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