Things Always Turn Out for the Better

Hello all,

 

This week was interesting. It actually started out quite bad, but by the end of the week, I was again on a spiritual high.

 

First off, remember the Indian bible study group that Elder Ouassil and I attended while I was in Issaquah? One of the meeting locations is actually in my area, so me and my district leader, Elder Taylor (who wants to start teaching Indians), went back to get invited back to the study. Warned and prepared from what happened last time, we went in Wednesday night. It started out quite well, reading from the bible, but then the real "lesson" started. One of the men in the group heard that we were coming back and did some "research" beforehand. He was surprised about what he found and pulled out a whole bunch of anti on us, coming mostly from Brigham Young's Journal of Discoursed, which may or may-not be doctine,  but we were able to solve it quite quickly. Our conversation then changed to Adam and Eve and weather they were able to have children in the garden. For the most part, we agreed on many things, but they pulled out suttle differences that they expounded on them. It was really quite annoying that they never really listened to our side. We stood our ground firmly, and so did they. and we never made any progress. Needless to say, it was quite a waste of time and they aren't open to further light and knowledge at this time. This experience only strengthened my testimony of the Restored Gospel. They seemed confused and didn't know all the answers. Experiences like this only make me more grateful for the Book of Mormon.

 

Saturday was interesting. At the Islamic Mosque next door to the Bellevue Stake Center was an open house. My companion and I, and another companionship attended. It was well recieved and I did increase my knowledge about Islam, although I did know a lot of it from my class at BYU-I last year. I was very impressed about how they presented themselves. They talked about the 5 pillars of Islam and even got to see someone who showed up take an oath and become a Muslim. Many members of our Church attended and during the open house they mentioned the "Chruch next door" positively.

I saw Anne and her kids in one of the parks in our area. If you remember, she was one of my favorite people I met with in Issaquah. She seems to be doing amazing! She has completely stopped smoking and got her patriarcial blessing. It is amazing to see the gospel truly change people's lives and I was happy to be a part of that change.

 

It was a pleasant surprise that on Sunday Jake Stinson got the Aaronic Priesthood and became a Priest. We were talking about them in Ward Counsel and noticed there was a stake baptism day for unendowed adults this week. So we invited them to meet with the bishop yesterday and they both got temple recommends and he was interviewed for the priesthood, which he ricieved after Church. It is great to see the progress they are making so quickly. They are my first new converts to be worthy to enter the temple. They are also quite excited to do family history. Lindsey and Jake's first baptisms for the dead are going to be their parents. They can't wait for Thursday!

 

So as you see, things are going okay here. We still don't have too many investigators, but we are still working with Jake and Lindsey. This week seems like it will be exciting too!

 

The Church is true!

 

~Elder Fetzer

Rain Drops are Falling on my head

This week it rained a lot. No big deal because I am used to it, but thought you ought to know. Seattle is beautiful in the spring. Flowers are out and summer is just around the corner (tomorrow!). This week was quite a lackluster week from last week. We caught up on some much-needed office work, going to Maple Valley, Auburn, and Seattle, but we still have much to do. 

We had a lesson with recent-converts, Jake and Lindsey and watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration," which they saw on Temple Square, but they understood it much better this time. They said that they were asked a couple of times on Temple Square if they could have missionaries visit them, and they finally said yes after seeing the film. After all, Joseph did die a martyrs death for the Church. 

We are still teaching Chelsea, our Russian investigator, but she is still caught up on the apostasy and either doesn't understand it or doesn't believe it. So we still have quite a ways to go with her. We are also trying to get in with Mila, a less-active's daughter. She has been in the teaching pool for a while, but won't progress until her mom gets everything together. Her mom is quite lazy and non-committal and tends to stand us up on every appointment we set up, except the 2 times we have done service. But I am not the one to judge.

So all in all, things are just going along right now. We have no one solid we are teaching. But the Chruch is still true even though many people aren't interested and the work of the Lord will still go forth "boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished!" (from the Standard of Truth)

~Elder Fetzer

White Stuff is Falling from the Sky and it Isn't Snow!

Hello All,

It is finally summertime here in Bellevue. The sun is out more and flowers and trees are blooming. Cottonwood trees spread their cotton through the air, looking like a heavy snowstorm, and our apartment's parking lot often looks like freshly fallen snow. Welcome June!

This week was Jake and Lindsey's baptism. Let me say, of all the baptisms I have had this was the most special and spiritual! They are finally members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they seem quite happy! We had two great lessons with them BEFORE their baptism on Sunday! One was reviewing the Plan of Salvation and the other, a Church tour, reviewing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They had to have been the most prepared and sincere investigators I have ever had, studying as much as 5 hours a day, reading scriptures, The Ensign, and articles on LDS.ORG before our lessons! I am truly honored that I had the opportunity to teach them and see them through to baptism. Thursday they had their baptismal interview, which I think they were a bit more nervous for than needed, but they passed with flying colors says our district leader. We asked them to write out their testimonies. When they gave us copies of them they were truly remarkable. Jake bore a sweet testimony. He was thankful for Christ and his family. Lindsey was grateful for patient missionaries and the peace that the gospel has brought into her life. 

  

Saturday was their baptism day. They came excited, changed into their clothes, and we started the meeting. Sister Greenside gave a great talk about baptism and the Holy Ghost, while Elder Greenside baptized them. Elder Rodriguez and I were excited that he got the chance to baptize them, as they were his FIRST live baptisms. Jake, Lindsey, and the Greensides have become good friends. After the Baptism, Bishop Wilson welcomed them into the Bellevue 6th ward, giving them advice and telling them about how they would continue to progress in the gospel through Jake getting the Priesthood, getting sealed in the Temple, holding callings, and receiving their Patriarchal Blessings. The spirit was strong and the ward's support was great! Nearly 60 of Jake and Lindsey's new friends attended! As one of their missionaries, it made me quite happy to see the outpouring of love shown to them.After the Baptism the ward held a potluck at one of the Bishop's counselors houses. That was also well attended and Lindsey stood up and told everyone how grateful she was for their friendship. Lindsey and Jake have come a long way. As missionaries first started meeting with them 3 months ago they were nervous and somewhat reluctant to let missionaries in. But the gospel truly changes people for the better and they are a testimony to me that no matter what walk of life you come from, EVERYONE needs the gospel. Lindsey realizes that too. She is already doing missionary work and asked her sister, who has many problems, to take the missionary lessons in Florida! Her sister's first lesson sounded great and hopefully the lessons continue!

On Sunday I confirmed Jake a member of the Church. It was a remarkable experience to be a part of that! Sacrament meeting was truly made for them! The woman that spoke wrote her talk weeks ago. She was supposed to speak last week, but there wasn't enough time and was rescheduled for Sunday because they didn't have anyone to speak yet. She spoke about the Holy Ghost and recognizing its promptings. A high counselor spoke about following the commandments and the blessings of following them. The meeting was perfect and the spirit was strong! God truly had his hand in making it happen for the Jake and Kathy Stinson! They are going to be great, strong members of the Chruch. They are excited to serve the ward that has shown them so much love and support!

Yesterday was interviews with President Larkin. I am fine! And today the mission attended the Temple! So right now I am on quite a spiritual high! I feel good that the Stinson's are baptized and will continue to search for other opportunities to find new people to teach!

The Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer

Elder Rodriguez, Lindsey, Jake, Elder Fetzer

Just Another Week

Hello all,

So transfers are finally over! By the time we got home on Tuesday at about 8 PM we both crashed! But we have been going around the mission, delivering items and trying to catch up on different office duties.

To be honest, this was kind of a boring week. We met with Jake and Lindsey again and discussed the Restoration again. We took our Ward Mission Leader, who tends to stranglehold our lessons so that isn't too fun. Jake and Lindsey are so ready for the gospel! I am quite excited for this weekend! The ward is in full support for the baptism and have been great at fellowshipping the them.

This week we had to go to Seattle to pick up a furniture donation in Queen Anne. It was fun to go back and we went to Kerry Park again! It was beautiful!

I am so excited for this weekend! The Ward is hosting a potluck after the baptism!

Sorry this is short! I don't have much time.

~Elder Fetzer

TRANSFERS!

Hello all,

So this was quite the week. I am still staying right here in Bellevue 6th Ward, working in the Mission Office with Elder Rodriguez. But to me that was really no surprise. What was a surprise is that Bellevue Zone was destroyed. Many people left. So it feels like I know no one now. But it is all good.

This week we had a good lesson with Jake and Lindsey. They invited me and my companion and the Greensides over for dinner on Thursday. We had a Mexican fiesta! They ordered Mexican and we had a great time! We then took a walk around the Seattle Temple, which is conveniently in our ward boundaries, and had a great chat about what the temple was and it's importance. They are excited to one day enter it's walls. Lindsey told us how happy the gospel has made her and that ever since she went to Utah, she has been happier than she has ever been before. She talked about how worldly things didn't make her happy and that she has found much peace in living the gospel. Jake and Lindsey are amazing. It is quite difficult to help people really live the gospel once they are baptized, but they really have no problem with it. They are keeping their committments and living the way they should BEFORE baptism. That is true repentance! Jake had hernia surgery this weekend so we gave both he and Lindsey blessings that night. All went well. Now hopefully there won't be any complications before their baptism. 

Transfers are today! We have been busy getting ready for them this week. Monday we took most of the missionaries to the airport to fly home. It was really quite sad to see some leave, as now I am getting to know more and more missionaries that are getting ready to leave. Last night 2 missionaries stayed at our place so we could take them to the airport this morning. So we took them this morning and waited nearly 2 hours for the new ones to come. They are GREEN! I can't believe I was once like that. Everything is new to them. One of them asked me how busy we were and how many lessons we get. I tried to beat around the bush because Bellevue is VERY HARD!

So now they are at the Mission Home here on Mercer Island, being trained. We have a busy week ahead of us, delivering bikes, luggage, and whatever stuff missionaries left in their old areas.

So things are going well. The Church is True and the Book is Blue!

~Elder Fetzer

Elder Fetzer, Elder Rodriguez and the Greensides (on right)

FINALLY ON DATE!!!!

Hello all,

 

Yes! Jake and Lindsey are finally on-date for baptism for June 11th. This time we are going to do things quite a bit differently so that they really do get baptized on this date. First off, we have already reserved the building. Secondly, we announced it to the ward. Thirdly, they are quite excited and determined to go through with this date and are quite happy. Yesterday at Church Lindsey told me that she is becoming more bold. She also said that she hasn't felt this much peace in her life and she wished that she had this years ago. It is amazing to see the change in that couple just from the last couple of weeks. They seem happier! The gospel truly does change lives. It reminds me of the promise in "Preach My Gospel" that people are on a quest they often didn't know they were ever on until they found the gospel. Or there is the promise in D&C 123:12 in which people are "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." It is really quite amazing. They are a testament to me that even people that come from comfortable backgrounds can still feel peace in the gospel. Jake and Lindsey have expressed the feeling that they have been prepared for quite a while for the gospel and that the time they went to Temple Square to see "Music and the Spoken Word" felt like they were going home. Wasn't that the spirit?

 

This was quite a long week. Tuesday to Friday we had to go around the mission, from Seattle to Sumner to 4 different zone conferences to inspect the mission car fleet. It was really quite surprising how some missionaries keep their cars up, especially showing up to Zone Conference with dirty cars. Elder Graves, who is in charge of the cars was quite disgusted by some of the cars.

 

Zone conference on Friday was good. We talked about revelation. There was a guest speaker, who spoke about the spirit. He said that sometimes missionaries have high and low points of lessons and that sometimes it is best to end the lesson when the spirit is strong, even when there was more to a lesson plan. He also said that we should help investigators make their own commitments and have them be their own, instead of us asking them to do things straight out, especially with baptismal dates. I feel that if we had pressured Jake and Lindsey into being baptized or setting a date too quickly, they would have pushed back. So I was happy with the guest speaker. Zone conference also mentioned how God sometimes gives you promptings in times where it is inconvenient to see if we will respond to them so he can give us other promptings in the future. That happened this week on the way to dinner. We were late and we saw someone laying on the sidewalk with people surrounding him. I was prompted to stop, but it was too late and I kept getting the prompting. So we turned around and by the time we got there again he was gone, but I think God did it so I could respond in the future.

 

Transfers are coming up next Tuesday so this is going to be another busy week getting ready for them. We pick up new missionaries next week! So that will be cool!

 

So this was a good week. Jake and Lindsey are doing well. The Church is true!

 

~Elder Fetzer

Miracles Happen

Hello All,

To answer your questions, Jake and Lindsey are still not on date and are, of course, still not baptized, but they are still good to go. This week was tough for them. Their kids were worried about what might happen to them if they joined the Church. So they went to visit them in Portland and explained that the Church would only bring them closer and that they would change "for the better." So a week of worrying about them is over and they are still ready to be baptized. The ward is totally behind them and many people have called us asking when it is going to be. So whenever this baptism happens, it is going to be well attended.

Yesterday we had a wonderful day at Church. In gospel principles we discussed the chapter on eternal families. Jake and Lindsey were touched and commented that they can't wait for that time when they too can be sealed in the Temple for time and eternity. They are so ready for the gospel I can't even believe it. I can't wait for our appointment this week, where we will discuss their baptism plans and FINALLY set a date.

On Friday we had a miracle. Lately we have been going back to former investigators to see if they are interested in learning once again. I was impressed to visit Chelsea. Maybe it was because former  missionaries said that she was "possessed by a demon" and I wanted to see what was up. But the spirit told me to check once again on Friday night, because our other attempts weren't good. The first time we went by a girl answered ans said that Chelsea wasn't there so we went back and checked out her apartment again. As we walked up to the doorstep, two women were sitting on the porch. One of them was the girl who answered the door before. The other was Chelsea. So we started talking to Chelsea and she quickly said she wasn't interested, but the other girl was. Mila said she had investigated before, but family forced her to quit investigating because she was younger than 18. Mila said she had recently quit drugs and was looking for something more. So we had a powerful lesson on her porch and now she wants to start learning once again. I did learn a lesson - always be bold. Mila knew who we were as soon as we pulled up. She remembered the way she felt when she investigated before. She said it would have been funny if we had asked her if she was interested then because she was having a really hard day. But the spirit told me to check again and I am glad I did. So hopefully Mira's family doesn't deter her again from hearing the gospel.

This week should be a busy week. We have zone conference friday and have to go to all the other ones to check the condition of the cars.

So things are going well here. The Church is true. Miracles happen!

Mormon 9:18-21

18And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

19And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

20And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

21Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

~Elder Fetzer