Monday, June 3, 2013

VISA! And other blessings

Note from the "Momma" - I got a call a couple of hours ago from a nice member of the ward there where Elder Forsyth is serving.  He called at Ian's request to give me the very good news that his visa arrived!  He will be flying out to Curitiba, Brazil, a week from today.  Since Mondays seem to be the universal Preparation Day, there will likely be no letter next Monday, but with any luck he will be able to call home from the airport.  I will share news from his call here on the blog.  I will also post his address as soon as I get that information.  Thank you all SOOO much for your continued prayers and letters and support.

It sounds like these elders are too tired/busy to take pictures.  I'm hoping for some from Brazil soon!  For those of you checking this from Facebook, there are pictures on the post prior to this one.


Hi Mom!! Family!! and Friends!!
 
The mission field is a blast. Sometimes we feel like a private moving or landscaping company but I really do enjoy it. This past week has been a week full of service. Moving people out. Moving people in. Mulching and more mulching. And after all the work is done you can almost always guarantee yourself a pizza. I can't tell you how many slices of pizza I have had this week just from the amount of service. It's funny actually. A lot of the times when a dinner appointment is canceled due to sickness or out of town reasons, the family brings over pizza. And it seems like the next meal after that from another family is pizza. It just works out like that. The good thing is the mix  of a gourmet Italian dinner at someone's house or the random occasion when a non-member gives you a 50 dollar gift card to Chipotle. Yeah. That was awesome. Chipotle is probably the second biggest thing that people obsess over here. No wait....I'd probably said third. First being Ohio State. and second being when people tell me I forgot the "the" at the beginning of the university's name. Then we have Chipotle. hmmmm priorities. :-)
 
We had the great privilege to be a part of one of the best fast and testimony meetings ever. So many truths were covered including the importance of seminary, how to find out The Book of Mormon is true, the Atonement, finding faith in Christ, and inviting people to go to ward functions or meetings. So many members were able to bear testimony of what they know to be true and the non-members there were able to feel of the Spirit so strongly. A family in our ward is really good friends with a girl named Linda (she's a non-member). She is Vietnamese and her parents are still in Vietnam. She has been attending seminary so much that she received a certificate in sacrament meeting. She had the biggest grin on her face. It was truly a testament to the importance of seminary. I really wish I payed more attention in seminary and wasn't so crabby about waking up. I'm sorry for being a nuisance momma! Please forgive me! 

There are a bunch of youth in our ward and almost every single one 14 and older went up to shake the Bishop's hand to receive one of the several seminary awards. After the meeting was over, our member family asked Linda how she felt about all of the testimonies given during sacrament meeting. Linda said she was about to cry 5 times and she said that she knew those feelings came from the Holy Ghost. The best part is....drum roll....we are teaching them tonight with Linda there and they are all very excited because last time, which was only 3 days ago, we had a blast talking about how to build your testimony of Jesus Christ and the divinity of The Book of Mormon. We had so much fun and we heard from the mom that Linda is excited to be there tonight. I'll have to give you the update on how it goes. Even though today is p-day I have a lot of scripture reading to do because Bishop Torgeson challenged the Young Men and us to finish The Book of Mormon in 3 weeks. It will be good preparation to teach Linda, too, so we can find what she needs as we prepare throughout our day to teach her.
 
Missionary work rocks! The blessings of happiness that I receive from just inviting others to follow Christ are indescribable. All I can say is it brings me great joy everyday knowing that this is what the Lord wants me and needs me to do as a priesthood holder.
 
So Juan will be leaving us today. In other words our car is being re-poed. Sad face.  They need it for the new missionaries that will be coming in this next transfer. Many mission areas are being split and there are going to be a bunch of tri-companionships. We were able to abuse, i mean utilize, Juan a lot though. We were able to visit several less-actives on the outskirts of the ward boundaries and invite them to church. It was a serious blessing for us since we could travel outside of our bike riding bubble and teach many more people in one day.  Plus listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the car was sweet.
 
I got your letters Eric and Jamie! And I also received your "Lone Wolf" Sierra Card. Someday I might need it to harness its powers like you said. Tell Henry that I hope he gets better too. Poor kid. At least he didn't get hit in the head by an oil drum like Jonathan. Is that what happened?  I can't remember. Oh and Eric, I have already told the Shredded Wheat story to a member in our ward. I think it was because their baby was on the larger side. I'm not exactly sure how it came up but I hope you are okay with it;)
 
Something that would be very helpful in furthering the Lord's work would be prayers for mental stamina and more patience. I am doing a lot better with the patience because I know that many things are just not in my control and as long as I try my best and put in the amount of work needed I will be blessed. But I would ask for prayers for those two things specifically. Thank you so much.
 
Love,
 
Elder Forsyth

1 comment:

  1. Hi Forsyth family! :) We have had such fun getting to know Elder Forsyth and sad that he leaves tomorrow (but excited for him to get to Brazil too). I have a couple of pictures of him, his companions, and Linda (who by the way **Spoiler Alert** has chosen to be baptized!!)Can I email you the pictures?
    Thanks for sharing your son/brother!
    Nikki Garrick (nikgarrick@yahoo.com)

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