General Conference!

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

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

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

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

Just a little slow...but still awesome!

March 6, 2017

This week was a little slower for us, but that is okay because we are going to make this week the best week ever!

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

This week has been an amazing week!

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) 

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

Short time

February 13, 2017

I don't have hardly any time at all, but I just want to let you know that I love you all, and the work is going great.

I love the gospel and it can help me be better every day! I'll write more next week. Have a wonderful valentines day!

Love,

Elder Petrie

Female Apostles :)

February 6, 2017

Wow! What a week!
This has been just Awesome!

Saturday was a day of service! We really want A. to be able to make it to church, but she can't right now because her car needs 2017 tags. In order to be tag worthy it needs to be running properly. She got a part from autozone and Elder Dickson knows a bit about cars, so we replaced that part on car! It was great learning a little bit more about cars from him. But unfortunately the replaced part didn't quite fix the car. So she's going to take the car in to autozone again to get it checked. After fixing A.'s car we helped a new family move into the ward for a couple hours. After that we did service at the L.'s house for a couple hours. They are getting tile put in the whole house and needed everything moved out. They are going to live in a camper for a week while the tile is being laid. So we helped them out. That night we spent some time with M. and the R. family. They cooked us some delicious Mexican food. :)

R. came to church! T., his girlfriend was sick so she was not able to come. He was so excited to have come three times in a row so that he could be a regular and not a visitor anymore! We were so excited for him too! ;) R., the man whose backyard we cleaned out came to church as well! He even got up and bore his testimony at church! He is so kind and funny! In his talk he said he's taking baby steps, but afterword he told us he's going to start reading the Book of Mormon. Wow, coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon are not baby steps. :) He's so awesome!

Recently I've been experiencing some really cool personal revelation! I have just felt impressed often as we have visited people what we should teach/discuss the next time we come. We were visiting with a less-active man a few days ago, and I had a strong impression that when we came back the next time we should really help him begin to pray and read the scriptures each day. I have had other promptings with other people as well. It is so wonderful and humbling to feel Heavenly Father working through me!

Funny story:

We taught A. about Modern-day Prophets and Apostles this past week. We had mentioned it before, but never in great detail. This time we talked specifically about the current Prophet and Apostles and brought a conference Ensign to show her. We also watched some Mormon Messages with her. It was all going great until she said "I met an apostle once. She told me about my whole past." She then went on to tell us a long story about this female apostle that she talked to. Elder Dickson and I were just like "Uhhhhhh." We then went on to explain that we only have 12 apostles and how they are all men and called by God. Haha it was pretty funny.

We passed K. off to the YSA Elders. He has been in and out of town for a long time, and we were finally able to meet with him this week! It was a great lesson, and we just committed him to pray each day, looking for answers to his prayers.

I'll send pictures later today. Have a wonderful week! Love you all!

Elder Petrie

Conversion through Church!

January 30, 2017

Transfers were this past week and it turns out that I am staying in Ranchos with Elder Dickson! He is still the District Leader, and he has been out 11 months. The only bad thing about it is that our car is being taken away, and we are back on the bikes. :( It was really nice to have both the bike and car option. I only hope that it stops raining here. Here is a pic of us and the Granite Hills Elders.

We had a wonderful time at church this week. A. finally came again! She had her granddaughters with her and really wanted to take them to church so she asked for a ride. She had an awesome time there. She really felt like she connected with the speakers and enjoyed all of her classes. She felt the Spirit telling her that she was in the right place! She is so excited to hurry and fix her car so that she can attend church next week too. She is slowly gaining a testimony of pieces of the gospel! She said this past week that she knows that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was called by God to restore the church. She is growing more and more as we help her to build her faith!

R. and his girlfriend T. also came to church! It was the first time in a while that T. came, and the second week in a row for R.! He said he's coming back next week as well! While at church we sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer. Afterword, T., who is not a member asked Elder Dickson who Joseph Smith was. Elder Dickson seeing the perfect opportunity said " He is one of our church's prophets. can we come by this week and teach you a little bit more about him?" Ha perfect! T. was excited for us to come over and teach her.

M. was supposed to come to church. We visited him on Saturday and he said that he would be there. When we showed up to remind him on Sunday morning he was sleeping. :P We are going to work on helping him see the importance of coming to church.

We climbed another mountain today. We were dying to finally feel some snow, and this mountain had snow on it! I finally got to walk in snow again.

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Petrie

Week of Miracles!

January 23, 2017

We have had some awesome Miracles this past week! God truly has blessed us.

This week we had an awesome experience that taught us that our good example as members of the church is so important! We have been doing service for a man in our area who is friends with our Ward Mission Leader, and really good friends with a Bishop in the Arcadia mission. He needed help to clean out his yard because it was full of trash and weeds, and could be a fire hazard. So we've been over there several times to help him clean out everything. This man's name is R., and we have had a great time getting to know him. For some reason he's been crazy super impressed with us and the work we've done for him. So on Friday we get a call from him and he says that he is so impressed with us that he wants to investigate the church! Elder Dickson and I turned to each other and were just like WHAT?! R. said that he is going to invite his Bishop Friend up and ask him some questions to get his concerns straightened out! It was an amazing miracle and such a neat experience! We are going to have dinner with him tonight and teach about Joseph Smith! It really showed me that we should treat everyone with love and kindness, and hopefully it will inspire them to learn more about Jesus Christ!

A. had an awesome experience as well! She has done some sketchy things in her life and she feels really bad about them. Right now we are specifically focusing on helping her realize the power of repentance and the Atonement. We had a great lesson with her on Tuesday, and at the end we committed her to ask for forgiveness in her prayers that night. The next morning we texted her and asked how her prayers were last night. She said that she felt the love and power of God as she prayed for forgiveness. She said she loved the experience and that God is good! It was sweet!

It has been raining a lot here in CA; most of the people we talk to have been saying that this is the most rain they've seen in one year here in the desert! It's been fun because it reminds Elder Dickson of home. He is from the wet side of Washington. He gets super happy every time it rains. :) Also it's really fun to see the change in weather.

Here we are in Pep boys waiting for our car to be fixed.  We had just been walking in the rain.

Sadly no investigators came to church this week, but R. the less-active did! It was sweet! We were finally able to get into his house again, and he said that he would be at church! On Sunday he was there and he said that he would come again next week! He just loves church and seeing the people there. We are hoping to start teaching his girlfriend T. as well.

This week I just had several impressions that God loves each of His children so much! No matter what we've done or where we are on the path of life God's arm of mercy is always extended to us, we just need to reach up and take it! just like the parable of the laborers in the vineyard we are all working toward the same goal, it doesn't matter when we've been hired. we just need to get the job and stay with it giving our all! I have felt the power of the Atonement in my life so many times! It strengthens and uplifts me.

I know that God has a plan for me and each of you. Always be asking him "what can I do to follow you better?"

Have a wonderful week!

Elder Petrie

Investigators at Church Rocks!

January 16, 2017

The sad news of this week is that J. texted us and said that he is not interested in meeting with us any more. It's funny because I realized that the past two letters home I've said how excited I am to teach him and his family. That was a hard day. I think it was the first time that someone who we had already met with a couple times told us to not come back. :( Sadly we can't control others' agency, but we can at least set an example for them.

We have several new investigators! One of them is M., who is 17 years old. He is a friend of a member of the ward. He is so cool! He is really looking to lead out in his life. He sees how the gospel has blessed his friends, and wants to be part of it. He always tells us how he feels happy and warm when we come. We told him that's the SPIRIT! So now he knows what that feels like. Sweet! In our lesson, we invited him to be baptized on February 4, and he said that he knows that will help him! So cool. We definitely have a lot to teach him, but he has a strong desire to learn!

Another new investigator we are teaching is C.! He is living with his fiance, M. who is actually a long-lost less-active. He loves God and knows the bible super well. He is excited to read the Book of Mormon and compare it to the bible, and he's already started! We just have to help him understand that he needs to pray about it too.

Sunday was so cool! We he had two of our investigators show up to church! M. and C.. It was ward conference, and the Spirit was there so strong! It was the perfect meeting for our investigators! They both loved it. We are excited to talk about it more with them this week!

Also another bit of sad news..... :P J., the one who threw away his cigarettes last week is getting some negative feedback from family. He's not sure if he wants to meet with us still. :( His fellow-shipper is really helping him though. She told us that he is going to go ask God sincerely if this is the right thing to do. We are praying he gets his answer and chooses to progress.

We haven't been able to meet with K. because he has been out of town. We plan on seeing him this week and passing him off to the YSA elders!

This morning we did a sunrise hike up a nearby small mountain! We had an awesome time! See the pics below!  Finally it wasn't cloudy!

I love being a missionary so much! I think each week gets better and better! I think it's because I am gaining a more and more eternal perspective.

Have a great week!

In the Lord's Work!

January 9, 2017

So I'll start off with a miracle from this past week. :) All the packages that are sent to the missionaries are sent to the mission office which is in Rancho Cucamonga. Each Thursday the Zone Leaders will pick up all of their zone's mail and packages and deliver them to the missionaries throughout the week. This past week on Wednesday the mission office got broken into! They stole all the letters, the safe that holds the all the missionary passports, and most of the packages. Knowing that my birthday was coming up I was disappointed and sure that I wouldn't get a package. As a missionary you don't really need a package, but it sure is nice to get one. :) I had resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't getting anything. But I also felt so bad for everyone else who had had things stolen, so I began to pray for all of them. But when we talked to the Zone Leaders, they said they had gotten packages for me! I was floored and so grateful for that tender mercy of the Lord in helping me to know that I was loved. :) God is so good!

We also had amazing experiences of being directed by the Lord! For the past month I have had just a good feeling about this one street in our area. I just felt good about it. These past two weeks we decided to tract that street, a little bit each day. We just finished tracting that street on Saturday, and we have gained a couple new investigators, and several potential investigators from it. It was so amazing! Usually as a missionary when you knock on someone's door they open it up and say go away. For us there were so many people that said come back! It was so so cool! God really is preparing people for each of us to reach out to!

We had the opportunity to give A. a blessing this week! She was super sick. We were able to teach her about blessings of healing and the priesthood authority. She was so grateful we had come and was actually feeling better by the time we left.

We had another amazing miracle this week that just proves that the gospel and the Spirit changes lives! We picked up a new investigator named J. this past week (not one from the special street). A member referred him to us and we had a lesson with him in her home (perfect setting)! We taught him the Restoration and committed him to read the Book of Mormon and come to church tomorrow. Well he came to church and loved it all! He gave some great comments during class. Backing up a little bit: During our lesson with him he expressed how he really wants to give up smoking. We told him we could definitely help him with that and that the Lord would help him as well. That's all we said about smoking. After church the member he is friends with came up to us and said "J. just broke up and threw away all of his cigarettes!" We were like what!? We found J., and he asked if we could come over and do the stop smoking program with him, and we told him that we would see him Monday night. After he walked away Elder Dickson and I looked at each other and sprinted off to find the nearest trash can. :) We found the trash can and the cigarettes in the kitchen! We were so pumped so we took pictures with the can. :) The Lord truly helps people to change. We are so excited to continue to teach J.!

Sadly we have not been able to get in with a lot of our main investigators this past week like K. and J., but hopefully we will be able to see them this week. K. we are going to pass off to the YSA Elders, but I pray that we will be able to teach Jason and his family, I know the gospel can benefit them so much!

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!

Elder Petrie

1-Birthday Presents!

2,3-Broken Cigarettes! So cool

Happy 2017!

January 2, 2017

This has been a week of finding for us! So many people were not home or told us to come back this week! That left us with a lot of time and no set appointments! So we did a lot of tracting. This week we hope to use our "extra" time with member visits. It truly is the work of the members and we are here to assist them. I would encourage you all back home to do your best to assist the missionaries in the work of salvation. There are people who need the gospel! I remember when our family would set a date and try to have someone we could introduce to the missionaries by then. I was so worried that we needed to find the perfect prepared person. I would encourage all of you to look at every person you meet as though they are the ones who need to be taught by the missionaries. Help everyone to come closer to Jesus Christ! It is such a blessing to help someone have a better life, especially because of the Restored Gospel!

We had lots of great plans for this past week, but it seems as though Satan got in the works and told everyone to not be home this week. :P Hopefully we will be able to see each of our investigators this week! I am so excited to teach J. and his family. I know that this gospel can help him. I feel so blessed these past two weeks! I have felt God's hand in helping me to improve! I have been working on just loving and serving people. My heart has grown so much, and I feel so much more joy out here in the mission field! It is AWESOME!

We were able to have a wonderful lesson with L., who is a member but is less-active and doesn't feel like he has a testimony of the church. We were previously just reading the scriptures with him, but we decided that he wasn't really progressing that way. He needed more. So we set him up with daily scripture study. We got him to think of some questions that he wants answered; he is going to study each day with those questions in mind. I know that his scripture reading will help him to progress!

We taught A. the Plan of Salvation again and during the lesson, out of the blue she just says "I don't believe that your church is the only church that has authority to baptize." We were like what?!? We had taught her this twice just a few weeks previous. We told her to pray and ask God because He is the one who really has the answer. She agreed to do that. I pray that she has a desire to progress!

Elder Dickson was sick on Saturday, so we were at home all day. :) But he is now feeling better! Blessings are for real!

Have a wonderful beginning of 2017!

Love,

Elder Petrie

The Christmas Week

December 26, 2017

First off I've got to just say that it was so awesome to Skype my family yesterday afternoon! It was so great to hear from all of them. Seeing them and hearing their voices helps me want to be a better person. :)

Christmas Eve night was spent at a recent convert's house. We had a great dinner there, and then she included some of each of the missionary's family traditions. We made cinnamon rolls, did a gift exchange, and acted out the nativity. :) It was a fun night with her and her family.

Christmas day was just an amazing day! We were able to open presents, deliver Light the World cards to lots of people, spend time with members, go carolling, and eat some awesome food! It was so great to spend my Christmas out here on the mission serving others.

Our lesson this week with A. went well. She asked me to sing Amazing Grace for her and I did. She really enjoyed it, and I was able to get over my fear of singing in front of others. :) We are working hard on getting her to read the Book of Mormon on her own so that she can feel the Spirit every day. She is starting to do that which is so cool! She knows that it is true, but she is just doesn't make time for reading, so that is why we are helping her with that. She was really worried about not being able to get gifts for her grandchildren for Christmas, but the Sister Missionaries took her to the toy drive at the church and she was able to pick out gifts for her grandchildren. It was an answer to her prayers! I love how the church is so giving, and encourages the members to be charitable as well. Service is the best way to be happy!

We taught K. spiritual CPR. it stands for Church. Pray, and Read. We have to do those things to keep our testimony alive! K. committed to do all three which was great! We asked him if he would like to go to the YSA ward, and he said that he would like that. He really wants good friends. So we are going to have to pass him off to the YSA elders. :( He is such an awesome guy! I am so excited for him to progress in the gospel and find happiness and a better life!

One of the times I felt the Spirit this past week was during weekly planning. I really felt like the plans we made for this week and for our lessons were good and directed by the Spirit. I am so excited to carry them out. We are really focusing on helping the people we teach progress, and not just have a nice lesson. We want them on the path, moving toward Eternal Life.

I love you all! I know that we really can make it back to our Heavenly Father and Brother, Jesus Christ! It is not an impossible goal. And just like the Prophets and Apostles have said, all we have to do is try, but we have to REALLY try. Have a fantastic week!

Elder Petrie

1-Sweet Companionship

2-Making Cinnamon Rolls

3-Snow Covered Mountains!

Santa Clause Is Comin To Town

December 19, 2016

Well Christmas is here!

It 's just pretty crazy how week after week happens, and I hardly notice it!

Wow! It's great to be back in just one area again, so much work gets done! :) It's great to be with Elder Dickson; he's pretty crazy though. He puts a lot of fun in the work! We are working great together.

This past week has been an awesome week with Elder Dickson! We've had a great time serving the people of the Ranchos Ward together. It is also great to have a car. :) We found two new investigators this past week! Both were great lessons with the Spirit there for sure. One of them was with a 16 yr old named T. He had been through some really rough things in his life but is now finding God with the help of his Aunt. We met him and his Aunt just outside their door on a freezing cold night! We taught him the Restoration and he accepted our message and a copy of the Book of Mormon! We have a return appointment this next week! It was so cool to feel the Spirit during our visit; so strong that we didn't feel the cold! :)

We had an awesome lesson with K. too! We hadn't seen him in a while so we asked him what he was expecting out of our lessons and if he was still looking for change. He said yes, and that he felt like we were led to him the day we met him. So cool! We told him that we pray each day to find those who are seeking for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committed him to baptism on January 28! It was so sweet!

We also plan on extending baptismal invitations to several investigators in the next two weeks!

I love you all so much! The gospel is the best way for us to be happy! Each principle is so true, and is in place for our benefit!

Elder Petrie


1-Our Christmas Tree

2-It's so cold!

Transfers!

December 12, 2016

I don't have a ton of time to email today, but transfers were today! (it was a five week transfer)

I am now with Elder Dickson who is the District Leader! 

Sadly we sent Elder Wiginton home, but I'm excited to serve in the Ranchos ward with Elder Dickson!



1,2-The beautiful desert sunset. :)

Trio Life

December 5, 2016

Hello Everyone!

This has been a great week back in the Trio life! We are always busy, which is a good thing. :) It is nice to be in a truck again, but I now need to take morning workout more seriously so that I don't gain any weight! Honestly it's like scary how much missionaries gain weight. I know several Elders that have gained up to 30 pounds!

A lot of people haven't been home this week, so it's been a little frustrating to drive all the way to their house to have them not there. :( A lot of people also haven't had time for us this week and told us to come back in a week. K. is one of those people, so hopefully he is still interested in hearing the message of the restored gospel.

We had a great lesson with A.! She brought up that she had a problem with smoking and with tithing, but that she just needs to get over it. We weren't telling her what to do, she just knows what's right and wants to do it. Sadly she is having car troubles again, so she didn't make it to church. I hope her car is all fixed soon!

We had another dog story! We were walking out to the truck when a tiny dogs comes out of nowhere and bites my shoe! Then it goes after Elder Wiginton and he literally dives into the bed of the truck to get away from it! Then we all combined forces to scare/kick it away. :) Before my mission I didn't think that missionary dog stories were real, but turns out they are. Literally everyone here has a dog; A. would love it. :)

We went golfing today for P-day! It was so fun! It turns out I'm pretty good at golfing! I think that time at the driving range with Bro. F. (back home) helped! We had a distance contest with three different clubs, and I won! I'm not being prideful or anything, I just thought I'd let you know. :)

I'm also fulfilling my dream as a pro photographer!



The gospel is so true and I love being a missionary! Each day is getting better and better! I love you all!

Elder Petrie