Written by Elder Dallin Remund, serving in the Virginia Chesapeake Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.
Hello! Wow, I actually have a little bit of time to write out a big email! This hasn't happened in a while, since I got out to Wilson!
I had a BLAST this week and there was also quite a few miracles.
Let's start out with the miracles.
A couple of weeks ago Elder Benedict and I were at Walmart and Elder Benedict talked to this guy named Jo** while I was printing pictures. We got an appointment set up with him and it fell through the next week. Well, on Saturday we decided to knock the door and we ended up teaching him about the Restoration. He said that he would read the Book of Mormon and be baptized if he got an answer. It was awesome! He's American, but the sister missionaries are already teaching a lot of people, so we'll be teaching him. He is super nice and we're teaching him next week, so we're pretty excited.
The other one! Right now we are teaching a part member family, the P**'s. The mom and the older kids are less active members, and the younger kids are all unbaptized. They are so golden and they have changed from criticizing the church and being doubtful, to becoming super reverent and teachable in the past month. Most of the kids are on track to be baptized in February, and the whole family should be getting back into church in the next few weeks.
Well, the oldest kid in the family is a member but hasn't been back to church in years. He has a wife and three kids and is super awesome. He has some doubts with some anti-Mormon material he has come in contact with, but he really admires the church members and he wants to learn more about the church. We are pointing him to the correct sources and helping him gain a testimony from God and not from random websites. His wife is not a member and she went to a church activity here in Wilson and really liked the unity that the ward members have, and it's something they want for their family. We're scheduled to have dinner and a lesson with them.
It amazes me to see how much the Lord has prepared the whole P** family, down from the unbaptized kids, to the returning less active mother, up to the oldest son and his whole family. They are being prepared in a marvelous way and they have a lot of faith. I'm really excited for the upcoming transfers here in Wilson and excited to see all the other ways they'll progress in the gospel.
Now, for the less miraculous but fun stuff!
As a zone leader, I get to go on exchanges around the zone. After a really big Christmas conference in Kinston, NC, I went down to Albertson!!!! I had the time of my life down there. For those who don't know, I started my mission down there. I saw about half of the ward members throughout the exchange, and I had some great reunions. I got to see a past investigator down there and introduce him to Elder Garcia and they should be meeting with him again. He needed some time to progress a little bit. The kids had grown a little bit too, which is unsettling. Have I really been out super long on the mission??! Anyways, it's changed a bit down there. The elders live in a trailer now. They moved them out of the Chicken Coop, which made me a little sad. I walked into the old Chicken Coop that I used to live in and it was empty and there were a lot of bugs. Desolate! Haha, but the trailer the elders live in is on a street where a ton of the members live, so that's a plus.
Christmas was great. We had breakfast with our bishop and did a little service project at a Methodist church, feeding some people Christmas lunch. Then I got to Skype, which was AWESOME! I miss the family!! I can now officially start singing, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and mean it!!! We ate a gigantic Christmas lunch and we played some soccer with all the Hispanics in the ward. I stink at soccer, but I'm getting better. Really slowly, but still better. Haha! We had a little bonfire with the YSA (Young Single Adults) Christmas night. I got to see my good RM (returned missionary) friend from the mission, Cameron Sanchez, who married one of the Hispanic family's daughter from this ward. He's the bomb. It was a great Christmas.
Well, I'm so glad I finally got to email y'all. I love y'all a ton and hope y'all have a great New Year! This next week is going to be insane being a zone leader. My companion is finishing his mission, we have Mission Leadership Council up in Virginia tomorrow and Wednesday, zone meeting, transfer calls, and all the logistics that come with that. I will be going insane and making a ridiculous amount of phone calls! Really excited to figure out who my new companion is going to be!!! I'll make sure to at least include that information in a short email next week.
Shout out to Sister Brakey and Sister Johnson who are coming to the Chesapeake mission next week! They both went to Herriman High with me and they're MTC companions right now. Hoping I'll get to be their zone leader, haha!!
Feliz Ano Nuevo! Les quiero.
-Elder Remund
Adventures of a Zone Leader (December 8, 2014)
Greenie Fire (January 20, 2015)
