ONE MORE YEAR

hey guys

     wow where to begin.  i don't even know.  dad i loved your email.  way good.  let's see.  atta boy spencer!!!  how many people tried out?  when i made it my sophomore year only one person was cut i think.  is that how it was?  jaynanne go to utah state.  you will not regret it.  if you go to weber state you will regret it.  seriously.  go to utah state.  one more time. go to utah state.  alright dad i like your plans.  you give me options.  i think most likely i will only go to weber state to finish my associates degree.  that should be pretty easy.  i do not think i would really want to get any kind of degree in malay or indonesian.  i think it would be useless.  malaysia is not a happening place.  i would not want to live in malaysia with a family.  but interesting.  my biggest fear is becoming an obnoxious byu fan.  that would be awful.  that is pretty sweet that you met elder thomas' family.  had they heard anything about you?  i remember writing that email.  it was right in the thick of our good times.  i am happy to report that that family is all baptized and active.  they actually sent me a letter recently.  they are so awesome! i'll see if i can send you more experiences like that one.  it's not likely. it's good to see that james is doing well.  his mission is totally different than mine. 

     alrighty well guess what tomorrow is?  my year mark!!!!  oh yeah!  that is so crazy to think about.  one year ago i was set apart.  one year ago abbie was married.  one year ago i was sitting at home with no idea what was coming my way.  one year ago i was in america.  one year ago i was with you guys.  one year ago i was trying not to cry as you left me at the mtc.  oh man the memories.  what a year it has been.  so awesome.  i couldn't have even guessed what i was about to experience.  cool.  so now i'm one year older and wiser too.  i think i'm basically the same though.  i do expect that you all look very different now.  if i have a chance i'll skype you all in may.  do you think you've changed at all in the last year?  maybe oskar spencer and mollie will seem different.  one year is the longest i've been away from you all.  one more year.

     this past weekend was stake conference.  wow it was dang good.  our building has four floors.  the 4th and 2nd floor are chapels.  on sundays four wards meet there.  the adult session was in the 4th floor chapel.  the sunday session was live on the 4th floor and broadcast to the 2nd floor.  it was dang crowded.  there is really no parking space so you can imagine that the car park was also way crowded.  we got there plenty early to wait for investigators.  only a few came early.  the rest were late.  so we saved some seats, even though it was strictly forbidden, for them.  we ended up on the 2nd floor unfortunately  because  that's where our investigators would be.  we had so many come.  i was floored.  it was the most we've had yet in singapore.  i thought we'd have less than usual but we had a lot.  the meeting itself was really really good.  lots of good talks.  president clark spoke breifly.  it was of course probably the best talk.  that man is so comfortable in front of crowds.  he told some awesome mission stories from different elders here.  he told a story about sandakan.  very inspiring.  the stake presidency also gave good talks but not as good.  there was one talk though that beats them all.  we reluctantly decided to go to the adult session and i'm glad we did.  a man named brother bradford from the expat ward spoke.  it was so great.  the congregation was silent.  we were riveted.  the main theme was about families.  he spoke about not missing a single moment with your families.  he talked about those moments everybody loves when you are just so happy and you never want to forget.  he said that we've been promised to remember those moments with perfect clarity in the hereafter.  he told a story about one time when he was living in france with his family and his son really really wanted a basketball stand.  so one day they finally bought one.  when they got home it was too late to put together.  the mom put all the kids to bed.  but then the son asked if they could put it together.  so in the dark quietly with flashlights they put it together without waking up the mom.  when they were finally done they took turns shooting the first shots and catching the ball before it could hit the ground and make any noise.  it was such a good story.  this man could just tell it so well.  well nine years later his son died.  this was one of those awesome memories that he has.  he talked a lot about family vacations too.  i just want to tell you that our family is so awesome.  seriously, i love our family.  we go on the best vacations.  other families don't do that sort of thing.  we get along.  we have fun.  we have so many memories together.  i wouldn't trade any of our family outings for anything.  thank you mom and dad for giving us those chances to go out together.  my best family memories are probably from family trips.  it is one thing that i plan on doing with my future family.  mom and dad you are the bomb.  i just got a letter from jaynanne.  in it she said something like this: 'we are so lucky to have mom.  she is so great.  she does so much for us with almost no payback.  i love her'  i agree jaynanne.  mom is a super hero.

     i wanted to tell you a quick story.  it'll have to wait till next time.  last week we had zone conference.  we had interviews with president clark.  in his office he has pictures of all of the missionaries up with what areas they are in.  i saw one that was off to the side.  it was a new elder coming in.  i took a close look...it was elder brown!! from the mtc. 

     well that's all folks.  i love you.  have a good week.  send me letters.  thanks for your letter jaynanne and friend.  say hi to the stowers.  say hi to the wards.  say hi to grandma and grandpa.  see ya around. hey do you ever translate what i say in malay at the end of my letters?  kamu harus tulis pesanan dalam bahasa melayu kepada saya.

elder petersen

Save Up Treasures

hey hey hey fam!!

     wow loved your emails like usual.  ha many coments. i can't believe byu won.  are they legit? are they going all the way dad? or are they peaking too early.  mwa ha ha maturation eh?  awkward.  at least it's over eh? all six kids.  oskar just seems so young to me.  he's the little kid you know.  it's weird that he's already at that age.  same with spencer.  he seems to little to be in high school.  stowers!  that'd be weird.  do they use the garage?  i remember being excited when dad got home but that phase has sure passed.  jaynanne i feel that you can give me the best summary of the oscars.  how were they?  any good ones win?  that is awesome about bishop.  i'm sure he loved it.  he loves you dad.  jaynanne you don't know what a bushel is?  ha ha wow.  i know what you're saying about elder kersey.  i read that one part of his email you sent me.  he is a good writer.  i don't sound holy do i?  ha ha i feel like my letters are anything but holy.  i never talk about spiritual things. no missionary i know is like that.  they are all more loud and more outspoken than ever before.  i'm interested though, what letters of mine did you read from?  jaynanne's got senioritis?  ha ha i am also trunky. always.  say hi to uncle brian.  i miss that guy.  i can't believe d will is gone.  oh man the jazz are going to collapse.  hopefully it will build up quickly.  cool letters folks.

     alright so this week, like usual, i have nothing to talk about so you should enjoy it.  first of all is spencer still going out for tennis? that's gotta be this week or next week right?  do you remember back on the day i got my call you were all saying that because i went to an exotic place it would be awesome to come pick me up?  was that a joke or something you'd like to do.  or does europe trump asia?  or would we sweep through europe also?  interesting.  jaynanne was talking all about the firework song last week.  still your favorite?  what about a song called grenade by bruno mars?  i heard it recently.  it is pretty good.  alright so camp loll.  wow when you mentioned that last week it made me so trunky.  a few nights ago i could not get to sleep.  it was one of those nights where i was just thinking about a lot of stuff.  i spent a while thinking about loll.  it was so awesome.  spencer will absolutely love it.  i think it is probably the BEST thing spencer can do to prepare for a mission.  you go away from home for a while.  you're on a strict schedule.  there is an order of leadership you have to report to.  you have to obey and do your part.  you have to be likeable.  you make good friends.  you have hard times.  you learn a lot of lessons.  you have experiences you can't really describe.  i feel like my time at loll was like my mission.  i have had so many things happen on my mission that i can't even tell you about because i won't give it justice spiritually.  it's one of those treasures to save up.  same with loll.  when my friends would ask me why i loved it so much i couldn't even begin to tell them because i couldn't tell the hundreds of stories i had and i couldn't relate how i actually felt.  spencer you're going to love it.  i keep thinking about advice for you.  just do what you're told by delose or the nature director.  don't be shy.  pack enough warm clothes.  bring slippers for the lodge.  learn from delose.  make friends with the waterfront staff.  don't get lost on hike day.  have fun.  maybe keep a journal.  take pictures. tell me all about it.

     this week was pretty darn good.  the difference with singapore and malaysia is how often we meet people.  in east malaysia people sit at home all day.  they are very easy to meet.  here everybody works or goes to school.  impossible to meet.  we had a ton of investigators at church last week.  i love it when random members bring their friends.  it is sweet.  this next week is stake conference.  it will be nuts.  there are too many members.  our stake center is 4 floors.  the 2nd and 4th floor each have a chapel.  stake conference will be on the 4th floor and broadcasted to the 2nd floor.  the expat ward itself takes up the whole 4th floor chapel and two overflows.  they will have ushers to pack everybody in.  i think it'll be hot.  i don't know how we'll keep track of all of our investigators that come to church.  we might not be able to.  ha ha it'll be fun.  next week we have a baptism planned.  it is ol daniel boy.  he is the bomb!  it'll be good.

     sorry i emailed late this week.  last night until this morning i was in JB (johor baru) right inside malaysia.  i had to get a chop.  i spent the night with the 6 jb elders.  they are pretty dang funny.  elder tovar, my comp from the mtc, was there.  we celebrated our year mark a week early by burning some stuff.  one more year baby!  we played this variation of 9 cards down.  we played with rook cards and they called it mormon bridge.  it starts at 7 and goes down then back up to 7.  at 1 card you all hold it up to your forehead and then bet without seeing your card.  ha ha very fun.

     recently i've been thinking a lot about the future you know?  i think maybe i served here to open my eyes.  maybe.  i think it would be fun to be an expat.  i've talked to a lot of people about their jobs and their degrees.  it's got me thinking.  what was your game plan for me again dad?  for school?  i'm sort of kind of really leaning towards going to byu in the fall after i return.  don't disown me.  i still don't know.  most members here and missionaries went there.  i guess it'll depend on what i want to study.  time will tell.

     alright have a good week.  i'll talk to you next wednesday.  don't miss me too much.  say hi to the whole gang.  send me some letters.  send me some cool package.  i love you all.  kalau kamu lapar, makan lah!

elder petersen