Dear Sons of Mosiah,
I'm glad to hear that you are getting shipped all over the world! It begins now! We are going to dot the earth! Hmmm...I almost sound maniacal...well, keep in mind that us dotting the earth is a GOOD THING. So, Carter to Taiwan, Tanner to Denmark, and me in Nebraska! This is great! Oh, and nobody be fooled, I am definitely in the most exotic place of the bunch.
Well, we still have many other Sons of Mosiah that we are waiting to see shipped out! I can't wait to get a globe and place a pin where our forces are. Of course, I can always put a large one in Utah. Just because you aren't on a full-time mission, doesnt mean you can't be a missionary. So many of you are in different phases in life, and even if a mission isn't part of that, you can still be servants of the Lord and bring people unto Christ. I know many of you are going to school, some of you are married, others of you are working, and some of you doing who knows what--but many of you are still doing a great work. Keep it up.
Other good news! I didn't want to say before, because I didn't want to jinx it, but ANDRE GOT BAPTIZED!!! It was great! Yet another soul entering the kingdom of God! I'm way happy for him. This man overcame smoking--which by the way, is harder for a lot of people than giving up nearly anything! I knew a lady in Omaha who had given up meth, but was still struggling to give up smoking. I've heard of many other similar stories. Even Andre had tried to quit before, but it wasn't until we came that he accomplished it. Now, trust me, Elder Hayes and I couldn't get anybody to stop smoking! What do we know about it? We aren't professionals, and we havent' had that problem. However, watching people quit who could never quit before we came, has been a huge testimony to me. The atonement of Christ, and the Spirit that travels with us, grants amazing power to those who need it. It gives them a strength that nothing else can. What a miracle!
Well, I love you my brethren. Have a great week! Talk to you later.
Love, Elder Christopher Petersen
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
A Mother's Day Message . . .
Dear Sons of Mosiah,
Well, I hope everybody enjoyed Mother's Day, and honored their mothers and grandmothers as they should. I think it's a wonderful holiday. The Lord has definitely made it clear that the calling of motherhood is a sacred calling, and one that carries so much responsiblity. We should be extremely grateful for them. I'm grateful for mine, though I feel the need to repent. I wasn't so great at showing it at home. I guess a public confession makes me feel a little better about it. I repent, then call to repentance. That's my job.
Still, isn't it a curious thing that the people you don't want to upset the most are mothers and wives? Lol. Men, if you upset your mother or wife, you might as well feel the wrath of hell. Call me crazy, but from my little bit of experience, it's true. Don't do it. Love them and care for them. Now, I've never had a wife, obviously. I can only imagine what it's like, and make comparisions to similarities in my life. Anyway, all I'm saying is, let's hold women up with high respect, never demeaning them, or doing anything to intentionally hurt them. It's no good. These are Daughters of God, and I don't know about you, but I don't like to make angry the mortal father of a girl--much less God. So let's give them the respect they deserve, okay? Sweet. And by the way, don't just give them the respect for fear. That's not the message I mean to convey. Give them respect because they deserve it. They really do.
Anyway, my life is going crazy at the moment! I couldn't tell you the adversity you feel as a missionary. It's an experience that has to be lived. Still, the work goes on in it's glory! God created a perfect gospel. Now if only more people would give up the things of the world, and accept it! However, I do have to say, it's no easy thing. Watching people change is so amazing, and sometimes I wonder if I could do it myself. There are days where I've asked myself whether or not I would have accepted the gospel, if I were on the other end of this. Would I really listen to these men? Luckily--or possibly even intentionally--I was placed in an LDS Family, and put into an environment where I could gain a testimony of my own. However, not everybody is that lucky. These people need us to reach out more than ever! If we've ever needed the Lord, it's now.
I love you all. Keep strong.
Love, Chris
Well, I hope everybody enjoyed Mother's Day, and honored their mothers and grandmothers as they should. I think it's a wonderful holiday. The Lord has definitely made it clear that the calling of motherhood is a sacred calling, and one that carries so much responsiblity. We should be extremely grateful for them. I'm grateful for mine, though I feel the need to repent. I wasn't so great at showing it at home. I guess a public confession makes me feel a little better about it. I repent, then call to repentance. That's my job.
Still, isn't it a curious thing that the people you don't want to upset the most are mothers and wives? Lol. Men, if you upset your mother or wife, you might as well feel the wrath of hell. Call me crazy, but from my little bit of experience, it's true. Don't do it. Love them and care for them. Now, I've never had a wife, obviously. I can only imagine what it's like, and make comparisions to similarities in my life. Anyway, all I'm saying is, let's hold women up with high respect, never demeaning them, or doing anything to intentionally hurt them. It's no good. These are Daughters of God, and I don't know about you, but I don't like to make angry the mortal father of a girl--much less God. So let's give them the respect they deserve, okay? Sweet. And by the way, don't just give them the respect for fear. That's not the message I mean to convey. Give them respect because they deserve it. They really do.
Anyway, my life is going crazy at the moment! I couldn't tell you the adversity you feel as a missionary. It's an experience that has to be lived. Still, the work goes on in it's glory! God created a perfect gospel. Now if only more people would give up the things of the world, and accept it! However, I do have to say, it's no easy thing. Watching people change is so amazing, and sometimes I wonder if I could do it myself. There are days where I've asked myself whether or not I would have accepted the gospel, if I were on the other end of this. Would I really listen to these men? Luckily--or possibly even intentionally--I was placed in an LDS Family, and put into an environment where I could gain a testimony of my own. However, not everybody is that lucky. These people need us to reach out more than ever! If we've ever needed the Lord, it's now.
I love you all. Keep strong.
Love, Chris
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Receiving comfort from the plan of salvation . . .
Dear Sons of Mosiah,
Hmmm...what to talk about this week? I've got good missionary news, but I think it will have to wait till next week. I want to tell you about it AFTER it happens, rather than before. Don't want to jinx the awesomeness.
Well, I got to go to a funeral yesterday. It was interesting. This woman wasn't a member, but she absolutely loves the missionaries! Her son is a member, and he's an interesting guy himself. He even served a mission. At the time, he thought he would have to sell his car to get money to serve a mission. Then his parents told him not to sell his car, and that they would pay for it. So even though they aren't members, they knew the work was good, and this was the kind of great people they were.
Sister Case died at 91? years old, I believe it was. She lived a long life, which is good. About a week and a half ago, my companion and I gave her a blessing, by request of her son. She was unconscoious at the time, and it was rather awkward, I must admit. She was hooked up to all sorts of things. She had tubes coming from seemingly everywhere. It was awkward because her son wasn't there at the moment, and she wasn't conscious but I guess was coming in and out of consciousness previously. I was afraid she would wake up in the middle of the blessing, and freak out or something. However, she didn't, and it was an interesting experience.
I annointed her head with the oil, and the feelings you have for people as a missionary, are very interesting. You just love people you've never even met. It's the strangest thing. However, what got to me, was somehow while participating in the blessing, I felt as though she was going to die. Hey, call it all the tubes if you would like, but somehow, though I didn't want to admit it, I felt as though she was going to pass away. Her time had come.
Well, a few days later, we got a call from Brother Case, and he told us that she was doing well. She was awake, and talking. We went to visit her, and while visiting, she said she was very happy we could make it. She repeated it over and over again. She was obviously quite weak, but her personality still came through a little bit. She also had her country music playing in the hospital room. She loves country. It was a good visit, though she was so quiet, she was hard to understand. It was an interesting experience.
Eventually we received the call from her son that she had passed away. They were expecting it. The doctor had told Brother Case that it was "the calm before the storm". Brother Case then requested us at the funeral, and wanted several missionaries to be the Pall Bearers. President Kunz of course, gladly authorized it. It was a strange experience, seeing as most people at the funeral weren't LDS, and neither was the sister that had passed away. I gave the opening prayer, and realized how little there seemed to be to say. However, the Plan of Salvation was a large comfort at this funeral, and was taught to all in attendance. It was a good experience, though I'm sure many of them did not know what to say about it. All I know is that Sister Case was a good woman, and the Lord is merciful in all things. He loves her more than anybody at that funeral does. She has done a lot of good in the world, and she will be justly rewarded for it.
My companion dedicated the grave, which was cool. I would have been way nervous, but he did it like a pro. It was a good dedication.
I guess the whole point of this is that I want each of you to ponder the Plan of Salvation. It gave me a good experience, and a good opportunity to ponder the Plan of Salvation just a bit. It's strange looking at death from the perspective of a nonmember. The world truly needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Love you all!
Love, Elder Chris Petersen
Hmmm...what to talk about this week? I've got good missionary news, but I think it will have to wait till next week. I want to tell you about it AFTER it happens, rather than before. Don't want to jinx the awesomeness.
Well, I got to go to a funeral yesterday. It was interesting. This woman wasn't a member, but she absolutely loves the missionaries! Her son is a member, and he's an interesting guy himself. He even served a mission. At the time, he thought he would have to sell his car to get money to serve a mission. Then his parents told him not to sell his car, and that they would pay for it. So even though they aren't members, they knew the work was good, and this was the kind of great people they were.
Sister Case died at 91? years old, I believe it was. She lived a long life, which is good. About a week and a half ago, my companion and I gave her a blessing, by request of her son. She was unconscoious at the time, and it was rather awkward, I must admit. She was hooked up to all sorts of things. She had tubes coming from seemingly everywhere. It was awkward because her son wasn't there at the moment, and she wasn't conscious but I guess was coming in and out of consciousness previously. I was afraid she would wake up in the middle of the blessing, and freak out or something. However, she didn't, and it was an interesting experience.
I annointed her head with the oil, and the feelings you have for people as a missionary, are very interesting. You just love people you've never even met. It's the strangest thing. However, what got to me, was somehow while participating in the blessing, I felt as though she was going to die. Hey, call it all the tubes if you would like, but somehow, though I didn't want to admit it, I felt as though she was going to pass away. Her time had come.
Well, a few days later, we got a call from Brother Case, and he told us that she was doing well. She was awake, and talking. We went to visit her, and while visiting, she said she was very happy we could make it. She repeated it over and over again. She was obviously quite weak, but her personality still came through a little bit. She also had her country music playing in the hospital room. She loves country. It was a good visit, though she was so quiet, she was hard to understand. It was an interesting experience.
Eventually we received the call from her son that she had passed away. They were expecting it. The doctor had told Brother Case that it was "the calm before the storm". Brother Case then requested us at the funeral, and wanted several missionaries to be the Pall Bearers. President Kunz of course, gladly authorized it. It was a strange experience, seeing as most people at the funeral weren't LDS, and neither was the sister that had passed away. I gave the opening prayer, and realized how little there seemed to be to say. However, the Plan of Salvation was a large comfort at this funeral, and was taught to all in attendance. It was a good experience, though I'm sure many of them did not know what to say about it. All I know is that Sister Case was a good woman, and the Lord is merciful in all things. He loves her more than anybody at that funeral does. She has done a lot of good in the world, and she will be justly rewarded for it.
My companion dedicated the grave, which was cool. I would have been way nervous, but he did it like a pro. It was a good dedication.
I guess the whole point of this is that I want each of you to ponder the Plan of Salvation. It gave me a good experience, and a good opportunity to ponder the Plan of Salvation just a bit. It's strange looking at death from the perspective of a nonmember. The world truly needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Love you all!
Love, Elder Chris Petersen
Monday, April 26, 2010
Prayers Are Answered!!
Dearest Sons of Mosiah (and daughters),
God answers prayers. Now, it might sound like I have a lot of faith, but that's not it. I do have hopefully an alright amount of faith, but that has absolutely nothing to do with my statement. He just does. When it's factual, it doesn't actually require faith. So I just want to show you some facts here...
Well, I got emergency transferred to the Trendwood Ward. It wasn't my fault, but for those of you who know what that is, you are correct. An emergency transfer takes place when some missionary somewhere does something stupid. Now, fortunately, and perhaps shockingly to all of you, I wasn't the stupid one this time. So I didn't do anything wrong. However, somebody did, and when somebody leaves an area, they obviously have to be replaced. That's where I come in. So, I replaced they guy who had to be emergency transferred, which means that now I'm serving with another Elder, in another ward, mid-transfer. Pretty cool, eh?
Trendwood is still in Lincoln Nebraska, for those of you that might be curious.
Now you might be asking yourself, "so how does this prove God answers prayers?" Check this out. So my one of my old companions is actually rather scary. He and Elder DeVoe like to prank a lot of people, and that included me. Sometimes I got hurt from them. As you can guess, I prayed my heart out to get rid of one of them in particular. Elder Springer is intense, in a bad way. In fact, the guy hates me, and will do about anything to get under my skin. Now I don't say this to destroy his name. or destroy your trust in missionaries, but remember, missionaries are people too. I'm just stating facts. He once threw a chair at me, as one example. It dented the wall, and chipped off the front of my desk. So, as you can imagine, not the best situation.(ATTENTION!!!!!) IN FACT, HE MAY EVEN ATTEMPT TO WRITE PEOPLE THAT I WRITE BACK HOME! THAT'S A HEADS UP FOR ALL OF YOU! Who knows what he will do? Keep an eye open. If you get any letters that seem fishy that are from Nebraska, or "from me", think twice before trusting them. Letters that are really from me should hopefully be painfully obvious that it's the real deal. Uhh...a lot to explain...just a bad situation...
Well, my parents knew about this, so I guess my Mom also put my name into the Temple. Things were getting rough, and I wasn't sure how things were going to work out well. I had been praying for help for quite some time, asking the Lord to give me strength to get through the situation, and to hopefully help me change it. I hadn't yet told President about it, but I was planning to. Well, one day we just randomly received a call from President, and there was an emergency transfer taking place due to problems elsewhere. My current companion needed a new companion in Trendwood, and President called me to fill this position. Now, that's cool, but here's another part that gets me. My other companion in Holmes Lake, Elder DeVoe, isn't really that bad of a guy. He just liked to prank as well. Still, we got along most of the time. He has had a hard time develping his testimony, and doing missionary work. That's why he was in a tripanionship. I guess he prayed as well, asking God to reveal his existance to him. When I got transferred, it suddenly went down to only him and Elder Springer. Teaching with three is always difficult. Suddenly, when it went down to two (which he hasn't been in a normal companionship for a long time), he found that he had to teach. And he did just fine. Way cool! That was his answer. Awesome, huh?
So a lot of things took place. I know this may seem like a sad/scary email, or whatever, but really it says a lot about the power of prayer. I'm sure more of you out there have been praying for me, and also others for other missionaries. Those prayers are being answered. It's not always how we would like, or how we expect--but they are heard and answered.
Thanks for your prayers.
Love, Elder Christopher Petersen
God answers prayers. Now, it might sound like I have a lot of faith, but that's not it. I do have hopefully an alright amount of faith, but that has absolutely nothing to do with my statement. He just does. When it's factual, it doesn't actually require faith. So I just want to show you some facts here...
Well, I got emergency transferred to the Trendwood Ward. It wasn't my fault, but for those of you who know what that is, you are correct. An emergency transfer takes place when some missionary somewhere does something stupid. Now, fortunately, and perhaps shockingly to all of you, I wasn't the stupid one this time. So I didn't do anything wrong. However, somebody did, and when somebody leaves an area, they obviously have to be replaced. That's where I come in. So, I replaced they guy who had to be emergency transferred, which means that now I'm serving with another Elder, in another ward, mid-transfer. Pretty cool, eh?
Trendwood is still in Lincoln Nebraska, for those of you that might be curious.
Now you might be asking yourself, "so how does this prove God answers prayers?" Check this out. So my one of my old companions is actually rather scary. He and Elder DeVoe like to prank a lot of people, and that included me. Sometimes I got hurt from them. As you can guess, I prayed my heart out to get rid of one of them in particular. Elder Springer is intense, in a bad way. In fact, the guy hates me, and will do about anything to get under my skin. Now I don't say this to destroy his name. or destroy your trust in missionaries, but remember, missionaries are people too. I'm just stating facts. He once threw a chair at me, as one example. It dented the wall, and chipped off the front of my desk. So, as you can imagine, not the best situation.(ATTENTION!!!!!) IN FACT, HE MAY EVEN ATTEMPT TO WRITE PEOPLE THAT I WRITE BACK HOME! THAT'S A HEADS UP FOR ALL OF YOU! Who knows what he will do? Keep an eye open. If you get any letters that seem fishy that are from Nebraska, or "from me", think twice before trusting them. Letters that are really from me should hopefully be painfully obvious that it's the real deal. Uhh...a lot to explain...just a bad situation...
Well, my parents knew about this, so I guess my Mom also put my name into the Temple. Things were getting rough, and I wasn't sure how things were going to work out well. I had been praying for help for quite some time, asking the Lord to give me strength to get through the situation, and to hopefully help me change it. I hadn't yet told President about it, but I was planning to. Well, one day we just randomly received a call from President, and there was an emergency transfer taking place due to problems elsewhere. My current companion needed a new companion in Trendwood, and President called me to fill this position. Now, that's cool, but here's another part that gets me. My other companion in Holmes Lake, Elder DeVoe, isn't really that bad of a guy. He just liked to prank as well. Still, we got along most of the time. He has had a hard time develping his testimony, and doing missionary work. That's why he was in a tripanionship. I guess he prayed as well, asking God to reveal his existance to him. When I got transferred, it suddenly went down to only him and Elder Springer. Teaching with three is always difficult. Suddenly, when it went down to two (which he hasn't been in a normal companionship for a long time), he found that he had to teach. And he did just fine. Way cool! That was his answer. Awesome, huh?
So a lot of things took place. I know this may seem like a sad/scary email, or whatever, but really it says a lot about the power of prayer. I'm sure more of you out there have been praying for me, and also others for other missionaries. Those prayers are being answered. It's not always how we would like, or how we expect--but they are heard and answered.
Thanks for your prayers.
Love, Elder Christopher Petersen
Monday, April 19, 2010
Pause, Ponder and Pray!!
Dear Sons of Mosiah,
I hope you thought about it before continuing on. If you did not, don't you dare get around to reading this for a little bit. Pause, ponder, and pray. Think, and do. It's funny how valuable things are that are constantly at hand. These are tools the Lord has given us to use, and abilities that we always have. Yet, for some reason, few take part in these things frequently. The world is so busy, and we are always going. How many of us honestly just lay down for a moment and just pause from life to think--or get down on your knees to simply talk with your Father in Heaven? How many of us are constantly seeking for knowledge from Him? Do we really believe that if we ask, we shall receive, and if we knock, is shall be opened unto us? Or who here believes the simple words of James, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and ubraideth not: and it shall be given him."? Forgive me if any of the punctuation is off. I do not have my scriptures with me at the Library today, so I just kind of did it from memory. Let's highlight some things.
In plain english, James said: "If any of you lack wisdom, ask God, that gives answers to all men freely, and he will not judge you for asking; he will give you what you ask for." Now, I realize it doesn't sound as poetic that way, and I prefer in in scripture myself. Still, when you brake it down, he is basically saying that. Of course, you must ask for things that are righteous, and also, we can't forget the beginning of verse six, "But let him ask in faith". Well, my point is, we should utilize the promises given to us by servants of the Lord.
Now, about what I said...Christ supped with sinners. I'm not going to ruin it for you. Study it out. Think about it. However, one word of precaution for safety sake. That does not mean to ever place yourself into bad situations, or surround yourself with people doing bad things. Christ didn't do stupid things. Keep that in mind before you attempt to act on my short message. So be careful. Do not go and decide to date someone who is rebellious hoping you can change them, hang out with a bunch of people doing drugs, or go to a party under 'Christ supped with sinners' as your justification. Don't do that, but DO figure out what I mean. If you have any questions, write me about it. I love letters. Love you all!
Love, Elder Christopher Petersen
I hope you thought about it before continuing on. If you did not, don't you dare get around to reading this for a little bit. Pause, ponder, and pray. Think, and do. It's funny how valuable things are that are constantly at hand. These are tools the Lord has given us to use, and abilities that we always have. Yet, for some reason, few take part in these things frequently. The world is so busy, and we are always going. How many of us honestly just lay down for a moment and just pause from life to think--or get down on your knees to simply talk with your Father in Heaven? How many of us are constantly seeking for knowledge from Him? Do we really believe that if we ask, we shall receive, and if we knock, is shall be opened unto us? Or who here believes the simple words of James, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and ubraideth not: and it shall be given him."? Forgive me if any of the punctuation is off. I do not have my scriptures with me at the Library today, so I just kind of did it from memory. Let's highlight some things.
In plain english, James said: "If any of you lack wisdom, ask God, that gives answers to all men freely, and he will not judge you for asking; he will give you what you ask for." Now, I realize it doesn't sound as poetic that way, and I prefer in in scripture myself. Still, when you brake it down, he is basically saying that. Of course, you must ask for things that are righteous, and also, we can't forget the beginning of verse six, "But let him ask in faith". Well, my point is, we should utilize the promises given to us by servants of the Lord.
Now, about what I said...Christ supped with sinners. I'm not going to ruin it for you. Study it out. Think about it. However, one word of precaution for safety sake. That does not mean to ever place yourself into bad situations, or surround yourself with people doing bad things. Christ didn't do stupid things. Keep that in mind before you attempt to act on my short message. So be careful. Do not go and decide to date someone who is rebellious hoping you can change them, hang out with a bunch of people doing drugs, or go to a party under 'Christ supped with sinners' as your justification. Don't do that, but DO figure out what I mean. If you have any questions, write me about it. I love letters. Love you all!
Love, Elder Christopher Petersen
A Difficult Week with Illness, but We're Still Blessed!!
Dear Sons of Mosiah,
Not much to write this week, honestly. I spent much of it in bed, unfortunately. I hate to admit it, but I've been sicker than a dog for about a week. Yeah, they are going to take care of it. By they, I mean, the mission mom is on top of it, I think. We have to call her whenever we are sick, and describe our symptoms. Unfortunately, she had no idea what I have, but whatever it is, one of my companions may or may not have the same thing, just not as bad. She called a doctor, and he didn't know what it was either. He called me the next day, and discussed it with me. Yeah, it's being handled. It could be a couple of things. He said it was possible that I have an infection somewhere, and that my body just has to fight it. It's no good. It could be other things, but that was one rough possiblity. So instead of sending me to a doctor, they told me to just wait it out, and they will check up on me every once in a while.
Still, the Lord blessed us despite the sickness. We somehow managed to still teach quite a bit for the small amount of time we actually got to work. We also got to give an older lady a blessing, and take the sacrament to a man yesterday. Somehow we managed to teach a lot of great people who seem to be coming along. It's always good news.
Anyway, I don't have much to say. I love you all!
Love, Elder Christopher D. Petersen
P.S. Thanks to those of you who have written me recently! I will respond to all of you, and want to hear from all of you! I will write back as fast as possible, but I'm a little behind, so a letter is coming!
Not much to write this week, honestly. I spent much of it in bed, unfortunately. I hate to admit it, but I've been sicker than a dog for about a week. Yeah, they are going to take care of it. By they, I mean, the mission mom is on top of it, I think. We have to call her whenever we are sick, and describe our symptoms. Unfortunately, she had no idea what I have, but whatever it is, one of my companions may or may not have the same thing, just not as bad. She called a doctor, and he didn't know what it was either. He called me the next day, and discussed it with me. Yeah, it's being handled. It could be a couple of things. He said it was possible that I have an infection somewhere, and that my body just has to fight it. It's no good. It could be other things, but that was one rough possiblity. So instead of sending me to a doctor, they told me to just wait it out, and they will check up on me every once in a while.
Still, the Lord blessed us despite the sickness. We somehow managed to still teach quite a bit for the small amount of time we actually got to work. We also got to give an older lady a blessing, and take the sacrament to a man yesterday. Somehow we managed to teach a lot of great people who seem to be coming along. It's always good news.
Anyway, I don't have much to say. I love you all!
Love, Elder Christopher D. Petersen
P.S. Thanks to those of you who have written me recently! I will respond to all of you, and want to hear from all of you! I will write back as fast as possible, but I'm a little behind, so a letter is coming!
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