Date
December 10, 2018
Area
Dale City, VA
Companion
Elder Johnson
Cold Days and Carolina Reapers
Hey all!
We had another great week here in the Dale City ward! There are so many good things happening in this area, and with it being the holiday season, I am just as happy as can be! I hope everyone has had awesome experiences with #LightTheWorld this week.
The weather has been really cold this week. The worst part by far is the wind, it is just brutal. Especially when you are trying to bike against it, it just feels like you are constantly biking uphill! But it's all good. On Tuesday we had interviews with President Caplin, and those went well. He is a very inspired man. Wednesday was awesome!! We had a lesson with Jeffrey and his family in the morning, and we were able to put them on date for January 5th! We are so excited. Jeffrey is such a great guy. He was also able to come to church this Sunday, so that was another blessing. His wife is still kinda holding on to the Presbyterian church she is attending right now, but we will continue to work with her!
Our weekend was eventful as usual! We did a lot of tracting, with not a whole lot of success. One of the many plus sides of the holidays is that people are a lot nicer, even if they aren't interested in our message. So we can normally have pretty civil conversations with people, and sometimes we can even get referrals out of them! Saturday we had a great lesson with Florence, one of the recent converts here, and it was such a good lesson. Her testimony is still so strong, it was pretty much like she was teaching us the lesson. She loves the gospel so much, and it is so easy to see how much it is blessing her life. The gospel really does bless our lives!! On Sunday we had the opportunity to talk to the young men a little bit about why they should go on missions. It was a cool experience, just to be able to bear our testimony of the importance of missionary work, and why they all need to go on missions. It's a really cool thing to look back over the course of my mission and see the person I have become. Missions are so great!
On a more funny note, On Sunday Elder Johnson decided he was going to eat one of the hottest peppers in the world. It's called the Carolina Reaper, and they are NUTS. We have a member here that grows them, so he gave us one and Elder Johnson ate it! He actually took it like a champ, I was pretty impressed. But man, that thing is really really hot. Don't try it at home, you'll regret it.
The Christmas devotional talks are on gospel library, I encourage you all to study them! I want to share just a part of President Nelsons words to us! "With our thoughts and feelings so focused on the Savior of the world, what, then, do we need to do to receive these gifts offered to us so willingly by Jesus Christ? What is the key to loving as He loves, forgiving as He forgives, repenting to become more like Him, and ultimately living with Him and our Heavenly Father? The key is to make and keep sacred covenants. We choose to live and progress on the Lord’s covenant path and to stay on it. It is not a complicated way. It is the way to true joy in this life and eternal life beyond."
Follow the prophets counsel, because it truly does come directly from our Savior! As we obey with a willing heart, and strive to do as the Savior does and give as He Gave, we will stay on the path that leads to eternal life! I love this gospel, I love the Christmas season, and I love being a missionary.
Elder Chappell