Good Afternoon family! It has been a "short week!" I'm writing a little later today because we got stopped while walking to the library and helped a recent convert move. But that's good because we don't have a lot of things to do today without a car so we can't go grocery shopping or anything. that is cool that you got to go to a football game with wade and steven. I hope steven is doing good and the results are good from his latest tests as well. whatever "good" may be. I heard that utah state almost beat Auburn this last week. That would've been a fun game to watch. The weather is still fairly cold here. It's been pretty windy lately. I still haven't had a good storm yet though. People keep telling me that the thunder here just goes on forever and shakes your whole house. I want to experience that.
That is sweet that tanner and joey had their missionary reports in church this last week. What a blessing it is to see missionaries coming out into the field! I think the boots i have are gortex but i can't remember 100%. We got 10 new missionaries this last week and 6 went home. I am not the youngest missionary in our district anymore either. Elder Virgen is being trained up in iowa falls. I received a phone call from Sis Jergensen the other day and she wanted me to thank you for the letter you sent her in the mail i guess? She said it really meant a lot to her and made her day to know that you were thinking of her. She is doing good and is back in the mission field again. And Caleb Sandford is coming home? It has been a long time since i've heard that name. You will have to tell whoever is left in the 202 that i know hi for me.
Well all of the corn fields are being harvested so i guess you can coun't that as a change of colors for the fall. They are all turning white. So now is the perfect time for missionary work. "The field is white already to harvest." I now know what that literally looks like now. I also went and picked some apples this week. Probably the only time i'll do that in a suit. I started making a tape the other week, but i'm not sure when i'll be done. You and dad should make me one with you speaking russian or something so i can hear your great progress and so you can practice.
This past week we have been teaching a lot about prophets and general conference. We get a live broadcast at our church building and we have commited quite a few investigators to come check it out. But one interesting thought that i had during my studies this past week that i would like to share with you is not about prophets. It is about home. In Matthew 6:19-21 is reads "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where theives break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." For where our treasure is, there will our heart be also... that phrase made me think of "home is where the heart is." We each have multiple homes. We have our heavenly home where we should be laying up treasures, but we also each have our homes here on earth with our families as well. There are a number of different things we can do to put treasures in our heavenly home, but how do we make our house here on earth a home? The new perspective that i got while thinking about his is in the way the english language works. The phrase "I'm going home" is an acceptable and often said phrase. But if you say "i'm going house" that is not gramatically correct. So why is home correct when house is not? Well let's look at this example. Let's compare "i'm going shopping" to "i'm going store." The difference is that shopping is an action while store is just a place. so home is an action. Just like how it's the things we do inside the store that make it so we are shopping, it's the things that we do inside the house that make it a home. In D&C 88:119 it tells us how to create an environment of what are house should be in order for the "home" actions to take place. "establish a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." And most importantly we need love. In Preach My Gospel it tells us the home should be the best place to teach, learn, and apply principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A home established on gospel principles will be a place of refuge and safety. It will be a place where the Spirit of the Lord can abide, blessing family members with peace, joy, and happiness.
How thankful i am to have been raised in a home that is founded upon those principles. It really does feel like a place of refuge and safety for me. Please don't think that i am thinking about home all the time or getting home sick though, because i love being out here in Iowa!! I love you all and wish you the best in all of your weekly endeavors.
Love, Elder Peterson
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