The sun sets on another transfer

Hey, everyone!

Well, this is the day of transfers. However, until the transfers themselves take place (which will be later today), I do not know quite what will be happening. My P-Day also did not officially change yet, but I can say that my next E-mail should come either before next Tuesday, or on next Tuesday (not after then). I do, however, know a little bit of what will be coming. Specifically, my companion got a notice saying that he will be moving out of the apartment; however, I did not get such a notice. This means that, unless there was an error in getting moving notices out, I will be losing my current companion. I swear, I have been going through companions like a bag of chips! But, perhaps it is good for me to go through so many companions, and for me to

So, some notable things happened this previous week. First, I was able to get a new CD player! I cannot tell you how much I missed having music in the apartment - the silence was killing me. Thanks Mom! Listening to music in the apartment is a good thing to set the mood for a missionary apartment, where things could, if not checked, get quite casual. Of course, it is good to rest and relax in a good way at the apartment; it is simply safe to always remember that I am a missionary, and I should keep my mind in the right place.

Aside from this, the mission yesterday had a special mission conference about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon! Such a conference was a good opportunity for the choir to be able to perform, and for the mission to hear a good message from President Fenn. Now, you may remember that we had something like this in the past, and this one had quite the same content. But, I am not complaining - I must not forget that many of the missionaries in this congregation were not here for the first time President Fenn spoke on this subject, including and especially my companion. Either way, it is good to be reminded of that which one already knows, that he may be able to more fully apply it, and to get out details which previously were not learned the last time such a message was presented. I guess that is one purpose of reading and re-reading the scriptures. All in all, the presentation was great, and the message inspiring!

I may have told you before that I was studying the Danish language. Now, I had previously bought a Danish Book of Mormon at Deseret Book to look through it and study how it is written, but I have decided this week that I would actually read through it. I feel that there is much good to be gotten out of this! It makes the Book of Mormon a bit more interesting and new, and it improves how well I can read and understand this newer language! The current goal is to be able to read all the way through it by the end of my mission! As an extra bonus, I get some extra insight to the Book of Mormon, understanding new things because of the somewhat different way the information was presented. I currently do understand the book well enough to get a pretty good idea about what is going on, so I am not simply wasting time reading things which I cannot understand at all. So, I will keep to this, and do the best I can to live up to this resolve.

Anyway, aside from all of this, not a whole ton did happen this week. But, transfers are today, and I anticipate some big changes happening today. My next E-mail will contain some interesting things, though i do not yet know what will be happening. Anyway, have a good (suspenseful) week!


--
From,

Elder Bryce Petersen


Challenge: One of the purposes of our life here on Earth is to be able to learn and to improve from our experiences. Of course, many of these learning experiences come from the experiences we go through, whether it be at work or at home. However, a lot of our education comes in more formal contexts, and must be sought after to obtain. Does the Lord care whether or not we have knowledge? The Book of Mormon teaches us that "to be learned is good if [we] hearken unto the counsels of God" (2 Nephi 9:29). This is stated in another more direct way in the Doctrine and Covenants: "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth" (D&C 93:36). The message in these scriptures is pretty clear; the Lord wants us to gain knowledge, but also to hearken to His voice and keep His commandments. So, my challenge is to find ways to continue learning. This could include going to school, but often, there are less formal and expensive ways to learn more about things - and we find that the knowledge is often more applicable. This can come in the form of learning to play a new instrument, or studying a new language. This gives us something productive to do so that we can be "anxiously engaged in a good cause" (D&C 58:27), and help us in new aspects of life which we may not have previously expected.

The weeks roll on

Hey, everyone!

First off, I would like to apologize to the people who are only beginning to receive E-mails from me now. I have been meaning to add you to my mailing list for some time now - it's not that I don't want to keep in touch with you! Anyway, now for the rest of the E-mail.

You know, it does not feel like an entire week has passed by since the last time I have sent an E-mail out to all of you! Though the days sometimes seem long, when looking back on them all, they do not seem to have been very long at all! It seems like just a little bit ago when Summer had just begun, and it always feels that the month had just started when in reality, I am in the middle of the month. Soon enough, I will be packing up my bags for home. But, until then, I still have a work to do out here in the mission field. For now, that work consists of the same stuff as before.

The mission had recently gotten another group of new young elders. When compared to the groups which were coming in when I first arrived on the mission, this group is huge! However, in the context that he had recently been getting groups of 11-13 elders, this group is quite small - six, to be exact. We are also having a group of elders leaving that is the exact same size, so the total number of young elders will be staying the same. But, all of the missionaries who will be leaving are in leadership positions of some sort - four district leaders, one music coordinator, and one assistant to the president. So, there will be some big changes in leadership when all of this takes place. I do believe that there will be much to write about when all of this happens. As for what exactly will happen to me, I am not sure. I may stay in the zone for longer, but currently, we expect that I will move sometime soon - after all, this will be my 15th month of having served in the zone, and I don't think that President Fenn wants to keep young elders serving in one zone for too long of a time. Then again, only the Lord knows what changes will happen to the mission during this transfer. So, it isn't quite my place to put too much worry into the matter. These changes will all happen next Tuesday; I will write the P-Day after this to let you know what does end up happening.

I do feel that there are some big changes coming to the zone though. I say this because President Fenn had called for a meeting with all the young elders serving in the zone this next Thursday. Again, I have served here for 15 months; in all of this time, we have not had quite a meeting. So, I feel that something big will happen here. Some elders talk about the young elders being taken out of the zone; however, I put no stock into such rumors - there isn't much of a basis for such an argument, and they had been steadily putting more and more young missionaries into the zone, so I don't think they would tear down all that has been built up. I have my theories of what may happen in the zone; if I am correct, it will be a major change which will catch everyone's attention! However, I may be wrong as well; we will only know for sure when this happens. Either way, I hope that whatever comes, the zone will be prepared and ready to accept it. I will try and work them towards such a point. If it is a new type of work - if I am right, then it will be - then our missionaries will be more than ready to take it on, as we are able to tear through most of the work which gets thrown our way.

Speaking of things getting thrown our way, I had a unique experience this week which I feel had the Lord's hand in it. Now, the young elders who work with training senior missionaries (Elders Whiffen and Clark) were taking some senior missionaries on a tour of some of the zones of the mission. In their  tour, they of course had decided to include the Data Services zone. Now, I had been sent an E-mail informing me that this was happening, but it came just about an hour before the missionaries arrived, and I had not checked my E-mail before this happened; therefore, I was quite unprepared. But, being the head district leader of the zone, I was still expected to come up with something to share with them in regards to the work which we do in the zone. So, I began speaking about what it is we do in the zone, and I soon found that the words were coming to me quickly and smoothly. I was able to present what exactly it is that we do in the zone, and how it helps in the building of the kingdom of God. Believe me - I am a firm believer that when one does what he can to prepare, even if it is not much, then he or she will have the ability to open his/her mouth, and it shall be filled, because that is exactly what had happened here - I opened my mouth, and I was able to give a nice impromptu presentation on our work.

Finally, because it is this time of the month again, we had a Hail and Farewell dinner to celebrate the incoming and the departing missionaries. Now, for this, I had decided to make a pound cake; the entire thing had been eaten by the time I had come to pick up the plate to take home with me. It makes me feel kind of old to see all the missionaries who I had worked with now going back to their homes. It had been good to work with them all, and I do hope that they come back to visit again, or at least that we may run into each other at some point in the future. But, I was able to enjoy myself here - I had enjoyed good food and conversation with many who I can safely call my friends; what more could a man want? Of course, the companion who I am still training was called up to introduce himself to the other missionaries there. I was also able to meet the missionaries who had just come in that day as well!

So, there is my week. My next E-mail will come to you next Tuesday; after that, it may come at any day in the week, which probably will still be Tuesday, or else it will be before then. Until then, I will keep working hard in my service to the Lord. Have a good one!


--
From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: One of the greatest blessings of living where and when we do is the opportunity to hear the word of God from His chosen servants, including the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency of this Church, each of whom we sustain as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Among their other responsibilities as the leaders of this Church, they also speak to us the word of God. Just how important is this blessing? Consider this: if Jesus Christ were to come down to Earth, what would he say to us? Would he congratulate the Church on how good of a job we were doing? Would he offer loving correction to us? Would he deliver a rebuke? I don't think that what exactly he would say to us is as huge of a mystery as it may seem; "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken ... whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38). The prophets are often described as the Lord's mouthpiece; when the Lord wants to give His Church a message, his preferred method of doing so is through His prophet. So, if our Savior were to come down and give us a message, it would sound a lot like what is spoken over the pulpit in the conference center. Therefore, such messages would require a level of spiritual preparation to get the most out of them. That is my challenge for you this week - prepare spiritually for the next general conference. Next Sunday is Fast Sunday; part of the purpose of your fast could be to understand and accept what is spoken by prophets, seers, and revelators a week from that day. Also study talks from previous conferences, and study their teachings as a part of your scripture study. Such preparation will help you to receive the messages given this day, and help to prepare you for life's coming trials.

Always remember

Hey everyone!


Well, the week has been interesting. I am, of course, still training. And I am enjoying my companion Elder Bastian quite a bit. He is quite helpful around the apartment, assisting with cooking and cleaning; he has also helped me plan out and shop for a meal plan. I feel that, when meals are planned out like this, the food itself is cheaper, healthier, and tastier! It is also good practice to be able to know how to cook using equipment aside from the trusty microwave. Of course, there are things in life which are more important than cooking, especially when serving a mission; therefore, I have had some work to do in helping my companion get adjusted to this new lifestyle. But, he is generally pretty agreeable, and willing to do what needs to be done. In general, he is good to have around, and I enjoy being able to train him.

So, the week has been pretty good this week. Mission Support may have been done away with, but there is still more to be done. The zone will begin to do support for Rootstech, the genealogical convention put on by the Church. We have chosen which people will be responsible for doing this type of work; this includes another district, as well as two people in my district. I myself will not be doing this type of work; as I have been in the zone for well over a year, we anticipate that I will be leaving the zone sometime soon, though we do not know quite when this will be. Until then, I won't be taking on any huge projects which require me to stay in the zone for a long time. I am alright with this - I have had my fun with Mission Support, and I am content with that. Wherever it is I end up serving in the future, I will look forward to working hard there, as I have done here.

So, this Sunday, I was able to attend Music and the Spoken Word for the first time in a while! I had not been able to do so for a while, on account of obligations to serve at senior care facilities around the valley; however, I finally did not have any of that, and so I was able to go! However, I showed up just a little bit too late; they had shut the doors of the tabernacle where it was being held before I could get there. But, I was able to watch the broadcast in the north visitor's center on Temple Square; so, me and my companion just went and did that. Later that Sunday, I was able to participate in a musical performance of my own; I was a bass in a men's double-quintet singing a rendition of "Beautiful Savior". It was a great performance to be able to take part in, and I am glad that I was able to do so! Speaking of musical performances, I had not been able to sing with the Elijah choir for quite a while. However, I have been attending again as of recently, and I plan on not missing another performance or practice whenever possible!

As I am sure some of you already know, there was a Church history devotional held last Sunday in Nauvoo with Elder Cook regarding the recently released first volume of Saints (I by the way have bought this book; President Fenn had added this to the approved reading list). There were questions asked in regards to the history of Christ's Church in the latter-days, specifically in the period covered in this book (1815-1846). This fireside was a great Sunday activity; if you had not watched it, i would recommend going to lds.org and checking it out! The book itself is also a pretty good read!

Well, that is my week for you. Things have been great out here, and they seem like they will continue to do so! I hope that you all have a great week back at home!


--
From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: As mentioned in the preceding E-mail, I have been reading out of the recently published first volume in the new series "Saints" - if you do not yet know, this is a church history which the Church has been putting out. One thing I have noticed is how many people who formerly were very strong in the faith had eventually crumbled, and eventually turned against the prophet Joseph Smith. The interesting things is that these people generally still believed the Book of Mormon, and even the Doctrine and Covenants, to be the word of God; however, from what I have ready, there was usually one of two certain mistakes - or even both - that they had made, which eventually caused their falling out with the prophet. The first is that they expected the Lord's mighty prophet of the restoration to be a larger-than-life, nearly perfect man. However, though he was truly a prophet, Joseph Smith was but a man - he had often said so himself. His mistakes are not proof that he was a deceiver or a fallen prophet - they only prove that he was human. The other mistake these men had made was believing that decisions which were made by Joseph were not inspired of God. How can one know if counsel comes from God, or from man? I forget who said this, but a latter-day apostle had once expressed fear that a day would come where members of the Church simply accept what the prophet says, without asking God if these were truly His words spoken through the mouth of His servant. These people did not, and do not, ask for this revelation so that they can know for themselves, and so they are at risk of eventually questioning who is really in charge of things. So, I challenge you to two different things: first, remember that the Lord's chosen servants are human, and though Christ and His Gospel are prefect, his servants, as with the rest of God's children, have yet to be. Therefore, do not set unrealistic expectations for priesthood leaders - rather, support them and sustain them, that the kingdom of God can go forth unobstructed. Second, always ask for spiritual confirmation that the words of a prophet, apostle, or any other church leader, local or general, are the words of your Heavenly Father. Sure, you may already know this; however, without the second witness of the Holy Spirit, this testimony is subject to the "firey darts of the adversary", and so will eventually fall if not so sustained. Such will be how one will continue to be able to sustain priesthood leaders, even in times of hardship, and they will not fall away. Remember - Elder Cook had once said that it is not whether or not the Church will survive the trials of this world which is the question; the real question is, will you stay true to the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

More shuffling

Hey everyone!

So, transfers have happened again, making for an interesting week for me. First and foremost, no one has left the mission; the new leadership positions are mostly because of an expanding mission. The new district leaders are Elders Shults, Simper, and Wright (yes, my former companion). We also have some missionaries serving in the mission office, training not new young elders like our current young elder training leaders, but instead senior missionaries - these are Elders Whiffen and Clark. As for myself, I am still in Data Services (what else is new), and P-Day is still Tuesday. I didn't even have to move apartments, which is nice! The only change for me is my companion, as you have likely already guessed. I have, for the third time in my mission, been assigned as a trainer for a new young elder in the mission, whose name is Elder Bastian from southern Arizona. Helping someone adjust to missionary life is always a bit of a challenge - one does not simply go from living his own lifestyle to living one fully dedicated to the Lord, and so there have been challenges with that. However, he is actually doing pretty well with doing so; therefore, after some getting used to things, I look forward to seeing him go on to do some pretty great things while serving in this mission!

Also, in zone, it finally happened - we are no longer providing mission support. To put it simply, it would have taken too much to have gotten new young elders trained up on doing this type of work, and at this point, they had already gotten some church-service missionaries to do this work and only this work; therefore, we were not quite as necessary for them anymore. But, we did teach them that we were capable of doing this type of work, so we have fulfilled our purpose in doing this little project. Besides, this may open up more opportunities in the future. If what President Fenn says that he is trying to do with this mission does come to full fruition, then this mission will be doing some pretty awesome stuff - and the Data Services zone may be at the forefront of it.

So, I have been trying to work on my own genealogy whenever I get an opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, the tree is very well explored, and there is not much new stuff to try and uncover; the collateral lines are all at a brick wall as well. Genealogy is not easy, even when you know your stuff. However, I do keep on trying, and every now and again, I am able to find a little bit more information to add on to the family tree, which makes me just a little bit happier. I guess you could say that if my family tree were a proselyting mission, it would be a somewhat difficult mission, with few baptisms to be had. But, for as long as there are blank spots in the tree where there should be people, there will still be work to be done; therefore, I will keep on keeping on.

Anyway, yesterday, we did have a planned day instead of our usual zone work due to Labor Day. The day plan was very much similar to the one from the last time we had a day off - it began with a hike to the Capitol, followed by a lengthy lunch/free time period. After this, we had watched a movie, "The Work and the Glory Part 2"; we will likely watch the third part the next time we go and do something like this. I feel that there may have been a different activity for us aside from the same thing we had done last time, but then again, I have never attempted to plan something like this for such a large group of people on a day when most things are closed down; therefore, I do not know what it was like planning this. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed the day - if nothing else, I was able to get out of the basement and enjoy the sunshine for a moment! I also have hope that the next thing like this will be different and interesting.

So, that is my most recent week on this mission. I will continue to work hard in training my companion, and in managing the affairs of the young elder portion of this zone. Thanks again for supporting me through this, and sending your support. I will see you all again next week. Have a good one!


--
From,

Elder Bryce Petersen


Challenge: Modern prophets have spoken much on the importance of reading and having a testimony of the Book of Mormon. President Monson made it the subject of his final General Conference address, and President Nelson spoke on it in the next. So, I would like to ask a question for you to think about: when is the last time you have read through the Book of Mormon by yourself? It has been said that, if one reads through the Book of Mormon entirely once a year, and he/she keeps personal prayer and church attendance in his/her life, then this person will never fall away from the Church. So, I would challenge you as President Hinckley did a long while ago - read through the entire Book of Mormon by the end of the year. If you have not yet started yet this year, it is not too late - there is still plenty of time to read through it. If you finish it by the end of the year, then don't be afraid to pick it up and begin reading once more. Whenever you have some downtime throughout the day and the week, consider spending it immersed in the Book of Mormon, and getting a few verses to a few chapters of valuable scriptural supplement in before returning to your responsibilities. The Book of Mormon is power - power to resist temptation, to do the right thing, to seek out the kingdom of God, and to do all that is necessary to return to His presence. Reading and application of the principles therein will imbue you with this power.