August 18, 2014
I am staying in Amiens!!! :)
Watermelon season is back boys!!!
Bonjour a tous! So..the death of Robin Williams is the only sad thing that has happened this week, may he R.I.P.
We had a really good week though. So to start off this week, we were able to teach this one lady that we found last week. Her name is Yergalem. She and her family are from Ethiopia. We had a really good first lesson but sadly she said she is going on vacation for 2 weeks...the worst word to hear as a missionary...I hate vacations...
Anyways...another great thing happened this week! We were able to finally meet with Gregory again. He was actually in the hospital for a month! We are glad he is doing better now. He came to church and we were able to fix another baptismal date with him for the 20th of September!
We were able to see David (aka King David). He invited us over for another BBQ for Elder Willden before he goes back home. Last time we ate lamb at our BBQ and this time we ate FISH!! haha Very symbolic to Jesus Christ. I wonder for next time if we will be eating manna...haha.
Other than that we have been doing normal missionary work and I have just been trying to make this week good for Elder Willden before he leaves. But for this coming transfer I will be senior comp and my new comp is Elder Quist. I am about 4 1/2 months ahead of him in the mission. I am really excited for another transfer in Amiens!!! :)
Here is my new transfer 7 planner:
Au revoir!!! I love you guys! Have a great week!!! :)
Elder Evan Peterson
August 11, 2014
Hello everyone!
We find out if we're getting transferred on Saturday instead of Monday. That will give more time for packing and to tell members. I'll let you know what happens!
Well this week was okay. The trio is kind of...awkward, but we decided to have two of us go contacting on one side of the road and the other does "solo" contacting on the other side of the road. It seems a lot better than having 3 men go contact people so we have been taking turns on going solo contacting. I have to admit, I really like solo contacting. People aren't so intimidated when you are by yourself. You still get weird looks though...haha. I was even able to teach a lady about the Plan of Salvation!
We didn't see a lot of success this week, but the good thing is that Christelle, one of our amis, showed up at church. That was really good! We were able to watch the Restoration with her. She is really timid though. We testified a lot and the spirit was there so hopefully she was able to recognize that that was the Holy Ghost.
After church we had a linger longer. That's where we stay and have a meal and talk with each other. That was really fun! The branch here is a really nice branch and I am really good friends with all the members.
A great thing also happened this week! I received a birthday package from my mom!!!! It was really great! You can always make me happy with this:
And yes, that is a LAKERS tie. Purple and Yellow! Thanks Mom!!! I love you!!!
Well that is it this week! We just have one more week in this trio, so we will see what happens!
Have a great week guys!!! Love you! Until next week!
Elder Evan Peterson
August 4, 2014
Hello everyone!
So we had a good week! Sadly Gregory still isn't here but we were able to find 2 new amis!
David, the first guy we found, is a very weird and long story so bear with me. Last transfer we were walking home and this dude comes up to us and puts his hand in the air and yells something about Jesus Christ. We thought he was drunk but he said he talked to us before but we never saw him during our whole time here. Anyways, he talked to us a little bit about Joseph Smith. We started talking with him and explained to him everything about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. He was really interested so by the end of it, we asked him for his phone number and another Rendez-vous with him. He then said that if God wants it then we will see each other again....haha. We tried again but he kept on saying the same thing, so we let him go with a restoration brochure and our card.
Later on, we kept on running into him a lot and we would teach him here and there. After seeing us multiple times, he still wouldn't give us his phone number or address. This week, however, it all changed!
We saw him again and we taught him more about the Book of Mormon and during the middle of the lesson he starts doing like the mating call to whistle to a girl that walks by...haha. She gives him like this weird look ad shakes her head. We then turn to him and ask him if he knew this girl. He said no he didn't know here. It was so funny. David thinks that he is King David from the Bible. He said, "I am like King David, I like beautiful women" haha. But anyways, we were still focused and by the end of it he finally gave us his phone number and his address and he even invited us over to a barbeque!!!!
On Saturday, we went over to have a barbeque and it was dang good. He cooked us lamb! He offered us wine and we said we don't drink wine. Then he said, "You don't drink the blood of Christ??" haha He was just kidding though. Then he made another joke about how he got lamb because it reminds us of the "Lamb of God." I have to admit, it was so fun. Here are some pics of the barbeque:
Here is David and I.
Elder Willden and I:
This boy even likes the LAKERS!!!! Oh yeah!!!!!!
Below is a picture of Roquefort, the strongest cheese! And yes the green stuff is mold which you eat.
Other than that we went over to a member's home because Elder Oliverson was leaving this week to go back home after 2 years. So we had a good time! Elder Oliverson left this morning so Elder Weston, Elder Willden and I will be in one companionship until Elder Willden finishes his mission in 2 weeks. So...it should be interesting seeing 3 guys in white shirts contact people.haha
Have a great week everyone!!!! Love you guys!!!!
Elder Evan Peterson
July 28, 2014
Hello everyone!
So this week has been good...but not the best though. Gregory went off of the face of the earth again.
We did end up finding two new amis this week though! One is Christelle from Congo. We taught her twice this week and she seems interested! She even came to church this week and she loved it!
The other one is Christianna. She is from Nigeria and speaks English. She seemed not too interested in our message but she is willing to try so we will take that over nothing! She actually goes to the same church that two of our recent converts went to.
Well I have a story to tell you guys...
While we were porting, we knocked on an old lady's house. She was a little drunk. She said she lost a lot of her family members so we taught her that she can live with them again. She didn't seem to believe us but we continued to testify to her.
Then suddenly...she asked us how old we were. That is when it got weird. She guessed both of our ages and for Elder Willden she guessed 25 and then for me she guessed 40! haha. I am not sure why she thought that I was 40 and Elder Willden was 25...haha. I told her that I was 19 and she couldn't believe it. Then it got even more weird when she said how handsome I was and she kept pointing over to my comp telling him that I was so handsome. hahaha. I just laughed and she asked if I was married and I said no. She couldn't believe that I didn't have a girl and then she said that if I was 40 that I would have her as girl. hahaha. That is when we couldn't stop laughing, but when she said that we started to leave for our own safety. It was an interesting experience. Hopefully she felt our testimonies!
Anyways, have a great week! Love you guys!!!!
Elder Evan Peterson
July 21, 2014
Bonjour à tous!
So this week was good! The only bad news was that Lebron James is going back to Cleveland...haha. So I'm glad that that is the only complaint I have.
So to start off this week..we finally saw Gregory again! That was really a miracle. I was so dang worried for him. We were able to teach him this week which was really good. He is progressing well.
We also went to Paris this week for our district meeting. The Zone Leaders gave us a training about less active and recent convert members and how we need to work with them more. President Babin really wants the whole mission to really work on that. I think it is a really good idea because sometimes I think we baptize people and then right after their baptism we just stop meeting with them and they start going inactive. So I am excited to see what happens.
We did exchanges this week and I did an exchange with Elder Lehman. We set up two lessons for later on during the week but sadly they didn't show up. Elder Willden and I have set up a lot of lessons for next week so I am praying that those work out.
I hope you all have had a great week and that this next week will be awesome!!
Love you all!
Elder Evan Peterson
Here is a pic of me and my French suit.
July 14, 2014
So this week has been good but not the best though. It has been very stressful because we haven't been able to get a hold of our ami who is going to be baptized. All of our other amis are out of town. We also did a lot of searching, but we weren't able to find anyone, so it has been a really tough week.
It is amazing how God can build you up in times of difficulty. I was reading in D & C 121:7-9 which says:
7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."
And I continued to read and in D & C 122:7-9 it says:
7 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 tings shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
9 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."
I know that God knows who we are and what we all need. And I know that God does answer prayers because He has answered mine my whole life and every time I have called on His name, He was always there. So this week has been hard, in more ways than one, but it allowed me to rely on something more than just my own power. And I know that if we have hope in God, everything will be better. And that's why this next week is going to be great! I hope you guys have a great week as well!!
I love you all!!! Until next week! :))
Elder Evan Peterson
July 7, 2014
Hello guys! I am staying in AMIENS for transfer 6!!! I will still be with Elder Willden for another transfer. He is going to finish his mission with me.
Oh yeah, Happy 4th of July!!! I almost forgot! I guess France is getting to me! haha
So this week has been really good. Elder Willden and I have just been teaching Gregory and preparing him for baptism. Sadly this week I have been sick but I am fine now.
The whole appartement is staying together so it is going to be another adventure. haha (It's funny to be typing Evan's blog and realize every now and then a word will be spelled in French...haha)
Elder Willden and I also had another great experience. One of the members here had us teach his friend that he has been meeting for awhile and talking with him about the gospel. We read some scriptures and continually testified to him. I would say that it was the most spiritual experience that we have had this whole transfer. The guys name is Stephen and he seems so golden. So we will see what will happen with him. We are going to see him again.
We also got to see our new President and his wife (President and Soeur Babin). We got to talk to them for a little bit and tell them a little bit about ourselves. They also gave a little training for the missionaries as well. It was a very spiritual training and they even played a little bit of good old Josh Groban for us as well during their training. haha President and his wife are super nice and I am excited for the rest of my mission and having the opportunity to serve with them! It's going to be good!
Other than that we are just looking forward to another great transfer in Amiens. I am glad that I am still here too because the work has really picked up and it is only going to get better!
I hope you all have a great week and that you have had a great 4th of July!
Love you all!!!!
Elder Evan Peterson
Here is the new transfer planner:
