Elder Peterson Week 77

 Last Thursday we had Zone Conference and it was awesome. The main themes were daily planning, finding, and picking up the pace overall. We led two breakout rooms about these topics and they went pretty good. We had an object lesson for the planning and it didn't go exactly as planned (ironic). We had two people playing connect 4 and one of them was blindfolded. The idea was that doing missionary work without planning is like playing connect 4 with a blindfold on. The problem was that Elder Payne, the one blindfolded, won! It was hilarious, because the other Elder got beat by someone who couldn't even see. We still got our point across by saying that there are miracles sometimes, but they don't come as often when you don't plan.

It was so funny 

The rest of the conference went smoothly, I also got to see some good friends (as usual). It was a fun day and I think we were able to get the point across. 

PLAN EVERY DAY

EFFECTIVELY FIND, EVERY DAY

PICK UP THE PACE, EVERY DAY

Kind of bugs me sometimes that these things have to be repeated so often to experienced missionaries. Oh well though, no one is perfect. I'm definitely not.

     We haven't had our car for most of this week, so we've been carpooling and catching rides for a bit. The other day we decided to just blitz with some other Elders and it was an experience I won't forget...

     Elder Jackson and I met a guy our age and taught him about the Restoration. We talked to him on his front yard and had a great discussion. He also knows several members in the ward over here so there's already some great connections! We taught the apostasy in a way neither of us ever had before and it was awesome! Gabriel (that's the kid) understood and was pretty interested. It was a tender mercy for me, because I haven't taught a good lesson in several days.

      Later that night all 4 of us were in their car and we stopped by someone in their area to see how they were. Elder Nestripke and I stayed in the car with the assumption that it would only be a couple of minutes. The car was left running, so we had AC. But the doors were locked and they still had the key, so we couldn't get out without the alarm going off. After about 10 minutes (we were just making calls while we waited) the car automatically shut off. We weren't too worried because we assumed they would be back any minute. Turns out that the contact turned into a full on lesson. Which is awesome! For them. We sat in that car for about an hour and by the end of it we were sweating profusely and half dead . It got so hot in that car, but we didn't want to disrupt the lesson with a car alarm, so we just sucked it up and kept making calls. The other Elders got back and were super confused until we explained what happened. 

Then they laughed. 

I didn't laugh.

     Besides almost having a heat stroke, this week was awesome! We had great things happen and we expect even more great things this next week. I'll hit 18 months in a couple days!

-Elder Peterson

Elder Frogley and I retook the salad picture. The more vibrant one is from our first zone conference. The one without the stage is last week.

 We also went to the temple last Tuesday with President Ross and some sisters from the Beaumont zone.

Basketball road to State Playoffs

Basketball games are now played to try to get to the District championships and then to get into the bracket for State Playoffs. Meridian played a game against Owyhee and Avynlea was cheering so I went to watch. Meridian lost the game which was a bummer but they had another game against Eagle the next night which if they won would put them in the State Playoffs bracket.

Avynlea had Fierce practice and was only able to be at the Meridian vs Eagle game for about half of it. I was at Mutual that nigh,t we were combined with the younger group and Jess was watching the game on her phone. Her nephew plays for Eagle and since she had the game on I was watching with her. It was such a close game and Meridian ended up barely losing which was so sad. That means Meridian now has to travel to Grangeville to play Lewiston to earn their spot in the bracket for State. Avynlea went with Sadie and her Mom to watch the game. I wanted to go but found out Granville is 4 hour from here and I did not want to travel 8 hours in one day for a basketball game. I told Avynlea to keep me up to date and these were the stats she sent..

end of 1st quarter Meridian 10 Lewiston 18

Halftime M 26 L 28

3rd Quarter M 41 L 43

It was such a close game and the suspense was killing me but the final score was...

Meridian 55 Lewiston 54

We made it into the State Playoffs Bracket!!!!

Avynlea was so excited and so was I, I was so glad she was able to be at the game and she said it was so tense and she was so stressed but when they won she could not stop shaking she was so excited and she almost cried!

We will now play Owyhee in the first game of the State playoffs which does not bode well for us because they are the district champions and they won State last year but at least we made it to the playoffs. I am also glad that Avynlea's High School cheer career is not over quite yet!

 

Elder Peterson Week 76

 (Pday is today because President's Day was yesterday and we were out working)

   This past week was pretty good, interesting for sure. Last Tuesday we went to do service at a place called Christian Care. It's another place that distributes food to those in need. It was really fun helping out there, we were mainly restocking items in the back. We also got to hand people their food, which I enjoyed a lot.

     We also had a family in the ward invite us to go to their son's soccer game the other day. It was super fun. They're the Pirates, which I thought was pretty cool. They didn't win, unfortunately, but it was still a fun game to watch. Plenty of soccer drama 

     

     I think I've described what President Ross's place is like. He's got a huge garden and it's really well decorated and organized. On Saturday he had some of us missionaries help him do some work in it. I wasn't having the greatest day, so that manual labor greatly improved my mood. Crazy how that works...

     Sunday night Elder Nestripke and I were walking down a road we already walked not too long ago (so we were a tad bit skeptical, but faithful) and we had a great contact. We knocked on a woman named Keeli's door and shared with her what we do. She seemed pretty curious and agreed to have us come by the next day (yesterday)! We showed up yesterday and had to sit on her porch since her husband wasn't home. We started talking and realized that she had absolutely zero religious background. WHAT!? I have never met someone down here that is actually a blank slate. Neither has Elder Nestripke. So we started with the basics, talking about God and the Gospel. We stumbled a couple times because this was so new for both of us, but it went great. She was asking fantastic questions and was willing to try praying until we come back. It was an awesome experience, even with her cat swatting at my arm while I was trying to share my testimony . We are excited to meet again, we'll be praying that her curiosity remains and that she will actually pray and feel some peace about what we've shared.

     That experience with Keeli was really cool because I feel like it was the first time that I was teaching someone where the biggest concern of theirs was not Book of Mormon. We were able to talk about basic stuff, like our relationship with God. The biggest thing I kept emphasizing to her was that this Gospel is meant to bless families and that the entire purpose of existence is centered on families. She has a couple little kids and I promised her that she can be with her family forever, a truth that means everything to me. I'm so grateful for this Gospel. It brings me so much joy to be able to share with others the fact that families are meant to be forever.

     Interesting note: we did the ice baths again yesterday and I actually did enjoy it this time. I sat in that water for 15 minutes (5 times longer than last time). I felt really good after it.

     Well, I hope ya'll have a great week!

-Elder Peterson

• Brother Brasher's Porsche 911 Carrera (the member who took us to the soccer game)

The crusty cat that lives on the Ross

• Compound (he didn't like the hat I gave him)

• Ice bath round 2

Kenedy and Tyler Engagement Pictures

 

Kenedy and Ty had their engagement pictures done in downtown Salt Lake City. Kenedy texted me that morning saying Ty forgot his nice shoes and a belt and she was ready to murder him. I was a little worried about how the pictures would turn out considering the mood of the Bride but they both pulled it together and the pictures turned out beautiful.

Kenedy turns 23

 I did not get any pictures of Kenedy from her 23rd birthday, but I still wanted to write my traditional 5 things I love about Kenedy for her birthday.

5 things I love about Kenedy

1. I love that Kenedy got her teaching degree. She is the first one in our little family to get her Bachelors degree including Kefford and I and I love that she stuck with it and got it done. Her four years of college was not always easy, the covid shutdowns happened in the middle of it and so she had to do online school which was hard and then getting back to in classroom learning was a slow process. She is such a good example for her younger siblings of getting her degree and I am so proud of her.

2. I love that Kenedy is teaching Kindergarten and I know she is such a cute and awesome teacher. She applied for teaching positions at different schools but was really hoping to get a job at Eastwood Elementary in Salt Lake City and she was hired there to teach Kindergarten! After her interview she was told it would take about a week for them to come to a decision and let her know but she got a call offering her the job within the hour of her interview which was fun! 

3. I love how relaxed Kenedy is with wedding planning. She has her ideas and things she wants but she is not a Bridezilla at all. She is super chill about everything and I love how non-stress she is helping with the planning. She is accepting of the budget and is helpful with giving ideas in keeping things less expensive.

4. I love how spiritual Kenedy is. She loves going to the Temple and really tries hard to stay close to her Heavenly Father. She lets her light shine and attends church every week. I love how good of an example she is for Ty who is still new in the Gospel and know she will raise her kids in the church and be a constant example to them of loving and following her Savior.

5. I love that Kenedy wants to eventually live in Idaho close to us. She has always talked about wanting to move and live somewhere else which would make me sad. For the past year or so she has changed her thinking and now she wanted to live closer to us and has talked about eventually settling down in Eagle. Who knows what the future brings for her and Ty, they could end up in a lot of different places depending on what he does for work but I love that Kenedy has seen the value and found the desire in living close to her family.

Avy and friends

Kenedy sent a picture of Ty helping some of er students with their Valentine crafts. 

Avynlea went to dinner with Natalie, Paige and Paige's family for Paige's 18th birthday. I like the picture of Avynlea looking like a baby bird, she was catching the food that was being tossed to her.

Avynlea at school..

Sadie, Ruby, Madison and Avynlea

 

Valentine's Day

For Valentines Day I made my family a delicious breakfast of waffles and strawberry milkshakes. I also made them Oreo Truffles and designed them each a special card on Canva. 

Kenedy sent a picture of her and her student Kai, Kai has the biggest crush on his teacher as told to Kenedy from his Mom.

Arin invited us ladies out to Top Golf for a Galentines get together. I had fun doing average at Golf and visiting with everyone.

After Top Golf I went around and delivered sugar cookies I made to my friends in the neighborhood. About half didn't answer the door so I left them on the doorstep.

Kefford called to let me know he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go out to dinner so after I picked up Rylee from Lacrosse practice we went to McDonald's, her choice, picked up food for us all and then went home to watch a movie all together. It was nice to be at home with my family and I did not miss going out on this restaurant busy holiday at all.

 

Elder Peterson Week 75

 So this area is awesome. This area is almost exactly what I expected from a texan mission. The only thing missing is the deserts. I love the people here, they're usually pretty respectful when rejecting us . We don't have a ton going on, but I am really enjoying it here. We live on what's called the "Ross Compound." President Ross (a counselor in the mission precidency) lives on an acre or so of land and has built a couple little dorm looking buildings to house missionaries. There are six elders (including myself) living there and it is awesome. One of the best parts is that he lets us take food from his fridge .

     On Friday we did an exchange with Elder Jensen and Elder Burton and I was in their area with Elder Burton. It was a fun exchange, it was cool seeing how much Elder Burton has learned since our last exchange (when I was his district leader). We also got to go to dinner with a family I didn't get to say goodbye to. So now I have said goodbye! I also got to play Elder Lawless's accordion (picture below), which was really fun. 

     After the exchange we got back to Vidor and then went to a member's house to take ice baths. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. They are crazy. But they made it seem super interesting, so I gave in and gave it a try. You can see how much I enjoyed it from the picture below. 

     That night we went and did some finding and had a really cool experience. We knocked on a door and a super nice guy came out and invited us right in before we even introduced ourselves. He was playing some games with his two sons and just let us join. We talked and got to know them for a while and then we shared a little spiritual message. He is familiar with the Book of Mormon and doesn't think he believes it, BUT, he said he's open to talk about it and tell us his questions and concerns. It was a fantastic way to finish a freezing cold day.

     This week has been great, I'm excited for this next week. Hopefully that family (the wards (I've met a lot of awesome Wards on my mission )) will let us come over again sometime to talk about his questions.

Have a great week!

-Elder Peterson

State Cheer

Districts and State were only a week apart which was not a lot of time to really effectively change anything in the routines. Avynlea had early morning as well as afternoon practices all week which made for a long week. The theme on this day was Dynamic Duos and Avynlea and Paige went as Mario and Luigi. I love that these hats I made so long ago are still getting use!

Christina had State shirts made for the girls which was a nice thing for her to do, they also have all of their names on the back. Us cheer parents were able to order some short sleeved ones to wear to the State Competition so I did get one.

The girls had to take their name stickers off their boxes and turn them in to Christina since they no longer need them this season. That was a sad day for Avynlea who has had her box for the three years she has been on Varsity, she did sign her name inside it and hopefully it doesn't get painted over.

The craziest thing happened today. I went to the store this morning after the temple to get Ryker some things for your valentines package and brought them home and got a package ready to send to him. I really didn't want to go back out to ship it so I put that off for a while. At about 2ish I called my Mom to tell her Happy Birthday and when she didn't answer I decided to leave to send Ryker's package. I got my shoes on and got ready to go when my Mom called me back so I put off leaving again . I decided to leave at 4:45 to go to the UPS store to send the package and then from there I was going to go pick up Rylee from Practice. So I went into the store and they were able to help me right away. As the guy was measuring the package and putting the info in I could hear the woman next to me talking about sending a missionary package. I looked over and tried to catch her eye so I could be like look me too but she didn't and then the guy helping me started talking so I paid attention to him. He said out loud this is going to the Texas Houston East Mission and I said yes. The woman next to me heard and turned to me and said you have a missionary in the Texas Houston Mission and I said yes.... IT WAS ELDER FROGLEYS MOM!!!!!! Ryker's first companion and basically his Mission Bestie. What are the odds of that happening!!?? We started talking and talked for a long while before I was like I need to go. So we exchanged information and are going to get together sometime soon. I was 20 minutes late picking up Rylee but she was understanding especially when I told her what happened. This was not just a crazy coincidence; this had to have been orchestrated by the Lord. I don't know why but it was pretty fun and I really like his Mom a lot. 

Avynlea got her uniform for Fierce cheer and tried it on for me. She is wearing a mesh liner underneath but unfortunately it does not fit very well and Avynlea does not like the black. I will have to order her a new one and in nude, I hope the new one is not as sheer.

Camille Summers is a member of our church who we got to know and would see every Tuesday before Covid at my kids regular Baptism time. Her daughter cheers for Rocky and she knew Avynlea cheered for Meridian and we would talk about cheer often. We don't have that regular time we go anymore but I will see Camille at the competitions and it is fun to visit. Her daughter Kaisley is also cheering for Fierce this year which is a lot of fun. Camille got a picture of Hannah, Kaisley and Avynlea together before the competition started 

Kenedy and Tyler came up this weekend to watch Avynlea at State but also to take her wedding dress to Nyssa to have Julene Bowens alter it for her. She just needed a little bit let out in the arms and then the hem needed to be taken in. They were coming late Thursday night and Kefford had Baker in the morning so as he was going to bed he told me that when they came to take the visiting upstairs. I told him that we were not going to visit, they were going to arrive and I was going to say hi and then go to bed. He again said make sure to keep the visiting upstairs, weird. When they arrived Emily came in with them which was a surprise and suddenly the visiting upstairs comment made sense. I was so happy to see her and we did go upstairs to visit and we ended up talking until 2:30 in the morning, yikes. 

It was so fun having Emily at the State Competition with me, my family misses out on so much in my kids lives and so it is always so special when I have family with me.

I also loved having Kenedy and Ty there with us, having them there was so much fun and I am glad they were able to be with us.

Emily, Elizabeth, Kefford, Kenedy and Ty

I got another prayer huddle picture with the small stunt group. They put in some changes in their routine and they did not do as well as they hoped at this competition which was really sad. Later I asked Avynlea how she was feeling and she was so positive and said that it was a bummer it didn't perform as well but she know if they had more time to practice and do more repetitions she knows they would have done amazing. I love her positive attitude and her glass half full mentality!

Our support for Avynlea was out there for everyone to see, we love our girl!

Avynlea is back row third from right

Avynlea is in the back right of the group in front of the team in red

Team love

Small stunt group with Alyssa. Alyssa was the coach in charge of their stunt group and she did a great job supporting and helping them.

Katie, Roree, Kylee, Avynlea, Hannah and Alyssa

Avynlea and Alyssa

Avynlea, Paige, Katie and Natalie

back row: Diana, Ty, Kenedy, Kefford, Elizabeth and Emily

front row: Natalie, Amy and Diego

Avynlea and Kenedy

Ty, Avynlea and Kenedy

Ty and Avynlea

I think Kenedy likes having a fiancé who is tall and strong and can lift her easily

Emily, Avynlea, Elizabeth and Kenedy

Emily and Avynlea

Kefford, Elizabeth, Emily, Avynlea, Kenedy and Ty

There is no escaping Natalie's Fat Head!

Kefford, Avynlea and Elizabeth

Avynlea, Natalie and Paige

Elizabeth, Diana and Amy

I love these ladies!

Camille also sent me a picture of all the girls at the competition who Chee at Fierce in a picture together. The girl in the jeans is a coach at Mountain View but is also one of their coaches at Fierce.

back row: Brenna, Ellie, Hannah, Kaisley, Dreya, Tori, Carlee and Coach Allie

front row: Avynlea, Alayna and Aliya