A White Christmas

January 2009, ZLC

We had such a great group of zone leaders. They were so diligent, obedient and all full of faith. I watched as they discussed possible goals for the year. I remember how bold they were. They set a goal to help find the 1200 prepared people out there and help them make their way to the waters of baptism. It was a lofty goal, a significant increase from the previous year, but they knew the Lord would help them do it. And I watched. All year long I watched.

We've always had great missionaries, and I watched as they grew and built on the faith of the missionaries before them. We went through training blitz. We practiced teaching skills and learned together how to better develop Christlike attributes.  The mission as a whole began to better at accounting for the goals they were setting. We worked at making sure we were teaching people/not lessons and preparing them to understand the significance of the baptismal covenant. And we prayed. We prayed, and we prayed. And we worked. Things started changing in a miraculous way. Our transfer standard of excellence was to help 140 people every 6 weeks make those baptismal covenants. That was a stretch, but then people started popping up everywhere; people that had heard of the restoration and wanted to know more; people that had met with missionaries a year ago or two or three and now were ready; members' hearts started to be touched. Eventually that 'standard of excellence' wasn't something to stretch for, it was happening, consistently. By summer, we were finding 100's of people and many of them were progressing. Every transfer from that time forward was in excess of 160 people. We were getting close to realizing that goal from so many months before.

(insert slide show here...I need pictures of people who were baptized! Send me some please!)

3 Months before the end of the year, we were close to being on track to reach our goal, but Christmas is a very busy time in our mission with the added responsibilities of Christmas Lights at the temple. We met with the Zone Leaders again.  Their faith led them to set a new goal for the end of the year to help us stretch even farther. The goal they were talking about reminded me of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Realizing this goal would let each of them know it could only have been accomplished with the help of the Lord. There was no way we could do it alone. They decided to hold a mission wide fast. We were asking for miracles. We were working for a White Christmas in the desert. Instead of snow, 100's of people dressed in white. Our gift to the Savior. Wether it was the white of baptism or the white of the temple, we were going to find all those the Lord had prepared and help them come closer to Him. What does a White Christmas look like?

I wish words could explain it to you. We fasted and prayed, then exercised our faith through obedient and dedicated service to the God we love. We testified of Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement. We invited people to come to Him. And together, we watched for miracles. We talked about them and shared them with each other. And the more we began to acknowledge the hand of God in our work and lives, the greater the strength of our vision.

At the end of the year, over 1200 people entered the waters of baptism. Many others renewed their dedication to Christ with new commitments to serve Him and prepare to go to the temple. And we know that we have only scratched the surface.

January 2010, ZLC

Knowing the power of God and understanding the work to which we have jointly been called, the zone leaders set a new goal. A goal that will continue to stretch the missionaries that serve here. One that will bless them all their lives. But more importantly, one that will restore 1500 children of God to a knowledge of who they are, who God is and allow them to draw closer to Him each day through covenants.
We love ALL our missionaries, those that serve with us now, those that will come shortly, and especially those who have completed their service here and gone home to continue their life long missions to return to their Father. We love you all and are forever grateful for your faith and patience and love. And prayers. May you continue to do those things that will help you feel close to Him. Have a wonderful New Year, where ever you are all over the world.
President & Sister Bassett

Dear Sis Bassett,
So this is a rushed version, and there are probably a ton of typos, but here is a miracle in progress!  We'll write more next week.
Nancy and her girls are getting baptized!!  This has been such a wonderful thing to ask for something so specific and see it come to pass!  Our first big hurdle was that they had to come to Church yesterday. We had set the baptismal date with them, and we told them that if they would read the BoM and pray every day, that they would be able to get baptized on Dec 26. They were all so excited about it, and they have such incredible faith!  We visited them a couple of days later, and they had read a chapter from the BoM each day, and they had been praying in Spanish so that their father, who is a Jehova's Witness, and doesn't understand and want them to be baptized, could hear them pray.  He loves to hear them pray, and he has told them that he is glad that they do.
Then on Sunday, we fasted with the ZL's that they would be able to go to church and that they would be able to be baptized. We didn't know how it was going to happen, because we hadn't had a chance to get a Spanish sister over to talk to the father, but we knew that they needed to go.  When we called Nancy that morning, she said that Rudolfo, her husband, had a car apt that he had to go to right before they would need to go to church.  We prayed that all would go well.  We continued to fast, and right after we broke our fast, we checked our phone, and we had a message from the Elders telling us that Nancy had been at church!
And today, they had their baptismal interivews, and they loved it, and they are so excited that they are going to get baptized!  They announced it at the ward, and the primary teachers, ect said they are all going to be there.
Our next big hurdle is to make sure her husband is OK that they are going to get baptized.  When Nancy told him that they had gone to church, he was upset, but he still let us come in when we visited them later that night. When we talked to Nancy about him today, she said that she has a peaceful feeling that he will calm down, that he will be okay with it.  She said that even if he doesn't want to be baptized, that she feels that he will at least come with them to see what it is all about, and that he will even come to church every once in a while. Nancy has such wonderful faith, that I'm sure he will come around.  She also had a dream that he came to the Christmas lights and that he was talking to a missionary.  I am still praying that this dream comes to pass in the next couple of weeks. Her story is still a work in progress, but I know that it will continue to progress.

Thanks for all you do!
Sister Fonbuena



**Here's a note from her District Leader, Elder Thomas, about the same family:
The sisters have a great one. (Sister Dorius and Sister Fonbuena) They are teaching a family. The dad hasn't been willing to let her or the kids get baptized but they really want to. After much prayer and fasting the sisters gave them a date for this Saturday. I had the honnor of interviewing the Mother who really wants to be baptized. She explained that her husband is unwilling. I told her the story of Alma the older, a wicked priest who repented then taught lots of people. They (Alma & his people) escasped then got captured again, but through their faith they were delivered. I felt the Holy Ghost testify to her as I promissed that her husband will allow them to be baptized. I know he will allow it.

Thank you for all your hard work

Love Elder Thomas

Her Favorite Song

Sister Bassett
This is a miracle that happened while I was on exchanges with Elder Kelly.  We talked to the Relief Society President and asked her who we could go and visit. She gave us the name and address of a lady who hadn't been to church in awhile.  We had been told that she wasn't very receptive, so we decided to ring the doorbell and sing a Christmas song.  We did and she opened the door smiling and happy, so the song worked.  We talked for a little while, and she told us her conversion story which was cool.  Once we were done talking, Elder Kelly asked her if we could sing her favorite song for her.  She told us no, because it would make her cry.  She never did tell us her favorite song.  We decided to just chose one to sing.  Elder Kelly flipped open his hymn book to "I Stand All Amazed" right as we started singing she started to cry. The tears flowed.  That was her favorite song.  It was a great miracle.  Her heart had been softened, and she allowed us to set up a time to come by and teach the whole family. I can't wait to start it.  That is one of the many miracles we have seen as a result of the Mission Fast.  It is still producing miracles.  Thank you so much for everything you do for all of us, Sister Bassett.  If I can do anything for you just let me know. Have a great week!!
Elder Miller

Answered Prayers

Hello Sister Bassett,

It has been a neat experience reflecting on all the miracles I have seen since we have fasted as a mission. What keeps coming to my mind is how I have been so blessed as a missionary to have taught the G____ family. Anna and Noe are the parents of 5 boys. We recieved Anna as a referral sometime in October. We began just teaching Anna, and then we were able to set up a time to teach the whole family.  The lessons were going great. The boys were always fighting over whose turn it was to pray. We saw their progression in the gospel, but I think the real miracle came when Sis Tuioti and I recieved an answer to their prayers through a member.

We went over to visit Anna one morning. She was upset, because she had to send her boys to school without breakfast. Tears filled her eyes as she explained the difficult situation they were in with unemployment. We reassured her and tried to comfort her. Throughout that day they were in our thoughts and prayers. We tried to get a hold of people who we think could help with food but we didn't hear back from anyone. Then at about 7 that night, we recieved a phone call from a member in a different ward. She asked us if we had dinner yet and if we were hungry. We told her that we already had dinner and asked her why. She then told us that she cooked dinner that night but then her husband brought dinner home, and they didn't want a hot meal to go to waste. She called around the ward and asked about 10 families if they needed dinner that night. All of them declined the offer. Then the impression came to her to call the missionaries. As she explained this, my heart filled with joy as I knew who exactly could use that meal. So I asked Sister Brown if we could take the dinner to a family that could really use it. Of course she said yes. When we picked up the dinner, much to our surprise, Sister Brown had a few more bags of food she had cleared from her pantry. An answer to our prayers!! 

We took the food over to the G____'s, and they were filled with so much joy. Anna and Noe both expressed gratitude, and we couldn't help but watch the boys get so excited about the fruit snacks and other tasty treats. That week was a huge motivator for this family. We set a baptismal date with them. Anna, Noe and their oldest son all got baptized together. They are strong members of the church already. Noe has expressed the desire to share his testimony in church several times and has been ordained as a priest. He looks forward to baptizing their son Jonathan in April. Also as a result we are now teaching Anna's nieces, Bianca and Crystal who live with them now. They are schedule to be baptized this saturday.

Of course there have been many other miracles that I would love to share. Minutes are running out here at the library so if you would like me to share a few more let me know.

Thanks for all you do Sister Bassett. You are amazing!! (I love it when they say that!)
Sister Tara Morton

It was truly a miracle!

From Elder Colton Weight:
This week has been an amazing week, I had my first baptism, and it was the greatest thing and the greatest feeling ever!! That baptism was one of the miracles that had occured from the mission fast. Linda is her name, and she had been living down the street from President Lewis for quite some time and a member of a protestant church for around 20 years, I believe. She had turned down countless missionaries. Well a man that she'd known for a long time was converted somewhat recently. She noticed the change that the gospel brought into his life and really wanted that change for herself. So she had him set up an appointment when she could meet with us. We taught her the restoration. She was a golden investigator from the get go and is extremely knowledgable about the Bible. Later during that week, she called us and said she wanted to be baptized! So we set up an appointment with her, taught her the plan of salvation and then set a date. We started teaching her at the beginning of November and she was baptized at the end! I know that it truly was a miracle, and it was because of our mission wide fast that that was able to happen, that her heart was softened so that we could bring her unto Christ so that she could have that change in her life! It's such an amazing experience, and it'll be something I'll never forget! Thank you for the opportunity to be able to have that fast. It has truly strengthened my testimony!

Love you very much, Love  Elder Weight