¡Noche Cultural!

September 25, 2017

¿Como fue su Semana Familia Fonz?

This week was the final week of the transfer. Elder Clarke and I made sure to "Preseverar hasta el fin" by working really hard to set ourselves up for this next transfer. We both didn't go anywhere, but Elder Guymon and his companion have left to cover the Oregon City Stake area and two sets of spanish hermanas are taking their place. This is good and bad for us. It's good because people generally like hermanas more than elders just because their girls. It's bad because the area I was serving just got cut in half for the second pair of hermanas. That area had 90% of our work in it, investigators, part member families, everything that we had worked for is now for the benefit of whoever takes our place in it. It's fine because the work is the work, but now we have to find spanish opportunity north in the Cedarmill Stake only, which is going to be a lot harder. Elder Clarke and I are ready to work though. I have been trained really well by him and feel a lot more comfortable speaking spanish at every opportunity than the first week I came out into the field. As they say in my mission, "We are Spec-Ops missionaries...Hoo-Rah!"

Last Friday was our Noche Cultural that we have been preparing for the last few weeks. I made hundreds of papelitos, flyers, and have been inviting members and non-members to this event. We worked hard with members to get them to invite non-member families and friends. We helped them role-play how they were going to ask their vecinos, neighbors. We would follow-up with them regularly to see who they've invited and what their commitment level was to the event.

On top of doing missionary work, we were asked to do a skit as part of the event that night. So we combined the story in the Libro de Mormón about Alma, Gideon, and Nehor and a popular latino show called "Caso Cerrado," Case Closed. We only practiced it a couple times this last week and we felt alright with it. When it came time to preform it, we actually didn't do too bad. We all remembered our lines in Espanol and I was able to perfectly throw a pinata's worth of candy into the crowd that was quickly consumed by all the ninos. Our biggest fear was that nobody would laugh at our attempt to imitate latino cultural, but we felt accomplished we everyone was having a good time.

The program continued after us with different people in our ward dancing in their native clothes. With the music, bright colored faldas, and the all the dancing, I didn't feel like I was in the US at that moment. I am so blessed to be in an area so rich in culture and am blessed to have these foreign experiences right up here in my part of Oregon. My ward has been so great and kind to us as missionaries. We are fed every single night by members, their service and charity blows me away. There's this one member from Uruguay who will just feed us native foods whenever we are just visiting. She wants to meet our needs perfectly even if we don't necessarily need anything at that moment. She is muy amable and I count my blessings that I am able to serve her and her family.

There are another 28 missionaries coming in today from the MTC, 3 of which are spanish. Our mission is so full right now that there are crazy trios going on in order to be able to train all the newbies. The work is hastening and the Lord is sending so many young and willing youth throughout the world to do His work. With these crazy times we all look to our Savior for comfort and peace and we count our blessings for all that we have, even if we feel we don't have much. "Count your many blessings, see what the Lord hath done."

I pray for you always and hope for peace and safety in your lives.

Con amor de Portland,

Elder Fonnesbeck