The Lord blesses us always

Date: Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Familie!

Ich liebe sie! Ich werde immer liebe sie! (I love y'all! I will always love y'all!) We have such a great family. So I'll start off with a story about families first. On Tuesday we had a devotional and the speaker, Elder Mask, was talking about his mission. In his talk he talked about his grandfather and how he had served in Mexico City during the revolution and had left his wife and children to fulfill this mission. He went through a lot of trials, but he always told his grandson (Elder Mask) that it was worth it, and the Lord blessed him for his service. So he was really excited to go on a mission because of all the stories he heard his grandfather tell him. So he said he had been in Peru for two months and was still struggling with the language and had thoughts about going home, and the thing that finally did him in was some little neighborhood kids circled around him and started singing "Elder Maks can't talk, Elder Mask can't talk." He said "That was it. I broke through the circle went inside and started packing to go home. My companion said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I'm going home." His companion, "What will your dad say?" " He will yell and be mad, but after a few weeks he'll be OK." "What will your mom say?" "She'll be sad, but in a few days she'll be OK." "What would your grandfather say that served in Mexico city?" ". . . .. He would be ashamed. He went through a lot more than some neighborhood kids telling him he couldn't talk." Then I decided to stay, and you know what? It got better, I knew my grandfather was proud of me." When the speaker was saying this I thought I could really relate. I could imagine some German kids telling me I couldn't speak. Then I thought of our ancestors, the display hanging in my room quotes like, "I will fill this mission or die in the attempt." The day before we watched the Sweet Water Rescue clip and the quote by Brigham Young that David P. Kimball and the others had received Celestial glory for what they had done. I thought of the heritage I came from and decided, "yes, I will do this! I can do this!" Then I thought of Grandpa Fitzgerald and how maybe he is behind the scenes helping me with this mission. Well a few days later I still wondered if Grandpa Fitzgerald might be more a part of my mission than I realized and this Tuesday I went to the referral Center. And while there I saw a senior couple, Elder and Sister Fitzgerald. Elder Fitzgerald looked like Grandpa and Dad, but I figured I probably wasn't related because that is usually the case. Anyway, when he looked up and saw my last name he said," Sister Fitzgerald, who is your dad?" I said, "Griff Fitzgerald." He said, " I know him. Who is your grandfather?" I said, "Bliss Fitzgerald." And he said, "That is my brother. I'm Nephi." It was so great to make that connection! So for the next 30 minutes we talked and he gave me a lot of good ideas for how to teach and to a street contact. The whole time he was talking to me I couldn't help but think, "Wow, that is something Grandpa Fitzgerald would've said. . . . That's how Grandpa Fitzgerald would've responded." And he reminded me so much of dad too. I was just so amazed that I had been thinking of Grandpa Fitzgerald could be on the other side helping me, and he just happened to send me his brother to give me some elderly Fitzgerald advice, probably a lot of which he would've given me. He talked a lot about Grandpa Kimball and what a good man he was. It was such a tender mercy from the Lord. I was amazed. Great Uncle Nephi said he was going to try calling you mom and dad. So I'm not sure if he's done that yet, but he was really excited to have that chance. That experience just helped me realize that the Lord and others are very aware of us, always. Dad thanks so much for sharing your mission stories. Keep telling the boys all about your mission. There is nothing that gets you more excited to serve a mission than studying the atonement and hearing about successful missionaries.
Oh man! My time is almost gone. I need to to learn to type faster. I wanted to share an experience with you I had at the RC, but I'll do that later. Well, I talked with a man that wasn't interested in our message, but he didn't hang up, so I kept talking with him. And he kept saying that he only believed in the bible and that he prayed every night. Anyway, finally at the end I said, "Well I believe the Old Testament is the word of God, and that it was written for the people of Adam, Noah, Moses, and others. I also know that the New Testament is the word of God and that it was written for the people in Jerusalem, for the Galations, and the Ephesians, and others. I also know the Book of Mormon is the word of God written for us today and that we have living prophets. God spoke to His children in Bible times, and He speaks to us now because he loves us all." Anyway, I don't know if he was any more interested but I think he had a better understanding.
I also wanted to say my companion Sis. Zierneberg has left for Germany and I have two new companions. They are Sis. Kitterman from Flagstaff Arizona, and Sister Ronnberg from Finland. They are fun. Crozier is still my favorite companion! Thanks for being my first and favorite companion!

Bye!