The training train of trainees

Hey, everyone!

So, I feel that some of you are anxious to hear how transfers went. Well, the leadership changes may already be well-documented among those of you who actually know the people involved, but I will still document them here (you may skip this paragraph to go to the rest of my General) - as Elder Evans has left, Elder Clark has taken his place as an assistant; taking his place in the mission office training senior missionaries is Elder Walker. The office elders (excluding the assistants) are now in their own district; Elder Whiffen is the district leader here. The other new district leaders are Elder Show, Lane, Allison, Bartholomew, and Steele.

So, as I had implied in a previous email, I was to be given a new assignment this transfer. I have, for the fourth time since arriving on the mission, been assigned to be a trainer for one of the new young elders. I am currently companions with Elder Cole. He comes from San Antonio, but for the last year, he had been living in the Snowflake Arizona area. He quite enjoys writing, and he even has self-published a book on Amazon, which I think personally is pretty cool! He does seem to be taking quite well to the mission already - I have enjoyed the time which I have spent with him so far, and I think he will go on to do great things in the mission!

So, as for myself, I feel I have been doing well in the work at zone. Now, part of my assignment as the head district leader is to organize training for new young elders in the zone, and I have some work to do. The previous head district leader had made a lot of training presentations for young elders, and put them on a share database for them to access and use. I had recently been undertaking a project to use these training materials, and create a few more, and organize them into a first-week training program for new missionaries in the zone. I plan on getting the new young elders able to do some work as quick as possible, and then train them more comprehensively as the week goes on, so that by the end of the week they can handle much of the work which is thrown on at them; from there, they can self-train into some of the more specialize work that the zone does. I personally think this will be a good thing for the zone; if things go as I hope they will, the zone will have better training than it has had during the entire time that I have been here.  Here's to hoping that it all goes well!

I was able to go in to a coin store today! Now, in my shopping van this week was Elder Blanton, who (for those of you who don't know him) is an avid coin collector, and so he had gotten permission to visit a certain coin shop in the city. As I was driving him, I had also gone to this shop. We had spent a little longer than intended, but there was quite a bit in there which was of numismatical value! The coins ranged in value from a bin full of assorted coins worth 25 cents a piece, to rare artifacts worth thousands of dollars! Among the non-coin items on display in this store was a Kirtland Safety Society note, very cool for anyone with an interest in the history of the Church! Unfortunately, this was worth about $1,000 dollars (much more than it ended up being worth back in the day) - a bit beyond the range of money I felt comfortable spending! But, this aside, this was a cool little shop to check out! (Also, I was finally able to find an application of the word "numismatical"!)

Well, it is good to be able to E-mail you all again! Thanks so much for keeping in touch; I will do my best to not disappoint with my general E-mails. Have a good one!


--
From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: I had already recently given a challenge in relation to preparation for General Conference, so it would be a bit redundant to do so again. However, I do not regret challenging you to do this so far in advance; hearing the word of the Lord through His ordained servant deserves more than just a week's worth of preparation (perhaps this is why Fast Sunday is held on the Sunday before General Conference around this time of year). Such preparation is important in all aspects of our lives. In fact, at least part of the purpose of mortal life is "for men to prepare to meet God" (see Alma 34:32). It is important to do so for more than just spiritual things, however - the Church has been emphasizing emergency preparation for quite some time now. Why is this such an important doctrine? After revealing one of the more troubling signs of the time in a revelation to Joseph Smith - wars and rumors of wars - the Lord counseled that "if [we] are prepared [we] shall not fear" (D&C 38:29-30). That makes sense, doesn't it? Disasters are more tolerable when we are prepared to deal with them! In a spiritual context, it goes further than that. It has been said many times that faith is the opposite of fear; therefore, preparation helps us to take on the trials of mortality with faith rather than fear. So, prepare spiritually and temporally, for there will be both spiritual and temporal trials in the days ahead; without this preparedness, we will not have as much available in our reserves of spiritual strength as we could had we taken some time to prepare. You can prepare by listening closely to the words of the living prophet - they are the word of the Lord, teaching us how we will survive the challenges ahead of us. Pay attention at this General Conference, that you may have the knowledge required to press forward, and prepare for spiritual storms. As you prepare, then when such trials come up, you will find that you already have the resources necessary to deal with them, and though you will not be able to prepare fully for everything, you will find yourself strengthened to more fully take on the challenge ahead. Remember - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!