Week 7: Broadway 1st Ward, Houston Texas East Stake; Companion/Trainer: Elder Paulsen

Yep, still alive. 

Last Tuesday the youth in our small ward had a spaghetti cook off. Sisters Lake and Masson and Elder Paulsen and I were judges. I didn't tell anyone except Elder Paulsen that I hate spaghetti. But I am also always down for free food. We got there and there was a mess of kids and tomato sauce in the kitchen as these juveniles attempted to cook the unsavory noodles. They actually did a pretty good job though. I believe I judged pretty fairly considering I disliked both dishes. And to no one's surprise, the young women won. And the young men had to clean up the mess in the kitchen which was 99% theirs. And then at the end of the activity, while I was playing kickball with a bunch of the primary kids (a couple of them had pretty foul mouths, it was hard not to laugh) Elder Paulsen acquired a full bag of spaghetti. It is still in our fridge today. I want to throw it out, but he keeps saying he'll eat it... I don't believe him.

On Wednesday we played the school kids at volleyball again. We came prepared this time...

The first game (of 3) was actually pretty close, but we pulled through in the end and Westover snatched the win with his awesome serve. It was hilarious, two of the kids both called it and then both stepped back and the ball just smacked the ground right between 'em. In the end, they beat us the next two times, but that fact remains that the "church league" beat the team that practices everyday at least once. And the other two games were still very close.

Time for an interesting story.

Last Friday, I think, me and Elder Paulsen were street contacting out in a very sketchy place. We got yelled at by a random hobo that called us some pretty ugly names, but when I looked over at him, he was staring at a wall. So... maybe it was the wall that offended him, I don't know. After a while, we were heading back to our car when a lady at a gas station yelled at us. She asked if we were Mormons, so we kindly corrected her and told her what we prefer to be called. She just smiled (pretty creepily actually) and said "I love the Mormons!!!" She then asked us to pray with her because she was cursed by some crazy transgender voodo he/she from Louisiana. We agreed and she had us pray twice. The weirdest thing was that she kept switching from bawling, to cackling, to very serious. She was quite possibly literally insane. But she said that the other person had been putting blood in her drinks, so we did what he could through prayer. Eventually we got out of there, but it was a very interesting encounter.

I'll finish off with another short testimony. 

I've seen some very interesting things this past month and Texas is constantly reminding me of how blessed I've been to grow up in a stable home with a gospel centered family. I've seen what the absence of Christ does to people in an extreme way, and it is very depressing. I've come to greatly understand that without the light of Christ in our lives, we cannot make it through the darkness that is mortality. I know that as we search the scriptures, serve others, and strive to follow the commandments, we will be blessed in so many ways. I promise all of you that are reading this that if you earnestly strive to make Jesus Christ the center of your life, you will find that your burdens become lighter and your life becomes more blessed. Jesus Christ is the Savior and the way. The only way.

I love you all and I pray for you. Have a great week.

Elder Peterson

The First Shall Be Last and Last Shall Be First

 

Week 6: Broadway 1st Ward, Houston Texas East Stake; Companion/Trainer: Elder Paulsen

I had a pretty great week, I'm adjusting pretty well. I'm typing this with my left hand only, so it might not be that long. 10 minutes ago my hand was smashed into the Church gym wall while playing soccer and because that stubbed most of my fingers, my hand isn't totally functional. Pretty swollen though.

ANYWAY, great week. We get tons of referrals from church ads, and even though not all of the referrals care to hear our message, a lot of them do. We taught several new people last week and they were (mostly) super good lessons. We even think that Jada and Monica could be on date for baptism soon.

I'm learning a lot and I'm having a ton of fun most days. 

Yesterday at church my ability to somewhat play the piano was exposed by other Missionaries and now I might have to play for the primary program... We'll see... 

But Elder's quorum was nice, I learned a lot about following the Savior and how to keep him centered in my life. Very important. 

I went on exchanges Thursday, right after zone conference, and was with Thompson and Frogley as a trio. It was a lot of fun to be back with him, and a trio is super fun turns out. We got fed a ton in their area and by Saturday night I'm pretty sure I had eaten more than the whole week before. Good times. 

I can't think of much else to say, partly because my head is a little fuzzy from my hand hurting, but also becuase I'm hungry right now. I'm gonna go steal some chips from Sister Steffenson. 

I'll end with a brief testimony. Prayer is a powerful tool. It is direct communication with Heavenly Father. The Savior taught that we should always have a prayer in our hearts. Never separate yourself from the spirit by shutting off your communication with God. Never harden your hearts towards the spirit. Always be ready and willing to receive inspiration from the spirit. And pray constantly that you will receive promptings in a way that you can easily react to. Pray ALWAYS. 

Have a good week everyone! You're all in my prayers. 

Elder Peterson

1) Frogley down

2) Creepy Halloween decoration. (I think she likes me)

3) An old edge trimmer. Pretty fun to use actually.

4) A ton of salad that me and Frogley were given after Zone Conference

5) My sweet new backpack for exchanges and carrying around a change of clothes

Pictures October 7 and 8

Elder Peterson and Elder Frogley

"My Bride"

 

Missionary Plaque

 

Pictures September 29-October 4

 

The tree of significance from my Letter

Houston Sunsets

Elder Paulsen

My Haircut

My thumbnail hurt

Mean Dog

Crazy Hair

Elder Paulsen

Week 5: Broadway 1st Ward, Houston Texas East Stake; Companion/Trainer: Elder Paulsen

This past week was a wild one. Or at least I think it was, it's hard to remember without my journal. The days kind of melt together in my head. Regardless, let me share my highlights.

Chronologically, I think the miracle happened first, so sit back and enjoy the story. 

Elder Paulsen and I were doing our comp study when it just began to feel odd, like we needed to be doing something else. I brought this to his attention and he told me to pray about it. As I was praying I remembered this tree and bus stop that had seemed somewhat significant when I saw it a week ago. We came to the conclusion that we should go there. When we parked and then walked over to sit by this tree I was a little confused, no one was there and I didn't exactly know what to do next. I looked at Elder Paulsen and said "now what?" He nodded at two men across the busy road and suggested we go talk to them. We went over and asked if they needed help with anything, but the shook their heads and basically shooed us away. I was seriously confused at this point, but I knew that the spirit had prompted us to come to this intersection, so I reminded myself to have faith. Just then I saw a guy sitting at the bus stop across from the tree and I shrugged and said "what about him?" We approached this man who quite frankly looked pretty unapproachable. We started to have a conversation with him and I was astonished. After asking how his day had been, he responded by saying blessed. How so? I asked, and he began to testify of the Savior on the spot. Without even bringing up religion, this man, Isador, began talking about how important it is to trust in Christ, even bringing up the story of Moses and the Brass Serpent. We talked for a while and then Elder Paulsen got his number when he had to leave.

I can't even begin to express how amazing this was to me. I had been constantly telling myself to have faith in Christ, even if what I feel I'm supposed to do is confusing or beyond my understanding. Isador addressed this concern of mine perfectly and his testimony has strengthened mine greatly. There were a lot more little details, but for simplicity's sake, I've written it short. 

Sometimes we don't understand the things we're supposed to do, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that we have faith in our all-knowing Heavenly Father, and we will always end up where we need to be. We're still trying to contact him, of course the number doesn't seem to work. But I'm sure we'll find him again.

After that incredible experience the rest of my week seems kind of lame in comparison (except conference). We had more appointments fall through and we've done a lot of street contacting. We actually gave a Book of Mormon to an awesome old guy named Michael. He kept telling us these wild conspiracy theories, so we had to keep relating things back to the gospel  good times though. 

Conference was amazing, of course. We watched it at the church on Saturday and then we were invited over to watch the Sunday sessions at a member's, the Alpers. They fed us breakfast and lunch, it was great. Then they had us sign a notebook that had a bunch of other Missionary's names.

Speaking of signing things... I had a brilliant idea. I bought these black 10 dollar knock-off crocs at Walmart and I'm having everyone in my District sign them. I'll put a picture below. I had Sister Lake put my name on the front of them, because her handwriting is way better than mine.

Anyway, that's all I've really got right now. I could tell the story of how I got a soccer ball to the shin, stomach, chest, and face (all at about 100 mph) but this is already long enough. I love you guys and I want you to know that I'm having a great time. There's no joy like that of bringing others to the knowledge of the Gospel. I've seen people literally light up at the news that they can be forgiven for all of their sins through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's real, I know it is and I pray that all of you know too.

Until next time, 

Elder Peterson

1) Houston sunsets are beautiful

2) Elder Westover holding Elder Prisbrey (the second r is silent. It sounds like Frisbee).

3) My incredible biscuits that Elder Paulsen complained about. But then he ate about 5 of them.

4) the "crocs." There will be a lot more signatures later.