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Monday, December 11th, 2017

¡Hola Fonzfam!

Do you know what's been interesting about this last week, it hasn't rained once. The sun has been shining but the temperatures are definitely cooler. We finally had our first night below 32°F and it was really slippery when we went out for exercise. I can't imagine how bad it's going to be once it's freezing and raining, we'll have to use the bus system to get to our proselyting area because the mission won't let us drive our cars.

Last Monday we had an awesome lesson with Salomon, the man who got in a car accident with the member. We invited a couple from our ward to visit with us and everything went great. We talked about the LDM and how it has blessed each of our lives. We also taught about the Atonement of Christ and its power to relieve us of sin and guilt. But during the lesson I could tell it wasn't something he was totally interested in. We left him with a good taste about the church, but he will be leaving to México for three months this next week anyway. He did accept our invitation to read some more of the LDM during his flight and stay there. Investigators are not solid, this week we are going to clean them out.

These past couple weeks we keep finding so many to teach. The initial contact is really good, but if we ever are able to set up a return appointment, it tends to fall through. They either don't respond to our phone calls and texts or they simply aren't home. The worst is when they are home and look through the window or eye-hole and just walk away from the door. At least the message is clear and we know not to waste our time with them anymore. It's all part of the work, and right now we do our best the make the most of every opportunity.

Last night we had an amazing rare experience that began a couple weeks ago on the 29th of November. On the street we tracted and had a lot of success we came across a woman named Elba. English is her main language but she knows at least five others so her accent is quite unique. We had a 20 minute conversation on her door step after sharing the first #LTW video. We briefly taught her out of the BOM and invited her to read and study it. Last night we had a lesson set up with her and it was beautiful. When we pulled up she had the door already open for us to come in. She and her husband sat with us at their dining table and we began answering some questions she had prepared. She showed us how she had studied different parts of the BOM (different pages had their corners folded to hold their place). Her first main question was about young children being baptized. She has been Catholic her whole life but didn't feel like things were ever right about it. When we explained the age of accountability using Moroni 8 she was in agreeance.

‎Things were going really well when she asked if she could share something personal. She told us that she feels that she's been prepared for the last 34 years to have us come teach her. What she told me next confirmed all my feelings that I was going through at that moment. Crying, she said that she had prayed earlier on the 29th, asking God for a sign, anything that might help her. Then, a couple hours later in the evening we knocked. She told us that we were angels, messengers sent from God. We told her that that was exactly true and we continued with the story of the Restoration of the gospel.

‎After testifying of the first vision and talking about the restoration of the priesthood, both Elder Moffat and I knew what was next. By prompting from the Holy Ghost I began to say, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ..." As I'm saying this I was thinking of a date that would be perfect for them to work towards, and the 13th of January just came to mind. I had just invited Elba and her husband to be baptized after the first lesson, and we sat there in a reverent silence for a couple seconds. It was broken by Elba saying, "That sounds good to me! Right William?" She turned to her husband and said that they would both work towards this date. But he wasn't sure. He seemed to be holding something back, but he accepted our invitation to personally ask God after studying more of the BOM.

‎I cannot tell you how excited I am for these two! Tomorrow night we are having a pass off lesson with the English missionaries who are over that area. We have to do what's best for the investigators, though it would be cool to teach them everything. Tonight we find out transfer news so maybe I'll still be around for the baptism.

‎Every day I've enjoyed opening different gifts. My favorite has been the Christmas ornament of our family, it was such an amazing gift and it will always be on display on my study desk for the rest of my mission. I love you all and hope it snows a lot soon!

Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck