¡Hola Fonzfam!
First off I just want to thank everyone for all of your love and support that I've received over the past 12 months. The mission so far has been an amazing experience where I've had many opportunities to grow and be humbled. Similar to what I tried to focus on during the MTC, the time I have accomplished in the mission has prepared me for the work that the Lord needs me to do with my companion in the coming year. Time is a gift that should never be wasted. I'm excited to go make the most of it.
We went on an exchange with a couple of awesome missionaries in our zone who we wanted to just see how their area was doing. I went into their area to really gain an understanding on the work that they were doing there. During it I had never felt the love and desire to help another missionary learn more than when I was with Elder Lui. We had a great exchange and we were able to talk about things concerning the mission and life in general. My love for him has grown as I've gained an appreciation for the position I'm in to help other missionaries. There was this one guy who we talked with for an hour who has really been searching the scriptures for God in the last couple of years. At first he said he didn't like feeling pressured from talking about other religions, but as the conversation was guided by the Spirit, we were able to comfortably leave him with the invitation to read Alma 32 from the Book of Mormon. Remember nothing beats the converting power of the Book of Mormon!
While Elder Matheson and I were filling up the font for Alex's baptism Saturday, Jimmie was able to go to the temple for baptisms for the first time. There was a regional YSA session that she was able to go to with a few different members of the Relief Society. They came to Alex's baptism afterwards and Jimmie was so happy and said that she had a great experience getting baptized for her Grandma. We're so happy that she was able to make it to the baptism even though we weren't able to be apart of her first experience.
Alex had a wonderful baptism Saturday evening as many came to show their support. Everything went very smooth and it was one of the best baptisms I've been apart of so far. Both the speakers and the one who baptized Alex were from the same family. The Pyper family had played a huge role down in Silverton to bring him in touch with different gospel resources like the Book of Mormon, talks, and of course the missionaries. He knew that being baptized within the same month as he began investigating would be fast, but he felt like he's been preparing for all 19 years of his life. Yesterday he received the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic Priesthood too. We're working hard to get his paper baptismal record put in the system so that he can get his temple recommend by tomorrow so that he can go to the temple ASAP. He wants to go tomorrow night with a couple of his friends and we're hoping that we'll be able to go with him. He is just incredible and his testimony is real, sincere, and converted.
Mosiah 4:27 stuck out to me this week during my Book of Mormon study because it reminds me of something my mission president told me towards the beginning of my mission which is to be careful not "run faster than [I] have strength." It's important to know your limits so that you don't burn yourself out. At the same time you can strengthen yourself enough to be able to push those limits. Building up your endurance is far more beneficial than seeing how fast you can sprint in the beginning. This is wisdom that I've held on to and continued to grow in understanding.
Be safe and have fun this holiday week! It doesn't look like we'll be able to see any fireworks this year because our mission curfew will be right as all the shows begin, at 10pm. But I guess I'd rather get sleep because I can't get enough of it haha! Have a great 4th of July and I'll talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
First off I just want to thank everyone for all of your love and support that I've received over the past 12 months. The mission so far has been an amazing experience where I've had many opportunities to grow and be humbled. Similar to what I tried to focus on during the MTC, the time I have accomplished in the mission has prepared me for the work that the Lord needs me to do with my companion in the coming year. Time is a gift that should never be wasted. I'm excited to go make the most of it.
We went on an exchange with a couple of awesome missionaries in our zone who we wanted to just see how their area was doing. I went into their area to really gain an understanding on the work that they were doing there. During it I had never felt the love and desire to help another missionary learn more than when I was with Elder Lui. We had a great exchange and we were able to talk about things concerning the mission and life in general. My love for him has grown as I've gained an appreciation for the position I'm in to help other missionaries. There was this one guy who we talked with for an hour who has really been searching the scriptures for God in the last couple of years. At first he said he didn't like feeling pressured from talking about other religions, but as the conversation was guided by the Spirit, we were able to comfortably leave him with the invitation to read Alma 32 from the Book of Mormon. Remember nothing beats the converting power of the Book of Mormon!
While Elder Matheson and I were filling up the font for Alex's baptism Saturday, Jimmie was able to go to the temple for baptisms for the first time. There was a regional YSA session that she was able to go to with a few different members of the Relief Society. They came to Alex's baptism afterwards and Jimmie was so happy and said that she had a great experience getting baptized for her Grandma. We're so happy that she was able to make it to the baptism even though we weren't able to be apart of her first experience.
Alex had a wonderful baptism Saturday evening as many came to show their support. Everything went very smooth and it was one of the best baptisms I've been apart of so far. Both the speakers and the one who baptized Alex were from the same family. The Pyper family had played a huge role down in Silverton to bring him in touch with different gospel resources like the Book of Mormon, talks, and of course the missionaries. He knew that being baptized within the same month as he began investigating would be fast, but he felt like he's been preparing for all 19 years of his life. Yesterday he received the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic Priesthood too. We're working hard to get his paper baptismal record put in the system so that he can get his temple recommend by tomorrow so that he can go to the temple ASAP. He wants to go tomorrow night with a couple of his friends and we're hoping that we'll be able to go with him. He is just incredible and his testimony is real, sincere, and converted.
Mosiah 4:27 stuck out to me this week during my Book of Mormon study because it reminds me of something my mission president told me towards the beginning of my mission which is to be careful not "run faster than [I] have strength." It's important to know your limits so that you don't burn yourself out. At the same time you can strengthen yourself enough to be able to push those limits. Building up your endurance is far more beneficial than seeing how fast you can sprint in the beginning. This is wisdom that I've held on to and continued to grow in understanding.
Be safe and have fun this holiday week! It doesn't look like we'll be able to see any fireworks this year because our mission curfew will be right as all the shows begin, at 10pm. But I guess I'd rather get sleep because I can't get enough of it haha! Have a great 4th of July and I'll talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
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| Alex had an awesome baptism Saturday! He is now looks forward to hitting up the temple this week for some temple work. |
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| Last pday one of our districts won a finding competition from asking for referrals so as part of the prize they got to throw whipped cream pies in Elder Matheson & I's faces. It was a lot of sugar! |
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| Elder Lui & I during our exchange this last week. What a guy! |
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| Thank you for the Hump Day/4th of July package! It was great to share everything with those in my zone :) |
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| Elder Fonnesbeck's Summer Book of Mormon Challenge July 2018 Schedule (from FonzFam home calendar...hope you'll continue to read along with all of us!)
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