Transfers, Thanksgiving, and Six Month Mark! Oh my!

Transfers, Thanksgiving, and Six Month Mark! Oh My!

Not as catchy as Dorothy and the gang, but oh well.

Tuesday- We tried to go around to teach some investigators, but to no avail. I spent a large portion of the day getting things ready to be packed. We went to Taco Tuesday at La Ribera with Sister Libby. She said that she's going to miss Elder Morgan and I.

Elders Zizzle and Doominator

Wednesday- Dreaded Transfer Day. I spent a lot of time getting things packed. 

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

I'm pretty sure I got everything. We went to Michaelangelo's one last time with a member. It was sooooo good. We got to the church, and the transfer van was late (as always). I got to see a ton of Elders that I knew: Elder Ludwig, Elder Siddoway, Elder Lancaster, and Elder Bauman (my grandpa haha). 

MTC Buddies

Pretty much everybody I know is in North Carolina still, except Elder Morgan. The ride up to Virginia was about a 3 hour drive to Portsmouth, to meet Elder Brimley, and then another 45 minutes to our apartment.

Elder Brimley

Thursday- Happy Thanksgiving ya'll. We woke up early to go and play some Turkey Bowl with the ward. That was a lot of fun. The field was all muddy, and I have no traction on my shoes, so you can bet that I ate it a couple of times. 

We had a couple of dinners. The first one was with a member of the bishopric and his wife, Brother Paggott. They are a hoot. We had a really good dinner there, then we went to the Ward Mission Leaders house, Brother Morris. He is sweet. We had another really good feast, and he showed us this song called "Santa Claus is a Black Man" hahahaha. It was sweet.

I started petting his cat, and then I itched my eye. Pretty soon it started swelling up pretty good. Brother Morris ran us to Walgreens to get some Benedryl. It was pretty gnarly.

Playing with the cat!

Friday- Six Month Mark!!!!! Us and the other Elders in the ward got a ride from the Senior Missionary Couple to District Meeting. I was still on Benedryl, so we weren't able to get much done. It sucked.

Shouldn't have played with the cat!

Saturday- We walked around for a bit trying to pass out He is the Gift Cards. If you don't know about the initiative, go onto LDS.org and look it up. It's sweet. We did a whole lot of walking, but not a whole lot of teaching.

Sunday- Sundays are very interesting here. We cover the Newport News 2nd Ward, and also help out with the Army branch on Fort Eustes. Every Sunday, we exchange companions so that both companionships can be represented at Ward Council. I went with Elder McCleary. He's awesome. He's been out for 3 months. He played basketball with Cooper Holt in Orem. During Sacrament Meeting, we were asked to share our testimonies. We exchanged back after Sacrament Meeting. Neither companionship has a car, so we rely on the members to give us rides a lot. We went and taught a man named Jeffery Mott. He was testing to see if we would be offended by saying the Book of Mormon was hard to read. We watched a talk by President Monson with him and his wife.

Monday- Every Monday, all of the Elders in Newport News get together to play Oompa-Loompa. It's a ton of fun. It's a mix between basketball, football, and ultimate Frisbee. I got to see Elder Morgan there.

My spiritual thought for the week comes from the Book of Alma. Chapters 17-27 comprise of the stories of the Sons of Mosiah and their missions to the Lamanites. It is such an inspiring example of how missionary work ought to be done. I want to focus on their afflictions. They suffered many things. Aaron and a few others endured imprisonment and numerous beatings. After Ammon and Lamoni set them free, they didn't delay, they went right on thrusting in their sickle. The result is one of the greatest missionary efforts in recorded history. They were instrumental in the conversion of thousands of Lamanites. There are a lot of adjustments that I have had to make in the past week. New apartment, new companion, and a whole new area. After reading this scripture, I decided to put all fear behind me and to look forward with "an eye single to the glory of God." I have seen many miracles in doing so.

It's hard to believe that I've been out for six months. I have learned so much and grown so much on my mission. I've learned and applied doctrines that were unknown to me before. I have grown in love of my Savior, Jesus Christ, of my Father in Heaven, and all of his children. It is exciting that I still have another 18 months to learn, grow, and serve the Lord with all of my might, mind, heart, and strength. I love you all.

Elder Dumont