March 16, 2015


A SWEET AND SOUR ENDING....LITERALLY.

Well....I am leaving this wonderful place to be a ZL in Angers! I am sad but I am also looking forward to what new surprise await for me! :)

The greatest thing happened this week!!!! MICHAEL GOT BAPTIZED!!!! :))))

Sunday was hard though. I told everyone I was leaving and then they asked me to give a final remark before I left. When I got up to the stand and started to bare my testimony, I just started to bawl. I never knew I would cry as hard as when I left my family back home but I guess I did it again when I left my family here. Bourges has really become my second home. I am going to miss everyone so much. They have become my family and I am so grateful to have served here for 6 months. The Lord has really blessed me here.

Anyways, after church we all had a nice lunch with all the Branch and then we left to go to Orleans for Michael's baptism! It was so nice. Everything was prepared and we took some pictures of all of us. Michael was baptized by a young priest here in Bourges. It was his first time so both him and Michael were a little scared, but everything went perfectly. The spirit was so strong there. You know, when we first started to teach Michael I would have never guessed that he would be the one to get baptized. I guess we never know who is truly ready and is truly seeking the truth. He has made so much progress. He has really put his faith in our Heavenly Father by taking those steps that lead to baptism and through that he was able to find himself and find God. This place has changed my life. I will never forget what beautiful miracles I have seen here.

Today, some of the members, Michael, and us went to a nice Asian buffet. So guess it literally was a "SWEET & SOUR" ending...haha. It was so so much more sweet though. :)

Have a good week everyone. Love ya!
Bisous!!!
Elder Evan Peterson

Picture 1 - End of the transfer pic with the District.  2 - Michael's baptism.  3 - Asian buffet!

March 9, 2015


I AM SUCH A FUNGI....HAHA


Well....Satan thinks he is a fun guy...but he is not. He has been doing some not so funny things this week.

First of all...he made me get a small skin fungus infection, but it isn't anything too serious. I went to the doctor and they said it is caused by stress but I am not even stressed at all...haha!  But it was pretty funny when I first saw this small rash on my back. At first we thought it was bed bug bites so we started to freak out! Then we found out that we didn't have bed bugs and so we started to think that I had chickenpox and then soon my mind told me that I had skin cancer. I was going a little overboard though...haha. Just know that yours truly is now a fungi! I always wanted to be a fungi and now here is my chance. Get it? Fun guy? Fungi? haha yeah....

But for real, Satan is even going against Michael a week before his baptism! Michael told us that his Dad had to get surgery on his eye. During the surgery there were some complications so his Dad lost his whole right eye. It was pretty sad. During church this week Michael just started to cry. I felt so sorry for him but I know he is a trooper and Satan isn't stopping him from getting baptized. :)

Other than us freaking out and Michael, things are going okay. We weren't able to see too many of our amis but the rest are doing good. Sadly Octave said he needs to reflect on some things so he said he will call us when he feel like he is ready. Things are still looking good in Bourges and the whole Branch is soooo excited for Michael's baptism this Sunday!!! :D

This week I read a talk from Elder Holland. It was titled, "None were with Him." If you haven't read it you need to! It i really good. He talks about how Jesus was all alone during the end of his life and because he walked that lonely path we don't have to. That made me think of one of my favorite scriptures that God has given us. It is D&C 122:7-9...  

"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. art thou greater than he?

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever."

Every time I feel like I want to give up or complain I remember this phrase, "The Son of Man has descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" That phrase means a lot to me. During the most painful parts of Hiss life, not once did Christ complain or give up. Even when he was betrayed and denied by the ones that were the most close to him, he kept moving forward. So when we have times of trouble or of doubt, we need to remember the example of Jesus Christ and how He has been through a lot worse and that through Him we can make it through our worst times.

Well...I hope you guys will have a good week! Love you all!!!!
a plus mes pamplemousses!!! :D

Elder Evan Peterson

Here are some pics thanks to the selfie pole. We are eating Indian food and yes, that is A&W root beer and no, I have no idea how the member found that for us. :) The second picture is taken looking out our apartement.

February 30, 2015

SURPRISE!!!

Well....for this week I am going to put "surprise" as the title because this week was full of surprises both good and bad!!! :D

Let's start off with Tuesday....that was an interesting day. That was when Jean Paul, the ami with a baptismal date, dropped us hard core. He said he couldn't continue because he was too sick. So that was really depressing and unexpected. Later on that night, we went over to Michael's house and he gave us a scare too.

We went over there and talked about his baptism because we needed to change it to the 15th instead of the 14th because there is a meeting on the 14th with all the leaders in the stake. Anyways, at first he said to drop the date because he didn't feel ready. I have to admit I was sooooooo sad when he said that. We have been working with this guy for a long time and we have been praying for him for a long time too. So to hear him say that he wanted to drop the date was so hard. After that we just told him to pray and ask God if all of this is true and if he should get baptized on the 15th. He said he hasn't done that yet so he said he would. He felt the spirit during church but he hasn't asked God if it is all true! No wonder he doesn't feel ready! So we really got on him to ask God!

So the week went on and Elder Nez and I saw a lot of cool miracles despite our surprises on Tuesday. To our surprise we were able to find 7 new amis!!!! :D As good old Joe Smith said, "Sometimes God brings us low in order to lift us higher!" You said it Joseph! haha. But anyways...two of those amis were a mother and her two young boys. We ported into her and asked if we could pray with her. She let us in and told us how her husband just barely left her and her family. We comforted her and shared the Plan of Salvation. She really liked it and she said we were a sign from God because she said that she has been praying for help ever since her husband left them. It feels really nice to know that through you, God answered a person's prayer.

Later on this past week we saw Michael again. We were so worried he wouldn't want to get baptized anymore. But we saw the coolest miracle. Michael said he prayed and that right after he asked God if everything was true and if he should get baptized. He felt the spirit and he got his answer!!!! When he told us that we both couldn't stop smiling. :) God really does keep his promises and he really does answer prayers if you have real intentions, a sincere heart, and faith in Jesus Christ! :) So that was another huge surprise and Michael is still good for the 15th of March!!!

And another beautiful surprise happened this Sunday!! We had stake conference and I was able to see the members in Chartres, my blue ville!!! I was able to see my recent convert, Borris Ekedi!!! I haven't seen him for a whole year!!! He is still going strong in the church! It was so nice to see him and everybody again. It reminded me how much I am grateful for being an instrument in Heavenly Father's hands and how much I miss Chartres.

Well....surprise guys!!! :D Have a great week and remember to always look for those oh so beautiful surprises that God sends your way! :)

Love ya! Until next time!

Elder Evan Peterson

p.s. Here are the pictures. The first is Borris, then me on a tower, and then my new planner art.

February 23, 2015

TEACHIN' D'EM YOUNG BLOODS

It seems like all of our amis are young Frenchmen.  I just realized that this week, so we are teachin' d'em young bloods as Uncle Drew would put it!!!

This week was really good. We were able to find this young French guy whose name is Renaud.  We contacted him and fixed a rendez-vous for the next day. We went to his house and shared the Restoration with him. He seems really cool and he had a question if he ever needed to be baptized, so we gave him good old 2 Nephi 31 for him to read.

Our ami, Octave, is soooo cool. We just found out that he speaks English perfectly...haha. We showed him the Restoration video in English and afterwards he is just using all of these complicated words that I don't even know in English. After we show him the video we asked him what he thought about it and he said that it is real: The Book of of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and everything. That was so cool to hear! :D  Our lessons with him are so great. He said he felt that it was true just by reading the first pages of the Book of Mormon! He isn't sure about baptism because he is afraid that he will be a "cast away" because his family hates religion and they don't believe in God. Next week, we are going to really help him accept to be baptized because he is Golden! :D

Other than that, Michael is doing awesome.  He's agreeing to everything and coming to FHE as well as church. Sadly we weren't able to see out other ami with the baptismal date because he was super sick this week. Thomas, our other Frenchman ami is doing great too!

A lot of cool things are happening in Bourges! It is hard to write about all or our amis. There is just so much to say. It is just so crazy how, through the Lord, you can find anybody anywhere. It doesn't matter what ccountry you are in, or what language you speak, or how big your area is, or if you are in a branch or a ward. The list goes on and on, but the one thing I know is that if you work and put your faith in God you can find people that are looking for the truth.

Well, I will let you go! I love ya guys!!! Have a good week doing our Heavenly Father's work!

Elder Evan Peterson