2/25/2013

Mom,
     Well I don't really have too much to tell you. We did get transfers! I will be staying here in Burgas for another 2 months! I will be serving with Elder Goodwin. He is also already here in Burgas. We will get along really well, because he is a trombone player. He played for BYU and we just have a very lot in common!
     Maybe the best part of next transfer will be that we will combine two areas. What that means is I will get to keep all the investigators that I have now, plus So does Elder Goodwin. We will have double the investigators! We already have 3 baptismal dates in March!
     On Sunday when we sang "God be with you till we meet again" all the people were crying. Transfers are sad but they are also very happy. Have you been working with the sister missionaries? I don't know how it is there, but we fight to have members in our lessons with investigators. And as long as you have a testimony to share, it makes a world of difference.
      The weather has started to get pretty warm here, and I will be here for spring so I will get some good pictures of the sea gardens and I will have to send those once it starts blooming. Bulgaria is such a beautiful place!
     We had Zone leader training meeting in Varna and we learned about recognizing the spirit in our teaching. It was very good!
     Thats all I have this week mom, when you write me more it gives me more things to talk about!
Love,
Elder Petersen

A member made me a necklace from shells!

Our Branch President drew this.

President's Day

 Hey mom
     So much is going on at home! I can't believe Karl is graduating! I remember when he was really little and we would kiss home on the cheeks all the time, because his cheeks were soft, and it would always make him angry. :) on May 24-25th I will only have 11 months left! (actually 10 1/2 but who is counting? [mom.]). before ya'll know it, dad will be the only person who is in the house other than yourself! then I will come home and be king of the house. :)
     We had an investigator that was going to get baptized this coming Sunday  but as I was going over the interview questions with him, it turns out he has a pretty big problem s (<--- haha I wrote only s in place of with!) chastity. Soooo we will be postponing that date. Darn. I know he will one day be baptized however.
     We actually haven't found any new investigators this week, but we have some pretty promising ones with whom we can meet and maybe get some progression! We always just need to proceed with faith into the darkness, and trust the light will move with us.
     Transfers are this Saturday. we will get our call to know where and with whom we will be serving. Then next Tuesday we will make the changes. I really hope to stay in Burgas for a little bit longer. Everything is really starting to pick up here, and as well as other places in the mission. Our mission goal for baptisms this year is 80, but we already have 18 baptisms, and 43 people with dates for baptism. I think we will make the goal and then some. :)
     I would like more peanut butter, and some more of that Tabasco sauce, not the normal one, but the bigger bottle buffalo flavor. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooo good! also letters, and a terrible thing has happened. My zebra pen F-701 was stolen by anther missionary and I don't know if it will ever return. please have Scott find another one and send it with the package. You can text him and ask him to buy it on his way home from work. :) thanks! I do have enough pen refills for it though, so i don't need anymore of those.
     We had a valentines day talent show as a church activity this weeks, and it was very good! we had a nice turn out and it was probably the most fun church activity that I have ever been to! Our branch president is an artist, and he was doing pastel drawings of people! I'll have to send you my portrait next week, because I don't have my SD card with me today.
     Well that's all I got for this week mom! I want to leave you with a quote that I heard and really like! "Indecision mars all success, there can be no good wind for the sailor who knows not to what port he is bound." Let us all make the important decisions in life now, and act on them.
Love,
Elder Petersen

Feb 11, 2013

Mom,
     Scott is getting married... Well it was just a matter of time I suppose. what is a brother to do? I hope they have lots of happiness. and babies. I love babies!
     I can't think about a whole lots to tell you. We are no longer able to teach that girl. she has been forbidden by her mother to come to the church or to talk about the church at all. They actually have offered her money and other items to not go to the church. It is pretty sad.
     We have been doing a lot of finding still. We lost about 3 investigators this week, so we are always out on the streets and knocking on doors to try and find new people to teach. It is pretty hard to find new people however, and some people are just crazy. We rang a doorbell one night a week and a half ago, and a man in a mask opened the door and pointed a rifle at us and started screaming random things in Bulgarian. It was amazing how easy it was to stay calm though. We just said okay have a nice night and left. It was crazy.
     Other than that it has just been an average week of trying to figure out what to do! Sorry I don't have much else to say! I hope that everyone there is having a good week! Give my love to everyone!
Love,
Elder Petersen

2/4/13

Mom,
     No. We do not get to go to the temple. People from Bulgaria actually go all the way to Friedberg, Germany to attend the temple. It is way to hard for them to get into Ukraine. But no, missionaries in Bulgaria do not get a chance to attend the temple while we are here. I really miss it though!
     Probably 80% of the branches in Buglaria have a missionary playing the piano. In ours I am second pick for playing the piano. The first Elder can play maybe 10 songs out of the simplified book. I can do 1 out of the green hymn book and maybe 5 out of the simplified book! My piano skills have actually improved a lot! I think you would be pretty impressed at my ability compared to the lack of any ability  I had before my mission. I have only had to play one song during church though. It was scary.
      In a city called Stara Zagora (the old forest) there was a missionary Branch President for as long as any missionary I know can remember. but about a month ago they finally got a Bulgarian president! That is really cool! Also in Sofia the branch president was a Bulgarian but the counselors were both missionaries. Now however they are all Bulgarians. That was also about the same time as the change in Stara Zagora. So here in Bulgaria it is really starting to get up on its feet and function with out so much dependency on the missionaries.
      That girls name is Vladimira. Just remember when you say it that every i makes the sounds of a long E and all a's make the AH sound. and the accent is on the second i. and roll your r. And Bulgarians kind of make there L's into a whah sound. Good luck. :)
     We actually had a meeting with her mother so that we could try and put her worries to rest. They came to church together and we may just get permission to continue teaching her! She is very receptive to the spirit and wants to believe in something! Also she speaks almost perfect english I found out! One lesson I said something in English to the member we had with us so she could translate it because I didn't know the tense that I had to use. and now I found out she understood everything! Crazy!
     Well I want to go play football in the rain, so I will just have to hear from you next week! Give all my love to everyone! and get the primary kids to write me letters :)
Love,
Elder Petersen