Power In The B.O.M. - 03/23/15 (Charleston, IL)

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope that everything back home is going great, Utah doesn't even seem real to me at this point. But things are going great for me out here in Charleston Illinois! I am loving the corn Fields very much at this point. Haha! Everything is slowly starting to come back to life, and you can hear birds, and see Mosquito's, and hear the frogs at night.

We got transfer calls Saturday night. I found out that I am staying in Charleston Illinois for at least another 6 weeks. Elder Phillips is getting transferred though. He is going to be a Zone Leader in Cape Guirardo MIssouri for the last 4 months of his mission. Elder Phillips is awesome and we really enjoyed getting to serve together for this last transfer! It also turns out that I am not going to be training quite yet... so that is good. I am getting Elder Campbell, that is all I really know about him at the moment! Haha!

A lot of our appointments this week ended up dropping, except for Joe. He is doing awesome! He came to Institute on Thursday night and we talked about Celestial Marriage, and at some points the conversations got kind of deep. But Joe said he really loved it! Thursday we were going to teach him the commandments and the word of wisdom, and ya he already knew mostly everything about both topics. Joe is also getting fellow shipped really well into the ward. He is pretty much a Mormon already, so we will definitely be baptizing him by the end of the transfer!

Sharon and her daughter Liz are on track with the lessons and should have a baptismal date by this week or next week for sure! They are both so awesome and prepared!

Duane and his son Aaron are doing great too.. They will likely have a baptismal date within the next few weeks. Aaron just got out of jail and sincerely expressed his new found desire to be baptized.

We have 12 investigators in our teaching pool to start out this next transfer on a strong note! It is pretty amazing to see that the Lord really does prepare people to hear about the Gospel and gives them the best opportunities to accept it. Our top investigators we have done nothing to find them, honestly.. As long as you are being obedient and working, then the Lord really just puts people into your path that are ready!

So this week Elder Phillips and I are going to finish our time together strong! Then Wednesday I will be getting Elder Campbell and we'll work on improving the area even more. Super stoked that there is a lot going on in our area and in the mission as a whole! This last transfer alone there were 50 baptisms in our mission, with a year to date total of 94 baptisms!

General Conference is coming up in a few weeks, so I hope everyone is pretty excited for that! I know I am really excited! haha! I am working hard to try and finish the Book of Mormon before Conference starts on April 4th.. I am only in Heleman, so I have a little bit to go still, I just get distracted sometimes, but I am not giving up. The Book of Mormon is so amazing, and as you read you really do come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. You learn about the Gospel and how we should live, your faith increases, and your desire to do good increases. By reading and studying you truly learn more about who you are.. I have started adapting my missionary work to be more centered around the Book of Mormon, especially meeting people for the first time and when we are out tracting. Because in it lays the power to change and to become better! I am not even done reading it yet, but I have seen it start to chance me as a person, as a member of the church, and as a missionary. I have watched it change the people we teach, it has changed some of them so quickly and so dramatically. There is true power in it.

I hope that everyone has a great week and starts to enjoy this great spring weather coming our way! I miss you all and think of you all the time. so for another week I say goodbye.. Until next Monday, Love one another, serve one another, and read the Book of Mormon. talk to you all next Monday!

Elder Chase Peterson