Ready to Take Over the Office!

Hello all,

 

So yes, Saturday is my p-day at least until mid-September, when the new office couple, the Wiesses, come. We work from 9 to 5 in the office all week, except Saturday and Sunday. The Greensides leave Monday and so we will officially take over the office. I am glad we have gotten a solid 2.5 weeks in training. I think it will be okay.

 

Last Saturday I attended Sue's sealing in the Seattle Temple. It was a great ceremony and as always, it is good to be in the House of the Lord. Afterwards, there was a reception at the chapel behind the Temple. It was great to see old friends from that ward. 

 

Other than that, it was kind of a dull week in the office. We are getting another vehicle ready to sell. And there are always emergency repairs and tire replacements needing to be done as well. So things can get quite stressful. I love the days in the office where there is nothing going on!

This week we tracted a lot in the evenings and found no one. Our area is very slow, and really has always been slow because the Office Elders have always been assigned to this ward. But the highlight of the week continues to be the Stinsons. They are still solid. We had a great lesson with them about service and watched the films on the new D&C DVDs about the story of John Rowe Moyle and John Tanner. They are faith building stories about how they fulfilled their callings in the Church. That is one more thing they need, real callings. They have been temporarily assigned to be on an upcoming activities comity, but they are ready and willing to do more. So we'll have to work with the bishop to make sure they get one. Because that is one of the things a Prophet of God said that every new convert needs, a friend, a calling, and nurturing from the good word of God.

 

So things are going well here. We're busy in the office and we are doing missionary work, just in a different way. The Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer

A Very Busy Week

This is going to be short. I have never driven a brand new car, or been out of the mission boundaries to pick them up, but I have done those and many more vehicle coordinator tasks this week. Along with that, I did new missionary training, signed the papers to sell a car, and had to call Church headquarters to get authorizations for car repairs. This is the busiest I have been throughout my whole mission. I can't wait to have a break.

I feel as though my emails are going to be rather boring over the next weeks. We have very little time to proselyte and our other office elder related activities, including moving out apartments and delivering furniture and supplies are taking up many of our nights. I am just glad that we have a good ward that is very missionary minded.

Plus we're still teaching Jake and Lindsey, but they are on a backpacking trip this week so we won't see them until next week. We're going to Sue's sealing today at the temple and her reception after. It will be fun to see my friends from Issaquah 5th.

All in all, things are going just fine.

~Elder Fetzer

Things Are Slow, But Things Are Good!

Hello All,

 

This was quite the week. It is always busy after transfers, but our added office assignments just make us more busy. First off, I am officially the Vehicle Coordinator for the Washington Seattle Mission with legal power of attorney to sign for new cars and sell old ones and do whatever else is required for the job. The Greensides leave the 30th of the month so Elder Kasenberg and I are at the office form 9-5 basically every weekday training with them. We are both going to do training for new missionaries, do zone conference car inspections, and manage the cars and make sure the missionaries get them fixed and take them for other maintenance. Plus, we are officially taking over for the Greensides the first week in August after they leave and filling in for many of the other office jobs until their replacements come in mid-september. This is going to be a busy and interesting transfer.

So far, we have learned a lot about how the mission works. It is kind of overload, but I am sure that the next week will get better and I know it will be fine.

 

Things in the Bellevue 6th ward are kind of slow. We got some new investigators this week. The Petersons are an older couple and were referred by their friends from Arizona when they went to the Easter pagent there with them. Our first lesson was interesting. They mainly wanted to know what made us different and about the Book of Mormon. I don't know how much real intent they have, but maybe they could end up being the next Jake and Lindsey Stinsons. We can only hope.

 

So since things are going slow here, I will just tell you more about Jake and Lindsey. They are still amazing! They just keep becoming more and more wonderful as time passes. Last night President Larkin had a fireside at his house for new converts. He asked them all to bear their testimony and share their conversion story. The Stinsons did great and Lindsey seemed VERY excited. They bore their testimonies about the importance of the priesthood and about how happy the last months living the gospel has made them. Lindsey says she is shy, but she has no problem talking to people about the Church. She is so excited about it! She was excited yesterday because she got her first calling as a visiting teacher. She said that her prayer came true because she prayed that she would be able to work with one particular sister in the ward that has really become good friends with her. Now they are companions and she will teach Lindsey how to be a visiting teacher. Jake and Lindsey are already doing missionary work. On the day of their baptism, Lindsey talked to her sister in Florida who was really down in the dumps and told her about the peace she has felt in the gospel. She asked if missionaries could visit her sister. Now, a month later Lindsey's sister has a job and is happier and is thinking about being baptized. But there is more to the story. Her sister's friend has seen the peace her sister has felt and is now taking the lessons. Even though they don't have kids to pass the gospel on to, a chain is starting to form with the people the Stinsons have told about the gospel. It is all very exciting.

 

So things are doing fine here. I don't know how much prosliting we will be able to do, but we are at least busy. That is good.

 

The Church is true!

 

~Elder Fetzer

The Busiest Transfers Yet!

Hello all,

 

Transfers have happened so for us that means it is our busiest time of the transfer. I have a whole list of missionaries that need things, furniture that needs to be delivered, and other office tasks that need to be done soon!

 

Last week was kind of slower, but when it got to the weekend, things quickly picked up.

First off, on Sunday night, after our wonderful dinner with the Greensides and Stinsons, Elder Rodriguez found out he was going to be transferred. So we spent all the spare time we had saying goodbye. Saying goodbye to the Stinsons was quite sad. They played "God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again" and we talked about their conversion. Every time I talk to them I think of how amazing they truly are. It is amazing that Lindsey, who was a timid woman that didn't trust many people has grown into a bold new member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The gospel truly does bring true happiness and changes people for the better.

 

On Monday we took the old missionaries home, which tends to make me quite trunky, but I got over it quickly. Elder Tanner (Hello, if you are reading my blog), my old companion went home along with 12 other missionaries. He will be missed.

 

Yesterday was the busiest day of my mission so far. In the morning Elder Rodriguez packed up and we left for the airport to pick up 21 new missionaries. That is about double the regular size of new missionaries. One of them was actually a familiar face. He was an elder that entered the MTC the same day I did, but had to go home a week into the MTC. It was great to see him back!

 

I got a new companion. His name is Elder Kasenberg. He is from Kitchener, Canada! He is a bit younger than I am (about 8 months), but a great missionary. Together we are basically going to take over the office duties of Vehicle Coordinator and the other office duties when the Greensides leave at the end of this month. So we are going to have a lot to do this transfer training for the office.

 

After transfers we had to deliver some mattresses and a desk to West Seattle late last night because it was the only time we had and had to be done yesterday, according to the Apartment Coordinator. So we had a very long, tiring day yesterday and still have a lot to do this week. Things are good. It's better to be busy than not.

 

The Church is True!

~Elder Fetzer

The Sun is Finally Out!

Hello All,

 

Everyone told me that Summer wouldn't really be here until the 4th of July. They were right. The sun is shining and things are looking bright in the Washington Seattle Mission. 

 

This was just another week. Nothing too special happened, but it was good. On Thursday the Stinsons went to do Temple Baptisms for their parents. The ward was completely behind them. Many of the older couples in the ward that have befriended them were there. One couple even let the Stinsons do their parents! They had quite the spiritual experience and can't wait to go back soon! We had a neat lesson with the Stinsons on Friday night. They grilled steak and we had a really good time talking to them about their Temple experience. We also talked about the Book of Mormon and why it is the keystone of our religion and about the doctrinal truths we have just because of Joseph Smith's First Vision, such as the nature of God and that the heavens are open. I realized that if we as members always remember in our hearts the truthfulness of the First Vision, we will always walk with more faith and know that God follows through with His promises. Sometimes we forget it in the craziness of daily life, but if we do remember it than keeping the commandments is easier because we know that all the revelation, restoration of Priesthood Keys, and all else in the Restored Gospel after the First Vision is true also. We need to always remember the significance of that vision.

 

Celebrating the 4th of July was fun! We woke up bright and early for a ward breakfast. Later that day we had a nice barbecue at a member's house and ended the day with watching fireworks overlooking Bellevue and Seattle. It was a great day! Funny Story, we brought another companionship with us to the barbecue. The members asked us to help cover their pool and while one elder was leaning over, the phone went into the pool. It sat at the bottom for about a minute until someone retrieved it from the bottom. Amazingly, after it was dried off, it still worked! Just for safe measure they put it in rice overnight to dry it our, but I can't believe that it actually works! It is a miracle!

 

So things are chugging along. Transfers are coming up and so we are getting busy in the office. There is a lot we have to do to get ready for transfers. So I won't be emailing until next Tuesday.

 

The Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer