Merry Christmas

We had a very slow week this week, and I'm low on time so here's a brief summary.

Tracting- We did a lot of it this week. No Christmas cheer to be found.

Christmas eve- Christmas Eve was fun. We went to the Packer's house for dinner, then we played some games with them. Brother Packer read the Christmas story for us. 

Christmas Day- We opened up our presents, ate breakfast, and then relaxed for a little bit. We went to the Waller's for dinner and skype. It was so great to see my family. I'll be honest, I couldn't recognize half of my nephews haha. 

Church- I got asked last minute to teach gospel doctrine. That was pretty interesting. I'm just glad that there are some gospel geniuses in the branch or I would have been sunk. 

Next week's letter will be a lot fuller, as we are going to make things happen.

Love you all.

Elder Dumont

Elder Thurgood unwrapping 

I open presents quickly

I love new pants

Currituck

Tuesday- We went and saw a member that's in a nursing facility named Brother Smith. We just visited with him and then he shared with us his favorite scripture. We spent the rest of the day tracting. A member drove us to Nags Head for exchanges with the Spanish Elders. 

Not swimming

Wednesday- Elder Gibb and I started out by tracting. We tracted into a couple of very drunk guys, so that was pretty fun. We also had a miracle happen. There's a less active that Elder Gibb and Elder Free have been trying to find for a while, and we tracted right into her, minutes after she got home. That was way sweet. We (and by we I mean Elder Gibb) taught a couple of less actives. We had a member take us back up to Barco to exchange back. 

Rico Suave

Thursday- Not much to report here. We had dinner with the Huggins. and contacted a referral. 

Friday- We had our Christmas conference. We watched Muppet's Christmas story. It was pretty funny. There was a Christmas program afterwards, and then Elder Dudley, the area seventy, talked to us about where we were in the Book of Mormon, specifically where we were in behaving like Christ compared to Book of Mormon characters. We got lost a couple of times going home, but we made it. We stopped for some pizza, and then went and taught the Harvleys, a part member family, for now. The wife has a baptismal date for January 5th. They are super great and humble. 

Umm, the Elder Gingerbread Man, not the best interpretation.

Saturday- We went and saw Brother Smith again. We went and tried to contact people, but didn't have any luck.

Sunday- The Branch Christmas program was absolutely wonderful. The music was very inspirational and the remarks given were faith promoting. President Evers asked Elder Thurgood and I to bear our testimonies. It was a great Sacrament Meeting. We were able to contact a less active later in the evening, and then we had dinner with the Bairs.

Merry Christmas to every single one of you.

Elder Dumont

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas one and all. I just wanted to share a few quick thoughts about Christmas with all of you.

One film that has been on my mind is Mr. Kreuger's Christmas. The film is about a lonely custodian that lives in the basement of the apartment complex he works at. Mr. Kreuger has a very wild imagination, at one point imagining himself conducting the Mormon Tabernacle Choir while being pulled on a sleigh. The part that really hits home from me, comes from near the end of the film. Mr. Kreuger imagines himself in the stall in Bethlehem. When he realized where he is and what's happening, he begins to talk to the little baby Jesus. He thanks the babe for being there for him when his wife passed away and for helping him understand a lonely person. He goes on to thank the Lord for being his best friend. He knows that because the Savior is his friend, he can hold his head up high, no matter what the circumstances. The most powerful part is, while on his knees, Mr. Kreuger tells the little baby Jesus, "I love You!"

How grateful I am this holiday season for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because He was born, we all have a friend. Because He was born, we can all hold our heads up high, knowing that the greatest person to ever live loves us. Because of Him, we don't have to live a life of shame, guilt, pain, or sadness. I love the Lord, Jesus Christ and I love all of you.

Love,

Elder Dumont

Transfers

Tuesday- We had a lesson with Gary. We just read the Book of Mormon with him. We also saw Deante. Sorry I forgot my planner so this is going to be pretty spotty. 

Wednesday- We had dinner with the Massey's, then we got locked out of our house haha. Our downstairs neighbor broke us in. We went with Brother Mortensen to see Brother Pochop and had a really good lesson with him.

Thursday- We had a lesson with Seth Wilson, and dinner with Jim. We went to Chili's.

Friday- We had zone meeting today. We had dinner with the Pierces.

Saturday- We got transfer calls. I'm going to Currituck, North Carolina to be with Elder Thurgood. I'll be his last companion. We went and saw Gary again and just answered some questions that he had. We went and helped the Walker's paint, so that was pretty fun. We went and saw Deante again that night.

Sunday- There were a lot of visitors at church yesterday. Testimony meeting was really great. It worked out very well, cause there was a man that said he was looking for a church where the members were kind, and had strong testimonies. Check and check. We had dinner with the Doyle's. We watched the Christmas devotional with them.

I'm sorry this is short. I need to do better at writing in my journal. That will help me remember stuff better.

Love,

Elder Dumont

Elder Dumont's New Address

Elder Nathan Dumont
141 Little Joe Ln.
Box 10 Lot 21

Barco, NC 27917

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday- We had a really good day today. We went and taught Deante's sister the Restoration and set her with a baptismal date!! That was a good start. Then Deante came with us to teach Joy, and that was a really good lesson. Joy's been reading a lot and marking a lot. She seems to be understanding what she's reading very well. We had dinner with the Brown family, then we went and read the book of Mormon with the Christopher's.

Wednesday- We had another really good day. We had a lesson with William Joseph. He read quite a bit since the last time we saw him. After lunch, we went and saw a guy named James. He's a lay preacher for another church, but was interested in the Book of Mormon. After that, we went and saw Benjamin Carter. We taught his friend the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. We went and saw Brother Greene, then we had dinner with Brother King. We went and saw Brother Pochop afterwards.

Thursday- After weekly planning, we went to the Short's for dinner. It was still being prepared when we got there, so we got to watch a little bit of Meet the Mormons. Dinner was super yummy. We had fried turkey, stuffing, mashed taters and gravy, homemade sweet rolls with honey butter, then for dessert, homemade pumpkin pie, homemade pecan pie, and homemade butter pecan ice cream!! We went home and made brownies to take to ward members.

Friday- I had exchanges with Elder Davis. We spent a good part of the day contacting former investigators. We saw a little bit of success. We went and had a lesson with Deante. He was sore from the Turkey Bowl but he had a blast. We had dinner with the Humphries, then Brother Humphries was going to take us to the church with an investigator, but the investigator was a no show. 

Saturday- We helped Brother Turley with some yard work. It was fun. Yes Mom, I just described yard work as fun haha. We went and tried to contact some more less actives. That was pretty much our day. We made another batch of brownies to take to members

Sunday- Deante got ordained today!!! We delivered the rest of the brownies. We had dinner with Brother Miani and it was sooo good. He had a bunch of different kinds of cheeses that I couldn't stop snacking on. 

I would encourage all of you to visit the new Christmas website and watch the videos. They're pretty great!

Love,

Elder Dumont

Mount Up!

Tuesday- We had our P-Day today, so we went to Fort Monroe. Their museum is closed on Mondays, so this was a tender mercy. It was so great. Fort Monroe has a lot of history, such as this was where Jefferson Davis was held while awaiting trial. We had dinner with the Pierces. 

Hey, what's down there?

Wednesday- We had back to back lesson's at the church with a couple of less actives. The first was David Palmer. We got to know him a little bit, then shared about eternal families. The second was Shequan Bernard. We shared the Restoration with him. After that, we had dinner with the Chase's. They are so dang cool. We went and saw Deante after that.

Thursday- We were on our way to an appointment when we stopped and talked to a guy named Gary. We taught him the Restoration and said we could come back. We were able to talk to a lot of people today, but other than Gary, it was pretty quiet.

Friday- We took Deante a bible and asked him to come with us to a couple of lessons. We weren't able to see anybody, but we had a fun time. We had dinner with Jim and he took us to Firehouse Subs. That place is so good. 

Saturday- We had a lesson on the priesthood with Deante in the Turley's home. Deante is getting interviewed on Tuesday!!! We had another lesson with Gary. He read the restoration pamphlet and said that he really liked it. We had dinner with Sister Kim and Brother Miani came with us.

Sunday- We had ward conference. President Hamilton gave a great talk on the new stake goals. We had a combined 3rd hour with the High Priests and President Hamilton talked about what it takes to make multi-generational families happen. We went out and saw Brother Pochop in the evening. He is cruising through the Book of Mormon!! He got from 2 Nephi 2 to Alma 13 in a week and a half!!!

I hope everybody has a happy Turkey Day. I am thankful for a loving Savior who is always concerned for the One. His love is so broad and yet so personal. I am thankful that during our times of grief and pain, He's there to lift our burdens and encourage us to move on. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to serve my Lord and my God. What are you thankful for?

Elder Dumont

Ready, Aim...

The room that Jefferson Davis was held in...so hardcore.

Baptism!

Monday- We had dinner with Brother Miani and he fed us some legit italian food that was soooo good. We had a lesson with Deante. We talked about the Priesthood and service.

Tuesday- We had to shampoo our carpets today, so that was fun. I had a doctor's appointment, then Brother Massey took us to Cafe Rio. We managed to get out and see the Christophers. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the blessings of those that read it. We had dinner with the Mortensen's, then went home teaching with Brother Mortensen.

Wednesday- We had a really good lesson with Brother Pochop. I love that man. We saw Joy, and talked with her about the Book of Mormon. We set up an appointment for the next day.

Thursday-After weekly planning, we went and saw Joy. We just answered all of her questions. We saw Dawn and talked with her a little bit. We had dinner with Brother Greene, then we went and saw the Pierces. Their son Dylan started hitting me with a triple combination. His Dad grabbed him and as he was taking Dylan away, he reached back one more time to hit me. It was so funny hahaha. That kid is a brute. We went to see a less active that we hadn't met yet. We came out of there smelling like every drug known to man. It was bad haha.

Friday- We had district meeting and exchanges. I stayed in Hampton with Elder Allred. We went out with Brother Anderson to see some people. The only luck we had was with Tron. He committed to working towards going to the temple!!! We did a little bit of tracting, then we had dinner with Jim. We tried to go see a couple more people, but no dice. Brother Miani took us and Deante to the church to get him fitted in baptismal clothing. 

Saturday- We exchanged back and tracting for a few hours. We sent and filled the font for Deante's baptism. Elder Heagy did the dunking. For being half Deante's size, Elder Heagy did pretty good not dropping Deante haha. 

Deante

Sunday- Bishop confirmed Deante. We had a correlation meeting with Brother Turley and lunch. After studies, we went and saw the Walkers and talked with them about the Book of Mormon. We tried to see some other less actives. We did get in with one named Sister Shipley.

A little happier Deante

Sorry this isn't more detailed. I'm really short on time. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Dumont

We brought down the house!

Hanging out poolside! No this is not the font.

Monsoon Season

Monday- We had dinner with the Walkers. Sister Walker is Filipino, so we had some authentic Filipino food and it was sooooo good. They gave us these little things that kind of remind me of egg rolls, but they are so much better. We went to try to contact another less active, and she gave us a little plastic baggy stuffed full of candy!!

Tuesday- After my morning physical therapy, Brother Massey took us to Firehouse Subs. The brisket sandwhich is soooooooooooooo amazing. We spent the rest of the day deep cleaning our apartment. We did have dinner with the Humphries. They are super great!!

Yeah, a little wet!

Wednesday- It rained sooo much and we were on bikes this week. The picture of me in a towel is associated with this day. We went and saw Sister Bruhn and Tron came with us and bore a super powerful testimony. We had dinner with Brother Pochop. Brother Humphries picked us and Daunte up and took us to the church. We had a lesson with Bishop. We went over the baptismal interview questions with Daunte and showed him the font.

Thursday- It still rained buckets today. We went and saw William Joseph and talked more about the Book of Mormon with him. It was raining too much, so we had to head inside. Jim came and picked us up for dinner. We went to Red Robin. I love Red Robin!!!

Friday- We had zone meeting and President Baker was there. It was all about helping investigators make commitments. The rest of the day was pretty slow. We had dinner with another Walker family, then had a lesson with Daunte.

President Baker-Paparazzi

Sister Baker-Paparazzi

Saturday- Daunte had his interview early in the morning, and we were asked to help with the bishop's storehouse. Daunte passed his interview!!! and he helped us with the Bishop storehouse. It was raining...again. We went home and did our studies, then had dinner by ourselves for the first time in like...forever.

Now that's a treat!

Sunday- After church, we got a ginormous rice crispy treat!!! I was so happy. We did studies and the Doyles brought us dinner. We went out and worked for a bit, but no success.

Elder Dumont

Our Week

Monday- The Doyle's took us to Cafe Rio. It was great. The workers there can pretty much tell what the missionaries are going to get: Pork Burrito.

Tuesday- We were able to have a lesson with William Joseph today. We hit the Book of Mormon pretty hard with him and exhorted him to pray about it. We also had a lesson with Daunte. We went over the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. He committed to living them both. He's so solid. 

Wednesday- We contacted a new less active named Maxine James. She was at Brother Booth's house, so we taught them both about the blessings of reading the Book of Mormon found in 1 Nephi 15:24. We biked around for a while, then went to do some service for Brother Pochop. We helped him replace a fence post. We then drove to Brother Greene's house for dinner. We went with Bishop Hamblin to help him with his hometeaching. 

Thursday- We did weekly planning, then e helped a nonmember family move into their new home with the other elders. We went and helped the ward set up for the trunk or treat that night. Daunte came and had a great time. He got to meet a lot of new people. 

Friday- We had district meeting, then spent the day trying to find people to teach. We were able to teach Daunte the 10 commandments, following the prophet, keeping the sabbath day holy, and scripture study. We went to dinner with a Sister McEachron. She's a great cook. We met a new member at the church. It turns out, he was baptized in Havelock, North Carolina when Elder Terril was there!! I met him before in Greenville. He's a really cool guy. 

Saturday- We spent the whole day biking to new less actives and trying to contact them. We did get to meet one of the members though. We had to be inside early, so we came home, grabbed some dinner at Burger King, got some ice cream and made milkshakes. 

Sunday- I made a more concerted effort to keep the sabbath day holy, and it paid off. I had several spiritual experiences during church and Elder Heagy and I were able to lead two class discussions very effectively. After studies, we drove and set up times to see the Walkers and the Wades, then we went and saw Daunte and taught him the law of tithing. He committed to living it after his baptism. We had dinner with the Doyle's, and something there made my lip start swelling, so I took some benedryl and was knocked out an hour later haha. The Doyle's are super great.

Elder Dumont

It Was a Good 7 Days!

Monday- Nothing really to report, other than someone stole our pizza that a member left on our doorstep for us haha. 

Tuesday- I had physical therapy in the afternoon. We had an appointment with someone named Bernie Christian, but he forgot our appointment. We had a lesson with Daunte and Brother Doyle came with us. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was the first time I had taught the Gospel to someone in 7 months. All in all, it went pretty well. We did a active member lesson with Brother Williams, then Brother Doyle brought us Hardee's (Carl's Jr to you western folk).

Wednesday- We had interviews with President Baker. I asked him for advice on how I could further develop my love for the Savior. His inspired counsel to me was to read the 4 Gospels. So that was great!! We went and saw William Joseph. We just read the Book of Mormon with him. We were on our way to another house when we saw Bernie Christian and his wife outside, so we taught them the Restoration. They agreed to be baptized when (not if) they come to know that the church is true. We went and saw Brother Greene, then had a meeting and dinner with Bishop Hamblin. 

Thursday- Elder Heagy had a new missionary conference call in the morning. After weekly planning, we went and did some service for Sister Sedgewick, then came home and got picked up by Brother Miani. He came with us to dinner at Sister Johnson's. We came home and tried to contact a new less active, then came home. 

Friday- After district meeting, we went and cleaned out some lady's gutters with the other Elders. We had a couple appointments fall through. We went and visited our investigator Dawn. She's still solid, but she's been really sick for the last little while. We talked to her about receiving a priesthood blessing before her next Doctor's appointment, which she agreed to. We went to the Christians' house, but Bernie wasn't there. We gave Karen (the wife) a Book of Mormon and she was excited to read it. We had another lesson with Daunte, then tried to visit a couple of less actives. Jim took us to Chili's and they have a new cookies and cream molten cake that is to die for. 

Saturday- We taught William Joseph the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the morning. We took Daunte to a baptism in the afternoon. And we had dinner with the Massey's in the evening. They took us to Golden Corral.

Sunday- Church was really good today. After studies, we went to a couple of appointments, but they both cancelled. We decided to go see the Walker's and we had the best lesson I've had there. The Spirit was in control the entire time. We went to Brother Turley's and he showed us how to make Ramen Noodles, but way better. We role played the Gospel with him.

That was our week. No transfer call. Finishing training this time. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Dumont

Servicable

Cool Sunset

Tuesday- I had a doctor's appointment for my tendonitis today with Doctor Durbin. It hasn't gotten any better, so he recommended Physical Therapy. We went and saw a man named George and taught him the Restoration. He's read the Bible quite a bit. Afterwards we went to see the Walkers and they fed us dinner. I love the Walkers. I started my exchange with Elder Tolman in the evening.

Wednesday- We had a pretty good day today. We saw Joseph Garcia, and basically just had a bash. Not fun. We went and saw Brother Greene, and he introduced us to his upstairs neighbor who may be interested in learning. We saw William Joseph and just read the Book of Mormon with him. We saw the Christophers and encouraged them to fill their home with the Book of Mormon. We then went and saw Daunte and taught him the Plan of Salvation. He's so solid. His sister joined us for the closing prayer. We then went to dinner with Jodi (Sister King's friend) and the Kings at Panda Express. So good. Jodi had a question that we were able to answer. We went and exchanged back.

Thursday- I had Physical Therapy in the morning. They said that my tendonitis was caused by my muscles being too tight, so they gave me some stretches to do. We got home and helped another one of Sister King's friends move some stuff to her new house. We finally got to weekly planning, but weren't able to finish because we had dinner with Jim. He took us to Five Guys, oh yeah. 

Oh my Five Guys!

Friday- We had district meeting today, and afterwards we helped a less active member move apartments. We got home and did companionship study for a bit, then we went and had dinner with the Pierces. They fed us Yakisoba and it was sooooooooo good. We went to try to contact some less actives, but had no luck. 

Saturday- We helped an active member family move out today. Afterwards, we met with a new sister in the ward named Sister Bruhn. She's really cool. We tried to swing by Marcus and Sheena, but Sheena wasn't home. We got in Marcus' face a little and told him that he needs to read the Book of Mormon for his family. We went and tracted a little bit. On the street we were on, every Christian person we ran into was pretty rude, but the one pagan guy we ran into was super nice haha. Talk about irony. We had dinner with Sister Crist.

Sunday- Daunte came to church once again. He's on fire. He brought his niece with him too. It was the primary program today and a little girl did a solo with the song "Gethsemane." She did super good. After coordination and studies, we went out and worked. We were able to talk to a few people. One lady thought we weren't Christian, so I pointed at my name tag and said, "But it says Jesus Christ right here." haha We had a laugh at that. She asked for a Book of Mormon. It was really cool.

La Cucaracha is no more!

Transfers are this week, but I doubt we're going anywhere. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Dumont

The Field is White

Monday- The only thing that really happened today is that we met a guy who wanted a debate. We bore testimony and walked away.

Lego Bible

Tuesday- We got a few contacts in, but the majority of our time today was spent cleaning our dirty apartment. We did go out to dinner with the Kings, then went with them to see Sister Crist. We exchanged with the zone leaders, and I got a blessing for my knee. 

Wednesday- Today was the start of a really good day. Our morning kind of tanked, but after lunch, it really picked up. We taught a man named William Joseph about the Book of Mormon. He has a little trouble reading small print, so we told him we would get him a large print Book of Mormon. We then spent some time going around and trying to meet some less actives. We didn't get to sed any, but we were able to talk to a lot of people. We had dinner with Brother Greene, then went to help one of Sister King's friends move a fridge. We hurried home and got picked up by Brother Turley for a lesson. We taught a guy named Joseph Garcia and he's awesome. He says he's Christian, but he believes that we need to obey the commandments. We had a really good lesson, and afterwards, he gave us Chipotle coupons (he's a manager there). We went and taught the Pierces about family history, then went and exchanged back.

Thursday- After weekly planning and lunch, we went and taught Seth Wilson about the Law of Tithing. He said he needs to get back into it. We went and did some service for a sister in the ward, then had dinner. We went and taught a new less active named Robert Parks. He's a way good guy. He's taking care of his wife at home, so he's not able to come to church. 

Friday- District Meeting was all about increasing our faith through willing obedience to the Lord's commandments and mission rules. It was really inspiring. We went and taught William again with Brother Massey. We went and did some service for the Elders Quorum President, Brother Young, then we had dinner with the McAvoys. They are amazing. We invited them to fast and to pray for opportunities to shard the gospel, then we asked if there was anyone they would like us to fast for with them. They brought out a huge list of people they're trying to share the gospel with!!! What a blessing members are.

Saturday- Our 3 appointments in the morning bailed. As we were heading home, we started talking with this guy and we ended up just teaching him the Restoration right there. He had some really good comments. After lunch, we biked around and talked to people. We went and taught a guy named Daunte. He had met with missionaries in New York, and he is prepared. We set him for baptism on November 14th. We tried a couple of more people, then came home and waited for our friend Jim. He took us to Cafe Rio!!! The only one in the mission, and it just opened a few weeks ago!!! I was super pumped. When we got there, we saw the AP's. I got to see Elder Terril one last time!!! It was a super great night.

Cafe Rio comes to Virginia!

Sunday- Daunte came to church today. He said he really enjoyed it. He was pretty quiet until Elder's Quorum. He opened up a little bit more then. After studies and dinner, we went and biked around for a bit, then got picked up by Brother Miani for a lesson, and it was great. It was with a girl named Joy. We gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet before. She had read it and wanted to get baptized!!! We set her for November 14th as well. 

Elder Moustache

Things are really starting to pick up here. The Lord has truly blessed us. I love you all. Have a great week.

The River

It's Raining Spirit!

I know, that was really lame, but that's all I could come up with. It rained a ton this week, and General Conference was just so powerful.

Tuesday- We spent a lot of time tracting and trying to contact less actives, but we were met with very little success. We had dinner with the Short's and they made some pumpkin ice cream that was off the hook!!! We drove to Downtown Newport News to do exchanges with the Elders. I stayed in Downtown.

Just a small sample of all the rain last week

Wednesday- It was a very wet day. After studies and lunch, we went to the stake center to do a family history course that the stake president wants all missionaries to do. After we got back, we went out in the rain and worked. I tried to focus on having better contacts with people. We had a couple of contacts that went super good. We exchanged back that night.

Hand pedal bike. So hardcore.

Thursday- We had a crazy morning. After studies, we did lunch, then we had an apartment inspection. As we were getting ready to do weekly planning, we got a text that we were to prepare to evacuate in response to the potential of Hurricane Joaquin hitting us. If we were going to evacuate, it would be the next morning. After weekly planning, we drove to the Jacob's house and shared a little lesson with them. We found out that they're moving. We came home and did dinner, then we went to see the Christopher's. We got word that the hurricane was veering away from us, so we were safe.

Guess who's working harder!

Friday- We had zone meeting today and it was really good. It was mainly focused on increasing our faith in finding, cause in reality, I've lost a lot of faith in that regard. It was a motivating zone meeting. We were on our way to an appointment when we stopped and talked to some people, and we really tried to focus on talking with them and not at them. It worked wonders. We were able to discern their concern (haha that rhymed) and address it. They were excited to meet with us. We stopped by the Walker's for a quick lesson, then went to dinner at the Wade's house. They asked us to share a lesson about patriarchal blessings. 

Brother Nelson, I love this man!

Saturday- GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!! In order to keep this email somewhat short, I'll share a highlight for me from each of the sessions. 

Morning Session: I really liked Larry R. Lawrence's talk. I especially loved his suggestion to go home that night and ask Heavenly Father "What is keeping me from pregressing?" I tried that and the answer I got surprised me. I'm going to be sure to act on that revelation.

Afternoon Session: I enjoyed Vern P. Stanfill's talk about preparing ourselves with a bright light of testimony that will enable us to cut through the darkness that seeks to overthrow us. 

Priesthood Session: I loved the talks the First Presidency gave, but my highlight for this entry is Elder Anderson's talk about faith. It may be because the name of the boy in the story he told was Zane (my name), but I really felt that his address on faith was meant for me. 

Shoutout to the Children's choir from my hometown Riverton, Utah. That was so awesome.

Sunday- Morning Session- The testimonies of the three newest apostles gave me a powerful witness that they truly are called of God to witness of the Savior Jesus Christ. Elder Renlund's testimony hit pretty well a key principle of missionary work: seeing people the way Heavenly Father sees them. Something that I could improve on.

Afternoon Session- As much as I love the new word Ponderize, I really liked Von G. Keetch's talk. "Don't be too critical of the barrier, it's the only thing keeping you from being devoured." To that I say, from personal experience, respect the barrier. Respect the commandments. President Monson and Sister Stephens both hit on commandments as well.

That was our week. A whole lot of rain, but no hurricane. I hope you all will take the opportunity to go back and review General Conference.

Elder Dumont

After much tribulation...

Cometh the blessings.

Monday- I locked our keys in the car. $110 for the locksmith. We weren't able to do anything as a result.

Tuesday- This is kinda funny. Our smoke detector malfunctioned and wouldn't stop going off. We ended up calling 911, cause I didn't know what was happening. We just went around today trying to talk to people and contact people, but we didn't have any success. We went to Cracker Barrel with the Massey's.

Wednesday- We had zone conference today, and it was probably the most spiritual zone conference I've had. We got black boxes installed for the cars. Tracks speed, acceleration, location, brake pressure, and reckless driving. Fun stuff. We had a lesson with Brother Greene, then went home and had dinner. We talked with people for the rest of the evening. 

Thursday- We had weekly planning, then went and saw Seth Wilson. The rest of the day was spent trying to contact people, but again, we were met with little success.

Friday- We just tried to contact people and talk to everyone but once again, little success. 

Saturday- We went and saw Sheena and Marcus in the morning. We just read the Book of Mormon with them. We biked clear across our area for another appointment, but he wouldn't answer the door. After lunch, we just tried to contact people. Little success. During the evening, we were planning on role playing with Brother Turley. What happened instead is he took us to the Swetish's house, where he, Brother Swetish, Brother Carroway, and Brother Young were babysitting so their wives could go to general conference. We had dinner with them and did a group role play. We got a lot of good feedback.

Sunday- Church was so good today. Both the talks during sacrament meeting were amazing, and we had two members bring friends to church. One of them signed up to feed us in a couple of weeks. Today was the spiritual recharge I needed. We didn't get a whole lot of proselyting in, but we tried to make the most out of what we had. We had a good discussion with a man about the Book of Mormon and talked with some other guys about the Restoration. 

It was a rough week, but so worth it when considering the miracles we had yesterday. Love you all. Have a good week.

Elder Dumont

Training in Hampton

It's been a pretty crazy week this week.

Found a new bike helmet for Elder 

Tortirici

Tuesday- We had Elder Ray with us. Trio party!! We went and taught Sheena and Marcus the Book of Mormon. They absorbed it pretty well. We went tracting a little later on and were able to teach a lady named Andrea. We went and had dinner with the Walkers, then went and saw the Christopher's, a less active family. 

Wednesday- I had to be down in Portsmouth at 9 for a meeting, so we had to leave pretty early. President Baker met with Trainer's first and just talked about his expectations for us. He then welcomed the Greenies into the room. My new companion is Elder Heagy from Farmington, Utah. He just graduated from high school last year, so he's super fresh. We went home and did our first companionship study, then went and saw Brother Greene. We had a couple of appointments cancel, so we tracted haha. We had dinner with Brother King, then went to try to contact a couple of people. As we were on our way to contact someone, we started talking to a guy named Melvin. He's a really cool guy. We taught him the Restoration, but we had to leave a couple of things out because of his beliefs. It was a good first lesson though.

Elder Terril begat Elders Dumont and Jensen and Elder Dumont begat Elder Heagy

Thursday- We had weekly planning and stuff. We ended up doing quite a bit of tracting. After we had dinner, we went and saw Chris Nelson. We had a really good talk about the Atonement. I love that guy.

Friday- We had district meeting, and we got two more companionships in our district, the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders. We role played giving a church tour, so that was a lot of fun. We went and saw the Wade's and talked about the stake Book of Mormon reading. They're so willing to improve and get better. I love them. On our way to the Walker's, a car in front of us started having problems. We didn't know what to do, so we just sat there and talked with the guy, you know moral support and stuff. We went to the Walker's and really helped Brother Walker out. He was kinda bummed when we got there, but he perked right up by the end of the lesson. 

Saturday- We went and did a day of service at Fort Monroe. It was a stake activity. It was way fun, and we got a picture by the bay. We had lunch, then went and did studies. We had dinner, then tried to contact some people but didn't have any luck.

Day of Service

By the Bay

Sunday- Church was really good today. We had a new family move in, so that's big. After church we had a correlation meeting, then we had studies. We went to try to teach a guy, but he wasn't home. We did get yelled at by the apartment manager. He told us to stop soliciting? Anyway, we had dinner with the Browns and they are so funny. Sister Brown kept feeding her baby an acocado , and the baby did not like it, but he kept eating it. We went and tried to contact some less actives, but didn't have much success. However, after one of them, we went and talked to a guy and taught him the Restoration. He's a way good guy. 

Elder Heagy's a stud. I love training. I love life. I love my friends. I love my family. And most of all, I love my Savior. Have a good week.

Elder Dumont

Brings new meaning to the phrase "tree hugger"

Matt Foley, motivational speaker.

Sorry, My Bad!

Tuesday- We had a pretty busy morning. We taught a lady named Dawn and she is solid. She loved the Restoration. We then went and taught another lady with Brother Anderson, but she wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Dawn. After Lunch we went and talked to a bunch of people, but didn't have much success. 

Wednesday- We went and took a survey thing in the morning. We tried stopping by a bunch of people, but no one was home. We went and did service for a member family with the other Hampton Elders, Elder Ray and Elder Ballantyne. We cleaned up their back  yard. There was a ton of junk back there. We carted everything out to the curb for them, then we had dinner with the Ganuza's. There son is so funny. He stood right in front of us and pooped his pants. He is such a funny kid, I love him. The Ganuza's are super great.

Thursday- We did our weekly planning, then tried to contact a bunch of people, but no dice. We biked clear to downtown for a cancelled appointment, but it was worth it. Downtown Hampton is way sweet. We saw Brother Green, then had dinner. We tried to set up a lesson in a member's home, but it fell through. We're going to try again tomorrow. We went and saw Brother Pochop. We talked about prayer and it was a way good lesson. The more time I spend over there, the more I grew to love and respect him. 

Friday- We had district meeting today and stuff. We got a member present miracle. We're were going to teach one of our less actives, and one of our investigators was there, so we taught both of them. We then went to the Wade's house and taught the Plan of Salvation. We focused on their 8 year old. He had a ton of questions. I love that kid. We went to the ward fish fry that night and had a grand ole time. 

Saturday- We introduced the Book of Mormon to Dawn and she loved it. I think she thanked us for bringing it to her 8 times at least. She is so prepared. We got transfer calls. I'm getting another shot at training!!! I'm super stoked. We went and saw Brother Walker. We had the adult session of stake conference and it was super great. I got to see a lot of the New Kent Brothers: Brother Chrisofferson, Brother Baird, Brother Turner, Brother Rivord, Brother Fairbanks President and Sister Hansen, and President Johnson. I miss New Kent so much. Stake conference was interesting. They used a website to do a live poll, then the stake presidency based their talks around the results.

Picture sent by member after Stake Conference

Sunday- We had an hour before we had to leave for Stake conference, so we went and taught a lady and her husband. We talked to a bunch of people on the way there and back. Stake conference was super great again. The biggest thing I got out of it is the importance of yielding to the Spirit. I defined yielding as: slow down, pause, look, listen, discern, act. Those are 6 things that I need to do better at, and I'm confident that if I do these 6 things, I'll be able to be led by the Spirit more. We had dinner and coordination at the Turleys, then we went to see the Pierces.

It was hot and humid most of the week, but it's cooled off. I'm so glad we're in the car this week. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Dumont

Working with Less Actives

We've had a pretty crazy day today, so I don't have my journal, or my planner. I'm not going to be able to do a day by day. I'm also short on time, so I'm going to a brief overview of my week. I'll do better next week.

We saw a lot of less actives this week: Brother Pochop, the Pierces, Tron, the Melearts, the Walkers, the Wades, and I can't remember the last person. 

I went to the Downtown Newport News branch on exchanges and it was a lot of fun. There's so many people to talk to there.

We taught a hippie guy that was kind of crazy.

We only taught one investigator this week. We didn't find any new ones, but we did get to talk to a lot of people. 

I think that's it. Sorry, and I'll do better next week. 

Elder Dumont

Biking Machines!

Tuesday- So we were on bikes this week, and my bike helmet disappeared, so we were walking everywhere today. We taught a less active named Tron (yes that's his real name, yes he's black). He's pretty cool though. He feels that God's helping him change his life. He started reading the Book of Mormon and he's doing very well. Brother King took us out to dinner.

My desk after study

Wednesday- We walked to Wal-Mart to buy a bike helmet. It took us a long while. We stopped on the way back and read the Book of Mormon with a member. We talked with Tron again, and two of his friends started asking us questions, so we taught them the Restoration. 

Thursday- We did weekly planning, then afterwards, I made pizza. It was really good. I should be a chef when I get home. We spent a lot of the day knocking doors and talking to people of the street. We had dinner with Bishop Hamblin. He's a cool dude. 

Tracting in a nutshell

Friday- We had district meeting and it was way sweet. I went to the meeting with a personal question, and it got answered in the first 30 minutes. We were biking to a member's house, when Elder Haddock's tire came loose and got wedged near his pedal. We had dinner with the Ganuza's. Both of them served missions. Brother Ganuza took us across town to a lesson with a recent convert named Seth Wilson. He's been having a hard time, but we were able to help him out a bit. 

It's me! Now to find a cross street named Zane!

Saturday- We had a lesson with Charlie at the Turley's house. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it was going fine, until I said something stupid. It kinda ruined the lesson. Everything came out all right. I definitely learned from this experience. I'm grateful for the Atonement of Christ that allows me to come back and learn from my mistakes. We had a couple of more lessons that day, but they didn't go very well. I did make some really good fried chicken with rice.

Sunday- We had a short meeting with Bishop. Church was pretty cool. The Spirit taught me a lot. We had a correlation meeting with Brother Turley after church. We tracted a little bit more, then went to dinner with Brother Miani. He's from Italy and he is the man. He helps us out a ton. Just before we had to go in for the night, we went and taught a couple of potentials we met.

It was a good week. My knee is holding up pretty well so far. Good things are happening here in Hampton.

Elder Dumont

For you Lord of the Ring fans

So Long Roanoke Rapids, Hello Hampton!

Tuesday- We helped Brother Diettrich mow a few lawns, then he took us to lunch. I came home and took a little time to pack, then we had appointments, and a lot of them. We went and saw Chase Given and said goodbye to him. He took us out to dinner. We went and said goodbye to Bishop and his family.

Wednesday- The morning was spent with me packing. John Thomas invited us over for lunch. I'm going to miss that man. Elder Lewis told me that he went to church yesterday. We left for Portsmouth. We got there, and Elder Lewis and Elder Ward went to their meeting, and I was stuck in the chapel, with another missionary, for 3 and a half hours. We listened in to a little bit of the meeting, and I learned some things that I need to change. We had dinner with the new missionaries, all 30 of them. I slept at the assistant's apartment with some other missionaries.

Thursday- We had a mission conference, the first I've had since I've been here. It was mostly a meeting for our spiritual nourishment. We're reading the Book of Mormon as a mission, and we're marking scriptures on the Atonement, and the Doctrine of Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. We took a mission picture. I got to see all of my former companions and friends. I met Elder Haddock, he's a pretty cool guy. We went back to Hampton, and spent the night planning, but we did get out to see a less active family, the Pierces.

Friday- Today was zone meeting, and President Baker came today. We talked more about the Book of Mormon. President Baker said that when he came in and saw me playing the piano, he was reminded about how us missionaries all have diverse talents that contribute to the work. We got home, had lunch, then went to try to track down a couple of referrals. We didn't find much success, but we did get to teach another less active named Brother Wade. He's a really cool guy with a really cool job. Earlier in the day, we got a call from the Sisters in the mission office. They said that a Fedex guy came in to drop some stuff off, and he was upset. They talked with him and referred him to us. We taught him that night at the church with the ward mission leader, Brother Turley. It was a pretty good lesson. The man's name is Charlie.

Saturday- We went and helped a disabled sister with her garden, then tried to see a couple of investigators, but no luck. We did get to see another less active, named Sister Crist. Elder Black baptized her. We talked about the Book of Mormon with her and she really seemed to enjoy it.

Sunday- I was asked to give a talk on Christlike attributes, so I chose to talk of Patience, Hope, and Charity. I tried Elder Bednar's suggestion to prepare a talk and leave it under my chair. It was a little scary, but it was a good experience. After  church, we had correlation with Brother Turley. I really like him. We went and saw another less active, and then an active member, who is just super great.

Spiritual thought- I was going along with the Book of Mormon reading schedule President Baker came out with. I was reading in 1 Nephi 3 today, and realized something that I need to improve. Nephi and his brethren are given the commandment to go and get the brass plates. Nephi has faith that this can be accomplished. After the first couple of tries, which both ended in failure, Laman and Lemuel were ready to give up. Nephi knew that the Lord would provide a way to fulfill this commandment. He went to the Lord for help. The Spirit led Nephi down the path he needed to go, and he was able to obtain the plates. I thought about how many times I felt prompted to go see someone or do something, and after one failure, I gave up. I realized that I need to be more persistant and rely more on the Lord for showing me the way to fulfill His commandments.

Elder Dumont

Last Week in the Rapids

Monday- We had a lesson with our investigator Milton, and he is awesome. We introduced the Book of Mormon to him and he agreed to be baptized. He's way solid.

Tuesday- We went to Angel's closet, then got to work. We had a lesson with a lady named Kimberly who's black but totally looks like there's a heavy dose of Asian. We tried to mow a member's lawn, but the lawnmower wasn't working. We had a lesson with a lady named Sandra. She doesn't understand very much. We had a lesson with Sharnai. We taught the Plan of Salvation.

Wednesday- We had a couple of appointments fall through. We had another lesson with John Thomas. He wasn't sold right off on the Plan of Salvation, but in the end, he said that he might could believe it.

Thursday-We had a lesson with Greg and introduced the Book of Mormon. After weekly planning, we had a couple appointments cancel. We went to visit a member, but we were a little early, so Elder Lewis and I decided to do some tracting. We knocked on the first house, but no one answered. I went to walk off the porch, when Elder Ward said "Elder, where are you going?" I said "Tracting." He was confused and said, "What? Wait, then who lives here." My response was, "I don't know, that's the point of tracting." He was zoned out when we decided to tract haha. He thought that was the member's house. We talked with a guy named Ronnie, who's way humblesauce. Then we had a lesson with Sandra.

At some point, I forgot my shoes, while Elder Lewis forgot what we were even doing.

Friday- We had district meeting and exchanges with the zone leaders. Elder Lewis and I stayed in Roanoke Rapids with Elder Williams, who I totally went to High School with!!! We ended up doing quite a bit of tracting. We had a super good lesson with Kendrick Snow, a recent convert.

Saturday- We got transfer calls, I'm going to Hampton Virginia. If you've ever seen the Youtube video, "Hide yo wife, hide yo kids," that's where I'm going. Elder Lewis and Ward are both training. We exchanged back and had a really good lesson with this guy named Terel. We met him at Wal-Mart. It was a long drive, but well worth it. He's super prepared.

This was not creepy at all. The things you find while tracting.

Sunday- After weeks and weeks of frustration, WE FINALLY HAD SOMEONE COME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sandra came, but left after sacrament meeting. Terel was late, but he was there and he loved it. We had a couple of really good lessons. One was with a new investigator who knew a lot of the stuff we talked about already, and she's never met with missionaries before. We also had a lesson with Milton. He's read to 1 Nephi 9 already. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and he was making notes in his pamphlet. Today was so great.

Elder Dumont

Elder Lewis being...well Elder Lewis