Hey Hey!

Best week so far in Eaton town!

So many great things going on here! All of our hard work these past 5 weeks is starting to pay off!

We have been really focusing on separating the wheat from the tares. Best way to do so is helping the people who we are teaching know our purpose why why we are here. Our mission is really focusing on extending a baptismal invite within the 1st or 2nd lesson. This has really helped us find out who is really interested in the Restored Gospel and we are able to stop wasting our time and move on to find the Lords Elect! You would think that due to this focus, our lesson and Investigator count would decrease but it went up!! And we had an Investigator at Church Yesterday!! His name is Carl he is 18! He is Awesome! Haha We found im by contacting this lady who gave us her "address" but it was Carl's address and when we knocked on the door we asked for the lady and he said "Who?" hahah she totally gave us the wrong address! But we talked to Carl and he told us to come back the next day and he was super Interested! We Invited him to church the next day and he showed up and Loved it!! We are super pumped about it and he knows some of the young men in our ward that go to his school! PLEASE Pray for him!!

We also went on Exchange and I got to go to Long Branch with the biggest Boss of a missionary! Elder Jessop! He from Lehi and he is 25 and this is his first month on his mission! Haha. He was in the Army for 8 years and has an AMAZING story to his Life! He wakes up at 5 every morning with his companion to run to the beach to watch the sunrise! I didn't want to throw off his running schedule so i got myself to wake up and run with him! Totally worth it! We had an awesome exchange though! Elder Jessop Works so hard! Love Him!

Im Grateful to be here Serving! I wouldnt be anywhere else! Even though some people here truly are from the east and show it by being Extremely grouchy, I still love them!:)

Thank You for all the support and letters!! 

Love You All!      

-Elder Fotu 

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Heyyy!! Well weeks just get Crazier and Crazier, and Shorter and Shorter...

We had a little more meetings... Friday was my first MLC. Its where all the zone leaders and Sister training Leaders Meet and discuss the needs of the mission. 

After MLC we went on Exchange with the assistants! I went to Elizabeth with Elder Maddox! haha we couldnt help but just talk about fun times at LP and Football! Who knew Maddog would be and assistant!? hahah jk! He is an Amazing Missionary and has taught me so much! One great experience we had was we were on our way back from an appointment that had canceled and Elder Maddox and I were waiting at a light and right next to us was this house that really stuck out to me and i was just starring at it. All of the sudden Elder Maddox pilled the car over and parked the car in the front of this house. Thinking that he had a prompting from the spirit to stop at this random house i was super pumped! But he told me it was someone they contacted before... So i was kinda disappointed.. haha. But we knocked on the door and Juan answered the door and let us in. We read a couple scriptures with him and i forgot what scripture it was but we could tell he really felt the spirit. Then we invited him to read the rest of the chapter and left.. And right as we were leaving I thought: "Why didnt we commit him to be Baptized!?". And so you would think that i would just turn around and ask him to be Baptized. but i didnt... Elder Maddox and i got in the car and started driving. Elder Maddox turned to me and said:"Your thinking what im thinking right??" and i said:"Yep! Turn around" hahah so we went back and Asked Juan to be Baptized! He said YES!!! Such an amazing Experience! 

Im so grateful for the spirit and for a Leader to be such a great example!

I love My Mission!

-Elder Fotu

           

Work = Fun

Wow! I didn't think being a zone leader would require so much energy! I've been so tired this week its not even funny. Our zone is the farthest south in the mission so when we have meetings in Morristown and East Brunswick (1 1/2- 2hours away) 2-3 times a week it gets pretty exhausting. But what is said in the meetings and the spirit that's felt just wants to make me work harder and improve as a missionary! I sent some pictures of Leadership Conference. President Taggart and the Assistants Talked a lot about setting goals and making plans but most importantly, Following up! President shared a Story about how when he helped start Ogeo (the bag company) they weren't doing so good as far as sales, they really couldn't figure out what was going on. So they hired a new guy to be over sales and a couple months later Ogeo's sales doubled, out of nowhere. President asked they new guy over sales what he did different, and he said one word: Followup. They compared that to missionary work and how a lot of time us missionaries meet with people and teach them this great lesson and it goes great and were all exited and we set up a time to come back, we come back to leach the second lesson and we ask them how their reading went or whatever it was that we left with them and they say: "oh i forgot..". We need to follow with then during the week and how them accountable. But not only is it key that we followup, but how we followup. So instead of us calling or texting them, having the member that taught them with us calling or texting them and asking them how their reading is going during the week. The Assistants: Elder Welburn & Elder Maddox (Maddog From LP) Gave some great training's on creating a Vision for our zones and for ourselves, and being a full purpose Missionary. Really Great Meetings this week!!

Its been Kinda hard this past couple of weeks with being doubled in here in Eatontown and not having regular church the past two Sundays, because we have hardly met any of the members of the ward. But Yesterday was Regional Conference! New Jersey along with New York, Connecticut,PA and like a bunch of other states had a Broadcasted Conference at the stake conference. Elder Hails,Elder Neil L. Anderson, Elder Ketcher of the 70 and Sister Reeves from the Relief Society spoke. Such great talks! I wish they had them on lds.org or something.

Well between Meetings and Conferences we are still able to meet with people, thank goodness! We have a goal of 12 new investigators this month and at the beginning of this week we were at 0 and we finished with 6 at the end of the week!! 3 more day to get 6 more! We can do it! We just have to rely on the Lord and put in the work!! Your prayers would work aswell!:)

Thank You for all the Love and support!!

Love you all!!

-Elder Fotu            

Sandy Hook! (Eatontown)

Its Been CRAZY!!! So Ive been Transferred to Eatontown! In the Sandy Hook Area! My New companion is Elder Ayers! Hes from Canada by Niagara falls! Amazing Missionary! Has about 6 months left in his mission so hes got a lot to teach me! Ive been so blessed with the Greatest Companions!

We got doubled in so its pretty frustrating trying to find people in an area neither of us know at all! Thank Goodness one of the Elders that was here before us is still in our zone, so hes able to give us some pointers. Its also been super hard because we had Stake Conference yesterday so weren't able to have regular church to meet all the Members of the Ward. We also have regional Conference next week! So its going to be an interesting next couple of weeks... 

This Area is really cool and HUGE!! The Most Northern part of our area is Keansburg and Union Beach both on the Shore right under Staten Island. West side of the Area is Holmdel. East side is Sandy Hook down to Monmouth Beach and Ocean Port. Jersey Shore!! WOOOOHH!! Then we Live in Eastontown and the Chapel is here as well! And we cover Everything Between these cities!! Its kinda crazy but im Excited for the Experiences and Trials that will shape us and help us become better, more full-purpose Missionaries!!

Well thats about it.. im sure ill have a lot t more to say next week! 

Shout Out to Jacob! Last week in Poland!! Crazy how fast this thing goes by!

Thank you all!

Love you all!!

-Elder Fotu          

Crazy Week!

This past week was best and worst week of my mission so far.. Started off pretty chill we were teaching a lot of lessons. We picked up a New Investigator his names Josè! He was a referral from some Elders in Central Newark. We met with him for the first time on wednesday at the church and he was Drunk/high.. He told us he had been a drinker/addict since he was 17. hes 35 now. But as we met with him he told us he would do anything to change. He has 2 kids that he cant be around because of his Drinking & Drug abuse. I felt he was being sincere. Most of the time when we meet with people that have drinking or drug Problems we only see them once and thats it! But we prayed and with him and during the prayer he just started sobbing and he cried out: "please Lord Help me change!" The spirit was super strong! 

Jose has been calling us Everyday now Telling us that hes been sober since and is working again and seeing his Wife and kids everyday now! Such a bittersweet Miracle. Pray for him!

My week went down when on friday i woke up and just felt like i was going to die! I had the worst Cold i ever had in my life! I couldn't even Support myself my head was just throbbing so bad and every time i coughed it felt like someone shot me in the chest! hahah being dramatic but it was bad! But Elder Vause (my fav senior missionary) just so happened to be coming over with our Branch President to pick some stuff up from the storage in our basement. So they and Elder Laceste gave me a blessing, and by the afternoon i felt soooo much better! 

Sunday Rolled around and it was our Branch Conference. Now when i fist come to East Orange there were maybe 25-30 People in sacrament meeting.. Sunday there were over 100 people there!!! The Stake Presidency and High council were blown away! It was Awesome!! We seriously so close to becoming a ward its not even funny!! The Branch has been working together so hard to make it happen!

Then we got a Transfer calls... Im getting Transferred.. So sad right now! East Orange has been such a great experience and I've been here for 7 months! Its going to be so hard to leave. But I know that the Lord is all knowing and if im needed elsewhere then here i come!

I thank you all for your Prayers!! Love you!

-Elder Fotu

He Lives

(Deeeeeep Breath) Wow!! Easter Sunday & General Conference!! Where do i start??? 

Well I guess i can start by Testifying that i know that The Lord Jesus Christ Lives today and Forever more!

So many events took place this week that i dont have time to share but have changed and improved my Outlook, Attitude, and Focus of my mission. Its Amazing how Heavenly Father Answers Prayers. 

Saturday I went on Exchange with the Zone Leaders. I was with my Homie Elder Wilcox! He was an Assistant for a long time and this is his Last week before he goes home so i had the opportunity to learn soooooo much from him before he dies. Saturday was super busy day in Elizabeth. It was a Spanish Area that Ive been to Before with Elder Wood (Old Zone Leader) so I was super pumped to see people i had met before, again and try my horrible Spanish. Hahaha its so funny because so many people think im from the Dominican Republic so they start speaking spanish to me and i just say "no ablo espaniō" hahah and they say where you from and i say "Tonga", so they just call me Elder Toonga in a Spanish accent the whole time! so funny but if i get transferred i want to get transferred to Spanish so bad! Never would have said that before my mission but the spanish people here are so Humble! and they feed you like crazy;) Best Exchange ive had so far!! 

I cant even explain how great Conference was! My Most Favorite Talk by far was Elder Wilford W. Andersons Along with all the other Missionaries i was so pleased to see him up there because he visited our mission about when i first came into the mission and i could feel the great Spirit he brought with him. His talk about Dancing to the music of the gospel was one of the best Analogies I've heard! I will be Defiantly be listening to that one over and over agian for a long time!

It sounds like everyone really Liked Elder Pearsons talk, so did I! And so did Sadrac! He is so close to giving us a date its not even funny! and i think that General Conference gave him that last push he needs to commit! 

Funny story: Sunday morning we walked into the church a little late and President Monson's talk was just ending and all the Haitions in the branch were crying and i thought someone had died or something! hahaha but it was just that the Haiti Temple was announced. So everyone was so excited about that! Its gonna be an interesting day for our branch when the chapel is almost empty because all the Haitions are in Haiti for the Temple Dedication... hahaha 

One talk that really made gave me an awakening was by Elder Michael T. Ringwood, he talked about People who dont seek after Position, Callings or Power and are steady and faithful in keeping the commandments and enduring to the end and recessive blessing because of there Faithfulness. He starts by talking about how his older Brother was a zone leader and how he was seeking after being a leader in the mission. And i have to admit Ive had my share of thoughts about how Dad, Garrett and Jacob were all Assistants to the President and i have been seeking after that Leadership and trying to impress other missionaries who have leadership to try get a calling. But Elder Ringwood Talks about how his mission President says that God, his President and Elder Ringwood knew his companion was a good missionary, who else needs to know, when he wanted to silence some gossip about his companion. 

It is the Lord who calls us, so its not about impressing others. Its about Pleasing God with our work.

There is so much more I would love to talk about but I just don't have time!

Im so grateful for All the lessons i've learned from serving and can't wait for the knowledge and lessons to come! I truly Love This Work. I Truly Love the Lord.

Happy Birthday to Jake, Selu & Tyler!! I wish i got to go to Disney Land for my Birthday! Mom you spoil that little boy to much!

Shout Out to Alema Tautu For getting his call to New Zealand!!! Love You Bradda! 

I love and am grateful for all of you! You wouldn't be receiving these emails if i didnt! hahah not to disclaim my love for others...But you guys are Awesome!!

Hear Y'all next week!

-Elder Fotu  

He Lives

(Deeeeeep Breath) Wow!! Easter Sunday & General Conference!! Where do i start??? 

Well I guess i can start by Testifying that i know that The Lord Jesus Christ Lives today and Forever more!

So many events took place this week that i dont have time to share but have changed and improved my Outlook, Attitude, and Focus of my mission. Its Amazing how Heavenly Father Answers Prayers. 

Saturday I went on Exchange with the Zone Leaders. I was with my Homie Elder Wilcox! He was an Assistant for a long time and this is his Last week before he goes home so i had the opportunity to learn soooooo much from him before he does. Saturday was super busy day in Elizabeth. It was a Spanish Area that Ive been to Before with Elder Wood (Old Zone Leader) so I was super pumped to see people i had met before, again and try my horrible Spanish. Hahaha its so funny because so many people think im from the Dominican Republic so they start speaking spanish to me and i just say "no ablo espaniō" hahah and they say where you from and i say "Tonga", so they just call me Elder Toonga in a Spanish accent the whole time! so funny but if i get transferred i want to get transferred to Spanish so bad! Never would have said that before my mission but the spanish people here are so Humble! and they feed you like crazy;) Best Exchange ive had so far!! 

I cant even explain how great Conference was! My Most Favorite Talk by far was Elder Wilford W. Andersons Along with all the other Missionaries i was so pleased to see him up there because he visited our mission about when i first came into the mission and i could feel the great Spirit he brought with him. His talk about Dancing to the music of the gospel was one of the best Analogies I've heard! I will be Defiantly be listening to that one over and over agian for a long time!

It sounds like everyone really Liked Elder Pearsons talk, so did I! And so did Sadrac! He is so close to giving us a date its not even funny! and i think that General Conference gave him that last push he needs to commit! 

Funny story: Sunday morning we walked into the church a little late and President Monson's talk was just ending and all the Haitions in the branch were crying and i thought someone had died or something! hahaha but it was just that the Haiti Temple was announced. So everyone was so excited about that! Its gonna be an interesting day for our branch when the chapel is almost empty because all the Haitions are in Haiti for the Temple Dedication... hahaha 

One talk that really made gave me an awakening was by Elder Michael T. Ringwood, he talked about People who dont seek after Position, Callings or Power and are steady and faithful in keeping the commandments and enduring to the end and recessive blessing because of there Faithfulness. He starts by talking about how his older Brother was a zone leader and how he was seeking after being a leader in the mission. And i have to admit Ive had my share of thoughts about how Dad, Garrett and Jacob were all Assistants to the President and i have been seeking after that Leadership and trying to impress other missionaries who have leadership to try get a calling. But Elder Ringwood Talks about how his mission President says that God, his President and Elder Ringwood knew his companion was a good missionary, who else needs to know, when he wanted to silence some gossip about his companion. 

It is the Lord who calls us, so its not about impressing others. Its about Pleasing God with our work.

There is so much more I would love to talk about but I just don't have time!

Im so grateful for All the lessons i've learned from serving and can't wait for the knowledge and lessons to come! I truly Love This Work. I Truly Love the Lord.

Happy Birthday to Jake, Selu & Tyler!! I wish i got to go to Disney Land for my Birthday! Mom you spoil that little boy to much!

Shout Out to Alema Tautu For getting his call to New Zealand!!! Love You Bradda! 

I love and am grateful for all of you! You wouldn't be receiving these emails if i didnt! hahah not to disclaim my love for others...But you guys are Awesome!!

Hear Y'all next week!

-Elder Fotu