Defending The Faith 08/24/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been pretty busy for us here in Belleville, there has been lots to do and a lot of people to talk with. The Shiloh Elders have had the car this week so we have been riding the buses and walking. Luckily the temperatures are starting to come down a little, and the humidity as well. I can't believe that Fall is already around the corner! 

We took the metro into St Louis on Monday and payed a visit to the zoo! It was really nice weather and the animals were really lively again. School has started for most people so the best part is that there was hardly anybody there! 

So with Mi Mi, Shakira, and Jemaine we were going to push their baptismal dates back to October, but we were informed my sister Wilson that they might not be staying with her much longer, so we are sticking with our original date of August 29th. This upcoming Saturday. We have had to have a lesson with them every morning! We have taught them a lot of stuff! We find it easier for them to learn with their learning disabilities if we are sitting with them just one on one. So that is what we have been doing. Jermaine hasn't been in town this week so we are going to go ahead and have Mi Mi and Shakira baptized this week them have Jermaine baptized in a few weeks.

Thursday we had dinner with Crissy and the Byington family. Crissy is the lady that we helped move who had the poisonous spider problem.. We helped her make dinner and I baked two apple pies. We had a great time talking and laughing and building relationships! Afterwards we shared a message about the Book of Mormon, and everybody participated. It was great! we are going to be having dinner again next week before Elder Reynolds goes home. 

Saturday was a weird day, we we walking to a potential after our lesson with the kids at the Wilson home. We stopped and talked to this man at this one house. We started talking to him and quickly found out that he was a preacher. Very quickly our conversation turned into a very defensive debate on religion.. We debated back and forth on different topics in the bible, how we are saved, the book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, prophets, it was just ridiculous! But it made me really frustrated!! So I just kept coming back at him with things and questions, and he did the same! An Hour and a half later I looked at my watch and we had to leave. But now I see how real bashing is unproductive, because he just went away thinking he is more right, and I went away thinking we are more right.. But I kind of had fun! It was an interesting experience, I still think I am right too.. haha! 

Then a little while later we were walking down main street and this guy was getting into his car, he saw us and said "hey! you guys, come learn about Christianity!" So me still being frustrated and a little riled up from the preacher guy, stopped. started walking over to him and said
"ok man. Lets talk!" So he starts asking us questions and we start answering them and baring testimony. Then he starts telling us that we are a cult and we don't believe in Jesus, which made me mad.. So I said, "Yes we do believe in Jesus" Then the conversation continued "NO you don't!" "Yes! we do.." "NO! You Don't!" finally I said "Listen to me! Don't you tell me what I believe!" We told him what we believed about Christ. He finally stopped, and just got in his car and left.. 

I just think it is stupid that people think they know us and know what we believe when they really don't know jack squat, and as I have gone through my mission I have learned to be more bold with people and tell them what I believe. Then when they say something that isn't true I am no longer afraid to call them out on it and try and set it straight. "The difference between boldness and over-barrence is love." We should try to love everybody, and also proclaim boldly what we believe. 

That is all for this week I suppose! I hope that everbody has a great week! Oh by the way we finally have a new ward mission leader. His name is brother Gross and it is his first time being called to this position! But we are excited! Here is a quote for the week from Ezra Taft Benson

"The way to feel better about your own situation is to improve someone else's circumstances."

With Love,

Elder Chase Peterson

More Photos

Here are the photos that Elder Peterson sent us this week! Enjoy!

Fountain of Mascoutah

Belleville

Belleville

Elder Peterson and His Area

Tracting Works - 08/17/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from the land of Lincoln! It is another sizzling warm summer day here in Belleville. It is also P-Day, and as President Morgan says "Even I know P-Days are sacred." So we are planning on taking a trip into St Louis by metro train to the zoo. Even though I got to go there last transfer, I am looking forward to going again! Like I've said before, I just love getting out and spending some time in the city. 

This week we were able to see a lot of success in the work we are doing. We dropped several of our investigators who were not making much progress and keep dropping appointments on us. That is what frustrates me the most, when we make appointments and have to drive or bus a long ways away then they flake out. But that is missionary work sometimes.

We had the Car this week so we were able to get a lot done, we got to see a lot of people we haven't been able to see in a while. On Thursday we got to go out to Mascoutah, cook lunch at the senior Center then do some proselyting. We even had an appointment with a less active member 15 minutes east of Mascoutah in the town of New Memphis. 

So my whole mission I have knocked on a lot of doors, I've talked with mean people, nice people, weird people, I've talked with many people who have invited us back and have showed some kind of interest. But I honestly have not seen very many investigators come from tracting... But that has changed this week! We picked up 3 new solid investigators this week, all people we have tracted into at some point over the past few months. In fact over half our teaching pool right now are people we've met knocking on their doors. 

Dan our new investigator is a good guy, he is covered in tattoos and has a big family that he cares about more than anything. He kind of feels like God has kind of put him on the back burner and that he really doesn't care that much about him. But Elder Griffin and I were able to teach him about the restoration and the book of Mormon and really testify to him that God does love him and wants him to be happy. 

Dario, our new investigator has several young kids, we found out that his wife used to be a member of the church, but we taught him about The book of Mormon and a little about Joseph Smith, he was really open and even his kids listened in. His wife was nice and they are all excited to have us come back on Wednesday. Hopefully we have teach their family. 

Tomia, our 3rd new investigator this week is an older lady who is very strong with God and the Bible. She is reading the book of Mormon and starting down the path to find out for herself if the church is true. She is willing and wanting to learn more, which is cool. 

After we had our lesson Tuesday night with Tomia we were walking back to our apartment, we had just turned the corner from her house and there were some guys out in their front yard talking and drinking.. We were walking by and of course one of them yells, "Hey! Come here for a sec!" then thinking back to my experiences out in Charleston with people drinking and wanting us to come talk with them. All I could think was, "Oh No.." But we went over and talked with them and by the end of our conversation we had answered a ton of questions about missionaries and the church. They really respected us and admired what we were doing, which was cool. They invited us to stop by anytime to hang out and talk! haha! Then as we were leaving one of the guys said "Hey, You guys be safe alright? ... Love you guys!" 

Well That is about it for this week.. We are going to have dinner with Crissy this week (the lady we helped move with the spider infestation). We are going to go over to her house early to help her cook dinner and I have to bake two of my Apple Pie's for everyone. We are looking forward to that, and we hear that she has been asking more questions about the church. 

Have a great week everyone! I love you all.. Remember that the church is true! Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer, the bread of life and the prince of peace. The very light and life of the world! He loves us and has our back. He knows how we feel all the time! 

Till next time. Peace

Elder Chase Peterson

Arachnophobia - 08/10/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Family and Friends,

So Things have been going pretty well for us here in the Belleville area, it has been an exciting week and there is a lot to talk about so I'll just get started..

Monday for P-Day we went to the Belleville Fire Station and got a tour from one of the ward members Brother Penet, who is an Assistant Fire Chief there. We got to see all the trucks and gear, we got to explore the station and see what it's like to be a fire fighter. Out in the bay next to all the trucks was a big twisted metal beam sitting on a trailor. We asked brother Penet what it was and he told us "That is a full I beam from the World trade Center". It was pretty incredible to see! I will be sending the pictures too so everyone can see..

Wednesday we went on exchanges! It was Elder Griffin's first one ever, and since he is new we decided that it would be better for him to go up to O'Fallon with Elder Clifford since he doesn't know how to run the area yet. I got to stay down in Belleville with Elder Villalobos... We had a good day of working and trying to see people. Then We went with the East St Louis Elders to Steak n Shake.. Then we went to Bible Study at the East St Louis branch.. I figured that Villalobos would really enjoy that since he served in East St Louis about a year ago.. It was almost like watching a puppy explore a new environment! he was just so happy to be there with old members he knew and to be back in East St Louis... Which I really don't know why anybody would be happy to be there, since it really isn't that happy of a place! But anyways.. It was a good exchange!

Thursday we had a Zone meeting with all the missionaries in the O'Fallon stake! It was a great meeting and I got to see some mission friends I haven't seen in a while. We had great trainings from the STL's and Zone Leaders about trust and faith. They talked about how well we are doing as a mission and that when President Morgan gets statistics ever week from Salt Lake, our mission is leading most of the surrounding missions. so that was cool! Afterwards we went out to lunch, and a few of us decided to go to a good Chinese Buffet in Belleville. But once we got there, the entire zone of missionaries ended up going there as well! None of us knew how everyone decided to go there, but there were a lot of missionaries in that little buffet.. I got pretty crazy too! haha! We ran them out of ice cream and orange chicken, it was fun though! haha!

Friday we helped a lady and her two kids move on short notice. Her name is Crissy, her husband is Air Force and he is on a deployment in South Korea right now. So they just got to Scott Air Force base and are living off base in Shiloh. But they recently had a infestation of Brown Recluse Spiders! So after trying to take care of the problem they decided to move! So Brother Byington, East St Louis Elders and Us pretty much took on the challenge of helping her move! We moved a lot on Friday night, and told her we would be willing to help again in the morning.

So Saturday we get up and we were planning on being done with moving by 2pm, but we didn't come back to our house until 9:30pm.. It was hot and humid and we got everything moved, including couches, beds, chairs, washer, dryer, large gun safe, dressers, exercise equipment, you name it.. We also had to clean and check for poisonous spiders the entire time! Crissy definitely appreciated our help and we got to know her really well. She was even asking questions about the church and being a missionary. Saturday was probably the biggest highlight of my week! It just felt different and special, like something great was going to come from us lending out help to her and her family.

Sunday night the Byington's had us over for dinner on base! they also invited Crissy and she was so happy to see us. We got to share the message of the restoration and the spirit was really strong. We also got stuck on base because of severe storm and tornado warnings.. But it all worked out! We don't know what more is going to come of Crissy and her family. But the good thing is that she is having us over for dinner next week along with the East St Louis Elders. 

So I will end with one more funny story, We were walked down the road last week, it was a little past 9pm and we were almost to our house. A drunk lady on her porch called us over and asked for a "brochure". haha! We gave her a Book Of Mormon and a restoration pamphlet, tried leaving, but before we could leave she got up and gave us a big hug! haha! and said "anybody who works for Jesus deserves a big hug!" 

Have a great week everybody! I love you all!

"We can't predict all the struggles and storms in life but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the best is yet to come."-L. Tom Perry

Elder Chase Peterson

First Born In The Wilderness - 08/03/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

Well it is now the start of a brand new transfer here in the Missouri St Louis Mission. This past transfer as a mission we had the highest baptizing transfer so far this year,  a total of 54 new members baptized and confirmed. Pretty amazing! 

I believe that we will have a baptism in Belleville within these next 6 weeks! There is a lot of work to do here and there is just so much potential. We are going to work as hard as we can this transfer to bring one of our brethren closer to Christ through baptism. We know that there is someone out there who is prepared to make that change in their life! 

Wednesday morning I had to drive into St Louis with Elder Langston from Shiloh for transfer meeting. I had to be there by 9:30am for a New Trainer Meeting. We had a total of 26 new missionaries come into the field Tuesday. So I was 1 of 26 new trainers called. In our meeting President Morgan talked mostly about how a trainer will be the most important companion a new missionary will ever have their entire mission.. That really hit me. 

But at Transfer meeting all of the new missionaries stood up and told everybody who they were, and where they are from, then announced one by one where they were going to be serving and who their trainers are! It was excited, and I was nervously waiting to see who my greenie would be!

My new companion, his name is Elder Griffin.. He is from Vancouver Washington! (Not canada). He is 18 years old and is just 5 days into the mission field now! He is a great kid, and I have loved being able to serve with him so far. I am grateful and humbled that I get to be his trainer and that he is my son, my Firstborn in the Wilderness! 

Not much has happened this week, mostly just been helping my greenuie settle in and adjust to being a missionary. We Have been out working hard though and have met many people who seem interested in hearing our message. We have tracted a lot, had a few lessons, passed some stuff out and talked to a few crazy people. It has been great fun! 

There is a member in our ward who was an Air Force Fire Fighter, now he is a fire fighter for a local station here in Belleville. Today for P-day we are going to go and tour the Station and see everything there, then we are going to take Elder Griffin to see the East River front! 

Well I hope everyone has a great week! I will write again next week with all the new and exciting things that are going to happen this week. I will end with this quote... 

"I testufy to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, out knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." - Thomas S. Monson

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Chase Peterson

It's a Boy! - 07/27/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear family and Friends,

Well another week has passed, along with another transfer. Elder Julian and Elder Dorland left for the mission home this morning at 7:30am and will both be home safe with their families by this evening. It has been a little weird "killing off" a companion, it was fun.. But let's just say that he was ready to go home... We'll leave it at that.

So Monday for P-day we went into the city and saw "Paint Louis" which is basically a giant retaining wall along the Mississippi river that extends for several miles where people have done graffiti and art work all along the whole thing. It was really cool, but nothing too spectacular. after that we had a dinner appointment on base. while we were there we walked out and saw some of the aircraft they have on display, so that was cool.

Wednesday morning as I was getting out of the shower and Elder Julian knocked on the door and said "petey... I need you to come here" "well.... I am kind of busy at the moment." " I just need you to come here" So i finish getting changed and step out of the bathroom, and he asked if I could give him a blessing.. He was complaining of some pretty bad pain in his right side. But the pain continued to get worse, to the point that he was almost in Tears.. I think we both knew that something wasn't right So i told him, "get in the car, we are going to the hospital right now." So we get him there and they immediately take him in and give him an IV, some heavy pain killers, and they start testing. They thought he might have a kidney stone and would have to keep him a few days. But after getting a CT scan it showed that he had colonitis. he had gotten some bad bacteria which caused an infection in his colon. So there's that... 

anyways, the Doctor put him on 2 different anti-biotic meds, a pro Biotic, and 24-36 hours of bed rest. All he could eat for the next week was rice, yogurt, and just bland things, but home boy didn't do so well following doctors instructions, which in turn lead to several "accidents"... but anyways..

So Saturday night we got transfer calls, we got some pretty crazy stuff happening this transfer. Turns out I will be leaving the waterloo District.. I will be staying in Belleville and switching to the O'Fallon district. Also my new companion will be coming in Fresh off the airplane Tuesday morning, because I am now being made a trainer! That is right.. IN MISSION TERMS I am Pregnant.. going to be a father, and will now have a son on the mission. 

I am pretty excited to train, but also kind of nervous.. I feel good about my ability to train, but since we are moving districts we are now going to be in a car share with the Shiloh elders so i will be learning the Bus system by myself with a new greenie, something I most certainly have never done before... But i am looking forward to having my first born in the wilderness! haha!

Looking forward to spending another 3 months here in Beleville.. 

Well that is pretty much all I have to report for this week, wish me luck that everything goes well. I'm sure I will have plenty to report for next week and starting the new transfer! I love and miss you all, take care and God Bless us everyone! 

Peace on the streets,

Elder Chase Peterson

Busy Week - 07/20/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear People I care about,

It has been quite a busy week here for us in Belleville. Elder Julian and I have just been all over the place, and I feel like all I have done this week is drive a car! 

To start out the week on Monday, we went to St Louis to Visit the Gateway Arch and Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. It was an absolutely beautiful day, which made it so much better! Between us and the East St Louis Elders I am the only person who had been there before, even though the other 3 Elders are getting ready to go home! But it was a great P-Day indeed!

Tuesday we had District meeting down in waterloo, we had some great trainings and a generally good meeting. We have such a great district, it is hard to believe that the transfer is almost over. This Saturday we are going to be getting transfer calls to see what is happening to everyone. We also went to the East River Front that evening with the East St Louis Elders.. It was so beautiful and so much fun. Just wait till you see the pictures! ;)

Wednesday was probably the most tiring day and the most time I've spent driving while I have been out here. Elder Julian had a doctors appointment on St. Charles Missouri which is Northwest of St Louis.. We drive North to visit and drive around a little in Glen Carbon, then went down to Granite City and I got to stop by and see my old investigator Lupie! She was so excited, as soon as she saw me she burst into tears. that visit was such a blessing for both of us.. After that we got on the freeway and drive into St Louis then north across the Missouri River and into St Charles. It was a pretty good drive. The whole trip took us most of the day! After the drive back we got caught in Rush hour traffic coming back through St Louis... Which is not good. We were stuck forever trying to get back across the river! But we got back to pick up the East St Louis Elders and drive North to O'Fallon for Julian, and Dorland's end of the mission Exit interviews... We were pretty late, but I don't think President Morgan minded that much. After that we had to drive by the Air Force base to pick up dinner from a member, take it back to eat at our apartment, then we had to drive East all the way back to their apartment in West Belleville. I was so tired of driving that day... and tired of listening to the same Mormon Tab Choir CD 100 times!

Thursday Elder Julian and Elder Dorland went to the Temple in St Louis, So Elder Reynolds and I spent the day together. Since they took the car, Reynolds and I just walked and took the bus! But that was alright since I didn't really want to drive after the day we had Wednesday. All we had time to do was contact a few referrals and try and see a few people, then we had a good dinner with the Tilton family who live on the Air Force base. 

Friday we had exchanges, I went down to Waterloo with Elder Fa'anunu and we just had a great time! We worked our butts off, and got some good work done! We just had a great time working with each other and tracting in the 113 degree humid muggy weather. The next morning we got up at 6am to play tennis and run, then he gave me a Haircut. Afterwards we met up with Elder Julian and Suchomel to exchange back in Millstadt. 

All the craziness of this week sure made it go by fast! This week will be Elder Julian's last week in the Mission field, since next Monday he will be flying home to Spokane Washington. We are going to have fun and work hard this week. I will do my best stop him from being to trunky. I will Go ahead and end this letter till next week, get ready for some epic and awesome pictures!

Elder Chase Peterson

Atonement and New Gators - 07/13/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a nice hot and moist week here in the Missouri St Louis Mission.. Some days as we are walking around in the hot sun and humidity I feel like I am swimming or just breathing in water. It is so different than the dry heat out in Utah. But this week has gone by relatively uneventful, but we were able to see a lot of success.

I forgot to mention that last week we had our usual district meeting down in Waterloo, but we joined together with the O'fallon District and combined our meeting. So Elder Julian and I, we get ready to leave to go get the East St Louis Elders. We get in the car, and I start it up... except it wouldn't start. We had a neighbor come and try to jump it, but it wouldn't even take a jump. We had to call our district leader, Zone leaders to help us out. Finally we ended up having to get a ride from the O'fallon Elders and the Shiloh Elders. After our meeting we had exchanges and Elder Suchomel and I had to get back to Belleville to fix the batter. A member drove us to an auto zone close by and they tried testing the battery. They informed us that the batter was to low to even test! So we left it with them to charge it. 

After the battery charged up, we got it back in the car and it worked great. Then This Week we had District meeting on tuesday. We get all ready and get in the car. I try and start it, and of course it doesn't start! But luckily the members who live across the street from us where able to come and jump it for us, but got it started and we were going to take it to a Chevy dealership in waterloo before our meeting. The only problem was that when we got there, there was no dealership! So we went to District Meeting, and after the meeting of course our car wouldn't start... We had to wait almost an extra hour for a member down there to come and jump it for us. We got back up to Belleville and to a dealership, they told us that we had a bad battery, but they were able to replace it for free.

Luckily everything worked out, but it completely took us out a whole day of working, which stunk..

This week our District was challenged by the Edwardsville District of who could get the most New Investigators. Here in Belleville we were able to pick up 3 new!

Thursday we went down to Mascoutah and saw a young lady named Alexis Bird, she was been a member for a few years now, and she goes to the YSA ward. We were able to stop by and talk with her and teach her a lesson, along with her Mom. Her Mom is from Panama and works at a convenience store on Scott Air Force base. We were able to teach her about Joseph Smith and the restortation, and next week we are taking her a Spanish Book of Mormon so she can start reading it. 

Our next new investigator we picked up on Friday.. We were out trying to see a few of our old referrals and potential investigators. We were gonna go home and eat lunch, but I noticed we were pretty close to this one lady that Elder Jones and I tracted into last month. We had tried stopping by like a hundred times, but never could catch her again. We've stopped seeing her now. But Elder Julian and I decided to stop by before we headed home. To our surpirse, she was home! Her name is Barb, and she let us right in and we were able to sit down and talk with her. As soon as I started off talking she started gettting all choked up and teary eyed. You could tell through the whole lesson that she felt the spirit! We committed to pray and read the Book of Mormon, and to ask God if it's true and if Joseph Smith truly was a prophet. She said she would.

Our 3ed investigator we picked up on Saturday.. We got a call from a lady who just joined the church in October and just moved from Mt. Vernon to Swansea/Belleville. She called us and told us she wants to start going to church again. So we went to Visit her. Her name is Kodie Martinez! She is super funnny and awesome. She has two kids and a husband who is from Mexico. She had a friend there named Amber and we were able to teach them and pick Amber up as a new investigator. 

we had a great day at church on Sunday! Kodie and Amber showed up, and so did Jermain, so we had 2 investigators and one recent convert there. We had a less active there, David Hampl, our rugged manly Air Force Fire Fighter guy! It was his first time at church in a long time, and his first time to Belleville ward. During our Gospel Doctrine class, we had a great lesson on the atonement, and I looked over and I could see him getting all teary eyed. It was just great! Truly amazing to see how the atonement effect each and every one of us and how it can change us! 

This week at church we also had a great opportunity of seeing and participating in giving The Priesthood to our Recent convert Logan who got baptized last week! It was a very special experience! 

I think that is all I have to report for this week! I just feel like I have been able to see a lot of miracles this week through the Holy Ghost testifying if things that are true. I am so grateful for the Gospel and the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ! It is through him that everything is made perfectly right, we can change our very nature, we can grow and live, and love those around us! The Atonement doesn't only allow us to be forgiven, but gives us purpose and the ability to reach our great potential! I will just end with these scriptures..

ALMA 26:13 - "Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

ALMA 26:35 - "Now have we not reason to rejoice? yea, I say into you, there never were people that had so great reason to rejoice as WE! and my joy is carried away, even unto the boasting in my God; For he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; He comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name."

Until next week,

Elder Chase Peterson

B.O.M.'s and Baptisms - 07/06/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope that Everyone had a safe and Enjoyable 4th of July.. We had a nice one here in St Louis. We were planning on going to hang out at the East River front in East St Louis to watch Fire Works at The Arch from across the river. But we got word that they weren't having them there this year because of some re-modeling going on. Instead they had them at Forest Park, farther west into the city. We weren't able to do that. 

For our Fourth we spent the morning at the church in Fairview Heights, we had a big ward breakfast! We even brought the East St Louis Elders with us, since they never get fed or have any members to help them out. The branch down there are all mostly implants from other wards. Anyway, the breakfast was great! 

After the Breakfast we had a baptism! Our 12 year old investigator Logan Wilson got baptized! He has been waiting for so long and has been so ready. It was such a great opportunity to see him be baptized. I am also looking forward to see him get the priesthood next Sunday. Logan's Mom and sister are so humbled and excited to know that for the first time they are going to have the priesthood in their home! That will be such a great blessing for them! 

We spent the rest of the holiday with the Meinhart family! They are such a great family, and they make such a big difference for us as missionaries. We had a lot of good food, good company, and some pretty good Fireworks! 

This month all of the Districts in the zone have challenged each other to different competitions! This last week O'Fallon District challenged us (Waterloo District) to see who could pass out the most copies of The Book of Mormon. Elder Julian and I passed out 26 copies and picked up a lot of potential investigators from it, and two new investigators! In the end Waterloo beat O'Fallon 146 copies to about 60 copies! 

This last P-day we went with the East St Louis Elders and most of the Meinhart family to visit The St Louis Zoo! it was so much fun! It was also free so it made it that much better! Most of the animals were pretty active and lively. We got to see Elephants eat some grass, Sea Lions dance around, and a huge polar bear cannon ball into the water. It was a pretty epic day!

We've got a lot to do this week, and we are being challenged by the Edwardsville District to see who can get the most investigators this week. So hopefully we can use some of those potentials we got to contribute. Just gonna be working hard this week in the heat and humidity! Just gotta keep Elder Julian from getting too trunky. Everyone have a great week!

Church is true!

Elder Chase Peterson

Mini Missionary and Me - 06/29/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a great week here in the Missouri St Louis mission! As a mission we are a little behind our projected goal for 453 baptisms in the year 2015. But This week I feel like we really picked up a lot of the slack. O'Fallon zone had several baptisms just over this past weekend, and we are having one this weekend! 

We had a great week here in the Belleville area! Tuesday we got to go up to O'fallon and pick up our Mini Missionary! Most of the missionaries in the zone came, along with a few sets from St Louis. We had a "mini transfer meeting" where all the mini's got to stand up and say who they where and what ward they were from and where they would be going! There we were united with our mini. His name was Jared Meldrom, he lives in a small town called New Baden which is north of us in The Shiloh ward. Jared got to spend the week with us here in Belleville and we had a good time! It was a great experience getting to show Jared what missionary life is like.. I think he was surprised, and wasn't exactly what he thought it would be. 

We had a great experience Wednesday, we went to contact a referral and they didn't answer. We had a few minutes before we needed to leave for our dinner appointment so we decided to take Jared tracting! The Very First house we knock on, this lady comes out and lets us teach her about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She told us that she actually has a cousin who is a member in the O'fallon ward. She invited us back and was very grateful for us knocking on our door!

Our Mini was very lucky that it just so happened that the first door we knock on we pick them up as an investigator! haha!

Monday we were supposed to go to the zoo, but we weren't able to because we ran out of time. After emailing we had to drive over to Scott Air Force base because Elder Julian left his bag in the Visitor Control center. We drove in and picked it up no problem. But they were doing road construction on the exit gate and there was no way to leave. We go back in and ask them how we can get out. the guy came out, looked at the construction and said, "oh... shoot... well, I don't know." Long story short We had to take like 20 minutes and get passes issued to get on base. Which is not a big deal for Elder Julian and I because we do that multiple times a week. But we had the East St Louis Elders with us and they had never been there before. So Elder Dorland goes up and they are working on his pass, and half way through they inform him that his drivers license is expired! They said "Sorry.. We can't get you on base." so we were all literally just stuck there!! So Elder Dorland and Elder Reynolds had to walk down the road to a store, Elder Julian and I had to drive on and through the base, down to the Belleville gate, go all the way around and back up to the Shiloh gate just to pick them up! It was the biggest pain and it killed our miles!! 

Well, that is about all I have to report for this week, I need to go ahead and wrap up now since we are hopefully going to St Louis zoo today. I hope everyone has a great week! I am so grateful for these past 9 months I have had to be out here on a mission. The experiences and testimony I have gained is something I will never forget or ever forsake.. I love this church and this gospel! I love my savior Jesus Christ! It is because of him that we have everything.. I love and miss you all.

Until next week,

Elder Chase Peterson

Trunky Monkey - 06/22/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a hot and humid week here in St Louis! So everyone should enjoy the beautiful non muggy wet heat of the desert! But I am glad that Summer time has finally rolled around. Not a whole lot has happened this week, we finished the first week of the transfer and we are finally starting to settle in a little bit.

I said goodbye to Elder Jones Wednesday morning as he departed for his new area out in the Boone's of Dexter Missouri. I spent the morning with Elder Dorland in East St Louis while we waited for our new companions. Elder Dorland's new companion is Elder Reynolds who is from Denver Colorado, and will be "Dying" in a few months.. and by dying I mean going home! Or maybe for real, since it's East St Louis you never know! haha! 

My new companion is Elder Julian, who just came from Jefferson City Missouri! He is "Dying" this transfer and will be heading back home in 5 weeks to Spokane Washington. He is a great guy and we are getting along really well! He is pretty trunky though... Luckily we have a lot of work to do these next few weeks so hopefully that helps him out a little! We also got some exciting news from our Zone Leaders last night that Tuesday Elder Julian and I will be getting a MINI MISSIONARY who will be staying with us from Tuesday to Sunday! A mini Missionary is someone between the ages of 16 and 18 who want to go and see what it is like serving a mission. So for almost a week they get to be a missionary and work, teach, eat, sleep, and do everything we do. We are really looking forward to that for sure! (Hopefully that helps Elder Julian's trunkyness too) haha! ;) 

On Friday I don't think it ever stopped raining once! It just down poured all day! In fact there is was so much rain that the corn fields started to flood, parts of them were almost comlpetely under water. We got flood warning alerts on our phone. We had a dinner that night down in Mascoutah and part of the road was covered in about 6 inches of water. Our basement even started to flood, but luckily we got that taken care of before it got bad! 

Through the coarse of this past week we picked up a bunch of referrals including one of the zone leaders investigators and an investigator from the Columbia sisters! So this week should be a good one. Hopefully things turn out and we get to teach lots of lessons and help a bunch of people come closer to Jesus Christ. Today for P-day us and the East St Louis Elders are going to go into St Louis and visit the city zoo! I am really excited for that! 

Hope that everyone has a great week! Be safe and God Bless! 

Elder Chase Peterson

The Killing Begins - 06/15/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Family and Friends,

I sure hope that everyone is doing great, I know I am. Things here in the MidWest are really starting to heat up! It has been really rainy and humid too, which I have discovered is a really weird combo. I was so used to Utah were when it rained it was dry and cooler temperatures. Here it just gets humid and stays hot! 

It has been a good week here in Belleville, Elder Jones and I have finished the transfer off and Today marks the start of a new one. This will be my 7th transfer, meaning that I only have 10 left. Anyways, we were not able to get any of our investigators to church this week! For some reason all of our investigators have the hardest time with that, it is really frustrating! But we finished all of the missionary lessons with Logan, and they are just trying to figure out when they want to do the baptism. 

We had a lesson with Kisha, and her kids, Mi Mi, Shakira, and Jermain. They are sweet! We taught the restoration and the Book of Mormon and I think they understood it well. They are all just so quiet so we had to ask a bunch of questions to really keep them engaged. 

We taught this guy named Dave this week.. Dave is from East St Louis but just recently moved to Belleville and is trying to get his life in order. He started going back to church at this non-denominational christian church and is loving it there. We went over and we taught him all about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Gospel. I'm not sure he really payed that close of attention since half way through the lesson he stopped us and said " wait... Does y'alls know how to tie ya own ties..?" haha! It was funny.. But he accepted a Book of Mormon and said he would start reading and praying about it. He really liked that the Book of Mormon is additional scripture and supports the Bible.

We had a lesson with David Hampl, the lesson active guy we have been starting to visit. He talked for almost an hour and was telling us all these funny stories and pranks he pulled while he was an Air Force Fire Fighter deployed in Germany. David says that he really badly wants to sign up to go to Iraq, but his wife doesn't want him to. David started crying and telling us he feels like it is what he is supposed to do. It shocked me, because he is just this big dude, covered in tattoo's, he trains with Navy Seals and Green Barrettes, and he just broke down. We are going to start working with him to get to Church, start reading his Book of Mormon again, and to get his Patriarchal Blessing! 

So We got transfer calls on Saturday night.. A lot is changing this transfer and half of our district will be new! We found out that Elder Jones is being transferred. Wednesday he will be moving down south to Dexter Missouri. Which is about as far south as our mission goes.. I will be staying here in Belleville as Senior Companion and I am going to be getting Elder Julian who is on his last transfer, so he will be going home in 6 weeks! I will be sending him home, or "Killing him off" to put it in Mission terms! haha! which means I will likely be staying here in belleville again next transfer to bring a new Elder in here... So looks like I am staying here for a good little while! 

I think that is all to report for this week! Until I write again next week...

Peace on the streets,

Elder Chase Peterson

Curly Fries And Fire Flies - 06/08/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear People I care about,

Another week has scampered on by! The days just keep moving.. I am starting to understand now when people say that the days are long, but the weeks are short on a mission. That is definitely true. Time is just really weird as a missionary! It is something you can't explain..

This week was kind of a slow week, most of our appointments dropped and most people have been really hard to contact or set up appointments with. We only saw one of our investigators this week, and that was Kisha's 11 year old daughter Mi Mi. We taught her the Plan of Salvation lesson, but she is really shy so it was kind of hard to gauge her understanding. We are also having a hard time getting our investigators to come to church! But things should pick up this week!

So this Thursday night we had just got back to our apartment and there was this weird looking bug on the wall.. I had never seen it before, but it was pretty big. So I look around and grab the first thing I saw to kill it, which just so happened to be a frying pan. But When I smashed it, it left This bright florescent yellow all over the wall! It was then that I realized  I had seen my first ever Fire Fly! haha! They are so cool! well in the dark anyways... They are starting to come out now that summer is here!

Friday we had to go do Service at the Senior Center in Mascoutah, since Thursday we had District Meeting down in Waterloo. when we got to the Senior Center, all of the old people were doing Zumba, dancing around to Pop music! It was so great! I couldn't stop smiling and laughing! A few of them kept telling me and Elder Jones to go out there with them! haha.. I knew Elder jones wouldn't do it, but I really wanted to! We were pretty busy making them sloppy joes anyway. But I decided that next time we go do service on a Friday, I am going to go and do Zumba with them for a few minutes. I will be sure to take some pictures and videos of it for you folks back home! 

Sunday we had a sad and also touching experience at the same time.. We went to a Funeral for The Petersen family.. They had a baby girl born this last week who wasn't expected to live, and 20 minutes after she was born, she passed away. They had a great funeral service Sunday night for her. A lot of ward members showed up and some Nonmembers that Brother Petersen works with on base. Through such a sad event it was amazing to see how comforted and happy the family was to know that they are sealed as a family and that nothing can take their daughter away from them. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, death has no sting and the grave has no victory. All little children are saved through his grace! Their daughter was so righteous that the only thing she needed in this life was simply to get her physical body, and make such a huge impact on so many people in just 20 hours that she lived.

After the funeral the Meinhart's fed us dinner! Since it was like 7:30 and we had to be back to our apartment soon. They cooked us up some Hot Dogs and Curly Fries! They are such a great family, and they take care of us really well. 

Well this is the last week of the transfer, time has sure flown by! Elder Jones will probably be leaving, since he has spent 3 transfers here. Not sure who I will get or what will happen! There is a good chance I might be called to train next transfer.. This summer we are getting lots of new misisonaries.. 12 New this next transfer, 22 the next, then 29 in September. So by September, there will be 51 trainers! That month half of the mission will be training or being trained! So things are gonna get crazy soon! Anything can happen!

have a great week, I love you all!

Elder Chase Peterson

Summer! - 06/02/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

well it seems like summer has started to arrive here in the lovely Mid-West. Everything is so green, and the tree's are everywhere! I still can't believe how different it is out here, than it is back west. I've even started to notice how different Missouri is from Illinois. Once you cross over the river, the landscape changes so much! But the weather has been pretty nice lately. It hasn't been very hot, but it has been rainy and way humid. There have been several storm and tornado warnings throughout the week, but everything has been okay. 

This week has been a great week, and there have been many blessings! On Thursday we were down in Mascoutah. in the late afternoon we were looking for this less active guy, and it was just off the main road going through town. We knocked on the door and this woman answers and tells us that he guy we were looking for had gone to North Carolina for a few months and wasn't interested in the church anymore. We thanked her for the information and for her time then stepped off the porch. Then this car randomly pulls into the driveway right behind our car and this young Hispanic guy gets out and comes up to us. he says in some broken English, "I would like a blessing from you guys!" Elder Jones and I were pretty thrown off by this pretty random occurrence. He continued to tell us that his name was Juan Carlos, he was a member of the church, that he was gone through some family issues and hasn't been active in years, he was driving through on his way to Kentucky, but he saw us and felt like he wanted a blessing so he pulled over. So right there we gave him a blessing, it was beautiful and pretty profound and he appreciated it very much! Then he got back in his car and drove away.. It was strange, but a great experience. 

Friday we had to drive to walmart to get a prescription for Elder Jones, and it unfortunately took a good chunk of our morning. So by the time we were done it was lunch time. Elder Jones really wanted to go to this Chinese buffet place close by. I didn't really want to pay for it since it was the end of the month and we were both pretty much out of money. But we went. As we got to the front door there was a group of Airmen coming out. One of them stopped and said "Hey Elders!" We said hello and all kept walking. then the man sopped again turned around and said "Elders, are you meeting someone here?" We said No, just having lunch. Then he said "well my name is brother Wright, I'm a member in the Shilo Ward. Let me come in and pay for your lunch." That was a great blessing, the members out here are so willing to help. 

Monday night we were pretty tired and kind of done for the day. We were pretty close to the end of the day and we had nothing to do. We thought about just going home but after a few minutes decided to go see one more person. We stopped by a guy named David Hampl. His Wife pulled up at the same time which is always awkward. She had obviously just got home from work. She was dressed in her Air Force uniform and looked tired. But we talked to her and she invited us right in. We spent some time getting to know David and his wife. David grew up in the church, but quickly became less active. We was a Fire Fighter for the Air Force for 6 years. Met his wife wile he was training and they had been together for 3 years. He told us stories about how he would mess with the missionaries in Germany and driving down the road in his huge truck. But he loves the missionaries. He wants to get back into Church, go to the temple and get his Patriarchal blessing. He just has some issues. But we are going to start helping him and maybe start teaching his wife. That was definitely a blessing that came from working hard and being obedient.

Lastly we had Mission Conference on Monday! It was such a great experience! We got to hear from Elder D Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the twelve apostles. We got to meet him and shake his hand. He talked to us for 2 hours that morning, it was amazing! he talked a lot about that we know people are prepared if they are willing to read and pray about the book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a conduit to spiritual revelation and testimony, that is just the way it is. 

He talked about how when he is assigning missionaries he feels the perfect love Heavenly Father has for his children and that he knows us each individually that there is never any question about where someone should be assigned to serve. I could write forever about things that he said, but it wouldn't be the same. It was just a great experience! It was great to see all of the missionaries again.. I got to see so many Elders and Sisters that I haven't seen in forever! Of Course I got to see all of my former companions! 

Anyways, this has been a long letter so I think I will close for now! I hope that everyone has a great week. Remember that it is the plain and precious truths of the gospel that will bring the most joy into our lives. The Church is true! I love being a missionary

Much love,

Elder Chase Peterson

5 Dunk Dates For Belleville - 05/27/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

It is hard to believe that I have already been in Belleville for a month next week! Time sure is flying out here in the mission field and there is just so much going on, and I can't believe how much success our mission is starting to see this year! May is almost out the door and the heat and the humidity is starting to get turned up out here! It has been strangely warm and rainy this week along with a few Tornado storm warnings and sirens. 

This week went by so fast I honestly don't even know what happened or what I should write about that happened. This letter is really late because Monday was Memorial Day and SWIC was closed, so we ended up going into the city and paid a visit to The St Louis Science Center! That was a pretty cool experience and I really enjoyed getting to spend time in the city for P-Day. Tuesday we were not able to email because we went on exchanges with the Elders in Waterloo. So that leaves us with Today.. So I am sorry this is so late.

So like I said We went on Exchanges with Waterloo yesterday. Elder Jones went with Elder Suchomel down to waterloo and I worked in Belleville with Elder Bishop! We had a lot of fun on our exchange and got a lot of work done. The best thing that happened was that we picked up 4 new investigators, 3 of them we set baptismal dates with! I will talk more about them next week, but they are awesome and super solid!

Friday we went to a birthday party in Mascoutah for a young little member, her name is Mae Petersen, her family is awesome. Brother Petersen is of course in The Air Force and was actually raised in Japan. His wife's parents even flew in from Tokyo and were there for the party. I really enjoyed getting to talk with them, and hear about missionary work in Japan.. It is not like missionary work in St Louis, that is for sure! There was about 5 other families there, so is was a great chance for us to get to know more of the ward members and meet a few nonmembers.., oh and eat some delicious chicken and curry.

That is really about it for the week! We got to see 5 less active people on the ward roster this week and see how they were doing. We also have a list of people we are trying to contact and get them to go to the O'Fallon Young Single Adult Ward. There is a lot of work to do this week, even though the week is already half over! haha! 

One more thing I want to mention is that I will be writing again on Tuesday not on Monday.. Because Monday morning we have to be in St Louis for ANOTHER MISSION CONFERENCE! haha! President Morgan has said the last two times that this will probably be the only time a mission conference will ever happen! But this will be the 3ed one! haha! We will be meeting and hearing from Elder D Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles!! He will be in town speaking this weekend at the Champaign Stake Conference, so he is staying an extra day to talk to the mission! 

Missionary work is really starting to explode here in the Missouri St Louis Mission! Here is what happened just this last week around the mission, This is what President Morgan wrote us...

"Dear Missionaries,

Can you #believeit? You should because Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be here to visit with and teach us on Monday, June 1st at the Frontenac building.

Great job everyone this past week, here is an update; 8 baptized, 95 dates and 218 NEW INVESTIGATORS! 247 MEMBER PRESENT LESSONS, and 280 OTHER LESSONS TAUGHT! THAT IS INCREDIBLE!

#BELIEVEIT!

You are amazing,

President Morgan"

There is so much good being done out here, and the gospel truly is rolling forward proudly and boldly, that is definitely being seen out here! I am so grateful just to be apart of that right now! I hope that everyone has a great last week of May! Until I report again next week...

Elder Chase Peterson

The Art Festival - 05/18/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear Friends and family,

I hope that all is well back home! Another week has cruised on by and I can't believe we are about to start the 3ed week of the transfer. It is weird how fast time goes out here, and I am starting to see how people say that The Mission goes by really fast! I am trying not to blink.

I feel like I am getting settled into my new area of Belleville Illinois. I love the Eastern side of the St Louis Metro area. We picked up a few new investigators this week, and they seem pretty solid. I am starting to get to know the ward members and build solid relationships with them. I am learning the area and where things are located, although I still rely on the GPS most of the time. 

We met Kisha, our new investigator on Wednesday. We had a lesson with Sister Wilson who is  less active in the ward. We go over every week and read with her in the Book of Mormon. this week we had a great discussion and decided to get her ready to go to the temple! We invited her friend Kisha to start taking the lessons, to come to church, and to be baptized. She was excited about everything and agreed to each invite. So we are going to meet with her and sister Wilson every week and spend some time talking about the Temple, then having a lesson with Kisha. We are hoping that they will motivate each other to get to church and to progress together!

We had a lesson with Logan, he is a awesome kid. Logan is 11 years old and his Mom is active in the ward. The kid is ready to be baptized and knows so much. He will be a new member of the ward in June sometime. 

We met a guy named Sam who is an old retired Army veteran from East St Louis, he met wit missionaries a while back and said he is ready to start meeting again. He dropped our last appointment, but we are hoping we shows for our lesson on Tuesday. 

Belleville had a huge Art festival this past weekend, in fact most of main street was closed. But we decided it was a great time to go and meet some people. I have kind of discovered just how much of a people person I am. During the art festival I was able to just spark random conversations with people and just chat with them for like 5 minutes. There was a surprising amount of people not from Illinois who where there. But we were able to hand out some cards, talk with people about the church and about what we do as missionaries. It was a great opportunity to be seen by the public and to also see some way cool art! 

I think that is about it for this week... We are heading into St Louis today to go hang out at the Science center, I really look forward to spending some time in the city. This week we are going to be focusing our time on finding and talking with less active's in the ward roster! We plan to work a few days just down in Mascoutah and a day or so on Scott Air Force base. It is just hard to get into the base sometimes, and we aren't really allowed to proselyte there. It pretty much has to be by appointment. But hopefully we can use some dinner appointments there to our advantage since a large chunk of the members live on base. 

I hope everyone has a great week! The church is so true!

Elder Chase Peterson

Belleville - 05/11/15 (Belleville, IL)

Dear friends and family,

I hope that everyone had a great week, and all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day! Even though I am not a mother, I sure had a great one! It was such a blessing to be able to sit down with my family over Skype and be able to talk and laugh with them. It sure is a great booster for me as a missionary and gives me new strength to keep moving forward in the work. 

So I am getting settled into my new area of Belleville Illinois! Yes, I am still in Illinois! But I am back to being just outside of St Louis. I am actually about 30 minutes south of my first area in Glen Carbon, and I am back hanging out with the East St Louis Elders! haha! 

Belleville seems to be a pretty nice area so far, we cover a lot of area so there is a lot of work to do. We cover most of Belleville, the City of Mascoutah, and all of Scott Air Force Base. A very large majority of the ward members are active duty Airmen. Come to think of it, most of the non-members are Active duty Airmen too... everyone is either Active duty, former military, or family member in the military. But there are a lot of great people here! We also have a car, we drive a 2013 Chevy Cruz and our apartment is actually a 3 level house. So we are doing pretty well right now!

My new companion is Elder Jones, he is from Idaho falls, Idaho. He has been out for only 6 months and I am his 3ed companion on the mission. He is pretty shy and quiet, but we are making it work. he is a great a companion. 

I am still trying to learn he area and learn the ward members, but I am figuring it out alright. We don't have a very big teaching pool right now. We started teaching this guy on Friday, his name is Samuel, he East St Louis elders were teaching him a while back, then he moved over to Belleville. We were able to track him down and we started teaching him again. He is pretty interested, bu is obvious that he hasn't retained a lot of what the past missionaries have taught him. 

Ya, That is about all I know right now...I really don't have a great grasp on what is going on yet. I haven't really gotten the chance to meet our other 3 investigators and have a lesson with them. But the work is moving forward, and Elder Jones and I are working really hard here, and are set up to have a pretty good week! So we will see what happens! 

So funny story before I end, This morning we were headed out the door and as soon as I open it there is this little dog sitting on our front porch! He was wet and he didn't have any tags on. I tried feeding him a chip but he didn't want it. He seemed really friendly and happy, so we got some towels and let him inside. We put a leash on him and we took him to the Dog Shelter! It was pretty great, as missionaries It feels good doing some good in the community, for members, non-members, and animals! haha!

Elder Chase Peterson

Saturdays Blessings - 05/04/15 (Charleston, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

I can't believe the week has already gone my so quickly as it has! It was a very busy week here in The Missouri St Louis mission, and a very busy week for Elder Campbell and I in Charleston Illinois. The transfer is over and we start fresh again for another 6 weeks. Before I tell you all what is happening for the upcoming transfer I will tell you all the exciting stuff that happened this week and the blessings that I have seen.

So Saturday we had our Surprise Mission Conference in St Louis that destroyed the possibility of Sharon getting baptized that morning. We were up at 4am to make the trip to St Louis by 8:30am. Our Conference was held at the stake center in Chesterfield Missouri. We got to shake hands and meet Bishop Stevens who is the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the New area 70 called to our region, and Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the 12 apostles. It was a pretty amazing experience. For about an hour we had a big question and answer session with them, and they all talked on a different subject they felt our mission needed to hear, then bore their testimonies. It was incredible to get to hear from an apostle of Jesus Christ. At the end of his testimony he left us with an apostolic blessing to know that we are where we need to be, to understand our sacred calling and that our time as missionaries will mean everything to us and prepare us for our lives. The whole mission conference was amazing, and I got to take some really good notes to reflect on. It was great seeing many people I haven't seen for a long time, like my MTC buddies, Elder Abad and all of my past companions and people I've served around. 

The second blessing came on Saturday as well... At the beginning of the week we were trying to figure everything out with Sharon's baptism, we didn't know when we were going to do it, or if it would even happen. Then a miracle happened and some space opened up Saturday evening, We were able to plan the service, get her interviewed and ready for that night. After Mission conference we drove back up to the church building in Mattoon and started getting the font ready! Long story short, her baptism happened! I was able to preform the baptism as she requested and the next day Sharon was confirmed a member of the church and received the Holy Ghost! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father was able to preform small miracles through out the week that Sharon was able to be baptized. I feel like that is why I was supposed to come to Charleston.. 

The third blessing came Saturday night as well. It had been a very very long day.. Once we got home from the baptismal service we got a call from our District leader telling us our transfer call doctrine! Everything was up in the air about whether we would stay together one more transfer in Charleston or if I wold be moved. We found out though that my time in Charleston is done. Wednesday morning I am being transferred to a new area! I will be serving in Belleville Illinois. I will be heading from the Champaign Stake back to the O'Fallon Stake were I was serving when I was in Glen Carbon, in fact I am about 20-30 minutes south of Glen Carbon. Belleville is right next to East St Louis, so I will be back around there again! At Christmas time I was even in Belleville for the Christmas parade, and I spent a few hours in Belleville my last P-day I was in Glen Carbon. 

I will be serving as senior companion with Elder Jones, who came out a transfer or two after me. In fact he was trained in Edwardsville While I was finishing being trained in Glen Carbon, so I am sure that since we are now serving together so close to our first areas we will make a trip up there one P-day! 

Anyways I think that is all I have to report for this week, it has been a great week. I look forward to starting my 3ed area and 5th companion which could very well take me to the year mark of my mission. Which would also mean spending the first year of my mission in the state of Illinois.. Which is weird since my mission is based in Missouri. I hope that everyone will look for the blessings of the lord this week and be able to see his hand in your own lives. I am grateful to be serving as a missionary at this time in the world! I Love and miss you all!

Elder Chase Peterson