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

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

Bad Habits 1.18.16

Family and friends, 

I am happy to tell you that I had another great week and am still doing good! I hope you all are also still doing good and are enjoying your day off from school today! My week was really great and we had a lot of success! We found lots of new people and set 5 new baptismal dates this week! They are all super awesome and I am excited for them and their decisions to make a covenant with Heavebly Father and start their paths to eternal life with Him and their families! The problem is getting people to church. Not any of them came to church this week and they all said they would. That is definitely a challenge but we are going to get them there this next week, I know it! 

 This coming week I am also speaking in church for my first time in Argentina and castellano! I am a little nervous but excited as well! I know it will go great and I hope the people will be able to learn something!

 I titled this email bad habits because I have been trying to get rid of mine and that is my invitation for you all this week. This week I focused on brushing my teeth at night, At home I rarely brushed my teeth at night and it was a super bad habit! Although I never had a cavity, it still wasn´t good! I haveb´t missed a night brushing my teeth for 10 days now and am super excited about that! This week I am focusing on eating healthier. Out in campo it is super easy to just order a pizza or something and I just kinda feel gross. I know eating healthier I will feel better and start a good habit! My invitation for you all is to find a bad habit you have and start to change it. Make some plans to get better and to change your bad habbits into good habbits! I know it is not always easy but you will happy with the end results as you work hard to get rid of those! 

 I don´t have much else to say this week other than I love and miss you all! I hope you are all doing good and have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Petersen