Querido Familia Fonnesbeck,
This last week sounded crazy for you guys. Between the state football game and the family Thanksgiving party you have been on yours toes. A lot of you mentioned how time seems to be going by, especially with the holidays already here. Can you believe it?! Thanksgiving is in just a few days and after that I can finally start singing Christmas songs and not feel weird about it, haha. I wish I could be there to celebrate with you but I will do my best from here.
We are spending Thanksgiving with a solid family who will probably feed us the usual meal of carne, rice, and beans. I'm okay with it because at least we're being fed which is a huge blessing. The members of this ward, active or not, love to feed the missionaries. We will have a dinner every single night except maybe just one. It is such a blessing and it provides great opportunities to share messages and invite them to invite others to the next meal they have with us.
With all the changes of last week, Elder Moffat and I have been busy at work finding new people to teach. We have been praying for opportunities to find, and we have had success through out the week. Recently we have been in contact with a part member family who is just returning from México. The wife is not a member and so aren't her kids. We hope to be able to meet with them soon as we just wait for confirmation.
Well, our awesome investigator Alexis has been struggling to make a 100% decision on whether to be baptized or not. He is having some last minute doubts that we have tried to help clear up to comfort him in his decision. But unfortunately he decided that right now wasn't the time for him. We had to drop his date as he doesn't plan on getting baptized until later in the future. He is only 19 years old which means he has a lot of big decisions to make. We explained how the Holy Ghost can be a guide in making difficult choices. But I know we've done all we can, we just rely on the Spirit to confirm to him.
I can honestly say, especially after having learned of so many other people's circumstances including missionaries, that I am grateful to have a family back at home who loves and supports me in what I am doing hundreds of miles away. That's a blessing that I am eternally grateful for. I have never been more grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its clear and simple truths. It merely consists of six things that if we follow to the best of our abilities the rewards promised are great.
Knowing we can be cleansed from sin offers us a sense of hope in times of disparity. We can fully trust that through Christ's love and sacrifice we can be healed by His atonement. We have to accept Him as our Savior and He will in turn remove the burden of sin from off our shoulders.
This relief from sin requires faith in Christ. This is the first principle of His gospel. We are taught in the scriptures how faith without works is dead. We can only be saved by His grace if we are willing to do our part and live His gospel.
Repentance is the second principle of the Lord's gospel. A lot of the time repentance has a negative connotation where people feel that if you only do really bad or immoral things must you need to repent. That is of course false as we should be taking advantage of Christ's atonement everyday. We are all human and we all make mistakes, little and big. We can only become more like Christ if we are able to recognize even the smallest imperfections and ask for forgiveness from our merciful Father in Heaven.
We have been given the commandment of baptism. Jesus set the example for us at the beginning of His ministry here on earth. Through baptism by immersion we receive a full remission of our sins. We are 100% clean and have the opportunity to remember our covenants each Sunday as we partake of the Sacrament. Through baptism and repentance by power of Christ's atonement are the bounds of justice loosened.
A special gift we receive after baptism is the Holy Ghost. This is a gift that we are promised will always be there for our benefit as long as we follow God's commandments and live righteously. The impressions of the Spirit are different for each person, but it is the same Spirit. In 3 Nephi 19:13 it is described as a fire in the chest. With its help can we live each day better and better, striving for our ultimate goal of living with our Father again.
The final part is the most important because without it all is done in vain. Enduring to the end is one of the most difficult things to do because it requires diligence, long suffering, and a continual drive to be better. The path we must follow is straight and narrow, but by using the tools we've been given we can make it to the end.
Remember how Christ is the center of God's plan, and through Him can we live as families forever in His kingdom. Give thanks to the Lord as He blesses us continually with miracles and relief in our everyday lives.
I absolutely love you all and hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
We enjoyed a fun 'Baile' with the different branches and groups from around the area. There was a lot of food, loud latino music, and I learned some Cuban dances.
Our blender broke after trying to make a strawberry shake for breakfast so we borrowed the Sister's and had to make it on their front porch because we aren't allowed to go in. It tasted really good!
During cena the member's perro wanted some of my comida:)
Comments
Post a Comment