¡Hola Fonzfam!
God knows how to humble you best. When you think you're on top of things because of you, God quickly reminds you who's incharge and how you actually got there. It's easy to say, "Look what I did!" or "That was easy, go me!" without giving the credit to the one who deserves it. Through what we've recently experienced here in Tualatin I can assure you that we've stayed humbled and submissive as we strived to always give thanks to our Heavenly Father who has blessed us with some incredible miracles.
Elder Wilkes and I headed to downtown Portland with Elder Clarke for our exchange. The day was rushed but we had a great time talking to the dozens of people around each corner. One of the guys we talked to was a mini-dude in a wheel chair who complained to us that we believe in a different Jesus. We assured him that we definitely believe in the same guy and he allowed us to share a scripture out of 3 Nephi to support that. Satisfied he thanked us for what we do and rolled along his way. He was interesting but we at least were able to help him move up to the next level. Our day ended with sharing a message with the Kinikini family from the Pacific Branch. We got a big bowl and a pitcher of water and had their couple sons cup their hands together over the bowl and see who could keep the most water in their hands the longest. It was pretty hard for them to keep all the water from dripping out without having to give them a refill. We compared this to our testimonies and how we should constantly be filling them and adding to them by going to church, reading the scriptures, and praying. Along with countless other things, that spiritual refill will keep our testimonies strong during hardships. They loved the visual and it was fun to spend some time getting to know them.
We met with Adwoa during the week and taught her the first half of the Plan of Salvation. She's been reading the BoM like we've asked but she hasn't prayed specifically if it's true yet for some reason. We invited her though to be baptized on Oct 27th and she said that she's willing to prepare herself for that day! After committing to come to church this week, we were saddened to not ever see her walk through the door of the chapel. We know there's something else in play here so during our visit with her tomorrow we're going to try to figure out what that is and help her overcome it. We know that once she comes to church and prays specifically about the BoM that her conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ will accelerate!
Dylan was able to come to do a church tour with us this last week and he brought his 6 year-old son, Hunter, and his 1 year-old daughter, McKenzie. They had a great time learning about what happens at church. We set up chairs infront of the baptismal font in the Relief Society room to share the bulk of our message that we prepared. We invited him to be baptized on Nov 3rd and he said that he was so down, but when the weekend came his family got really sick and weren't able to make it either. The members that live near him have been fellowshipping his family so well and so we're excited for what the future holds as we continue to meet up with them.
A couple weeks ago our companionship was asked to speak in sacrament meeting for this last week. One of the miracles from this week was that both Vanessa and Netta came to church! We have been trying to get Vanessa to come to church for a few weeks now and she finally made it! Netta came with her dad who was baptized in the sping of this last year. She's preparing to be baptized soon on Oct 20th as we teach her everything she needs to know. Anyways, the talk that I prepared was based off of the questions "How your mission has changed you?" and "How will you act differently when you get back home?" I shared how my perspective of everyone quickly changed at the beginning of my mission as my eyes were open to how God sees all of us as His children. I then went on to describe how I've been humbled through my trials. To answer the second question I thought of a couple things that I'm for sure going to take with me when I get home. The first one is to act immediately on spiritual promptings from the Holy Ghost. I know that as I act on them, I'm acting according to God's will, and in that moment our wills will be aligned. I also want to continue to develop the charity that I've gained. I've learned what it truly is and how to apply it to those I serve and to those I serve with. These are just a couple of things that I know will help me in my future callings as a husband, father, minister, and disciple of Christ.
I'm excited for what this week will hold as we continue to sacrifice for the Lord's work. He has been so merciful with His blessings and I'm so grateful for His hand. I love you and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
PS- We are having our final mission temple trip for 2018 next week, Oct 3rd! Our zone is going to go do the 7am session. Because of that our PDay will be that day, Wednesday. So if you don't hear anything from me or any other OPM on Monday, that's because we're all out about serving the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength:)
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