Finding Myself

Hello All,

It is quite amazing what you find in an obscure corner of your area at the end of a windy road. The Lord promises that people all around us are being prepared to the message of the restoration, even in Bellevue, Washington. Each day we tract for just a few hours and this week we saw many miracles. First, we met Dave, a converted Christian that originally told us he was having family night and so we gave him a Book of Mormon, but just a few seconds after shutting the door, he opened it back up and stepped out and wanted to learn about the gospel. We talked to him for about an hour about the restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith and how the authority was restored to the earth. He was quite interested and wants to learn more. So we'll see where it goes.

Last month Elder Kasenberg and I were tracting in an apartment complex and we met June. She said she was busy and said to come back "in a month." So a month came and went and we kept on putting it off because things like this happen all the time without going anywhere, but we did decide to go back. So on Tuesday we went back and were told to come back Friday night (Last Night). A little skeptical, we went to our appointment and were invited in. It turns out that June's 13 year old son, Jullian had a friend from school pass away during the week. So we testified and taught about God's eternal plan and that he would see his friend again. What is amazing to me is the timing. We were prompted to go back on Tuesday and set an appointment for Friday BEFORE his friend died. None of us could have ever expected this tragedy to happen, but the Lord always knows best and times things perfectly. This family was prepared by God and at the very moment they had questions about death, they already had an appointment with the missionaries.

Now Jullian's parents aren't necessarily interested. June is Wiccan and the dad isn't really anything, but they are very open to letting their son come to Church and learn from us. So we'll see where our new prospects take us, but I know the Lord truly is preparing people all around us as we go out in faith and earnestly seek them - even in Bellevue.

Now to Betsy, she didn't make it to Church last week. She is very feeble and sick and was tired when the Stinson's came to pick her up. But we'll try again this week. She is still learning but I think with her we're going to be in it for a while. She sees the importance of living the gospel. As we were teaching her about repentance, I realized something HUGE. Anyone can repent fully without necessarily being a member of the Church. The repentance process is truly between yourself and God. Betsy has gone through all the steps of the repentance process before. Our Church doesn't necessarily have any new methods to repent, but we can repent fully when we are baptized by the proper authority, which only our Church has. This was a good week. The Dollars, from Meridian, Idaho arrived in our mission. We are still in the process of training them. Tuesday we went to the Temple. It was great as always, full of personal revelation.

How many missionaries does it take to change a tire? Answer: 7. One to change the tire, the rest to supervise, including the NEW vehicle coordinator My last official duty as vehicle coordinator involved changing tire in the temple parking lot in my suit, while the others stood around the car watching me do it. There was a missionary companionship that has been having car troubles lately - both with their assigned car and the one we replaced it with when it was being fixed from an accident. Now they had a nail in their tire that had caused it to go flat. Good thing it is really quite easy to do it and a repair at Les Schwab is free!

The highlight of my week had to be on Wednesday when Elder Edwards of the second quorum of the Seventy spoke to half the mission in a zone conference. His words were truly inspiring and uplifting. We learned about music and how music invites reverence and reverence invites the spirit. We learned that our future children will be our most important investigators. Most importantly, I learned how to see all God's children as He sees them. Everyone is a child of God. We knew them before this life. And now we are hear to re-teach them the gospel and touch them again because they agreed to it before they came here. The office staff and the zone leaders were personally interviewed by Elder Edwards afterwards. It was probably the BEST interview I have ever had with any priesthood leader, much better than any one I have ever had with President Larkin. Elder Edwards is filled with so much charity. He helped me see what I should become on my mission.  He helped me truly realize what missionary the Lord truly wants me to become. It was really inspiring and now I am even more determined to become a better missionary.

The Lord is truly blessing an area that hasn't seen much happen in the past months. It is really quite amazing! Things are going well and I am hopeful for the future. The Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer