Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Ours was really good here. I don't have much time to write today but we were blessed with safety during the stormy week we had. We narrowly dodged a bad blizzard it seems, which is a good thing.
During the week the Zone Leaders and our District leader suprised us by coming down and visiting. We talked for a while about mssionry work and then we went tracting (we split up of course...it'd be a little intimidating for 5 missionaries to walk up to you door don't you think?). And guess what? People actually opened their doors to us and we got some good callbacks! That rarely happens this time of year! The other group even got to go into someone's trailer and teach them the first lesson! So that is way exciting and I hope we can help them continue to progress and learn more.
Thanks so much to everyone who sent me letters and gifts, I appreciate it very much. We're now swamped with goodies that will probably last until March! But we are very, very grateful to all of you for your great love and support. I'll try to write you separately, but it may take some time.
Anyway, I hope all is well and that you don't lose the spirit of the season now that Christmas is over. Keep it all year round- the spirit of service and Christlike love for everyone.
Have a good day!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
December 21, 2009 Merry Christmas from Minnesota!
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is going well! Things are going good here and we had an enjoyable week. I don't have much time to email today, its been a busy day. But things are progressing well and we got to see the Perez's at church again and we had a lesson at their home as well. There's finally someone in the branch who can speak spanish! But there's always a catch right? He and his wife are only here for 3 months, he's doing an internship, so he'll be gone in March. We're gonna have to use him a lot before then. But things are going well for now.
We got a neat opportunity to go caroling with the youth this week at an old folks' nursing home and that was a very sweet experience. It was so nice seeing their smiles and kind faces as we walked by and sang songs about the cheer of Christmas and of the Savior.
This time of year is so special being able to have our focus on the birth of the Savior. He is the cornerstone of our faith and what a blessing it is to share that with others.
I hope that we all will have the Christmas spirit this season and spread Christlike love to all of our brothers and sisters in the world, old and young, rich and poor, humble and proud. For we all need the love of the Savior in our lives and we're all the children of a kind and wise Father in Heaven.
I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is going well! Things are going good here and we had an enjoyable week. I don't have much time to email today, its been a busy day. But things are progressing well and we got to see the Perez's at church again and we had a lesson at their home as well. There's finally someone in the branch who can speak spanish! But there's always a catch right? He and his wife are only here for 3 months, he's doing an internship, so he'll be gone in March. We're gonna have to use him a lot before then. But things are going well for now.
We got a neat opportunity to go caroling with the youth this week at an old folks' nursing home and that was a very sweet experience. It was so nice seeing their smiles and kind faces as we walked by and sang songs about the cheer of Christmas and of the Savior.
This time of year is so special being able to have our focus on the birth of the Savior. He is the cornerstone of our faith and what a blessing it is to share that with others.
I hope that we all will have the Christmas spirit this season and spread Christlike love to all of our brothers and sisters in the world, old and young, rich and poor, humble and proud. For we all need the love of the Savior in our lives and we're all the children of a kind and wise Father in Heaven.
I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!
Love,
Elder Fitt
December 14, 2009 Hello From Minnesoooocold!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a great week! Mine was pretty good, besides the constant -5 to -15 degree weather. First off, we had suprise transfer calls this week, and it was big suprise, they're moving me to a new mission! Ya just not really, I'm staying for another 7 weeks in Detroit Lakes, which is awesome because I didn't want to leave. My companion is staying too, so maybe we'll get white washed (both taken out and two new missionaries bought in) out next transfer, who knows. But I'm excited to stay. So feel free to write letters and send packages and stuff, I'll be here to open them and write back! Haha.
So we got to help Bob, a member's neighbor, string up a deer he shot for them. It was close to his yard where he got it(he lives out of town) so we didn't have to drag it far to hang it in tree near his home. We gutted it there then got had some hot chocolate to warm up! Ya I think I'll stick to pig hunting, its a lot less work for clean up.
We were able to make some good progress with our investigator Keith who seems to be really clicking with the idea of a prophet. Hopefully he is able to read the Book of Mormon in faith and pray sincerely and with real intent so the Spirit can witness to him that its true!
Well we had tri-zone conference this week in Bismarck and that was awesome. Its always nice seeing my missionary buddies. We were blessed to attend the temple in Bismarck again, and that was a wonderful experience. It was a two-day zone conference, so after the temple my zone stayed the night at a member's house in Bismarck. The next day we had our meetings and did a white elephant exchange. That was pretty funny, since there was at least 60 people in attendance, so there were some pretty funny gifts. We also had a nice Christmas program at the end of the conference. When we got back on Friday we had our branch Christmas party which was a lot of fun. Good food and a great turn out, which makes things even better.
One of the best things that happened this week was during church. The Perez family showed up! We were shocked. Because just a week ago we got a call from them saying they just got back from Mexico but are going back down to help their sick mother get better. They didn't know when they'd be back. But apparently they got home on Saturday and felt like they needed to come to church. It was awesome. And what made it even better was a certain member felt prompted to attend the gospel principles class we had with them and from that came a very choice experience.
It is such a blessing to be apart of this work. And though it has some tremendous difficulties and hardships, the Lord always lifts and blesses us with blessings that dwarf the negative experiences. He is there for us and his arms of mercy are always extended. It is just up to us to run to him.
I hope you all have a great week and are having luck in sharing the gospel with others!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a great week! Mine was pretty good, besides the constant -5 to -15 degree weather. First off, we had suprise transfer calls this week, and it was big suprise, they're moving me to a new mission! Ya just not really, I'm staying for another 7 weeks in Detroit Lakes, which is awesome because I didn't want to leave. My companion is staying too, so maybe we'll get white washed (both taken out and two new missionaries bought in) out next transfer, who knows. But I'm excited to stay. So feel free to write letters and send packages and stuff, I'll be here to open them and write back! Haha.
So we got to help Bob, a member's neighbor, string up a deer he shot for them. It was close to his yard where he got it(he lives out of town) so we didn't have to drag it far to hang it in tree near his home. We gutted it there then got had some hot chocolate to warm up! Ya I think I'll stick to pig hunting, its a lot less work for clean up.
We were able to make some good progress with our investigator Keith who seems to be really clicking with the idea of a prophet. Hopefully he is able to read the Book of Mormon in faith and pray sincerely and with real intent so the Spirit can witness to him that its true!
Well we had tri-zone conference this week in Bismarck and that was awesome. Its always nice seeing my missionary buddies. We were blessed to attend the temple in Bismarck again, and that was a wonderful experience. It was a two-day zone conference, so after the temple my zone stayed the night at a member's house in Bismarck. The next day we had our meetings and did a white elephant exchange. That was pretty funny, since there was at least 60 people in attendance, so there were some pretty funny gifts. We also had a nice Christmas program at the end of the conference. When we got back on Friday we had our branch Christmas party which was a lot of fun. Good food and a great turn out, which makes things even better.
One of the best things that happened this week was during church. The Perez family showed up! We were shocked. Because just a week ago we got a call from them saying they just got back from Mexico but are going back down to help their sick mother get better. They didn't know when they'd be back. But apparently they got home on Saturday and felt like they needed to come to church. It was awesome. And what made it even better was a certain member felt prompted to attend the gospel principles class we had with them and from that came a very choice experience.
It is such a blessing to be apart of this work. And though it has some tremendous difficulties and hardships, the Lord always lifts and blesses us with blessings that dwarf the negative experiences. He is there for us and his arms of mercy are always extended. It is just up to us to run to him.
I hope you all have a great week and are having luck in sharing the gospel with others!
Love,
Elder Fitt
December 7, 2009 Its Cold Out Here!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a great week. Ours was alright. It was pretty slow in a lot of aspects. With the weather beginning to get cold a lot of people seem to be getting sick again. Its been in the teens and and sometimes in the single digits, whereas a few weeks ago it was 40 degrees.
So unfortunately we didn't get to see as many people as we would have liked. We also were informed that the Perez family will be gone for another 3 weeks, which could be good if they're attending church in Mexico, hopefully they are. Well we have zone conference this week which I'm really looking forward too. Its another tri-zone so theres going to be a lot of missionaries, which makes it a lot of fun.
But other than that I don't have much to report this week. Nothing too eventful happened, people are progressing though, which is good.
Well sorry for this being short but I hope you all have a good week and are being the answer to someone's prayer!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a great week. Ours was alright. It was pretty slow in a lot of aspects. With the weather beginning to get cold a lot of people seem to be getting sick again. Its been in the teens and and sometimes in the single digits, whereas a few weeks ago it was 40 degrees.
So unfortunately we didn't get to see as many people as we would have liked. We also were informed that the Perez family will be gone for another 3 weeks, which could be good if they're attending church in Mexico, hopefully they are. Well we have zone conference this week which I'm really looking forward too. Its another tri-zone so theres going to be a lot of missionaries, which makes it a lot of fun.
But other than that I don't have much to report this week. Nothing too eventful happened, people are progressing though, which is good.
Well sorry for this being short but I hope you all have a good week and are being the answer to someone's prayer!
Love,
Elder Fitt
November 30, 2009
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a great week and a happy Thanksgiving. I know I did. We had a pretty good week out here, we got to see a lot of people in the branch, active and less-active.
First off we had Xander's baptism yesterday and that went really well. We had it after church so just about everyone from the branch stayed for it which was great. It was funny though, he's a pretty small kid and his uncle who was baptizing him is a pretty big guy, so when he brought him down to immerse him it was basically a body slam. Xander's foot shot up, probably from the shock of the slam, so they had to do it once more but the second time it went well. It was pretty funny though. But it was great and I could feel the Spirit strong there.
We also got to teach Stephanie a lot at church committed her for baptism! But, she's 17 and has to ask her mom first, who is a staunch Catholic, so she might have to wait until October of 2010 when she turns 18, we'll see. But its exciting to see her progress.
Man lots of good things happened this week and theres too much to talk about, but after soaking it all it truly makes me grateful to be a missionary. You often here about how missions have the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and often people equate the lows with times that the work is struggling or whatever, but for me some of the lowest times were when we'd visit with people who are struggling so hard. We had an experience like that this week with a brother in the Branch who is lonely beyond lonely, and is so tired and sad, and it was heartbreaking to talk with him. Though he isn't giving up, it was a sobering. It is IMPERATIVE that we help those who are struggling. Whatever little things are bothering us in our life, there are others in a worse situation. If you still have the capacity to reach out to others you should and must, for there are many, like this good brother who are too tired to reach out anymore, and they need someone to lift the hands that hang out.
We're all in this work together. Returning to life with our Father in Heaven is not a solo task, it is a group task and we must all help each other, or else none of us will make it.
I am so grateful to be a missionary, to have these wonderful experiences that strengthen my testimony and desire to serve the Lord. I only hope that I can be of some service for someone who is in need and help them feel of the Savior's love. Yesterday there was a dear sister who is just returning to activity from years of inactivity. She couldn't stop crying all throughout church. She told us it was because she finally was able to feel the Savior's love again in her heart, she finally knew that He was real and this His Father is real. What joy that brought to her heart.
Let us all during this Christmas season reach out to those in need and help them hear the call of the Master, feel of his love and partake of the healing that he offers.
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a great week and a happy Thanksgiving. I know I did. We had a pretty good week out here, we got to see a lot of people in the branch, active and less-active.
First off we had Xander's baptism yesterday and that went really well. We had it after church so just about everyone from the branch stayed for it which was great. It was funny though, he's a pretty small kid and his uncle who was baptizing him is a pretty big guy, so when he brought him down to immerse him it was basically a body slam. Xander's foot shot up, probably from the shock of the slam, so they had to do it once more but the second time it went well. It was pretty funny though. But it was great and I could feel the Spirit strong there.
We also got to teach Stephanie a lot at church committed her for baptism! But, she's 17 and has to ask her mom first, who is a staunch Catholic, so she might have to wait until October of 2010 when she turns 18, we'll see. But its exciting to see her progress.
Man lots of good things happened this week and theres too much to talk about, but after soaking it all it truly makes me grateful to be a missionary. You often here about how missions have the highest of highs and lowest of lows, and often people equate the lows with times that the work is struggling or whatever, but for me some of the lowest times were when we'd visit with people who are struggling so hard. We had an experience like that this week with a brother in the Branch who is lonely beyond lonely, and is so tired and sad, and it was heartbreaking to talk with him. Though he isn't giving up, it was a sobering. It is IMPERATIVE that we help those who are struggling. Whatever little things are bothering us in our life, there are others in a worse situation. If you still have the capacity to reach out to others you should and must, for there are many, like this good brother who are too tired to reach out anymore, and they need someone to lift the hands that hang out.
We're all in this work together. Returning to life with our Father in Heaven is not a solo task, it is a group task and we must all help each other, or else none of us will make it.
I am so grateful to be a missionary, to have these wonderful experiences that strengthen my testimony and desire to serve the Lord. I only hope that I can be of some service for someone who is in need and help them feel of the Savior's love. Yesterday there was a dear sister who is just returning to activity from years of inactivity. She couldn't stop crying all throughout church. She told us it was because she finally was able to feel the Savior's love again in her heart, she finally knew that He was real and this His Father is real. What joy that brought to her heart.
Let us all during this Christmas season reach out to those in need and help them hear the call of the Master, feel of his love and partake of the healing that he offers.
Love,
Elder Fitt
November 23, 2009 Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all are doing well and have exciting plans for Thanksgiving. I think for once the distance we have in this area has worked to my advantage. Since all the members last Thanksgiving lived pretty close to each other they all wanted us to stop in for Thanksgiving, so we were in pain by the day ended after eating about 3 and a half Thanksgiving dinners! But since everyone is far from each other and it would be a large inconvenience to find rides, we will only be able to eat at one persons home. Alright, my stomach won't explode this year!
But other than that we had a pretty good week. Again we got to do a lot of service. We helped a member move to a new house which is a lot closer to the church, which is awesome. We helped an investigator build out a window well for the basement, which was fun.
A few weeks ago we fixed a Sister's computer and this week she gave us our reward. It was a homemade 5 pound pizza, the thing was ridiculous. Huge ol pizza and boy was it good, needless to say it didn't survive very long.
Also, the baptism for our 9 year old is still set in stone for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is awesome and we're looking forward to that. Things are looking good hear and we have some members working with their friends who sound pretty interested in learning about the gospel. So we're excited about that and are hoping for the best.
Other than that things are going a little slow since we aren't having much luck finding people on our own efforts. But the Lord is blessing us in other ways for which we are grateful. We had a really nice week this week weather wise and we've been able to ride bikes some more which was really nice. Cold weather is approaching and I'm not looking forward to it.
Well I better get running but I hope all is well and that you are sharing the gospel with your friends are living in thanksgiving to the Lord; 'tis the season!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all are doing well and have exciting plans for Thanksgiving. I think for once the distance we have in this area has worked to my advantage. Since all the members last Thanksgiving lived pretty close to each other they all wanted us to stop in for Thanksgiving, so we were in pain by the day ended after eating about 3 and a half Thanksgiving dinners! But since everyone is far from each other and it would be a large inconvenience to find rides, we will only be able to eat at one persons home. Alright, my stomach won't explode this year!
But other than that we had a pretty good week. Again we got to do a lot of service. We helped a member move to a new house which is a lot closer to the church, which is awesome. We helped an investigator build out a window well for the basement, which was fun.
A few weeks ago we fixed a Sister's computer and this week she gave us our reward. It was a homemade 5 pound pizza, the thing was ridiculous. Huge ol pizza and boy was it good, needless to say it didn't survive very long.
Also, the baptism for our 9 year old is still set in stone for the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is awesome and we're looking forward to that. Things are looking good hear and we have some members working with their friends who sound pretty interested in learning about the gospel. So we're excited about that and are hoping for the best.
Other than that things are going a little slow since we aren't having much luck finding people on our own efforts. But the Lord is blessing us in other ways for which we are grateful. We had a really nice week this week weather wise and we've been able to ride bikes some more which was really nice. Cold weather is approaching and I'm not looking forward to it.
Well I better get running but I hope all is well and that you are sharing the gospel with your friends are living in thanksgiving to the Lord; 'tis the season!
Love,
Elder Fitt
November 16, 2009
Hello Everyone,
How are you all doing? I'm doing pretty good here. Our week was pretty good here. Again we got to do a lot of service for people around the community which was good. Lots of leaves need a rakin' so we're usually there to help. We also go to help a friend of a member's move his tree stand for deer hunting to a new tree, which at some parts was kinda wild, but it was fun.
Unfortunately there isn't too much to report this week out of the ordinary. We're still pushing along trying to find new people to teach and gratefully we were able to get 2 new investigators this week, a couple with 2 children. The lesson seemed to go pretty well and they committed to read from the Book of Mormon. There could be some good potential and I'm excited to see what happens.
And again the baptism for our 9-year old got pushed back until the weekend after Thanksgiving. But its because his mom works weekends and thats the only weekend she was able to get off this month. But its set for that and its going to be awesome. I'm pretty excited and so is he.
Hopefully soon after that we'll have someone else on date, but December is a scary month for missionary work because it seems like either no one wants to talk to you because they're so busy getting ready for the holidays, they're already out of town, or they're overlyfriendly. Haha. But I'm looking forward to it because its also a great month because they church seems to really advertise well the Joy to the World DVD they have and we get a lot of referrals from people wanting one.
Well this is going to be a short one but I hope all is well and that everyone is staying healthy, physically and spiritually!
Love,
Elder Fitt
How are you all doing? I'm doing pretty good here. Our week was pretty good here. Again we got to do a lot of service for people around the community which was good. Lots of leaves need a rakin' so we're usually there to help. We also go to help a friend of a member's move his tree stand for deer hunting to a new tree, which at some parts was kinda wild, but it was fun.
Unfortunately there isn't too much to report this week out of the ordinary. We're still pushing along trying to find new people to teach and gratefully we were able to get 2 new investigators this week, a couple with 2 children. The lesson seemed to go pretty well and they committed to read from the Book of Mormon. There could be some good potential and I'm excited to see what happens.
And again the baptism for our 9-year old got pushed back until the weekend after Thanksgiving. But its because his mom works weekends and thats the only weekend she was able to get off this month. But its set for that and its going to be awesome. I'm pretty excited and so is he.
Hopefully soon after that we'll have someone else on date, but December is a scary month for missionary work because it seems like either no one wants to talk to you because they're so busy getting ready for the holidays, they're already out of town, or they're overlyfriendly. Haha. But I'm looking forward to it because its also a great month because they church seems to really advertise well the Joy to the World DVD they have and we get a lot of referrals from people wanting one.
Well this is going to be a short one but I hope all is well and that everyone is staying healthy, physically and spiritually!
Love,
Elder Fitt
November 9, 2009 Come on in the Weather is Fine!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all are doing well. We had a good week and got to finally enjoy some warm weather! I got to be in the 50's for a few days and I was about to wear a short sleeve shirt, but since the weather here is so deceptive I thought better. But it still was great to enjoy the sun a bit before the cold of winter sets in soon.
The weather was also nice for all the service we got to do this week. A friend of the Valdez family (members of the branch) that we had helped out previous gave us a call seeing if we'd like to help rake the yards of some widows of the church that he attends. So we got to do that it was a lot of fun. Man theres a lot of leaves out now, but it was good to be of service to these sweet ladies.
So transfer calls came and went and I'll be staying in the area for at least another 6 weeks, so I'm really excited. I didn't want to leave at all so I'm glad I got to stay.
Not too much else happened out of the ordinary but we did have stake conference this weekend which was really good. Got to listen to President Layton and his wife as well as the Stake presidency and President Rees and his wife, who are over the Bismarck temple. He has an interesting story of service in this area because he served in Fargo as a missionary and at that time it was a branch. Now its a stake. But also he was the mission president of this mission about 9 years back. And now hes the temple president for the mission's temple. So it was neat to hear stories from him as well.
But things are going well and I'm enjoying the work. Hopefully we should the baptism for Xander this coming Saturday. We didn't have it last weekend because of stake conference. But he's still on track and is doing awesome. We got to see the Perez's some more and had a good meeting with them. Unfortunately for us they're going to be in Mexico for the next month visiting their son. They'll be in the state of Guanajuarto in a town called Uriangato...so hopefully they get to meet up with some missionaries there and learn more. We gave them an address to the closest churchhouse in that area and they plan on attending.
And now another story from tri-zone that Elder Zwick had related to us, its pretty crazy. He told us a story about how he was called to be the mission president in Chile, or at least for one of its missions, I don't know how many it has. Anyway, told us how the first day he got to Chile, the first telephone call they get from anyone is from one of their missionaries in the southern end of Chile who was calling from a phone booth and the only thing he was wearing was his companion's overcoat.
Apparently they were prep'ing for a baptismal interview at the church and a group of terrorists came in, held them all up at gun point and made this missionary take off all his clothes in front of the seminary class that was going on. Then they doused the clothes in gasoline and lit them on fire.
The missionary was calling to see what they should do, since the building was burning to the ground while they spoke. Then President Zwick commented on the shock of the situation and how they felt completely lost and incapable of performing the calling. But they followed the Spirit and things turned out ok.
Well a while later Elder Richard G. Scott of the 12 came to the mission to tour it, and wanted to visit the town where that happened. We he came he promised them that if they were diligent and obedient that the Lord would repay and multiply. At the time it was only one small branch of I think 40 people. By the end of Elder Zwick's mission, it was its own stake! The Lord truly does love us and has amazing blessing in store for us as we endure(not just make through, but make it a positive experience and grow therein) our trials.
Well I hope you all have a great week and give the missionaries in your area tons of referralls!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all are doing well. We had a good week and got to finally enjoy some warm weather! I got to be in the 50's for a few days and I was about to wear a short sleeve shirt, but since the weather here is so deceptive I thought better. But it still was great to enjoy the sun a bit before the cold of winter sets in soon.
The weather was also nice for all the service we got to do this week. A friend of the Valdez family (members of the branch) that we had helped out previous gave us a call seeing if we'd like to help rake the yards of some widows of the church that he attends. So we got to do that it was a lot of fun. Man theres a lot of leaves out now, but it was good to be of service to these sweet ladies.
So transfer calls came and went and I'll be staying in the area for at least another 6 weeks, so I'm really excited. I didn't want to leave at all so I'm glad I got to stay.
Not too much else happened out of the ordinary but we did have stake conference this weekend which was really good. Got to listen to President Layton and his wife as well as the Stake presidency and President Rees and his wife, who are over the Bismarck temple. He has an interesting story of service in this area because he served in Fargo as a missionary and at that time it was a branch. Now its a stake. But also he was the mission president of this mission about 9 years back. And now hes the temple president for the mission's temple. So it was neat to hear stories from him as well.
But things are going well and I'm enjoying the work. Hopefully we should the baptism for Xander this coming Saturday. We didn't have it last weekend because of stake conference. But he's still on track and is doing awesome. We got to see the Perez's some more and had a good meeting with them. Unfortunately for us they're going to be in Mexico for the next month visiting their son. They'll be in the state of Guanajuarto in a town called Uriangato...so hopefully they get to meet up with some missionaries there and learn more. We gave them an address to the closest churchhouse in that area and they plan on attending.
And now another story from tri-zone that Elder Zwick had related to us, its pretty crazy. He told us a story about how he was called to be the mission president in Chile, or at least for one of its missions, I don't know how many it has. Anyway, told us how the first day he got to Chile, the first telephone call they get from anyone is from one of their missionaries in the southern end of Chile who was calling from a phone booth and the only thing he was wearing was his companion's overcoat.
Apparently they were prep'ing for a baptismal interview at the church and a group of terrorists came in, held them all up at gun point and made this missionary take off all his clothes in front of the seminary class that was going on. Then they doused the clothes in gasoline and lit them on fire.
The missionary was calling to see what they should do, since the building was burning to the ground while they spoke. Then President Zwick commented on the shock of the situation and how they felt completely lost and incapable of performing the calling. But they followed the Spirit and things turned out ok.
Well a while later Elder Richard G. Scott of the 12 came to the mission to tour it, and wanted to visit the town where that happened. We he came he promised them that if they were diligent and obedient that the Lord would repay and multiply. At the time it was only one small branch of I think 40 people. By the end of Elder Zwick's mission, it was its own stake! The Lord truly does love us and has amazing blessing in store for us as we endure(not just make through, but make it a positive experience and grow therein) our trials.
Well I hope you all have a great week and give the missionaries in your area tons of referralls!
Love,
Elder Fitt
November 2, 2009 Happy Post-Halloween!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a good weekend, I know I did. I may have mentioned this before, but since it was Halloween and we can't really do much effective proselyting with all that goes on President Layton cleared the missionaries in the Fargo zone to attend the temple in Bismarck(provided we found a ride). So we got a ride with a member and were able to attend the temple. It had been too long since I got to go last. The last time was in the MTC, so about 13 months ago, which is nuts(dang, time flies). But it was a great experience and I am grateful that we were allowed to go. There is always such an amazing spirit at the temple, on the grounds and especially inside.
We had a pretty good week though. We were able to continue to make progress with a lot of our invesigators, 3 of which are progressing nicely towards baptism. They are doing great, namely, Stephanie and the Perez family. And we should have a baptism this weekend or next, depending on how stake conference this weekend works.
But transfer calls are coming this saturday and I really don't want to leave the area. Things are just starting to really pick up and it would be sad to leave. But the Lord knows whats best so we'll see what happens.
I know this was a pretty short email, but I'm running out of time. I hope you all are doing great. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a good weekend, I know I did. I may have mentioned this before, but since it was Halloween and we can't really do much effective proselyting with all that goes on President Layton cleared the missionaries in the Fargo zone to attend the temple in Bismarck(provided we found a ride). So we got a ride with a member and were able to attend the temple. It had been too long since I got to go last. The last time was in the MTC, so about 13 months ago, which is nuts(dang, time flies). But it was a great experience and I am grateful that we were allowed to go. There is always such an amazing spirit at the temple, on the grounds and especially inside.
We had a pretty good week though. We were able to continue to make progress with a lot of our invesigators, 3 of which are progressing nicely towards baptism. They are doing great, namely, Stephanie and the Perez family. And we should have a baptism this weekend or next, depending on how stake conference this weekend works.
But transfer calls are coming this saturday and I really don't want to leave the area. Things are just starting to really pick up and it would be sad to leave. But the Lord knows whats best so we'll see what happens.
I know this was a pretty short email, but I'm running out of time. I hope you all are doing great. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
October 26, 2009 Tri Zone Conference
Hello Everyone,
We had a pretty god week this week. Again we got to do a lot of service but we were also able to see some of our top investigators, which is awesome.
We were able to start teaching Stephanie, who is friends with one of the youth in our ward. She seems really interested I can see her getting baptized within this next month(if her parents allow it). We also were able to see the Perez family and continue teaching them. We had a neat experience with them and Sister Perez really opened up to us. I think it'll be a turning point for them and learning about the church. So they're looking pretty good too! It'll still take a while with the language barrier.
A highlight of the week was we had our tri-zone conference for the east side of the mission on thursday. So that included the 3 "east side" zones which are Fargo, Bismarck and Sioux Falls. So a lot of missionaries where there and it was really neat. Elder Zwick of the 70 was there and gave most of the training that received. It was a very powerful conference and I really appreciated the theme of it. The theme was change. Change is a very powerful and necessary part of the gospel if we ever plan on growing spiritually. He also told a lot of really neat stories that I wish I had time to share but I don't. Needless to say it was a great blessing to be able to taught from a 70. Something that was really neat about Elder Zwick was that Elder Richard G. Scott of the 12 was his mission president! So he had some really neat stories about Elder Scott since he is really close to him.
I actually have time to share one story. He mentioned how in this last conference Elder L. Tom Perry(I believe) talked about the Manti temple and its roof. Then he said he's going to tell the rest of the story that Elder Perry didn't know about(but not he does). Elder Zwick's company was contracted to double the size of the Manti temple. So that involved expanding it downwards. Anyway, he talked about in the process of that it led them to the roof and to reinforcing the supports(for lack of a better word) while they were in construction so the roof wouldn't collapse. But as they were doing so they found that about 90% supports were dryrotted and structrally unsound. So first off it was a great discovery because not even the structural engineers of the temple had found this and if they didn't pretty soon the roof would collapse and destroy much of the temple. He talked about how they were faced with a dilemma and that they had to remove the whole roof on the 5th floor that was over the Priesthood room. It was a tragedy for them to do that because of the beautiful pioneer artwork. But he said you can still go there today and see it how it was because they took many many pictures so it could be recreated. Anyway, to the point of the story. He talked about how we all in our lives have spiritual dryrot, and if we never get rid of it and cleanse the inner vessel soon our spiritual roofs will collapse. Sometimes its difficult to remove that dryrot and replace it with good solid wood, and sometimes it will take sacrifices and removing things that are precious to us. But as we take those steps to remove that spiritual dryrot the Lord will bless us and grant us the gift of His Spirit!
Anyway other than that we finally have some on date for baptism! Its exciting. He's our 9 year old, Xander, and he's excited to baptized 2 weeks from now, the first weekend in November. So we're getting pretty excited about that. The work seems to be picking up and I only hope that I can be ready and worthy to be filled with the Spirit so I can help the Lord accomplish miracles in this area of His vineyard. And do you know what the most important thing to do is to be ready and worthy of the Spirit? I'm sure you do...its EXACT obedience. As we strive in our lives to be 100% obedient, not 99%, not 99.9% got will endow us with great power.
I am grateful to be a missionary and to be learning and growing and helping others to do so as well. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
October 19, 2009
Hello Everyone,
We had a pretty awesome week this week. Which is always good. I don't have too much time to write, but I'll let you know about the highlights.
We were able to visit one of our investigators, Eunice, along with her recent convert daughter, and reteach them the Restoration. It went really well. Eunice has been taught for about 8 months now and I don't she's been able to come to church once. At least she hasn't since I've been here. But they said they'd try to make it this week.
We also got to see the Perez family and that was great. Taught them the Restoration again and watched the Restoration DVD. It really helped them out. Their daughter was also there and was interested too! Unfortunately they worked this week. Oh well.
But Sunday was the highlight of our day. Miraculously we had 5 investigators at church(Now all you missionaries in South America...don't laugh)! It was so good. Two of which were new and two members brought their friends who we are teaching now! It was really exciting. The Lord is really blessing this area. Now hopefully they're genuinely interested and will progress! But that was the highlight of the week.
I hope you all are doing well and that you will feel the joy of sharing the gospel as you do so with your friends.
Love,
Elder Fitt
We had a pretty awesome week this week. Which is always good. I don't have too much time to write, but I'll let you know about the highlights.
We were able to visit one of our investigators, Eunice, along with her recent convert daughter, and reteach them the Restoration. It went really well. Eunice has been taught for about 8 months now and I don't she's been able to come to church once. At least she hasn't since I've been here. But they said they'd try to make it this week.
We also got to see the Perez family and that was great. Taught them the Restoration again and watched the Restoration DVD. It really helped them out. Their daughter was also there and was interested too! Unfortunately they worked this week. Oh well.
But Sunday was the highlight of our day. Miraculously we had 5 investigators at church(Now all you missionaries in South America...don't laugh)! It was so good. Two of which were new and two members brought their friends who we are teaching now! It was really exciting. The Lord is really blessing this area. Now hopefully they're genuinely interested and will progress! But that was the highlight of the week.
I hope you all are doing well and that you will feel the joy of sharing the gospel as you do so with your friends.
Love,
Elder Fitt
October 13, 2009 Rain
Hello!
We had a pretty good week this week. We finally had another positive experience tracting...something we haven't had since August! Ya we were knocking doors out in the rain, light rain, and a guy answered and was really nice. He didn't like us standing out in the rain so he invited us in for a bit. We talked for a while and got to share a little bit about families and and the Book of Mormon. He said that he'd read it as well as a Plan of Salvation pamphlet we left with him(I forgot to restock on Restoration pamphlets). But he was really sincere and a good guy. Hopefully he's there next time we go back, apparently he's a smoke jumper(I think thats the name for it), and is on call 24/7 for the government to go fight forest fires. So he could be in town until April, or gone tomorrow. Ya, good guy though.
We also got a media referral which seems pretty promising. He took of tour of temple square while he was in Salt Lake City and really loved it. He requested a Together Forever DVD and a missionary visit. The only problem is when we contacted him it turns out he runs a resort on a lake in the area and won't be back at his house until after Thanksgiving, so we can't see him until then, but it seemed like he really wanted to visit with us, hopefully he still is that way a month and a half from now.
We got to do a lot of service this week, like usual. Helped out at the Boys and Girls club moving stuff into storage for them. Man they get a lot of donations, but so much of it is junk. Being on the receiving end I'd just like to say...if you donate things to places like this, make sure its good quality, and not just random junk. Its frustrating to deal with. Anyways, sorry for the rant.
We also got to help the Valdez family out with their yard and getting ready for winter, which was fun. One of their friend's furnaces broke so they said he could chop up some fallen wood on their property. So we helped him split it and load it in the trailer. It was fun, especially with the snow everywhere. Nothing like hauling wood.
Oh ya, we also got to see Marcus and make some progress with him. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him(a really powerful chapter about faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I suggest you read it if you haven't recently) and afterwards committed him for baptism! He agreed, but was hesitant because of some of the struggles he still has, but we told him it will be a goal to work towards and that we'll set a date next time we see him. He's got a lot on his plate and was pretty sick, didn't feel like we should overwhelm him on that day. So that's pretty exciting...most importantly we got to get him to church. Hopefully he can get time off from work to do so.
So that was our week in nutshell. This week is looking pretty promising and I am excited to see what happens. Recently, President Layton shared a powerful quote from Ezra Taft Benson and I'll try to share it as accurately as possible. He said, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and instead becomes our quest, then God will endow us with great power." What truth! I am learning that more and more on my mission. As we truly give our will to the Father and our only goal is to do what he'd have us do, we will be much more able to cope with the trials that come before us, and not only deal with them but have joy as we do so. I love this gospel and all the truths that are available to us as we faithfully seek them. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
We had a pretty good week this week. We finally had another positive experience tracting...something we haven't had since August! Ya we were knocking doors out in the rain, light rain, and a guy answered and was really nice. He didn't like us standing out in the rain so he invited us in for a bit. We talked for a while and got to share a little bit about families and and the Book of Mormon. He said that he'd read it as well as a Plan of Salvation pamphlet we left with him(I forgot to restock on Restoration pamphlets). But he was really sincere and a good guy. Hopefully he's there next time we go back, apparently he's a smoke jumper(I think thats the name for it), and is on call 24/7 for the government to go fight forest fires. So he could be in town until April, or gone tomorrow. Ya, good guy though.
We also got a media referral which seems pretty promising. He took of tour of temple square while he was in Salt Lake City and really loved it. He requested a Together Forever DVD and a missionary visit. The only problem is when we contacted him it turns out he runs a resort on a lake in the area and won't be back at his house until after Thanksgiving, so we can't see him until then, but it seemed like he really wanted to visit with us, hopefully he still is that way a month and a half from now.
We got to do a lot of service this week, like usual. Helped out at the Boys and Girls club moving stuff into storage for them. Man they get a lot of donations, but so much of it is junk. Being on the receiving end I'd just like to say...if you donate things to places like this, make sure its good quality, and not just random junk. Its frustrating to deal with. Anyways, sorry for the rant.
We also got to help the Valdez family out with their yard and getting ready for winter, which was fun. One of their friend's furnaces broke so they said he could chop up some fallen wood on their property. So we helped him split it and load it in the trailer. It was fun, especially with the snow everywhere. Nothing like hauling wood.
Oh ya, we also got to see Marcus and make some progress with him. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him(a really powerful chapter about faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I suggest you read it if you haven't recently) and afterwards committed him for baptism! He agreed, but was hesitant because of some of the struggles he still has, but we told him it will be a goal to work towards and that we'll set a date next time we see him. He's got a lot on his plate and was pretty sick, didn't feel like we should overwhelm him on that day. So that's pretty exciting...most importantly we got to get him to church. Hopefully he can get time off from work to do so.
So that was our week in nutshell. This week is looking pretty promising and I am excited to see what happens. Recently, President Layton shared a powerful quote from Ezra Taft Benson and I'll try to share it as accurately as possible. He said, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and instead becomes our quest, then God will endow us with great power." What truth! I am learning that more and more on my mission. As we truly give our will to the Father and our only goal is to do what he'd have us do, we will be much more able to cope with the trials that come before us, and not only deal with them but have joy as we do so. I love this gospel and all the truths that are available to us as we faithfully seek them. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Sunday, December 27, 2009
October 5, 2009
Hello Everyone,
This week was slowwww, but at least we had General Conference to make up for it. It was so good, like always, and I think it gets better every year. All the talks were great, and I especially enjoyed President Monson's address in the Sunday morning session. What a blessing it is to be able to listen to the prophet of God and to hear his counsel. I hope we all take the messages we heard to heart and apply them in our lives.
So I got my new companion this week, Elder Kurzhals (its German) from Arizona. He's an interesting guy with a really genuine demeanor. We're getting along well. We got a lot of promises this week from people to attend General Conference...but guess what? None seemed to show up. Ya it was a little discouraging but, thats what happens in missionary work.
Anyway, we're still pressing on with the work here. The flu has been going around and basically all of our investigators have been sick, cool right? Not really, it was a slow week since we didn't get to see many people but we're going to be focused on finding this week and hopefully we can get some new investigators to help fill our teaching pool. The weather has been interesting here. Since Tuesday last week we haven't seen the sun. Its been cloudy and rainy and in the 40's, which I'm not complaining about but its pretty wild since 2 weeks ago it was in the 80's. Apparently there was a snowstorm in Casper, Wyoming last week so we might get that soon or we're just getting part of the cold front that is moving through this part of the states.
Well that's about it for this week. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is a huge blessing in my life to be a missionary serving my God and fellow man. I pray that each one of us can and will be blessed with missionary opportunities where we can help others feel that tremendous, perfect love our Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ has for us. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
This week was slowwww, but at least we had General Conference to make up for it. It was so good, like always, and I think it gets better every year. All the talks were great, and I especially enjoyed President Monson's address in the Sunday morning session. What a blessing it is to be able to listen to the prophet of God and to hear his counsel. I hope we all take the messages we heard to heart and apply them in our lives.
So I got my new companion this week, Elder Kurzhals (its German) from Arizona. He's an interesting guy with a really genuine demeanor. We're getting along well. We got a lot of promises this week from people to attend General Conference...but guess what? None seemed to show up. Ya it was a little discouraging but, thats what happens in missionary work.
Anyway, we're still pressing on with the work here. The flu has been going around and basically all of our investigators have been sick, cool right? Not really, it was a slow week since we didn't get to see many people but we're going to be focused on finding this week and hopefully we can get some new investigators to help fill our teaching pool. The weather has been interesting here. Since Tuesday last week we haven't seen the sun. Its been cloudy and rainy and in the 40's, which I'm not complaining about but its pretty wild since 2 weeks ago it was in the 80's. Apparently there was a snowstorm in Casper, Wyoming last week so we might get that soon or we're just getting part of the cold front that is moving through this part of the states.
Well that's about it for this week. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is a huge blessing in my life to be a missionary serving my God and fellow man. I pray that each one of us can and will be blessed with missionary opportunities where we can help others feel that tremendous, perfect love our Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ has for us. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
September 28, 2009
Hello Everyone,
We had a pretty good week this week. Unfortunately, I forgot my planner at the apartment...so I'll do my best to remember the good stuff that happened. We got to see a lot of people which was good. We were blessed to be able to go out with members a lot this week which was awesome.
A neat story. We have an investigator whose member daughter was moving from Bemidji to Detroit Lakes and she asked us to help unload the trailer when it go to their town, Perham, which is about 20 miles east of DL). Since its a good distance we needed a ride to take us. But it was in the afternoon and most people were working. So we got an idea to ask a certain member to come with us. He agreed and we went. Well when we got there we where going to follow them to the storage shed but the trailer had got a flat tire. The neat part was the member that we brought was the only person around who was able to fix the flat tire. If we didn't bring him it would've either taken a whole lot longer or we would not have been able to help them unload. So that was a big blessing. The Lord watches out for his children, thats for sure!
Oh ya, on Fridays we do service for the museum in town, and 2 Fridays ago the manager invited us to an event they were putting on. So that was cool. It was a catered dinner with a silent auction(ya we didn't bid on anything), then they showed a movie made about the logging history in the surrounding areas. Ya we aren't supposed to watch movies...but since missionaries never get to go to things like this and since the museum has been really kind to us we thought it would be alright to watch the film. It was only an hour and it was actually really interesting.
But ya, back to missionary work. Transfer calls came this saturday, I'm staying and my companion is getting transferred. I'm getting a new comp who I don't know so we'll see what he's like tomorrow. It'll be neat taking over the area, but nothing new.
We're looking forward to general conference coming up. Its always a great opportunity to invite investigators and less-active members to. We try our hardest to get everyone out. Its extra nice in branches because they gather together on sunday and have a potluck inbetween sessions, which makes for good fellowship for investigators.
But ya, we're still working hard to teach those we have. Hopefully the Perez family will get home this week so they can attend GC, that would be awesome.
But that's the report for now, I hope you all are doing great. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
We had a pretty good week this week. Unfortunately, I forgot my planner at the apartment...so I'll do my best to remember the good stuff that happened. We got to see a lot of people which was good. We were blessed to be able to go out with members a lot this week which was awesome.
A neat story. We have an investigator whose member daughter was moving from Bemidji to Detroit Lakes and she asked us to help unload the trailer when it go to their town, Perham, which is about 20 miles east of DL). Since its a good distance we needed a ride to take us. But it was in the afternoon and most people were working. So we got an idea to ask a certain member to come with us. He agreed and we went. Well when we got there we where going to follow them to the storage shed but the trailer had got a flat tire. The neat part was the member that we brought was the only person around who was able to fix the flat tire. If we didn't bring him it would've either taken a whole lot longer or we would not have been able to help them unload. So that was a big blessing. The Lord watches out for his children, thats for sure!
Oh ya, on Fridays we do service for the museum in town, and 2 Fridays ago the manager invited us to an event they were putting on. So that was cool. It was a catered dinner with a silent auction(ya we didn't bid on anything), then they showed a movie made about the logging history in the surrounding areas. Ya we aren't supposed to watch movies...but since missionaries never get to go to things like this and since the museum has been really kind to us we thought it would be alright to watch the film. It was only an hour and it was actually really interesting.
But ya, back to missionary work. Transfer calls came this saturday, I'm staying and my companion is getting transferred. I'm getting a new comp who I don't know so we'll see what he's like tomorrow. It'll be neat taking over the area, but nothing new.
We're looking forward to general conference coming up. Its always a great opportunity to invite investigators and less-active members to. We try our hardest to get everyone out. Its extra nice in branches because they gather together on sunday and have a potluck inbetween sessions, which makes for good fellowship for investigators.
But ya, we're still working hard to teach those we have. Hopefully the Perez family will get home this week so they can attend GC, that would be awesome.
But that's the report for now, I hope you all are doing great. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
September 21, 2009 Service and More Service
Hi Everyone,
I hope you all are doing well. This week was a kinda slow one for us unfortunately. Not a lot of people were home. But it was a nice week weather wise, so a lot of people were probably out and about doing stuff.
Monday night we drove to Bemidji, MN for the district meeting we were having there on tuesday. It was fun meeting with the other elders(2 other sets). Tuesday morning apparently a professor at a local Christian college invited us to participate in his class called "Modern Religious Movements." His point of discussion that day was on a talk given by Bruce R. McConkie called the "7 Deadly Heresies." Ya, bad choice mister. Good talk, but it focuses a lot on heresies in the mormon church that need to be corrected...but they mostly deal with deep, deep doctrine stuff. The kind of doctrine that shouldn't be so lightly discusses by people not of our faith. Needless to say it was an interesting class, lots of tangents and some of the missionaries got the teacher a little mad when we explained our point of view and discovered we don't believe he has the priesthood nor had a valid baptism. Ya, he was perturbed by the end of the class. But we just about doubled the class size with us 6 missionaries, so it was interesting.
Anyway, we helped some members can some food this week, that was fun. Some jelly and salsa. Got to continue teaching the 9 year old boy, he's doing great. turns out one of our investigator's is testing today, I think, to see if he is eligible to join the Marine Corps. Which is pretty awesome...but if he passes he'll get shipped out on wednesday, which is too bad. We'll see what happens.
We got to do a lot of service, ranging from mowing lawns, to moving furniture, to helping habitat for humanity build a home. It was a branch project and we helped to install the insulation. Ya, fun stuff. But it was good.
Other than that we're still trying to find new people to teach and continue to work with those we have. The hispanic couple won't be home for another week or two due to illness, which is sad. We did get a hold of the Taiwanese boy attending the Christian school in Fergus Falls, MN and we'll be meeting with him on saturday hopefully. So we're exciting about this upcoming week. Also because we have a dinner appointment every night except saturday, which is pretty awesome.
Well I hope you all are doing well and are studying your scriptures daily! It is a great strength to us in our lives and a tremendous blessing from the Lord to have all the scripture that we do. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all are doing well. This week was a kinda slow one for us unfortunately. Not a lot of people were home. But it was a nice week weather wise, so a lot of people were probably out and about doing stuff.
Monday night we drove to Bemidji, MN for the district meeting we were having there on tuesday. It was fun meeting with the other elders(2 other sets). Tuesday morning apparently a professor at a local Christian college invited us to participate in his class called "Modern Religious Movements." His point of discussion that day was on a talk given by Bruce R. McConkie called the "7 Deadly Heresies." Ya, bad choice mister. Good talk, but it focuses a lot on heresies in the mormon church that need to be corrected...but they mostly deal with deep, deep doctrine stuff. The kind of doctrine that shouldn't be so lightly discusses by people not of our faith. Needless to say it was an interesting class, lots of tangents and some of the missionaries got the teacher a little mad when we explained our point of view and discovered we don't believe he has the priesthood nor had a valid baptism. Ya, he was perturbed by the end of the class. But we just about doubled the class size with us 6 missionaries, so it was interesting.
Anyway, we helped some members can some food this week, that was fun. Some jelly and salsa. Got to continue teaching the 9 year old boy, he's doing great. turns out one of our investigator's is testing today, I think, to see if he is eligible to join the Marine Corps. Which is pretty awesome...but if he passes he'll get shipped out on wednesday, which is too bad. We'll see what happens.
We got to do a lot of service, ranging from mowing lawns, to moving furniture, to helping habitat for humanity build a home. It was a branch project and we helped to install the insulation. Ya, fun stuff. But it was good.
Other than that we're still trying to find new people to teach and continue to work with those we have. The hispanic couple won't be home for another week or two due to illness, which is sad. We did get a hold of the Taiwanese boy attending the Christian school in Fergus Falls, MN and we'll be meeting with him on saturday hopefully. So we're exciting about this upcoming week. Also because we have a dinner appointment every night except saturday, which is pretty awesome.
Well I hope you all are doing well and are studying your scriptures daily! It is a great strength to us in our lives and a tremendous blessing from the Lord to have all the scripture that we do. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
September 14, 2009
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all are doing well. We had a pretty good week this week. Lets see, some highlights:
We visited a member this week who said they think there is a spirit in their house. Not necessarily evil, but unwanted so they had us bless the house and hopes of getting rid of it. It was neat because she's native and her mother is too. Her mother was there and isn't a member but seemed to be grateful that we did it. She has her own ways of casting out spirits she said and told us if ours didn't work she'd try hers. But at least she's giving it a try.
Recently we got a referral from the Taiwai, Taipei Mission(oh ya Cameron) for a Taiwanese guy who was being taught there but is apparently attending a christian school in the area. He lives in Fergus Falls, about an hour drive so we had a member take us there last week. We were unable to contact him but found out he goes to a Lutheran academy. So it will be interesting but apparently he really liked our church. So hopefully we'll be able to contact him and get him baptized like the referral requested, haha.
But we were able to see most all of our investigators this week. And they're all doing well and seem to be doing a little better in their efforts. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Marcus, but he almost showed up to church on sunday, we'll have to ask him why he didn't make it.
Oh ya, on Saturday we were able to help out with a half marathon run that was taking place in the town. The Valdez family, members, were in charge of the water stations along the route. So we helped them bring additional water jugs to the tables and fill up cups and pass them out to the runners, as well as clean it all up afterwards. It was a lot of fun though. There were about 2,000 runners, so a decent size race for the population of the area. We also got a free t-shirt!
But other than that things are going as normal. The Perez family gets home this week so hopefully we'll be able to get back in contact with them and get the ball rolling. Its exciting being a missionary and I'm loving every second. I feel humble being allowed to be out here and performing the same task that the ancient apostles were charged with. It truly is an amazing and inspired work. Let us all strive to participate in it however we can in our lives, to help further the Lord's work and help our fellow brothers and sisters feel the love that comes with partaking of the gospel!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all are doing well. We had a pretty good week this week. Lets see, some highlights:
We visited a member this week who said they think there is a spirit in their house. Not necessarily evil, but unwanted so they had us bless the house and hopes of getting rid of it. It was neat because she's native and her mother is too. Her mother was there and isn't a member but seemed to be grateful that we did it. She has her own ways of casting out spirits she said and told us if ours didn't work she'd try hers. But at least she's giving it a try.
Recently we got a referral from the Taiwai, Taipei Mission(oh ya Cameron) for a Taiwanese guy who was being taught there but is apparently attending a christian school in the area. He lives in Fergus Falls, about an hour drive so we had a member take us there last week. We were unable to contact him but found out he goes to a Lutheran academy. So it will be interesting but apparently he really liked our church. So hopefully we'll be able to contact him and get him baptized like the referral requested, haha.
But we were able to see most all of our investigators this week. And they're all doing well and seem to be doing a little better in their efforts. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Marcus, but he almost showed up to church on sunday, we'll have to ask him why he didn't make it.
Oh ya, on Saturday we were able to help out with a half marathon run that was taking place in the town. The Valdez family, members, were in charge of the water stations along the route. So we helped them bring additional water jugs to the tables and fill up cups and pass them out to the runners, as well as clean it all up afterwards. It was a lot of fun though. There were about 2,000 runners, so a decent size race for the population of the area. We also got a free t-shirt!
But other than that things are going as normal. The Perez family gets home this week so hopefully we'll be able to get back in contact with them and get the ball rolling. Its exciting being a missionary and I'm loving every second. I feel humble being allowed to be out here and performing the same task that the ancient apostles were charged with. It truly is an amazing and inspired work. Let us all strive to participate in it however we can in our lives, to help further the Lord's work and help our fellow brothers and sisters feel the love that comes with partaking of the gospel!
Love,
Elder Fitt
September 8, 2009 Labor Day
Hello Everyone,
Sorry for being late this week. Since yesterday was Labor Day the library was closed and we couldn't do emails. But we had a pretty good week last week. I don't have much time to write but again we were able to do a lot of service. Unfortunately we didn't get to make too much progress with our investigators since the Perez family is out of town visiting family for 2 weeks. Though we did get to talk with Marcus about faith and watch the DVD "Finding Faith in Christ" which is a powerful movie. He has a pretty limited gospel knowledge so it'll make the teaching process a little slower, mainly since he doesn't comprehend much of what he reads. But he wants to learn so that helps.
Sorry for the short email, but I'll try to write more next week since it will be P-day instead of tuesday and I'll have more time.
I hope all is going well and that you're being blessed with missionary opportunities of your own!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Sorry for being late this week. Since yesterday was Labor Day the library was closed and we couldn't do emails. But we had a pretty good week last week. I don't have much time to write but again we were able to do a lot of service. Unfortunately we didn't get to make too much progress with our investigators since the Perez family is out of town visiting family for 2 weeks. Though we did get to talk with Marcus about faith and watch the DVD "Finding Faith in Christ" which is a powerful movie. He has a pretty limited gospel knowledge so it'll make the teaching process a little slower, mainly since he doesn't comprehend much of what he reads. But he wants to learn so that helps.
Sorry for the short email, but I'll try to write more next week since it will be P-day instead of tuesday and I'll have more time.
I hope all is going well and that you're being blessed with missionary opportunities of your own!
Love,
Elder Fitt
August 31, 2009 One Year Out!!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a good week! Man time sure does fly, its crazy. This time last year I was just barely in the first week of my MTC experience. Its been a good year though and hopefully the next one will be even better.
We had a pretty good week this week. We had zone conference earlier in the week and it was amazing like always. We had some great trainings about building our faith, which is always important to keep working on. Right after zone conference we did exchanges and I went to serve with an Elder Erickson(he's from Orem, UT) in a city called Bemidji, the place where I was originally called to serve a transfer ago before they changed it to Detroit Lakes. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and we got a lot done up there.
Its always amazing to see where ever you go the members are always awesome and want to help out in whatever way they can.
Neat experience we had there. We were teaching one of their investigator's,
Todd, whose a pretty spiritually sensitive guy. He's working towards baptism but had a pretty rough life so he's working on overcoming some bad habits. We offered to give him a blessing to help him in that effort and he said he'd like that. After the blessing he commented on how he felt different and that he felt that he had known us for a really long time. It was pretty neat.
When I got back to Detroit Lakes we were blessed to see the Perez family again, Maria and Alvarro. They're doing awesome. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and they really liked it and kept talking about how they want to make it to the top circle and not the other two. We tried to commit them to baptism. They said they wanted to be baptized but didn't want to set a date yet because they want to learn more. But its pretty exciting. They also fed us some traditional Mexican food, highlight being a mole sauce. They were able to make it to church too, which they enjoyed. Its too bad that Maria can't understand English too well. But the Lord will
provide.
Well I better get going. I hope the Lord is providing you all with missionary experiences and that you're seeking them yourselves! The Church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a good week! Man time sure does fly, its crazy. This time last year I was just barely in the first week of my MTC experience. Its been a good year though and hopefully the next one will be even better.
We had a pretty good week this week. We had zone conference earlier in the week and it was amazing like always. We had some great trainings about building our faith, which is always important to keep working on. Right after zone conference we did exchanges and I went to serve with an Elder Erickson(he's from Orem, UT) in a city called Bemidji, the place where I was originally called to serve a transfer ago before they changed it to Detroit Lakes. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and we got a lot done up there.
Its always amazing to see where ever you go the members are always awesome and want to help out in whatever way they can.
Neat experience we had there. We were teaching one of their investigator's,
Todd, whose a pretty spiritually sensitive guy. He's working towards baptism but had a pretty rough life so he's working on overcoming some bad habits. We offered to give him a blessing to help him in that effort and he said he'd like that. After the blessing he commented on how he felt different and that he felt that he had known us for a really long time. It was pretty neat.
When I got back to Detroit Lakes we were blessed to see the Perez family again, Maria and Alvarro. They're doing awesome. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and they really liked it and kept talking about how they want to make it to the top circle and not the other two. We tried to commit them to baptism. They said they wanted to be baptized but didn't want to set a date yet because they want to learn more. But its pretty exciting. They also fed us some traditional Mexican food, highlight being a mole sauce. They were able to make it to church too, which they enjoyed. Its too bad that Maria can't understand English too well. But the Lord will
provide.
Well I better get going. I hope the Lord is providing you all with missionary experiences and that you're seeking them yourselves! The Church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
August 24, 2009
Hello Everyone,
We had a pretty good week this week. Again we were able to do a bit of service for people around the area. One of the biggest projects was we helped a member who is the resident manager of an apartment complex clean one of the apartments that got totally trashed. It was like his 7th to clean in the last month and he had people moving in that day so we told him we'd help him catch up. It was nasty! Man, some people just don't know how to clean. But it was good to be able to help him out so that apartment wasn't trashed for the people moving in.
We got to attend one of our investigator's 'testing' nights for Tae Kwon Do. He was testing to go from I guess purple trim to brown belt? I think. Anyways, it was pretty fun to watch and see what they do. Unfortunately he didn't pass, but he gets to retry this week. Also watched some of the other members train before the test which was pretty cool.
We were able to make some more progress with the Perez family, Alvaro and Maria. They're awesome. They had read all that we assigned and loved it. So we jumped in the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and they really enjoyed it, especially the verses we used from the Book of Mormon. They're really excited to come to church and should be there this coming sunday, which is awesome. They really want to learn which is great. They're also helping me remember some of my spanish, which is fun too. So we're both learning!
Other than that we've been trying to find new people to teach. Zone conference is this week which is exciting. We attended stake general priesthood meeting yesterday and something that has been said before but is always good to hear was spoken. They mentioned that missionaries are called to be full-time teachers...and that members are the full-time finders. This is true. Though a lot of times missionaries have to do finding themselves. But, they were emphasizing the importance of members finding people for the missionaries to teach. I know that as you ask the Lord for assistance in finding someone for the missionaries to teach He will help you. You will find greater joy and happiness as you share the gospel with others, I can promise you that.
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
We had a pretty good week this week. Again we were able to do a bit of service for people around the area. One of the biggest projects was we helped a member who is the resident manager of an apartment complex clean one of the apartments that got totally trashed. It was like his 7th to clean in the last month and he had people moving in that day so we told him we'd help him catch up. It was nasty! Man, some people just don't know how to clean. But it was good to be able to help him out so that apartment wasn't trashed for the people moving in.
We got to attend one of our investigator's 'testing' nights for Tae Kwon Do. He was testing to go from I guess purple trim to brown belt? I think. Anyways, it was pretty fun to watch and see what they do. Unfortunately he didn't pass, but he gets to retry this week. Also watched some of the other members train before the test which was pretty cool.
We were able to make some more progress with the Perez family, Alvaro and Maria. They're awesome. They had read all that we assigned and loved it. So we jumped in the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and they really enjoyed it, especially the verses we used from the Book of Mormon. They're really excited to come to church and should be there this coming sunday, which is awesome. They really want to learn which is great. They're also helping me remember some of my spanish, which is fun too. So we're both learning!
Other than that we've been trying to find new people to teach. Zone conference is this week which is exciting. We attended stake general priesthood meeting yesterday and something that has been said before but is always good to hear was spoken. They mentioned that missionaries are called to be full-time teachers...and that members are the full-time finders. This is true. Though a lot of times missionaries have to do finding themselves. But, they were emphasizing the importance of members finding people for the missionaries to teach. I know that as you ask the Lord for assistance in finding someone for the missionaries to teach He will help you. You will find greater joy and happiness as you share the gospel with others, I can promise you that.
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
August 17, 2009 Hello From Minnesota!
Hello Everyone,
We had a pretty good week this week, I hope you did too. We were able to start meeting with a guy we tracted into a little bit ago, his name is Marcus. We taught him the Restoration earlier this week and he participated a lot and had good questions. Best yet, when we asked when we could come back he said the next day. Then, it gets even better, when we came back the next day he had actually read some of the assignment we left! Wow...no one has read anything we have left for such a long time, it was crazy. So then we talked about that and taught him about the plan of salvation. So things are looking pretty good for him, hopefully he'll keep reading and praying and good things will happen.
Also, another cool story. We got a referral in the mail the other day for a person down in a town called Pelican Rapids. Its about 30 miles out of town so we had a member take us down there. Before we left Elder Badten remembered we had another referral for down there that they had got like 3 months ago and hadn't been able to contact. So we took that too. The one we recently got wasn't there but we tried the old one. They answered and we were able to drop off the Lamb of God DVD for them. They are a nice Mexican couple, the husband speaks pretty good English the wife doesn't...wish I knew my Spanish as well as I used to(which still wasn't the greatest). But we set up a time to come back to meet with them later in the week. So we were able to do so and we had an restoration lesson with them. The wife was full of questions, and though it took a little longer with the husband acting as interpreter, it still was great. They're searching for the truth and they realize it isn't in a lot of other churches. A great part was that they were upset with all the idol worship that happens in Mexico and we were able to talk about that and other things. But they look really promising. The only problem will be getting them to church since they live a decent ways from the building and might work during it...and the wife wouldn't be able to understand most of what they say. But the Lord will provide.
The rest of the week was good too. But those were the top stories. We were able to help a member's neighbor move some wood. A tree had fallen on his property, a good mile or so from the house in a pretty thick forest and he had quartered it. So we piled into a 4-wheeler pick-up thing and picked up the wood and brought it back so he could split it for firewood. It was pretty fun. Neat old guy.
I'd say those are the highlights of the week. Oh ya, transfer calls came, we're both staying. So I'll be here for at least another 6 weeks. But a lot of missionaries are going home in the next few months. We got 9 new missionaries this transfer and are getting 11 new ones next one...so maybe I'll be training, we'll see.
Anyway, I hope all is going well and that you are getting blessed with missionary opportunities!
Love,
Elder Fitt
We had a pretty good week this week, I hope you did too. We were able to start meeting with a guy we tracted into a little bit ago, his name is Marcus. We taught him the Restoration earlier this week and he participated a lot and had good questions. Best yet, when we asked when we could come back he said the next day. Then, it gets even better, when we came back the next day he had actually read some of the assignment we left! Wow...no one has read anything we have left for such a long time, it was crazy. So then we talked about that and taught him about the plan of salvation. So things are looking pretty good for him, hopefully he'll keep reading and praying and good things will happen.
Also, another cool story. We got a referral in the mail the other day for a person down in a town called Pelican Rapids. Its about 30 miles out of town so we had a member take us down there. Before we left Elder Badten remembered we had another referral for down there that they had got like 3 months ago and hadn't been able to contact. So we took that too. The one we recently got wasn't there but we tried the old one. They answered and we were able to drop off the Lamb of God DVD for them. They are a nice Mexican couple, the husband speaks pretty good English the wife doesn't...wish I knew my Spanish as well as I used to(which still wasn't the greatest). But we set up a time to come back to meet with them later in the week. So we were able to do so and we had an restoration lesson with them. The wife was full of questions, and though it took a little longer with the husband acting as interpreter, it still was great. They're searching for the truth and they realize it isn't in a lot of other churches. A great part was that they were upset with all the idol worship that happens in Mexico and we were able to talk about that and other things. But they look really promising. The only problem will be getting them to church since they live a decent ways from the building and might work during it...and the wife wouldn't be able to understand most of what they say. But the Lord will provide.
The rest of the week was good too. But those were the top stories. We were able to help a member's neighbor move some wood. A tree had fallen on his property, a good mile or so from the house in a pretty thick forest and he had quartered it. So we piled into a 4-wheeler pick-up thing and picked up the wood and brought it back so he could split it for firewood. It was pretty fun. Neat old guy.
I'd say those are the highlights of the week. Oh ya, transfer calls came, we're both staying. So I'll be here for at least another 6 weeks. But a lot of missionaries are going home in the next few months. We got 9 new missionaries this transfer and are getting 11 new ones next one...so maybe I'll be training, we'll see.
Anyway, I hope all is going well and that you are getting blessed with missionary opportunities!
Love,
Elder Fitt
August 10, 2009 Minnesota Summer
Everything is going pretty well here. We had a pretty slow week though unfortunately. There was a big country music concert/festival in town from Wednesday to Saturday called "We Fest" so most of the people who live in town bailed for the weekend and we were flooded with tourists...so we didn't get to see a lot of people.
Fortunately we were able to pick up 3 new investigators this week, which is awesome. They're looking pretty good...hopefuly, like all the rest, they have a desire to read and pray, and hopefully we can help strengthen that desire.
Other than that, the weather has been nice here. Nice and cool, but not too cold. Though this week is supposed to be really hot...90's or so and humid. Seeing how its been in the 70's, its a pretty big jump.
We did a lot of service, which is good. We're really trying to focus on working with the members at the moment and get them excited to be missionaries to their friends and be active in reactivation in the ward and help with missionary work in part-member families. Its looking pretty good so far so we're excited about that.
Well I hope you all have a great week and sorry this was a short letter. Not much happened out of the ordinary. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Fortunately we were able to pick up 3 new investigators this week, which is awesome. They're looking pretty good...hopefuly, like all the rest, they have a desire to read and pray, and hopefully we can help strengthen that desire.
Other than that, the weather has been nice here. Nice and cool, but not too cold. Though this week is supposed to be really hot...90's or so and humid. Seeing how its been in the 70's, its a pretty big jump.
We did a lot of service, which is good. We're really trying to focus on working with the members at the moment and get them excited to be missionaries to their friends and be active in reactivation in the ward and help with missionary work in part-member families. Its looking pretty good so far so we're excited about that.
Well I hope you all have a great week and sorry this was a short letter. Not much happened out of the ordinary. The church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
August 3, 2009 Minnesota Missionary- that's me!
Hello Everyone,
Things are going pretty well here. This last week was pretty good, though it had its ups and downs. We were able to get a new investigator, her name is Sharon, an old lady. She is real nice and we had a good lesson about the Restoration with her. It was interesting how we found her. We were tracting an apartment building, knocked on her door and she didn't answer. So we continued on that floor knocking doors then she opens her door and hollers to us if we were knocking on her door. We said yes and that we're missionaries and she told us to come back in few days. That isn't something that happens too often..especially here in Detroit Lakes. But it was good and we hopefully will see her again this week.
Besides that nothing too eventful or crazy happened. We just did a lot of tracting and finding this week. Lots of which didn't turn out so well. But we're really focusing on working with the members. There's a family, the Valdez's, who are really friendly with the missionaries. We eat at their house every Sunday, and we were talking with them the other day about how the branch struggles with member referrals and actively pursuing their own missionary efforts. So yesterday when we saw them they told us they invited a part-member family over for dinner next Sunday! Its awesome, so we'll be able to share a lesson with them and hopefully get the ball rolling again on the husband. I think he's been taught before, but hopefully he's open this time.
That's about it for this week. This is the Lord's work and he will bless you for your efforts in it!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Things are going pretty well here. This last week was pretty good, though it had its ups and downs. We were able to get a new investigator, her name is Sharon, an old lady. She is real nice and we had a good lesson about the Restoration with her. It was interesting how we found her. We were tracting an apartment building, knocked on her door and she didn't answer. So we continued on that floor knocking doors then she opens her door and hollers to us if we were knocking on her door. We said yes and that we're missionaries and she told us to come back in few days. That isn't something that happens too often..especially here in Detroit Lakes. But it was good and we hopefully will see her again this week.
Besides that nothing too eventful or crazy happened. We just did a lot of tracting and finding this week. Lots of which didn't turn out so well. But we're really focusing on working with the members. There's a family, the Valdez's, who are really friendly with the missionaries. We eat at their house every Sunday, and we were talking with them the other day about how the branch struggles with member referrals and actively pursuing their own missionary efforts. So yesterday when we saw them they told us they invited a part-member family over for dinner next Sunday! Its awesome, so we'll be able to share a lesson with them and hopefully get the ball rolling again on the husband. I think he's been taught before, but hopefully he's open this time.
That's about it for this week. This is the Lord's work and he will bless you for your efforts in it!
Love,
Elder Fitt
July 27, 2009
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is going well with all of you. Things are going pretty good here. It was another slow week but we were able to make some good progress with investigators who we hadn't been able to get in contact with for a while.
On Tuesday we had Zone Conference in Fargo and that was a great experience. It was neat to have our first Zone Conference with President and Sister Layton. They're great, and gave really good trainings and helped us become better missionaries. Its amazing to see the mantle shift so perfectly. It really is a testimony to me of the divinity of this work and the truthfulness of the gospel. Not to get into politics, but whenever a new president takes office you see all these changes, insertions and deletions, whereas in the church when a new leader takes over its seamless. And thats because the Lord is in charge of the work and he's directing it.
We were able to attend the Branch Pioneer day picnic this week which was a lot of fun. Played some 'ladder golf' and some badminton(sp?) which was a lot of fun. We also got to mingle a lot with the youth, and there are a few mission-age priests, so hopefully we can help get them fired up to go.
Other than that we were able to do a lot of service this week around the community and the branch, which is always good. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and serve the Lord in this capacity. I was able to give a talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting about Proclaiming the Gospel. It was a good experience, but isn't just the missionaries job, its everyones! But you all know that, so just keep praying for missionary experiences and the Lord will help you become a instrument in His hands.
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is going well with all of you. Things are going pretty good here. It was another slow week but we were able to make some good progress with investigators who we hadn't been able to get in contact with for a while.
On Tuesday we had Zone Conference in Fargo and that was a great experience. It was neat to have our first Zone Conference with President and Sister Layton. They're great, and gave really good trainings and helped us become better missionaries. Its amazing to see the mantle shift so perfectly. It really is a testimony to me of the divinity of this work and the truthfulness of the gospel. Not to get into politics, but whenever a new president takes office you see all these changes, insertions and deletions, whereas in the church when a new leader takes over its seamless. And thats because the Lord is in charge of the work and he's directing it.
We were able to attend the Branch Pioneer day picnic this week which was a lot of fun. Played some 'ladder golf' and some badminton(sp?) which was a lot of fun. We also got to mingle a lot with the youth, and there are a few mission-age priests, so hopefully we can help get them fired up to go.
Other than that we were able to do a lot of service this week around the community and the branch, which is always good. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and serve the Lord in this capacity. I was able to give a talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting about Proclaiming the Gospel. It was a good experience, but isn't just the missionaries job, its everyones! But you all know that, so just keep praying for missionary experiences and the Lord will help you become a instrument in His hands.
Love,
Elder Fitt
July 20, 2009
Hello everyone,
I hope all is going well with you! The work here is kinda slow as usual, but good. We had an interesting week this week. Some of the "promising" investigators we had dropped us this week unfortunately. We got to see some others and the work went on just as usual. But one thing here that is always hard is finding people. Tracting here is really difficult, people are pretty set in their ways so tracting isn't too fruitful. But the other day we were trying to find a place to tract. So we drove down a road and both of us had a weird feeling...for some reason the street just didn't feel right. So I turned around and went to another little community and we just drove and decided to tract at the end of a couldesac(sp?). Anyway, a few doors down we were able to talk with a lady named Angela and give talk to her about the Restoration. She really seemed to enjoy it and was excited to read the Book of Mormon. We're going to be seeing her tomorrow...so hopefully
she's had a positive experience reading and praying! Either way it was exciting to actually have some success tracting.
We were also blessed to get in and visit with an investigator that has lost contact with us for a while. Her name is Alysha and she's searching pretty hard for the truth right now. She is looking at the Seventh Day Adventist church but hasn't said she has decided either way. She just wants to find truth. So hopefully she'll take the initiative to read what we left her so she can find out for herself.
Other than that we're just trying to find ways to fill the time in the day. There isn't much going on here. The members are great but don't do much in the ways of referrals...and since many of them live 20+ miles out of town its a little hard too. We do a lot of service, which is good. We were able to spread about 10 yards(cubic) of bark chips around the Chamber of Commerce here in town, which was fun. Reminded me of the days when I used to do that in High School with some friends. It was fun, took a little while with only two of us and one wheel barrow, but it looks good now.
Late last night we got a call from the Branch President asking us to meet him at the hospital. A member's daughter(about 7 years old) apparently had appendicitis and was in the emergency room and had requested a blessing. So we hurried over and we were able to administer a blessing before she went in for surgery. It was a neat experience. I think her father isn't a member, but he was really grateful we came and did it. So maybe a seed was planted there and some fruit may come of it in the future.
Anyway, that was our week in a nutshell. The church is true and I'm loving the work. Keep praying for missionary experiences and the Lord will bless you with them!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is going well with you! The work here is kinda slow as usual, but good. We had an interesting week this week. Some of the "promising" investigators we had dropped us this week unfortunately. We got to see some others and the work went on just as usual. But one thing here that is always hard is finding people. Tracting here is really difficult, people are pretty set in their ways so tracting isn't too fruitful. But the other day we were trying to find a place to tract. So we drove down a road and both of us had a weird feeling...for some reason the street just didn't feel right. So I turned around and went to another little community and we just drove and decided to tract at the end of a couldesac(sp?). Anyway, a few doors down we were able to talk with a lady named Angela and give talk to her about the Restoration. She really seemed to enjoy it and was excited to read the Book of Mormon. We're going to be seeing her tomorrow...so hopefully
she's had a positive experience reading and praying! Either way it was exciting to actually have some success tracting.
We were also blessed to get in and visit with an investigator that has lost contact with us for a while. Her name is Alysha and she's searching pretty hard for the truth right now. She is looking at the Seventh Day Adventist church but hasn't said she has decided either way. She just wants to find truth. So hopefully she'll take the initiative to read what we left her so she can find out for herself.
Other than that we're just trying to find ways to fill the time in the day. There isn't much going on here. The members are great but don't do much in the ways of referrals...and since many of them live 20+ miles out of town its a little hard too. We do a lot of service, which is good. We were able to spread about 10 yards(cubic) of bark chips around the Chamber of Commerce here in town, which was fun. Reminded me of the days when I used to do that in High School with some friends. It was fun, took a little while with only two of us and one wheel barrow, but it looks good now.
Late last night we got a call from the Branch President asking us to meet him at the hospital. A member's daughter(about 7 years old) apparently had appendicitis and was in the emergency room and had requested a blessing. So we hurried over and we were able to administer a blessing before she went in for surgery. It was a neat experience. I think her father isn't a member, but he was really grateful we came and did it. So maybe a seed was planted there and some fruit may come of it in the future.
Anyway, that was our week in a nutshell. The church is true and I'm loving the work. Keep praying for missionary experiences and the Lord will bless you with them!
Love,
Elder Fitt
July 13, 2009 Hello From MN
Hello everyone!
We had a pretty good week this week. I'm starting to learn the area pretty well and meet most of the people that we associate with. We have a pretty small teaching pool here, but we're trying to build it up. But the only way we can really do that is from tracting...and tracting is pretty unproductive in a town that is mostly old people, most of which are staunch lutherans or catholics. But we still try nonetheless. Something President Cannon told us is that "tracting is a sign of obedience, its there to call down the blessings of heaven." So as we tract and show the Lord we're willing to work and find people on our own, he'll bless us either in our tracting efforts or in other areas of the work.
We have a pretty neat investigator here, her name is Bonita and she's an older native lady. She has been taught for quite a while now, off and on, by the elders. She has a testimony of the church and really wants to get baptized...but its difficult for her to make it to church because of work. She has 2-3 jobs and is really busy, so its even hard for us to get in to visit with her. But all she needs to do is come to church and she can get baptized. She's determined to make it this sunday though and said she won't let anything get in her way. So that's pretty exciting...and hoepfully nothing does.
The other people we're working with aren't really progressing too much at the moment, but we're trying to help them keep commitments and gain a testimony for themselves. Its amazing how flaky people are sometimes, but its not in our control so it really shouldn't make us mad since it isn't our fault. So lesson to be learned...don't be a flake, haha.
Yesterday was quite an amazing day though. It had been a pretty spiritually draining week this past week and I was getting pretty low. So I decided to read my patriarchal blessing for personal study. I am so grateful for the power and strength it brings to me through the Spirit. I hope all of you regularly read your patriarchal blessing(which I'm sure you do), it is a tremendous sign of our Father in Heaven's love for us.
Church was amazing too. In Sacrament meeting we had some of the best talks I have ever heard. One was on the importance of the temples and how they are a light to our lives. The second was about how we all need to treat each other better. The overarching theme I found in the talk is that we need to truly learn how when we run into someone...that we treat them exactly the way the Savior would. It is a hard task, but as we are able to develope that kind of charity in our lives, we will find an immense increase of joy in our lives.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission for the Lord. I know he leads and guides this work and that as we follow the promptings of the Spirit we can help bring others to the knowledge of the truth!
Love,
Elder Fitt
We had a pretty good week this week. I'm starting to learn the area pretty well and meet most of the people that we associate with. We have a pretty small teaching pool here, but we're trying to build it up. But the only way we can really do that is from tracting...and tracting is pretty unproductive in a town that is mostly old people, most of which are staunch lutherans or catholics. But we still try nonetheless. Something President Cannon told us is that "tracting is a sign of obedience, its there to call down the blessings of heaven." So as we tract and show the Lord we're willing to work and find people on our own, he'll bless us either in our tracting efforts or in other areas of the work.
We have a pretty neat investigator here, her name is Bonita and she's an older native lady. She has been taught for quite a while now, off and on, by the elders. She has a testimony of the church and really wants to get baptized...but its difficult for her to make it to church because of work. She has 2-3 jobs and is really busy, so its even hard for us to get in to visit with her. But all she needs to do is come to church and she can get baptized. She's determined to make it this sunday though and said she won't let anything get in her way. So that's pretty exciting...and hoepfully nothing does.
The other people we're working with aren't really progressing too much at the moment, but we're trying to help them keep commitments and gain a testimony for themselves. Its amazing how flaky people are sometimes, but its not in our control so it really shouldn't make us mad since it isn't our fault. So lesson to be learned...don't be a flake, haha.
Yesterday was quite an amazing day though. It had been a pretty spiritually draining week this past week and I was getting pretty low. So I decided to read my patriarchal blessing for personal study. I am so grateful for the power and strength it brings to me through the Spirit. I hope all of you regularly read your patriarchal blessing(which I'm sure you do), it is a tremendous sign of our Father in Heaven's love for us.
Church was amazing too. In Sacrament meeting we had some of the best talks I have ever heard. One was on the importance of the temples and how they are a light to our lives. The second was about how we all need to treat each other better. The overarching theme I found in the talk is that we need to truly learn how when we run into someone...that we treat them exactly the way the Savior would. It is a hard task, but as we are able to develope that kind of charity in our lives, we will find an immense increase of joy in our lives.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission for the Lord. I know he leads and guides this work and that as we follow the promptings of the Spirit we can help bring others to the knowledge of the truth!
Love,
Elder Fitt
July 6, 2009 Hello From Minnesota (That's weird to say!)
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is going well with you. Minnesota is treating me great! After about a 12 hour trip across the mission, I finally made it to Detroit Lakes. Its really pretty here and full of lakes! Lots of green stuff...everywhere. And lakes and green stuff also mean lots of mosquitos, dang, but it's alright.
I had a fun week. Got to meet a lot of our investigators...which is about 3 or 4, haha. The work is pretty slow here, but we do have a lady on date for baptism, our only struggle will be getting her to church since she works 3 jobs and is really busy. My companions name is Elder Badten and he's from New Hampshire. He's a good guy and we're getting along really well.
The branch out here is pretty tiny, about 20-30 active members, but I'm excited to be in a branch again, they're a lot of fun. The members are great and seem to have a special spirit about them, which is exciting.
I'm a little short on stories this week since my brain doesn't seem to want to work right now. But I'm loving it.
The work is going well and we're trying to find new people to teach and get this place built up. One of the biggest problems is the closest members to us are about 20 minutes away. None of the members actually live in Detroit Lakes itself, which is kind of nuts. But we have a few people who are willing to go out, but since they live pretty far out of town(a lot of them) they aren't able to make it as much. But we're working with what we have and making the most of it.
Well, if anyone has any questions, feel free to email them to me and I can reply in this email I send out every week.
I have a great love for this work and the blessing it brings to my life. I know that the Lord is amongst us preparing people within our circle of influence to come unto Him. But it is up to us to find those people. Many people are looking for the truth but "don't know where to find it." So in the words of Sister Cannon..."Go out and be the answer to someone's prayer!"
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is going well with you. Minnesota is treating me great! After about a 12 hour trip across the mission, I finally made it to Detroit Lakes. Its really pretty here and full of lakes! Lots of green stuff...everywhere. And lakes and green stuff also mean lots of mosquitos, dang, but it's alright.
I had a fun week. Got to meet a lot of our investigators...which is about 3 or 4, haha. The work is pretty slow here, but we do have a lady on date for baptism, our only struggle will be getting her to church since she works 3 jobs and is really busy. My companions name is Elder Badten and he's from New Hampshire. He's a good guy and we're getting along really well.
The branch out here is pretty tiny, about 20-30 active members, but I'm excited to be in a branch again, they're a lot of fun. The members are great and seem to have a special spirit about them, which is exciting.
I'm a little short on stories this week since my brain doesn't seem to want to work right now. But I'm loving it.
The work is going well and we're trying to find new people to teach and get this place built up. One of the biggest problems is the closest members to us are about 20 minutes away. None of the members actually live in Detroit Lakes itself, which is kind of nuts. But we have a few people who are willing to go out, but since they live pretty far out of town(a lot of them) they aren't able to make it as much. But we're working with what we have and making the most of it.
Well, if anyone has any questions, feel free to email them to me and I can reply in this email I send out every week.
I have a great love for this work and the blessing it brings to my life. I know that the Lord is amongst us preparing people within our circle of influence to come unto Him. But it is up to us to find those people. Many people are looking for the truth but "don't know where to find it." So in the words of Sister Cannon..."Go out and be the answer to someone's prayer!"
Love,
Elder Fitt
Monday, December 14, 2009
June 29, 2009 Hello From South Dakota- Almost Minnesota!
Hello Everyone,
Transfer calls came this week and I'm getting shipped out of Rapid City! I'm going all they way across the state and a few state borders to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota! Pretty nuts. I don't know too much about it, but it will be hot and humid for sure. It is somewhat close to Fargo, to give you a point of reference. I'm going to be serving with Elder Badten, who has been out for one transfer less than me, so another young companionship. It'll be good though, I'm excited.
Also, President Cannon is going home today, and President Layton will be coming in. So hopefully I'll get to see him before I leave for Minnesota tomorrow. Once I get my new address I'll email, but you can always send letters to my current address regardless where I'm at, because its the office's address and they'll forward it.
But other than that things are going well. Our baptisms got moved to July, they weren't quite ready, but it'll be good. This week I got to go on some exchanges with some of the elders in my district, so that was a lot of fun. I got to spend some time in Sturgis, South Dakota, where they have the bike rallies each year. The missionaries who serve in Spearfish cover Sturgis and they aren't allowed to leave their apartment to proselyte for the whole week that the bike rally is going on, pretty nuts.
But it was neat being up there, really beautiful. There is a member up there that owns an animal sanctuary. He takes most animals that have been abused, mistreated, or that are unwanted. Also he takes animals from zoo's that are mistreating them or doing illegal activities. We helped him do a tour because he had a big crowd coming through and needed help making sure people didn't wander off or little kids get their hands bitten. It was awesome. Got to see all sorts of animals, a lot of which you see in zoo's, but a lot closer. We go to watch them feed these two twin baby brown bears, it was really neat. Also, they have a section which is all big cats, so it had bengal tigers, siberian tigers, a huge barberry lion(they're the ones whose mane extends down their torso) named Hercules, leopards, jaguars, panthers, mountain lions, and some smaller cats too. It was awesome! Coolest though was a white siberian tiger they had, beautiful cat. Neat thing...I learned that the white coloring is a genetic thing and not a species thing. So a bengal tiger is usually orange, but can be white, and same with a siberian. The reason there are less white ones is because their coloring doesn't help much in the ways of disguise in the jungles...anyways, back to missionary work.
Things are going great and I'm excited for my new area. Thanks for the emails from those who sent them this week, they were much appreciated and enjoyed. I'm loving my time out here and all the experiences and growth I'm seeing. I'm grateful to be a member of Christ's church and to help others partake of the fruit of the tree of life and feel of that overwhelming joy(Lehi's dream is an amazing story!).
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Transfer calls came this week and I'm getting shipped out of Rapid City! I'm going all they way across the state and a few state borders to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota! Pretty nuts. I don't know too much about it, but it will be hot and humid for sure. It is somewhat close to Fargo, to give you a point of reference. I'm going to be serving with Elder Badten, who has been out for one transfer less than me, so another young companionship. It'll be good though, I'm excited.
Also, President Cannon is going home today, and President Layton will be coming in. So hopefully I'll get to see him before I leave for Minnesota tomorrow. Once I get my new address I'll email, but you can always send letters to my current address regardless where I'm at, because its the office's address and they'll forward it.
But other than that things are going well. Our baptisms got moved to July, they weren't quite ready, but it'll be good. This week I got to go on some exchanges with some of the elders in my district, so that was a lot of fun. I got to spend some time in Sturgis, South Dakota, where they have the bike rallies each year. The missionaries who serve in Spearfish cover Sturgis and they aren't allowed to leave their apartment to proselyte for the whole week that the bike rally is going on, pretty nuts.
But it was neat being up there, really beautiful. There is a member up there that owns an animal sanctuary. He takes most animals that have been abused, mistreated, or that are unwanted. Also he takes animals from zoo's that are mistreating them or doing illegal activities. We helped him do a tour because he had a big crowd coming through and needed help making sure people didn't wander off or little kids get their hands bitten. It was awesome. Got to see all sorts of animals, a lot of which you see in zoo's, but a lot closer. We go to watch them feed these two twin baby brown bears, it was really neat. Also, they have a section which is all big cats, so it had bengal tigers, siberian tigers, a huge barberry lion(they're the ones whose mane extends down their torso) named Hercules, leopards, jaguars, panthers, mountain lions, and some smaller cats too. It was awesome! Coolest though was a white siberian tiger they had, beautiful cat. Neat thing...I learned that the white coloring is a genetic thing and not a species thing. So a bengal tiger is usually orange, but can be white, and same with a siberian. The reason there are less white ones is because their coloring doesn't help much in the ways of disguise in the jungles...anyways, back to missionary work.
Things are going great and I'm excited for my new area. Thanks for the emails from those who sent them this week, they were much appreciated and enjoyed. I'm loving my time out here and all the experiences and growth I'm seeing. I'm grateful to be a member of Christ's church and to help others partake of the fruit of the tree of life and feel of that overwhelming joy(Lehi's dream is an amazing story!).
I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
June 22, 2009 Crazy Thunderstorms!
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is well. Its been pretty good out here. Most all of last week we were have some crazy thunderstorms which made things really interesting. We got caught in it a few times, once when we were tracting...we got soaked, nothing was dry when we made it to the car. It was fun though, and a good experience. The suns starting to come out a lot more and its staying in the 80's, so I'm starting to get some color back to my skin. Its been cloudy for quite some time now.
Things are going alright. Still have problems getting in with people. We might still have 2 baptisms this weekend though, which should be good. Hopefully they're ready, we'll see on tuesday.
I don't remember if I talked about Eric at all last week, but he was a callback a while ago. Well last week we got to teach him about 3 times. He loves talking with us and really seems to enjoy the Book of Mormon. He really knows his stuff and is Catholic, so I'm just hoping the Spirit touches him and helps him realize the importance of the church. But he's doing really good and is trying hard to apply what he's learning.
Other than that things are going slow though. The transfer is coming to an end this week and so is President and Sister Cannon's missions! Its nuts, the new mission president gets in a week from today. I'm really going to miss the Cannon's, they're amazing people. But I guess I'm one of the lucky few who gets to know 2 mission presidents for about the same time. So I get to know 4 really neat people instead of just 2! But I'm excited to see what happens and if any changes take place in ways of policy.
Everything is going well though. I'd like to hear from all of you if you ever have time. Though I can't respond to your emails, I'd enjoy reading them!
Well, I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is well. Its been pretty good out here. Most all of last week we were have some crazy thunderstorms which made things really interesting. We got caught in it a few times, once when we were tracting...we got soaked, nothing was dry when we made it to the car. It was fun though, and a good experience. The suns starting to come out a lot more and its staying in the 80's, so I'm starting to get some color back to my skin. Its been cloudy for quite some time now.
Things are going alright. Still have problems getting in with people. We might still have 2 baptisms this weekend though, which should be good. Hopefully they're ready, we'll see on tuesday.
I don't remember if I talked about Eric at all last week, but he was a callback a while ago. Well last week we got to teach him about 3 times. He loves talking with us and really seems to enjoy the Book of Mormon. He really knows his stuff and is Catholic, so I'm just hoping the Spirit touches him and helps him realize the importance of the church. But he's doing really good and is trying hard to apply what he's learning.
Other than that things are going slow though. The transfer is coming to an end this week and so is President and Sister Cannon's missions! Its nuts, the new mission president gets in a week from today. I'm really going to miss the Cannon's, they're amazing people. But I guess I'm one of the lucky few who gets to know 2 mission presidents for about the same time. So I get to know 4 really neat people instead of just 2! But I'm excited to see what happens and if any changes take place in ways of policy.
Everything is going well though. I'd like to hear from all of you if you ever have time. Though I can't respond to your emails, I'd enjoy reading them!
Well, I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
June 15, 2009 Hello from . . . you know where!
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a good week, because it was kind of a downer for us. Had some good things happen, but generally, everything fell through. It was pretty disappointing. But we still have 2 people who are on date for baptism on the 27th of June, which is really exciting, Stacy and Kate. They're doing well and working their best to prepare themselves. Its great to see.
It rained for the most of the week, which was pretty nice. It would be nice and sunny for a little bit then the rain would start tearing through, then stop, then rain again, then stop and get sunny, then rain again. It was fun stuff.
Alright, the one really neat thing that happened this week happened while we were tracting. We were waiting to do some service, so we decided to tract until it was time. The first door we knock on the lady peeks through her blinds and motions us to leave. Then as we are walking she opens the door and asks us to come in. She explained that she is suffering from depressions, loneliness, and these 2 rare, painful diseases that I hadn't heard of but are pretty nasty. She also told us she was contemplating suicide minutes before we opened the door. At first she was too afraid to let us in, but then thought to herself, "God must have sent this 2 young men to my house to help me turn my life around." It was really neat.
We talked and she mentioned how shes been in a real slump and we talked about her faith and church. She mentioned how she misses church a lot and wants to get back into it. Her past denominations she attended didn't treat her too well, so she got disaffected and stopped going. But as we explained how our church works she got really excited and wanted to come. She said she wanted to sing in the choir and work in the nursery! It was cute. She said she couldn't come this week because of previous engagements, but wants to come this upcoming Sunday, so that will be great. We're going to see her on Wednesday and teach her more about our Father in Heaven's love for us.
Funny sidenote...the other elders in our apartment caught a spider 2 weeks or so ago and have been catching bugs to feed it. Well the other day we were doing service dumping a truck-full of branches for a lady and found a pretty nasty looking spider. So we caught him and tonight we're gonna have the spiders duke it out. Hopefully they'll do something...hey, missionaries need to have fun too somehow.
But other than that things are going kinda slow. All of our appointments are falling through and people are disappearing. But we're still working and trying to find more people to teach.
On Sunday, Elder Hansen, an area authority 70, was in town visiting President Cannon, so the missionaries got invited to the mission home to chat with him in the evening. He talked and taught us a lot of things. But one thing he stressed that is key to missionary work that Elder Perry stressed to and all the apostles and prophets teach...is that full-time missionaries aren't very effective without member support. Its important to realize that the missionaries are working in your wards. They're there to teach your friends, relatives and coworkers. Sure missionaries can tract...but often times that yields little or no results. True, solid, converts come from members referring people they know to the missionaries and being involved themselves in the teaching process.
So, stepping off my soapbox, I'd like to commit you all to sincerely pray this week and next, however long it takes, until the Lord reveals to you a person or family he has prepared within your circle of influence for baptism...then act on it! What would be amazing if each one of you could have at least one family/person taught in your home by the end of the year by the full-time missionaries. It will be a tremendous blessing in your life as you do so. I know that this is the Lord's work and he will aid us in our righteous efforts!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a good week, because it was kind of a downer for us. Had some good things happen, but generally, everything fell through. It was pretty disappointing. But we still have 2 people who are on date for baptism on the 27th of June, which is really exciting, Stacy and Kate. They're doing well and working their best to prepare themselves. Its great to see.
It rained for the most of the week, which was pretty nice. It would be nice and sunny for a little bit then the rain would start tearing through, then stop, then rain again, then stop and get sunny, then rain again. It was fun stuff.
Alright, the one really neat thing that happened this week happened while we were tracting. We were waiting to do some service, so we decided to tract until it was time. The first door we knock on the lady peeks through her blinds and motions us to leave. Then as we are walking she opens the door and asks us to come in. She explained that she is suffering from depressions, loneliness, and these 2 rare, painful diseases that I hadn't heard of but are pretty nasty. She also told us she was contemplating suicide minutes before we opened the door. At first she was too afraid to let us in, but then thought to herself, "God must have sent this 2 young men to my house to help me turn my life around." It was really neat.
We talked and she mentioned how shes been in a real slump and we talked about her faith and church. She mentioned how she misses church a lot and wants to get back into it. Her past denominations she attended didn't treat her too well, so she got disaffected and stopped going. But as we explained how our church works she got really excited and wanted to come. She said she wanted to sing in the choir and work in the nursery! It was cute. She said she couldn't come this week because of previous engagements, but wants to come this upcoming Sunday, so that will be great. We're going to see her on Wednesday and teach her more about our Father in Heaven's love for us.
Funny sidenote...the other elders in our apartment caught a spider 2 weeks or so ago and have been catching bugs to feed it. Well the other day we were doing service dumping a truck-full of branches for a lady and found a pretty nasty looking spider. So we caught him and tonight we're gonna have the spiders duke it out. Hopefully they'll do something...hey, missionaries need to have fun too somehow.
But other than that things are going kinda slow. All of our appointments are falling through and people are disappearing. But we're still working and trying to find more people to teach.
On Sunday, Elder Hansen, an area authority 70, was in town visiting President Cannon, so the missionaries got invited to the mission home to chat with him in the evening. He talked and taught us a lot of things. But one thing he stressed that is key to missionary work that Elder Perry stressed to and all the apostles and prophets teach...is that full-time missionaries aren't very effective without member support. Its important to realize that the missionaries are working in your wards. They're there to teach your friends, relatives and coworkers. Sure missionaries can tract...but often times that yields little or no results. True, solid, converts come from members referring people they know to the missionaries and being involved themselves in the teaching process.
So, stepping off my soapbox, I'd like to commit you all to sincerely pray this week and next, however long it takes, until the Lord reveals to you a person or family he has prepared within your circle of influence for baptism...then act on it! What would be amazing if each one of you could have at least one family/person taught in your home by the end of the year by the full-time missionaries. It will be a tremendous blessing in your life as you do so. I know that this is the Lord's work and he will aid us in our righteous efforts!
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
June 8, 2009 Frustrations and Forging Ahead
Hi Everyone,
This week blew by! Its been good though. One of our baptisms, Ronald, fell off date and isn't getting baptized anymore. His mom said she doesn't want him to be, which is really annoying. She's a member too! She doesn't think he'd be able to keep his baptismal covenants...load of crock, but he'll get baptized when he's older and moves out. Kinda frustrating, especially since the real reason she doesn't want him to be baptized is because she got offended by the bishop! Argh, anyway, back to good news.
Yesterday at church we were able to commit two more people for baptism! Their names are Kate and Clayton. They're going to have the bishop marry them real soon. Their date is for the 27th of June, along with their friends, Stacy and Jolyn. They're all middle-aged and Native American, so its pretty exciting. They're doing really well!
So that's the big news for the week. Not too much else happened. Some investigator's that weren't progressing are starting to do better, and some that were doing good, like JD and Donny, we haven't been able to get a hold of for about 2 weeks! So that's really frustrating, but the work goes on.
Well, spiritual thought for the day. I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants today during personal study and was reading in and around section 60-70 and came across a verse I really liked. I believe Jesus is speaking in the revelation to Joseph Smith and he is talking about his Father and describes Him as "the Father of lights." I thought that was a really interesting title. The footnotes cross-referenced it to another verse in the Doctrine and Covenants talking about how whatever is good is light and whatever is light comes from the Father. I just made me think more that whatever is good in this life comes from our Father in Heaven. If it promotes us to live happy, fulfilling, righteous lives, it have been provided for us by our Father. On the contrary, the father of darkness only provides things that allow for instant gratification which generally lead to lasting sorrow and guilt. I loved the description though, "Father of lights." Let us all seek for things that bring light in our lives. And what is the thing that can bring us the most light? Our Savior Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world. I hope we all look to Him as we go thoughout our days for comfort and support, so He can help us find true, lasting happiness(I hope that all made sense).
Well I'll get off my soap box, I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
This week blew by! Its been good though. One of our baptisms, Ronald, fell off date and isn't getting baptized anymore. His mom said she doesn't want him to be, which is really annoying. She's a member too! She doesn't think he'd be able to keep his baptismal covenants...load of crock, but he'll get baptized when he's older and moves out. Kinda frustrating, especially since the real reason she doesn't want him to be baptized is because she got offended by the bishop! Argh, anyway, back to good news.
Yesterday at church we were able to commit two more people for baptism! Their names are Kate and Clayton. They're going to have the bishop marry them real soon. Their date is for the 27th of June, along with their friends, Stacy and Jolyn. They're all middle-aged and Native American, so its pretty exciting. They're doing really well!
So that's the big news for the week. Not too much else happened. Some investigator's that weren't progressing are starting to do better, and some that were doing good, like JD and Donny, we haven't been able to get a hold of for about 2 weeks! So that's really frustrating, but the work goes on.
Well, spiritual thought for the day. I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants today during personal study and was reading in and around section 60-70 and came across a verse I really liked. I believe Jesus is speaking in the revelation to Joseph Smith and he is talking about his Father and describes Him as "the Father of lights." I thought that was a really interesting title. The footnotes cross-referenced it to another verse in the Doctrine and Covenants talking about how whatever is good is light and whatever is light comes from the Father. I just made me think more that whatever is good in this life comes from our Father in Heaven. If it promotes us to live happy, fulfilling, righteous lives, it have been provided for us by our Father. On the contrary, the father of darkness only provides things that allow for instant gratification which generally lead to lasting sorrow and guilt. I loved the description though, "Father of lights." Let us all seek for things that bring light in our lives. And what is the thing that can bring us the most light? Our Savior Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world. I hope we all look to Him as we go thoughout our days for comfort and support, so He can help us find true, lasting happiness(I hope that all made sense).
Well I'll get off my soap box, I love you all, have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fitt
June 1, 2009 Its raining, it pouring . . .
Hello everyone,
Things are going great here! Its raining at the moment, which is a nice change from the blazing hot 85 degree weather we've been having! Haha, man I'm glad I'm not serving in Mexico or Hawaii or Brazil or something...too hot for me! Anyways, the Lord is continuing to bless our area a lot!
This week we were blessed to commit two more people with a baptismal date! Two native women who are excited for their baptism and love church! Its great. Two of their friends are getting close too, which is great. We were able to get 7 investigators at church this week, it was ridiculous, record for me so far. Though it wasn't at all of my own doing.
This month is looking really promising and its exciting to be a part of. Oh ya, I called to be the district leader here in Rapid City again. So that will be fun stuff...its a huge district, 13 elders, 2 sisters, 2 senior couples, the mission president and his wife and the assistants to the president! So district meetings are usualyl pretty big, but its great.
Interesting story...last week we ran into a guy who had probably one of the most intense and crazy religious beliefs I've ever heard. He isn't part of any denomination, just has his own ideas that he says God told him about. Anyways, he prefaced his beliefs by an experience that started it all when he was 12(I almost laughed when he told us). He said he found an old ship off the coast of Southern California that had on board thousands of these perfect pearls, the Holy Bible, The Book of Life, The Book of Death, The Ark of the Covenant, The Holy Grail, Excalibur, and Then Necronomicon! Pretty crazy huh...but he doesn't have any of it because he didn't want to take any with him. And his brother who was with him(so he says) doesn't remember anything...so all the validity of his statement went right down the drain. But needless to say, he had some crazy beliefs, a lot of which had some profound elements of truth and deep doctrine twisted into it, but there was so much extra stuff that the truths were hard to discern. It was a neat experience...learned that Noah didn't really build an ark, he was just a rich man who lived on a plantation and knew how to teleport...so he teleported himself and all the animals to avoid the flood. Yup..thats how it happened!
Anyway, I'm loving it out here and am really enjoying the work. Lots of great experiences and hard times but its all worth it and I wouldn't give it up for anything! The Church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
Things are going great here! Its raining at the moment, which is a nice change from the blazing hot 85 degree weather we've been having! Haha, man I'm glad I'm not serving in Mexico or Hawaii or Brazil or something...too hot for me! Anyways, the Lord is continuing to bless our area a lot!
This week we were blessed to commit two more people with a baptismal date! Two native women who are excited for their baptism and love church! Its great. Two of their friends are getting close too, which is great. We were able to get 7 investigators at church this week, it was ridiculous, record for me so far. Though it wasn't at all of my own doing.
This month is looking really promising and its exciting to be a part of. Oh ya, I called to be the district leader here in Rapid City again. So that will be fun stuff...its a huge district, 13 elders, 2 sisters, 2 senior couples, the mission president and his wife and the assistants to the president! So district meetings are usualyl pretty big, but its great.
Interesting story...last week we ran into a guy who had probably one of the most intense and crazy religious beliefs I've ever heard. He isn't part of any denomination, just has his own ideas that he says God told him about. Anyways, he prefaced his beliefs by an experience that started it all when he was 12(I almost laughed when he told us). He said he found an old ship off the coast of Southern California that had on board thousands of these perfect pearls, the Holy Bible, The Book of Life, The Book of Death, The Ark of the Covenant, The Holy Grail, Excalibur, and Then Necronomicon! Pretty crazy huh...but he doesn't have any of it because he didn't want to take any with him. And his brother who was with him(so he says) doesn't remember anything...so all the validity of his statement went right down the drain. But needless to say, he had some crazy beliefs, a lot of which had some profound elements of truth and deep doctrine twisted into it, but there was so much extra stuff that the truths were hard to discern. It was a neat experience...learned that Noah didn't really build an ark, he was just a rich man who lived on a plantation and knew how to teleport...so he teleported himself and all the animals to avoid the flood. Yup..thats how it happened!
Anyway, I'm loving it out here and am really enjoying the work. Lots of great experiences and hard times but its all worth it and I wouldn't give it up for anything! The Church is true!
Love,
Elder Fitt
May 26, 2009 Happy Memorial Day!
Hello Everyone!
I hope you all had a great memorial day and that everyone is doing good. Ours was pretty good except the fact that we couldn't email because everything was closed! But it was fun. Its transfers week so we're getting all sorts of missionaries coming through town, which is always neat. I'm staying another transfer(at least) in Rapid City and I'll still be with Elder Davis. It's going to be a shorter transfer though, because President Cannon is gonna do one more transfer right before he goes home so the new mission president isn't overwhelmed the first day he gets here. So this transfer ends at the end of June, pretty crazy. But it'll be good.
The works been going well and we have another baptism coming up on Saturday for a boy named Ronald, I think I've talked about him before. Anyway, he's 14 or so and is excited to be baptized. His mom is a member but never had him baptized, though he's came to church for the past few years. So we're pretty excited about that.
Crazy story. The other night Elder Clark(a missionary in our apartment) was coming back inside the apartment complex when a guy who was obviously a little 'high' approached him. He had a ferret in his hands and said he had just found it in the parking lot, and he gave it to Elder Clark because he didn't know what to do with it. So he let it loose in the apartment and we had some fun. It was pretty funny too because we didn't know what to do with it at first, so we kept it in the bathroom, then the neighborhood stray cat stopped at our apartment(we named it Princess, haha, she stops by every week or so) and browsed around. She started smelling the ferret and camped outside the bathroom door for about 30 minutes. But eventually we kicked her out and put the ferret in a box for the night. The next day we gave it to a member who has 5 other ferrets. Well that was probably a boring story but it was pretty exciting for a missionary.
But ya, we're getting 2 new missionaries in our apartment, so it'll be an interesting transfer, hopefully we all get along well, probably will. The weather here has been really nice. Had a massive thunderstorm 2 nights ago and parts of the town got flooded, it was awesome. Elder Davis and I got some nice photos of the lightning. Its neat seeing actual lightning bolts, because back in California you rarely see them, they usually just light up the sky.
Another neat story. So Elder Davis and I were running really low on funds this money(I miscalculated the next time we received money for groceries) so yesterday I only had 10 dollars and I was low on everything so it wouldn't have been enough to live on for the next week, especially since we have only 2 dinners lined up. But we were in a store and there happened to be a member of the church there just passing through. He pulled us aside and introduced himself. Told us he has a son on a mission in South Africa and that since he wants his son to be fed out there, he has to do his part here. So he gave us 20 dollars for lunch! It was a great blessing, we were able to get all our groceries we needed and lunch with it too! So there's a testimony that going out on a mission will bless people's lives that you aren't even serving, even another missionary's live in a different mission. So that was really neat.
Well I love you all and hope everything is going well!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope you all had a great memorial day and that everyone is doing good. Ours was pretty good except the fact that we couldn't email because everything was closed! But it was fun. Its transfers week so we're getting all sorts of missionaries coming through town, which is always neat. I'm staying another transfer(at least) in Rapid City and I'll still be with Elder Davis. It's going to be a shorter transfer though, because President Cannon is gonna do one more transfer right before he goes home so the new mission president isn't overwhelmed the first day he gets here. So this transfer ends at the end of June, pretty crazy. But it'll be good.
The works been going well and we have another baptism coming up on Saturday for a boy named Ronald, I think I've talked about him before. Anyway, he's 14 or so and is excited to be baptized. His mom is a member but never had him baptized, though he's came to church for the past few years. So we're pretty excited about that.
Crazy story. The other night Elder Clark(a missionary in our apartment) was coming back inside the apartment complex when a guy who was obviously a little 'high' approached him. He had a ferret in his hands and said he had just found it in the parking lot, and he gave it to Elder Clark because he didn't know what to do with it. So he let it loose in the apartment and we had some fun. It was pretty funny too because we didn't know what to do with it at first, so we kept it in the bathroom, then the neighborhood stray cat stopped at our apartment(we named it Princess, haha, she stops by every week or so) and browsed around. She started smelling the ferret and camped outside the bathroom door for about 30 minutes. But eventually we kicked her out and put the ferret in a box for the night. The next day we gave it to a member who has 5 other ferrets. Well that was probably a boring story but it was pretty exciting for a missionary.
But ya, we're getting 2 new missionaries in our apartment, so it'll be an interesting transfer, hopefully we all get along well, probably will. The weather here has been really nice. Had a massive thunderstorm 2 nights ago and parts of the town got flooded, it was awesome. Elder Davis and I got some nice photos of the lightning. Its neat seeing actual lightning bolts, because back in California you rarely see them, they usually just light up the sky.
Another neat story. So Elder Davis and I were running really low on funds this money(I miscalculated the next time we received money for groceries) so yesterday I only had 10 dollars and I was low on everything so it wouldn't have been enough to live on for the next week, especially since we have only 2 dinners lined up. But we were in a store and there happened to be a member of the church there just passing through. He pulled us aside and introduced himself. Told us he has a son on a mission in South Africa and that since he wants his son to be fed out there, he has to do his part here. So he gave us 20 dollars for lunch! It was a great blessing, we were able to get all our groceries we needed and lunch with it too! So there's a testimony that going out on a mission will bless people's lives that you aren't even serving, even another missionary's live in a different mission. So that was really neat.
Well I love you all and hope everything is going well!
Love,
Elder Fitt
May 18, 2009 baby its warm outside!
Hello Everyone,
I hope all is going well. Man its hot here today, a whopping 85 degrees. But I'll survive! We went mini golfing today, that was a lot of fun, haven't been for a long time.
Anyway, exciting news! Cody, and investigator of ours we've been teaching for a while was praying for a baptismal date last week. So at our appointment on Wednesday we asked him what date he received as an answer. He said, "This weekend." Man it took me by suprise, in a good way. So we set it all up, it was pretty crazy, but everything went well and we were able to have the baptismal service on Sunday after church. The Spirit was so strong there and he was really excited to be baptized. He was also able to be confirmed right after the baptism because he attended the Single's Branch with his member girlfriend when he came to church, and since they all showed up the branch president gave it the OK. So, all in all, I feel really blessed to have been able to participate in his baptism, oh ya, and he asked me to baptize him! So that was really neat too.
But other than that most of the week we were doing service. Helped do service at the mission home. They're remodeling it for the new mission president so we helped with the downstairs, taking apart bunk beds and ripping off vinyl siding so they could put on new baseboards and clean the carpet. Then the next day we came back and move all the bunk beds back, about 10 of them, which all had to be disassembled and reassembled in both days. It was a lot of fun though. We also helped a member move, which took the better part of the day, but he need the help.
The work here is going great, but transfer calls are this weekend, so I might be moving in the next week, we'll have to wait and see. I hope everyone is doing well!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is going well. Man its hot here today, a whopping 85 degrees. But I'll survive! We went mini golfing today, that was a lot of fun, haven't been for a long time.
Anyway, exciting news! Cody, and investigator of ours we've been teaching for a while was praying for a baptismal date last week. So at our appointment on Wednesday we asked him what date he received as an answer. He said, "This weekend." Man it took me by suprise, in a good way. So we set it all up, it was pretty crazy, but everything went well and we were able to have the baptismal service on Sunday after church. The Spirit was so strong there and he was really excited to be baptized. He was also able to be confirmed right after the baptism because he attended the Single's Branch with his member girlfriend when he came to church, and since they all showed up the branch president gave it the OK. So, all in all, I feel really blessed to have been able to participate in his baptism, oh ya, and he asked me to baptize him! So that was really neat too.
But other than that most of the week we were doing service. Helped do service at the mission home. They're remodeling it for the new mission president so we helped with the downstairs, taking apart bunk beds and ripping off vinyl siding so they could put on new baseboards and clean the carpet. Then the next day we came back and move all the bunk beds back, about 10 of them, which all had to be disassembled and reassembled in both days. It was a lot of fun though. We also helped a member move, which took the better part of the day, but he need the help.
The work here is going great, but transfer calls are this weekend, so I might be moving in the next week, we'll have to wait and see. I hope everyone is doing well!
Love,
Elder Fitt
May 11, 2009 Hello From SD!
Hello everyone,
This past week was pretty good.
We were blessed to get a new investigator. His name is Donnie and he has been extremely humbled in the past few years by a lot of deaths in his family. So we were able to teach him at his friend's home about the Plan of Salvation and he really enjoyed it. This week we will get to teach the Restoration, hopefully it will go well. He wants to be baptized, so it is pretty exciting.
We have one young man still on date for baptism and 2 others who are praying for a date right now, so things are doing great.
Oh ya, Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there!
The weather is getting pretty nice here. But a little too hot...the other day it was 70 degrees and I could barely stand it! Its gonna be brutal once it gets into the 80's and 90's. Its crazy how that works.
Earlier today we got to help out at the mission home. The FM (facilities management) group of the church is totally remodeling it and we got to help a little bit. It was pretty fun, besides the part where we had to tear vinyl baseboard type things off the wall. That was pretty ridiculous. Our hands got pretty torn up because the adhesive was really strong. Then finally when we get to the last few feet of it, one of the workers comes down and says "do you guys want some scrapers for that" ...man they would've been nice to have earlier! But it was fun though. Afterwards the Cannon's (mission pres) brought some pizza and stuff, so it was good.
Besides that everything is going well. Not too much to report, its been a pretty normal week otherwise. Transfers are coming up in 2 weeks, which is scary because I might be transferred this time and not get to see some of the people that might have baptism dates after that. So hopefully I'll be blessed to stay another 6 weeks, Rapid is a really nice city.
Well I hope everyone is doing well and staying on top of their scripture study and member missionary work!
Love,
Elder Fitt
This past week was pretty good.
We were blessed to get a new investigator. His name is Donnie and he has been extremely humbled in the past few years by a lot of deaths in his family. So we were able to teach him at his friend's home about the Plan of Salvation and he really enjoyed it. This week we will get to teach the Restoration, hopefully it will go well. He wants to be baptized, so it is pretty exciting.
We have one young man still on date for baptism and 2 others who are praying for a date right now, so things are doing great.
Oh ya, Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there!
The weather is getting pretty nice here. But a little too hot...the other day it was 70 degrees and I could barely stand it! Its gonna be brutal once it gets into the 80's and 90's. Its crazy how that works.
Earlier today we got to help out at the mission home. The FM (facilities management) group of the church is totally remodeling it and we got to help a little bit. It was pretty fun, besides the part where we had to tear vinyl baseboard type things off the wall. That was pretty ridiculous. Our hands got pretty torn up because the adhesive was really strong. Then finally when we get to the last few feet of it, one of the workers comes down and says "do you guys want some scrapers for that" ...man they would've been nice to have earlier! But it was fun though. Afterwards the Cannon's (mission pres) brought some pizza and stuff, so it was good.
Besides that everything is going well. Not too much to report, its been a pretty normal week otherwise. Transfers are coming up in 2 weeks, which is scary because I might be transferred this time and not get to see some of the people that might have baptism dates after that. So hopefully I'll be blessed to stay another 6 weeks, Rapid is a really nice city.
Well I hope everyone is doing well and staying on top of their scripture study and member missionary work!
Love,
Elder Fitt
April 8, 2009 A Letter About Elder Fitt
Hello Everyone!
I hope all is well. Things have been great out here. We had a baptism on saturday for an eight year old girl named Sayna. Her parents aren't members so we had the privilege of teaching her. It was a great day and a member, Brother Kingi, got to baptize her. It was special because 40 or so years ago he served in this mission and baptized Sayna's great-grandmother so it was a really neat experience for him and the family. He's originally from New Zealand and probably one of the best members I have ever met. At the baptism and on sunday after he conferred upon her the gift of the Holy Ghost, he got to bear his testimony, which was so powerful. Since he's from the Pacific Islands he has common ancestry with the Native Americans from the Nephites(read about Hagoth in the book of Helaman) and Lamanites and talked about how our church is the church of their ancestors. The church that their people belonged to ages past. It was a really special experience.
Also, on sunday there was a musical fireside the missionaries in Rapid put together. The Zone Leaders here headed up the project but we all had a part. The members here have some amazing talents in music and it went really well. Also, we(the Elders in Rapid) got to have a piece in the program. We sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and I think God was watching out for us because everyone said we sounded good...though I beg to differ, haha. It was a neat experience though, I've never sang in front of people before...though it was with 10 other missionaries.
The work has been progressing really well. We have between 4-7 people who are looking pretty close to baptism. Two of which we're going to commit with a date this week, hopefully they accept. I'm really excited. The Lord is blessing this area tremendously and we're working hard to keep up with all the work he is providing for us. May is looking to be a great month. And we do have another person committed at the moment too. A 14 year old boy, who is going to be baptized on the 16th of May. So, ya, things are going well.
I hope everything is going well back in the real world and that everyone is studying their scriptures daily!! It is so important. Sometimes it may be tough, put you just have to plant that seed that Alma talks about in Chapter 32 of the book of Alma, and as you do scripture study will not only become rewarding, but also fun and entertaining. In the mornings I now get lost in the stories of the scriptures. The Book of Mormon was definitely written for our time. I have a testimony that it is sacred scripture that was translated by the power of God through Joseph Smith. It is a powerful witness of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ and the great love he has for us. It also provides understanding of the great importance of the Atonement and the power it has to heal us: our hurts, our sorrows, our sins, our afflictions. I know that as we rely on the Savior and prayerfully and faithfully do our part, weak things will be made strong, and peace and comfort will be provided in times of hardship that are bound to come.
I love you all and hope you have a great week and are blessed with missionary experiences!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is well. Things have been great out here. We had a baptism on saturday for an eight year old girl named Sayna. Her parents aren't members so we had the privilege of teaching her. It was a great day and a member, Brother Kingi, got to baptize her. It was special because 40 or so years ago he served in this mission and baptized Sayna's great-grandmother so it was a really neat experience for him and the family. He's originally from New Zealand and probably one of the best members I have ever met. At the baptism and on sunday after he conferred upon her the gift of the Holy Ghost, he got to bear his testimony, which was so powerful. Since he's from the Pacific Islands he has common ancestry with the Native Americans from the Nephites(read about Hagoth in the book of Helaman) and Lamanites and talked about how our church is the church of their ancestors. The church that their people belonged to ages past. It was a really special experience.
Also, on sunday there was a musical fireside the missionaries in Rapid put together. The Zone Leaders here headed up the project but we all had a part. The members here have some amazing talents in music and it went really well. Also, we(the Elders in Rapid) got to have a piece in the program. We sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and I think God was watching out for us because everyone said we sounded good...though I beg to differ, haha. It was a neat experience though, I've never sang in front of people before...though it was with 10 other missionaries.
The work has been progressing really well. We have between 4-7 people who are looking pretty close to baptism. Two of which we're going to commit with a date this week, hopefully they accept. I'm really excited. The Lord is blessing this area tremendously and we're working hard to keep up with all the work he is providing for us. May is looking to be a great month. And we do have another person committed at the moment too. A 14 year old boy, who is going to be baptized on the 16th of May. So, ya, things are going well.
I hope everything is going well back in the real world and that everyone is studying their scriptures daily!! It is so important. Sometimes it may be tough, put you just have to plant that seed that Alma talks about in Chapter 32 of the book of Alma, and as you do scripture study will not only become rewarding, but also fun and entertaining. In the mornings I now get lost in the stories of the scriptures. The Book of Mormon was definitely written for our time. I have a testimony that it is sacred scripture that was translated by the power of God through Joseph Smith. It is a powerful witness of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ and the great love he has for us. It also provides understanding of the great importance of the Atonement and the power it has to heal us: our hurts, our sorrows, our sins, our afflictions. I know that as we rely on the Savior and prayerfully and faithfully do our part, weak things will be made strong, and peace and comfort will be provided in times of hardship that are bound to come.
I love you all and hope you have a great week and are blessed with missionary experiences!
Love,
Elder Fitt
May 4, 2009 Hellow from South Dakota!
Hello Everyone!
I hope all is well. Things have been great out here. We had a baptism on Saturday for an eight year old girl named Sayna. Her parents aren't members so we had the privilege of teaching her. It was a great day and a member, Brother Kingi, got to baptize her. It was special because 40 or so years ago he served in this mission and baptized Sayna's great-grandmother so it was a really neat experience for him and the family. He's originally from New Zealand and probably one of the best members I have ever met. At the baptism and on Sunday after he confered upon her the gift of the Holy Ghost, he got to bear his testimony, which was so powerful. Since he's from the Pacific Islands he has common ancestry with the Native Americans from the Nephites(read about Hagoth in the book of Helaman) and Lamanites, he talked about how our church is the church of their ancestors. The church that their people belonged to ages past. It was a really special experience.
Also, on Sunday there was a musical fireside the missionaries in Rapid put together. The Zone Leaders headed up the project but we all had a part. The members here have some amazing talents in music and it went really well. Also, we(the Elders in Rapid) got to have a piece in the program. We sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and I think God was watching out for us because everyone said we sounded good...though I beg to differ, haha. It was a neat experience though, I've never sung in front of people before...though it was with 10 other missionaries.
The work has been progressing really well. We have between 4-7 people who are looking pretty close to baptism. Two of which we're going to commit with a date this week, hopefully they accept. I'm really excited. The Lord is blessing this area tremendously and we're working hard to keep up with all the work he is providing for us. May is looking to be a great month. And we do have another person committed at the moment too. A 14 year old boy, who is going to be baptized on the 16th of May. So, ya, things are going well.
I hope everything is going well back in the real world and that everyone is studying their scriptures daily!! It is so important. Sometimes it may be tough, put you just have to plant that seed that Alma talks about in Chapter 32 of the book of Alma, and as you do scripture study will not only become rewarding, but also fun and entertaining. In the mornings I now get lost in the stories of the scriptures. The Book of Mormon was definitely written for our time. I have a testimony that it is sacred scripture that was translated by the power of God through Joseph Smith. It is a powerful witness of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ and the great love he has for us. It also provides understanding of the great importance of the Atonement and the power it has to heal us: our hurts, our sorrows, our sins, our afflictions. I know that as we rely on the Savior and prayerfully and faithfully do our part, weak things will be made strong, and peace and comfort will be provided in times of hardship that are bound to come.
I love you all and hope you have a great week and are blessed with missionary experiences!
Love,
Elder Fitt
I hope all is well. Things have been great out here. We had a baptism on Saturday for an eight year old girl named Sayna. Her parents aren't members so we had the privilege of teaching her. It was a great day and a member, Brother Kingi, got to baptize her. It was special because 40 or so years ago he served in this mission and baptized Sayna's great-grandmother so it was a really neat experience for him and the family. He's originally from New Zealand and probably one of the best members I have ever met. At the baptism and on Sunday after he confered upon her the gift of the Holy Ghost, he got to bear his testimony, which was so powerful. Since he's from the Pacific Islands he has common ancestry with the Native Americans from the Nephites(read about Hagoth in the book of Helaman) and Lamanites, he talked about how our church is the church of their ancestors. The church that their people belonged to ages past. It was a really special experience.
Also, on Sunday there was a musical fireside the missionaries in Rapid put together. The Zone Leaders headed up the project but we all had a part. The members here have some amazing talents in music and it went really well. Also, we(the Elders in Rapid) got to have a piece in the program. We sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and I think God was watching out for us because everyone said we sounded good...though I beg to differ, haha. It was a neat experience though, I've never sung in front of people before...though it was with 10 other missionaries.
The work has been progressing really well. We have between 4-7 people who are looking pretty close to baptism. Two of which we're going to commit with a date this week, hopefully they accept. I'm really excited. The Lord is blessing this area tremendously and we're working hard to keep up with all the work he is providing for us. May is looking to be a great month. And we do have another person committed at the moment too. A 14 year old boy, who is going to be baptized on the 16th of May. So, ya, things are going well.
I hope everything is going well back in the real world and that everyone is studying their scriptures daily!! It is so important. Sometimes it may be tough, put you just have to plant that seed that Alma talks about in Chapter 32 of the book of Alma, and as you do scripture study will not only become rewarding, but also fun and entertaining. In the mornings I now get lost in the stories of the scriptures. The Book of Mormon was definitely written for our time. I have a testimony that it is sacred scripture that was translated by the power of God through Joseph Smith. It is a powerful witness of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ and the great love he has for us. It also provides understanding of the great importance of the Atonement and the power it has to heal us: our hurts, our sorrows, our sins, our afflictions. I know that as we rely on the Savior and prayerfully and faithfully do our part, weak things will be made strong, and peace and comfort will be provided in times of hardship that are bound to come.
I love you all and hope you have a great week and are blessed with missionary experiences!
Love,
Elder Fitt
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