Wild Wild Week

This week was crazy.

Monday- I went on an exchange with Elder Tortorici and we went to the Turner's house for my birthday dinner. It was a pretty crazy night. Just look at the pictures to come.

Tuesday- Elder Tortorici and I went and contacted some potentials and formers. We had a little bit of success. We talked to this one guy who was being taught last year. He is super solid.

Wednesday- We met with the a less active family. We helped them establish a family vision, with some goals and plans.

Thursday- We went to do some service, but it started snowing, so the member we were with decided to take us to a steakhouse instead. We went and visited the Shortts that night and had just an amazing lesson. We didn't really have a lesson plan, we just went completely by the Spirit. It was super sweet.

Friday- We went and helped some members in Gloucester with some service with the Gloucester Elders. It was the last time we would see Elder Friend on the mission.

Saturday- This is where things got wild. A guy that Elder Black taught in his last area got baptized, so we went down to Norfolk to see it. On our way back to New Kent, we stopped in Hampton and got some grub. When the member tried to start the car, it wouldn't start. We had to get a new battery. We finally got on our way. Just before we got home, we got transfer calls. Elder Black is going down to Clayton North Carolina. I'm staying in New Kent. I won't know who my new companion is until Thursday due to the fact the I'll be that missionary's first companion. I'll be his trainer. Since Elder Black was leaving, we went and said goodbye to some people. The wind was blowing really strong and it blew over a powerline. The power line was in a median and it caught all of the trees and grass on fire. Some of the flames made their way to the road when we drove past. We literally drove through smoke and flames and it was nuts!!

Sunday- Elder Black had a lot of packing to do. During Sacrament Meeting, I had to be the substitute music conductor. 

Monday- A wicked bad storm hit us last night. We got about 6 inches of snow. Not too bad for Utah, but for Virginia, it's like the apocalypse. 

Spiritual thought: "Being mistreated is the most important condition of mortality, for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us." (James L. Ferrell) Many of the trials we will go through will be because of the misdeeds of another person. The test will be for us to forgive those that had wronged us. Christ himself declared that we are to forgive all those that have wronged us. He himself forgave all mankind for all of their sins. When we refuse to forgive, we are basically saying that the Lord's atonement wasn't good enough. That his payment of the sin wasn't enough. When we choose to forgive, we are set free from a heavy burden. When we forgive, we allow the power of the atonement to fill our souls. 

That's all for now. This will be the first time that a missionary has been trained in this area for a long while, so this aught to be interesting. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Dumont

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What a Nice Cake!

Then somebody smashed his face in it!

Turns out it was a magical cake!

Because the Elder was turned into a princess! 

Happy Birthday to me I guess

Big News: I've decided to forgo my birthday this year. Still 19

Birthday Slurpee

Tuesday- We did deep cleaning, not an easy thing with our luxurious apartment. 

Wednesday- Deep cleaned some more. We also got to teach Jimmy. We taught the law of the fast and the Word of Wisdom. We then invited him to fast with us on Sunday and to go without cigerettes as well. 

Thursday- Weekly planned and finally finished deep cleaning. I forgot my notes so I literally have no idea what happened during the first part of the week.

Friday- Zone Meeting. President Baker came out with a structered way to do weekly planning. It's definitely different but I'm ready to try it out. I exchanged with Elder Friend. I took him to the two craziest people in the branch, Sister Turner and Brother Grimes. We helped Brother Grimes move some stuff he got in an estate sale, which included a piano. Sister Turner taught Elder Friend how to play a hymn on the ukelele.

Saturday- We exchanged back. Elder Black got a ticket for speeding. We went and did service at the Thrift Shop, then went out to dinner with Jimmy and Bro. Mays for Jimmy's birthday (everybody's having birthdays right now and it's ridiculous). I talked a lot with Bro. Mays and it really seemed to help him be less lonely. His wife is in a nursing home.

Sunday- Testimony meeting was all about temples and family history. Us, Bro. Mays, and Jimmy were all fasting that Jimmy would receive an answer to his prayers. We had dinner with the Bud family and I made friends with their pet bunny. They call me the bunny whisperer.

The Bunny Whisperer

Spiritual thought- Hymn #335 Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy. This is our official mission song, instituted by Sister Baker. The lyrics tell us that the Lord cares about all of his children. Many of his children are "poor fainting, struggling seaman." The Lord gives us the keeping "of his lights along the shore." We are to be a beacon to those who are lost or struggling. That is what the Lord expects of us. Be an example. Reach out to others who are struggling. "Send a gleam across the wave. Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save."

It was a slower week. We're getting transfer calls this week, so we'll see what happens. Love you all. Have an awesome week.

Elder Dumont

Can't explain this one

Week and Stuff

Monday- Miracle!! We were at the church changing from our P-Day clothes to our Proselyting clothes, and Brother Mays showed up. Jimmy is Bro. Mays great-nephew and he's living with him, so we took this as a sign. We went and had a lesson completely by the Spirit. We were able to understand where he was coming from, and where we are coming from. It was sweet.

Tuesday- We taught Jimmy again. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He made some really good comments.

Wednesday- We tracted a lot with very little success. We were blessed however. We visited some Part-Member families and found some people that are interested in having the discussions. We went home teaching with Bro. Gilland and Bro. Mays to another part-member family. The husband isn't a member but he invited us to come over whenever.

Thursday- We did service for Bro. Grimes all day.

Friday- We went and did service for the Thrift Store near our place for a while. We then went and visited Benny, a less-active.

Saturday- Crazy stuff. We had stake conference, and there was a priesthood leadership session at 4. We thought we were invited, but apparantly only zone leaders were invited. We had gotten a ride down there and were left to study for a couple of hours. We left to head back up to New Kent to watch the Adult Session at our building, but we hit traffic. We stopped for dinner, then everything cleared. We didn't get up there until 8:30ish. We were able to catch the last 30 minutes.

Sunday- More trouble. They had technical difficulties, so we missed half of the Sunday session. I had my name mentioned, but I didn't even get to hear it. They part I did hear was really great though. The area seventy came and spoke.

Spiritual thought: 1 Nephi 8 The Tree of Life. I want to focus on the Iron Rod and the 3 groups of people that made their way to the Tree of Life. The Iron Rod represents the Word of God or the scriptures and words of modern day prophets and apostles. There was no mention of the Iron Rod with the 1st group, meaning that they ignored it. They never found their way to the Tree and they were lost. The 2nd group pressed forward "clinging to the iron rod." Elder Bednar explains the significance of the word clinging. He says that clinging to the iron rod means occasionaly reading the scriptures. When this group of people made it to the Tree, they couldn't take all of the mocking and teasing that they faced from those in the great and spacious building. They wandered off into "forbidden paths and were lost." The 3rd group pressed forward "continually holding fast to the rod of iron until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." They did not fall away, because they always heeded the scriptures and studied them frequently. This group had protection from all of Satan's temptation. We can all have that same protection. If we always read the scriptures, we will always have protection. It we sometimes read the scriptures, we will sometimes have protection. If we don't read the scriptures, we won't be protected. My prayer is that all of you heed the counsel of the prophets, in modern and ancient time. I wish for all of you to receive that protection that is promised from reading the scriptures. I love you all.

Elder Dumont

We Do Stuff a Lot

A random dolphin selfie

Wednesday- We did some service for an elderly sister, and then she fed us!! Yeah Food.

Thursday- We did service for a less active for hours. We helped him take his purebred German Shepherd puppies to the vet to get a checkup. They are so stinkin cute!!

Friday- Exchange with Elder Friend in Gloucester. We did a lot of driving around, not much teaching. We also made cookies.

Elder Friend

Saturday- We exchanged back. We went to a baptism for an 8 year old the Gloucester Elders were teaching (that's why we made cookies). Afterwards, we had to be their "third male" in a lesson with an investigator. We went straight from that to our appointment with Myron. We answered all of his questions and talked about faith and humility.

Sunday- Sacrament meeting was all about missionary work. The Branch mission leader, his wife, and his mom all spoke about conversion stories. Funny part. Sister Gilland (the wife) told us a story about her boss. She had told it to me and Elder Black before. Her words "He believes in the Trilogy!!!" hahahaha

She blamed me for her slip up. The talks were all really good though.

Jeremiah 16:16~ Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

When I read this, I thought of Christ's invitation to the fisherman, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19) The Lord tells us how we can become "fishers of men" or missionaries. He tells us to follow him. When we do our best to follow him, he prepares us to "hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." Following the Savior will prepare you and qualify you to preach the gospel. You will feel the Spirit in your life as you seek out those who are prepared.

Quick Rant: For some odd reason, people out here like to call me Elder Dupont!!! They cannot grasp the concept of my name being Elder Dumont. Come on guys. It's not that hard. haha It's actually kind of funny. Love you all. Have a great week.

Elder Dupont

Running around like chickens with our heads cut off!

Monday- We spent all day with some youth. We went and played some football and basketball. Still got it. We had our first lesson with this guy we found tracting named Myron Randall. He's pretty sweet. We were talking about baptism and he said, "You're (bleeping) me, you mean I can become a Mormon too?!?!"

Tuesday- We usually go to mutual with the youth. We went on splits with the priests to visit less active priests. I went with Phil Hansen and we talked with Cody Adams. Phil picked out the scripture and invited Cody to church.

Wednesday- We taught our investigator Jimmy about the creation and the fall. Jimmy lives with Brother Mays and Brother Mays told Jimmy to think about and pray to know if he should be baptized on the 7th of February. Good Birthday Present for Mom if that goes through.

Thursday- We got taken out to Chili's for lunch. We then went to the church and had a really long weekly planning session. I fell asleep for a second. We then went to the Gillands house for dinner (we had chili haha). We had a short coordination meeting

Friday- We had to drive clear to Gloucester for district meeting. After which we went to the Gloucester apartment, made some huge hamburgers, then went on exchanges. I was with Elder Tortirici. He's a Texan. We had dinner with a recent convert family and they were way sweet.

Two slices of bread couldn't possibly contain all of that flavor #missionprobs

Saturday- Elder Tortirici and I went and helped somebody move. After that, we went to a member's house to help him process chickens. That means killing them, plucking them, and gutting them. I even got to kill one. Plucking them is the worst part. 

Look who's chicken now!

We went to West Point to exchange back, then we went to teach Myron again. We taught him the Restoration and the Spirit led us to read Ether 12:27 with him. That hit him with a lot of power. It was sweet. We then went to his Mom's house and she told us about his crazy past. She's not too interested in meeting with us, but she's all for us teaching her son. We then followed the Spirit to a less active family. We taught Moroni 6 and church attendance and had a really good lesson. One of them came to church.

Sunday- Jimmy came to church today. We went to the Turner's for dinner and they are a crazy family. They have a bunch of instruments so I got to learn how to play the ukulele.

Monday- We played sports with the youth all day again. It was sweet.

Tuesday- We went and helped at a food pantry early in the morning, then we had interviews with President Baker. Now I'm currently writing emails describing what happened last week and also what is currently happening.

D&C 58:26-27 talks about us being anxiously engaged in a good cause. What does it mean to be anxiously engaged? A big part of it is attitude, how we mentally approach doing good. Are we excited about being a part of this great latter day work? Are we worried about what will happen to those who don't have a knowledge of this gospel? If not, we need to get to that point. This work will go on with us or without us. The question is: Do we want to be a part of it, or sit on the sideline. If you're going to participate than do it full heartedly. That's where the blessings lie.

Super fun week. I love it here in New Kent. The work's a little slow, but that will change eventually. Love you all. Have a great week.

And Elder Elvis has left the building!

Elder Dumont

P.S. Welcome Home Sister Dumont.

The New Kent Area

New Kent is awesome.

Now that's convenience for you!

Tuesday- Packing. I hate packing. If I was cool enough, I would just make a transporter pad and transport all of my stuff to and fro. I hate packing sooo much. I did get to go see the doctor though. He said that because of all of the biking, my knees are under a lot of stress. Physical therapy seems to be in order. I got to have one last visit with the Foot's family. They are so cool. Love them to bits.

The Foots Family

Wednesday- Guess what I did. Pack. I did get to say goodbye to the Cooks. They are the bomb. Elder Black got to the apartment at around 4, then we headed up to the apartment. We got my stuff unloaded, then went to Dinner with the Fairbanks. They are sweet.

The Cooks

Thursday- We had to take the car in to get it maintenanced and that took up a huge chunk of the day.

The view outside the new apartment. Yes it is on a golf course.

Friday- We helped out these guys that run a nearby thrift store. They are way cool. We helped them rummage through a bunch of leftover junk from a church yard sale. We had dinner with the Baird family. They are a way sweet family. They are converts and are just the coolest.

Saturday- We had lunch with our only investigator and his uncle. His uncle is a member. they are both way sweet. We spent a few hours up in West Point. I got to step foot on the beach and it was sweet. We tracted a little and got a few return appointments. We headed back down near home and saw a less active guy named Benny. This guy's basically on his death bed, but he's such a good guy.

Sunday- Got to meet more of the branch. There's a lot of youth, more than in both of my previous areas and those were wards. The branch is way nice. We had dinner with the former stake president's family. They are a way fun family. We had a super cool miracle. We got the feeling that we shouldn't go and see the person we had planned on seeing. We said a prayer and started cycling through the GPS. The Spirit directed us to go and visit the Cox family. Brother Cox was really sick and badly needed a blessing. It was really cool to experience the Lord's hand in the work.

I wasn't invited to the purple tie party

I would like to bare a brief testimony about the church. We are always told that no matter where you go, if you assemble with the Saints, then you are at home. I have definitely felt that on my mission. I've been in 3 different areas now, but come Sunday, it feels the exact same as it did at home. This is truly Christ's church. It is a worldwide church. It is home.

The apartment: Awesome. The Car: Awesome. The Branch: Awesome. Companion: Awesome. Missionary Life: Awesome. Pretty much everything is awesome. I'm glad for the time that I got to serve in the Newport News 2nd ward. They are a great ward and I'm going to miss them tons. Looking forward to the time that I have to spend serving the New Kent Branch now. Love you all. 

Love,

Elder Dumont

Last Full Week in the News

Yeah, I totally got transferred haha.

Won't be needing this much for awhile!

Tuesday- We taught a member family the restoration and it was way sweet. They received inspiration as how they can share the gospel. It was also really good practice for us.

Wednesday- We visited a Recent Convert family during the evening. They are so awesome. Elder Bednar had come to the stake in the spring, and the Dad thought that Elder Bednar was talking directly to him. They are an awesome family.

Thursday- Happy New Year. We had dinner and a lesson with the Broussards. They are coming along pretty well. They've attended church the last two weeks, so definite bonus.

Friday- We had Zone Meeting in Williamsburg. President Baker is having us start the 12 week missionary training program all over again, so it was mostly on that. We went to a less actives home later that night. They are awesome. They've been working at the local amusement park all of Christmas, but they are definitely wanting to go back to church. They have a lot of interests. I got to play the guitar a little bit. IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG. But, sacrifice brings blessings.

Saturday- We got transfer calls. I'm headed North to New Kent. It's very rural. I'm still in the same Zone as before. My companion is Elder Black. He's a way funny guy. Elder Black's companion Elder Potter is coming here, so we're basically trading off. I'm finally in a car!!! Probably will be for the rest of my mission due to knee issues. We went and did some service for the Coolidge's.

Sunday- Elder Aitken got transferred as well, so we went on an exchange and went to Fort Eustis for our last Sunday with the soldiers. Most of them were still on leave, so we had a small number. Elder Aitken and I gave the lesson in Priesthood about the First Presidency Message in this month's Ensign about following the Prophet. We had a testimony meeting, then ate lunch. We rushed home and got picked up by the Ward Mission Leader to do coordination and second lunch. After that, we tried to contact our investigator, but she was sleeping. We tried to contact a few formers but nothing. The last former took us about 5-6 miles away from our apartment. We got about halfway, then we started walking and talking with the guy and he took us back to where we had started from. That was a long bike ride back, but it was definitely worth it. I learned a lot from Elder Aitken.

I'll miss these guys

I finished reading the Book of Mormon this week. I was looking for examples of Diligence and ways that I can be more diligent. There's a quote and a promise from President Ezra Taft Benson.

"I have often said that one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work."

This was taken from an address about member missionary work. Just by putting forth effort to do missionary work, we will be blessed by the Spirit. Seek for ways you can be a member missionary.

I love you all. I'm excited for this opportunity I have to serve that people of New Kent. I know that the Lord has something and/or someone waiting in store for me. Also, I'm starting my black out year. That's way exciting. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Dumont