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!