Lessons learned, blessings uncountable, life forever more

Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Familie!
Thanks again for writing to me. I always look so forward to hearing from my family. You are all just so wonderful!
Mom and Dad: Thanks for being such great examples. I am so grateful to you. That´s fun to hear the family was quizing everyone on their Book of Mormon knowledge. There is a lot to know, but it is also very simply put. If I could give any advice to Ritchie, Chris, Jason and Crozier it would be to get to really know the Book of Mormon before you go on your missions. Memorize the scripture masteries or at least know where they are and what they talk about and you will be so grateful to yourself. I promise. Also take the time to do the activities in Preach My Gospel. My favorite ones are in Chapter 4 and 5 (my favorite ones are the ones at the end of the chapter in the Personal Study section). Pick out the ones that sound fun and say a prayer and dive in. It is so cool. I have gotten so much more out of scripture study that way. Try it, you´ll like it. :)
Candace and Evan: Thanks for the email Candace! Congratulations Evan! I hope all goes well. I will be praying for work opportunities for you. I look forward to getting that detailed email or letter you mentioned. I love you so much.
Tara:Thanks for the email! How are you Tara? I guess you said you will send me letter so I´ll hear soon enough. But it sounds like a lot of fun things are happening for you right now. I am so happy for you!
Sean and Kim: Kim, I hear your mom is going to Provo to help out for a while. That is so wonderful. Tell her hello from me. How is the baby doing? How are you all doing? Sean, I am sending your birthday letter soon. So, I hope you have a good birthday!
Ritchie: Your papers are officially in!!! And in your Stake President interview he asked you to talk in Stake Conference. That is awesome. I am so happy for you! I just can´t wait to find out where you´re going and to here about all your experiences. Oh that is so exciting!
Chris: That is exciting you have started to work. And I hear you are getting stronger and stronger. That is great. Have you read Beleiving Christ? I think you´d like it, he talks a lot about working out and applying those analogies to the gospel. It´s really good and helped me understand the scriptures better. I think it´s down in my room if you want to read it.
Jason: That is pretty neat you will be starting on the Varsity Football team as a sophmore. Congratulations! That is so cool. And I am so happy to hear that your are still loving to read the scriptures and other books. Keep it up!
Crozier: That is so cool you are getting your arrow of light! Have fun in scouts. You get to do a lot of cool things there. Also, have fun in church!
As for missionary work, it is going really well. We are meeting with quite a few people right now which is so wonderful. Some are progressing, others are still there, but not progressing, and others have now gone away. But it is still so good. The other day we ran into an old Jewish lady while we were street contacting. We asked her if she believed in God and she said ever since the war she stopped believing in God. I can understand how she could feel like that. I can´t imagine what her life must´ve been like during that time. It´s amaying to me to have read so many books about Germany and Jews escaping and hiding and to now be in Germany meet Jews and soldiers alike during that time and know that it really happened. These people were there and were in it a par tof it. We met another man that wasn´t interested in the gospel, but he did believe in God and had some amazing stories of when God had saved his life. He said once as a child he was playing with his friend in a sand bar thing and he said at one time he heard a voice say, 'Gehe züruck' but it wasn´t his friends voice, but he decided to listen and just as he went back the sand bar collpased and he would have died. He had some other amazing stories, and he had a firm testimony of God and Jesus Christ. He cried as he told us of his mother and how she would tell him to read the Bible every day and God would protect him. (He also had some experiences in the 2nd World War). He said that was true, God had spared his life many times. It´s amazing the lives people live. I think of President Uchtdorf´s talk in conference about the refugee lady and her faith, and the faith of this man we talked to. The Jewish lady, I don´t know her full story, but I do know that we can choose to have faith, or we can choose to doubt. I love the line in the Joseph Smith movie about how he says he does not allow himself to think if God asks too much. Everything that happens to us is for our good, we just need to trust and have faith in God. Life is so amazing and so precious. God blesses us so much. I was thinking about it the other day and realized that my blessings out number the stars in the sky. Heavenly Father is so good to us. This morning I studied Alma 33:1-12 and 34 17-29, 38. See what Alma says about how to get more faith. It is so great. (The activity is in PMG Ch. 4). Since I have been on a mission, my eyes have been opened to so many more blessings I didn´t even realize or fully recognize. ´There is so much to learn from the people we meet everyday, the scriptures, and the experiences we have in this life. May we thank God for all things. He is so good. Let us put our trust in him, now more than ever.
I love you family! And I know God loves you too and is aware of each of your circumstances and wants to help you. Have faith in him!
Love,Sister Ftizgerald