Petersons In Brussels: Out With The Old.......In With The New

One of the blessings that we enjoyed this Christmas season, was to have our three youngest, John, Taylor and Ashley, fly in to spend the holidays with us in Bruxelles. We were thrilled to welcome each and every one as they arrived at the Ferighy Airport.

We were excited to have Taylor the first to arrive for our Christmas reunion and festivities, but disappointed that John and Ashley's flight had been cancelled, thus delaying them another day and causing them to miss our Christmas Open House in their honor.

It was a beautiful evening! The girl on the left is a Hungarian investigator working with the Sisters

Our good friend Dennis from our ward. The perfect gentleman, he arrived with this beautiful bouquet!

This is Agi from Hungary who is going to school in Leuven. She surprised us by coming to the open house, and remembers us from having served as Mission President in Hungary. She said that she has never forgotten a lesson I taught to the young women in her Branch, where I gave them all a "flower pen" that I had made. She said that she was so impressed, and that she kept that flower pen for many years, until she finally had to throw it away.

John and Ashley finally make it!

THE EU PARLIAMENT'S INTERNATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST

President of the European Parliament

Jerzy Buzek of Poland

President Buzek had given us a personal invitation to attend this annual event. When he learned of our friendship with former Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California), he placed both his hands on my shoulders and said: "You must come! You must come!" And then turned to his assistant and said..."put Dr. Peterson on the list." We were very pleased, since this was the first time representatives of the Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints have been invited to attend with other Christians from around the world. The formal invitation stated that the purpose of the breakfast is "to gather together around the person of Jesus Christ. We come as Members of the European Parliament, European officials, diplomats, politicians, and business people from Belgium, other member states of the EU, and nations of the world. During this event we have the opportunity to deepen friendships and pray for European leaders and the issues we face on our continent. It can be a time to reaffirm our faith and to renew the dedication of ourselves and our nations to God and His purposes." This prayer breakfast took place during the deepening Euro crisis!.

This is a photo of Whitley Phips of Florida, who sang for this event. He is a very dynamic fellow and a dedicated Christian with the most incredible baritone voice, that pierces you to the core when he sings. He has sung at the inaugurations of six American presidents. His voice was powerful and moving! We were pleased to be able to meet him after the breakfast to tell him of our assignment here, and also our Christian values as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He then surprised us by saying that Senator Orin Hatch is his very good friend and supporter. In his remarks, he told us of his mission of visiting prisons around the world to help bring them to Christ, and to break the cycle of their children following in their fathers' footsteps. He is a wonderful man who is doing his part in bringing souls unto Christ. We were grateful for his beautiful Christmas CD that he gave to us. There are alot of good people in this world!!!

I don't recall this man's name, but remember that he had flown in from Wales for this event.

We also enjoyed a very uplifting conversation about Christian values with Hannu Takkula, a Member of the European Parliament from Finland.

Following the Prayer Breakfast, we attended a meeting in the Parliament dealing with spiritual values and politics that was extremely interesting. The room eventually filled, and when I introduced myself to the woman who was seated on my left, after visiting a few minutes, she said that she lived on Avenue Charlemagne, which is just around the corner from me. It was then that we both discovered, and remembered, that she is my Doctor!!!! We had only met once in her office......and there is a lot to be said about meeting someone completely out of context. We had a good laugh! Dr. Stockley had also attended the Prayer Breakfast that morning.