A Nice Refreshing Drink pt. 2

Hey guys!

So, first and foremost, I am sure you all know by now that my P-Day is no longer Friday. Saturday is probably a bit more convenient for those of you back home anyway, so that will make things easier on you. As for the rest of the changes... well, first off, I do have a new companion, Elder Argyle, who had only come in a month before me (Elder McGrew got moved to what is currently the only tri-companionship in the mission, and he is now serving in the FHL). Aside from that, I have not changed zones, but then again, I have... Technically, I have not gotten moved out of my current zone, but the zone is experiencing some major changes.

We are now going to be working on the B2 floor of the FHL while some renovations go on at the JSMB - this will likely continue for the duration of my mission. We will also be taking on a lot more work - as it had been described, the Young Elders in this zone had been what they call "under-utilized", which means we could do a lot more than our current workload - this is not the fault of the Young Elders, but rather an error in how things were organized. Allow me to clarify a bit here: we mostly dealt with account-related issues before, as well as some of the temple ordinance problems, but not much aside from that - this was the domain of other teams. Now, with the new changes, we will be helping out with anything patrons report having issues with - this includes problems with FamilySearch's Family Tree, indexing-related issues, more of the ordinance things, and more. So, we will be getting some new training to help us out with this extra workload, and the Young Elders which get assigned here will likely stay for longer than normal - our employee leadership wants Young Elders to stay there for at least a year, but I am not sure that our mission leadership wants us to stay that long. Either way, this week has mostly been training, moving, and getting things set up at the FHL.

Well, I did want a bit of a change of pace from the monotony of serving in a zone for four months straight, and, well, I guess that I have gotten it. To tell the truth, I am quite excited for the changes happening here, this will mean that I get more variety from my work. I don't know how the rest of the zone feels, but I honestly kind of look forward to it, and I am ready to take it on!

So, between orientations and training, I have been doing quite a bit of stuff last week. Then again, until we actually get settled back in to the library, we have not been able to do a lot of work. We have helped to move all of our computers from where we used to work, but unless we want our computers to become formatted like the patron computers in the FHL (spoiler alert: we don't), IT has to find a different way to hook up the computers. Until then, we have not been able to do much of anything aside from family history research, which in and of itself it not a bad thing. Still, I would like to get back to work. But, the training which I did get done felt a bit like drinking out of a water hose - kinda like the very beginning of my mission, which consisted of a bunch of training. So, that was quite interesting.

Mine and Elder Argyle's P-Day was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but as part of the big changes, we have moved the official zone P-Day to Saturday. This means that you can probably expect my E-mails to arrive on Saturday for a while, even if I do move districts in this zone. Saturday is the most common P-Day for the mission anyway. This makes certain things a bit nicer for some of us, it is easier to find a driver to take you shopping (doesn't really mean much for me though). On the other hand, there are also downsides to everyone taking their P-Day on the same day. First, it is a bit tough to get a washer and a dryer at the time you want - they are usually all full. Also, if you are a driver, then getting a key for one of the vans is not easy, unless you can get there quickly. I was barely able to get one of the final slots they had open. But, P-Day is still P-Day, and me and Elder Argyle were able to get a lot done.

Anyway, there is my week for you. Ask me about anything you want, if you would like. I am open to questions. Thanks for the support guys, I will see you next week!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: My mom has sent me a flyer detailing November as being "Family History Month". So, seeing as I am currently working in a family history-centered mission, I have decided I should challenge you to begin taking family history more seriously. You don't have to start out huge, or plan a week-long vacation to the Family History Library. This can start out with logging in to FamilySearch, checking out your family tree, and seeing what can be added - this can be another generation to your family tree, an attachment to an already added ancestor called a "memory", a source to a person who has already been added, or even your collateral lines - your ancestors' other descendants. Family history is an ongoing work, and there will always be more to do, no matter how much you think has already been done. Do not stop searching for and learning about your ancestors - you will be blessed for this work, in this life and in the next, in ways you never expected.

The weeks start coming...

Hey everyone!

It seems like it wasn't long ago at all since the last time I have sent out an E-mail to you guys (however, by now, that statement seems a bit redundant, I feel like I say it in most of my E-mails). Also, it doesn't seem too long since the last transfer conference either, and we are already getting another one this Tuesday! I have heard that things sped up past my 6-month mark from multiple people, but now I truly see what they mean by that. Before you know it, I will be packing up to return home.Until then, there is still a lot of work to be done here, and so, it is still time for me to get back to work.

It seems that the contact center will be moving to the Family History Library soon. I am unsure of all the details, but there will be another missionary zone moving to the 3rd floor where the contact center currently is, and we will be moving to the B2 floor of the Library. I do not know how long this will last, though I might not even remain in the zone to experience this. If I do, though, I may or may not have to help with moving the computers. I say this because we have been told that we would be helping with that next Friday, but as you know, that is my P-Day. If it continues to be my P-day, then I am not sure how exactly this will work. Either way, it will definitely be a change of pace to serve in the library again if I stay in the zone. I do look forward to the change, variety keeps things interesting.

We had senior mission conference this week, and I was able to sing in the choir for the Wednesday session. The message at this conference was provided by President Fenn, who spoke on the plan of salvation. I wish I was able to attend both sessions (the same message would have been shared), but I could not attend Thursday. Elder Boone, the senior morning exercise coordinator, was also in the choir, and Elder Garfield was released from this calling due to his serving in the granite mountain record vault zone, where he cannot attend morning exercise. So, I had to come and coordinate the program. Not that it was a bad thing, however. I enjoy coordinating the program. It has been good for me, and it has also been very beneficial to the mission. I predict that I will continue doing this for a while longer, and I look forward to doing the best I can with this.

We are losing a few people this month (three that I am sure of), but for the first time since I joined this mission, we are actually getting more Young Elders than we have lost - we have six new Young Elders this month! We originally met them after me and Elder Lindsay, who I was on a choir exchange with due to Elder McGrew not being in the choir, had practiced for our choir performance. We came down to the lobby to meet them, and got to help a couple of them load up their luggage into a mission van. I actually enjoy serving like this, I believe service is a key to happiness. Service to any extent is never wasted. Besides, I also got to meet some of the new Young Elders, which is something I look forward to doing every month!

Transfers are happening again next week. You all know the drill now - I could be sending an E-mail any day of the week, starting next Tuesday. I do know this, however, that you never know what is going to happen next transfer. I will just hold on, and let you know how it turns out. Until then, have a good week everyone.



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: I know that everyone who is reading this has some amazing talents and abilities. Some of you are great writers, while others are phenomenal musicians, while others still are good at seeing the needs of others, to name a few of said talents and abilities. However, there is always room for improvement. The Lord would have us keep learning new skills, and improving that which we already know. This especially applies in a spiritual sense. President Eyring had shared in this most recent General Conference that he himself had followed President Monson's counsel to improve his study of the Book of Mormon every day. No matter which level we are at, there is always going to be room for improvement. We must be willing to keep learning and improving. This will not only bless out own lives, but also the lives of those around us as we are more able to serve them, spiritually or physically. I testify that if we all remember that there is no end to improvement, and keep learning and improving, we will be blessed more and more for it, and find our lives more fully enriched.

General -

Hey everyone!

Well, another week has gone by. It still seems like the weeks are going by ever so much faster. It has been said that the days go by slowly but the weeks fly by. This is sort of how I am feeling. Time is weird when serving a mission... Either way, here I am, again behind the keyboard of the computer which I have been behind a week ago, for the same purpose as before. I am sorry that a bit late for my weekly E-mail, by the way - my companion's family expects their E-mails at 2:00 P.M. I may change my schedule to accommodate. So, if you do not get my E-mail at the scheduled time, do not worry, there is usually a good reason for it.

Anyway, back to my week. I mentioned that I was going to eat pizza at President Fenn's house right after I had left for my E-mail. I had gotten to use my driving privileges to not only take people up there, but also to take a companionship back home when one of the Young Elders was suddenly not feeling well. As for the pizza itself, it was delicious - we were in charge of each making our own, from shaping the pre-made dough, to topping it up, to cooking it in the pizza oven. And it was delicious! Of course, pizza is always delicious, but when it is homemade like that, there is nothing quite like it! All in all, it was a nice little evening to go out, and enjoy some good food together!

Next Monday was, of course, another performance from the choir. However, this time was a bit different - it was the last performance our director, Elder Baer, would be working with us. He has done well, and he will be missed. However, we have a new director, Sister Watkins who also has quite a bit to offer. She has a notable music background, including having written some of the songs in our hymnbooks. We have had our first practice with her last Wednesday, and things have gone quite well. Of course, Elder Baer was there to see how things went. The practice has gone quite well that day, Sister Watkins truly knows her stuff. I think we all look forward to working with her.

We had our Young Elder mission conference last Wednesday as well. This took up the first part of the day. President Fenn actually shared the first message this time. He said a couple of things about obedience to mission rules, and  - there had been some talk about missionaries who had not been living quite up to missionary standards. As far as I know, most of this stuff wasn't sinful at all - it just wasn't proper missionary behavior. After his remarks, we had our message from the Young Elder assistants to the president, who spoke about apartment cleanliness. Of course, we have inspectors come by periodically to check our apartments, but Young Elders had been cleaning up just for the inspection, then reverting back to old habits once the inspections had passed. As a result, the inspections had been given less and less warning in advance. They had announced that now, there would be no advance warning about this. It is a bit of a shame that it had to come to this, but it is probably what the Young Elders in this mission need. 

After these remarks, we had our spiritual messages from Sister and President Hansen, the latter being the first counselor in the mission presidency (for those of you who do not remember back that far, which is completely understandable, he is one of the people I had given eclipse glasses to when the eclipse happened). Sister Hansen shared with us a message about having a positive outlook on life, and dealing with mission stress. After this, President Hansen spoke to us. He said that he had a talk he had been preparing for months beforehand which he wanted to share with us, but he was then prompted to start from scratch with another message. This message was about consecrating ourselves, which went pretty well with what President Fenn had shared with us. I will share more about this message in my weekly challenge.

I also had a chance to meet some family last Wednesday (as you can probably tell by now, Wednesday was a very interesting day for me). My great aunt Jodee was visiting the Family History Library, and I was able to meet them there. We had taken a couple of pictures there, one of which I will attach to this E-mail. Every now and again, it is nice to run into a familiar face, though I think if it happened more often, it would make me a bit homesick! I am doing alright at the moment though, one surprise visit isn't enough to do that for me. Either way, such is what happens when you serve so close to home - you run into occasional familiar faces!

There has also been talk about moving the contact center into the Family History Library. I personally don't quite see why this would happen, aside from the fact that there are some staff members who will be moving there. I guess this is a mission of constant change. Such is the following paradox: the only reliably constant thing in life is change. We will also be getting a new paid supervisor soon, so that will be another major change to the zone. I do look forward to all this, it is nice to have a change in pace every once in a while!

Finally, me and my companion had our interviews with the president yesterday. They were originally going to be Tuesday, but President Fenn was quite busy that day, and so had to reschedule them. The interviews did take longer than they generally should, but that was alright. I was happy to find that I am doing a lot better now than I was doing a month ago. There is still definitely room for improvement, but I have improved a lot since last time. I was happy to be able to tell President Fenn this, and he was quite happy as well. I had asked him what I could do to improve my service as a missionary, and he told me that I could work to be a better example to everyone around me, and to practice exact obedience to the rules (I do believe this could apply to everyone, by the way). So, I feel like I am on the right path, and I plan on staying there.

Well, that's my week for you. This week has definitely been more eventful than the previous, and the next will probably be just as exciting. We will get new Young Elders next Monday, meaning yet another transfer conference is coming up. So, next Friday is the last week I can guarantee that my next E-mail will come on a Friday. But, we don't have to worry about that just yet. For now, just look forward to Fridayat 2:00, as my companion would rather be sending E-mails out then. So, I will see you all next week. Have a good one!

From,

Elder Bryce Petersen

Challenge: President Hansen had given the spiritual message at mission conference last Wednesday, and he talked about consecrating ourselves to the Lord. He started off with the New Testament story of Ananias and Sapphira, which goes as follows: After Christ's crucifixion, his apostles had been continuing to build up his church. All the members of this church were required to live the law of consecration by selling all they owned and giving the money to the apostles, who would then redistribute it according to the needs of the members. Now, Ananias and Sapphira had sold something, but withheld some of the money they had gotten when giving the money to the apostles, and tried to tell them it was the full price of the possession. Peter had declared that, by holding back a part of what they had and lying about it, they had lied before God, and they were then struck dead. Peter also noted that before they had made the commitment to follow the gospel, they were free to do what they wanted with what they had. 

What can we learn from this? When we commit to do something, we are expected to put our all into it. Of course, this applies to everything in life, but it especially applies to following Jesus Christ. In these days, we do not have to do things the same way they were done back in the day - we are not asked to part with our possessions. However, we are still expected to give our all to this Gospel. This means that we live the gospel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without an exception. This is done by coming unto Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This essentially means that we are willing to submit ourselves to the will of God. If we can do this, then consecrating ourselves to the Gospel will be that much easier, and we will find our lives will be more fully blessed from it.

Conference, work, funeral

Hey everyone!

Well, conference has come and gone, as has the rest of this week. And it has been quite a week too! I must apologize for the lack of pictures in this E-mail, as I was not able to connect the SD card in my camera to my computer with the adapter I got for it. It is probably just user error, but I'd rather make sure this E-mail gets out to everyone than try and wrestle with technology.

Anyway, conference was great this weekend. Aside from the priesthood session, I was not able to attend any of the sessions live - my companion was not too hyped up about the premise of waking up that early in the morning. However, we were able to watch the general sessions in the JSMB, so that was good too. We were able to watch the priesthood session live, as always. President Fenn had managed to get tickets for the Young Elders - just as it happens every time. So, I was able to attend that live with Elder McGrew, as well as the other Young Elders. I actually took notes this time as well - if you know anything about me, that is truly saying something. I can't say my notes were the best, but they helped me pay attention to what was being said, and they kept me awake the whole time. So, in the end, it was a good event to be able to attend, in person or over the television!

Aside from this, work has been fairly typical. Elder McGrew is now fully retrained, and is working just as hard as the rest of us. The work has slowed down a bit - things in patron-facing zones are always busier in the summer when everyone has more time (or at least motivation) to go and do things. The work has been pretty good, though I wonder how much longer I will stay in the zone. I am perfectly fine with staying in the zone for however much longer the Lord needs me there - however, I am the only one remaining who was in the zone four months ago when I arrived (this is not to say I am the most experienced necessarily, there are a couple people who were here before and have come back), and I would like variety. Hehe, last time I felt this way, it was during my final transfer in the International zone. However, I cannot predict when things will change, and maybe I will stay there another four transfers. I am not saying I hate this zone, because I do not hate it, it is a great zone; but I would not mind it if I were moved elsewhere.

If you have watched General Conference this week, specifically the Sunday afternoon session, then you already know about Elder Hales' passing. I feel like every member of the church has been affected in some way or another by this. However, I testify that this is not the end for him, or for anyone else. His family will know him again someday. Anyway, his funeral, as some of you may know, was actually today. In fact, me and my companion had just gotten out of his funeral services held in the tabernacle on Temple Square. Speaking here were members of the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency, and present were Elder Hales' family. The speakers had spoken about what a great man he was, and some of the memories they had shared together. He will be missed by us all, but we know that he is doing a great work on the other side.

Aside from this, the week was a bit uneventful. However, I will have to cut my time for E-mails a bit short today anyway. I have to go shopping after my E-mails rather than before, as I could not go then on account of the funeral. Also, we have to return to the apartments by 5:00, as the Young Elders of the mission not serving in the FHL will be going to the Fenns' house for a pizza dinner tonight - the Young Elders in the FHL will go there tomorrow. So, I have quite a bit on my plate today. I will tell you all about how it all goes next week, hopefully with some pictures that time! Well, I will catch you all later. Have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: My challenge for this week is a bit unusual, as it is directed more toward youth than adults, though it is open for anyone to take part in. More specifically, my challenge is directed toward anyone who uses the Internet for anything, whether it is for business, entertainment, or anything else. The Internet is a powerful tool, and it can be used for a lot of good, or it can be used for evil. There is a lot of evil on the Internet, and it can suck you in to a place you really do not want to be. Luckily, there is an easy way to resist temptations like this - you don't even have to disconnect from the Internet. This is done by making yourself use the Internet to do something good rather than something evil. I know that this message is probably partly inspired by my calling to work with the website www.familysearch.org, but you can instead go on to FamilySearch and do work there. By that, I am talking about two different things: the first is, obviously, family history research. The second, however, is a bit less obvious: it is a volunteer project we call indexing. In a sentence, this is a process to make historical records searchable. This is done by a volunteer reading the records, and filling in an in-browser form. That way, you can help others with their family history. So, just to recap my message, whenever you feel tempted to do something you know you should not do while on the Internet, instead do work on either family history or indexing. I promise you that, if you do either of these things, it will bring in the Spirit, and it will kill any temptation you may be experiencing.