Thanksgiving, Scorpion, Rat and the Virgin Mary

Hey Family and Friends,

    I'm not sure why but this week was an interesting one. Not for one big event that came to pass but for lots of little ones. And luckily i took pictures of almost of them. ; )

    To start out, this week was Thanksgiving. Paraguay has no idea what Thanksgiving is but luckily im am in the office where almost all of the other office elders and President and Hermana McMulin do. Hermana McMullin set up a beautiful Thanksgiving lunch for all of us that work to keep the mission running. We had all of the typical American Thanksgiving foods. It was a lot better than the first Thanksgiving that i had in the mission where we did nothing. It was one to remember.

Jeffrey Elder Vela and McMullin's son

    Next story to remember was when we caught a Scorpion in the office this week. Elder Dias and I caught a scorpion and name it Estanislao. Please don't ask me why. While in a clear cup, Estanislao was put with a spider to see if they would fight. They didn't. : (

From Mom...Estanislao=rebellious Indian Warrior 

    Next story would come from the humble abode of the Rios Family. Monday night, We went to a members house to have a Noche de Hogar ( FHE ) and when we walked in we found that they were on a Rat hunt. They had blocked off all exits to their kitchen because they were convinced that they had heard a rat in their stove. We tore that oven apart and their was nothing. Until Elder Dias started poking a stick in it. All of a sudden a big old rat jumps out a almost kills Elder Johnson. jajajajajaja Ah man it was so funny. Elder Dias, Elder Johnson and I all had broom sticks trying to kill this dumb rat while the entire family were up on chairs and tables trying to get away from it. After beating that poor guy so hard with broom sticks it still wouldn't die it started climbing up the corner of the walls and so i corner stomped it ( =curb stomp but in a corner ). Still did not die. And some how got back into the stove. Elder Dias pinned it down with his broom stick and then came for the final kill. It died!! Finally

     The last and final story took place last night while we were driving home after a open house activity that we did. We were driving home when we saw a truck with something pretty big in the back of it. It was a giant glass case with the Virgin Mary in it. That's how you know you're in Paraguay. jajaj We wanted to snag a picture but the light had turned red and he had stopped very quickly luckily we didn't rear end him but we came within inches. jajaja  How awkward would that have been to have the Virgin Mary fall onto the hood of a Mormon missionaries van. jajajaja

     The coolest thing this week was just being a missionary for the Lords Church. I realized that this is a sacred responsibility and i am honored to have it. I love this gospel and I love what it does for people like you and me. I love that we can truly be cleansed of our sins and enter into the kingdom of God again. 

I love you all so much and i pray that you all have a great week.

Love Elder Petersen

La Familia Rios

and I learded how to juggle

I beat the President!

Hey Family and Friends,

   Today is my birthday and it went great. In reality this whole week has been great. Im a pretty blessed man. We had a lot of work to do this week but i got all of it done. Which is an accomplishment. We also had a lot of fun. President and Sister McMullin invited the office crew over to their house to play ping pong and basketball and after eat lunch. President wrecked me in a game of horse but then i got him back in the most tense match of ping pong you have ever seen. What i hear is that he has been unbeatable to any of the previous missionaries that he has played. Not anymore!! all of those long ping pong matches down in the basement have payed off! thanks Dad!!

    That was pretty much the highlight of my week. But we did have a pretty eventful week. We had a lot of things to do such as go into the center of Asunciòn and get the mail run done, put a barricade in front of the bathroom door so that when Elder Dias came out he would run into a wall of mattresses, Went to a city named Luque about 10 times trying to get everything out of a storage facility before the end of next week, Stopping to get some food at our favorite Lomito shop and running all the way over to Mariano to take some old mattresses to a tribe of indigenous people that live in little tiny huts.

     The office is full of little projects that need to be done. But one of my favorite times is Sundays. Sundays are the only full day of work that we get to proselyte. We found a couple that is golden. We have a lesson planned with them for tomorrow and im so excited to teach them and help them come unto our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It will be a great lesson.

     Well family and Friends, I love you guys. I hope that you have a wonderful week and i hope you say your prayers and read the scriptures.

Elder Petersen

Carlos the tailor

Hey there guys,

    This week was just like any other, closing areas and houses like crazy and driving all over the mission to make people happy. jaja Como Siempre! But Elder Johnson and I have had a lot of fun doing it. We even have a quest that we are doing to make even more fun. We have set out on a journey to find some of the coolest Graffiti that Paraguay has to offer. Hence the dope Picachu Burger Graffiti. jajaj Dope right??

 

 

     This week we had a really good day of missionary work. On Sunday we went out all day in our area and worked super hard. This was actually one of the only full days of work that I have had in this area. We contacted a lot of people and set up some really good lessons for this next Sunday. Hopefully they all come through. We met one man whose name was Carlos. Carlos is a man of about 60 years who had lived in the United States for the majority of his life. So he spoke English pretty well. He was a suit tailor for about 30 years while working in New York and Boston. Pretty interesting fellow. He said that he would come to church this Sunday so we will see how it goes tomorrow.

     You know family there wasn't a whole lot more than that this week. Ive started my six months til sexy program. I know its a little bit early but im gonna need it. jajaj Well i love you guys so much. I hope you have a wonderful week. Read your scriptures.

Elder Petersen

Missionaries coming and going = no sleep for me.

Hey Family and Friends,

    This week went great for me down here. Lots of sleepless nights and good experiences. As an office Elder we are in charge of the changes for the mission. That includes all of the new missionaries that come in, all of the missionaries that have received changes and all of the missionaries that will be heading home. That means a lot of work that nobody sees and that's what my role is.

    I love it. I have really come to appreciate what service does for me and how it should make us all feel.

    The past week i wrote about an investigator that we talked to. Well he came to church. I was so excited. . . I am so excited. I am excited to make a covenant with our Heavenly Father. He will be such a great member of the church if he just seeks the truth.

    This week as the missionaries that finished their missions went home, Elder Milton and I were able to snag the first ever Selfie with President McMullin. I feel so accomplished.

     But more on a spiritual note, Id like to share my testimony with you guys about Prophets. I know that if we follow them, we will not be lead astray. I have heard numerous accounts of things that are happened back in the states and as well as here in South America about people not taking heed to the Prophets council. Let me reassure you that Thomas S. Monson speaks with God. He knows what is to come and he the knows what the consequences of our actions will be. Having said that, The Lord is not trying to limit freedoms by telling us that we cant do certain things and taking away our agency. God would never do that. However the Bible and the Book of Mormon have clearly proven that God comes through with his promises. And God has promised us that if we obey his commandments we will be blessed and the opposite of Blessings is what happened to the people Noah´s, Moses´, and Christ´s time. Its a lot less painful if we can learn from other peoples mistakes and follow the commandments of God. I know that God talks to his prophets and apostles.   

"Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them." Mormon 9:8

     I love you all so much and i pray that you will all follow the council of the prophets and apostles. It will lead us to our biggest goal in life which is Exaltation.

Elder Petersen

Elder Milton, finishing up his mission and heading home

Bryant McMullin, Son the Pres.

First ever selfie of Pres and Sis M...you're welcome!

 

Scaring little children and a test of faith

Family and Friends,

   Well its weird to put that title up there. Only 8 months left of the best two years of my life. What a bummer. I'm so excited to see you all again very sad to think about all these precious people that i wont see again.

   Well this week is full of great stories. I'm hope your all up for them. 

   The first one takes place here in the within the walls of the oh so ever humble office. I was minding my own business and getting a lot of things ready for a Leadership training meeting that we will be having with a member of the seventy, Elder Krosnoselsky, this coming Monday. Now, at this time, the ward was having a ward night just down the hall. So all of a sudden a little kid with about 5 years of age comes barreling in with a ping pong ball. He threw it at me and i wasn't about to have that so i threw it back at him. Jaja so this happened for a good half an hour then i had to get back to work so i tried ditching him in a polite manner so i had the great idea to throw the ball and then run but he just kept catching on and finding me again. So i scared him. It was just a nice scare but it went too far. I jumped out from behind the wall and he jumped back and just stood there for a couple of seconds with a blank stare on his face. He slowly looked down and do did I. I had scared him so bad that he had peed himself. jajaj oops

   Just last night i was driving with my main man Elder Vela and in the oncoming traffic there was a collectivo coming and the road was too small to both pass at the same time. The collectivo wasn't slowing down at all so i had to stop very quickly. But little did i know that there was a man on a moto that wasn't paying too much attention, he came and railed into the back of the car. He got up right away and went on his way and nothing happened to our car. So, all is well.

   The other day Elder Johnson and I went out to work and find some people to baptize, you know, the usual. We clapped at a house and a teen came out to greet us. He told us he was a member that wants to come back to church and he asked us to come to his house because he couldn't meet with us that moment. He told us to come back tomorrow and he will invite some non member friends. I didn't believe him. Lack of faith i guess. I have just had a lots of experiences of this nature that don't turn out to be anything. Well this one certainly didn't turn out like the others. We tested our faith and we went! it turned out great! he invited two non members and a less active. He even prepared some sandwiches for us. We have another lesson with them tonight and its out turn to take some brownies. And nothing could go better with brownies than a baptismal date. Whoo Hoo wish us luck.

    Well that's about in the life of Elder Petersen. I hope you guys have a great week and learn lots. 

Love Elder Petersen

You may believe that this is our zone but in fact it is my district.