¡Hola Fonzfam!
Merry Christmas! Now that it's December we can kick things off right! I'm so excited for this holiday season and for all the many opportunities to share my testimony of Jesus Christ. It's getting colder for sure but there isn't any snow in the forecast for the foreseeable future, at least not down in the valley where we live. But we'll give it a few weeks and see what happens;)
Unfortunately for us, it was just one of those weeks. We worked as diligently as we could, had some great miracles, even found some solid referrals, but for Mt Hood YSA we practically pulled straight zeros(except for the BoMs we shared). I haven't had this kind of week since either Alder Creek YSA or Nike Spanish over a year ago. We aren't losing faith though because we earned those zeros, and it wasn't by sitting around in our apartment all day. Behind those zeros are countless hours of walking, talking, testifying, praying, and even fasting. We face hard times only because it means we'll enjoy the good times even more. I know that some incredible miracles are right around the corner!
We had a pass-off lesson for a couple people we found through sharing Light the World. Their names are Brianna (daughter) and Nina (mom), and that lesson was probably one of the biggest highlights of my week. It had been a while since I've had a lesson like that where the people were asking question after question of things they've been troubled with, seeking for answers that were found through the Book of Mormon. I know the Spirit played a huge role in that lesson because the mom, Nina, said that she was dreading us coming over, but by the end she was so grateful we had come. She has gone through some pretty incredible trials and we promised her that if she read from the BoM that those questions and concerns would be addressed. She and her daughter took it to heart and we're excited to learn about their journey in the future.
We had zone conference this past Thursday and it doubled as our Christmas party. After our morning trainings were done we had a Christmas lunch with ham and potatoes followed by Christmas cookie decorating and a hot cocoa bar. There were different musical numbers preformed by OPMs, mostly with ukeleles. It was a fun time to get to see old companions and missionaries that I've served around in the past.
At the end of zone conference our mission President invited us to focus on a specific Christ-like attribute to learn about and develop over the month of December as a gift to Christ. I thought about what he shared about faith and I felt that that attribute was the one I needed to focus on and improve. I know that I want to improve my faith in my zone, my area, my companion, and of course myself. Not that I don't have faith in these things, I do, but because I know that by having more faith I can do a lot more with the help of God. In my study journal I took the PMG self-evaluation on "faith" and know where I can focus my improvements. I learned that faith in Christ is having trust in Christ. Trust can be defined as having confidence in something or someone. I'm excited for what I'm going to contiue to learn as Christmas grows closer.
This past weekend we wanted to try something different so we looked up different apartments and places to go find some YSAs. We saw that there were a few places in Government Camp, a small ski town at the base of Mt Hood, that we could try our luck. So we made the trek up there (weekly planning along the way) and knocked out one apartment complex that was full of YSA ski-bums. We shared the LightTheWorld video with a few of them but they weren't quite in the holiday mood. It was all snowy up there and made it really feel like Christmas. As a storm rolled in we began to make our way back to Gresham before it got too bad. It was worth a shot but there needs to be more snow on the slopes to attract more YSA skiers to find and teach;)
Here's a little Christmas poem that was fun to put together and I thought I'd share with you guys:)
The month of December is finally here; the missionaries of Portland happily cheer.
Light the World is now in full swing; and we the missionaries will do our thing.
Service and love is what we share; the testimony of Christ is what we bare.
He lived and died for us out of infinite love; that we may live again with our Father above.
Our Redeemer and Savior is the Christmas reason; remember Him this holiday season.
Enjoy your first week of December! I love you all and wish you happy holidays!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
Merry Christmas! Now that it's December we can kick things off right! I'm so excited for this holiday season and for all the many opportunities to share my testimony of Jesus Christ. It's getting colder for sure but there isn't any snow in the forecast for the foreseeable future, at least not down in the valley where we live. But we'll give it a few weeks and see what happens;)
Unfortunately for us, it was just one of those weeks. We worked as diligently as we could, had some great miracles, even found some solid referrals, but for Mt Hood YSA we practically pulled straight zeros(except for the BoMs we shared). I haven't had this kind of week since either Alder Creek YSA or Nike Spanish over a year ago. We aren't losing faith though because we earned those zeros, and it wasn't by sitting around in our apartment all day. Behind those zeros are countless hours of walking, talking, testifying, praying, and even fasting. We face hard times only because it means we'll enjoy the good times even more. I know that some incredible miracles are right around the corner!
We had a pass-off lesson for a couple people we found through sharing Light the World. Their names are Brianna (daughter) and Nina (mom), and that lesson was probably one of the biggest highlights of my week. It had been a while since I've had a lesson like that where the people were asking question after question of things they've been troubled with, seeking for answers that were found through the Book of Mormon. I know the Spirit played a huge role in that lesson because the mom, Nina, said that she was dreading us coming over, but by the end she was so grateful we had come. She has gone through some pretty incredible trials and we promised her that if she read from the BoM that those questions and concerns would be addressed. She and her daughter took it to heart and we're excited to learn about their journey in the future.
We had zone conference this past Thursday and it doubled as our Christmas party. After our morning trainings were done we had a Christmas lunch with ham and potatoes followed by Christmas cookie decorating and a hot cocoa bar. There were different musical numbers preformed by OPMs, mostly with ukeleles. It was a fun time to get to see old companions and missionaries that I've served around in the past.
At the end of zone conference our mission President invited us to focus on a specific Christ-like attribute to learn about and develop over the month of December as a gift to Christ. I thought about what he shared about faith and I felt that that attribute was the one I needed to focus on and improve. I know that I want to improve my faith in my zone, my area, my companion, and of course myself. Not that I don't have faith in these things, I do, but because I know that by having more faith I can do a lot more with the help of God. In my study journal I took the PMG self-evaluation on "faith" and know where I can focus my improvements. I learned that faith in Christ is having trust in Christ. Trust can be defined as having confidence in something or someone. I'm excited for what I'm going to contiue to learn as Christmas grows closer.
This past weekend we wanted to try something different so we looked up different apartments and places to go find some YSAs. We saw that there were a few places in Government Camp, a small ski town at the base of Mt Hood, that we could try our luck. So we made the trek up there (weekly planning along the way) and knocked out one apartment complex that was full of YSA ski-bums. We shared the LightTheWorld video with a few of them but they weren't quite in the holiday mood. It was all snowy up there and made it really feel like Christmas. As a storm rolled in we began to make our way back to Gresham before it got too bad. It was worth a shot but there needs to be more snow on the slopes to attract more YSA skiers to find and teach;)
Here's a little Christmas poem that was fun to put together and I thought I'd share with you guys:)
The month of December is finally here; the missionaries of Portland happily cheer.
Light the World is now in full swing; and we the missionaries will do our thing.
Service and love is what we share; the testimony of Christ is what we bare.
He lived and died for us out of infinite love; that we may live again with our Father above.
Our Redeemer and Savior is the Christmas reason; remember Him this holiday season.
Enjoy your first week of December! I love you all and wish you happy holidays!
Love,
Elder Fonnesbeck
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| It's a winter wonderland up at Government Camp. |
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| You can only imagine how many leaves we picked up. BEFORE... |
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| And AFTER! |
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| Little Crater Lake was icy cold but so clear and beautiful. |
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| Mt. Hood was a great place for lunch on p-day |
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