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.