Mon 2/2/2015
Hey!
This week has been good! Monday we played football as
a Zone and that was good. Tuesday we had Mission Leadership Counsel and that
was Amazing! All the Zone leaders and Sister Training Leaders in the mission
meet at President Batts home and him and his wife talk about the needs of the
mission. A powerful spirit was there and I can definitely tell that President
and Sister Batt Love each missionary they serve here in the New Mexico
Farmington Mission. They are such great people! There are a lot of responsibilities
as a Zone Leader, it's very different for me. I do have to say that I enjoy the
great missionaries I am working with here in Farmington. Wednesday I went to the
Spanish branch area with Elder Gonzalez for a day. He is a district leader so
we got to see how he is doing with his new responsibility. Great missionary and
he works hard. I also have to say that the church is true no matter what
language. Each lesson we had I could hardly tell what was said but the spirit
was present more at the end of our visit than it was at the beginning and so I
have no doubt that the church is true. Thursday to Saturday was pretty regular.
Saturday we went to the reservation that we cover here in 2nd ward boundaries
and that felt like home. It snowed the day before so we got a little muddy.
Sunday we had a lot of success. We have members asking when they can go
teaching with us so I am exited! Two men working for a business here in
Farmington this week couldn't make it back to Utah so they came to our ward.
They told us that we have a very good ward with very strong testimonies. They
leave for Utah today back to their "main office," but it was nice to
know that I work in the best ward a missionary could ask for. Things are great
and I am enjoying it. Thank you for the letters and emails this week. I hope to
hear from you soon.
--Elder Petersen
Mon 2/9/2015
Hello from the Town of Farm!
Things are good and all is well! I went on
exchanges with one of the District Leaders on Tuesday and it was the first time
taking over the area here in Farmington. It was great and we only got lost 3
times! Driving in the city is not what I remember.. there are so many streets
and houses to remember, haha. Last Monday we went golfing at the driving range
with the Assistants because Elder Nicholson is Awesome! Never thought that
would happen on my mission. Wednesday we took a recent Convert (18 years old)
to another recent convert family and he helped us review the Restoration with 3
kids that were baptized a month ago. The 18 year old is now preparing for a
mission and it was great to have him with us! In the evening we took the Elders quorum President to a less active woman that has not been to church for 10 years.
His wife is this woman's visiting teaching Companion and so they already knew
each other from the times his wife had fellowship-ed her. In the lesson the
Elders quorum President talked about how at one time in his life he had been less
active in the church and then... the question.. He asked her in a very loving
way, "Whats your excuse? Why don't you come to church? You know its a good
thing, you know it's right. What is it going to take?" Elder Mackay and I
where speechless. For the next 15 minutes the member and this woman talked
about what is holding her back and the spirit flooded the room when the Elders quorum president bore testimony of the blessings he has seen in his family since
they have come back to church. Thursday we took the Stake patriarch, who is in
our ward, teaching and we visited a less active member who is working on coming
back to church. We let the member talk to her about patriarchal blessings and
she was exited. She committed to come to church so it was a good lesson. Friday
we had a very good lesson with an investigator that has been struggling to make
it to church. We have had to push back her baptism date two times now so we
brought a member who lives a few apartments down from us and he invited her to
pray about her own day to be baptized! The members here are amazing! Saturday
and Sunday was Stake conference. Elder Lorance Corbridge of the Seventy came to
speak and it was fantastic! He made the gospel sound so simple and he presented
it the way I want to present it to investigators. It is always a pleasure to
hear from a General Authority of the church. He gave a great talk on Joseph
Smith in the 2014 April conference and he is part of the reason why we now have
mission prep classes in the church. Great man and a great speaker! That's it
for this week. Hope to hear from you next Monday. Have a good week!
--Elder Petersen
This is where I live
Mon 2/23/2015
My companion is leaving to Round Rock (Many Farms Ward)
Mon 2/23/2015
Went walking this morning. We live right next to the San Juan River and it was snowing.
Elder Mackay is going to Many Farms ward in the Round Rock
part of it. My new companion is an old companion. Elder Lewis who was my MTC
Companion! Me and him were Zone Leaders in the MTC and now we are Zone Leaders
in Farmington!!! Pretty Crazy stuff! Almost out of time. Gotta go. Love you
Mom! :)
Mon 3/2/2015
Ya'at'eeh!
I am still in Farmington 2nd Ward but I am now
companions with Elder Lewis, my former MTC companion. This is his first
transfer being a Zone Leader so I get to train him in the art of leadership. As
demanding and as stressful and it can be sometimes, I am glad I am in this
amazing Zone! There are a lot of good Elders that are doing some amazing
things. This stake already has 7 baptisms for the year, which is fantastic! It
has snowed on and off since last Monday leaving 5 inches of snow. It all melted
yesterday but it was fun while it lasted. We taught a family that lives in an
RV park and now their whole family is on date to be baptized. ... I look forward to
when they come to church! Things are Great in Farmington and i love how helpful
the members have been. We have a member with us every time we teach an
Investigator practically. We are very blessed. Have a good week!
--Elder Petersen
Mon 3/9/2015
Elder Lewis on Left
Mon 3/16/2015
Ello! Not much time but I will give you the highlights of
this week.
We are in a "trio" here in Farmington 2nd Ward
now. There is a missionary that comes from Lukachukie today and he will be with
us until president says otherwise.
The youth in our ward trained the ward on Sunday and taught
how to do indexing. Having the youth teach it was a pretty cool idea.
I interviewed my very first Investigator for Baptism yesterday
and because he only spoke Spanish we did the Interview with a translator. I
will always remember that one!
We have 4 new investigators this week and one more person
who has committed to Baptism. We made a goal to have a member with us every
night and so far it is a huge success!
Things are going great and I love Farmington! :)
Mon 3/30/2015
Love you Mom! :) This week has been busy and awesome! 9
People on Baptism date for next month, 19 really good lessons, and 6 new
investigators! Have a great week.
Elder Pitcher, my second companion in our Farmington 2nd Tripanion-ship (The Three Amigos!)
Mon 4/6/2015
My District here in Farmington. Elder Gonzalez is the third in from the left and was the district leader this transfer
Mon 4/6/2015
My Tri-panionship is over :'( Elder Lewis is now an Assistant to the President and Elder Pitcher is going to Kirtland 1st ward (where I just came from)
My New companion that I will have tomorrow is Elder Christensen
Mon 4/20/2015
Mon 4/27/2015
Hey all!
It's been a rough week for our missionary work
but a great week for the ward. Elder Christensen has been sick all week and so
we have not been able to visit with many people. Despite our situation though
we had more people at church than ever. 6 Less active families came back to
church. Some of them it was the first time in many years! We also had an
Investigator come to church and the ward was amazing at fellowship-ing. The
ward members literally took care of everything so we didn't have to. Farmington
2nd ward is a great ward to be in! The Love of the Savior is present each
Sunday at church. Pretty neat! Being a Zone Leader is still as crazy as ever.
Hope you have a great week!
--Elder Petersen
Mon 5/4/2015
Ya'at'eeh!
I have a second companion again so there are
three of us, just like last month. The third missionaries name is Elder Jones.
He is from Placerville, California, which is near Sacramento. my other companion
which I have had four weeks now, Elder Christensen, is from South Jordan Utah.
I don't know if I told you where he is from yet but now you know. This past
week we have had much success. We have been dropping off Elder Christensen at
the mission Office and so we have been able to get lots done each day. We are
worried Elder Christensen might have to go home because he has been having
stomach pain for a month now and the doctors don't know what it is. Hopefully
everything works to his benefit. Elder Jones is a hard worker and this is his
second mission. His first mission was Brazil and he had to go home for medical
reasons and now he is back and serving in the New Mexico, Farmington Mission.
He is very humble, very charitable and is a great listener in lessons. He
notices things I did not pick up on. It's great to have him as a companion.
Things are looking great here in second ward and I love my mission! Thank you
for everything and have a great week!
--Elder Petersen
My second companion
On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 11:41 AM, Ruth Petersen :) <shawnandruth@q.com> wrote:
J hey josh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey – I didn’t mean to make you feel bad yesterday about writing – I know you’re busy J I guess I’M getting trunky!
You're packing my bags for me?? haha That's funny! don't worry
about it you didn't make me feel bad. lol. I know how it must be for you seeing
as I am your first child on a mission. Thank you mom for all that you have done
for me these 20 years! I love you much! Happy Mothers Day!
This week has been
the same as the past two weeks. Elder Christensen has been experiencing stomach
pain for a month now. He has seen four different doctors the past few weeks and
president has said that if he doesn't get some answers soon he will have to go
home. He came out the same month I did but he started his mission in Africa, Liberia mission. He got a headache that was so persistent and so painful that
he was sent home for four months. His headache is still there but now he
ignores it. He has not gotten better but he decided to serve a mission again
last August and came here to the New Mexico Farmington Mission. They couldn't
send him back to Africa because his mission was closed due to ebola. He is
having it rough and we have not left the house to do missionary work for 3
weeks. Now that we have Elder Jones we have been asking members to take Elder
Jones out to teach our investigators and that seems to be working for now. I am
not discouraged because I know things like this have to happen but Elder
Christensen is starting to lose hope. I feel extremely bad for him but there is
almost nothing we can do. He is suppose to hear back from the doctor today or
tomorrow about a test they did last week. Hopefully they can fix this. It's
been a good week nonetheless. The members have taken good care of us.
Thu 5/14/2015
Sister Peterson,
Just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate Elder
Peterson.
We had the blessing of having he and his companions over
for dinner tonight, and it was great. He is doing a great work here in our Ward
and I wanted to thank you for such a wonderful son.
David and Dawn Harris
And family
On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 8:04 AM, Ruth Petersen <shawnandruth@q.com> wrote:
How's your ear? :(
It's not an ear infection and it's not a broken ear drum.
The doctor I saw on Friday said that there is nothing visible from the outside
and that it is probably an inner ear problem. The doctor recommended that I see
an ear specialist named Dr. Wilkey here in Farmington so I have an appointment on
June 15th. This past Tuesday I got really dizzy and could hardly walk straight.
Its getting better but I have not been able to balance very well since then and
it is because I have been diagnosed with Vertigo. That has been fun because
everything around me seems to be spinning slowly :P. All I know is that it has
to do with my equilibrium and its not working right or something. Most of the
time it goes away but just to be sure the doctor recommended that I see a
specialist. I'll be just fine :)
By the way, Transfers are this week and Elder Christensen
and I are staying in Farmington 2nd ward but Elder Jones is going to Farmington
1st Ward. Not much change. I might Stay here the rest of my mission. That would
be awesome! :D
Tue 5/26/2015
Hello!
So because of the holiday yesterday we are emailing
today. This week has been a good one and we have been able to get out of the
house more. A miracle that happened this week is that we have been
teaching a lot more and have managed to meet with a few people that we have not
seen for a long time. We had 8 people at church who are not there usually and
that was amazing! Also we went on Exchanges with a district leader and his new
trainee. I was with Elder Rigby the new one. He is a fantastic missionary and
he is ready to get his feet wet and to work hard. Very respectful and obedient
as well. He had lots of goals directed at learning and he has a strong desire
to do so. He should be a good one! Meanwhile, Elder Christensen have been
telling stories and jokes in our companionship to keep ourselves entertained
and occupied. :P Everything is great and I love my mission! :) talk to you
latter
--Elder Petersen
Mon 6/1/2015
Thank you also for putting up with my lack of
communication while on my mission. I want to tell you and the family all my
stories but when it comes time to tell, there isn't time or room enough. I
would have to tell you all the amazing things I have experienced out here in
person. Just know that I think of you and the family often and that part of why
I am out here is to bless you. I know I could never repay you for all that you
have given me but that doesn't mean I can't try :) With all of this coming to a
close I feel as if I am a race horse with his blinders on. Focused on one goal
and ignoring all else around me. I want to be as focused as I can so that I can
say that I have given it my all when I have crossed the finish line.
Ya'at'eeh!
Alright so I only have 10 minutes so I am going
to be typing really fast so if I make any mistakes in grammar or spelling feel
free to laugh and giggle. This week I have been doing very well and have been
able to teach with Elder Christensen. Its good to be back and healthy and
working good as ever. We have found more forgotten members. It seems that we
are adding large amounts of members to the ward list because there are so many
that the ward does not know about. We also visited two people who were visited
by the ward that week or even that day. The ward has been doing a great job at
visiting the people we teach and being member missionaries! We have another
investigator working towards baptism.... She is 9 and her parents are returning to activity! Super great! At
church yesterday we had 6 families at church who don't usually come. Too bad we
don't count that as missionaries lol. But the reactivation here has been
astounding! :) We did two service projects on Saturday. Installing a mans swamp
cooler on the side of his house and helping a man put in sod in his back yard.
Working hard here in Farmington 2nd ward and I am loving it! have a great week
all! Love ya!
--Elder Petersen
Sister Price in our ward's brother was headed down to Josh's mission office and offered to take a care package so I made him a late birthday cake - I told Rachel that depending on where she goes - she probably won't get half the stuff I've sent Josh over the last two years! It's nice having him close. when he got his call my brother in law Peter said, so... are you going to go do his laundry every week? hahahaha!!!!!!
Wed 6/10/2015
I thought you might enjoy this. He was super
excited before he even opened it. I told him it was too cute to
eat!
Sister
Jensen
New
Mexico Farmington Mission Secretary
