Date: Monday, May 17, 2010
Familie!
Sorry this will have to be a really fast one. But I thank you so much for the emails I received. They were wonderful and so full of details. Thank you Tara I REALLY enjoyed your email and everything you shared about Melissa´s reception and Ric's homecoming and everything else. It filled me with joy. And I am sorry to hear about Jason's sad dance experience. Didn´t Sean brake down on one of his dates too? I am glad he had a fun date experience though. Chris congratulations on Graduation!! That is so cool! I can´t believe you are graduating that is crazy, but wonderful. Wonderful things are ahead, I can promise you that!
Well as for my week last week, I just want to say that Peter is doing great. Really great. We met with him a few times and then had another scheduled appointment but he called us and said he had to cancel because he was sick. It turns out since he´s been keeping the word of wisdom he has gotten really bad headaches and very nauseated. But we went to visit him to see how he was doing and he said, it was ok that he felt sick because it meant he was on his way to becoming a better Christian. We were all overjoyed at his faith. He said it was much better the next day, and the days following, just the first few were pretty difficult. And we put him on a stop smoking program on Saturday, and when we saw him on Sunday he said that he never knew it could be so easy to quit smoking. Thank you for all the prayers you have said in his behalf. (I can´t spell anymore). I know a lot of people in our ward have been praying too. He is just doing wonderful, but I know Satan will work really hard on him because he is so wonderful, so keep praying for him, and we will keep meeting with him. :)
Also just a fun German thing before I go. This week we were asked to go visit an old lady in our ward that lived too far away to go to church. Anyway, we went to Bad Münster. And found that any city in Germany that has a "Bad" in front of it means it´s a "kur Stadt" a "cure town." There was this special water there that helps keeps the air fresh and does good things to your body when you drink it. Anyway, it looked like the Amazon. Everything was incredibly green and vibrant, and beautiful. There were trees and rivers and mountains every where and castles. It was gorgeous. I have decided to retire there. :) The city has a lot of old people there and there are a lot of rehabilitation clinics for old people and children. IT really was a wonderful place with fresh air and beauty. Wow.
That is all the time I have today, but I love you family!
Oh, I cannot forget Hao. So we took Hao to do a temple tour at the Frankfurt temple. And during it, it was so strong. He comes from China, and wants to be able to go to the temple someday but is a little nervous that he won´t get the chance if he goes back to China. We told him there was one in Hong Kong, but he is really far away from that one. Anyway, during the tour the spirit was so strong. And he said at the end, "That is what it means to be holy. It means perfect and complete." It was so neat. He said he wanted to have that feeling with him all the time. I said I agreed. I love the temple and the love that we feel there. I know the temple is where it´s at. Everything we do in this life points us to being worthy to go there and enjoy in the MANY blessings that come from going.
I love you!
Love,
Sister Melinda Fitzgerald
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
What I forgot...
Date: May 10, 2010
Dear Family,
Well as I got off the phone with all of you yesterday I realized everything I forgot to say. The first is mom, "Happy Mothers Day!" I am not sure how that slipped my mind, but I am so grateful for all that you have done for me my whole entire life long. The older I get the more I realize what really goes into being a wife and mother and raising a family. Wow. Thank you so much for your kindness and patience. I truly feel like our home was a heaven on earth because of your kind loving example of patience. I love you. And Candace I meant to have you tell Evan and Clara hello too. I don´t know if I said that on the phone, but Evan I am glad you have so many talents and were able to play the organ for your ward. It was so wonderful talking with all of you. A very special treat for me. Thank you all for your testimonies and love and support and stories. I just loved it all.
I am not sure what I told who to, so I will just do a quick recap of last week. Um, we met with Hans Peter and set a baptismal date with him for May 29. As we were committing him we said, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized . . ." (the commitment goes on to say by "one having authority . . .") and he interrupted and said right then, "May I?" And we just stopped and said, "Yes!" The spirit was so strong and there was light in his eyes as he said yes he would prepare himself to be baptized on that date. Also, before we taught the lesson we asked him how keeping the word of wisdom was going especially with smoking. He said that he had prayed to God for help and that God didn´t answer him with words, but through actions. He then related to us that the next day he had gotten to work and his boss had switched working crews and that the guy he would be working with was the only guy that didn´t smoke. We were so happy and I thought it was so neat that he was able to recognize Gods hand in that. There are no coincidences, when we pray and receive the help we need. As he shared that with us it strengthened my testimony to know that God is reliable, and dependable. When he gives us a commandment he does provide a way for us to keep it, we just have to trust him. It was very comforting to me to feel that.
Also Brother Himioben, who was baptized a month ago, received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday. That was so special too. I think I told mom, I feel like Mary Poppins. As missionaries, we come in and see the what the situation is and help the investigators to know how it can be better. Then once they do it, they are so much happier than they were and go on living their life. And then Mary Poppins goes, and it´s like she was never there.
Those were the most exciting things this past week. But what was also good was Zone Conference. We talked about the Book of Mormon again and how Presidents challenge for us to read was helping us in our work. And I was so touched by the spirit. I was so close to tears during it. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It gives me hope to go on and to know that because of Christ all things will be made right. Reading it gives new found insights to life, and happiness, what it is and how I get more of it. It has just made me happier all around and has brought the Spirit more into my work as a missionary, enough to know how to help investigators. It´s really improved my outlook on everything. I love the Book of Mormon and know it is true.
I love you family and hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's day!!
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
Dear Family,
Well as I got off the phone with all of you yesterday I realized everything I forgot to say. The first is mom, "Happy Mothers Day!" I am not sure how that slipped my mind, but I am so grateful for all that you have done for me my whole entire life long. The older I get the more I realize what really goes into being a wife and mother and raising a family. Wow. Thank you so much for your kindness and patience. I truly feel like our home was a heaven on earth because of your kind loving example of patience. I love you. And Candace I meant to have you tell Evan and Clara hello too. I don´t know if I said that on the phone, but Evan I am glad you have so many talents and were able to play the organ for your ward. It was so wonderful talking with all of you. A very special treat for me. Thank you all for your testimonies and love and support and stories. I just loved it all.
I am not sure what I told who to, so I will just do a quick recap of last week. Um, we met with Hans Peter and set a baptismal date with him for May 29. As we were committing him we said, "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized . . ." (the commitment goes on to say by "one having authority . . .") and he interrupted and said right then, "May I?" And we just stopped and said, "Yes!" The spirit was so strong and there was light in his eyes as he said yes he would prepare himself to be baptized on that date. Also, before we taught the lesson we asked him how keeping the word of wisdom was going especially with smoking. He said that he had prayed to God for help and that God didn´t answer him with words, but through actions. He then related to us that the next day he had gotten to work and his boss had switched working crews and that the guy he would be working with was the only guy that didn´t smoke. We were so happy and I thought it was so neat that he was able to recognize Gods hand in that. There are no coincidences, when we pray and receive the help we need. As he shared that with us it strengthened my testimony to know that God is reliable, and dependable. When he gives us a commandment he does provide a way for us to keep it, we just have to trust him. It was very comforting to me to feel that.
Also Brother Himioben, who was baptized a month ago, received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday. That was so special too. I think I told mom, I feel like Mary Poppins. As missionaries, we come in and see the what the situation is and help the investigators to know how it can be better. Then once they do it, they are so much happier than they were and go on living their life. And then Mary Poppins goes, and it´s like she was never there.
Those were the most exciting things this past week. But what was also good was Zone Conference. We talked about the Book of Mormon again and how Presidents challenge for us to read was helping us in our work. And I was so touched by the spirit. I was so close to tears during it. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. It gives me hope to go on and to know that because of Christ all things will be made right. Reading it gives new found insights to life, and happiness, what it is and how I get more of it. It has just made me happier all around and has brought the Spirit more into my work as a missionary, enough to know how to help investigators. It´s really improved my outlook on everything. I love the Book of Mormon and know it is true.
I love you family and hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's day!!
Love,
Sister Fitzgerald
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Temples
Date: Monday, May 3, 2010
Family,
Well before I forget to mention it, I will be calling on Mothers Day around 9:30 am your time. It will be my first time calling out of the country so I will try to figure it out and call at that time. The order in which I will call everyone is as follows: 1. The family in Rexburg, 2. Candace and Evan in Arizona, and then 3. Dad. Um, I don´t know the time zone in Arizona so Candace and Evan just know I will call between 9:30 and 10:30 am MST. :) I hope that is OK. I wasn´t sure when your church was. Our is in the afternoon now, so yeah, I hope that all works out. If in case I can´t figure it out feel free to call me Mothers Day at (49)176-183-008-60. Sister Ashby called home for Christmas so she knows how to do it and can help me. :) I am looking so forward to talking with all of you. Will Sean and Kim be in Rexburg or Arizona, or Utah with Dad? I guess if not you can just give me their phone number on Sunday. YEA!
Ok, Mom I am so glad you got the chance to go to Women,s Conference. Sister Beck is amazing. You are amazing too. It sounds like are just bustling over there. In Tara´s email she talked about going back and forth to Utah and has only been home two days in the last few weeks she´s been at home. Wow, I haven´t left my city in the last 8 months, and you all are going cross country. :) But you do it to serve one another. I find that noble. That is what they say in German a lot, "I find that . . ." or they actually say, "Ich finde daß . . ." So yeah, anyway.
Mission life is completely wonderful!!!!!! I should also say before I forget, there was a surprise sister that came with all the other missionaries last week so we are still in a threesome. But Sister Cutler left us and now we have Sister Dexheimer. She is from Grantsville, Utah. And a very happy person. I love having her here. It´s funny because I knew her too in the MTC. She was the group right before me that left for Germany. The last few days have been pretty good.
We taught Peter the Word of Wisdom this week and we taught it at a convert families house. The spirit was so strong during the lesson and the members were so supportive. He was a little nervous about a few things but the members were a great help. They shared with him how they were able to overcome their challenges and that gave him hope. After everything was resolved he looked at us and said, "It´s not a matter of if, I will follow it, I just need to figure out how I can do it." MY heart filled with glee at his faith in the doctrine we taught. There is nothing I love more than to look into the eyes of a believing investigator and promise blessings that God has waiting for them. I love it! Well what I do love more is when they live it and tell us the blessings we promised came true, for they experienced it for themselves. Oh my goodness family, this church is true! And it fills me with hope and happiness inside and out! After we taught this lesson, the father of the family called us up the next morning and asked us for our investigators full name. This father was going to the temple and wanted to put Peters name on the prayer roll. I was so touched by the concern of the members for our faithful investigator.
That is the highlight of the week. And you know me, I like to say a few of my thoughts at the end of every email. :) and that is the temple. this week we taught a less active member about the temple. At the end we read in Doctrine and Covenants and all promised blessings that come from making the changes necessary in our lives so that we cango to the temple. The spirit was there because he said, "You know what you guys, I really want to find another job so I can go to the temple." (His job requires him to work every Sunday so he can´t go to church). We set up a temple tour and we will be going with him next week. As I have thought about the temple I have not been able to stop. :) IT carries me away to many other thoughts, that all help me realize that it is our destination. I have a strong testimony that baptism is the door to eternal life, but our destination is the House of the Lord, His Holy Temple. When I talk with people on the street they have so many concerns that need to be resolved. If they are humble and willing to try what we say (have faith), we can help them. If not, they continue in their sorrows and darkness. The gospel does bring light. Sometimes that light shows our weaknesses or mistakes, but then it helps us see where we can improve. When we rely on our Savior and do improve by making necessary changes, then we receive more light. And this process and light grows and grows until the perfect day, when we are full of light and have no more darkness or confusion or weaknesses or secrets. We can become totally clean and full of light through our Savior Jesus Christ. The guilt we have can be swept away, if we WANT it to be and SHOW that we WANT it by being humble and willing to submit to making changes. That is what I have learned on my mission. It has been a hard lesson. I had secrets like, "I actually don´t know how to teach, or I can´t actually speak German, but I will just pretend like I know until I figure it out." But then when people told me how I could improve it hurt, because it was true. And sometimes I wouldn´t follow their council and it would just keep coming up and bother me. Until I just decided it wasn´t worth it I should just try out what they said. So I would and at first it was still hard, but as I brought it to the light and asked for help, I was able to receive the help I needed either from my companion, my mission president or my father in heaven. Once they were fixed they didn´t bother me anymore. Then I could work on other things. I still have a lot to work on, but I am not the same missionary today as I was last year. I have learned a lot and have made a lot of changes. The more changes I decide to make that lead me to improving myself the happier I am, and the more confident I am. And yes, this all does go back to going to the temple. :) Like I said before thinking about the temple takes me away to other thoughts. :) But what I wanted to say overall is that the other day I read in the Doctrine and Covenants something like, Let us not glory in man, but let us glory in God. And I like that. Well, my time is officially gone. I just went off for a long time. I thank you all for your support.
I love you and I CAN´T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!!
Love,
Sister Melinda Fitzgerald
Family,
Well before I forget to mention it, I will be calling on Mothers Day around 9:30 am your time. It will be my first time calling out of the country so I will try to figure it out and call at that time. The order in which I will call everyone is as follows: 1. The family in Rexburg, 2. Candace and Evan in Arizona, and then 3. Dad. Um, I don´t know the time zone in Arizona so Candace and Evan just know I will call between 9:30 and 10:30 am MST. :) I hope that is OK. I wasn´t sure when your church was. Our is in the afternoon now, so yeah, I hope that all works out. If in case I can´t figure it out feel free to call me Mothers Day at (49)176-183-008-60. Sister Ashby called home for Christmas so she knows how to do it and can help me. :) I am looking so forward to talking with all of you. Will Sean and Kim be in Rexburg or Arizona, or Utah with Dad? I guess if not you can just give me their phone number on Sunday. YEA!
Ok, Mom I am so glad you got the chance to go to Women,s Conference. Sister Beck is amazing. You are amazing too. It sounds like are just bustling over there. In Tara´s email she talked about going back and forth to Utah and has only been home two days in the last few weeks she´s been at home. Wow, I haven´t left my city in the last 8 months, and you all are going cross country. :) But you do it to serve one another. I find that noble. That is what they say in German a lot, "I find that . . ." or they actually say, "Ich finde daß . . ." So yeah, anyway.
Mission life is completely wonderful!!!!!! I should also say before I forget, there was a surprise sister that came with all the other missionaries last week so we are still in a threesome. But Sister Cutler left us and now we have Sister Dexheimer. She is from Grantsville, Utah. And a very happy person. I love having her here. It´s funny because I knew her too in the MTC. She was the group right before me that left for Germany. The last few days have been pretty good.
We taught Peter the Word of Wisdom this week and we taught it at a convert families house. The spirit was so strong during the lesson and the members were so supportive. He was a little nervous about a few things but the members were a great help. They shared with him how they were able to overcome their challenges and that gave him hope. After everything was resolved he looked at us and said, "It´s not a matter of if, I will follow it, I just need to figure out how I can do it." MY heart filled with glee at his faith in the doctrine we taught. There is nothing I love more than to look into the eyes of a believing investigator and promise blessings that God has waiting for them. I love it! Well what I do love more is when they live it and tell us the blessings we promised came true, for they experienced it for themselves. Oh my goodness family, this church is true! And it fills me with hope and happiness inside and out! After we taught this lesson, the father of the family called us up the next morning and asked us for our investigators full name. This father was going to the temple and wanted to put Peters name on the prayer roll. I was so touched by the concern of the members for our faithful investigator.
That is the highlight of the week. And you know me, I like to say a few of my thoughts at the end of every email. :) and that is the temple. this week we taught a less active member about the temple. At the end we read in Doctrine and Covenants and all promised blessings that come from making the changes necessary in our lives so that we cango to the temple. The spirit was there because he said, "You know what you guys, I really want to find another job so I can go to the temple." (His job requires him to work every Sunday so he can´t go to church). We set up a temple tour and we will be going with him next week. As I have thought about the temple I have not been able to stop. :) IT carries me away to many other thoughts, that all help me realize that it is our destination. I have a strong testimony that baptism is the door to eternal life, but our destination is the House of the Lord, His Holy Temple. When I talk with people on the street they have so many concerns that need to be resolved. If they are humble and willing to try what we say (have faith), we can help them. If not, they continue in their sorrows and darkness. The gospel does bring light. Sometimes that light shows our weaknesses or mistakes, but then it helps us see where we can improve. When we rely on our Savior and do improve by making necessary changes, then we receive more light. And this process and light grows and grows until the perfect day, when we are full of light and have no more darkness or confusion or weaknesses or secrets. We can become totally clean and full of light through our Savior Jesus Christ. The guilt we have can be swept away, if we WANT it to be and SHOW that we WANT it by being humble and willing to submit to making changes. That is what I have learned on my mission. It has been a hard lesson. I had secrets like, "I actually don´t know how to teach, or I can´t actually speak German, but I will just pretend like I know until I figure it out." But then when people told me how I could improve it hurt, because it was true. And sometimes I wouldn´t follow their council and it would just keep coming up and bother me. Until I just decided it wasn´t worth it I should just try out what they said. So I would and at first it was still hard, but as I brought it to the light and asked for help, I was able to receive the help I needed either from my companion, my mission president or my father in heaven. Once they were fixed they didn´t bother me anymore. Then I could work on other things. I still have a lot to work on, but I am not the same missionary today as I was last year. I have learned a lot and have made a lot of changes. The more changes I decide to make that lead me to improving myself the happier I am, and the more confident I am. And yes, this all does go back to going to the temple. :) Like I said before thinking about the temple takes me away to other thoughts. :) But what I wanted to say overall is that the other day I read in the Doctrine and Covenants something like, Let us not glory in man, but let us glory in God. And I like that. Well, my time is officially gone. I just went off for a long time. I thank you all for your support.
I love you and I CAN´T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU!!!
Love,
Sister Melinda Fitzgerald
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