A Missionary's Work: Patience and Love

9/11/2017

Hey ya'll Its funner and hotter in the Philippines! We're loving it up, every minute of it. I'm just trying to more fully enjoy the mission, the people, culture, and the time. Its great! I can already think about the how fast it all goes, as far as I know one day I'm here in the Philippines the next, I'll be an old, hard nosed, wrestling coach like coach D (just joking... he's crazy too,hahaha! ;) ). But really I can't believe i'm 19 and serving tons of people in the Philippines. 

 

Anyway this week was awesome we had a combined baptism in the next area over, Rizal, its a bayan (like between a small city and a town). That was the highlight, to really see these people take their first step towards God is amazing, We are blessed to see absolute U-turns in peoples lives, like them. I love and am sooo up-lifted when I get to that. 

 

The part I'd love to share with you guys today is about Patience with love. This week wasn't like an unusual crazy hard on my patience, but I found that I was a little annoyed or not happy from something that was said or just not feeling it. And not to my companions fault but the wrong feelings from other situations made me feel not so great. I had suddenly thought about life as a race (a long long one, maybe like a marathon) that there are times we fall down from trials and hardships (like tripping or falling from fatigue in the race) and then sometimes we just take off sprinting not thinking about the distance. Of course you get tired really fast and probably won't make it if we continue like that. So that where patience comes in or "pacing yourself" in the race. When we're patient that's when we're also humble enough to continue to learn and grow. WE need to endure in patience but out of love really. If we have patience but not with love it will almost always just be a bomb waiting to blow, building till one can't take it any more. But if it's out of love you can let things go if you need to. I think of Christ. He patiently suffered his atonement in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross and through it all he loved them. His last words were "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" he could've said anything but ask forgiveness for those who hurt him. So try this week to live like the Savior and be patient with love. 

love ya all 

Elder Peterson 

remember stay Pogi, smile on, and laugh a little!

A Missionary's Work: A Long Hard Walk

9/18/17

Hey guys! hows it goin' out there? Its great here with water everywhere because its rainy season, yay! It's fun to go running in the rain going home for the day, though its not fun having soaking socks all the time. So that's why We Scouts are always prepared (haha), so I have an extra pair with me always ha. 

This week was fun and get to walk a ton and we are always laughing because my companion is a talkative guy,ha! He's actually really cool and a great guy (fyi- "a great guy" in guy talk means a lot, ha). Well I don't have a ton of time so I'll share something I've been learning. This week I have listened to this great song called, "The loneliest walk" by David Osmond (I think its Osmond anyway). So I highly recommend it! It's about how there are tons of hard things in this life and lots of them are unexpected or really heavy stuff. Which is true, life is just hard sometimes, like with family deaths, sicknesses, school (ha), just a lot of things as such. But the best part of the song is about this one person we all know who has walked those paths before and felt all our pains, hardships,and sufferings. So Because of his lonely walk to feel what every man and woman has felt, he can now stand with us and support us with his compassionate arms when things get to hard and rough for us. That's one of the biggest reasons of Jesus's Atonement so that he could feel and understand us better so that he would be willing to give mercy to us if we follow him. He loves us and is there for us. He's the one in the whole world who actually understands how we feel and cares for us. So that means we are never really alone. Well the song's better ha.

love ya'll !!!

Here's the song: https://soundcloud.com/davidosmond/4-loneliest-walk-1

A Missionary's Work: The Currant Bush

9/4/2017

Hey guys! this weeks been a great one! We had a branch Family Home Evening (FHE) which is pretty much every one here in the church came together and we shared a spiritual thought then had tons of super fun Filipino games then some food. Ya it was a blast! 

I still haven't coaxed the lil' monkey here to sit on my shoulder (I  probably just need some more candy, ha). But today Elder Anazario and I decided to stop being shy about talking to people so in the Jeepney (there is no comparison in America, except like a really long jeep as public transportation. holds like 20 plus people) we loudly talked over the road noises to them all. It was great! Whats better then facing your fears dead on?! (of course pumpkin pie!). 

So This week I read this article from our stake letter about a talk by Elder Brown. I highly highly recommend reading it! He shares an experience of pruning down a current fruit bush who had over grown and was yielding no fruit. He saw a small drop on the stump and thought of it saying to him, "why did you cut me down? I was making such growth and now I will be looked down upon." He, the gardener, then said, "I'm the gardener here and I know what I want you to be. Later you will look back and thank me." Years later he was about to be general in the military but was denied because he was Mormon. He then went to his tent and angrily shook his fist at heaven and murmured to God about after everything he has done to measure up to his commandments, that even that wasn't earned. Then he heard his own voice say, "I'm the gardener here and I know what I want you to be." He then prayed and ask forgiveness and now looks back and says thank you to God for loving him enough to cut him down. Now for me I look back at past failures all the time and analyze what I did wrong. You all know I love wrestling too. When I started wrestling in 6th grade my goal was to win state. As my senior year finished in my thoughts failed and reviewed in my head all my mistakes and what I should've done. After reading this talk I thought about all that would be different like what college, serving a mission, or maybe my future in college (like future Mrs. Peterson ;) ). All I know is maybe like the talk said He's the Gardener here and knows what he wants us to be. And like the current bush it's not necessarily like we want. I know He has a plan for us even when we don't yet or ever see it. 
Love You all!

Here's a link to a short 3 minute video about the story The Currant Bush: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8xvw0cgw0

A Missionary's Work: A lost hope, but a new found love

8/21/2017

HEy everybody it's your Elder Peterson again! We're just working hard and sweating it out in the bukid,ha! 

So this past week we had transfer announcements and as surprised as I was I am now a trainer. Which means I get to help a super new missionary adjust into the field. So he's the new greenie and he's pretty darn awesome! And so Elder Anazario and I are in Paco Roman (yup I'm still there). So by the time I'm done training him I'm be close to 8 months in this area and that's really long for 1 area. But I love my trainee hes cool and from Bacolod city (The city of smiles daw), and actually is friends with my last companion before they both came into the mission. 

Also this week was cool we were just working one day, going to visit one of our investigators, and the community was making some bamboo fences. So we immediately put our bags down and went to work. They were glad for our help because there were only a few of them and they were sort of older. it went blazing fast with the 4 extra hands. I absolutely love those times that we can just put down our bags and serve in anything. Its nice to go home with some dirt on your pants, a smile on our face, and love in your heart.  

Anyway this week we visited a member who has had a hard life and not to go super deep but he is now half paralyzed, has a young kid, is separated from his wife, and has no work or support, and mostly never any food, he's 60 plus years old. We taught him and I felt his hopelessness and my heart just cried on the inside. Sort of like lifting a huge rock above your head for a long time then feeling like there's no one to help you, start to give up in fatigue. Now why would we give up! I know life is hard and there will always be trials. I think we sometimes give up because we either don't know or don't see. That guy that's been holding the rock for a long time and feels like giving up never saw the amount of help right behind him. He never turned to them for help. So he gives up, exhausted from something that others and  especially a certain one would want to help us with. We have never been out of reach of God's hands, but its really hard to get back up and going if we don't extend the effort to grab his hands and continue. As people we are weak, but in God all things are possible. When we talked with him the other day, we told him God loves him and so do we and gave him a hug. like all of us, he's a child of God and God wants us to turn to him and become more. I know he's there for us, he was there went dad died, he was there when I chose to serve two years in the Philippines, he was there when I was nervous out of my mind, and he is still here. I love you all and know these things are true, God really does love us. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

P.S.- We ate some goat intestine soup we call it poop soup, ya that's the one thing here, if given, its a mental challenge,haha

 

 

A Missionary's Work: Charity Never Faileth

8/28/2017

Hey guys (and girls, if we're going to be politically correct, ha)! It's been so cool this week, not like a out of ordinary thing happened but it's just a wonderful week. ☺

So this week we fed a monkey (my goal is to gain its trust, then have it sit on my shoulder, o yaaa!), found a butterfly bigger than my abnormally large hands, and almost got bit by a pig. Apparently pigs are aggressive animals but are kinda like the dogs here, wild and only like those they know.

Anyway, our investigators are great. They love learning more about Christ and in how to really become closer to him and God. Anyway, this week was really focused on keeping a cool head and loving and understanding everybody. Which also means there were quite a few times that I go to test my patience in that and honestly speak more lovingly. It's weird, the week I focused on those attributes, there seemed to be a lot more times to test them.

Now, I always pray for charity and it's amazing to feel so much love for someone you've only known for a week or so. To really think about their divine potential and see them as they can become. I can't really explain it, but your heart sort of jumps for joy and you just gotta hug them (except for the chicks, ha). Whenever I feel an enormous amount of love for someone, I can't help but think about how much more God loves us. He made a plan for us, and he promises to never leave us alone. I don't think I'll ever comprehend his complete love, but I do know it's there. The cool part is we're usually the tool to help others feel his love. We are his hands on earth.

Love you all and hope you have a great week and do something lovingly kind for someone this week.
P.S. I Ate Dog!