E-Mail February 27, 2012

Hey  Family,
    How is everything going? How's life?
    This last week, nothing too exciting has happened. We have had a
few lessons with people but, nothing too much to report on.
    I got yet another flat tire this week. I actually got 2! It was
fun stuff. But, because I had gotten a few flat tires before I bought
one of those "slime" intertubes that is supposed to fix itself after
it gets punctured... didnt work. So I had to patch that up with all
the slime trying to ooze out of the hole, heck-a-fun! So after I got
that all patched up, the next P-day we went to Wally World (Wal-mart)
and bought the Slime brand protective liner that goes inside your tire
so as to prevent anything from puncturing your tire in the first
place. It worked well! For a while... Then this week happened. I went
throught 6 patches and I think I finally got it all fixed up. Where is
the hole I am trying to fix, you might ask? Cause if I just put in
that liner I shouldnt be getting any more flats right? I got a hole in
the side of my tire... HOW it happened, I have no idea. So, I am
working on keeping my front tire alive. Arizona sucks to ride a bike
in because of all the needles from, not only catci but, from trees and
other plants they have growing out here. Its frustrating! But, they
almost always seem to be a blessing in disguise.
    When I got the first puncture, there wasnt anything great that
came out of that. We were trying to contact a few people and it ended
up taking a full hour to hour and a half to fix it. It was rediculous!
Then later in the week (Friday) we were coming out of an apartment
complex and the patch I put on originally decides it doesnt wanna stay
on. So I am there trying to fix it all up and that is taking forever.
We had a lesson to get to in 15 minutes which meant, from where we
were, I had 2 minutes to fix it all. THAT didnt happen. So we called
the people, told we would be late, then called a ride to pick us up. I
continued to try and fix my tire and this guy walks up to me. "You
havin' bike issues??" You have NO idea how badly I wanted to just
turn, look at him and say "Nope! I just wanted to take it apart to see
how it all works... 'Here's your sign.'" Haha, no, it did run through
my head though. I turned and said "Yeeeaahhh, but what's up?" "Are you
guys Mormon?" "Yeah, can we help you with something?" "Well, I have
been wanting to learn a little bit more about you guys. That
possible?" ... ... I dont understand... People seem to WANT to hear
what we have to say! So we continued asking some of the preliminary
questions and set up a time to meet.
     This is where the second principle of the Gospel comes in. God
answers our prayers. Not always in ways that we expect but, He will
ALWAYS answer our prayers. Every time Elder Carroll and I pray
together we pray to find those that the Lord has prepared to hear the
message of His restored gospel. I always word it, "Let us be placed in
the paths of those that Thou has prepared." How did He answer that
prayer? By giving me a flat tire... Sometimes I think I need to use
slightly different wording.
    The first principle was We Have a Loving Heavenly Father. The two
principles go hand in hand and it doesnt take too much thought as to
see how. But, it doesnt take some looking into to see how He is
blessing our lives. We need to take a look at everything going on
around us. Take a look at the things happening in your lives. Look at
all the bad things and look at what has come because of it. Remember
that the Lord has something more in store for you than what you could
possibly imagine.
    I know that He loves each and every one of us. He WANTS to bless
our lives. He knows who we are. He knows what we need and what we can
handle. Satan uses the tool of discouragement most often, in order to
disrupt the plan that God has laid out for us. Please remember to
thank God for all that you have, all that you have gone through, and
all that you are. "You are not yet as Job," He told Joseph Smith in
the darkest hours of his life. We are not yet as Joseph Smith. We may
do all we can to protect ourselves from the dangers of this world but,
somehow, some way, Satan will find a way to put a thorn in our sides.
Do not let this discourage you. Pray always, go to church often, and
read from the Book of Mormon as much as you can.
    I love all of you and hope everything is going well.

~Elder Daniel Peterson