Music in my soul

 Hey everyone!

In the excitement for all the changes which happened at zone, I forgot to talk about a musical performance I got to participate in. This happened a week before last Monday in my mission branch's "Aloha Dinner," an event intended to recognize the missionaries joining and leaving the mission for this branch, if I never explained it before. This may sound similar to a "Hail and Farewell" dinner I have previously talked about, and that is because the only differences between the two are which branches they are for (the mission has two branches), and the month on which they are held (each dinner happens once every two months, and they alternate so that there is a dinner every month). Anyway, I was asked to perform a special musical number at this branch with a couple other Young Elders. The event was great, and multiple people have commented on the performance. Aside from that, I have also gotten to sing for another special number last Sunday, "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy," in a quartet for sacrament meeting.

I do have a couple more musical performances planned. One is not until December. The other is one I am very excited for. At Transfer Conference this month, they want me to help provide prelude music. This is made up of instrumental covers of hymns, mostly done on piano and violin. However, the music coordinator, Elder Kellogg (I may have mentioned his name once or twice before) not only asked me to help perform - he got President Fenn's permission to let me use an acoustic guitar for this! So, we are currently working on getting one for me so that I can practice with the other people performing for this, and I must say, I am very excited to pick up a six-string again! This will be my first time in a while, so I will have to work to brush off a couple of cobwebs, but I really do look forward to doing my thing again!

So, you are probably wondering what I did for Halloween. Spoiler alert: I did not go trick-or-treating. However, we did get out of zone a bit early today, so that we could celebrate the holiday. We did this by enjoying snacks and a movie called "The Best Two Years," a movie which, if you haven't heard of it, describes missionary life in a nutshell (for proselyting missionaries, anyway). It sort of shows that, although this mission is definitely different than the one in the movie, things are actually quite similar in some ways. The purpose of this E-mail is not to write reviews about movies, so all I will say is I recommend checking it out, at least to see what it's like if nothing else. 

Not a ton has happened in zone - we have mostly just been training with recorded videos of the aspects of serving in this zone being taught to other missionaries. There is a lot to take in, but then again, there is a lot which I already have experience with from my last four months in the zone. Honestly, it gets a bit boring at times. Luckily for me, the training is somewhat self-paced, so I can occasionally get up and walk around a little bit. It is also convenient that there is a break room in the library, though it also requires one to be careful with how they use their wallet - the stuff in the vending machines looks tasty. I haven't been bad with my money though, so that's not a problem. I plan on being done with this training by this time next week, though we will see how things go.

I have also added a couple of photos to this E-mail - some old, and some new. I do not know if I have sent any of these earlier, but I tried my best to pick where I left off from the last time I sent pictures. Either way, allow me to describe them: the first is the conference center when I attended the priesthood session of General Conference. The next is me and Elder Lindsay showing off the hats which we had knitted for that service project I have talked about. After that is a picture of some pizza which I made and ate at President Fenn's house back when we had that pizza party. Next is a homemade flan which I made earlier this week. Last was taken just a moment ago, a picture of my companion Elder Argyle. I will try and be better about sending pictures in my future E-mails.

Well, that's what I've got for you this week. Again, I thank everyone for the support. I'm happy to hear from you back home. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

From,

Elder Bryce Petersen

Challenge: One needs to look no further than the name of our church to know the center of our faith - that is Jesus Christ (2 Nephi 25:26). Our goal in this life is to learn of and become like Him in all that we do. So, how do we become like Christ? The simple answer to that is to develop Christlike attributes, and do what He would do. So, how can we develop Christlike attributes? The missionary handbook titled Preach My Gospel does a great job on covering some of these attributes, and how we can develop them. Of course, you may be able to identify a few of your own, and that is not only a good idea, it is encouraged. My challenge to you is to work to develop these Christlike attributes in all that you do. In your daily life, look for ways you can become more like the Savior. Becoming more like Him will make life less stressful, and will also bless those around you. To learn more on the subject, click here to read the chapter on developing Christlike attributes in Preach My Gospel.