Aloha Fonzfam!
I hope that you're having an awesome time on Kauai as you celebrated both Thanksgiving and Brock's baptism! My companion and I have been enjoying the cooler Hawaiian weather here in Portland and it's the best! There are so many things to be grateful for and we're just so happy to able to serve the Lord during this time of year!
Since our last baptism it's been a struggle to find anyone really solid. We were definitely blessed with the many recent converts who were baptized over the last couple months, but our hearts and our time have definitely shifted towards finding more to teach. We aren't teaching as often as we would like to because of the holiday season it's making it a little more difficult to have consistant meetings with those in our teaching pool. We were super pumped for church though because we got three pretty solid commitments from people to come but all of them flaked out for one reason or another. At least a couple of the less actives came that we've been working with, which is awesome! Things should be returning to normal with this next week so we're excited for more consistancy.
We were able to eat one of our Thanksgiving dinners with our recent convert, Cassie, and her family. They were so kind and welcoming and they made sure that we had plenty to eat. Cassie was kind of nervous to have us over(even though it was her idea) because only a couple people in her family knew about her recent baptism. But the miracle that I feel came from this opportunity was the conversations we were able to have. A lot of Cassie's family speaks spanish and so I was able to relate to them even better answering their questions about what we do as missionaries and sharing beliefs and traditions that our family does during this time of year. Our relationship with them and the time we spent has helped lay a good foundation for future missionary work to be done to this very wonderful family.
I guess I forgot to mention in last week's email that we weren't able to go to the temple with Cassie because of scheduling issues, but we are gearing up to go here really soon, we just aren't sure when yet haha. She's excited to go and she is working on her "family forest" as she calls it with all her family history. We're also working with Cayman to help him get to the temple soon as well so that he can enjoy the blessings it brings into our lives.
Right before church yesterday I was able to help Devan prepare the sacrament for one of his first times and then we blessed it together. He was pretty nervous and kept checking his pulse before and after saying the prayer for the water. It reminded me of how nervous I was when I first became a priest four years ago. He did a great job and I know that I'm so blessed to be a part of his gospel journey.
I've been studying a lot about the Great Apostasy and the Restoration of the Gospel through Joseph Smith. We have been teaching some people who have their doubts and want "facts and evidence" about something that requires faith enough to act, like reading the BoM. I have been reading "Our Search For Happiness" for the first time and I love being able to hear Pres. Ballard's voice through his words. My testimony of the First Vision and the Restoration that follows is firm because I know Joseph Smith was prepared to be able to restore all that the Father has as it pertains to the salvation of His children. I love sharing his experience and for the undeniable Spirit I feel every time I do.
It's a wonderful time of year to be especially grateful for the gospel and for the opportunity to serve as a missionary. I love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
The Mt. Hood Zone before last week's transfer.
We made catapults and had a launching competition with Reese's
Pieces as part of our zone pday last week! The best part was eating them:)
"Oh Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining in our apartment!
(Thanks for the Christmas Decor!)
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