Pictures March 22-31

 

Week 29:Twin City Ward, Beaumont Texas Stake (Port Arthur); Companion/Trainee: Elder Childs

Last Monday I had an exchange with Elder Masaki. We were dropped off at the first discussion, which didn't last very long. The second one was awesome though. We biked over to this woman's house in the rain and had to talk to her on her porch because there wasn't a male adult in the home. But it went fantastic! She asked us questions like "why do you believe your church is the only true one" and "what makes you want to share it with others?" We answered the questions pretty much by teaching her about the Restoration. Elder Masaki did an awesome job, and we were able to powerfully testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. She said that she would read and pray about it. Amazing! That discussion gave me a great boost for the next week.

Last Wednesday we had a discussion with Ebony and a Sister from our ward. Sister Moore was so helpful. We were talking about the Doctrine of Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end) and Sister Moore talked with Ebony about the importance of Baptism and committed her to pray about receiving the ordinance. She honestly did most of the teaching for us. They connected so fast and were talking like old friends. The experience further strengthened my trust in having members at lessons. Not that I didn't trust them before, but sometimes you kinda worry about what people might say... Sister Moore was incredibly helpful though.

We were supposed to meet with a guy named Jermaine last Friday, but he didn't have time (uh-huh). So we decided to walk around for a bit. 5 minutes later we come across this lady weeding her extremely weed infested yard. We walked up and started chatting with her. She was very nice and accepted our offer to help her weed. We found out her name is Jeannie and for the next hour we weeded and talked. We learned about her background (she's fostered 6 kids!). She's a very charitable woman and we asked if we could come help in the morning as well, since she commented that she'd be at it again the following morning. She gladly accepted once again and we came the next morning. This time we helped for about 2 hours and got a lot done. She plans to replant her grass, so it'll be a lot of work (especially considering the fact that her "soil" is about 90% clay and 10% sand...) but she's confident that it'll get done. We invited her to the church tour were going to have later that afternoon, but she didn't end up making it. We'll have to stop by her home soon.

We had invited a ton of people to the tour, but we were only expecting 2 people to actually show up. After 45 minutes of waiting for people, Ebony showed up!! We got to walk around the building and explain a lot of things we do. It was awesome, and she brought her son too. At the end I asked her if she's received an answer regarding Baptism. She said that she was already baptized, so I explained how our church is the only one with the proper authority to perform saving ordinances like Baptism (this was about the 4th time I've explained it. I guess I didn't do very well). She said that she understood and would continue to pray about it. I hope she does decide to be baptized, I know it would help her with the problems she's going through.

Lastly, we had zone conference! My 5th one. Not much to comment on, typical training. We discussed the importance of the Book of Mormon AND the Bible and how to use them together. We did some role-playing for practice and then had lunch. It was olive garden. Now, I'm not being ungrateful when I say this, I'm very grateful for the provided lunch. But I VERY VERY much dislike spaghetti. VERY MUCH. But, oh well. I ate plenty anyway. After all that I got my typical picture with Elder Frogley and then continued on with my day. Our day. Elder Child and I head back after lunch.

And today I got to go golfing!! It's almost been a full year since I've last gone golfing. It was super fun. It was Elders Child, Masaki, Heiner, Gale, and Morley and I going with Brother Vercher from our wars. I did better than I thought I would, so it was very fun. Good good fun.

Anyway, I hope you're all doing well. If you ever have any questions, shoot me an email. Have a great week!

-Elder Peterson

I feel like these pictures are fairly obvious. Couple comments though:

The one where I've got the helmet on was from the exchange when it was pouring.

The picture with the Peterson sign was the next day of the exchange (yes, I know my head looks funky. Whatever.)

And the Flower is a picture I took. I'm proud of it.

Week 28: Twin City Ward, Beaumont Texas Stake (Port Arthur); Companion/Trainee: Elder Childs

This week we were helping the Barkers (a young family in our ward) move to Nederland. About 5 minutes from where they were. But they upgraded from apartment to house, and from Port Arthur to Nederland. Very good upgrade. They didn't have a ton of stuff, so it was quick and easy. We literally just used their van and just put boxes in the back and made a couple trips. Again, young couple, so they didn't have a ton of stuff. As we were driving to the house, on the 3rd load, I was holding a guitar. I started talking to him about it and he mentioned that he has 3. 85% jokingly, I asked if he would sell me one. He said he's got one in the closet (back at the apartment) that I could have. I was like, "oh cool, how much do you want for it?"

Then he goes "you can just take it."

"... really?"

"Yup, it was my brother-in-law's that he left several years ago. No one ever uses it, and he doesn't care to have it back."

"... AWESOME!"

So I got a guitar!  It's not brand new, but it's still super cool. I am very excited to have. I don't know if Elder Child is happy that I have it though... 

Elder Heiner took Elder Child's spot for an exchange on friday. We went out street contacting and after 10 minutes we were talking to a very nice man. John Royal, an older fellow, told us that he's been fighting (and winning) against pancreatic cancer for several years. We got to talk to him for a bit and we were able to give him a Book of Mormon and extend the invitation to read. He said that he would try it and that we could come back any time to talk some more. You betcha we will. We also met another guy, Alfred, but he was extremely high, so I'm not sure we left any kind of impression. Oh well, his dog was pretty nice. 

The next morning we met Elder Child and Elder Masaki to go to the Nederland Festival. Brother Feidler, an awesome member in our ward, asked us to come vote for his car in the show. We gladly did so and we had a blast walking through the whole thing. We were very sad that we couldn't go on any of the rides, but it was still fun to walk through. We found Brother Feidler chatting with several people who loved his car. We talked with him and his wife for a bit, he gave us each a sprite, and then we went and voted. We also saw some other super cool cars. I got a picture of a couple of them, including the batmobile slingshot. We also saw this guy walking a snake around... that was weird.

In Sunday School yesterday we were talking about Joseph and what he did with his brothers. for those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's around Genesis 42 I believe. I could be wrong... oh well. We talked about how clever he was with his plan to see if his brothers had changed. One thing we talked about was how he wanted his whole family around before he revealed himself. He wanted to make sure his dad was okay and he wanted to see Benjamin. Probably the coolest part about the story, to me was that he was able to forgive his brothers, yes, but also that he kept the faith. Joseph had been with the Egyptians, a polytheistic people, for a long time. Many years. Yet he still remembered and followed his parent's teachings. He stayed close with the Lord and did all the things he was raised to do. Brother Fruge, in our ward, said that that's a parents' dream come true. That their child, who has been away from home for YEARS, has remembered what they taught him and stayed true to the values they helped him develop. Joseph wasn't just a very forgiving sibling, he was also a very diligent son. Let us remember his example and follow the teachings of our parents, especially our Father in Heaven.

Stay strong, stay happy,

-Elder Peterson

Lots of pictures... uhhh

I'm not gonna label these ones. If you have any burning questions about them, write me

Pictures March 15-21

 

Week 27: Twin City Ward, Beaumont Texas Stake (Port Arthur); Companion/Trainee: Elder Childs

We went to the soup kitchen again, it gets more and more fun each time. Now that I recognize people and they recognize me, I can have conversations beyond "you come here often?" The answer is usually yes btw. They are all super nice and incredibly humble people (90% of the time). This time towards the end, the woman who runs the thing gave us shirts. They only had XLs though... so mine is a little tight.

This one guy that I haven't seen before came in right before we were going to leave. He sits down and starts going crazy on his guitar. He was crazy, it was so cool. We stood there for about 5 minutes and just watched in amazement. He was singing too and it was surprisingly good. I wanted to talk to him, but we were leaving and he was still singing, so I didn't get the chance. 

This past week I did two blitz-exchanges with Elder Heiner and Elder Masaki,  respectively.  The first one was Elder Heiner and I in their area, it was a good time. We were riding bikes and I got chased by a dog. So that's fun. And then on Saturday I went with Elder Masaki in their area again. I also got chased by a dog on that blitz. Like I said a while ago, I'm really starting to dislike dogs. Texas dogs. Although we did see one puppy that was TINY. It was also very nice and it let me pet it. Perrito. (Puppy)

The blitzs were great though, I got to know them both a lot better, they're great guys. I'm excited to do actual exchanges next week.

Yesterday Elder Child and I were wandering around street contacting, cause we had nothing else to do, when Brother Jeter called us and told to come over for Crawfish. Their neighbors had given them A TON. And since they're an old couple with no one else in the house, they wanted help eating it. Also, Sister Jeter, who grew up in this area, had NEVER eaten crawfish before. Ever. Thus was her first (and she said last) time. Crazy. Afterwards we went over to thank the neighbors while they were still outside. I got talking to the mother, Angi, and she started talking to me about when she visited Utah and went to one of our churches over there. FIRST OF ALL, why was she not introduced to the missionaries when she visited. Wards need to watch for people who visit, and fellowship them. But whatever, I was talking to her and I invited her to come to church with us again. I also got her information and gave it to Elders Heiner and Masaki since she lives over in their area. 

Very effective use of tike if you ask me. Free dinner and a new friend. Boom. 

I also got to talk to Sister Jeter about her family. She has 11 children! Crazy.

This past week I studied a lot about the Plan of Salvation. There's a lot of misconceptions about the Plan in other faiths. One of the biggest being about Heaven and Hell. I'm grateful for the knowledge we have and that our loving Father in Heaven has prepared such a perfect plan for us. Of course, the biggest aspect is whether or not we choose to follow the Savior. 2 Nephi 2 is a fantastic chapter for this subject, and verses 24 & 25 will be some of my favorite scriptures for a long time. Probably forever. 

The Plan is real! And for those of our loved ones who have stepped off the path, we must be loving examples to help them see the blessings that they are depriving themselves of. In the end, every knee shall bend and every tongue confess. I probably botched that, but ya'll get my meaning.

Have a great week! Be careful with your gas...

-Elder Peterson

1) Little Puppy (perrito)

2) Little Puppy

3) Antique Organ at the Jeter's

4) Crawfish at the Jeter's

5) A cool train parked at a... park. I don't like how that sounds. Whatever. Train.