I don't know what I did to deserve this area but it is Awesome and I like it a lot!

Ya'at'eeh Shima do Shizhe'e!

    This week has been GOOD! Probably my favorite part was when an Investigator (Marlana)  told us she caries the Book of Mormon around with her everywhere she goes and isn't afraid to tell people about it! She is a single mom and her and her two kids came to church Yesterday. She is scheduled to be baptized September 27th. Also two kids, Carlial (brother) and Carleas (sister), who are scheduled to be baptized on September 20th came to church as well! They are super cool and are getting their parents active through their example! We asked the members to take them to church and it was great to see their support. The whole branch welcomed them and all Three Investigators have fellowship here already! Last Monday we went to the Temple and it was Amazing! Got to see some new stuff and had the chance to talk with Elder Nicholson my trainer! He is a Zone leader in Page with my first District leader Elder Beck! Elders Beck and Nicholson lived with me in Many Farms so it was funny that they are now companions! haha Elder Winborg is doing Amazing! In just 4 weeks he is already taking charge in lessons and teaching with the spirit. I love letting him teach because he is very humble about it and he means what he says. It's also very simple teaching so it is perfect for some of these people who are new to the gospel. We keep having days where it might not say we did well on our numbers but we both agree that it was still an amazing day! So many people tell us that we come at the right time and that they were looking for what we told them and they didn't even know it! We are being led to the people who truly need us! The ward members are gung-ho about helping us now and we have been challenging the members to give a Book of Mormon to their friends and family. Five of them are currently writing their testimonies in the Book and will be giving them to those who need them this week! I don't know what I did to deserve this area but it is Awesome and I like it a lot! haha. Yesterday we spent the whole day finding the lost sheep and that was very cool. We thought of all the people that we have been neglecting to see and sure enough, all of them were home and all of them needed us! We are going to be very busy this week because almost every day is booked with appointments already! It's a good thing and at least it makes planing easier so I wont complain. =P Thank you for your letters and emails this week! Have a good 7 days and I will talk to you next Monday!

--Elder Petersen

Jared saw a tv show with Navajos eating sheep intestines so he asked Elder Petersen if he's tried it yet.... 

Elder Petersen:

Jared, yes I have tried sheep intestine here before. They call it Aachee' which is Navajo for sheep intestine. It tastes ok but probably not my favorite. Its like eating soggy bacon that tastes like old noodles. It's a little bland but the people here love it! Sounds like life is good! Keep being Awesome!

Your brother,

--Elder Petersen

Side note from me (Ruth):

So this week Sister Biser in our ward called me and said she was going on a trip and will be near the mission home and wanted to know if she could take anything down for us. I told her of course! Because I didn't have to worry about shipping weight or size I went a little crazy on the goodies and ended up with 2 small boxes of stuff. I didn't want the mission president to think I was spoiling my son (which I was!) so I searched through Josh's emails to find the name of his current companion and put his name on the boxes too. That following Saturday, we took our missionaries and another set of missionaries that used to be in our ward (Elder Hern) out to dinner and I asked the new missionary what his name was. He told me and I said, wow - that sounds really familiar!?! Do you have a missionary relative in Arizona right now? He said, I think so. So i checked Elder Petersen's mission blog to see if I could find that name and sure enough! it was the name I had written on the boxes!!! They are cousins! We took a few pictures and I was able to email them to his mom which in turn got me in touch with Josh's companion's mom! Yay!! I loved staying in touch with his first companions mom, sharing pictures and stories and I was hoping I could do the same with his current companion and now I can! :) 

From Elder Petersen:

Elder Winborg logged in to his email and pulled up this picture. I asked him why he had a picture of my dad and he said, "Why is your dad with my cousin?" haha That's freaking Cool! Tell him his cousin is the bomb.com and is leading the work out here in Airizona! Good companion :)

It's hard to believe he's been gone a whole year!!!! :D time flies!

I'm so bad about getting Elder Petersen's emails out the last couple of weeks. There really wasn't much anyway :)




last week:

Ya'at'eeh! Things are going super smooth now here in "Chilly Burrito"  and Elder Winborg have already hit it off pretty well! We get along and he has already started taking the lead in teaching situations so it wont be long till its just a regular and equal companionship without hiccups or bumps in teaching. He has a really powerful testimony too. Its great to hear him teach and testify as a new missionary with conviction and with the spirit. Proof that anyone can be a missionary and that all you need is the spirit to teach. We aren't the ones talking, its the Lord talking through us! That's what I am beginning to understand more fully this new transfer and it is great! Last Monday we met with a couple recent converts to try and review what they were thought before baptism but it turned into them asking Elder Winborg a bunch of questions so it was pretty hectic haha. Once everyone has met my new companion then maybe we will be able to teach.. But its good. Tuesday we worked in Dennehotso and helped the senior couple out there build a porch and pour concrete so that was fun! Wednesday we saw a few people we needed to visit so that was good. Thursday was pretty regular. Friday we met with a super cool guy named Mickey! He went to school in Utah as a kid and was baptized as a teenager but since he got home he has never been back to church. We found him earlier in the week and got to share the Plan of salvation with him. He is super exited to come back to church, especially since it has been 40 years! great guy and I am glad we were led to find him! Saturday we took apart a shed that had blown over at a members home and that was cool. we also meet with a Family who is committed to coming back to church because they know it will strengthen their family. The wife is not a member so we will be inviting her to baptism soon. Yesterday we Invited a brother and sister to baptism and they gladly excepted. We have been teaching them for a week now and they are all for it. They remember what we teach them and they read every day! We have 3 other people that we will be inviting to baptism this week so there are more on the way! Things are going good and I love this place more than ever. The people here are what make it good. Thank you for your letters and emails this week, talk to you next Monday!

--Elder Petersen

This week's emails - he's not much of a talker!:

email 1: The MRI shows nothing is wrong with my brain so I will be fine. Sister Batt just thinks its stress and that there is nothing too crazy to be worried about. I haven't had a headache for a week now so It's going away.

email 2: By the way, my camera broke... Last Monday right after I emailed I turned it on and the lens jammed up. It is stuck half way out and I cant do anything to fix it. I think the motor in the camera went out. I'll send it home on Thursday. You should see if that make and model of camera is common for lens problems and see if you can talk to Panasonic about covering it under warranty. This is the 3rd camera that has had the same problem...

email 3: I was very exited when I found out brother Newby is the Bishop. I freaked out and told my companion that my Priest quorum adviser is now my bishop!

email 4: So... To make this short...

I need you to contact this number for me (gives the number)

It's the Ahasteen's in Many Farms and they left me a treat with a note saying call them on our door step Saturday night. I cant call them to say thank you so could you or Sister Logan do it for me? Tell them thank you soo much!

email 5: Bye! Love You Mom! Talk to you next Monday!

Call from the mission home - and a Josh laugh in the background :)

I got a phone call from the mission home Monday. The secretary asked me for Josh's social security number so he could go to the Dr's. I asked what for and I could hear her ask him and he laughed and said tell her not to worry about it. (good to hear his laugh!). She said, he'll write you about it today I'm sure. Here's his email.....

Hey mom, thanks for my social security number. I need to memorize but thanks for giving it to Sister Garett. I want you to know that I am doing fine and that going to the doctor was just a precaution. Two weeks ago during my morning studies I got a headache, my left arm went numb and I couldn't feel my fingers for 20 minutes. This morning it happened again so Sister Batt insisted that I see a doctor just to make sure its nothing serious. Do you remember that one morning when Rachel and I were going to school and my left hand went numb? It was kinda like that and just like before it went away quickly. I just got back from seeing an LDS doctor here in Farmington and he said its nothing to worry about but he does want me to come back in a week or two to get an MRI. He said that It could be a pinched nerve but he's not sure until we get the results from the scan. I feel 100% so I'm not worried. Whats new with you?

*it was fun chatting back and forth with Josh this week - funny conversation:

          me:      i bought a new kitchen table and chairs, do you want me to keep the old
                     set for when you get married?

          Josh:   I don't like the thought of getting married! It's too early to be thinking
                    about that! haha  Um.. I don't know. It sure would be nice.. I'll let you
                    decide. I like free stuff

          Me:     And um – my brothers were married within a year of them getting 
                            home! I have a  feeling  you wont last too long!

                            

          Josh:   When I get home I'll hide from girls and avoid romantic situations 
                     like the plague lol I can hardly talk to people about Jesus... It's 
                     going to be impossible for me to talk to girls xP

          me:     Rachel says that’s not going to work because girls can smell 
                           hot-ness and RM-ness!

             Josh:    "   *ignored*   "

The Farari is Elder James' car (Mission Housing Coordinator) and he took us to lunch two Farmington trips ago. I took the picture from Elder Acaylar's Camera before he left. My new companions name is Elder Winborg and he is from Logan Utah. He worked on a farm and likes country music. He played Hockey and loves sports... But there are some things here and there that we have been able to talk about that we have in common. I like him as a companion already because he is very motivated and works hard. He also is very obedient and listens to what I share with hem in training. Willing to learn basically and it has made this past week very good!  

(I told Josh he's going to have a lot of people mixing him and his companion up - they look A LOT alike!)

Ya'at'eeh! This week has been very good with lots of nice finds! We had lessons with 5 new people and met a total of 18 new people who we can see later this week! My new Companion Elder Winborg is a very good companion and is good at working hard. He is from a farm back in Logan Utah and loves the Reservation already! We have been every where in the area just about so he has seen most of it. Now our goal is to knock on everyone's door before the end of his training. Tuesday i picked him up in Farmington and we drove back to Dennehotso to work out there for the rest of the day. He got to meet the Napierski's and meet the 12 year old kid who was baptized two months ago. Wednesday we had a very busy day and ended up with five lessons and a whole bunch of new contacts. We also painted the inside of the modulars at the school with a less active member so that was cool. We were beat by the time we came home that night. Thursday We went to district meeting in Kayenta and met our new District leader. He stepped down from a Zone Leader position to Train a new missionary and open up Monument Valley as a new mission area. He is a legend in the mission so it is a privilege to have him as a district leader! The rest of the day we visited two people and were able to do two hours of finding in the housing's here in Chilchinbito. Friday was a tad slow but still good. Saw one person and met five new people. Saturday we drove so much we hit the daily limit for miles and started walking the rest of the day. Met 6 new people doing that! And Sunday we had an investigator at church and watched two Recent Converts bear their testimony. Pretty cool! It was a good day as well. Things are looking up for this area and I can see this branch becoming a Ward soon if the work continues to pick up like it has. I love being on a mission and wouldn't give it up for anything! Thank you for your letters and emails. Cya!

--Elder Petersen