May God continue to Bless America...

America IS great because America IS good...

I looked up to find the date of the Tocqueville quote. There is controversy as to who said it, the summary of which follows:
"In 1831, twenty-five year-old Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont were sent by the French government to study the American prison system." They studied other things, too, and wrote a book about their findings.
"The primary focus of [this book] Democracy in America is an analysis of why republican representative democracy has succeeded in the United States while failing in so many other places..."
In 1953, "in an Eisenhower campaign speech. Ike, however, attributed it not directly to Tocqueville but to 'a wise philosopher [who] came to this country ....' "
"Whatever its origin, the passage found its way into circulation. President Reagan used it in a 1982 speech, though his speechwriter hedged by attributing it to Eisenhower's quotation of Tocqueville. Two years later, Reagan declared that Tocqueville is said to have observed that 'America is great because America is good.'"
Whoever said it, we believe it to be true!

God Bless America, Land That We Love...

We the people of the United States of America...

"America is great because the people in America are good. If the people cease to be good, America will cease to be great." --that is paraphrased from Tocqueville when he visited the United States from France in 1831, and was quoted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. I just remembered the quote, Walt remembered the quote and who said it. (I'll do a Google search for the exact quote, name, and date.)

"Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary" #3 Son and Wife

Happy Anniversary to D & J - June 27 - 15 years and 4 wonderful children, J, A, S, and W.
(I had all your names in and just read your neighbor Brooke's blog that perhaps we shouldn't put the names of our family members...so I edited this post to just have your initials. Are the initials okay or not? Comments, please.)
We love you.

What do we do on a mission health visit?

We ended Father's Day in San Juan of the Mendoza Mission having flown from Buenos Aires that morning then traveling 2 hours with the mission president and wife. Walt was happy with famiy photos he opened Saturday evening, then messages and cards from his kids that I gave him that night in the hotel.












What are all these missionaries doing in the Argentina Mendoza Mission?
Teaching the Gospel to the honest in heart who will be blessed for the eternities for learning the truth about where they came from, why they are here, and where they can go to have their family together forever, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His Gospel in thse latter days...













The assistant is checking with the mission president about the 5th and final zone conference coming up on Monday, June 29...











After one of the four zone conferences we've had this week...

Sorry...I'm out of time to try to fix these cutlines. They won't match up with the photos....so I'l just let you figure out which cutliine goes with which photo. (If anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong, please comment. The photos won't show, just the weird computer text of the photo, so I'm in the dark. Computers:love em or hate em but can't live without em!)



We love sister missionaries...



Can you believe that sometimes missionaries are not serious...



We love to watch missionaries eat...



Missionaries tall or short are spiritual giants...



Hna. Lindahl taking photos of the missionaries...



Dr. Petersen loves to be with mission presidents...



Dr. Petersen loves missionaries...



Elders with matching ties...



Companions with more matching ties...

Happy Birthday, Janie...June 24

Janie, our first born...we send you Birthday Wishes from Argentina.
You were 29 for so long, and recently jumped to "39"...so we'll leave it at that.
Hope you have a great day in Rexburg, Idaho.
We love you and miss you.

Happy Father's Day - Walt, Shawn, Gary, Steve, David, John, Brian, and Jerry

A Father wears many hats...first he's a son, then a student, then often a missionary, then a student again, then a husband, and then he becomes a father...and then he becomes a grandfather...and beyond! This is part of the Great Plan of Happiness of our Heavenly Father.
This morning I salute the 9 father's in my life: Arnold G. Albertson, Walter Ray Petersen, Shawn R. Fisher, Gary A. Petersen, Steven R. Petersen, David B. Petersen, John B. Peterson, Brian W. Petersen, and Jerry D. Brewer.
(The photos are out of order...and I can't get them to edit around...my back was hurting so much by 2:30 a.m, that I had to come sit up...and then it was another 20 minutes before I was pain-free enough to open my blog and start. And now we leave in an hour...at 5:45 a.m. for the airport...so what you see is what you get today. Sorry for the "draft." But, hey, sometimes if we can't have the perfect loaf, we get a biscuit. I can't put any butter and honey on it...but here's my quick heart-felt feelings about these fathers.)
I love these men in my life! Thank you, guys, for being "men" in every sense of being true priesthood bearers and honest, hard-working husbands and fathers who are carrying on the integrity of your father.
Walter Ray Petersen is blessed to have 4 sons, and 3 sons-in-law. They are blessed to have a very Christ-like, loving father and father-in-law.
Do you kids remember your Dad singing "The Streets of Laredo" around the house or when driving? Also he sang "Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer" but I can't find that anywhere.
As a grandfather, Walt loved being able to baptise his children, and now grandchildren.

Here are these 7 fathers with their families: Shawn R. Fisher married our oldest daughter, Janie. They have 7 children: Aimee, Danile, Katie, Heidi, Sam, Ashley and Michael.

On March 18, 2008 they took their oldest daughter, Aimee, to the MTC for her call to serve in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. She is our pathfinder missionary for our 30 grandchildren, plus the two on the way in November.

Gary A. Petersen, with his wife Kathy, and McKell, Abbey, Jacob, Isaac.

This is John Peterson, his wife Julie, our daughter, and four children--Mikayla, Jacee, Jackson, and Maddie. They should be in the #5 order, but I can't get it to edit.

Steven with his wife Natalie, and Kelsey, Cortney, Kimble, and Carter. David, with his wife Julie, and Joshua, Anna, Samuel, and William.

This is where John and Julie would be.

Brian, with his wife Michelle, and Emma. Taylor, and Avery. They will have a new baby in November.

Jerry, his wife, Jennifer, our youngest daughter, and twins Seth & Sarah, Benjamin and Joshua.

Here's some various photos of Walter Ray Petersen as a husband, father, grandfather, doctor, missionary, area medical advisor.

First ingrown toe nail in Argentina...Oct 2008

It's hard to say goodbye...

Yes, it's really hard to say goodbye.

The family home evening game of "Hide in the Bathroom" while Dad hides and then when the kids come out and find him....the race is on for him to catch each one and throw them on the couch. Now, in this generation it's "Boogie Man" I think....but played the same...

Do all sons try to stand on tipy toes to be the tallest in the family photos???

Grampa's boy...Sam the Man.

Maddie wearing Grampa's shoes...or somebody's shoes...

Grampa at the soccer game of Daniel Canning peaches at the Fishers....

Oh, I forgot, Walt is also a brother.... to Phyllis, and Dale (sorry those photos are lost)...and here with Phylli's sister in law, Ruth Bunn Lackey at the memorial by Perrine Bridge, Twin Falls

Once or twice in a zone conference, Walt is inspired to tell a missionary that he feels he is a great missionary and has a great future...

Proud of our grandson, Daniel, who brought clothes and supplies to the Orphanage in Guatemala City for his Eagle Scout project....also white shirts, suits, etc for the MTC.

Places are nice to see....here pyramid at Tikal in Guatemala... but

...the great joy is being with the missionaries...

We know a family who helped some missionaries get a suit who didn't have a matching one when they came to the MTC... their grandchildren even earned money to help with this

Walt loves flowers...especially Buogevillas...(?sp)

Another ingrown toenail...

Gary went to Korea Seoul Mission 1984-1986; Janie went to Argentina Rosario Mission, 1984 to 1986.

Grampa loves being with grandkids....here cousins...Sam and Maddie...

This was for our 2nd mission to Guatemala....first was to the Yucatan Peninsula...Mexico Merida for 3 years, then Guatemala for 2 years, and now Argentina for 1 1/2 years...

Hard to leave home... Thanks to wonderful, outstanding neighbors who helped with the lawn between John & Julie's moving and a new family who just moved in this week.

Kids....remember all those General Conferences at the Tabernacle of standing in those long lines...

A fun Guatemala missionary reuntion....

Walt loved helping his neighbor Don remodel his home...

Another hard goodbye...to David and Julie and family

Watching Gen'l Conference with Josh and Anna...

Sam the Man with Grampa Petersen...

Walt was called to be a Spanish speaking Patriarch in Feb 1993.

Canning peaches...with Julie, Jacee, Jackson

Canning peaches with Janie and kids...

More peaches with Julie and kids...

Walt, thank you for being a wonderful husband and father...

The last baby of about 4,000 he delivered....up all night...Jan 2005

And my wonderful father, Arnold George Albertson. See my Feb. 6, 2008 blog which was the 27th anniversary of when we lost him to colon cancer at age 69.

(I lost the photo....will try to add back in later)

This should be at the top.......

Helping a missionary know how to get better...