Staying strong

 

Hey everyone!

Well, now I am one week older in the mission. The week has not been the most eventful, I hate to say. Due to personal issues back home, my companion has been a bit stressed out lately. As a result, I have stayed in my apartment with him a lot this week. It has been a bit dull, being in the apartments like this, but a job to be done is never more important than a person to be loved. That's my opinion on the issue anyway. My companion has spent a lot of this extra time working out, and I have joined him for some of this. This has been pretty good for me - working out is something which I have not done much of before, even in my mission calling as an exercise coordinator. So, it has been good to be able to work that in to my daily schedule as a missionary.

I have also been a bit stressed out this week - having nothing to do is one thing which bugs me, no offense to my companion. I have found that, aside from scripture study and personal prayer, one of the best ways to manage stress is to work to clean up the apartment. It gives the mind something to do aside from stress itself out more than it already has, and when you are done, the domicile is nicely clean. I was even able to work on cleaning up the bathroom one particularly stressful day (trust me, it needed it). So, if you ever find that you are having a tough day, scrub a few dishes clean or wipe up some spills that have been being ignored for too long. 

Anyway, Elder Duncan of the Quorum of the Seventy, as you may already know, is coming to visit the mission this next week. The choir has been practicing a special song for this special visit, and the mission has been getting haircuts to prepare (some young elders are no longer recognizable due to the latter change). I am a bit excited for this myself, because as I may have already stated in my last E-mail, Elder Duncan will take part in a special meeting among the mission's young elder leadership, myself included. I believe that I have also said that he will be touring the mission and checking out what exactly it is we do. I think everyone here is excited for all of this - these do not happen very often, and this is an opportunity to show the church's presiding authorities what exactly we are capable of. 

This has been a pretty short transfer, and so we will already be getting more transfers next Tuesday. Luckily for us, the mission already sent out moving notices. Me and my entire district got moving notices, which I guess makes sense - the apartment we were living in was due for a deep cleaning anyway. I do not know how intact the district will remain after these changes, but I have a feeling that I will probably stay here for quite a while. Either way, this will be my 12th transfer on the mission - next month, I will have been out on the mission for an entire year. It has, so far, been a wild ride in the mission. I probably will not do too much reminiscing about my mission now - I will wait for next month, when the one-year mark actually passes. All I know is, there is still much work to be done, and I can't stop focusing on that. 

I do not have much else to say - the week was relatively uneventful. But I still enjoy being able to serve out here. I also appreciate the support you all have given me while I have been out here in the service. I hope every one of you has a great day!

From,

Elder Bryce Petersen

Challenge: I have mentioned cleaning the house or apartment as a good way to relieve stress, and this is quite true. However, there is simply no replacement for the power of personal prayer. Think about it - when one is stressed, and perhaps feeling strong emotions, the spirit cannot dwell with him. Personal prayer is the best way to bring this spirit back, along with the emotional assistance it brings with it. One of the common names for the Holy Ghost is "the comforter". This week, I have learned more about why he has this name. I can testify that, when one is in despair beyond what he can handle, if he or she will have the faith to ask for strength to endure, it will come. However, one must be worthy for this divine companion to assist him. If you are not currently worthy of such a blessing, do whatever it takes. Make whatever changes are necessary in your life. And when this worthiness is again in your life, forget not to pray always, especially when you don't feel like it - Brigham Young has said that, ironically, this is the time when you need to pray the most. Just this one leap of faith could be what it takes to help you feel the spirit again, and begin personal healing. As you make personal prayer a part of your life, you will find that it will enrich every aspect of your life, and help you to find joy in the midst of despair. 

A Return to What Brought Me Here

Hey everyone!

     The week has been memorable, as it had included a big change for me and my zone. This is because we have finally been able to organize the time we spend in zone so that we can do what is called "Research Essentials". If you do not remember my talking about this, it is a two hour block missionaries on this mission are given every week to work on their own family history. For the past three and a half months, I have not been able to do this, partly due to the changes which have happened. I have worked myself to get this changed in the mission, but it didn't seem like any progress was getting done there. However, now I have every Tuesday evening to work on my own family history work. I have even gotten a project going, on which I am conducting further research on my great-great grandfather. Of course, this research will never get in the way of my zone work - that is still the main reason why I am out here in the first place. But, it will be good to use the resources of the family history library while I can!

     We have gotten a lot of work done at zone - more than we usually have. As a result, our staff supervisors have mentioned giving us more to do in the future. Given, this is a promise which they have been making for a while, so I'll take it with a grain of salt, but I will be happy if they do follow through this time. I am not dissatisfied with the work I am doing here - there simply comes a time where there are less things to be doing. Then again, I guess it is the nature of the beast, that there sometimes is simply no work to be done. As well as more changes, we have been informed by the building management of the family history library that a renovation to accommodate the contact center is actually in the works now. It might still take a while for things to actually get moving, but I wouldn't mind being able to have a different workspace.

    The mission's weekly leadership meeting for this last Thursday was cancelled this week. This was because a new young elder training meeting was being held instead. Me and Elder Beeson both had to go to this, as Elder Beeson was still considered a new young elder. There were a couple of notable differences with this meeting. First of all, this was not held in the church office building, but the top floor of the JSMB. Second, it was not sandwiches served for lunch - it was pizza this time! Finally, and probably the most importantly, there was a part of this meeting where the trainers split off from the trainees, and the two groups received different instruction. I am honestly quite grateful for that - despite my previous experience training, I still had much to learn. I will probably have to apply this education to training in the future as well - it stands to reason that, if I am called as a trainer twice before I am even halfway through my mission, that probably means that I will become a trainer again. I wouldn't mind such an opportunity, but then again, I will go wherever the Lord wants me to go.

    Aside from all this, the week hasn't been overly eventful. I have been able to get some more baking in though, which was pretty nice. The mission, despite a highly structured lifestyle, still allows one to have his hobbies, so long as they do not take one's focus from the gospel and from the work. Either way, the week has still been a good one - I have no complaints, and I am happy to be here. Thanks for the continued support. I will see you next week!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



     Challenge: Personally, I prefer to use the terminology "family history" rather than "genealogy". There is a major difference between the two: "genealogy" is the art of adding names and dates to a pedigree, seeing who they are related to, perhaps take these names with us to the temple - and that is it. Sometimes, it feels like we do this work simply to find more people and names. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the desire to perform temple work for the names which we find in our family lines, but to me, "family history", is more than simply adding information to a pedigree chart - it is the act of actually discovering the life stories of those who came before us. Of course, this is somewhat difficult for people who lived very long ago, but often times, we can use historical hints to give us an idea what the lives of these people were like. I believe this is part of the reason why so many people come in to visit the library - to find such documents that tell us stories as well as names and dates. Please don't misunderstand, I am not writing this story to speak out against adding more people to your family trees - taking names to the temple will always be an important work, and there will always be something to do there. Do continue to find names to take to the temple, but, as you work to learn about more of your ancestors, every now and again, take a moment to learn more about your ancestors. You will find that your family is probably more interesting than you have ever imagined, more to speak of than the dusty tomes where you first discovered who they were. You will learn a lot from those who came before you - their stories will bless your lives for the better, and you will learn how to take on today's challenges from lessons taught centuries ago.

Visitors welcome

Hello friends!

Well, it is good to be able to E-mail you all again! My new calling to leadership has been a blessing as well as a challenge for me.  I am still doing my work at zone, though I simply have more responsibilities now - it has been related to being a supervisor in a work situation in my most recent leadership meeting.  I still have much to learn, though I know that if the Lord trusts me to do it, then I will either be able to do so, or I will become so. As well as leading my district, I have also been helping out around the contact center. As of now, I am tied with my former companion, Elder Argyle, for having spent the most time in the zone, and I have spent the most time out of everyone for doing the specific work we are doing. So, I have been helping others out with working cases and answering phone calls. I haven't gotten as much of my own cases done as I have before I became the experienced one here, as well as receiving my new assignment, but it is still good to be able to help others out here in the zone.

I may not have mentioned this in my last E-mail, but the move to my new apartment was a bit of a shock in one way - specifically, me and Elder Beeson moved out of a nice, deep-cleaned, tidy apartment into one which people have not maintained too well. It was quite cluttered, and just generally messy. However, my companion did have to stay home for the morning yesterday, so we took that time and did a clean sweep on the apartment (I will admit, it was Elder Beeson's idea). Of course, we were already doing a little bit here and a little bit there to keep it clean, but this was the day when we really hit it hard. And when we finished it all up, you would not believe it was the same apartment! Of course, there is still some work that could be done, but it is a huge improvement from where it was before. As a result, I have asked Elder Beeson to be the district cleaning coordinator to keep the apartment nice and tidy. It will be good for him to have some responsibility, as well as the feeling that he is doing more than just his zone assignment.

I have also began planning meals with the rest of my district again. This is something which I have not done in a while, due to the people living in my previous apartment not wanting to do so, but now there are more willing people to help me out with this. I feel that it is good to not only plan meals (or at least dinners) together as an apartment/district, but also to prepare and cook them rather than simply buying pre-made goods. This is generally cheaper, healthier, and more delicious, even if you only buy the generic stuff! My companion still is not overly interested in collaborated meals, though, so I think it might be a while before he decides to join in with us. Then again, if he would rather not, then that is alright too. I guess that having that freedom is nice too.

The mission presidency wants this particular zone to become the best that it can be, so now, the first counselor in the mission presidency, President Buffington, has met with the district leaders in the zone to discuss what could be done to improve it. Aside from that, our supervisor has also met with us to discuss similar things. I won't tell you what exactly was discussed in those meetings, but I will say that it is interesting to meet with others to discuss the best ways that we can improve. I guess that is just another part of leadership. However, I have learned one thing from these meetings: it does not help anyone to simply tell a leader that everything is going fine, when it is not. This I also understand first-hand now. In this sense, there are certain circumstances when complaining, when done in a mature and formal manner, is not only acceptable but also useful. Anyway, it is nice to know that leadership is open to the opinions of the young elders in the zone on both ends (ecclesiastical and administrative), and that I can report issues I see in a more direct way.

Well, I have not yet told my district this yet, but I have learned in my most recent leadership meeting that the mission has actually planned a visit from Elder Kevin R. Duncan, of the Seventy. Not only is he coming though - President Dallin H. Oaks, perhaps in his inability to come tour the mission himself, has asked that the report of this tour be sent to him. This is a rare occurrence, in which a member of the First Presidency, rather than one of the Twelve, receives a report of a tour of a mission. As you can imagine, President Fenn is a bit anxious to get this mission in shape for this visit. He has a lot of faith that we can become so much more than we are right now, and so he wants to leave the best impression that he can on the church's leadership. I also look forward to this visit, and I too hope that we can show the church's leaders how great this mission is!

Well, there is my E-mail for the week. Thanks for the support everyone, I love hearing from you! Have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: Ever since the passing of President Monson a month ago, we have sustained President Russel M. Nelson as the prophet who leads this church today. Put simply, the word "sustain" means "to support". The best way to sustain a prophet of the lord is to obey him. Even if we keep all the ordinances of the gospel, it will not matter much if we do not obey (see 1 Samuel 15:22). Surely, the scriptures have many important commandments contained therein, all of which we should be holding strongly to. However, revelation has not ceased, and prophets, seers, and revelators with the same authority as the ones who's words are recorded in the scriptures live today. Because of this, their words are just as important as the prophets of old, and perhaps even more so. Why so? Because their words are what God wants us to hear today. The words found in the scriptures give us the word of God which never loses value or significance, as well as the mysteries of the kingdom revealed to man. The words of modern prophets are what God wants people today to hear and apply so we can make it through this day and age. So, my challenge to you is to study the teachings of modern prophets, seers, and revelators, as well as the scriptures. One example of how one could do this would be to read a general conference talk together for family home evening, or to look through one of the books in the series "Teachings of the Prophets". Studying what modern prophets have taught us and warned us about will give us a road map to get through the trials of this day and age, and will help us grow closer to God than was before possible.