General -

Hey, everyone!

Well, first off, today is the day of transfers. They have not yet happened, but I do already have a pretty good idea of what will happen. Now, as I am sure you all know by now, missionaries are notified as to whether or not the transfer will require them to move to another apartment the day before the actual transfer takes place. From this, one can have a pretty good idea as to what will happen in the transfer. I am not one of the people who tries to make predictions as to what will happen to all the missionaries at this time, though I will say that neither me nor Elder Cole got such a notice, though Elder Rasmussen did. So, due to our current living in a two-man apartment, me and Elder Cole will remain companions, though Elder Rasmussen will be leaving us (bye-bye tri-companionship). This also most likely means that I will be staying in the zone for yet another month. Everyone in the mission thinks that I am going to spend the rest of my time in the zone! I think that I will only be there for one more month or two, then get transferred out. (That, however, is what I have been saying for the past few months.)
However, I am perfectly fine with staying in the zone for a bit longer. The mission recently had a temple trip for us all, which temple attendance I had kind off been falling behind on. I really do need to get that back up, especially seeing the benefit which it had for me. After the trip, what I needed to do in zone as the head district leader to direct the workflow was suddenly a lot clearer, and I began making some changes to the system. Now, I am launching a couple of helpful programs to help the people in the zone out with being properly trained on how to do the work, as well as having more work to do rather than sit there when there are no calls coming in. It is a start, but I think that this will lead to great things to come. I also feel like I have some idea with what I am doing in my role in the zone, which is a great relief. I truly do need to be attending the temple more often, especially with it's closing down sometime soon. I now realize, more than ever, the strength which is to be had from such attendance.

We did have another Book of Mormon class yesterday, which is always nice. However, I feel I have spoken quite enough on my feelings about the class - all good, of course - so I instead ought to share some of what was taught. This time, we were at the war chapters in the latter end of the book of Alma. One of the notable things which we had gone over in these stories were the character traits of Captain Moroni, which were valuable to go over, as he was truly a man of God (see Alma 48:17). Also studied were the traits of the two thousand (plus sixty in later chapters) young men of the army of Helaman, who were strong in their faith unto the conquering of their enemies. Now, there is a well known painting of the stripling warriors which some of you are likely aware of, though they were, in reality, likely not quite how they were depicted in this picture - for example, they were likely not all able to model for high-end workout equipment. They were young men, who had no military training - only their faith in God, who was mighty to deliver every single one of them. Many more things were talked about in this class, which I have not time to write about in this E-mail, though I feel it is enough that there is much in there which we can learn from,

The rest of the week, unfortunately, was not overly eventful. But, it is good to know that I was able to get much done at zone, and begin pushing forward on some changes to how things are done that the work at zone could be improved upon. It is good to hear from you all. I appreciate the letters of support from everyone back home who takes the time to write one. Thanks again! I will write again next week!


From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: The Gospel has much to offer. It brings with it fellowship, healing, and most importantly, salvation in the world to come. However, so far, only a relatively small handful are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - in fact, only about a fifth of one percent of the world population are counted among Church membership. In other words, "the field is white already to harvest" (see D&C 4:4). There is much to be done for three different types of people to accomplish the four purposes of the Church - gather Israel, perfect the Saints, redeem the dead, and help the poor. I would like to talk a bit about each, and how member missionary work applies to each. First off, as previously mentioned, the Church still has a long way to go before it can be confidently said that it has "penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear" (Joseph Smith, 1842). We as members of the Church need to carry on this work as member missionaries, whether this be through informal talk about religion (which should not be so readily shied away from as some people timidly do for fear of offense), or through more formal discussion. However, many in the Church also need a helping hand, including many who struggle, whether it be temporally or spiritually. They all need our help; in this service, God will be more than ready to help and guide us to those in need, whether or not we are formally called to serve - that is part of what member missionary is. Redemption of the dead is also important - that is the major point of my purpose out here on this mission. For those on the other side of the veil need our help as well to be able to progress spiritually, for how many people have died without a knowledge of the Gospel! We in this world are their only hope for progression! Finally, we are to care for the poor - our Lord himself taught that service to others is service to Himself (see Matthew 25:40). Learning to serve is not simply what the Christian should do - this is how we learn to love others, and the best way to develop Christlike attributes. If you want the Lord's help in your life, try your hand at providing help to others, and you will find that you have lifted yourself up as well. So, my challenge this week is to learn more about how you can help the Church forward it's four main goals in your day-to-day living. If you seek, you will find (see D&C 4:7), and you will find yourself making a difference to a world in need of healing, and a life in need of spiritual rebirth.