The Last Full Week!

New Year's Partay in Blackfoot. Boom!

The final week. Haha I can't believe it. It's been quite the adventure. The mission is something you prepare for all of your life...2 years and then BOOM. it's over...and you have the rest of your life and eternity to look back at it. And luckily for me, it's been a great one. I remember something that Brother, now President, Stroud told me. "You have two years to work hard, and the rest of your life to look back at it." That always stuck with me...so it will be pretty cool to have him release me.

New Year's Eve was awesome. We went to some member's homes as a Zone and played games...we also watched Frozen. I think I'm going to have to watch again though because all the sister missionaries were singing the songs and quoting the whole movie...so it kind of ruined it for me.

In other news, Kayla Scott is preparing for baptism on Jan 17th. Of course I won't be here for that, but I'm so excited for her baptism. Her husband is a less active and he's trying to get the priesthood. The whole family has come to church the past 3 weeks. We've been teaching them for a while and it's been cool to see their progression. I think it's a tender mercy that Heavenly Father is blessing me with this opportunity. The whole ward is supportive and doing a great job on fellow shipping them. In fact, we had a ton of investigators attend church this past Sunday! It was in the 10th ward (Our Stake President nick-named that ward the Black Hole of Blackfoot because it was a dead ward lol). And holy cow, all of our hard work is paying off =).

Well just to share a few thoughts with you, I copy and pasted a letter that I sent to Sister Jorgensen. She was just asking about my mission and thought I would share it with you. 

"But yes, as I am coming to a close on my mission I have been doing a lot of pondering. This was probably the craziest 2 years of my life hahaha. I never would have imagined that I would be in Idaho, trying to learn Spanish, and sharing the restored gospel. But..this mission, and especially my mission president...was all tailored to my learning. Here's just a few things that I have learned:

• The Church is true. And the Book of Mormon? Also true. If people would just read the book and pray...it's a guarantee that you're going to find your answer. I've read it over and over on my mission. I actually went through the whole Book of Mormon and highlighted every reference to Jesus Christ, a doctrine or a principle of the Gospel, attributes of Christ, and the words that He spoke. Needless to say...my BoM turned into a giant rainbow coloring book after that. It mentions the Savior on about every page. And if anybody honestly believes the Bible to be the word of God...there's no way that this book isn't true. 
• We have a Prophet today, and the 12 Apostles have true authority. We've had General Authorities and Apostles visit this mission...every time they speak they answer questions that I have been yearning to seek answers for. coincidence?? I think not. They are geniuses!! The church truly is in good hands. My mission president has put me in some unusual areas...but later I realized that Heavenly Father was in that process during transfers. People have been placed in my path in each area, good and bad, so that I can learn. I will forever be grateful to the members, missionaries, and investigators that have had an impact on me. 
• I can do hard things. I never thought I could be a leader. I never thought I could learn Spanish. It took a while for me to get it down...but I can speak it haha. I never thought I could lead missionaries...I thought you had to be born to do that stuff. But, the Lord places you in uncomfortable positions so you can stretch and grow. God doesn't give us callings because of what we have done, but because of what we can become.
• The importance of not comparing. Comparison is the thief of joy. For the longest time I struggled with that. I haven't seen as much "success" as other missionaries. I'm ending my 2 year mission with 4 baptisms. I see other missionaries baptize once a month. I have friends who are serving in far away lands baptizing and experiencing the joy of baptism on a regular basis. Why not me? I don't really know, but it really doesn't matter. I've learned that God is responsible for the conversion. Not me. I am to do the will of the Father. Be obedient. Testify. Follow-up. God measures success in a very different way that what man does. My companion, Elder Cook, often says, "I'm tempted to feel like a failure...But I won't."
• God is in the details in our lives. Miracles happen literally every day. We just need to have the spiritual eyes to see them. 
• I learned how to be an effective member missionary! It's so easy to be a member missionary! I literally can't wait to share it with all of my friends =) As Elder Bednar states, "Missionaries are full-time teachers, members are full time finders." 

I could go on and on...but my time is limited. I wish I could express more in this letter, but there's just a nugget of my thoughts and feelings. I love my Heavenly Father for this incredible journey he has given me."

Well there you have it. You will get to hear more stories when I come home...but yes, we can figure out the details of what we can do the day I get back...but having a nice dinner sounds lovely to me =)

I love you all and thank you for your faith in me and the prayers on my behalf. I've felt your prayers and faith carry me through the mission. See y'all in a week!

Elder Petitt

Christmas updates

Most recent update:

Well it was a pleasure skyping with y'all! the LAST skype call. oh mwa goodness I can't believe it haha.

Well I will be down for watching Unbroken. I read most of the book and I was hooked on it. Incredible story. The rest of my Christmas was pretty good. We played some card games with the Cannons. If I do move down to Provo, they said they would hook me up with free tickets to the BYU basketball games =D The Cannon daughter lives down there and works in the sport department. yay for hook-ups! But we shall see. 

My companion and I both received the nastiest candy called the Idahoan Spud. It's like this chocolate marshmallow thing with coconut. It's pretty gross and it taste like paper. And we both received 5 dollars. woop woop. That means I can survive this week!

It's been snowing like crazy over here. I have put duck tape into my church shoes because I have holes at the heals. So, the duck tape is working pretty well.

Well, the next year is quickly approaching. I've been writing down goals for the new year as I prepare for my final interview with President Brinkerhoff. I'm pretty excited about them. The mission has taught me a lot about the importance of setting goals...and then reaching them! Goals force us to be extra-milers...and it forces us to increase our faith. So if y'all haven't already...start making some goals! Physical, mental, spiritual, social, etc. It's fun to see progression.

This week should be full of teaching, testifying, and finding more people to come unto Christ. Being a missionary is the best. And the cool thing is...ya don't have to have a name tag to do it! We've been taking out this return missionary and he's showing us all of his friends haha. We had an appointment with one of them already this week and it went really well. 

Oh, and i still can't stop laughing about all those Grinch quotes, man that movie is hilarious.

"What's Christmas really about?"

"VENGEANCE!!"

Chou Chou for now!

-Elder Petitt

P.S. I WANT that Meowy Christmas shirt!!!

THANK YOU for the package!! that was awesome. I like my new tie and my companion was pleasantly surprised with his little stocking. and by the way...I devoured the Peppermint Bark square thingis. oh mwa goodness it was so gooood. But don't worry, My companion and I have been working out at 6 am so we are still good to go haha. 

This week was our Christmas Zone Conference. It was super good. I'm learning stuff that I wish I knew from day one on my mission. But alas, that's what life is all about. You learn, grow, make mistakes, and keep going. We focused a lot on the He is the Gift video and how to use that more in our mission. Our new scripture recitation for the next 3 months is John 3:16&17. 

The other day we went out teaching with Brother McGlaughlin. BTW, his son served with Kyle in Portugal...and I'm living in his dad's office basement haha. It's crazy how connections happen like that. But anyways, he was telling us about some tough times he is having with his children. One of his daughters, who was sealed in the temple and made temple covenants, is now professing to be an Atheist. That must be tough. So we talked for a long time and we shared our experiences on how it's our job to teach and correct...but we can't force them. AGENCY. GAH. I hate it sometimes haha. But it was awesome because he said, " Elders, You guys are angels in this dark and twisted world. You will never know how many people you will bless because of your service. Keep work'n hard boys."

Yeah, it was an awesome pick-me up. I feel like this past week I've been tempted to just stop trying because I'm not seeing the results I want, but Brother McGlaughlin spiritually slapped me. So I'm good now.

This week was full of Ward Christmas parties as well...which means that I was able to stuff my self with FOOD! I love being a poor college student haha, food is a precious thing. I'm pretty spoiled to be fed my members just about everyday. I'm going to miss that...but I will not miss the brownies and ice cream that we get fed every night...Please remember Parents...if you are going to feed the missionaries DON'T have desert. Please just have fruit or something like...like...granola and yogurt haha.

We are working with the Scott family still. Taking the whole family to the temple was awesome. They really enjoyed it and we hope that the mother can be baptized as the family is getting reactivated. The whole family came to church the past 2 weeks! We are pretty stoked about that. 

Well...next week I will be skyping y'all! My last skype call =( We will get the details of when next monday. We probably do it at around noon or so. 

Peace & Blessings

Elder Petitt

Thanksgiving update!

My companion and I look HUGE compared to the other sisters lol. That's what happens when you drink your milk everyday! Like what I did last year, we helped out at the Methodist church prepare a Thanksgiving meal for those in need. It was fun serving the people.

In other news, The Scott family came to church. It was a miracle. The father wants to get the priesthood and the mom is considering baptism, but she is super shy about it.
We taught the 5th Sunday lesson in 14th ward. We talked about the Standard of Excellence in the mission. We shared the cool new initiative the church is doing with the He is the Gift video. If ya haven't seen it yet...well then go see it right now!  http://www.mormon.org/Christmas

We have some cool pass along cards to go with the initiative. What an awesome time to be a missionary. It makes contacting people way easier. We got a lot of compliments after church for our lesson, so I guess it went well =D

Well, It's December. A brand new month. I'm excited to what lies ahead. We have our Christmas Zone Conference coming up! It will be my last Zone Conference =( 

Well hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving filled with food and naps. Keep the faith!

///

​Another week of craziness!

Well 14th ward continues to treat us well. I'm glad that crazy family pressed charges on us and made us switch wards because it really was a blessing in disguise. The leadership here is great and we actually have weekly correlation with our Ward Mission Leader! whoohoo!

We found a new couple they've we've been teaching a lot lately. It's been quite the miracle. Their names are Allen and Gurshan. They've been asking us some great, and actually very deep questions. We found them by just knocking on doors. 

Allen is a hard worker. He's had an incredibly difficult past. He grew up with no parents. dropped out of high school, got into drugs, ect. But he changes his life around, got his G.E.D. and went to college. He has a great job and is providing well for his family. 

We've taught them the first three lessons so far...and now it's time for the commandments: Word of Wisdom!! That's gonna be a tough one for them. We'll see how that goes.

The other day we had our Assistant to the President come out with us. He's the man. Learned a lot from him. We actually had an incredible day! We found two new investigators. woot woot.

We are also teaching another family that the Bishop of the 10th ward referred us too. I just need to say, I've seen so much progress with our 10th ward bishop. He's become so missionary minded. This particular part-member family wanted financial help from the church, but then the Bishop told them, "We can help, but you need to listen to what these two missionaries have to say." SO yeah, it was a great teaching appointment and we're going to be visiting them again tonight.

Transfer calls are this WEDNESDAY!!! GAHHHH, it's going to be my last transfer!!! I have so many mixed emotions. I want to stay, but at the same time all I want to do is serve with Elder Pridmore haha.

Well time is short because they are only allowing us to email for one hour. So gotta run. 

 

2 fer 1 deal in letters

Yo what it do my home slices!?

So, one of our Hispanic investigators fed us cow head tacos...let me just tell you...it was the worst taco I have ever eaten. never. again. 

Well...i get to stay in Blackfoot for another transfer! woot woot! I'm pretty happy I'm staying. Blackfoot is glorious. I will continue serving with Elder Cook. yay.

SO! We found a new lady. Her name is Pam. Super down to earth. She's in her 40s and she has read almost all of the Book of Mormon! She says she knows it's good...but she is waiting for a huge "KABOOM" spiritual manifestation that these things are true. So, we gonna be talking about recognizing the Holy Ghost with her tonight...and hopefully set a baptismal date!

So, the Dan family...yerp, they dropped us. They were being prepared for October 18th...but the mom went psycho, accused our bishop of doing things that he didn't even do, and now is pressing charges against him lol. Yeah, this got all the way up to Salt Lake, so our mission president called us and told us we probably shouldn't have anymore contact with them...so that was pretty sad. We hope and pray that the lessons we taught her and her son might sink in and one day it might click...but for now she is on her own.

But y'know, I'm pretty used to this kind of devastation. By now we would have had 4 baptisms in the Riverton ward...but they moved, all of a sudden got into some anti-Mormon material, or just freaked out like the Dans! But honestly since I'm so used to it now, I just pick my head back up and get to work. Literally, we are at a spiritual war. You gotta believe that Satan works just as hard as the servants of the Lord do. But as always, amongst the devastation you need to recognized God's hand in our day to day lives. That's what the mission does for ya. It helps you recognize them, even though they might be small. Why is it that every time we set a baptism date terrible things seem to happen? Because the moment we set a baptism date, the battle is on. It will come...whether before or after...it will come.

Well we are losing some really good people in the zone...some of my good buds are leaving which makes me sad...but life is all about change...and change will always happen on the mission field. I'm pretty excited for another transferrr.

Oh, my companion slammed his finger in the door right before a lesson...so he's in pain and his finger is going to fall off. yay!

see ya until next weeeeek

***

Well how about that conference!? Man, that was some good stuff. There were a ton of bold talks. Loved it. There were so many that were good, and it's pretty hard to choose just one favorite. I really enjoyed the Saturday afternoon session. The back to back throw down session of Elder Oaks and Anderson was refreshing, to say the least. 

All the missionaries were able to see the movie Meet the Mormons before it came out =D It's very well done. It does a good job showing diverse families and how their faith impacts their day to day decisions. So go see it when it comes out and bring yo non member peeps!

Well there is just so much going on right now I can't even tell you 1/10 of everything that is happening! Right now, the mission is taking seriously the challenge that one of Lord's Apostles gave to this mission to raise our vision of baptizing more. It's been an exciting time. It's up to us missionaries to share that vision with the members of the wards we cover...so we have some talks lined up for us, annnnd a fireside that's being planned! woohoo for firesides! 

A lot of the companion ships are doing so much better. We had one companionship that told us on day 3 that they hated Blackfoot and the zone...they told us that we didn't care about anybody except the numbers haha. We showed them a reference in Preach My Gospel where is says that as we focus on key indicators we will find, teach, baptize, and confirm more children of our Heavenly Father...which is our whole purpose as missionaries. It was crazy! It was like teaching a lesson, but we were teaching another companionship and we asked questions, identified concerns, shared scriptures and personal experiences, and then invited them to live the Standard of Excellence. As they've done so they have seen miracles in their areas, just as we have. 

Overall things are going good. I'm excited for another week to work hard. I really needed this Preparation Day to relax and get refocused. I got my '4 Month Ahead Departure Letter. GAHH!!! Time is running out! lol, I can't believe that. I'm not sure if I'm going to end my mission in Blackfoot or if I'm getting transferred...we get transfer calls this weeks! Gah! I would like to stay in Blackfoot. It's been my favorite area on my mission thus far.

So, there's this part called the Y Motel in our area...it's like the most ghetto and weird place in Blackfoot. I try to avoid that place as much as possible because it smells and that's where the most drug busts are. Anyways, we came across a part-member family named the Williams. Their 7 year old son has had a lot questions about the church and God, so the parents invited us in! Their house was actually clean and it smelled like pumpkin-spice =D We taught them the Restoration and the Plan of salvation. That dad, who is a non member, seemed really interested and even asked if we had some extra pamphlets so he could study. that was a neat experience, so we are going to have a tour of the church with the family this Tuesday! I can't wait for that. Teaching a family is like...awesome. Sometimes it can be pretty tough to do. 

In other crazy news, one of the district leaders here is doing so much better here.He's had a lot of problems in the past but he's stepping up his game. He gave up football to go on a mission...so he's pretty much HUGE and jacked...but the worst part is...he's a sharp looking dude so all the sister missionaries go crazy over him...but he brings it upon himself because he has a major flirtation problem he's working on hahaha. We've had a few chats with him about that and we are trying to help him over come his spiritual gift of flirtation. yay.

We were invited to do a fireside with the Young Men in the South Stake. We were accompanied by President Hoygberg, the 1st counselor in the mission presidency. It was awesome! We got to share our missionary experiences and why we chose to serve a mission. It's crazy to think that I used to be a young little guppy like them...but now I'm all grown up and saving China (tell me if ya know dat reference!)

Welp, here comes another week! Stay tuned until next time.

Elder Petitt

Llamas and such . . .

Just wanted to tell you hi, that I love you guys, and that I'm alive and doing well. 

As you can see...I'm having a great time over here with this strange beast. It was quite the event.

We found another family to teach and invited them to be baptized! Their names are Nicki Matthews and Charles Matthews. 

They are super humble and we had a great first discussion. 

The 10th ward is doing way better. They used to not be missionary minded at all, but the more we've been working there, 

the more they've been ready to help us. There's definitely a different spirit about that ward. 

A mission of miracles

Someone sent me this video...i think he's saying hi...and that he only has 4 months left!!! crazy!!!



My goodness where do I even begin!?

It's been a week of devastation and blessings...good thing is that when we usually have miracles I forget about all the terrible things that happen lol.

Well let's start with the bad news! woo! You remember Carlos Gonzales?? Yeah, he was being prepared to be baptized and confirmed this upcoming weekend...nope! He moved to Salt Lake City without telling us. Awesome. Oh, you remember Kaylen Long, that legit Jehova's Witness that was preparing for baptism? Yeah, she moved to American Falls. Completely devastating. That happened in the same day on Tuesday. I seem to have bad luck with all my baptismal dates moving away. Maria Lopez was preparing for baptism as well...but she went to Mexico lol

So on Wednesday we had a mission wide goal for every companionship to set a new baptismal date! Everyone. in the mission. no pressure. So! We had a few appointments throughout the day where we were SURE to set a date! But they all declined. We seriously worked so hard, talking with every single person, but alas, no success. It was 8:00 at night and we were the last companionship in the Zone to set a date. The last people we thought to invite was the Hiatt Family! now...the dad is a less active, mom super anti-mormon, and none of the kids are baptized. Plus...they specifically told us not to come over on Wednesdays...and it was a Wednesday. Not to mention, the mom got offended like 7 years ago so she's like super anti missionaries/mormons. 

We were parked outside of their house...we knew this was our last chance to set a baptismal date and all odds were against us. So...my companion and I said a prayer...probably the most heartfelt prayer I've ever offered...we just prayed that their hearts would be softened. 

Then we knocked on their door...

"Come on in Elders!" ...like what? The dad totally invited us in, the whole family was there...while my companion used their bathroom I just started talking to them and we were having a good time...the spirit was helping me tell the funniest jokes because the whole family was laughing. Those jokes were beyond my power haha when my companion got out of the bathroom he just gave me the most surprised look, obviously surprised that the family was actually smiling and laughing. Yeah, even the MOM was opening up to us. 

We shared a message...the most important message in the world in fact: THE RESTORATION. They were all in tune and listening. We got to the climax where my companion invited them all to be baptized on October 11th...The dad stared at us...blinked a couple of times...then said, "Well that would be great! I would love all my kids to be baptized on that day. That's my birthday!"

0_o OH MWA GOSH! So the Hiatt family is preparing for baptism. My companion and I just jumped for joy and we were so ecstatic! gah...when we have worthy goals and if they are inspired...Our Heavenly Father will honor our wishes and grant us success. But we have to work diligently and you have to show our Heavenly Father that you really want it.

That's just like...a tiny bit of how the week went. I could write a lot more but i simply don't have the time to do so. 

Blackfoot is awesome. You are awesome. Be awesome today. 

Elder Petitt 

GQ & Zone Conference

​

Awwww snap! It's my man, Elder Pridmore!! hahaha it's so nuts to see him! I got to see him at Zone Conference =) We ate sandwiches together. It was legit. He's having a good time =)

But yeah, Zone Conference was super good =) We talked a lot about teaching skills, asking inspired questions and what not. Elder Cook and I gave our training and we think we did an okay job because no one fell asleep lol. 

SO. This week was a crazy week. The first half of it was so terrible haha. In 4 days we only taught 6 lessons...investigators were dropping us...appointments were falling through....Warren refused to listen to the discussions because his girlfriend told him that he can't listen to us anymore. Yeah, it was devastating and we were like...super depressed. So, Elder Cook and I got on our knees and prayed that we could teach 14 lessons in the next 3 days so we could get 20 lessons a week and accomplish our goals. Next day we went to work! We found new investigators, found a lady named Lori who is now preparing for baptism in October, we reached 20 lessons, and to top it off...RENEA WANTS TO GET BAPTIZED. holy snap. 

let me tell you about Renea

Renea has been around mormons and missionaries preeetty much her whole life. She had some pretty bad experiences with missionaries in the past so she stopped listening to them for 15 years. Elder Ponce and Meza (The missionaries before me) found her and started teaching her again. She relaxed a lot and enjoyed hearing us...but there was no commitment. So...ever since I've been back here we've been teaching her like once a week...BUT it all changed just the other night. Her countenance was different and she had a whole list of questions for us...one of them being, "What does it really take to get baptized?" She believes the Book of Mormon to be true, but she is having a tough time with Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God. She had a whole host of other questions, but...we told her before we can answer Allllll her other little questions...she has to pray and find out of Joseph Smith really was a prophet. It was powerful. The spirit was there. And she committed to pray. wow. We're stoked!

Well today is the annual Blackfoot, Idaho State Fair. Lots of food, people, fun stuff...so we are going as a zone to have a good time! woohoo! It's already getting cooler here. It's about that time to put those sweaters on. I can't believe it. I have about 4 1/2 months left as a full time missionary...only one more zone conference. GAH! Gotta keep working hard though. The shorter amount of time you have, the harder you should work. woot woot. 

Stay Classy

Elder Petitt