Dec 21 2010

Family,

Don't worry, I haven't left Brive! Elder Boehme however has, and is now in Marseille. It is a bit bizarre that you can be with someone for 9 weeks, then just be without them in one day! I will miss him, but my new colleage is super cool! Il S'appelle Elder Nicholes! He is from good ol' Orem Utah!!! The Lord loves me and knows my needs, that is all I can say! Ha ha.

The last week, the weather was actually pretty decent. Me and Elder Boehme seen many blessings this last week, and found 7 new amis!!!! That is two new families! I'll tell you about them!

The first family is the Famille Lecruse; do you remember me telling you about the women we found at the dry cleaning place? Well we finally taught her family!!! She has two little girls, one is 9 and the other 8! They absolutely love us, and it was heart warming to see one of the little girls treasure a picture of Jesus we gave her! They came to the Soirée Noel Saturday and brought the husband too! They loved it, and we were able to eat with them Sunday afternoon as well! We were iffy about the husband... you see we actually had knocked on the family's door before actually meeting Delphine, and the husband told us "ça m'intéresse pas" which means "I'm not interested". He is rather intimidating, reminds me of dad, But after talking with him, he is super sweet! He committed to read the Book Of Mormon! Lots of hope for this family!

Then we ate dinner with a member family who invited a non-member friend to the soirée noel and church, and then dinner! We talked briefly about the Book Of Mormon, but the mother and the kids are interested and want to continue visiting with us!!!

Then there is Iraj, the Iranian I told you about. We moved his baptismal date to the 8th of January, because of certain factors, but he loves to meet with us, and learn the Gospel. It is difficult to know if he completely understands the principles due to a language barrier he has, but we are working at it! We are going to try really hard to get his wife involved this week!

I am a little bit nervous, and can see that this week and the weeks to come are going to require a lot of work. I have a new companion who doesn't know the ville or amis.. but that's life! Life is full of changes, change is good! Im' keeping a postivie attitude, and know I can always place my trust in our Heavenly Father; truly he does not change. He is the only constant thing in my life right now! I will strive to steadfastly look forward to Christ and persevere with joy! Coach Chournous and Coach Hawes always taught me to keep my eye on the ball, and when I did I was able to make things happen. However, after that you had to be smart when running the bases. Hitting the ball is one thing, but to make it home is another. If you aren't smart at the bases, and do not know what to do in certain situations, you will quckly find your spot right back the bench. Of course we all know I struggled a lot my senior year, and frankley just didn't keep my eye on the ball. My time at the plate was numbered, and the chance to redeem myself passed, but I can still keep my eye on the ball; that is to keep my eye on what I want most. Salvation and Exaltation. If I keep my eye fixed firmly on Christ, and his Gospel, I can make things happen, I can find what I want most. But like the game of baseball, once you have hit the ball, you have to run the bases! You have to run the bases with everything you have, and be smart about it! You can do so by I being obedient,having faith, and doing work! if we do these things, we will have the constant companion of the Holy Ghost and be smart as we run the bases of life and ultimatley make it to home base; eternal life!

It is like it is said in Helamen 5, if we build ourselves on a firm foundation, we cannot fall! That foundation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I know this Gospel is true! I know this work is true! I absolutley loved the picture story from the tabernacle fire because it speaks to my heart.

Matthew 24:35

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

When all other lights go out, the light of Christ will shine in darkness. No matter what should come to pass, Christ will forever be a beacon of Hope and Salvation!

I love you all, and can't wait to talk to you on Christmas!!!!!!!! I'll figure this situation out with the calling, you just be waiting ;)

Love à Jamais,

Elder Petersen

p.s

I included pics of the famille lecruse; some members; me, Elder Boehme, Elder Heywood and his companion Elder Magnan; and a picture of Iraj (picture with black man in it)