Week 45: Kingwood 2 Ward, Kingwood Stake; Companion Elder Simpson

 I've been living in Kingwood, Texas for a week now. WOW, it is different. There are a ridiculous amount of trees here, it's literally nicknamed the livable forest. It is really cool though, there are a lot of green paths through out our area (our tiny tiny area, 5 square miles) that we ride on to get places. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it is a bike area, but if not now you know. Oh, and that's another thing. This is the worst time of the year to be biking. 100 degree heat and ridiculous humidity, we sweat A LOT. But I don't want to sound too complacent, I really enjoy this area. 

     Then there's the office job. As Technology Specialists (basically the I.T. of the mission) Elder Simpson and I spend a lot of time in the Mission Office solving technology related issues and keeping our mission's information updated. It's a lot of sitting down on a computer, but it beats biking in the heat all afternoon! Sometimes it gets a little boring, but if it gets too bad I'll put someone's stapler in jello or something, I'm not too worried. 

     As for the teaching in this area, it's pretty dismal. But that just means more work to do!! We currently have two people who we teach, Samantha and Tawana. They are interesting women...

     We've taught one lesson with Tawana and then on Saturday we washed Samantha's car (she is living alone and is currently on crutches, so we helped out). We've been biking around the area and I've seen a lot of cool things, again this place is just a forest with houses in it. Not exactly what I picture when I think of Texas. 

     That's pretty much all there is to write about for now... Oh yeah, I got asked to speak next Sunday.  New ward and I'm already giving a talk, pretty funny. I'll let you know how it goes next week. Until then, stay cool!

-Elder Peterson

There was a mini festival thing going on yesterday and they left behind some snow. I don't understand how or why, but I got to stand on snow for the first time in over a year, so that was great.

Week 44: Kingwood 2 Ward, Kingwood Stake; Companion Elder Simpson

 Much has happened, but I don't have very much time to write.

     The trio with Elders Nelson and Morrow was really fun. We had absolutely no lessons together, because everyone canceled, but we did other stuff that was fun and a good use of time. We did a lot of switching around between the two apartments we had and because of that we spent a lot of time packing clothes for the next day. It was weird, but fun. 

     On Friday we went to the Temple for Faith Meets Family. Basically, all the new members and returning members gather at the temple to do baptisms for the dead. We went with a YSA kid named Sergio. It was super fun and I loved being able to do baptisms again. It's been over a year since I've done that... There was a bunch of other missionaries there with their friends so I got to see some Elders I haven't seen in a while. Afterwards we stopped by In-N-Out (Nobody cared about my veto of that option) and got food. I did not plan on wasting my money on those mediocre burgers, but a guy there offered to pay for us, so I got some anyway... He insisted!! I then enjoyed the meal, because it was a blessing. Us three were crammed into the back of Sam's car (a YSA kid) because Jed was in shotgun. I fell asleep and then woke up to pins and needles in my legs. Fun. The temple trip was awesome though, I'm so glad I got to go.

     The transfer board came out on Sunday night and I saw that I was getting transferred to Kingwood, right next to the mission office (my apartment is 2 minutes walking distance from the office). On the transfer board there was two letters next to my name. SA. Special Assignment. I am now a Technology Specialist with my new companion Elder Simpson. Oh boy. I'm not sure exactly what we'll be doing, but I know that we get some privileges. Hopefully this means President trusts me. I don't know yet. Tomorrow we'll be going into the office to see what special project President has for us to do. Oh yeah, it's a bike area too. I'm gonna be biking around Texas in August. YAAaaayyy....... I'll survive, don't worry, mom.

     I'm sorry this email was small, but I've been running around ALL DAY and barely had time to get to this tonight. I've got some good pictures from the past week though, so enjoy...

-Elder Peterson

A member bought us a ton of groceries, that was a huge blessing.

I got pictures with my two favorite families from Pasadena (Butlers and McCanns(guy with yellow shirt).

Elder Nelson was conked out on a small road trip.

 

Week 43:Fairmont Ward, Houston East Stake; Companions Elder Nelson and Elder Morrow

 Brother Butler, our ward mission leader, came with us to our lesson with Marie and Lilia. We went over the Restoration with then and made sure they still understood why/how it happened. Marie has also been struggling with her desire to be baptized. She is having a very difficult time giving up coffee and tea. Brother Butler helped a ton though. He taught them very well and helped bring back Marie's desire to be baptized. We all bore testimonies and Marie was pretty emotional at the end of it all. After the lesson I think he was feeling reminiscent of his missionary days because he told us to hop in his car and we went and contacted some more people. We even set up another lesson for him to come to with us. 

      The great thing is that Marie and Lilia came to church on Sunday and they loved it. They came to Sunday school as well and made some interesting comments about the lesson. Very interesting comments.

     The other lesson we set up with Brother Butler was with Carlos. That lesson was also an amazing one. Carlos had been reading a little bit in the Book of Mormon and he asked us some great questions. We began teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) and he followed very well. At the end of the lesson we asked him what the spirit is telling him he needs to do. He said he needs to be baptized. We told him that Heavenly Father communicates with us through the spirit and that he should continue seeking that counsel from God. We didn't give him a date to be baptized right then, but we invited him to keep doing things to help him be prepared, such as attending Sacrament meeting. His work is busy (he works at a refinery) so he said he'll try his best to make it one of these Sundays. Carlos is awesome and we are so excited for him. Every time we come we can see his excitement and desire to learn more. He's a great person, so I hope he sticks with it and continues to recognize the many blessings that come from following the Savior.

     Interesting news: I'm currently in a trio companionship! Elder Bengtzen has left the mission for his original assignment, Australia. Because he left in the middle of the transfer President Larkin just assigned his companion, Elder Morrow, to join Elder Nelson and I until the transfer ends (next week). On Sunday we had a complicated way of trading vehicles and companions that I won't get into. Basically, Elders Nelson and Morrow are my companions for the next week and we cover two areas. Fun stuff. We are switching where we stay the night between the two apartments depending on convenience, which has been interesting. It's also a little stressful how many people and how much ground we have to cover for the next week, but I'm not too worried. 

     Our 4th of July was pretty underwhelming, not gonna lie. Nothing interesting happened during the day, but we were fortunate to be invited to a party held by some people in the YSA ward (which we now cover). We are not allowed to handle fireworks, which stinks because some people brought a couple fireworks for us. We had to politely decline.  We still watched some fireworks though and definitely heard a lot. We were required to be in our apartments by 9pm, no exceptions, so we stayed as long as we could and then raced home. We got home at exactly 9 o'clock. We cut it very close. 

Our 4th might have been a little uneventful, but I still enjoyed the fact that it was independence day. It was also fun to see that a lot of Texans go big for the 4th.

     Anyway, I had a fun week with a lot of blessings. I hope this next week is just as good. Next time I write I might be in a new area, we'll see. Have a great week!

-Elder Peterson

Also, I did an exchange with Elder Bengtzen before he left, so we had a lot of fun together. He's the guy with the banjo down there.

Pictures June 23- July 4

 

Week 42:Fairmont Ward, Houston East Stake; Companion Elder Nelson

 I need a secretary to write these for me... I am getting lazier and lazier with them. I think it's because every week is pretty much the same. Yes, interesting things happen, sometimes there's zone conference or I get bitten by a squirrel, but that's really the only interesting stuff that happens. Plus, I guess, lessons we have. But even those usually go "We met with ____, they are (or aren't) progressing well! They finally (or still haven't) read some of the Book of Mormon!" etc. But whatever, Mom says ya'll like these letters, so I'll keep doing my best to make them exciting.

     This past week was a weird one. I don't really know how to explain why though... Just believe me when I say a bunch of little weird things kept happening. Only a couple of them were a little dangerous. No casualties though, so no worries. I also only recall one lesson from this past week. Technically there were two, but I missed the second because I was on an exchange. Probably a good thing though, if I was there I probably would have lost my cool a bit. Not really. I'll explain later. 

     The first one was with Carlos, this one was actually really cool. We talked about the Restoration of the Gospel and he really loved it. He hasn't read very much at all, but we just encouraged him to keep trying and to make sure he gives time everyday. He was asking fantastic questions and making thoughtful comments. He also kept expressing how he was feeling the spirit and was smiling the entire time. He's super excited to come to church and he said that he already feels like it's going to be an amazing experience. We shared our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and about church and really emphasized the importance of experimenting on our words. You cannot have questions answered unless they've been thought about and asked, that is the way God works. He's tries our faith and our desire to gain knowledge.

     That reminds me of my studies this past week. I've been diving deeper into the Book of Mormon and the New Testament (everything but the Come Follow Me, lol) and I've been learning some really interesting stuff. Specifically, I was diving deep into Alma 40 and 41 to learn more about the spirit world and the resurrection. It's brought me a lot of light and excitement to share what I learn with others. I was also finding some things I didn't completely understand and it's stuff I'm pretty sure we won't understand until a later time, but even the mystery is exciting! I love the fact that God continues to expound and reveal things to us, it makes life so much more interesting. It's kind of like watching a movie or reading a book. You can usually tell if a movie or book is going to have a happy ending, but that doesnt't take the excitement away. The fun part is going through the story and putting things together. You come to understand more about the plot and the characters as the story progresses, but you never know all of the specifics. With good stories, you have to go back and study it even after reaching the end. WE ARE LIVING THAT!! We aren't going to understand everything for a long time, even though we know how the story ends. Even after reaching heaven and mortality has passed, we still get to progress and study our experiences and the plot twists that didn't make much sense until after the fact. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are such good authors...

     Anyway! Elder Nelson and I did a lot of walking around this week since we can't get people to keep their commitments and meet with us. We didn't have much success with our walking and knocking either though. Oh well, that's missionary work. I must say though, I'm fairly unimpressed with the lack of bashers we encountered this week. Come on Texas, step it up, give me something interesting to write about. No more crazy animals though please. 

     

     On Friday Elder Bengtzen and I switched for an exchange. I was with Elder Morrow in their area. Unfortunatly we didn't have any lessons, but we had a good time street contacting. We met some stubborn people that believe we can live however we want and that Grace will save us in the end. JAMES 2:20 PEOPLE! The exchange was fun, but I missed a lesson with Marie. This is the one I'm kind of glad I missed. Apparently she started arguing about the Word of Wisdom and how she doesn't thing God cares if she drinks coffee and smokes. WRONG. I think the other Elders handled it well, but boy... I'm getting real sick and tired of these coffee and tea addicted Texans. "I can't go without my morning coffee..." THAT'S BAD!!! God's commandments usually make sense when you really think about it, and even when they don't at first, I have faith they eventually will. 

     I can't think of much more to write about, so I'll leave you with one of my new favorite scriptures: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22). Practice what you preach/believe! 

     Have a great week, email me if you have any questions!

-Elder Peterson

*that burger down there lasted me 4 meals. I'm not even kidding. The patty was 1lb

Pictures June 15-22

 

Week 41:Fairmont Ward, Houston East Stake; Companion Elder Nelson

 Not a lot really happened this week, everyone was canceling or rescheduling. We were able to have a lesson with David and then Eric this past week though. Thankfully they didn't fall through. We also had Zone conference, which was awesome. It's been a while since I've seen Elder Frogley and some other good friends. But I'll start with the lessons.

     David is an interesting situation I won't get into here. Suffice it to say he's aware that he's not on the right path towards heaven. But it's okay! Because he's willing to make changes. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he really enjoyed it. He had some good questions about Heaven and he said he's willing to do the things necessary to receive a fullness of joy. Hopefully he stays that committed. We discussed the many blessings that come from following the Savior and we shared our testimonies which seemed to touch him.

     Eric is someone we've been trying to meet since I got to this area (about 2 months now?). He was in the process of marrying a member in the YSA ward. They finally got married and their busy lives have calmed down a bit, so we can meet with them more. He wants to be baptized so he can go through the temple with Jazmine (his wife). We think it's really cool that he isn't a member but he already knows that there's blessings that come from the Lord's church. We had dinner with them last night and then talked a little about the Priesthood and how it was restored. He's also pretty excited that he'll be able to give blessings to others and perform ordinances with the Priesthood.

     Those were the only lessons we had, but they were great. I'm glad we at least got to go to those two.

     We had Zone Conference on Thursday and like I said, I got to see Elder Frogley again! I also saw a lot of other good friends, it was the best Zone Conference I've gone to so far. In terms of catching up with other Missionaries. After ZC we stopped by Buc-ee's and I got a fourth of July shirt. After that the rest of the week was kind of boring. Except for when I broke my shoe and father's day.

     We went to a big park to try to talk to some people and ended up joining a game of soccer. I should've been more careful cause my shoe was already falling apart. But I played anyway and after about 10 minutes my shoe busted. I'll put a picture below, but man... I was pretty bummed. I've had the shoes for about 8 months and they were the only brown shoes I had. It was a good lesson of taking care of my belongings though. Things last longer when they're taken care of.

   

   For father's day we Elders sang with the primary during sacrament meeting. We sang A Child's Prayer. Apparently the children were horrendous, but everyone said we did good. Except for a couple youth that made fun of me 

I don't know why, but the Saldaña kids call me their favorite one minute and then call me a bad singer the next. I feel like the favorite missionary should be treated better...

Oh well.

     All in all, it was a slow week, but a good one. I'm excited for this next week, I'm hoping it'll be more eventful.

     I'll add this as a final story. Yesterday Elder Nelson and I were sitting in our car waiting for it to be time to go to Eric's apartment when this drunk woman stumbles by alongside the road. There was a ditch right in between her and us and I realized she was probably gonna fall into it. She got closer and guess what? She fell in. We were about to get out and help her, but she was okay and we decided it would probably be safer for us to stay away from a hysterical drunk woman. She got all muddy and a couple people gave her an interesting look as she stumbled on her way down the road. 

And people wonder why we don't drink.

     Anyway, I hope y'all have a good week!

-Elder Peterson 

La Porte's mascot is the bulldog, that's why we took pictures by the painting. And it's a cool painting.