Random changes!!!

Hey everyone!


You know, I feel that it is important for everyone to keep learning new things, at least on a daily basis. Do I keep learning on a regular basis? I do my best. Sometimes, this learning is intentionally sought out; other times, it comes when it is least expected. This latter context describes an important lesson which I had learned this week: Just because nothing out of the ordinary is scheduled to happen at the beginning of the week does not necessarily mean the week till be boring.

And boring it wasn't! I guess that I cannot say that there were no special events happening - some of you may be familiar with President Nelson's youth devotional which took place last Sunday. The young elders of the mission were invited to attend a broadcast of this event. I truly know that the message was inspired for the youth of this day and age. Though I don't quite fall into the age group of the majority of the devotional's attendees anymore, I feel I could apply a lot of the messages shared here to my mission as well! (I wonder how many of you are not reading this the day I sent it due to the 7-day social media fast)
Well, there was a major change which happened this week. As me and Elder Black were of to our night classes, President Buffington of the mission presidency pulled me and him aside into his office. Now, this sort of stuff does not happen very often - usually, we meet with President Fenn, and that is either for monthly interview or for calls to leadership assignments. This meeting, however, was about neither. There were some certain happenings which went on in the mission which me and my companion were not informed about. All that we knew was to happen was that there were some mid-transfer companionship and assignment changes which involved the two of us. Now, I am no longer companions with Elder Black; he has moved to the Church History Special Projects zone and is currently companions with Elder Simper. I was to stay in the Data Services zone, and my new companion is now Elder Melling, who is currently nearing the end of his mission. He will likely stay in the zone for the remainder of his mission. The change was made on Wednesday, which meant I was not able to attend choir practice.

Due to the changes, Elder Black will no longer be able to attend a meeting for those involved in Mission Support, including the staffers for GSC. Therefore, I will have to assign someone else to attend the meetings. Of course, I would attend these myself - however, I have a leadership meeting most weeks at the exact same time as this one. However, the one for this week was cancelled, so I was therefore able to attend this one in person. Now, aside from certain issues with the things which we support, there was also a certain announcement discussed - next Wednesday, me and the other elders working Mission Support are going down to the Provo MTC to help incoming missionaries set up their smartphones. The group coming in this day will be huge, and those in charge of helping people with their phones will need more help with people who have not yet set theirs up, or have set them up incorrectly. This will be a half-day affair we believe, but we will return home in time for me to pick up main, have dinner, and return to the FHL for night zone. But this type of opportunity is tremendous for this zone, and for the mission as a whole! Though they plan on one day assigning missionaries at the MTC to do this sort of work, it is still significant that missionaries in this mission are beginning to have opportunities to go out and do service such as this. This will probably open up other doors for us as a zone, and as a mission!

We also, as always, had opportunities to do a service project the other day. This was conducted a bit differently than normal. Rather than having one or two big groups working together to tackle one or two projects, we had a few smaller groups go out and do work at a few houses. I headed one of these groups, driving down two groups to a house which needed help moving furniture, cleaning up the yard, and a couple other things. The place was a bit easier to find than the places from the last couple of projects - rather than being given directions, we simply were given an address to drive to. The work itself was hard and satisfying - nothing to bring in a sense of accomplishment like a bit of physical labor in the sun. At the end of the day, I knew I would sleep very well, and with a smile on my face too.

Anyway, so there is my week - nothing like a mid-transfer companionship change to make things all the more interesting! I hope you have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: We as missionaries are expected to spend our energy developing Christlike attributes. By doing so, we become closer to our great Exemplar for these attributes in word and in deed. One such attribute I wish to discuss now is patience. Now, what exactly does it mean to be patient? The way I see it, there are two different interpretations for what this word can mean in a spiritual perspective. The first, and more obvious, definition would be to demonstrate long-suffering towards our fellow men who may have offended us. We as humans are not perfect - far from it, in fact - and because of this, others will do things which we will not like. Now, are they justified in doing this? Whether or not they really are, it doesn't really matter to us, as we are commanded to forgive all men (D&C 64:10). Note that there is no exception stated in this verse. Only the Savior, in His perfect understanding and judgment, has the right to judge mankind - we, with our puny and limited understanding, must forgive all. The second definition of what it means to be patient is to be patient with God, and His timing. Again, our understanding is not as all-encompassing as we may sometimes convince ourselves it is. This means that we must be willing to wait on the Lord for the blessings which are promised to us. As I am sure you may have heard a couple of times before, the world in which we live is one where technology gives us what we need in an instant, and where the shipment times of goods ordered online can be expedited to a couple of days. However, the Lord does not work like this - his blessings have no "express delivery". This is because "now" is not necessarily always the right time. However, what we can guarantee is that the Lord not only knows what is best for us, he knows when the best time or us to receive it is - and when we live the Gospel faithfully, the Lord will always give us the right blessings at the right time. So, my challenge today is to begin practicing patience, both with God and with man. Trust in the Lord, and that his promised blessings will come eventually, whether it be tomorrow, next month, next year, or even in the next life in some cases. Trust that, though deferred, the blessings will come at the right time, and you will be glad to have waited.