Week 55

Friends and family!!

This week was really awesome! General conference weekends are pretty awesome! It is such a blessing to be able to hear from gods prophet and apostles!

On Monday we went a hike on what's called barometer mountain and it was so crazy! It was a very big mountain but we made it up and the view was amazing! One that that's a little different with being on the island is we Skype into our district and zone meetings so that's a little different! But it's a good time! It's funny because we just mute it and we can really say whatever! Haha 

We are still tracting lots and it is seriously the funniest thing to do! But besides all the laughs and crazy people we meet it's really cool to see the spirit work on people when we meet them till the time we share what the Book of Mormon is! It's actually been somewhat useful for us which is good. 

This week we had a really good lesson with Chris and Emma! (The family we Tracted into) and we talked about the Book of Mormon and it's importance and they loved and accepted it! They really want to start going to a church so hey why not just go to the true one! We had a lesson with Keily family and they are doing good. They just don't really want to change church's because they both grew up in the unification church. And that's all they have really known so we are working on them.

General conference was really good! I guess why wouldn't it be? Haha but I feel like the hit the Book of Mormon, repentance, and sustaining your testimony a lot! One of the most powerful talks to me was president uchtdorfs talk in the priesthood session about alma and amulek. It was awesome! I loved when he talked about everyone needs to find their amulek to be successful and that Everyone needs to hear the words I need you and The lord needs you. And than we need to see with our hearts. And then president Eyring talked about how there is no difference between the oldest apostle and the youngest deacon in gods eyes if you fulfill your priesthood duty. And of course David A Bednars about the difference between believing in God and believing him. It was a good weekend! Another weird fact... I only have 1 more general conference on my mission! Weird! 

Overall this week was really good I feel like we were spiritually nourished! Haha thank you guys and love you all!

Don't let your questions paralyze your faith!

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 54

Friends and family!

Well this week was awesome! We are seeing miracles here in Kodiak!!

Lots of tracting! We are in finding mode right now but this week we had a lot of really good things come from tracting! We have refined our tracting approaches so much and I guess you could say we are pretty good now! Haha our goal is to start teaching right away and to not give them any time to say no and it usually works out really good! We have a couple of new investigators from it that we are really excited for! Earlier in the week we were tracting in some awesome rain and wind so we were soaked! It was fun and we hoped that people would feel bad for us and let us in but that didn't really work out as we thought it would! Haha 

This week we helped Manuel a lot with his Trailer he is trying to move from the trailer park (back story: so there is a place called the Jackson trailer park and it has this really awesome view of the ocean so they are selling the land so they can put estates there so they told everyone hey have to leave so we have been helping people with that). We helped jack up his trailer this week so that was pretty cool! Learned something new! So his trailer is ready to go now! Manuel speaks Spanish and so good thing we have elder bacon! He's not really interested in religion but we are still helping him and asking questions and teaching him when we can!

So a week ago or so we were tracting in a apartment complex and we got in the truck but a really strong impression to just do this group of doors by the truck. We got out and the first door we knocked this lady answered and said you found me! Haha we were like uhhhhh yeaaaa!! She is a really less active member and hasn't been to church in 30 years. She said earlier that day she had seen us driving and waved and we had waved to here and she said she had been thinking about the church all that day. She said it was a sign that maybe heavenly father wants her back at church! So this week we got to go see her with our Ward mission leader (he went to byu in Hawaii) and Shannon is from Hawaii so they hit it off pretty well! The Ward is already assigned people to go over and see her and she is raising her grandson who is now 10 and she said she wants him to learn about the church and be baptized! So we will be soon teaching both of them! Which is awesome!

Saturday we did a service with our Ward and it was to unburry this bunker at the fort Abercrombie here! It was really cool and then after the park took us on a tour of the museum. It is really cool the history from there! So history moment for all you... Alaska actually was really big in world war 2 because if your were to fly from Japan to essentially Washington you would fly over Kodiak/illusion chain/kenai peninsula and so there's lots of watch places here where they basically had forts and would make sure none of Japan or russia was flying over! Pretty cool!

This week was fun, wet, and full of the gospel! I'm thankful for this opportunity to be in Kodiak and I love it! And most of all I love the people! Thanks for  everything you guys do for me! Love you all!

D&C 6:36

Oh and I forgot to mention we had dinner with a Filipino family this week and they gave us balut! Weirdest thing I have ever eaten!! Haha there's a picture of the bird!

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 53

Friends and family!

Well this week was a crazy week! I feel like it was so action packed! I can't believe I've been out longer than a year now! Weird!

On Monday we hiked a hike called termination point! It was super cool and I have tons of pictures to send! 

Tuesday we got to do some service for this family that is investigating the church and their name is young and robin Keily! They are super cool and he is a teacher over at the high school. They are renovating their house and so we went over and helped them paint their kitchen! It was actually really fun! Young (the husband) is huge into basketball and played college basketball so we get along really well and he always gives me exercises I can do to dunk! He can throw down Haha but we got to help them and have dinner with them and share a lesson and it was really good! The wife is really active in her church so we are still just helping them understand the gospel. And funny thing is I think we are going to be doing their baseboard soon! (Thanks dad for all the practice I got to do with you!)

Wednesday we flew to anchorage and had zone conference and it was awesome! We did it with 3 different zones! The soldotna zone and north and south and anchorage zones. We talked about president uchtdorfs talk that he talked about lift where you stand. It was really good! We talked about repentance and how that's what we teach people but we also do it ourselves! We talked about the morning schedule and the importance of loving those we teach and serve! It was really awesome and we learned so much! We stayed with the Spanish elders in anchorage that night then flew home Thursday morning.

Thursday we got to do a couple of hours of service for Manuel our Spanish investigator. It was really good and we got to have dinner and a lesson with him after. We don't think he is too interested but he's doing good!

Friday we did lots and lots of the glorious task of tracting! Haha we Tracted pretty much all day which is something I hadn't done too much in the Samoan Ward! Haha but we found a few people who wanted us to come back! Then we decided to go down to the docks and tract there and it was pretty cool! We didn't have too much success but we got to see some of the huge fishing boats like the ones on deadliest catch! 

Saturday we tried to visit all the less and Inactives in our area and it was good! We got to visit some people and invite them to church! The Keily family invited us to this church activity they were having so we decided to go and it was actually a really cool finding opportunity! We met some people that were baptized in the Lds church but didn't go so we got their info and we are going to go visit them! Lol!

Sunday was well good! Last pday my dad asked if with having a small Ward here do we speak in sacrament a lot and elder bacon has never spoken here in his 5 months here but ironically enough on Tuesday we got asked to give a talk! We spoke on the family which was pretty fun and easy to talk about! I have never felt so involved in church before! Haha we blessed he sacrament then spoke in sacrament then taught in 2nd and 3rd hour! Haha so we had a very busy church! But it was really good! Sunday night we were tracting and walked up to this house and it was kind of in the woods so we were a little nervous but we walked up and a guy and his wife were there and they were a younger couple. We talked to them for a second then asked if we could share a message sometime and they said yea you can right now! So we were like oh okay! This never happens! Haha we didn't say that though! Lol! We talked to them outside and shared the restoration lesson and they took a Book of Mormon and were really interested so we are really excited to see how it goes! But it was such a cool experience!

This week I finished the Book of Mormon for the second time on my mission and I know that book is true and that it is another testament of Jesus Christ! If you haven't read it... You should! It will help you with anything!

Well that was kind of our week in a nutshell!! I hope you all had a great week and I love you all! Thanks for all you do!

Moroni 10:32

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 52!!! Kodiak!!

Friends and family!!!

Well hello out there from Kodiak island! So I'm not sure how last week was week 52 but I hit my 1 year mark on Friday September the 16th! So that's pretty cool! It definently has felt like a year out in the field! Well I am out here in Kodiak! I guess I'm just meant for the islands! Haha I flew in on Tuesday and I already love it!

Well one thing I've learned here is that we do tons and tons of service!! Haha we do about 20 hours a week of just service for people! And most of the time it's stacking wood! Haha I have some pictures but we have helped an investigator named Manuel stack wood and it has been... Fun! Haha but this up coming week we are helping some people paint their house and stacking some more wood! So it should be fun!

One super cool thing about Kodiak and the reason why I know the lord looks out for us is Kodiak doesn't get much snow at all! Everyone here says it's the best place to be for the winters! So that's pretty cool! I guess Heavenly Father knows I'm not much of a fan of the cold! People here say it's 30s 40s in the winter! Sweet I'll take it! One thing I found out when I got here is that there are Samoans here! Which is super cool and maybe it's one of the reasons I am here! But we are just searching for them too! Elder bacon is awesome! He hits his year mark sept 30th! He was called Spanish speaking and there are a lot of people that can only really speak Spanish here too! Kodiak is very diverse!

There's lots and lots of fishing here! That's what Kodiak is really known for is the fishing! There are tons of big fishing boats in the harbors! The other big job here is the coast guard station. The coast guard station here is the biggest in Alaska! It's the main one for the Bering sea and everything.

Wednesday morning we fly to anchorage for zone conference then fly back Thursday morning! It's kind of different to not be around other missionaries! The Ward is really awesome! And the chapel is even cooler! It's totally Alaskan! I'll send some pictures because it's so cool!

Our investigators are doing good! I am still meeting them! We have some only Spanish investigators so that's pretty cool! So you can say I get a little lost during the lessons. Those 2 years of Spanish didn't work! Haha it's a really diverse population here. And lots of people come here to work in the summer then go back but we are starting to get some good referrals and more work! 

Well that was my week in a nutshell! It's so awesome to be out here in Kodiak and I'm excited for this new adventure! It's crazy on Friday I'll have been out a year already! Time goes fast when your serving the lord!

Matthew 10:39

"After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel" ~Joseph Smith 

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 51!!! TRANSFERRED

Friends and family!!!!

This week was action packed!!!!

Well..... I'm being TRANSFERRED!!!! After 6 months of being in the northern lights Samoan Ward I'm leaving! I am going to KODIAK ISLAND!!! I'm so excited and pumped! It will be super awesome! I fly out tomorrow at 3:30! Just a really crazy fun fact for ya... Bears out number people so this will be fun! I will be serving with Elder Bacon who is a stud! Something funny is that I was talking to president Robinson last night and I am going to be learning some Spanish and Tagalog! Haha he said they have some investigators that only speak those languages so this is going to be awesome! Haha We will be the only missionaries to cover the whole island which is kinda crazy! It's one of those super cool areas that is the dream area so it made me feel cool to get called there! Haha! So if you have ever seen the movie "the guardian", it was based from Kodiak US Coast Gaurd station and I think the bush people do stuff there too lol! With being on the island we do a lot of skyping! Skyping in on district and zone meeting and then they fly us in for zone conference and interviews!

It's so weird to say bye to all the people here in this Ward! It was awesome to get the call to leave but I sat there for a second I feel like I'm leaving my home! I love the people of this Ward! One of the coolest things ever was the primary actually all wrote me little letters and gave them to me which was awesome! 

On p day we got to go golfing and that was so sweet! Haha we had a fun time! (Pictures below)

Wednesday we got to go to the temple! It was super awesome! It's really cool to be there because that is literally the goal of where we want everyone to be is in that sealing room! 

Friday we had zone meeting. It was such an awesome zone meeting and everyone started getting weirdly emotional in it! We have talked about pride and how there are soooo many different ways it affects each of us. So we each kind of self analyzed ourselves and stuff like that!

On Saturday we got to have our baptism for Ryan and Tifa Nonu and it was super awesome! Went really good! I got baptize and confirm Ryan! Such awesome dudes and I love them! (Pictures below)

Miracle for the week: so Krispy Kreme just opened up here and everyone is going crazy over it! It opened Monday and was packed! We went to get some on Thursday and it was over an hour wait so we were like oh well! We tried! That night we got home and our neighbor had left us some on our porch! Haha super awesome!

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten" ~ David A Bednar

Love, Elder Fawson

Tyler said this is Brother Brown, he is from Compton and is a legit crip! He is the man!!

Week 50!!!

Friends and family!!!

This week was just peachy!!! It wasn't too crazy or anything but it was
good! Crazy how fast the transfer went! We get transfer calls this week! So
we will see what happens! It's crazy I've already been in the northern
lights Ward for 6 months!

One funny thing that happened to elder Tui and I this week is so we were
giving the training in district meeting then Monday night (district meeting
is Tuesday morning) we got a text from elder Carroll (our district leader)
saying hey by the way president and sister Robinson will be there tomorrow
at district meeting! Then a minute later he said and the zone leaders! Haha
so elder tui and I got a little nervous but it went good haha! We trained
on how to begin teaching in PMG! And president said it was an awesome
training so that made us feel better about it! Wednesday we had trainer
trainee meeting and it was our last one! It's crazy how this is the last
week of elder tuimoloaus training!

Our investigators are doing good! This Saturday is our baptism for Tifa and
Ryan! The big family we have been working with for a while finally moved
and they are still in our area so we are good! So now we are going to put
them on a baptismal date soon! But the kids are so cool! There's 6 that are
over the age of 9 that are ready! (Antwan, Reggie, Yoko, navy, Nate, and
honey!) so we will see what happens! we have a couple of new families that
we will be visiting this week too!

We got to do some service this week so that was fun! We got to do like
district service helping these people clean out this house that is probably
the most packed with garbage house I have ever seen! It got so cluttered
with garbage that they didn't have any space so they just moved and got a
new house! Haha so it was packed but we got to clean some of it out! And
then Wednesday we got to go on the military base and do a little service
for the fisher house! It's a hotelish thing by the hospital that is for
people to stay out that are out of state but in the hospital! So we got to
clean stuff!

But yea overall this week was good! Lots of fun!

"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work" ~Gordon B
Hinckley

Alma 37:33
Alma 41:14

Love, Elder Fawson

P.s. I tried on elder tuimoloaus suit coat.... He's a big Samoan

Week 49

Friends and family!!

 This week was awesome! And first things first, Go watch the hello by Adele song but missionary version on YouTube! A member showed it to us and it's so awesome and will make your day!

Alright so Lau and Tara... They are a less active/ part member family but they are not too interested well sometimes..... So we went over last Sunday night and she said they were busy (as usual) but said to come back Monday night! And usually when they say that they just won't be there when we go back so this time. Something popped up Monday night so we didn't get to try and go over! So we went Tuesday and they said they made us dinner and everything! So we felt super super bad but we had a really awesome visit with them and found out that elder tuimoloau and them are somehow related and by the end of the visit he was talking about how his youngest daughter is 9 and he wants her to get baptized!!! Crazy how the spirit softens hearts! And best thing of all they wanted us to come over the next day and have lunch with them! It was super awesome! It's so awesome so now we are visiting with them this week and seeing what's going to happen!!

So we had this awesome experience of messing with people on Saturday! So this family is inactive and we called them a couple weeks ago and they wanted their records removed and we went over with out bishop on Wednesday and the father said to come back on Saturday! Sooo... We went back Saturday! We pulled up and the lights were on and so we were like sweet they are home! So we get out and start walking up the driveway and they turned the lights off and didn't answer the door... So elder tuimoloau and I decided we weren't going to go down without a fight! So we got back in the truck and drove down the road and parked and sat there and waited till they turned the lights back on! They we got out and ran up to the door and made eye contact with lady! So they had to answer!!!! They said they were busy of course but we didn't go down with making it awkward for them!!! Haha don't ignore us! We will catch you sometime! Haha funny times!!!

Oh Saturday we got to go to a wedding of these two members of our Ward! That was pretty fun!

Our investigators are doing good! Ryan and Tifa are still going to be baptized sept 3rd! Which is good! They are doing awesome and the family is awesome support! The Mano family is still progressing just trying to get them to not work on Sunday's! And the big family is doing good! They are moving on Friday but luckily still in our area! 

This transfer elder tuimoloau and I made the goal to read the Book of Mormon so we are getting there! I'm in Alma and I have to read 19 pages everyday for the rest of the transfer of I'm going to finish it! But it's so awesome and it seems like everytime I read it it makes so much more sence and things just click! I know that book is true!

But overall this week was really fun and we had some really good lessons! We are onto week 11 out of 12 of elder tuimoloaus training! Crazy how fast it's gone! I have been in the northern lights Ward for more than 5 months now so I feel like I've been here my whole life! Haha but the work is going good! Thanks for everything you do for me!

D&C 42:29 If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.

"You cant direct the wind, but you can direct the sails."~President Thomas S Monson

Love, Elder Fawson