This last week was great! Well half great, the first part of it I was sick with a fever and major coughing, but since Tuesday my condition has been improving.
We were able to meet with awesome people and find a few cool people as well.
I guess since this is my last letter I will give my overall thoughts on a mission as a whole.
A mission is an amazing opportunity to serve the Lord and to develop a better understanding of the gospel and the church. A mission is designed to be challenging, and because of this there are hard things that we need to go through to improve. It's a lot like how metal is hardened in the furnace.
I personally had a great mission and I feel like I learned a lot from it.
If anyone is reading this and considering a mission, I would encourage them to give it some serious prayer and meditation, and then if it feels right for you, go.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!! I can't wait to see you all soon!
Love,
Äldste Peterson
Monday, May 11, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
May 4th, 2015 | Last full Week!
Well this week was really good, on Monday after emailing we Went and played soccer with a bunch of the missionaries, it was a blast!
we also had a few pretty cool experiences this last week. We were really trying to have all of our lessons be member present lessons and we did pretty well. on one of the lessons we had Adam Lindquist (who was a missionary in my mission just a few months ago) come with on the teach and we were able to commit Rickard (the investigator) to baptism on the 30th of May.
Also some not so fun news, on Friday I got super sick and I haven't been able to sleep well the past two nights. It is some sort of virus. We think that when one of our AP's came on splits he got the other Elders sick and now I have it. (my companion is still unafflicted) not so fun, but not the worst thing. I am super happy though.
This Thursday was Valborg which is some holiday where people burn huge piles of wood to "drive the Winter witches away" it's a huge gathering and it was really fun to be in a place where there are a lot of other missionaries.
hmmm other than that I am really excited to Skpe this Sunday! We will be skyping at around 6pm our time. so be ready!
Love,
Elder Peterson
Valborg!
Soccer
Me and Elder Stinnet, he's my zone leader!
Valborg again!
we also had a few pretty cool experiences this last week. We were really trying to have all of our lessons be member present lessons and we did pretty well. on one of the lessons we had Adam Lindquist (who was a missionary in my mission just a few months ago) come with on the teach and we were able to commit Rickard (the investigator) to baptism on the 30th of May.
Also some not so fun news, on Friday I got super sick and I haven't been able to sleep well the past two nights. It is some sort of virus. We think that when one of our AP's came on splits he got the other Elders sick and now I have it. (my companion is still unafflicted) not so fun, but not the worst thing. I am super happy though.
This Thursday was Valborg which is some holiday where people burn huge piles of wood to "drive the Winter witches away" it's a huge gathering and it was really fun to be in a place where there are a lot of other missionaries.
hmmm other than that I am really excited to Skpe this Sunday! We will be skyping at around 6pm our time. so be ready!
Love,
Elder Peterson
Valborg!
Soccer
Me and Elder Stinnet, he's my zone leader!
Valborg again!
Monday, April 27, 2015
April 27th, 2015 | LIVET ÄR FINT
Well this week was great!
on Tuesday to Wednesday night we were on Gotland doing splits with the elders there. It was lots of fun and the people there seemed nicer than last time probably due to the weather which has been amazing!
It was great to be able to see some of the same investigators as last time I was there and one of them has made quite some progress and is now preparing for baptism. It is such a pleasure to be able to see testimonies grow so much.
This week I also had a cool experience. Last Sunday I got to go on splits with Elder Barnes and during it we contacted a man named Juan from Bolivia. we taught him a short street lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon as well as getting his number. On Saturday I got to be there on a lesson to his whole family and yesterday (Sunday) his daughter came to church, and he and his wife would have come but they had already planned on buying a car and so the time conflicted.
The lesson with them was so nice! They are so prepared and even have a nephew who is a Mormon missionary in Mexico!
Other than that this week was great, I wish I could share all my experiences but I will just tell you in person later.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
Äldste Peterson
on the boat to Gotland... 3 hours there... 3 hours back.
we visited the cliffs with these guys... FUN
helping some member get their house ready for them to move. we hammered nails in the attic.
down by the cliffs
our boat and getting to Gotland
flowers in Stockholm some cool square
Stockholm castle guard, we got to take a picture with... you're not allowed to go pass the stone line. This is right outside the palace.
Tack allihopa!!! and have a great week!
on Tuesday to Wednesday night we were on Gotland doing splits with the elders there. It was lots of fun and the people there seemed nicer than last time probably due to the weather which has been amazing!
It was great to be able to see some of the same investigators as last time I was there and one of them has made quite some progress and is now preparing for baptism. It is such a pleasure to be able to see testimonies grow so much.
This week I also had a cool experience. Last Sunday I got to go on splits with Elder Barnes and during it we contacted a man named Juan from Bolivia. we taught him a short street lesson and gave him a Book of Mormon as well as getting his number. On Saturday I got to be there on a lesson to his whole family and yesterday (Sunday) his daughter came to church, and he and his wife would have come but they had already planned on buying a car and so the time conflicted.
The lesson with them was so nice! They are so prepared and even have a nephew who is a Mormon missionary in Mexico!
Other than that this week was great, I wish I could share all my experiences but I will just tell you in person later.
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
Äldste Peterson
on the boat to Gotland... 3 hours there... 3 hours back.
we visited the cliffs with these guys... FUN
helping some member get their house ready for them to move. we hammered nails in the attic.
down by the cliffs
our boat and getting to Gotland
flowers in Stockholm some cool square
Stockholm castle guard, we got to take a picture with... you're not allowed to go pass the stone line. This is right outside the palace.
Tack allihopa!!! and have a great week!
Monday, April 20, 2015
April 20th, 2015 | good week
Hey sorry I'm gonna have to make this quick. Great week! here are some pictures.
love you all!!!!
super old treatment stand aparently it was used by a dentist from 1939 until 2010, pretty sick!
me and Elder Stinnett
our four-man
love you all!!!!
me and Elder Stinnett
our four-man
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
April 13th, 2015 | Temple Flowers and great weather!!!
Well this week the weather has been AMAZING! Due to the weather being good this week we were invited along with about 15 other missionaries to plant flowers at the temple this past tuesday... 6812 flowers to be exact haha, it took a while. It was sooo much fun! It felt good to help make the temple grounds look better, and when we were done it looked great!
Kind of a cool experience this week was when I was on splits with Äldste Treat, we were walking around street contacting when we suddenly ran into Mustafa, our investigator, we were near the library and ended up being able to go and teach him a lesson on prayer! he is working on quitting snus and is down to one packet a day, and he took it out when we were with him. We were hoping that he would come to church but he couldn't make it. We are hopeful though.
Things are going great! I can't believe that I only have four weeks left! Time flies when your having fun I guess!
Again, I am super bad about taking pictures so forgive the lack thereof however we did run to this really cool church and that morning was really foggy.
And I thought this was a pretty cool doormat haha
Kind of a cool experience this week was when I was on splits with Äldste Treat, we were walking around street contacting when we suddenly ran into Mustafa, our investigator, we were near the library and ended up being able to go and teach him a lesson on prayer! he is working on quitting snus and is down to one packet a day, and he took it out when we were with him. We were hoping that he would come to church but he couldn't make it. We are hopeful though.
Things are going great! I can't believe that I only have four weeks left! Time flies when your having fun I guess!
Again, I am super bad about taking pictures so forgive the lack thereof however we did run to this really cool church and that morning was really foggy.
And I thought this was a pretty cool doormat haha
April 6th, 2015 | General Conference!!!!!
Well this week just flew by! It was super good though.
I think my favorite part of this week was general conference, I liked the priesthood session especially. Because of the time change I was not able to watch all of it, but all that I got to see was great!
This week we also got to go to this Awesome Easter party at a members house. It was so much fun! earlier in the week we had helped them move an old piano which was also fun. During the party they let us hide easter eggs, although in Sweden you just get one big one instead of a bunch of little ones so we all hid each other's easter eggs around their apartment and then we got to go look for them... mine was behind some books.
We also got to meet with Mustafa this week, we taught him the word of wisdom and now we are working with him to quit snus. fun fun. We are also working on the word of wisdom with our Investigator Lotta, she is working on quitting smoking, right now she smokes about a pack a day and has been smoking since she was 11, she's in her 70's. She started smoking on her balcony as soon as she met with us and she is worried about quitting and it's going to be really really hard so please pray for her. Mustafa also needs prayers. We calculated with him how much money he could have if he had saved it instead of buying snus every day and it was a little over 60,000 dollars! he was blown back by that.
We still run every day which is so nice. The weather has been weird this week even snowing a few times and hailing, but it never seems to snow or hail when we run. There was even one time, I think it was thursday when we did our run and as we finnished the first flakes began to fall and then it went crazy! I'm glad to know that somebody is watching out for us. haha
Anyway, I tried to take more pictures this week per request but I'm so bad at remembering, I will try to do better this week though.
This is just a weird pole thing in our area. I don't really know what it's for... anyway.
emailing right now
I think my favorite part of this week was general conference, I liked the priesthood session especially. Because of the time change I was not able to watch all of it, but all that I got to see was great!
This week we also got to go to this Awesome Easter party at a members house. It was so much fun! earlier in the week we had helped them move an old piano which was also fun. During the party they let us hide easter eggs, although in Sweden you just get one big one instead of a bunch of little ones so we all hid each other's easter eggs around their apartment and then we got to go look for them... mine was behind some books.
We also got to meet with Mustafa this week, we taught him the word of wisdom and now we are working with him to quit snus. fun fun. We are also working on the word of wisdom with our Investigator Lotta, she is working on quitting smoking, right now she smokes about a pack a day and has been smoking since she was 11, she's in her 70's. She started smoking on her balcony as soon as she met with us and she is worried about quitting and it's going to be really really hard so please pray for her. Mustafa also needs prayers. We calculated with him how much money he could have if he had saved it instead of buying snus every day and it was a little over 60,000 dollars! he was blown back by that.
We still run every day which is so nice. The weather has been weird this week even snowing a few times and hailing, but it never seems to snow or hail when we run. There was even one time, I think it was thursday when we did our run and as we finnished the first flakes began to fall and then it went crazy! I'm glad to know that somebody is watching out for us. haha
Anyway, I tried to take more pictures this week per request but I'm so bad at remembering, I will try to do better this week though.
This is just a weird pole thing in our area. I don't really know what it's for... anyway.
emailing right now
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
March 30th, 2015 | HEyoOO
Well this week was great!
We found a new Investigator!!! We trackted into her last week and she said that we could come back on Tuesday, and when we did she was there!! super weird we were expecting her to not be there, because that's what normaly happens.
We ended up teaching her the plan of salvation and later in the week we taught her the restoration, she is a little shy and it's hard for her to get around because she is blind in one eye so she didn't make it to church but she's really nice.
We also had an interesting conversation over the phone with a Muslim, he told us we were wasting our time and ruining other peoples lives... and other stuff but we were polite and we may be meeting him in the library this week. He said he would give us Korans in English so that could be cool.
we are also teaching another Muslim named Mustafa, he is really nice and we had a baptismal date with him but he needs to get his mothers blessing first.
Other than that things were great this week... we ran a 10k on Monday and then 5k every day except for Sunday... Transfers are Wednesday and James is staying here with me. So he will "kill" me. It's hard to believe that I will only write like 6 more times before I am home.
LOVE YOU ALL
Äldste Peterson
this is what I get to run through every day!
We found a new Investigator!!! We trackted into her last week and she said that we could come back on Tuesday, and when we did she was there!! super weird we were expecting her to not be there, because that's what normaly happens.
We ended up teaching her the plan of salvation and later in the week we taught her the restoration, she is a little shy and it's hard for her to get around because she is blind in one eye so she didn't make it to church but she's really nice.
We also had an interesting conversation over the phone with a Muslim, he told us we were wasting our time and ruining other peoples lives... and other stuff but we were polite and we may be meeting him in the library this week. He said he would give us Korans in English so that could be cool.
we are also teaching another Muslim named Mustafa, he is really nice and we had a baptismal date with him but he needs to get his mothers blessing first.
Other than that things were great this week... we ran a 10k on Monday and then 5k every day except for Sunday... Transfers are Wednesday and James is staying here with me. So he will "kill" me. It's hard to believe that I will only write like 6 more times before I am home.
LOVE YOU ALL
Äldste Peterson
this is what I get to run through every day!
Monday, March 23, 2015
March 23rd, 2015 | Well I'm alive, and well
This week was simply full of stuff... on Monday the highlight was emailing of course and running the 20km to and back from the Baltic, we have kept the running up and even did a 10km this morning!!!
On Tuesday I went on splits with Elder Featherstone in Västerhaninge, it was cool.
On Wednesday we had a normal day and then Thursday was District meeting and at night we traveled to Nynäshamn where we boarded a ship and we went to Gotland which is an island off the coast of Sweden. It's super cool, if you want to check it out on the web or something.
We were going there because my companion is the District leader and they have a baptismal candidate that needs an interview... it was about a 3 1\2 hour boat ride and we ended up getting to the Elders apartment at 1 in the morning.
The next day we got to meet the baptismal candidate and one of the Elders Investigators, then we went and contacted in the old part of the city which honestly just felt like sightseeing because it was so cool.
anyway we got back Saturday morning and then had a really good lesson with Mary who is a member in our ward, she is from the Philippines and was baptized about three years ago. It was great.
This week flew by so fast! and I can't believe that I only have two months left.... well one and a half. Love you all and thank you for the letters... it's so cool that Collin got his mission call to Rochester, New York!!!! I am so excited for him, but also glad to be able to hang out with him for a bit before he heads to the MTC.
LOVE YOU ALL!,
Elder Peterson
P.S. sorry if my letters are boring or hard to read or whatever, at least I'm consistent though haha
Me and Elder James on the Visby wall on Gotland
us and the Visby Elders in their car
on the wall
on the boat back to the mainland
a big rock by our house
On Tuesday I went on splits with Elder Featherstone in Västerhaninge, it was cool.
On Wednesday we had a normal day and then Thursday was District meeting and at night we traveled to Nynäshamn where we boarded a ship and we went to Gotland which is an island off the coast of Sweden. It's super cool, if you want to check it out on the web or something.
We were going there because my companion is the District leader and they have a baptismal candidate that needs an interview... it was about a 3 1\2 hour boat ride and we ended up getting to the Elders apartment at 1 in the morning.
The next day we got to meet the baptismal candidate and one of the Elders Investigators, then we went and contacted in the old part of the city which honestly just felt like sightseeing because it was so cool.
anyway we got back Saturday morning and then had a really good lesson with Mary who is a member in our ward, she is from the Philippines and was baptized about three years ago. It was great.
This week flew by so fast! and I can't believe that I only have two months left.... well one and a half. Love you all and thank you for the letters... it's so cool that Collin got his mission call to Rochester, New York!!!! I am so excited for him, but also glad to be able to hang out with him for a bit before he heads to the MTC.
LOVE YOU ALL!,
Elder Peterson
P.S. sorry if my letters are boring or hard to read or whatever, at least I'm consistent though haha
Me and Elder James on the Visby wall on Gotland
us and the Visby Elders in their car
on the wall
on the boat back to the mainland
a big rock by our house
Monday, March 16, 2015
March 16th, 2015 | another good week
Well this week was great! we have been able to see a lot of improvement with our relationships with the less actives we are working with and might even have one coming back to church. I think the highlight of my week was this morning though when we ran to the Baltic sea and back... it was so fun! We had a goal as a companionship to do this run which is about 20 km for four weeks now and to complete it was a real pleasure.
I'm sorry I don't write all the cool things that happen to me because there are so many but I'm just lazy like that I guess.
Moral of the week though is "don't drink"! Drunks have been a pretty prevalent part of my mission but this last week it was especially prevalent. It is so sad to see people literally drink themselves to death. Anyway I hope that everything is good back home.
Love you guys,
Äldste Peterson
The big ole Baltic Sea
the sun is back!!!
a cool old Volvo, we were trackting in the area and I just had to take a pic of it
I'm so old Sweden sent me a retirement plan! (haha no it's sent to everyone that turns 22 this year in Sweden)
We made it!!!
This is a runestone,
I'm sorry I don't write all the cool things that happen to me because there are so many but I'm just lazy like that I guess.
Moral of the week though is "don't drink"! Drunks have been a pretty prevalent part of my mission but this last week it was especially prevalent. It is so sad to see people literally drink themselves to death. Anyway I hope that everything is good back home.
Love you guys,
Äldste Peterson
The big ole Baltic Sea
the sun is back!!!
a cool old Volvo, we were trackting in the area and I just had to take a pic of it
I'm so old Sweden sent me a retirement plan! (haha no it's sent to everyone that turns 22 this year in Sweden)
We made it!!!
This is a runestone,
March 9th, 2015 | another good week!
Well this week was really good... we still get out an run every day which has been super fun... unfortunately I don't have a lot of time today but here is a quick story I shared in another email.
Our area has been gaining traction and we are finally having more people that we regularly meet with. I am excited to tell the stories instead of having to write them down... but I did have a pretty cool experience this week. We had trackted into a less active member that was really nice... and the day after we were on our way to a swing by... for some reason I felt like going a different way than we would have normally and naturally we contacted people along the way... anyway we walk by this building and a drunk guy carrying a bunch of alcohol yells at us and says "hey aren’t you guys Mormon?" (this is all in Swedish of course) anyway I said "yes we are... have you met with missionaries before" he said no but then as we were talking with him an older lady probably in her 40s came out of the building and the drunk guy started talking to her then she started talking with us and it turned out that she was pretty interesting in what we had to say, and the less active who we had trackted into the day before is her dad... so anyway we taught her about the Book of Mormon and gave her our card.
anyway things are going super good, LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!
Elder Peterson
Our area has been gaining traction and we are finally having more people that we regularly meet with. I am excited to tell the stories instead of having to write them down... but I did have a pretty cool experience this week. We had trackted into a less active member that was really nice... and the day after we were on our way to a swing by... for some reason I felt like going a different way than we would have normally and naturally we contacted people along the way... anyway we walk by this building and a drunk guy carrying a bunch of alcohol yells at us and says "hey aren’t you guys Mormon?" (this is all in Swedish of course) anyway I said "yes we are... have you met with missionaries before" he said no but then as we were talking with him an older lady probably in her 40s came out of the building and the drunk guy started talking to her then she started talking with us and it turned out that she was pretty interesting in what we had to say, and the less active who we had trackted into the day before is her dad... so anyway we taught her about the Book of Mormon and gave her our card.
anyway things are going super good, LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!
Elder Peterson
Monday, March 2, 2015
March 2nd, 2015 | Well Handen is Awesome
This week was so good! First of all I am super pumped that my comp is willing to go running every morning with me!!! and we live so close to the temple that we just run there and back every day... it's awesome.
This week we did a lot of finding work, due to us reopening the area. I love it but it's challenging, It does help me keep my mind here though which is really good as I am snart klar på mission (soon done with my mission).
I got to see Stefano from Vendelsö again and We are going to go to lunch with him this week just to catch up on old times.
I don't have a ton of time because on of the computers is down this week and there area a lot of missionaries that need to email.
but this week was just AWESOME.
Love,
Äldste Peterson
Me and James running like Champions!
we went to Gamla stan today for P-day and just wandered around.... love this harbor.
This week we did a lot of finding work, due to us reopening the area. I love it but it's challenging, It does help me keep my mind here though which is really good as I am snart klar på mission (soon done with my mission).
I got to see Stefano from Vendelsö again and We are going to go to lunch with him this week just to catch up on old times.
I don't have a ton of time because on of the computers is down this week and there area a lot of missionaries that need to email.
but this week was just AWESOME.
Love,
Äldste Peterson
Me and James running like Champions!
we went to Gamla stan today for P-day and just wandered around.... love this harbor.
Monday, February 23, 2015
February 23rd, 2015 | Wirlwind and living with a giant!
Well contrary to what my title implies there was no actual whirlwind this week. I guess in retrospect I could have just deleted it, but it totally describes the way this week felt perfectly.
Saying goodbye is always hard and leaving Örnsköldsvik was no exception, but then what are memories for but keeping the past with us.
On Wednesday I took the train with Elder Pearson to Stockholm (about a 6 hour journey) and we met up with a bunch of the missionaries in Stockholm Central. I saw some people that I hadn't seen for over a year! It was a really great reunion. I also met my new companion Elder James, he's awesome! he loves reading and writing and si-fi so we have some pretty nerdy conversations about how it would be to live in space and things like that.
I think the highlight of our companionship for me so far though has been that he is willing to get up and go running every morning with me!!! Being on a mission not being able to leave your companion can make that prospect hard if your comp's not willing to go with you.
Also in explanation of the last part of my title Elder James is 6'6"! but he's a very quiet gentle giant for sure.
We are working in the area that I used to live in when I was working in Handen, so everything is really familiar even some of the faces in church! It's nice I was able to see both Stefano, and Nicholas. I talked to them and Stefano even remembered my name!
another tidbit of information, we live in a four-man so four missionaries in the same apartment, I love it!
anyway I hope that everything is going well for everyone back home, in Brazil, Argentina, and Sweden! or wherever you might be in the world.
Love,
Äldste Hans Draper Peterson
Saying goodbye is always hard and leaving Örnsköldsvik was no exception, but then what are memories for but keeping the past with us.
On Wednesday I took the train with Elder Pearson to Stockholm (about a 6 hour journey) and we met up with a bunch of the missionaries in Stockholm Central. I saw some people that I hadn't seen for over a year! It was a really great reunion. I also met my new companion Elder James, he's awesome! he loves reading and writing and si-fi so we have some pretty nerdy conversations about how it would be to live in space and things like that.
I think the highlight of our companionship for me so far though has been that he is willing to get up and go running every morning with me!!! Being on a mission not being able to leave your companion can make that prospect hard if your comp's not willing to go with you.
Also in explanation of the last part of my title Elder James is 6'6"! but he's a very quiet gentle giant for sure.
We are working in the area that I used to live in when I was working in Handen, so everything is really familiar even some of the faces in church! It's nice I was able to see both Stefano, and Nicholas. I talked to them and Stefano even remembered my name!
another tidbit of information, we live in a four-man so four missionaries in the same apartment, I love it!
anyway I hope that everything is going well for everyone back home, in Brazil, Argentina, and Sweden! or wherever you might be in the world.
Love,
Äldste Hans Draper Peterson
Monday, February 16, 2015
February 16th, 2015 | Journeying back to the land of Stockholm
Hey!
Well this week started out great, as we finally got our car back! I felt like I was living at home... it's strange how nice it is to have a car... however it didn't last long because I am getting transferred to Handen. I am excited, but also sad to leave the branch.
This week we had a Specialized Zone Training, which was fun and we got to see "Meet the Mormons". I really enjoyed it!
This week we had a surprise birthday party for Poominh who turned 12 and got the preisthood on Sunday, it was a really fun party, I made Dad's cookies and people from the branch brough lots of treats.
This is where we meet for sacrament meeting
Some awesome branch members! and me
Well this week started out great, as we finally got our car back! I felt like I was living at home... it's strange how nice it is to have a car... however it didn't last long because I am getting transferred to Handen. I am excited, but also sad to leave the branch.
This week we had a Specialized Zone Training, which was fun and we got to see "Meet the Mormons". I really enjoyed it!
This week we had a surprise birthday party for Poominh who turned 12 and got the preisthood on Sunday, it was a really fun party, I made Dad's cookies and people from the branch brough lots of treats.
This is where we meet for sacrament meeting
Some awesome branch members! and me
Monday, February 9, 2015
February 9th, 2015 | February!!!
Hey!
Well time sure flies when your having fun! I can't believe that it's already February. I think that the mission is funny like that, sometimes time drags on like it will never stop and sometimes it goes by like a whirlwind.
This week was good. For zone training this Wednesday we're memorizing two scriptures, so here they are,
"I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves, that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?" Alma 5:16
also,
"Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." Proverbs 16:3
I have always loved Proverbs, and I really like the message that this one contains... It's really easy to memorize and I would encourage anyone reading this to try. (takes like 10 minutes).
It kind of reminds me of the saying "Fake it till you make it" in an offhand sort of way, but it is really true that "we are what we do". This is one reason why I feel that the people we choose to surround ourselves with have such a huge impact on the person we will one day become.
Examining the first scripture in Alma has also been invigorating, It gives a worthy goal to strive for. From memorizing it and repeating it over and over in my head I noticed the two words "for behold" in my mind this paints a picture of us standing before the Lord and looking back over our lives and all the works that we have done while enduring this mortal existence.
I hope that each and every one of you when reading this will consider that day and continue living righteously, It's so worth it and it gives peace, and happiness.
This week I played Pokemon with some of the youth in the branch, it was really fun and has been a great way to bond with them and develop greater friendships as well.
Funny story this week, Elder Pearson and I were walking along minding our own business (talking about the game Spyro actually) when all of a sudden we came to a part of icy sidewalk that was hidden by the snow from the blizzard that day... it was like that scene in star wars episode 5 (or 6) when they are on the planet Endor and Chewbacka chews on the bait to a trap and they all get caught in a net, only in our case it was snow covering the ice instead of leaves a trap. Anyway, we both went down at the same time hard, the hilarity of the situation made us both just burst out laughing, it hurt though haha and my neck is still sore, and Pearson hurt his knee. But anyway that's like only the fifth time I've gone down this winter haha. Don't judge me, dress shoes are slippery!
Anyway back to spiritual things, we got a new Investigator this week. He's Mongolian like Genghis Khan style and he barely speaks Swedish and no English whatsoever, so we're lucky to have a Lady in our ward that does, she was the one who found him.
Even with the launguage barrier teaching him was fine, we were able to find out that he had actually had missionaries over to his home in Mongolia when he was young and his mom even became a member. He said that he hadn't because of drinking and smoking. We're hopeful for him.
Other than that everything is going well, loving Sweden still (although I am of course excited for being home only 94 days!) and learning soooo much every day.
Love you all!
Elder Peterson
Me and Sovann battling it out in a deadly duel of wits, testing the very depths of our inner resolve to win.
the bus was a few minutes late so we did some pirouettes on the local ice rink
Snow... I had a video of me getting through this but this will have to suffice for now because the length of things I sent from myldsmain is too short. anyway the point is SNOW IS DEEP
just another day in the life of a Swedish missionary
English class
Chilling at home with my guitar
oh here is the guitar from a week or so ago
here is a walk we do about every day to the church... to the right in a few hundred feet there is a huge Swedish church with a big clock tower which is cool to look at when we walk by.
Well time sure flies when your having fun! I can't believe that it's already February. I think that the mission is funny like that, sometimes time drags on like it will never stop and sometimes it goes by like a whirlwind.
This week was good. For zone training this Wednesday we're memorizing two scriptures, so here they are,
"I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves, that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?" Alma 5:16
also,
"Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established." Proverbs 16:3
I have always loved Proverbs, and I really like the message that this one contains... It's really easy to memorize and I would encourage anyone reading this to try. (takes like 10 minutes).
It kind of reminds me of the saying "Fake it till you make it" in an offhand sort of way, but it is really true that "we are what we do". This is one reason why I feel that the people we choose to surround ourselves with have such a huge impact on the person we will one day become.
Examining the first scripture in Alma has also been invigorating, It gives a worthy goal to strive for. From memorizing it and repeating it over and over in my head I noticed the two words "for behold" in my mind this paints a picture of us standing before the Lord and looking back over our lives and all the works that we have done while enduring this mortal existence.
I hope that each and every one of you when reading this will consider that day and continue living righteously, It's so worth it and it gives peace, and happiness.
This week I played Pokemon with some of the youth in the branch, it was really fun and has been a great way to bond with them and develop greater friendships as well.
Funny story this week, Elder Pearson and I were walking along minding our own business (talking about the game Spyro actually) when all of a sudden we came to a part of icy sidewalk that was hidden by the snow from the blizzard that day... it was like that scene in star wars episode 5 (or 6) when they are on the planet Endor and Chewbacka chews on the bait to a trap and they all get caught in a net, only in our case it was snow covering the ice instead of leaves a trap. Anyway, we both went down at the same time hard, the hilarity of the situation made us both just burst out laughing, it hurt though haha and my neck is still sore, and Pearson hurt his knee. But anyway that's like only the fifth time I've gone down this winter haha. Don't judge me, dress shoes are slippery!
Anyway back to spiritual things, we got a new Investigator this week. He's Mongolian like Genghis Khan style and he barely speaks Swedish and no English whatsoever, so we're lucky to have a Lady in our ward that does, she was the one who found him.
Even with the launguage barrier teaching him was fine, we were able to find out that he had actually had missionaries over to his home in Mongolia when he was young and his mom even became a member. He said that he hadn't because of drinking and smoking. We're hopeful for him.
Other than that everything is going well, loving Sweden still (although I am of course excited for being home only 94 days!) and learning soooo much every day.
Love you all!
Elder Peterson
Me and Sovann battling it out in a deadly duel of wits, testing the very depths of our inner resolve to win.
the bus was a few minutes late so we did some pirouettes on the local ice rink
Snow... I had a video of me getting through this but this will have to suffice for now because the length of things I sent from myldsmain is too short. anyway the point is SNOW IS DEEP
just another day in the life of a Swedish missionary
English class
Chilling at home with my guitar
oh here is the guitar from a week or so ago
here is a walk we do about every day to the church... to the right in a few hundred feet there is a huge Swedish church with a big clock tower which is cool to look at when we walk by.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
February 2nd, 2015
Well this week was great! It started off with splits on Tuesday with Elder Floyd from my group, it was fun to catch up on old times and it was also just really fun. While we were on splits we went into a secondhand store and I found an electric guitar for about 30 bucks with an action like butter, and a whammy bar! (it looks just like Veronica, Colan) so of course I bought it... its nice to have a quiet guitar in the apartment and I can take it apart and put it in my suitcase.
We also were able to visit with the kids from the Mong Family, they were really tight with Floyd when he was here, it was really fun to see how much of a difference missionaries can make it they try.
Before visiting with the Mongs we were able to teach a really great lesson to Tim on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, now we just have to explain authority better. Anyway that was Tuesday.
The rest of the week was pretty generic so I will spare you the details, but overall it was really good. I think one of the hardest things about the winter is the darkness but the next thing is probably the difficulty of being able to find creative workouts. We do have weights in our apartment that I have been using every day, and it's great, but I really miss being able to run every day.
There has to be like 5 feet of snow on the ground right now (ok so i'm exaggerating) but the weather goes through spouts of warmth which melts the snow and then freezes which makes it super hard to walk. So really I am quite grateful for the snow because it's easy to find traction. My companion Elder Pearson is from Saint George and so he is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the snow (granted I probably would be too if it was my third time seeing snow in my life).
Anyway things are just great here, I am loving Sweden and I know that I am going to miss it. I am obviously excited to come home though and it is speeding toward me like a... well an airplane haha.
Love,
Elder Peterson
We also were able to visit with the kids from the Mong Family, they were really tight with Floyd when he was here, it was really fun to see how much of a difference missionaries can make it they try.
Before visiting with the Mongs we were able to teach a really great lesson to Tim on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, now we just have to explain authority better. Anyway that was Tuesday.
The rest of the week was pretty generic so I will spare you the details, but overall it was really good. I think one of the hardest things about the winter is the darkness but the next thing is probably the difficulty of being able to find creative workouts. We do have weights in our apartment that I have been using every day, and it's great, but I really miss being able to run every day.
There has to be like 5 feet of snow on the ground right now (ok so i'm exaggerating) but the weather goes through spouts of warmth which melts the snow and then freezes which makes it super hard to walk. So really I am quite grateful for the snow because it's easy to find traction. My companion Elder Pearson is from Saint George and so he is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the snow (granted I probably would be too if it was my third time seeing snow in my life).
Anyway things are just great here, I am loving Sweden and I know that I am going to miss it. I am obviously excited to come home though and it is speeding toward me like a... well an airplane haha.
Love,
Elder Peterson
Friday, January 30, 2015
January 26th, 2015
Well this week was great!
Nothing crazy happened, but it was just nice to be able to meet with the same awesome people and as the title of this letter implies, we found a nice Hamburger restaurant ( I guess it's technically a pizza place) that was really good. We went there on Thursday and it was nice because it's been a while since we've been out to eat ( other than grocery store food).
Sorry this is kind of a boring letter.
Anyway I thought I would invite you all to read Romans 8:35-39 That has been the theme lesson of the week. I reminds me of the story of the footsteps in the sand.
Moral of the week,
Christ loves YOU, and is ALWAYS there for you.
I also love you all and I hope that this next week will be as awesome for you as it is for me.
Love,
Elder Peterson
Nothing crazy happened, but it was just nice to be able to meet with the same awesome people and as the title of this letter implies, we found a nice Hamburger restaurant ( I guess it's technically a pizza place) that was really good. We went there on Thursday and it was nice because it's been a while since we've been out to eat ( other than grocery store food).
Sorry this is kind of a boring letter.
Anyway I thought I would invite you all to read Romans 8:35-39 That has been the theme lesson of the week. I reminds me of the story of the footsteps in the sand.
Moral of the week,
Christ loves YOU, and is ALWAYS there for you.
I also love you all and I hope that this next week will be as awesome for you as it is for me.
Love,
Elder Peterson
Monday, January 19, 2015
January 19th, 2015 | Well, it's icy
So the weather decided to be fun and warmed up for about an hour creating rain and then... it all froze. Now there is about an inch of ice EVERYWHERE haha. I feel like it would be smarter to wear ice skates instead of shoes.
This week was good, on Thursday we got to go to Umeå for a Zone training which was really fun, mostly just being able to see everybody (it gets pretty secluded up here with such a small branch and just me and my companion.
We also got to go by Runo, we moved some refrigerators for him and his neighbors, and he cooked us microwave dinners and gave us juice and julmust.
This week for English class I made a scavenger hunt, with riddles and codes it was really fun. I think the best part was the very end when I was holding a flame to a piece of paper that I had written "you win" on in invisible ink (milk) but I was torching the wrong side... haha it all worked out in the end though.
anyway I love you all and hope that all is well.
Äldste Peterson
This was the activity for our Zone training... we split into two teams and built fires as fast as we could... my team won.
and here's the zone!!! all of Norland missionaries! #ararebreedofawesome
This week was good, on Thursday we got to go to Umeå for a Zone training which was really fun, mostly just being able to see everybody (it gets pretty secluded up here with such a small branch and just me and my companion.
We also got to go by Runo, we moved some refrigerators for him and his neighbors, and he cooked us microwave dinners and gave us juice and julmust.
This week for English class I made a scavenger hunt, with riddles and codes it was really fun. I think the best part was the very end when I was holding a flame to a piece of paper that I had written "you win" on in invisible ink (milk) but I was torching the wrong side... haha it all worked out in the end though.
anyway I love you all and hope that all is well.
Äldste Peterson
This was the activity for our Zone training... we split into two teams and built fires as fast as we could... my team won.
and here's the zone!!! all of Norland missionaries! #ararebreedofawesome
Monday, January 12, 2015
January 12th, 2015 | Well it's cold.
This week was good, it's great to have people more willing to meet, now that the holidays are over.
Today we found out that our car, which we took to the shop the day we got it, needs a new motor... so probably no car still which is not so fun considering our area is huge and it's -17 C out... surprisingly I'm fine with it though, I am sad because we are not able to get out to a lot of the people that we could otherwise but there is always a bright side. The bright side to this is that getting contacts will be much easier haha.
I really enjoyed teaching Sunday school yesterday and it was made even easier by the fact that there was only one person there besides my companion, Zulla, she is from Mongolia and spoke English which was nice. The lesson was on loving God more than any thing or anyone else.
Other than that we just do the normal missionary things, swing by's, contacting, lessons etc. etc. life goes on.
I feel bad that I have been so bad at sending pictures, so here are a few.
Love you all!
Elder Peterson
trudging through the forest on the way from a lesson with Tim, this super cool guy we have been meeting with since I got here
Örnsköldsvik one of the few times that it is light out haha
fun stuff
this was cool... it's the worlds oldest ski, after district meeting in Umeå we got to go to the museum
this was a super cool pathway but it was too dark to really see it.
Today we found out that our car, which we took to the shop the day we got it, needs a new motor... so probably no car still which is not so fun considering our area is huge and it's -17 C out... surprisingly I'm fine with it though, I am sad because we are not able to get out to a lot of the people that we could otherwise but there is always a bright side. The bright side to this is that getting contacts will be much easier haha.
I really enjoyed teaching Sunday school yesterday and it was made even easier by the fact that there was only one person there besides my companion, Zulla, she is from Mongolia and spoke English which was nice. The lesson was on loving God more than any thing or anyone else.
Other than that we just do the normal missionary things, swing by's, contacting, lessons etc. etc. life goes on.
I feel bad that I have been so bad at sending pictures, so here are a few.
Love you all!
Elder Peterson
trudging through the forest on the way from a lesson with Tim, this super cool guy we have been meeting with since I got here
Örnsköldsvik one of the few times that it is light out haha
fun stuff
this was cool... it's the worlds oldest ski, after district meeting in Umeå we got to go to the museum
this was a super cool pathway but it was too dark to really see it.
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