Letter # 60

Hello Mum and Family,

Another wonderful week has come from the Peterson family from the sounds of it.  I enjoyed reading all of your letters and replying to them all.  It's good to hear that you are all doing well and that you are keeping busy. I am glad that you all are having fun and enjoying yourselves.  Keep up the fun and working hard in school for those who are in school.

Well this past week has been a pretty good week for me here in England.  The weather has been pretty clear skies, but it is starting to cool off a bit which I am grateful for. I think that it feels quite nice now but my companion is always freezing.  It is weird that it is starting to get a little cooler now because it's supposed to be quite warm still.  People keep on saying that the weather is doing crazy things this year but I don't know because I have only been here a year so I just have to agree with what they say.  

J****** is doing really well.  I wasn't too sure about how committed he was towards baptism so we talked to him this week and I have found out that he is pretty committed.  He understands what he has to do and he knows what he is getting into.  This week when he has a day off we are going to get a hold of the Zone Leaders and they are going to come and do his baptismal interview and he said that he wants to work towards being baptized next week.  I think that he is ready for baptism.  He is such a great guy and I have really enjoyed getting to know him more and helping him to come to know that what we teach is true.  He has made some really big changes in his life because he knows that what have taught him is right. 

We are also teaching this lovely lady named A*****.  I don't think that I have told you much about her but she is a great lady.  She has been taught by missionaries for quite some time now.  She comes to church almost every week and she knows every single member in the ward quite well and they know her we just can't get her baptized no matter what we do.  I do love teaching her though because we have some really great discussions with her and the spirit is so strong during them.  She has a really close relationship with God and so she loves the talks that we have with her and the feelings that she feels.  She owns a music shop in town and doesn't have much success while doing it but the cool thing is she is pretty much a missionary herself.  Everyone that comes in she is just so nice too and she always brings something up about God with them and somehow she throws something about us as missionaries in her conversations.  We have actually taught a few people that she has talked too and J******* is actually one of those people.  We never knew that he was friends with her before but now we do and it's pretty cool.  She is such a great example to me of how I need to be as a member of this church and not just as a missionary.  I am sure that she could be a great example for everyone. 

I hope that you all enjoy the wonderful pictures that I have put in drop box.  I have put some of the castle that we went to last Monday which was a lot of fun.  I also put some of a really big spider that we found in our flat while we were doing studies one day.  It doesn't look as big in the picture as it actually was.  I thought it was cool anyway.  I don't think my companion was too excited about seeing it though.  It was running around the room quite fast every time I would move the furniture out of the way so that I could get a picture of it.  I thought it was way cool.  The last pictures are of the Dowling's Garden which is super nice.  It is the biggest garden that I have seen on my mission so far.  This past week we did service for them and while Elder Fullmer was mowing the lawn Brother Dowling had me climbing one of the big trees and cutting off these huge branches.  It was some great hard work that I loved doing.  

Well before I go on to my spiritual thought I just want to say that I am glad that everyone survived Lyndsey's babysitting this past week.  I have to say that I was pretty worried that they weren't going to make it but I am glad that we have a great loving Grandma that was willing to help her out.  I don't think that she would have been able to do it by herself.  I am glad that you and Dad had an enjoyable time in Salt Lake for the week and I think that it's funny how mum things I am going to come home loving Family History.  haha just kidding I might do a little here and there just to make her happy.

Well it's my favorite time of the letter.  Spiritual thought time!!

We are sent onto this earth by our loving Heavenly Father to learn and to be tested.  During this test of life we change as we learn and apply those things into our lives.  Sometimes we forget that God is placing certain situations in our lives to test us a bit and to help us to grow.  He is helping in the process to help us change and make us into something great.  Sometimes we have things happen to us that we might think are not too pleasant to cope with.  But once we come to understand the plan that God has for us while here on the earth then we learn to make it through hard times with a smile on our face, knowing that these experience we are having is going to make us better and that it is all a part of our Heavenly Father's eternal plan.

C.S. Lewis gives a great analogy on this.  He says: “Imagine yourself as a living house.  God comes in to rebuild that house.  At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing.  He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and it does not seem to make sense.  What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of. He is throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.  You thought you were going to be make it into a decent little cottage: but He is building a Palace."

When we have little trials or tests that change us just a little bit we are usually fine with those, but it's the big tests that cause us to hurt a bit.  Just like in school we worry a little more during our final exams with hard questions and big essays to write more than we do if we are taking a 10 question quiz that's all multiple choice.  In life we get both the big tests and the small quizzes and they both are helping us learn and change.  Once we come to truly understand our Heavenly Father's plan and that He is making us into something great by the tests and experiences that He is giving us in this life, then we are alright with those changes no matter how much they may hurt us at the time. 

Well thanks again for the great letters and I hope that you all have a great week this week.
Love,
Elder Peterson