A Week To Never Forget!

First off i got a new Companion!!!! His name is Elder Bennett!  He's from Syracuse Utah and Im killing him! Yep! This is his last transfer before he heads Home!! But he's not trunky at all! He is so exited to be here in East Orange and is going to end his mission with a bang!

Im sooooooo PUMPED right now! We've been contacting like crazy and and had some great success with a lot people so far! And the best thing about it is we found 7 new investigators just this past week!! The Lord answered my prayers! He blessed me with a companion that wants to work and people to teach!! My heart is full of joy and gratitude.  

My Birthday felt like just another day.. hahah went out and worked hard, although we did have a Branch Christmas Party that night which was super fun! Had lots to eat. That night we called Ronald, our investigator to invite him to the Party and he said he was going to come but then his car broke down so i was kinda sad about that but we are meeting with him this afternoon so i hope that works out. 

So Garrett Got Hitched! hahaha Wow! I got the wedding Invite the day before and showed to some of the Missionaries in our zone meeting and two of them are from Centerville or wherever and they know Alexandria! hahah they were like freaking out when i showed them the picture! Hahaha so ask her if she remembers an Elder Wood from Holiday and a Sister Cooper from Centerville. Anyways Im so happy for them and cant wait to get home and meet their 2 babies that their going to have!! hahahah 

Thank you for all of the Birthday Wishes and Letters! But Especially I am sooooo grateful for all of your prayers! As you can see they have brought miracles to this area and to me! My Testimony of prayer has grown so much since i've become a missionary because of my constant need of the spirit in this work.  I love and pray for all of you and hope you have a great week! Prayer, Scripture Study & Church are what keep us on track! Keep doing those three basic things and everything else works its self out! 

I love and Miss You All! 

Until Next Week.

-Elder Fotu

Hello!

So it was pretty much a normal week for us here in Jersey. Its getting Flipping cold out so we dont see a lot of people out on the streets to contact. Although we were able to pick up new Investigator who i am SUPER PUMPED about! His name is Ronald he was referred to us by a member. His wife just died and he was searching for something that would give him an understanding to where we go after this life... We taught him the Plan Of Salvation and about the spirit world and how missionary work is done in the spirit world and how his wife would and have a chance to hear the same message we were giving him. When he herd this he started to tear up.. then he said "so she has a chance..??". The spirit immediately filled the room and i started to tear up as well! This guy has so much potential and I would ask all of you to pray for him! 

Anyways I hope everything is going great back at home! Christmas is coming and im so happy because it give us another reason to talk about our Savior! Garrett is getting Married this week! Gonna Rock the Honeymoon Bro!? hahahah sorry had to say it! Wow seems like yesterday we were just kids! Now im on a mission and your getting ready to have a family of your own! 

We got our transfer notices this morning! Im staying but Elder Augustin is going... Gonna Miss him. But im done being trained so im pumped to start leading the area!

All right sorry its as long as it usually is but i gotta go! Love You All! Have a Great Week! Always keep the Savior in Mind!

-Elder Fotu   

Turkey For Dayyyzzz!

Helloooooo Everyone! sorry i didnt email last week! We were super busy so i only had time to email president! But sounds like everyone had a lot of fun this past week! Man i miss the holidays at home already!

 Things are going great here in East Orange/Newark! My Thanksgiving was soooooo great! We had a Turkey Bowl from 9 until like 12:30! Half of our mission was there, the other half was down south playing at the Princeton stadium! We had our first snow storm here and it snowed a couple inches and so we had fun rolling around in the snow!  I've been super sore since then because i haven't ran that much in i don't know how long! I tore it up though! Had like 10 touchdowns and like 20 sacs! Hahaha Yes I made everyone have an O and D line! 

After that we had to run home and get ready for our 1st of 4 dinner appointments!! I dont think I've ever been more FULL in my life! After the second dinner i was about to pass out! But our third and last last one (because we didnt have enough time for the forth and we feared we might injure ourselves if we went) was with our Branch Presidents family the Hinds! It was so much fun! After we ate we played Scattergories (my new favorite game). It was so funny! It reminded me of our family and how we always play fun games during the holidays! I highly suggest buying this game and playing it with the family! hahaha When we got home that night i couldnt remember how i got into bed i was so full and tired! HEAPS of FUN though! 

Yesterday at church in Sacrament Meeting President Hinds had a couple of members share some things about Thanksgiving, and afterwards Brother Menson (really funny guy) who is the 1st councilor in the branch presidency spoke and he talked about Giving.  It was super funny because he's from Ghana and has a really strong accent! But he told a story that was from his village in Ghana it went somewhere along the lines of: there was once a wood pecker who had a strong beak and every time one of the animals in the jungle would die, he would never help the rest of the animals in the jungle burry that animal that died. One day the monkey came to the wood pecker and asked him why he never helped and that they could really use his strong beak and the wood pecker said that he was to busy doing his own things. The monkey then asked him who was going to help him burry his mother if he never helped? The Wood Pecker said that he doesn't need help and that he would do it himself. When the day came that the wood pecker's mother died, he got a took-ace and was unable to burry his mother. Brother Menson then said: when i came to america i noticed that americans were so giving! (he then held up a newspaper and pointed to it) It says here in the headlines that studies have found that giving is good for your health!! That is why american live for so long!! Hahaha everyone was busting up! Him telling that story in his accent was so funny! But it made me realize that we should focus on giving gifts this holiday season instead of receiving or just sticking to ourselves! Our focus as missionaries is to give the Gift of Christ. I'm so exited to have this focus this holiday season because this will be a great way to catch peoples attention and have the opportunity to share the Gospel with them! Hopefully it will be a cool experience being on a mission and having a better clear view of the true meaning of Christmas.        

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjFEMmM0Xs 

I Love You All!! Hope we all have a fun, safe and blessed holiday season! 

-Elder Fotu