My new Companion is Elder Peterson!

Hello, family!

Here I am . . . Peek-a-boo!

Ahhhh . . . Peek-a-boo!

Ahhhh . . . Peek-a-boo!

Okay . . . That was enough weirdness. Let’s just get on to the good stuff, huh? I will let cha know when I get the Christmas package! Thank you soooo much for this, Mom and everyone! Oh! And, did Sister Smith’s Mom get my package for you guys? Oh! And speaking of the fact that you and Dylan went to the Church Book Store, I thought of some gifts that you can get me for my birthday. You can just have them at home for me when I get home. I really, really want the book, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I would also really like Doctrines of Salvation (all of them). Just an early birthday idea . . . That’s all . . .

Hey, Dad . . . One question . . . Does Satan have some type of Priesthood? Yes . . . I know what the definition of Priesthood is, but he had authority in heaven when he presented his plan. It says in the back of the scriptures that he was an angel of authority before he fell. Was that the Priesthood? And does he still have it?

Oh! And I continue readin’ my scriptures. I’m just about ready to finish Alma again and I’m in Isaiah now. Gotta get it done!

Thank you for the e-mail as always! I will make sure I answer all these li’l questions . . . Well, actually . . . I just realized that you only asked one question really . . . LOL . . . About my change.

Welllllll . . . I have great news! My new companion is Elder Peterson! I had heard rumors about who the three new Zone Leaders were going to be . . . Three of them were gonna be gringos and two were gonna be latinos. Seeing as I almost always have latinos as my companions, I thought I was for sure gonna get Elder Meza or Elder Barrios. And the three gringos that were going to Zone Leader were three of my best friends in the mission (namely Elders Peterson and Davis) . . . And, you know, you just never expect to get the change that you were hoping for but, aye, I did! Elder Peterson was with Elder Barrientos in my District for my last change in Ermita and my last change as District Leader. We became good pals there, though . . .And now it’s even more fun! We were both Barrientos’ companion, so we both know sign language and when we don’t want people to know what we are talkin’ ‘bout, we just say it in signs! LOL! It’s kinda cool . . . It’s really cool that I got with Peterson, though, ‘cause there are only a few missionaries in the mission that have been trusted to be with Elder Barrientos and we were two of them! Soooo . . . We are hoping to have an amazing, at least, six weeks! I know that this change will probably be the quickest of my mission, though . . .Which is great, but sad at the same time.

Anyway, yes . . . I am still Zone Leader. I have almost six months in the assignment now. Weird, huh? And this is Elder Peterson’s first change as Zone Leader, soooo . . . It will be good! Elder Peterson is actually from St. George just like Elder Chesley! They actually met each other before the mission, which is kinda funny! Peterson loves basketball, though, so you know we are gettin’ along great! He has a great love for the game . . . And that’s what counts! We were actually showin’ off our post moves to each other in the street while working. It was a battle . . . Then those post moves led to a crazy idea . . . How ‘bout basketball for exercise in the mornings??? Well . . . We don’t have a ball and we can’t play basketball in this mission (mission rule), sooooo . . . We went crazy! LOL! We decided that we would play one-on-one without a ball at the park near our house . . . LOL . . . So, I strapped up my Nikes and threw on my Charles Barkley and he threw on his Reeboks and his Jordan jersey. Needless to say, people were lookin’ at us real funny and some li’l kids even came closer to try to see the ball that didn’t exist . . . LOL . . . FYI, I took three charges and won 11-9. Defense is the name of the game, my friends . . . Soooo . . . Yes . . . I’m lookin’ forward to this change. Plus we put a fecha this week! Holler!

And, we have such a cool investigator. Cristina is the mom of a return missionary. Cristina never wanted anything, anything, anything to do with the Church until her daughter got home from her mission. Then her daughter was able to convince Cristina to listen to us (the missionaries). Well, we have taught her once a week for almost four months and she is progressing li’l by li’l. She finally came to church for the first time this last week in Stake Conference and she loved it! She wants to be part of the church. She can’t be baptized yet because of her work schedule, but she will get to that vital point of baptism soon. I know it. She just shows people, though, that if you open your heart and listen to what we have to say and teach as missionaries and keep the commitments that we leave (namely to read and pray), that it’s impossible for God NOT to touch your heart and tell you that these things are true. Soooo . . . It’s pretty exciting! We are gonna try to put that fecha with her on Wednesday! Soooooo very exciting and cool!

That’s all I got, though! Lemme know if I can do something for y’all! Love you kazillions!