March 26, 2012

Hey Family!

It sounds like this last week back home could have been made into a movie. I could just imagine Mom sprinting all over the hospital trying to check up on Britta and Whitney. I'm so happy everything went well with the baby getting here. She's beautiful! I loved the pictures. You'll have to send some more.

Well things were pretty crazy this week. It has been a roller coaster as we've continued to work with Jobiana and Helena. On Tuesday we stopped by for a lesson and when we had neared the end of it Jobiana asked us what our church's stance was on people living together if they're not married. We told her a little bit about the Law of Chastity and she got a really worried look on her face. She then let us know that she and Fronce aren't married, but they've been together for 12 years. We let her know that she'd have to be married in order for her to be baptized. Jobiana looked pretty crushed and we did our best to encourage and support her. She already has such an incredibly strong testimony of the gospel, and she was determined to figure out how she'd still be able to go through with it. The next morning Jobiana called us crying, and let us know that her husband told her that he didn't want to get married. We were so disappointed and ended up going over that day and had a lesson with her, Helena, and Brother Burton went with us. We watched a talk from conference on lds.org and she told us that she wasn't going to let this get her down. Helena decided that she still wants to get baptized on the 31st between sessions of conference after some encouragement from us and her mom. We then had another lesson with her on Friday and taught about tithing. We offered to fast with Jobiana on Sunday and she agreed. She and Helena came to church and Jobiana paid fast offerings, and then we broke our fast yesterday evening. We've been praying so hard for her and just hoping that somehow it would all work out. Well this morning as we were getting ready we got a call from Jobiana. She was doing her best to contain the excitement in her voice as she exclaimed, "Fasting works! Fronce asked me to marry him!!". I almost couldn't believe it. More than anything, my testimony has continued to grow so much as we've been working with her. Her faith is so strong, and she just knows that the gospel is true. Plain and simply.

I don't have too much time to write anymore, but I love you all so much! Things are going really well here, and training has been fun. Miracles are occurring and it's amazing to be apart of it.

Have a great week!

I love you all,

Elder Kade Bartschi

March 19, 2012

Hello my family!

Things sound so busy back home right now. Babies and a broken finger sounds like a lot to deal with. I'm really excited to hear about Britta though! This whole pregnancy I keep forgetting that Britt was pregnant, but now whenever I see someone that looks like they're really close to having their baby I think of my sister. I'm praying that everything goes well with the new baby this week.

We had a pretty good week here. Jobiana and Helena (yeah, we found out this week it's spelled with an "H") are still progressing really well! This week we taught them about the Plan of Salvation, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Word of Wisdom. I know that sounds like a lot, but Helena was on Spring Break and we were able to have three lessons with them. One of which was on Saturday night when we got to meet her husband. His name is Fronce and is from Brazil as well. He is a really nice guy and listened intently to all of the things that we had taught. We discussed the Restoration with him so that he could have an understanding of what his wife and daughter have been learning. At the end of the lesson he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said that he would read and pray about it. We also asked him what he thought about Jobiana and Helena getting baptized and he just smiled and said, "If it makes them happy, it makes me happy". We also did end up moving the baptismal date to the 31st of March. Both of them will get baptized between sessions of General Conference. You would be amazed by how much they already know and understand. Every time we have a lesson they'll say something that makes me shake my head and just laugh because they're so ready to join the church.

We also had a good lesson with Janelle. She decided that she wants to find out why people don't like the church, which basically turned into her stumbling across anti-mormon literature. She brought that to our lesson and we were able to walk her through all the concerns that she had. Honestly, she is really ready to be baptized. She feels the Spirit and has a testimony, she's just worried about telling her parents. We talked to her about setting a goal date for baptism and that as long as she moves forward with faith, the Lord will prepare the way. After some discussion, she decided on April 21! Not a bad day in my opinion. She came to church this Sunday and we'll be meeting up with her again this week. Oh, and Joy got back from her trip to Italy this week. We didn't have a lesson with her, but we will this week.

Well I love you all! Have a great week and I'm really excited to hear how everything goes.

I love you!

Elder Kade Bartschi

President's Letter

Dear Sisters and Elders,

Thank you for your labors! March Madness finding!! You are really doing it.

I know that as we persist in doing all we can to find New Investigators, we will increase our capacity, inspiration and insight to increase the number of people we find whom the Lord has prepared. We must continue to make finding new investigators a passion, mindset and culture in the entire mission.

Two weeks ago we found 115 New Investigators, this week we found 158 New Investigators!!! This is a magnificent effort! You are giving it your all! We are so close to our goal. I know we can do it. Please continue to do all you can to access the enabling power of the Atonement to positively effect the people represented by the Key Indicators in your own proselyting area. I know your happiness and joy will grow as you access that power.

Miracles are happening in the mission. You are stepping up to the plate. I feel so fortunate to be working with you. I am confident we are on the right course. We just need to continue our March Madness finding emphasis for an extended period of time.

Success on our Mission and in life is contingent on doing the right things, in the right spirit and doing them long enough. Paul knew the secret when he said:

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Gal 6:9)

I pray for you. I love the feeling that comes to me as I think of you in those prayers. I feel a friendship, confidence and gratitude toward you that is strong and sweet. I am confident that we are a winning team. Thank you for your humility. Thank you for your faith. Thank you for your diligence. Thank you for your love. The work is true. I believe in you.

President Summerhays

March Madness finding: KNOCK and it shall be opened unto you ::180 “If” is the key word.

March 13, 2012

Hey Family!

It sounds like you've all had a great week. Thanks for the updates on how everyone is doing.

We've had a great week here in Ft. Myers. We were able to meet up with almost all of our investigators, and that kept us running from place to place. I feel like we've been constantly sifting and changing our teaching pool since I've gotten here, and I think we're finally having the ones who are ready to accept the gospel rise to the top. As we've been teaching and finding you just keep working hard until things start to fall into place. When I look back on the people that I've taught, pretty much all of the ones that have gotten baptized just were ready and quickly made the changes that they needed to. It's all about timing.

Jobiana is one of those people that have been prepared! We stopped by there this week with the Burtons and she is still doing really well. She talked to her husband and because of how excited she was about the church, he decided that he'd meet up with us this coming Saturday. That will be a big opportunity for us to help him feel the Spirit, and hopefully present us with the opportunity to teach him as well. But for the lesson this last week, we taught again about Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon. She blew us away with how much she has been learning on her own. While we were discussing Joseph finding the plates, she said, "Didn't the angel Moroni come to him once a year for four years before he actually got to take the plates?". We just broke out in smiles after that and let her know that she had read correctly, it did take him four years. Following that we watched The Restoration with her, and about five minutes into it she told us how much she had enjoyed this movie. I was a little confused, and after asking her about how she already knew, she let us know that she had watched it online. It looks like she's about five steps ahead of us, and her daughter is on board as well. After we left last week Jobiana told us that Elena (her 10 yr old daughter) put her hand on her chest and said that she felt a warm feeling in her chest. Their date is still tentatively for the 24th of March, but it could change because the Burtons are leaving town that week, and Jobiana loves them.

This past week we also met with the Zellers. They're actually getting ready to head back up to Indiana, so that was our last lesson with them before they leave. We watched The Mountain of the Lord, a movie on the building of the Salt Lake Temple, at the request of their member son in Indiana. It went well, and Bill actually really enjoyed it. I think that whenever he sees the incredible faith of the early Saints he has a hard time denying the fact that there really is something to our church. We're praying that when they go back home that something will soften his heart. They're such good people, and I know that Sister Zellers is just waiting for it to happen.

Have a happy birthday Dad! I love you and hope that you have a great week.

I love you all!

Elder Kade Bartschi

March 5, 2012

Hey Family!

It sounds like it has been quite the week for all of us. Whit is engaged?? That's crazy to think about. I'm glad she looks so happy though!

We had a pretty amazing week here. On Tuesday morning we got up at 3:45 am to catch the mission van up to Tampa to pick up our trainee! We had a little meeting with all the trainers and President stressed the importance of setting an example that will last for their entire missions. I still look back on the time that I spent with Elder Johnson my first transfer, so I know that it does make a huge impression on the rest of your mission. Well we went into the meeting when they paired us together, and right away Elder Smith and I picked him out. We both had a both had a good feeling about one of them, and sure enough when it was our turn to get up there we got Elder Murray from Blackfoot, Idaho. He has actually moved around quite a bit in his life, but most recently that's where he lived. We made the trip back to Ft. Myers after that in the mission van, and started off a great week with the three of us. I told Elder Smith before he got here that when you have a brand new missionary with you, things just seem to work out and fall into place. We got to have some good lessons with our investigators.

We had an incredible experience this last Friday. The week before Elder Smith and I had gone to drop off a Book of Mormon to a lady that had ordered one off mormon.org. She was really friendly, but asked us to come back in a week so that we could meet up. I've seen tons of media referrals, but she stood apart from the rest of them because of how genuine she seemed. I was praying that she was a positive as she seemed, so when we stopped by on Friday I was anxious to see what would happen. We knew she was from Brazil and so we had a member from there go over with us. Her name is Jobiana and she had her daughter Elaina sit in on the lesson with us. Right off the bat she told us about the positive experience she had with members of the church down in Naples when she was a nanny for their family. She said that she would see the Book of Mormon sitting around their house and every time she saw it she had a desire to read what it was about. One day she decided to go online and type the church's name into the google search bar and she found the church website (thankfully). After spending hours going through the pages and watching videos on there, she ordered a Book of Mormon. As we went through and discussed the Restoration she was so sensitive to the Spirit. As Elder Smith shared the First Vision with her she just got a smile on her face and then she told us how good that had made her feel. We then explained the Book of Mormon to her and shared a portion from the introduction. The end of the last paragraph says "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah." She was quiet for a second after that, and then pointed to the spot on the page that says "the Lord's kingdom". "I want to be apart of the Lord's kingdom", she said. The Spirit was so strong as we testified of the truthfulness of the Restoration, and then we felt prompted to extend an invitation for baptism. Before we could even finish she said that she wants to be. We then asked if she would be prepared for March 24. She said yes, and her daughter agreed to the same thing. Jobiana came to church on Sunday and loved all of it. She felt the Spirit and then invited us to come over this week to continue teaching. I feel so blessed to be apart of this. The Lord is preparing people, and when they are finally ready some people just fall into place.

Well I love you all! Have a great week and know that we're doing our best down here in Ft. Myers!

Love,

Elder Kade Bartschi

President's Letter

Dear Sisters and Elders,

This weekend we united as a mission in fasting and prayer to increase our faith in Jesus Christ and receive His promise that He will make an instrument of us in His hands unto the salvation of many souls.

In the Wednesday ZLDLC Specialized training, our missionaries expressed a desire to carry our February finding frenzy over to a March Madness finding. There is a sense of urgency to find new investigators. The Zone Leaders counseled in their meeting on Friday and were inspired to hold a mission fast that we may find 180 new investigators one week in March. They also decided to fast for members of the Florida Tampa Mission to have a missionary experience with their family mission plan. When Enos prayed for his heart’s desires and they were granted, he asked “Lord, how is it done?” The answer came: “Because of thy faith in Jesus Christ….” I see this faith manifested in you every day.

The first step in finding begins in our nightly planning. The first key of faith in nightly planning is to start with the key indicator goals you want to accomplish the next day and then plan specific and abundant activities for that next day that will allow you to accomplish those goals. Then we pray and act in faith with real intent or a sense of urgency to accomplish those goals. I am grateful to read of your valiant February finding frenzy efforts and to share in your many miracles. I am also grateful for companionships that reported zero. I knew that they gave their best effort. I knew that they were honest. I loved their honorable report. . We have set ambitious goals. How can it be done? Only through faith in Jesus Christ. I want to again testify that the following promise in the Book of Mormon applies to the Florida Tampa Missionaries:

“But his is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God…And it came to pass that they..fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of His Spirit to go with them…that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren…to the knowledge of the truth…and it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them…I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls. And …the sons of Mosiah…took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.” (Alma 17:3-12)

Again, I believe you are ready for the fulfillment of this promise. Please, this week and every week make the finding of New Investigators a Passion, a Culture, a Mindset. We must set daily goals to FIND, we must plan each day with determined finding activities. We must plead with Heavenly Father to bless our finding efforts. We must work with a bright happy faith, with love and an optimism that He will bless us with success and then have the patience and diligence to allow the results to be on His timing. Finding His prepared people is a miraculous and rewarding pursuit when done His way. Remember nothing happens in your missionary work until you find someone to teach. He has proven to us that He can greatly multiply the number of people we find each week to teach. Please remember the Loaves and the Fishes. He can make so much out of so little. Trust Him that He will reward your Faith to Find.

I love you !!!! Thank you for all the great faith you are exercising, the daily diligence you are performing and the love you are living. I pray for your happiness and peace. I believe in you.

President Summerhays