Sorry I'm Late!

Dear Family,
First off, I am still alive! I can't write much today. Today is p-day because we went to the temple today. The reason I am writing so late in the day is because there was an Elder who was with us who had a mini stroke in the temple and me and my companion and the other companionship had to go to the hospital.

The other elder will be okay. He had a blessing in the temple.

Anyways, nothing much to report this week. We had a very slow week, but surprisingly had 16 lessons, which is better than average. We asked Kendra to be baptized, but she didn't understand the importance of doing it the correct way. I am hopeful this week will pick back up. As most of the converts this year have been part member families, we are making a list of potentials we could help and will see if we could teach those families.

President asked us to give something up as missionaries to show the Lord we are willing to do all it takes to reach our goals this year. We are giving up our 2 hour breaks 3 times a week. Hopefully we can get more contacts by being out during the daytime hours more when we usually have our break.

Even during hard times, the church is still true!

Love, Richard

A Miraculous Week!

Hello all,
This was a really amazing week! There are many miracles happening all over the mission, even in our little part of it. There are new doors opening and new investigators coming out of the woodwork. The Lord really does place people in your path that are ready to hear the restored gospel. This week we were looking through our area book and found a former investigator from 4 years ago that we were impressed to visit. He welcomed us inside and told us that earlier that day he was talking to his Mormon friend about the Church and that he wanted to learn more. We'll be sure to visit him again really soon! We also found a woman with a husband that was inactive and wasn't in our records. He had recently died and she wants to learn more about God's great plan of Happiness. Lastly, we visited a man who used to be active years ago, but because of a bad divorce he left the Church. He wants his daughter to have the same experiences he had in the Church and wants us to continue to keep in contact with him. As I said, miracles do happen! The Lord truly places people in our paths that are ready to hear the restored gospel! The gospel changes lives for the better and I am lucky to see that happen!

Like I said this week was good! We continue to teach our new investigator, Kendra, who continues to take it slowly, but we'll do better at picking up the pace of her lessons. Lessons with her are sometimes difficult because her brother who is a recent convert is very intellectual and brings up deeper doctrine that confuses her and we have to jump ahead in the lessons. We'll have to find another place to teach her so it doesn't happen again.

Last month was the best month the Washington Seattle Mission has ever had with nearly 80 baptisms! I know that as we continue to set goals we can continue to have many more amazing months ahead.

Can I tell you how great the ward I serve in is? There is a single lady in her late 50's that we go visit/teach a lot because she is getting ready to go through the Temple (she wants us to go through with her too). She saw us tracting the other day and offered to take us for ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's shop. The members here are always so nice and offer us good food, which is good when you are on a budget.

We continue to work hard and I know that we will be blessed because of it. I feel your love, support, and prayers every day! Your letters truly make my day as well! Anyways, I will hear from you later. The Church is true!

Love,
Elder Richard Fetzer

Howl-o-ween

my pumpkin is on the left

Hello All,

Well, I need to keep this short. This week was really great! We started teaching a new investigator, who is a sister of a recent convert. She told us flat out that she would go at her pace and that she wouldn't do anything she didn't think she should. So as you can see, we have a lot to work with. Anyways, This week was also Halloween! On Friday we had a ward Halloween party where a lot of non-members attended. Many people have told me that it's the best party of the year. At the party there was Chili and Corn Bread. I never knew that there were so many different kinds of Chili. We were sent home with a large pot of Chili, which will take us forever to go through. The members here are awesome! Every time we go to their houses they offer us food and treats, which is really nice!

This week was transfers. I am staying here with Elder Kitchen. It is a miracle really. On Saturday we got the call for him to pack his bags for him to be transferred. After many teary goodbyes we received a call from President Larkin telling him that he felt as though he should stay. So here we are for the next six weeks. We both feel that it is meant to be. Something BIG is gonna happen in Issaquah 5th and we are going to be the people to do it.

On Thursday we volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, where they are building houses for people in need. Elder Kitchen and I insulated a basement. It was a lot of work, but very rewarding! It is amazing how many good people there are in the world, willing to donate time and materials for causes like that! It is a really good way to give service to those in need.
On Halloween we had to be in early. So what better thing to do than watch "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration." It is on the new Church History DVD's which are a really great teaching tool that we have begun to use a lot! The movie was actually really great for Halloween. It is both dramatic and somewhat scary for a Church movie. It shows the part where Joseph is overtaken by evil before the First Vision, which is kinda scary.

It is really amazing to have a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. Because of him, we have the restored gospel on the earth again. We have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a knowledge of the great plan of happiness. It is really amazing to see people come to know that Joseph Smith restored God's Church once again on the Earth and to see how their lives change for the better.

As always, the Church is true!

Love,

Elder Richard Fetzer

P.S. (I got this from a kid in our ward)

Q. What is a wolf's (Chewy's) favorite holiday?

A. Howl-o-ween!

A Week Of Exchanges

Dear Family

This was a good week. I went on 3 exchanges with members of my district because Elder Kitchen is District Leader and he goes on exchanges with every Elder in the district and the Zone leaders, which means I do too!

Monday was P-Day. For the second week in a row, we went golfing. Let's just say that I wasn't on par for any of the 12 holes at the golf course we went to. Golfing has never been my favorite thing to do and my frustration with the sport has never been a good thing. Other than that, golfing was quite fun.

Tuesday and Thursday were exchanges. I stayed in my area for those days and was able to finally drive again! It was weird not having driven for a couple of months and took some getting used to again. Exchanges are always a good experience because you have the opportunity to learn from other missionaries and see how they approach the work. It is also really amazing to see more seasoned missionaries approach people and eventually be able to teach and make a return appointment.

On Saturday I went with one of the zone leaders to downtown Bellevue, which is a newer big city. The city is about the size of SLC and probably wouldn't be around without Microsoft. I had no idea how big that company really was until I came here. Microsoft has buildings in almost every city here and there are many ward members that work for Microsoft.

Transfers are coming up next Tuesday. For us it is really up in the air. Elder Kitchen has been here a long time and every transfer he thinks it is his time to leave, but it ends up being his companion. I feel as though I could take over the area if he left. I have gotten to know the people we teach well and also the rest of the ward okay.
Lessons this week went well. We are still in the process of finding some new investigators, but we keep our lesson count up with Members and Recent Converts and Less Actives. I have really gotten to love the people we teach regularly. It is truly our mission to find and research lessons that pertain to the people we teach and will help better their lives through the gospel.

Now more than ever I realize the importance of member missionary work. Without the members, true missionary work could never be accomplished. It is up to the members to help missionaries find and fellowship those we teach so that they may be good members of the Church. That is one thing I have seen with Rebbecca and Jane. The members have really embraced them and helped them become part of the ward family.

Yesterday we had a new investigator who come to our ward by surprise to "spy" out the Mormon Church. He came to our gospel principles class, where he disagreed about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost being 3 separate beings and the rest of his stay at Church became more of an argument. He wasn't willing to open his mind a little more and see that God reveals more scripture. I am glad that we have strong Church members in our class who know the doctrine (and the bible) really well.

Here are some pictures I took of downtown Seattle in the distance during the sunset and one of a spider web. The spiders are everywhere here and they are big! I have never seen so many of them in my life. Martha, you would hate to go outside here. Once, there was a spider that crawled out of a lady's fireplace. Its body was the size of a quarter and with the legs it was about the size of a tennis ball.


I love you! And the Church is true!

Love

Elder Richard Fetzer

Baptisim!

Dear Family-
The highlight of this week the Baptism of Rebbecca and Jane. Saturday's baptism was well attended. The ward has really embraced them and they are going to be awesome members. Rebbecca has had a hard life, but she has really seen a change for the better with the gospel a part of it. It has really strengthened my testimony of what the gospel can do for people. I got to participate in the circle when they got the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was really neat! Here they do that during Sacrament Meeting, which I had never seen before. I know that they felt the spirit this weekend and I can't wait to continue to teach them the gospel and eventually see Rebbecca go through the Temple. I know that she knows the Temple is a special place. She felt the spirit just being on the grounds.

The weeks here keep getting better and better and I know that through faith and obedience we can keep our goals. As always, The Church is true and I can't wait to hear from you later this week!

~Elder Richard Fetzer

Next Week Baptism!

This was a good week mainly because we got someone on date for baptism Saturday the 16th. Meet Jane and Rebbecca. Rebbecca is a single mom, who has been investigating for about 9 months now and Jane is her 9 year old daughter. They are ready to accept the Gospel. Rebbecca constantly tells us that she feels the spirit in her life and that ever since she has started living the Gospel, her life has changed. Originally Jane wasn't going to be baptized because she is with her dad on Sundays and can't attend church, but she attends her other Church activities throughout the week and President Larkin thought it would be appropriate for her to be baptized the same day as her mother. They will be strong members of the church! Rebbecca feels right in the Church and the ward has really reached out and befriended her. On Sunday we took Rebbecca on a tour of the Temple grounds. She truly felt the spirit of the grounds and we constantly reminded her that she would always feel this same spirit after she was baptized on Saturday. She knew that the temple was a special place and didn't want to leave the grounds and return home. Now that we have Jane on date to be baptized, we are going to be teaching Rebbecca  and Jane almost every night this week so that Jane can understand the importance of being baptized into Christ's Church.

 

As for our other investigators, they aren't really progressing, although we have faith that they will. One woman from Kroatia was supposed to be baptized on Saturday, but she still had some problems to work out. President Larkin has challenged me and Elder Kitchen to have 4 baptisms this month, almost doubling the amount of baptisms this ward has had this year. I think we can actually do it too! Tonight and tomorrow I have my first exchanges with another Elder in my district. I am going to stay in our area with the other Elder, while Elder Kitchen goes to a neighboring ward tomorrow. It will be interesting because I still don't know this area very well. The weeks here keep getting better and better. This week should be good too! We are getting better at keeping our schedules full so we don't have to go tracting, which isn't very effective in this area at all! The bishop gave us some good ideas on where to go in our area , which has been okay so far. Like I said last week, really the only baptisms that have come about in this ward have been from member referrals. I can't wait to tell you about how my first baptisms have gone when I write back next week!

Until then,

~Elder Richard Fetzer

A Week of Walking!

Dear Family,

This was a long week! Last Monday, Elder Kitchen and I went fishing. It was pretty fun except we didn't catch anything! It was still fun though! We tried in Lake Samamish, but all we got were a couple of bites from little fish. We aren't allowed to go fishing in rivers right now because this is the time of year the salmon come upstream to hatch.

This week consisted of a lot of walking. The mission is only allotted a certain number of miles a month and they limit miles for missionaries. We have about 1000 miles a month, which you would think would last, but we go about 30-40 miles a day so they run out pretty quickly. After we run out we have to walk, which in this area isn't fun because there are so many hills and it is a very large area. Luckily, members are usually willing to take us to our next appointment once we get to their house so we managed.

This week we had a dinner appointment with a part-member/less active family. The dad is a member but really has no intention of coming back to church. We taught a lesson that included a bit about baptism because they have a daughter that could be baptized, but they really shut us down after the lesson. It made both my companion and me really sad!

Lets just say that General Conference was AMAZING! There was so much I got out of it this time and I can't wait to apply what I learned. I especially liked Uchdorf's talk on managing turbulent times of life and slowing down. I also liked President Monson's talk on choices in the priesthood session. On Saturday between Conference sessions we went to a boat race in Lake Samamish! It was really cool and fast!

In a slow week we still did have some miracles: First, we finally got a hold of our investigator, Astrid, a European woman with a baptismal date that we haven't been able to get a hold of for over a week! We were a bit worried, but we were glad to see she was still doing well. Second, last night (Sunday) we got to give a blessing to a girl who was sick from a recent convert family. This family, the Matthews, is really nice and we go over to their home all the time! They are also the family who referred our new investigator! Even in times when their family was inactive they still told people about the gospel. It was really amazing that doing those kinds of ordinances is part of my calling!

Overall, the investigators we have are doing quite well and I know they feel the spirit. We have our first baptism on the 16th, which I am really excited for! I love you and feel your prayers every day! As always, the Church is true!

Love,

Richard

group of Elders I was at the SL airport with

Issaquah with Bellevue and Seattle in the background

me and Elder Kitchen

one of the boats at Lake Samamish