The Power of The Atonement

Family and Friends!

Things are awesome here in Inabanga! It's a great area and Elder Meliang is a great companion. I forgot how much I've told to you about him but he is the only member in his family and has been a member for a year and 8 months. He has been praying for his family that they will listen to the missionaries and we just found out that his older sister just started listening to the missionaries! I think you can imagine how excited he is. I'm so happy for him. What a miracle and a blessing. Another miracle and blessing happened yesterday. We had set some goals for the total lessons and new investigators and by Saturday night it wasn't looking like we were going to reach it. We prayed that we would and we made a plan of how we were going to accomplish it and we accomplished our goals! We were so excited. It was just getting numbers, our numbers or lessons were quality lessons. It was a great week and I'm so excited to go at it this week. 

Elder Meliang is a great missionary and like I've said before, he brings the strongest spirit into the lessons. It's been really fun to teach with him. We still have lots of things we can improve on but it's been really fun. I'm starting to learn how to really listen to them, then listen to the Spirit and then speak or ask a question. It's been really challenging and I'm still not good at it but I'm getting better and it's so much fun. The lessons and the work is just better and more fun. I love it and I'm so grateful for the Spirit and it's role in our lives and in this work. What an amazing gift we have been given. I know that it will guide and direct us in all that we do if we are worthy and let it guide us. 

We only had Michael come to church yesterday which was great that he came but disappointing that all of the others didn't. We are working on a way to help them come. Anabel continues to run away from us but we continue to teach Juvi, her "husband". He is the man and wants Anabel to start listening and joining him at church and in reading and praying so bad. I love them. 

We had a zone training meeting last thursday and for president Tanner's workshop, he showed a talk by Elder Holland about words. I don't know what general conf. session it was but I think it was 2007. Anyway it was an amazing talk and I'd encourage all of you to listen to it. He talks about how destructive words can be to someone if we are not careful. It inspired me to try to become better and not just refraining from talking bad about someone with others but speaking good things about them when others might be speaking bad. Lately I've been really praying for charity, for the pure love of Christ. The love that is long suffering and kind, that inspires to reach out and serve others, to lift those that are down. The love that never fails. Christ's love never fails us, it's always there. Elder Holland said in last general conf. "Christlike love is the greatest need we have on this planet." I love my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the love and the mercy They have for me and for all of us. I hope and pray that all of you can feel of Their love for each of you. I know They love you. 

I'm grateful for repentance. I've had the opportunity to interview quite a few people for baptism the last couple weeks and I'm so grateful for that opportunity. I love interviewing people and hearing their feelings about the gospel and most of all about repentance. One in particular sticks out in my mind. She was beyond excited to be baptized. i've never seen someone so excited. Her husband is in prison and one of her daughters is a member. She had done some things in her past that weren't great but she didn't know any better but as she was telling about some of those things she started to cry and talked about how she had repented and how through repentance the guilt and the heavy feelings were gone and she had peace. She said she used to get really angry at people and now she doesn't anymore. At the end of the interview I congratulated her and she got tears in her eyes again and they were tears of excitement. It was one of the best experiences so far on my mission. 

What a wonderful example of what repentance and the Atonement can do in our lives. What wonderful gifts we've been given and what wonderful blessings come if we use them. The Atonement is real and it's a gift that has been given to us for free becasue we are sinners. I love the Savior for He truly is my Savior. I love Heavenly Father for sending His Son becasue He loves me. They live and love us and I hope you all know it and can feel it. I love you all! Thank you for the prayers and the emails. I pray for all of you too. I hope you have a great week and that you can feel the Spirit and the power of the Atonement more in your lives.

Love, Elder Fox

Congrats On The Call James!

Friends and Family!

It's been a great week here in Inabanga with Elder Meliang. But first of all congrats again James on the mission call! Puerto Rico is one lucky place and the San Juan mission and mission president are very very lucky to be getting you. You are going to be great missionary and will love it. The people will love you and you will influence and bless the lives of many. Congratulations. It was also so fun to see everyone! I miss and love you all!

Well just to update you all on this last week. Michael had his interview but his baptism is going to be pushed back a little bit becasue of some things which is sad but it shouldn't be a problem. He should be baptized just not as soon as we were hoping. He was the only one that came to church yesterday which was disappointing. We are going to get them to come this week though. You can count on it. Roel told us last week that he is moving to Cebu for work this week which was sad but he said we give him as a referral to the missionaries assigned there. He also said he wants to visit the temple and take a temple tour which will be awesome if he does it.

I'm sorry I'm really low on time again this week. I don't know what happened. I just want to share some experiences I've had really quickly. Yesterday I prayed that I might be able to understand a little more of the Atonement and that I might feel it in my life. Since then I've had 3 or 4 experiences and times where I've been able to understand a little more fully what the Savior went through and i've been able to feel His power in my life. It's been amazing and I'm so grateful for those experiences Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I wish I had more time to go into more detail about the experiences I've had but all I can say is that I testify that Christ suffered and took upon him all of our sins and mistakes and imperfections so that we could be made completely clean and inherit eternal life. I would encourage all of you to read Believing Christ especially the last section "Lord, how is it done". I testify as a representative of Jesus Christ that He lives and loves us. That He has an infinite ability to save us from sin, heartache, and affliction. He "descended below them all" so that He could lift us up. I love Him and am grateful for the love and the mercy and power He has shown me. I love you all and pray that you might feel His grace and mercy in your lives. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Fox

New Comp In Inabanga!

Family and Friends!!

It's been an exciting and crazy week this last week! Transfer calls came and I'm staying in Inabanga! Elder McQuiston moved to Panglao and is actually comps with Elder Larson who is from Olympus! I'm training a new missionary so I got to go to Cebu and pick him up which was fun to be up there in Cebu. My anak's (son's) name is Elder Meliang. he is from Mindanao so he speaks Cebuano which is awesome! He also has worked with the missionaries for 5 months before coming which is great because it takes some of the load off me. He has been a member for 1 year 7 months and he is the only member in his family. He's a great anak. He struggles with English so I'm trying to help him with that while he tries to help me learn Cebuano. I should be here in Inabanga for two transfers with him which means I will hit my year mark here in Bohol and that means that I hold the record for being assigned on Bohol the longest. Haha we all say that I've been assigned to the Bohol mission. I love it here though. It's the best. Anyway so that's the update on transfers. 

To give an update on investigators. Michael continues to progress and hasn't had any slip ups with his drinking for a few weeks now. His interview will hopefully be on Saturday which is really exciting. He's a great kid. He's the only one of our investigators that is coming to church right now. We have a lot of great people we are teaching but they just don't come to church. Let's see Juvi and Anabel are awesome. Juvi was baptized but Anabel hasn't been. They need to get married so that's their main concern and also Anabel tends to kind of run away or not be there when we come to their house. it's really frustrating. The times we have taught her she's great and really nice but the problem is just being able to teach her and get her to come to church. Juvi is trying so hard to get her to listen and join him but she is being difficult. Juvi is an awesome guy and is so patient with her. I love them both so much and they have awesome kids as well. 

Roel is another investigator who has committed to be baptized on July 19 but hasn't come to church. He is 31 years old and isn't married yet but he is a really nice guy and has a good heart. His concern is just coming to church which is most people's concerns. This area is awesome though. We have a lot of investigators and we are finding more and more every week. It's an awesome area to be assigned. 

I asked President Tanner what I could do to become a better missionary and he said to work on and get better at recognizing and having the Spirit with me in all that I do everyday. He said how that would help not only on the mission and in church callings but in all things such as school, career, and relationships with others. I really liked that advice and it's something I'm going to really work on and get better at. I would encourage all of you to learn to recognize the Spirit and follow it in all that you do every day. Especially James as you are preparing for your mission. I love the Holy Ghost and am so grateful for it. Without it there would be no point in being out here and I would be totally lost. What an amazing gift Heavenly Father has given us. I love Heavenly Father and the Savior and the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for all They do for me each day. They lift me up and enable me to continue on and to become better. I love Them and testify of Them and Their purpose, that is to bring us home. What an amazing time we live in. I love and pray for you all! Have a great week!!

Love, 

Elder Fox

Elder Fox, his anak (son) and Elder Murdock

God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son

Family and Friends!!

I feel like email time keeps getting shorter and shorter every week! I only have 15 minutes again to write. I'm so sorry but I'll try to get it out. First of all happy father's day to Dad and to all dads everywhere! I love you so much Dad! Transfer calls are tomorrow so I'll find out if I'm moving or not and who my new comp will be. I really wish I could go another one with Elder McQuiston. He is awesome and we get along really well. I had the chance to go on splits with Elder Cornwall (one of the zone leaders) the other day and it was awesome. He is going home this week which is crazy. He's been here for a long time and it was really fun to learn from him. He is a really good missionary and teacher. He taught me a lot about how to teach to the needs of the people and how to ask good questions and mold the lessons around them. It was really fun to watch him and learn from him. I've been working on getting better at that stuff and it's made the work even more fun than it was. It's fun to teach people and not just teach lessons. Anyway I'm really grateful I could work with him. I don't have much more time left but wanted to share my feelings about the Savior since we can't testify of Him enough and I had a neat experience last night as i was getting ready for bed. I was listening to God so Loved Us so He Sent His Son and the Spirit was so powerful as I listened to the lyrics.

Oh, love effulgent, love divine!

What debt of gratitude is mine,

That in his off'ring I have part

And hold a place within his heart

Those words are my words. His love filled my soul and I was overwhelmed with gratitude. What debt of gratitude is mine that He came and suffered and died for me, a sinner. I love the title of this song and testify that it is true. God so loved us so He sent His Son, His only Begotten and Beloved Son. I testify that They live and love us and that They will support and help us through all of our trials and challenges. They live to help and love us. I love Them and will forever be grateful to Them. I love you all and pray that you all can feel Their love and support in your lives. I hope all of you have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Fox

Floating Restaurant!

Family and Friends!!

 I'm really low on time this week. I only have about 10 minutes or so to write since we had a zone activity in Loboc which is pretty far away and we got back pretty late so I'll try to write as much as I can. The activity was way fun! It was a floating buffet restaurant with a guy singing classic songs and then we had a performance which was really sweet. It was probably the best activity we can do here in the mission other than golfing of course. Congratulations Jimmer on graduating high school! That's so crazy you've graduated now. You were all wondering about investigators. We have one who's family is all members. He's about 25 and a super awesome kid. He was supposed to be baptized a couple weeks ago but drank with his friends so it had to be pushed back. He said he never drinks to get drunk just a little because his friends do it. This is a big problem here in the Philippines. Groups of friends are called barkadas and it's kind of like the cool crowd. But the problem is is that a lot of these barkadas all drink and smoke and stuff and if you don't do that stuff then they leave you and you're not a part of them anymore. And that's basically all the kids you've grown up with and all the kids you know. It's a real challenge and I feel so bad for him. We haven't told him to change friends or leave them but we know he has to and we are praying that he will. We are just trying to teach him the doctrine and let the Spirit work in him. I think he knows he has to but it's really hard. He's such a humble and penitent kid but he's in a tough situation. I love him and so prayers in his behalf would be awesome. We are working on getting him friends inside the church which will be good. He has a baptismal date for July 6 by the way.

As far as district leader it's going well. It's become easier and not as stressful. It still kind of is but it's not bad. For my personal studies and reading I've been reading the Book of Mormon and I'm now in Alma 51 and it's awesome! I love the Book of Mormon! I've got the Book of Mormon fever and I'm sure Elder McQuiston is sick of me telling him how awesome Moroni is and how awesome the book is. Also I've been studying the Savior and our Heavenly Father. I've been reading the Book of Mormon, Teachings of Joseph Smith, and Jesus the Christ to learn more about Them and Their nature. I think I've mentioned this but I read in T of JS about the scripture that says and this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And Joseph Smith says that that is the only way we can receive eternal life. We must know Them and he says once we know Them we then know how to approach our Father in Heaven in way that we will get an answer and when we do that He will unfold the heavens unto us. Joseph Smith also said, "Once we are ready to come to Him, He is ready to come to us." That's probably not exactly right but I really liked that quote. So that's my personal study right now. I'm also printing off the King Follett Sermon by Joseph Smith and he talks about the nature of God. I'm really excited to read that and study it. Well I"m out of time. I love you all! Thank you for all of the prayers! Know i pray for you all too! I know our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ love us. I know They live and They lived once as we are now. They aren't a mystery. They are two Beings with bodies of flesh and bone. They have all wisdom and all power and all love for us. They really do want the best for us and want us to return to Them. They will do anything to get us there and all we have to do is trust Them and strive to know Them and become like Them. I love Them and I love this gospel which is the way back home. I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!

Love, Elder Fox

Playing golf to help make the long hot walks to the less actives house

Floating restaurant!

Performance on the river

Charity Never Faileth

Family and friends!!

I am really really low on time this week from just being slow at responding to your emails so I'll try and give a good update on the week. First of all and most important the B family was baptized last Saturday! It was an awesome experience. Everything went great. Elder McQuiston and I both got to baptize which was awesome. At the end of the service they all bore their testimonies and they all did a great job. One of them is 12 and he started to get emotional during his brief testimony. It was so cute. They are a great family and are great members of the church. The 18 year old has already said he wants to serve a mission which I can't tell you how excited we were when we heard that. We are giving him a PMG so he can start studying and also we are going to have him start working with us which will be awesome! I love them so much and can't wait to watch them grow in the church. That was the biggest highlight of the week. District leader is going well. It's getting better. Tomorrow's workshop is on Elder Tad Callister's talk, "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary" so hopefully it'll turn out well. Just quickly I want to summarize a little thing that happened last night. We got home and our ward clerk/youth president and our branch mission leader, Mario, were there. We all ended up getting into an argument on some problems in the branch. It wasn't a big deal but I withdrew myself from the argument and just started thinking. I finally got the Spirit back and it taught me a cool lesson. The question came to my mind, what is the solution to every problem in the world? And then I thought how was the greatest problem this world has faced solved? That problem being the fall of man. Well it was solved through the Savior and His atonement. It was solved through love, through charity. Charity is the solution to every problem. For charity never faileth. Then I opened up matthew chapter 6 if i remember right. And read towards the end of the chapter what the Savior's command to us about loving our enemies and how the Father makes His Sun to rise on the wicked and the righteous. And also His rain to fall on the wicked and righteous. Charity, the pure love of Christ, is the key. Love them that hate you and that despitefully use you and persecute you. I'm so grateful for the lesson that I was taught last night. I know that charity never fails and will solve any problem or challenge we may have. It's not easy, the Atonement wasn't easy, but it's possible and it must happen "for all things must fail," and only those who are found with this love can enter into the kingdom of God. I love you all and pray for your happiness and joy. I pray you all will have a great week. Hold to the rod which leads to the tree, or to the pure love of Christ.

Love, Elder Fox

We Are All Enlisted

Family and Friends! 

This week has been another great one. I don't have a whole lot of time this week to write but here's an update on the B family. They had their interviews this last saturday and they are good to go. They will be baptized this coming saturday which we are really excited about. They chose to be baptized in Tubigon's church instead of the ocean which we are kind of bummed about but it's okay because this is their baptism not ours. There will be five of them being baptized. The son in law won't be becase he has some word of wisdom issues. He was really drunk one of the times we were over there and he was really funny. Not to make a joke out of something that is really sad but it was funny. I feel so bad for him though. He comes from a broken family and they said that he just does whatever he saw his parents do which aren't very good things. I really hope he gets a desire to change his life for the better. He's a really nice guy. so that's the update on them. Our other progressing investigators have issues with the word of wisdom as well which we just found out so we'll be working with them on that too. I love the people we visit though. They are the best and it's so fun to spend time with them and share this gospel. I can't remember if I wrote about the O family but they are awesome. They are recent converts and they are the ones that gave us the B family as a referral. The dad has a really bad back and has a really hard time walking. Elder Tolman, my batch that was assigned here before me, carried him to the car so he could come to church and be baptized. After his baptism his back started to feel better and he was able to walk a little more. But his condition took a big downhill turn and now he can hardly sit up. He just lays in bed all day everyday. He hasn't been able to eat a lot so he's also gotten really really skinny. I'ts so sad. His wife and 4 little girls who are 14 and younger and who are the cutest girls ever have to do everything. But despite all of this he or them never doubt the Lord. Their faith is shining as strong and as bright as ever and it's been amazing to watch. I love that family so much. Their examples of trust and faith in the Lord have strengthened mine so much. I love the people here and I love what i'm learning on my mission. James and everyone else preparing to go get so excited because it's the best. If you want to get pumped watch Elder Holland's talk "We are all enlisted". Ive listened to it so much and get so excited to work every time I listen. Also I studied Mormon chapters 8 and 9 this morning becase in Holland's devotional talk on the book of mormon he mentions these chapters and says that one of the passages in these chapters impacted and changed his life forever and that he is eternally indebted to Moroni who wrote those words. That got me curious so i read them and they are just as powerful as he said they were. Moroni writes with incredible power and as I read the spirit filled my soul and pierced my heart. I had and have no doubt that the Book of Mormon is true. That those who wrote it, were prophets and wrote it for our day. I encourage all of you to read those chapters. Well I'm out of time. I love and pray for you all. I love this gospel and I love the Savior. He lives and loves each one of you. Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Fox