3-22-16

Hey Family,

SO this week we had interviews which i will talk about next, on wednesday we had to go and change the oil in the jeep and also rotate the tires. we had to just sit there for like 3 hours.... it was super boring! but it was funny because we were sitting there at like this booth thing the have facing the to road and we were kinda people watching and looking at the cars and stuff and reading some conf talks and that good stuff. and then i looked up and i saw this guy and i thought i had seen him before and that was a crazy moment! to know the people and area well enough to start recognize people around town!!! a couple days this week we went through like everything we had planed for the day by like 3 and so we had to kinda make things up as we go and we walked around and talked to people as we contacted people and it was really interesting. we walked past these hispanics that were putting subs in there SUV's and they were eating inn n out and we asked them how it was and they said, "mut bien!" (very good) and then we walked a little farther away and then one yelled out "con cervesa" (with beer) hahaha we laughed so hard!! it was a lot of fun! also i bought that pillow and it is amazing! i love it so much!!!! 

about the interview and what was talked about? interviews took all day!!! like we got there at 8:30 and we didnt leave until like 5:30 and they didnt finish till like 8! that is insane!! me and president talked about one of my investigators! it was really interesting. nothing about me or anything. it just shows that he is not worried too much about me. but he did call me last night we and talked about me wrists and me head and how the work in and if i am stressed and also about writing letters home!  it was really interesting. he gave me some good advise about a lot of things!

we have a boy how is 9 who was afraid of water when he was 8 so he didnt get baptized (antwone) and so he didnt get baptized. so his parents asked if we would teach him the lessons and stuff. (they are a little less active.) and he is getting baptized on the 26th!!! he has grown a lot and he is so much fun! i love this little guy a lot and he has helped me a lot to learn how to teach. we teach him in english and i have had to use a lot of object lessons and having him draw things to remember stuff. and it has been really fun! 

we also had to take someone off date this week (joe) because he wasnt coming to church and he is still smoking and stuff. he wants to get baptized but he feels super busy. he is starting his own landscaping com. he is a fun guy.

we are trying to meet with this guy (jose) and he listens really well to what we say and really seems like he wants to learn. he asked real questions and wants to know. also he is really funny! he sometimes tries to speak english to us and he teaches us new words in spanish and it is really fun!

we are still working with ana to get her coming more often to church. she has had all the lessons, now she just has to choose to act. it is sometimes hard to teach her because she kinda just cuts you off when your speaking and just goes off but.. its all good!

also we got back in with the helen and her family! helen is a 9 year old that is not baptized. her parents are less active and kinda "dont have time for us" but this friday we went over and we talked to them for like 2 hours. just talked. we didnt really teach them the whole time. we talked about their life and about their jobs and we cooked with them and then ate it (it was really good to have like a LEGIT home cooked meal and to cook it and be apart of the making of the food) and then we shared with them the hallelujah video (if you haven't watched this yet you need to!!! and share it with as many people as you can! share it in church or what ever meeting or gathering you are in!) oh jk we actually showed them a book of mormon video which is epic (the story of the book of mormon) but still share the hallelujah video!!!!

 today we went and helped out at this bishop storehouse thing but not a LDS one. like some random one that does the same kinda thing i guess. 

How is the head and neck now?

neck i feel is doing a little better! i love the pillow i have! it is amazing and my neck truly can relax with it!!

How are the hands?

hands are ok. i have been wearing my braces all week because sister russell asked me to. it is annoy to have everyone ask me about them and they kinda get in the way but i am able to hold my ipad better now and also get through the day with less pain. so i guess they are helping. 

3/7-3/14

So one day this week we were on a way to go see some people in talent and I was driving and my head had been kinda gone all day but anyways we were driving and I ended up taking the exit to Phoenix for some odd reason. I kinda beat myself up for being dumb and not taking the right exit but was I drove the slower way to talent I thought that maybe we could visit one of our investigators. So we did it and it ended up being a good thing. We didn't end up teaching him a lesson but we talked to him for like 45 minutes. (It was gross because the smell coming out of his house was really bad! I asked elder Dopp what it was after and he said it was beer and smoke combined. It was gross) but we were able to have a cool experience with him and testify that we love him and pray for him. So that was really fun!

Cinnamon rolls are our new favorite snack! I bought cinnamon rolls on Monday and it was probably the best idea ever. We set them out to raise at lunch time or sometime and then we put them in the oven when we get back home at 9 and then after we are done planning we get to eat cinnamon rolls! It is so awesome!!!

as You can see these things are HUGE and they are wonderful! Like they are as big as my face!!! Haha

Patterns of lights

mom's voice coming to me and telling me to take care of myself.

So this week I watched those patterns of lights videos and I was sitting there feeling gross and I heard moms voice come into my head that said " learn to take care of yourself and treat the problem before it gets big!" So I jumped up and I took excerdrin and stuff. Also I got some help for the doc and so that is a big help. 

Sorry I don't have a tone of fun things from this week because i didn't really feel super great and my head was not really here.....love you, Elder Peters

March 7, 2016

2/29 - 3/7
Lesson with Joe and all his crazy thoughts that go every which way. We go in there and we try to teach him but every time, he goes off on at least a 5 to 10 minute tangent about random stuff and we have to try to pull him back down to where we were talking before. But he is doing good and he is progressing pretty well! He has a strong desire to change and so he is doing the things we are asking him todo. He is a fun guy and always keeps us on our toes.
Also this week I was able to think a lot about how my study is going and I feel like it was been slacking. I have tried to look at it and see what is different and why it doesn't feel the same. I don't know what is different yet besides maybe I didn't have such a huge desire to learn. I want to learn so much but I think I just don't know where to start sometimes. I want to know all I can about the gospel and how to better teach it and how I can help people understand it better. I decided to try writing down stuff during my studies but that didn't help me as much as I wanted. I still had the problem of ( just like dad and Tyler) I get so tired when I read. Like I can be super energized but once I start reading, I feel like I tell me brain, "ok go to sleep now" and then the bobbing starts and the heavy eyes and all that good stuff. But I fight through it every day and hope that one day I will be able to just read and maybe even enjoy reading even more.
So for service this week while we were at the kitchen place, me and elder Dopp got the great privilege of taking all the meat off the turkeys they had. Haha! It was a lot of cutting! He pulled the meat off the bones and I would cut it into bite size pieces. It took us a while. It was funny because when we got home we both were SO tired! (Did you know that turkey makes your tired! That's why every one gets tired on thanksgiving! Crazy right!) and so when we got home we were just super super tired! We both kinda crashed on the ground! It was really funny!
Also for service this week we went to a pear farm and did some work there and that was fun! I need to be nicer to myself though and learn that it is ok to just sit and watch sometimes. Our assignment was to rake up all the sticks from when they pruned the trees. So I was dumb and I just did it even though I knew it was probably was going to hurt me but I have a hard time stopping myself when I see there is work to be done and no one is really doing it. So I just did it. I didn't hurt super bad right after so I thought I was getting stronger (and I probably am but I am also still very weak) and I just have been sore this week from it. But it was a lot of fun! I got to work in the sun and i got to listen to a couple conversion stories of the people in my group that I was working with and just talk about things that only missionaries would talk about! Like people they are teaching and how working in the vineyard and comparing it to Jacob 5 and stuff like that! It was really fun!
And then we had service again and this was for a man who's mom was in the hospital and he needed to build a ramp for her to get into the house immediately. So we went over and helped him and it was a little tender mercy for me! It reminded me of back home with dad on Saturday mornings when we would work on little projects or build something. After a while of not being useful and just standing around because I really was no help (I could lift or move anything that they were working with... So I just kinda stood around with a couple of other missionaries. But then I found a job that I thought I could do! Sanding (with a belt sander of course) and so I started sanding away and making this hand railing. And it was really cool because the guy kept saying "just do it like you were making it for your mom" and so I did! I took it to heart and I was thinking of mom and how she would like to have her hand rail feel and look. So it was really fun. I got to feel close to both mom and dad.
So something very unique happened this week. Elder Dopp went into a English area for an exchange and then a English elder came here with me.... Wow! It was a bit crazy! I tried as hard as I could to talk to as many English speaking people that day and it was kinda hard. I still did a ok amount of Spanish and that really surprised! I was able to kinda communicate with the people and say what I was trying to say! So that made me pretty happy and I was also able to see my growth. It was an answer to some of my prayers. That I would be able to see my growth and feel like I was doing ok. And God does His works in mysterious was! I feel a little more comfortable with teaching now and also with just talking to people. I am so thankful for all of my growing experience.
We had ZTM this week and it was pretty good! One thing that really stuck out to me was something that the sisters taught. And that was honesty. They shared the 13th article of faith and I was thinking about how honesty kinda is the gateway to a lot of other attributes. When you're honesty, you have integrity, you have trust from other people, you and true in all your dealing with your fellow men. I was really impressed with this and I thought to myself that it is so important to be honest not only in word but also in action and in deed. I need to be honest in who I am. I am not Elder Peters and then sometimes I am just Michael peters. I need to make them into the same person. I need to be honest in how I present myself to people. So I enjoyed it and I am hoping to be able to better understand who I am and how I act.
I had sacrament in English today for the first time in almost 5 months and it was awesome! I understood 100% of what went on and I was able to sing all the hymns and know exactly what was going on! It was pretty cool! But I also really love sacrament meeting in Spanish! I may not be able to understand everything that is said but I can understand what I feel better. I am learning to better head and listen to the Holy Ghost!

Love you all! 

Elder Peters

I also found this little bittie tie at one of the elders apartment and I decided I needed to Embrace my Irish background and summon my inner leprechaun!

Building the deck day!

I think these were the most expensive things I have ever wore on my face! (Oakley) I felt pretty cool with these things on! Oh also dad guys what wee are driving! A Nissan frontier! It was pretty cool!