Miracles and More!!!

Bonjour a tous!!

This week has been amazing and full of miracles! 

On Tuesday we had a lesson with the ami who we recived from lds.org. He had been studying and asking really good questions while he was reading a lot of the Book of Mormon. We taught him how to pray and we told him to ask God and he said he would ask God if  what we teach is true and then we had a really good lesson,

Then on Wednesday we had the French class with another Ami who helps teach us French which went really great because it ended up just being a big gospel conversation and he had a number of questions that we were able to help him answer and then after that we went and saw our ami who is Chinese who just returned from vacation,

We went out to eat together and had a great time and taught her the plan of Salvation and it went really well. I have found it so interesting teaching her because she has no background in religion.  She tells us that a lot of things are abstract and very new so we have to really rely alot on the spirit to witness that these things are truths from God. Later that day we went and saw an old ami and visited with him and he is going through a lot of hard times so we were able to give him a blessing. Please pray for him.

Then that night we taught English class which went very well! I was a very busy Wednesday but it was Awesome 🙂

Thursday was another great day! We met with the coordinate again and he hadn’t received an answer to his prayer yet and he was seeming a little bit discouraged but we had a really great lesson. We taught the Gospel of Christ and why we need to do certain things in this life to return to our Heavenly Father, he really liked the lesson and we challenged him with a Baptismal date for the 14th of February.  He  ACCEPTED!! He said if he knew by then he would be baptized by the proper authority.

That night we actually got to do something that is new and really cool! We went to an after school program to help children with their Homework! It was very fun to help children learn English and to help them with their French Homework too. We are actually planning on going back next week to help again, which will be a lot of fun.

Friday, we said a number of prayers for our amis and I prayed really hard for the Coordinate ami.

Saturday gets exciting!  As now we play soccer with people every Saturday morning because it has been warm. Like 45_55 degrees most days this last week. We are starting to play every week on Saturday.  Then as we were walking we recieved this text “Dieu M’a Repondu que Le Livre De Mormon est Vrai!” which means……………. God answered me that the Book of Mormon is true!.

We freaked out and jumped for Joy right in the street! It is amazing! I feel so happy and humbled to know that it was not me that did it. I needed the Help of God with alot of Prayers that he was given a response! It is so amazing to be here in France doing the Lords work.

Seeing how this Gospel changes lives is such a blessing to me, from the moment we meet someone I can see their life start to change and have more hope and light, I am so grateful for this.

We had two HUGE miracles that happened on Sunday !!

So few weeks ago we gave a blessing to a very old man in the hospital, who was the father of a recent convert. He was 99 years old and was having some very serious medical issues. He was on oxygen and couldn’t talk or move really at all. His daughter came to church again and I was talking to her, and it turned out that his 100th Birthday was on the 31st of December, and he was able to celebrate it comfortable at home! He is better! It is such a strong example of this Restored power! I am so thankful and humbled that I can act in the Lords name and according to faith, the Lord can heal people though me.

The second one is similar to the first but I was not involved. There was a young woman at church that fell and was in a lot of pain and she was having number of medical problems and it was not good. She was laid in a classroom and she was sweating like crazy and she said she felt really cold. Some of the Brothers at Church gave her a blessing and in just 20 minutes she was COMPLETELY back to normal! Smiling and playing with her sisters. It was truly a miracle, the mother was overwhelmed.

So this week I am so thankful for Miracles here on Earth Today!

Love to all of my Family and Friends,

Elder Peterson 

The Start of a Whole New Year

Montpellier Marina

This week has been great here in Montpellier!

I am so happy with the work here and all the experiences I am having while I am in the service of the Lord!

My French is improving very fast and I can hold conversations pretty well!  The fear that always seems to be my constant companion is also going away and I am now getting to talk to a lot of people on the road and on trams and busses. I feel so blessed by the Lords help with the language. I have been able to understand most everything from day 1, that makes me think the Lord has something special for me to do very soon, I just have not figured it out yet. Last week we were at the bishops house for lunch and his wife had thought that the new missionary (me) had been transferred out and that I was just a regular missionary! It is so awesome to communicate with people in their native tongue. I am really falling in love with French people and their personalities! They are hilarious.

On the 31st we had district meeting in the morning and we ate raclette!! For those of you who don’t know what this is, its melted cheese on potato and meat. it was a really great time with the district and we all discussed our goals.  I have come to learn that goals are the most important things ever. 🙂  For this new years I have committed to really work on goal setting for the whole year as a missionary. I am really working for it!

After our meeting we went and did contacting in a park because it was like 50f and super sunny!  We talked to a lot of people with our questionnaire. This week has been kind of slow because 4 of our 6 amis were on vacation, but we were able to meet a new ami! He is a coordinate from Mormon.org, he actually saw the tv show here about this polygamist group living in nevada and he did his research to find the truth and submitted his name to the church!  He has done A LOT of research and he is very smart and wants to know more so we actually taught him twice this week and it has really been great, he is in his mid 20s and really has wanted to find the truth!  At the end of the 1st lesson we invited him to read the Book of Mormon, which he accepted and today he has already read through 2 nephi! and he is really enjoying it.

This week we also did a lot of service at a members new house. They are currently in an apartment but they just got this old house that really needs a lot of work! So we were went to help them again this week.  We spent 7 hours and we got alot done!  I LOVE doing service for people!

In our mission we share miracles and I was thinking a lot about this family the other day and I was thinking that I wish we had more amis this week and that we were more busy…etc. When I realized that for this family, we are a miracle! They don’t have much in their lives but we had the time ( I know it was for a reason) to help them take on this huge task! They have been so grateful for all that we have done and we have truly been a miracle for them!  In this town there are 3 sets of missionaries so we were able to have the time to help them while others had the time to teach.  I am so thankful to the Lord, that we have been able to be a miracle for others here in France!

The other night,  my companion and I and two other elders here went to this old French womans house for dinner! It was a great time and the food was amazing! She made turkey….. stuffed with frois gras!!!!! it was sooooooooo yummy and we had it with green beans and fries. This is an interesting thing here and I don’t know why, but a lot of people here have french fries with fancy meals. 🙂 It is amazing because they are so good,  but it is strange as well. The dinner was so fun and the conversations were awesome! I understood jokes in French! It was a blast and the woman told the most amazing stories.

We have still been doing sport-extreme 2 times a week and I am getting in pretty good shape! I am very happy here with how mission life is going and our ward mission leader is really excited for this next year! It is starting off great! We have had a few new students for our english class which is great, so all is well!

Also there is a semi-famous rugby player in our ward and there is a big game in 2 weeks….. and President said we can go to that!!! We are pumped to go seek a professional game! There is a massive stadium here so it is going to be great!

For study i have started to read the Book of Mormon again in great detail!

Personal study this morning

 8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

I am so happy that I can take part in this work, letting the World know about the Savior and inviting them to come unto him;

It is truly a message of Love. The Savior loved us so much that he laid down his life for everyone, because he loved each one of us so much.

He wants us to come unto him and accept him so that we can be accepted into the kindgom of his Father and live in peace for eternity.

I love you all! I have gotten some letters and I am so thankful!

Je vous aime,

Elder Peterson