Semana Dos en el Campo (Week Two in Country) Aug 11, 2014

So..........I´m exhausted in every way possible. The Lord in his infinite mercy has blessed me with just enough strength to get through each day. But I still am doing wonderful, frustrated and confused at points, but I´m not letting it keep me down. 

One of the wonderful things about this place is that it´s not hard to get people to talk to you. The major problem is that they´ll listen and then not want to do anything. I´m starting to be able to understand people better and am slowly getting starting to be able to talk better, but I´ve still got a long way to go, but that´s just how it works, the gift of tongues is real. But like all gifts it only comes to those who are willing to work to get it. 

Apparently number wise me and Elder Saldaña are doing amazing, 19 baptismal dates, and stuff like that, unfortunately not a single person came to church and most of those baptismal dates have since chosen not to follow through... yep it´s sad but I can´t take away their agency. 

This Saturday I had a wonderful experience, the day had been rather disappointing, all our 5 appointments including the one with our most promising investigator had fallen through. We did manage to have a few discussions with others but they didn´t really seem to go very well. It was 8:40 at night and we didn´t know what to do but go looking for people, yep tracting, that thing that the MTC said was a thing of the past, well i´m not so sure if that´s true, so far all work with members has proven fairly fruitless. 

Anyways my companion asked me where I wanted to go. I had know idea and he seemed really discouraged. I´d heard lots of stories about missionaries saying prayers and then being lead to houses of investigators so I decided, why not, I´m a missionary, I´m trying to be obedient, although I haven´t been perfect I´ve tried to plan and none of the plans have worked, I believe the Lord will guide me if there´s somewhere he needs me to go. So I said a really short prayer, and it was as if in my head my vision zoomed down the street about 4 or five houses turned right to face a cement house with lights on. I opened my eyes and wasn´t sure if it was my imagination or not, but I decided why not, it won´t hurt to try. 

So we walked down the street, and there was a house that looked very similar to the one I thought I had seen in my mind, I clapped at the gate (in Argentina you don´t knock on doors), and out came an old man, in broken Spanish I tried the classic horrendously awful door approach (because that´s all i know how to do in Spanish) and he wasn´t very interested, my companion asked if he knew someone that would be interested, someone who had possibly had a relative pass away and could use some comfort. At that point the man told us that his wife had died just three months ago. Because of this we were able to share with him a brief message about the plan of salvation and we gave him a pamphlet, we had to leave because it was late, and he didn´t have time. 

But we returned Sunday night and he had read the whole thing and was very excited about it, once again he didn´t have time and it was late so we gave him a pamphlet on the Restoration. I truly hope that he continues to be interested, he seems to be the most interested person of all the people I´ve met so far. But he has his agency and will choose his own path. But I do know of a surety that we were led to that house and that my companion was inspired as he told me later as to what question to ask.

I love you ALL

Elder Peterson

I'm in the Field (Aug 4, 2014)

So a lot has happened since I last sent an email.

I am now in a country where everyone speaks an alien language which is not the same language that I was taught in the MTC. haha I´m suffering from the interesting phenomenon of being able to speak much more than I am able to understand. I can answer all sorts of questions and tell stories and stuff in spanish, but since I have no idea what other people are saying to me.... well I tend to spend a lot of time confused and silent because as soon as a person learns that I can't understand Spanish they only want to talk to my companion and they ignore me, and make fun of me because they think I won´t understand, interestingly enough the only thing I can understand is when they are talking about me. But I truly do like it here. The food is actually really good, and the people are very friendly for the most part.

So the Sunday before I left I sang a musical number with my district, it was a compilation of Nearer My God to Thee (English) and Lead Kindly Light (Spanish) we had an amazing piano player in our zone who through together an arrangement in two minutes. Apparently he has been studying piano performance in college.

So I left early in the morning for the Airport and after long flights and layovers I made it to Posadas. My mission President is so awesome and so is my companion Elder Saldaña. 

Currently I am living in a hole in the wall. It´s small but not too bad, but it´s very rundown. The walls are covered with mold. And anything that is clean in the apartment is clean because I cleaned it (mom and dad be proud). When we first moved in there was dirt and mold covering the floor, the table was black(when I cleaned it turned white) and the kitchen was stuffed full of moldy food and dishes. We don't have a lot of time to clean but little by little we're making it hospitable. I just try to pretend I'm in another place while showering and that there are not more spiders in there than there are sand in the sea. 

Apparently it´s a really bad pension even for Posadas, so the Assistants to the Presidents are trying to get us a new one.

So Important stuff, we've had some success. We've got several investigators a few even with baptismal dates that we've found just this week we had two investigators at church this week!. And we've had reasonable success with encouraging less active members to attend church. 

Goof Reel:

My companion decided to tell a less active member that I was an amazing singer and that if they wanted I would sing a solo. I couldn't really understand what was going on..... so yep I sang a solo ¨Divina Luz¨ (Lead Kindly Light) It actually wasn't to bad, and since singing isn´t really something anyone here seems to be good at, they seemed to think that I was pretty good.

Love you all!

Elder Jonathan Peterson

Hola, Mama (July 30, 2014

So they told me to write you an email telling you that I made it and that I am alive, so I´m alive! And i´m doing great, I´m just about to find out who my companion is and head out to my area! I met my mission president and everything is absolutely wonderful. And that´s all they´re giving me time for ahora. I love you!

Elder Peterson

Pictures! (July 26, 2014)

So I've heard of things being held together by duct tape,.... but our vacuum is literally held together with this mechanical pencil!

I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation, one of the Missionaries in our district found out through email that his grandmother passed away. Finding out in that way was really hard for him, but he immediately realized that she was once again reunited with her husband in a place of rest. We doorbell ditched this missionaries apartment with these stickie notes, treats, and a letter for him.

Ok... I am a little ashamed of myself for taking a selfie but oh well. Far left is Elder Winston, Elder Graves (companion), Elder Nielson is hiding next to him, Elder Wendt (otro companion), and then some unknown super handsome man on the far right.

Zone Picture at the temple before the two senior Districts depart to Argentina!

District Picture, Left to Right, Elder Wendt, Elder Winston, Elder Nielson, Hermana Finlinson, Hermana Hanson, ME, Elder Graves

​

Time to Go, July 26, 2014

This time next week I will have been in Argentina for almost a week! I'm really really excited to leave! This last week has been just phenomenal in so many ways that are so hard to describe. The Lord truly does promise blessings beyond that which we can receive when we do what he says. 

Here's an interesting thought on obedience. A lot of people say " It's ok if I break this little rule, I'm not going to go to hell for doing this." Ok they are probably right about that, but the Lord has promised that when you do what he says he will protect and bless you, and when you do not what he says you have no promise. Any time when you decide to justify your way through a little bit of wrong because it's not "that bad" you are giving up that promise. If you choose to follow through with your action it is possible that God will help you, but you are sort of leaving it up to chance. If however you are exactly obedient then you have a 100% chance of having the Lord's help. So no it won't curse you forever, but why would you forfeit such help and blessings for something that I can promise you will bring you no lasting peace or happiness? If it is against the teachings of the prophets then it is because it is not good for you. No amount of logic or reasoning of men can change that. If you don't see the reason for a rule try this, live it. The Lord will tell you after you show your faith. I know this to be true.

Another thought that has been really important to me this last week is on following the Spirit. So many people wonder, "How can I now if I am following the Spirit's Promptings or my own thoughts?" In the words of Elder Bednar, "Stop worrying about it." Elder Bednar goes on to say that as long as we are being "good boys or good girls" it does not matter if it is the Spirit or your own thought. If what you are doing is in line with what the Prophets and scriptures have said then it is ok. Often times you will be unable to notice the way in which the spirit works in you, that's why it is called the still small voice, only afterwards will you realize that God had a hand in it. In addition, as you grow closer to God and Jesus Christ, your thoughts will come more in line with theirs. And their will be no need for the spirit to prompt you to do something because you will already be doing it. So really just be a "good boy or good girl" like Elder Bednar said, look for opportunities to do good and don't worry about the rest. If the Lord needs you to do something different then what you are doing, you will know. 

It's been a real blessing to be in the MTC these last few weeks, I've had so many wonderful spiritual experiences, prayers have been answered time and time again. I hope to hear from you, I love you all. Probably the best way to get a hold of me if you wish will be through DearElder.com I don't know how it works but my companions family has used it to write to me, so I'm guessing it's not to hard.

Elder Peterson

Semana Next (Cinco)

So I may have sent some of you the wrong zip code on my address, so.... yeah. If you write a letter you may want to check that out. I GOT MY TRAVEL PLANS!!! Not this monday but next I will be leaving on a plane to fly to Atlanta, I'll have a 4 hour layover and then an 11 hour flight down to Buenos Aires and then a 13 hour drive up to Posadas. I am so sososososososo excited! Anyways on to more important things. 

This week we had two amazing devotionals. One of them was on taking the name of Christ upon us and what it means. The speaker also talked about what it means to take the Lords name in vain. Anytime you use the Lord's name with frivolity or thoughtlessness or out of anger, you are taking the Lord's name in vain. Although he did not outright declare this, he suggested that one of the most common times that the Lord's name is used thoughtlessly is when a prayer is closed in a slur of inthenameofjesuschristamen. He suggested that out of everything that you say in the prayer, possibly the MOST important part is closing in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The other devotional was on charity. The speaker broke down a scripture. The message of that scripture was, You can speak with all the power that words can carry, but if you lack Charity for those you are teaching, you are annoying and give people headaches. Now if you're wondering where this came from look for the scripture that talks about charity and sounding brass. I won't tell you where it is because if you actually look for it and find it you'll be more likely to remember it than if I just tell you. But in the devotional the speaker asked if there were missionaries that played brass. The speaker asked the brass player questions and in the words of a brass player, a brass instrument by itself is just annoying and gives people headaches which is what happens if you do not have charity.

So about my investigator, she opened up to us more and asked a lot of questions and we had some wonderful lessons, all in spanish. My companions and I really grew to love her, but unfortunately we won't be allowed to teach her anymore, yesterday was our last lesson with her, but I know that the next missionaries will do a wonderful job. She did finally commit to pray about the truth of the things that we were teaching, and we promised her that if she did with faith and then if she sincerely looked for God's answer that she would receive an answer and the Holy Ghost would confirm it.

THE GOOF REEL

Me: So apparently I struggle with "antes de" which means before and "despues de" which means after. While speaking of the Atonement in a lesson where our teacher was pretending to be an investigator I messed it up and my companion said "you mean despues right" and I said "Ohh yeah" and so I tried to say it again and made the same mistake and then I made the same mistake again, and then I finally got it right. I was just speaking spanish and not thinking clearly about each individual word.

Elder Wendt: In one of our lessons with our teacher pretending to be an investigator Elder Wendt said the prayer at the close and he asked for Raul to be blessed and Raul's family and lot's of stuff about Raul. The prayer was amazing and very sincere, the only problem was that we were teaching Juan not Raul... Raul is a different investigator that we had.

Elder Graves: So in one of our lessons we committed one of investigators to baptism, not a real investigator it was a teacher pretending to be a man named Pablo. We had been teaching "Pablo" for a few weeks now and he finally decided he wanted to be baptized. Elder Wendt and I were so excited and were telling him how great his decision was and Elder Graves said "Mucho Gusto" he thought it meant I'm so excited but it actually means pleased to meet you. So in English it went something like this...

Elder Wendt:........lesson stuff.......Will you be baptized?

Pablo: (very long answer that ended with) Yes!

Me: That's so great Pablo

Elder Wendt: We're so happy for you!

Elder Graves: Pleased to meet you!

Pablor, Elder Wendt, and Me:...................................

Elder Graves: What?

It ended up being a fantastic lesson but it was really funny.

I love being on a mission so much and I'm so excited that before long I will be on the plane to Argentina,

I love you all!

Elder Peterson

Semana Cuatro (July 12, 2014)

So there's been quite a few adventures this week. I play soccer with some of the other Elders and got a huge bruise when me and another Elder both went for the ball. I was shooting and he tried to block me and we ended up kicking shin on shin about as hard as we could. It would have been worth it if I had actually made the shot but I shot over the goal by inches. And then I sliced my hand open when I climbed the fence to retrieve a ball that had been kicked over. It's healing nicely though.

We've started teaching an investigator that doesn't know English at all really. And it is amazing how blessed my tripanionship has been with the Gift of Tongues. Are Spanish has progressed beyond what could be conceivably be considered reasonable for the amount of time we have been studying in the MTC. Now we still have terrible grammar, but we do have the ability to teach the lessons. It's been amazing to see the changes that E our Investigator has gone through in just this short amount of time. The spirit was so strong in our last lesson where she prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. But then it was sort of frustrating that she either didn't feel the spirit, or that she wouldn't admit it. But the simple fact that she prayed was a miracle, in our first lesson she told us that the only reason she was meeting with us was that so she could make sure she didn't lose her ability to speak Spanish while she was her in the United States.

This last Tuesday Elder Neil L Anderson, came and spoke to us about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was amazing. I just love being in the MTC and being taught by the apostles of the church. So far we've had a devotional by one or more of the quorum of the 12 almost every week! One of the things Elder Anderson emphasized was that spiritual learning is not a matter of a charismatic speaker it is a matter of the spirit. Often times the spirit is thought of as a feeling that comes when we want it to, The spirit is a real being, without a body, but a real being nonetheless, and it will only come when the circumstances are correct for it to. You cannot force the spirit to come.

I'm so excited that I'll be leaving for Argentina in just 16 days!

I love you all

Elder Jonathan Peterson

​