¡No Olvida Cristo Esta Navidad!

¡Hola Fonzfam!

It's been a fun week to figure things out as a trio. Nothing impossible or really that overbearing, but we get to take advantage of what a trio brings to the work. I think it's been super beneficial for Elder Eddleman. Already he's learned so much from what we've been able to show him about talking to people, planning, and how things can be run in an area. Elder Hadfield is doing well too. He's definitely been here a while, but he's the one that keeps things fun. Although it's a tight fit in our one bedroom apartment for the three of us, we've got a good system down on our morning and nightly routine. Being in this circumstance is going to make the rest of 2018 fly by even faster!

Tickle Creek has some great people we're now teaching. We weren't able to see any of them at church this Sunday for various reasons, but at least 6 have committed to come back this next Sunday for the Christmas program! The with two dates, Dustin & Breonna, want to move their baptismal dates moved earlier than February which is awesome! YSA is still chugging along. We found like 5 or 6 potential people that could've been "new people" to teach, but 4 of them stood us up on their appointments. Nobody real solid right now but we're really going to make sure a couple people come to the Christmas Program this Sunday!

Wednesday night we met up with the Assistants over in Milwaukie for an exchange. I went with Elder Clarke again, but this time we hit up downtown Portland together. We talked to soooo many people down there. The weather was just perfect so everyone was in a decent mood, especially for being one of the most Godless cities in the US. Our evening was booked with different lessons and things got really exciting real quick. To keep it brief this is what basically happened: Elder Clarke and I OYMed this woman who set us up to teach her and her family that night, we then needed to go on a quick split with Elders Moffat and Montague(They're both ZLs that cover downtown too) to be able to get to all of our other lessons in the APs' area. I was with Elder Montague and together we ran through the city hitting those different appointments because parking was so bad and running was faster. We ended up teaching in Spanish in one of those lesson and it brought back some good memories with my past companion. It was a fun time to be with 3 of my past companions.

This last Friday was our December MLC where we talked about a number of awesome things that we hope will improve the way we take on the work. The first one focused on "Divine Discontent," a talk given in this last General Conference. Sister Bullen ran the training using this talk about how to help other missionaries stay away from being discouraged from not feeling like they're able to reach their potential. We also were trained on a different way to help other missionaries weekly plan effectively and then how to help teach them how to involve those weekly plans into their daily planning. If a missionary doesn't know or understand how to plan, then they have little purpose and direction in their day. One more thing we were trained on was focusing more on studying by the Spirit.

Saturday night for our YSA Branch Christmas party, the branch presidency put on a progressive dinner. There were four stops throughout the stake. We started with the appetizers at President Westover's home. Traveled 15 minutes to get a salad, followed by an 18 hour smoked brisket at the next stop. We ended the night in Estacada with a dessert buffet. It was so filling and the preparation that went into this activity was awesome(mostly done by the presidencies' wives). Cassie, Cayman, and Devan were all able to make it and they enjoyed making new friends with those in the branch.

Last night we had some leftover cupcakes from our YSA activity the prior night and we decided to go share them with a married couple who Tickle Creek is teaching as a way to contact them for the week. We were kind of behind our schedule of when we had planned on dropping by when we finally made it to their house and realized that no one was home. As we were leaving, they zoomed right into their driveway. The timing couldn't have been better. If we would've been on time to our schedule, we would've been there a little earlier and have missed them completely. But God knew otherwise. We were able to visit with them for a few minutes, share the Light Your Family video, and confirm another appointment for this week as well that they're planning on coming to church this next Sunday! It was such a nice miracle after the relatively rough week we had.

This is the week before Christmas and my excitement is building. We may all have different lists of things that need to get done, but don't forget to take a second, even a minute, to remember Jesus Christ. He is the Only Begotten of the Father, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, and the Reedemer of all mankind. I love Him and I know He loves me. Find ways to love one another this week whether that be through having patience, service, or giving. I love you all and I wish you a Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Elder Fonnesbeck

PS- My Pday has been moved to Christmas Day.