With all my heart

Hey, everyone!

Here is my second Saturday P-Day in a row, due to next Tuesday being New Year's Day. The mission will not be taking December 31st off, but we will get January 1st off. Therefore, we have another holiday/P-Day conflict. Therefore, here I am. But, things should settle down from here; after next Tuesday, my E-mail should become a bit more regular. We shall see.

Going on to my E-mail... the Christmas holiday did come up this last week! The Church campus had closed down for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; the days were therefore mostly open for me. I have shared some of what I feel of open days previously; it is very nice to have some time off to relax and celebrate the holiday, but at the same time, things are a bit slow when there is nothing to be done. There were, however, some planned activities going on during these days. On Christmas Eve, as with last year, there was a special get-together with all the young elders; Santa Claus himself even managed to show up! From him, all the young elders got a present, and a candy bar! The present for everyone was the same thing: a journal edition of the Book of Mormon, printed with extra-wide margins perfect for taking notes in! (There has been a rumor going around that Santa was really President Fenn in a Santa suit, but what are the odds of that!)

On Christmas day, presents from home were finally opened up, and I just want to restate here that I am deeply grateful for all the packages, love, and general love which I had gotten from you guys back home! Thanks so much again! In the afternoon of this day, there was a special Christmas lunch/dinner for all the missionaries! At this point, the main dish for all the dinners is catered for us, I believe so as to maintain uniformity in what everyone was getting for dinner. However, missionaries were still permitted to bring side dishes and desserts; as I may have mentioned, I had brought with me a cheesecake! It was quite popular too! After the dinner came my favorite part of the holiday season - that is, the Skype call home to family! It had been a while since I had seen and talked to them all, and it was awesome to be able to talk to them face-to-face once more! I always walk into the office wondering how it would be possible for me to talk to my family for any more than a half-hour; however, I always find that letting an hour pass is way too easy - even then, I still find there is so much to talk about! However, all good things must come to an end, including talking with family. Oh well, I will be able to talk to them all that I want in a couple months.

And so, after the holidays, it has been business as usual. There was a bit of excitement, however, when we had found that not all the young elders had kept their Skype calls home to the mission office, as was originally planned; some had come into the west wing of the floor, which is where Data Services is currently located. This had caused some issues, with certain pieces of equipment being lost, workspaces being rearranged a bit, and so on. But, aside from this, things have been alright with us getting back to work. The work has been slow, just as it has been throughout the holiday season, and so we  have been trying to keep ourselves busy however we can. One good way to keep oneself busy is to work on improving himself; therefore, I had decided to get some work done in bringing back a program which would allow missionaries to steadily progress. Specifically, these are certifications for using and teaching how to use FamilySearch; two such certifications are Ambassador and Heart Specialist, the former of which is expected by the Family History Department to be earned by all missionaries and staff working therein. Becoming a Heart Specialist (which is a more advanced form of becoming an Ambassador) is one of those "encouraged but not required" things; that is what I currently am working towards becoming. I have also asked the zone to work towards becoming at least an Ambassador. I think that this will give missionaries great opportunities to learn more about FamilySearch, and make them more effective at what they do!

Well, that is my E-mail for the week, as we approach the end of the holiday season. Then again, the holiday season lasts a bit longer for me, due to a conveniently placed birthday, so I get just a bit more. For now, the E-mail is ended, and life has been good for me. have a great week, everyone!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen

P.S. I have a couple of pictures from the week. The first is of Santa, who had visited the young elders and gave us Books of Mormon! The second is a busker who has been standing at the base of a monument between Temple Square and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, playing both rockin' Christmas carols and more traditional classic rock pieces. Enjoy!



P.P.S. Another picture which I almost forgot: an arrangement of the Christmas cards which I have received from you guys back home Thanks again for all the support!




Challenge: Now, I know that I may have talked to you about goals before, though this time, I feel it especially important to do so, as the new year is approaching, which will bring with it a plethora of "resolutions" which are forgotten almost before the people making them wake up the next morning. Therefore, I feel it valuable to share not only how to set goals, but also how to call down the powers of Heaven to achieve them, for the Lord provides a way for the children of men to accomplish their righteous desires according to His will (see 1 Nephi 3:7). First, we do need to make sure that our goals are righteous goals; there are some guidelines we can follow to know whether our goals are righteous. We must know that this goal comes of God, as described in D&C 50:17-24. Specifically, if the goal eventually serves to edify ourselves, in a sense separate from what the Bible describes as "filthy lucre" (see Titus 1:7 and 1 Peter 5:2; see also Alma 11:24), whether this edification is physical, intellectual, social, or spiritual (see Luke 2:52), then it is of God. Another way to look at this would be to realize God's ultimate goal: "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (see Moses 1:39). Our goals should contribute to this ultimate goal, whether we be bringing to pass our own immortality and eternal life, or that of other people; if our goal does not contribute to this, then it instead is of darkness, for there is no halfway point between light and darkness; therefore, why would God be interested in giving of His power to bring us into darkness? Once we have chosen for ourselves a righteous goal, we must then pray for God's power to assist us. "Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (D&C 4:7). I believe that there are many blessings which God truly wishes to give us, but because He wishes to test our faith, we cannot receive them simply because we do not exercise the faith to ask him (see Ether 12:6). Then, when we have asked for all this, our final task is to work with our heart, might, mind, and strength to accomplish this goal.  Faith alone cannot empower us to accomplish such a goal, for "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (see James 2:17). It is our works which enable our faith, which opens the windows of heaven for God to empower us to be able to accomplish tasks which, without such heavenly help, would have been much more difficult, if not impossible.Therefore, we work at it every day, renewing our faith by praying always (see D&C 10:5) and working towards this goal on a daily basis. I challenge you, with the opening of this new year, to make no new years resolutions, but instead new year's goals, and call upon the powers of Heaven to achieve the goals as previously described. It will not be easy; worthwhile goals never are; but I testify that, with the powers of Heaven, such worthy goals will always be possible, and you will come to find yourself having accomplished that which you thought wasn't.

Merry Christmas from SLC!

Hey, everyone!

Okay, so the transfers finally happened, after much anticipation. Now, even though you received my E-mail on Saturday today (or at least my Mom did, and I'm assuming she distributes it the day she receives it - thanks Mom!), this is not my actual P-Day; however, apparently there's a big celebration going on this next Tuesday, so I decided I ought to instead take it today, at least for this week. In other news, I was taken out of my previous district and took lead over another one, which otherwise remained quite intact. This means that I was taken away from Elder Cole, the longest companion who I ever had on the mission (that's right, Elder Black, your record has been beaten). My latest companion is Elder Showgren, who has been out about 6 months now. He had come to the mission from just Lehi, Utah, but his family has moved around a lot; they currently live in Wisconsin. Now, you are probably wondering what zone I am in. Well, I have been moved to *insert drumroll here* nowhere; I am still in Data Services. I had talked to President about my having been there for a long time, as I may have mentioned last week, saying that though I wouldn't mind being moved, I would stay there if he needed to keep me there. Though he was also interested in getting me moved, the staff and others wanted to hold onto the experienced missionaries for as long as possible; therefore, it seems that I am spending the remainder of my mission here. As I had promised, I am alright with this; there are still things which I can do while I am here, and I anticipate being able to get done as much as I can with what time I have left. (yes, this makes me the Elder Tolley of the zone.)
The work in the zone has been very slow as Christmas approaches, even during the daytime. Usually, I can find things to do to keep me busy as I wait for work to come rolling in; I've been keeping myself occupied with family history research (which, for my tree, is often like pushing up against a brick wall), indexing, creating new training material for the missionaries in the zone, and occasionally reading inspirational posts and general conference talks on lds.org. I even decided, at one point, to improve my typing skills by typing out the autobiography of one of my ancestors. (It was quite an interesting life story.) I guess such work is the nature of the beast; the work sometimes comes in, and it sometimes does not. I guess one way to tell who a hard worker is what one does in the latter situation. Anyone in the zone can take a phone call and at least attempt to solve the patron's problem; however, lack of work to be sometimes translates into things becoming a bit casual for others in the zone. I make no claims to perfection here; I sometimes stumble in this regard as well; my efforts, however, on doing the best I can to do the tasks assigned to me as I work in the zone. I feel others also have the same goals in mind, in working as hard as possible. As for whether the lights in the zone had been turned on for Saturdays yet... I don't know; I have not been there, due to my taking P-Day today. (What, do my E-mails from my work computer?? That's crazy!)

Christmastime has been bringing with it much anticipation and activities. There will be a couple of days off at the beginning of next week; though the work isn't that bad, it is nice to have some time off. Besides, there are gifts from home which I had been resisting the temptation to open for quite some time now, and a day needs to come when all will be revealed, so to speak. I am looking forward to this nice holiday, especially the holiday dinner which we will all be having! I did promise to make a cheesecake for that, and so I will be picking up ingredients for it when I am out shopping today. Aside from this, I am still very much thankful for all the Christmas cards which I have received from home. Some of you may have received my thank-you's in the mail by now; if you do not receive them by Christmas, I do apologize, but I promise that you will receive one. The mission will be watching the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" later this evening, which will be a nice addition to our holiday celebrations. We will also have a young elder get-together on Christmas Eve; in fact, rumor has it that Santa himself will come down to visit, as he did last year! So, there is much that is special for us to look forward to!

The mission also had a mission conference, with a special message from President and Sister Fenn regarding what it is that we celebrate this Christmas season. Now, the young elders were invited to attend the Wednesday mission conference, but due to my obligations in the Elijah Choir, I was required to attend both this one and the one the next day, right after my leadership meeting for the day. This was fine by me; I enjoy attending such meetings, and being able to perform beautiful music for such events. I didn't even have to wake up early for two days in a row for this - I only had to wake up early for the first conference! To summarize what was shared, we went over what can be learned from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon regarding the birth of our Lord and Savior. The story itself was told with both content from the Bible and some clarifying historical content to provide some extra context to what exactly went on; the mission was then taught the Doctrine of Divine Sonship, which allows the Atonement to be made possible. It's always great to be able to hear from President Fenn as he teaches us in such conferences as this; it will be one of the things which I will miss when I finally return home. (I may not have been born in time to have Bruce R. McConkie as a mission president, but we got the next best person!)

Well, this is about all I have for the week. Thanks again for the support you have been giving me this Christmas season. I hope that all of you have a great week and a merry Christmas!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen

(Sorry about having forgotten to BCC you in my E-mails, Elder Black.)

Rather than giving a challenge (you all have quite a few of those by now), I feel that it would be of more worth to share my testimony of the importance of the Christmas season, as it is so important to God's plan for his children. Because he had loved us, he had prepared a plan that we may return to live again with Him. Because of this, mankind had to fall that we would be able to experience mortality on our own. However, the distance between us and God was impossible for us to be able to bridge on our own. Therefore God had sent His only begotten Son down to Earth. This is what we celebrate this Christmas season, for were it not for the divine nature of His birth, His Atonement would not have been possible. However, he was conceived by the power of God and the power of the Holy Ghost; as God was His literal Father, and Mary his literal mother, he inherited traits which made the Atonement possible. From Mary, he inherited traits of mortality: the ability to suffer, the ability to experience weakness in the flesh, and most importantly, the ability to die. However, from God, he had inherited perfection - He was sinless, and therefore exempt from the effects of the Fall. Therefore, he could not die unless He willed it Himself. Therefore His suffering could be infinite, and it was so that He could redeem us. Most importantly, however, this power he inherited over death gave Him the ability to reclaim His own life and come forth as a resurrected Being, allowing us all to one day be able to do the same. I know this to be true, as through His suffering, I have been healed from both sin and sorrow, and have gained the ability to change. I know that it is through Christ that this could have happened, for salvation comes by none other. This is what we celebrate this Christmas season - that Christ had come down to serve us, suffer for us, die for us, and burst forth from the grave for us. May you remember all of these eternal truths as you celebrate this Christmas season, that you may remember that it is by Christ that we have received the greatest gifts that could ever be given, even the gift of eternal life. Such is my testimony, given in Christ's name, amen.

Anticipation is strong

Hey, everyone!

So, here we are at the tail end of another week, and on top of that, another transfer! These transfers seem to be going by even more quickly than before! I don't think I told you last week that we had gotten no new young elders this transfer. This is not too surprising - missionaries who come in right before Christmastime have an especially difficult time. On the other hand, there are actually five missionaries who are going home at this time as well - a few more than who were originally scheduled. Those leaving are Elders Garfield, Jarvis, DeSpain, Heimdal, and Stacey (whom I had trained). They will be able to go back home, and enjoy Christmas with the family. I too do kind of miss home with the holidays going on, but the season is still quite enjoyable. I never experienced a whole ton of homesickness while I was on the mission, though I do miss home. But, I have but two months left of my mission; I'll have plenty of time to think about home on the car ride back. As for the mission, I think my days in Data Services may be numbered. I still enjoy the zone, though I have been kind of interested in a bit of a change of scenery; therefore, I brought that little bit up with President Fenn in my most recent meeting with him, and he said he would see if it would be possible to get me assigned somewhere else for the final parts of my mission. I do not know for sure what all came of that, but I did get a moving notice again; therefore, there will be at least an apartment change for me, and potentially a companionship change as well (Elder Cole got one as well). As I will probably be leaving the zone, my next E-mail will likely come on Saturday, or sometime before Christmas (next Tuesday). Even if it does not come by then, don't worry too much - either I ate so much Christmas dinner that I have gone into a food coma for an indefinite amount of time, or my P-day was scheduled to be tomorrow, and i rescheduled so that I would not have two separate P-Days in a row. (If this situation does happen, it will most likely be the latter.)

As for the zone itself, the lights still have not been turned on for Saturdays, though we did have President McKnight (President Fenn's first counselor in the mission presidency) come through to check on things with us. Most likely, this will be of some consequence for us. The young elders had also gotten a missionary appreciation pizza party yesterday. There was a little bit of each type of pizza there, as is normally the case for such a happening, and there was also a nice little Christmas trivia sheet passed around. The original plan was to have the parents of the young elders send in some information so that there could be a trivia about the other young missionaries with whom we worked, but the notice was a bit short in getting out, and so that did not quite happen. However, it was an unfortunate situation which not much could be done about, so I forgive everyone involved. The pizza was still great, and it was nice being able to have a little fun with the other missionaries in the zone.

The pizza party was not the only such get-together which us young elders have had - last Sunday, President Fenn had provided for us all a chili dinner! This has been a bit of a tradition for President Fenn - whenever he has had such a calling, he would cook chili for those with whom he serves around Christmastime (some of you may remember last year when he had done this with us). There were four different types of chili there, including one of President Fenn's own recipes which incorporated chocolate. This was surprisingly delicious! After this special dinner, we all got together for a fireside at which President Fenn taught us about Christ's birth, and what we can learn from it, going off of descriptions from the Book of Mormon. It's amazing what this record clarifies about the birth of Christ, which clarification we otherwise would not have; it is with this knowledge that we have a much more full understanding about this than most of the rest of the world! Modern revelation has truly blessed this world!

I also was asked to give a Sunday school lesson in our young elder Sunday School class last Sunday. Now, I had tried working on this all week, and I got most (but not all) of it prepared on the last day of the week. This lesson was on a message shared by our mission president in our mission's newsletter, which message was titled "The Arms of Mercy". Essentially, it was a bit of what we can learn from the Book of Mormon about God's infinite mercy. (If you couldn't tell by now, President Fenn loves the Book of Mormon.) It is amazing what all we can learn about His mercy here, as there are so many stories of conversion within, including and especially the conversion of those who otherwise did not seem to be very likely to even consider joining with the Church of Christ, much less become the stalwart disciples which they eventually did turn out to become. In each such case, God had forgiven the sinner fully, and sanctified him to become something much greater than he otherwise would have been. We also learn about His mercy and service when He himself visited ancient America. He had ministered individually to each and every person who was afflicted among them, when he could simply have blessed the multitude with complete healing. I would invite you to take the challenge given in Moroni 10:3 (not to be confused with Moroni 10:4) when reading the Book of Mormon, in remembering "how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men".

One of the nicest things about being able to serve around Temple Square is that I am able to attend performances from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Mostly this constitutes of the weekly performance of Music and the Spoken Word, though occasionally a concert will be put on. Yes, I had tried to get in to the choir's Christmas concert, but attendance of this concert was high demand; it always is, and I think it having Kristen Chenowith as a guest artist (she's a famed Broadway star; I'm sure, Mom, that you recognize that name, you've seen "Wicked") made it even more so. I was not able to get a ticket for this; I heard that they were all claimed within three minutes of their going available! Not even getting into the standby line early like I did was enough to get in; therefore, I had watched the concert being cast from the Conference Center into the Tabernacle. Honestly, that was good enough for me; even though I was not able to see it live, at least I was able to see it in the first place. Besides, I was also able to watch Music and the Spoken Word the next day, which was just about as good! Recordings of such concerts are made available a year after the performance, so I will have to wait to be able to relive the moment. But, it was a good moment, and a good way to spend the evening! I'll probably have to somehow get in to next year's! (No, Mom, I still don't think that the Wicked soundtrack would be mission-appropriate music.)

I have been receiving quite a few cards from home. I am currently in the process of writing cards to all those of you who have sent them, but I would also like to say right here in this E-mail - thanks so much for sending them out to me, and by so doing remembering me during your holiday season! It means a lot to me, to be able to hear back from you all, and it is part of what keeps me striving to do the best that I can as a missionary! Again, thanks so much for the cards!

Well, that is about all for my week (yes, I am aware that I had talked about it backwards; this was partly on accident, and partly on purpose). Thanks again for all the support that you give me! I hope that you all enjoy your Christmas season, and have a great week!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: Now that, in my E-mail I had talked to you a bit about a lesson I had given for Sunday School, I would like to talk about a different instruction which I had given for my district during my last district meeting. In short, I had talked to them about scripture study, and how to be more effective at doing so. In short, there are three steps to being more effective at scripture study; they are all based on receiving revelation from what is written down, as the Spirit is the true teacher when it comes to spiritual things. The first is to prepare spiritually to do so. Living the commandments and making yourself clean is important; it is also important to prepare an external spiritual environment, as one will have a difficult time receiving revelation in a noisy, cluttered, and casual environment. Removing unnecessary background noise, studying at an actual desk, and cleaning up the study area (because the Spirit does not dwell in unclean tabernacles, even in a physical sense - just note how meticulously cleaned the next temple you visit is) will help the Spirit be less restrained as you study. The next step is to determine how you want to study. Though all scripture is valuable, some is more so than others - you can study what you will, but the Book of Mormon is the scripture which was revealed for our day to gather scattered Israel - such should be read from every day, after which you can add to it what you will. It is also good to determine whether you will be reading through the scripture or studying a specific topic; neither of these is inherently bad, nor is any one always the appropriate path to go in studying the scriptures. Each has it's advantages; therefore, choose one for the type of learning you would like to do. The third step is to study the scriptures in a revelatory manner. This means you actively seek revelation from God as you read and study, using the concepts lain out in Moroni 10:4 and D&C 9:7-9. More specifically, you study what has been written down, and you ponder the writings in your mind; you then pray to the Lord for more guidance, especially if you have questions about what you have read which you cannot work out yourself. Once this is done, listen! President Nelson, in his first General Conference address as President of the Church, had said that, as we listen for such revelation, we should write down the impressions which we receive; that which we write down is revelation unto us, and is also worth studying over in the future. My challenge to you this day is to do both types of scripture study - reading through and topic study; one of these study sessions should be in the Book of Mormon. Follow through with each step, and hold on to what the Spirit tells you during each type of study. Doing this will turn "scripture study" into an engaging, revelatory experience of studying the scriptures, and you will get a lot more out of it than simply opening a book and reading it.

P.S. I almost completely forgot about the Elijah Choir's performance yesterday! We had a special Christmas program for our Monday morning devotional, as we won't be having such a devotional next Monday because Christmas eve. We had sung a nice medley of five different Christmas carols, with narrators from Sister Watkins' home ward. I enjoyed being able to sing for that, though it is likely going to be the last larger-scale choir performance I will be able to take part in before going home. Oh well - I will still have a performance every Monday morning still.

Cow for Christmas

P.S. I almost forgot the group picture taken of the zone to commemorate our buying the cow.

On Tue, Dec 11, 2018 at 4:00 PM Bryce Petersen <elderbrycepetersen@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello, everyone!

The holiday season continues to fill the stores with seasonal music, and the gifts are being given - even though all the snow which I had reported recently is now all gone again... Oh well, is still a special time of the year, truly a season of giving. Christmas is made a lot more important when one gives more than he receives, and one of the best type of gifts to give is one which cannot be repaid. For such a gift, me and the other missionaries in the Data Services zone did something similar to what we had done last year. Now, to provide a bit of context, the #LightTheWorld vending machines, allowing you to purchase something for someone else as a charitable donation, have been placed back in the lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Last year, the young elders of the zone had worked together to pitch in money to purchase a goat for someone in need. At the time, this was the most expensive thing in the machine; however, this year, the Church and organizations who had partnered to make this event possible were much more ambitious about what could be donated; the most expensive object we could buy (a school in a box, providing educational resources for a teacher and 40 students) cost $210. So, this year, I had organized those in the zone who were able to pitch in money to purchase a cow for $150. It is great to be able to pull together to accomplish something great; such things show how truly great people are! It is also amazing to see how many people stop by these machines during the evenings - the line is quite long, and so is the wait. To watch people give both their time and their money to help out like this is a great sight to behold!


Group picture taken of the zone to commemorate our buying the cow.

So, aside from that, things have been wonderful out here in the mission field. I love serving up where the zone actually gets some sunlight! There are still some issues with going to zone on Saturdays; missionaries have not been serving on Saturdays in that part of the building for quite a while now, and they still have not programmed the lights to turn on for us on such days. So, we have been trying to cope by turning on the night-light functions on our computers so that our eyes don't have to strain quite so much as we work. Still, that is something which needs to be worked out. For now, we can tolerate it - we just have to get up and walk around outside a bit every now and again (which is what the mission wants us to be doing anyway). The workload has also gone down, as it tends to do when the holidays come around. As a former missionary in the zone had put it, this is the time of year when people think more of spending time with their living families rather then seeking out their deceased families. Therefore, staying busy isn't always easy, and it is one of the zone's struggles. But, I have been working to find ways to help the missionaries to find things to do, and seeking out extra projects for them. There is still a ways to go, but I think that we can get there.

Speaking of extra things for us to do, around this Christmas season, we have been assigning elders to go out and do Christmas caroling at assisted living homes. Last Friday, I was assigned to go out and coordinate/participate in such an assignment. The place we had gone to was the home Brookdale, which I had gone to multiple times to assist with sacrament meetings. It was nice to be able to help them out in some other way, in that we sang for them. Some of us were more musically inclined than others, but I like to think that we had all sounded alright. There were not many guests who had come to watch us participate, but those who did were very happy that we had come for them. It makes me think, there are probably some of them who only get this visit for Christmas. I do hope that they have family who come and visit, especially at times like Christmas, though I know that, sadly, this is not always the case. That is why such an assignment is so important. It may not be a huge thing for us to visit and sing for them, but for some, it likely makes a world of difference.

I have also received a lot of cards from home. I would like to say right here, thank you so much for the support! I am happy to be able to hear from you around this holiday season! E-mails are definitely nice to receive, and I am grateful for and anticipate each one which I get from home; however, there is also something special about a physical Christmas card, which I am very grateful to receive whenever I get one. So, again, thanks so much!

Well, such are the happenings for me out here in the mission field. I am greatly blessed to be able to serve here, and to have your ongoing support. I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas season, and that you remember the true reason for the season.



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: I would like to begin this with a question: many people talk about the spirit of the Christmas season; what exactly is this spirit which makes the season so special? The season truly is special, though for some, it may be simply a time of year when traffic is more busy; for them, the commercialism which the corporate world participates in to cash in on the opportunities brought on by the holidays all but drowns out any "Christmas spirit". However, it does not have to be this way. This is because, as Dr. Seuss has taught us, "Christmas doesn't come from a store". Truly, this special season "means a little bit more". If we allow ourselves to focus more on the materialism of Christmas, then yes, Christmas truly is more show than substance, and "all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). (Of course, such celebrations are no sin, so long as they do not become the central focus of the season.) On the other hand, we can remember the whole reason why we have a Christmas season in the first place; we celebrate the mortal advent of our King and Savior, Jesus Christ. When we can remember this, we can have reason and encouragement to begin to live as He lived, and love as He loved. There are few times of the year which would be better opportunities to begin to adopt such a standard, or to at least make a conscious effort to live more in tune with such a celestial goal. Remember, even during this Christmas season, there are those who may not have food to feast upon, or friends and family to celebrate with, or gifts to give, or gifts to look forward to receiving; or any combination of these lacks. We know who these people are; this is a good chance to reach out to them, and help them to feel the same spirit as we do at this time of the year; this will help the "season of getting" turn into the "season of giving". To live as the Savior lived, we must also make it a point to edify ourselves religiously. What good does it do to remember the Savior's birth if it does not work to change us? If this is the case, then Christmas truly does have no meaning past the commercialism which cause some to hate it. So, what is it that makes Christmas so special? It is following the two great commandments - to love God, and to love our neighbors (Matthew 22:36-40). I challenge you to make a point of living both commandments more fully during this Christmas season - increase your love to your God, and to your fellow men. This is what will give the Christmas season substance as the Christian world celebrates the birth of our Savior.

Christmasmonth/December begins!

Hey, everyone!

So, I would like to first off wish all of you a wonderful start to the Christmas season! Snow has actually come down and stayed last Sunday, so we are already off to a much better start than last year! It honestly is just not quite the holiday season without snow. And so, with the holiday season are coming all of the seasonal goods - Temple Square is decorated for the event (I have already sent photographic evidence of this in a recent E-mail), stores are putting out their holiday special deals which may or may not be actual discounts, Christmas music is playing from every speaker - all in all, it's beginning to look like Christmas!

Luckily for me, I have already gotten a bit of an early Christmas present, as the zone has finally made the big move over to the JSMB! This took up the bulk of our day last Thursday, but actually getting set up did not take nearly as long as it did last time - this is probably, in part, due to the fact that we actually had real office space to move in rather than a re-purposed room in the Family History Library. And it is great! It is almost just how it was in the old contact center - we have a window giving us a view of the Salt Lake Temple! We are also right next to the mission office, making our daily mail runs a ton more convenient (which will be helpful for this time of the year)! There are plenty of other things which I am excited for about this move, but in short, having moved over here has been a great thing for us!

You may know that the young elders of the mission attend classes one night every week. This week was no exception, though it was quite a special occasion - our teacher was Elder Dale, who is currently a professor of religion at the University of Michigan (I think that he is on break to be able to serve here). He also has quite a bit of other impressive credentials - to put it simply, he is a learned man. Now, the young elders classes are divided up into four parts attending four classes at different times during the week, as to be able to keep the zones well staffed during the nighttime, though some are at night classes. Usually, the same lessons are given at each class; however, Elder Dale actually had prepared four different lectures for the different classes! The one which we got had to do with the relationship between science, cosmology, and the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! It is interesting how each subject relates one to another; it is also important to note that, though temporal knowledge is important and wonderful to have, it can never replace revelation from God; it also kind of emphasizes that science, as described with temporal knowledge, never defines completely set-in-stone answers to things. In short, the class was a great testimony-building experience for us all!

Another notable happening in regards to a normally routine happening was a major change to the mission's exercise program. Elder Parks, the current senior missionary in charge of coordinating this with the young elder coordinators of the program, had made some major changes to the program so that activities are only done on the last exercise day of the week, and the rest are a bit shorter than we had been having these days, but are entirely devoted to exercise and physical fitness. And I am loving it! I had been feeling for the longest time that, though I had tried my best to maintain this when I was a coordinator, the exercise program was a bit lacking in how much missionaries had gotten out of it. I could write much on this subject, but all I shall include here is that there was room for improvement; and improve it did! I actually look forward to exercise more than I had previously done, because I know that I am going to be getting some good out of it! It is very true that I go home feeling exhausted and worn out, though for exercise, that is what we want!

Aside from this, we were also invited to attend a special devotional and luncheon for the family history department, being put on by the heads of the department, including Elder Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They all had good, inspiring messages to share in regards to the work which we are doing here, as well as a few special bits in regards to the Christmas season. I feel that there is nothing that can bring the spirit of the season quite like such an event like this. I was even able to shake Elder Stevenson's hand afterward! The luncheon was also nice - it was a good lunch with ham, salads, meatballs, and other such foods! The Church knows what it is doing when such an event is being put on! I will miss these events when I return home from the mission.

However, this was not the only devotional which I was able to attend this week; as some of you may know, last Sunday was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional! The mission was able to get all its young elders tickets to the event, so I was able to attend this myself! To be honest, I would have found some way to attend, or at least view, the event had I not gotten tickets this way; it is still nice to not have had to worry it about it though. As mentioned earlier, such devotionals are probably the best way to kick off the season! I feel that there will be a few such special happenings for the mission during the season; therefore, though I cannot celebrate it in the traditional way, there will be no forgetting that "'tis the season"! (You can watch a recording of the event here.)

There is my week. There has been quite a bit of business to keep my busy, but there have also been some good things going on as well. Now, it is on to a great holiday season! I hope that all of you back home enjoy it as well! Have a good one!



From,

Elder Bryce Petersen



Challenge: The challenge which I have selected for this week is the same as that which has been put out by the Church. You may have heard of the "Light the World" campaign which the Church has been doing to help us make the season that much more meaningful, for it truly more meaningful to give than to simply receive. This is being done with a four-week program, starting from the outside in. Week One is "Light the World," which is about assisting with worldwide relief efforts, for not all enjoy the same levels of abundance as we do here in America; even some living in this very country need help getting back on their feet. The second is "Light your Community," which relates to helping those who live near you. Next is "Light your Family," which is also self-explanatory. The fourth and final week is "Light your Faith," which is all about remembering the true purpose behind the season. I feel that there is no better time to take the opportunity to serve others, on both a global and a very local scale, than during the season in which we get to take some time to remember our Savior, who devoted his lifetime to service to those around him, helping both those right around him in simple yet marvelous ways, as well as helping all men to ever live in a miraculous way, even His great Atonement. I would like to challenge you to participate in this event. Spend the season finding ways to serve others around you. This need not be formal or organized, though such efforts are also welcome and needed; one can, however, also serve those around him in a personal, informal way. For those who can take such a glorious opportunity to do so, Christmas will be a truly magical time of the year, which will feel more than the commercialized money-grab which, to some, the season can sometimes seem like. This is because the magic of the season is not in simply the getting of things, but by following the lead of our Savior, and giving as much as - if not more than - that which is received. (For more ideas on how to do this, click this link: https://www.mormon.org/christmas)

I had asked Bryce to send me a list of picture of what was available to purchase in the vending machines this year in SLC... this is what he said:

I don't remember everything - I would have to get a picture of the vending machines - but I can send you a couple of prices from the top of my head:

• Water - $2, $5, $10, $20, and $50 (this machine even dispenses a water bottle for the donor)
• English-learning dictionary for kids - $5?
• Soccer/Volley ball - $20?
• Polio treatment - $19 (I bought one of these)
• Malaria treatment - $39
• 2 chickens - $25
• Sewing machine - $60
• Goat - $75
• Cow - $150
• School in a box (supplies for a teacher and 40 students) - $210

Then he was able to send me this picture... but you can't see a lot of the prices...