April 3, 2017
Well it feels like I just emailed y'all!.....probably because I did. :)
Holy Smokes! Wasn't General Conference just amazing? It was so neat to hear the words that God wants us to hear delivered by men he has chosen to represent Him. I thought it was so neat how each general authority that got up to speak expressed his/our love, prayers, and sustaining vote to President Monson! Those men have so much charity for everyone, especially the Prophet, and it made me have a desire to be like them, and seek to love and lift all those around me!
There were several talks that really stood out to me and helped me to identify things I can do to become like Christ, and so I made sure to put a star by my notes on those talks so that I can review them. :) One of the talks I loved was the one by Ronald A. Rasband. He talked about feeling, recognizing and acting upon the promptings of the Spirit, which is something that I want to work in; like he said, I want to be a "first responder." I actually had a neat experience with the Spirit Sunday afternoon. Elder Rogers and I were trying very very hard to watch Conference with Investigators, and we tried so many different people, but they all didn't work out. After the Sunday morning session we were thinking of who we could watch the final session with. I was kind of frustrated because all of our previous efforts hadn't worked out. We were trying really hard to think of someone to watch it with and no one was coming to mind. I was wondering "why am I not receiving a prompting of the name of someone we can watch it with?" What Elder Rasband said about how we should let the Lord know we are ready to receive promptings and we are ready to act was something I really liked. So I decided to pray in faith, and after a few minutes of praying I had a clear impression of someone we should try to watch it with. I presented it to Elder Rogers, he agreed, we called the person, and they said YES! We were able to watch the final session with someone! It was so neat to hear a talk, put the counsel into practice, and then see the blessings! It was wonderful!
I know that the general authorities are called of God! They establish order to this church and allow us to hear God's word effectively. They truly have been called by Him, and it is such a blessing to hear their words.
Sorry for no pictures and the short email again. This computer is freaking out! Hopefully it will be better next week!
Love,
Elder Petrie
Monday, April 3, 2017
Temple Week!
March 30, 2017
We got to go to the Temple today! Our P-day was today as well, and that is why I am emailing today!
It was so great to go to the temple again! It's been six months! I am so grateful that God has provided a special place where we can feel close to Him and understand His will for us!
I forgot the cable that hooks the camera up to the computer so no pictures for this week. I have a lot of good ones though.
We had a lesson with S. and she expressed to us that she probably wants to even move her baptism date even closer! She says that she feels like this is really the right thing to do! She is so awesome! So prepared to hear the gospel. She tells us that each time we teach her she feels good, and that what we are teaching her is right. The Lord really can soften and open hearts so that we can help others to be happy!
That's really all the time I have for today! I know know know that this gospel is true. It provides me with a way to be happy and have peace always, even through trials and hard times.
Love,
Elder Petrie
We got to go to the Temple today! Our P-day was today as well, and that is why I am emailing today!
It was so great to go to the temple again! It's been six months! I am so grateful that God has provided a special place where we can feel close to Him and understand His will for us!
I forgot the cable that hooks the camera up to the computer so no pictures for this week. I have a lot of good ones though.
We had a lesson with S. and she expressed to us that she probably wants to even move her baptism date even closer! She says that she feels like this is really the right thing to do! She is so awesome! So prepared to hear the gospel. She tells us that each time we teach her she feels good, and that what we are teaching her is right. The Lord really can soften and open hearts so that we can help others to be happy!
That's really all the time I have for today! I know know know that this gospel is true. It provides me with a way to be happy and have peace always, even through trials and hard times.
Love,
Elder Petrie
Monday, March 27, 2017
The week with 3 baptismal dates
March 20, 2017
Whoa! To start off, this is an amazing area! Here is me on a hoverboard. So sick!
Secondly, Elder Rogers is awesome! He is a spiritual giant, and I have already learned so many things from him!
I'll first start off talking about M. He has been taught by the missionaries for a long time, and Elder Rogers was telling me that his home is not very conducive to the Spirit. So we met him at the church to have a lesson there. We gave him a tour of the church and it went well. When we got to the chapel we asked him what he felt. He told us that he felt peace and comfort. We told him that he could have access to that peace and comfort all the time if he was baptized and received the Holy Ghost. We asked him what is holding him back from baptism, and he told us that he just hasn't had time to pray about it. We asked him if he'd be willing to pray about it right then, and he did! After his prayer he looked up and said "how do I go about being baptized?" WOW! It was so neat! We set his baptismal date for May 6th. We just need to help him understand and keep the commandments!
Then comes D. D. has been blind since birth. I don't think I know anyone personally who is blind. He has the bible in Braille, and he says it takes up a whole HUGE box. Now he wants the Book of Mormon in Braille. :) D. already knows a ton about the church, and he knows everything is true. He just had some really hard struggles in the past with the doctrine, but now he has gotten past that. He even talked with the Bishop about being baptized! Bishop told us that he thinks D. is ready, so we asked D. what day he'd like to be baptized, and he said May 6th! We are now teaching him the lessons again to prepare him for that date!
The next person is S. S. was taught by the missionaries for a few months down in Orange County. They just invited her to church and read the Book of Mormon with her. When she came up here to Victorville she wanted to keep meeting with the missionaries, so we were sent over. Holy cow S. is so prepared for the Gospel! Elder Rogers and his previous companion taught her just the Restoration, and this past week we taught her the Plan of Salvation. At the end we invited her to be baptized, and she picked the day of May 20th! So cool! She has three kids, and hopefully two of them will want to be baptized with her! That would be so neat to baptize a family!
While we were biking around in the Silverlakes community up in Helendale, we biked past a couple members who hadn't been to church in a long time. They recognized us as the missionaries and they thought to themselves "we want to go back to church......but we don't know where it is." So they got in their car and chased us down. :) Haha the Spirit works in Mysterious ways! They asked us if we could come by and reteach them the lessons so that they could remember it all again. So now we are going back again this week!
We also had a pretty crazy experience while biking. We were going down a hill really fast, and we took a left turn at the stoplight at about 25 MPH. Elder Rogers didn't turn sharp enough and ended up crashing into the curb on the other side. He literally FLEW off of his bike! Miraculously he wasn't hurt, and it turned out to be pretty funny to watch. :) He only got really dirty! :)
Love you all! Have a wonderful week! Always make sure to follow the promptings of the Spirit!
Love,
Elder Petrie
Love,
Elder Petrie
Transfers!
March 13, 2017
Well I guess the biggest news of this week is that I got transferred! Both Elder Dickson and I got transferred out. The Sisters in the Ward will now be covering the whole area. I am now in the Silverlakes Ward in Victorville, just the next city over from Apple Valley. I thought I would be going down the hill to Chino, Rancho, Upland or Ontario, but the Lord blessed me to be able to stay in the high desert! :) My new companion is Elder Rogers from Santaquin, UT. He is a pretty awesome guy! I love him already. :) He has been out just one transfer less than me, so we're both pretty new! But he says there's tons of potential in this area, and we're ready to rock it!
We had a crazy experience last Monday! So the whole zone gets together at the stake center on P-day afternoons to play sports together. We come in our Sunday dress and just get changed in the bathroom. Everyone leaves their clothes in the bathroom. Well, while we were playing sports in the gym, someone somehow got into the building (which was supposedly locked) went into the bathroom and stole both of our cameras and our phone. It's kind of funny because I went from having half of my pictures, to having no pictures. :P I'm pretty bummed, but there's not much that I can do. Haha I just gotta move on. The whole thing is just kind of funny. :) We spent all day Tuesday talking to the police filing a report. That took a long time.
I have to go now but I love you all! I'll send more this next week!
Love,
Elder Petrie
Well I guess the biggest news of this week is that I got transferred! Both Elder Dickson and I got transferred out. The Sisters in the Ward will now be covering the whole area. I am now in the Silverlakes Ward in Victorville, just the next city over from Apple Valley. I thought I would be going down the hill to Chino, Rancho, Upland or Ontario, but the Lord blessed me to be able to stay in the high desert! :) My new companion is Elder Rogers from Santaquin, UT. He is a pretty awesome guy! I love him already. :) He has been out just one transfer less than me, so we're both pretty new! But he says there's tons of potential in this area, and we're ready to rock it!
We had a crazy experience last Monday! So the whole zone gets together at the stake center on P-day afternoons to play sports together. We come in our Sunday dress and just get changed in the bathroom. Everyone leaves their clothes in the bathroom. Well, while we were playing sports in the gym, someone somehow got into the building (which was supposedly locked) went into the bathroom and stole both of our cameras and our phone. It's kind of funny because I went from having half of my pictures, to having no pictures. :P I'm pretty bummed, but there's not much that I can do. Haha I just gotta move on. The whole thing is just kind of funny. :) We spent all day Tuesday talking to the police filing a report. That took a long time.
I have to go now but I love you all! I'll send more this next week!
Love,
Elder Petrie
Just a little slow...but still awesome!
March 6, 2017
We had a crazy experience this past week. There is a less-active man that we usually visit, and we thought that he was a member. This week we talked to a missionary who used to serve in this area, and he told us that this person had been baptized, but then he had gotten super super sick that day, and he was never confirmed! Isn't that crazy! He's been baptized but not confirmed. :)
Holy cow, T. is so amazing! Last week Elder Dickson and another Elder were on exchanges and they saw T. She again opened up to them and told them how she was seeking for peace. The other Elder (Elder Law) told her to just listen to us (Elder Dickson and I) and she would find peace. She promptly agreed to listen to our lessons! This week we met her at the church building and taught her the Restoration. She related super well. After we taught her about the apostasy she totally related it to her own life! She said she felt like she had stepped away from God for a time, but now she wanted to return. The story about Joseph Smith was really cool because it helped her to see that God can and will answer her prayers when she reaches out to him! At the end of the lesson she said her first vocal prayer in a long long time! It was such a neat experience!
My bike stopped working one of the days and it took FOREVER to fix it. It was kinda a pain, but Elder Dickson knows bikes super well and was able to make it work even better than before! We oiled everything and now we basically fly down the road! It's pretty sweet. If we were biking and I strapped some wings onto Elder Dickson he'd actually take off! It's intense.
I am so grateful to you all: for all of your prayers and support! The gospel truly changes lives!
Elder Petrie
R...
February 27, 2017
We spent a lot of time with our investigator R. this past week. He needed a lot of help with things around his house. He would stop us all the time to give us life advice. :) His wife died just 2 years ago, and he told us that this is the happiest he's ever been since then. The ward next door had a baptism on Saturday, and we asked R. to take us and also invited him to watch. It turns out he got up late; he was able to take us, but he was still in his pajamas. :) He told us that he would just wait inside his car. I had to play the piano so we went inside. After being inside for a few minutes we really felt that we should go back out and specifically invite him in. We went out and did that and he said that he felt bad about how he was dressed, but that he really wanted to see it! We told him that no one would care about how he was dressed and that he should come it. He decided to come, and loved the service! He started praying for us during it! What a miracle! R. is so cool! He keeps buying us stuff which is not okay. ;) He is such a kind man.
We had a neat lesson with A. this week. We were talking about our potential as sons and daughters of God, and how he loves us and wants us to return to him. After talking about that for a little bit A. opens up to us and tells us how she really feels like she is not going to heaven. Of course that broke our hearts at first, but we went on to read the scriptures and testify that God's work and glory is for us to live with Him again, and He's going to do all he can to help us achieve that! We asked her if she'd be willing to start over with a new mindset and begin to believe that she can make it to heaven. She said she would do that. The next time we were there with her, during our conversation she told us that she is going to heaven! She really had changed her mindset and her heart! There are people out there who feel like they are not good enough or God's grace, but His grace, love, and mercy extend over us all! No matter what we have done He loves us, and when we repent we can make it to live with Him again.
I have gone on a couple exchanges these past two weeks, and they have been really neat experiences! When I was in the Granite Hills ward last week we met with a woman who I helped to teach a tiny bit when I was in a trio three months ago. Back then this woman just liked meeting with the missionaries for fun. We asked her about baptism back then and she was like "no way" we asked her to say the prayer back then and she was like "no way!" When I was on exchanges we talked with her about being ready for her baptismal date in 3 weeks! What an amazing change!
The second exchange is similar. Four months ago I went on an exchange in the Sunset Hills ward. There was an investigator we met with whom we dropped at that time. During the drop lesson he was drinking a ton. He complained to us about his family, job, and life the whole time. I went on exchanges to sunset hills this past week and we again met with this man who had been picked back up 2 months ago. At this time he has stopped drinking beer completely (which is super hard for him) He talked about how he loves his family now and is so grateful for his job. What another amazing change! The gospel truly changes lives when applied. Although we might be members we can still be changed for the better as well!
I know this gospel is true and brings true joy into our lives when we live it!
Love,
Elder Petrie
Short week :)
February 20, 2017
This week we had ZONE CONFERENCE!!!! It was so spiritually uplifting and it really helped me to build my faith in Christ's Gospel. It was so cool because it went along with things that I am working on. Right now I have been trying to focus on changing myself, so that I can then help others to change. Zone Conference was all about being a light unto others and how we have to make sure our light is burning bright so that others can see it. It was just great! I felt the power of God on our side!
This week we had an amazing lesson with M.! We gave him a whiteboard and told him to take notes, and he totally did! We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he made the coolest notes ever! (see the pictures)
This week we had ZONE CONFERENCE!!!! It was so spiritually uplifting and it really helped me to build my faith in Christ's Gospel. It was so cool because it went along with things that I am working on. Right now I have been trying to focus on changing myself, so that I can then help others to change. Zone Conference was all about being a light unto others and how we have to make sure our light is burning bright so that others can see it. It was just great! I felt the power of God on our side!
This week we had an amazing lesson with M.! We gave him a whiteboard and told him to take notes, and he totally did! We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he made the coolest notes ever! (see the pictures)
With him, he is so cool, but he just doesn't understand the importance of church; he's only been once! We try so hard to get him to come to church but he hasn't been! He is progressing so well in every other way! Hopefully we will help him to progress in every way! He is just the coolest guy ever!
We saw A. again this week and during my closing prayer I said "we're grateful for all the things we've learned" and A. said "we ain't learned nothin!" right in the middle of the prayer and just busted up laughing! It was so funny! Hopefully we can help her see the things that she is learning. :)
Have an amazing week all! The Gospel blesses and changes lives!
Love,
Elder Petrie
We saw A. again this week and during my closing prayer I said "we're grateful for all the things we've learned" and A. said "we ain't learned nothin!" right in the middle of the prayer and just busted up laughing! It was so funny! Hopefully we can help her see the things that she is learning. :)
Have an amazing week all! The Gospel blesses and changes lives!
Love,
Elder Petrie
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