Great week!

Well Family and Friends,                                                           Jan 26, 2015

This week was one to remember!! A lot of crazy cool stuff happened!!

First of all we had the pleasant opportunity to talk with Testigos de Jehovah (Jehovah’s Witnesses).  Let me tell you that I would have been happy to talk to them about 3 months ago and tear them apart with scriptures from the bible, but over the past several months I found that it’s not worth it!  As he was trying his hardest to slam our religion with scriptures from the bible, I thought of scriptures to combat every one of his points!  But something that I learned here on the mission is that not everyone that is not of "our religion" is out to prove us wrong, it’s them trying the hardest they can to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

This week we also had Zone Conference! whoo hoo Zone conference is really awesome!  We learn so much in such a short period of time!  I was also given the opportunity to speak, I was super nervous! haha but it went really well!! ;)

Luckily for us, we had the opportunity to give 2 blessings this week, both of them were babies with health issues! 

Something a little bit scary but pretty cool as well happened two days ago when the skies turned black in a matter of minutes! The winds were blowing as if we were in the middle of a hurricane and the power lines above us started sparking and trees were falling all around us! Luckily we were close to the house so we chilled there for a little bit!! haha ; )

The best thing that happened this week happened in the capilla (chapel). Like always, I got to bless the sacrament and as I sat on the stand, 2 inactive families that we have been working with for about 3 months now, walk into the chapel!  I couldn’t help but smile!!

The first councilor on the branch presidency was conducting the meeting and as he announced the intermediate hymn he saw his inactive brother walk into the chapel. He stopped talking and started balling. He sat back down without finishing and the president of the branch finished announcing. He put his head in his lap and cried! 

It was one of the most powerful sacrament meetings I’ve ever been a part of!  My joy was full all because my brothers and sisters came back to the fold!!  This Sunday made all of the Sweating, walking, rejection and disappointment worth it!! I’m so glad to be a part of the great work and see the fruits of our labors!!

I love you all so much and i hope you had a great week!! PEACE OUT

Love Elder Petersen

New Companion!

Jan 19, 2015

My Goodness,

Family and friends, it is honestly so good to talk to you guys!! i hope you all had the best weeks of your lives because you deserve it!! ; )

Really though this week has been really great!! This week we had changes!! whoo hoo I am still in good old Villa Hayes but with another newbie, Elder Garcia!! ; ) He is super fun to be around and i love him a lot! i'm super excited to teach him and learn from him!! it'll be a good change!! i'm excited!!

Elder Garcia from Uruguay!

Right now we are working with a Miriam still, whose son died about a month ago! We need to teach her a lot this week but we can never find her! so for that reason, i think here baptismal date is going to fall. . . again!! :,( but when we do talk to her, she is super excited to be a member of this church! Honestly, talking with her and teaching her has developed my testimony a lot!!

Oh and my Comp. is a really good cook so i I've been eating really great!! haha YES! #win

Along with that, we had lamb shops the other day at a members house! its probably not that cool but it was a new experience for me!! haha!!

I honestly love you guys sooooo stinkin much and i hope you have an even better week than the last!! 

XOXOXOXO

Elder Petey

While "chatting" with Jeffrey today, here is some of our conversation:

Question...do you guys ever get to go exploring and see the sights in your area?
hahah im in Paraguay, there are no sights to see!! haha sorry but Paraguay is not a very touristy place!! ; (
What??  I hear the Chaco is kinda cool.  It was settled by German Mennonites after WW2 and they have giant anacondas there!
haha yeah there are only 6 elders in the Chaco and its the hardest area in the mission! its super hot and not a lot of members!
Haha sounds you're destined to go there.  You can wrestle an anaconda and you can take the heat !
hhahahah maybe in the future!!

**The Chaco is a very remote part of their mission where water is scarce and temperatures are HOT.  No sister missionaries are sent there.
Here is a blog link that tells more about it:

http://elderjonturley94.blogspot.com/

Lessons in Patience

Jan 12, 2015

This week was nothing special! sorry! A lot of lessons and sweating and nothing to show for it yet! But we will just keep working!!

Tomorrow we get changes and im super excited to see what the next month and a half will be like! My prediction is that i stay in Villa Hayes and get a Latin companion! But with Presidente McMullin, you just never know!! haha we will see!!

 This week was alright! we have been working really hard to get Miriam baptized (the lady whose son passed away before Christmas) we had a date set for this Saturday but she wasn't really ready so we pushed it back a little bit! As long as she gets in the water sooner or later I'm alright!

Sorry i don't have anything big to tell this week but maybe the next! i love you all so much and miss you just as much!! have a great week and keep being awesome!!

Love Elder Jeff

View in Villa Hayes

Sunsets for the Soul

Jan 5, 2015 


Life here in Paraguay has been pretty loco as of late!! haha like always right??

Let me start off by saying that the sunsets here are absolutely beautiful! i snagged a couple of pictures for you guys to witness what i get to see almost everyday! Sometimes when im kinda sad about walking through a river for 2 miles to find someone thats not home, God puts some of the best tender mercies i could ask for in my sight! It seems to be almost always after a really tough day, there is a beautiful sunset above my head!

 Along with that, i found a really happy dead dog on the way back home the other day! haha it kind of made me laugh a lil bit! 

This week i had the opportunity to eat at a members house for dinner! we ate this really delicious chicken heart pasta!! mmmmm

Honestly Family and Friends i truly do love this work! I can feel myself growing closer to our Savior each and everyday. I learn so much everyday about this country, these people, this life and especially this gospel!  I have found that the best way to obtain more knowledge about this gospel is to live it and study it! i have learned so much more than i ever thought i could about this gospel! Before the mission i felt like i knew it all, like every time i went to church i just heard the same things over and over again! I just wasn't looking hard enough!

I love this gospel and i can say now that it is the only true gospel on the earth today!

i love you all soo stinkin much!! have a great week!!

love elder Petersen

PS:  Note from parents...
For years, Jeffrey's dad has taken him out in the desert to explore old ghost towns and ruins.  Inevitably, there are cows roaming around and every time his dad has bet him $$ that his can't slap a cow!!  He has tried MANY times, with no success.  But apparently, cows in Paraguay are much slower because he "supposedly" slapped this cow!  Hahahaha!  Proud day : )  We don't think it's fair, because the cow is caged in but it's all about the little victories : )