Monday, December 17, 2012

Rubber Band Ball


Hey Family,
 
So, I just want to write to everyone about a talk that was given yesterday in our YSA ward. I probably don't remember it all and exactly how it goes but, I pray that I will be able to remember so the Spirit can testify to each of you of the power of the Atonement.
 
Bro. So-and-so got up from the High Council over the YSA stake and committed everyone to do 2 things. The First: "Turn off your cell phones and iPads like in a movie theater so there are no distractions." The Second: to open their hearts and pay attention to the Holy Ghost. Then he gave a promise. "I promise you that you will leave here a different person than when you walked in. The title "Savior" will have a greater meaning to each of you than it has before."

He then spoke of his calling that he had in the past of a Singles ward bishop. He had it for 4 years. Everyone that ever walked into his office asked about the giant rubber band ball that sat on his desk. He invited them to sit down and began to explain the rubber band ball. He said talked about how the ball is entirely made up of rubber bands. That it started with one small one and as he continued to build the rubber bands had to get bigger. He would tell them that they were sitting down there because they had built their own ball they they now wanted to get rid of. They would always look at him like, "okay... explain the ball thing to me," so he would. The rubber bands represented mistakes or things that caused feelings of guilt or shame. It started with one incident and would continue to build. When you throw a rubber band ball at the ground, trying to hide it underneath the table, it always bounces back up. As the ball gets bigger it gets harder to hide and when one of those "rubber bands" gets brought up, they all come out of hiding. "So! let us work on getting rid of your rubber band ball."

He would then give a sheet of paper and a pen to the person he was  meeting with. He would tell them to make a list of everything they felt guilty for or had any problems with. He would then go over the 5 steps of repentance; 1) Acknowledge you have done something wrong. 2) Be sorry for what you have done. Godly sorrow, not worldly sorrow. 3) Confess what you have done and Correct it. Make Restitution. 4) Drop it. Forgive yourself or forgive those that wronged you. 5) Endure to the end. (We teach those as the ABC's of repentance). He would then ask them to go and do those five things and would reschedule. They would come back and he would hand them a red pen and tell them to write those 5 steps over their list of things. That represented to Blood of Christ washing away their pains and sorrows, their guilts and shames and their own mistakes and wrongdoings. He would get papers turned into him where you could no longer see any trace of their original list. The papers would be completely covered in "Christ's atoning blood" and would be wet from tears.

He then tells the story of a specific girl that walked into his office dressed in gothic clothes, hair dyed jet-black earing thick black sunglasses. He explained the rubber ball to her without her asking and went through the same steps. She never said a word and walked out of the office. He felt a little awkward and discomforted by it but things went on. He saw the same girl 5 weeks later and the same things happened. Not a word from her mouth and she left. 3 weeks after the second visit she comes in early and throws a spiral notebook on his desk and says, "We have an appointment at 5. I suggest you start now." She walked out of the room and came back at 5. She had a list of 125 things on her list. The former bishop went over her list with her and she told him that there was one boy she could not forgive. That she would never forgive because of the things he had done to her. She told the bishop (now our high councilman)  that she was leaving for 3 weeks up to Utah for Christmas. He told her to write a letter to this boy telling him everything he has done wrong and everything she hated about him. Then to write, in the same letter, everything she had learned from him. Lastly, to teach him about the Atonement. She walked out of his office saying, "I dont think I can do that but I will try."

3 weeks later a girl with blonde hair, brightly colored clothes bounces into his office and exclaims her excitement towards the bishop and tells him that she has scheduled a meeting with him and with see him soon. The bishop was puzzled as to who this girl was! He then remembered the girl from before and realized this was the same girl. 

They met later that day and she told him her story. She told him that she had decided to write the letter. How she thought he needed to go to places and how much she hated him and how much he had ruined her life. She then wrote about how she learned all of the "what not to do's" about life from him. Then she started to teach him about the Atonement. An overwhelming sense of joy filled her mind. The Holy Ghost impressed upon her that she truly had been forgiven of everything, that The Savior had taken her burden and lifted it from her back. She could feel nothing but an immense sense of love for this young man. She then began to advise him to meet with his bishop and to do the same things she had done so as to better his life. She finished the letter and decided not to send it after all. One hour later she gets a phone call from this young man. He told her how he had met with his bishop and was calling to ask for forgiveness.

The Spirit filled the Bishop's office and testified to them both that they could pronounce her clean before the Lord at that time. She had completed her list and applied the Atonement to herself. She had gotten rid of her Rubber Band ball.

I love every one of you. I know the Savior lives and that He died for all of us. He is able to help us overcome even our greatest struggles. I love Him. I know Our Heavenly Father loves us. I miss you all and can't wait to see you on Christmas.

~Elder Daniel Peterson

9 Wards and Christmas Plans


Hey Kiddos!!
 
Now, recently missionary work has been different. One of the elders in our district jacked up his knee and had to go home for surgery so we have his companion with us for the rest of the transfer. Pres. Howes said that he would be with us anywhere from 3 days to 5 weeks (the rest of the transfer) and it is seeming like its going to be the latter. So!! We now are covering two areas worth of work which, for us, means 9 wards!!! It's slightly redonkulous. So this past week was weird for us trying to plan how to work everything out and get everything rolling. This next week should be a lot better for us though. We have a lot more set up and things coming our way. I'm excited for it all. Elder Wind is our third companion by the way. He has been out for 10 months and is super energetic. He has his ups and downs more often than most but, is a great elder. You can really tell that he loves his investigators.
Christmas day will be a fun day. We dont have P-day on Monday, well... we do for shopping and stuff but, not for activities. That stuff will happen Christmas night. We will still have District Meeting on Christmas day and then we have from like. 1-3 to do pretty much whatever so, between there is when we will probably be making phone calls home and everything. So, we are going to try to set it up for 2 o'clock at a members house. I dont know what time it will be there so... yeah. Then after calls and whatnot we will go to dinners and all that fun stuff at member's homes and then P-day activity things from 6-8:30. That's kind of our schedule for Christmas.
 
How is everyone else doing? I would love to hear from all of you!! Love ya!!!

~Elder Daniel Peterson

Who Steals a CTR Ring?!

Last week Daniel sent his Christmas wish to us, and shared why he was asking for what he wanted. While I'm not expecting anyone out there to send him his request (I'm pretty sure a parental unit will take care of him), I did think his e-mail was funny, and wanted to share his thoughts with everyone.


mmmmmmmYELLOW!
 
I had just thought about one last little gift that would be nice to have. So, when I was in Ahwatukee I left my CTR ring in the bathroom and went back in like 2 hours and it was gone. Yes, I left it in the bathroom which is my fault but! Who steals a CTR ring?!?!?! They obviously don't know what CTR stands for so why would they want it? If they do know what CTR stands for than why are they STEALING?? I don't know. But.... A new one would be fantastic. My finger size is 7.5, I'm pretty sure. So yeah..
I love you!! Miss you much!! See ya in a couple of weeks!
~Elder Daniel Peterson

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

New Address

Hey Everyone! We got permission to use a computer to let everyone know our new address! SO! Here it is. Talk to you on Monday!

~Elder Daniel Peterson

2723 E. Comstock St.
Gilbert, AZ. 85296

District Leader

I'm leaving Tempe!! And.... I dont know if they send a letter out or anything but, I got called to be a District Leader.

So, I wont know where I'm going until the transfer actually happens on Wednesday. The DL call definitely means more responsibility but, I'm not training so, its really just like a switch of responsibilities. Sad to leave Tempe, definitely. I love Tempe. I'm not as sad to leave this area as I am this zone. Nervous to be a DL? Not really. Up until these last 3 transfers, I've only had DL's as companions. So, I kinda know the ropes... kinda. Hahaha.

Thankful to share the day with all of you!

Surprise Visit

A few weeks ago Bryan (Randi's husband) had to go to Arizona for a business trip. Where in Arizona, you ask? Tempe! Where in Tempe, you ask? Well, if you're walking, he was about 15 minutes from Daniel's apartment! Crazy right!?! So I sent Bryan with a Pumpkin Roll and extra Icing to ding-dong ditch at Daniel's door. We had heard that some missionaries get a little freaked out when they see family members on their mission, and we didn't want Daniel to feel that way.

Bryan went to Daniel's apartment around 9:00 on Sunday night, wrote a little note to make sure Daniel knew it was from us, and then knocked and left. It turns out that missionaries and very quick to open their doors because one of Daniel's companions yelled a "Thank You" to Bryan as he was walking away. Bryan was polite, but kept his distance. He waved and smiled, and then kept going to his car. As Bryan was getting into his car he heard another someone yell, "BRYAN?!?" He turned around and saw Daniel hanging over the side of his balcony. Daniel called Bryan back and met him at his front door.


Bryan came home and retold the story to everyone in the family. He said that Daniel is doing GREAT! He's never seen Daniel happier, and was pleased to report that Daniel still looks just like Daniel! Lol! A whole year into his mission and he hasn't gained a pound. 

It was so good to hear about Daniel from someone other then Daniel! We are all so proud of him and miss him tons every day! 

Monday, November 12, 2012

November 5, 2012

Hey Randi!

Sorry for not "writing" you in so long. But thanks a ton for the letters. They really help.

Cute Halloween costumes! Tina's lookin' good as a little lady bug. (Kates seems to be getting pretty good with her camera if she's getting shots like that out of the back of cars!) Michelle looks so growed up! I can't stand it! Haha, that's awesome though, great to see. (Sorry for all the mistakes *I fixed them for this post* & sloppiness. Been a little hard to focus lately.) So how did they like all of the festivities? Trunk-or-treat or trick-or-treating? What all went down? We had to stay inside a church, with the rest of our zone, & read the new testament from 8am - 5pm. Then we got to go home & kinda do whatever. So we played a lot of Hearts & Risk that night. Nothing too extravagant.

As for this past week or so, it's been alright. We put this guy named Val on date for baptism for the 17th. He's from Uzbekistan. Than on Sunday, our miracle day, we had 2 kids show up to church that never show up & a guy from Russia that we have been trying to meet up with for 2 months randomly called us up & asked us to meet with him. His name is Igor. Stereotypical accent & all. It's kinda kewl.

I've been reading "Jesus the Christ" lately & it's pretty legit. The first bit was hard to get used to & understand but now it's an awesome read. It is helping me a lot right now.

Well, sorry for the kinda lame & short letter. Not too much time to write it, too much to write about this week. But, I love you Rand. I miss you. Hope all is going well with the blowfish!

~Elder Daniel Peterson

Monday, October 29, 2012

E-Mail October 29, 2012


This week has been crazy!

So, I have to kinda recap a part of my e-mail last week. So, last Saturday (the 20th) Kassy was locked in on getting baptized this past Saturday (the 27th). She wanted Brandon, her husband who has been Less-active for ever, to baptize her. He knew he would prolly have to go through this whole long process in order to make that happen. So! He needed and interview with the Bishop. Bishop is in Machu Pichu (however you spell that) climbing mountains with his son and wont be back until Thursday (the 25th). That wasnt gonna happen. We called like 10 people to get to the Stake President, Sunday after church, and was finally directed to his personal cell number. So we called him and asked if Brandon would be able to have an interview sometime soon. He tells us that he has time between now and 5:30 (this is all happening at 4:45). Awesome! Give Brandon a call, he gets dressed and heads over there and gets cleared to baptize Kassy. YAY!!! WOOT!! PARTAY!! Super soaked... stoked! (LOL!)

Now comes Monday. Kassy doesnt wanna get baptized on the 27th anymore. CRAP!! "What the heck is going through her head? What is it now?" All these different throughts start racing through my head. She cancels the meeting that we had set up to go over her baptismal program. We try to accomodate her feelings and let the appointment fall through... for now. We called her and Brandon back a little later and ask if we can come over to just see what is going through her head. We go over and have another spiritual lesson. She's back on for it!! Woot!! Now we set up a time to meet with another missionary for her interview. Tuesday rolls around and she is uncertain about it again. "Kassy!! You're killing me right now!!" So we have another little emergency meeting. She had a few questions so we answered them and she felt better about everything. Pumped for her interview now. So, we get the interview to happen on Wednesday and she passes. Now, for a little background on Kassy. Kassy does NOT like to be pressured into doing anything. It HAS to be her choice, and Brandon will defend her every which way he has to to make sure she isnt uncomfortable. She doesnt like to pray in front of people let alone give a talk/bear her testimony. A little weird, but, that's how she is. She has pretty bad anxiety issues. Back to where we left off. She passes her interview. Get home that night and Brandon gives us a call. He is pretty ticked off right now. He calls and lays into me about pressuring her to do things she doesnt want to do. How they have told us time and time again we CANNOT do that. I dont remember doing that after she told us BUT, she obviously felt like she was being asked to do too much. Brandon goes on to tell me that during her interview she was pressured, after already saying "no", to give a prayer and she felt super uncomfortable. The same thing aparently happened with bearing her testimony. Anyway, after all this Kassy no longer wants to talk to us and our only line of communication was through Brandon. But, she still wants to get baptized. Well, now I'm thinking that there is going to be contention at her baptism which will totally detract from the spirit that should be present. So we are freaking out up until Friday. Friday night comes around and they give us a call and invite us over to their place. They assured us that it wasnt a booby trap and that they werent going to pounce on us. So we did. We cleared everything up, apologized a million and one times and mended the relationship. We went through with the Baptism on Saturday and it was a great Spiritual Experience for everyone in attendance.

But!! That was pretty much the important things that happened this week. I was the most stressed I think I have ever been in my life. It was definitely a trial for me. It doesnt seem like it would be anything big but, it really was trying time. Because of the spiritual lessons we had that week and as many times as she was going back and forth I doubted if what I was saying all those times was really by the Spirit. I felt His presence in every lesson and felt Him work through me. At the moment there was no doubt in my mind. But it was in the retrospect that I doubted. Pres. Uchtdorf gave the First Presidency message on this a few months ago. It was titled "Living in the Middle." Everyone should go read that. Anyway, I learned alot and had my faith and testimony strengthened so much because of this week. It's been an amazing experience. All of the miracles and all of the trials.

I hope everyone learns from their past, lives in the present and hopes for a brighter future. Our Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of us, individually. He knows exactly where we are in life and exactly what we need in order to progress in His kingdom. He has a vast sea of blessing in store for each of us. If we dont see those blessing in our own lives its because we are holding those back from ourselves. He wants to "open the windows of Heaven" to all of us. Please, everyone that reads this, take advantage of God's plan for each of us. Everyone goes through different trials at different points of their life and at different intensities. Everyone. Christ has been there for us from the beginning of our eternal lives. He is there, He was sent on our behalf to do what none of us could. Allow Him to make up the difference. Let Him lighten our loads.

~Elder Daniel Peterson

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Picture Overload

Love from Home Edition








I guess sugar cookies don't travel well! lol!











Yep... That's my Pa! 











Picture Overload

"Did you see that?!" Edition












 


...Classy...

 



I didn't really get the fully story on all this stuff, but I think this was in someone's home! One person owns all of this sports stuff...














 P.S.- That was the short version of all the "Sports Stuff" pictures he sent home.





Spooky Moon!
  




That must be some REALLY good chicken!