Dear Family,
Well, transfer calls have come and gone. My entire district is staying. No one is getting transferred...and I am very content with that. We are all staying in elbasan.
Well, I'm trying to think about what to write... I'm slightly overwhelmed with the success we have been having. We are teaching about 10 investigators regularly each week, multiple times a week. They all have their individual needs and circumstances, and sometimes I admit I am at a loss as to what to do. On top of that we are teaching an additional 7-8 less actives regularly, again, each with their needs and desires (or the lack thereof). All of these people have great potential in my eyes, and I don't want to drop any of them simply because I don't have time for them. They are all precious in God's eyes. On top of that, I have caught wind that I had better be ready to take over the area next transfer... well, it's all in God's hands. If he thinks I can handle it, I can. God qualifies those he calls.
Nene (nene isn't her name, but it means older woman (respectfully). It is a term of endearment.) is our focus right now. She considers herself Muslim, but she loves to come to church each week. We have even talked to her about baptism, and she seems to be open to the possibility, but she is afraid for her health (she is 65 with a pace maker). Anyway, I will send an audio recording of her telling all of you how great I am! I will try to get around to translating it for you sometime.
Ana and Aida and Elona seem to be doing well. They continue to read, but they seem to be slowing. We aren't sure what to do, and we are thinking of explaining the implications of what we taught them. We are dealing with exaultation here!
We also met with a young lady named bona and her twin sister kozeta. They are HARD CORE MUSLIM! They do not believe that God can be our loving Heavenly Father, because they believe we are simply his creations. They think God can't have children because he is only one (he is the only God) so he can't have a wife, and if he did have children, they would have the potential grow up to become like him. They told us that after they read the restoration pamphlet, and we were shocked at the conclusions they came up with...we just moved on and did our best to stay out of those waters. I think they have potential, and I simply feel like I need to trust in God, and His Promises, especially the Promise of the Book of Mormon. There is a lot of power in the teachings and testimonies contained in that sacred volume of scripture.
Well, thank you for wishing me a happy Birthday! I actually haven't told anyone that my Birthday is tomorrow...I kind of wanted to keep that to myself. Thank you for the birthday gift. As for restaurants, my cooking is usually better, and it is many times less expensive to eat out than it is to cook at home...and far less work! But I got myself a couple BEAUTIFUL ties with the money you sent so I will send you pictures. Ties are gorgeous here and typically inexpesive. We get the ties from italy, so you know they are nice!
Well, tell Sister Jensen that I am in process of responding to her letters. She sent her e-mail address to me in her last one, but you know that I can't send anything directly to her. Today I plan on getting caught up on letters ishalla.
I love you all! I hope you all have a glorious week!
Love, Elder Fredrickson
My companion translated it for you. Here you go!
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Geoffrey Thomas Foulk wrote:
Starting from Nena talking
Good evening. It’s my pleasure to talk with you, Elder Fredrickson’s parents. You have a great son, and we have a very very good missionary, wonderful. Boys like this are rare, together with his companion, Elder Foulk. It’s been 2 months since they came here, and I have the best impressions ever in the world. So you should be very happy that you have a son that wonderful. An extraordinary missionary. I congratulate him a lot. May the Lord bless him. May the lord be with him, and give him all the best in his life. He’s done a wonderful job here at church, together with Elder Foulk. They’re great missionaries, and may they have good luck in their life. Should I keep going? They come about every other night to my house, and we worship the Lord, Jesus Christ, we talk, and they’re really excited because of me, because I more or less am… should I say muslim or not? No problem? Ok, I’m muslim, but I really like this religion, because I’ve been really sick for a little while, and they’ve spoken really well for me, and I would like to get baptized! (chuckle) I’m not baptized, but maybe I can get baptized later, and I’m really grateful to these boys. I send you greetings as their parents, that you have raised a very educated boy, for as much time as I know him. Your boy is gold, really great, together with his companion Elder Foulk. Good night a lot from me, and I would love to meet up sometime somewhere, at your son’s wedding. Good night. (Did I do a good job? Yeah, really really good. Awesome!)
Well, transfer calls have come and gone. My entire district is staying. No one is getting transferred...and I am very content with that. We are all staying in elbasan.
Well, I'm trying to think about what to write... I'm slightly overwhelmed with the success we have been having. We are teaching about 10 investigators regularly each week, multiple times a week. They all have their individual needs and circumstances, and sometimes I admit I am at a loss as to what to do. On top of that we are teaching an additional 7-8 less actives regularly, again, each with their needs and desires (or the lack thereof). All of these people have great potential in my eyes, and I don't want to drop any of them simply because I don't have time for them. They are all precious in God's eyes. On top of that, I have caught wind that I had better be ready to take over the area next transfer... well, it's all in God's hands. If he thinks I can handle it, I can. God qualifies those he calls.
Nene (nene isn't her name, but it means older woman (respectfully). It is a term of endearment.) is our focus right now. She considers herself Muslim, but she loves to come to church each week. We have even talked to her about baptism, and she seems to be open to the possibility, but she is afraid for her health (she is 65 with a pace maker). Anyway, I will send an audio recording of her telling all of you how great I am! I will try to get around to translating it for you sometime.
Ana and Aida and Elona seem to be doing well. They continue to read, but they seem to be slowing. We aren't sure what to do, and we are thinking of explaining the implications of what we taught them. We are dealing with exaultation here!
We also met with a young lady named bona and her twin sister kozeta. They are HARD CORE MUSLIM! They do not believe that God can be our loving Heavenly Father, because they believe we are simply his creations. They think God can't have children because he is only one (he is the only God) so he can't have a wife, and if he did have children, they would have the potential grow up to become like him. They told us that after they read the restoration pamphlet, and we were shocked at the conclusions they came up with...we just moved on and did our best to stay out of those waters. I think they have potential, and I simply feel like I need to trust in God, and His Promises, especially the Promise of the Book of Mormon. There is a lot of power in the teachings and testimonies contained in that sacred volume of scripture.
Well, thank you for wishing me a happy Birthday! I actually haven't told anyone that my Birthday is tomorrow...I kind of wanted to keep that to myself. Thank you for the birthday gift. As for restaurants, my cooking is usually better, and it is many times less expensive to eat out than it is to cook at home...and far less work! But I got myself a couple BEAUTIFUL ties with the money you sent so I will send you pictures. Ties are gorgeous here and typically inexpesive. We get the ties from italy, so you know they are nice!
Well, tell Sister Jensen that I am in process of responding to her letters. She sent her e-mail address to me in her last one, but you know that I can't send anything directly to her. Today I plan on getting caught up on letters ishalla.
I love you all! I hope you all have a glorious week!
Love, Elder Fredrickson
My companion translated it for you. Here you go!
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Geoffrey Thomas Foulk wrote:
Starting from Nena talking
Good evening. It’s my pleasure to talk with you, Elder Fredrickson’s parents. You have a great son, and we have a very very good missionary, wonderful. Boys like this are rare, together with his companion, Elder Foulk. It’s been 2 months since they came here, and I have the best impressions ever in the world. So you should be very happy that you have a son that wonderful. An extraordinary missionary. I congratulate him a lot. May the Lord bless him. May the lord be with him, and give him all the best in his life. He’s done a wonderful job here at church, together with Elder Foulk. They’re great missionaries, and may they have good luck in their life. Should I keep going? They come about every other night to my house, and we worship the Lord, Jesus Christ, we talk, and they’re really excited because of me, because I more or less am… should I say muslim or not? No problem? Ok, I’m muslim, but I really like this religion, because I’ve been really sick for a little while, and they’ve spoken really well for me, and I would like to get baptized! (chuckle) I’m not baptized, but maybe I can get baptized later, and I’m really grateful to these boys. I send you greetings as their parents, that you have raised a very educated boy, for as much time as I know him. Your boy is gold, really great, together with his companion Elder Foulk. Good night a lot from me, and I would love to meet up sometime somewhere, at your son’s wedding. Good night. (Did I do a good job? Yeah, really really good. Awesome!)
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