New Address for mail and packages

The post office will no longer forward mail and the mission office has asked us to mail directly. The new address is;

Elder Joshua Petersen
PO Box 695
Many Farms, Arizona 86538

I am training a new missionary straight from the MTC!

It is a good thing I am staying! I'm not ready to leave yet! I watched Elder Nicholson say goodbye to everyone in the ward yesterday and it is very hard to leave a place that you love after being there a long time. It is not going to be easy saying goodbye to Many Farms when it is my turn to move on. The 6 months that I have been here feel like only a month. I sometimes think that I am still being trained by elder Nicholson and that I am still very new but now I guess that is going to have to change this next transfer. Elder Nicholson is leaving for Sheep Springs New Mexico and will still be on the Navajo reservation but in a different Zone. I hope I can see him at the next Zone Conference. Today we are going to Farmington to Pick up Elder Cook's and my new companion. Elder McCarry has been living with us since I got here and now both him and my companion are leaving. I will miss both of them but I know it's what the lord wants.

This week we got our new truck! It is good to be off the bikes and to be able to go where we want to. We had a slow week though because we only had four days with the truck and I went with Elder McCarry for one of those days. It was good to see people again though. We were able to go to Rough Rock and Valley Store again! On Wednesday we drove to Farmington with Elder Shrum our vehicle coordinator and man is he cool! It is so great to see all the awesome people who are helping lead this mission. They all have such great faith and love. Every time I am around president Batt I cant help feel the strong spirit that comes from him. We are now driving a dark gray 2013 Nissan Frontier and it is really nice! We asked Elder Shrum what we did to deserve such a nice car and he told us that it is because we took such great care of the last one and he knows he can trust us with a newer vehicle. Pretty fancy pick up for a couple of young missionaries, I was shocked. On Saturday Both Elder Nicholson and I got calls from President really early in the morning. He is going to be a District Leader again in a different area and I am training a new missionary straight from the MTC! We are both a little nervous but "He whom the Lord calls, he Qualifies!" The Mission Office will more than likely send you a picture of my new companion and I, but I will send you one next Monday too. Thank you for everything and thank you for all your support! I love you too Mom! :) Talk to you next Monday

Ya'at'eeh'! This week has been good! We drove to some new places and now have more people to teach! Last Monday we sent our Truck to Farmington with the Zone Leaders to trade out for a new one because our's is having problems. Tuesday night we got our old truck back because the new one had to go to a different set of elders who got in an accident the day before. I'm glad that they are able to still do missionary work with a working truck but we were still worried about our truck because it could fall apart any second lol. On Wednesday I went to Lukachukie again and spent the day out there. There is allot more mud in Lucachukie but it was nice being in the mountains. There are so many Pine trees its like being in Colorado! On Thursday we had a cool district meeting in Chinle. Sister Batt sat in on our meeting while President Batt interviewed a few missionaries from the other district that meets in that church building. She had a lot of cool ideas to share and you could feel the added spirit she brought into the meeting. We got to talk to president after for a little bit and we were joking around and having a good laugh with him. He is a cool Mission President! This Friday we had a good day teaching and then we played basketball at the church. Bishop Logan was throwing it down and it was amazing to see all the little kids play in between games. Everyone is pro at Basketball out here, even the little 5 year olds! haha I am going to come back from my mission ready for the NBA ;) Our truck broke on Saturday right as we pulled into the church parking lot. The front hub on the left side is locked and the tire doesn't turn at all, so it isn't moving any time soon. We are getting a new truck soon but in the mean time we are on bikes. We have two bikes from the mission office but we don't have any helmets yet haha. We rode our bikes around Many Farms but that's as far as we will go without dying from being so out of shape. Neither one of us could breathe after riding around all day. That's what eating Fry bread and sitting in a car all day does to you xP. On Sunday we had an amazing testimony meting! and Elder Nicholson and I got to ride our bikes around Many Farms. Well, That is how the week has been for us. It was good to hear how the week has been for you guys. Keep on Keeping on! I will talk to you next Monday, Peace out!

(Josh's - Elder Petersen's :) - makeshift helmet - a pillow with rope! )

We have seen more and more less actives coming to church and it is great to see this ward grow

Hey Mom! This week has been really spiritual for us. We had two people tell us that they were praying and then we showed up at their home. Both of them were convinced that we answered their prayers and we have a return appointment this week with one of them and we invited the other person to Church and mutual. Then we had an Investigator who we have only had one lesson with text us and ask if her and her son could come to Church. The Lord is blessing this area like you wouldn't believe right now and I am super grateful to be a part of it and see all of this great work. Elder Nicholson and I cant believe how many prepared people are being placed in our path every day. Okay, so this last Monday we didn't do anything note worthy because we cleaned. On Tuesday we had five really good lessons with the five people we have been wanting to meet with for a while. They all are doing really good and two of them are investigators (We set a baptismal date with one of them and the other has been on date for two weeks now) Both of them want to be baptized in February and it is awesome to see them progress in the Gospel. On Wednesday we went on exchanges but it was easy because we only switched with the other two elders in our trailer haha. It was a good day and Elder Cook and I were able to see three people and have a lesson. On Thursday we had District meeting and then went and chopped wood for two people. We didn't end up teaching anyone until later in the evening but it was still fun. That night we took the 17 year old out who wants to go on a mission and he had a good time. We saw two less actives and the kid who came with us did a really good job at bearing his testimony on church attendance. Friday, we had a good day and then finished it off with Basketball night at the church. Three new people showed up and we were able to find out were they lived and set up a time to stop by. The people here are more willing to listen to what you have to say if you can play basketball with them. I guess that's really how it is anywhere you go but Basketball is super popular on the Reservation. Saturday we had a much needed lesson with an active member family. They have been down in the dumps and have been going through allot lately so we payed them a visit. We shared the message we felt would help the most but the spirit did the talking. We had the Dad give a blessing of comfort to his family and that helped more than anything. The spirit filled their home stronger than I have ever felt it before and we all sat and cried for a few minutes because we didn't know what to say. They thanked us and we left. On Sunday They all came to church and the first thing Elder Nicholson said was "They look Happy again!" You could tell that something had changed and they had that light again. We have seen more and more less actives coming to church and it is great to see this ward grow. The members of the church out here blossom as the rose when they embrace the gospel. We are running low on miles for this month so we didn't go very far this week but we still did what we needed to. Our Truck is 10,000 miles over what it is suppose to be at so the vehicle coordinator of the mission is trying to trade out our Chevy Colorado for a new Nissan Frontier pick up this week. I will send you a picture of the new truck when we get it! :) Elder Nicholson and I were going through my music the other day and we really like the song "I can only imagine" by Mercy Me. We play it over and over and sing along like a couple of weird-o's, so we were hoping you could look up the band and see if they have any other good music. We like the almost country feel in the singers voice, matches the area where we live ;) Well, that's all I got for you today so I will have to talk to you next Monday. Love ya! Have a great week!

Ya'at'eeh!! This week was supper cool! We saw so many people this week and got more done than we usually do. Our lessons are going up and more people are coming to church. Last Monday after emailing we went hiking with the other two missionaries and had some fun. We found a bunch of old tires at the bottom of the mesa so we threw them in our truck and rolled them down the mesa again. That's everyone's favorite past-time around here so there is a decent sized pile of tires at the bottom of the mesa for us to chose from. It was funny watching the tires bounce down the mesa and catch air. Elder Nicholson won with the longest distance. His rolled twice as far as any of ours. We have some good pictures of that and some cool pictures of our hike. On Tuesday we taught the girl with a baptismal date and had a good lesson with her. We are able to have the lessons at a members home and it really helps. We also had a really cool lesson with a less active member and it was a very powerful lesson. Her and another less active member ended up coming to church yesterday so it was super cool! On Wednesday, I went to Lukachukie and stayed with an elder there for the day. Because, Elder Nicholson is the District Leader he has to meet with all the elders in the district and do exchanges for a day. It was fun and it was cool to see the stuff that has worked in other elders areas. On Thursday, we went to Rough Rock and got to chop wood for the mountain man that we teach. He was baptized a year ago but he doesn't have a ride to church every week. There aren't many members with cars out there who can take him so we are still working on it. Thursday was an overall happy day and it was good to be back in Many Farms. On Friday, we saw a lot of people and was able to teach a few lessons in Valley Store. We started Basketball nights on Friday nights at the church and it has been a big success! The people here love Basketball and every Friday more and more people show up. It is a great finding tool and we are able to show people how LDS people know how to have fun too. Three new investigators have come from it and it is great to see how people will listen to what you have to say when you can play ball with them. Friday and Sunday were great teaching days. The 17 year old in the ward who wants to go on a mission came out with us all day Saturday and Sunday. We told him he can take a break anytime he wants but he refuses and keeps asking to go out teaching with us. He is a really good kid and it is fun to have him with us. Well, I ran out of computer time so that will have to be it for this week. Talk to you next Monday, Love ya!

Be excellent to each other!

This week has been the best/least productive week so far on my mission haha. Last Monday the six of us elders in our district went on a hike to the top of a mesa in Lukachuki. It was so cool because you could see Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Many Farms from the top. But... I forgot to take my camera :P I will have to steal some pictures from the new elder in Many Farms. His name is Elder Cook and he got some good pictures of the hike. On Tuesday we had and awesome day for teaching. We have so many people who are doing so good in the gospel I cant help but feel exited! It's great to see Heavenly Father and his love for these people and to see the blessings that come from Praying, Reading the Scriptures, and Coming to Church. The members of the Church here have truly blossomed as the rose like it says in D&C. On Wednesday, Elder Nicholson and I got sick and stayed inside all day. We watched the hour long Joseph Smith Restoration movie and it was awesome! I don't think I have seen that all the way through before. We used the time that we had to think more about our area and I had a chance to learn more Navajo. I can almost make sentences but my pronunciation of the words are not the best. On Thursday we packed up some things and drove to Window Rock, New Mexico, for Zone Conference. All day Friday was spent at Zone Conference and it was really good. President Batt talked about the Atonement and it was cool because afterwords we did a question and answer with him and he gave some really profound answers. I like President Batt. We had interviews about 6 weeks ago and I told him about Jared missing me while I am on my mission and he prayed for Jared! He told me that he prays all the time for our families :) Zone conference is like a big spiritual motivation boost and after I just want to go out and do God's Work. On Saturday we had a funeral for a relative of a family in the ward. It was done here at the Many Farms building and it was super sad. After we went to the Chinle cemetery to lay the body to rest. They didn't have anyone to be the pal-bearers so they asked us missionaries to do it. We lowered the the casket into the ground and buried it. Never want to have to do that again, not a fun experience. Yesterday was the first day in 4 days that we were able to go out and teach. It was so fun! We took out a 17 year old kid in our ward all day. He wants to go on a mission when he turns 18 so it was good for him to see what being a missionary is all about. He loved it and wants to go out with us more often! So, there's my week. It was different, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. I think I have grown more this week than I have in the past two weeks combined! Well, I sure Love you guys! Keep up the family bonding stuff  and don't forget to Choose the Right! Be excellent to each other! haha Talk to you guys next Monday

Ya'at'eeh!  .....I didn't tell you last week but transfer news came last Saturday and both Elder Nicholson and I are staying in Many Farms another transfer. That means that elder Nicholson will be here in his first area still for at least 9 months and we will have been companions for 6 months. The running joke is that I will leave Many Farms before he does and he will stay his whole mission. Last week we went way out in the middle of no where and he still knew all the houses we drove past. We actually ended up getting lost out by Many Farms Lake last Tuesday and drove around for 30 minutes or so looking for a main road and the way that we were able to find our way back was by houses that were familiar. We have focused our efforts on finding new people lately and it has really started to take affect. We have met some really cool families and have started teaching allot of them. Seems like there are plenty of people who are ready to accept the gospel and all we have to do is find them. Yesterday the convert we have been teaching got the gift of the Holy Ghost and it was awesome to see how happy he was. You can almost see it in people's face when they have the spirit with them. So a member in our ward showed us a video that the missionaries showed her family back when she was baptized and it was almost exactly how it is on the reservation. The video is called "Bitter Winds" and it was made by BYU and the church back in the day to show what drinking is like on the reservation. She gave us all a copy and I might send mine home so you can watch it. It was filmed in Chinle which is 20 minutes from many farms! Well I'm almost out of time so I better send my picture for the week. Talk to you next week, Love ya!

I gained 80lb this week!!