Bringing souls to Christ, what life is all about

Date: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009

Family!!!

Well I certainly love you all. And it is great to hear, once again, all of your news and updates. Mom thanks for getting that thing to me. I have received some things on my doorstep. So thank you for being so concerned, and no worries. I appreciate that you sent that thing though. As for Christmas, I am not sure exactly what I want yet. I will think about it and tell you next week. I can say I would really like to get a letter from everyone in the family sharing their testimony of Jesus Christ, how he plays an active role in their life, and their favorite scriptures about Christ and why. I hope that doesn´t sound like an assignment. But I would love to get that for Christmas. Anyway, it sounds like everyone is doing well. I am praying for you all. It was good to hear from Elder Fitzgerald. I am so amazed at Elder Fitzgerald´s enthusiasm for the work. It is so wonderful. It is so good to here how the work is rolling forward in all the world. I am so proud of you Elder Fitzgerald. Your story about sharing the 1st vision with that man really touched me. Oh, I would love to see you in action. Keep up the wonderful work!

The work here is also rolling forward. Here is what has been happening:

We had a really neat appointment with our progressing investigator Michael. We reviewed a first and at the end we asked him if felt anything as he read in the Book of Mormon and he said yes! He said that he felt something different, something special and deep. He didn´t know how to really describe it though. It was really neat. The spirit was strong.

Also another one of our investigators came to church with us on the hour long bus \ bahn ride. And she really enjoyed it and told everyone she talked to that she would come again next week. We were so happy for that. She got to see a lot. The last session of General Conference was shown for the first two hours, then we had Sacrament meeting, which was fast and testimony meeting. There was also a baby blessing, and they mentioned the ward temple trip. She had a lot of questions, but thought it was all really neat. We told her that this wasn´t a normal Sunday, but it was special. Coming to church really takes dedication. An hour there, and an hour back with a lot of trains and buses in between because there is no direct route. I am amazed at the dedication of new investigators they really want to to know it´s true.

We also had a really good time at FHE last night. We had the lesson and we decided to do it on Missionary work. We sang I´ll go where you want me to go. Then read Alma 17:11, talking about being instruments in the hand of God and good examples to bring others to Christ. Then we did little work shops on what to be, what to say, and how to know where to go and who to talk to. After that we read another scripture in D&C 123 that talked about doing all we can then watching the arm of God be revealed. After that we asked who wanted to go on the streets with us for 20 minutes to find a JAE to bring to the Outreach for games and dinner that evening. They were all really excited and we all went. Even our investigator that was there wanted to go out on the streets with us. It was a really great experience for us and for them. Afterwards they were telling us how hard that must be to do it everyday. And they said it would be a lot easier for them just to invite their friends. We agreed. They really enjoyed it though and said they would like to do it again. We were really happy with the way it turned out, it got the JAE´s excited about missionary work and helped them to see the importance of inviting their own friends. They understood how much more effective that would be.

All in all it was a great week. In one of our appointments, we had a member with us and we were talking about the importance of the family and how the gospel brings us strength and perspective. And he said, "The gospel does help bring perspective. With eight boys, a mother can wonder sometimes why the family is so important, but with the gospel we see why." Anyway, I thought it was funny. It made me think of my family, how the gospel helps give us perspective. I also thought of my parents and how dedicated you are in teaching us the principles of righteousness which are SOOOOOO IMPORTANT!!!! Being on a mission has helped me understand that so much more. Missionary work is the best pair of glasses I´ve ever had.

Thank you for all you do family! I love you!

Love,
Sister Fitzgerald