October 9, 2017 Love the Lord thy God

Hey everyone!

Another busy week here in Fort Belvoir! Every week just seems to fly by!

Elder Hastings, one of the Zone Leaders,
and I, with the coolest recent convert Eshetu.

We were able to teach Pam a couple more times this week and she made it to church on Sunday! We taught a really good lesson on obedience to commandments in general, emphasizing prayer and scripture study, as well as a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. I love the scripture from Matthew 22:36-40 where Christ explains the two greatest commandments.
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Every commandment that we're are given by God is an opportunity for us to show our love for Him and our love for others. When teaching any commandment, whether it be the 10 commandments, tithing, the word of wisdom, Chastity, etc., I love sharing this scripture first because it sets a good foundation. Every commandment ties back to showing our love and gratitude towards our Father in Heaven. As we taught the Word of Wisdom, Pam agreed with it all! She understands the importance of the commandment and is willing to start trying to live it. There are a couple things she is going to need to work on, but I know she can do it! She had a great time at church yesterday and the testimonies that were given were perfect for her to hear. She's excited to come again next week!

Elder Ure and I with our investigator Kwadwo.

His name means he was born on a Monday. 

Each day of the week has they're own name. 

I am Kofi, which is Friday, and 

Elder Ure is Kwasi, which is Sunday

We also found a sweet new investigator this week named Kwadwo. He's from Ghana and just barely moved here to Virginia about three weeks ago. We met him at the beginning of last week and we have already taught him three times! He is so humble and receptive to everything we've taught him. He believes everything we've taught and keeps every commitment that we've extended to him. He's in his mid 20's and is a good friend. When we see him we call him "mah damfo," which in Twi means "my friend."

We were able to teach an awesome lesson to a Nigerian family that we found last week! I can't pronounce their native Nigerian names, but they go by Paul and Amanda. They have three of the most respectful and kind little kids ever! It was fun teaching them. In the middle of our lesson, their 3 year old was trying to be welcoming to us, their guests, so he went to the refrigerator and grab a Corona Light beer and wanted to give it to me. I thought it was super funny! Paul felt really bad about it and apologized, and told his son to grab us some water. It was nice of the little boy to do that for us, it's the thought that counts, right? Another funny part of that lesson was when Paul randomly cut us off and said "Your church is Jon Huntsman's church right?" We said "Yes, he is a member of our church." That comment caught us off guard and we started laughing, and had to explain our connection to the Huntsman's. We told him that we'd be seeing his brother later that evening and he was surprised. Paul is really into politics and stuff. We're thinking of getting President Huntsman to come join us in teaching him a lesson.

President Huntsman up frontat the amphitheater speaking to all of us.

President Huntsman decided to have our Mission Leadership Council meeting at Burke Lake, which is nearby the mission home. We did it at the little amphitheater near the lake. He said that every time he goes there it reminds him of the Sacred Grove. The first part of our meeting was having everyone share an experience or story about the Prophet Joseph Smith, or a revelation, quote, or teaching that he gave. It was a great meeting at a beautiful location! I am so grateful for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and my testimony of it increases little by little each and every day.

Here are all of the Zone Leaders and
Sister Training Leaders in our mission right now-
a great group of people!

Well, this is the last week of the transfer! It's hard to believe that I've already done about 6 months in this area! Elder Ure and I have been together now for three transfers, and we are assuming that I'll be getting transferred to another area, since I came into this area first. But President Huntsman hasn't told us yet whose staying and whose leaving. We do know that one of us will be getting transferred though, we will find out within the next couple days who is leaving and who is coming in to replace one of us. This week will be busy in preparation for the new transfer!

I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Elder Jeremy Duvall
Washington DC South Mission