February 27, 2012

Hey Family!

I can't believe it'll be March this week. Our transfer here just wrapped up, and we had transfer phone calls on Saturday. The phone rang at about 8 am and President let Elder Smith and I know that we would be training together for this next transfer! That's exactly what we were hoping for, so we were excited. That means that tomorrow we'll be heading up to Tampa at about 4:45 am to go to our meeting and then to pick up the new missionary. I remember how anxious I was my first day in the mission, so it'll be good to meet him. Elder Smith and I have been working really hard to prepare the area for a new missionary and I know that it'll pay off.

Yesterday (Sunday) was really busy for us! We had been asked to speak in sacrament meeting a couple months ago, and then after we found out about that the stake designated the same Sunday as a missionary Sunday. There is a Haitian Creole branch that meets at the same time as us, so we joined the priesthood and Relief Society meetings, as well as the Young Men and Young Women meetings for the ward and branch. The Creole missionaries and us trained the ward on the Family Mission Plan and helped to get them excited to do their own missionary work. Also, last Sunday I was asked to sing at a Fireside put on by Brother Daniel Rona, a popular church tour guide in the Holy Lands, and I would need to have the song ready in a week. Needless to say I was a little stressed going into yesterday, but it was amazing how everything seemed to work out. Elder Smith gave his talk on Diligence and I talked about Faith and Miracles, and then we each tied it into missionary work and how it applies to every member. It worked out really well, and the joint Relief Society and Priesthood meeting ran smoothly. There was a lot of input from the ward and it'll be fun to see what kind of effect this will have on the ward. We had 5 investigators at Sacrament meeting and I wasn't sure how they would take all of the missionary themed lessons, but they all really enjoyed it. We even had some students from a local college attend the meetings for a class they were taking. After church we had a couple of hours to make some visits and then we went down to Bonita Springs for the stake fireside. The song, I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked, was already picked out for me, so I was able to practice it a few times throughout the week. I was pretty nervous because I would much rather sing with other people, but I don't think it went to badly.

We had some pretty solid lessons this week as well. We met with the Zellers and started to figure out what is holding him back. He just hasn't read and prayed about the Book of Mormon yet, which is crazy to me because he has been married to a member for the last 25 years. His granddaughter wrote her testimony in a copy of it and he said the if/when he reads it'll have to be from that copy. That was a little bit of an excuse because that book is up in Indiana, but I think we did make some progress. We have another lesson scheduled with him for this week so we'll see how it goes.

Well I'm sorry this is so short this week! Since it's the last p-day we're getting together for a big activity down in Estero. Have a great week and know that I love you!

Love,

Elder Kade Bartschi

P.S. Braydn, have a great birthday!!

President's Letter

Dear Sisters and Elders,

I want to thank so many of you who are giving your best in His service. I am inspired by your desires and efforts to fulfill your purpose which is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored Gospel through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I am so excited about where we are and where we are headed. I love you all and I have complete confidence in your abilities.

February has been our fabulous, fantastic, faithful, fearless, February finding frenzy. The emphasis has been on FINDING AND TEACHING.

Brother Stephen B. Allen, Managing Director of the Missionary Department emphatically stated:

“Those Missions that are seeing growth and increased harvest, fully embrace a CULTURE, MINDSET AND PASSION for FINDING NEW INVESTIGATORS.”

I strongly believe that our mission believes it is time to harvest and I know we must

Fully embrace a CULTURE, MINDSET and PASSION for FINDING that will double, triple and eventually quadruple our new investigator pool each week.

We will:

• Continue to strengthen each missionary’s faith that the Lord is preparing people to receive His servants.
• Emphasize all honorable finding methods with the following order of effectiveness:
  • Members
  • Family Mission Plans

• New Converts
• Less Actives
• Part Members
• Ward Leadership
• All Quorums and Auxiliaries
• Ward/Branch Activities

o Performing visible Service in Area Neighborhoods for Members and those not of our Faith

o Contacting (Talking to Everyone)

o Media and Church Headquarters Referrals

o Tracting

I feel with my whole heart and soul that the Florida Tampa Missionaries are ready to continue to meet this challenge. Let us continue our February finding frenzy efforts. I know that we can embrace the hard but beautiful things we are asked to do. I know we are ready to offer our full obedience, our focused eye of faith and our exceeding diligence and tireless labor to the critical need to sustain the real growth of the church. We will thrust in our sickle with all of our might. The challenge will not be easy, but together we will succeed.

We must focus our faith and diligence toward more conversions and greater retention.

We must find far more new investigators to teach. We must be lovingly bold in committing those we teach to live the commandments. We must increase the number of investigators we bring to church. We cannot be content with the past.

Let us continue our February finding efforts to redouble our diligent labor to find, find, find, teach and baptize. I feel grateful for the confidence I have in all of the Sisters and Elders in the Florida Tampa Mission. I love you and believe in you.

President Summerhays