Monday, June 6, 2016

Letter # 99

Dear Mum and Family.

I would change the beginning of the letter, but the last time I did mum wasn't very happy with me so I guess I will have to keep it. Sorry. Haha
Well it's been a pretty great week. It ended amazing that's for sure. As I told you we were able to go and learn from and Apostle of the Lord yesterday and it was amazing. Elder Oaks is an amazing apostle. The spirit was so strong in that meeting and there was a lot to learn. I will share some of it in my thought with you today since it has to do with the Sabbath day. 

I was able to see lots of people I knew from past areas that I serve in at that conference which was definitely a tender mercy. Most of the people I saw were from the Tamworth area, mostly because they seemed to gather in a big group. So once I saw one then I saw them all. Haha. It was great to chat a little bit with them and to see how they were doing. It seems like not much has changed in the area, but the members are as strong as ever. I was not able to see the Stilgers though. I tried to look for them but had no luck. There were just too many people there. 

One person I was most excited to see there was J***** M*****. If you don't remember he is the one that Elder Fullmer and I baptized when we served in Tamworth. It was great to see him and hear what he thought of the meeting. It's crazy to think that he will be hitting his year mark since his baptism soon. Time has gone so fast I can't believe it. 
Well I was told about the camping trip from everyone and from the sounds of it you like to lie mum. Apparently dad caught the biggest fish and you are just saying that you did because you want to feel like you are the best fisher. I think you need to repent of you fibbing acts and tell the truth next week in your letter. Haha

The work is going pretty well. We have been doing our best to get things all picked up for the sisters leaving the area. We found out that there will be new sisters back into the area in two weeks. Then we will have our area back to ourselves and we won't have to worry about all their investigators. Obviously we will have to help them get into the swing of things, but I am sure they will be fine. 

Other than that not much has changed or been really that exciting. Just doing what we can to help the area and to strengthen the members. It is going pretty well and the members really like us I think. At least they make it seem like they like us. Haha. 
I think this week will be a better week now that we have everything more organized and ready for the work. Luckily it didn't take us too long to get everything organized I have to say that the sisters weren't very organized with their area book. That was a surprise. You can learn slot about missionaries from their area books that's for sure. Haha

Well I better get to my thought since I am already boring you with everything else. If you endure the thought well I will leave you with some jokes afterwards. Haha that will motivate you to actually finish it this week. Haha. By the way if I missed any of your questions that's my fault. You will have to ask me again if you really want them answered. Haha
Weekly Thought
Well I have another spiritual thought for you all today and am pretty excited to share a few things with you that I have come to learn this past week about the Sabbath day. As I told you I was blessed, along with many others in the stakes, to go and listen to an Apostle of the Lord speak to us. It was a amazing experience as I said earlier in my letter. 
Interestingly enough he spoke about the Sabbath a bit which is perfect for this weeks ponderizing scripture and I hope that I can share some of the things he said in a way that you will be able to understand it and learn from it as much as I did.

Quite a few months ago the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency gathered together to discuss some things about the church and how it is progressing. The looked at the church as a whole and they looked at the progression of the church in ten-year periods. As an example Elder Oaks said that in his home ward in Utah, when he was a younger boy, the church attendance for his ward was at 15% and he looked at it through time to where it is now at 50% attendance. 

So they did something like that to the whole of the church.  Again they looked at in in ten year periods. They noticed that the past ten years or so it hasn't really changed much. Elder Oaks said we have hit a plateau as a church.  The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve looked at this and discussed what they thought could help this.
They didn't come up with any answers straight away, but they put lots and lots of time into studying and pondering about this topic. It was a big thing for them at the time to receive guidance on what they can do to help us as a church get out of that plateau. After much praying, fasting, studying, pondering, and everything else that they did they met up another time to discuss what they have received. They came to the conclusion that focusing on the Sabbath day and how we can make it a more holy and special than we are was the solution. 

I am sure that you have recognized lately in the church the big push for Sabbath day observance. The church has been coming out with loads of things of how we can improve our own Sabbath Day. If you go onto LDS.org there is loads of things just on the front page. Well it's because the brethren have received inspiration that this is what needs to be focused on to help us as a church to Come Unto Christ more fully. 
The other day I was chatting with someone about the Sabbath day. He was a more seasoned member of the church you could say so he has watched the world and its Sabbath day observance change through out his life. He said that when he was younger it use to be called the Holy Sabbath, then it went to the Sabbath, then eventually people called it Sunday, and now days it's just a weekend. Sunday is not really that special day to worship, which is sad. 

Moses 3: 2-3 were the scriptures that we ponderized this past week. 
2 And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good;
3 And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it I had rested from all my work which I, God, had created and made.
The Lord created this wonderful earth in six days and he, himself, set the seventh day aside to rest from His labors. As it says in verse three he sanctified the seventh day or in other words He made the seventh day a Holy Day. As with everything the Lord set the example for us to follow. 

I am positive that you are all making the Sabbath day a special day as you worship the Lord. I know that we all can improve just a little more though. I know I can definitely do something just a little better to improve my Sabbath day observance. I don't know what you can improve on, but I am sure you know and if you are not sure I know for a fact that your Heavenly Father knows. It is probably little simple things that we can change a little to make it more special and centered on the Savior. 
I hope we can all ponder, study, and pray to our Heavenly Father asking Him "What lack I yet?"  By making His day more Holy he will bless us so much more. He has blessing that he wants to shower down on us, but we are preventing them from coming because we are doing, or are not doing, something on His Holy day. 
Thanks for enduring through another one of my thoughts this week. I hope you didn't fall asleep at the computer. 

Here is a joke for you guys to wake you up a bit. 
How many relief society women does it take to change a light bulb?
Four. One to change the light bulb, one to bring the table cloth, one to bring the centre piece, and one to bring the refreshments. 
How many High Priests does it take to change a light bulb?
Three.  One to change the light bulb and two to hold the wheelchair. 
How many Bishops does it take to change a light bulb?
None. He calls together a ward counsel and gets the Elders to do it. 
How many Elder does it take to change a light bulb.
Four. One to change the light bulb and three to not show up. 

I hope you all have a great week. Keep smiling!!  You can make someone's day by simply smiling. There isn't much of that in the world today. Plus we have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives so why shouldn't we be smiling. We are so blessed. Let's help others feel that same joy. 
Love,
Elder Peterson 


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