for my 19th birthday we .... went soda bashing which is when you shake a soda can and then whack it with a golf club. it was fun getting soaked in soda and hanging out with our district leader.

Ya'at'eeh! Hello from Chilchinbito! Good news, a proselyting senior couple moved into Denahotso which is part of our area. They are retired but young enough that they want to go out and teach like us. Their mission is to help and support the missionary work in Denahotso for us because we don't get to go out there very often. They have already found a young man who is prepared for the gospel and is ready to start taking the lessons. We have sat down and talked with them twice now and they are very cool! It will be fun working with them. Last Monday for my 19th birthday we spent the whole day as a district in kayenta. The four of us went soda bashing which is when you shake a soda can and then whack it with a golf club. it was fun getting soaked in soda and hanging out with our district leader. On Tuesday we spent the whole day in Denahotso finding and now we know the area and the people pretty well. Every house we knocked at people were home and it was very obvious how prepared that area is. Everyone we found was cool! Wednesday we helped out with the 8th grade graduation here in Chilchinbito community school. everyone was there and some of the kids we have been teaching were promoting to high school. We know and teach the principle there so she let us help serve the food. We got to talk to a ton of people there and that helped. The rest of the day we went and visited with the people we talked to. Thursday we taught three families and invited a new investigator to be baptized. We have been teaching her nephew and she wants to be baptized the same day as him. Friday we did the same old same old. Saw a bunch of people and visited with the recent converts in the area. The Recent converts that were Baptized two weeks before I got here have a very strong testimony in the gospel and are very smart for their age. I might send a picture next week but there are five of them and they are cousins too. All under the age of 17. The younger generation is more excepting of the Gospel than the older generation. They are even getting their family to come to church! That evening we taught the principle of the school at another recent converts home. Baptisms have been a regular thing the past two months! Saturday we visited with a lady named Patrita who is preparing to go to the Temple for her endowments and later we played basketball at the school with some people in the area. More and more people keep showing up to our Saturday night basketball and it's a great finding tool. Everyone is willing to talk to us when we play basketball with them since it is so popular out here. It makes us seem more normal to people when they see us playing and having fun. Sunday was great at church. Us missionaries were able to speak for a few minutes on how to prepare for a mission and then the branch president encouraged everyone to prepare the younger generation for missions. It got me exited and I'm already a missionary haha. The rest of the day was pretty normal however so not much to report. I love it here and the people are awesome! Thank you for the emails this week. Talk to you next week! Peace!


Our celebration at home for Josh :)

Living in a camper fifth wheel is fun because its almost like camping.

Ya'at'eeh! This week has been good! I don't have much time to write but to sum up.. We did a lot of service like putting up a fence for a Less active member and we also weeded a back yard for a Recent Convert family in the branch. Investigators are flying at us all over the place and we now have some pretty cool new families to teach. 7 investigators showed up to church yesterday and even more Less active people showed up. The small branch building could barely fit us all! Chilchinbito is still awesome! The area itself is more green than my last area and there is a huge black mesa next to where we live. Makes things more scenic and exiting. Living in a camper fifth wheel is fun because its almost like camping. we have a fire pit outside and everything with small trees all around us. Elder Acaylar and I are getting along really well. We share the same sense of humor so we have been laughing at just about everything. Pretty fun being a missionary so I recommend it to everyone who can go on a mission. Thank you for listening. Love you all. Bye!

Investigators are starting to pop up like daisies!

Ya'at'eeh! I am no longer in the Farms of Many!! D= After a nine month stay in Many Farms I have been transferred to Chilchinbito or "Chilly Burrito" as said by an Investigator. It was sad leaving all the great people in the Many farms ward. It's hard leaving an area you have grown so much to love. Hope I get to visit after my mission.. The past week has made it easier to transition than I thought though. Chilchinbito has great potential and the members here are very welcoming. To tell you the truth, this new area is super sweet and is exactly what every Rez missionary wants! It is a small little branch in the middle of nowhere with a Branch President that is ultra gung-ho about missionary work! My companions name is Elder Acaylar and he is from Idaho. His Parents originate from the Philippines though so he is full Philippino! Pretty cool! In the last few months they have had 8 Baptisms so that means we get to visit with a bunch of very cool recent converts! All of them have strong testimonies in the gospel and are getting their friends and family to listen to the gospel. Almost half of the recent converts we teach, and Investigators two, are the rising generation. 10-18 years old. It's crazy how much more receptive the youth are to the message we share. Some of the older Investigators have a harder time giving up their older ways and following Christs example. It's cool because the people we are teaching are energetic, and exited to learn. Well, overall, just exited about everything haha. There is this little kid named Adam that sat between Elder Acaylar and I in a lesson and started teaching his family with us. He is 10! Told us we were his bro's haha. Our Area covers Chilchinbito branch and Denahotso branch so we get to decide where we go to church. Tons of work to be done in Denahotso too because the past missionaries didn't like driving that far. We are going to explore the area on Tuesday and go finding. I am already starting to like it here and i can tell that it isn't going to take much for this area to grow. We have a ton of help from the members and Investigators are starting to pop up like daisies! Well, Thank you for everything. I love you all! Talk to you next Monday!

Elder Petersen (heehehe.... still want to call him Josh all the time!)    :) mailed this broken nametag home - it's in Navajo - cool! :)   he mailed home an sd card with some pictures too - some date back to other blog posts but i thought they were cute 

So I have a new address. It's P.o. Box 151 Kayenta AZ, 86033. I will be transferring to Chilchinbito, AZ, Tomorrow.

Ya'at'eeh! Big News! I am leaving Many Farms :( not fun! So I have a new address. It's P.o. Box 151 Kayenta AZ, 86033. I will be transferring to Chilchinbito, AZ, Tomorrow. It is sad to be leaving Many Farms but I figured something would happen since I have been here for just about 9 months. Doesn't feel that long, its almost like I got to Many Farms yesterday. There is a small branch where I am going and the word on the street is that I will be staying in a fifth wheel camper trailer. Pretty crazy but I'm ready to work hard in Chilchinbito! I'll let you know what it is like in my next email in a week. This past week has been a surprisingly good one. I thought for sure that transfers was going to get to me and this week wasn't going to be as good but it is amazing how going out all day and working hard can get your mind off things. We met with a ton of Less active members this week and yesterday 11 of them came to church! The whole chapel was full and it was awesome to hear some of them bear their testimonies! Bishop's opening testimony was on missionary work and service and that was the theme of every ones testimonies. Looks like Many Farms is going to explode with missionary work and stuff! Pretty cool. Tuesday we lucked out because a lot of people were out of town but we were able to get a lot of finding done. We talked to 6 new people who said we could come back so that was good. Wednesday we had a sweet lesson with a family in Valley store. The Dad is a Less active member and his wife and kids are investigating the church. We watched a 20 minute video about the life of Jesus and then afterwards it turned into a big testimony. All 7 kids shared their testimonies about how they could feel that Jesus Christ really is their savior from watching the movie. The parents testimonies were the best because without them knowing it, they shared their testimony on how the Gospel strengthens families. They want to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ because they know it will keep their family safe from bad things and thy will be stronger. Its cool when Investigators share testimony without them knowing it. Best way to invite the spirit into someones home is to let them speak truth so the spirit can bear witness to them that what they are saying is right. Thursday we met with 3 investigator families and they are all really cool. One of them came to Church yesterday. Friday we met with a nice Less active couple that we have been working with since I got here and they came to church as well! Saturday we spent all day in Rough Rock and that was good. We usually don't see many people out in Rough Rock but with three new member families moving there and a Recent Convert who is on fire. We were able to get referrals for some families that are genuinely interested in learning about the Gospel. Now we have tons of people to see each time we go to Rough Rock. Yesterday We drove around and said goodbye to some people. Today we will be saying goodbye to the rest of the people. Well, I'm super bummed that I am leaving but I know that I am needed in Chilchinbito so that makes it easier to leave. Well, Talk to you next Monday, Love you all! Hagonee'! (bye)

Bishop Logan's family :) (missing Kaiden - he was asleep)

Josh pinky swear Lisa he will come back after his mission. :')

(I looked up some information on the area he's transferring to the population of Chilchinbito is 506. Here are some images of where he will be... )

this is where he will be living

driving to pick up his mail  41 min!