Transition to Missionary!

( Luella wrote "Lastly, I read your last letter about you asking for commitments! And that the gentleman said yes!" )  Justin said;
Love you mom!  Oh and that gentle man is verry interesting..... he comes to church in a kilt.... A KILT!!! lol like full on kilt boots Theodora and  vest lol. He is built like uncle Rob.

my daily schedule is usually: 

6:00 a.m. wake up every morning because i have to pee and hate myself because i have to get up at 6:30 and cant get back to sleep.

6:30 get out of bed and eat

7:00 personal study

8:00 companion study

9:00 work out

9:30 shower shave Ect.

10:00 12 week training

11:00 lunch 

then the rest of the day is proselyting/lessons.

9:30 planning 

10 journal

10:30 Sleep

UGH!!! hahaha long days.

there are no set lessons to teach the investigators we have 5 basic lessons and then teach them however we need to.

we use companion study to plan what we are going to teach and role-play how it will go and practice. it gets pretty funny sometimes.

P days basically consist of just shopping and haircuts and E-mail. that's about it. there isn't allot of time for anything else. but we do play a little b-ball every now and then.

[Rachel and I] are getting better at the separation and know it will get better and i think we are growing stronger if anything. gosh sometimes i wish i cold have like 5 minutes on the phone every night just to talk to people. it would be such a breeze for me just to hear a friendly voice and know things are ok and boost confidence you know. oh well that'll never happen.

i heard about a Johnny that died i guess. it doesn't really bother me but i would like to know which Johnny it was. johnny wooden? or one of my friends from school? i would just like to know. one thing i have learned from teaching the lessons and the gospel is that any separation is only temporary. his plan is an ETERNAL plan. now that i have realized this in know how small this 2 years is vs an eternity with my family loved ones friends and especially Rachel. separation is always temporary in this plan. Though painful for a time all things will be brought together once again acording the the rightuous desires of our heart.

I love you so much mom and dad

I love you Nathan.... you can do it "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11 My brother you can do hard things. i am far away serving the lord. You are now the eldest son of the home. now is the time for you to step up to the plate and fill my shoes and become the man i know you can be and help mom and dad in all things. I know you can do it.

Brandon I know you can as well become a help to the family. you will never ever remember all the times you beat a video game. those things are fun in moderation. but the true things you will always remember is the time you spend with family. I want both of you to step up and become even better and stronger sons than i was and be there to help EVERYONE in the family and area. "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17

Now my brothers Go and Do. Joy in family and love and righteousness.

Love you all.

Things are looking up!

Elder Peterson asked for his Patriarchal Blessing, and his line of Authority. We sent him a digital copy last week.  Today his letter sounded really positive.

1/12/2015

Dear Mom and Dad,
 I have been doing much better now. People keep hinting about leadership to me and it also mentions allot of leadership in my patriarchal blessing. i don't see it in myself but maybe others do. i am worried soon i may be in a leadership position lol. i have never liked that pressure and talking and leading but it may be inevitable lol. i have one or two more transfers in the valley then i will be heading to the mountains and pines again most likely. the temperature and climate will be more like home. also the work is progressing a little better here. we have an investigator with a baptismal date named McKenzie but she is only 16 and her dad wont let her be baptized. so she has to wait until she is 18. we have been praying for her dads heart to be softened. I know we aren't supposed to ask for anyone at home to fast but i am going to ask if you would perhaps pray for her so she can maybe get baptized.

Thank you  so much.

I love you 

Love,

Elder Peterson

 

P.S.

Tell Bowen i love him

Tell Nathan to keep his grades up and leave the girls alone Player Lol

Tell Brandon to Try not to steal the show to bad with his pure awesomeness and ninjetics Lol. 

I leaned the art of Mexican Judo.... "Be careful Homes, Judo know if I gotta Knife, Judo know if i gotta gun, Judo know..."

mushroom "i'd give you a ride but there's not mushroom."

Thats all i have for now. Oh P.S. I am learning Spanish.

A New Year

January 5 2015

 

Despite all of the struggles in myself i am working and we have an investigator Joseph don Vito who we have met with a couple of times. he is very interesting. he is a crisis Chaplin. a Messianic pastor and a Priest with a collar. and more. he has studied religion most of his life but feels like with all of these accomplishments the lord still is pushing him towards something and he doesn't know what that is yet. our last lesson he opened up and accepted to read the book of Mormon and pray about it so hopefully he gets the right answer.

so things are starting to progress but at the same time i feel like i am regressing. i want you to know you are all in my prayers and i am still trying for you but i cant promise anything. i don't want to be a disappointment to anyone and so i feel caught in the middle of so many things. i don't know what to do anymore. i don't remember anything in my patriarchal blessing saying anything about this but i ordered another one so i hope it gets here soon.

i love you all

Love,

Justin 

Ward Families that LOVE Elder Peterson

December 20, 2014
We received our first member text showing Elder Peterson holding a rat.  Elder Peterson was wearing the camouflage Santa hat and had the sunglasses we sent tucked into his pocket.  Yay! he had received his package for Christmas.  The member message said "Elder Peterson holds his first pet rat! Welcome from Phoenix!

The member said "this is Laura Packard. he's just come to our ward. We are so glad to have him. He has a terrific companion too.  they're heading to the park with a guitar for your son and a ukulele for his companion to set up a boot today. (Short sleeves for the Idaho boy)."



12/21/2014

We received a second text from another member family, saying "Sister Peterson, We love your son and had a great time with him tonight.  We had a few nonmember families into our home so Elder Peterson, and Elder Stratton could meet them.  Thanks for sharing your son. Merry Christmas!"

Elder Stratton is holding little missionary minions. 

Almost a Month as a Missionary December 15th 2014

Dear Mom and Dad,

Tell Brandon i am so excited for him and his first buck. i have had a tough time out here and feel depressed often and want to come home but i know you all want me to stay badly so i am going to keep trying. We have allot of stuff we are doing but mostly meeting with members and less actives as we only have one investigator. I did something no one else has been able to do down here as of yet though. I got a millionaire named Daryl Williams to feed the missionaries. no one has been able to ever before, but you'll never guess where his wife was from..... Shelly, Idaho lol. the weather has been pretty good down here not to hot but everything is sooooo different. Giant cactus bigger than the trees at our house. it is so weird. 2 years is such a long time. i hope i can make it that long. I love you all.

Love Justin.

My new address for at least the next 5 weeks (if it wont get here before that don't send it to this address because it might change) is

Elder Justin Lyle Peterson

3040 East Shae Blvd #1030

Phoenix AZ .85028 

send mail to this adress to get it to me faster thanks ;)

First days in Arizona December 8th-10th

Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 7:27 AM, Justin Peterson

dear mom and dad

my first flight was so cool

road a public buss (never before) then a train (never before) and then the plane was awesome lol. You were right i feel allot better out of the mtc. president Sweeney told my he is just having my in the valley for 6 to 12 weeks with this zone leader as my companion for training and then he is sending me to the mountains (i think) he says he wants me up there because they do so much service. also guess what. I am the only one out of 4 missionaries in mountain view ward in our apartment that can drive so i got a brand new 2014 Volkswagen Jetta to drive me and my companion around. I am so scared because I have never drove a car this nice in my entire life. lol. i am sorry for how i felt in the mtc i wasn't happy there but i think i will be ok now.  i love you all. I love you all so much.

Love,

Justin.

P.S. it is HOT but night time is amazing.

my new companion is Elder Stratton. He i very cool also by christmas i guess every US missionary should have i pads to use and proselyte the other tow elders are Elder Ortiz and Elder Mayberry

These pictures were taken December 7th and 8th 2014 .

These next pictures were taken December 9th

 The Zone Leader, his companion, trainer, Elder Stratton

The Apartment

The Famous Volkswagen Jetta inside and out (LOL)

MTC Life November 19th 2014- December 8th 2014

Missionary life was not what Justin had anticipated or maybe it was, but he felt the difficulties in the MTC.

Some highlights from his first letter:
"First day in the MTC went ok, but I have no idea how I can make it 2 years when one day has just about been to much for me." ..." It has only been a few hours but I already I miss everyone."... "You can send me mail faster at Dearelder.com and send it to my MTC mailing adress."

Wed 11/26/2014
"Dear mom and dad,

"Sorry I have not been able to send a lot of mail.  It is way to busy here if you ask me. I have barely had time to write letters but today is my first p day."... "The spirit is so strong here and our district is claimed as one of the best. There are 9 of us.  Me, and Elder Towle are companions, then there are Elder Casey and Elder Letourneau, Elder Web and Elder Serinilla, and three sisters Sister Jensen, Sister Lyons and Sister Vilallta."

Justin's Comp --->

"I really don't need anything, the bookstore sells everything I could need but I do need hangers. I can even buy garments here. We are constantly kept busy from 7:30 am to 9:30 Pm either learning, studying, preparing lessons, teaching investigators (sometimes 3 a day) and attending devotionals." 

Justin's letter was mostly about missing home, but he was determined to stay out and work.

He almost came home the next Wednesday, but after thinking about it, he stayed and headed to Arizona early Monday Dec. 8th. (3 in the morning according to him)