¡Elder Uchtdorf vino a la OPM!

¡Hola Fonzfam!

It's really hard to believe something to be real if you don't feel like it is. When there's a lack of emotions, then things just kind of go on as they are. That's how I feel right now with the reality of returning home creeping up closer and closer. It's a foreign idea to me because it'll be such a drastic change from what I've been doing. The preparation from My Plan and some other resources my family has sent me have been helpful. In these final couple of weeks I know the Lord will be with me as my companion and I do our best to accomplish the work He has for us to do.

During my exchange Friday with Elder Atwood, we were in this complex making a contract who wasn't available to receive us that night. Knowing our purpose was greater than that contact, we wanted to know where the Lord wanted us to go. As I thought it, Elder Atwood said it, "should we pray?" Fully agreeing with him we said our prayer and listened. The Spirit said to me to just keep walking forward and you'll see. So we followed His direction and found a woman named Dannie smoking outside her car. We struck up a small conversation by asking for referrals first, which she actually gave us some. After some inspired questions to get to know her more, we explained our purpose and asked if she would be open to a message about Jesus Christ. To our surprise she said "yes." With that we set the return appointment for the next day to pass her and her family off to the English missionaries for the area. I was humbled by the fact that the Spirit knew who we were to meet and how we were to meet them. He helped us understand the why behind us being in that area at that time. We always need to put our trust in Him who has the broader perspective.

In one of the more hispanic neighborhoods, we ran into one of our former people named Francisco who invited us to come back and teach him and his wife some more about our message. The next night we were able to visit them and share a message about how the restored gospel blesses our families. His wife loved it as she went on to share her values of family as well. Even though they're active Catholics, it was cool to see us meet at the same level talking about a strong family that is focused on Jesus Christ. It shows how with so many different ways of believing, those who truly live their faith do see blessings nonetheless. We are all God's children and He won't hold back blessings just because someone isn't apart of His church. If you obey the commandments, you'll receive blessings. If you are diligent with your prayers, you'll receive blessings. If you're an example of Christ, you'll receive blessings. The main blessings that someone outside of our faith would be missing are those of the priesthood and of the temples. Eternal families can only be achieved one way, and that is through the restored Church of Jesus Christ. In our next visit we are planning on bringing with us a physical copy of the Family Proclamation to share with them to help them recognize what other blessings can come into their lives.

I'll get to my experience with Elder Uchtdorf here in a minute, but I first want to share a little about a temple Visitor Center lesson we had that was right after our mission conference with him. We have been teaching this older woman, Natividad, and her daughter, Veronica, for some time now. They have had interactions with missionaries for a few years, but have never gone to visit the Portland Temple before. With our more recent focus on the temple, we thought it would be perfect to invite them to "come and see." With the help of Hermana Colocho, we were able to bring them there and teach them about eternal families and baptisms for the dead. Natividad kept commenting on how beautiful everything was, of course the temple itself, but also the doctrine behind it. We set up the Rome Temple Tour in Spanish so that they could enjoy learning more about it in the theature room. They were in awe as we took them outside to walk around the temple grounds. Inside the atrium they commeted on the quiet reverance and the strength of the Spirit. They asked if they could come back, and we said, "Of course!" We haven't seen them progress this much in a long time and so we feel like this was the step they needed to get that much closer to accepting the fullness of the gospel.

The biggest highlight of the week, possibly even the whole mission, was the unique visit of Elder Uchtdorf to the OPM this last Saturday. Everyone was super excited as it came closer and closer to June 1st. Earlier that morning he met with all of the auxiliary presidents from the surrounding stakes to help get them on the same page as us, the missionaries. But when it came to our time with him, he laid it all out for us. He shared how we're helping to prepare the world for the second coming of the Savior. He also relfected on his previous talk "Fourth Floor, Last Door" and emphasized the importance of reaching our potential. Next he made a point that I thought was pretty profound. Each of us need to be preparing ourselves to have spiritual experiences with the gospel so that we will be converted to it, which will bless our posterity forever. If we are slacking and our testimonies fail because of it, then our children and their children may never receive the special blessings that the gospel could bring into their lives. He invited us not to ever neglect the power of the Spirit, and to never be content with our current level of conversion. Our conversion to Jesus Christ is an on going process as we do all we can to nourish it. We were also priviledged to hear from Elders Pearson and Walker, who both shared some wonderful insights and experiences. I feel so blessed with having had the opportunity to hear from two apostles of the Lord within six months of each other. The blessings from those visits are definitely going to last long after the mission. Luckily I took a lot of notes and have the rest of my life to reflect on what was said. But now is the time to change if change is needed. Spending time on our knees and asking God what we can do is a great start. Like Elder Uchtdorf said, it's an on going process.

Two weeks left. I cannot believe it, and I probably won't believe it until I'm hugging my big ole family again. I love you all! Have a great first week of summer!!!

Con Amor,

Elder Fonnesbeck