November 8th 2010

Bonjour!

Cette semaine était très bien! J'ai trouvé beaucoup de bonheur et vu les bénédictions tombé sur moi! Merci pour tous tes prières!

This week went very well! I found a lot of happiness this week, and saw blessings fall upon me! Thank you for all of your prayers!

You all mean so much to me, and I just am so thrilled that you are mine!!! ha ha This last week was great! We had our "Blue" Conference and I got my legal residency taken care of for my Visa. They have to take a chest scan to see if you have Turburculosis. I passed ha ha, then there was a bunch of waiting and stamping of papers then finally my passport! After that I was done! I seen many of my friends from the MTC, including Elder Heywood! You knew he was in my district right? I see Elder Heywood all the time, and I will continue to because after one transfer, I am resting in Brive.... with Elder Boehme!!! Elder Heywood is also resting in Périgueux, except his companion is jetting to Toulouse to be a Zone leader. His new companion is French ha!

Alors, "Blues" Conference is just what I needed. A answer to my prayers! I was blessed to be able to hear Elder Miller bear his testimony.. and I will tell you, he is an amazing missionary. I remembered his same mentality with football, he stated that he only had one problem while being on his mission, and that was missionaries who didn't care about it as much as he did. I was touched, and I look up to him so much. I hope I can become the missionary he is. It is sad he leaves tomorrow (Tuesday) Morning. I made sure to ask him a few questions about his mission, and even took a few pictures. I found out a lot of things that conference, and one of them was happiness doesn't just come, it is worked for. It also can come and go if you aren't always giving it your best effort. That is in terms of missionary work, living the Gospel, or anything else for that matter. I made a lot of goals that day.

Then the next day, I did an exchange with Elder Heywood! Thats right, two blues in Perigueux! Even better, two blues who were MTC companions! Ha ha, his companion Elder Wimmer, was our district leader and had to get an exchange in with Elder Boehme before the transfer. I was scared at first, but I then I remember something I heard at general conference. We are the only ones who can decide if we are going to fail or succeed. I took my spiritual creation very seriously that morning, and created my whole day before it even happened, and the same theme appeared; happiness and success. I now have a very strong testimony of this practice and know why we do it in this mission. It was not only a great day, but I found the family I created that morning. It wasn't till the end of the night, but surely the Lord placed them in our path. Of course me and Elder Heywood struggled, thats a given. Sometimes we had no idea what someone else was saying, but we just bore our testimonies and asked for their contact! You wouldn't believe the blessings! I actually found that I speak and comprehend French a lot better when it is all on me and I don't have Elder Boehme to bail me out!

I have been making phone calls too ha ha..... I'm surprised with how patient people are. Elder Boehme sat laughing the other night as I made a phone call and botched a lot of things up.. but hey I get the appointment!!!!

The last thing I wanted to share was my spiritual creation yesterday. I thought of a middle aged women with dark hair, that would want to talk to us. The day passed and night came. We had just finished a lesson with a less active, and we were on a long walk home..; hence the tree pictures ha ha. We chose a certain path here, talked to certain people here, knocked on a door, etc... and then we visited a members house because he had been sick, I forget to tell you I gave my first blessing in French! It was tough! Anyways he was asleep and we woke him up. We told him we would come by another day. It was then we were randomly walking when a women from across the street waved us down. She acted like we were old friends, it was kind of wierd; Elder Boehme told me to go to her quick even though we were taken back. I don't have much more time to type, but I know the Lord prepares his elect, and he places them in our path when truly seek them! We not only got her contact, but set up a rendez-vous. I love the Lord, and I know that he influences every thing we do in life, and if we study, listen, and expirament, we will find treasures beyond anything we imagined!!! I love you, and pray for you always!

Fear is tempory, Regret is forever... act now!

Love your son, Elder Petersen!