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.