Ya'at'eeh! This week has been a good one! Elder Sorensen and I are finding like crazy and we have met allot of cool people who are prepared. What has been really helping is we are asking everyone if they know someone who needs to know the message of Jesus Christ and even if they aren't interested they know someone who is. On. Monday we were able to clean the house and stay at home. On Tuesday we saw allot of people out in the Valley and met two new people. We did service all day and it was awesome! We split wood for a family and Elder Sorensen got to help for the first time! He has chopped wood but this was his first time splitting. We gave a whole family blessings because they were sick and that was a good spiritual experience. On Wednesday, We went to Rough Rock and got to see the mountain man. It's a fun hike up to his house and when we got there we got to chop his wood. On, Thursday we gave another blessing to a lady who had a stroke and later in the week she said that she slept all night for the first time since her stroke after we prayed for her. On, Friday we did weekly planing and got to see some people before basketball night at the church. Saturday, we tore down a house for a family and it was fun smashing the walls. They appreciated the help after the fire they had and now that it is all in a pile they can have the Navajo nation take the pieces to the nearest dump. Things are a little different out here but Its great to be a part of it all. Sunday we had the seminary kids speak in sacrament meeting and it was very spiritual. They did a fantastic job talking about the Atonement and faith with a little bit of missionary work at the end of the last talk ;) All of the seminary kids have been inviting their friends to church and church activities and its great to see them sharing the gospel. Yesterday we Played volleyball with our Zone and had Zone Training. Our Zone leaders had allot of good things to say about our hard work this month and told us that we are one of the hardest working zones in the mission. We learned some cool teaching ideas and got to talk about how great our areas are! All in all, this week has been sweet! Thank you for your emails and thank you for supporting me on my mission. I love you and I will talk to you next week!

Ya'at'eeh! 

This week has been different but over all good. On Monday we packed, said goodbye to members of the ward, drove to Farmington, and stayed the night with some elders there. On Tuesday Elder Cook and I went to the Training meeting while elder Nicholson and McCarry went to their new areas in the transfer van. I got to meet my new companion and the missionary that Elder Cook is training. The four of us drove back to Many Farms that night and had a chance to introduce the new missionaries to the bishop. My Companions name is Elder Sorensen and his name is Danish too just like ours. He was originally called to the Brazil mission but is waiting here in this mission until he gets his visa. He is really cool and learned Portuguese in the MTC. Elder Cooks companion is Elder Quijano and he is here to stay in the Farmington mission. He didn't have any MTC training and his call packet said to report to the Mission home last Monday so he has only been out a week. Pretty crazy stuff! But now I am the only remaining elder that was here in Many Farms last August. Its weird being the elder who has been here the longest. On Wednesday I was able to take Elder Sorensen to meet some of the people we teach and it was a normal day. Thursday we were able to see everyone and had allot of cool teaching experiences and found a really cool family. Friday we did our first weekly planing and after got to see a few people before Basketball night. Saturday was a little slow but we did allot of finding and on Sunday we were able to teach a few Less actives in the ward. I am looking forward to next week because we will have more time to go out. We have been finding allot more already in this new companionship and that is definitely what this area needs. That and more member missionary work. I love it here and I am glad that I have lasted this long in one area. I know just about every road out here so that's pretty exiting! Thank you for your support and for being an awesome family! I love you guys! :) Talk to you next week!

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!