This past week the sun has been out and temperatures have been in the
50's! Its weird when people say Merry Christmas around here because It
doesn't even feel like Thanksgiving has come and gone! I kinda want it
to snow..
On the bright side the work is great!
Our zone was struggling in the past weeks to find new investigators so
on Tuesday at Zone meeting we focused on finding new investigators and
putting them on baptismal date, set some goals and got the zone pumped
for the holiday season because it's one of the best times to share the
gospel!
Friday to Saturday we went on exchanges with the assistants. It was
weird to go back Elizabeth! But it was a great exchange. I went with
good old Elder Garfield! Learned a lot from him.
This next week should be pretty Exciting! Elder David F. Evens,
Executive Director of the mission department is visiting Thursday and
Friday! So it should be great to receive training from him. Also our
Christmas musical fireside is on Sunday. Oh yeah and it's my
birthday.. Hahaha moms first words in her letter! Super weird! I still
feel like I'm 16... Time flies!
It's not much but this next weeks letter should be longer and better;)
But thanks for all your prayers and support!
Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
To Blessed to be Stressed
This week was greater than great! We bee staying super busy!
The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! Doesn't
look to good back in Utah.
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving was AWESOME here! We had a Turkey Bowel with 2 other
zones. So fun! Elder Woodward and I bought matching camo tights! We
looked pretty red neck😝
We had dinner with some Members in our Ward, the Bayles's! Elder wood
Ward is best friends with their nephew back in St. George so that was
fun for them! Sister Bayles Made us some BOMB food!
Friday was MLC we talked a lot about helping missionaries know how to
extend commitments.. I we have a hard time doing that..
Saturday the Office Elders (Elder Black and Elder Larsen) moved into
our tiny one room apartment.. Hahaha they had to give their apartment
up to the new office senior couple for a couple weeks until they can
find a new apartment.. We're pretty crammed in here!
Yesterday we had a sweet experience! We met with a in active guy named
Andrew (who hasn't been to church since he was baptized as a kid) and
his fiancé Chelsea and their Friend Renee. Our Ward mission leader
from Morristown, Brother Thueson came to help us teach. We found out
that the reason that they all wanted to meet with us was because Renee
saw a bunch of missionaries at Costco and they all looked super happy
and they were buying a ton of eggs! So she referred herself on
Mormon.org. And she told her Friends (Andrew and Chelsea) that she was
meeting with the Mormons. Then Andrew was like hey I'm a Mormon! I'll
meet them with you! Elder Woodward asked her what Costco she saw the
missionaries at and she said the one in Clinton. Lo and behold that
was Elder Woodward and his companion in his last area shopping at
Costco!! Super funny! Elder Woodward was cracking up! We taught the
Plan of Salvation and Andrews sister Ashley walks in and sits down
says she just wants to listen to the lesson.. We had a great lesson!
At the End of the lesson we find out that Ashley was Baptism when she
was like 10 as well! We were pumped! Brother Thueson was super excited
to work with them more and get them baptism and back to church!
Pray for them Please:)
Well that's about it for this week...
Thank you for all the prayers and support!
Until next week. Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
The weather wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be! Doesn't
look to good back in Utah.
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving was AWESOME here! We had a Turkey Bowel with 2 other
zones. So fun! Elder Woodward and I bought matching camo tights! We
looked pretty red neck😝
We had dinner with some Members in our Ward, the Bayles's! Elder wood
Ward is best friends with their nephew back in St. George so that was
fun for them! Sister Bayles Made us some BOMB food!
Friday was MLC we talked a lot about helping missionaries know how to
extend commitments.. I we have a hard time doing that..
Saturday the Office Elders (Elder Black and Elder Larsen) moved into
our tiny one room apartment.. Hahaha they had to give their apartment
up to the new office senior couple for a couple weeks until they can
find a new apartment.. We're pretty crammed in here!
Yesterday we had a sweet experience! We met with a in active guy named
Andrew (who hasn't been to church since he was baptized as a kid) and
his fiancé Chelsea and their Friend Renee. Our Ward mission leader
from Morristown, Brother Thueson came to help us teach. We found out
that the reason that they all wanted to meet with us was because Renee
saw a bunch of missionaries at Costco and they all looked super happy
and they were buying a ton of eggs! So she referred herself on
Mormon.org. And she told her Friends (Andrew and Chelsea) that she was
meeting with the Mormons. Then Andrew was like hey I'm a Mormon! I'll
meet them with you! Elder Woodward asked her what Costco she saw the
missionaries at and she said the one in Clinton. Lo and behold that
was Elder Woodward and his companion in his last area shopping at
Costco!! Super funny! Elder Woodward was cracking up! We taught the
Plan of Salvation and Andrews sister Ashley walks in and sits down
says she just wants to listen to the lesson.. We had a great lesson!
At the End of the lesson we find out that Ashley was Baptism when she
was like 10 as well! We were pumped! Brother Thueson was super excited
to work with them more and get them baptism and back to church!
Pray for them Please:)
Well that's about it for this week...
Thank you for all the prayers and support!
Until next week. Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
It's cold
Well I wish I could say its winter here but it's just really cold...
Last year the first snow was on thanksgiving so we'll see if we can do
just a little better and make it to December BEFOR it snows!
This past week was a memorable one. Wednesday we went to the Temple!
It was awesome! The Temple is always the highlight of the holiday
season:) I gain more strength and learn more every time I go! The only
thing I can't wait to go home for is to go to the temple as much as I
can! I took it for granted way to much back home. But it was the most
smooth trip to Manhattan that I've ever had! We took the train right
in, did our session and took the train right back! Usually someone
gets lost along the way or someone doesn't bring enough money to take
the subway back, or someone gets off at the wrong stop but our zone
was great! Super organized and fast. Little to no stress for us!
Hahaha
Interviews with President Taggart on Wednesday went good. I love
talking with him one-on-one and being able to be motivated and
uplifted by him.
Week was packed!
Yesterday was interesting.. So we cover two wards, the Cedar Lakes
Ward (they meet at the Morris town chapel) and the Ledgewood Ward. So
for church we go on splits with the other Elders from each Ward. So I
went to Cedar Lakes with The Morristown Office Elders and it was cool!
Some sweet members in Morristown!
Then we ate dinner at the Ledgewood Bishop's house last night, Bishop
Wagstaff. Great guy, great Family!
This next week is going to be another Great one! Hopefully I don't get
too fat on Thursday!
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!
Love you!
-Elder Fotu
Last year the first snow was on thanksgiving so we'll see if we can do
just a little better and make it to December BEFOR it snows!
This past week was a memorable one. Wednesday we went to the Temple!
It was awesome! The Temple is always the highlight of the holiday
season:) I gain more strength and learn more every time I go! The only
thing I can't wait to go home for is to go to the temple as much as I
can! I took it for granted way to much back home. But it was the most
smooth trip to Manhattan that I've ever had! We took the train right
in, did our session and took the train right back! Usually someone
gets lost along the way or someone doesn't bring enough money to take
the subway back, or someone gets off at the wrong stop but our zone
was great! Super organized and fast. Little to no stress for us!
Hahaha
Interviews with President Taggart on Wednesday went good. I love
talking with him one-on-one and being able to be motivated and
uplifted by him.
Week was packed!
Yesterday was interesting.. So we cover two wards, the Cedar Lakes
Ward (they meet at the Morris town chapel) and the Ledgewood Ward. So
for church we go on splits with the other Elders from each Ward. So I
went to Cedar Lakes with The Morristown Office Elders and it was cool!
Some sweet members in Morristown!
Then we ate dinner at the Ledgewood Bishop's house last night, Bishop
Wagstaff. Great guy, great Family!
This next week is going to be another Great one! Hopefully I don't get
too fat on Thursday!
Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!
Love you!
-Elder Fotu
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
New Area, New Companion!
What's up ERRBODY!?!?
Well this past week has been really Awesome! I'm not traveling
anymore! I got transferred to be a Zone Leader in Ledge Wood with my
Homie Elder Woodward!! He's from St. George Utah! Funniest Elder Ever!
He hunts, fishes, rides dirt bikes, blows stuff up, plays lacrosse and
does missionary work like a BOSS! I'm SUPER pumped to be with him
because he works HARD! I got HEAPS to learn from him! We're ready to
blow it up here in Ledgewood!
This past week was crazy because we got doubled into this Area! We
went from the Hoods to the Woods! Nothing but trees with Black Bears,
Deer and people ready to be Baptzed! Some pretty sweet lakes that we
want to hit up some fish at though! The members here are sick! First
Sunday in the area yesterday and we had members inviting us over for
dinner! It's Elder Woodward's first area that hasn't been Hood and
mine in a while so it's kind of a culture shock for both of us! Hahah
I got to used to talking in Ebonics. So now back To talking like a
white person again...
We're working with some sweet people! There's this less active guy
named Drew that wants to come back to church and his fiancé Chelsea
and her friend Renee want to get Baptized! We've been teaching them as
well, great people.
This next week we get to take our Zone to Manhattan for our Semiannual
Temple trip! Pumped about that! We also have interviews with President
Taggart this week! It should be interesting to be interviewed by him
after the last two transfers of working closely with him.
OH!! I forgot last week to congratulate Jake and Sara on their
engagement! Wooohooo!!! Good thing they dated in high school before he
got Fat on his mission! Or else he would have had a hard time! Hahah
jk jk! He's buff...
Well keep living the Gospel Everyone! Work Hard at whatever you do!
Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
Well this past week has been really Awesome! I'm not traveling
anymore! I got transferred to be a Zone Leader in Ledge Wood with my
Homie Elder Woodward!! He's from St. George Utah! Funniest Elder Ever!
He hunts, fishes, rides dirt bikes, blows stuff up, plays lacrosse and
does missionary work like a BOSS! I'm SUPER pumped to be with him
because he works HARD! I got HEAPS to learn from him! We're ready to
blow it up here in Ledgewood!
This past week was crazy because we got doubled into this Area! We
went from the Hoods to the Woods! Nothing but trees with Black Bears,
Deer and people ready to be Baptzed! Some pretty sweet lakes that we
want to hit up some fish at though! The members here are sick! First
Sunday in the area yesterday and we had members inviting us over for
dinner! It's Elder Woodward's first area that hasn't been Hood and
mine in a while so it's kind of a culture shock for both of us! Hahah
I got to used to talking in Ebonics. So now back To talking like a
white person again...
We're working with some sweet people! There's this less active guy
named Drew that wants to come back to church and his fiancé Chelsea
and her friend Renee want to get Baptized! We've been teaching them as
well, great people.
This next week we get to take our Zone to Manhattan for our Semiannual
Temple trip! Pumped about that! We also have interviews with President
Taggart this week! It should be interesting to be interviewed by him
after the last two transfers of working closely with him.
OH!! I forgot last week to congratulate Jake and Sara on their
engagement! Wooohooo!!! Good thing they dated in high school before he
got Fat on his mission! Or else he would have had a hard time! Hahah
jk jk! He's buff...
Well keep living the Gospel Everyone! Work Hard at whatever you do!
Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
TRANSFERS!!!
Sorry I don't have ANY time to write a long letter! Transfers are
today and we are headed out to pick up the new missionaries from the
airport!
This past week I was in Jersey City for the whole week on Exchanges!
Snagged this cool pick!
Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
today and we are headed out to pick up the new missionaries from the
airport!
This past week I was in Jersey City for the whole week on Exchanges!
Snagged this cool pick!
Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
Morning
Good Morning Family! So this past week was CRAZY as usual... Tuesday
Danny, Caden and Maddi Came to our mission! 5 zones got together at
the Newark Chapel and Danny spoke to us! It was Awesome! He talked
about how President Taggart's Uncle Charlie (who Caden is named after)
was the reason why he went on a mission. He gave a lot of background
on the Ricciardi Letter, talked on so many things that our mission
needed to lift and inspire us! All in all it was an awesome experience
not only to see them but to here Danny's sweet testimony!
The first part on the week we were in Fardale and Passaic for
Exchanges. I was with Elder Nielsen and Elder Peterson! Super fun
exchange with Great missionaries.
Friday we had MLC which was very good. Following MLC it was mischief
night in Jersey so all missionaries had to be in by 6! So we transfer
planned at the mission home and spent the night there. Saturday
Morning Elder Pearson and I Headed down to Princeton for Exchanges. I
was with Elder Rigtrup and Elder Leilua (straight FOB)! I got to go to
church with them and then came back to Elizabeth last night. Super
crazy wiped out from all this madness! But I know that if I'm tired
then I'm doing something right... So that's good!
Thanks for all the love and Prayers! Keep Loving and living the Gospel!
Love you!
-Elder Fotu
Danny, Caden and Maddi Came to our mission! 5 zones got together at
the Newark Chapel and Danny spoke to us! It was Awesome! He talked
about how President Taggart's Uncle Charlie (who Caden is named after)
was the reason why he went on a mission. He gave a lot of background
on the Ricciardi Letter, talked on so many things that our mission
needed to lift and inspire us! All in all it was an awesome experience
not only to see them but to here Danny's sweet testimony!
The first part on the week we were in Fardale and Passaic for
Exchanges. I was with Elder Nielsen and Elder Peterson! Super fun
exchange with Great missionaries.
Friday we had MLC which was very good. Following MLC it was mischief
night in Jersey so all missionaries had to be in by 6! So we transfer
planned at the mission home and spent the night there. Saturday
Morning Elder Pearson and I Headed down to Princeton for Exchanges. I
was with Elder Rigtrup and Elder Leilua (straight FOB)! I got to go to
church with them and then came back to Elizabeth last night. Super
crazy wiped out from all this madness! But I know that if I'm tired
then I'm doing something right... So that's good!
Thanks for all the love and Prayers! Keep Loving and living the Gospel!
Love you!
-Elder Fotu
Hey!
Hey Fam! President Taggart told me last Monday that Mom had called and
told him Grandma SoSo had passed away. I am sad that she is gone but
happy that she is at peace.
I've always been grandma's little boy and I cherish the moments and
memories we had at grandma's house.
I'm glad I'm here on my mission to have such a strong knowledge of
Gods Plan. I know that we all will be with Grandma SoSo again to live
happily in our Heavenly Fathers Kingdom!
I hope Grandpa Jack is doing good! Give him my love!
Things have been going great here in Jersey! I've been on exchanges
all over the place! I was in Newark and Irvington 2 weeks ago and East
Brunswick and Scotch Plains this past week! It's been a blast! Our
mission has been💥BOOMING💥lately! We had our big zone conferences
this past week, so it was super hectic trying to go from exchange to
exchange with zone conferences in between. But there were successful
trainings givin and the mission is getting pumped for the holiday
season!
Saturday I got an email from Preside Taggart saying that Danny
Humphrey was coming tomorrow to talk to our mission! Super surprised!
It will be great to him!
Well sorry it's short but.. Know that I'm loving the Work, and I would
be anywhere else in the world!!
Thank you all!
🇹🇴Ofa Atu🇹🇴
-Elder Fotu
told him Grandma SoSo had passed away. I am sad that she is gone but
happy that she is at peace.
I've always been grandma's little boy and I cherish the moments and
memories we had at grandma's house.
I'm glad I'm here on my mission to have such a strong knowledge of
Gods Plan. I know that we all will be with Grandma SoSo again to live
happily in our Heavenly Fathers Kingdom!
I hope Grandpa Jack is doing good! Give him my love!
Things have been going great here in Jersey! I've been on exchanges
all over the place! I was in Newark and Irvington 2 weeks ago and East
Brunswick and Scotch Plains this past week! It's been a blast! Our
mission has been💥BOOMING💥lately! We had our big zone conferences
this past week, so it was super hectic trying to go from exchange to
exchange with zone conferences in between. But there were successful
trainings givin and the mission is getting pumped for the holiday
season!
Saturday I got an email from Preside Taggart saying that Danny
Humphrey was coming tomorrow to talk to our mission! Super surprised!
It will be great to him!
Well sorry it's short but.. Know that I'm loving the Work, and I would
be anywhere else in the world!!
Thank you all!
🇹🇴Ofa Atu🇹🇴
-Elder Fotu
Monday, October 26, 2015
🍁FALL🍁
Well it's start into get cold here! It's crazy to think that this is
my last fall in the mission!! But
Who's thinking about that..?😜
This past week was another good one. I was down south in Toms River
and Long Branch 👈🏾 one of my old Wards! I got to see some old faces
so it was fun!
In Toms River I was with Elder Reese and Elder Jordan! Two really
Great missionaries! Elder Jordan is being trained by Elder Jordan and
they work hard together! I was telling Elder Reese that my brother
Jake served in Poland and he was like hey a couple in my ward who
write me like every week served in Poland and they came home so they
could go to their youngest kids wedding who was the last of 12 kids to
go on a mission and get Sealed in the Temple! And I was like hey I
herd about that from my brother! So.. Yeah he knows them Jake..
In Long Branch I was with Elder Jeon and Elder Thomson! They are right
on the Jersey Shore! Super nice rich area! We were able to really work
on finding new Investigators. Elder Jeon is from Korea and is a super
bold! Hahaha I love it! He's not afraid to tell people how it is!
Learned a lot from them! Elder Jeon also made me Squid ink noodles!!
Surprisingly super good! Hahah I'll send a picture! The ward mission
leader Brother Murch and his wife took us out to eat as well! They
were my Favorite when I was serving down there! They remind me of
Grandpa Jack and And Grandma SoSo!
Well this next week should be a fun one! President and Sister Taggart
are heading to Salt Lake on Wednesday for a Seminar so we're holdin it
down for the week! We have a meeting with all the Zone Leaders that we
are doing on our own so we'll need a lot of prayers this week! Hahah
A scripture that I Ponderized this last week was 1 Nephi 4:6 witch
reads: And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things
which I should do. 7 Nevertheless I went forth.
Love you! Thank you so much for all your Prayers and Love! Have a Great week!
-Elder Fotu
my last fall in the mission!! But
Who's thinking about that..?😜
This past week was another good one. I was down south in Toms River
and Long Branch 👈🏾 one of my old Wards! I got to see some old faces
so it was fun!
In Toms River I was with Elder Reese and Elder Jordan! Two really
Great missionaries! Elder Jordan is being trained by Elder Jordan and
they work hard together! I was telling Elder Reese that my brother
Jake served in Poland and he was like hey a couple in my ward who
write me like every week served in Poland and they came home so they
could go to their youngest kids wedding who was the last of 12 kids to
go on a mission and get Sealed in the Temple! And I was like hey I
herd about that from my brother! So.. Yeah he knows them Jake..
In Long Branch I was with Elder Jeon and Elder Thomson! They are right
on the Jersey Shore! Super nice rich area! We were able to really work
on finding new Investigators. Elder Jeon is from Korea and is a super
bold! Hahaha I love it! He's not afraid to tell people how it is!
Learned a lot from them! Elder Jeon also made me Squid ink noodles!!
Surprisingly super good! Hahah I'll send a picture! The ward mission
leader Brother Murch and his wife took us out to eat as well! They
were my Favorite when I was serving down there! They remind me of
Grandpa Jack and And Grandma SoSo!
Well this next week should be a fun one! President and Sister Taggart
are heading to Salt Lake on Wednesday for a Seminar so we're holdin it
down for the week! We have a meeting with all the Zone Leaders that we
are doing on our own so we'll need a lot of prayers this week! Hahah
A scripture that I Ponderized this last week was 1 Nephi 4:6 witch
reads: And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things
which I should do. 7 Nevertheless I went forth.
Love you! Thank you so much for all your Prayers and Love! Have a Great week!
-Elder Fotu
NJMM (my letter from last week that I forgot to send..)
Hey Family! I just want to start out by saying I love you all! And I
pray for each of you individually Every night! I don't know what I
would do with out you!
Well this past week was a
doozy! Transfers went very well and we got all the new missionaries in
and the old ones out! It's always such a happy/sad day.. We dropped
Elder Maddox and the rest of the departing missionaries off at the
airport Wednesday morning. Elder Maddox went home a transfer early due
to really bad back problems. He had fought so hard and
gone through heaps to stay out.. but ones body can only take so much. It
was sad to let him go
.
Thursday
we had New Leadership Training Meeting. Where we met with all the Newly
Called Leaders in the mission. We talked a lot about being the example,
and finding people to teach. The Next day in MLC (meeting with all the
Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders) President Taggart threw down
on a bunch of the leaders because they were slacking a bit and weren't
finding new investigators enough! He even said he would start releasing
missionaries from being Zone Leaders if they didn't step it up! There
defiantly is a new sense of urgency amongst the leaders of witch we
lacked! Haha
General Conference was Amazing!!!
As usual! But this one seemed to be very special.. Not only because of
the newly called Apostles but the talked seemed to be more Bold than
past Conferences.. I think it just means that we need to step it up!
There seemed to be themes of: More Faith, Better Sabbath Day Observance,
and Being a Better Disciple of Jesus Christ! I Loved it! I received
SOOOOO many answers to my questions! One of them being: - What will
strengthen my faith in the Lord more than anything else? My answer was
in the Priesthood session the first talk Elder Anderson said: "How
we live our lives increases or diminishes our faith. … There is an
adversary who delights in destroying our faith! Be relentless in
protecting your faith. ... The difficulties of mortality blow
against you, and evil forces lurk in the darkness, hoping to extinguish
your faith. But as you continue to make good choices, trust in God, and
follow His Son, the Lord sends increased light and knowledge, and your
faith becomes settled and unwavering." BEAST ANSWER EVER if you ask me!
It's been an awesome week!
Love you all! Thank you for all your love!
-Elder Fotu
Another one for the books!
This week was very great and fulfilling!
The leaves are changing here in the garden state! It's getting chilly!
Fall is here!
This week started out with us driving all the way up to New City New
York! The part of our mission that is in the state of New York. It was
great though I was with Elder Winfield and Elder Victor! They are
pretty much the only English speaking missionaries in that part of the
mission so their area is huge! And it's full of just straight trees!
Everywhere we went I felt like I was in the sacred grove so something!
It was awesome! We taught a man named John who had a very strong
testimony of the Apostasy and knew there needed to be a restoration!
When we taught to him it all made sense to him! It was awesome! It
made me wish for everyone we talk to be like John! But not everyone is
so it just excited me even more to search for more people like him!
Next I went to Englewood/Palisades Park aka: K-TOWN!!!! I've never
seen more Asian people in my life!!! The Korean missionaries serve
there and are on top of things!! Elder Harris (I served around him in
East Orange) and Elder Koo were my companions for the last part of the
week in K-Town and they are waking so hard to finish strong as Elder
Harris is going home this week! It really puts into prospective how
fast serving a mission really is when I'm around missionaries that are
getting ready to go home!
We ate at a couple sweet Korean restaurants while I was there too! It
strait up felt like I was in Korea! We would walk down the street and
all the signs and stuff were in Korean and all the people were Korean!
They taught me how to say "hello" and "thank you" in Korean! Of cores
I just butchered it every time I'd say hi to someone and they would
just start laughing! But I found that people were more willing to talk
to us when I was making them laugh with my horrible Korean! Hahaha
Today we are picking up the new missionaries from the airport! Super
stoked! There are some great missionaries coming in! And there are
some great missionaries leaving as well... Transfers are always such a
great and dreadful day...
But General Conference is this next week!!! I always call it the
"Missionary Super Bowl" because the whole mission is always so pumped
for General Conference.
Well that's about it for this past week! Sorry it's kinda short... But
we're kinda busy so I gotta jet! Thank you for the prayer, love, and
support. I truly feel the Saviors love through your letters and
prayers on my behalf:)
Heaps of Love!
-Elder Fotu
The leaves are changing here in the garden state! It's getting chilly!
Fall is here!
This week started out with us driving all the way up to New City New
York! The part of our mission that is in the state of New York. It was
great though I was with Elder Winfield and Elder Victor! They are
pretty much the only English speaking missionaries in that part of the
mission so their area is huge! And it's full of just straight trees!
Everywhere we went I felt like I was in the sacred grove so something!
It was awesome! We taught a man named John who had a very strong
testimony of the Apostasy and knew there needed to be a restoration!
When we taught to him it all made sense to him! It was awesome! It
made me wish for everyone we talk to be like John! But not everyone is
so it just excited me even more to search for more people like him!
Next I went to Englewood/Palisades Park aka: K-TOWN!!!! I've never
seen more Asian people in my life!!! The Korean missionaries serve
there and are on top of things!! Elder Harris (I served around him in
East Orange) and Elder Koo were my companions for the last part of the
week in K-Town and they are waking so hard to finish strong as Elder
Harris is going home this week! It really puts into prospective how
fast serving a mission really is when I'm around missionaries that are
getting ready to go home!
We ate at a couple sweet Korean restaurants while I was there too! It
strait up felt like I was in Korea! We would walk down the street and
all the signs and stuff were in Korean and all the people were Korean!
They taught me how to say "hello" and "thank you" in Korean! Of cores
I just butchered it every time I'd say hi to someone and they would
just start laughing! But I found that people were more willing to talk
to us when I was making them laugh with my horrible Korean! Hahaha
Today we are picking up the new missionaries from the airport! Super
stoked! There are some great missionaries coming in! And there are
some great missionaries leaving as well... Transfers are always such a
great and dreadful day...
But General Conference is this next week!!! I always call it the
"Missionary Super Bowl" because the whole mission is always so pumped
for General Conference.
Well that's about it for this past week! Sorry it's kinda short... But
we're kinda busy so I gotta jet! Thank you for the prayer, love, and
support. I truly feel the Saviors love through your letters and
prayers on my behalf:)
Heaps of Love!
-Elder Fotu
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Flying bye!
This past week was Amazing! But sadly it went by soooooo fast!
I started the week out by going down to Trenton! It was pretty cool
driving through Princeton, never been there before. But I was with
Elder Gibson and Elder Allred! Elder Gibson was my MTC companion! So
that was super fun!! They do a lot of service in the community there.
The first day we went to a soup kitchen and fed some homeless people
so that was fun! The next day we went and helped out at like this
thrift shop sort of thing.. But we moved a ton of stuff and throw away
a bunch of couches from this place because it was closing down. But it
was a lot of work and I was super tired after! I met a lot of
interesting/cool people though! They didn't have to many investigators
so we were really focusing on finding people to teach in their area..
The same went for the second half of the week.
Thursday to Saturday we were in North Branch and Somerville! Super
nice area! I was wish Elder Larsen and Elder Cuyan! Great
missionaries! We were also working on finding more people to teach
there as well! Was kind of a struggle but we had a great time! I met a
member in there ward who was a traveling assistant in Indiana and he
told me they didn't have an a apartment they had a truck and a camping
trailer! They would just travel area to area and even go to church in
those areas as well! When I meet with president this week were going
to have to make an order for a camping trailer soon;)!
Yesterday was multi-stake conference and Elder Christofferson was
there!! It was so AWESOME!! It was held it the Newark symphony hall
and the place was packed!! Elder Christofferson started out by saying
that he was in the only group where you feel young at 70 years old!
Hahah he said that when Elder Perry would get an assignment he used to
always turn to him and Elder Holland and Elder Cook the ("younger"of
the 12) and say "lets give that too the Little Boys" Hahahah super
funny! But I was moved by his testimony as he ended, he talked about
how he grew up in East Brunswick here in New Jersey and he got to
participate in the Hill Kimora Pageant and after he had his friends
drop him off at the Sacred Grove. He went and prayed and asked the
Lord to give him an answer to the truthfulness of the gospel. And at
that time nothing happened... He was kinda disappointed as he walked
back to where they were staying. But 3 months later he was reading the
Book of Mormon in his room and as he was reading he had an incredible
feeling come over him and he new it was true! He then said that we
don't have to go to sacred grove and pray to know that it's true. The
lord will let us know in his time and when we need it!
It was such a simple but profound testimony I loved it!
I was kinda bummed when I found out president wanted us to eat dinner
with him and Elder Christofferson but we were all the way down in
North Branch... But just hearing from him was almost just as great!:)
Well the transfer is Ending this week so it's about to get crazy for
us again! Sooo... Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me next
week.. But I will try to write!
Thank you for all your love and Prayers!! I can't believe how fast
time is flying!! It's making me nervous!😐
Love You!
-Elder Fotu
I started the week out by going down to Trenton! It was pretty cool
driving through Princeton, never been there before. But I was with
Elder Gibson and Elder Allred! Elder Gibson was my MTC companion! So
that was super fun!! They do a lot of service in the community there.
The first day we went to a soup kitchen and fed some homeless people
so that was fun! The next day we went and helped out at like this
thrift shop sort of thing.. But we moved a ton of stuff and throw away
a bunch of couches from this place because it was closing down. But it
was a lot of work and I was super tired after! I met a lot of
interesting/cool people though! They didn't have to many investigators
so we were really focusing on finding people to teach in their area..
The same went for the second half of the week.
Thursday to Saturday we were in North Branch and Somerville! Super
nice area! I was wish Elder Larsen and Elder Cuyan! Great
missionaries! We were also working on finding more people to teach
there as well! Was kind of a struggle but we had a great time! I met a
member in there ward who was a traveling assistant in Indiana and he
told me they didn't have an a apartment they had a truck and a camping
trailer! They would just travel area to area and even go to church in
those areas as well! When I meet with president this week were going
to have to make an order for a camping trailer soon;)!
Yesterday was multi-stake conference and Elder Christofferson was
there!! It was so AWESOME!! It was held it the Newark symphony hall
and the place was packed!! Elder Christofferson started out by saying
that he was in the only group where you feel young at 70 years old!
Hahah he said that when Elder Perry would get an assignment he used to
always turn to him and Elder Holland and Elder Cook the ("younger"of
the 12) and say "lets give that too the Little Boys" Hahahah super
funny! But I was moved by his testimony as he ended, he talked about
how he grew up in East Brunswick here in New Jersey and he got to
participate in the Hill Kimora Pageant and after he had his friends
drop him off at the Sacred Grove. He went and prayed and asked the
Lord to give him an answer to the truthfulness of the gospel. And at
that time nothing happened... He was kinda disappointed as he walked
back to where they were staying. But 3 months later he was reading the
Book of Mormon in his room and as he was reading he had an incredible
feeling come over him and he new it was true! He then said that we
don't have to go to sacred grove and pray to know that it's true. The
lord will let us know in his time and when we need it!
It was such a simple but profound testimony I loved it!
I was kinda bummed when I found out president wanted us to eat dinner
with him and Elder Christofferson but we were all the way down in
North Branch... But just hearing from him was almost just as great!:)
Well the transfer is Ending this week so it's about to get crazy for
us again! Sooo... Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me next
week.. But I will try to write!
Thank you for all your love and Prayers!! I can't believe how fast
time is flying!! It's making me nervous!😐
Love You!
-Elder Fotu
Thursday, September 17, 2015
BUSY!!
Let's see.. How can I pack everything that happened this week in to
one little letter.. Well I can Explain it with one word: BUSY! Haha
I've never been so tired! Last week just flew! I swear I just told
y'all I was heading back to East Orange for an exchange, and it was
awesome! I was so so glad to see that, that area was in the good hands
of an Elder Donaldson and Elder Edleson! Those two Elders are so
awesome! It was so great to back there though! I was able to see a lot
of familiar faces! President and sister Hinds are always great to
see!
We were able to find some very prepared people! We were walking
thought a park the first day that I got there and we met this kid
named Abraham who was legit! He was from Ghana (I swear all the best
people we meet are from Ghana! S/O to Elder Hannemann) and he loved
the Book of Mormon that we gave him! The next day we were walking
through the same park and we saw him with his friend Micha and when we
walked up to them he smiled and whipped out his Book of Mormon and
said: "I read!" Super excited! So we taught both of them, his friend
Micha was super interested so we had Abraham explain what the Book of
Mormon was to his friend so he explain the story of Lehi and Nephi and
what he read about! Dopest lesson ever! Im extremely excited to see
how they take to the rest of the meetings they have with the East
Orange Elders!
The second half of the week I went down to East Brunswick! (Another
past area of mine) I was with Elder Schutz and Elder Runyon who are
some of the BEST missionaries in our mission! I learned so much from
them! They are both geniuses! Elder Runyon went to a year of college
studying computer science, and Elder Schultz has a associates in
electrical engineering! I felt super uneducated with them! Hahahah but
they taught me a lot!
We had a meeting last Saturday about the "Just Serve" Initiative that
the church has created to help more involve wards and missionaries in
community service! Elder Smith from the seventy was there presiding
(the member of the seventy that visited our mission a few weeks ago)
and he bore a great testimony at the end of the meeting about service
and how we truly let our lives shine as we serve in the community.
Great meeting!
Last night we were in Elizabeth and I was with Elder Hicks visiting a
less-Active member named Robert. He is attending the catholic church
with his Mom and has had lots of doubts. He asked us a bunch of
questions about Joseph smith and wasn't sure if he was a prophet. It
ended up being a very spiritual lesson being able to share the story
of Joseph Smith in more depth and share our testimonies of the Book of
Mormon and Joseph Smith! I'm always reminded that we can and will grow
closer to God through reading the Book of Mormon more than any other
book!
I'm so Excited for what's ahead in the coming week! It's going to full
of great experiences and going to end with Elder Christofferson at
Stake Conference!!! :) :) He is visiting Jersey and they are calling a
new Stake President for the new Liberty stake that is opening in
Newark and Jersey City! Can't wait to tell you all about it!!
Thank you for all your prayers and Love! Please Pray for the
missionaries in this mission!
Have a great and safe week! Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
one little letter.. Well I can Explain it with one word: BUSY! Haha
I've never been so tired! Last week just flew! I swear I just told
y'all I was heading back to East Orange for an exchange, and it was
awesome! I was so so glad to see that, that area was in the good hands
of an Elder Donaldson and Elder Edleson! Those two Elders are so
awesome! It was so great to back there though! I was able to see a lot
of familiar faces! President and sister Hinds are always great to
see!
We were able to find some very prepared people! We were walking
thought a park the first day that I got there and we met this kid
named Abraham who was legit! He was from Ghana (I swear all the best
people we meet are from Ghana! S/O to Elder Hannemann) and he loved
the Book of Mormon that we gave him! The next day we were walking
through the same park and we saw him with his friend Micha and when we
walked up to them he smiled and whipped out his Book of Mormon and
said: "I read!" Super excited! So we taught both of them, his friend
Micha was super interested so we had Abraham explain what the Book of
Mormon was to his friend so he explain the story of Lehi and Nephi and
what he read about! Dopest lesson ever! Im extremely excited to see
how they take to the rest of the meetings they have with the East
Orange Elders!
The second half of the week I went down to East Brunswick! (Another
past area of mine) I was with Elder Schutz and Elder Runyon who are
some of the BEST missionaries in our mission! I learned so much from
them! They are both geniuses! Elder Runyon went to a year of college
studying computer science, and Elder Schultz has a associates in
electrical engineering! I felt super uneducated with them! Hahahah but
they taught me a lot!
We had a meeting last Saturday about the "Just Serve" Initiative that
the church has created to help more involve wards and missionaries in
community service! Elder Smith from the seventy was there presiding
(the member of the seventy that visited our mission a few weeks ago)
and he bore a great testimony at the end of the meeting about service
and how we truly let our lives shine as we serve in the community.
Great meeting!
Last night we were in Elizabeth and I was with Elder Hicks visiting a
less-Active member named Robert. He is attending the catholic church
with his Mom and has had lots of doubts. He asked us a bunch of
questions about Joseph smith and wasn't sure if he was a prophet. It
ended up being a very spiritual lesson being able to share the story
of Joseph Smith in more depth and share our testimonies of the Book of
Mormon and Joseph Smith! I'm always reminded that we can and will grow
closer to God through reading the Book of Mormon more than any other
book!
I'm so Excited for what's ahead in the coming week! It's going to full
of great experiences and going to end with Elder Christofferson at
Stake Conference!!! :) :) He is visiting Jersey and they are calling a
new Stake President for the new Liberty stake that is opening in
Newark and Jersey City! Can't wait to tell you all about it!!
Thank you for all your prayers and Love! Please Pray for the
missionaries in this mission!
Have a great and safe week! Love you all!
-Elder Fotu
Hi!!
Heyy y'all!!! Well I hope everything is good back at home! I herd
about BYU beating Wisconsin! That's crazy! It's cool what serving a
mission will do for you even on the football field;) hahah
It's actually pretty sweet sometimes when people affiliate us with BYU
and sometimes they will just walk up to us and start talking about
BYU's football team!!
Well besides that Elder Pearson and I went on two exchanges first in
Ledgewood the first half of the week with Elder Norris and Elder
Franke. Ledgewood is just north of Morristown really nice area! It's
was great though! It so great to learn so much from these missionaries
that I get to be around!
The last half of the week I was in Bayonne with Elder Rajakumar and
Elder Tayler who went to Lone Peak with me! Elder Rajakumar is from
Germany! Amazing missionaries! Bayonne is directly under Jersey city
and has some pretty sweet people there! There's a tiny branch there
with some of the greatest members in the world! It's amazing how
dedicated people are to the church in these small branches! And!
speaking of branches... I'm going back to East Orange on for exchange
this week!!! Whooooohoooo! Soooo pumped! Can't wait to tell you all
about it next week!
Well that's about it for Jersey this week... Sorry for making it
short.. But hey I'm lovin it! That's all that matters!:)
Love you all! Have a great and safe week!
-Elder Fotu
about BYU beating Wisconsin! That's crazy! It's cool what serving a
mission will do for you even on the football field;) hahah
It's actually pretty sweet sometimes when people affiliate us with BYU
and sometimes they will just walk up to us and start talking about
BYU's football team!!
Well besides that Elder Pearson and I went on two exchanges first in
Ledgewood the first half of the week with Elder Norris and Elder
Franke. Ledgewood is just north of Morristown really nice area! It's
was great though! It so great to learn so much from these missionaries
that I get to be around!
The last half of the week I was in Bayonne with Elder Rajakumar and
Elder Tayler who went to Lone Peak with me! Elder Rajakumar is from
Germany! Amazing missionaries! Bayonne is directly under Jersey city
and has some pretty sweet people there! There's a tiny branch there
with some of the greatest members in the world! It's amazing how
dedicated people are to the church in these small branches! And!
speaking of branches... I'm going back to East Orange on for exchange
this week!!! Whooooohoooo! Soooo pumped! Can't wait to tell you all
about it next week!
Well that's about it for Jersey this week... Sorry for making it
short.. But hey I'm lovin it! That's all that matters!:)
Love you all! Have a great and safe week!
-Elder Fotu
Busy busy busy!
Well the subject explains why I didn't write last week. Last week was
transfers and I got transferred! I am now living in Elizabeth serving
as Traveling Assistant to the President. My new companion is Elder
Pearson! Whoooohooo!!! My most favorite district leader EVER!! We
served around each other for a while and he was my district leader
when I was in Irvington! Our assignment is to travel around the
mission and train missionaries while going on exchange with them!
Elder Pearson and I are both new to this assignment.. It's never been
an assignment before as far as I know so we are kinda learning as we
go here. We live with the other AP's Elder Garfield and Elder Hicks,
who is also a new AP! So we are all learning from Elder Garfied who is
a Boss and is the youngest in the mission out of all of us! He got
assigned as an AP at 7 months out!
But it's been pretty crazy these past couple of weeks! A big mix of
meetings with President Taggart, working the other AP's area going on
exchanges! Crazy!
It's been a blessing being able to spend time with President and
Sister Taggart! They are such amazing people! Last Friday we met up
at the mission home and planned for Friday. Our meeting with Elder
Smith the Area Seventy that is visiting our mission and training the
leaders! Super excited about that! President started out our planning
with a segment from the 2015 Mission Presidents Seminar and it was
Elder Holland and Elder Christofferson giving a training called "Doing
the Will of the Father". Soooo Amazing! Thy talked about how the
second coming of Christ will be a lot like in 3 Nephi when he appears
to the Nephites. (3Nephi 11:8-11) Christ says "I have suffered the
will of the Father in all things from the beginning". Of all the
things he could say or all the things that he's known for he says
these words. So we understand that we have agency in this life but
unless we do the will of the Father and are Obedient our life's won't
turn out how we and Heavenly Father want it to be. Our quote of the
month is by Elder Packer “Obedience to God can be the very highest
expression of independence. Just think of giving to him the one thing,
the one gift, that he would never take. Think of giving him the one
thing that he would never wrest from you. . . . Obedience—that which
God will never take by force—he will accept when freely given. And He
will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of—the
freedom to feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be,
at least a thousand fold more than we [were].” It's amazing what is in
store for us if we are obedient!
This past week we went on two 3-day Exchanges! I went to Patterson
with Elder Johnson and Elder Thomson from Monday to Thursday and then
shot over to Caldwell with Elder Jessop and Elder Brown!
It's been AWESOME to get to know these Elders and see how their areas
are doing! It's such a privilege to be able to get to know so many of
these guys! Beyond excited for these next couple of transfers!
Well again so sorry for the lame short emails but know that I love
this Work! I Wouldn't be anywhere else in the world! Jersey is my
Home!
Love you all! Until next week!
-Elder Fotu
transfers and I got transferred! I am now living in Elizabeth serving
as Traveling Assistant to the President. My new companion is Elder
Pearson! Whoooohooo!!! My most favorite district leader EVER!! We
served around each other for a while and he was my district leader
when I was in Irvington! Our assignment is to travel around the
mission and train missionaries while going on exchange with them!
Elder Pearson and I are both new to this assignment.. It's never been
an assignment before as far as I know so we are kinda learning as we
go here. We live with the other AP's Elder Garfield and Elder Hicks,
who is also a new AP! So we are all learning from Elder Garfied who is
a Boss and is the youngest in the mission out of all of us! He got
assigned as an AP at 7 months out!
But it's been pretty crazy these past couple of weeks! A big mix of
meetings with President Taggart, working the other AP's area going on
exchanges! Crazy!
It's been a blessing being able to spend time with President and
Sister Taggart! They are such amazing people! Last Friday we met up
at the mission home and planned for Friday. Our meeting with Elder
Smith the Area Seventy that is visiting our mission and training the
leaders! Super excited about that! President started out our planning
with a segment from the 2015 Mission Presidents Seminar and it was
Elder Holland and Elder Christofferson giving a training called "Doing
the Will of the Father". Soooo Amazing! Thy talked about how the
second coming of Christ will be a lot like in 3 Nephi when he appears
to the Nephites. (3Nephi 11:8-11) Christ says "I have suffered the
will of the Father in all things from the beginning". Of all the
things he could say or all the things that he's known for he says
these words. So we understand that we have agency in this life but
unless we do the will of the Father and are Obedient our life's won't
turn out how we and Heavenly Father want it to be. Our quote of the
month is by Elder Packer “Obedience to God can be the very highest
expression of independence. Just think of giving to him the one thing,
the one gift, that he would never take. Think of giving him the one
thing that he would never wrest from you. . . . Obedience—that which
God will never take by force—he will accept when freely given. And He
will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of—the
freedom to feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be,
at least a thousand fold more than we [were].” It's amazing what is in
store for us if we are obedient!
This past week we went on two 3-day Exchanges! I went to Patterson
with Elder Johnson and Elder Thomson from Monday to Thursday and then
shot over to Caldwell with Elder Jessop and Elder Brown!
It's been AWESOME to get to know these Elders and see how their areas
are doing! It's such a privilege to be able to get to know so many of
these guys! Beyond excited for these next couple of transfers!
Well again so sorry for the lame short emails but know that I love
this Work! I Wouldn't be anywhere else in the world! Jersey is my
Home!
Love you all! Until next week!
-Elder Fotu
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Sup ERRBODY!!
Well this week was a good one! The weather started out super hot and
we were dying! Luckily it got a lot cooler during the weekend. Elder
Pluim and I have been working extra hard to prep him to go home this
next week! He is on a departing trip right now to the Statue of
Liberty while I'm in Elizabeth with Elder York my district leader!
Our week started out kinda funny and slow but like always in Irvington
as the weekends comes it gets better! We have been meeting with a guy
named Moses. I talked about him in some of my last emails. He's from
Ghana! He's a boss! He's really progressing! We started teaching his
Brother Isaac! Who's really cool! It's kinda funny because we're
teaching those two brothers and also another set of brothers: Isaiha
and Jeff! Who are really cool kids!
I was also able to have an interview with president on Tuesday. It was
really good! He always asks me what I'm learning and in past
interviews I could never really think of stuff to tell him but this
past interview I told him about my experience with a senior couple
that used to teach institute in our ward: the Strouds who we were
really close to! And I had been learning a lot from them but I told
him that I was able to gain a better understanding of personal
revelation and why it's so important!
He also asked me how my family is doing and I talked to him about how
many great blessings my family has received from me being here and I
am sooooo grateful and so indebted to Heavenly Father for so much!
I am truly loving this work and the people here in Jersey!
Thanks for all your prayers and love!
Love you!
-Elder Fotu
we were dying! Luckily it got a lot cooler during the weekend. Elder
Pluim and I have been working extra hard to prep him to go home this
next week! He is on a departing trip right now to the Statue of
Liberty while I'm in Elizabeth with Elder York my district leader!
Our week started out kinda funny and slow but like always in Irvington
as the weekends comes it gets better! We have been meeting with a guy
named Moses. I talked about him in some of my last emails. He's from
Ghana! He's a boss! He's really progressing! We started teaching his
Brother Isaac! Who's really cool! It's kinda funny because we're
teaching those two brothers and also another set of brothers: Isaiha
and Jeff! Who are really cool kids!
I was also able to have an interview with president on Tuesday. It was
really good! He always asks me what I'm learning and in past
interviews I could never really think of stuff to tell him but this
past interview I told him about my experience with a senior couple
that used to teach institute in our ward: the Strouds who we were
really close to! And I had been learning a lot from them but I told
him that I was able to gain a better understanding of personal
revelation and why it's so important!
He also asked me how my family is doing and I talked to him about how
many great blessings my family has received from me being here and I
am sooooo grateful and so indebted to Heavenly Father for so much!
I am truly loving this work and the people here in Jersey!
Thanks for all your prayers and love!
Love you!
-Elder Fotu
Monday, August 3, 2015
More 1 of 9 God Is Good
This week was great! And Very busy!
Been blessed with busyness! The work is definitely moving forward!
We had zone conference witch was great! The Taggarts are such great
leaders! President has been really pushing our mission towards the
topic choice and accountability.
In Mission Leader council President gave a training on Elder
Christofferson's talk: Free Forever, to Act for Themselves. He shared
some very inspired thoughts about our choices as missionaries and how
we truly receive Joy from Heavenly Father.
We carry the information we receive at MLC to rest of our zone at zone
meeting and give different trainings on the information. I chose to
give a training on choice and accountability. Zone meeting is tomorrow
and I've been able to really study this topic and prep for my
training. Super excited.
We were able to meet with a guy named Moses this past week! He's from
Ghana! (Shout out to Elder Hannemann) Really cool guy! One of the best
feelings is when you know the spirit speaks to someone and they understand
the message you share! That's Moses! He is super Humble and we're
excited to continue to meet with him!
A lot of our work lately has been with less-actives. I've come to know
that a baptism is just as important as someone returning to the
church! We had a sweet experience with a sister who hadn't been to
church in about 5 Years! About a month ago we were walking and she
pulled up to us in her car and told us to go to her address then drove
off. So we met with her at her house briefly and she said she used to
be really active but she started going to school and working a lot. So
this past week we found out that our Bishop (Bishop Klusey) he's from
Ghana (Straight Boss) and he Baptized her about 13 or so years ago!
And so we brought him with us to teach her. She was super excited to
see him! By the end of the lesson she said she was going to get
Sunday's off at the new job she's getting and she was really excited
to come back to church!
Elder Pluim (mi compañero) is getting ready to head home! 2 weeks! He
wants me to let all my single lady Friends know that;) Hahahah He
keeps reminding of how fast 2 years goes and that I can't waist any
time at all!
My letters have been kinda sorry lately but I'm sure next week will be
the best one yet!
Respect to all of you! I wouldn't be able to have my try at this work
if weren't for all y'all! And that's why I love you and I love the
Lord!
-Elder Fotu
Sent from my iPad
Been blessed with busyness! The work is definitely moving forward!
We had zone conference witch was great! The Taggarts are such great
leaders! President has been really pushing our mission towards the
topic choice and accountability.
In Mission Leader council President gave a training on Elder
Christofferson's talk: Free Forever, to Act for Themselves. He shared
some very inspired thoughts about our choices as missionaries and how
we truly receive Joy from Heavenly Father.
We carry the information we receive at MLC to rest of our zone at zone
meeting and give different trainings on the information. I chose to
give a training on choice and accountability. Zone meeting is tomorrow
and I've been able to really study this topic and prep for my
training. Super excited.
We were able to meet with a guy named Moses this past week! He's from
Ghana! (Shout out to Elder Hannemann) Really cool guy! One of the best
feelings is when you know the spirit speaks to someone and they understand
the message you share! That's Moses! He is super Humble and we're
excited to continue to meet with him!
A lot of our work lately has been with less-actives. I've come to know
that a baptism is just as important as someone returning to the
church! We had a sweet experience with a sister who hadn't been to
church in about 5 Years! About a month ago we were walking and she
pulled up to us in her car and told us to go to her address then drove
off. So we met with her at her house briefly and she said she used to
be really active but she started going to school and working a lot. So
this past week we found out that our Bishop (Bishop Klusey) he's from
Ghana (Straight Boss) and he Baptized her about 13 or so years ago!
And so we brought him with us to teach her. She was super excited to
see him! By the end of the lesson she said she was going to get
Sunday's off at the new job she's getting and she was really excited
to come back to church!
Elder Pluim (mi compañero) is getting ready to head home! 2 weeks! He
wants me to let all my single lady Friends know that;) Hahahah He
keeps reminding of how fast 2 years goes and that I can't waist any
time at all!
My letters have been kinda sorry lately but I'm sure next week will be
the best one yet!
Respect to all of you! I wouldn't be able to have my try at this work
if weren't for all y'all! And that's why I love you and I love the
Lord!
-Elder Fotu
Sent from my iPad
Monday, July 27, 2015
Hey Y'all
Not too much this week.
Cool experience though! Yesterday we taught these two great Haitian
women who are AMAZING! Martine who we met like 2 weeks ago finally met
with us and we had a sister in our ward come with us to translate. We
started teaching her and her mother Marie talked up the steps and said
she wanted to stay and talk with us (she also only speaks creole). But
we taught them the plan of salvation and it went GREAT! The spirit was
so strong and they were so excited!
We have really been focusing on find new people to teach. So we've
been having some pretty sweet experiences. Very blessed.
Sorry this is super short... But I love you all! God is Good!
-Elder Fotu
Cool experience though! Yesterday we taught these two great Haitian
women who are AMAZING! Martine who we met like 2 weeks ago finally met
with us and we had a sister in our ward come with us to translate. We
started teaching her and her mother Marie talked up the steps and said
she wanted to stay and talk with us (she also only speaks creole). But
we taught them the plan of salvation and it went GREAT! The spirit was
so strong and they were so excited!
We have really been focusing on find new people to teach. So we've
been having some pretty sweet experiences. Very blessed.
Sorry this is super short... But I love you all! God is Good!
-Elder Fotu
Monday, July 20, 2015
YOOO!!
Good morning! Sorry for not emailing last week.. It's been pretty
crazy around here!
Last Monday was our all mission summer activity! It lasted pretty much
all day so I didn't have to time to email. It was super fun though! We
just played sports with the whole mission and then went to the
Morristown chapel and ate and every zone performed a skit! Some of
them were super funny! In one of the skits they were impersonating
President Taggart, and a Elder straight from Samoa (Elder Lailua) had
a part in the skit and all he was supposed to say was "this is the
best mission president ever" and he gets up there and says "guys dis
da good mission president eva!" In the worst Samoan (FOB) accent!
Hahahahahaha😂 all the rest of us Polynesians in the mission were
sitting together and we're just crying!!!
The rest of the week was pretty packed with all the other stuff that
we do. We had stake correlation meeting yesterday that went pretty
well. Our stake leaders are very inspired!
A cool miracle that we had was last week at church my comp Elder Pluim
gave a talk in church and as he was speaking this guy with dreadlocks
and wearing sweats and ant-shirt walks in and sits in the row behind
me. Then after Elder Pluim was done speaking and went to sit down this
guy who walked in behind me starts waving at Elder Pluim to come sit
by him! So Elder Pluim walks off the stand and sits with this guy who
we find out was a referral who we tried to contact like two weeks ago
but we met his brother at the door who said he wasn't home. His name
is Kevin and he told us he met with the missionaries like 5 years ago
and that he wanted us to meet with him and his friend! So we were like
sweet! So we met with them that next Monday and his friends name was
Kevin as well haha so we are teaching Kevin Jones (the old referral
that came to church) and Kevin Braswell his friend who he told us was
kinda of falling away from believing in God until we start meeting
with them! He was blown away when we taught him the plan of salvation!
The spirit gets very strong in these lessons! Sadly he is kinda
avoiding us lately.. Kevin Jones said one of there other friends has
been telling him false stuff about us.. But we still have his number
and I know that we can get him back because that spirit was so strong
in our lesson with him, I know he felt it and will recognize it again
when we get the chance to see him again! Just pray for him please!
Kevin Jones though prayed about the Book of Mormon and received an
answer! Witch is great!! Pray for him to keep the Faith! They are
great men who we are going to baptize!
We got to go to the Temple with Naudia (our recent convert) on
Saturday!! It was awesome! She really wanted us to baptize her for her
grandma but they don't let missionaries do proxy baptisms. But we got
to confirm her for her grandma witch was a great experience! Elder
Pluim and I got to do a lot of the confirmations because it was also
our wards youth temple trip witch was awesome! Also while We were in
the confirmation room the door opened and a bunch of the youth from
East Orange walked in along with President Hinds!! It was so great to
see them again, especially in the Temple!!! It was a blessing to go!
We got to travel to the Temple in New York by car with one of the
members, so it was sweet to actually see a lot of the city instead of
taking the train when we go with other missionaries so you don't get
to seen much. I'll send some pics.
Yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. It went pretty well. I
spoke on Faith, at first it was kinda hard to prepare. I thought to
myself "Faith is such a broad subject how am I supposed to give a good
talk?" But as I studied and prayed about it I found that it's not as
broad as I thought. We obtain our faith in Jesus Christ through his
Atonement and filling our lives with spiritually uplifting things, we
show our Faith by keeping Gods Commandments and sharing she gospel
with others. It might be a little more complex than that but that's
what I got out of preparing and share my thoughts in this talk. Haha I
actually tried to crack a joke at the beginning of the talk but like 5
people laughed... Hahahha I think it's because there's a lot of
foreign people in our word so they didn't really get it..😋 BUT my
talk was good enough to make up for my bad joke! (I'll send a copy of
my talk as well)
Thanks for all of your examples and prayers! I truly do benefit from
the blessings that your prayers bring, as well as the New Jersey
Morristown Mission!
Love You All!
-Elder Fotu
crazy around here!
Last Monday was our all mission summer activity! It lasted pretty much
all day so I didn't have to time to email. It was super fun though! We
just played sports with the whole mission and then went to the
Morristown chapel and ate and every zone performed a skit! Some of
them were super funny! In one of the skits they were impersonating
President Taggart, and a Elder straight from Samoa (Elder Lailua) had
a part in the skit and all he was supposed to say was "this is the
best mission president ever" and he gets up there and says "guys dis
da good mission president eva!" In the worst Samoan (FOB) accent!
Hahahahahaha😂 all the rest of us Polynesians in the mission were
sitting together and we're just crying!!!
The rest of the week was pretty packed with all the other stuff that
we do. We had stake correlation meeting yesterday that went pretty
well. Our stake leaders are very inspired!
A cool miracle that we had was last week at church my comp Elder Pluim
gave a talk in church and as he was speaking this guy with dreadlocks
and wearing sweats and ant-shirt walks in and sits in the row behind
me. Then after Elder Pluim was done speaking and went to sit down this
guy who walked in behind me starts waving at Elder Pluim to come sit
by him! So Elder Pluim walks off the stand and sits with this guy who
we find out was a referral who we tried to contact like two weeks ago
but we met his brother at the door who said he wasn't home. His name
is Kevin and he told us he met with the missionaries like 5 years ago
and that he wanted us to meet with him and his friend! So we were like
sweet! So we met with them that next Monday and his friends name was
Kevin as well haha so we are teaching Kevin Jones (the old referral
that came to church) and Kevin Braswell his friend who he told us was
kinda of falling away from believing in God until we start meeting
with them! He was blown away when we taught him the plan of salvation!
The spirit gets very strong in these lessons! Sadly he is kinda
avoiding us lately.. Kevin Jones said one of there other friends has
been telling him false stuff about us.. But we still have his number
and I know that we can get him back because that spirit was so strong
in our lesson with him, I know he felt it and will recognize it again
when we get the chance to see him again! Just pray for him please!
Kevin Jones though prayed about the Book of Mormon and received an
answer! Witch is great!! Pray for him to keep the Faith! They are
great men who we are going to baptize!
We got to go to the Temple with Naudia (our recent convert) on
Saturday!! It was awesome! She really wanted us to baptize her for her
grandma but they don't let missionaries do proxy baptisms. But we got
to confirm her for her grandma witch was a great experience! Elder
Pluim and I got to do a lot of the confirmations because it was also
our wards youth temple trip witch was awesome! Also while We were in
the confirmation room the door opened and a bunch of the youth from
East Orange walked in along with President Hinds!! It was so great to
see them again, especially in the Temple!!! It was a blessing to go!
We got to travel to the Temple in New York by car with one of the
members, so it was sweet to actually see a lot of the city instead of
taking the train when we go with other missionaries so you don't get
to seen much. I'll send some pics.
Yesterday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. It went pretty well. I
spoke on Faith, at first it was kinda hard to prepare. I thought to
myself "Faith is such a broad subject how am I supposed to give a good
talk?" But as I studied and prayed about it I found that it's not as
broad as I thought. We obtain our faith in Jesus Christ through his
Atonement and filling our lives with spiritually uplifting things, we
show our Faith by keeping Gods Commandments and sharing she gospel
with others. It might be a little more complex than that but that's
what I got out of preparing and share my thoughts in this talk. Haha I
actually tried to crack a joke at the beginning of the talk but like 5
people laughed... Hahahha I think it's because there's a lot of
foreign people in our word so they didn't really get it..😋 BUT my
talk was good enough to make up for my bad joke! (I'll send a copy of
my talk as well)
Thanks for all of your examples and prayers! I truly do benefit from
the blessings that your prayers bring, as well as the New Jersey
Morristown Mission!
Love You All!
-Elder Fotu
Saturday, July 18, 2015
💥🇺🇸MERICAAA!!🇺🇸💥
Had a great 4th of July!
Over all it was a good week! We had Zone meeting witch was awesome! We
talked a lot about developing Christlike attributes, especially we
talked about diligence and obedience.. We went on exchange with the
elders from Scotch Plains. I stayed in Irvington with Mcarther he's
from Kerns Utah and is a Boss of a Missionary! I always love it when
younger missionaries that are serving in nice more wealthy areas get
to come on exchange and experience the Hood Life:)
The 4th we met with our recent convert Naudia at her house. Her family
that disowned her let her come back and live with them! And her sister
Amanda (who was against her Naudia being Mormon) decided to sit in on
our lesson and she really liked! It's crazy how people's
misconceptions of the church go away after they meet with the
missionaries! But she was excited and she's meeting with us tonight!
We wanted to watch fireworks and we had permission from President
Taggart to stay out a little later but our area gets a little sketchy
at night especially on the 4th of July so we decide to just watch them
on top of our apartments parking garage. It was nice.
Yesterday was of course fast and testimonies meeting and I had some
pretty interesting meetings in East Orange but this ward has been the
even more interesting! Hahaha a sister started preaching like a
baptist and for like 20min and started singing some song and all the
converts in the church with other religious background started singing
with her! Hahaha funniest thing to see all the people that have moved
her from Utah looking around like "is this real life?" Hahaha! Then to
add to that we went to a Haitian church that our Friend Nancy invited
us and a Haitian Brother of our ward too. But it was Crazy! They just
sang and danced and banged on some drums for like 30min straight then
their pastor asked the brother with us to say a couple words and all I
could understand him saying was Joseph Smith, Authority, John the
Baptist, and priesthood. Hahah and everyone in the small room just
started glaring at us. Hahahah we didn't stay for that long.
Well it a new fresh transfer so I'm excited to see new and great
things happen, in our area and zone! Please pray for us!
I'm happy to have the privilege to share my experiences with you all!
Thank you for all your prayers and emails!
God Bless America!
Love You All!
-Elder Fotu
Over all it was a good week! We had Zone meeting witch was awesome! We
talked a lot about developing Christlike attributes, especially we
talked about diligence and obedience.. We went on exchange with the
elders from Scotch Plains. I stayed in Irvington with Mcarther he's
from Kerns Utah and is a Boss of a Missionary! I always love it when
younger missionaries that are serving in nice more wealthy areas get
to come on exchange and experience the Hood Life:)
The 4th we met with our recent convert Naudia at her house. Her family
that disowned her let her come back and live with them! And her sister
Amanda (who was against her Naudia being Mormon) decided to sit in on
our lesson and she really liked! It's crazy how people's
misconceptions of the church go away after they meet with the
missionaries! But she was excited and she's meeting with us tonight!
We wanted to watch fireworks and we had permission from President
Taggart to stay out a little later but our area gets a little sketchy
at night especially on the 4th of July so we decide to just watch them
on top of our apartments parking garage. It was nice.
Yesterday was of course fast and testimonies meeting and I had some
pretty interesting meetings in East Orange but this ward has been the
even more interesting! Hahaha a sister started preaching like a
baptist and for like 20min and started singing some song and all the
converts in the church with other religious background started singing
with her! Hahaha funniest thing to see all the people that have moved
her from Utah looking around like "is this real life?" Hahaha! Then to
add to that we went to a Haitian church that our Friend Nancy invited
us and a Haitian Brother of our ward too. But it was Crazy! They just
sang and danced and banged on some drums for like 30min straight then
their pastor asked the brother with us to say a couple words and all I
could understand him saying was Joseph Smith, Authority, John the
Baptist, and priesthood. Hahah and everyone in the small room just
started glaring at us. Hahahah we didn't stay for that long.
Well it a new fresh transfer so I'm excited to see new and great
things happen, in our area and zone! Please pray for us!
I'm happy to have the privilege to share my experiences with you all!
Thank you for all your prayers and emails!
God Bless America!
Love You All!
-Elder Fotu
WHAT UP ERRBODY!
Well once again we had a super crazy week!
Wednesday we went to the Temple!! Best place in the world!! Elder
Pluim and I had to make the traveling arrangements and get our whole
zone to and from the temple. We were kinda stressin out We all made it
through Downtown Manhattan and had a great experience at the temple:)
On the way back while riding the train a couple of Elders in our zone
got off at the wrong stop so we had to wait an extra hour to give
them a ride from the Newark station to the chapel. But all was well we
had a great time!
Friday was Mission Leader council! We met with President and Sister
Taggart and the rest of the zone leaders and sister training leaders
in the mission. It was exciting and refreshing to be re-motivated on
what we need to do to succeed in the mission. We are really
emphasizing on working with the members to help with the work.
President has come out with "4 things I will do from now on!" I'll
attach the 4 things to this email but the thing that we really
focusing on is following up. The was a zone that really pushed this in
their district and they had 12 baptized this past month! So it sure
does work!
Our friends that we're teaching are still doing pretty good! Eric
didn't come to church on Sunday because he got invited by one of his
friends to go to a baptist church. But he said he was mad he didn't
come because this baptist church said some stuff in their sermon that
offended him. So we hope that makes him want to come next week.
Our Friend Samad is coming a long slowly.. We talked to his mom about
baptism and she said no because she wants him to be baptist... But she
still wants us to teach him witch doesn't make sense... But I love the
kid! He wants so much to know more about God it blows my mind!
Sorry it's short... But I'm thankful for all of you and your prayers
and emails! No other place could I feel Gods love more than where I
am! I love this work!
Love you all!!
-Elder Fotu
Wednesday we went to the Temple!! Best place in the world!! Elder
Pluim and I had to make the traveling arrangements and get our whole
zone to and from the temple. We were kinda stressin out We all made it
through Downtown Manhattan and had a great experience at the temple:)
On the way back while riding the train a couple of Elders in our zone
got off at the wrong stop so we had to wait an extra hour to give
them a ride from the Newark station to the chapel. But all was well we
had a great time!
Friday was Mission Leader council! We met with President and Sister
Taggart and the rest of the zone leaders and sister training leaders
in the mission. It was exciting and refreshing to be re-motivated on
what we need to do to succeed in the mission. We are really
emphasizing on working with the members to help with the work.
President has come out with "4 things I will do from now on!" I'll
attach the 4 things to this email but the thing that we really
focusing on is following up. The was a zone that really pushed this in
their district and they had 12 baptized this past month! So it sure
does work!
Our friends that we're teaching are still doing pretty good! Eric
didn't come to church on Sunday because he got invited by one of his
friends to go to a baptist church. But he said he was mad he didn't
come because this baptist church said some stuff in their sermon that
offended him. So we hope that makes him want to come next week.
Our Friend Samad is coming a long slowly.. We talked to his mom about
baptism and she said no because she wants him to be baptist... But she
still wants us to teach him witch doesn't make sense... But I love the
kid! He wants so much to know more about God it blows my mind!
Sorry it's short... But I'm thankful for all of you and your prayers
and emails! No other place could I feel Gods love more than where I
am! I love this work!
Love you all!!
-Elder Fotu
Thursday, June 25, 2015
6/22/15
This past week was great Elder Pluim and I are working hard. We
started off the week with an exchange it went very well I got to go to
Scotch Plains with Elder black he's a great missionary.
We now have the ability to have our area books and planners on our
iPads which has been taking up a lot of missionaries time because they
have to Record everything from the paper Area Books into their iPads.
Our area has a very large and not very organized area book so it's
taking us a minuet to convert all of it onto our iPads. It was kind
of annoying because it cut into our proselyting time but we were able
to reach most of our goals this week.
We met some sweet Haitian Brothers their names are on Arden's, Ordell
and Wade. It was kind of funny how we met them, Ordell was a referral
and when we went to his house to contact him Wade answer the door.
Wade (14-16ish) said he was Jehovah Witness and wasn't interested but
said we could come back the next day to find Ordell. We went the next
day to meet with Ordell and Arden's answered the door so we started
teaching him and soon Wade came to translate for his brother Arden's
because he doesn't speak very good English. The lesson went great! We
asked Arden's if he wants to be baptized and he said "anything but
Jehovah witness!" Hahaha so we set up a appointment with him later in
the week. So when we came back with a member named Oriol who speaks
creole, Ordell answered the door! So we gave him the Bible he had
requested and started teaching him with the Creole material that we
brought to teach Arden's! Soon enough Arden's came walking up the
street and joined us in the lesson. Then a car pulled up and Wade
stepped out! Hahaha so now that we had all of them there we set up a
time this next week to teach them ALL at the same time! I already love
them though! A bunch of goofy kids!
Nadia was confirmed on Sunday it was a sweet experience for all of us!
So much of a great experience that she went into a seizure after
church! Haha she's fine now but she says that her seizures are set off
by emotion and that it's hard when she is really feeling the spirit!
Who knew that feeling the spirit would be a bad thing!? Haha but no
she will be able to control it and everything will work out for her!!
We are praying for her.
Also our friend Eric that I talked about my first week here, came to
church! And he knows Naudia and two other recent Converts! We were
kinda worried that we wouldn't be able to help him progress but I
think we found the key! He's super excited and wants to come to church
every week now!
Last cool experience... Yesterday day Elder Pluim and I were walking
down this super sketchy street! Couldn't find out why we were prompted
to go there but as we were walking this big old black lady yelled at
us to go talk to her, so we started talking to her and she told us
that she used to talk to missionaries before, so we were like sweet do
you want to start meeting with us? And said no I want you to teach my
son he's the one riding his bike over there. So we called her son over
and started talking to him, his name is Samad he's almost 12. His mom
said she wants him in church and out of the streets. (Like most
mothers out here in the hood but there kids start doing drugs at a
young age and it's hard to teach them) We started teaching Samad and
he was just smiling the hole time and he was reading, and just loving
it! By the end of the lesson he told us he wants us to come teach him
everyday! And this morning he called us and told us he started reading
the Book of Mormon!! Super excited to see him again!! PRAY FOR THIS
KID! Pray for him to understand the gospel!!
So much love to all of you!! Thank you for all of your prayers!
-Elder Fotu
Stuck my comp in the dryer.... He was getting on my nerves
started off the week with an exchange it went very well I got to go to
Scotch Plains with Elder black he's a great missionary.
We now have the ability to have our area books and planners on our
iPads which has been taking up a lot of missionaries time because they
have to Record everything from the paper Area Books into their iPads.
Our area has a very large and not very organized area book so it's
taking us a minuet to convert all of it onto our iPads. It was kind
of annoying because it cut into our proselyting time but we were able
to reach most of our goals this week.
We met some sweet Haitian Brothers their names are on Arden's, Ordell
and Wade. It was kind of funny how we met them, Ordell was a referral
and when we went to his house to contact him Wade answer the door.
Wade (14-16ish) said he was Jehovah Witness and wasn't interested but
said we could come back the next day to find Ordell. We went the next
day to meet with Ordell and Arden's answered the door so we started
teaching him and soon Wade came to translate for his brother Arden's
because he doesn't speak very good English. The lesson went great! We
asked Arden's if he wants to be baptized and he said "anything but
Jehovah witness!" Hahaha so we set up a appointment with him later in
the week. So when we came back with a member named Oriol who speaks
creole, Ordell answered the door! So we gave him the Bible he had
requested and started teaching him with the Creole material that we
brought to teach Arden's! Soon enough Arden's came walking up the
street and joined us in the lesson. Then a car pulled up and Wade
stepped out! Hahaha so now that we had all of them there we set up a
time this next week to teach them ALL at the same time! I already love
them though! A bunch of goofy kids!
Nadia was confirmed on Sunday it was a sweet experience for all of us!
So much of a great experience that she went into a seizure after
church! Haha she's fine now but she says that her seizures are set off
by emotion and that it's hard when she is really feeling the spirit!
Who knew that feeling the spirit would be a bad thing!? Haha but no
she will be able to control it and everything will work out for her!!
We are praying for her.
Also our friend Eric that I talked about my first week here, came to
church! And he knows Naudia and two other recent Converts! We were
kinda worried that we wouldn't be able to help him progress but I
think we found the key! He's super excited and wants to come to church
every week now!
Last cool experience... Yesterday day Elder Pluim and I were walking
down this super sketchy street! Couldn't find out why we were prompted
to go there but as we were walking this big old black lady yelled at
us to go talk to her, so we started talking to her and she told us
that she used to talk to missionaries before, so we were like sweet do
you want to start meeting with us? And said no I want you to teach my
son he's the one riding his bike over there. So we called her son over
and started talking to him, his name is Samad he's almost 12. His mom
said she wants him in church and out of the streets. (Like most
mothers out here in the hood but there kids start doing drugs at a
young age and it's hard to teach them) We started teaching Samad and
he was just smiling the hole time and he was reading, and just loving
it! By the end of the lesson he told us he wants us to come teach him
everyday! And this morning he called us and told us he started reading
the Book of Mormon!! Super excited to see him again!! PRAY FOR THIS
KID! Pray for him to understand the gospel!!
So much love to all of you!! Thank you for all of your prayers!
-Elder Fotu
Stuck my comp in the dryer.... He was getting on my nerves
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