Letter #49

Hello Mum and Family,

Well it was good to hear from you all and to hear about the great time that you all had as you went to the temple this past week.  I really hope that you had a great time while you were able to feel the great peace that was there.  Thanks for taking the challenge that I gave you all to try and make it.  I know that you will be blessed for taking time out of your day to attend the temple.

From the sound of it there is a lot going on this next week back home.  I can't believe that Austin is coming home this week.  It is crazy how fast the time has flown.  You will have to give him two hugs when you see him.  One from you and one from me.  I am sure that he will have some great stories and great experiences to share.  Also that is really cool that Andrea and Payden are receiving their endowments. You will have to tell them congratulations for me.  That is really cool thanks for letting me know all of these great things that are happening.

This past week I had a lot of fun.  We haven't been able to play any sports here because we just don't have anyone to play with us.  It is kind of a bummer because I do really miss playing sports.  Something that was cool this past week though is the service that we were able to do for some members.  They had some really big bushes on the side of their house that they wanted us to cut down and pull the roots out.  It was so much fun because I really missing doing physical labor like that. There were two good parts about doing the service.  It was raining outside which made it even more fun to do the service and after we were done working we had a nice barbecue with their family. They are such a great family and it was a lot of fun.  This week they want us to come over and help them cut down 12 big trees that are in their back yard.  They were going to have it done but once they found out how much it was they decided that they could get it done for free if they just asked the missionaries.  So on Saturday, the day before Mums birthday, (You thought I forgot) they are going to feed us breakfast at 10:00 in the morning and we are going to cut down some trees so its going to be fun.

So I have a couple of really cool things to tell you this week.  First of all do you remember the investigator in Llanelli named M*** that I was teaching before I left.  Well he is getting baptized this coming up Sunday.  Yeah on Mums birthday!  (You thought that I forgot huh)  One of the Elders that is serving there told me today in an email and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I am so excited for him.

The other thing that I wanted to tell you about is that we have had a couple of miracles this past week.  We talked with a guy yesterday named M****.  He has been taught by missionaries before quite a while ago but for some reason he stopped listening to them.  We stopped by his house a couple of days ago and we set up an appointment to see him yesterday.  We had a great lesson with him.  He was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it.  The spirit was definitely strong while we were teaching him and I know that he had to of felt it.  He said that he is really interested in the Book of Mormon and that he is going to read it as much as he can this next week before we see him again on Sunday. Yeah Mums birthday!  (you thought I forgot huh)

Another really cool miracle is yesterday while we were walking around (Elder Jarvis's bike broke so we walked. Funny thing was his bikes name was old Faithful.  Not very faithful huh) visiting people we got a text message from an investigator that hasn't been seen by missionaries for a while.  Apparently he and his wife want to meet up with us this next Saturday.  The day before Mums birthday.  (you thought I forgot huh)

Apparently they have gone through a hard time in life because his father passed away just recently and they have been trying a lot of different churches and none of them seem to work for them.  I am sure that we will be able to help them out though. So that is the miracles that we have had in Tamworth this past week.

So here is my spiritual thought for you all.

So I have been reading a little bit about faith.  I really like how we can read that faith is believing in something that we can't really see.  It is funny in the world how so many people think that seeing is believing. “The natural man discovers the world through the five senses, demanding signs of proof."  We can actually find in the Book of Mormon a couple of examples of people whose five senses were actually used and they still didn't believe in Christ.

Laman and Lemuel are a great example.  They saw an angel, they heard the Lord's voice when they were chastened, they felt God's power when Nephi stretched forth his hand and shook them with the power of God, and they tasted and smelled the food that was sweet and didn't have to be cooked when the Lord blessed them with it. Even though all of their five senses were used they still rebelled against God.

So really we don't need all of these big signs to know that God is really there and to have faith in him.  I would like to share a quote that shows that we have all of these little signs every single day that are actually revelation and promptings and we might not even know it.

"Those hoping for just one spectacular experience to help define their testimony don't realize that the greater testimony and witness of the Spirit comes to us daily, in many small ways, such as the last time you underlined your scriptures. Think about it.  The reason you underlined your scriptures is because you received an impression, an insight, an "Aha!" An impression is revelation."

I really love what Elder Lynn G. Robbins was saying there because it makes total sense.  He also talks about how when we have a prompting or a feeling to help someone or when we feel that we need to be kind to someone that is also from the spirit.  So I guess as you go throughout this week try to recognize the Spirit in your life because there are so many times when we do we just don't know it.
I hope that you all have a great week and thanks for all of the great letters.

Love,
Elder Peterson

PS I have sent two letters home.  One for Dad for Father’s day and One for Mum for her birthday.