"I'll go where you want me to go!"

General Conference in the MTC

 Olá everyone!! That conference weekend was awesome and I will talk about how much I loved it in a second but the biggest personal update I have is that I got my mission reassignment last Wednesday! I have been called to serve in the Austin Texas mission! I honestly could not be more happy with this assignment, anyone that knows me from back home knows how much I loved to wear my cowboy boots and hat, and always listening to my country music which is all very big there. Plus barbeque has got to be one of the greatest foods on this planet, I've learned from my friends in my district from Texas that brisket is a very big thing in Austin which is my favorite type of BBQ. 

The same with a lot of other missionaries though I did struggle a little bit with getting reassigned and not going strait to Mozambique. Mainly because I will not be teaching in Portuguese, I will either be teaching in English or Spanish! At first I really struggled with this because I am currently spending so much time at the MTC learning Portuguese. The day after I got my call it was honestly really difficult for me to want to try and pay attention in class because I had the attitude that I didn't need Portuguese anymore. So I spent a lot of time the next couple days praying to know that this is what the lord needs to to do right now, and it did just get better everyday. I realized that even though I will most likely be teaching in Spanish in Texas, it is very closely related to Portuguese and I can still practice my Portuguese every day. Also for the next week of MTC we are doing SYL which means speak your language, so I'm only allowed to speak Portuguese 24/7 for the next week! I know I will get to to Mozambique eventually and I will need Portuguese when I get there, but I now know Austin is where the lord needs me right now. In the Sunday morning session of conference they choir sang "I'll go where you want me to go" which is now one of my favorite hymns and helped me feel the spirit a lot. There's another line in that song that says "I'll say what you want me to say" and that also struck me deeply that whatever language I am speaking I am sharing the same message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is what is most important. 

This conference was so awesome for me! Theres just a different feeling about it when you're watching it as a missionary because you relate everything they are saying to your missionary work! Plus you know every time they talk about missionaries you know they are talking about you which is a great feeling. But I'll just share a couple of my favorite things because I actually filled up 20 pages in my journal with stuff I Iiked so here are some highlights and some stuff you guys can hopefully relate to your life.

Obviously I have to talk about Elder Carlos A Godoy's talk because he talked about Mozambique!! There was one quote he kept repeating about the people in South Arica that they had "no complaints, only smiling faces and grateful faces!" If we can apply that to our lives we will be so much happier, especially the not complaining part. I have found complaining is the easiest way to drive the spirit and happiness away, so just don't do it in the first place. Easier said than done but I promise it will help to just always try and see the good in everything and everyone. 

The other thing I loved which I'm sure a lot of you guys noticed as well was the emphasis placed on the importance of eternal families! Both President Oaks and Ronald A Rasband talked about this topic. I loved how they focused on the basic steps that lead to a happy family. They each shared a quote that I really like that both apply to families but also to every other aspect of the gospel as well. Rasbands was "there are many things you have committed to memory, now commit them to heart!" And Oaks' was "latter day saint trends should not follow worldly trends!" Apply these to your family life and they promise happiness. This church is a family centered church so make your families one of your most important priority. I am very grateful for my family and feel very blessed to have them! I would invite you guys to go back and read those talks, especially president oaks because I loved his, as well as the family proclamation! They both talked about that proclamation so I have made a goal to study it this week and it would probably benefit everyone to go back and read that! 

I love and miss you all! As always I love getting emails and updates from everyone! Hope you all have a great week! 

-Elder Peters