The Pilot Takes Off

Hey everyone!


First off, I don't think I mentioned it in my last E-mail, but transfers have actually happened last Tuesday. It doesn't make a huge difference for me though - though me and Elder Black both got moving notices, the only thing that changed for us is the apartment we lived in. We are still companions, still in the same zone, and still observing the same P-Day. The district wasn't even reorganized to include those involved in the pilot program so that the district wouldn't be separated at work, as we had kind of expected (we currently work on separate floors). As for the other major changes at Transfer Conference, Elders Shubin and Krauss have returned home. As Elder Shubin was a Young Elder Training Leader, Elder Buers was called to take his place there. There were no other leadership changes aside from this.

So, for the past week, me and the others in the pilot have been working separately from the others in the zone, as previously mentioned. The cases are challenging - it is a completely different type of work managed by a different software. However, we have been getting the hang of it, and are actually working quite effectively. I am not the most effective of all four of the missionaries there, but I do work hard, and I get quite a bit done. I am also learning every day, which is great. I think by the end of the program, we will have met the expectations of the people in charge. I look forward to that!

There have been some major announcements made at transfer conference, which I feel I can include in the E-mail. Night zone has always been a bit of a slower time for missionaries, and when things are slow, missionaries get bored. When missionaries get bored, they get off-topic. Now, I don't mean to say that they have been doing things worthy of having to talk to the mission president about or getting sent home for them - but, to put it simply, night zone is not the most productive time of day. To remedy this issue, we will begin doing night zone a bit differently. Every night zone which we go to (Tuesday through Friday), half of us will go to night zone, and the other half will attend classes about a variety of subjects - some will be gospel related, some will cover more temporal subjects involving life skills (personal finance, for example). The people attending these classes will alternate every night so everyone gets a chance to attend. This keeps everyone busy - those at night zone will have a more healthy workload, and those at the classes will be enriched and enlightened. I look forward to these coming changes - night zone could use improvement to keep everyone busy, and I think this will help with that.

Anyway, that's not the only big thing going on. The choir has been working on an arrangement of the hymn "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet," which sounds great. However, I think that a bit more work has been put towards working on it than most of the musical numbers we have been doing. I have been asked to give a quick message before the singing of this hymn (which message is the text of D&C 21:1-5), and we will have three young elder soloists - Elders Stephens, Buers (who will afterwards no longer be in the choir due to his new assignment), and Harris. We have also been working individually as sections for the number. Finally, last Sunday, the men's section of the choir had practiced for a bit before our Sunday meetings. None of these things are normally worked on for musical numbers, so I look forward to the performance we do of this number, and seeing what happens when we perform it.

The mission was able to have a special visit to the Church History Library yesterday, which was enjoyable. They never did announce what the situation would be in regards to our zone work, because the actual presentation which we saw there happened 45 minutes after the beginning of night zone. When me and my companion had arrived to get some work done before this began, no one was there. Anyway, the aforementioned presentation was on the translation of the Book of Mormon. It was an interesting presentation on how the Book of Mormon was translated, and they even showed us a bit on the importance of doing proper research, which is fitting - this library is all about research. Anyway, before the presentation itself, I looked up some resources on one of my ancestors, and found that the library actually had quite a bit about him, including letters to Brigham Young while he served as a mission president, biographies, and even an autobiography. Some resources required me to visit the library again the next day (today) to view, and that I did do! His autobiography is quite a work, and though I was not able to read through it all with the limited time I had, it was still good to have been able to learn more about one of my ancestors there! I would definitely recommend visiting the place sometime!

That's what has been going on with me this week. I believe that there will be some good things to talk about next week, so stay tuned in. Have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: It has been said a million times that life is short. That is true - my mission has been flying by, and each month moves more swiftly than the last. However, is there any importance to knowing that life goes by quickly? It would not, if we were to always do what needs to be done immediately. However, procrastination often is a problem for many of us - it definitely is for me. The major problem with procrastination is that it is easier to say "tomorrow" than "today", and doing the former gets easier every time it is done. However, we are not given forever to do things which are important. Our opportunities are limited, and when they do come, they never seem to stay long enough. There are a couple reasons for procrastination. One may feel like the situation is not optimal - for example, one may postpone starting a family when money is sparse. However, I have found personally that just going ahead and doing things which I may not have felt completely ready for has never ended in regret. another reason one may procrastinate is because of a lack of motivation. It is important to remember that for things which are not fun to do, motivation is not simply given - it is earned. It comes after one has done some of the task, and gotten himself or herself in motion - remember, one of the laws of motion says that an object in motion stays in motion. Finally, one may put things off because of a lack of urgency. While it may be true that there is often not a ton of pressure to do important things, one can set personal goals for himself so that he can tackle such tasks. Do not simply reschedule important tasks simply because there is not currently a pressing need - tell yourself that it will be done by the end of the day. One thing is certain - procrastination is an enemy to progress. So, my challenge is to put off procrastination, and begin doing that which needs to be done. Do it even if the weather is not optimal, or if you still cannot find your headphones which you usually wear while working. If finding motivation is hard, just do it for about ten minutes, and see if it isn't suddenly easier to keep moving until the task is done. And finally, do it before it becomes too late.

Escalated cases

Hey everyone!

First off, I should talk a bit about the temple open house which happened soon after I had finished my last E-mail to you. The trip was very nice, a good little change from the ordinary. As I may have already mentioned, the temple we visited was the Jordan River temple. You may not know this, but this is actually the fourth largest temple in the world, and the second largest in Utah. Of course, attending a dedicated temple is an experience like none other, but this trip was nice in it's own way - people from all walks of life can come in and see what the interior of a temple looks like firsthand, and learn more about what we believe. Such an experience does not happen every day, even in Utah, so this was pretty special.

Anyway, for the rest of the week, training has continued for the pilot project I mentioned last week. They had anticipated having us begin actually working on the cases, but we have finished the training earlier than that - we will begin the project next Monday. We have learned quite quickly, and this is due to a couple of reasons. First of all, we already knew how to use customer support software, so working with that which is used for this was a cinch, and learning to do the work itself wasn't a huge deal. We have also had more focus on this sort of stuff than other people would, due to the nature of missionary service. However, I think that the biggest help here was the hand of the Lord - I am convinced that he opened our understanding so that we could serve His servants in the field, and ultimately further the work along. I know for a fact that the Lord's hand is in every aspect of this work, and it is with His help that we succeed out here.

Anyway, as previously mentioned, we will begin the project on Monday. Now, those of us involved in the project will not be working in the same area where we trained to do this work. Rather, we will be working in the Family History Library along with the rest of the zone. However, we have been moved to a different location in the library, in the staff area of B1, the floor above where we previously worked. Some of you may remember that B1 is the shorthand name for the floor with records from non-English speaking countries, or the "International" floor - the floor where I spent the first three months of my mission. In other words, after having served for a year in the mission, I am back where I started, in a sense. So, the latter part of yesterday was spent moving computers, cables, chairs, and other things necessary for our work from our workstations on B2 up the B1. (The freight elevators in the back really helped with this)

This month, rather than get a mission conference specifically for us, the young elders of the mission were invited to attend the senior mission conference earlier this week. Of course, as I am in the choir (as well as my companion, for the first time in my mission), I would have been able to go to this conference both days. However, I did not want those of us in the pilot (who were all in the choir) to miss any training, so we all attended on Thursday, the day when there was no training scheduled. The messages shared were great, as always - the subject was the last week of the Savior's life. The organization was a bit unique - as usual, we had both President and Sister Fenn address us, but this time, it was President Fenn who spoke first, then Sister Fenn who concluded. The choir also got to sing two musical numbers - one before each speaker. After their remarks, we closed with a video clip of Bruce R. McConkie's (Sister Fenn's father) last General Conference address. Overall, the conference was great, and I was glad to have been able to attend.

My companion had a doctor's appointment yesterday, so we had to leave our training early to go there. Unlike most appointments which young elders in the mission have, this one did not take place at church headquarters - rather, we had to borrow a mission vehicle and go on a nice little drive to get to the hospital. I had anticipated taking about an hour or two to finish up that which needed to be taken care of, but it ended up being three hours before we returned. But, my companion did need it, so I am glad to have been able to go. Unfortunately, we were not able to return to the training though - it had wrapped up for good by the time we had returned. Oh well, it was nice to have been able to take part in this training. We will be keeping in touch with our trainers through the magic of instant messaging anyway - that's just one of the tools we use to seek more information in working web cases. (young elders have been using Skype for this purpose in this zone for a while now.)

Well, it has been a pretty good week, if you ask me. Then again, it is always a decent week - it's all about attitude! I look forward to starting the pilot project, and I hope that everything goes well. Have a good one, everyone!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: The Lord, on the last day of his public ministry, was asked a profound question by a certain lawyer - "What is the great commandment of the law?" He was, in essence, asking which of all of God's commandments was the most important to know, and to apply to our lives. Undoubtedly, this was a serious subject of debate, so the answer to such an inquiry would be impactful. The Savior, as most of us know, replied "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ... And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (See Matthew 22 37:40) What exactly is it that makes these two commandments so important? Why would it be more important to love God and one's neighbor than to not kill or take the Lord's name in vain? Let me answer with a question: would you misuse the name of, or take the life of, one whom you truly love? Is it easier to serve our neighbor, or our enemy? As we find ourselves learning to love God and our fellow man, we will find that all other commandments become much easier to obey. Servitude to those we love is not a burden or annoyance, but rather a privilege. Of course, there is still purpose behind the other commandments God has given us - they teach us how to obey these two great commandments. How can we learn to love God if we do not pray; how can we learn to love our fellow men if we do not visit them in their trials? My challenge to you this week is to more fully obey the two great commandments of the law. This is done through other commandments. As you do this, you will find that your spirituality will increase based on your investment of effort into this, and your love for God and man will come more naturally.

Presidential support

Hello, everyone!

First off, I must say that it has been quite a week! There is a lot that has gone on, and it feels a bit like my first week on the mission! This last Sunday, I was given my first assignment at Brookdale  - an assisted senior living facility, for those who do not remember - in a long time. I don't know if I covered the service we do at such places in great detail previously, so I feel I should here and now. Essentially, we assist the branch there with their weekly meetings, especially with Sacrament meeting. As well as officiating in the Sacrament, we also help to deliver it to the members who were unable to leave their rooms to attend, as well as simply helping to set up and take down the chairs and tables. This is my first time doing such a thing in about a month, and I was glad to be able to come back again. It touches my heart to be able to serve these wonderful seniors, and to be able to socialize and converse with them. It pains me to think that some of their families never visit them there - I couldn't imagine never getting visitors in such a place. Therefore, this service is important, and I appreciate such opportunities to serve quite greatly!

Anyway, I am sure that you are all wondering about how the meeting with President Oaks went. Well, everything went amazing there! Of course, waking up early in the morning like I had to was not quite the most enjoyable of experiences, but then again, it's nothing new - it is simply what happens every week so that I can sing with the choir. Anyway, we did not do a whole ton of practice here - we worked out our positions on the risers set up for the special occasion (which did not happen in the JSMB chapel, actually - it happened in the conference center's little theater), went through our song a couple of times, and then took our seats to anticipate the events to come. The program that day went as such: first, the young elders were all given an opportunity to shake President and Sister Oaks' hands; after this, Sister Oaks spoke with us a bit, then the choir sang, after which President Oaks addressed us. Pictures of the choir with President Oaks are shown below. I am the third from the very right in the second row.  It was truly an outstanding meeting - to be able to shake hands with one of the First Presidency and hear him address the mission was truly a one-of-a-kind experience! Though I have been in many Monday morning devotionals, and will probably forget most of them, I will not forget this one any time soon, if ever.

Right after this memorable devotional, it was right to work - especially for me, my companion, and Elders Hunsaker and Harris. You may remember me talking about a special assignment we have received, to provide support to missionaries out in the field. Well, right after this devotional was when we began our training. We are separate from the rest of the zone for this, though we do rejoin them for night zone. We also rejoin them for Thursdays, when Leadership Meeting is scheduled every week. Aside from these exceptions, we have spent all of our time training for this new type of work. As the district leader among the bunch (though my district still includes the same people it did before), I am also in charge of reporting back to mission leadership about what goes on here, and in essence helping to make sure things run smoothly, which isn't a huge challenge - the elders in this project are less easily distracted than others in the zone. Though the training has been a bit stressful, it has been coming along quite nicely - the staff who are training us have actually told us that they had underestimated the progress at which we would progress. I believe this is due to a couple of factors. Though we are using a different software to handle our cases, the basics are very similar to what we have been doing in the contact center long before this pilot project began. We have also been more able to focus on that than non-missionary staff would be able to. However, I believe that the Lord is quickening our minds to this work, helping to prepare us to take on this work, and to ultimately take this zone - and potentially even this mission - to new places and heights to which it had never gone before. So, I do look forward to seeing how this project pans out!

I also feel I am learning quite a bit about leadership. Though the elders in my district are at times a bit of a hassle to work with, they are great people, and I love them dearly. Though I have not been able to be with them at zone during the course of this week, I still have made efforts to visit with them, and to try and be there with them. I have learned quite a bit from leadership in the mission. I still hold to the philosophy that the harder one's assignment from the Lord is, the more one can grow from it if it is diligently magnified. I hope to be able to keep improving and growing, no matter what calling, or lack thereof, I may be given in the mission, and in life.

Finally, I should mention the trip to the open house which me and the rest of the mission will be attending later today. We are going to the Jordan River Temple open house as the young elders of the mission, a trip which I really look forward to. I plan on letting you all know how it goes, and what all goes on. Of course, this will not be a typical temple trip, as this will be but an open house, but then again, that is a pretty special occasion too!

Well, that is my weekly E-mail for you. I feel that it has been a big, somewhat tiring week, but I look forward to the next one as well. I thank you all for your support and letters from home! Have a good one, everyone!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: The scriptures teach us that "He that hath the spirit of contention ... is of the devil" (3 Nephi 11:29). I personally don't think that there is a simpler way to put it - anger, rage, and especially hatred are not God's doing. Especially in leadership, anger is never to be allowed to govern our thoughts and actions, for where such a spirit is, the Holy Spirit leaves. If it is allowed to continue to fester, it eventually leads to us making decisions which we come to regret. Some may argue that the Savior has demonstrated "righteous indignation" at times in his life, and they may put forth stories such as His clearing the temple in Jerusalem of it's irreverent money changers. While He did truly do that, and his actions in that case were well justified, we should remember that no other man who ever lived on Earth was more capable of discerning such a situation than He (see D&C 64:10). Put simply, we are to control our anger, and to avoid acting on it. We are not to speak harsh words simply because "it feels good". Of course, especially in leadership, it is important to be assertive, but such an attitude is not to be confused with acting in anger, or even with compulsion. Rather, we are to lead and influence as directed in D&C 121:39-44. Remember, we can only be "moved upon by the Holy Ghost" when the Holy Ghost is there with us, and not driven out by the spirit of contention. If this is not the case, than we exercise what the aforementioned scriptures refer to as "unrighteous dominion", which is foreign to the kingdom of God. So, my challenge this week is to control anger, and to never let it have dominion over you, especially if your calling is to lead others in the church, or anywhere else. Anger only brings forth regret - love and patience brings forth peace.

Field Support

Hey everyone!

This E-mail will probably be more brief than my normal one, as I had spent quite a bit of time replying to people who have written me. Of course, having people write me is no problem - I could read news from home all day long! I just have to pace myself so that I will be able to reply to you guys at home and type out this general E-mail.

Anyway, I have a bit of an announcement to make regarding the service I do here in the field, which I may have alluded to a bit last week. Now, some of you may remember that some people from the missionary department have toured the zone, and I may have mentioned they were considering having us provide technical support to missionaries in the field. Anyway, my big news is that four missionaries from the zone have been selected to pilot this new project: Elders Hunsaker, Harris, Black, and myself. We will be providing support to missionaries in the field who are using cell phones, tablets, and other electronic devices in their service. For the next couple of weeks starting Monday, we will not be doing any typical work at zone, except for on Thursdays or during night zone. Instead, we will be doing training in the West Office Building for all of day zone. Of course, we will return to zone for night zone, and on Thursdays I have leadership meeting. Anyway, when the training is finished, we will be returning to the library, though we will still be separated from the rest of the zone so we can focus on working cases regarding this new type of work. If everything works out (which we anticipate it will), then we will begin to train the other missionaries in the zone on this type of work.

So, I don't think I will be getting transferred out of the zone for a while. I have been here a while, but I guess that I can do it for a couple months more if that is what the Lord expects of me. I have many different feelings about this project. As the district leader of the bunch, I will be expected to report back to both staff and mission leadership, including President Buffington of the mission presidency, on how the training is going. I am also to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as it can. I do hope that the Lord can strengthen me to accomplish this task, because I know that I would not be able to do so as well as I would like to on my own. It is pretty cool to be able to help out with this type of work though - this is the closest I will be getting to typical mission work in this mission. I also feel like the others won't need much correction - Elder Hunsaker has quite a bit of experience in both the zone and the mission; Elders Black and Hunsaker, though new, are very smart with this sort of stuff; and they are all good hard workers, and very much able to stay focused on the task at hand. I look forward to working with them in the days ahead.

Anyway, there is more going on in this mission than the work at zone, as always. The choir is going strong as ever, and will especially do so when President Oaks comes to speak next Monday. We have been working hard on a special musical number for this - "Let the Mountains Shout for Joy". It's a satisfyingly difficult number, which I anticipate we will be able to pull off well this Monday. Of course, we as a mission have been making other preparations for this monumental visit - the young elders have been admonished to be at their absolute best for this event. Haircuts have been received, suits have been cleaned up, and the mission is in a bit of a state of anticipation. I think things will go well though - the choir will sing the best it can, and the young elders will leave a great impression!

Finally, yesterday was April 6. Now, those of you who know your church history will know that is the date in 1830 when the church was first organized. As a result, the mission got to take part in a special activity. We visited a special meetinghouse in the SLC area. I was one of the drivers who drove the young elders over there (though I did get lost for a moment or two). There, those in attendance, including the mission presidency and their wives, were given opportunity to bear their testimonies. It was truly a spiritual experience, to see so many young elders go up to the stand so they could share their testimonies with their brethren in the mission. I am glad to have also had a chance to do the same then. After this, we were served a dinner of hot dogs and hamburgers, and returned home to the apartments.

Well, that's my week. Thank you all for your continued support, your reading what I have to say means a lot to me. I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you all have a great week!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: In the Bible, we read of many stories of people who had started out spiritually strong, and who's acquaintances must have considered to be unconquerable. However, some of these people's stories don't end quite as happily as they start - the temptations set in, starting out small, and they grow bigger and bigger until they make huge mistakes. We probably know of people who may have also made mistakes like this in modern days, whether this be in the news or within our circles of friends and acquaintances, or even in the church. This can truly try one's testimony, when one whom they had trusted makes a mistake. This is understandable, though we must remember that the church is made up of imperfect people. We are to love one another, no matter what they may have done. Even if such a mistake is made, this does not mean that the person who had done it is a bad person (it should also be noted that very few people are inherently evil) - he or she is still a spirit son or daughter of a loving Heavenly Father, and we are to continue to love them, as He loves them. However, remember that we are to attempt to emulate the example of only One. "And now, my sons, remember, remember, that it is upon ... Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation." (Helaman 5:12). He was the only sinless being to ever walk this earth, and following him will be the best way to continue to walk in the paths of righteousness. Though others may make mistakes, He is the same as He was when He led a sinless life in mortality a couple thousand years ago. So, my challenge to you is this: forgive others their trespasses, and strengthen your testimony of the Savior of the world. Doing so will make you strong enough to weather the storms of life, and help you heal from wounds of past days.