02/29/2016

This week has been great! Elder Villacorta and I are working with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. This week flew by so fast. I've gotten to know a few of the members here in Villaflor. It is a good ward. It's small though. There were about 100 people in church yesterday. We are teaching Fabian right now. He is from Otovalo. He is preparing to be baptized the 12th of March. Yesterday, we also found a great family. We are hoping they will progress and come to church this week as well. 

As far as other things go. I continue jogging every morning with my new companion. Then I do abs and drink a small shake for breakfast. Studies are going good. We are studying a lot because my companion is in his training still, but I am enjoying it. Our shower has been broken so I've been doing a polar plunge every morning haha. It wakes me up good though. My companion is a great missionary. He is so willing to learn and serve. He's only been a member of the church for a little over a year, but he is great! We get along great as well. Elder Mankins is in my zone as well. We were companions in the MTC, so we started together and finish together. It's interesting because I was looking at some pictures I have from the MTC today and we have changed a lot in 2 years, all of us who were there. The mission has changed my life so much. The Lord has worked with me a lot. Thinking about it, there may have been days where he was walking by my side quite literally, who knows. He is the motor behind the mighty change of heart that has and is taking place inside of me. He is my Lord and King. As long as we are obedient he will go before us and will send angels round about us to bear us up (D&C 84:88) and if we have angels on our side who can stand against us-quote from someone i don't remember. 

We had an interesting lesson with a member of the church who has gone in and out of activity in the church. The scripture in Ether 12:27 really touched him. I have come to understand this scripture better in my mission. My mission president taught me that this is one of the most misquoted scriptures in the church. It says that the Lord gives us weakness, not weaknesses. Our weakness obviously is the natural man which we all have. The choice in this life is simple, the decision is the same decision that we made before coming here. Will we follow Christ or Satan? The scriptures teach us that if we follow Christ we will recieve everlasting life and if we follow Satan we will die or suffer the spiritual death. In the end someone has to die. Us or the natural man. 

We may not be able to get rid of the natural man in this life, but we have been given a formula for what we must constantly do to put it off. 

I pray that in all of your travels and busy life you may never forget to read your scriptures and sincerely converse with our Loving Heavenly Father!

I love you all so much!

Elder Peterson

02/06/2016

Mom,

We sure have been doing a lot of traveling. This week we had our leadership council and the verification of the new missionaries. We also did interviews here in Quito. Yesterday and today we were in Santo Domingo doing interviews and we just barely got back. Lots of traveling. Unfortunately, I don't really have pictures. We just went to the chapel basically. Last night I did divisions with Elder Quinn though. We were in the MTC together and he's a good buddy. He is a zone leader in Santo Domingo right now.  

The gospel has certainly changed my life and the person I am. I'm so grateful for the atonement in my life. It has not only offered me forgiveness for sins committed but a change of heart, a change of character, a change of nature, it has changed the way I think, the way I speak, and act. I will never stop living the gospel. It is hard at times. Sometimes you just get tired, but the atonement has also offered me strength to continue fighting. I want to be the kind of person that I would be willing to go into battle with. To fight next to. I am ponderizing Alma 53:20-21. 

Don't forget to fast! Don't watch the super bowl, keep the sabbath day holy!!

Elder Peterson

01/22/2016

So today we are just working on some things in the office. We are doing an annual history of the mission for 2015 which is a big project. Tomorrow we will be training during interviews. This week we have been in interviews most of the time training. Next week will be really similar. We have a lot of things on our plate right now. We also have Elder Jeffery R. Holland coming to the mission on the 13th of February so we have to get ready for that as well. Busy, busy, busy. 

01/16/2016

Mom,

So this week we had changes and Monday night we had to go pick up an elder at the airport at 12am. We didn't get much sleep that night. Tuesday we went to the airport and got the rest of the missionaries. That day we had a few meetings and a dinner with president and a testimony meeting. Wednesday we had meetings almost all day with the new missionaries and their trainers. Thursday and Friday we were able to work in our sector a bit, but we also started working on the annual report for our mission which is due in February for the year of 2015. Its going to be a big project. Today we went and played basketball with the missionaries from Quito north. And that about sums up our week. This week we start interviews again so we will be traveling to the whole mission and training each district during interviews. Should be fun, another busy week. 

A scripture I liked this week was Ephesians 6:12 - "For we wrestle not against flesh [2] and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

We are fighting the most important battle ever fought and the longest one as well. It started before this life. It is not a battle of flesh and blood. It is a battle of light vs. darkness, good vs. evil, life vs. death, happiness vs. misery. I read a quote from Russell M Ballard that says, "Satan is taking eternal prisoners at an alarming rate." He and his servants work diligently, so we must work even harder. "This isn't a work for spiritual weaklings". We must fill ourselves with light. We must be worthy conduits so the Lord may shine through us. We must disperse the darkness. This is the work of the Almighty God, and he needs all of us. Heart, might, mind, and strength.

Love you and have a great week!

Elder Peterson

01/09/2016

Hey Mom,

This week was pretty crazy. Monday we did our usual office work and we had to get ready for the leadership council. Tuesday we had the leadership council and we trained on raising our vision as missionaries and how to set and accomplish goals. I thought it went very well. Wednesday we had the verification of the new missionaries. It went well, we trained a little bit there as well. Thursday and Friday we were on divisions for a few different reasons. And that was our week up till now. Tomorrow we have changes so we will be starting another busy week!

Other than that all is well! I hope Bryce heals quickly. Thats really going to distract me this week I feel like. Hopefully I can forget about it. 

Love you have a great week!

Elder Peterson

01/02/2016

Mom,

This week we did a lot of divisions, on Tuesday i went with Elder Rodriguez and Elder Zelaya in Los Chillos. They are both relatively new missionaries and it was a good day. Wednesday, I went with Elder Jimenez and Elder Garces in Quito. We had a good day. Both days we did a lot of contacting. Thursday we were only allowed to leave the house for our zone meeting so we went to the meetings and then to lunch. Then we took a nap and studied the scriptures and cleaned the house a bit. After that, we went up to the roof and did a BBQ which was fun. I'll send some pictures. Friday we woke up really early and went to Ambato to do divisions. I was with Elder Upchurch (my last companion) and Elder Pugh in my old sector. It was a good day. We taught some of the people I used to teach. One of the less active families we were working with is super active now and have received callings in the ward and are planning on going to the temple in a year to get sealed. Today we woke up super early and took a few long bus rides to go to Quilatoa for our pday. Its a giant lake in the crater of a volcano. I'll send pictures. We got back a couple of hours ago. It's been a fun and busy week. Other than that everything is good. This next week we have a few meetings which will be fun and we will probably do divisions as well. 

I hope you have a great week!

Elder Peterson

12/12/2015

HI Mom!

We are in a trio for now because of all the things we have to do this change with the Christmas dinners and stuff but also because Elder Valenzuela will most likely be going back into the field after this change to train or something, so Elder Fredrick is just getting some extra training as an assistant this change. With the new missionaries we usually get to share a personal experience from the mission about finding people or something and our testimony.

This week has been really busy. We had Christmas dinners with the zones: Los Chillos, Ambato, Turubamba, and Riobamba. Those are some of the biggest zones as well so it was kind of hectic. This week we will only have three. Everyone has to get a flu shot at the conference. I have been helping the nurses give shots. I'm pretty good at it now haha! We have been learning a lot about tithing, discipleship, and temple covenants. It has been really helpful. Christmas is coming up. It is funny because last Christmas I was also with Elder Valenzuela so we make the joke now that Christmas just wont be Christmas if we aren't together haha. My spiritual thought for the week comes from Alma: We know that the Nephites grew up their whole lives knowing the Lamanites as a wicked and savage people. Especially the more wicked part of the Nephites. Ammon was at one point one of the more wicked Nephites, but he converted and leaves on a mission where he makes himself a servant of King Lamoni and something I like comes from Alma 17:30. It says that Ammon, while talking about the servants of the king (lamanites) calls them his brothers. The Atonement not only offers us forgiveness of our sins but gives us new eyes and a new heart, he no longer saw them as a savage and wicked and hated people but as his brothers. The Atonement gave Ammon a new perspective, new eyes, he stopped seeing people for their outside appearance but for the beautiful potential they had as sons and daughters of God. The other example that I liked is in Alma 20:23, where the father of King Lamoni who was king over all the Lamanite people and Nephite dissenters, was about to be killed by Ammon and because he feared losing his life he said that he would give Ammon up to half of his kingdom. In chapter 22 Aaron goes and teaches the king about the plan of salvation and the atonement of Jesus Christ (vs. 14). And how that knowledge changed the king! In verse 15 he says that he was willing to give up his kingdom (all of it) to be able to be changed by the atonement and put off the natural man. But when he was about to die he was only willing to give up half of his kingdom. SO interesting. The Atonement changes us, so much. It has changed my life. I was reading in my journal and last year at the end of 2014 I said that I wanted this year to be a year that would forever change my life. It has been and I owe it all to that great and loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Oh! Jorge and Luz, the ones that just got baptized are in Guayaquil right now...in the temple. It was a huge financial sacrifice for them to be able to go but they did.

Elder Peterson

12/05/15

Mom,

Well, it has been a good week! If 17 weeks are the weeks I have left...please stop counting. It makes me really sad to have to think that so little time remains, but at the same time I still have a lot of time left. I don't ever want to finish, honestly. This month we probably wont do any traveling, everybody is going to come to us. Next week we start the Christmas dinners/zone conferences. I'm glad all the kids are doing sports! Hopefully they will all succeed, good thing it runs in the family!  

So this week was good. I am in a trio right now with Elder Valenzuela and Elder Fredrick. Elder Fredrick is a great missionary! I am excited to learn from him. We will be in a trio until January most likely. But this week we had changes so we had the dinner for the missionaries that finished the mission Monday night. After that we went to the airport and picked up 5 of the new missionaries and got home around 12am. Then Tuesday morning we went back to the airport and picked up the other 6 new missionaries. Tuesday night we had the welcome dinner for them at Presidents house and a testimony meeting. They all seem like great missionaries. Wednesday we had the meeting for the new missionaries and the trainers. So we did some training for that, which was good. Thursday and Friday we were getting ready for Christmas dinners. Today we played soccer in the morning. It was a lot of fun. And that about sums up the week! Something we have been doing as a mission and something that I really love is "ponderize". There was a conference talk about it. I don't know if you guys are doing it, but I would recommend it. It has helped me a lot. You are supposed to memorize a scripture every week and ponder it during the week. I would love to know what scriptures you are doing as well!

Love you all so much!

Elder Peterson

p.s. don't forget tomorrow is fast Sunday!

Thanksgiving 2015

Hey guys!

Well, this week has been fun! I think...wait...I don't really remember, I guess. We had leadership council this week which was good. We trained about finding people and I think it went well. The rest of the week we have been working on the Christmas card that we will be giving out at the Christmas dinners with all the zones, starting next week. Other than that it has been a normal week. We have changes on Sunday. We will not have any changes though, but this next week will be a pretty busy week. The family we were teaching got baptized. There was another family that got baptized the same night. I will send you pictures. They are truly an awesome family and I believe they are chosen children of God. Their testimonies are so strong. They know the church is true. Never have I seen two people make so many changes in their lives so fast. They want to keep all the commandments. They have the goal to go to the temple a year from now and be sealed. I'm so happy for them!

Also for thanksgiving we went and had dinner with President Christensen and his family, which was fun. I got way too full. I'll send pics later!

I have been studying this week about the missions of Alma and the sons of Mosiah. I love the story of the anti-nephi-lehi's. Their conversion was so strong and because it was based on the atonement of Christ and repentance. I like the story of King Lamoni´s dad. When he first met Ammon and thought that Ammon was going to kill him he said he would give him even half of all his kingdom. But when he learned about the plan of salvation and the atonement and repentance he was willing to give up all that he possessed. Everything, his kingdom, his sins, everything. When we truly understand the gospel and have hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, it brings about changes in our desires, behaviors, and actions that otherwise are impossible, not even the thought of dying brings about that change. 

I know the church is true! The atonement is real, with and by it we may change.

Love you all, have a great week.

Elder Peterson

PS, say hi to Uncle Cody and Aunt Erin for me and all my cousins! Tell Uncle Cody we will have to go fishing when I get home!

11/20/2015

Hey Guys,

So I am writing today because tomorrow we probably wont have a Pday. In about an hour we are headed out to Riobamba. Tomorrow morning we are going to do a training there. Then we will come back to Quito with just enough time to get ready for a baptism. The family we have been teaching is going to be baptized tomorrow at 7pm! So we are really excited! Tomorrow is going to be pretty busy. Anyways this week has been about the same as the last few just with less traveling. We have been doing interviews and training's with all the zones but this week we have been doing the zones in Quito. We've also been trying to get a few things ready for all the zone conferences/Christmas dinners that are coming up in a few weeks. Also we had the verification of the new missionaries this week. So things are busy as always. 

We have been training on the Area Book to all the zone. We have talked a lot about the worth of souls, the atonement, repentance and the temple. As we have trained on it, we learned a lot. The Lord has really been teaching us a lot about those things without us realizing it. The family we have been teaching has taught us and helped us a lot.  If many missionaries would have seen or known a little bit about the past of the investigators we are teaching would never, ever, have thought that they could change or that they would progress. I know that because maybe a few months ago I wouldn't have believed it myself. I wont say anything about their past, because it's in the past. But in three short weeks they have let the gospel change their lives. Everything about them has been a miracle. The way that we found them, they way the have received the message of the Restoration, they way they have progressed and changed. Because we have been traveling so much we haven't been able to teach them a lot. The Lord has truly taught us that we are nothing in this work but instruments. We can do nothing of ourselves. The spirit convert., The spirit changes hearts. The scriptures lead people to exercise faith and repent. The spirit teaches about the true power of the Atonement. We are only instruments. All we did was act. Because the spirit could not have guided us if we were standing still. One of the stories we have shared with all the districts of the mission is this one....

 

"A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.
Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was—a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: “You are my hands.”

So as we have been trying to teach that to the missionaries. The Lord has been teaching us the same thing. 

I know the church is true. The Atonement is real. The Gospel changes lives. I have lived it and seen it. I love the Lord with all my heart!

Elder Peterson

Have a great week!

11/14/2015

Mom,

The mission has truly been a blessing in my life. The Lord is shaping me. One of my favorite words to study in the scriptures is voluntad, in english it would be will. In verse 11 of section 31 it says go your way withersoever I will. The Lord gives Thomas in D&C 31 a lot of instructions in this section but the key always has been do the will of the Lord. Because if we do His will like it says, just after, it will be given us by the comforter, or we shall have the spirit to be with us. And if we have the spirit with us, neither Satan nor hell itself may stand against us. Though we pass through afflictions or ridicule or mockings we will have that ever reassuring feeling that God is pleased with us, that we are on His errand, doing His work, that we are His sheep. It also says pray always. It means we should pray always, non stop, without fainting. Our eye should be single to the glory of God. Apart from all that ,what I like most about that section is verse 3, "lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come." This does not only apply to missionaries. As missionaries we have interviews with the stake president before we start our mission.  You said President Harris' pre-mission speech was great to Cody. I don't think it is too far stretched to believe that we had a similar interview with our Heavenly Father before coming down to earth, and that he spoke similar words, "lift your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission has come". The gospel is happiness. The plan of salvation is a plan of happiness. The atonement is almost always coupled with happiness and joy in the scriptures. How can we not rejoice knowing what we know. That is why missionary work is the best work ever. That is why we as latter day saints should be the happiest people ever. We should be examples of Christlike love, because we truly understand, even if in only the least degree, what the atonement means. Those are my thoughts on section 31. 

Other than that, this week we traveled a ton. We went to Santo Domingo Monday and left Tuesday to go to Guaranda. From there we came back to Quito for the night and left Thursday afternoon to Baños. We stayed that night in Ambato and I went to visit some old converts and people I used to teach. Then yesterday we came back from Baños and went to visit that family we are teaching and then went to bed. Today we did a little shopping and laundry. Tonight we have stake conference. Next week will also be a busy week! 

Love you guys. I love the gospel with all my heart! I love the Savior and am so eternally grateful for His atonement. Have a great week!

Elder Peterson  

11/072015

Hey mom! 

How is the family? I didn't hear from anyone this week so I hope everything is OK. Please let me know that everyone is OK. This week has been pretty busy. Tuesday we had the leaders meeting in the mission which was good. Wednesday we started interviews. Every three months president interviews all the missionaries so we travel to the different zones and my companion and I train while president interviews. So we have been pretty busy with that. Wed we were in Los Chillos. Thursday in Ambato! I got to see my old zone. I miss Ambato a lot. And Friday we were in our zone here in Quito. Today we have been taking care of a lot of emergency changes and things, so we haven't done much. 

We are teaching a family right now that is super good! It was kind of a miracle that we found them. We were going to contact their house but because of where it was at, we almost didn't. But we talked to the wife who told us they were busy and then we left. A half an hour later we were contacting up the hill and she came and found us and asked us to come back and teach her and her husband. So we went back and taught them. They are awesome! So willing to accept the gospel. It makes me so happy to see them happy. Since we have been teaching, they have both received an answer that it is true and their lives have already changed a lot. 

Anyway, this week we are going to be traveling a lot. We might not even come back to Quito until Saturday. So we should stay pretty busy. How is everything over there? Hope to hear from you guys!

Love,

Elder Peterson

10/31/2015

Hi Mom,

I have seen a lot of missionaries go home. It is very hard. I'm sure it will be hard for me. I don't like to think about it. Well this week we have traveled a lot. President had to go to Peru for a mission president seminar for the week. He just got back yesterday I think. So we have been holding down the fort. We did divisions on Thursday here in Quito and on Friday in Santo Domingo. It was my first time in Santo Domingo. It reminded me of Tena but bigger. So that was good. This week we are going to be traveling a lot as well. We have the leaders council on Tuesday and then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday President will be doing interviews in a few zones. While he is doing that we will be training by districts about a few things. Should be fun.

Me and my companion want to eat healthier and start working out better. I need easy ideas for healthy breakfast and lunches as soon as you could write me something. I think we are going to go shopping today. 

I love you! Have a great week!

Elder Peterson

10/24/15

Mom,

I'm sorry that I worried you guys a lot. I didn't mean to. Well, I'm not sure I can cover all that has happened in these last few weeks in one letter so I will have to just sum it up. First, is Cody excited? 

Well in these last few weeks lots has happened. During my last few days in Ambato, we rescued a less-active family and baptized the youngest daughter who was not a member. We also had a lot of families that could progress and hopefully they will be able to get baptized in the future. Our zone was doing really good. It was a really good zone with really good missionaries. My new responsibilities are basically to verify the mission and how it is doing, update the information of the mission., do divisions with the zone leaders and anyone else we feel needs it. Meet with President about the mission and plans for the future. Train the whole mission during zone conferences and interviews, and train the zone leaders in the leadership meetings. Also to Train the new missionaries, and a whole lot of other things. We are always pretty busy. 

This week we received five new missionaries and we also sent off the missionaries who were finishing their missions. So I was in a lot of testimony meetings. There is something that it says in the mission manual that I love, "the missionary leaders should remember that they can learn a lot from the missionaries they serve", I have come to understand that statement better this week. The new missionaries that came were really good missionaries that had a real purpose in being here. I don't remember if I told you but we had to send a lot of disobedient missionaries home recently which was very sad. Three of them were in my last zone. But anyway, listening to the testimonies of these new missionaries reminded me of when I started the mission. You come to the mission with your trust placed 100% in God. I have seen that after the missionary learns how to speak the language and how to teach and everything, he stops putting his confidence in the Lord and just falls into the routine of doing whatever. I talked to my last zone about that and I saw it again in these new missionaries. We were waiting outside of the house of the secretary (where the new missionaries were going to spend the night) and my companion and I showed up and they were contacting somebody there and asked us for a Book of Mormon so we ran up to our house to get a Book of Mormon. Then the new missionary (an American) was going to present it. He looked at me because he wanted me to do it. But I would never rob him of that learning experience so I just looked at him until he realized I wanted him to present it. He took a deep breath and with the little Spanish he knew just bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it would bless and change the life of that person and of his family. I thought that when he looked at me that if I presented it I was going to rob him of a learning experience but it seems I would have been robbing myself of one. Our testimony is the most powerful instrument we have as missionaries as long as it is accompanied by the spirit and shared with love. I  have learned a lot these last few weeks. The mission has changed my life. The Atonement has changed my heart. The church is true. God loves His children. Jesus Christ lives and through Him we may be perfected. 

I love you so much! Have a great week!

Elder Peterson

P.S. Don't tell everybody about my new assignment. I would prefer that everyone doesn't know.

also could I take out a little bit of money I am going to need to buy some new white long sleeve shirts because I will have to use my suits a lot more.

10/19/15

Dad and Mom, 

Well, it's been an interesting couple of days. I won't have time to write today. My pday is now on Saturday's so we will talk more on Saturday. I have been reassigned to the offices. For some reason you guys seem really worried about me, but I am fine. We have just been really busy. I am the assistant to the president right now. Um, yeah, I will tell you more about that later, I guess. I love you all so much! Thank you for everything. Oh my companion is Elder Valenzuela.  We were companions about a year ago, so that cool. Say hi to all my brothers and tell them I will write on Saturday!

Love,

Elder Peterson