Snow!!!

Hello everyone!

Well, we have finally gotten snow here in Salt Lake City. We have all been waiting on this for a while, as it is not even really Christmas without snow. Of course, the true meaning of the holiday, and what makes it so special, goes a lot different than what is shown outside my window, but it still is nice to have. Either way, we now have it, and it feels that much more like Christmas now!

Anyway, aside from snow, we have been seeing a lot more Christmas around here. I am sure that some of you back home have been able to see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last Sunday, either from home or in person. Me and the rest of the mission were able to see the event live that day, so I was right there with you all. It's amazing seeing that conference center fill right up almost to capacity! Of course, this wasn't as full as it gets around General Conference, but it is still quite a bit! The messages shared were good, and the music was spectacular! It is truly a blessing to be able to attend events right in the conference center whenever they come around. It is one of the great parts of serving in this mission!

This was not the only conference center event which I had attended this week. The other one was especially for me, or more specifically, it was for the family history department of the church. There were two sessions of this, and we were all invited to attend one of the two - some attended one, and others attended the other. The one I attended was on Thursday. There were a couple of general authority seventies who spoke, as well as Steve Rockwood, the head of FamilySearch. This event actually did not take place in the main conference center, but in the conference center theater, the place I watched "Savior of the World," as I had talked about last week. The event was definitely worth attending - the messages were good as always, and they even served lunch afterward.

I have also received a couple cards from some of you back home, and I would like to thank every one of you for each of them, it is well appreciated! There was only one minor problem: as I was opening them, I decided I wanted to use a knife - what better tool to use for a clean opening without tearing up the envelope? However, when I did this with one of the envelopes, a five-dollar bill fell out - or, should I say, half of a five dollar bill... You can probably guess how that happened... But, all it took was a little bit of scotch tape to bring it back to near-perfect condition - the bill was even accepted by a vending machine in the library. I find that to be a bit of an inspiring story. Without breaking into a twenty minute talk or sermon, I would just like to remind everyone that, even if you feel that you have proverbially "torn your life in half", it can still be repaired to an acceptable condition. There is still hope for you!

Anyway, life on the mission is still going great! I am working hard at zone, and getting a lot of stuff done there, but I am nonetheless quite happy! I guess that happiness is, in part, found in good hard work. I have even been told that I was quite cheerful while on my way to morning exercise this morning! I will be honest: waking up in the morning is still not terribly fun, but when I get moving, I can awaken quite quickly! One thing that I have noticed is that waking up is easier when I get to bed early. It may seem like plain logic, and I will admit that it probably is. However, I feel like I have not fully appreciated how big of a difference a couple minutes really makes. It also helps that I maintain the habit of waking up on time every day - not just days that I have to do stuff. Admittedly, part of the reason I do this is because it is the only way I can schedule time to prepare breakfast, or even bake bread. In other words, I have a reason, or a motivation, to wake up. Of course, I still schedule time for scripture study in the morning - there is simply no good excuse for cutting that out. But, giving myself a good reason is a good way to maintain obedience to the mission rules. Of course, obedience like this should come from a love for the Savior, not simply because one likes food. However, I feel that if having stuff to do in the morning is what it takes, then it can be used for the purpose of becoming more obedient. Besides, I still get up on time when I don't have stuff like this to do, so that's not the only reason why I wake up.

So, things have been still going well out here on the mission. I love you all, and I hope to see you again next week. Have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: I have faith that a lot of you read your scriptures regularly - me and my family have read them together ever since I was a young child. However, my question is this: how deeply do you study them? I feel that sometimes, I read my scriptures without thinking too deeply about them, and a lot of their value is left unread and not utilized. My mission president knows about the possibility of this happening quite well - as a result, he has instituted a challenge for the young elders. In this challenge, we are to read the Book of Mormon, and highlight in different colors scriptures which cover certain doctrines. The colors are as follows: red is for scriptures pertaining to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, yellow is for scriptures which reference covenants made between the Lord and his people, and blue is for scriptures talking about discipleship and following Christ. Of course, you do not have to follow this exact pattern in marking your scriptures, but you can do so if you'd like, or you can develop your own pattern - choose your own colors and doctrines you would like to learn more about. Then read the scriptures, and as you come across scriptures related to the doctrines you are looking for, highlight them in the appropriate color, then read over them once or twice more. You will find more stuff than you have previously when reading the scriptures, including things which you did not see before. Your testimony and faith will grow, and you will be more greatly blessed.