Petersens Plus 2

Day 3

I took my dad fishing on the Skyway pier. This video is pretty cool. It is all I caught.



No it is not the Jelly Fish April was yelling about...





Yep...its a sting ray.

We are now going to go to Casperson Beach in Venice Florida. Home of the Fossilized Shark Teeth. Anyone want to join us?

The Petersens Plus 2

Day 1

It was an awesome day. After breakfast, we went crab catching at the beach, followed by a visit to the farmers market. Ethan and I then had golfing lessons in Sarasota, followed by dinner and family fishing time on our lake. How cool is that?

Please Read Michelle's Blog Below

We are a family and coming together to help each other is, well, what we do. Love all of you.

Of Rings and Flash Drives

I really wanted to show a picture of my high school ring and my flash drive but alas, someone who was packing our home in Elizabeth felt they needed Mom's wedding ring and my high school ring more than we did. I hope they fed their family and didn't just drink it all. Anyway, the story...

About four to five weeks into my mission I lost my High School Ring. I liked my ring and I just could not figure out what had happened. A few days before I had dropped it in the middle of a busy intersection in Burbank California but recovered it with out damage I might add. So, when I could not find it I thought about dropping it but knew that was not where I had lost it. I looked all through the apartment, asked my companion and still came up empty handed. I took the issue to the Lord and went to bed. The next morning my ring was sitting in the middle of the floor in our bedroom. I can still see it from my sitting position on the bed when I was ready to get up. I have pondered this many time over the years and have no doubt of the intercession of Heaven.

Two weeks ago I attended Seminary and downloaded MLS data from the Church computer to a flash drive so I could load on my phone. Ward Tools is now available as an Android App and it is more powerful than LDS tools. I was thrilled to have the application and the information again at my finger tips. This was done on Friday. On Sunday I was going to get the download processed and could not find the drive. I was panicked because of the sensitive nature of the download as well as other personal information I have on the drive. I calmed myself and knew what I had to do. As with the ring, 37 years before, I got on my knees and asked for direction and insight, KNOWING that because of my act of faith, praying, I would find the drive.

It did not happen immediately but within an hour or so my mind started working through Friday morning. I keep the drive in my right front pant pocket. I wore a suit jacket that I normally do not wear and the very clear direction to look in the fight front outside pocket of the suit coat came to me and the drive was in fact there. What a simple thing to bend the knees and ask. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you...

I need some extra prayers please

So family after some worrisome symptoms (and council from Mom and Dad) I went to the chiropractor who checked my blood pressure and found it to be too high and so checked my heart. He discovered that I was skipping about every four beats. He called his in office nurse practitioner who listened to my heart and also found an arrhythmia. He told me he thought I have something called PAC. I'ts apparently more common than one would think and he said it is likely I have always had it. That said, he told me to go to my doctor and get an EKG. I couldn't get an appointment until next Wednesday and am still waiting a return phone call from the Doctor so he can tell me what he thinks. My symptoms still persist and so I am taking extra measures to take it easy, eat super healthy, and drink lots of water. I'm feeling stressed about all this and so am asking for your prayers. Thanks for being the kind of family I can bring this to. All my love!

Failure in the Home

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home."  —J.E. McCollough, as quoted by President David O. McKay

Liz and I were discussing this interesting and profound statement, and applying it to our church callings and professional work. We realized that we so often use this to emphasize the supreme importance of our homes in the mortal journey, but as we've experienced so many of the other things in life, his words have taken on so much more meaning.

I saw a political cartoon the other day wherein a teacher was was being grilled by politicians and media about what SHE was doing wrong in the classroom. On her desks were piles of paperwork next to a box of kleenex that was labeled as being purchased with her own money. The kicker, though, was the labels on each student desk. They read "Homeless," "No Father," "Teen Mom," "Abused," "Drugs," "TV on 24/7," "Hungry," and "No Discipline."  While these are heartbreaking in any situation, each and every one of those labels represent a failure in the home. As teachers, Liz and discuss, at least weekly, the fact that we can't take people with no work ethic, no sense of responsibility, poor personal habits, and addictive behaviours, and turn them into educated, responsible members of society. The ideas that mold their character are already set.

Our experience has shows us that Pres. McKay's statement cold be reworded in the following two ways:

"Failure in the home will make future success almost impossible."
or
"Success in the home sets the groundwork for future success."

Then, as I began typing this, I received even more light on the subject. While we may regard Pres. McKay's words as wise, timely, and eternal counsel, they are more than that.  He delivered those words over 75 years ago, in 1935, and we are seeing them fulfilled. Counsel to heed? Certainly. Prophecy fulfilled? Without a doubt.

So, as we review that idea in our minds, remember that a Prophet of God has warned us that if we succeed in our homes, then we set our children, our families, our posterity on a path of success in all areas of life. If we don't, we are subject to the prophetic consequences given by Pres. McKay.

Happy Birthday, Jodi!

Question for you

If hand sanitizer kills 99.9% of germs and you use it twice in a row, does it kill the remaining .1% or 99.9% of the remaining .1%?

Anyone know?

Our Little Baby is All Growed Up!

Congratulations, Marquie and Patrick!