Pray, He is There! - Elder Dallin Remund

Written by Elder Dallin Remund, serving in the Virginia Chesapeake Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

Hey!

I wish you a happy, happy March 4th from Yorktown, VA! The library that we email in every week is really nice. Yorktown is beautiful. Lots and lots of trees, yet it's a pretty well spread out city.

The weather this weekend was amazing. It felt like a nice summer evening for two straight days. Following Mother Nature's tradition, we got hit by a freezing ice/snow storm that shut the whole state down. All the libraries, schools, and other state buildings were closed. So we were stuck in our apartment for our whole preparation day.  Three other elders stayed the night in our apartment and we watched Ephraim's Rescue in a little fort on our bunk bed. We're still little boys at heart.

This week was a bit slower, but it was still really enjoyable. Even when we missionaries spend days knocking on doors without luck and appointments fall through, or we just can't find more people, Heavenly Father always gives us a little tender mercy. A lot of it comes with an increasing love and understanding for the Savior. I've been reading Jesus the Christ and it talks a lot about the affliction that Christ suffered while sharing the gospel with the prideful Jews. There is so much about Christ and His life that I didn't know before I came out on the mission. What a blessing it is for all of us to spend our whole lives getting to know Him while we live His gospel.

Elder Bradshaw and I got invited to our progressing investigator's surprise baby shower. We didn't know what to bring them for a gift, so we went to Walmart and decided on a little lion hooded towel. As we were in the checkout stand, the cashier was trying to read our Spanish name tags. He asked us what they were and we started getting into a really awesome discussion about the church. He was really interested about living prophets and how we can know that they are chosen by God. We had to leave because we were in line, but we're going to track him down while he's at work and hopefully the English missionaries can start teaching him. Moments like those on the mission are super exciting. The Spirit just burns in you for the next hour.

Right after that checkout experience at Walmart, we went to M's (our progressing investigator) baby shower. We found a ton of Hispanics there that haven't heard anything about the church. We ate some really good El Salvadorian food. Pupusas (bean or cheese filled tortillas with pickled cabbage),  empanadas (fried banana turnovers with a liquidy sugar filling), and some fresco (chopped up mango, apples, pineapple, and bananas in an orange drink). Thought I'd fill you in on my food adventures, too, because I get fed by Hispanics from all over the American continent. That's one of the perks of serving a Spanish speaking mission in the States. It's also difficult when you're listening to all their different accents.

I love y'all so much. The mission is going really well. I hit nine months out on the mission this weekend. It is flying by so fast! Keep sending out emails and updates from home. I know it's hard to send out those letters but they make a missionary's day when you send them out. The church is true! Stay fuerte!

Con mi amor,

Elder Remund

We Are All Enlisted (February 24, 2014)

This is the Good Life! (March 10, 2014)