Update from ward family in Eager

We just received a text with a picture tonight
"Hi my name is Katie Hunt. We had the privilege of having your son in our home tonight for dinner. Thank you for raising such a wonderful son to be an example for our children.  Everyone in Eagar AZ loves elder Peterson!" 

4/27/15 Miracles are Happening!

this week has been so awesome and miracles are happening here. we have 2 baptisms scheduled for this Saturday. i am so excited. last Saturday we went down to brother wultbanks ranch and branded cattle. i am the only one out of the elders that had ever done it before so i had fun. it snowed this week and it was awesome i have pictures of the snow on the mountains. i found out that we will get to go on a priesthood encampment near the end of this transfer and so i get to go camping and wear regular cloths for a little bit.  i am so excitected to skype on mothers day there is so much to say that you just cant send in an e-mail. but it has all been good. i haven't had any sweets in almost 9 weeks and i started yesterday only having one serving at meals because the weight wasnt coming off. i am now down to 260 lbs. its making me pretty happy and i have a gym to lift weights and run. so i am getting pretty fit.

thanks so much and i hope life is going well.

Love,

elder Peterson

 

 

I am so excited. i think the reason i am doing well now is because i am in the mountains, we have tones of investigators, i got to see snow and everyone does what we like to do. as for spanish the church has a great program and i am studying off of a cd and multiple books. i am doing well in it and i can pray and bear simple testimony in spanish.

    This week we have 2 investigators getting baptized. on names Johnathan is 10 and the other, Daniel Prieto is 25 and we are working with all of his family about. his brother and his family and soon hopefully his mother. 

    I am so excited to skype with all of you and it will be good to see Rachel there and all of you. i hope bowen is awake. we probably will be able to skype and that will be great. I love you all.

Love Elder Peterson

 

Learning Spanish

t has been great up here in Eagar. Everybody hunts and it is a town about the size of shelley. John Wayne owned a ranch here in this town and i got to see it. sadly i havnt had an opportunity to go shed hunting yet but this area is so beautiful.

  another thing is that my companion is Spanish speaking as are half of my investigators so i am having to learn Spanish pretty quick. right now i hardly say anything in lessons but i know how to pray in spanish. it is pretty awesome. i am so glad to be here.

the elders name is Elder Chance Murray.

it is pretty great here and i am glad to be in a temperature similar to home. and i am keeping hard at work. thank you so much dad for all you do.

Love,

 

This is a picture of Elder Strike

This is Elder Peterson's New area Eagar Az.

 

Dear mom,

It has been really great up here in Eagar.  It is allot better than the valley and it isn't so bad to be on bike.  Sadly I didn't end up with enough tome to go shed hunting but it is amazing to be here. We are living in a house that is owned by a member but we have it to ourselves. 4 Elders and a house about the size of ours. 

There is quite a lot of game around and elk come down to a bishops field every night.  John Wayne had a ranch here.  It is pretty cool.  Mountains and trees to the south and open bare planes to the North.  It is sooooooo awesome. I am so grateful to be here and learning Spanish.  I love you and than you so much.

Love Elder Peterson

Transfer to the Mountains as the President Promised!

Hey dad,

   i have some amazing news, i am no longer in the city of heat death and doom. the lake of fire and brimstone lol. i did get transferred and now i am in Eagar Arizona on the edge of new mexico. it is an amazing town comparable to Sheridan Montana. it is nestled in the middle of the mountains surrounded by pines and mountains. bad news is i had to get a bike from another elder and we need to pay him back. he wanted around 300 for it and he said the lowest he could go was 250 so somehow i need to get the money to him in the next couple of weeks/ months so feel free to respond to this and tell me what you think. he gave me the bike and i am now using it.  

   I did get the package.... just before i left. just so you know we dont have a mailbox up here so all the mail needs to be sent to the mission office and it may take 2-3 weeks for me to get it so that kinda stinks. but i am happy to be here and back to the high mountains and pine trees.

love,

Justin

 

4/08/2015 Wednesday (P-day after transfer day)

Dear Mom,

thanks so much for the package. I got it just before I left.  Please tell everyone not ot send mail there anymore.  I am now in Eagar Arizona on bike and all my mal has to go t the mission office because we don't have a place to get mail.  So it will take anywhere from 1 day to 4 weeks for me to get the mail from the mission office.  I will work on finding a place for it to get sent.  I love you so much and am so excited to be here in Eagar.  It is like Sheridan Montana.  Love you mom.  My new companions name is Elder Strike.  He is awesome and we will get along great.  He went to Harvard. He likes the outdoors too.  Its pretty cool.  I am excited to serve here.

Love Justin

 

 

March 9th and 16th

3/09/15

just thought i would let you know that i am doing well down here in Arizona. I am so sorry that i havnt sent you allot in my emails lately. there have not been a ton of miracles in my area yet and the teaching pool is small. hopefully we will be able to have a few of our recent convert Max Gaysters friends to be able to teach. ugh i hate having a timer on the computer. since i started training i have had to report numbers on my p-day during my hour email time also so now the time gets used up fast. sweet the timer just gave me an extra 15 minutes hahaha. now i can finish my email. thank you so much for all that you do dad. i loved the package and seeing my bow-hunter of the year jacket. i guess i wont be seeing one of those for quite a while now hahaha.  but its pretty cool down here (NOT) it is starting to get hot already and i might have to get a bike soon because they are reducing the number of cars in the mission but for now at least i still have it. it is allot harder than i thought to be running an area. but none the less we have been keeping pretty busy. my companion doesn't know how to do anything yet so it is basically just me setting all the appointments. teaching most of the lessons and planning out the days and filling out paper work. i have never been this exhausted in my entire life. but it is a different kind of exhausted. i am just tired all the time with headaches but my body feels fine. i actually miss manual labor and building houses. its crazy to thing that i have been away from home for just over 4 months now. time goes by allot faster out here in the field. I hope Everything is going well back home and i hope that work isn't too rough. whats the news on Chett and Nathan and Brandon?

from what it sounds like Brandon is pretty Twitterpated and smells really good now. what about nathan. how is his school work. what about bowen. is he getting as big and smart as it sounds like he is getting?  i hope that everything is going ok and hopefully this week we will have more stories to tell you.

Love,

Justin

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March 16th

 

Dear Dad,

this week was a pretty good week. i am glad to hear that things are going well at home and things are going well for me here. it has been about 90 degrees in the middle of the day so not to bad but still a little hotter than i wanted it to be. we got to go to the temple for a session last week and that felt good so i am glad for that i did a family name for initiatories and endowment. it felt really good. mom has the pictures from the trip. ah and because of that trip we spent a day on bike to save miles. that really hurt. my legs were fine and i enjoyed it but bike seats are of satan i swear lol. i am so glad to hear that things are going well at home and i hope that soon we will get some more people to teach. i love you.

Love,

Justin

 

Thanks mom,

this week has been pretty boring down here and the temperature gets into the 90's in the middle of the day. my companion and i went for a day on bike in our area to save miles. my legs have no problem but my butt is sooooooo sore. i swear satan invented bike seats. I have been doing well. i haven't had sweets in over a month and i even picked the m&m's out of the trail mix. i love the protein bars too. its cool that you had a good time fishing and shooting bows. i never knew you had that feeling haha its kinda funny how all these things stand. you and us and everyone in the ward. its like everyone else saw it even before we did lol. i am glad all is going well back home and that bowen is having a good time. I am reading jesus the christ. it is so advanced and it surprises me at how much i understand. i never knew that i could read words that big that easy that fast and understand them. but it is still spiritualy draining. it feels like i am drinking from a spiritual fire hydrant. but i love it. hope all goes well.

Love,

Justin.

P.S. 5 months already lol

 

Challenging and Testifying Missinary

January 21 2014
Dear dad,
its cute to hear about bowen from you and mom. He is going to be so big when i get home lol. we havnt been able to see McKenzie lately but i did commit another of our investigators to baptism. that was really awesome. there is to much to really write about but i am doing a little better. I still have my moments but oh well i cant do anything about it so i will keep pushing forward. cant wait to hear from you on monday again.

Love

Justin .

 

Mom,

 i am glad to hear that you are getting into your new job. things have been going well for me. sorry for the alarm but this week was transfers so my p-day got moved to wednesday (this will happen every 6th week). This week we finaly had a lesson with Mike and Rachelle (pronounced roshell). it went well. he is an investigator and she is a less active. they are engaged and living togeather. the lesson went well and i just outright invited him to be baptized once they are married. He Said Yes!!! so now the wedding isnt until October but at least he has a goal!!! it is so fun to hear about the family and i love getting letters. i am going to spen 1 more transfer in the same apartment for sure and then who knows but i am doing better. i still feel depressed at times but slowly am getting over it. i dont know if i will ever want to be out here but at lest i can make it by. Love you all.

Love,

Justin

Feb and March e-mails

Feb. 23rd 2015
It sounds to me like Idaho must be gaining its paradisaical glory already LOL. the average temperature today is 64 degrees right now and everyone else thinks it is cold lol. its amazing to hear how well work is going for you right now. it has been pretty crazy down here as well. i have been very busy and i forgot to take pictures again. its wierd i just got a new haircut today with a part from Elder Fa'aeseia Lakatani. it looks different but really good. So uncle Layne met president sweeney. that is crazy. this week he was all over the mission because we got tiwi boxes in our cars to track our driving. I didnt know that he though that highly of me. This week is transfers so you wont get an e-mail from me until wednesday of next week. i dont know where or if i will be moving but i have a feeling that i will be. there are a few people that i will miss down here if i do but it wont be that bad.  I am glad to hear that rachel got to come over and hang out with all of you. I am gratefull that you are reaching out to her. Bowen sounds like he is getting to grown up.

I love you all so much and thank you for all that you do. i want you to know that i am doing well down here (despite the fact that i reinjured my ankle thismorning) and i will keep pushing through. Love you.

love Justin 

Transfer Day March 4, 2015

well to end your worries about me. I Am Not Transferred. i am still in mountain view in the same apartment and also almost all the same elders. One exception. Elder Stratton is gone now and i am TRAINING. my new companions name is elder bowles and he came from the MTC on monday. I am so stressed out because i am now running the ward and am the senior companion already. he is pretty great though. good news is we still have the car and so do the other elders now. so that is good.

 

How are things going at home other than that. how are my lil brothers doing. it is good to hear that dads work is starting up again. my prayers are with everyone at home and i love you all.

Love Justin