Letter #96

Dear Mum and Family,

It sounds like a very eventful week for the Peterson family. Haha. There has been so much going on and it seems like the common theme this week was injuries. Haha. It has been funny to read the stories of everyone getting hurt.  Luckily no one is seriously injured which is a plus. I guess that will teach you not to do anything on Friday the 13th. Haha. I am glad that everyone is okay and from the sounds of it Doctor Chelsey is making sure everyone recovers from their injuries.   What would you all be doing without her?

It was good to hear that you were being very friendly to the Elders when you saw them. I can imagine how grateful they were for your wonderful service. I have never had anyone offer me a ride so they are so lucky to have members that see them and are willing to give them rides. I am always going to give missionaries rides throughout the rest of my life. 

We have had a very nice week with some great service opportunities. Something very crazy is there is an investigator named N****** who lives here in Stourbridge. The crazy thing is I taught her when I served in Sheldon and she has moved here and the sisters are teaching her. We did some service for her this past week and she was so happy to see me. She is a great lady. It was fun to see her again. 

We have had some other great service projects this past week that have been enjoyable. We also have also just been doing normal missionary work. Knocking on doors, visiting members, and teaching a few people here and there. I am really enjoying this area and best part is the weather has been super nice for us. Hasn't rained in quite a few days, which I won't complain about. It's been way warm too. Not to make you jealous or anything mother. Haha

Well I don't know what else to say.  That is really our week and it seems like it's the same every week so I don't want to bore you with the same things each week. 
I guess I will share my ponderizing scripture since no one else did, except for mum of course. I guess she is the only one that receives the blessings. Haha

Weekly thought
Well to be honest I haven't done as much ponderizing on the scripture this week that I have wanted to. I have been studying a lot of other things so I hope that a few things that I share with you will be of benefit to you in some way. 

The scripture was obviously Omni 1:1 which you have all read and know. Just for a reminder it says. 
"Behold, it came to pass that I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates, to preserve our genealogy"
The first time I read it I thought about the last part talking about genealogy and the importance of them keeping records. As I looked at it more I focused a lot more on the part where Omni says that he is commanded by his father to write in the Book of Mormon. 
I then looked through the whole book of Omni, which is not long, and I read all the accounts of different people that wrote in this book. They didn't write much, but they were commanded to write in them for a reason. The more I think about it the more I realize how precious this amazing book of scripture is and how blessed we are to have it.  Just think of the Book of Mormon and how it has blessed your life.

The scripture are there for our benefit. They testify of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and what we need to do to become like him so we are ready for his second coming. It is getting closer each day. Obviously we don't know when it will be, but we need to "live today as if you will meet Jesus this evening, but plan your life as though you will live to be 100 years old. (Richard Neitzel Holzapfel)

So how can we prepare and be ready for the second coming of the Savior?
President Howard W. Hunter said
"We ought to have a Church full of women and men who know the scriptures thoroughly, who cross-reference and mark them, who develop lessons and talks from the Topical Guide, and who have mastered the maps, the Bible Dictionary, and the other helps that are contained in this wonderful set of standard works. There is obviously more there than we can master quickly. Certainly the scriptural field is “white already to harvest”
A scripture came to my mind on how we can study the scriptures. It's 2 Nephi 4:15

"And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures, and my heart pondereth them, and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children."

This scripture shows 3 ways that we need to read the scriptures. 
1. We need to delight in them
2. We need to ponder them
3. We need to write them into our lives or in other words apply them. 

As we search the scriptures diligently we will profit from them. (Mosiah 1:7). We just need to put in the time and effort which can be pretty hard. Everyone in the world is so busy with so many different things that need to be done. We have been blessed greatly though. How easy is it for us to access scriptures today?  It is way to easy. You don't have to carry around your triple combination everywhere in order to have your scriptures with you. Everyone has some sort of technological device where they can have easy access to the scriptures. 

As I have been studying the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, throughout my mission I have come to understand the importance of everything that is written for us to study and learn from. There were so many amazing prophets that went through so much so that we could have the scriptures today. I know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are given to us by a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to read them, ponder them, and apply them to our lives. 

I have been greatly blessed as I have studied them each day and I know that you to can be blessed as you set aside time each day to study the scriptures.
I hope that it wasn't too long for you this week and that it made sense.
I hope that all goes well this week. Have a good one!!
Love,
Elder Peterson