¡Conferencia General este fin de semana pasado!

October 2, 2017

¡Hola Fonz Fam!

This last week was full of activities with other missionaries to help find new investigators. We set up what is called a blitz; an hour of time when we switch companionships, split up, and knock the doors of a specific neighborhood. It is just one of the ways to find new people to teach because if they speak english or español, when we split up we can speak both. Although we didn't have any luck on the Spanish side this week, through our efforts with the english missionaries, we found five new investigators for them to begin teaching. The work is progressing no matter what and I'm glad to be part of it.

‎I had a great time serving the Lord on my cumpleaños this past Wednesday. The members of my ward are so kind and they love celebrating these kinds of events. Tuesday, Hermana De Lima, the bishop's wife, had most of an ice cream cake left over from another event. Everyone sang to me in español and then starting chanting "Mordida." This is a Mexican tradition of biting into the edge of your birthday cake, then without warning someone smashes your face into it. Elder Clarke had done a great job of getting ice cream up my nose. We all got a great laugh out of it. I was able to celebrate my birthday some more with other missionaries after our district meeting Wednesday. We hung that awesome piñata from the basketball rim and I broke it after one swing! We all enjoyed the candies, maracas, and hacky-sacks that came flying out. Thank you for sending that awesome package! All your pictures were so funny, Bella's cracked me up. I appreciate the gift cards too! I used the Cold Stone one the next day to treat Elder Clarke and I since it got to be in the 90's again! We used the BOGO email deal you sent me with the gift card to get a ton of ice cream for really cheap:D

‎With General Conference this past weekend, there were so many great talks given by the leaders of the church. We watched each session with different families of our ward. I was able to practice listening and understanding español during the Sunday sessions. It wasn't too bad because most of the spanish was gospel spanish, which is easier to understand. The other families we watched it with wanted it in english for their children to understand better. The kids really enjoyed the coloring pages you sent as they were actively filling out and drawing during the whole session. I was really excited when I saw so many familiar faces singing in the Preisthood session. That was a complete surprise and a neat experience to see the Priesthood holders of our stake be part of the worldwide broadcast.

‎One of my favorites talks was given by Elder Gary E. Stevenson about Spiritual Eclipses. His comparison of the sun to the light of the gospel, the earth as ourselves, and the moon as the things that temporarily block the light from us. His message is important as things like television, academic activities, friends, and worldly desires can potentially block us from receiving the necessary light the gospel gives. As we strive to become closer to our Savior, we need to recognize when we are being blocked from His light. When feel that you are in the dark simply move over into the light by praying and studying gospel topics. Repentance is key when we feel that a Spiritual Eclipse is covering too much of our lives. Using Christ's Atonement and refocusing on Him will once again shine the glory of the gospel back on to our lives.

As we all begin another week with our crazy schedules, find the time to kneel. He is waiting. I love you all so much and hope you have fun with the Halloween season upon us.

Con Amor,

Elder Fonnesbeck

PS-Tell Brittany CONGRATS on her call to serve in Alaska! It's crazy that you just got back from the place she'll be serving!