Hello hello,
Its crazy how fast time flies. I've already been out 8 months, 1/3 of the mission, and it feels like yesterday I was heading for the MTC and it feels like 2 days ago I was reading my call letter. Weird. But things are going well here. I don't know where spring went. Thursday it was 85 degrees, then friday it was 35 and raining, then saturday it was snowing and we got about 2-4 inches in town. And all of sunday it continued to snow! The weather sure is crazy here. But fun, it always keeps you on your toes.
Thanks everyone for all the birthday emails and such, they were very much appreciated and unexpected, it really made my day. I wish I could email you all back, but I'm not supposed to...only immediate family members. I can write letters if I get addresses some how.
Anyway, the work is going great. We've been blessed with a large teaching pool recently. And out 8 year old investigator, Sayna, is getting baptized this saturday. I don't remember if I have told you already, but for a while we thought she would be a child of record baptism, but it turns out her parents aren't members, thus making it a convert baptism! Lucky us, so we're excited about that and she is really excited to get baptized.
We were blessed yesterday to get a call from an investigator who we haven't seen for 3 months. She had a baptism date then, but just disappeared. She said she wanted us to come back and that she still wants to be baptized, she was just having a hard time and had to fix some stuff. So we're really excited to start teaching her again and help her come unto her Savior.
Other than that, most everyone else is progressing well, we should have a few more baptisms lined up in the coming weeks, hopefully. So all is well. We've been playing tennis in the mornings. I had never really played it before my mission...sadly, it is way fun! But I'm not really good, so Elder Davis is learning me. This morning I got to kill off(send home) my daddy(my trainer) Elder Daly. It was kinda sad, I'll miss him, he's a great missionary.
Spiritual thought for the week. This past week, Elder Davis, Daly and I had a humbling experience. Earlier we had a tracted into a lady named Candy who had recently been fired from her job and was feeling pretty bitter and had negative feelings towards God. We were able to talk to her a while and calm her down and get her somewhat happy by the time we left. Well she said we could come back. So a few days later we did so. We were having a pretty good meeting with her and her friends, but her friends were kinda mocking her in the fact that she was even meeting with us. Eventually they left and she just started to cry. She felt dumb that her friends were making fun of her. She asked us to leave, but right before she did we heard her say quietly, "I hurt inside" and "I just want to feel peace." Earlier she had talked about how she had searched and never could find answers. On those notes we had to leave. We were heartbroken. We could see how much she needed the Atonement in her life. It can cure all pains, it can heal all sufferings. Though we weren't able to bring it to her, hopefully she reads the Book of Mormon and invites us back. But I can testify that the power of the Atonement is real. That as we come unto the Savior and ask for his help humbly, he will carry our cross for us. It doesn't mean that life will no longer be hard, quite the contrary, it means that no matter what happens, we will have peace, we will have joy.
I love you all and hope you have great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
April 20, 2009 Hello From SD!
Hello everyone,
This week was pretty interesting. It was transfers so a lot of missionaries came and went throughout the first part of the week, which made things pretty crazy, but fun. I got to visit with an Elder from my MTC district for a while, which was good, Elder Gregerson. He's from Orem, UT. But ya, it was good. 3 new missionaries came in, and we had one of them with us for 2 days while he waited for the transfer train to come back around to take him to Casper, WY.
His name is Elder Maurer, from Pleasant Grove, UT. He is a way awesome guy and an amazing missionary. We took him out for his first time tracting and he did great. Last door we knocked we got to teach a lesson and he got to place his first Book of Mormon, so he was pretty excited.
We were able to make some good progress with just about all our investigator's this week. We're gonna have a baptism in a week or 2, for an 8 year old investigator. She would've been a child of record baptism, but since her parents are both not members, it becomes a convert baptism. Her grandma takes her to church with her, so it'll be good. Then we got 2 new investigator's this week. Kinda interesting, we're teaching 4 late-teen native girls who all are ridicousl'y shy and quiet. They all want to be baptized though, which is pretty neat. Its just gonna be hard to make sure they have a testimony when they are so quiet. But the Lord is really blessing the work and I think we'll be blessed to help bring many into the waters of baptism this transfer(the next 6 weeks).
Also, my trainer, Elder Daly, goes home in a few days so he's been in Rapid with us while he waits. Its been a good experience being able to serve with him again. Its funny, when you're being trainer, many missionaries don't really like their trainer, but after they meet other missionaries, they love their trainer. That's how it was for me. He is such a great missionary and has an incredible testimony, its been a blessing to be able to serve with him again.
Well I gotta get running, I hope everyone is doing well, having their FHE's each week, having family and/or personal scripture study each day, doing their home/visiting teaching and are praying daily! Big list huh, but all these things will help strengthen your testimony and unity in the gospel, which is vital! Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Fitt
This week was pretty interesting. It was transfers so a lot of missionaries came and went throughout the first part of the week, which made things pretty crazy, but fun. I got to visit with an Elder from my MTC district for a while, which was good, Elder Gregerson. He's from Orem, UT. But ya, it was good. 3 new missionaries came in, and we had one of them with us for 2 days while he waited for the transfer train to come back around to take him to Casper, WY.
His name is Elder Maurer, from Pleasant Grove, UT. He is a way awesome guy and an amazing missionary. We took him out for his first time tracting and he did great. Last door we knocked we got to teach a lesson and he got to place his first Book of Mormon, so he was pretty excited.
We were able to make some good progress with just about all our investigator's this week. We're gonna have a baptism in a week or 2, for an 8 year old investigator. She would've been a child of record baptism, but since her parents are both not members, it becomes a convert baptism. Her grandma takes her to church with her, so it'll be good. Then we got 2 new investigator's this week. Kinda interesting, we're teaching 4 late-teen native girls who all are ridicousl'y shy and quiet. They all want to be baptized though, which is pretty neat. Its just gonna be hard to make sure they have a testimony when they are so quiet. But the Lord is really blessing the work and I think we'll be blessed to help bring many into the waters of baptism this transfer(the next 6 weeks).
Also, my trainer, Elder Daly, goes home in a few days so he's been in Rapid with us while he waits. Its been a good experience being able to serve with him again. Its funny, when you're being trainer, many missionaries don't really like their trainer, but after they meet other missionaries, they love their trainer. That's how it was for me. He is such a great missionary and has an incredible testimony, its been a blessing to be able to serve with him again.
Well I gotta get running, I hope everyone is doing well, having their FHE's each week, having family and/or personal scripture study each day, doing their home/visiting teaching and are praying daily! Big list huh, but all these things will help strengthen your testimony and unity in the gospel, which is vital! Have a great week.
Love,
Elder Fitt
April 13, 2009 I Think Spring Might Almost Be Here!
Hello!
Well I don't have much time this week to email. Some highlights from the week. Lately we have been working with a less-active family in reactivating them and teaching the eight year old granddaughter so she can get baptized. It turns out the 20 yr old or so son's girlfriend asked him if she could learn too and come to church. So after a week or two of trying to get in with her, we got to this week. Turns out her friend also wanted to learn and come to church as well! So we got to teach Josie and Tanie about the Restoration and they came to stake conference on sunday. So needless to say, we're pretty excited about them.
Umm, we got to participate in a Easter Program the young single adults were putting on at the School of Mines(a college in Rapid City). THat was pretty neat. An atheist attended and we got to talk with him and answer some of his questions and such. He took a Book of Mormon with him so hopefully he'll read it.
Last one, we showed up to stake conference on sunday and 1 of our investigators was there with her daughter, much to our suprise because we hadn't invited them to it. Apparently they came to the church earlier in the week to talk with the bishop, but he wasn't there, but a lady was, and told them to come back on sunday morning and catch him them. So they did just that. Her name is Cindy, and she said she really enjoyed conference. After it she got to talk with the bishop and was able to help her out with some financial aid in exchange for her helping clean the church once a week. She was really grateful. But the best part was she told us how since we've been coming over her husband, Augy(Augustine) has really been changing for the good. He's being a lot more open, happy, spiritual etc. and she was really grateful that we've been coming over and teaching them. It was a heart-warming experience.
Well that's all for this week, gotta run. I hope you all have a good week and share the gospel with your friends!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Well I don't have much time this week to email. Some highlights from the week. Lately we have been working with a less-active family in reactivating them and teaching the eight year old granddaughter so she can get baptized. It turns out the 20 yr old or so son's girlfriend asked him if she could learn too and come to church. So after a week or two of trying to get in with her, we got to this week. Turns out her friend also wanted to learn and come to church as well! So we got to teach Josie and Tanie about the Restoration and they came to stake conference on sunday. So needless to say, we're pretty excited about them.
Umm, we got to participate in a Easter Program the young single adults were putting on at the School of Mines(a college in Rapid City). THat was pretty neat. An atheist attended and we got to talk with him and answer some of his questions and such. He took a Book of Mormon with him so hopefully he'll read it.
Last one, we showed up to stake conference on sunday and 1 of our investigators was there with her daughter, much to our suprise because we hadn't invited them to it. Apparently they came to the church earlier in the week to talk with the bishop, but he wasn't there, but a lady was, and told them to come back on sunday morning and catch him them. So they did just that. Her name is Cindy, and she said she really enjoyed conference. After it she got to talk with the bishop and was able to help her out with some financial aid in exchange for her helping clean the church once a week. She was really grateful. But the best part was she told us how since we've been coming over her husband, Augy(Augustine) has really been changing for the good. He's being a lot more open, happy, spiritual etc. and she was really grateful that we've been coming over and teaching them. It was a heart-warming experience.
Well that's all for this week, gotta run. I hope you all have a good week and share the gospel with your friends!
Love,
Elder Fitt
April 6, 2009 its April and There's Four Feet of Snow in My Backyard!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a great conference weekend! I know I did. I don't know if its just that I'm on my mission and listening more intently, but this was my favorite conference I've listened to. The talks were all inspiring, uplifting and seemed to have a sense of urgency I haven't quite picked up in the past. I hope we all apply their words in our lives and take the counsel of President Monson and study and restudy the talks when they are released in next month's Ensign. Its hard to pick a favorite talk, but one of the most stirring(like usual) was Elder Holland's talk on the Atonement. It seems like its always him who talks on the subject, and I wouldn't have it any other way because he is so passionate when he speaks. His love for the Savior is incredible and I loved feeling the Spirit so strongly as he spoke about what he loves most.
As for progress in the work, I think soon one of our investigator's, JD Martin, will have a baptismal date soon! This last week we invited him to be baptized and he said he felt like he needs to, but wants us to teach him more first. He was able to attend both Saturday sessions of conference and loved it; he took 2.5 pages of notes, he boasted to us. So I'm really excited about that, especially since we've been teaching him for 3 months now. Hopefully we can help him into the waters of baptism as he comes unto Christ and his Father in Heaven.
Other than that, I'm glad it chose to blizzard on Saturday instead of today, or else it would have been our 3rd P-day in a row stuck inside. Saturday's blizzard was pretty crazy, just about as bad as last weeks. But it was a blessing because we were inside most of the day anyway for General Conference, so it didn't interfere much with the work.
In closing, I hope you all heard Elder Perry's talk on member missionary work. His analogy was so true and accurate, on how members are the shepards and full-time missionaries are the search and rescue team. We usually only find those who are on the brink, or want to be found. But there are many others who will reject us, but not you, their friends. I know that the best way to find people to teach and baptize is through the members of the church. So please, pray for missionary experiences every day. Pray for the strength and courage to ask a friend, co-worker, or neighbor to hear the glad message of the gospel. As we have recently been instructed, one of the reasons we are here in this life is to build eternal friendships. I know, that as you make a constant effort to help those you know and come in contact with to find the truth of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, your Father in Heaven will bless you immensely and you will feel the joy of helping a child of God enjoy the blessings of baptism and the temple.
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a great conference weekend! I know I did. I don't know if its just that I'm on my mission and listening more intently, but this was my favorite conference I've listened to. The talks were all inspiring, uplifting and seemed to have a sense of urgency I haven't quite picked up in the past. I hope we all apply their words in our lives and take the counsel of President Monson and study and restudy the talks when they are released in next month's Ensign. Its hard to pick a favorite talk, but one of the most stirring(like usual) was Elder Holland's talk on the Atonement. It seems like its always him who talks on the subject, and I wouldn't have it any other way because he is so passionate when he speaks. His love for the Savior is incredible and I loved feeling the Spirit so strongly as he spoke about what he loves most.
As for progress in the work, I think soon one of our investigator's, JD Martin, will have a baptismal date soon! This last week we invited him to be baptized and he said he felt like he needs to, but wants us to teach him more first. He was able to attend both Saturday sessions of conference and loved it; he took 2.5 pages of notes, he boasted to us. So I'm really excited about that, especially since we've been teaching him for 3 months now. Hopefully we can help him into the waters of baptism as he comes unto Christ and his Father in Heaven.
Other than that, I'm glad it chose to blizzard on Saturday instead of today, or else it would have been our 3rd P-day in a row stuck inside. Saturday's blizzard was pretty crazy, just about as bad as last weeks. But it was a blessing because we were inside most of the day anyway for General Conference, so it didn't interfere much with the work.
In closing, I hope you all heard Elder Perry's talk on member missionary work. His analogy was so true and accurate, on how members are the shepards and full-time missionaries are the search and rescue team. We usually only find those who are on the brink, or want to be found. But there are many others who will reject us, but not you, their friends. I know that the best way to find people to teach and baptize is through the members of the church. So please, pray for missionary experiences every day. Pray for the strength and courage to ask a friend, co-worker, or neighbor to hear the glad message of the gospel. As we have recently been instructed, one of the reasons we are here in this life is to build eternal friendships. I know, that as you make a constant effort to help those you know and come in contact with to find the truth of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, your Father in Heaven will bless you immensely and you will feel the joy of helping a child of God enjoy the blessings of baptism and the temple.
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
March 30, 2009 Hello From Elder Fitt!
Oh ya, has this week been nice. It started warming up early last week and its went to the 40's to 50's and has been in the 60's for 3 or so days now. Its nice to have some warm weather for a change, but 60 is a little too hot, maybe 55 or 50 would be good.
The other benefit of warm weather is we can tract houses without freezing our faces off! Apartments are alright and everything, but it gets depressing being stuck in a building which usually smells like alcohol and throw up, yuk. So it has been really fun being able to get outside and tract some houses again. We've been blessed with a lot of callbacks and potential investigator's this week. So hopefully has be check back on them this week we'll be able to make some progress.
As of now though the work is going a little slow. A lot of our investigator's aren't progressing too well, which could be out fault, or not letting us in. But we're trying. We were able to do some good service this week for people and just get out in the neighborhood and brighten people's days, which is good. Sometimes we harvest and sometimes we seed the ground...or in some cases break up the ground and remove the rocks, which gratefully isn't our task here like it was in Pierre.
I'm blessed with a good District though and another set of good Elders in our apartment which help make the work fun and interesting. Oh ya, thanks for all the letters from everyone this week, they were great...I'll have to try to find some time to write back...I'm bad at that. I don't know if my mom has been able to upload some of the pictures I sent her, hopefully though...I can tell I'm getting a little chubbier out here, not much though. So we've been trying to eat a lot healthier...which includes lots of fruit smoothies and just other healthy stuff. Its good though and I don't know why I'm writing all this, just kind of rambling on. Soo I hope everyone had a great week. The Church is true! Oh ya real quick. Yesterday in Priesthood I learned how on the west side of the Salt Lake Temple, the big dipper is carved into the face of the middle tower. And if you don't know, the big dipper points to the North Star, which is the star that would lead mariners as well as other people back home. It is a guiding star and helps you get your bearings to know where you're at as well. The symbolism is that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the temple act in the same function, they help point others back home, back to safety and refuge, back to their Father in Heaven. And just like how there is only ONE North Star, there is only one Church that can bring us joyfully back home, and that is Christ's church.
Well, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
The other benefit of warm weather is we can tract houses without freezing our faces off! Apartments are alright and everything, but it gets depressing being stuck in a building which usually smells like alcohol and throw up, yuk. So it has been really fun being able to get outside and tract some houses again. We've been blessed with a lot of callbacks and potential investigator's this week. So hopefully has be check back on them this week we'll be able to make some progress.
As of now though the work is going a little slow. A lot of our investigator's aren't progressing too well, which could be out fault, or not letting us in. But we're trying. We were able to do some good service this week for people and just get out in the neighborhood and brighten people's days, which is good. Sometimes we harvest and sometimes we seed the ground...or in some cases break up the ground and remove the rocks, which gratefully isn't our task here like it was in Pierre.
I'm blessed with a good District though and another set of good Elders in our apartment which help make the work fun and interesting. Oh ya, thanks for all the letters from everyone this week, they were great...I'll have to try to find some time to write back...I'm bad at that. I don't know if my mom has been able to upload some of the pictures I sent her, hopefully though...I can tell I'm getting a little chubbier out here, not much though. So we've been trying to eat a lot healthier...which includes lots of fruit smoothies and just other healthy stuff. Its good though and I don't know why I'm writing all this, just kind of rambling on. Soo I hope everyone had a great week. The Church is true! Oh ya real quick. Yesterday in Priesthood I learned how on the west side of the Salt Lake Temple, the big dipper is carved into the face of the middle tower. And if you don't know, the big dipper points to the North Star, which is the star that would lead mariners as well as other people back home. It is a guiding star and helps you get your bearings to know where you're at as well. The symbolism is that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the temple act in the same function, they help point others back home, back to safety and refuge, back to their Father in Heaven. And just like how there is only ONE North Star, there is only one Church that can bring us joyfully back home, and that is Christ's church.
Well, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
March 16, 2009 Its Been Warm in South Dakota!
Oh ya, has this week been nice. It started warming up early last week and its went to the 40's to 50's and has been in the 60's for 3 or so days now. Its nice to have some warm weather for a change, but 60 is a little too hot, maybe 55 or 50 would be good.
The other benefit of warm weather is we can tract houses without freezing our faces off! Apartments are alright and everything, but it gets depressing being stuck in a building which usually smells like alcohol and throw up, yuk. So it has been really fun being able to get outside and tract some houses again. We've been blessed with a lot of callbacks and potential investigator's this week. So hopefully has be check back on them this week we'll be able to make some progress.
As of now though the work is going a little slow. A lot of our investigator's aren't progressing too well, which could be out fault, or not letting us in. But we're trying. We were able to do some good service this week for people and just get out in the neighborhood and brighten people's days, which is good. Sometimes we harvest and sometimes we seed the ground...or in some cases break up the ground and remove the rocks, which gratefully isn't our task here like it was in Pierre.
I'm blessed with a good District though and another set of good Elders in our apartment which help make the work fun and interesting. Oh ya, thanks for all the letters from everyone this week, they were great...I'll have to try to find some time to write back...I'm bad at that. I don't know if my mom has been able to upload some of the pictures I sent her, hopefully though...I can tell I'm getting a little chubbier out here, not much though. So we've been trying to eat a lot healthier...which includes lots of fruit smoothies and just other healthy stuff. Its good though and I don't know why I'm writing all this, just kind of rambling on. Soo I hope everyone had a great week. The Church is true! Oh ya real quick. Yesterday in Priesthood I learned how on the west side of the Salt Lake Temple, the big dipper is carved into the face of the middle tower. And if you don't know, the big dipper points to the North Star, which is the star that would lead mariners as well as other people back home. It is a guiding star and helps you get your bearings to know where you're at as well. The symbolism is that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the temple act in the same function, they help point others back home, back to safety and refuge, back to their Father in Heaven. And just like how there is only ONE North Star, there is only one Church that can bring us joyfully back home, and that is Christ's church.
Well, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
The other benefit of warm weather is we can tract houses without freezing our faces off! Apartments are alright and everything, but it gets depressing being stuck in a building which usually smells like alcohol and throw up, yuk. So it has been really fun being able to get outside and tract some houses again. We've been blessed with a lot of callbacks and potential investigator's this week. So hopefully has be check back on them this week we'll be able to make some progress.
As of now though the work is going a little slow. A lot of our investigator's aren't progressing too well, which could be out fault, or not letting us in. But we're trying. We were able to do some good service this week for people and just get out in the neighborhood and brighten people's days, which is good. Sometimes we harvest and sometimes we seed the ground...or in some cases break up the ground and remove the rocks, which gratefully isn't our task here like it was in Pierre.
I'm blessed with a good District though and another set of good Elders in our apartment which help make the work fun and interesting. Oh ya, thanks for all the letters from everyone this week, they were great...I'll have to try to find some time to write back...I'm bad at that. I don't know if my mom has been able to upload some of the pictures I sent her, hopefully though...I can tell I'm getting a little chubbier out here, not much though. So we've been trying to eat a lot healthier...which includes lots of fruit smoothies and just other healthy stuff. Its good though and I don't know why I'm writing all this, just kind of rambling on. Soo I hope everyone had a great week. The Church is true! Oh ya real quick. Yesterday in Priesthood I learned how on the west side of the Salt Lake Temple, the big dipper is carved into the face of the middle tower. And if you don't know, the big dipper points to the North Star, which is the star that would lead mariners as well as other people back home. It is a guiding star and helps you get your bearings to know where you're at as well. The symbolism is that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and the temple act in the same function, they help point others back home, back to safety and refuge, back to their Father in Heaven. And just like how there is only ONE North Star, there is only one Church that can bring us joyfully back home, and that is Christ's church.
Well, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
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