¡Hola Fonzfam!
Where do I begin?! This week was full of so many blessings and miracles that could've only come by the hand of the Lord. It was His special week, and I was glad He decided to make it special for us as well.
There's this single mom named Claudia who we've begun teaching who had just moved up here to Tualatin from Eugene. Down there she was meeting with the missionaries but had lost contact with them and the church since coming north. She and her 15 month-old daughter Maia are awesome! We had our first lesson at the city library, where it is nice and quiet. Little Maia was in her stroller next to her mom and I at the table we sat at. I made eye contact and gave her a little smile hoping to get a smile back, but instead her face melted and she began to scream. For the next 2 minutes she was going off and Claudia was just patiently holding her. Everyone was looking over at us wondering what was going on, but then all of the sudden Claudia did something and Maia went from crying to laughing with a huge smile. After that, she was totally fine. We continued to teach her but for a minute there we thought that lesson was a goner! We're meeting up with her again tomorrow to see what her needs are and hopefully introduce her to the relief society president.
On the same day that Brandon and Ethan were baptized, I did a baptismal interview for this dad whose wife and kids are all members. His name is Stuart and he had been investigating the church for over 18 years. It must have finally become his time. I had met him one time before to give him a special priesthood blessing by request of the Sisters who were teaching him. His interview took over an hour as we basically just had a guided testimony meeting together. Earlier last week the Sisters had reached out to me and told me that Stuart wanted me to baptize him Saturday. I told them to tell him that I'd be honored with that privilege. So all dressed in white this faithful dad entered the waters of baptism to begin his journey to eternal marriage and family. It was a wonderful experience to be apart of and while he got the gift of the Holy Ghost shortly after, his already baptized 8-year-old son leaned over to me and said, "Do you think daddy feels what I felt when I was baptized?" I said, "Probably, what did you feel?" He said, "I felt Jesus was there." I confirmed, "Yes, I believe he's feeling the same as you did." It was a quiet and tender exchange as this little boy got to see his dad become of member of Christ's church.
Ok, this is an Easter miracle...We have been teaching the Castillo family since before I got to the area. The grandpa is the only member, but it's his son and his family is who we've been focused on teaching. Friday we shared an Easter message and invited them to our special sacrament meeting, but they weren't super solid on their commitment to come. We followed up with them Saturday but still the same on the fence answer. Sunday morning we sent one more reminder text asking if he and his family would be joining us, and it wasn't until during our first hour I felt the phone buzz from a text that said, "Si." Shortly after he arrived with his disabled wife and three kids. I don't know who was happier, me or Elder Silva! They enjoyed the Easter Program put on by members of the branch and they're looking forward to our next visit with them tomorrow. It was really was a miracle because we had gotten so many no's from all the other people we had invited, but that family made up for all of them real quick.
This past week was such a great time to reflect on Christ's final week on earth from the scriptures. I wasn't able to get to a lot of them from "Come, Follow Me," but through what I did read and discuss with people, I came to have a greater understanding of His sacrifice and what He did for all of us. Our personal repentance is key, but it requires humility and a willing and forgiving soul. This will be an Easter that I will always remember. As always, I love you guys so much and I hope you have a fantastic week!
Con Amor,
Elder Fonnesbeck
 |
| Stuart and his family along with only a handful of the missionaries of the many who had helped him along his journey. |
 |
| La familia Castillo que ensenamos sobre las Pascua |
 |
| We had a temple visitor center lesson and were able to take a walk around the grounds which are filled with springtime flowers. |
PS- Guess who's coming to the OPM June 1st?! Elder Uchtdorf! We'll be having a mission conference as we will all be together to meet him one on one and listen to his council. What an amazing blessing it'll be to hear from two apostles of the Lord within six months of each other.
Comments
Post a Comment