Letter # 85

Dear Mum and Family

Well it is good to hear from you all again this week. I haven't read everyone's letters yet so I can't say that everyone has had a great week, but I am sure that you all have enjoyed it. 

Everything is going all right here in Swansea. We have had a pretty nice week weather wise, which is always a good sign. The work is still going a little slow when it comes to finding new investigators, but hopefully we see some miracles as we continue to work and be patient. It seems like the Lord is always testing my patience so it must be something I need to improve. 

S****  is doing pretty well he is still working towards Baptism, but we are still trying to help him keep commitments so that he can make the date. He is really involved with the activities of the church and he has been to church the past 3 weeks and has really enjoyed it. It seems like his commitment level is progressing which is a great sign. The ward is excited to get some people moving toward baptism since it has been a few months since they have had one. 

We have lost contact with D*****  so we haven't seen him this week. We don't know if he doesn't want to learn anymore or if he is just busy with school and work. We will continue to try to get in contact.  

The meeting I had on Wednesday was pretty good. It was a long train ride and the meeting was rather long but there were some great things that I can apply when I get the chance. It was just about applying for school and how we can prepare for jobs and looking for jobs. So obviously I can't apply it at the moment. While in my meeting Elder Lam just spent the whole day in Sutton with another missionary and they just went finding all day. 

Elder Shaw took the picture of me and he took it with his iPad. I am glad that you liked the picture of me. I will send you a picture today of the people at the self-reliance meeting. It will be the whole group that I go home with. I am pretty sure that we are the biggest group in the mission. It is pretty big. I hope you like the photo. 

Well I am going to shoot off and reply to a few more emails. I hope you all have a great week. Sorry for the not so thought out spiritual thought but I will try better next week. 

Weekly Thought
It has been a rough week and I haven't really been focused on a spiritual thought for you guys. So I hope you will forgive me but I thought I would just share a quote with you this week and next week I will do better.
Jeffery R. Holland said: 
"Down through history, poverty has been one of human kinds greatest and most widespread challenges.  Its obvious toll is usually physical, but the Spiritual and emotional damage it can bring may be even more debilitating. In any case, the great Redeemer has issued no more persistent call than for us to join Him in lifting this burden from the people."

There are people all around that need our help and could use our help. We pass them every single day. I want to share an experience with you that I had yesterday. I hope you don't think I am boasting because I am not. Yesterday was a pretty rough day for me personally. We had a tough week and all I was thinking about was what needs to be done in this area I am now in. I was thinking a lot about myself. I was being pretty selfish. 
We were out stopping by a few Less Actives and we never found any in which didn't help my frustration. Things just didn't seem to be working. We were walking down a street and in the distance was a little café that had chairs and tables on the outside for people to sit and eat at obviously.  I assume that the café was closing soon because there was a guy outside stacking the chairs.  This guy was in a wheelchair ,he only had one leg, and he was trying to stack the chairs. He was doing quite well but a thought came to my mind to help him. So we asked him and he said we could so we stacked chairs for him and went on our way. 
  
Now it was a simple thing that we did, but that small act turned into something great for my self. Alma 37:6 brought more meaning to my life. 
"by small and simple things are great things brought to pass"
The great thing that was brought to pass for me was I felt joy as we served and I forgot about the struggles we were having. I am positive that he helped me more than I was able to help him.  I realized that there are people to serve everywhere and by forgetting about ourselves and doing the things that the Spirit prompts us to do we find joy. We find that peace when we help the great Redeemer in lifting those around us. 
So my challenge for you is to look for those who are down trodden. Listen to the Spirit and act on those promptings to help others. They are out there and they are everywhere we just need to look and then act.
Have a great week. Thanks for all you do.
Love,
Elder Peterson