Elder Peterson Week 73

That's probably the best subject I've had yet.

Last Monday I started an exchange with Elder Jensen. It started out super normal and super fun. We had a great lesson with a guy in their area. We talked about the Book of Mormon and why we have it. The guy was listenening very intently and he had good questions too. At one point he asked me a very interesting question. "Have you ever considered the alternate?" He was asking if I have ever explored things against the church and other religions. I told him that I don't waste my time with it. I testified that I know this church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I told him something that came straight from the spirit. I explained that it would be a sign that I lack faith if I were to explore "anti." I said "Once you have the truth you should grab it and never losen your grip. Why would you? If it's the truth you want, why would you ever let go of it once you've found it? Once you have the truth, what else matters?" Something like that. He thought about it for a bit and then agreed with me. It was cool, cause I really was just speaking by the Spirit and didn't have much idea where I was going with my words.

     The next day is when the exchange got crazy. Around 2pm we started getting tornado warnings. By 3 there were tornados across the mission (at least two or three). We took shelter for several hours and just ended up studying the whole time. It was actually really fun. We read Isaiah 2 and compared it to 2 Nephi 12 and learned a lot from the parts that had been lost from the Bible and restored in the Book of Mormon.

     On Wednesday we had TLC (I didn't have to sneak in!) and it was a blast. I don't have the energy to explain the whole trip, but it was super fun. Elder Heronema and Woodhouse did awesome. Better than they think.

     On Thursday I had another exchange. Elder John came with Elder Woodhouse and I in our area. It was super fun, Elder John is a super good missionary and just a straight up great guy. It was a very fun exchange and we all learned a lot. We ended that exchange the next day during district council. 

     On Saturday we went to the Leadership and Adult sessions of Stake Conference with Brother Gardner. We were the only missionaries at the leadership session so President Harris had us sit on the stand with him. It was kind of strange to sit up there, but the topic was missionary work. So I guess it made sense. The other missionaries in the zone showed up for the adult session and we all sang a special musical number. The next day we rode with the O'Dell family (I love that family) and they even made us breakfast before we left. Stake Conference was great. A lot of it was about Temples and it helped me realize that I need to live close to a temple when I'm settling down with a family. These people out here are 2 hours from the nearest temple. I feel bad for them because back home I'm about 5 minutes away from one... Oh well, Idaho is just the promised land.

     It's been a great week and now we're in the last week of the Transfer. I'm really curious to see what is going to happen next week.

     God is good, and this work is good. I love being a missionary, I'm learning so much!!! READ THE SCRIPTURES!! It does wonders (and they're commandments...)

-Elder Peterson 

Boiled potatoes for dinner

Cheer Districts

I love whenever Mikell sends me pictures of Baby Emily, it has been hard since they moved not being able to see them on the weekly and so its fun to get pictures. I bought Emily a large pack of headband bows when she was born and Mikell sent me this picture of her wearing one of them. She is just the cutest little thing and I love her little tongue sticking out which Mikell says is a trademark of Emily's, she is just too precious and I cannot wait to meet her.

Cheer Districts was at Capital High School this year and Amy came with me to cheer on our girls.

I love that these two girls have been friends for so long. Besties in elementary school they drifted apart a little through Middle School but then being in Cheer together brought them back in High School. It is hard to believe that they are Seniors and getting ready to graduate. This is their last Cheer Districts and it makes me sad but it has been a long and often hard road and I am excited to see their future unfold.

Paige and Avynlea

Meridian competed in Pom, Sideline, Show and all-girl small stunt. Coach Christina took pictures of the girls before they performed Pom (top picture) and show (bottom picture)

I took video of all the routines and also took some pictures. Avynlea is the flyer second from the left. I absolutely love watching her cheer and I am going to miss this a lot.

Christina got a picture of the small stunt group before they went on and also captured a picture of them in their prayer huddle.

Alison was able to be here just long enough to watch the team perform in show. She and Bob were working the afternoon shift at the Temple that week so she couldn't stay any longer than that. Avy and I appreciated her being there for even that small amount. 

Alison, Avynlea and Elizabeth

After a long day of competing it was finally time for awards and Districts is where we have to qualify for State. 

Meridian qualified to take their Show routine and small girl stunt routine to State which was awesome. Honestly we were not sure nay of it was going to go and so we were happy to be able to take two routines and I am happy that Avynlea is in both of them.

Avynlea bottom row 2nd from left

Chris and Carlee were helping at the competition by being spotters for all of the teams. It was fun to have them there on the mat with Meridian again as they competed. Chris and Carlee cheered with Kenedy and they were on the cheer team Avynlea's freshman year.

Avynlea and Amanda

Amanda came to watch and support our girls, we miss her as a coach but appreciate her being so supportive.

Small Stunt Group

Katie, Avynlea, Hannah, Kylie and Roree

Avynlea, Paige and Katie

Avynlea, Elizabeth, Amy and Paige

Later that night was Senior Night for Boys Basketball. Avynlea wanted to go to the game so she could support the boys but she was also going to ask Bodie to Sweethearts. I wanted to go even though I was exhausted so I talked Kefford into going with me and we were able to watch the Basketball game and then also watch Avynlea ask Bodie to Sweethearts. 

Avynlea had a tattoo of Bodie I think from Stinky Sneaker that she put on her arm before the game,

Avynlea and Ruby

The asking wasn't that big of a deal, Avy just wrote her message on a poster board and after the game stood outside the boys locker room with Sadie who was asking Josh while holding their posters. He said yes and now Avynlea has her Date to Sweethearts.

Avynlea and Bodie

 

Elder Peterson Week 72

 Well, I'm still alive, I guess. This ends week 4 of the transfer, only two weeks left. Not that I'm counting down or anything, I'm just really tired and ready for change. It has been a good week though, here are the highlights:

    Last Thursday was district council (it was a Thursday instead of a Friday because we also had our interviews with President Larkin). It was a great district council, we had great discussions. We were talking about the Covenant Path and how we help new members stay on it. I really emphasized making sure that they actually know what it is first. I almost had an argument this week with a lady about works. She, obviously, was on the side that as long as we accept that Jesus Christ died for us, we get to go to heaven. I tried explaining that it is not that simple, and I won't explain here what I said because if you just read the scriptures and study the words of the prophets you should understand just fine. The reason I bring that up is because the Convenant Path (obviously) includes ordinances and covenants that we make throughout our life. A lot of converts down here unfortunately misunderstand and think that once they are baptized, they're done and can now live however they want. WRONG. So we talked about making sure that misconception does not prevail. It was great.

     That night the Assistants came over and we did a little blitz exchange from 6 to 9 and it was awesome. Elder Rydalch and I found a whole family that wants us to come by again sometime to share our message. Elders Heiner, Woodhouse, and Heronema found a couple people who are interested as well. It was very productive and I was happy to spend time with Elder Rydalch, he's a stud.

     From Friday to Saturday we did an exchange with the Lake Charles Elders and I was with Elder Burton in his area. It was fun, he taught me how to play the flute a little . It's a lot harder than I expected and unfortunately I now have a lot of respect for flute players... We visited an inactive member who was in a care center because he's old and he broke his foot. We talked with him for a while and it was very fun. He shared some funny and spiritual stories and I could tell he is trying to come back to church. He said it's hard to come back after not going for so long. I don't know how true that is (obviously) but I guess I can't force him anyway. He offered us pudding like 5 times. I kinda wish I took his offer... pudding is good.

     Those are the interesting highlights, I'll share a cool experience I had yesterday though.

     We went to what was supposed to be a lesson with a really nice woman and her daughters, but it didn't happen. When we got there she tried handing back the Book of Mormon we gave her saving that we believed different things and felt that she was of the correct faith. I wasn't in the greatest mood (because of things that don't matter) so I just kept quiet as the other guys awkwardly said okay, bye. The only thing I said was that we wanted her to keep the Book of Mormon, so she did. As we were driving away I kinda got chastised by the Spirit and felt that we needed to go back.

I told them why I was turning around and they got kind of nervous I think . I knocked on the door and she came outside again. She was just as polite as the first time so I explained why we came back. The first time she told us that she had done some research and that's how she learned about what we believe. When we came back I asked her what that research was. She said (to my little surprise) that she had spoken with her pastor about us. She listed off a couple things that he said we believe (90% of which was incorrect). I then explained what we actually believe and shared my testimony about the restoration and that we have modern prophets and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. She still wasn't interested, but we had a cool conversation about her life and her core beliefs (many of which align with my own). She thanked us for clarifying some things and told us that even though she doesn't believe the same stuff, she respects us for what we do. We got talking about other things and found out that her father just recently got into an accident. We told her we'll be praying for her family. She thanked us and said "I'll pray that no one slams their door on your faces!" I would greatly appreciate such a prayer .

     So in the end we didn't change her mind, but I feel infinitely better knowing that I did everything that I could and that I declared the things I know to be true. I've learned to never pass up an opportunity to share my testimony, because at the very least I get uplifted. Plus, we left on a much much better note after that second visit.

     The book of Isaiah is awesome! Go study it!! Frozen pizza hit the spot today. My eyes hurt from typing this. Have a good week!

-Elder Peterson

That's Elder Heronema.

Engagement and Buying a Wedding Dress!

Avynlea's panther team at fierce had three long days of learning their competition routine. This is a picture that was sent out of them with their choreographer. Avynlea is in the bottom row 5th from the right. She really loves her team and her coaches and I am so happy that she is having fun and that this team has been such a good fit for her.

Tyler had planned to propose to Kenedy over Christmas break but the ring he ordered was not ready in time so he had to adjust his plans. A funny story is that I got a call from a Reno number the day they were coming into town which was Ty. He explained that he had been texting me abut the proposal and I have not been answering for about a week. It turned out he had the wrong number which he found out when he asked Emily for my number. I said he must have been thinking how rude his future In-laws were that they wouldn't even answer to his text messages. He was finally calling to let me know he was not able to get the ring, that it was not ready. 

He readjusted his plans and decided he was going to propose in Utah on Saturday January 21. I really wanted to be around when the proposal happened, not necessarily at the proposal but around so Rylee and I drove to Utah on Friday the day before and stayed with Joshua. I only told Joshua and Mallory about us coming because I needed to stay with them and we didn't want info about the proposal getting out. It was fun to surprise Joshuas kids and Andrew when we saw them. I had Joshua invite Emily over Saturday morning so we could hang out with her without her knowing we were in town and it was fun to surprise her when she came in and saw us.

Leona and Elizabeth

Little Lord Wyndemere

Amos, Rylee, Leona and Fredrick

Elizabeth and Amos

Ty proposed to Kenedy at the top of the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Gabi and Porter were there to film and take pictures. When they were done Ty sent me a message telling me they were on their way to Joshuas and to hide my car. Kenedy tried FaceTiming me but I ignored it. Avynlea was competing at the TVCI Cheer competition and so I know she assumed I was at the competition and could not answer my phone. When they arrived at Joshuas I was hiding behind the door so I could pop out and surprise her when they walked in. They walked in and I popped out but I did not surprise her because she saw the text Ty sent me on his phone and knew I was in town. Oh well, it was fun to see them anyway, see the ring and hear about the proposal.

Kenedy happened to already have an appointment to try on wedding dresses which I was so happy that I could be there for. She invited Mallory, Emily, Gabi, and Cassie to come and then Rylee and I were able to join them. Kenedy tried on a lot of beautiful dresses and she look gorgeous in every single one of them. She had an idea of one she really liked that she saw on the shops Instagram and in the end that is the one she chose. I am happy that she was able to find a dress, that I could be there for it and that it wasn't a hard process. She knew what she liked and was happy that when she tried it on it looked and felt as good as she hoped.

Gabi, Mallory, Rylee, Kenedy, Elizabeth, Emily and Cassie

At the TVCI competition Avynlea participated in the Jump off that they have at the end of competitions while waiting for awards. I was so proud of her for competing and was so happy to get video of her routines and her jump off participation from friends. 

Paige, Hailey and Avynlea posing with JV's 4th place Pom award

Sunday morning Rylee and I said goodbye to Joshuas family and then we headed over to Emily's so we could go to Sacrament meeting with them. While we were there Kenedy tried on her dress again to show us and so we could admire it some more. This was a fun trip and I am so glad Rylee and I were able to be in Utah for it all.

 

Elder Peterson Week 71

 Last week went by kind of slow, not gonna lie. Not in a bad way though, I think there just wasn't a lot happening. Here's a couple highlights though:

     After pday last Monday I started an exchange with Elder Scibelli in his area. I cannot express how well I slept that night. They live in what used to be a pool house in the backyard of some members. It's one big room, besides the bathroom, but I actually really like it. The best part is that because it's one big room they can put their beds wherever they want. "Why is that so exciting?" I can hear you asking yourselves. If you've served a mission you'll know what I'm getting at here. This was the first time in 16 months that I got to sleep more than 6 feet away from someone. In fact, it was probably around 12 feet of space. I felt like I was sleeping in a room by myself again and it was a fantastic feeling. 

I guess a lot of you are married though... I don't know, I just thought it was great. 

If that place had a dishwasher and laundry machines I'd beg President Larkin to send me there 

     On Thursday we had Zone Conference in Beaumont. It was really nice. Elder LeBaron is the only Elder in this district that I know somewhat well, so It's felt a little lonely since Elder Colt, Frogley, and Gale got transferred out. I caught up with Elder Colt at the Zone Conference and saw some other guys that I haven't seen in a while. The ZC was great too. We talked a lot about including members in our efforts and how to actually do that. President Goodman showed us a great way to help members feel the spirit and I tried it at our dinner with the Andersons and it was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I've had . We read through 3 Nephi 11 and just discussed what it would have been like to be there when the Savior appeared to the Nephites. It talks about how He ministered to each person in the multitude one by one and had them feel the prints in His hands, feet, and side. We all thought about it and it was amazing how tangable the spirit was as we did. 

     That night (that we had dinner with the Andersons) we also had an awesome lesson with Joseph. Brother Aucoin came with us and we had a discussion about the Book of Mormon. We talked about why it is so important to find out if the Book of Mormon is true. We told him that it is either true or it is false. There is no inbetween. We read about what it feels like to feel the spirit and how we can recognize when God is communicating with us through the Holy Ghost. We also read about how God always answers our prayers when we ask in sincerity and with a real intent to act upon the answer we receive. Which brings up an important thing I've realized out here. God does not answer hypothetical questions. He's not going to give us anything we are not ready for. So if someone asks if the Book of Mormon is true, but has no intent of changing if needed, God isn't going to humor them. Moroni tells us that a testimony of this work comes from asking "with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ..." (Moroni 10:4) and that we must begin with reading and pondering to find truth. I have met MANY people who claim to have read the Book of Mormon and tell me that they received no spiritual confirmation of its authenticity or even that they received an answer that it is not true. I testify that every single one of those people did not perform the experiment correctly and they have been deceived. This, I believe, is the sifting factor. God is calling the elect to His ranks and is searching for the humble and meek. He answers the questions of the faithful and the honest seekers of truth. I explained these things to Joseph (in a more simplified way) and asked him a question. I said "Joseph, if you receive God's witness that this book is true, you will then know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that this Church is the only church on Earth with the authority to baptize and perform saving ordinances. If you receive that answer, that we have spoken the truth, are you willing to be baptized?" (that's probably not 100% accurate of my question, but that's essentially what I said).

He said yes.

We then further emphasized how to get that answer and we each shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. It was a powerful lesson. Elder Woodhouse and Heronema did a good job. They taught with the scriptures and with their testimonies. I let them know they did great as we left. 

     I know that God lives and that His son, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of all mankind. The Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is the prophet of God that restored the Church of Jesus Christ with all its doctrine and authority in these days. I love the scriptures and I love my Savior. I love being a missionary.

This work is true. That is my testimony and I treasure that knowledge.

I wish it was easier to express my feelings over an email .

     Have a great week! 

-Elder Peterson

Stinky Sneaker

My girls are always messing around with my phone and taking pictures with it. I never know what I am going to find. Avynlea and Rylee took this picture and I don't know anything about it other then it was taken with my phone.

I got my hair done and the girl dried it and flat ironed it a little bit. That night I decided to try out my curl-formers and the only thing I did was put them in my hair. I didn't wet my hair and I or put any heat on my hair. The next morning when I took them out they had some pretty curl to them. By the end off the day the curls had loosened a lot but I really liked how they turned out. I didn't take. picture of them but believe me when I say they looked cute.

For the week of Stinky Sneaker the girls had dress your stunt group in the same color day for practice. Avynlea's group chose red.

Avynlea. Hailey, Katie

Paige and Delaney

Avynlea is on Student Council this year and she has been really loving it and putting a lot of time and hard work into it. The Stinky Sneaker game ws at Mountain View this year and it was fun to see all of the posters and know that Avynlea was a part of their creation.

Avynlea, Paige and Natalie have stuck together all these cheer years and I love seeing their friendship. They have made. a lot of memories together and I hope they can continue that friendship on.

The cheerleaders and student section for Meridian wore ties to the Stinky Sneaker game because Randy Fouts who created the friendly rivalry game was known for wearing fun ties.

Mountain View ended up winning the game and the Stinky Sneaker competition. I figured they would win the spirit competition because it was at their school and they had their student section down below while ours was up top. They also had the judges on our side facing them and the judges were able to hear and see them better. It was ok, it was a fun game and I am glad Kefford and I were there.

When I got home I took a picture with Rylee. She was at the Owyhee/Eagle friendly rivalry game the Battle of the Bolt. I think Owyhee won that game but I am not sure who won the Battle of the Bolt Spirit Competition.