Letter #43

Well hello again family,

It was really good seeing you all yesterday and hearing how you are all doing. I was actually not that surprised to open up my email and to see the long email that mum sent even though I just talked to you all yesterday.  It was good to see you all and to talk to you for the little time that it was.  I really don't have anything to say because I think it was all covered yesterday.  I hope that you all have a great week and before I go I will have to give you another quote for the week to keep you all going strong.

“We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today.  Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of what we can become.  Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won't for He sees us as the people we are capable of becoming."
- Joseph B Wirthlin

I was told by one of the members yesterday that on his mission one of the general authorities said that if you could see the people behind the doors when you go tracting and what they can become if they were to accept the gospel then you would run from door to door.  I believe that is how Heavenly Father sees us.  He knows what we can become if we were to do certain things in our life. Even though we have the gospel in our lives already just think of what God can see in us if we were to do all that we could to live the gospel fully.  There is always something that we can improve on each and every day.  Sometimes we have to look hard for it and sometimes we can see it quite plainly.  I would like to encourage you all to find something this week that you can maybe do a little better at whether it be reading your scriptures more frequently, being a little more diligent in your calling, finding more ways to serve, or whatever it may be and try to improve in it.  I know that as you do these things you will be able to improve on them you will become closer to your Heavenly Father.

Well I hope that you all have a great week and keep being the great family that you are.
Love,
Elder Peterson

Elder Peterson Skype his family on Mothers's Day May 10, 2015

His Brother and Sister's
May 10, 2015

Elder Peterson's  Grandma Crossley
May 10, 2015

Elder Peterson's Parents
May 10, 2015

Letter # 42

Hello Mom and Family,

It sounds like you have all had a great week this last week going up to the dam and camping this last weekend.  From the pictures that you sent it looks like it was a lot of fun and that you all enjoyed your weekend up there.  I am glad to see that dad got dropped on by some birds.  I don't want to make fun of him because it happened to me about 6 weeks ago when I was walking through the town center.  Luckily we were walking to the flat for lunch and we were pretty close to the flat so I didn't care too much.  So dad I know exactly how you felt when it happened to you.  

Well this last week was a pretty tough week for us.  We have still been doing a lot of finding with just a little bit of teaching in there.  Finding has been kind of rough for me because I see a lot of the same people all the time when I walk through town.  We are also having a really hard time finding people who are interested in learning more.  We do have some pretty good ideas for this next week to maybe help us out a little bit and make it more fun.  I am sure that mom is going to be excited to hear that we are going to try and put up a family history stand in city center and hopefully we will get some success with that.  We don't know when we are going to do it and if we don't do it this week we will definitely be doing it sometime soon.  We also have a couple other things that we want to try out so I am hoping that we will see some great success this next week.

Speaking of family history I didn't know that there was going to be a big indexing thing going on until I looked at the church news on the church website.  I thought that you would all be doing it so I was just wondering if you were or not. I haven't heard of anyone doing it over here so I don't know if they are doing it or not.  I am not sure if anyone is doing it over here but I am sure that there are probably a few people that are doing it.

Well I have some bad news for you all.  We did have the iPad training meeting this last week and it was definitely a long travel to get there.  We were on a coach for about 4 hours and we were up at 2:45 in the morning.  I was really exhausted the few days after that long day.  The bad news is we traveled all the way to the mission home and back for the training and we didn't receive the iPads yet.  I have no idea when we are going to be getting them but I will let you know when we do obviously.  

Well I don't really have much time because it is another bank holiday and we are at the church emailing with one computer.  I am sorry that I wasn't able to reply to all of your emails this week but I promise that I will speak to you all in a few days.   I am sure that you all won't be sleeping much that night so just have the iPad next to you at all times.

Well like I said I don't have much time and before I go I just want to say something about the quote that I sent last week.  When I truly think of whom I really am I think of being a child of God.  When you come to know that you are a child of God and that he is always there for you at all times then you will have no need to feel inferior.  
Well I hope you all have a great week and I can't wait to speak to you all on Sunday.
Love,
Elder Peterson

Letter #41

Hello Utah Mum and Family,

I would like to start off by saying that I am super excited to Skype you all on Mother’s day which is May 23rd.  I can't believe that we still have a few more weeks, but I am really sure that it will go fast and I am excited to see you all at the end of this next month and see what you have all been up to.  I really hope and pray that I will still have a nice American accent because I know that if I don't you probably won't be able to understand me.

Well I can’t wait to tell you the biggest most best news that I have for you this week.  So on Wednesday at 3:50 a.m. (That's about 8:50 p.m. on Tuesday for you Americans) we will be catching a train and going to Birmingham for (wait for it)  IPAD training!! That's right we will be getting up early and having a long ride to the mission home and we will be getting our IPad sometime before Mother’s day.  For some reason I thought that Mother’s day was on the 10th of May, but  I now know that it is on the 23rd of May that gives us more time to get them before Mother’s day.  I can't wait for the iPads.  It is going to be a little different having iPads and doing missionary work with them, but at the same time it is going to help us a lot I believe to help others understand the church more and what we do as missionaries.  I hope that you are also all excited for me to be receiving an iPad and I am sure that you are all jealous too.

Well it sounds like you all have had a great week and that you are also getting ready for another camping trip.  Because mum tried cheating and used Google translate and typed my email in welsh it didn't quite translate it perfectly so there are a few things that didn't quite make sense and there were a few things that it didn't even translate, but from what I got it sounds like you are all going to the Dam and that there are a few people going with you.  I hope that you all have a great time and that you enjoy all of the nice weather.  I really hope that it doesn't rain on you while you are up there.  Haha

Elder Devitt is a really cool guy and we get along quite well. He has been out for about 22 months and he is still working hard and we are having a great time here in Llanelli.  It is still pretty hard and we are still having a hard time finding people who are ready for the gospel, but we are still working hard to find them.  We pretty much did a lot of finding again this last week and not much teaching.  Sorry that it's kind of boring to hear every week that all we really did was try and find people, but that is really all we do and that's all I got to tell you.  We didn't go to the family history thing last week because it was not the most effective thing to do so we just went and played football.  Just kidding we didn't play football, but we really didn't go to the Family History activity because we didn't have any investigators that were going. 

I do have some pretty exciting news for you all about one of our investigators.  I think that I have already told you about R****** and how we found her and she has been progressing really well.  We wasn’t  able to teach her this last week because we couldn't find any time that worked for her and for us so hopefully we will be able to teach her this week.  The exciting news is that she is almost ready to be baptized.  I have figured out that if we can teacher her two times this week she will be able to be baptized in about 2 weeks at the earliest.  She is so amazing and has really gained a testimony of the gospel and is enjoying coming to church and learning.  I am so excited to see her and help her to reach her baptismal date and to be baptized.

Well I really don't have much to say other than I am still excited to talk to you on Skype on the 23rd of May. Before I let you go I will have to share a quote with you.  I can't end my letter without one of those.
  
This week’s quote is a pretty deep quote and I am not going to add anything to the end of it because I want you to think about it and to think of what it means to you.
"If you really knew who you were you would never feel inferior again."
I want you all to think this week who you really are.

I hope that you all have a great week and that you have a lot of fun camping up at the dam.   Have some fun but remember that the party doesn't fully start unless I am there.
Love, 
Elder Peterson
PS I can't wait to see all your faces on the 23rd of May

Letter #40

Dear Mum and Family,

I am sure that you are all wondering where I am now at in the EBM (England Birmingham Mission) and who I am serving with.  Well I know a little earlier this time because President Rasmussen has training for Ipads this Wednesday and we are not going to be able to all move around that day.  So he has done transfers a little earlier this time and I already have my new companion and I am already in my new area.  I have to say that my companion is really cool and I know that we are going to have a great transfer together.  My companions name is Elder Devitt.  He is from Alpine UTAH.  Yes a companion from Utah that is how I know we are going to get along so well because we are both from the same wonderful state.  Now I am sure that you are all wondering where I am serving and I am sure that it will be a surprise to you when I tell you.  I am still serving in Llanelli Wales and it is a little weird because I will have spent a quarter of my mission in this one area which is a little unusual.  I am excited though to be here. And it looks like I will be skyping you from the same area that I did when I Skype on Christmas. That is a little crazy to think about.

Well this past week has been pretty crazy and I have had a great time.  It sounds like you all have also had a great time and that you have all enjoyed seeing the 2nd Mall Cop movie.  It sounds like it was a great movie and I hope that you are all keeping track of the movies that have come out since I have been gone so that I can watch all of them right when I get back.  I told Caden that was his responsibility, but I am sure that you can all help him so that he doesn't forget some of them.

It is good to hear that the family is doing well and that everyone is enjoying themselves.  I am sure that everyone is enjoying all of the nice weather that you have been having as much as I am enjoying the nice warm weather that we are having.  I have to say that this humidity thing that they have here in the UK is definitely not my thing.  It really isn't that warm here, but because of all the humidity I get so hot.  Even in a nice short sleeve shirt I get really hot and I can already say that when I am home I probably will not miss the humidity.  I remember when I got off of the plane when I first arrived in the mission it was like a punch to the face and I started sweating instantly. Just like the thirty point buck song at night time you slip right off of the bed.

That is really cool that the ward has been doing a lot of Family History.  It is also a pretty big thing over here in the UK.  I know that this Friday the Llanelli ward is having a Family History night where they are helping people who show up with their family history.  I am sure it is going to be a great night and I really hope that lots of people show up to it because it will be a great time to do family history.  Outside of the church you hear a good amount of people who actually do family history, but same as back home the church is really pushing family history in the wards and stakes and there are quite a few of family history activities going on every once in a while in the stake.

I am glad to hear that mum is getting really excited to talk to me on Skype sometime soon.  I don't know when mother’s day is so I have no idea when I am skyping, but I am sure that I will find out sometime soon.  At least I really hope that I find out sometime soon.  Just to warn you all I don't have an accent so don't be too disappointed when I speak and I still sounds like an American. One of the first things that Elder Devitt said to me when he first met me was that I have a nice thick American accent and I have had some missionaries think that I was from the south part of North American like Texas or something like that because they say I have such a thick accent.  It is really weird I know but I can't help it. I am proud to be an American!!
Well I don't want to keep you too long because I know that you guys don't want to listen to me much longer because you are already dreading speaking to me on mother’s day, whenever that is.

I would like to share a quote with you though from Mother Teresa.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centred. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. 
Give the world the best you have and it may never be good enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."
I really love this quote because it shows that it doesn't matter what we do as long as we are doing what the Lord would want us to do is all that really matters.  I hope that you all try to have a great week and that you be the best you and that you can be.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Peterson 

Letter #39

Dear Mum and Family,

It is good to hear that the Lord cares about Dad and that he is still answering our prayers.  Mum that must mean that we are both doing something right in our lives and you can't argue against that one because our prayers were answered so we are doing something right.  I really enjoyed looking at the new picture of the truck and I took a good long look at the picture that dad sent me.  It looks really nice and I can't wait to take it for a spin in about 16 months.  I hope that he doesn't have to get another new one that is a little bigger before I get home.  Who am I kidding hopefully he does get a bigger one before I get home.

The weather has actually still been pretty dang nice this past week.  It ended off a little cloudy during the weekend, but it has cleared up today and is a really nice weekend so far.  I am really enjoying all of the nice weather and I am really enjoying only wearing a white shirt and not having to wear a big coat. 

We still have just been doing a lot of finding this past week and we haven't had too much success.  We have managed to find one potential that is pretty solid, but he works a lot so it is really hard to find time to meet him.  He had a pretty hard time in his life.  His fiancé passed away not too long before they were going to get married so he has had some struggles.  We did teach him about the Restoration because we really felt that he could use that lesson before the Plan of Salvation lesson.  He took it really well and we are hopefully going to be seeing him this next week if he has some time.  Other than that we don't have any new investigators and we are just struggling through finding people.  It is hard but I don't think that mission is supposed to be easy because if it was then everyone would be doing it.

Easter went pretty well and no I didn't get any chocolate toys.  They are some toys that you can buy at the store though.  They are called kinder eggs and apparently, according to Elder Shaw, a few of the Elders that were here before me really liked buying them, but they didn't care to take them all with them so they just left them in the flat.   It is kind of annoying, but there really isn't anything that I can do about it.  I didn't get too much chocolate for Easter.  I think that only one member gave us a really big chocolate egg which was pretty interesting.  Back home everything is big chocolate bunnies, but over here they do make chocolate bunnies, but it is more common to see chocolate eggs.

I have no idea who the sister missionary is that you are talking about.  I can’t remember hearing her last name when I was serving in Sheldon.  I do have a sister missionary joke for you though.  Why do sister missionaries only serve for 18 months while Elder serve for 2 years?

Because Sisters spend the same amount of money in 18 months as elders do in 2 years.  HaHAHAHAHa that was a good one.  

I received your package and I really do appreciate all of the nice things that you put in it.  I liked the letter and the nice tie and I especially liked the comic book.  Everything that is in that book is totally true about missionaries.  It is so funny how true it actually is.

I really like the quote that you put on the end of your email mostly because I have related that scripture to football.  I hope that you enjoy the quote that I have for you this week. It comes from a really good talk called “Decisions determine destiny" by the Prophet.
He says: “There is no royal road to salvation and exaltation. There is not royal road to success in any endeavor. The "A" grade is the result of each theme, each quiz, each class, each examination, and each term paper.  So each heartfelt prayer, each church meeting attended, each worthy friend, each righteous decision, each act of service performed all precede that goal of eternal life."  

I really like this quote from Thomas S. Monson because it not only shows how hard we have to work in life to have success, but also how all of the decisions we make mean a lot to what we are to become.  

Sorry that I didn't type a long letter this week, but I have been chatting with mum and dad and also one of my favorite companions, Elder Shaw. I hope that you have a great week and thank you for all that you have done to help me to have a great experience and to serve the Lord to the best of my ability.
Love
Elder Peterson

Elder Peterson's new hat....He looks really 'Posh'