Pictures December 1-31

 

Week 68: Lake Charles ward, Orange stake, Companion Elder Colt

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

     I'd like to just leave it at that... but I suppose that would be boring. So, allow me to entertain. I guess.

     We caroled almost every night this past week with the other missionaries. There was usually about 8 of us (a couple times 10). We have only practiced Silent Night and that's the only song we can all effectively sing. So we sang that song. Many many times. I think I mentioned it last time, that I've gotten pretty good at the bass part (it's very simple). So I've got that going for me. 

      We also had our mission Christmas Conference on Thursday and it was really fun. Sister Larkin wanted us to perform the 12 days of Christmas thing during the talent show. I did not enjoy doing so, but at least I didn't have to do the dancing part, I only sang. I saw a lot of friends, so that was really fun. Elder Simpson performed and did amazing. He's just incredible at the piano and it's not fair.

     Elder Frogley got covid a couple days ago, so he's been hidden away. We decided to go carol to him (upon his request) and it was pretty funny. The weird thing is he feels fine. His companion has covid and his covid test came out positive, but he hasn't felt sick at all. Strange. Other missionaries are getting sick too, but it hasn't been anything like last year when almost everyone got covid. I'm glad I haven't gotten sick.

     Yesterday I found out that the Dick's Sporting Goods over here has a golfing simulator that anyone can swing on. So I stepped up. It was nice, I haven't gone golfing in a long time. I tried teaching Elder Colt how to hit with an iron and it was pretty funny. I don't know if you're familiar with the game Wii Sports, but his whiff sounds exactly like the one on there. I'm sure everyone's does, but he was whiffing a lot and the sound had me cracking up.

     Today we are at the church with other missionaries to play games and relax. It's the first Sunday in a long time where I've actually been able to do that. The ward has also brought us some really good food for lunch, so that was sweet.

     I've been trying really hard to remember the real meaning of Christmas, and it's doing a lot for me. I am so eternally grateful for Jesus Christ. Celebrating His birth (and everything else He did) has brought me so much joy. I'm grateful that He loved us and God enough to give His life for us. I love my family and my friends and I know it's because of Him that I find so much joy with them. I know Jesus Christ performed the Atonement for us out of love and perfect submission to Heavenly Father's will. I know that as we focus on what that means for us personally, we will be happier and the unnecessary stress that comes from the holiday season will be made lighter.

     I hope ya'll have a GREAT Christmas and a very happy New Year. 

 

"6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 6:9).

-Elder Peterson

Week 67: Lake Charles ward, Orange stake, Companion Elder Colt

The reason it was a long week is because nothing interesting happened. By that I mean that there weren't any conferences, we didn't go to TLC (I can't sneak in anymore ), and no interesting meetings. Besides Sacrament Meeting, I suppose.

     On Friday we had district council and one of the big things we talked about was getting members to lessons and having them extend invitations. We tried, that's all I'm gonna say. We tried. We will keep trying. But the idea is great. We missionaries switch out a lot, so it's good to get our friends introduced to members so they can know people other than us. There's a lot of people that lose interest once "their missionaries" are no longer in the area. Which kind of makes sense, honestly.

     OH!! So I lied, there was something interesting that happened. I don't know how I forgot about the Ward Christmas Party. It was Friday night. There was a lot of food and then a long list of performers, from the ward. Nothing professional. We had to go up several times. We practiced a skit this past week as well as some songs. The skit was absolutely cheesy, so I'm glad all I had to do in it was sing. The other songs we sang were super fun. Since our ward is technically split with a spanish ward they were all there as well. We sang Silent night in spanish and another song I can't remember. It was actually really fun and we did pretty good. I always get shoved into the bass section, so I'm getting a little better at it. Hopefully I'm good enough at singing now that my sisters won't laugh at me anymore...

     We've been having some great teaching, I'm just going to talk about Joseph. We have taught him the first 3 lessons and he came to church yesterday! It's great, except I don't think he's actually absorbing anything. I'm starting to fear that he's not grasping the importance of our message. He has been reading the Book of Mormon, and like I said, he came to church. But I don't think it's really sinking into his soul. Time will tell though. You want to know what didn't help? Yesterday we went to sunday school with him AND IT WAS A DISASTER!!! We chose the wrong class to join. They kept going on tangents about irrelevant information and the focus came off of Christ several times (Elder Gale and I had to remind them what it's all about several times). I think my least favorite part of that whole adventure is when someone pointed out Joseph and said "Who are you? Are you a new member or an investigator?" Two things, if there is someone new at church don't put them on the spot, it's awkward. Second, DON'T CALL PEOPLE INVESTIGATORS!! We are not supposed to do that, it makes them seem more like a number than a person interested in the church. This is why missionaries (should) refer to people we are teaching as friends. Because that's the goal, we want to get to know them and help them out.                                                                                    

     I'm pretty sure it just went right over his head, but still. That's a weird and annoying thing to do. 

     This past week I read the book of Revelation and it was awesome! There's so much good stuff in there. I particulary liked chapter 12, the one that talks about the war in heaven. It helped me realize something. Every person who has, does, or ever will live chose this plan. We fought for the Plan of Salvation. It's a good thing to remember that even the difficult people in our lives once stood with us and we all fought together. It was a nice wake up call for me, because I get frustrated with people really easily. It's also given me a lot of motivation to work harder because I need to help these people! They can't remember that fight and why they're here. I'm grateful I get the opportunity to help my brothers and sisters remember what we fought for and what we should still be fighting for. Satan is working very hard to keep us all separated and even convinces some of us to fight against each other (or against ourselves). Let's remember that we all fought togther before coming here and let's do our best to continue fighting together. Christ is our captain and if we follow Him, we cannot fail.

     NEXT WEEK IS CHRISTMAS!!! I'll probably write an email then. Have a good week. Sorry for the lack of photos.

-Elder Peterson

 This is all I've got, sorry 

Week 66: Lake Charles ward, Orange stake, Companion Elder Colt

 Things are going good in terms of teaching. We had a couple good lessons with Joseph, Paula, and Charlotte.

     We met with Joseph twice this week, though the first time was on an exchange, so Elder Colt wasn't here. Elder Gale and I talked with him about the Restoration and then Elder Colt and I taught him about the Plan of Salvation. We think he's comprehending things fine, but we aren't totally sure. He has been reading a little, so we're hopeful. He's been experiencing a lot of frustration towards others and he says that the scriptures and prayer have been helping him a lot.

     Paula has been awesome, though she is very talkative  I try to be understanding cause I don't think she gets company very often. Last time we met we were talking about the Restoration and she kept going off on tangents that really weren't related to the topic. I had to interrupt her a couple times to keep us moving on the right direction. The nice thing is that talkative people usually know they're talkative, so they don't seem to mind very much when you interrupt their tangents. She said she'd come to church at the end of our lesson, but she did not... which was sad...

     Charlotte was really cool. She has been referred to missionaries in the past, so when we went to her house she was really hesitant. She said she's been told about the Book of Mormon by past missionaries and she isn't interested in it. She viewed it as a separate thing entirely from the Bible, I felt like she didn't quite understand that the books support each other. I felt prompted to show her Galatians 5:22 and how it explains what the Spirit feels like. Then I pulled out the Book of Mormon and read Moroni 7:16 and showed her how it further explains how to understand the Spirit. She was kind of amazed and told us that no one had ever showed her how the books work together. She was very curious and agreed to read another two scriptures that do the same. James 1:5 and Moroni 10:4-5. It was a cool experience and I'm very grateful the Spirit was prompting us to go that route.

     It's too bad Paula didn't come to church, because we had a great Sacrament meeting. Elder Rascon (the Area Seventy) and President Harris (our Stake President) came to speak. President Harris shared a powerful testimony and then Elder Rascon made it even more powerful. Towards the end of his talk he had all of us missionaries come on the stage (there was 12 of us) and sing Called to Serve. He had the congregation join on the second verse and it was incredible how strong the Spirit was. I didn't like the attention on all of us, but it was cool to think that I'm playing a very important role in God's work right now. It's a huge honor and responsibility.

     Last night we did some caroling with some members from the ward and it was a ton of fun. Elder Frogley and Burton came too since it was in their area. There was a couple that actually asked about our church and asked to meet with those two sometime. They set up a time and we were all super excited. I don't like caroling, it's awkward and sometimes annoying. But it helped someone get in touch with missionaries, so I can't complain too much.

     We still do not have our 3rd companion yet. Hopefully we will on Thursday.

Have a good week!

-Elder Peterson

We held some birds this week and I also made good food. 

I made some amazing funeral potatoes (a little too much though...)

Week 65: Lake Charles ward, Orange stake, Companion Elder Colt

  So, Zone Conference was in Atascocita so our cars could get their new monitoring devices. Which is all good and dandy except that it's a 5.5 hour round trip for us (6 for the Elders in Welsh). And I know that's probably nothing compared to other missions, but that's the longest I've ever driven in one day. It was worth it though, the conference was great. We talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ and about applying it in our lives as missionaries as well as in our teaching. We also got early Christmas gifts which was an ornament, sticky notepad (that has the mission's name on it), and a Book of Mormon with a cool cover on it. And I got to see Elder Frogley, Nelson, Simpson, Paulsen, and a bunch of other missionaries I love. I'm in the same District as Elder Frogley, so I guess it's not as special seeing him at Zone Conference. I'm literally sitting next to him right now. He says hi.

     We also stopped by Buc-ee's on the way home along with all those other guys.

     On Saturday a family in the ward invited us over to make candy (along with many other members). It was really cool, they have super old candy molds that have been passed down in their family since the 1800s (maybe longer). I got to make a whole batch myself which was cool. I kept one of the bicycle riding frog suckers. 

     Yesterday the whole Zone went to a meeting called "Break the Fast" where the stake president, President Harris, takes reports from all the mission leaders in the Zone and then answers any doctrinal questions we have. We also eat food. One thing he mentioned, that I found very interesting, pertains to Sacrament Meeting. He said (that the leading Bretheren have said) that there should not be any kind of joking during the meeting. I find it very interesting because many members that give talks or bear testimony like to start with some kind of funny comment. This is very inappropriate for the meeting though. Which makes sense when you think about it. General Conference and Stake Conference are different, but Sacrament meeting is centered on the Ordinance of the Sacrament, which is a very sacred thing. He said "can you imagine if at the beginning of an endowment session someone made a joke eliciting laughter? This would be very disresctful and highly inappropriate." We should have the same attitude of respect in Sacrament meeting as we do in the Temple preforming other ordinances.

Something for all of us to consider.

     On the way home we stopped by Kevin's house for our lesson and he wasn't home. Rude. So we instead went to the home of a guy we haven't been able to get in contact with. He ended up being home and we ended up having a super cool discussion with him. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he agreed to read and pray about it. He said that if we have something he's missing, he'd expect us to share it with him. Which is why he's willing to try. I thought that was a cool thing for him to realize, cause it's true. I just pray that he (Leland) will actually read and pray.

     It's been a good week, but still no sign of our trainee... we'll see.

Have a good week!

-Elder Peterson

That Joker blanket thing was made by a member of this ward. Super cool.