Hey Mom,
Sorry, but we're a little short on time this morning. We're approaching week 5 in the transfers, which means the week we receive moves and start working on them. Every waking moment we aren't spending teaching is spent worrying about our Zone or making transportation arrangements. I'm tired...and happy :)
I wish that I had time to send you a proper email about the week, but I really don't, so what I'm going to do is highlight some key events, give you my president's letter, and go from there.
It was awesome, by the way, to hear from you and Dad :) I love Dad's letters, they are the best. I laugh so hard at his mission experience, it's just so...Dad.
There were a few key points during this week:
- Maureen finally read the Book of Mormon, and it was a miracle! I don't know if I told you about Maureen, but she kind of has a Joseph Smith story behind her. She hadn't really read much until the last time we came over and taught her. She had sat down, read, prayed, and received an answer that she needs to come to the Visitors Centre at the temple and learn more about Joseph Smith. I'm so excited for her :)
- We found a very solid investigator named Roger. He's middle aged, and has a lot of good questions about religion. His first questions were about Adam and Eve (obviously). During our teach, he found a lot of solace in the Plan of Salvation and the true purpose of the Fall. He's very respectful and seems to be genuinely searching for truth. I cannot wait to keep teaching him :)
Both of those amazing events happened while I was on exchange, actually. It's funny, but that always seems to happen. The Lord blesses you with wonderful training opportunities for the missionaries that you take out on exchange. It helps them so much to see miracles happening and faith being put forth in order to be worthy of those miracles. It's always exciting to prepare for an exchange and to be lead by the Lord in our training of missionaries. I went on exchange with the AP's this week, and Elder Stephen (who I actually knew before my mission; he was in my BYU ward) said something profound: "training is what makes the world go around. That's why everything in missionary work and leadership has to do with training." That is very true, and I look to those that trained me with such regard because of what they helped me to become, and the tools that they gave me to continue forward.
- I went north of the river, left the mission, and saw proper London! :) Ha, we had to take a missionary to the Latvian Embassy, and so we got permission and left. It was sooooooo awesome. Pictures to follow. The whole debacle of getting this missionary onto English soil is a long story for another time. Suffice it to say, it took a lot out of our week to get this Elder here, but he's here and safe, and that's what matters.
So, I'm going to paste my president letter here, but reading through it, I just realized that it's quite boring, ha. Plus, this isn't even all of it; I took out most of the stuff about the Zone. Since I've become a Zone Leader, I mostly write about the members of the Zone and mission logistics/planning. Ha...so, it doesn't have much to do with me anymore :) Anyways, maybe there's something inspiring in there.
------
President,
It's been an average week in the Zone. Elder Blair and I have been called away to fix a lot of stuff in the office and mission...first Elder Palmer (I'm glad he's finally here and alright) and then the mission cars (the van needed a replacement battery and a wheel or two needed replacing on the Meriva, so we sat at a kwick fix for quite a bit of time this week). It's been crazy to get into our area this week. I do feel like we're setting the standard online for the Zone, and being a model area in that way. Also, I'm really happy about the progression of those that we are teaching. The quality key indicators in our area are really balanced and good right now.
I'm doing well, it's been a crazy week, and we have some very stressful weeks ahead as well. I'm very much impressed with the amount of work that goes into running this mission. That the logistics of moves and conferences work at all is a miracle. I hope that we can pull off another miracle and get all of these things done for moves and for the general authority coming through. We'll get it done with the Lord's help. These next weeks are going to be full of hard work.
We had an exchange with the Assistants this week. It was a really awesome exchange, and it was also the major part of the area work we were able to complete. Did I ever tell you that Elder Stephen and I went to BYU together, and were in the same ward? It was so fun to go out and work with him in the field. We learned so much and taught some very solid lessons, and we saw so many miracles. I think that something that I truly learned is that even though we have less time to spend in the area, the Lord makes up for it and blesses us with miracles that allow us to be just as effective in less amount of time :) For instance, Elder Stephen and I prayed and dedicated a 15 minute block of time that we had left over to the Lord, and in that time we found two people who set up return appointments, and one who took a Book of Mormon and gave us his contact information. I know that this is the Lord's work, and as we ask for things specifically from Him, He will grant us our righteous desires.
As a Zone, we are studying something together on a weekly basis as a part of our Zone Goals, and this week we have counseled and decided that Consecration and Diligence are two things that we need to study together. We need to find a way to be accountable to the Lord for our diligence, so that it becomes meaningful to us and is not set at naught merely because it is now unmeasured. .
Elder Blair and I have been doing a lot of praying for you, President. I can't imagine the stress that moves puts on your shoulders. We love you, hope that everything is going well, and let us know if there is anything that we can do for you :)
Love, Elder Foster
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Alright, I need to head out and keep this mission running smoothly. I love you tons, hope that everything is going well with the family. Everybody is so grown up. Colin's stroke does look dang good, by the way.
Love, Elder Foster
Sorry, but we're a little short on time this morning. We're approaching week 5 in the transfers, which means the week we receive moves and start working on them. Every waking moment we aren't spending teaching is spent worrying about our Zone or making transportation arrangements. I'm tired...and happy :)
I wish that I had time to send you a proper email about the week, but I really don't, so what I'm going to do is highlight some key events, give you my president's letter, and go from there.
It was awesome, by the way, to hear from you and Dad :) I love Dad's letters, they are the best. I laugh so hard at his mission experience, it's just so...Dad.
There were a few key points during this week:
- Maureen finally read the Book of Mormon, and it was a miracle! I don't know if I told you about Maureen, but she kind of has a Joseph Smith story behind her. She hadn't really read much until the last time we came over and taught her. She had sat down, read, prayed, and received an answer that she needs to come to the Visitors Centre at the temple and learn more about Joseph Smith. I'm so excited for her :)
- We found a very solid investigator named Roger. He's middle aged, and has a lot of good questions about religion. His first questions were about Adam and Eve (obviously). During our teach, he found a lot of solace in the Plan of Salvation and the true purpose of the Fall. He's very respectful and seems to be genuinely searching for truth. I cannot wait to keep teaching him :)
Both of those amazing events happened while I was on exchange, actually. It's funny, but that always seems to happen. The Lord blesses you with wonderful training opportunities for the missionaries that you take out on exchange. It helps them so much to see miracles happening and faith being put forth in order to be worthy of those miracles. It's always exciting to prepare for an exchange and to be lead by the Lord in our training of missionaries. I went on exchange with the AP's this week, and Elder Stephen (who I actually knew before my mission; he was in my BYU ward) said something profound: "training is what makes the world go around. That's why everything in missionary work and leadership has to do with training." That is very true, and I look to those that trained me with such regard because of what they helped me to become, and the tools that they gave me to continue forward.
- I went north of the river, left the mission, and saw proper London! :) Ha, we had to take a missionary to the Latvian Embassy, and so we got permission and left. It was sooooooo awesome. Pictures to follow. The whole debacle of getting this missionary onto English soil is a long story for another time. Suffice it to say, it took a lot out of our week to get this Elder here, but he's here and safe, and that's what matters.
So, I'm going to paste my president letter here, but reading through it, I just realized that it's quite boring, ha. Plus, this isn't even all of it; I took out most of the stuff about the Zone. Since I've become a Zone Leader, I mostly write about the members of the Zone and mission logistics/planning. Ha...so, it doesn't have much to do with me anymore :) Anyways, maybe there's something inspiring in there.
------
President,
It's been an average week in the Zone. Elder Blair and I have been called away to fix a lot of stuff in the office and mission...first Elder Palmer (I'm glad he's finally here and alright) and then the mission cars (the van needed a replacement battery and a wheel or two needed replacing on the Meriva, so we sat at a kwick fix for quite a bit of time this week). It's been crazy to get into our area this week. I do feel like we're setting the standard online for the Zone, and being a model area in that way. Also, I'm really happy about the progression of those that we are teaching. The quality key indicators in our area are really balanced and good right now.
I'm doing well, it's been a crazy week, and we have some very stressful weeks ahead as well. I'm very much impressed with the amount of work that goes into running this mission. That the logistics of moves and conferences work at all is a miracle. I hope that we can pull off another miracle and get all of these things done for moves and for the general authority coming through. We'll get it done with the Lord's help. These next weeks are going to be full of hard work.
We had an exchange with the Assistants this week. It was a really awesome exchange, and it was also the major part of the area work we were able to complete. Did I ever tell you that Elder Stephen and I went to BYU together, and were in the same ward? It was so fun to go out and work with him in the field. We learned so much and taught some very solid lessons, and we saw so many miracles. I think that something that I truly learned is that even though we have less time to spend in the area, the Lord makes up for it and blesses us with miracles that allow us to be just as effective in less amount of time :) For instance, Elder Stephen and I prayed and dedicated a 15 minute block of time that we had left over to the Lord, and in that time we found two people who set up return appointments, and one who took a Book of Mormon and gave us his contact information. I know that this is the Lord's work, and as we ask for things specifically from Him, He will grant us our righteous desires.
As a Zone, we are studying something together on a weekly basis as a part of our Zone Goals, and this week we have counseled and decided that Consecration and Diligence are two things that we need to study together. We need to find a way to be accountable to the Lord for our diligence, so that it becomes meaningful to us and is not set at naught merely because it is now unmeasured. .
Elder Blair and I have been doing a lot of praying for you, President. I can't imagine the stress that moves puts on your shoulders. We love you, hope that everything is going well, and let us know if there is anything that we can do for you :)
Love, Elder Foster
------
Alright, I need to head out and keep this mission running smoothly. I love you tons, hope that everything is going well with the family. Everybody is so grown up. Colin's stroke does look dang good, by the way.
Love, Elder Foster