Come Follow Me

Come Follow Me
"And he saith unto them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matt. 4:19) As the New Year begins, we, the members of the Willow Wood Ward, invite you to Come and Follow Him!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Elder Derek Fisher


Hey Everyone!  Today I was looking back as I was emailing my mom and seeing just how much has changed in my life in the last 2 years.  I only have about 15 more minutes of email time, but I just wanted to share some changes in my life since then.  In essence, I’m very much the same person, but the biggest difference is a great love and personal closeness to our Savior Jesus Christ.  I remember back when I was 13 and my mom brought the missionaries over to teach me.  One time they taught me that the Telestial Kingdom is better than the world we now live in and I remember telling them “well if that’s true, then that’s good enough for me.”  Since becoming a member, I’ve come to realize that Heavenly Father has so much more in-store for us than “good enough.”  He has given us the potential to become whatever we set ourselves to be.  It depends upon our diligence and faith to see those things through.  Before my mission I sold myself short a lot, I didn’t fully understand how this life is a trying ground to do our best.  Since I’ve come to that knowledge, I’ve come forth with a commitment to do my best.  I know that as we exert all we can in righteous actions, the Lord will bless us with His grace (temporal and spiritual power) to fulfill the things that normally aren’t possible. 
One thing I’ve really developed a testimony in, is faith unto prayer.  So many times I have received spiritual witnesses to truths otherwise unknowable.  Often times, as I’ve read or learned about doctrines in this church I stand confused with a “?” over my head, but each time I’ve wanted to know the truth of one of these doctrines, I turned to the source and the first thing I do is ask Heavenly Father if it’s true.  After that I exert my own effort to try to understand these things.   As I do so, with “faith”, a “sincere heart” and “true intent”, meaning you believe you will be answered, you really want to know, with the commitment to follow that knowledge once obtained, I have felt the Spirit testify the truth to my heart. (Moroni 10:3-5)  That’s a truth I can never deny and I know unless you have those 3 things you will never know the truth of these things.  Concerning prayer, I know Heavenly Father has answered my prayers in so many other ways as well for “whatsoever ye shall ask the Father …which is right, believing that ye shall receive…it shall be given unto you” (3 Nephi 18:21).    These words really have played a part in my life as I’ve had family members become active, including my best friend and cousin who is serving a mission as well, but that’s just the tip of the Spiritual Iceberg.  Hindi busta-busta nangyari ang mga bagay na ito.  Anyways I think I’ve been a bit too preachy for today (kinda hard not to be when all I do is preach every day).  But I just wanted to express who truly grateful I am to have the Gospel in my life, I only wish I had
found it earlier.
I just want you to know I’m doing great, stressed but great.  Lately I’ve just been preparing a lot of trainings, meetings, baptism interviews, etc. etc.  Oh and also we moved into a new apartment that I found.  It’s pretty dang nice.  I never expected to live in an apartment this nice during my mission, tender blessings haha (pictures will come when my camera is fixed).  Things are going pretty great, which scares me because usually when I’m happiest, that means I get transferred and given more trials.  Anway, I love you all.   I’m out of time, but hopefully I’ll find some more next week.  Take care!
Elder Fisher

[a lady] has been coming to church for months, has a testimony of the church and The Book of Mormon, and really wants to be taught and baptized, not only that but she’s been bringing her children with her.  I can’t help but wonder what it is that I’ve done to deserve such a blessing?  I truly know that He has been listening to my prayers and is answering them.  I LOVE THIS WORK!

The only downside is that I’m fast approaching my 6 month mark in Paranaque, which means I could likely be transferring in the next couple weeks.  I’ve loved working here.  I hope I get another 6 weeks because I’m pretty sure 5-7 of the investigators I’ve been teaching for the past 1-6 months will be getting baptized next month.  No worries, though, planting the seeds is just as important as harvesting.  If I do transfer, I’ll feel satisfied with the fact I’m doing all I can here in this part of His vineyard.

Aside from that, things are going great!  Held a great zone meeting this last week, coordinated really well with the stake and started a lot of ideas into motion to get the work to go better in the Stake. (random fact: the 1st counselor of our stake has the coolest voice ever, don’t ask, it’s just cool).  Outside of that, I’m getting pretty decent at cooking.  This week I made Chicken Asado, Bicol Express, and Fried Chicken (Filipino style).

I learned something though, when it rains hard in our area, it floods.  I had one very wet day this week.  Aside from that, not too much to report…I did some interviews, went to a baptism in our zone (which we sang at), attended a couple of birthday parties, the usual.
That’s about it for this week.  Hope everyone is doing great!  Much love,
Elder Fisher

Elder Fisher waiting to teach a family of eight at their home.

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