Hey, everyone!
Well, the months are flying by, as usual - last Monday, we got a whole new wave of new young elders! This means that next week will be transfers, but you probably do not have to worry about when my next E-mail will come out quite yet! I still have a Tuesday P-Day, so I will be able to get one last E-mail out on the expected day before things become uncertain as to when this E-mail will go out next. I suspect that it will likely be the same day again after transfers, but don't take that statement as a promise. I doubt that I will leave the zone this transfer, but after next month, things seem to be a little more uncertain. Then again, with my luck, they may just keep me in the zone for the rest of my mission. Then again, President Fenn doesn't seem to want this sort of stuff to happen. So, I may leave the zone sometime soon. I am a bit anxious to see what will happen when I do leave the zone - all the people who have held my position previously have gone on to other bigger leadership assignments in the mission. Of course, that does not necessarily mean that will happen to me; however, the only way to be certain as to what will happen will be to let it happen. For now, rather than trying to predict the future, my focus should be on the present, as I have previously mentioned. It has once been said, the most important calling in the church for a certain member, is the one which he or she now holds. Anyway, in regards to the new young elders, I have not gotten to know any that well as of yet, but I do look forward to getting to meet them. This seems to be our last big wave of new elders for a while - I don't think any more for a while will have as much as 12 new people. The next, as it now stands, will have four. So, the mission will probably stay around the size it now is - for the young elders, anyway.
I am also doing zone work as well. As I may have said before, I am not able to get quite as much done as I used to be due in part to my assignment, so I have been trying my best to be able to work with balancing the two the best that I can. The work itself is not too bad, actually. It is true that some days are definitely more stressful than others, but working in this zone has not been as bad as one would think working in a call center would be. The variety of the work is great, and we are getting more and more variety all the time! If I am tired of one type of work (Mission Support, for example), I can go and do some work on another type of task (such as FamilySearch ordinance-related cases). So, the work in the zone itself has not been too bad, and I wouldn't mind doing it more, or at least for as long as the Lord needs be doing so.
Aside from this, things have not been overly exciting this week. We did have a notable service project, in which we worked to maintain the Ensign Peak hiking trail in the city (hence, the pictures). There was much to do here - trim bushes, pull weeds, sweep off sidewalks - the work was good and hard. I did sleep pretty well that night, after putting in some hard work. I am excited that the mission is getting more opportunities to do service around the community like this, and I hope that more such opportunities will open up in the future.
This E-mail of mine is not very long, but I feel it had covered the week pretty well. I appreciate that you are looking forward to each of my E-mails. I look forward to writing you again next week. Have a good one!
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From,
Elder Bryce Petersen
Challenge: for my challenge this week, I feel it important to write on the subject covered by the prophet of our day, President Nelson, in his recent General Conference address. A prophet can see things which are hidden from the eyes of the rest of us, even enough of the future ahead of us to know which way we need to be directed in. Therefore, I feel confident that his admonition to work towards being more able to receive personal revelation is vital for each of us to take a closer look at. It truly is a unique doctrine in our Church, that the heavens are not sealed, and all of God's children - ranging in profile from the senior apostle down to the humblest young child - are capable of having God speak to him or her, whether it be directly or through a modern-day prophet. I feel that this needs to be repeated more clearly - one does not need to be one of the presiding authorities over the Church to be able to receive marvelous revelations. The only difference between these two types of revelations is that one is directed to the Church and the world as a whole, whereas personal revelation is just that - revelation received for you and you only, personalized for your needs and experiences. Please, oh please, if this has not yet been done, please open up the heavens to yourself, and prepare yourself spiritually to be able to receive personal revelation. If you are already doing this, are you doing it on a daily basis? Are you "[counseling] with the Lord in all thy doings"? (Alma 37:37) Of course, you probably do not need a grand and glorious vision unfolded before your eyes before you decide, for example, what color you need to paint the walls in your home; however, there are many situations in which one would need inspiration to make the correct choice, most especially when studying the holy scriptures, or when giving counsel to a family member. You also do not need a vision for this either, so you shouldn't always expect one; but you will need the still small voice which is often associated with the Spirit of the Lord. So, the goal is to receive and recognize revelation on a daily basis (see Helaman 11:23). It can happen, if you are willing to pay the price of study and prayer required for it. The blessings of having a life guided by the Almighty King of the universe Himself cannot be understated - all that the Lord knows you need, you shall receive, if you but receive personal revelation.
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