It's March Already?!?!? 2.29.16

 Hello Family and friends,

I hope you all had a great week! I am sure it wasn´t as good as mine, but I hope it was still good! My week really was amazing and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a representative of Jesus Christ here in Argentina and know I have been called here for many reasons!

 I will start with Elder Bednar. Our meeting with him was Wednesday so the missionaries in campo (super far away) had to come Tuesday and stay the night here. There were a lot of them and we had to get them dinner and figure out all of the details for where they were staying, make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there, and most importantly get everything ready for Wednesday so that it went smoothly. We were running all over the place cleaning and organizing when I walked into the office and heard the door bell. It was a lady so Elder Rojas and I went out to talk to her. She was with her 10 year old son who has epilepsy and she had been walking around all day to try and find someone to help her with some things she needed for her son. We were able to help her and most of all serve her. It was a really great experience that I really needed to have. It helped remind me that we need to slow things down and always look for opportunities to serve so they don´t have to come knocking at our door. I am grateful that Heavenly Father did help her to knock at our door so that we did have the opportunity to serve but I want you all to be better than me and learn from my mistakes and find opportunities to serve without being asked. We really are so blessed and it is an amaing opportunity and responsibility we have to serve Heavenly Fathers children. This also helped me better prepare for listening to an apostle the next day which was so amazing! As soon as he walked in with his wife I felt the spirit overwhelmingly a long with everyone else in the room. I am so grateful that I KNOW we have a living day prophet and apostles who lead and guide this church and I know they have been called of God. 

First off, I want to talk about something Sister Bednar said. She asked us to do everything we can to make sure we are the missionaries that our moms think we are. This hit me really hard. I know many of you know how close I am with my mom and how much I think of her and how she thinks WAY too much of me. It made me want to be better, to change the little things to be even better and the missionary or person my mom thinks I am. Are we the people our moms think we are? I challenge you all to think about that question a little bit this week and also to change the things you need to change if you are not. Elder Bednar talked a lot about the spirit and faith. He said how we need to be better about acting on our faith and not just saying we have faith. He gave an example which we have all done, about praying for the people who were not at church this week to help them get there the next week. He said that this is not a faithful prayer. he said we need to be saying "Father, we all know at least one person who wasn´t here at church today and right after this meeting we are going to go look for them, find them, and bring them back. Please help us to know what to say so that the spirit can touch their hearts and help them come back". This also hit me pretty hard. It made me think of my prayers and my faith. Am I asking too much without showing my faith and efforts first? It was very good to be able to evalutate my prayers this week and see how much they  have changed and how I have been blessed for that. I know that as you all look at your prayers and see how you can "get your feet wet" by stepping in the water, showing your faith and acting, you will see the blessings as Heavenly Father will part the sea. There is so much I could say about this meeting but I don´t have much time so i hope you could learn a little bit of what I learned from this meeting.

I cannot believe it is already March tomorrow! Time is flying by and I am not liking it! Well, I hope you all have a great week! I love and miss you all!

Elder Petersen

p.s. I forgot to tell you all that I have my license here and have to drive quite a bit. It is way different driving here and is kind of scary, but it is awesome! haha Sorry just had to tell you all that!

Bednar and Six Months in the same week!?!?!?!? 2.22.16

Hello family and friends,

 I had another great week here in Argentina, a busy week, but a great one! As I have mentioned before Elder Bednar is coming to visit Argentina this week and all the Buenos Aires missions have the opportunity to attend the meeting and listen to him speak. All of us here in the offices have been working really hard all week to make sure everything runs smoothly and so that all of the missionaries can have an amazing spiritual experience without having to worry about anything. We have done all the planning but this week starts the real fun, the actual event. This is my first really big event here in the offices so I am a little nervous but excited as well! I am so very grateful for the opportunity to listen to an apostle speak! 

 This week we had a really great week! This week we met a guy named Mario by knocking on his door because we felt like we should and it turned out to be really amazing! We taught him Friday night and had a great lesson with him about the restoration. He was really interested but didn´t understand everything that great but we were still very excited to find him and have an answer to our prayers to find new people to teach. He told us about how he has been working on his sidewalk for a couple months all by himself trying to put the concrete down and finish it. We offered to help and ended up going the next day, Saturday, in the morning. We helped him and got a ton done and he was super grateful! After the service project we taught another little lesson and it went really well! He told us that he was going to come to church for sure and he stuck to his word and was there yesterday! It was really awesome and the spirit was very strong. He almost started to cry during the hymns and really enjoyed the music. This taught me that people can be touched in many different ways and that we have the responsibility to make sure those people are in the right place at the right time to have the spirit touch their hearts. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to see this happen and for the joy this gospel brings to the lives of everyone. I know that this really is The Church of Jesus Christ and he is the one who leads it. I know that it is the true church and that it blesses families. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation and that I am going to be able to live with my family forever as long as I follow the commandments and the words of the latter-day prophets. I want you all to know that your families can also be together forever through Heavenly Father´s plan. I hope that you can all do everything that you can and need to do to be able to make that possible. I know that as you do those things and change the things you need to change you will be blessed for your efforts and given the strength to push through those difficult challenges and trials. 

 I wanted to thank you all for all that you do and have done for me. I really do have the best family and friends out there! Thanks for your examples, love, and prayers, they are felt every day. I can´t believe it has already been six months, but I want you to all know that it has been a great six months! I love you all and hope everything is going well for all of you! Have a great week!

Until next week,

Elder Petersen 

Happy Valentines Day 2.15.16

Family and friends,

 I hope you all had a great Valentines Day yesterday and had a great week! My first week here in the offices was pretty crazy but really awesome as well. It is a lot of hard work here that I had no idea I would be doing but I am super excited and grateful that I have been given this opportunity to learn new skills I will use for the rest of my life! I am not the best at computers and that is what I am working on all day so I will have to get a lot better at that stuff and in the week I have been here I have already learned so much and know that I will continue to learn more each and every day. Every time someone calls the mission office, I have to answer the phone. I was super nervous when I heard that but it hasn't been bad at all! I actually talk to a lot of people in english which is really weird! We actually talk in english almost all of the time here and it has been pretty bad for my castellano but I try to use it as much as I can and continue to improve everyday!

 What we have been focusing on a lot lately is the meeting with Elder Bednar that we are going to have! Yes, Elder Bednar is coming to our mission the 24th and we are all very excited! We have a lot of things to do to get ready for it but I am super excited to be able to hear from an apostle! I am so grateful for a living prophet who leads and guides us and gives us the counsel we need to be able to make it back to our Heavenly Father and live forever with our families.

 My challenge for this week is to try something new! Try something you have never done before and learn to love it. I promise that as you all try something new and step out of your comfort zones you will find new things that you enjoy and will be glad you tried it. 

 Sorry I don´t have that much to write this week but I just wanted to end by saying that in a year and a half from today I will be heading home. It is crazy how fast the time is going by. I am doing my best to make the most of the short time I have here every day because I know this time and these two years are the best two years FOR my life. I have learned so much and am so grateful for all of the opportunities I have had so far to serve others everyday all day. I just want you all to know how much I love this gospel and my savior Jesus Christ. I am so lucky to have this opportunity to be His representative here in Argentina. I am grateful for the love for the people that He has blessed me with so that I have the desire to serve them and help them come to the knowledge of this amazing gospel and church. 

 I love you all so much and am so grateful for all of your examples in my life! Have a great week and don´t forget to wish my sister a happy birthday!! 

Love,

Elder Petersen

PIC'S....FINALLY! 2.10.16

Traslados 2.10.16

 Hello all! 

Yes, I know that it is Wednesday but I was not able to email Monday or yesterday because of transfers! I had a pretty big surprise that I was not expecting at all, but I am super excited for the new opportunity Heavenly Father has given me! 

 In a recent interview with my mission president he had told me that I would be receiving a new companion in my area which me and my companion had thought because he had already been there for two transfers and that was my first. The whole week we had thought he would be leaving and he had started to say goodbye to some of our investigators and members in the branch. Saturday night we got a call from President Robertson and he said that what he thought was going to happen wasn´t the case. He continued to tell me that I was needed in the mission offices! This came as a huge surprise!! Sunday instead of Elder Groen saying goodbye to people, I was the one saying goodbye. We had to leave Monday to take the bus to get here in time for transfers so I had to pack a little bit Sunday as well. We got all ready and got on the road Monday morning to come to the offices. As soon as we got here I got to work! I figured out that I was going to be Presidents secretary!!! Monday night was super crazy with transfers being the next day and having to get everything ready. We didn´t get to bed until after midnight and then had to wake up before 5 yesterday because there has been so much to do, but it is awesome! These past two days have been super crazy but normally I will be in the offices taking calls and doing lots of different stuff until 5 in the afternoon and then I get to go out and work! I haven´t even really learned what I am going to be doing all day but I am super excited! I know I will be doing a lot of new and challenging things but I know they are things I need to learn and that will help me throughout my mission and my life! 

 My invitation for this week is to receive everything with a smile! Even when you are super tired and having a bad day, take whatever life throws at you with a smile and love and serve everyone. We are all going to have trials and challenges that we have to go through. How we go through them and the decisions we make after these hard times show what kind of people we are. I hope that you can all accept everything with a smile and continue to always look for people to serve and things to do for others. That will help you forget about your problems and also be happier! 

Sorry for the unexpected Wednesday email but I hope you can learn something from it. I also hope you all had a great week and finishing this week out amazingly! Talk to you Monday! Love and miss you all!

Elder Petersen

Flat Tires and Water Balloons 2.1.16

Buenasdías todos! I hope you are all doing great and are starting off February amazingly! I have loved hearing from lots of you about your bad habbits that you are changing, it is so awesome! Keep up the good work!

 I had a great week, like always! Elder Groen and I are working really hard to find new people to teach because the investigators we have are great but aren´t coming to church or progressing. I know this week we are going to be blessed with lots of new great investigators! Funny story for the week: We were walking through the main plaza in the center of the city to go get my bike fixed..again! My fourth flat tire of the transfer among other problems, but that´s okay! Whenever we go through the plaza groups of kids always want to talk to us so we stop and answer their questions about Mormons for a little. This time as we were talking with some kids, another kid on his bike rode by and threw a water balloon at my back. I got soaking wet! I was able to just laugh it off and wasn´t angry at all which is something that NEVER would have happened before my mission! I am so grateful for this time Heavenly Father has given me to not only further His work, but to become a better person as well! I really have changed so much but for the better and am so grateful for that! 

 For those of you who know about soccer in Argentina, the two biggest teams played this week, Boca and River. I was wearing a red tie that day because I didn´t know they were playing so I obviously had to go back and change because I am from Boca, the better team! They ended up losing, but they will get them next time! 

 My challenge for the week is do a small act of service every day! This week we were in a little kiosco (store) next to our pench for something and I felt like I should do something for the worker. I ended up buying an alfejor and giving it to her. I don´t know why I felt like I needed to do that or even if I needed to but it doesn´t matter. She really appreciated it and that is all that matters! Although it was something very small, I felt so good! I know that as you all do little acts of service like that every day you will feel the same way I did and do every day, great! You never know what people are going through and what a small act of service can do for them. Just a smile, holding the door, or letting someone in in the parking lot are great ideas! I know you will all be blessed as you do those things and serve like our Savior Jesus Christ!

 I love and miss you all and hope you all have a great week!!

Love, 

Elder Petersen