Herding cats

Hey everyone!


Well, as I believe I have warned you last week, I have changed my P-Day to Tuesday due to my zone and choir obligations. Therefore, you can expect my E-mails a day earlier. I will do my best to make sure that this P-Day actually stays consistent - none of the people in my district were too happy about all of the required changes which happened last month in regards to this. Unfortunately, that is just life, I guess.

Anyway, the week has been an interesting first week in the new assignment. It started with President Buffington of the mission presidency visiting the young elders of the zone to share a couple of messages - what the new young elders can expect (we have had seven new young elders coming in to the zone, three of whom are brand new to the mission), what can be improved upon, and that sort of stuff. After this meeting, the district leaders had stayed to share a few more things. This was where I formally got the assignment of being the head district leader in the zone, which provides me with a few new responsibilities. In short, the assignment is not exactly a new level in mission hierarchy - the next step up here for elders in the zone is still the zone leaders and the assistants to the president. Pretty much, I am put there to work with the other district leaders in the zone to facilitate the work itself - see what can be improved upon, guide/train the elders in doing the work, etc. I am still learning things about this new calling, and seeing how I can fulfill it to the best of my abilities. I have a long way to go, but I think that I can do it.

Now, I think I told you about my assignment as St. Joseph's, and how I had been given another month of service there. Well, I had gotten there last Sunday, and I did much better over there than the last time I did this on a Fast Sunday (granted, I did prepare a bit better by eating some more the day before). I have said this before, but I quite enjoy serving there. I think this is partly because, rather than spending my Sunday morning completely idle, I am able to make myself useful in the service of other people. I find it a bit ironic, that there is more happiness to be gained out of service and hard work, than out of idleness. While there is nothing wrong with relaxing a bit every now and again, in excess, this can cause one to look back and feel like nothing has been done at all that day. That said, I do feel that a second month of doing this would be enough for me. But, I don't think that will happen - I think that the second month will happen, and someone else will be found to help out over there.

Well, it took a bit of trouble to get P-Day to be today, but here I am. However, our mission has young elder mission conference tomorrow; this means that everyone else who had a Wednesday P-Day rescheduled theirs to be on Tuesday for this week. Add this to everyone else in the mission who already had Tuesday for a P-Day, and things become a bit harder to pull off. For the first time in a while, I was not able to get a shopping van at 9:30 in the morning like I usually do; I instead had to get one a bit later. The same sort of thing happened with my laundry today. But, I was able to get everything together with what time I did have, and I think that everything went well there.

So, in summary, the week has been a bit tiring at parts, but it has been pretty good overall. Due to the new assignment, I don't think I will be getting transferred out of the zone any time soon. However, there are things to look forward to. President Fenn plans on taking us young elders out to a baseball game this Saturday, so I will be writing back n how that goes - I personally look forward to it! Anyway, I hope that everyone on the receiving end of these E-mails has a great week!


--
From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: With these challenges, I feel that they have not been so much of a challenge as a spiritual thought capped with a vague "be better" admonition; therefore, I will resolve to make these more of actual challenges than I have before. To that end, I would like to remind you of President Monson's final General Conference address he gave in mortality. It was short and simple, but it was profound. In words plain to the understanding, he reminded us of just how crucial a rock-solid testimony of the Book of Mormon is today. This is because a testimony of the Book of Mormon is the foundation of a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored church - President Monson stated: "If it is true ... then Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Because the Book of Mormon is true, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church on the earth, and the holy priesthood of God has been restored for the benefit and blessing of His children." My challenge today is similar to President Monson's challenge. Try at least to read one chapter of this sacred book every single day. If there seems to be no time, please try and make time. Fit it into a break, or wake up a bit earlier; no price is too great to be able to fit in this scriptural reading. I would also challenge you to, when possible, study what is being shared in the Book of Mormon - what can we learn from the passages which the writers were inspired to share and preserve? If this type of extensive study is not possible, at least get in this chapter a day. Doing this will continue to strengthen your testimony on a daily basis, that it may not crumble along with the declining standards of the world around us. The world is perilous - a testimony of the Book of Mormon will be what saves us. The only way to get this testimony is to read the book.