Freezing cold. Iditarod. Sacrifice.

Friends and family!

It was another awesome and freezing week! It was super busy and seemed
to fly by.

To start our investigators are doing awesome! We had an awesome lesson
with Mathew and Andrew on Wednesday and invited them to be baptized
the 25th of March and they accepted! So we will be helping them work
towards that date now! Ryanne is doing great and still on track for
the 18th and we finished all the lessons yesterday! She super awesome
because whenever we teach something she immediately makes the changes.

We had zone meeting this week and it was really good. We talked a lot
of sacrifice. Bruce R McConkie has a really cool talk about it in the
April 1975 general conference. He says, "The law of sacrifice is that
we are willing to sacrifice all that we have for the truth’s sake--our
character and reputation; our honor and applause; our good name among
men; our houses, lands, and families: all things, even our very lives
if need be." And Joseph Smith said, “A religion that does not require
the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the
faith necessary [to lead] unto life and salvation.” So without
sacrifice we are nothing. Even the small things make a big difference.

Saturday we had the Iditarod ceremonial start that we got to help out
at. If any of you remember this, I got to help out with this last year
and it was my first Saturday in the mission! It was cool because this
year I got a super cool spot where it wasn't as much Manual labor!
Haha but it was a good time and a lot of fun! And it was freezing the
whole time! I've never loved hand and feet warmers so much in my life!

And that was pretty much the coolest stuff that happened this week!
Thank you for all that you do for me!

Cool fact for the week: I hit 19 months on my birthday! Double whammy

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

1 The north anchorage zone!
2 Iditarod crew
3-4 Iditarod!
5- throwing up the U! Shout out to di and Nate!
6 more Iditarod!

Friends and family!

Well it was a good week here in Alaska! We had lots of lessons and lots of fun! 

Well to start, we were driving down northern lights blvd and I glanced to my left at a newly built strip mall type deal and guess what one of the new restaurants in it was!..... WING STOP! They now have a wing stop up here! Haha tender mercies from the lord!

We got to have some really good lessons this week! We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and some of the commandments to ryanne and she is still on track to be baptized! Natasha is doing good and just focusing on reading the Book of Mormon! Mathew and Andrew are doing really good and coming to church! So things are going pretty good here! 

This weekend in downtown anchorage there was a big event called "Fur Rondy". I'm not sure what it really celebrated but there was tons of events and races and a big carnival and some snow sculptures! It was super cool and Saturday we went downtown and checked it out and talked to tons of people. It was cool to get out and hand out tons of pass along cards! I got lots of picture that I will send too.

My little thought for the week comes from 3 Nephi 18:

19 Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;

20 And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.

21 Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed.

Prayer is such a powerful tool and blessing that we are given! Elder Russel M Nelson says something like this, Think about how the creator of all heavens and earth wants you and I to communicate with him personally. Think about how cool that is! So I guess my point is.... pray always! It's a blessing and gift that we need to always use!

And that's this week! Thank you for all that you do for me. I'm grateful for all that you do for me!

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Friends and family!

Well hello out here! we had an action packed week this week! We had exchanges from Tuesday to Wednesday and I was with elder bacon in the Spanish branch so that was pretty cool. Then we had our zone temple trip on Wednesday and that was a good time of course. Then right after we had a service helping the Iditarod again! We moved tons of bags of dog food onto pallets to be shipped to the different places for the rest stops. It was super fun and well your hands smelt deliciousssss after wards! Haha

Thursday we had our zone conference with Elder Ardern of the seventy and it was awesome! There was a ton of missionaries there. All except for Fairbanks and Juneau! But we learned so much! There is so much that we talked about that I'll just put some of my notes:

• You can't do this on your own... join arms with the lord
• You are here because the lord wants you here
• Its not your baptism... it's the lords
• Be noble in whatever you do
• Educate yourself in whatever professional you may choose
• Wealth isn't important to be married
• You will find who god wants you to be when you labor for your fellowman
• Be a finisher
• You went through the Book but did the Book go through you
• You never get a second chance to make a good first impression
• Today is the day 

And then on Friday night we got transfer calls! And elder vaioa and I we both staying! 

Our investigators are doing good! Ryanne is preparing for the 18th of march still and Andrew and Mathew are working towards a Date! They are all progressing and coming to church! 

And well I think that's about it will all the good stuff this week! Oh and I guess another cool thing is I hit 18 months this week! Haha Thank you for all that you do for me! I love you guys and I'm grateful for ya!

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

We did really bad at having good organized pictures this week but here's our try's! Haha

Temple trip

The district! 

Zone conference

Elder gentry and I 

The service last week moving the hay

Friends and family!

Well hello everyone and happy Valentine's Day!... tomorrow! Haha I
hope you all had a good week! We had a really good filled with lots of
teaching, service, and weather that's too cold for Elder Fawson!

On Thursday we had a huge service for the Iditarod race coming up. We
bagged three semi truck trailers of hay bales and got them on pallets
ready to be shipped for the teams! The race is coming up in march and
if anybody remembers, my first Saturday in the mission field last year
was the Iditarod race so that's pretty cool!

The work is picking up here in the dimond ward! We are now teaching
someone new! So her name is ryanne and she is related to a family in
our ward and they brought her to church and we are starting to do
lessons for her and Sunday night we taught her the restoration and
invited her to be baptized and the family decided on march 18th so
that's super cool! We are still teaching Mathew and Andrew too. They
are doing really good and came to church and well... just trying to
get them to baptism too! Natasha has been really busy with school and
we actually got another referrel from a member in the ward so it's
pretty cool!

We have a huge week coming up so we are really excited! We have
exchanges from Tuesday to Wednesday then our temple trip on Wednesday
and zone conference on Thursday! So pretty cool! Elder hallstrom was
sopposed to come up but got reassigned somewhere else so now elder
Arden of the seventy is coming up! Oh and we get transfer calls this
week too!

And well I think that's it from us! I love and miss you guys!

Mathew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Woot woot arctic district!

Friends and family!

Well hello out there wherever ye may be! We had a good week with lots
of good stuff!

On Tuesday we had a lesson with Mathew and Andrew about the plan of
salvation at it went super good! We had a little white board and so we
drew it out as we went so it could make more sense. At the end we
invited them to be baptized and it was such a cool moment because it
was one of those silent moments and we could just feel the room and
our chests burning as they thought about it. They said they were gonna
think about it and so we asked them to pray to know if that's what god
wants them to to do at this time. It was such a cool experience.

Friday we had a lesson with Natasha and we didn't know what to teach
her because she had been taught everything before and still had so
many questions so we decided to start at square one and so we re
taught the restoration and it was really cool because we got to
discuss and settle a lot of her concerns and she is slowly learning.
She grew up Jewish so everything is so different to her but it's
coming!

We had zone meeting on Friday and it went really good. We talked about
building up the church and about fulfilling our duties.

I've had a lot of pondering this week. It blows my mind how fast time
comes and goes. I come home in 6 months and I still feel like I'm
fresh in the mission so to speak! It's a cool feeling but a scary one
at the same time! Haha cherish every moment because soon you'll be
doing something else!

Not much other crazy stuff than that! Haha I hope you all have a great week!

"BE BELIEVING. BE HAPPY. DONT GET DISCOURAGED! THINGSNWILL WORK OUT!"
~Gordon B Hinckley

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Friend and family!

Well hello everyone out in the world! There wasn't much crazy stuff this week so sorry if this is short!

We have 2 new people that we are teaching! Mathew and Andrew! They are the nephews of a family in our ward and just moved up from Samoa. They are 16 and 21 and they love the church and will hopefully be baptized soon! I will keep you updated with them! 

We got to do a zone community service thing this week that was really cool. We basically were the "security" at an event that helped homeless people get some help they needed. There was tons of people! Oh and the best part was we got to wear these super snazzy yellow vests that said "safety patrol" so we felt pretty cool! Haha

We had the worldwide missionary broadcast this week and it was awesome with some big announcements! But I already told you guys about the morning schedule thing and then we don't have as many key indicators! It's pretty cool! 

The thought we have been sharing in our dinners this week is the story of nephi and getting the plates. And how he was commanded to go get them but it wasn't easy for him. It didn't happen the first time and it didn't even happen the second either. And even the third time it wasn't a walk in the park. But he had the attitude of I will go and do and that's how he got through it. The lord gives us trials and tribulations and things we need to do but sometimes it's a lot harder than we thought it would be so we give up or murmur!... but we need the attitude of nephi! So always remember...

"I WILL GO AND DO"

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

P.s. Anchorage hit 40 degrees this week and it felt like summertime haha!

Friends and family!

Well hello everyone! This was probably one of the coldest weeks of my life. In the beginning of the week it was -15 throughout the day and that's fetching cold! Up in fair banks if was -50s so I'm just grateful I'm in anchorage right now! Haha and then it's been snowing the past couple days non stop so we have a ton of snow! There was so much that they actually canceled church on Sunday in the north anchorage stake so that's pretty crazy! But there's an upside with all the snow! Tons and tons of service! All week we've been helping people get unstuck! Haha and then on Saturday we went and shoveled people's driveways and walkways! It was really cool to see how grateful people were!

We got to have a lesson with Natasha this week too! We haven't been able to meet with her for a while now but we finally did. So if you don't remember her she is the one who was Jewish and so she doesn't really believe in Jesus Christ so we are sending her scriptures every day to read! She said she wants to be baptized so that's good! But we have a lot of help from the ward with her so that's a good thing.

We did a lot of visiting less active people this week and a lot of service! I'm thankful for all that you all do for me! Be safe and remember:

"To be on the pathway to perfection we need to have:

1. An attitude of gratitude
2. A longing for learning
3. A devotion to discipline
4. A willingness to work" ~President Thomas S Monson

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

P.s. I think I'm sick and need to go back to Samoa! Haha

Friends and family!!

Well this week was filled with transfers! Elder Chan got safe and
sound to the lake Otis ward and I got my new companion! Elder vaioa!
He is from Samoa and from the island I served on! He is soooo funny
and we have the best time together and I've learned so much Samoan
from him. So one cool thing is he served in Samoa for a bit while he
was waiting for his visa and he knows my trainer and other
missionaries and it's super cool! While transfers were going we got to
have elder Judd come and stay with us for a night and so that was
pretty fun to catch up with him!

So one really cool thing that I forgot to mention in my last email was
I finished the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time on my mission! It's
weird to think that because if you knew me before the mission you
would know that you couldn't pay to read a book haha! So it was a cool
little accomplishment and my goal is two more times! But I know it's
true and there's now way it can't be. And if you question if it is...
READ IT! I'm grateful for the knowledge it gives us and it just makes
everything make sense!

We have a new investigator we are teaching and His name is tommy isaia
and his wife is a member and most of his family! He was a former
investigator and a couple weeks ago we went over and just tried to
visit him and he let us in and we taught him he restoration and then
last Monday night we had another lesson with him and we read the Book
of Mormon with him. He reads it on his own and always tells us how he
is just looking for the truth and he thinks he might have found it!
Haha so it's been super cool to teach him and help him find the truth!
The struggle we run into with him is he works all week including all
day Sunday so we are going to help him understand the importance of
church.

And well I don't know how it is in Utah but out here there is so much
snow! It's been snowing the last couple days and the snow plows are
staying busy for sure!

And well that's some of the highlights of the week! Thank you for all
that you do for me! Stay safe everyone and always remember CPR!
(C-Church P-Pray R-Read) to keep yourself alive you need to do those
things!

Alma 37:37
Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for
good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that
he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the
morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these
things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

#1- we found this cool snow fort thingy with stairs
#2- SNOW!
#3-4- some moose we found a but ago but I didn't send the pictures!

Friends and family!

Well this week was full of tons of cool news! So first off we got
transfer calls and elder Chan Is leaving to the lake Otis Samoan ward
and I'm staying and getting elder vaioa! I haven't really met him but
he hasn't been out too long and is hilarious and awesome from what
everyone says so I'm excited!

On Friday we had zone meeting and it went really good! So something
really cool is church headquarters has made some changes to the
missionary schedule. So they basically leave it up to you how you want
to schedule it. Basically you are given the times of how long you need
to do certain things but you can schedule them however you want. It's
pretty cool! So between 6:30 and 10 you have to do an hour of personal
study and a half hour to plan your day! And we don't plan at night
anymore. So you just have to get those done anytime between those
hours! And then p day is a little longer! That was probably really
confusing and you probably don't think it's that big of a deal.... but
ITS A BIG DEAL! Haha

But also at zone meeting we talked about ether 12:27 and going through
trials and tribulations. If you haven't seen it I invite all you to go
watch the "bearing our burdens with hope" Mormon message. We all have
trials and hard things to go through but our trials and burdens are
what help us become who god knows we can become. So keep enduring and
soon you'll see change!

This week we went on exchanges with the Spanish elders and I actually
went to the Spanish ward for a day and it was really cool! I was with
elder henderson who has been out 6 weeks now so it was really fun!
He's so funny! We had a really cool experience teaching this lady
about the plan of salvation. She had just lost her friend to suicide
and her husband was going through some hard things and she thought it
was perfect! It was cool to see the comfort she felt when we taught it
to her!

And well we did lots of oyming and visiting former investigators this
week! And I think that's a little bit of our week for you guys! Thanks
for everything you all do for me! Love you guys!

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Picture #1 so elder Chan and I were walking back from a house and
getting back in the truck and he slipped and fell in the snow and I
took a picture of it! Haha I'm such a good companion! And then he was
getting in and slipped and fell again! Haha it was funny for me to
watch but not for elder Chan!

Picture #2 I'm gonna miss elder Chan!!

Friends and family!

Well I guess first off happy New Years everyone! I hope you all had a
great holiday season! I can officially say I come home this year so
that's a bit weird to get used to.

This week we got to have zone conference and it was really good! There
was some really good trainings and I learned a lot. We talked a lot
about obedience, caring for your companion, staying focused and being
the light! We are all as members of the church the light to the world.
We need to all be ready and prepared to share the gospel with anybody
and well.. lighting the world with our actions!

We went on exchanges this week and I was with elder bacon again! I
served with him out in kodiak when I first got there so it was really
good to be with him again! We did a lot of street contacting and
talking to people!

This week we did a lot of oyming and trying former investigators. We
talked to tons of people downtown and well.. everywhere we could! We
didn't get to teach as much us we wanted to but we talked to tons of
people so it was good!

We got a referral for this lady and we went and tried to visit them
and a younger kid answered so we talked to him for a while and he
wasn't a member but was from Kansas and asked about Joseph smith so we
explained who He was and it went pretty good! Then his aunt came in
and she was actually someone we ran into at Walmart one time and she
said she wanted to come to our church but we lost her number so we
couldn't talk to her but god led us to her! So we got to talked to her
for a bit and so this week we hopefully will get to visit with them
more!

Overall it was pretty good! It still blows my mind it's 2017! Maybe we
all remember and keep our New Years resolutions! Haha love you all!

"I cannon never accomplished anything, I can try has wrought wonders."

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson


Anchorage north zone
Top of a parking garage pics

Friends and family!

Well MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone! I hope you all had an awesome Christmas!

This week was awesome for us! We got to visit lots of people and
invite them to our ward party and church on Sunday and most of them
came! I feel like maybe it was because we told them it was only
sacrament meeting on Christmas! Haha

We had our ward party on Friday and it went super good. There were
TONS of people that showed up! We of course had tons of food then they
did some dance performances and it was so good! The Samoan wards know
how to party!!

So Christmas Eve was probably one of the coolest and funniest times of
my mission! So us and some other missionaries decided to go out carol!
So we all met at the chapel  at 7pm and if turned into a mini football
game somehow haha! But them we went to a couple of house and carolled
and it went super good and so we decided hey let's go do this
downtown! We will walk around and sing! So we all went downtown and
start just singing "angels we had heard on high" and "come all ye
faithful" to random people on the streets and then a bar called us in
and we all sang to them! Then... the next door restaurant called us in
to sing for them! It was seriously the best thing ever! It made so
many people smile so hopefully we made a difference in some people's
lives! And that's the super awesome Christmas Eve story! I'll send the
video of us singing in the parking garage after we were done!

Christmas was really awesome! It was so good to talk to my family! One
1 more skype day left so that's pretty weird!

Well I guess that's a little bit of our Christmas week for you guys! I
hope you all have a great week and I'm grateful for all of you. And
I'm grateful for my savior and his love. He is the reason for season
and he is the reason why we are who we are and how we can become who
god wants us to become!

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Friends and family!

Well everyone I hope you had a great week! We had a nice and cold week up here!

Tuesday we went to a big community service thing at the Sullivan arena
here and it was basically helping to give out food and presents all
day for Christmas! It was really cool and we got to talk to tons of
people as we went through the line with them. Then on Friday afternoon
we went and helped and member move some stuff to a new house. We moved
a matress and box spring, a couple dressers, a big couch,
entertainment cabinet and some other stuff in one load with 3 Nissan
frontiers.. so you can imagine how creative we got to load it all up!

On Wednesday we got the opportunity to go to the temple and that was
awesome it was my first time in a little while so it was good to be
back!

We got to teach one of our investigators Natasha this week and so just
a little backstory with her she grew up Jewish so she doesn't believe
in Jesus Christ or the New Testament or anything but it's been
interesting teaching her and helping her learn who he is. She is open
to learning and she is beginning to grow in her testimony so that's
good!

One new thing we tried this week was calling just random people in our
contacts that we didn't know and it's been interesting but also we
have found some people from it! In fact we called a family and they
aren't members. It they are coming back up in January and said they
want to learn more about the church! It was super cool!

On Sunday our talks went really good! I talked about ways we can put
Christ in Christmas! I talked about doing service, showing gratitude,
and being together with family. It's crazy to me that Christmas is so
soon! It feels like it was a month ago we had Christmas! Times flies!
I hope you all have a merry Christmas and remember to put Christ in
Christmas! I'm thankful for all of your and your examples to me. I'm
thankful for my savior and everything he has done for me. And I'm
excited to skype home on Sunday also! And I'm grateful for Skype too!
Haha

I love you all and merry Christmas 🎄🎁

Love, Elder Tyler John Fawson

Samoan again!

Friends and family!

Well this week was awesome! It was so busy that I feel like we didn't
have much downtime at all! So we flew in to anchorage Monday around
noonish so I spent the day with the dimond elders and we went and
played basketball with the zone and it was so fun! It's so fun to be
around and play basketball with missionaries now! Then I spent Tuesday
in a trio with them too and elder palmer said bye to everyone and he
got ready to leave. Wednesday was super busy. It was transfer day! We
got to have elder tuimoloau spend the day with us! (For all those who
don't remember who that is... it's my companion that I trained and it
was so good to see him again!) we dropped elder palmer off and took
some other elders to the airport! Elder tuimoloau was transferred to
Fairbanks! A Samoan in Fairbanks! Haha

So on like Tuesday night we were at the chapel where northern lights
meets for mutual and I got to see everyone and it was so cool to see
them again! It was cool to just see that they remembered me and
everything! All the youth yelled elder Fawson and came and said when I
walked in the gym! It was so cool!

Its super cool to come back to the Samoan ward! I love it! It feels
like home! So there are 3 Samoan wards here in anchorage. (Northern
lights, dimond, and lake Otis) and I am in the dimond ward now! Elder
chan is so fetching awesome! He just barely finished his training and
is ready to work! He was raised in American Samoa but recently lived
in California! The ward is really awesome too! So we cover downtown
anchorage and a lot more! If you look on a map it's basically
everything west of the Seward highway. It's a huge area and did I
mention it's really cold? Haha

Thursday it snowed here so to kick off the Christmas initiative with
some service we went and shoveled drive ways with some other
missionaries! We got to meet lots of people and hopefully helped them!

Friday night our ward did a missionary fireside and it went really
awesome! So basically it was centered on the plan of salvation
questions. (Where did I come from? Why am I here? And where am I
going?) and they decorated 3 rooms for each question and did a little
rotation thing and a 15 min lesson or so in each one then a little
video at the end. And don't forget about all the awesome food at the
end!! We got teach the why are we here room and it went really good!
Sadly there was only one non member there but it showed the ward that
things like this are possible and work!

It's so fun to serve back here in anchorage with the Samoan people! I
love it here and I love my companion! Thanks for everything you do for
me!

"Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work."

Love, Elder Tyler Fawson



Setting up for our fireside!

Elder chan!!

The elders serving in northern lights now!

Transfers

So long Kodiak, hello Anchorage Samoan Ward!!!

Friends and family!

Well this week was awesome! We got transfer calls this Friday and they
were surprising! Haha so I will be going back to the Samoan ward in
anchorage! Haha a different one though so that's good! My companion
will be elder chan and he is awesome! He just finished his training so
he's pretty new! But it will be exciting to go back to anchorage and
eat golden carol every night again! Haha but it is sad to leave kodiak
for sure! I have come to love so many of the people here! I'm so
grateful for the opportunity to serve here and help the work here! But
I am excited to serve around other missionaries again. It will be fun
to play ball with everyone again!

This week in kodiak we did so much service! We did some service for
someone everyday this week! We got to move a dresser, do some yard
work, cut some pipe, move some couches, desks, and tables! Haha it was
crazy! We definitely got our exercise in this week! Haha!

Thanksgiving was awesome this week! We got to spend time with tons of
different families and lots of food! And played some ping pong! Haha

Sorry I didn't have a lot of time this week to email because we fly
out this morning to anchorage but I'm grateful for all you guys and
everything you do for me!

D&C 6:36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Love, Elder Tyler Fawson

Happy thanksgiving!!

Some awesome families!! The blacks and morrisons!!

So long kodiak! 

Lots of great memories!

Week 61

Friends and family!

Well this week was pretty good! It was rainy pretty much everyday this
week but I will take it instead of snow! Haha well Monday for p day we
pretty much played basketball the whole time and we actually had interviews
that night! And for all you who are wondering how that happens if we
are on an island.... well we FaceTime president! Haha it takes some
getting used to but it's cool! They went really awesome!

This week we had tons of opportunities to help people move so we
worked off our dinners pretty well! It's funny because there's a lot
of people who aren't members but have our number laying around so if
they need something moved they give us a call! So it pretty useful
that we have a truck out here! Haha but it was great opportunity to
serve!

We did lots of dock tracting this week! Salmon season just ended so
all the big boats are in and they are working on them getting them
ready to go back out do some other kinds of fishing and crab! So we
got to talk to a bunch a people and even check out some big boats so
that was pretty cool! It's funny because the fisherman are some of the
roughest looking people but they are some of the nicest I've ever met!

We did some service on Saturday and helped the Rices patch a hole in
there bathroom under the electrical panel! We were there for dinner
Friday night and they asked if we had any experience doing drywall
because they needed help doing that in the bathroom. (They are a
really old couple). But I said I do a little and that we could do it!
So we did it and they were super impressed and said it looked awesome
and that it looked like I knew what I was doing! So that was a relief!
Haha (Thank you dad for teaching me! Little did I know those skills
would come in handy on the mission) then we moved some gravel for
them! Brother rice is the fire chief and so he took us over to help
him with something at the station and gave us a tour and showed us
everything on the trucks! I even got to sit in one! I felt like a kid
again! It was awesome! Haha

Liza is doing good! So she couldn't meet with us on our usual Thursday
appointment with her but she did some of the ARP book so that was
awesome! Saturday we got to see her for a minute and see how she's
doing and she's doing good! Her friend was there and she loved us
coming to see her and thought it was awesome we were helping her
overcome her addiction! So we got the friends approval so that's
good!! Haha and Malinda we didn't get to have a lesson! She was busy
all week with different things but we have an appointment Wednesday so
that's good!

On Sunday, Farani (our only Samoan investigator) came to church for
the first time ever so that was really awesome! He really liked it and
so hopefully we can have an awesome lesson with him this week!

During my studies on Sunday morning I came across this awesome line in
Alma 37:46 and thought it was so awesome and that I should share it
with you all,

"The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever"

Well that was my week in a nutshell! I hope you all had a great week
and I'm glad we made it through elections!

Love, Elder Tyler Fawson

Week 60

Friends and family

Well this week was good! First flat tire of the mission this week also! We went out today to a flat tire in the pouring rain so we had a fun time this morning changing it! Haha

We got to do a little bit of service this week. We helped the Long family take some stuff they needed to get rid of the thrift store. They are an older couple and awesome family and the wife has had a lot of medical issues and they said she doesn't have to much longer so they are moving down to Utah where all their family is and they plan on  buying motor home and traveling around with what time she has left. It's so cool because they are going through so much and they are still optimistic through it all!

We had a lesson with Malinda this week and it went really good. We decided it would be best if we read the Book of Mormon with her for the lesson and so we did and we didn't know if she had really been reading but to our surprise she was already at Jacob 5! Crazy awesome! So we got to read the super wonderful and long chapter of the allegory tree! Haha but it was really good and she is learning so much and is doing awesome!

We had an awesome lesson with Liza this week too! We didn't have any idea what to teach her so we looked over everything taught to her and we decided to introduce her to the Addiction Recovery Program and it went awesome! We did a little preview of it with her and showed her the step 1 video and she wants to do it! We committed that we would do it with her! So it will be really cool to get familiar with it! We are now trying to find people in the Ward to help us teach and help her with it! But she is making progress which is a good thing!

Friday we had zone meeting and it went really good! President actually came to it and we got introduced to the new Christmas initiative video and got the new pass along cards. Overall it went really good and it's still fun to video conference into them! Haha

Saturday there was a YSA activity that we got to go to and it was really cool! Just so ya know there's on 5 YSA here in kodiak so it's pretty small! But we went shooting!!.. well they went shooting and we just watched lol! But it was pretty fun! And super cold! Haha

This weekend was actually stake conference too! It was really cool. The whole overall theme seemed to be teaching the saviors way. It was really cool because of course if was directed to everyone and especially the teachers in the stake, but it was cool to because what do missionaries do all day?.... TEACH! I feel like I got so much out of it and who better to study the teachings of than the best teacher to walk the earth?! And that it doesn't matter if we have a calling to teach or not, we are all witnesses and take is name upon us! 

Well that was my week in a nutshell! Good luck to everyone this week with the most stressful week of the year! ELECTIONS! Thanks for everything you all do for me! I love you all!

Quote to ponder for the week:

"We don't get baptized again... we partake of the sacrament."

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 59

Friends and family 

Happy Halloween! If anyone knows where the origins of Halloween come from feel free to let me know! Haha this week was awesome and full of miracles!

So we have a new investigator that is on a baptismal date!!!! Malinda is an older lady who was in the women's shelter and the missionaries helped the shelter out with something one day and met her. But they couldn't teach her there. She had a stroke a bit ago and has gone through a lot in her life. She just got moved into a new apartment and the sheltered had called us and asked if we could pick some stuff up and drop it off at an apartment for them. And it was Malinda! This was a couple weeks ago and then this week we had a lesson with her and it went awesome! She loved and believed everything we taught her. She accepted the invitation to be baptized on November 26th! So that's pretty cool! We went back again on Thursday and had a plan of salvation lesson with her and a member from our Ward and it went really good too. She even read some of the Book of Mormon! She's awesome and it's so cool how she was put in our path!

We did a lot of tracting and dock tracting and it was actually really fun! We had some good times and got to talk to a lot of guys at the docks that had been all over their world in their boats. Weirdly enough the guys at the docks are the coolest!

Friday was pretty cool! We were going to teach Liza but we had the feeling to go try some else really quick before to drop something off and then we went to Liza's and it was so cool because we caught her right before she was walking out her back porch to smoke! The lord knows what time we need to be places!! We really wanted to focus on the priesthood and giving her a blessing to overcome her addictions and I got the opportunity to give her a blessing and it went really good! She has stopped drinking alcohol which is a good start! But it was such a cool lesson with her! After we went to our dinner which was with the barco family and they are really less active but love to feed us and sister barco had her friend over who wasn't a member and she was going through a lot and didn't know if she was going to have a miscarriage or not so sister barco asked if we could give a blessing to non members and we said of course we can! So we had a quick little lesson about the priesthood and asked who she would like to give it and she said me! So I got the opportunity to give 2 blessings Friday night! It was so cool! I told elder lee he is taking the next 2 now haha! 

On Saturday we were at the martins house with a lot of the members and we shot arrows at pumpkins! Haha it was super fun with lots of good food! 

Sunday was the primary program at sacrament meeting and it was awesome! I think it was the most people I had ever seen come! We got to meet a lot of new people! Sadly Liza and Malinda didn't come which was a bummer but we will work on getting them to come this next week!

"Opposition permits us to grow toward what our Heavenly Father would have us become."

D&C 122:7

Through all mortal opposition, we have God’s assurance that He will “consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain” (2 Nephi 2:2).

I love you all and I'm thankful for everything you do for me!

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 58

Friends and family!

Well this week was great! Haha Elder Lee got here safe and sound but it took forever! We didn't have to good of weather at the beginning of the week and we went to pick him up at 6:45 Tuesday night and the airport was dead.... we walked in to ask what happened and they said the flight was canceled. So we tried calling the APs and nothing and finally president called and said he would would fly in at 10:15 that night. Later we got a call that flight was cancelled... haha so finally president called us and said he would fly in the next morning at 8:30 and he finally got here!!! Haha he was at the airport for 5 hours till they went and picked him up again! Elder bacon got to palmer safe and sound also! 

Anyway we had a good week! We got to have a lesson with Liza Peterson who is one date and came to church yesturday!!! It was awesome and the Ward has assigned her visiting teachers to go over periodically! It's awesome! She is doing good we are just helping her through the word of wisdom challenges.

We met a lady a couple weeks ago while tracting and she told us that she wasn't interested but that we should go back and she would give us cookies!... so we took her up on it! We went back Thursday and she didn't have any cookies so she said come back Friday.... so we went back Friday and she made us super good cookies and had just had a bunch of wood delivered so we asked if we could stack if for her and she said she would love it! So we went back Saturday and she made us lunch too! It was make and build your own pizzas and it was awesome! She taught us to toss the dough also! Haha and we are trying to squeeze the gospel in whenever we can! I strategically "accidentally forgot" my Book of Mormon there so hopefully she finds and reads it! 

We did lots of tracting down at the docks this week and we found a bunch sea lions! They are sweet! I dared Elder Lee to go poke it! Haha (don't worry mom I wasn't being serious)! Haha but it's fun to talk with all the hard core fisher guys! Weirdly enough they are all super nice!

We have been just trying lots of new ways of finding so hopefully we can find some new people that need the gospel in kodiak! Thank you for everything you all do for me!!

"Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."

Love, Elder Fawson

Week 57

Friends and family!

Well this week was pretty good! It started out really wet! We got the aftermath of a hurricane 5 times the size of hurricane Mathew from the Bering sea! There was a bunch of flooded roads but that's about it! Nothing too bad! It was cool to see the weather though! The second half of the week was awesome though! It reminded elder bacon and I that there's rainbows after rain!

On Friday we got transfer calls and elder bacon is leaving to palmer and I will be getting elder lee! He is from Washington and is such a cool guy! This will actually be his last transfer so I will be "killing him off!" Hopefully he doesn't get me too trunky!!

We had a really awesome day Wednesday tracting! We went to the backwoods area and tracted and it was actually semi successful! We met a lot of cool people! We taught a couple door step lessons which is always a good thing and they invited us back! We actually ran into this dog that ended up following us for like 5 houses and when we would knock on the door he just sat there and so it threw the people off a little bit and then in the middle of the conversation they'd ask us is that your dog?!! Haha it was so funny to explain the situation! But that night we actually had found out that there was a public service announcement sent out that there was 2 males in he exact same area we were and that they were trying to break into houses! So we aren't sure if they were thinking us or the heck happened but crazy!!

Friday we got to do some service so that was really fun! We went and helped Manuel take out some windows then went and helped put out pumpkins for the fair! It was pretty cool!

Saturday we went to visit a part member family and as soon as we were about to leave they asked if we wanted to carve pumpkins with them and we couldn't pass up the opportunity so we got to carve some pumpkins!

Overall this week was really good! I'm super excited for this next transfer. We didn't get as many lessons as we would have liked to but we got some more tracting practice in!

Thanks for everything you all do for me! Love you all! 

"Some things can only be learned by faith"

2 nephi 2:2

Love, Elder Fawson