Finally, a trainee!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! this week has been a long one for me in the office but it has also been a really good on too!! It was a week of little to no sleep and lots of hard work! Im glad its over!! haha

first of all i have to tell you guys that i got a trainee!!!!!! I'm so excited! hahaha its been a long 8 months and im ready to leave! His name is Elder Rizzo. Hes American and he was my trainers, Elder Fielding, old companion. he has about 3 months less than me in mission and he was previously a zone leader. he seems to be picking up on things pretty quickly so im sure he will do a good job.

Elder Rizzo, my Trainee!

I also, this week, found out that i have Carpal Tunnel syndrome or something like that. It supposedly only happens to elderly people but i like to thinks its because i go hard when i type. Like i said, it has to do with typing. If you use you hands with the same function too much it makes your wrists hurt. So for the past 3 weeks or so my wrists have been hurting i didn't know why until i asked Hermana McMullin. Haha Who knew!!!  here is the definition of carpal tunnel syndrome. Chronic pain, numbness, or tingling in the hand, caused by compression of the median nerve in the wrist. It can be caused by repetitive bending and extension of the wrist, as in keyboarding. I don't like having old man hands.

Anyways, on to change week.

It was a long one! Monday night The assistants and I had to take the changes that president had recently finished and plan for them to make them happen both effectively and economically. That was one of the biggest logistics nightmares that i have ever dealt with here is the office. That is because the area seventy changed the way we do our changes. Before we all met together in Luque and President announced the changes, you found your companion and you headed off to your area. the change that was made prohibited large gatherings as missionaries. So, we needed to take that into account while planning for the changes. the way we did it included two giant loops (made with two 12 seater vans) going from city to city and picking up and dropping off missionaries in there perspective areas. 

 

We (the assistants and I) had to add the finishing touches to our master plan on Tuesday night so we didn't get to sleep before we had to start driving the loops at about 3 in the morning that we could get all the missionaries in their areas at a reasonable time on Wednesday. So, at this point I nor the assistants have gotten any sleep in the past 48 hours. Luckily for the assistants President prohibited them from driving anymore. Unfortunately for me, President did not realize that I had gone without sleep just has much as the assistants had, so I was the chauffeur for all of the missionaries that went home that night at hours 12:30, 4:30 and 6:30. Luckily I caught some sleep in between the hours 1:30 and 3:30. So in three days I received 2 maybe 3 hours of sleep. It was lots of work and I'm glad that I have been a part of the office staff to see how much time and effort the office staff put in to help this work press forward.

I have to say that I will not miss the sleepless nights though. hahaha

I have learned lots of lessons this week. One of the most important ones that I learned was the importance of scripture study. This week I haven't had the time to do my studies because of changes and I have come to realize that I don't recognize a difference in my day when I study the scripture but I sure do when I don't. I feel like I forgot something or something is missing. 

Please study the scriptures. It will help you each and everyday you do so. 

I love you all so much and i am so excited to hear back from you guys. Have a great week!!

Love Elder Petersen

 

**He said that he will most likely get send out of the office in 2 weeks due to a special change.  An Elder is set to go home so he will replace him in Emboscada!!

Accident : )

Hello Family and Friends,

This week is the end of my 14th change in the mission. I only have 3 left in my mission! This change has been a crazy one! I have been up to my knees in office work and missionary work but i have no reason to complain. I'm learning so much. 

I'd like to share a couple of thing about this week that were pretty interesting. One being that there is a giant dent in the back of the Van. we were going pretty fast and all of a sudden there was a wreck in front of us so i had to stop very suddenly and then a moto came and i guess didn't see me and smashed into the back of me! : ( A police officer was standing right there and he saw the whole thing. After get everything all cleaned up and talking to the guy that was driving the moto he brought me over and he said that there was two options. "One, we all go over to the station and fill out a report and take down your information. It will take a bunch of time that i know you don't have. or, I have talked to the motorist and he said that all of the damages would cost about 500$, You can give him 500$ right now and we can call it good." Jajaja I wasn't having any of that! i told him that we would go down to the station to fill out a report. he nor the motorist seemed to be very happy about the decision. jajaja

The boys talked Marcelo into shaving 1/2 of his face!

Office Elder planning the coming changes

Some other news, Elder Johnson, my beloved companion for 4 changes, was special changed out this morning. I took him up to his area at about 4 in the morning with the assistants. He made it out!! I am now companions with Elder Castillo from Ecuador for the next couple of days.

Also, this week we had a World-Wide Missionary training Conference this past Wednesday. It was really great! we got together with our zone and listened to several Apostles and General authorities teach us on how we can be better missionaries. It was great!! It is always amazing to hear the Apostles speak and to learn from them. I learned lots of things that i am excited to put into practice. 

Some other good news is that a recent convert (Marcelo) that i have been working with for a long time is going to be submitting his mission papers this month!  I'm so excited to help someone have the same experiences that i have had on my mission.

Well that's about it for this week as far as i can remember! I love you all and i hope that you have a great week!

Love Elder Petersen

Dear Dad

Hello Dad,

Thank you for the update on the family. To answer some of your questions, Im doing really well. Things are going really well here also. I am anxious to get back out to work but i think that within the next couple of days i will receive a new trainee to come in and take my place. I will find out tomorrow night! 

It sounds like things are going really well back home too and i am super grateful for that. How is work going for you? do you like it? What is new at work or what are some big projects that you're working on?

It sounds like we have a pretty busy month planned out for when i get home! It sounds like a lot of fun! Id rather be too busy than too bored. I'm excited to get back and have lots to do. I am even more excited to hand out with you. There have been so many times when i had wished that you were here so that i could have asked you questions on how you would do things. But i guess thats part of growing up! you've got to figure some things out on your own. I am really looking forward to spending lots of time with you so that i can learn as much as i can to prepare me for the real world. Its going to be great.

So i have a question. What do you think would be a good career choice for me? I need to find some different options so that i can test some of them out to see if i like them or not. I'm looking at Law enforcement, Firefighting, Navy, Coast Guard and Piloting. I have been spending a lot of time at the airport when taking missionaries to and from their perspective flights and i think that it would be a really cool job to have if it can work with the family schedule. I would also like to serve my country in a way too! I don't know what i want to do right now!! If you could help me out with some direction that would be great.

Thank you Dad for all that you have done to make this family an eternal one. Thank you for honoring your priesthood and loving Mom. I appreciate everything that you do.

I love you Dad. Have a good week!!

Love Elder Petersen

A surprise visitor in Utah

Best. Sunday. Ever!! We just got a knock on our door and when I opened it, there stood a young man holding a Ziploc bag with some beads and other items in it. He introduced himself as "Elder...I mean Adam Richardson. I served with your son, Elder Petersen, in the Paraguay Asuncion North mission. He sent me home with this package for you!!" Etc, etc, etc...what an amazing surprise!! What a beautiful, thoughtful, awesome surprise!!! Included in the bag was a 2 page, hand written, front and back letter!! I'm so glad I didn't kill that kid when he was 15: )

Elder Adam Richardson

Moving, driving and a near miss!

This week was pretty interesting. . . more or less. There is lots going on in the office and lots to do. For example, I'm spent all night night last night and most of this morning moving some sisters to a new house. I first had to negotiate a contract out with a crazy Asian lady to be able to get into the house then president wanted us to get them into the house as soon as possible so that happened this morning. We took about 6 trips in our 12 seater van to haul all of the things that they needed to live over to their new house. It took most of our p day but you got to do what you got to do. They are safe and sound in their brand new house.

Another big project that I have going on is a contract for a church out in a place called Santa Rosa. We a have a group of members out their that is growing like dandy lions so President asked me to make a new contract with the landlord of the house that we use for the church to put three separate air conditioning units in it so that the members out there don't die from the heat.

Let me just ask you a question. . .  have you ever tried to create a contract in a foreign language that is both legally valid as well as benefiting to both parties, that also includes a putting three new air conditioning units in it? hahaha yeah neither have I!  I have a couple of ideas that come to mind on what i can do to make it happen but it will be a rough one. i guess we will see how it goes.

Today while driving around a town called Luque we just about killed a man on his moto. Luckily we didn't hit him and it wasn't my fault. he ran the red light and came zooming past us and i didn't see him in time to stop so the both of us just kept going at normal speed which was about 40 mph each. It could have been very bad! Luckily the Lord has his eye on me!!

On the other side of the work load there is a less active member named Erik and his Mom Estela, who is not a member. We went to go contact his house because we received it as a reference and his mom came out and told us that Erik wasn't home but she would like to talk to us. Those are the best. When people want to talk to us!! Anyways, we sat and talked to her about Erik and how he was super faithful in going to church but one day he had an emotional breakdown went to a mental hospital but no one went to visit him while he was there. That made Estela mad and so she never went to church again but as well neither did Erik. He came in as we were leaving and he was so happy to see us. They both promised that they would come to church this Sunday and I believe that they will. We also have a lesson with them both today at 7! they are coming back to church!!

I love this Gospel. I love the Lord for making the man i am today! I promise you that i am not the same Jeffrey Petersen that left the airport a year and eight months ago. I believe its for the better. But I cant take the credit for this one. He has had a hand in everything i do here on my mission and everything that i have done. I'm grateful for His help and encouragement and all of yours as well.

Thank You

I Love you all. have a fantastic day today!

Custom made suit with Paraguayan Flag!

Service Project with the Zone!

Elder Petersen

Zoo day

Dear Family and Friends,

To be completely honest. . .  there was nothing spicy about this week. I'm sorry to let you all down. It was just a normal week here in the office. 

I did learn about some new computer program called OneNote its pretty cool, not that any of you would really know what that is!

I had the wonderful opportunity to practice my patience with numerous people this week and I feel as though I have grown ten times stronger in just this week!! Its been a tough one to say the least but I'm practicing finding the good in it all!!

And once you find out all the good things that life has to offer your faith in God will increase so much! From all of the trials i have had in the mission i can say that it has only strengthened my testimony in the Lord. 

I know he is there. He has to be!!

I hope that your weeks will be even better than they were last week! and if not, your doing something wrong!!

I love you all so much!

Love Elder Petersen

Puente Remanso river overflowing

At the Paraguayan Zoo

Stupid peppers and Crazy Elder!

Hey There,

This week was great for me. I'm so happy that i have the privilege to put the Saviors name on my chest each day and represent him in everything i do. A lot like other weeks in my mission, i have turly felt the mantle of being a missionary this week. Along with that, there were many strange things that happened this week. Lets get started

First of all last Saturday we had Elder Zarabia (Peru) make all of us a special Peruvian dish called Seviche. Its a mix of a bunch of things including lettuce, fried potatoes and raw fish. It was really good. Elder Jensen and I were in charge of cutting the peppers. I had no idea how hot those things were until i accidentally itched my eye with the juice from the peppers on my fingers. It was one of the most painful things i have ever felt. That little pepper wrecked my day. Stupid pepper.

A couple of very interesting things happened this week too. One of them was that i took one of my old companions (Elder Clark) to the airport. I took him at about 12 at night and didn't get back to the house until about 3 in the morning. That is the third companion of mine that has gone home. Elder Clark and I had a rough start but over time i learned to love him so much. I can honestly say that he has been the companion from which i have learned the most. I wish the best of luck for him back home. 

We also got called into president office the other day and he put us on somewhat a weird assignment. Elder Johnson and I were told to go immediately to a house here close by and to go retrieve an elder. So we headed out the door and before we left president stopped us and told us to make sure there are no sharp objects in the car when we go to get him. We found out later that this missionary had tried hurting his companion in his apartment just 5 minutes prior to receiving the assignment. I guess president trusted that the tallest companionship of the entire mission could handle it if anyone could. jajaja Well he was right. We entered into the house and it was a pretty heated situation and we grabbed the elder and once we got him into the car i had him laughing and all good. Needless to say, missionaries who try to kill their companions go home. RIP

Today for Pday we went to the only tourist attraction that Paraguay has to offer which would be the Zoo. It was pretty interesting. They had the biggest hippo i had ever seen in my life which isn't saying a lot because its not on a regular bases that i see hippos but i feel like it was bigger than most. We also got to see some Tigers, Lions, Pumas, Boa constrictors, Jaguars, Parrots, Anteaters and some other cool things. More than anything i remember the heat and sweating like crazy. Its super hot and humid here! you cant walk 2 steps without sweating. Eh its aight. 

Just so you know i will be home on this date exactly 5 months from now. I cant believe how fast its gone. I don't like it! I want to stay longer. But unfortunately i have already asked President and he told me no. ; ( 

I Love you all so very much and i want you all to make a new years resolution with me. Lets read the Book of Mormon all the way through in these next 5 months. And if your up for another challenge, I will be reading it twice through. So i hope you can do so and let me know how it goes. There is no better way to strengthen ones testimony than reading the Book of Mormon.

I pray that you all have a great week!

Love Elder Petersen

Robbery Photos + Christmas at Presidents house

The crime scene...

My Zip tie!

Survivors!

Police

Sergio, the man!

Christmas at Presidents home

Mom:  I keep telling dad that I’m not at all surprised that you got robbed, I’m only surprised that it happened in the office!  Did they ever find them?

Jeffrey:  jajaja No! we went down to the police station and made a report and we still havnt heard anything! jajaj Paraguay

Mom:  No surprise there!  During the whole thing, did you ever feel like you were really in danger?  Is it true that those guys are superstitious about messing with Gods people?  Or is that just something that people say to make the parents feel more comfortable.  haha 

Jeffrey:  jajaja well at first when he had the gun in my ribs I was a little nervous but after a couple seconds I realized that they were not going to hurt us. Actually its funny that you ask that too. Elder Johnson had asked him if he believed in Christ and he said "oh for sure"!! hahah so I asked him if he felt bad about robbing His church.

I know its probably not the best idea to taunt some guys with guns but we did it anyway!! jajajaja

Mom:  Bwaaaa!  Why an I not surprised!!  You’re such a knucklehead!  How long were they there?  Where were the other elders?  You’ve got to write this stuff down so that you will have a clear memory of it later.

Jeffrey:  yeah I wrote in my journal! the other elders were in the main office where the other guy was trying to break into the safe, they were there for about an hour!