Thursday, August 3, 2017

Temple trip, teaching and good birthday

Tuesday July 25, 2017
Woke up at 5:00 and got ready to head off to the temple, which was cool because that is what I did back home is wake up really early for the temple.
We kept driving, and we went driving on some pretty back roads, it was interesting, and pretty fun.

We got to Bragg road 20 minutes early, and were the first ones there. Then the others arrived and we exchanged WenHou(greetings), the one with Elder Richardson was a little weird. Everyone else was good, it is always good to see Elder Grimaud and Elder Dickamore, and Elder Schellenberg, a good number of my past companions. After that we grabbed some lunch and then piled into the back of the vans they rented, and drove up to the temple. It was cool, got to see the Washington monument from a distance, and some other things. Definitely looked like it did when I first went there. We approached the temple, and wow...it is really big. It was hard to see from the van, but still cool. Definitely a lot of excitement and anticipation amongst the many missionaries. We got out and headed right in, and wow. It felt like coming home. We walked across the bridge and proceeded to get clothes and dressed and other things. It is a really cool temple, the stairs are part of the coolest part since they go straight up through the spires on the outside. In the beginning we got to spend a little bit of time with the Temple President, that was cool we were able to ask questions and talk about the temple and things. Then we went into the session. It was really, really good, it felt good to go through again. After getting through and going into the celestial room President Smith was there to greet us which was pretty cool.

After that we took some pictures and then crammed back into the vans. We got back, and ate at Chipotle. Then we drove back to Charlottesville which was fun, the whole crew fell asleep at one point.
Once we arrived, it was still a little crazy with all the companions in different areas, we dropped off Elder Whitlock, and picked up Elder Buhler, and then we 5(Larson, Wilkinson, Buhler, and Strong) went to a 1st ward mutual to talk with the young men about missions and things because the 1st Elders couldn't make it.
After that we dropped off Rivanna, and then we drove out to Crozet and picked up Elder Miller, it was pretty interesting figuring things out, but it did work out.
-Elder TempleTripTuesday

Saturday July 29, 2017
Well today was fairly interesting. Well it was pretty good. The morning was well we had to get ready pretty quick as well because we were meeting with Angela at the Oakhurst inn at 10:00, so we did our companionship study in the morning which was good, and unique. However I think it really helped out. We got to the place and found out that it is a sit down restaurant, and was really busy which was a little disconcerting because Elder Larson said the stuff was super expensive....but we ended up only drinking the water.

She started off with some questions, and then we said a prayer, so we didn't teach exactly a whole lesson, however through answering her questions we were able to teach her the restoration, it was a little scattered at times unfortunately...but overall it was good. She was asking lots and lots of questions, she even did some research online about us and it was accurate research. In the end, she agreed to read from the Book of Mormon, and wants to come to church tomorrow. Her lesson was definitely a little different than most, however it was still good. She was really nice as well and seems like she has a sincere interest in learning. A lot of it was trying to point her to the Book of Mormon. She also took the mandarin Elder thing well.

Also made a banana maple cake for my birthday from the stuff we had. We will see how it tastes.
-Elder SuperFullSaturday




Sunday July 30, 2017
It was a good birthday, all the little gifts from the family were fun. After that we went to brunch, Sister Lu let us know she couldn't come. I saw Elder McGowan there, he just got back from Hong Kong, it was weird to see him again.
We also heard from Sister Heath that Tina and her husband went to the Self Reliance thing.
Church was good, we also taught Gospel Principles which was really good. After that Elders Quorum was good. Then we went to the YSA ward which was cool, good to see everyone, we waited a good amount of time, but Angela didn't come. It was really peaceful waiting in the foyer though. After that we ate lunch and did our studies which was really good studying about the life of Jesus Christ and then doing Language study with Elder Miller.

Following that we went to the Howells, which was really, really good. It felt like a family, we were passing tons of things around and it was also tasty tacos. As well the fruit was super good. We had a really good time, then we were able to share a thought, which feels good to help them. They are a really good family. As well President and Sister Smith called in the middle and sang happy birthday.

After that we were able to visit some addresses in Crozet, we went to Leo the referral...and there were some wasps up in the top of his door so we were cautious...and then we knock and one starts flying towards us so we booked it away from them door...then the neighbor came outside and asked if we were ok. We said we were. Then we walked away and couldn't find two of the three addresses in Old Trail...that was a little confusing. Then we returned and had a good companionship study.

One the way home the downtown elders(including Elder Dickamore and Eames) called and sang happy birthday which was super nice of them.
Definitely feel kind of old being 20.
-Elder ServiceSundayBirthday