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

The end of the office

Hello all,

 

This was another good week. The Dollars (new office couple) couldn't be coming at a better time. We have worked hard the last weeks without the Greensides, but it will be nice to have a new couple taking over our positions. It is kind of funny that so much happened in the office the last week. The Washington Seattle Mission office is officially out of English copies of the Book of Mormon, but we will have enough to give out until 640 new copies come next week. Secondly, someone wants to sue a missionary that got in an accident last year and take him to small claims court. I didn't have to talk to the person that wanted to sue because she didn't know who to call and called the local LDS family services. Luckily all it took was a phone call to the insurance company and they are now on the case! Lastly, A missionary drove home to Utah in a mission car. The car won't be coming back and will be sold by Church headquarters. So if you see a light green Mazda 3 driving around on the streets of Utah, think twice about where it may have come from.

 

Tomorrow we actually are going to have an investigator at Church! Betsy is coming to a stake conference (which is actually a broadcast). We have found Betsy to be quite a difficult student in some aspects. She has many feminist ideas, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but has problems with women not having the priesthood and for some reason doesn't like the doctrine on the family. Maybe she has past issues in her family - we'll have to dig a bit deeper into the problem. It seems as though she agrees with the majority of what we teach her, but she still has concerns about the smallest details. Jake and Lindsey have been great fellowship. Lindsey has really become her friend and even spent the day with her when she came home from the care center. Lindsey even came over and read the Ensign with Betsy. It is exciting to see the fire they have for sharing the gospel with others and hearing them bear testimony about how the Church has blessed their lives.

 

We got another new investigator this week. The Korean missionaries were tracting in our area and found Wei, a Chinese man in his late 20's. He grew up Buddhist, but doesn't necessarily believe in it. He doesn't understand why God didn't let him tell his grandpa he loved him before he died. But we had a really spiritual lesson about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it can heal his wounds. He felt the spirit and was excited to read the Book of Mormon. He is one of the most honest and sincere truth seekers I have ever met!

We are going to have a good week. Elder Edwards of the Quorum of the Seventy is going to be visiting our mission on Wednesday and we will be attending the temple on Tuesday. Things are starting to pick up in this area! It is always interesting to see an area come alive again after being nearly dead for many, many transfers, even before the Stinsons joined the Church.

 

The Church is true!

 

~Elder Fetzer

Year One

Something has changed. I finally have less days than the number I have been out. I am just over the hump. I have been out ONE YEAR! And in that year I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned to be more patient. I have learned to be more kind. I have learned that I can make friends and spend time with nearly anyone - no matter what age. I have learned to cook better, how to be an effective teacher. And I have learned what charity is. But more importantly, I have learned more about the truthfulness of the gospel - by living it and seeing others live it. And I have seen the happiness that comes from fully repenting, changing, and becoming better. Is there room for improvement? Of course! I can work harder and be a better missionary, but I would never change what has happened so far. I know that all the people I have met, the companions I have had, the people I have taught and the places I have gone have taught me and made me better. And as hard as it is some days, I know I can persevere. Because I have seen the blessings that come through it. So all in all, I love my mission and I can't wait to see where the next year takes me.

To end my first year, I couldn't ask for a better week. Because this was probably my busiest week, teaching wise in this area. The Lord is truly blessing us right now. Time is ticking down until the new senior couple comes. For that I am excited. This week was my last vehicle training. And soon I can turn over my cell phone to the new Vehicle Coordinator and let him deal with some of the weird situations I have had to.

This week we got a new investigator. Her name is Betsy. I would say that she is in her late 70's. A member from a different ward asked some other missionaries to give her a blessing, but when they found out she lived in our area, we soon started teaching her. Right now she is in a care facility so that she can regain strength and gain some weight, which she desparately needs. But in a few weeks she plans on attending Church and other activities. She is very sincere about wanting to learn more. We have met with her almost every day in the care facitliy. Basically everything we have taught her so far "rings true" with her. So here's to hoping that she turns out. We brought Jake and Lindsey to one lesson. They were great fellowship! While we taught the Plan of Salvation, they shared their testimonies and conversion story. Jake even pitched in and did some of the teaching on agency and the fall, even when he didn't necessarily realize that was part of the lesson plan. He knows the doctrine well, even as a new member. It was really exciting to me to see where their testimonies of the gospel are. As I have said before, they are going to be great members of the Church.

So things are going well. We are teaching more and that always helps. The Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer

Crazy things are happening!

Hello all,

 

So this was a busy week. It was transfers! And as I predicted, Elder Kasenberg and I are still in the office. This had to have been one of the busiest weeks of my mission, in the office every day from 9-5 and most evenings driving around the mission delivering bikes and other furniture to missionaries that moved into new apartments. But at least we are busy and do have things that have to be done, although I can't wait until I am back as a regular missionary.

 

I am glad that our ward has FINALLY implemented the focus 5 program, in which we focus on families and individuals that are less-active and would like to invite back to Church. It has taken a long time for the ward to really learn how to implement it, after various trainings from stake leaders and even an area seventy, and took Elder Perry to come for the ward counsel to really understand it. But better late than never. Other wards I have been in that have truly implemented the program have seen great success from it and have seen many people come back into the Church. So once it is fully implemented we will have a lot more referrals from the ward to teach.

 

This week I sold a car without the help of Elder Greensides. I feel pretty happy about my accomplishment. I sold the Toyota Avalon driven by the mission president before he got a new one. I am happy about the persistence of the man who bought it for calling nearly every week since June to see when it would be ready.

 

We had a REALLY CRAZY experience this week. I can't remember if I have ever told you about him, but there is a homeless man in the stake that is well-known among the missionaries that always asks for blessings and advice. I have had 2 experiences with him in the past when I was in Issaquah 5th. Before he came to Church and after the meetings he asked for a blessing because he "gained revelation" that he lost his exaltation when he was sitting in the waiting room (that is the only part he can go into) in the temple. So he expected us to give him a blessing telling him that he had or had not lost it (that blessing didn't say). As I saw the man walk into the office and stand at the counter and ask me and my companion for a blessing, I froze. This time he talked to us for an hour about how he moved back east but his bishop there told him to come back and make amends with his wife so he could fully repent. Now in Washington he wanted a blessing telling him what to do next. I have to be honest, the spirit wasn't there. So I gave a blessing telling him universally true statements, such as to follow the law and that Heavenly Father wants him to get his life back in order. THEN he wanted my comp to give him a blessing because "out of the mouth of two or three witnesses" is truth, so he says. So Elder Kasenberg gave him a blessing with universally true statements. After this experience we talked to other missionaries and many of them had heard and even had other experiences with this man. I guess for being in Bellevue nearly a year I got my fair share of experiences with him. Crazy stuff! But that is one of the interesting things about missionary work. You don't have those experiences every day!

 

Well, things are going okay. Work is moving along and the Washington Seattle Mission is doing good!

The Church is true!

 

~Elder Fetzer

Elder Perry comes to visit

Hello all,

 

So this week was actually quite good, not in terms of teaching or lessons, or the people that we met, but it was just good. And to end it by hearing from one of the Twelve apostle made it all the better.

 

Transfers are coming up next week and i'll be surprised if either me or my companion are transferred because we are really the only ones that know how the office runs. But it could always happen. Also, it seems as though my friends out here are all getting ready to go home. Each transfer more and more people that I know are leaving the mission field, off to bigger and better things. Every transfer I feel like I know less people. So maybe it is just me and I need to start getting to know the younger missionaries better. I feel like I am still a younger missionary myself, but then I realize I have been out nearly a year and see that most of the mission is younger than I am and that makes me feel weird. Anyways, things are fine right now. We're always busy in the office and getting ready for transfers is no different.

 

Yesterday we had the privilege of hearing from Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He was accompanied by his wife and Elder Christiansen of the Quroum of the 70. Elder Christiansen just emphasized points found in Preach My Gospel including talking to everyone, companionship study, and how to help people read and gain a witness of the Book of Mormon. Sister Perry also spoke about enduring trials and the blessings that come from it. Elder Perry talked about loving your companion and how to work with less-active members of the Church. The spirit in the meeting was quite strong. It is always a great experience when general authorities come to visit.

 

We haven't met with the Stinsons is a while. They have family visiting. But they said we could come by next week. We're planning to talk to them about Patriarchal Blessings! We found some good potential tracting this week.So that was basically my week. It was good.

 

~Elder Fetzer

Zone Conferences and More

Hello all,

 

This was quite a good week! We actually did have time to do some missionary work (after 5 PM of course) and we stayed pretty busy. This week was zone conference, meaning that we had to be there all 4 days and do all the inspections and do training. It still surprises me that we train on basically the same thing every zone conference and missionaries still aren't able to care for their cars well. But at least we get a good lunch from all the work and I get to see some of my friends from around the mission.

 

Proselyting is going to start to change in the mission. BECAUSE, have I told you about it? The Church is going to do a HUGE media blitz for the "I'm a Mormon" campaign in the Seattle area and it is going to help the work here a lot! As part of it, we are spending a lot of time on the Mormon.org site and all the missionaries are creating profiles. Other cities that the Church has done this in has seen great success, especially NYC. It seems that the Church has been seen in a better light lately. Hopefully this helps people gain a testimony of the gospel. 

 

Also, Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is visiting the area THIS FRIDAY. Rumor has it he will provide training for this upcoming blitz, but none the less, I am quite excited! At zone conference, all the areas got DVD players to use to watch the Preach My Gospel training DVDs. I'm kind of worried about what is going to happen, but I know that the people who approved it in the Missionary Department know what they are doing.

 

This media blitz may be what our mission needs to see the work really start to skyrocket. We have had many visits from general authorities in the past year preparing us for great things to come. Hopefully this will help accomplish the goals our mission wants to achieve.

 

We had some good success tracting this week. Many of the potential investigators we found live around members homes. It is surprising how prepared some of the people are. We were tracting around the Bishop's house and we found a man who wants to become closer to God. He let us in (the second time it has ever happened) and we taught him about the atonement and we taught him how to pray and actually got him to do it! It was really quite a miracle! 

 

Last night we had a great ward party! The ward holds an annual corn roast every year at a park on the shore of Lake Washington. It was quite enjoyable getting to know the members of this ward better! Other than that, It was an average week. But the Church is True and will bless many more people to come.

 

~Elder Fetzer

"Can I Rent a Car?"

This was another interesting week in the Washington Seattle Mission Office. We are getting ready for Zone Conference next week and we also have transfers coming up. So things are really picking up.

There was a car that broke down and I had it towed to a dealership. When the missionary found out his car would be in the shop for 2 days he asked if the Church would get a rental car. Of course the answer is no. It is just kind of funny the dumb questions you encounter from other missionaries.

 

Elder and Sister Greensides left for home. They both gave good talks in the ward that they attended. It was a bittersweet goodbye for them. They will truly be missed. They were great missionaries!

Last Saturday the Bellevue Stake had a luau. This stake does more activities than any other stake I have seen, probably because the people here have money, but still. They had a roasted pig, hawaiian ice, and hundreds of cupcakes. I saw some of my friends from Issaquah 5th like Anne and Sue. Every time I see Anne she seems like she is doing better. It keeps on being a testament to me on how the gospel changes people. Last October she was in a really low point in her life, but as she has more fully lived the gospel, she has been blessed.

 

The Stinsons and Sue and her husband Adrian met. They both have similar interests and love the outdoors and are very active outside. Hopefully they both become better friends with each other. As soon as I met the Stinsons, I thought that they would be good friends.

 

Things are slow right now. Hopefully things start to pick up, but for now we have the office, which takes up most days and evenings. So we keep busy, just not with real missionary work. Hopefully I'm blessed when I get out of here.

 

The Church is true!

~Elder Fetzer