Hey, everyone!
Another week has come and gone in the mission field, and this time I actually took a few pictures to illustrate my wild stories (you're welcome, Mom)! So, you now have a bit of a visual aid as to what went on in my week. So, now on to the actual happenings of the week...
So, the work at zone has been going well, though I don't think mission support will last much longer for those of us serving in the mission. They had gotten a few Church-Service Missionaries to help them out, and they had actually been working pretty well. So, we are kind of in a state where we are waiting for them to tell us that they no longer need our assistance. This is alright with me. I don't think that this was ever meant to be a long-term gig for us - they just wanted to see whether or not young missionaries would be able to help out with this type of work, which we proved to them we could. So, even if we are no longer going to do the work, we will at least have done our part in this work. Therefore, I am content. Until this day comes, however, there are still mission support tickets to be done, and I will therefore still have work to be done. So, I shall continue to work that work hard, as well as the other work of FamilySearch support.
Now, we in this mission had a couple of fun happenings this week. Last Thursday, we had the opportunity to take part in a service project at the LDS Humanitarian Center. This is the service project which we were supposed to have been having in the evening once a week, though we have not done this for a while - I have heard this was because all of the service projects have been swooped up by the youth of other stakes in the area. However, we were able to come down and do this. We were given a tour of the facilities, where we learned some of what the Church does to care for those who are in need around the world. The water pump model which I took a picture of is an example of this - the Church makes efforts all around the world to provide clean water for people in less-developed countries, who would not otherwise be able to obtain it. The establishment also facilitates disaster response, providing educational materials, and community gardening, among other things. Even the center itself provides volunteer opportunities for members of the Church and non-members alike, providing people with job experience so that they can get a job elsewhere in the community. So, after this tour, we got right to work on assembling hygiene kits, which contain basic hygiene supplies. We spent some time doing this before the time came for us to leave. But, from what I have heard, we will probably have service opportunities much like this one in the future.
Last Friday, there was a biking-event of some sort, which was headquartered near where our apartments are. So, we saw a few tents set up, and a few vehicles carrying these bikes, including the one which I had taken a picture of - apparently Jelly Belly sponsors biking competitions. Seeing this kinda reminds me of the world outside. I do not consider myself to be trunky, I want to focus on the work as much as I can. However, I do know that I will look forward to when I can go home and do fun things again.
However, it is not like I cannot do fun things on the mission, of course. President Fenn understands the need for what he described once as "something to look forward to" so that we don't completely burn out. To that end, he got all us young elders tickets to a Salt Lake Bees baseball game. The event happened last Saturday, after all of our work at zone was completed. We took public transportation down to the ballpark, and in short had a great time! Notably, it was Princess Day at the park; what that meant for us is during most of the game, we "got" to listen to Disney music. There were also Disney princesses walking around with whom we could have pictures taken; however, as that is not exactly something missionaries need to go out doing, we did not do that. I did have dinner there, which thing I kind of regret doing - food at a ballpark, I dare say, is marked up through the roof! But, in spite of this, we still all had a pretty good time together at the games! In this E-mail is a picture of myself and my district at the ballgame, including my companion and Elders Rasmussen and Vandenhazel - you can see that we generally enjoyed ourselves there. Of course, the ballpark officials had noticed that there were some missionaries here; the mission did get an acknowledgement on the jumbo-tron, and the camera did focus on us a couple of times. After the game ended (sadly, the Bees lost), we all had a wonderful fireworks show, of which I also have attached a picture. I wish that the picture could do it justice - it was a marvelous show they put on! It has been a while since I had gotten to see a fireworks show, so this was fun as well! Finally, after it was all over, we took public transportation back to the apartments, a bit later than our normal curfew. So, due to this and to my service, I hadn't been able to get as much sleep as usual, but that's alright - I have no regrets.
And, finally, I had some extra time yesterday, so I thought I would fry up some homemade doughnuts, because homemade is almost always better than what can be bought in a store, especially when it comes to bread-like products. I can't say that they all turned out as I had hoped (there is a very fine line between undercooked and overcooked for a good doughnut), but they were all still pretty good, and delicious to eat!
Anyway, there is the summary of my week. As you can see, things are going quite well. Thanks for the ongoing support, guys, it means a lot to me. I will catch you all next week!
--
From,
Elder Bryce Petersen
Challenge: Imagine, if you will, what it would be like if you had a one-on-one meeting scheduled with the governor of the state in which you live. What would you do to prepare? You would likely take such an experience quite seriously, as more likely than not, you would never get such an opportunity for the rest of your life. This would be especially true if you were to meet with the President of the United States of America - however, both situations are unlikely, and if you were lucky enough to do so, you would probably never again have such an opportunity. The great irony in all of this is that we can talk at any time we wish with the Governor of all that ever was, and all that ever will be, even God - such is the blessing of prayer! However, do you take prayer seriously enough? Sometimes, we may fall into the habit of rattling off prayers in an almost robotic sense. One would never walk into the office of a major political figure, rattle off what he or she wants done in the community, and turn around and walk out before the dignitary has a chance to even respond - all in less than a minute. In such a situation, the honor would be cherished - drawn out for as long as realistically possible, with undivided attention. Now, we probably shouldn't pray all day and all night as Enos did, but we especially should make sure that we are not going on the other extreme either, of putting little if any effort into our daily prayers. So, if you are not praying regularly, please begin to do so. Start your day off with prayer, and also do so before you sleep at night. Praying together as a family is especially important; please do so at least once a day, preferably in more situations than only at the dinner table. This one opportunity of unity will strengthen family bonds between all, as we commune with God. In short, pray always, both vocally and in your hearts. This will be how you will get through the trials of life, and will help one resist the temptations of the world - a heart full of prayer has no room for temptation. "Pray always, ... that you may conquer Satan." (D&C 10:5)
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