...playing catch up from the last 3 week's emails from Josh

Sorry I haven't posted Josh's emails from the last few weeks. Its been a little busy and we've been on vacation. :)  I'll post them oldest to newest.....

Mon 6/2/2014 

Ya'at'eeh! This week has been great! The Senior couple missionaries in Denahotso are awesome! We were able to put two more people on date to be baptized and everyone wants to talk to us all of a sudden. It's cool! Monday we had family home evening with a member family and that was good because they had never had family home night before. The two youngest daughters and the youngest son were baptized a month ago and are supper smart when it comes to the gospel. The oldest son just got the priesthood and the Mom is just starting to come back to church because of her kids. Really cool success story for the area because her family fills up a whole row at church now! Hopefully they will continue to have family home night because it will help. Tuesday and Wednesday we met with a few people in between a bunch of service. It is time for the gardens and Farms so everyone is asking for help with fencing and planting. When I get home I want to have a garden, now that I know how to set one up. The Church is providing a lot of materials because it will help the area to have farms and produce. Thursday we had a Zone Training in Tuba City, Az, so it was nice to see a bigger town. It is still small but at least they had a Taco Bell haha. Our Zone leaders are Elder Fonsbeck and Elder Livermont. Elder F. was in my first district on my mission and Elder L. was my first district leader on my mission! So its sweet being in this new Zone! Friday we met with one of our investigators on date and they are still good to go. Saturday we helped an investigator on baptism date paint her house and we got to talk with the family while we helped so that was good. Sunday we had a smaller turn out for Church but it was still good. The testimonies of the members are really strong and it is great being in a branch where everyone knows each other. Later in the day we met with an investigator in Denahotso on date and the senior couple helped us teach. That evening we had a fireside in Chilchinbito with a real fire and the Branch president was able to be there. He lives in Kayenta so it is difficult for him to come to all of the Branch activities. Well I love it here and my Companion's awesome. The work is progressing so there is not much to complain about. Have an awesome week and I will talk to you all next Monday! Hagonee'! Love you Mom! :)


 nametag Josh sent home because the pin was broken. thought it was cool in Navajo! :)  

Mon 6/9/2014

Ya'at'eeh! Hello everyone! This week was crazy in a good way but very satisfying too. Last Monday we went to Farmington to replace a flat tire and were able to do some shopping at Walmart. We got back with enough time to see two people and call it a day. Don't get to do much during trips to the city but it needed to happen so its alright. Tuesday we went to Dennehotso and went finding the whole day. That branch has a lot of Less active members that could help out the unit a bunch. All they need is to start coming and except a calling, which shouldn't be too hard with the new senior couple out there. Elder Acaylar and I like the Work out there and are trying to visit more and more and maybe even work in a plan to have one of us at each branch that we cover on Sundays. Wednesday we had Elder James the housing coordinator show up very early in the day and he was able to fix some much needed repairs on our camper. We now have a working fan in our ceiling to vent out air when we are cooking and stuff, and we have a third carbon monoxide detector haha. 4 Months ago the elders in Lukachukie got carbon monoxide poisoning from their camper so now they are making it a priority to have triple protection and that we test our alarms every week. Pretty crazy but our camper is very new so he said we have nothing to be worried about. Living in a camper is cool because it is like camping every day. I thing the Lord only sends missionaries who like small homes to areas with campers because Elder Acaylar and I love it. We were able to meet with some Recent Converts and get them ready for the Temple trip this Saturday so that was good. Thursday we went on exchanges with the Elders in Kayenta and I had to take over Chilchinbito for a day. Elder Tipitts and I tried our best to navigate the area but we got lost a few times. It was good though because despite me being very new to the area it all worked out and we were able to meet with some people we have been trying to see for a month. Tender mercies are there when you need them so I'm glad that I was able to at least try taking over. Friday we showed up to a members home and right as we got out of the car all of the kids started pelting us with water balloons. From there it escalated very quickly and we had a full on water fight in the streets! We got soaked from head to foot and it was awesome! We then shared a message with the family on the Youth standards of the Church using the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet. We are having another water balloon fight with them today for a rematch. We had a total of four lessons that day and they were all very good. Saturday we did some service and went finding. We have a sports night every Saturday night at the school gym next to us and it has been a great finding tool. New people showed up Saturday and we were able to talk to them about the Church while playing basketball and dodge ball. At the end, the Recent converts that went to the temple came and told us how great their trip was. Sunday they all gave talks on their experiences in the temple doing baptisms for the dead. It was very touching listening to them describe what they felt inside the temple. We had lunch with the Senior couple in Dennehotso and saw the investigator on baptism date out there. He is going o be baptized this Saturday and we are exited for him. That night we had family home night with a member family and then had a fireside at the church. It all went well and it is great serving these people. I have seen the people here grow in the 5 weeks I have been here and it is amazing. Thank you for your letters and emails this week. I appreciate your support. Talk to you all next Monday. Bye!

Love you Mom! :)

Mon 6/16/2014

I sent Pictures of our hike this morning. We got the "Sunrise Blessing" that every native talks about. Very spiritual to watch the sunrise

Sooooo.... I ran out of time. My email is simple though. Elder Acaylar and I are staying this transfer, and we were able to help out with a converts baptism from Dennehotso. We have been teaching this 12 year old with the Napierski's (senior couple in Dennehotso) and it was great to see him get baptized. We hope his dad, who is not a member, will follow soon hereafter. Everything is awesome in Chilchinbito. We went to a Mission tour in Chinle to listen to Elder Carolson from the 70 speak. He was awesome! I got to see the missionaries in my last area and they told me the ward is doing really well so things are good for me. Gotta go! Bye!    Love you Mom! :)

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!

Everyone and their dog thinks I will be leaving Many Farms

Ya'at'eeh! Transfers are coming up. Everyone and their dog thinks I will be leaving Many Farms.. Just in case they are right, don't send mail until after May 12th, so I can tell you if I have a new address or not. The last week has been a very good week for finding Less Active Members of the Church. In total we found 4-5 members that really show potential and could very easily come back to church. Two of them want us to baptize their kids. Wednesday we saw a Less Active and taught her 19 year old son and with her 16 year old grand daughter. Both of them are really progressing and all of their questions are spirit led. We answered so many good questions that we basically taught the first two lessons! We really need to go over them again but for now we are teaching what they need. Thursday we met with a Family who is investigating the Church and they said that they want to be baptized but we need to work out their living situation first. Ether they need to live in separate homes and stuff or they will need to get married. They really want to be Baptized though so it should be cool to see what happens. Friday we weekly planed and went finding for the rest of the day. Saturday we went to Rough Rock to see two new members of the Ward and they were very active in the wards they came from. We are pretty exited because that is exactly what this Ward needs. Sunday we had Stake conference and President Batt gave a talk. All of the talks were really cool! We felt bad for all the people we visited with afterwards that didn't go because it was exactly what they needed. We took Bishop and his wife teaching for 2 hours last night and they loved every second of it. Maybe they will go teaching with us again some time! Anyways, I'm out of time haha. Talk to you next Week and Thank you for your emails and Letters!  --Elder Petersen

...it was a cool week filled with awesomeness!

Josh's (Elder Petersen's) email on Monday: Went to Canyon De Chelly today with Bishop Logan. Got back late so I will have to email you Tomorrow night. Love you Mom! :)

Elder Petersen's email on Tuesday: oops :( sorry, got back late from Zone Conference, email tomorrow

Elder Petersen's email Wed: Hey Mom! Good afternoon :)

......an hour later on Wednesday:

Ya'at'eeh! Good week since I last wrote an email. Things have been looking up and we keep finding new people to teach! We had a remarkable week for door contacts. We mark down how many new people we talk to about the Gospel and this week we broke the record! We met 48 new people while on a good week we only talk to about 22 new people.We now have 8 new investigators to see. It was exiting because with all the finding we did we still managed to have just as many lessons and got even more done than usual. Overall a very successful week for missionary work here in Many Farms! Just another sign that God is hastening his work and now all we have to do is catch up and work hard. So on Monday we met with the really sweet 74 year old shima in the ward. She has been staying home on Sundays because her son was in an accident and cant walk for the time being. She has somehow managed to come to the last two church meetings and is going to be active in the ward pretty soon! We talked about having the faith that Heavenly Father would provide a way for her to make it to church and she really liked it. Tuesday we went finding and talked to a few new people who were interested so we will have to go back this week and follow up. Wednesday we went on exchanges and I stayed in many Farms with Elder Jones, our District Leader, while Elder Sorensen went to Lukachukia with Elder Manumaleuna, our Elder from Hawaii. The day was a good day with 6 new investigators, three of them we are going to see tonight! we went finding and teaching all over the place and it was insane how much work we got done. Thursday was a heavy Less Active day and all of the members we saw committed to being at church on Sunday. Friday was good at the end of the day. We saw one of the Recent Converts and his family who is investigating the church. They liked the "CPR" (Church, Pray, Read) lesson we gave and next time we see the family we are going to invite the Mom to be baptized. The Father is already a member who went on placement as a kid but does not remember allot so he is almost like an investigator. Saturday we were able to do some service work at a members home with some youth in the ward. After we weeded the yard we headed out for the day. Every appointment we had previously scheduled they were home which is very rare but awesome! definitely a good day! We saw the recent convert who use to be a youth Preacher at another church and he is truly converted to the Church of Jesus Christ for sure! He told us that he wants to tell everyone he taught to come to the LDS church instead! :D Sunday we shared the Ester Story with everyone we saw and gave out a copy of the story the church put on LDS.org. Good stuff, and we had positive feedback on the message. Monday we went hiking with Bishop and his family at Canyon De Shelly or Sheey or however you spell it. It kinda looks like Shelly but it is pronounced Shey. Cool hike though! It's the second time I have been there and it was good to have Bishop there. Yesterday, we had Zone Conference in Gallup, NM and that was really good. President and Sister Batt are Amazing teachers! Strong spirit in the meeting and there were some really helpful ideas for this area. We went shopping at Walmart after because we don't have one on the Reservation, so we bought tons of food and drove home late last night. Well, I hope I haven't forgotten anything, just know it was a cool week filled with awesomeness! Thank you for everything and I'm out... Peace!