Our cars to help us remember our "drive" to do missionary work
3) Elder Frog and I
