Happy Father's Day!

Well this week was awesome! It's weird to think that a year ago I was in the Mtc! On Monday we went fishing in Ship Creek and we only caught a little silver salmon but hey it's alright! At least we caught something! Haha on Wednesdays we had transfers! And that was a little crazy! So Wednesday's morning at 10 there was 6 of us trainers and we met and had like a little meeting with president Robinson and he kinda talked about the importance and responsibility and everything of training. We then got to go into a room with all the trainees and look at all of them square in the eyes and meet them and then they have a map of Alaska on the wall and give each new missionary a fishing pole and they get to point where they think they are going and then president calls up their trainer and tells them where they are actually going and its this super cool majestic moment! 

So my new companion is Elder Tuimoloau from Oswego New York! He was raised in American Samoa so he knows English and Samoan so that's really really good! Definently feeling the pressure because he looks and follows everything I do so I have to make sure I'm always being and setting a good example. 

So if I haven't told you yet we go to Golden Corral all the time! Haha so I know pretty much every food and which is good there! Random fact for all y'all! But anyway we had a Ward party on Saturday night to celebrate Father's Day so it was good he got to meet all the Ward and also the Ward parties here in the Samoan wards are the bomb! There is the best and most food you have ever seen in your life! You get full just by looking at it all!

We have lots of morning studies now! At 8 we start personal study then 9 we have companionship study. At 10 we have 12 week training. At 11 we have language study then at 12 we have lunch. And finally we have iPad training at 1 and then by 2 we are off! So our morning as you can imagine are just super exciting! 

I just wanted to say happy fathers to my father and to all the fathers out there! I don't know what I would do or where I would be if I didn't have my dad in my life. You have been such an example of hard work and perseverance and to never ever give up! I don't know how you put up with me and even though I met Jesus a lot in my youth and most of it... well all of it was my fault I love you so much dad! I couldn't ask for a better role model in my life! 

Well thank you for everything you all do for me! Remember who you are and who God wants you to become. We are put through trials so we can persevere and become the person God wants us to become. The refiners fire. I love y'all!

Love, Elder Fawson

Transfer calls!! I'm training!!!

Friends and family!!!!

This week was so awesome! It was transfer calls on Friday night and for those who don't know what it's like... It's like the most intense night you have ever gone through! Every companionship is huddled around their phone waiting for the call from president after 9 o'clock! It's so awesome to because your phone is going none stop with all the calls from missionaries asking where everyone is going and telling where they are going! Now you guys are probably wondering what happened with it right?!... Well we got some really REALLY awesome transfer calls! Elder Judd will be leaving to wasilla to be a zone leader and I will be staying here and training a brand new missionary straight from the MTC! Holy cow the pressure is on! Of course all the feelings of inadequacy come creeping into your mind but you just have trust in our father in heaven and the mission president that you can do it! So in the mission your trainer is know as your dad and your trainee is know as your son and so everybody refers to there trainers and trainees as their sons or dads so I will have a son in the mission! Gotta love the mission lingo!

Tuesday we got to go through the temple! It was my first time going through the one up here so it was an awesome experience! I love going to the temple it's always the most peaceful and happiest feeling during and after the trip! We went to the temple with our zone and you can definently tell it brings everyone together so much and unites everyone!

This week was also filled with lots of opportunities to do some service! Earlier in the week we helped an older lady cut done some branches with our district and take them to the dumps but we got to the dump right when they closed so we had to improvise and with permission we put it all in the dumpster at the church and had to stomp it down! It doesn't sound too fun but let me tell ya... It was a blast! Haha

Saturday the sisters in our district asked if we could help one of their members take all this mulch and spread it everywhere!! It's was a ton of mulch!! But we got it done! It was super fun and the family was so nice and even took pictures of us and sent it to our moms! Later that day we went to help a family move! You can only imagine how sore we were that night and Sunday morning haha! 

Today we are going fishing so it's going to be pretty awesome! The king salmon are running so if we catch one we will send some pictures!!! We have our day licenses and poles and tackle from members so we are ready!

Overall this week was one for the books! It was the most stressful and anxious night of our mission on Friday night waiting for that call from president! I am so excited for the opportunity to help a new missionary in the mission become closer to our Heavenly Father and help others too! I'm even double blessed because on Wednesday we have a meeting and that's when we pick up our new trainees and after we get to go to the temple again! Thanks for all you guys do for me! I love and care about you all so much! 

The church is true

The book is blue

And Moroni is still on the ball!

Love, Elder Fawson

They got to go fishing today for king salmon! They were pretty excited!!!

P-day again?!?!

Friends and family!!!

Well this week was pretty great!! We found new people and the work is starting to speed up!

Monday we played basketball with our zone and it was pretty awesome as usual and then had family home evening with the Amituinai family afterward! It was pretty cool!

Tuesday we had district meeting and then did some service for this old lady! We cleaned out her garage and made room for her new embroidery machine! Haha after we pretty much just OYMed the rest of the day at the parks! Which is always fun!

Wednesday and Thursday we were on exchanges with our zone leaders! It was good! I got to the zone leaders area and they are downtown anchorage and they deal with all the drunk native people! Haha so it was really interesting! But we actually found this guy named Kenny at this apartment complex and taught him the restoration and he has a probably with smoking and drinking so we even got to get him to go the addiction recovery classes that night which was pretty dang cool! But we did a lot of talking to people downtown which is interesting! Haha

Friday we did some service for that same old lady again and cleaned out her garage even more! She had a pretty messy garage haha! But our district was there so it was pretty fun! She is really less active but hopefully she went to church! She is a member of a different ward but hopefully she went to church!

Saturday was just a really crazy day! We met with a lot of our investigators so that was cool! We were actually given a referrel for a family of 7 that some other elders were teaching but they moved to our area so we will contact them this week! But Saturday night we got into a card accident! we were driving down the road and had a green light and a car turned left on a yellow blinking light and they couldn't see around this truck in front of them and they went and we were right there and hit them! So luckily it wasn't our fault! I had a little bit of time to slam on the brakes so it wasn't that bad! We were definently be watched over because our speed limit was 50 but by the time we hit them it was just a thud! The people were members and felt so bad and luckily they weren't hurt! But we were all definently looked out for!

Sunday we got to speak in church haha! We got to church and our bishop asked if we could share like a 5 minute testimony about missionary work! It was an awesome surprise! Haha but it went good! We had a crazy rain storm too!! I have videos to send but it was insane with lots of hail too! 

This week was pretty awesome! It flew by! Thank you for all that you do for me! Love you guys!

Love, Elder Fawson

He said "do you think they are Lakers fans!"

Another good week!

Friends and family!!

Well this week was awesome! We got to teach lots and found new people in our area! Oh and today is elder Judds birthday! 

Monday was awesome! We went and played soccer on a nice field then got kicked are they had soccer practice then went and played basketball! It was way fun!

Tuesday we got the opportunity to do some service for a cafe that helps homeless and struggling people with food and we helped them plant this garden with was really awesome! There may or may not be pictures of it on their Facebook page. Beans cafe in anchorage Alaska! She told us she was putting them on that so yea!

Wednesday we went on exchanges with an area in our district and that was pretty cool! We met with these potentials in our area and the answered their door!!! So the father and daughter are members but very less active and the mom is a non member! We had a good lesson with them about pray and faith and so we will see how this goes!

Thursday we did lots of OYMing at the park and found lots of less actives! It was really good! So we just got a referrel from other Samoan ward of a family with 8 kids that haven't been baptized that just moved in our area and so we are kind of team teaching them! It's so awesome to teach kids because everything is so simple! So they will be baptized soon! 

Friday we went on visits with our bishop to families that he thinks could need it! One of the families is the Mano family and they are a part member family! The husband is a member and the wife is a nonmember! She wants to take the lessons so that's pretty awesome too! We start this next week! And they came to church which was really awesome!

Saturday we did lots of OYMing around the parks and just walking down streets so that's always a fun time! Some members told us they were having a big rugby tournament in the park so we went and it was this huge event with teams and uniforms and stuff! It was so sick! Rugby is brutal! There was so many people coming off the field with like bloody faces and limping! Haha but we met lots of people so it was really cool! Sunday was awesome to see the Mano family! Michael and jaislyn didn't come so we are going to try and visit them sometime soon!! 

This week was so awesome because we had lots of lessons! Which makes it a lot more fun haha! Elder Judd and I are doing awesome! But thanks for everything that everyone does for me! Love you all!

Love, Elder Fawson

The only picture we got this week was the rugby game!!!

Another week bites the dust!

Friends and family!!!

On Thursday I got to do what I always dreamed I would do on my mission... Ball and OYM with all the dudes at the park! I wish we could have taken some pictures but we will probably be doing it a lot because it's kind of our most effective way of proselyting!

Friday we had zone meeting which was really awesome! We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and its role. And the church has new pamphlets which are really cool!! We talk a lot about those and just how to approach people better and everything with it being light out all the time and nice weather it's the best time to OYM!

On Saturday we decided to just go OYM down the streets of mountain view and man was it the coolest thing ever. We were walking and this guy was filling up this plastic pool for his kids to play in an he looked busy so we just waved and said hello! Right as we passed his year he asked, "are y'all Mormon?" We turned around and said, "heck yea we are!" We talked for a little bit and he told us how all of his coworkers are Mormon and he said he wanted to start to go to church again. He was Catholic and kinda asked how we were different everything and we gave him a little run down on the restoration and he said why don't you just come back and sit down and talk to me. So he's a new investigator! The coolest thing about the whole thing was his boss that is Mormon told him a couple days ago he was going to send some missionaries over to his house... It was inspiration by the Holy Ghost to walk that street! One of the coolest moments of my mission! Oh his name was Pete O'Sullivan.

That same day and couple minutes after Pete we walked by a house and heard, "hey elders!" We looked over and it was Michael and jaislyn! The super less active couple we had been working with and had come to church last Sunday! We talked and asked if they needed anything and Michael asked if we could say a pray with them! We did and it was such an awesome feeling of peace! It was really cool too because he gave us his number and everything  and he was REALLY reluctant to before! Even more inspiration!

And this may even be the craziest thing to happen to us ever! This girl shaquinta (yep she's black!) was driving past us and saw us and flipped around and asked if she could have the missionaries come teach her! And we said, "of course!" We got all of her information and everything and she said how she has friends that are Mormon and sees how happy they are and wants that happiness and she said she wants to go on a mission too! It was crazy! But she lived in a different area so we will not be teaching her!

I feel like it's days like those that keep you going and Heavenly Father tells you that there's people ready to hear you just keep pushing on! We aren't called to our mission for who we are but who we will become! I love you guys and thank you for all you do for me!

The church is true

The book is blue

And Moroni is still on the ball!

Love, Elder Fawson

                         My zone!

     Odd things you find walking down the street! Yes that is fish!

          Bball this morning!

Maniua le aso o Tinā

Friends and family!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! That was one of the coolest things I have ever done to skype home! Way cool! I don't know what say now!

Monday was good! We did some shopping then just played sports at the chapel and it was way fun! Monday's are awesome! Tuesday we did some visits with our bishop to less actives and then had to go fill the font at the church for a primary baptism and got to be a witness for it and well that was really cool! First time doing that! Wednesday we just went through the our area book and tried to visit lots of the people in our potential investigators! 

Thursday we did some kinda of temporary exchanges with the elders in our district because One of them was sick so we kinda switched off staying Elder Jensen (the sick one) and then helping them go to their appointments. 

Friday we helped another ward and missionaries do some service around their chapel and on Saturday we helped a family move! And well moving is just sooo much fun! 

Sunday was a really cool day! So the couple Michael and Jaislyn we have been working with for a little bit! They are really less active and last week she came to church and we had like a little mini refresher lesson with her and she talked about how Michael didn't want to do anything with the church and everything and we told her to just kinda bear your testimony to him and to tell him what you believe and everything and this week they both came!!!!! It was really way awesome!!!! We were so excited and he said he wants to keep coming so we are going to just be teaching them out of the gospel principles book! So yea just kind of a way cool miracle this week!!! 

But anyway I love you guys! Happy Mother's Day! Thank you mom for all that you do for me! I love you! Thanks for everything you guys do for me! Love you guys!

Love, Elder Fawson

Transfer calls!!!

Friends and family!!

Well this week was awesome! On Monday we played some basketball and volleyball at the church with our zone so it was pretty good! That night we had a lesson with a referral we had gotten, Margaret! It went good! We had the 2 YSA advisors there to help us and we basically just got to know her and her understanding of the gospel! She knows pretty much everything about it but a lot of the things she knows is not really true so we are just kinda going through it all again with her! But she's a hard cookie with lots of questions!

Tuesday our district meeting was good! President and sister Robinson came to it and had lunch with us. It's crazy how they are from bear lake and Montpellier Idaho! Hey I know those places haha! We met with our bishop that day also and he went on some visits with us to less actives and part member families!

Wednesday we got the opportunity to go to the temple! The temple need like two more people to do sealings And so we did sealings.... And well if that doesn't make you feel trunky I don't know what will! But it was really cool to do! 

Wednesday to Thursday we were on exchanges with our district leader and those went pretty good! On Thursday also we did a service with some other missionaries for a nonmember who needed help with her yard! So we spread out a bunch a gravel and cleaned out her backyard and it was way cool!

Friday was TRANSFER CALLS!!!! And well elder Judd and I got the call that we are both staying another transfer (6 weeks) together so we were excited about that! Elder Judd became the district leader so that was something pretty cool too! Transfer call day is seriously the most stressful yet exciting day ever! Your stomach is just twisting all day and the phones are blazing that night with missionaries calling to see where everyone is going! Kassidee and josh you'll know it soon!!

Saturday our zone got together for a lunch! It was awesome! We eat lunch then play this game called mafia and it's the weirdest yet funnest game! 

Sunday was really awesome! We had another lesson with Margaret! She is slowly coming to accept the Book of Mormon and she thinks we worship Joseph smith... So there was lots of explaining there! But yea she's keeping our commitments though which is really good! We also taught a lesson to one of our really really less actives in our ward that we have kept visiting and they FINALLY came to church! It was awesome to have them! They said they are coming back next week too so keep your fingers crossed!!

The church is true 

The book is blue

And Moroni is still on the ball

Well yea that's about it this week! I love you guys and can't wait to skype Sunday! 

Love, Elder Fawson

             Cute new bike!!!

     A couple elders made this pic for him!

                       His district

             His zone at the temple