FIVE MONTHS 1.25.16

 Well everyone, tomorrow marks 5 months away from home and I can´t believe it! Time is flying by and I am loving being a missionary more and more each and every day! Yes, I miss you all so much, but two years is such a short time and am so grateful for this time Heavenly Father has given me to be here in Argentina serving Him and His children here.

 This week was another great week! I hope you aren´t all tired of hearing that! Really though, every day here is amazing and something new! Even though we have the same schedule almost every day, I have so many different experiences and new opportunities every day that are so awesome! This week I had the opportunity to go to Ramos Mejia where the offices are to watch a world wide broadcast for only missionaries and it was amazing! I learned so much about what I need to be doing as a missionary and how I can be better. I loved it because I am always looking for ways I can get better every day and when I get opportunities to hear things I can do to be better I am all about them! President Robertson commented in a meeting this week how the whole mission is at a very high level of spirituality, higher than it has ever been before. Satan is working really hard to bring us down even just a little bit and we can´t let him because as soon as we bring down our level even a little bit he has already won. We have to do all we can to keep our sights high and to the Lord. He also said how we cannot progress without being grateful for what we already have first. I think this applies to everyone. Although I have already challenged you all to do this before, keep being grateful for all that you have and you will be blessed even more! 

 Yesterday I gave my first talk in church and it went really well! I wasn´t nervous all week until we got to the church yesterday morning but don´t worry, everything went great! I wrote out a pretty decent ammount so that I talked long enough and didn´t go way to short. I realized about half way through that I didn´t need my notes at all and I can just talk without them. I ended up talking for 15 minutes and it went really well! I am so grateful for the gift of tongues that Heavenly Father has blessed me with and that i am able to speak as well as I can with the short amount of time that I have! I know that it is not because of me but because of the Lord and His power! I talked about the Book of Mormon and the power it has. I want to share my testimony about the Book of Mormon to you all and let you know that I know it is true. It has changed my life and I have seen it change the lives of others here in Argentina. I also know it will change yours as you read it with real intent. You will be blessed with more happiness and peace in your lives as you make reading a habit everyday. I challenge you with Elder Durant from this last conference to ¨ponderize¨ a verse of scripture every week. I started doing this and have seen the results of having a higher plane of thoughts and level of spirituality. I have felt close to my Savior and have received many other blessings. I invite you to read the talk and figure out how you can all ¨ponderize¨ every week and I invite you to do it. I promise you will receive the same blessings I have and even more! 

 Thank you all for your prayers this past week, I have felt them so much! I love you all so much and am grateful for your influences and examples in my life! Have a great week and I will talk to you soon! 

Love, 

Elder Petersen