Snow Elders

Parent note:  To recap the last couple of weeks, Elder Thurgood finished his mission, Elder Dumont received a new companion, and was made district leader.

Monday- Today I said goodbye to Elder Thurgood. I was assigned to spend today and tomorrow with the Elizabeth City Bike Elders, but I still had the car, so no biking for me.

Tuesday- Elder Ashcroft, Elder Trane and I spent the day contacting investigators. We had a couple of really good lessons.

Wednesday- We drove to Portsmouth for transfers and the worldwide missionary broadcast. The broadcast was soooooooooo good. I learned a lot about how I can improve. I got Elder Davis, and we drove Elder Ashcroft and his greenie back to their apartment. We went shopping, stopped for some dinner, dropped off our groceries and went to the church for our Book of Mormon class.

Thursday- We were in the apartment for a while. I spent the morning planning out our district meeting, then we spent much of the afternoon planning out our week. We had dinner with Brother Owen Etheridge and his wife. We talked about the pre-earth life and about adversity and trials with them.

Friday- Today was pretty stressful. We had to go down to Nags Head for district meeting, which is way too far for us to drive. We had a member take us down, but he couldn't drive us back. We had to have another member come and pick us up later on. He had to drive through a little bit of snow to get to us. We didn't really see any snow today. We spent the day in Grandy, trying to contact former and potential investigators. The only success we had was teaching a less active lady. We went to the church to plan out tomorrow. We're limited on miles, so we wanted to make sure we could have something to do all day and still be able to conserve some miles.

Saturday- Today was amazing!!! We contacted a less-active/part-member family in our trailer park. We taught them about the Atonement. After lunch, we were off to Camden. Our plan was to try to contact less active members and if they didn't work out, tract in their areas. This worked out very well. While we were on our way to a less active, we found that the directions we printed off had us take an extra left turn into a similarly named street. We felt prompted to tract it, so we did. The second door we knocked let us in, Lonnie's his name. We talked about the Atonement a little bit, then he started dumping on us all of the rough things he's had to go through in the past 2 months. We just listened to him, and that's what he really needed. He invited us back next week. We had a short lesson with the Packer's and with a less-active family, then went home. Most of our time was spent in the snow. It was so fun.

Saturday- Church was cancelled and we were grounded for much of the morning because of snow. We had to make some new plans, because with church being cancelled, we had a couple of extra hours that we didn't plan for. We felt that we should tract for the first hour. The first door we knocked on let us right in. Vick talked to us about how the Lord had prepared him for different things that have happened in his life. We talked about the Atonement and read Mosiah 3:19 with him. We committed him to reading Mosiah 3 and praying about it. We went and contacted someone that Elder Thurgood and I taught, Don and Amber. We read the Book of Mormon with them. We went and saw Brother Hullet and talked about the temple with him. We tried to contact a potential, but he wasn't home. His mom told us to visit the people next door. Brett answered the door and we taught him a brief restoration lesson. We had dinner with Joe and Laura Etheridge and then came home.

We had a really great week and I'm excited for this transfer. Elder Davis is a great companion. I love you all. Have a great week.

Happy New Year

Tuesday- Today was a pretty crazy day. We were scheduled to go on exchanges with the Nags Head Spanish Elders in the evening, but our ride called and asked if we could go down just after lunch. Our ride, Jacob, had lost his wallet, so his dad was taking him down to the DMV in Kill Devil Hills to get a new one. So we get down there and do our little exchange thing while Brother Packer took Jacob to the DMV. Elder Free (my exchange) were expecting to go back to Currituck, but then we got a call. Jacob had to retake the written and driving test, so we were going to be a couple of hours. We decided to start our exchange by splitting the area. Elder Free and I went and talked to a Hungarian investigator. There was a clear language barrier but through diligence and the language of the Spirit, we were able to help this man realize that reading the Book of Mormon will make him happy. It was a pretty big miracle. We got on our way and had dinner with the Moster's. We went with Jacob, his brother Nathan, and his sister Chelsea to see a recent convert named Gabbie and that was a lot of fun.

Wednesday- Elder Free and I went and saw a less active brother. While we were waiting for him, his little chihuahua started having a seizure. His wife was freaking out and trying to snap him back. The dog survived. We went and exchanged back, then tried to see a bunch of people, but nobody worked out. 

Thursday- Brother Packer picked us up to take us to interviews with President Baker in Elizabeth City. President Baker gave me a lot to think about and challenged me to be my best these last few months. Brother Packer took us to a chinese buffet, and then home. We did a little bit of weekly planning, then Jacob picked us up and took us to the Packer's for New Year's. We played some more ping pong and I got to hold a little puppy (didn't get a picture though).

Friday- We had zone meeting in Elizabeth City and then exchanges with the zone leaders. I was in Elizabeth City with Elder Cowley. We had a pretty rough day, but managed to have a pretty good night. We were able to do some teaching in a couple of finding situations. 

Saturday- We exchanged back and then went and did service for a man Elder Thurgood met on Friday. He has some property that is pretty worn down, so we helped him with a couple of projects. We went and saw a family named the Goddards that Elder Thurgood met on Friday also. The parents were on their way out, but we did get to teach their son Alex the restoration. He's going to school in Raleigh though, so we won't get to teach him again, but those missionaries will. 

Sunday- Fast and testimony was great. After church, we went and tried to see a few people. We were able to see two different Smiths. Brad is a great guy. He's going very well. Then we went and saw Don Smith.

That's our week. Have a great New Year.

Elder Dumont

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