Miracles, Trials, and Everything in Between

Hey what’s good fam! This week was preeeetty solid. There have been miracles, trials, lots of good times and everything in between. That’s what is great about being a missionary. You get to experience and accomplish so many different things each and every week. And I love learning new things.

So I got to go on exchanges this week. That was pretty fun since I had only been in the area for a week. haha But it was really good. We had some good lessons and met some new people that could be pretty solid investigators.

Lately we have been working a lot with Crystal and Joseph. Crystal is still progressing well and we are going to try and teach her brother as well. He is 10 years old and really afraid of dying. We taught him the plan of salvation. Hopefully he will continue to meet with us. We also met one of Crystal’s friends and she said that we were really nice and she would be interested in meeting with us sometime.

Joseph is another story. I don’t know what to do. haha. He is soooo good and smart when he is in his right mind. But sometimes is just isn’t in his right mind and he scares some of the people in our ward. He is fully accountable 95% of the time and I would say we should baptize him but if his bi-polar disorder is going to harm the ward…I just don’t know what to do. We continue to pray for guidance and inspiration. I love the dude. I love meeting with him and he is pretty chill. Last week he said “The Mormon church is pretty dope”. We are just going to take is slow and see how things go. No need to rush I guess..

Betty and Tom got baptized this week! They are awesome and the spirit was so strong at the baptism! I’m so glad that they invited me back and it was an amazing experience to see all my friends and family back there! Also getting to ride there in a brand new Audi A6 was prettttty nice. And the way back was in a Escalade.. no complaints.

We had a half-mission activity where lots of zones came together and did a cross fit workout today. That was really fun and I got to see all my Hemet buddies again!! I’ve been spoiled lately.

Well the work is continuing to progress and the Lord keeps blessing us with opportunities. I know that all we can do as members and missionaries is be obedient and qualify ourselves for missionary experiences. If we are doing our part to prepare, the Lord WILL bless you with opportunities to share this wonderful message of the restored gospel! I PROMISE. It has nothing to do with how good of a missionary you are. It’s his work.

Hope all is well! Love you all!

Elder Fischer

“It might not be so significant to overestimate how well we drive a car or how far we can drive a golf ball. But when we start believing our contributions at home, at work, and at church are greater than they actually are, we blind ourselves to blessings and opportunities to improve ourselves in significant and profound ways.”
-Ya boy Uchtdorf

“Faith makes this possible, Not easy”

This first week in Riverside has been great so far! Sooooo much has happened and I don’t even know where to start. My new Companion is Elder Mcconkie. He is related. Yes. I’m pretty sure his aunt spoke this past conference too. That’s pretty neat. He is a hippie so I love him – super funny – surfer – basketball player. He is from Maryland. East coast represent! Elder Page left on Thursday. That was sad but he needed to get his back fixed and he will return! We had the opportunity to hear from Elder Evans this past Wednesday. He is the head over all missionary work in the WORLD! What an opportunity to hear from him and partake of his spirit. My ward seems super amazing so far. They feed us really well and they need to stop doing that because I don’t want to be fat. And tons of other things happened along the way.

Well our main investigator that we’ve picked up is Crystal. Crystal is 14 and she just moved into the ward boundaries with her aunt who is a single mom and recent convert. Crystal is on date to be baptized for the 16th of November so keep her in your prayers. She seems to be super solid. She went to mutual and church on Sunday. She is such a teenage girl…she sends me winky faces and stuff in her texts. hahaha. It’s so awkward. But it gets even more awkward. As we were leaving the other day, her aunts daughter was like face to face looking into my eyes and said “Yep, your white and have blue eyes so you will be perfect for my mom”…haha I didn’t know how to respond so I just laughed it off. Then as we were biking away their aunt yelled that she was going to marry me.. It’s a little awkward to go over there now.. They are fun though. They have a little bird that poops on everything. He hasn’t got me yet. But he got Elder Page and Mcconkie already.

We are also working with some part member families that have promise. Hopefully those will work out.
Our other main focus right now is Joseph. He could go down anytime now. He has had all the lessons. Read the whole Book of Mormon. Super solid and humble. He comes to church without us asking. But he had an episode that scared the WML and Bishop a couple weeks ago. He is bipolar and apparently went crazy the other week. But we think he just didn’t take his meds. The only thing that I have a problem with is that if someone wants to be baptized, you can’t tell them no. He is keeping the commandments, reading from the book of Mormon, and attending church. He is accountable and saying no to baptism is taking away his agency… We are setting up another meeting with our WML to work with him. I think he will get dunked soon. We just need to be patient.

I’m pretty sure I will be here in Arlington Heights for a while. President mentioned me staying one more with Elder Mcconkie so I can get to know the area and then training here. That would put me here until March. I’m cool with that. It’s a good area. We are right next to California Baptist University. I love being near a campus and near young life again. It’s been a great week so far.
Now to Elder Evans! It was sooooo great! Pretty much he said no more OYMS. We changed it to talk with everyone because it is more preach my gospel and scriptural. We use to have to get 10 oyms each day. Now we are taking that away from our key indicators. At the end of the day we are accountable to a yes or no question of if we talked to everyone we pass or not. It’s intense but it works. We have talked to everyone we pass. It takes about an hour to get anywhere that is 5 mins away but it’s been really good! We have picked up a couple potential investigators – one from Rwanda Africa. She is super humble and brought 2 friends for us to teach too. We will see where that goes! Keep her in your prayers!
He talked a lot about safety and how we should be teaching. He had a question and answer session. He was super personal with everyone he talked to and that asked him questions. The spirit radiates off of him. O and No big deal but he had to take a call from President Eyring and Elder Cook in the middle of our conference. hahaha he just said that we weren’t as important and he needed to take the call. It was cool to know that President Eyring and Elder Cook were on the other side of the Phone though.

Well that’s about it for now! I’ve learned a lot this week and can’t wait to learn so much more! The Lord continues to put people in my path and I’m so blessed. I know that I have nothing to do with any success that I’m having. As long as I’m obedient and doing my part, the Lord does the rest. It’s his work. Not mine. I love his work and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

“Faith makes this possible, Not easy”

“Brethren, if it is your great desire to cultivate Christlike attributes of “faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, [and service],”Heavenly Father will make you an instrument in His hands unto the salvation of many souls.”
-Uchtdorf

“Champions know that there is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in something you do it only when circumstances permit. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results”

-Elder Fischer

Trio to Trio

Soooo this week was ok. Well actually it was super fun and awesome but the end of the week made me super sad.

So I’m getting emergency transferred. Another Elder up in Riverside hurt his back and has to go home so I have to leave Hemet and head to Riverside. I’m super excited to go up there and meet so many new people but I’m so sad to leave everyone here our ward, the missionaries here, and the investigators that we have. I love them all so much. It’s something that has been really difficult for me to accept but I know it’s what the Lord has planned for me and I will go and do! There was another trio in the mission and the AP’s begged the president to break up that instead because they know how much Elder Randall and I love each other. Also Elder Randall is best friends with the AP. They knew each other back home. So we thought we would have an inside man. But we met with the president on Saturday. Us and 6 other missionaries got a special assignment to test something out. I don’t know if I’ll still be doing it since I’m getting transferred but we will see! After the meeting, the president asked us all to stay and he broke the news to us. The AP’s said we all looked super sad when he told us. I feel bad because I was trying to look positive and keep a good attitude. I really am excited because I know I am going to learn and grow so much during this experience. I’m just going to miss so many people here. Our area was doing really well, mostly because of our great ward and those around us and I heard the area I’m going to is struggling but I’m still ready! I’m about to be onto my 4th companion is 2 months! haha. I guess they just can’t guard me!

I called some of the members that I was really close to and also some of our recent converts. They said they would invite me back when they got sealed so I will get to go to the San Diego temple maybe!!!:):) I told them how much I loved and appreciated them. Hopefully I will get to come back to Hemet and see everyone one day!

Other than that I’ll try to sum up my week pretty quickly! The P-day is cut short because I have to head over the Riverside soon. But we got to go to the temple And that was AMAZING! So relaxing. We also had Café Rio afterwards:) it’s the only time we get to eat there so that makes the temple trips even better.

Our investigators that we are focusing on right now are Betty, Tom, Linda, Evan, Tiffany, and Michelle. I think they should all be baptized eventually! I’m going to be staying on Elder Randall and Smith so that I can come back for their baptisms. They are such great missionaries and I know they will get the job done. I have so much to learn from them.

So the coolest thing in our area was probably two of the people that we are working with have been going through some troubles with marriage. They are kinda split up right now but the gospel is going to bring them back together! I just know it! It’s going to be awesome and I know the Lord gives us trials to bring us closer to him. He wouldn’t give us a trial to just give us a hard time. Every single thing that we come across in this life that we don’t understand and struggle with is going to bring us back to the Lord and give us the OPPORTUNITY to grow closer to him. We just have to recognize it and make our way back.

I’m super excited for the next chapter of my mission! I really am because I did want to move around a lot in the mission and meet as many new faces and make as many new friends as I can! I’ll miss a lot of people but I know Riverside will be awesome too! Love all of you and thank you for your examples!

-Elder Fischer

I Love General Conference!

So to start out, I thought conference was pretty amazing!! I can’t decide which was my favorite yet. I loved Uchtdorf’s talk on “Lord, is it I?”. I also really enjoyed Bednars talk. They always do a good job. I can’t wait to go back through and read them all.

We had another good week here in Hemet. Sometimes I just stop and think to myself…”What am I actually doing out here?” Like we are 19,20,21,22 year olds out here fixing marriages, addictions, relationships, and everything else imaginable that happens in the world. Haha it’s kind of funny/weird to think about that – at least to me.

Our current focuses right now are Evan, Linda, and Betty. We were able to meet with all of them this week. We taught Evan the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He will do the readings and asks questions, but just hasn’t quite seemed to fully grasp onto the gospel and gotten a desire to learn for himself yet. I guess since he is only 13, it is understandable. I just want to baptism him so BAD!! Like so bad. I want him to gain a testimony and just accept it. He wants to be baptized; he just isn’t sure which church yet. I think there may be other forces in his home life that are pushing him other ways. But the last time we met with him, it was just Elder Smith and I and one of his friends and he opened up a lot. We all had a good time and I am sure he will continue to progress.

Linda has been coming to church which has been good. She came to one session of conference and is progressing well. We have her on date for the end of October. Her house isn’t the best place to teach her because a lot of distractions live there.

Then Betty who is the mother of one of the girls we baptized last month. We are teaching her but we aren’t able to meet super often. She is so ready though. She has shared her testimony twice in sacrament meeting. She got choked up during the restoration message. She knows it’s true. I’m sure she will be baptized.

I have such a strong desire to help these people and my biggest challenge is understanding the difference between doing all I can do to help them progress without taking away their agency to make the choices for themselves, along with allowing the Lord to work in his own timing. I know he has wisdom in it all and I just have to continue doing all that I can do.

We had President’s interviews and they went well! I Love President Mullen! He is such a great man and I’m so blessed to be able to work under him. I know he is inspired of the Lord!

I Love you all! You keep me going each and every day! I hope all is well! If I can ever help you out with anything, don’t hesitate to ask!

-Elder Fischer

First Week Training!

This week started off a little slower because we weren’t able to work on Tuesday but that just gave us the opportunity to work harder throughout the week to try and reach our standard. Unfortunately we did fall short:( We had 23 lessons, 9 member present lessons, and 2 people at church. We even went around to people’s houses before church to try and get them there but a lot of people didn’t answer. We did get one person out that wasn’t planning on coming so it was worth it! She said she really enjoyed the experience and was glad we came by.

So I attached a picture of me and Elder R with our boy! He is from Orem Utah and fresh out of high school! He is awesome! I’m really looking forward to learning and growing with him and I know that I will learn a lot during the experience. The most difficult thing seems to be that Elder R and I are really doing well together so we have to make a concentrated effort to not leave him out and make sure he is progressing rather than just tagging along. Just about everyday someone asks him how old he is and he tells them he is 14. At least he has a good attitude about his baby face. Haha but its ok because Elder R said he has dealt with it for his whole life as well so he knows what it feels like.

So on Tuesday we had the trainer/trainee meeting. I learned a lot and really felt the responsibility that is put onto trainers. When President Mullen announced who would be joining me and Elder R, he whispered to Elder Smith that “he won” so that made me happy. I know he was referring to him being fortunate to having Elder R as a companion but it still made me happy to know that President Mullen has high regards for us.

One cool thing that happened this week came while we were teaching our recent converts, Val and Keoni. Their husband/stepdad was expressing his love and appreciation for us and talked about how he was sure that he knew us in the pre-existence and that he knew that all of us were best friends because he wouldn’t trust anyone else with the responsibility of helping to bring his family back to their heavenly father. It really humbled and brought me to realize the importance of this work. I’m so blessed to have this opportunity and there is nothing greater that I could ever be doing.

Also we got the best and worst news ever this week! Betty who was Susan’s mom, texted us and we learned that she did go through with the divorce. We don’t know the details but she told us that she was ready to take the lessons now! She bore her testimony this week in church for the 2nd time. She talked about how the Lord can help her through the situation. She is super elect but I wish I could have helped her with her family situation.

I wish I could give more details but they shortened our emailing time because of the grumpy old man that works in the family history center:(
I heard a story this week that I really enjoyed. It talked about the old cranky man in a hospital that EVERYONE hated. He was mean, crude, and nasty to everyone that he knew or came in contact with. One day a nurse came in and was trying to keep to herself but the old man started to growl at her and asked if she was LDS. She said yes and he just grumpily said “I knew it”. The next day she was walking by the room and she saw a sort of glow and thought that she saw Christ standing over him in the room. She said the love she saw in Christ’s eyes was indescribable. She couldn’t understand how Christ could love someone who was so grumpy and mean to everyone soooo much. But he still did. She later walked into the room and the man had passed away. I really liked this story because of the lesson of love and charity that we need to have for everyone, no matter who they are. We are all striving to be more and more like Christ each and every day and according to the two great commandments, that’s where we need to start! Loving everyone.

Lately I’ve been praying to have more charity for everyone that I meet and to be able to love everyone more and I’ve had my prayers answered little by little. I’ve learned that, because of the atonement, I can truly call upon my savior to help me in my times of weakness. He aides me and helps to build me up when I ask him for help. I love this gospel, this church, my savior, and my heavenly father so much. They have given me everything and more and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to give back to those around me. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Fischer