Cooling down, picking up

Hey everyone!

First and foremost, I must apologize for sending this letter out so late in the day... I would loved to begin writing my E-mails at the normal time, that being 1:00 P.M., but there were too many things going on today. I will write more about that later in this E-mail. Either way, I am so sorry for my tardiness. But, either way, I am here now!

So, the choir kept busy last Monday. Of course, we had to wake up in the dead hours of the morning for Monday Morning Devotional. However, later that same day, we also had another big performance to go along with a special event - a Book of Mormon conference presented by President Fenn, about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. So, the choir got to practice in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, where the conference was being held, a couple hours before the conference itself. After that, we all enjoyed a special Mission Dinner held in the lobby of the Conference Center - yes, the same Conference Center which will be hosting the women's session of General Conference tomorrow, as well as the other sessions next week. It was a pretty good dinner too - pulled pork burritos are always delicious for a guy like me! After that, we had the conference itself, with the choir's musical number, and our President's message. It was kinda cool to attend something like that in the historic Assembly Hall on Temple Square. It brings my mind to a lot of the "older" things which the church owns - things that could pretty much be called artifacts, not just for their age, but for their historic value. The more interesting part, however, is that they do not simply rot away, nor are they kept simply to attract tourists. Rather, they are still very much functional, and in use. The most exceptional example of this I can think of is the Salt Lake Temple - a place whose story and history attract people from all over the world, yet it still serves its original purpose today. I guess this church is a very practical one in that sense.

Things have been cooling down quite noticeably here lately - there is a crispness to this air, and I actually quite like it. It is a welcome change from the hot temperatures we have been dealing with this past summer. However, with this change, it has also been raining a lot more lately. The funny thing is, I have no problem with this! My companion does not like the rain at all - more specifically, he can't stand the cold it brings with it - but I find the rain quite exciting! Sure, it gets a bit cold after a while, but that is no problem to me! The valley could user more moisture anyway. Things will be a lot cooler when winter comes around though, but I don't have much of a problem with this. I anticipate it as uncomfortable as summer was. I guess the only difference, aside from the obvious, is that summer doesn't bring snow, or whatever it's warmer equivalent would be. But, I can survive that.

Now to explain why I was so darn late today! Well, the Young Elders had their weekly temple trip today. I think it was originally planned to be tomorrow, on Saturday, but due to the women's session of General Conference tomorrow, and the fact that the temple system closes down in anticipation of this, we did the trip on Friday instead. A lot of the time, we just go to the Salt Lake Temple, but, as I may have mentioned earlier, we like to go to other temples, which are further away. Today, we visited the Provo temple, which was an hour away. After the two-hour session, we decided to make a couple side trips. The first was to a local art museum there. My companion wasn't too interested, he's not a huge fan of art, but I found it interesting. They had an exhibit on creations from LDS artists, which I quite liked, there was some good stuff there. Anyway, after that, we stopped at the BYU Creamery for some ice creams. Let me tell you, they make some good ice cream! I probably would not have ordered the double scoop if I had anticipated it being quite that big! And so, after all that, we finally went home, and I came to the library right afterward to let you all know that I have not forgotten you!

So, there is my week for you. Again, sorry for sending the E-mail so late in the day, especially when I had asked some of you to expect it some time after 1:00 P.M. That is the time I usually start my E-mails, so again, sorry for the trouble. Speaking of when I send out my E-mails, that could change soon - we got a new bunch of Young Elders last week, and you probably know what that means by now - Transfers are coming next Tuesday. Personally, I don't think a lot of big changes are going to come - I am likely to keep training Elder Stacey, as missionaries usually stay with their trainers for two or more months, and our zone does not often transfer Elders out after only one month of service there. Either way, my P-Day could still change, so be ready for that. Either way, keep checking your E-mails at about 1:30 P.M., as that is the time I will usually send out my General E-mail. Either way, thanks again for the support. I look forward to hearing from you guys again next week. Have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: One thing which separates our church from those of other churches is our belief of performing saving ordinances, such as baptism, for those who have passed on. For most of you who receive my E-mail, you are blessed to be within an hour or two's journey of a temple where you can do such a great work, a work which some others sacrifice many years in savings for an opportunity to take part in. If you do not currently hold a temple recommend, I would advise you to do whatever needs to be done to obtain one. If you do hold one, yet do not use it regularly, I would advise you to remember a story, shared by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. To provide a basic summary of the story, it is about a man who had saved up for many years to go on a cruise. Wishing to spend as little money as possible, he spend the entire cruise in his cabin, living on canned beans and powdered lemonade. It was not until the end of his cruise that he learned that all the extras of the cruise had been included in the price of his ticket. Let us not let our cruises be wasted in our cabins, and let us not only attend the temple as often as our wards plan group trips. If any youth are reading this, please do not assume this is just for Mom and Dad - you are just as free to go in to do baptisms as Mom and Dad are free to attend sessions. So, my challenge to you is to make temple attendance a higher priority - it will bless your dead relatives who have passed on, and it will bless your own lives as well.