tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24767508917449021692024-03-14T04:19:07.462-07:00Elder Jeremy Duvall's Mission BlogElder Jeremy Duvall is currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Washington D.C. South Mission. He will be serving from January 2016 to January 2018. Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-4574052895494400212017-12-25T14:03:00.000-08:002017-12-25T14:03:39.453-08:00December 25, 2017 Merry Christmas!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Merry Christmas everyone!!!</div>
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President and Sister Huntsman are the BEST!</h3>
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Since last week’s letter was pretty long, I’ll keep this one a bit more brief.<br />
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We had a full week! We had 3 different exchanges with different companionships. For one of them I was able to go on an exchange out in Warrenton, which was super fun because I was able to see different investigators and members that I knew really well when I was out in that ward.<br />
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We were busy and had a lot of lessons in our area. Knowing that my mission has been winding down, I feel like in all of the lessons we have had the past few weeks, my testimony has been more sincere and meaningful as we teach our investigators. I am grateful for the chance I have had to bear my testimony of the<br />
Restoration of the gospel for the past two years here in Virginia!<br />
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I’m grateful for all the senior couples in our mission! <br />Elder and Sister Beus </h3>
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Last night on Christmas Eve we were able to deliver a pile of gifts anonymously to a part- member family that we’ve been teaching a lot the past few weeks. It’s a great feeling helping to make someone Christmas a little bit more meaningful! They’re the Sanchez family and they’re is awesome and have been coming to church the past few weeks!<br />
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We also taught the different recent converts in the ward a couple times this week and gave them some gifts. I will miss them!<br />
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Even though I gave a talk in church a couple weeks ago, I was asked yesterday on the spot to bear my testimony at church. I was happy to do it! I’ve spent the last 6 transfers of my mission here in the Fort Belvoir Ward and have really enjoyed my time working with the members of this ward!<br />
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Elder and Sister Neilson</h3>
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It’s hard to believe this is my last weekly letter home! I’m grateful for an INCREDIBLE mother who wrote me every single week of my mission, and has been writing weekly emails to missionaries for about 12 years, with a few small gaps in between where she didn’t have a missionary out serving. Over 700 letters! That’s some dedication. I only had too write about 100, she’s done way more. Love you Momma!<br />
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I have loved my time serving here in the Washington DC South Mission! I’ve had many wonderful experiences, met so many amazing people, and have learned a lot. I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve my mission and serve the people here.<br />
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Elder and Sister Bloomfield</h3>
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I love what Gordon B Hinckley says that “There is absolutely no point in doing missionary work unless we hold on to the fruits of that effort... When you go home do not forget [those you have taught]. At all times live worthy of their trust.” I’m grateful for every person I’ve been able to teach these past two years and I hope and pray that I can always remember them and “live worthy of their trust” as President Hinckley said.<br />
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I am grateful for this Christmas season and the time we have to remember the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the greatest gift!<br />
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So many gifts come from Him. The gift of his birth, the gift of his life, the gift of his example, the gift of his atoning sacrifice, the gift of his doctrine and his gospel, the gift of his infinite mercy and love. As the Christmas lights all come down in the next couple weeks, I hope we can all continue to shine the light of Christ throughout the year through our actions and our words towards those around us.<br />
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I love you all SO much and wish you a Merry Christmas!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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Logan, also a senior. They both came out<br />with us all the time to help us teach people.<br />They have become good friends</h3>
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Richard, a senior in high school in the ward.</h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Larramee Family. Their son is on a mission in Japan </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">and has been out for 6 months now, which is hard </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">to believe since he was here for a couple months </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">while I was in the ward, and I’m still here!</span></span></h3>
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Inayat and Martha, a couple from Pakistan<br /> who we’re baptized a few years ago in our ward.</h3>
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Andres and Cindy, a young couple that live i<br />n our apartment complex that we’ve been teaching. <br />They are so awesome!</h3>
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The Bailey Family on Christmas Eve. <br />I enjoy their 8 year old twins!</h3>
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-30834447346311377482017-12-18T15:41:00.000-08:002017-12-18T15:41:02.236-08:00December 18, 2017 Patterns for LifeHey everyone!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GA30gXd3fcGjGpcIJfagqwR0yfGEp5mo_Ttk3FemzlFdm8RI6ZZOX200kAEpwNlPtIqPcQ2BV1h-au7N-9KuwC3xMILcrKL93lU6ul3kDKiBfgIbFt8oSyGQWtWWlvVG7d_FjCukA7re/s1600/2017-12-16+The+Visitors+Center+and+the+temple+are+full+of+lights+during....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="1600" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GA30gXd3fcGjGpcIJfagqwR0yfGEp5mo_Ttk3FemzlFdm8RI6ZZOX200kAEpwNlPtIqPcQ2BV1h-au7N-9KuwC3xMILcrKL93lU6ul3kDKiBfgIbFt8oSyGQWtWWlvVG7d_FjCukA7re/s640/2017-12-16+The+Visitors+Center+and+the+temple+are+full+of+lights+during....jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
The Visitors Center and the temple are full of lights during this time of the year. Thousands of visitors come every year to see them. We left right before the huge crowds of people arrived when it got much darker.</h3>
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This upcoming week is officially my last full week as a missionary! It’s hard to believe that 2 years have already gone by. I’m looking forward to this upcoming week! We have a lot of things planned and a busy schedule ahead of us.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3 style="text-align: center;">
Elder Ostendorf (or I should say Zach)<br />and I both taught Michael prior to his baptism<br />(even though we weren’t companions at the time).<br />He was able to fly back out here from Salt Lake<br />to attend Michael’s endowment session.</h3>
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In this email, I’ll share a few brief things from this week, then I will share some lessons learned and insights that’ve been on my mind this week as I review these experiences I’ve has the past 2 years. This letter will likely be longer then usual, but I hope you find time to read through it! Next week will probably be a more concise email.<br />
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Anyways, this past week we had four different dual Zone Conferences throughout the mission, Tuesday through Friday. I have really enjoyed the past 6 transfers, having the opportunity each transfer to visit the 8 different zones in the mission to present different trainings and bear my testimony! It also gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to all of the missionaries that I’ve grown to love.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmbQ7jfxUD9dsQQe-VUuOOgAodoo-VAkYsXwACwreM7IR7IYUV48QvTjBbroFlmW142l28zKkx7WEYZRJOwKwd3ubszg5lbws3YS5HSbyEb9j7XYVTpHJPObRgYzUXFfLtXPFy45Sgneg/s1600/2017-12-16++Elder+Ostendorf+and+I+with+Michael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmbQ7jfxUD9dsQQe-VUuOOgAodoo-VAkYsXwACwreM7IR7IYUV48QvTjBbroFlmW142l28zKkx7WEYZRJOwKwd3ubszg5lbws3YS5HSbyEb9j7XYVTpHJPObRgYzUXFfLtXPFy45Sgneg/s320/2017-12-16++Elder+Ostendorf+and+I+with+Michael.jpg" width="237" /></a><br />
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We had the opportunity this weekend to go up to the temple to be there with Michael Heaney for his endowment. I was able to teach him a year ago prior to his baptism in the Lincolnia Ward and he has been an extremely faithful member ever since! There’s no greater feeling of joy than seeing someone like him in the temple exactly a year after his baptism. I don’t think he has missed one Sunday of church in a year and he still enjoys doing his family history and temple work. He has over 60 family names that he has already done the baptisms for in the temple and is excited to begin working on doing the rest of their temple work. He also just got a calling in the Elders quorum presidency in his ward. He’s just on fire! He took us out to dinner the night before and it was awesome being able to sit down and talk with him, and hear how excited he was for his endowment. There was a lot of support there from members of the ward, so it was fun to reconnect with many of them. I am grateful for the temple and the opportunity I have had to go there many times over the course of my mission with recent converts. Those are easily some of my greatest memories of being a missionary are being in the temple with new members, seeing how excited they are and seeing them feel the spirit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
Departing temple trip. All of these missionaries, except for Elder Jones and I went home a few weeks ago. Elder Jones and I are the only ones going home on the 28th.</h3>
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Last Sunday, when I spoke in our wards sacrament meeting, a woman named Griselda walked up to me after the meeting was over. She is a member of the church, but started telling me how she moved to this area a year ago, and hasn’t been to church for over a year. Her husband's name is Jesus and he isn’t a member of the church, and she also has a daughter who hasn’t been baptized yet, and she told me that she wanted us to come over and start teaching them. So we went over to their home and were able to see them a couple times this week. I’m positive that her daughter will be baptized sometime early next year! They’re a sweet family. They live in really humble circumstances, and we’re going to try and do some things special for them for Christmas. We had an unused set of quad scriptures, and we got their names engraved in them when we were up at the temple. We are going to wrap it up and give them to them as a Christmas gift, along with some other things.<br />
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Yesterday in our ward we had a few other investigators at church as well. One was this guy James who we have been teaching for a couple months and he finally came to church. He is originally from Minnesota, but has lived in Nigeria for 17 years and recently came back to the states for a few months. He is moving back to Nigeria soon and is planning on finding the LDS congregation there, but tells us he is sure he will cross paths with missionaries there soon enough because he saw them often prior to coming here.<br />
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As I think about a the lessons I have learned over my time here in Virginia, it’s difficult to narrow it down to a few specific things, but I will try.<br />
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As I reviewed my patriarchal blessing this week, it has been really neat to think about everything that has happened these past two years. The patriarch had quite a bit to say in the blessing about my time as a full-time missionary. Numerous promised blessings in there have come to pass as I have followed the counsel that was given to me in that blessing.<br />
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One of the things that it says in there which I will share is that as I serve I will “establish patterns for [my] life which would have eternal rewards.” I don’t know exactly what those eternal rewards will be, but I’ve tried to think about what are some of the patterns I have developed.<br />
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I feel like a theme of my mission could be from Alma 37:6, “by small and simple means are great things brought to pass.” Some of these patterns are small and simple, but I know they’re powerful.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><h3>
Gotta love Kerry.<br />He took us to dinner one last time,<br />he is such a generous man! I am grateful for him</h3>
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One “pattern” or perspective I have developed is trying my best to find joy in every day, and focus more on the present. I think that it's human nature to always be thinking/worrying about the future, looking forward to and waiting for what lies ahead. It’s also natural for us to dwell too much on the past. I have come to realize that if we are constantly looking forward or looking backwards, we won’t make the most of the present. No matter where we are at in our lives, at some point in he past we looked forward to where we are at right now. So we should enjoy and cherish the present day and try to make the most of the here and now, and approach our challenges with optimism. I have met so many people who get so caught up in worrying about what’s going to happen in a few months or years that they miss opportunities to find joy today. I’ve also met people that struggle letting go of things of the past, and it holds them back from embracing the happiness that’s waiting to be felt.<br />
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Along with that perspective, comes the pattern of gratitude. Every evening as I conclude my day, I have tried to express sincere gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I don’t think a day has gone by where I have not expressed my gratitude to Him for my incredible mother and father, for an amazing mission President and wife, for my opportunity to be a missionary, and for my Savior Jesus Christ. Those things were always included, but each day I would try to think of other things I could think about and express my gratitude for in my prayers. I know that “gratitude is a down payment on tomorrow’s happiness” and if we want to be happier tomorrow we need to be grateful for what we have today. The happiest people I have met here are those who truly appreciate what they have and express gratitude to God and to others on a regular basis.<br />
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Another pattern has been the desire to seek more knowledge! I once heard that question asked “What's the difference between knowledge and wisdom?" To which an outspoken and shy individual responded: "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is being smart enough to not put it in a fruit salad." I’ve always thought that was kind of funny, but it’s true! Simply stated, wisdom is how you use and apply the knowledge you have acquired. I feel that I have gained a more solid knowledge, testimony, and understanding of the gospel. But now comes the test to see if I can have the wisdom to apply it all correctly!<br />
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Another pattern, not too difficult to develop as a missionary has been a pattern of loving to study the scriptures. My testimony of the Book of Mormon has increased so much! I know that it is a powerful witness and testament of Jesus Christ, and his infinite, atoning sacrifice for us. I know that daily study of the Book of Mormon, even if just a couple of minutes, can help us keep the resist temptation, overcome doubts and fears, receive heavens help, and have the spirit with us more abundantly, as promised by President Monson. I am grateful for the scriptures. I have seen the Book of Mormon change so many lives. I have witnessed miracles that have come as a result of the Book of Mormon! I can think of numerous experiences where I witnessed the Book of Mormon be the catalyst and turning point in different converts conversions.<br />
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I’ve had the opportunity to find, teach, and see many enter the waters of baptism over these past two years. Many of the people I’ve taught have stayed faithful and active in the gospel, and a couple unfortunately have not. The biggest difference between those who faithfully endure and those who don’t, comes down to consistent study of the scriptures. I know that regular patterns of scripture study will help me to maintain a strong testimony of and desire to live the gospel.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3>
Elder DeSchepper and I proudly representing<br /> Temecula in the WDCSM. I’m going to miss him.</h3>
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Another simple pattern that I’ve developed are patterns of thought. The way I think about myself, the way I think about others, the way I think about God and Jesus Christ, have all been enhanced in some way. As I have tried to improve myself and develop Christlike attributes, I feel like I have developed patience with myself and learned to not give myself a hard time when I fall short of expectations that are created by myself or others. I’ve learned to try and see everyone around me as sons and daughters of God with divine potential, and learned that our Father in Heaven loves each and every one of us. I know that these patterns of thought will be a blessing to me and I know that there is much more to develop.<br />
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Another thing I’ve learned is the importance of focusing on the things I am in control of. There are many things as a missionary I can control, but there are many things we can’t control. Instead of worrying about the things I can’t control, as I have focused on giving my best ability in those specific things that I have control over, the other things always seem to work out the way the Lord wants them to! I think this is an important principle.<br />
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At the beginning of my mission I set a goal to love and get along with all my companions. I feel that I have truly been blessed with some amazing companions on my mission!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3 style="text-align: center;">
Elder Gleed, Elder Smith, and myself.</h3>
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Here’s the overview of my companions and areas:<br />
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Elder Belnap (MTC)<br />
Elder Yeager in Centreville 1st Ward (1 transfer)<br />
Elder Shelley in Centreville 1st Ward (2 transfers)<br />
Elder Chu in Centreville 1st Ward (1 transfer)<br />
Elder Judkins in the Alexandria 2nd Ward/Lincolnia Ward (4 transfers)<br />
Elder Jones in the Warrenton 1st Ward (2 transfers)<br />
Elder Ostendorf in the Tysons Corner Ward (1 transfer)<br />
Elder Yang in the Ft Belvoir Ward (1 transfer)<br />
Elder Ure in the Ft Belvoir Ward (4 transfers)<br />
And lastly, Elder Smith and Elder Gleed in the Ft Belvoir Ward for my last transfer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><h3>
Elder Gleed, Elder Smith, myself, and Elder Ure.<br />A couple weeks ago at the temple,<br />prior to Elder Ure going home.</h3>
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I have loved each and every companion of mine and have learned so much from each of them! I knew that if I would be united in love with my companions that we would have success in furthering the work in the areas we served. I always wanted to “leave the area stronger than I found it” and I am grateful for the incredible companions that I was able to have amazing experiences with. Life is so much easier when we love those around us, looking past weaknesses, and looking past differences in opinion or in personality. When we love those we interact with, life is just so much better.<br />
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Along with my companions, I will never forget the wonderful people I have been able to teach the gospel to! There are so many people I have grown to love and people that’ve grown dear to my heart. The gospel changes lives! I’ve seen it in many people and I’ve seen it in myself.<br />
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The last pattern I’d like to talk about is probably my favorite one! This pattern is the “ripple-effect.” Over the course of 2 years, it’s impossible for me to count how many people I have taught and testified to. I’ve tried my best to share the Book of Mormon with everyone and I know I’ve talked to thousands of people. There may be a few things I can count and measure as I review the past few years, but the bottom line is that none of us will ever be able to measure the impact our service has towards others. Of the people I have taught the gospel to that have accepted it and began to live it, many of them have already began to share it with family and friends, and that chain and sphere of influence will never stop growing. Whether someone enters the waters of baptism or not, every small act of kindness we give, or every testimony we share makes an immediate difference, as well as a long term impact. Perhaps one day, after this life, each of us will have the opportunity to see what difference our actions and words had in the world. But for now, it’s neat to think that we will never truly know in this life what impact we made in the long-run, but each day we can do small and simple things to bless the lives of others.<br />
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I’ll just close with a quote by Brigham Young-<br />
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He said “There is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life.”<br />
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Although my full-time service as a missionary is coming to an end, I know that all of us here on earth are on a mission “to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth” and to serve others. I hope to be able to continue a life-long mission of love and service towards my family and friends and others!<br />
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I have probably spent too much time typing out these thoughts. There are so many other lessons I have learned and patterns I have noticed and developed that I know will be a blessing to me in my life. I have loved being a missionary and I will miss putting on this name tag each and every day, striving to help others come unto Jesus Christ. But I know there are great things ahead in the future! :)<br />
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I know I haven’t been perfect and I haven’t been the greatest missionary, but I can honestly say that I do not have any regrets, and I know I full heartedly put forth the effort I was capable of offering.<br />
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I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week, and a Merry Christmas!<br />
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<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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The Bloomfield’s, a senior couple in our mission,<br />drove us to be there for Michael’s endowment.</h3>
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-35182959356372955482017-12-11T12:24:00.001-08:002017-12-12T15:55:13.887-08:00December 11, 2017 Simple FormulaHey everyone!<br />
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We had another great week here in the trio! There is never a dull moment. Elder Smith and Elder Gleed are great companions.We had a neat experience meeting and teaching this girl named Carolyn this week. She was just walking her dog and we approached her and started talking with her. Not too long into our conversation we recognized some of her concerns based on some of her past experiences. She felt like she was putting forth so much effort to be close t God and go to church in the past, but that he wasn’t there and she couldn’t feel his influence, so she decided to stop attending the church she was going to. She recognized that she felt even more empty when she stopped going to church and that she wasn’t as happy anymore. We simply testified of a few brief truths to her that resonated with her. We just told her that God loves her and is aware of her, that he knows her name and what she is going through. We told her that even though she couldn’t recognize his hand in her life that that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. We promised her that if she would meet with us and learn the message that we share that she would begin to feel that joy again. She got really emotional and started crying and said this is exactly what she needed and that she felt like God sent us to her. It was a neat experience meeting her.<br />
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It snowed this week, the first time since early<br /> this year! It reminded me of my first week in the<br /> mission field when there was a massive snow storm<br />. It feels like that was just yesterday! </h3>
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We had a couple exchanges this week with some of the zone leaders. I was able to go to their areas and spent one day in Annandale and another day up in Ashburn. It’s fun to be able to go visit different parts of the mission!<br />
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I was asked to give a talk in our ward on Sunday. The topic was “Missionary work: Giving the Gift of the Gospel.” They also asked me to speak about the “Light the World” initiative. The greatest gift we can offer someone is the love of the Savior Jesus Christ, especially during this time of the year. My favorite thing that I shared was a section of a talk from President Uchtdorf from a couple months ago.<br />
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“Every time you turn your hearts to God in humble prayer, you experience His light. Every time you seek His word and will in the scriptures, the light grows in brightness. Every time you notice someone in need and sacrifice your own comfort to reach out in love, the light expands and swells. Every time you reject temptation and choose purity, every time you seek or extend forgiveness, every time you courageously testify of truth, the light chases away darkness and attracts others who are also seeking light and truth.<br />
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Elder Smith and I at Melt, this famous burger place in<br />Leesburg, VA.<br />That’s one big burger!</h3>
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Think about your own personal experiences, moments of service to God and fellowmen when divine light has shined in your life--in the holy temple, at the sacrament table, in a quiet moment of prayerful pondering, in your family gatherings, or during an act of priesthood service. Share those moments with family, friends, and especially with our youth, who are seeking light. They need to hear from you that with this light come hope and healing, even in a world full of darkness.<br />
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Christ’s light brings hope, happiness, and healing of any spiritual wound or ailment. Those who experience this refining influence become instruments in the hands of the Light of the World to give light to others. They will feel what King Lamoni felt: “This light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and … the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul.”<br />
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There is so much that we can do in our lives to increase our light, and we should always strive to share thee light and love of the Savior with those around us.<br />
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The lights that we decorate our homes with go up a few weeks before Christmas and come down shortly after. But the light of the Savior of the World can and should shine brightly throughout the year. The month off December isn’t the only time where we should reach out and serve others, but instead we can make Christlike service a part of our daily lives, throughout every month of the year.<br />
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Augustine and his son Joshua, we’ve taught them for a while.</h3>
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I am grateful to have served in this ward for so long and I’m glad I was able to speak! I have served here in the Fort Belvoir ward longer than any of my other areas on my mission. 6 transfers is a long time! I’ve grown to love the members and investigators in this area. The recent converts in this ward did a trip to the temple this week to participate in baptisms for the dead and to see the visitors center. It was a great experience for all that went!<br />
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This week I was reflecting on the missionary purpose, which is to “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.” Every day as we make decisions, as we set goals and make plans, as we talk to people and teach lessons, we are constantly striving to fulfill this purpose of helping others come unto Jesus Christ. Over a long period of time of serving and helping others, I’ve come to realize that in this process, I, myself have come so much closer to Jesus Christ as a result.<br />
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It’s a pretty simple formula- If you want to grow closer to the Savior, help others grow closer to him, and naturally you will simultaneously grow closer to him as well.<br />
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I love you all! Hope you have a great week!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Elder Duvall with Annabeth and Rachel Goss. Since Elder Duvall is returning home from his mission on December 28th I wanted to do something special to help him celebrate Christmas the way we do at home. We make Christmas Bear Breads and go Christmas caroling on a Family Home Evening prior to Christmas and we deliver the Bear Bread to neighbors and friends. Since the bread is best fresh I recruited Annabeth Goss to bake the bread and make a special delivery of FRESH BEAR BREAD with a card and Santa hats from me. (Annabeth is my dear friend from Warrenton Ward where Jeremy previously served . These are pictures from today's Special Christmas delivery.- Sharon Duvall<br />
From Elder Duvall: "When you said that you were going to have someone deliver something personally, I was 95% sure it would be Sister Goss! Thanks for having her do this for us! I am excited to go share these bears with people! We have 3 people in mind for tonight that we will deliver one to, and then we’ll try to give out the rest over the next day or two! Love you TONS Momma!"<br />
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Elder Jere Bear Duvall, Elder Bear Smith, and Elder Bear Gleed </h3>
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-68196878992584776182017-12-04T19:42:00.001-08:002017-12-04T19:42:33.731-08:00December 4, 2017 The Chief Corner StoneHey everyone!<br />
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Our last night with Elder Ure before he went home.<br /> 4 beds in one room was pretty tight.<br /> It’s hard to believe that he’s home now,<br /> especially after being companions for 6 months!</h3>
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Well this week has been a blast! Being in a trio with Elder Smith and Elder Gleed has been great. I’m trying my best to help them learn how to do everything that we are responsible for once I leave and the two of them are together. I’m confident they’ll do great together. We have been working hard and having a lot of fun working together these past few days. We’ve taught a lot of great people! Teaching in a trio is much different that teaching in a normal companionship, but we’ve already developed some good flow together.<br />
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I feel like this week we’ve been put in the right place at the right time numerous times to meet and teach different people. There have been numerous occasions recently where people call out to us from across the street, or from a parked car, and say something like “Hey! Can I get one of your pamphlets or something? My grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle/etc. just passed away.” It’s neat that people can see us and immediately recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ, and they feel comfortable calling out to us to try find some peace. We’ve been able to share the Plan of Salvation with these people and teach about the hope and peace that comes from the resurrection and eternal life. I’m grateful for those short, yet meaningful conversations that we are able to have with people each and every day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkZvqHmD9xZ1KXKjEIzjedpeb2_86KfNNhpcJf8V7tgBT09eKTDCAmGDjbn5FuWgWPnTBTPJxtNSJxvHw19uFA955wH3JqsDniTcI7b3Vgfekz-8GiQlm70oy-eCIkpLoFIHGto7QebtR/s1600/2917-12-02+This+is+Adwa+and+Benard%252C+two+of+the+many+people+from+Ghana+we+taught+this+week..JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkZvqHmD9xZ1KXKjEIzjedpeb2_86KfNNhpcJf8V7tgBT09eKTDCAmGDjbn5FuWgWPnTBTPJxtNSJxvHw19uFA955wH3JqsDniTcI7b3Vgfekz-8GiQlm70oy-eCIkpLoFIHGto7QebtR/s400/2917-12-02+This+is+Adwa+and+Benard%252C+two+of+the+many+people+from+Ghana+we+taught+this+week..JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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This is Adwa and Benard, two of the many people<br /> from Ghana we taught this week.</h3>
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We had some great success this week in finding more people to teach. One of our first lessons together as a trio was Adwa and Benard. They are a sweet couple from Ghana. We met Benard a few weeks ago, but were finally able to teach him and his wife together this week. Another was a different lady from Ghana named Edna. We found her towards the end of the night one night last week. We were about to leave the area we were in but decided to try a few more people and wound up teaching her for 20 minutes about the Book of Mormon and she’s curious to learn more.<br />
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We’ve been working with this couple, Andres and Cindy. They are a young, newly married couple that have a baby daughter. They live just around ne the corner from our apartment and they are super awesome! He’s from Chile and she is from Mexico, but they both have spent most of their lives here and are pretty Americanized. They are still proud of their Latino heritage. We met them a couple months back, but have had 2 really good lessons with them this past week. We are excited to help them continue to learn. I seriously couldn’t help but thinking of them dressed in white being sealed in the temple. as we were sitting there teaching them. I know that if they sincerely act on the things we invite them to do, that they will gain a firm testimony. We relate to them really well, perhaps because they’re only a couple years older than us. Andres has been really in tune with the spirit, and he especially recognizes it when we pray with them. I’m grateful for the unity and the spirit that prayer can bring to a group of individuals.<br />
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Eshetu and Nestanet, a couple from Ethiopia that were<br />baptized earlier this year. We had a really good lesson with them<br />about prayer, <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">and talked about the importance of them praying </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">together as a couple. </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">They both said they always pray at the beginning</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> and end of each day, </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">but never pray together. They were excited </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">to accept our invitation </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">to start praying together daily.</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> I know that that will help </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">their relationship grow stronger!</span></h3>
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One of the common concerns that a lot of people have that we teach is that they are skeptical of organized religion. I can understand that when they’ve had bad experiences in churches in the past, or when they see corruption going in different churches they’ve tried attending. I’m grateful to know that the organization we belong to, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, isn’t an organization merely put together by men, but rather it is an organization “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20). I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of this church and that he leads it through his appointed servants on the earth today.<br />
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Last Tuesday we took the departing missionaries to the temple, and it was another great experience at the temple! I came on my mission with the expectation that I’d only get to go there 4 times over the course of 24 months, but I’m grateful to have gone many more times than that. Going at the end of each transfer for the past 5 transfers has been awesome. And being able to go with recent converts has been a great experience as well. This was technically my departing temple trip as well. We were able to have a testimony meeting and dinner at the mission home the night before taking the missionaries to the airport. There’s always such a special spirit in that testimony meeting!<br />
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We aren’t able to go up to the Temple Visitors Center this year like we were last year. But here’s a few pictures that a member took that went up there this week. The DC Temple “Festival of Lights” is a super popular event that goes on the entire month of December, with musical performances in the auditorium of the visitors center every night. </h3>
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I hope you all have an incredible week! Don’t forget to #LIGHTtheWORLD with daily acts of service throughout the month of December. Love you all!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-39266803919060618002017-11-27T15:12:00.000-08:002017-11-27T15:16:26.433-08:00November 27, 2017 2 New CompsHey everyone!<br />
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Elder Ure and I<br /> with President and Sister Huntsman</h3>
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<span style="text-align: center;">First things first. Elder Ure goes home this week, so he needed </span>a replacement. On Friday night I got two new companions! Since I’m going home 4 weeks into the transfer, President decided to bring in two new Assistants, instead of bringing one in now and then another one a few weeks later. So my two new companions are Elder Smith and Elder Gleed! They’re great. I’ll be in a trio with them for the rest of my mission. We spent the past couple days training them and teaching them on how to do everything in preparation for transfers.<br />
It’s a weird feeling saying bye to Elder Ure. I’m grateful to have spent the last 6 months with him. Not too many missionaries get to have a companion for 4 transfers, and I’ve been able to do that twice. Today we picked up a group of new missionaries at the airport and tomorrow will be transfers, and early Wednesday morning we’ll drop off the departing missionaries at the airport.<br />
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It’s been fun being in a “quad” for a few days. It’s<br />
really interesting proselyting with 4 of us all together, and will soon be 3 of us. It’s cool though, because we’ve been able to split up in twos and find and teach people at the same time. We’ve also had a couple lessons with the 4 of us that’ve been great.<br />
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President and Sister Huntsman</h3>
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President and Sister Huntsman and their family are so awesome. <br />They have 8 kids and a few son-in-laws.<br /> I think there’s one child missing in this picture.<br /> We enjoyed spending part of Thanksgiving Day with their family!</h3>
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We had a great Thanksgiving Day! President and Sister Huntsman invited us to join them and their family for an early dinner. Each year of their mission they’ve gone to Mt. Vernon for Thanksgiving, so we joined them at the restaurant there. They had all 8 of their kids here, so it was fun to be able to meet all of them and spend some time with their family. After our meal, we also took a tour of Mt. Vernon, which was my 2nd time going there. It’s a pretty neat place to be, walking where so many prominent early leaders of this nation have been in George Washington’s home. We drive by Mt Vernon every Sunday because our church building is on the Potomac River just down the road from it.<br />
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On Thanksgiving, we also went to our investigator Kwadwo’s house, where we were invited to attend for dinner. There were probably 30 Ghanaians there, none of whom were members of the church. It was super fun! We were able to meet a ton of new people and enjoy their food.<br />
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Elder Ure and I with Dorothy at her baptism!!</h3>
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Dorothy Smith was baptized on Saturday! She’s been working towards this day for a long time, so it was a special day! I’ve been teaching her since my very first week in this area. I’ll be honest, when I first met her it was hard to believe that she would progress towards baptism, but as we were patient and persistent with her, we were able to help her make small changes, a little bit at a time to help her prepare for baptism. She was pretty nervous leading up to her baptism, but it went it really well! Elder Ure baptized Dorothy, and then our new bishop confirmed her on Sunday.<br />
Pam has been such an amazing support to Dorothy, and so have the other members of the ward. Elder Ure said goodbye to both of them last night and they were both sad to see us split up, but were excited for him to go home.<br />
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Recently I studied a lot about patience. I love what Preach My Gospel teaches us about patience. “Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God’s will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith--you must wait for the Lord’s promised blessings to be fulfilled.<br />
You need patience in your everyday experiences and relationships... You must be patient with all people, yourself included, as you work to overcome faults and weaknesses.”<br />
I’ve thought about that first sentence a lot. In order to measure how patient we are, we just have to see how long we can go without getting “angry, frustrated, or anxious.” I have learned that I am generally pretty patient with myself and with others and hope to continue to develop more patience.<br />
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Here’s our mission picture from a couple weeks ago with Elder Andersen, and a few other General Authorities. I’m so grateful to serve alongside so many wonderful missionaries! You can find me on the left hand side of the picture.</h3>
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It’s going to be a busy and exciting next few weeks! I’m looking forward to it! I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-29164032566362490282017-11-20T18:41:00.000-08:002017-11-20T18:41:09.548-08:00November 20, 2017 Elder Mervyn B Arnold and OMARR!Hey everyone!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Long time waiting for this special day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Omarr and I before his baptism.</span></div>
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<br />We had a pretty busy week this week, with some mission conferences, and lots of lessons and finding more people to teach. We’ve been putting a little bit more extra effort into talking to everyone we see. We had a cool experience finding some pretty sweet people while pumping gas at a gas station. I’m grateful for Elder Ure and his desire to work hard to the end. He goes home next week and I will get a new companion!<br />
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This past Saturday was a day that I had been looking forward to since my first transfer here in the mission field. My first few weeks in Virginia, I was able to teach Ami Koroma, and her children, Kadija and Omarr. Kadija was 8 at the time and Omarr was only 6. I remember the day that Ami and Kadija were baptized (February 13th, 2016), which still feels like it was just yesterday. I remember Omarr was sad because he wished he could’ve been baptized with them. I told Omarr that I would still be a missionary when he turns 8 years old, and I promised him that I would come to his baptism. I was able to go back on Saturday to attend his baptism and keep my promise to him. Bishop Duersch (who is now President Duersch in the Stake presidency), baptized Omarr.<br />
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Omar, Kadija, Ami and I.</h3>
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<br />I just felt so happy being there! It’s been cool to see everything come full circle with that family! It’s been an amazing experience seeing this family stay so faithful and converted. They’ve hardly missed any Sundays of church for nearly two years. Ami was able to go to the temple for her endowment earlier this year, and now her mother Kadiatu is getting ready to go to the temple as welll. Ami continues too share the e gospel with her friends and family. She invited 3 nonmembers to come attend Omarr’s baptism! Ami, Kadija, and Omar, along with their many extended family members and friends that have joined the church as a direct result of them, will always have a special place in my heart!<br />
It felt like I was “home” being there at that baptism. It was fun reuniting with so many of the members in the Centreville 1st Ward, where I spent the first 6 months of my mission.<br />
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President Duersch, Omarr and Ami </h3>
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<br />We had Elder Mervyn B Arnold of the 70 visit our mission this week for a Mission Tour. It kept us pretty busy. On Wednesday night, Elder Arnold and President Huntsman We had two half-mission conferences on two different days. The night before the Conferences Elder Arnold and President Huntsman came with Elder Ure and I to our area to visit a member family and do a missionary activity with them. Once we got there he told us to “observe well, you’ll be training the mission tomorrow on how this is done.” So we sat there and participated as he did this activity with the family. It was an activity out of Preach My Gospel and it works really well to get the members thinking about people who they could begin to share the gospel. We’re excited to start doing it with the members in our ward! Elder Arnold is such a spiritual man, and I learned a lot from him over the course of the 3 days we were with him. Elder Ure and I each had an opportunity to have a personal interview with him as well which was a neat experience.<br />
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Elders Woellhaf, Ure, Oldroyd, and I.<br /> I 'm always enjoy doing exchanges with the<br />different sets of Zone Leaders each week. </h3>
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He taught a lot of practical things we can do to find more people to teach, how to work better with members, how to be better teachers, etc.<br />
But I’m more grateful for all of the doctrine he taught about and the spirit that was felt during the meeting. I’m excited to see our mission apply the things that he and his wife taught us over the two conferences!<br />
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Dorothy is doing really well! She has gone 10 days without smoking now and is excited to be baptized! We’ve been working with her ever since my first week in this ward back at the end of April, so it’s cool to see how much progress she has made, even though it’s been relatively slow, it’s cool to see where she is now. She recognizes a huge difference in her life and in herself and we can see it too.<br />
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It’s crazy to think that my sister is in her last full week as a missionary! It’s weird to think that I started 5 months before and will still be here for a month after she’s done. But I’m extremely grateful to be here longer! You are a great example Jenny! Finish strong!<br />
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I love you all! Hope you have a great week!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-65517906878207144802017-11-13T14:01:00.003-08:002017-11-13T14:01:27.440-08:00November 13, 2017 Elder Neil L. AndersenHey everyone!<br />
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This past week was great!<br />
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On Saturday, we had a mission-wide meeting with Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He was accompanied by Elder S. Gifford Nielsen of the 70, and Bishop Gérald Caussé, the Presiding Bishop of the church.<br />
It was a wonderful meeting! President and Sister Huntsman bore brief testimonies at the beginning and then the general authorities took the majority of the meeting. The meeting was only about 2 and half hours, but it was great.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Ure, Brian Gore and Elder Duvall</td></tr>
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Elder Nielsen was a former BYU Quarterback, a quarterback in the NFL, and a sports broadcaster. His talk was inspiring and motivating. He talked a lot about getting the most out of our time as full-time missionaries, telling us that we “cannot afford to waste a single minute,” that there is too much at stake. This is my only time to be a full-time proselyting missionary. I love what the Missionary Handbook says about time as a missionary:<br />
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Time is one of the most precious resources Heavenly Father has given you. The period when you are able to serve the Lord with all your time and all your efforts is extremely short. Use it fully and wisely. Such an opportunity is a privilege.”<br />
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Bishop Caussé centered his remarks on a scripture from 1st Corinthians 2:3-5, which states “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”<br />
He talked a lot about how our missions are important times in our lives where we can learn how to access spiritual power. A quote from him that I really liked was that “A bold missionary is a humble missionary.” Sometimes we hold back ourselves from being bold out of fear. But if we are bold with the people we meet, and do it lovingly, that actually shows our humility and willingness to do what the Lord would have us do.<br />
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Elder Andersen gave us some practical tips on ideas of things we could try to do to find more people to teach and see more success in our individual wards, but most of his remarks to us were about Jesus Christ. He asked missionaries to stand up and share scriptures that we have memorized about Jesus Christ from the New Testament and from the Book of Mormon. He challenged us to identify a few scriptures that we truly do believe about Christ, and then remember those scriptures whenever we begin to have doubts about anything in the gospel. He talked about how so often he meets young adults in the church who are beginning to have their doubts, questions, and concerns about the church. Maybe they have doubts about the calling of Jospeh Smith as a prophet. Maybe they have doubts about the validity of the Book of Mormon. Maybe they have doubts about current church leadership or policies, etc. No matter what our doubts and questions are, Elder Andersen firmly told us to “never lose our testimony and relationship with Christ.” That is the most important thing we need to hold onto. He wants us all to memorize scriptures that we truly believe about Christ. I think that’s a wonderful invitation. We will all have various doubts and concerns that come up at different times in our lives. Some doubts may come as a result of trials and tragedies in our lives. Some may come as a result of the actions and decisions of others. But no mattter what we go through, we should NEVER doubt the example, the life, the mission, the atoning sacrifice, the resurrection, and the infinite love of our Savior! He invited us to constantly evaluate ourselves and ask “What do I really believe about Jesus Christ? and How can I improve my relationship with him?” If we stay solid on the foundation of Jesus Christ, I know we will never fall away into the “mists of darkness” of this world.<br />
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The spirit in the chapel was strong get as Elder Andersen bore his testimony of President Monson’s calling as a prophet, and his testimony and witness of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to have been able to attend this meeting and learn from numerous leaders of the church, and to be able to shake their hands and interact with them was special.<br />
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We had a fun experience on an exchange this week. I was with<br /> Elder Wright for the day and we went to teach Konadu, one of <br />our investigators. She watches some of the neighborhood kids for work, <br />mostly Ghanaian kids, a couple Hispanic. We started trying to teach her, <br />but it was hopeless with all the kids running around making noise. </h3>
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It’s a busy couple of weeks in our mission. This week, we are having two half-mission conferences with Elder Mervyn B Arnold of the 70. These conferences will be a full day event. Half the mission one day, half the mission the next. But Elder Ure and I have to attend both days because we’ve been asked to conduct the meetings. The night before the half mission conference, Elder Arnold will be coming with President Huntsman into our area for the evening to proselyte and make some visits. We are nervous but excited for that!<br />
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So Elder Wright went on one side of the room and gathered <br />them together to teach them a simple lesson about Jesus.<br /> They absolutely loved him. He’s super tall, white,<br /> and has blonde hair, and some of the kids were rubbing<br /> their hands through his hair as if they have never seen a<br /> blonde person before. As he occupied them and taught<br /> them, keeping them quiet, I taught a lesson to Konadu and<br /> her brother all by myself. It was a fun experience!</h3>
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Another highlight of our week has been teaching Dorothy. She’s made tremendous progress over the past few weeks. She’s been coming to church and learning a lot. She told us yesterday “You’re the two best missionaries that I’ve ever had!” However, in our minds we think, “well, we’re the only missionaries you’ve ever had, since we’ve been together for nearly the whole 6 months since we’ve been teaching you.” She did used to meet with JW’s, so I guess maybe she’s comparing us to them.<br />
She had a baptismal interview, but apparently needs some more time to work on quitting smoking. We gave her a priesthood blessing a few days ago, then at church on Sunday she said “I don’t remember what you guys said when you laid your hands on my head, but it’s workin’! I was about to smoke, but I felt the strength to not do it” and now she has gone two or three days without smoking. We’re hoping she can have the strength to continue to overcome it so she can be baptized in a couple weeks.<br />
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Things are going great in our area. We also have a part-member family who we’ve been working with quite a bit, and the wife finally chose a baptismal date for the end of December!<br />
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Elder Ure is in his last couple weeks as a missionary, but we’re staying focused, trying our best to get out and work hard every day!<br />
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I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-86910453248533738992017-11-06T17:40:00.004-08:002017-11-06T17:40:52.671-08:00November6, 2017 Baptism & PentagonHey everyone!<br />
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This week was great! It’s hard to believe that it is November!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXq4XhWWUgTIXCwzMQM9-Lp7VmGc-E2dSx5a4Thj8FiEsBMK0JwU6xXfSyWquNrCQH3OX0uX7HQAlAB4rVUdD5uWB1hIHB174SOFJP96AbC5pXRPrf65X7CuCAg75HHRsxVHuvpaoojen/s1600/2017-11-04+.+We+have+been+teaching+Pam+a+lot+over+the+past+8+weeks-Here%25E2%2580%2599s+a+couple+pictures+from+her+baptism+on+Saturday.+President+Huntsman+performed+the+baptismal+ordinance%252C+which+was+prett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="1600" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXq4XhWWUgTIXCwzMQM9-Lp7VmGc-E2dSx5a4Thj8FiEsBMK0JwU6xXfSyWquNrCQH3OX0uX7HQAlAB4rVUdD5uWB1hIHB174SOFJP96AbC5pXRPrf65X7CuCAg75HHRsxVHuvpaoojen/s400/2017-11-04+.+We+have+been+teaching+Pam+a+lot+over+the+past+8+weeks-Here%25E2%2580%2599s+a+couple+pictures+from+her+baptism+on+Saturday.+President+Huntsman+performed+the+baptismal+ordinance%252C+which+was+prett.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">We’ve been teaching Pam a lot over the past 8 weeks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Here’s a couple pictures from her baptism on Saturday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">President Huntsman performed the baptismal ordinance,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">which was pretty neat.</span></div>
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We had daily contact with Pam every day for the last two week, leading up to her baptism on Saturday! We had a few really good lessons with her leading up to the big day. In one lesson we read out of 1 Nephi 8 and 11, talking about Lehi’s vision of the tree of life. Pam has received some opposition from family members about her decision to be baptized, but we encouraged her to ignore the the people mocking her from the side and focus on the end goal and the path that she’s on. In all of our lessons, we usually have taught her in her home, bringing members and recent converts with us to teach her. We did have one lesson with her the night before her baptism in a members home that was great! She has been able to connect well with a lot of members and has told us she has never met so many genuine friendly people in her life!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJow0vH6zMcfBvpcf2ndtlUVheyo1cytoisekM4cCvQ96IX-ZXnBC0baqLHKpVuYrQZlcj9Ar_oG9As7d7-a4M_aBI1903RW1XiQNRnyhL2inI-_SORM-M5hhu82BtG0UePNHFDAzOba6/s1600/2017-11-06++Pam%2527s+baptism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYJow0vH6zMcfBvpcf2ndtlUVheyo1cytoisekM4cCvQ96IX-ZXnBC0baqLHKpVuYrQZlcj9Ar_oG9As7d7-a4M_aBI1903RW1XiQNRnyhL2inI-_SORM-M5hhu82BtG0UePNHFDAzOba6/s320/2017-11-06++Pam%2527s+baptism.jpg" width="239" /></a>I believe that President Huntsman was truly inspired to keep Elder Ure and I together one more transfer, so that we could help Pam. I know we were meant to meet her. I have no doubt that the Holy Ghost prompted her to step out on her balcony the day we met her. She saw us and “felt the need to step outside” to see where we would walk. I know we were placed in her path, and that she was placed in ours.<br />
She tells us that we have a special place in her heart and continues to express so much gratitude to us and to the members of the ward who have helped her to make the changes that she’s made to bring the peace and joy of the gospel into her life.<br />
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So, after a long week, Pam was baptized on Saturday! She met President Huntsman a couple weeks ago, when he interviewed her for her baptism, and she asked him to perform her baptism for her. It was a pretty cool feeling having our mission President baptize our investigator! The baptismal service went great. A coworker of hers, who she has known and worked with for four years spoke at her baptism, and I spoke as well. It’s been a little less than 2 months since we first started teaching Pam, and once her coworker found out Pam was meeting with the missionaries, she has been a good support to her, encouraging her and answering her questions. There’s been so many pieces of the puzzle that just fell together at the right place at the right time to help Pam make it to where she is today. I’m excited to see her continue to learn, grow, and progress in the gospel! She has made the first step of many great decisions that I know will bless her life eternally! It’s amazing to see the gospel work in her life.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbMrhmyaluXSdhM3kk7Mp1gHpplXpn4uTjhRrpLOxmBYGEBQNzP0fR8EococMQm6Jx9_7nycfr7IsRSXjf9FNT38nVEOjKuDePzSvzi8vNv7d5pB7uCDDmAw-afLp1vc1BEbfOGcGhfXc3/s1600/2017-11-06+We+surprised+President+Huntsman+with+a+birthday+cake+at+the+office+last+night.+We+got+Sister+Huntsman+and+their+kids+to+come+and+surprise+him+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1587" data-original-width="1600" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbMrhmyaluXSdhM3kk7Mp1gHpplXpn4uTjhRrpLOxmBYGEBQNzP0fR8EococMQm6Jx9_7nycfr7IsRSXjf9FNT38nVEOjKuDePzSvzi8vNv7d5pB7uCDDmAw-afLp1vc1BEbfOGcGhfXc3/s320/2017-11-06+We+surprised+President+Huntsman+with+a+birthday+cake+at+the+office+last+night.+We+got+Sister+Huntsman+and+their+kids+to+come+and+surprise+him+2.jpeg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3MAc_6sSueapp8fQl7TGPx7kzsGoYL6J5mC1cZE0IP76R5pSnZQ8A90B1v-BSIHzXzt-eOQS907LfSi2rlovZxr2__iraiKob9EIrxjjo_WA2JE4zeWZC9D40JiYiYlGP9-33Qiv9jmK/s1600/2017-11-05+We+surprised+President+Huntsman+with+a+birthday+cake+at+the+office+last+night.+We+got+Sister+Huntsman+and+their+kids+to+come+and+surprise+him.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3MAc_6sSueapp8fQl7TGPx7kzsGoYL6J5mC1cZE0IP76R5pSnZQ8A90B1v-BSIHzXzt-eOQS907LfSi2rlovZxr2__iraiKob9EIrxjjo_WA2JE4zeWZC9D40JiYiYlGP9-33Qiv9jmK/s320/2017-11-05+We+surprised+President+Huntsman+with+a+birthday+cake+at+the+office+last+night.+We+got+Sister+Huntsman+and+their+kids+to+come+and+surprise+him.jpeg" width="239" /></a>We have a less-active member of our ward who bakes and decorates cakes for a living. We thought it would be a good idea to arrange for her to make a cake for President Huntsman, who turned 50 years old today! Last night we surprised him at our mission office, along with his wife and kids, and enjoyed some delicious cake with them. He’s not huge on celebrating birthdays, but we knew we had to do something special for him! He does so much for us. It was fun for us to treat him to that. It was a fun surprise and the cake was delicious!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
We took a private tour of the Pentagon today!<br /> I’ve driven by it tons of times over the past<br /> two years and have always wanted to go inside.<br /> Finally got to do it today!</h3>
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This morning we had the opportunity to go to the Pentagon and do a private tour. A member that lives here in Alexandria works there and took us on a tour for 2 hours. He took us to a lot of different hallways and offices where the public tours don’t have access to, so that was pretty cool! It was a cool feeling walking by all of these really high up official offices and walking through the halls of the Pentagon.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjAksJ6y2a8bA_ApVyKaR570yXI-Hc3C7BdIT5W-vK1tC06qUtqKP73-YCqJQY_NorXb1Aj7FC808-_BIsMylobKdhXYacjF5bnI3xYwSkoTrGeAa3icvktGctlN9Yf6rpTSg0D8B72RE/s1600/2017-11-06+It+was+a+cool+experience+walking+around+inside+but+it+was+cool+to+see+the+9-11+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGjAksJ6y2a8bA_ApVyKaR570yXI-Hc3C7BdIT5W-vK1tC06qUtqKP73-YCqJQY_NorXb1Aj7FC808-_BIsMylobKdhXYacjF5bnI3xYwSkoTrGeAa3icvktGctlN9Yf6rpTSg0D8B72RE/s640/2017-11-06+It+was+a+cool+experience+walking+around+inside+but+it+was+cool+to+see+the+9-11+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon+1.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
He showed us where the plane hit on 9/11 and took us to the memorial outside. My favorite part of the whole tour was hearing about his experience on 9/11/01 when he was working in the Pentagon the day it got hit. He wasn’t that far from where the plane actually crashed. He shared with us his experience, sharing so many details of running and tripping through the smoke-filled hallways trying to escape the building, and then describing the scene outside. He got emotional and remembers everything like it was just yesterday. He wasn’t a member of the church back then though. He is a convert to the church, who joined just a few years ago. He actually started investigating the church after seeing “The Book of Mormon” musical, so he’s got a pretty cool conversion story.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nKZbH2YlcxBE7_a5zxGQAi_CVqmOuXQiAQdeTSmbfvbXH6pWjIc4XTq5U_oPxCogRqc4kvPrTlyW8g4ATRNrBcXJ3rZ3PszxNTvXBuOtFm6EOVNHRNSAJ1qJiw-RHrCbzodP-73-CXxw/s1600/2017-11-06+It+was+a+cool+experience+walking+around+inside+but+it+was+cool+to+see+the+9-11+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1600" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nKZbH2YlcxBE7_a5zxGQAi_CVqmOuXQiAQdeTSmbfvbXH6pWjIc4XTq5U_oPxCogRqc4kvPrTlyW8g4ATRNrBcXJ3rZ3PszxNTvXBuOtFm6EOVNHRNSAJ1qJiw-RHrCbzodP-73-CXxw/s400/2017-11-06+It+was+a+cool+experience+walking+around+inside+but+it+was+cool+to+see+the+9-11+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
It was a cool experience walking around inside,<br /> but it was cool to see the<br /> 9/11 Memorial outside the Pentagon.<br /> Each bench has a name engraved on it and<br /> represents a person who died either in the Pentagon,<br /> or in the plane that crashed into it.</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-tcjJM0LXjy9KzbhzDR6TiRSBWwQJEvyIEhL_ajEQfT_n_3iRC6oL564Dkq-R6G3njW5jVuzKL2vlzmPL_dw5jMPFgsFpev7cjnYa0h-cuce8jVI_GvOE6MFFLp-f-m6vX25G3Tq_FeW/s1600/2017-11-06+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+Each+bench+has+a+name+engraved+on+it+and+represents+a+person+who+died+either+in+the+Pentagon+or+in+the+plane+that+crashed+into+it.+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-tcjJM0LXjy9KzbhzDR6TiRSBWwQJEvyIEhL_ajEQfT_n_3iRC6oL564Dkq-R6G3njW5jVuzKL2vlzmPL_dw5jMPFgsFpev7cjnYa0h-cuce8jVI_GvOE6MFFLp-f-m6vX25G3Tq_FeW/s320/2017-11-06+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+Each+bench+has+a+name+engraved+on+it+and+represents+a+person+who+died+either+in+the+Pentagon+or+in+the+plane+that+crashed+into+it.+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
Elder Dunn, Ure, Jones, and I.</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK4ghVStQwrHfy6jF0PvP_pzmerOuxrgFZYuQ__Dpd2homXFHbGnMkEJaxTBaGOqQz8at2TtJWbJ3qbhNxbGvHBjYwH1kOV0hCNka2GrS-EnPQCKcAOVMm9PMO04YblOyCHkl_567Z0St/s1600/2017-11-06+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+Each+bench+has+a+name+engraved+on+it+and+represents+a+person+who+died+either+in+the+Pentagon+or+in+the+plane+that+crashed+into+it..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK4ghVStQwrHfy6jF0PvP_pzmerOuxrgFZYuQ__Dpd2homXFHbGnMkEJaxTBaGOqQz8at2TtJWbJ3qbhNxbGvHBjYwH1kOV0hCNka2GrS-EnPQCKcAOVMm9PMO04YblOyCHkl_567Z0St/s320/2017-11-06+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+Each+bench+has+a+name+engraved+on+it+and+represents+a+person+who+died+either+in+the+Pentagon+or+in+the+plane+that+crashed+into+it..jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWK4ghVStQwrHfy6jF0PvP_pzmerOuxrgFZYuQ__Dpd2homXFHbGnMkEJaxTBaGOqQz8at2TtJWbJ3qbhNxbGvHBjYwH1kOV0hCNka2GrS-EnPQCKcAOVMm9PMO04YblOyCHkl_567Z0St/s1600/2017-11-06+Memorial+outside+the+Pentagon.+Each+bench+has+a+name+engraved+on+it+and+represents+a+person+who+died+either+in+the+Pentagon+or+in+the+plane+that+crashed+into+it..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><br />
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A commonly quoted talk by President Uchtdorf titled “Come, Join With Us” was a talk we shared with Pam prior to her baptism, when she had expressed some of her uncertainty.<br />
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“Some might ask, “But what about my doubts?”<br />
It’s natural to have questions--the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith--even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true.<br />
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters--my dear friends--please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1s9LKnSCXCi3x0tI4jCUdrhvrD_Dx3dEVVQoc218a_w3HPIcChzvbLbX5wcoIlby5qGOvbRxqyDz_o-4V2eS13hXb3MTmpIv0X0NfoGHUlfZ3nmy7W2toSZTC2rutiUUjFqDWCGaNuTN/s1600/2017-11-05+Here%25E2%2580%2599s+a+cool+path+nearby+our+church+building.+I+love+the+Virginia+trees+in+the+Fall%2521+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ1s9LKnSCXCi3x0tI4jCUdrhvrD_Dx3dEVVQoc218a_w3HPIcChzvbLbX5wcoIlby5qGOvbRxqyDz_o-4V2eS13hXb3MTmpIv0X0NfoGHUlfZ3nmy7W2toSZTC2rutiUUjFqDWCGaNuTN/s400/2017-11-05+Here%25E2%2580%2599s+a+cool+path+nearby+our+church+building.+I+love+the+Virginia+trees+in+the+Fall%2521+2.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
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Here’s a cool path nearby our church building.<br />I love the Virginia trees in the Fall!</h3>
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I love what this talk teaches us! We are all going to have questions and doubts. That’s natural. But it’s important that we do not let doubt hold us back from exercising our faith. The peace, love, and gifts that come as a result of strong faith is so great!<br />
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A kind lady that we taught yesterday.<br />Her name is Konadu. She met with missionaries<br />about 2 years ago somewhere else, and was<br />super happy to meet us again.</h3>
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<br />This upcoming Saturday, Elder Anderson, Bishop Caussé, and some other general authorities will be visiting our mission! We are excited for it!<br />
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I love you all! Hope you have a great week!<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-81749483389844769032017-10-30T21:50:00.001-07:002017-10-30T21:50:14.451-07:00October 30, 2017 Overcoming the World<br />
Hey everyone!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Lunch at our favorite Mongolian grill,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">called Ghengis Grill.</span></div>
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Elder Ure and I had a pretty good week! This week was pretty busy. We had three different exchanges with different sets of zone leaders on three different days. I feel that doing so many exchanges each transfer keeps me on my toes and helps me to keep working hard and helps me to avoid just “going through motions.” Trying to help some of these younger missionaries, helps me to make sure I give my best effort as we are out talking to people, teaching and finding. I’m also able to learn a lot from them.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">With Elders Baldwin and Baxter on exchange.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">He’s got some pretty long arms</span></div>
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<br />Our ward had the Halloween trunk-or-treat, chili-cook-off activity this past weekend. Pam came to the activity and had a great time and was able meet a lot more members. She even brought her own candy to pass out to all the kids with us. It was fun! She fit in well with everyone and is getting more and more comfortable with everything.<br />
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On Saturday, the Sister missionaries in our ward had one of their investigators get baptized. Pam came to observe the baptism, to get an idea of what hers will be like soon. She even drove our other investigator Dorothy to the baptism. It’s the coolest thing when you have your investigators fellowshipping each other and helping one another out. While driving back home, Pam was expressing some nerves and uneasiness about her baptism and if she’s ready, but Dorothy assured her that she is ready! It’s been up and down this week with Pam, one day she’s unsure about everything, then the next day she’s committed. We hope to help her feel that she is ready! We will be seeing her again tonight.<br />
Pam then also drove Dorothy to church on Sunday, which was cool to have them both there.<br />
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We also had one of our Ghanaian investigators, named Kwadwo come to church yesterday. We met him three or four weeks ago and have been teaching him quite a bit. We have some solid members of the ward from Ghana that befriended him really well.<br />
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Another exchange with Elders Smith and Nielsen.</h3>
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So we had 3 investigators at church, and of course the service was bit different than usual. The bishop of our ward got released and we now have brand new bishopric! So there were testimonies given by the former bishop, the new bishop, and their wives. Our investigators enjoyed church though!<br />
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As for our lessons with Dorothy, she is making great progress on living the word of wisdom. It’s cool to see her, as she has made effort to quit smoking, she is able to understand everything we teach much better. The scripture D&C 89:18-19 is so true; “And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures...” Dorothy’s understanding has increased rapidly since she has been trying to follow the Word of Wisdom.<br />
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I’ve been reading through some of Elder Neil L. Anderson’s Conference talks in preparation for his visit to our mission in a couple weeks. I really enjoyed his talk from this last April, which was about “Overcoming the World.” Here are a few things he said as he defined what it means to “overcome the world”:<br />
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“Overcoming the world is not one defining moment in a lifetime, but a lifetime of moments that define an eternity.<br />
Overcoming the world means treasuring the greatest commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.”<br />
Overcoming the world is keeping our promises to God--our baptismal and temple covenants and our oath of faithfulness to our eternal companion.<br />
Overcoming the world will always mean that we will have some beliefs that are ridiculed by the world.<br />
Overcoming the world is being less concerned with our online connections and more concerned with our heavenly connection to God.<br />
Overcoming the world is remembering, even when we are discouraged, the times we have felt the love and light of the Savior.<br />
May we each try a little harder in our efforts to overcome the world, not excusing serious offenses yet being patient with minor slips and falls, eagerly hastening our speed and generously helping others.”<br />
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There is so much opposition in this world, and so many things that we have to overcome. I’m grateful for the Savior and the heavenly help that He can give us as we strive to overcome the world. I recommend reading through this talk!<br />
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I love you all and hope you have a great week!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-24842934724005897942017-10-23T16:55:00.001-07:002017-10-23T16:55:43.888-07:00October 23, 2017 By Divine DesignHey everyone!<br />
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At the mission home with the new<br /> missionaries, and Daniel and Ellie,<br /> two of president Huntsman's children</h3>
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Every missionary gets to sign the "Endure to the End Flag"<br /> towards the end of their mission.<br /> I signed my name inside the D of D.C. South</h3>
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We had a busy first week of the transfer! We had 26 new missionaries, with only 12 that went home, so we had numerous areas open up throughout the mission.<br />
Since we have new senior couples in the office, they always have lots of questions for us on how certain things should be done. I'm grateful that we are able to help them out. It's been a busy transition for them over the past few weeks!<br />
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President Huntsman does a special meeting a couple times a year for missionaries that are in the final few months of their mission. He calls this meeting the "Endure to the End" meeting, and we discussed things we can do to make sure we continue to work hard every day and stay focused to the very end. I really enjoyed the meeting! He started the meeting by playing a brief video clip to the group of missionaries. The video he showed was of me, opening up my mission call over two years ago! He had all of the missionaries think back to the day they opened up their mission call, and reflect on the reasons why they decided to serve a mission, and then think about all of the experiences we have had over the course of our mission. Then he had us think of specific things we can do and that we can change over our final transfers to make sure we finish strong. I really enjoyed watching that video of me opening my call! It felt like it was yesterday. But it was cool to reflect on that, and I hope I can continue to work hard each day to the end!<br />
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This picture is in the basement of the mission home.</h3>
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We've taught Pam all of the lessons and she passed her baptismal interview this last week! We will continue to teach her and read out of the Book of Mormon with her over the next couple weeks and help her continue to be ready for her baptism. It will most likely be on November 4th or 11th. She continues to tell us that we have "saved her life" and that she is so grateful for everything that has happened. We found out this week that she has a coworker that she's been working with for a few years that is a member of the church that lives in a different ward. She told her member friend that she was meeting with the missionaries and is planning on getting baptized. This news surprised her friend, but she is very happy for her and has been a good support in encouraging her! Her friend will likely speak at her baptism. President Huntsman did her baptismal interview and she's thinking of asking President Huntsman to perform her baptism, so that will be pretty cool!<br />
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We ran into Eshetu at the airport last week.<br /> He's a recent convert in our ward that works<br /> there, so every time we pick up the<br /> missionaries we try to find him.</h3>
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Our investigator Dorothy is doing really well! We had a lesson where we had planned to teach her about the Word of Wisdom, and before we even began teaching the lesson she told us that since she's been meeting with us she's felt much more positivity in her life, and she's felt the need to make changes. Before us ever teaching the Word of Wisdom or ever encouraging her to try and stop smoking, she decided that she was going to work on quitting. She said that it felt like the right thing to do, even though we had never brought it up before. It was cool to see her act on those promptings, and it allowed that lesson go really well.<br />
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We were invited to a lunch/meeting this week with our Stake Presidency, the high councilmen over missionary work, and President Huntsman. They wanted to discuss the progress of the missionary work in the Mt. Vernon Stake, and brainstorm ideas on what the Stake and Ward leaders, and members, can be doing to better support the missionary work in the Stake. I've really enjoyed over the course of my mission being able to interact with different leaders in the different Stakes in our mission and have learned a lot from them. Our meeting with them was at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA, because one of members of the Stake Presidency is a member there. It was a neat experience.<br />
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In really looking forward to the next few weeks! On November 11th, we will be having a special mission-wide conference, where we will be having a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visit our mission! He will be joined by the Presiding Bishop of the church, Bishop Gérald Caussé and a couple other General authority seventies. They were going to be here that weekend for other meetings, and decided that they would try to fill their time here and add a visit to our mission.<br />
The following week after that we will be having two, half-mission Conferences with Elder Mervyn B. Arnold of the Seventy. This had already been on the calendar for a long time. The night before the half-mission conferences, Elder Arnold has requested to spend the evening with President Huntsman and his assistants in their proselyting area. So he will be coming with us to visit an active member family in our ward and possibly one of our investigators. That will be a pretty neat experience having a general authority, along with our mission president, both come out with us for an evening in our area!<br />
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One of my favorite talks from Conference that I re-read his week was Elder Rasbands talk, "By Divine Design." I liked this paragraph from his talk.<br />
"Through the experience of my own life’s journey, I know that the Lord will move us on that seeming chessboard to do His work. What may appear to be a random chance is, in fact, overseen by a loving Father in Heaven, who can number the hairs of every head. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without our Father’s notice. The Lord is in the small details of our lives, and those incidents and opportunities are to prepare us to lift our families and others as we build the kingdom of God on earth. Remember, as the Lord said to Abraham, “I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.”<br />
There truly are no accidents when we are going about the Lord's work. It's cool to see how the Lord places different people or experiences in our lives, not by coincidence, but for a purpose. I know that what Elder Rasband said is true. I know that "the Lord is in the small details of our lives" and that he is constantly preparing us for what lies ahead in the future.<br />
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I love you all and I hope you have a great week!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-40483873167165328992017-10-16T15:47:00.000-07:002017-10-16T15:47:15.784-07:00October 16, 2017 BIG NEWS! Hey everyone!<br />
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Last week we met this lady from Ghana who owns <br />her own clothing store. We went there and started<br /> trying on different shirts and things. I found this<br /> African man-dress thing and thought it was<br /> pretty cool, so I bought it. We meet men from<br /> Ghana all the time that walk around wearing things<br /> like this, in all different colors. But we spoke in<br /> Twi to her and had to sing her a couple African songs, <br />which helped me to get it for close to 50% off!<br /> It was pretty sweet!</h3>
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I've got some pretty sweet news- something I didn't expect at all. Surprise! Elder Ure and I will be doing a 4th transfer together!! Neither of us will be getting transferred! Last year, I did 4 transfers (which is about 6 months) with Elder Judkins. Now this year I'll also be doing 6 months with the same companion. It's extremely rare for a companionship to stay together for 4 transfers. In fact, the last time President Huntsman did it was with me and Elder Judkins last year! I guess you could use the saying "Why fix something that's not broken?" Elder Ure and I are working well together, trying our best to continue to work hard in our area, and trying our best to be of good support to the missionaries in the mission.<br />
We have some pretty special things coming up in our mission this next transfer, with some General authorities visiting the mission, and President Huntsman felt that it would be best if he kept us together for one more transfer. He was struggling trying to discern who should stay, who should go, and who should come in to replace one of us, and he didn't know why it was such a hard decision to make. But he told us the reason why he was struggling to make a decision was because he realized that neither of us are supposed to go but that he wanted us to stay one more together.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Elder Ure has a good sense of humor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">"No better place to receive revelation than </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">on the toilet."</span></div>
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I couldn't believe it initially, but I'm pretty excited about it! This is Elder Ure's last transfer too, which makes me assume that I will probably finish out my mission here in the Ft. Belvoir Ward, because I go home the following transfer. So I will end up being here for about 6 transfers (a little less than 9 months).<br />
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This past week was great! We had a couple exchanges. For one of them, I was able to go to another ward for a day, that covers Old Town Alexandria. It was fun biking around there talking to lots of people.<br />
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We had two more lessons with Pam, teaching her more of the commandments. We've pretty much finished teaching her all of the required lessons for baptism, now it's just a matter of having her come to church a couple more times and she'll be ready! She sent us a text one day that was super awesome! She told us how grateful she was for us and how big of a difference we've made in her life in the past month. She explained that at the beginning of meeting with us she was having some doubts and concerns, but recognized that those were from the adversary, and decided she needed to ignore those thoughts. We have her baptismal interview scheduled and her baptism will likely be on November 4th.<br />
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Our investigator Dorothy came to church again for the second time yesterday, it was the primary program and she really enjoyed it. The testimonies of little children are the best!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Two of my favorite converts that I've helped on </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">my</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">mission. Michael and Chris are both preparing </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">to go to the temple since they've almost been </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">members</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">for a year!</span></div>
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We had another New and Returning Member Fireside last night. This one was great! I was able to introduce the 5 speakers. The first was a recent convert from Ghana that was found at a bus stop by missionaries on a cold day, and baptized a few weeks later. The second was a man from Louisiana, who searched his questions about salvation on google and wound up on Mormon.org, and then showed up at the local church building in Annandale. The third was a lady from Samoa who went to the LDS church as a little child, but the family went inactive for a long time, and she just recently started coming back to church and was baptized a couple months ago. The fourth was a Mom from China, who gave her conversion story in Mandarin and one of the Chinese elders translated her talk. She grew up Buddhist, and had a 25 year period of time learning about Christianity before she finally felt that she found the right church and was baptized into the church recently. And the fifth speaker was a man who works at the Pentagon, and whose wife and kids have been active, faithful members of the church for 20 years. He talked about how his daughter going on a mission to California and returning home was a huge factor in his decision to finally be baptized after many years of attending church with the family.<br />
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Elder Ostendorf and I at the new<br />Member Fireside with Michael.</h3>
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It's amazing how everyone's stories are all so different, but the joy and the spirit that the gospel has brought into each of their lives is the same.<br />
I love how every single one of us have our own conversion stories. Some happen really fast, some take many years. People from all different backgrounds and from all over the world, can receive the same blessings of the restored gospel in their lives. And once that initial conversion takes place, we can continually become more and more converted to the gospel throughout our lives.<br />
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One of the talks from the recent General Conference that I enjoyed was by Elder Stanley G. Ellis. The title of the talk is "Do We Trust Him? Hard is Good." He gave many example of different stories where people faced adversity and trials but that the "hard" was what allowed them to grow. He said "we see that hard is the constant! We all have challenges. The variable is our reaction to the hard."<br />
There's no question that each of us are going to go through hard times in our lives. That's a fact. What matters most is that we can choose how to respond and react to the trials that we face. We can choose to exercise faith and make decisions to keep moving forward, or we can choose to back down and give up. If we respond correctly, then we'll be able to learn what God wants us to learn through adversity, and make it out on top.<br />
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Today we will be at the airport again picking up another big group of new missionaries! I'm excited to meet all of them, it's always fun being with them on their first day.<br />
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I love you all and I hope you have a great week!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-279619333383230462017-10-09T19:43:00.001-07:002017-10-09T19:44:27.070-07:00October 9, 2017 Love the Lord thy GodHey everyone!<br />
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Another busy week here in Fort Belvoir! Every week just seems to fly by!<br />
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Elder Hastings, one of the Zone Leaders,<br /> and I, with the coolest recent convert Eshetu.</h3>
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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.<br />
"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."<br />
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!<br />
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Elder Ure and I with our investigator Kwadwo.</div>
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His name means he was born on a Monday. </div>
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Each day of the week has they're own name. </div>
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I am Kofi, which is Friday, and </div>
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Elder Ure is Kwasi, which is Sunday</div>
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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."<br />
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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.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">President Huntsman up front</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">at the amphitheater speaking to all of us.</span></h3>
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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.<br />
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Here are all of the Zone Leaders and<br />Sister Training Leaders in our mission right now-<br />a great group of people!</h3>
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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!<br />
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I love you all! Hope you have a great week!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-12051341798576896012017-10-02T16:49:00.001-07:002017-10-02T16:51:45.089-07:00October 2, 2017 "Light"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Hey everyone!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px; font-weight: normal;">We went to the George Washington Masonic Memorial </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">museum today. I went outside of it once last year, but </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">today</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">we paid for a tour to go inside and to the top. </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">It was </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">really </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">intriguing learning more about Free </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Masonry!</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Some interesting similarities, </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">that's for sure.</span></h3>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Cool statue of </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">George Washington,</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">one of the most prominent Masons</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVseCdLBqoEMFYSRD4N3v3zcpGDEVO7miYekyJvyVTkdLLBSQNcPpXpSUK3_R0yHACyH6PaCTq-iYJC5juGau08mtXHcNvqoZKVbpBYZkBnOyADopiL1sokHlDIXy9HEzR9mUjNjA_ctZK/s1600/2017-10-02+Elders+Bryson%252C+Benard%252C+Dunn%252C+Jones%252C+Ure+and+myself.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVseCdLBqoEMFYSRD4N3v3zcpGDEVO7miYekyJvyVTkdLLBSQNcPpXpSUK3_R0yHACyH6PaCTq-iYJC5juGau08mtXHcNvqoZKVbpBYZkBnOyADopiL1sokHlDIXy9HEzR9mUjNjA_ctZK/s400/2017-10-02+Elders+Bryson%252C+Benard%252C+Dunn%252C+Jones%252C+Ure+and+myself.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">From the top of the </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">George Washington Masonic Memorial Museum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">With Elders Bryson, Benard, Dunn, Jones, Ure and myself</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiINsvtFnCryiZy6sVHxxBPg4YY94X9s_dkIgioqCRNkEMHuRxFqE8csm-bUhqPwPBpb6SKm9vg9wnR3n8lebOsdFbdZFaFR8qy0umd7_G8Ev5POc9HC1mMTZ2rHnaa9_kTEE16ZG2Aaf9J/s1600/2017-10-02+More+pictures+at+the+top..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiINsvtFnCryiZy6sVHxxBPg4YY94X9s_dkIgioqCRNkEMHuRxFqE8csm-bUhqPwPBpb6SKm9vg9wnR3n8lebOsdFbdZFaFR8qy0umd7_G8Ev5POc9HC1mMTZ2rHnaa9_kTEE16ZG2Aaf9J/s640/2017-10-02+More+pictures+at+the+top..jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgqksxCOF1AlYwiha5nu9aUyqPUANOpkBOPu_kWysaHNB7yPgE_1aKoVqfZ2-OTLGkIx5OvBTKjITXUGELe4qdiDZ7pB3oXnJeeq9ytQUOntVIJwiwI7Kup3Q9t5yifxEIopDxHoat959/s1600/2017-10-02+More+pictures+at+the+top+2+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgqksxCOF1AlYwiha5nu9aUyqPUANOpkBOPu_kWysaHNB7yPgE_1aKoVqfZ2-OTLGkIx5OvBTKjITXUGELe4qdiDZ7pB3oXnJeeq9ytQUOntVIJwiwI7Kup3Q9t5yifxEIopDxHoat959/s1600/2017-10-02+More+pictures+at+the+top+2+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfgqksxCOF1AlYwiha5nu9aUyqPUANOpkBOPu_kWysaHNB7yPgE_1aKoVqfZ2-OTLGkIx5OvBTKjITXUGELe4qdiDZ7pB3oXnJeeq9ytQUOntVIJwiwI7Kup3Q9t5yifxEIopDxHoat959/s640/2017-10-02+More+pictures+at+the+top+2+-+Copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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One of the upper floors,<br /> which had some cool stained glass windows.</h3>
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A picture from the top, looking towards D.C.</h3>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTckRwiho2yymiOXSr3eNmW_S4VM-fQp8UGU7TP6L3CHcyGED0mdc6XXAyrzPpet2MF_NXyen4WaRpDAlAKU263zxv2Pa-3un1BljrpOy3opP5_ZhvZ4dmnl6LXg7yfEnq51f-0kWHiQEI/s1600/2017-10-02+A+panoramic+looking+into+downtown+Alexandria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="1280" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTckRwiho2yymiOXSr3eNmW_S4VM-fQp8UGU7TP6L3CHcyGED0mdc6XXAyrzPpet2MF_NXyen4WaRpDAlAKU263zxv2Pa-3un1BljrpOy3opP5_ZhvZ4dmnl6LXg7yfEnq51f-0kWHiQEI/s640/2017-10-02+A+panoramic+looking+into+downtown+Alexandria.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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A panoramic looking into downtown Alexandria, with King Street right down the middle.<br />D.C. Is on the far left on the other side of the river.<br />You can also see the Free Mason symbol down in the center of the picture</h3>
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We had a pretty busy week, with 3 exchanges with different sets of zone leaders. We always seem to meet and find some cool people on exchanges.<br />
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We met a really awesome guy named Samuel this week. Samuel is from Liberia. I don't know what it is about Liberians, but out of all the different Africans we teach, they probably have my favorite accent to listen to. Anyways, we parked our car and got out, and Samuel was one of the first people we street contacted. We ended up walking with him for about 20 minutes towards his house, teaching him the entire first lesson as we walked with him. By the time we got to his house and finished talking to him about the Book of Mormon, we found out that his cousin is a less-active member of our ward who we've been trying to work with. Samuel didn't even know that his cousin was a member of our church, but once we found out they had the same last names, we made the connection. Samuel is excited for us to come back this evening to teach him again and to meet his wife!</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> With Elders Medrum, Ure, Smith, and Williams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">They were in a trio and we had an exchange</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">with them this week.</span></div>
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We had two really good lessons with Pam this past week. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and Gospel of Jesus Christ lessons, and she is progressing really well. In both lessons we brought different members from the ward that were able to connect with her really well. She was really curious to hear their testimonies and asked them herself how they came to believe everything. Listening to her, I can tell how genuine she is with her desire to learn and to come to know if what we teach is true. A lot of people we teach seem to be really interested in simply learning about what we believe, just to increase their knowledge. But Pam is different, and is committed to finding out for herself if it's true. In our second lesson with her she brought up how excited she was to come to church on Sunday, but we had General Conference, so she was a bit disappointed that we weren't having our regular church service, but she was excited to watch some of the conference. She's awesome!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Had to pick up some Krispy Kreme</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> donuts in between sessions of conference on Saturday.</span></div>
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I really enjoyed General Conference this weekend. It's hard to believe that this was my 4th General Conference as a missionary! I always receiving revelation from the Lord through the leaders of His church. I learned a lot from all of the different speakers and look forward to reading and studying all of their talks again in the coming weeks.<br />
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One of the talks that I particularly enjoyed was President Uchtdorf's talk from the priesthood session, where he talked about light.<br />
He said "Darkness is not an indication that there is no light. Most often, it simply means we are not in the right place to receive the light. …<br />
It is up to us to be in the right place to see and feel the divine light and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even when night has fallen and the world seems dark, we can choose to walk in Christ’s light, keep His commandments, and courageously testify of His reality and His greatness."<br />
I think this is a pretty cool analogy. Just because the sun goes down at night, and it gets dark outside, does not mean that the sun has stopped shining. The sun is still burning brightly, but we are just on the wrong side of the earth to receive the light. This is such a great metaphor. The love of Jesus Christ, who is "the light of the world" is ALWAYS there, but in order for us to be able to fully embrace and access that light, we need to be in the right places, doing the right things. When we mess up, and we don't feel the presence of His light, does not mean that He has stopped shining. It just means we need to reposition ourselves to be in a place where we can feel the warmth of His light again.<br />
When I first heard him say that "darkness is not an indication that there is no light" I first thought about the Light of Christ, which "is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16). Sometimes we may meet people who we initially might think "wow, this person is just full of darkness". But rather than having a perspective of them being full of darkness, we should realize that instead, it's just a lack of the presence of light. But whether or not it's readily recognizable, the light of Christ is still within them with the potential to burn brightly once again. Once we can realize that everyone has the light of Christ, then we can do what President Uchtdorf says when he stated that "[we] are instruments in the hands of the Lord with the purpose of bringing light and healing to the souls of Heavenly Father’s children... [and that] Christ’s light brings hope, happiness, and healing of any spiritual wound or ailment."<br />
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I am grateful to have the light of the gospel and the light of the Savior in my life and I hope and pray that I can continue to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring more of that 'hope, happiness, and healing' that comes from Him.<br />
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I love you all and hope you have a great week!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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Elder Meldrum!<br /> We were in the MTC together,<br /> but sadly he went home this morning because<br /> he blew out his knee playing basketball a couple <br />weeks ago and isn't going to be able to finish<br /> his 2 years here. I'm going to miss him!</h3>
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-36411939491757287372017-09-25T14:47:00.000-07:002017-10-02T16:51:54.905-07:00September 25, 2017 "Great is Your Reward"Hey everyone!<br />
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We're about halfway through is transfer. I'm not sure if I'll do another one here or not yet since it's my 4th transfer here, but I am continuing to enjoy each week!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xUMI_-37x_SDYrVS9lisZYdFwuHINi4csRreicXJw1T-J24L5gG8W_UMF6j4QW7WvXOF-F13zgM_vUVSFnWTQ9iiuvGG7rdnqw7I7njY0k_3t3-O7rP1OyZFEyNebfk9Re0ACIkkjoeI/s1600/2017-09-20+Elder+and+Sister+Craig-housing+coordinator+and+mission+nurse-going+back+home+to+Kentucky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="1280" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4xUMI_-37x_SDYrVS9lisZYdFwuHINi4csRreicXJw1T-J24L5gG8W_UMF6j4QW7WvXOF-F13zgM_vUVSFnWTQ9iiuvGG7rdnqw7I7njY0k_3t3-O7rP1OyZFEyNebfk9Re0ACIkkjoeI/s320/2017-09-20+Elder+and+Sister+Craig-housing+coordinator+and+mission+nurse-going+back+home+to+Kentucky.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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Elder and Sister Craig (housing coordinator<br /> and mission nurse)-going back home to Kentucky!</h3>
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Elder and Sister Hansen (finance<br /> and office secretary),<br /> going back to Utah.</h3>
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Elder and Sister Browne (car coordinator </h3>
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and referrals/supplies manager),<br /> going back home to Orem.<br /> I've interacted with them the most of<br /> all the senior couples.<br /> I'm going to miss them all!</h3>
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After finishing the rest of our Zone Conferences this week, we said goodbye to the 3 senior couples that work in the mission office. They each have finished their missions and are being replaced with new couples. I've gotten to know them all super well over the course of my mission, so I will miss each of them!<br />
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We were able to meet with Pam a couple times this past week. She's doing pretty good! She has already read a decent amount of the Book of Mormon on her own. Without us giving her anything specific to read, she read through Joseph Smith's testimony, along with the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, and understood quite a bit of it! She continues to tell us how she's searching for more peace in her life, and she recognizes the spirit she feels after meeting with us and wants to keep building upon that.<br />
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We have one investigator named Dorothy, who we have taught pretty consistently over my past 5 months in this ward. She has slowly began to understand the gospel as we have met with her. We had been debating whether or not to continue teaching her because she didn't seem to be progressing much. But she surprised us on Saturday night when we invited her to church (for the 15th time) by saying yes. She came to church yesterday and really enjoyed everything! She mentioned how it seemed to her that "there is a place for everyone!" She liked how all the kids, youth, adults, men, and women all have a place in the church. She's excited to continue learning and to start coming to church more regularly. We told her last week "people can meet with us all they want, but until they actually come and see for themselves, they'll likely never truly be able to gain a lasting testimony of what we teach." So finally, she was able to come and see, and had a great time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic82Hfdq8BgyLhP3naTo8D4amco9ORcrRxLPwOoFj5P-TDF9c1k6Zm_CMXy9XjL1yBmhAhF8rm6jgbqUwi0-P1xmixVlI88JSrLmwi5PfvZKBERPJQhtqA3lSQ7yoPZBKrBEsFR6jU6KzE/s1600/2017-09-20+We%2527ve+been+teaching+Edith+and+her+daughter+Audrey+for+a+little.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic82Hfdq8BgyLhP3naTo8D4amco9ORcrRxLPwOoFj5P-TDF9c1k6Zm_CMXy9XjL1yBmhAhF8rm6jgbqUwi0-P1xmixVlI88JSrLmwi5PfvZKBERPJQhtqA3lSQ7yoPZBKrBEsFR6jU6KzE/s320/2017-09-20+We%2527ve+been+teaching+Edith+and+her+daughter+Audrey+for+a+little.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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We've been teaching Edith and her daughter<br /> Audrey for a little while. They're sweet!</h3>
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We were also able to find a couple other investigators this week, one named Octavia, and a young couple named Cindy and Andres. In both situations finding them, I know without a doubt we were led by the spirit to go to the specific places to find them. Sometimes it's hard to discern what's just our own thoughts and what's the spirit, but I know we were led to them.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MepUpBs6pSBdLWoJ7pBlrcdHck3WsMVm2f2ogNK0BS1Kq-tboh1E_zP9qQmhbDwr7b-yzVhfQPvVsmGPlQ77HJPYiF9bIlLWMHv7BZNTnliGyUdjksp5usWGCjmwfHorSEZju-K_AM2m/s1600/2017-09-19+We+pulled+up+into+his+neighborhood%252C+and+Kofi+cam+running+to+the+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1MepUpBs6pSBdLWoJ7pBlrcdHck3WsMVm2f2ogNK0BS1Kq-tboh1E_zP9qQmhbDwr7b-yzVhfQPvVsmGPlQ77HJPYiF9bIlLWMHv7BZNTnliGyUdjksp5usWGCjmwfHorSEZju-K_AM2m/s400/2017-09-19+We+pulled+up+into+his+neighborhood%252C+and+Kofi+cam+running+to+the+car.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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We pulled up into his neighborhood,<br /> and Kofi came running to the car to see us.</h3>
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Every week we are able to find numerous new investigators, and people to teach the message of the Restoration to. We meet people who are nice, and willing to listen with open ears. On the other hand though, each week we'll come in contact with people who will say and do things to us that aren't nice at all, and will just want to argue and contend with us. With this in mind, a couple scriptures bring me a lot of peace, as well as confidence and assurance.<br />
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This first is 3rd Nephi 21:9-10<br />
"For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil."<br />
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The second scripture is Matthew 5:10-12<br />
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."<br />
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Missionaries and members of the church throughout the world are sharing the great and marvelous truths of the gospel, but there are people everywhere who will try and oppose, reject, and ignore the truth. There has always been opposition and always will be. But we can continue to press forward with confidence that we are in the Lord's hand, and that he will reward us in heaven for proclaiming His gospel, even if we may be ridiculed for doing so. I am so grateful to be a missionary here at this time and I am grateful for the testimony I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ.<br />
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I'm looking forward to General Conference this week! I'm excited to learn from the leaders of the church and hear what they have to say. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-24785457600564820742017-09-18T17:59:00.000-07:002017-09-18T18:49:54.076-07:00September 18, 2017 "3rd Nephi 5:13'<div>
Hey everyone!</div>
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Enjoying some Jollaf rice!!!</h3>
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We've had another great week! I'm amazed by how many people we are able to talk to and teach each and every day. </div>
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I just want to share one brief experience of someone we met this week. We had a neat experience finding a lady named Pam a few days ago. She's a testament to me that God truly does put people in our path. We were parking our car and then walked across a street and she was up on her balcony with her dogs. We just said hello to her as we walked by and to our surprise, she asked us if she could come down and talk to us. When she came down, she told us she just glanced out her window and saw us parking and decided to step out on her balcony and see which direction we would walk. She wasn't going to initiate conversation with us, but decided that if we walked her direction and talked to her, then she would come down and listen to us. She said this has been the hardest year of her life, with tons of trials and adversity that she's experienced, and when she saw us she felt like she needed to talk to us and see if the<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFt3dFLaVv43o_9ZzWdJgfNaG85tSD5fAW5TH6PlG7wf6IaNZo5SmetOByDZk96cH1mLtwFBcpzkZEeY2urh-3FdOsd0biC_iiWKpwdH5W45bKqYvMJkLDCckH4tm-hxK0kEvmSDmmlzxc/s1600/2017-09-12+Some+jollaf+rice+from+one+of+our+African+members+in+the+Ward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="956" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFt3dFLaVv43o_9ZzWdJgfNaG85tSD5fAW5TH6PlG7wf6IaNZo5SmetOByDZk96cH1mLtwFBcpzkZEeY2urh-3FdOsd0biC_iiWKpwdH5W45bKqYvMJkLDCckH4tm-hxK0kEvmSDmmlzxc/s320/2017-09-12+Some+jollaf+rice+from+one+of+our+African+members+in+the+Ward.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Some jollaf rice from one of our African members in the Ward.</td></tr>
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message we share could help her feel some peace. She was going in for a surgery today, and our visit with her a couple days ago helped to not only bring her some peace in her time of stress and anxiety, but also opened her eyes to a lot of truth she's been searching for. After teaching her about the Book of Mormon and reading a few powerful verses about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, she could not wait to have a copy of her own. She is excited to continue meeting with us, and is excited to start coming to church. I'm grateful that we were placed in her path! I know that the simple truths taught in the Book of Mormon are powerful and that the witness of Christ that is found in its pages can help heal any wounded soul. </div>
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Can't do missionary work without food.</h3>
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Elder Ure and I at one of the Zone Conferences<br /> last week. I feel blessed to have had some great<br />companions throughout my mission!</h3>
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We had two Zone Conferences this week that we trained at. Due to having such a large percentage of our missionaries that are in their first few months in the field, we were asked to train on the importance of teaching simply. Harold B. Lee stated that we as missionaries and "teachers are not being sent out to teach new doctrine. You’re to teach the old doctrines, not so plain that they can just understand, but you must teach the doctrines of the Church so plainly that no one can misunderstand." We have THE most important message that anyone could share! We have a message that has a life-changing, and eternity-changing impact on those who embrace it. So we need to teach this wonderful message in a way that the Savior would have us teach it. We decided to not merely train the missionaries on the concept of teaching simply, but to teach it as the Savior would teach it. Under the "Teaching the Gospel" section in True to the Faith, it gives us some great insight! It states "In your efforts to teach the gospel, look to Jesus Christ as your example. Study accounts of His mortal ministry, and look for ways to teach as He taught. He showed genuine love and concern for those He served. He strengthened people individually, teaching gospel principles in a way that would help them with their unique needs. He awakened in some the desire to understand and live the gospel. At times He asked questions that would help them apply what they learned. He taught the saving truths of the gospel, helping His hearers understand what they needed to know, do, and be in order to receive the gift of eternal life." </div>
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I love all of these different things the Savior did as he taught! It humbles me to know that as a missionary, I truly represent Him and His restored gospel. So we need to be sure we're doing all we can to teach His gospel in a way that he would want us to teach it. I love what Mormon says in 3rd Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." This applies to each one of us missionaries as well, called to declare the restored gospel so that those we meet can access the eternal blessings of the gospel. Remembering that I've been called to represent Him every day helps me to keep pressing forward, trying my best to preach His gospel by the spirit. </div>
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Sister Gutzwiller knows my Aunt Becky and Uncle Tom and others<br />from when they lived in my home town,Temecula.<br />And her daughter was friends with my cousin Starla.<br />What a small world!!!</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is Sister "Gutz" Gutzwiller, a member living in </span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">she </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">got super excited! She has lived in Temecula </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with her family twice and started making a </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lot of connections with me. Super nice woman! </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love how small the world is within the church. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throughout my mission I've been surprised by how </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">many connections I've made with different people.</span></h3>
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I am grateful for each one of you, all of the wonderful examples I have to look to in my life. But I'm mostly grateful for the example of our Savior and I know that if we look to him, we'll never go wrong. </div>
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I love you all! I hope you have a great week!</div>
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Elder Jeremy Duvall</div>
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Washington DC South Mission</div>
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Elder Ure and I at one of the Zone Conferences last week. </h3>
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-45302979083909665512017-09-11T21:33:00.004-07:002017-09-12T06:25:17.202-07:00September 11, 2017 Dancing with GrandmaHey everyone!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia68LD3rUkXnopYVEKUiweFYPESTkZmPm4TDOvT5y3khpmUVTxcXdn239t4u8AB9a5WMsQnCbvKXcV_r6Fdl_WVsJetiIkku5hiLip9nxoGt-VFaLo0IqhJmeBCrRA7F-WzXSqpYXRo8Zc/s1600/2015-12-27+With+Grandma+after+mission+farewell+talk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia68LD3rUkXnopYVEKUiweFYPESTkZmPm4TDOvT5y3khpmUVTxcXdn239t4u8AB9a5WMsQnCbvKXcV_r6Fdl_WVsJetiIkku5hiLip9nxoGt-VFaLo0IqhJmeBCrRA7F-WzXSqpYXRo8Zc/s400/2015-12-27+With+Grandma+after+mission+farewell+talk.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
I felt quite a bit of peace this week with the passing of my Grandma Smith. I am grateful that I was able to say some final words to her over the phone, but most of all I am grateful to know that for this past week she has enjoyed a sweet reunion with Papa Smith and Uncle Randy! I am so blessed to have had 4 amazing grandparents in my life. I love them all! I am grateful for my Mom and Dad, who wouldn't be the great parents who they are if it weren't for their parents. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, that has blessed my family and brought so much peace and joy.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5nwV45zgGP3hkPM-RmCcVHbxTgcguSZ55MjX-Rc5V9fGl-h1XE50KkZvaA86LakKT0KA7Y_4eDzKUqM5scVoYBXgRIcEYetJdRbHjQ2XrUzoSgSY6RQjI_4lGJf0-5Gs7yceT0u46KEl/s1600/2015-12-27+Grandma+with+Jennifer+and+Jeremy+after+Jeremy%2527s+mission+farewell.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="911" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW5nwV45zgGP3hkPM-RmCcVHbxTgcguSZ55MjX-Rc5V9fGl-h1XE50KkZvaA86LakKT0KA7Y_4eDzKUqM5scVoYBXgRIcEYetJdRbHjQ2XrUzoSgSY6RQjI_4lGJf0-5Gs7yceT0u46KEl/s400/2015-12-27+Grandma+with+Jennifer+and+Jeremy+after+Jeremy%2527s+mission+farewell.JPG" width="400" /></a>One of my favorite memories with Grandma was one of the Sundays that she came over for dinner. For a while, she and Uncle Mark would regularly come over to our home on Sundays. One time, I remember that I randomly took her by the hand and starting dancing with her in our kitchen. I think there was some music playing. It was really fun and she was laughing a ton. There's nobody else I'd rather dance with than my sweet grandma! I figured that someone had to dance with her in place of grandpa, but now she's probably happily dancing away with Papa Smith in heaven! Many of my memories with her over the past 5 years include sitting by her chair in her bedroom making her laugh. I enjoyed sitting in front of her, allowing her to put her hand on my head, letting her scratch my hair. She always had the prettiest smile, and nothing brought me more joy than making her laugh and seeing her smile. As a child, I also always looked forward to Christmas Day breakfast when I would have her yummy coffee cake for breakfast, and I remember getting to make it with her a couple of times. We had a member of our ward here this last week give us some banana bread that reminded me of hers!<br />
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I will miss grandma but I know she is in a better place. And I know, without any doubt whatsoever, that I will get to see her smiling face again! I know that she will be watching over me as I continue to serve as a missionary, and I know that she will continue to watch over all of us as we continue our lives here on earth.<br />
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This is the video of Jeremy dancing with his grandma Smith taken on December 23, 2012</h3>
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Early Wednesday morning, dropping off all of these<br />great missionaries off at the airport! It's been an interesting<br />feeling being able to be there in the airport each transfer<br /> as we say goodbye and send them all back home. If anything,<br /> it motivates me to keep working hard each and every day.<br /> I'm grateful that it's not me on that plane, and that I still<br /> have a lot of time left to serve here in VA.</h3>
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We had a busy week starting off the new transfer. We had to spend a little more time in the office again this week than we usually do, taking care of a bunch of changes and things that have happened as a result of all the new missionaries arriving last week. But we still were able to teach quite a bit this week.<br />
Our main investigators right now are Tenisha and her children, and Michelle. We taught them both this week multiple times and they are both doing great, reading the Book of Mormon in between our visits and enjoying everything that they learn. I'm grateful to be a missionary in this area and I am grateful to be able to share the gospel with people each and every day. I am grateful for the great Plan of Happiness and our Savior Jesus Christ that is central to it all!<br />
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Elder Ure and I have been looking every day to try and find 3 or more unplanned opportunities to serve someone. It's been awesome and we've met some pretty cool people as a result! We've helped quite a bit of people carry groceries inside from their car, opened tons of doors, and taken people's trash out. Elder Ure even cleaned someone's headlights on their car for them while they were cleaning their car. He used to detail cars for work, so he knows how to clean cars super well. They were pretty impressed with how clean the lights looked (bug spray was the secret, it cleans the lights really well). It's cool to see how simple acts of service soften people's hearts. We've been able to introduce a lot of people to the Book of Mormon and even taught a few lessons as a result of the simple acts of service.<br />
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I finished the Book of Mormon again this morning! The Book of Mormon truly is the keystone of my testimony! I know without doubt that it is true. I am grateful for the more personal relationship with Jesus Christ that I have gained from it as a result of studying it and trying to "abide by its precepts."<br />
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I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
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Michelle is so sweet! Her testimony of the<br /> Plan of Salvation after we taught it to her is so solid!</h3>
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Early morning breakfast with the Office Elders<br /> at Denny's, right after leaving the airport.</h3>
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-37096980648104335532017-09-04T09:55:00.003-07:002017-09-04T09:55:43.582-07:00September 4, 2017 "Down Payment on Tomorrow's Happiness"Hey everyone!<br />
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Today is the day before transfers, and we picked up 34 brand new missionaries from the airport today! That is the biggest group that President Huntsman has had since being a mission President. Elder Ure and I had to drive separate cars full of missionaries, along with President and Sister Huntsman each having to drive a vehicle as well. It was fun welcoming them all to DC! Each time I go back to that airport, I think back to the time that I walked off that plane. It always feels as if that were just a few weeks ago, but when I stop and think about it, SO much has happened since that day. I've had so many experiences and met so many incredible people over the past 20 months!<br />
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This past week marks one year since Asif and Isha were baptized. They are both doing well! Asif was baptized at the end of August last year, and Isha was the first week of September. Isha has been doing great. Her ward meets in the same building as us, so it's fun running into her every now and then.<br />
I emailed Asif this week checking up on him, pointing out that it has been one year since his baptism, asking how he and his family have been doing in Dubai, and his response was the best. I love imagining his accent saying these words, he responded "Thanks a lot brother, me and my family following all our lord Jesus Christ commandments and we are very happy and always thankful to you and our brother Elder Judkins as well. Thanks a lot for remember my baptism day, I feel it's my birth day. We wish our lord Jesus Christ will bless us and give us a place in the celestial kingdom, where he's living with his beloved father in the name of Jesus Christ amen."<br />
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Last night we had the new member fireside that we do every transfer, where recent converts speak and talk about their conversion stories. That is by far my favorite meeting. I've been able to attend it numerous times over the course of my mission. Sitting up at the front looking out, I noticed a companionship of sister missionaries walking in late in the back. They walked in with Katie, who I found and taught in the spring of 2016, who was eventually baptized at the beginning of this year. I made eye contact with her and she saw me and just had the biggest smile on her face. I had the thought/impression while seeing her, that if she was the only one I had an impact on on my mission, these two years would have all been worth it. I have been able to see many people's lives blessed by the gospel, but perhaps hers more than anyone else. Her path towards baptism took a while, through many sets of missionaries, but has been strong in the gospel ever since her baptism. Talking to her after the meeting, she explained that she just accepted a calling to serve as a Young Women's Sunday school teacher, which she is nervous about, but I know she'll do great!<br />
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This week was pretty busy. We don't usually spend much time in our mission office, because we try to proselyte in our area as much as possible. But we had a lot to get done in preparation for this week, so we were there a bit more than usual this past week.<br />
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Here's Tenisha holding her brand new baby.<br /> I think she weighs a little over 4 pounds now.<br /> And then there's two more of her kids, Amaree and Amani.</h3>
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But we still were able to teach some great lessons to our investigators this week. We had an awesome lesson with Tenisha and a couple of her kids, Amaree and Amani. We met her months ago, but we're finally able to start teaching her a couple times a week the past few weeks. She has had many health struggles that've prevented us from meeting with her, and has been in and out of the hospital throughout the year, but her health is finally starting to stay steady. She actually just had a baby as well about a month ago. The baby, named Amaya, was born premature though, at 2.5 pounds and had to stay in the hospital for the first month until last week when she was able to take her home. It's growing really healthy though and is such a precious little thing! Tenisha has been extremely humbled by everything that's gone on in her life, and has really embraced the opportunity to learn about the gospel. It's cool to see her enthusiasm to learn, despite all the struggles she goes through.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztSpmzUQQKfveJWXC1EahFbhO_VWmLKXUKDXaa0V1PhUbAucWkUl0B5Tj1UHbBTjeAeQUDTigLgkMomXyZBwO1ue8_Tou0szRIKi5p8ZjfGVN_qh4OUCtotXyeySDSwCYtRULx-aSY3Ay/s1600/2017-09-02+Elder+Ure%252C+Logan%252C+and+I+with+Gifty%252C+one+of+our+many+Ghanaian+investigators+who+we%2527ve+been+teaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztSpmzUQQKfveJWXC1EahFbhO_VWmLKXUKDXaa0V1PhUbAucWkUl0B5Tj1UHbBTjeAeQUDTigLgkMomXyZBwO1ue8_Tou0szRIKi5p8ZjfGVN_qh4OUCtotXyeySDSwCYtRULx-aSY3Ay/s320/2017-09-02+Elder+Ure%252C+Logan%252C+and+I+with+Gifty%252C+one+of+our+many+Ghanaian+investigators+who+we%2527ve+been+teaching.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Elder Ure, Logan, and I with Gifty,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">one of our many Ghanaian investigators</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">who we've been teaching.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
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A quote that I heard a while back from a good friend said that "Gratitude is a down payment on tomorrow's happiness." We all will experience different trials in our lives. But no matter where we are at, we can find all things to be grateful for. If we hold on to the good memories, good experiences, and blessings that we do have, instead of focusing on what we don't have, we can and use that perspective to motivate us to press forward. Tenisha, and many of the people I have taught on my mission, have exemplified this perspective, having a spirit of gratitude despite their circumstances.<br />
I know that that is something that can help all of us, and I know that as we express our gratitude towards others and towards our Father in Heaven, that it truly will turn out to be "a down payment on tomorrow's happiness."<br />
<br />
I love you all! Hope you have a great week!!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
<br />
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-44682352868802736752017-08-28T16:02:00.001-07:002017-08-28T16:10:16.041-07:00August 28, 2017 "Better and Happier"Hey everyone!<br />
<br />
We had another pretty good week!<br />
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This guys name is Atta. We see him all the time in his<br />neighborhood. He's always sitting out on these steps<br /> and enjoys talking with us. He says that one day he will<br />come to church with his neighbor, who's a member.</h3>
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I want to start this email by quoting Elder Holland. I read an article the other day and came across a quote that I really like. He said "If my life has taught me anything, it is that kindness and pleasantness and faith-based optimism are characteristics of happy people. In the words of Mother Teresa, “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness--kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.” (September 2017 Ensign)<br />
I am grateful for the happy people that have blessed my life with their kindness, pleasantness, and optimism. I hope that each of us can strive to be someone who leaves others "better and happier" after they interact with us.<br />
Over the course of my mission, I have tried my best to live this principle, striving to leave people better and happier than I found them. As I have tried to do this, I have definitely seen it to cause myself to be better and happier.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kadiatu was excited to take a picture</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> with me and then post it on her Facebook!</span></div>
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We had a really cool experience meeting and teaching this woman named Michelle this week. We were street contacting people and talking to a couple guys, and began talking about the importance of families and how we believe families can be together for eternity. While testifying of eternal families, Michelle walks out the door of the apartment building, sees us and hears what we are saying and then begins to get emotional. We went over to talk to her and found out that she had been in her bed all day praying for the strength to get up and go do something in the day. She in her 50's and had a daughter (who was about 30) that passed away a couple moths ago, and she has been depressed and discouraged ever since and has just been extremely sad and unmotivated to do much. But after she saw us and heard us talking about eternal families, she wanted to know what it was that we were sharing. So we taught her the Plan of Salvation right there and she loved every bit of it. So many of her questions and concerns that she has been having over the past few months were answered. We then saw her the next day and there was a whole new light about her<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCQnfRclroNfdpYRkgk2JZLe5zZC5UlbqwdYo03cLkh3VH9Zg4zi_n6FpV2z3_2I2_UKxhT8OhK5cjFhusB_BEFpq7S4Am31CQ0l1XEVtmpDlv3T26gonOD85qF7IYJu_cxwKpTke1aoV/s1600/2017-08-23+We+usually+visit+Kadiatu+%2528Katie%2529+once+or+twice+a+week+to+read+the+scriptures.+She+has+really+enjoyed+coming+back+to+church+after+not+being+in+so+many+years..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCQnfRclroNfdpYRkgk2JZLe5zZC5UlbqwdYo03cLkh3VH9Zg4zi_n6FpV2z3_2I2_UKxhT8OhK5cjFhusB_BEFpq7S4Am31CQ0l1XEVtmpDlv3T26gonOD85qF7IYJu_cxwKpTke1aoV/s400/2017-08-23+We+usually+visit+Kadiatu+%2528Katie%2529+once+or+twice+a+week+to+read+the+scriptures.+She+has+really+enjoyed+coming+back+to+church+after+not+being+in+so+many+years..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">We usually visit Kadiatu (Katie) once or twice a week to </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">read the scriptures. She has really enjoyed coming</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">back to church after not being in so many years.</span></div>
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than the day before. She was smiling and happy! We were able to teach her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and she loves everything we've taught. She lives in a neighborhood that we are in all the time, where we have a lot of investigators, and everybody in that area knows who the missionaries are because they see us all the time. She has heard false things about us from her friends and family, and has always brushed off the missionaries when they've approached her in the past. But when she stepped outside that day and met us, in that moment she felt like it was a sign from God that she needed to no longer ignore us and actually give us the time to talk to her. After meeting with her just a couple of times, she said she wished that she wouldn't have ignored the missionaries for so long, and that there's so many misconceptions she has had that held her back. But now she says "it's time to focus on Michelle's salvation and not care what anyone else thinks." Were excited to keep teaching her. Im grateful for the peace and comfort that God's plan brings to me and to the people that we are able to teach it too. I'm grateful for the many people we are able to meet and teach every week!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3 style="text-align: center;">
Elder Baxter and I with Kwasi.</h3>
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<br />
I had a great exchange with Elder Baxter this week! He's one of the Zone Leaders right now. We had a few sweet lessons together. One with this older Ghanaian man named Kwasi who we met months ago and were able to teach him again. He's had a Book of Mormon for a while, but hasn't truly understood it. Even though he's met numerous missionaries during his life, he never actually knew that the Book of Mormon is all about Jesus Christ. We've been reading some chapters out of 3rd Nephi with him about Christ visiting the Nephites and he kept saying "why haven't your colleagues before you that came here ever told me about this!" He is really enjoying reading the Book of Mormon and is praying for an answer to his prayers. In the past he's been pretty set with his church, but now he sincerely wants to know if what we teach is true.<br />
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Yesterday at church we had a new couple that just moved into the ward. The husband is a member of the church and his wife isn't. The husband approached us and told us that his wife was meeting with missionaries right before they moved here from Georgia, and that she has a testimony and is looking forward to being baptized! So he asked us if we could start teaching her and helping her prepare for her baptism! So of course we're pretty excited about that.<br />
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This week is the last week of the transfer, and President Huntsman told us that Elder Ure and I will most likely be spending a 3rd transfer together! I'm looking forward to another 6 weeks in this ward! We have another huge group of over 30 new missionaries coming next week. About half of the missionaries in our mission will be within their first 6 months, which is pretty crazy. So President thought it would be good to have some consistency and keep us together another transfer.<br />
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Remember to "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier." I know that as you do this you will be happier as a result! I love you all! I hope you have a great week!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
On exchange with Elder Walker, another one of the Zone<br />Leaders.This is with Eishetu, the coolest recent convert, and his brother<br />in law Tezera, who we've been trying to teach and help come to church.</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
A sweet family we found and taught last week.<br /> The mother is Yaa, and her kids names<br /> are Enoch, Prince, Evelyn, and Peter.</h3>
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-82026920543311939662017-08-21T20:40:00.000-07:002017-08-21T20:40:10.756-07:00August 21, 2017 "One by One"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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Elder Ure and I at the temple Saturday 8-19.</h3>
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Hey everyone!<br />
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We drove the van up to the temple again this<br /> weekend with all these missionaries.</h3>
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<br />We had to wake up at 3am this morning to take a group of 8 missionaries to the airport, who went home a little early for this semester of school. So we slept at the mission home last night and only had a few hours of sleep. Since today's Pday, we will be able to catch up on a little bit of sleep though.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> Early this morning at the airport, with the</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> 8 missionaries going home and</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">President Huntsman being silly in the back.</span></div>
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This week was pretty busy! We had 3 different exchanges with different companionships of zone leaders. I had a great day with each of them. We were able to teach a lot of lessons this week and have met some more great people! Every day is busy in our area! Always lots of people to talk to and there's never a dull moment it seems. We have met all kinds of people.<br />
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Throughout my mission, I have kept a list of all of the countries that I have met people from, and this week I reached 100!! I was pretty excited about that. It's been really cool to meet people from throughout the world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3>
Elder Ross and I on exchange,<br />after teaching our next door neighbor Kadiatu.<br />I put on this African shirt that I have when<br /> we got there, and she absolutely loved it!</h3>
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There was a quote I heard from our Stake President this week that I really liked. It was a pretty simple phrase, but I think it has a lot of meaning. He said "If you give time to the Lord, the Lord will give you time." Sometimes I think we are so caught up in our daily routines of life, that we feel there is so much on our plate, and so much that we need to get accomplished each day, that we neglect to give the Lord some time. I think one of the best ways that we give time to the Lord is through serving others. I like that promise that our Stake president gave, that if we devote some time throughout our day, or week, towards serving others, the Lord will give us the time we need to accomplish the things that are important to us. We should not feel so stressed and overwhelmed all the time with everything we feel we need to do. But instead if we forget ourself and our own needs, even if it's just for a few minutes out of the day, the Lord will help us have the time that we need to get everything done. I really like that principle.<br />
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In my study of the Book of Mormon the past couple weeks, I've read through the Saviors ministry among the Nephites in 3rd Nephi. It's such a great part of the Book of Mormon! I've really enjoyed the different places where I've found the phrase "one by one." Here are some places that I found it.<br />
<br />
First in chapter 11:14-15. I love in these verses how the Savior allowed everyone to come and feel his hands, and witness that his atonement has been completed for each of one them. I truly believe that he suffered for us "one by one" and he overcame death, so that each of us, "one by one" can make it back into the presence of the Father.<br />
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"Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.<br />
And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Elder Baldwin and I on exchange, eating dinner</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">at SuPollo, a Peruvian chicken restaurant</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">that we really like nearby our home</span></div>
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<br />Next in chapter 17:18-21. Just as Jesus Christ blessed the little children individually, he blesses each of us "one by one" with strengths, weaknesses, and spiritual gifts, and continues to bless us with so many things every day.<br />
<br />
"And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.<br />
And it came to pass that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise.<br />
And they arose from the earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now behold, my joy is full.<br />
And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them."<br />
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This is a lady named Dorothy that we've been<br />teaching for a couple months. She's super nice!</h3>
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<br />Then in chapter 18:35-38, before Jesus Christ left his 12 chosen disciples he gave each of them time and attention, touching and speaking to all of them "one by one" before he left their presence.<br />
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And now I go unto the Father, because it is expedient that I should go unto the Father for your sakes.<br />
And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all, and spake unto them as he touched them.<br />
And the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the Holy Ghost. And I will show unto you hereafter that this record is true.<br />
And it came to pass that when Jesus had touched them all, there came a cloud and overshadowed the multitude that they could not see Jesus.<br />
And while they were overshadowed he departed from them, and ascended into heaven...<br />
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Here's a better picture from the<br />baptism of Christian and Stephanie<br />from 2 weeks ago.</h3>
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<br />Then again in chapter 28 verse 1 "he spake unto his disciples, one by one, saying unto them: What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?"<br />
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I hope I (and all of us) can follow the Saviors example by loving, serving, and speaking to others "one by one," just as He did. Giving others the gift of our love, time, and attention is so important!<br />
Anyways, thanks for being patient with me and all my scriptures I put into here.<br />
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I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Happy birthday to the best Momma in the whole world! She's THE best! I'm so grateful to have a incredible, loving mother who has done so much for me throughout my life!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<br /><br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-51260569666849156012017-08-14T11:23:00.001-07:002017-08-14T11:23:19.257-07:00August 14, 2017 Baptisms and Priesthood BlessingsHey everyone!<br />
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This week was great! We made it through a busy week of three Zone Conferences! We enjoyed presenting trainings at each one. Even though we do the same things with every zone, we are able to fine-tune our training and make improvements and changes to it each time we gave it, so by the time we reach our last one it was much better than the first time. It's so fun being able to see all of the missionaries throughout the mission within the span of a week.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3>
Elder Ure, Elder Shelley, and I with<br />Cristian and Stephanie and their Mom at their baptism.</h3>
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We had the baptism of Cristian and Stephanie this past week in our ward! Cristian and Stephanie are 12 and 13 years old and we have been working with their family for a while, so it awesome to see them finally make this step!. Their baptismal service was great! We had good support from some members there, and Elder Shelley was able to come back to baptize Stephanie. He was my second companion in the mission field in my first area, Centreville. And he also served here in this ward shortly before I got here, and he taught Cristian and Stephanie for a bit before I came. Elder Shelley baptized Stephanie and Elder Ure baptized Cristian. I gave a talk at their baptism, and then I also was asked to do Stephanie's confirmation in church yesterday.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><h3>
Elder Ure, Elder Shelley, and I with<br /> Cristian and Stephanie and their Mom at their baptism.</h3>
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I am excited for them and so proud of the decision they've made to be baptized! Their Mom and two older sisters were baptized about 8 years ago or so, and then stopped coming to church when they moved here from Annandale. So it has been exciting to see their family start to come back and be at church together. Cristian and Stephanie were nervous before their baptism, but they are so happy that they decided to do it!<br />
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We had a cool experience this week teaching this young couple named Anthony and Redeit. We just knocked on their door, trying to see someone else who doesn't live there anymore and Anthony talked with us for a minute and had a lot of great questions about the Book of Mormon. After explaining it briefly to him, he allowed us to come inside and sit down. We then taught he and his wife all about it. Most of the people we meet from Ethiopia are pretty devout Ethiopian orthodox, but they aren't really strongly attached to any particular religion, but they are strong in their faith in God and Jesus Christ. They're in their 20's and have been married for a few years. They were intrigued by the Book of Mormon! Recently, we've been trying our best to emphasize the fact that the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ, and that we represent Jesus Christ. Often times we meet people that say we are from the "Church of Mormon" the "Mormon Church", or even the "Church of Joseph Smith." But we have been trying our best to explain that we represent the Church of Jesus Christ, and that this is His church, and that He is at the head of it. People have so many misconceptions about us, but when people recognize how we believe Jesus Christ to be central to everything we believe and teach, it makes a difference. It certainly did with Anthony and Redeit! They are excited to learn more!<br />
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Every time we have a companionship study, we start out by reading a few pages of the Missionary Handbook, and then we try and identify one thing that we can apply or focus on that day. One day, we read the pages about administering blessings to the sick, and giving blessings of comfort and counsel. We were trying to figure out how this could apply in our day that day, and we decided to make sure we had oil in our vials. The oil vials we had on us were actually empty when we read through these pages, so we decided to fill them up, just to make sure we were ready if asked to give a blessing that day. Then a few hours later, right after our dinner, we got a phone call asking us to go to the hospital to give a blessing to a woman named Felicia, who was having some complications. She is an investigator that the sister missionaries in our ward have been teaching. We happened to be just a couple miles from the hospital she was at. Within 10 minutes of the phone call we were in her hospital room. Felicia was astounded that we made it there so quickly! She told us that God put us in the right place at the right time! It was a cool experience there in the hospital room with her as we discussed the priesthood, gave her a blessing, and read through a few scriptures with her.<br />
We also had the opportunity to give a blessing one of the Ghanaian members of our ward, who had her fourth child this week! We gave her a blessing just a couple hours before she had her baby boy, so it was cool to be part of that special day in their family!<br />
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We've been teaching our next door neighbor Kadiatu who has been coming back to church pretty consistently over the past month or two. On Saturday, we found out that it was her birthday and hat she had nobody to celebrate with! No family or friends in the area to celebrate with that day, and all she had planned was to go to work. So we baked her a little cake and went and sang happy birthday to her! She was SO happy! It always feels good making people laugh and smile. She's such a happy woman!<br />
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This week on Saturday we'll be going up to the temple to take the departing missionaries for their departing temple trip. The temple is closed for cleaning for a few weeks on the day of transfers, so we have to do their temple trip early. In excited to go again! I love the temple and I'm grateful for the opportunity we have to go!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> These are two investigators we've been teaching from </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Burkina Faso,</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> Frank and Bouma. They speak French and have </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">been learning English.</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">We first met them a few months ago</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> and have been teaching </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">them for a while. They look like thugs </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">in this picture, </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">but I can assure you that they are some of the </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">nicest people I've ever met!</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">They are actually moving back up to </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">the Bronx in New York City this week,</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">so we got them in</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> touch with the missionaries there, so that they </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">can start teaching them.</span></div>
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We had a lesson in Elders quorum at church about the importance and value of work, based of of some teachings by President Hinckley. He said<br />
"The great genius of this Church is work. Everybody works. You do not grow unless you work. Faith, testimony of the truth, is just like the muscle of my arm. If you use it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling, it grows weak and flabby. We put people to work. We expect great things of them, and the marvelous and wonderful thing is they come through. They produce.<br />
Nothing happens in this Church unless you work. It is like a wheelbarrow. It doesn’t move until you get ahold of the two handles and push. Hard work moves the work of the Lord forward, and if you have learned to work with real integrity it will bless your lives forever. I mean that with all my heart. It will bless your lives forever."<br />
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I am grateful for the principles of work, and those who have helped me to develop good work ethics over the years. I hope I can continue to learn the importance of work and know how to work hard throughout my life, in all aspects of life.<br />
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I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week!!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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We did an exchange this week with a trio, so I went <br />with these two Elders, Elder Evans and Elder Benard. <br />And Elder Ure went with their other companion.<br /> Elder Evans and I met eachother at EFY in 2012,<br /> so it's been fun to serve with him throughout my mission! <br />He is finishing his mission, so I'm going to miss him!<br /> This picture was taken amidst a huge<br /> rainstorm that got us soaking wet!</h3>
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Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-10113264258993611362017-08-07T14:12:00.001-07:002017-08-07T14:12:01.157-07:00August 7, 2017 Come to Know HimHey everyone!<br />
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We had another great week! Each week just seems to be flying by.<br />
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I love Lawrence's face in this picture! He's a sweet kid!</h3>
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We were able to drive all the way from Alexandria out to Warrenton for Lawrence’s baptism last week! It was a special day! Elder Jones and I enjoyed teaching him for the 3 months that we were together. Whenever we taught him, we would play basketball in the driveway with him, and teach him at the same time. Every few minutes we take a break from shooting hoops and teach him some more. Over the course of our basketball lessons with him we covered all of the missionary discussions and baptismal interview questions. As time went on, he understood and grasped everything pretty well! His family has had their fair share of trials this year, but amidst it all, he and<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Elder Smith, Elder Gleed, myself, and Elder Jones </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">with Lawrence prior to his baptism!</span></div>
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his two older sisters and his mother eventually started coming back to church. (His Mom and sisters have been members of the church for a while, but Lawrence wasn't old enough to be baptized when his family joined the church years ago). At the baptism, I gave a brief talk about the Holy Ghost and Elder Jones spoke on baptism. It was a great evening, being there to congratulate him and support him and his family. It was fun seeing many of the awesome members that I grew to love in Warrenton. It feels like a family in that ward. (Shout out to Sister Goss! Thanks for the delicious homemade bread! I ate a bunch of it on the long drive back to Alexandria). Lawrence just turned 12, so he will be receiving the priesthood soon and be ordained a deacon!<br />
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Back in our area, Christian and Stephanie will be getting baptized this week! It's has been so fun<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Here's our next door neighbor, Kadiatu! She's one of the nicest ladies ever!</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">It was a cool experience meeting her, and she's been to church every week</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> for the past month! She loves coming and she's so happy to</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">serve others by giving our investigator Peter rides to church</span></div>
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teaching them ever since I got transferred into this ward. I actually taught them a couple times prior to serving in this ward, when I used to come on exchanges here. So I've known them for a while and it's cool to see how much they've grown and how excited they are for this week! Christian turns 12 this week as well, so he will be preparing to get the Aaronic priesthood and start passing the sacrament at church.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Exchange with Elder Norton this week. He is one of the Zone Leaders</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> now so he got to come on exchange here last week. We were in the MTC</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">together (19 months ago?!) It was fun being with him for a day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">We are with a couple of kids in this picture</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">who love seeing us when we visit their parents.</span></div>
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All week long, we weren't able to get in contact with our investigator Otelia who came to church with us last Sunday. So yesterday at church we weren't expecting her to come, but all of the sudden she walked in! She's had a busy week moving to a new place nearby and has had a lot going on, but she told us she knew she needed to come to church again. She is so in tune with the spirit and feels it so much at church. She has had a lot of struggles in her life, especially the last couple of years with a lot of death in her family, but she has recognized the peace and the hope that the gospel has started to bring into her life in just the past few weeks that we have been teaching her. She's excited to come and watch Christian and Stephanie's baptism later this week and is even more excited for her own baptism in the future.<br />
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We had one Zone Conference this past week, and we have three this upcoming week. So it's going to be a busy week!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvMBMOAozLIeRwssgfrclO6UXPqANzjq4IPx1V0WdhWYxT8t7B9EOi7f9CLfmzI0AF6NIW-Kd9AAQKv7oVvy_m0PtAn300L1T1EfT6wwP2yzEhMnxclPnD470LPRofx_x1V6Wyg7gq1f-/s1600/2017-07-27++Elder+Judkins+mother+took+this+picture+of+us+right+before+they+took+him+away%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvMBMOAozLIeRwssgfrclO6UXPqANzjq4IPx1V0WdhWYxT8t7B9EOi7f9CLfmzI0AF6NIW-Kd9AAQKv7oVvy_m0PtAn300L1T1EfT6wwP2yzEhMnxclPnD470LPRofx_x1V6Wyg7gq1f-/s400/2017-07-27++Elder+Judkins+mother+took+this+picture+of+us+right+before+they+took+him+away%2521.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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Elder Judkins mother took this picture of us<br /> right before they took him away!</h3>
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This transfer our mission has been focused on utilizing the Book of Mormon more effectively and more often in all aspects of our work. Whether it be in finding, teaching, working with members, or our own personal study, we have a big emphasis this month on the Book of Mormon. In Preach My Gospel Chapter 5 I love what it says about the Book of Mormon. Under the section "The Book of Mormon Testifies of Christ" it says that "A central purpose of the Book of Mormon is to convince all people that Jesus is the Christ (see title page of the Book of Mormon). It testifies of Christ by affirming the reality of His life, mission, and power. It teaches true doctrine concerning the Atonement--the foundation for the plan of salvation.... Those who know little or nothing about the Savior will come to know Him by reading, pondering, and praying about the Book of Mormon."<br />
I love how it doesn't just say those who read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon will come to know about the Savior. Instead, we are promised that we will come to know him as we read it, on a personal level. It's one thing to learn about Jesus Christ, but coming to know him is a whole different story. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon, and for all that it has taught me about the life, mission, and power of Jesus Christ. But more importantly I am grateful for the chance I've had to continue come to know Him, each time I study and apply the things I learn.<br />
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I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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I love this picture of the temple!</h3>
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-6950200829434239812017-07-31T13:42:00.001-07:002017-07-31T13:51:02.672-07:00July 31, 2017 You Are His HandsHey everyone!<br />
This was a busy week starting off the new transfer! It was sad saying bye to about 30 missionaries that I've served with over the course of my mission. But it was fun welcoming a ton of new missionaries to the mission field as well!<br />
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My longtime companion, Elder Judkins!<br />I am going to miss this guy!</h3>
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I had a great experience going to the temple last week with all of the departing missionaries. It was especially fun being there with Elder Judkins again. Before our session, we ran into the Richmond Mission Mission President along with his group of departing missionaries. When I saw their group of missionaries, I saw one that I thought looked familiar, and then I realized it was Braden Starr (my cousins cousin, also from Temecula). It was cool running into him in the temple and talking with him for a few minutes. I completely forgot he was called to the Richmond mission, but it was fun to see him before he heads home!<br />
Later that evening, it was fun being at the mission home with all of the departing missionaries for a testimony meeting. I enjoyed hearing from all of them! At the end of the night there were 5 different families that came to pick up their missionary, so it was fun seeing the joyful reunion that was for each of them and meeting some of their parents.<br />
It's fun seeing the nervous excitement of the new missionaries, coming in, not fully knowing what to expect. And then seeing that in contrast with the departing missionaries, who go home with more confidence and with such strong testimonies.<br />
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On the way up to the temple with some<br /> of the departing group.</h3>
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After the busy couple days of transfers, we had a good week!<br />
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We have an investigator named Otelia who we have taught multiple times over the last few weeks who I haven't written about yet. She initially was a referral from some members of the ward. She has attended a couple of the self-reliance classes that the church does as part of that new program, which is how she initially got in contact with the church here. She is the best! Otelia absolutely loves reading the Book of Mormon and is learning a lot. She came to church for her first time yesterday and had a great experience!<br />
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5 A.M at the airport with the departing missionaries</h3>
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Peter came to church again as well! It was his 3rd time at church, so he is progressing pretty well!<br />
Christian and Stephanie will hopefully be having their baptismal interviews this week and their baptism next weekend, so we're looking forward to that as well. It's been fun encouraging their family to pray together every day and to spend just a couple minutes daily in the scriptures. Prayer and scripture study are two of the most simple commandments, but the changes they bring into our lives are incredible.<br />
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I'll be going back out to Warrenton this week for the baptism of Lawrence!! He was the 11-year old kid that Elder Jones and I taught for a while when we were in that ward. I'm super excited for him, and excited to see some familiar faces out there!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91cTmXHbv9yBs5OI13AgXkdtKkgXIi58-l3IEqh5wYuT5dxcQfq_V_6_eHPyhM-hevAZAwyGQSgvF3w3Jo-Ej4ndPsyCGsCnt33XioaJK7eh5Fx6aFxW7Yxep0frXBXzNTkyEsjyiEAfK/s1600/2017-07-24+This+is+when+we+picked+up+Elder+DeSchepper+and+Sister+Doyle+from+the+airport+arriving+from+Mexico+MTC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91cTmXHbv9yBs5OI13AgXkdtKkgXIi58-l3IEqh5wYuT5dxcQfq_V_6_eHPyhM-hevAZAwyGQSgvF3w3Jo-Ej4ndPsyCGsCnt33XioaJK7eh5Fx6aFxW7Yxep0frXBXzNTkyEsjyiEAfK/s320/2017-07-24+This+is+when+we+picked+up+Elder+DeSchepper+and+Sister+Doyle+from+the+airport+arriving+from+Mexico+MTC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
This is when we picked up Elder DeSchepper and<br /> Sister Doyle from the Mexico MTC.</h3>
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I'm grateful for the opportunity we have had this week to teach our investigators. It is so fun to see the joy of the gospel begin to work in the lives of the people we are teaching. I am grateful for the chance we have as missionaries to represent Jesus Christ as we share His gospel!<br />
I was reminded of a great talk this week titled "You are My Hands" given in April 2010 by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I would like to share a brief portion from the beginning of his talk. He says:<br />
"A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.<br />
Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was--a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: “You are my hands.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMbVuniVD_-cY7-7oqFO3t9nJBa13zxMbYIUsg18H1JkoCOfQcmHhbTdy0-k8dfuxqQ_S0CzzT-_IQLv_n1SPPIynhrXMUxZEi_37NEvhJDymKNLC0aHZJfHqdvXhJCi_H8NMLqRVN5ZZ/s1600/2017-07-31+Went+to+lunch+with+my+good+friend+Kerry+Harding+today%2521+He%2527s+a+great+man%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMbVuniVD_-cY7-7oqFO3t9nJBa13zxMbYIUsg18H1JkoCOfQcmHhbTdy0-k8dfuxqQ_S0CzzT-_IQLv_n1SPPIynhrXMUxZEi_37NEvhJDymKNLC0aHZJfHqdvXhJCi_H8NMLqRVN5ZZ/s400/2017-07-31+Went+to+lunch+with+my+good+friend+Kerry+Harding+today%2521+He%2527s+a+great+man%2521.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Went to lunch with my good friend Kerry Harding <br />today! He's a great man!</h3>
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There is a profound lesson in this story.<br />
When I think of the Savior, I often picture Him with hands outstretched, reaching out to comfort, heal, bless, and love. And He always talked with, never down to, people. He loved the humble and the meek and walked among them, ministering to them and offering hope and salvation.<br />
That is what He did during His mortal life; it is what He would be doing if He were living among us today; and it is what we should be doing as His disciples and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<br />
As we emulate His perfect example, our hands can become His hands; our eyes, His eyes; our heart, His heart."<br />
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I love the symbolism of the townspeople deciding to not sculpt on new hands to the statue after it was damaged. Just because we probably will not physically see the hands of Jesus Christ while in this life, does not mean that He is not there. His hands are in the details of our lives, each and every day. And more often than not, we can feel the loving embrace of His hands through the hands of those around us. And we can be His hands to others, as we reach out in love and service towards those around us!<br />
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I love you all! I hope you all have a great week!<br />
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<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-85119711323365926882017-07-24T13:34:00.001-07:002017-07-24T19:01:39.413-07:00July 24, 2017 "Called to the Work"Hey everyone!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRKNE1GWX5ugreH_UIg8jch5Hkej5RiM61IWCjuPQrlLz6nfgCG_FJ994GeTrzHwBvK1Y18S8IxumMUhqfI5GjW18Xin9R0myNbX3zi0bOLQj3NVQjDIg19gQ0eCyP45yL2nrzEbNmlEj/s1600/2017-07-24+Say+hello+to+your+bus+driver%252C+Elder+Duvall%2521+It%2527s+pretty+fun+driving....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1280" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRKNE1GWX5ugreH_UIg8jch5Hkej5RiM61IWCjuPQrlLz6nfgCG_FJ994GeTrzHwBvK1Y18S8IxumMUhqfI5GjW18Xin9R0myNbX3zi0bOLQj3NVQjDIg19gQ0eCyP45yL2nrzEbNmlEj/s400/2017-07-24+Say+hello+to+your+bus+driver%252C+Elder+Duvall%2521+It%2527s+pretty+fun+driving....jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Say hello to your bus driver, Elder Duvall!<br /> It's pretty fun driving this big van<br /> with all the new missionaries!</h3>
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This was the last week of the transfer, and the past few days as well as the next couple days are all super busy!<br />
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Last night we had a New and Returning Member Fireside, where we had 7 speakers all share their testimonies and conversion stories. I was asked to conduct the fireside in front of a chapel, packed full with people and into the overflow seating. It was such a great meeting! Hearing their testimonies makes me more motivated to go out and work hard everyday to find more people like them, ready to embrace the gospel. Each speaker was SO different from one another, but the joy and the light that the gospel has brought into each of their lives was the same! I'm grateful for that meeting and for our mission that puts it together every transfer!<br />
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We have 27 new missionaries arriving from the MTC today who we will be picking up from the airport! (Two of them from Temecula!) and we have about 30 missionaries going home early Wednesday morning. So our mission is going through a period with a lot of turnover in missionaries, but it's exciting! Aside from preparing for all the changes that we are involved in with transfers, we had a really great week in our area.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6sALAlW9Kt4ES4gRdnmTYorKsoUnil3XJTht0PWrlQSd4mDBTpJT6z5RVFm_CrxuSIOF_557m907_bA1MbZ6JhhEDThjUd399ZJP02gtNNke82_zDx7ATNbbYsSL3vVYgsyYkkRwPFue3/s1600/2017-07-23+After+church+on+Sunday+with+Hamid%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="956" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6sALAlW9Kt4ES4gRdnmTYorKsoUnil3XJTht0PWrlQSd4mDBTpJT6z5RVFm_CrxuSIOF_557m907_bA1MbZ6JhhEDThjUd399ZJP02gtNNke82_zDx7ATNbbYsSL3vVYgsyYkkRwPFue3/s400/2017-07-23+After+church+on+Sunday+with+Hamid%2521.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
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After church on Sunday with Hamid!</h3>
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We got a Mormon.org media referral this week for a man named Hamid. He's from Morocco, which is in the northwestern part of Africa, and is super cool! He was a diplomat in Morocco and he speaks 5 different languages. We called and scheduled an appointment with him for 10am one morning this week. But at about 9:30am that morning, during our studies, we got a call from him and he told us he was at the church waiting for us! We didn't even know that he knew where the church was, but he took a taxi to get there, so sure enough we jumped in the car and sped over there! We were planning on meeting him where he lived, but we got to the church, showed him around the building and had a lesson in the relief society room, right next to the baptismal font. It was such a great lesson! Hamid reminds me of Asif Khan, who I taught last summer. Hamid converted to Christianity about a year ago, and wants so badly to follow Jesus Christ the best that he can. He then came to church yesterday and had a great time! He happily introduced himself in the Sunday school class and elders quorum, and is excited to keep on coming.<br />
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Peter Kamara also came to church again yesterday, his second time coming. Our neighbor Kadiatu gave him a ride. It's amazing to see how great they connect with each other!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIrLJsjbYGSaSFluEbaVz7fxkB9OCG_tRPhxQXjrL3AR1z6bLWy20nJWgtDcL27CyLOjUmHK7yQ_9ELyqEHibkEfGNoW3kXtsIIwgXGuS_9_-zrQRThvnCObGd55gFz65ZpaYp4yly4K2/s1600/2017-07-20++This+is+Christian+and+Stephanie%252C+and+their+mother+Cris..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIrLJsjbYGSaSFluEbaVz7fxkB9OCG_tRPhxQXjrL3AR1z6bLWy20nJWgtDcL27CyLOjUmHK7yQ_9ELyqEHibkEfGNoW3kXtsIIwgXGuS_9_-zrQRThvnCObGd55gFz65ZpaYp4yly4K2/s400/2017-07-20++This+is+Christian+and+Stephanie%252C+and+their+mother+Cris..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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This is Christian and Stephanie, and their mother Cris.<br /> They've all come to church the past couple weeks!<br /> Eshetu also came with us to their lesson.<br /> He comes with us nearly each week to help teach people!</h3>
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We had a great lesson with Cris and her kids, Christian and Stephanie this week, about family prayer and scripture study. It's such a simple teaching, but there's so many blessings that come from it. It's neat to see their little family grow closer to one another as they have started coming to church and feeling the spirit more in their lives.<br />
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We saw a pretty sweet tender mercy happen to someone on Sunday. There was this kid named Brigham, who was visiting our ward from Utah. He was from Cedar City, and is here in the D.C. area for the summer doing sales/installation for Vivint. He usually goes to another church building in Arlington, but took a wrong turn on the freeway, so decided to just find the closest chapel and wound up visiting ours. He approached us after our Sunday school class and explained that his mission call is at his home in Utah and he'll be opening it in a couple weeks. He then started to say how nervous he was, and that he's always dreamt of going to a foreign country, and how he's "afraid" he's going to get called to an English speaking stateside mission. He asked us what our thoughts were about serving in an English, stateside mission. We basically bore testimony to him that no matter where he serves, it will all work out for his good and he will know that wherever he's assigned is where he's meant to be, and that he will love it. Then as we walked into priesthood meeting, for elders quorum, they mentioned that the lesson was going to be based on two conference talks: "Called to the Work" by Elder Bednar (April 2017) and "The Divine Call of a Missionary" by Elder Rasband (April 2010). Both of these talks are great and I recommend reading them! Anyways, I feel like it was no coincidence that he "took a wrong turn" on the busy freeways of Northern VA, and ended up at our ward. I think it was an answer to his prayers attending this meeting. The discussion about those talks were just what he needed to give him the comfort and assurance he needed. I know that no matter where we serve as missionaries, we will always be able to bless the lives of others and we will always be able to feel the joy of sharing the gospel.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxLRbAJZQ72HoCYL1zRZPEhOMDpNWeEWQzpWCG_wFJ-6hZHRofdhQz_TZjF-4CW0qOczTskK_DNagbaYlsxduMjpyAWHy6sNOSDpZHxmtlvaaqN03hnT7ilTcFLIEvr5G-3jjjizeDIhu/s1600/2017-07-23+Jason+Larrabee+gave+his+farewell+talk+on+Sunday.+He%2527s+going+to+Sendai+Japan+on+his+mission.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="850" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOxLRbAJZQ72HoCYL1zRZPEhOMDpNWeEWQzpWCG_wFJ-6hZHRofdhQz_TZjF-4CW0qOczTskK_DNagbaYlsxduMjpyAWHy6sNOSDpZHxmtlvaaqN03hnT7ilTcFLIEvr5G-3jjjizeDIhu/s400/2017-07-23+Jason+Larrabee+gave+his+farewell+talk+on+Sunday.+He%2527s+going+to+Sendai+Japan+on+his+mission.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
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Jason Larrabee gave his farewell talk on<br />Sunday. He's going to Sendai, Japan!<br />He came out with us to teach people<br />pretty much at least once a week for<br />the past 3 months,<br />so we're going to miss him!</h3>
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My favorite part of the talk is when elder Bednar expounds on Doctrine and Covenants section 80. Specifically in verse 3: “Wherefore, go ye and preach my gospel, whether to the north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss.”<br />
Elder Bednar states-<br />
"I do not believe that the phrase “it mattereth not” as used by the Lord in this scripture suggests that He does not care where His servants labor. In fact, He cares deeply. But because the work of preaching the gospel is the Lord’s work, He inspires, guides, and directs His authorized servants. As missionaries strive to be ever more worthy and capable instruments in His hands and do their best to fulfill faithfully their duties, then with His help they “cannot go amiss”--wherever they serve. Perhaps one of the lessons the Savior is teaching us in this revelation is that an assignment to labor in a specific place is essential and important but secondary to a call to the work."<br />
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I love how we are "called to the work" and "called to serve." Yes, we are "assigned to labor in specific places. And I would add that I am extremely grateful for my specific assignment to labor here in the Washington DC South Mission! But no matter where our assignment is, our call comes from God, through living prophets and apostles who receive revelation on our behalf. And that call to serve is the same for every missionary! Regardless of where we serve, we can see miracles happen, and bless the lives of many people through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The joy that comes as a result is the same, no matter where we serve. I'm grateful for this experience we had on Sunday and the good reminder it was to me.<br />
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I'm excited to spend another transfer with Elder Ure! We are having a blast and seeing lots of great things happen in our mission. I hope you all have an incredible week! Love you all!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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Here's Robert, who we've been teaching for<br /> about 6 weeks now.<br /> Our lessons with him always go great!</h3>
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Last week at the mission home with a big group of missionaries <br />on Pday. It was fun this past transfer getting to go there<br /> every Monday, seeing all of the missionaries, having a BBQ,<br /> and playing basketball and volleyball with them all.</h3>
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Here are the elders from Temecula:</h3>
<h3>
"Elder Cole Benson and Elder Thomas Deschepper! <br />Elder Deschepper is a Spanish speaking Elder,<br /> and Elder Benson is a visa waiter, going to Guatemala soon!<br /> It's fun to have more people from Temecula here in the mission!"</h3>
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From Sharon Duvall: I sent the picture of Elder Benson and Elder Deschepper to the the Benson's and the Deschepper's here in the Temecula Stake and Sister Deschepper replied back saying: "thank you so so much! I'm so excited! I don't know if Elder Duvall knows this but Thomas and Cole have been best friends for years. They used to teach gospel topics to friends and teachers at TVHS. They were always so excited about it. It makes my heart happy that 3 of God's choicest missionaries from Temecula are there together! Thank you!!"</div>
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I asked the Benson's: "How long do you think your son will get to be in Washington DC South Mission? Have they given you any idea? My son just picked him up at the airport today in this big van"(I sent the picture of the van) and Elder Benson's mom replied back saying: "Thanks for letting us know. This is the first we heard that he was out of the mtc." And "Well, this all must have happened since our last email from him last Wednesday because this is the first I have heard that he is there. I guess we will get an update from him in a couple of days. So to answer your question I have no idea what is going on. Thanks for the update. 😀"</div>
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-40090119078920088042017-07-18T15:02:00.002-07:002017-07-18T15:02:30.298-07:00July 17, 2017 Safety for the Soul!July 17, 2017<br />
Hey everyone!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hd6rB4r3pYxqZyL0jINYT4vKBteGMOj2f4vIz0C-m9KjAYGA7_hN0289m0qU3XifIvzU_WRga3T2y80TunM9Kn1Qcuhon0PXYpxyCCrUPPtQMMJHxOB4AYwW6xL0eNBO3mQq1IoLSyxt/s1600/2017-07-05+Gotta+stay+hydrated+in+the+summer%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hd6rB4r3pYxqZyL0jINYT4vKBteGMOj2f4vIz0C-m9KjAYGA7_hN0289m0qU3XifIvzU_WRga3T2y80TunM9Kn1Qcuhon0PXYpxyCCrUPPtQMMJHxOB4AYwW6xL0eNBO3mQq1IoLSyxt/s400/2017-07-05+Gotta+stay+hydrated+in+the+summer%2521.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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Gotta stay hydrated in the summer!</h3>
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I hope you are all doing well! I am having a blast here and am loving every day! It seems like each week just flies by! We are keeping busy and seeing some good things happen!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip924zwX2hNJ2xIqKVKVAtqsy5H-6G5ZuN_gmH5uaDMOO___ojwceQSqe18uJkyw98-o2vx3d8rya5oOlrA4LSNpCVAefAomaGVXfHU0uhLNXgdC8B24pISRAVRDLrG1ju-T9dzXO1lr5H/s1600/2017-07-14++With+Elder+Lucero+and+This+is+Joshua.+We+also+taught+him+while+on+our+exchange..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip924zwX2hNJ2xIqKVKVAtqsy5H-6G5ZuN_gmH5uaDMOO___ojwceQSqe18uJkyw98-o2vx3d8rya5oOlrA4LSNpCVAefAomaGVXfHU0uhLNXgdC8B24pISRAVRDLrG1ju-T9dzXO1lr5H/s1600/2017-07-14++With+Elder+Lucero+and+This+is+Joshua.+We+also+taught+him+while+on+our+exchange..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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This is Joshua. We also taught him while on our exchange.<br />Joshua is a college student and is from Ghana.<br />He's really knowledgeable in the Bible, and at the beginning<br />of our lesson he just wanted to bash with us and argue,<br />but it was really cool how our discussion changed course and<br />by the end of it he was happy and smiling</h3>
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We had four different exchanges this week with different sets of zone leaders in the mission. They all come to our area, so we have double the work going on each day, and two days to plan for in one area, so it's been a busy week! Four days in a row with a different missionary in our ward. I remember when I was a zone leader I always looking forward to coming here on an exchange in the past, so it's cool to see missionaries come to us and be super excited to go out and work in our area each day. It's been a full week of teaching and finding some incredible people.<br />
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We had another great lesson with Gifty this week. We read more out of the Book of Mormon with her, and emphasized how it is the key <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8972RVKMFM1Y0VjCQQt-HvAgCI_akyWwy8Km6tLkJKgFPdQ8mHnSA7mLg7PFyvd4ecAaPC_3N45h7VDs34RDnvuBIxrIo1iTVUoGwAIl6nq1iJ3GFe2BsMJHvSI0P4Q6Iyo2EYUXPEQWc/s1600/2017-07-14+One+of+my+exchanges+this+week+was+with+Elder+Lucero.+and+Eshetu+a+recent+convert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8972RVKMFM1Y0VjCQQt-HvAgCI_akyWwy8Km6tLkJKgFPdQ8mHnSA7mLg7PFyvd4ecAaPC_3N45h7VDs34RDnvuBIxrIo1iTVUoGwAIl6nq1iJ3GFe2BsMJHvSI0P4Q6Iyo2EYUXPEQWc/s400/2017-07-14+One+of+my+exchanges+this+week+was+with+Elder+Lucero.+and+Eshetu+a+recent+convert.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3>
One of my exchanges this week was with Elder Lucero.<br /> He's a great missionary! He is a Spanish speaking<br /> elder, and is a zone leader in Woodbridge. This is us<br /> with Eshetu (recent convert from Ethiopia) who came out with <br />us to help teach a few people. Eshetu is one of the happiest<br /> people I know, and he has such a firm testimony<br /> of thegospel! It's cool to hear him bear his testimony<br /> in lessons, because it is so simple but<br /> so powerful at the same time.</h3>
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to helping us gain a testimony of this gospel. After our lesson she explained how the more we teach her, the more everything feels like it could be true. She said she still has some doubts and concerns, but the more we help her learn and understand, those doubts keep being diminished. It's really cool to see her open up and begin to understand the truth!<br />
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We found and taught this lady named Gina. She told us how she had a good friend in Canada who joined the church a few years ago, and she noticed the miraculous changes in his life, and then she said she wants to see that same change take place in her life. It was a really neat experience teaching her about the Restoration of the gospel and seeing her embrace everything. Throughout the week we were able to teach a lot of lessons to a lot of different people, I wish I could have more time to share all of the experiences we have had this week.<br />
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We did had a few investigators make it to church on Sunday. One was a lady named Fatima, who showed up with her 5 year old daughter to church. We've only taught her a couple times and just met her a couple weeks ago, so we were excited that she made it to church! She's excited to come again!<br />
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In the middle of church we also had a guy named Shabaz just walk into the building. He is from Pakistan, and told us he met missionaries a few months ago, and that he hangs out at the park right across the street from the church all the time, which is right by the Potomac river. And he just felt like walking into the church building today, because he sees it all the time. So it was pretty cool meeting him! He enjoyed the part of church that he stayed for. He's going to go to the singles ward in Crystal City next week.<br />
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Our other investigators at church were Christian and Stephanie. Their Mom is a less active member that was baptized years ago in Annandale, and then moved to this area but has never come to church here before. The missionaries before us had been working with this family for a while. Christian and Stephanie, the two kids, have come to church many times over he past few months, but their Mom has never come. Until this Sunday, it was the first time all 3 of them came together. Their Mom was nervous to come because of some past experiences, but she said she felt good after it all and was glad she came. It was a big step for her to come!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkvjMoAEBMxuuglBD2qrth0MC0aViTe4bfE257TR3bHZoc1lD8viIxYulvnmyEEduf5gjrWP8QivUPa81NXOGj0fFg50VCb_mAbETVAFAnGT0MDSj5cYkpNAPMc1Z-fZfNydK-_lxomvF/s1600/2017-07-17+This+is+Joshua.+We+also+taught+him+while+on+our+exchange..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKkvjMoAEBMxuuglBD2qrth0MC0aViTe4bfE257TR3bHZoc1lD8viIxYulvnmyEEduf5gjrWP8QivUPa81NXOGj0fFg50VCb_mAbETVAFAnGT0MDSj5cYkpNAPMc1Z-fZfNydK-_lxomvF/s400/2017-07-17+This+is+Joshua.+We+also+taught+him+while+on+our+exchange..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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Driving to the mission home for Pday</h3>
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This week is the last week of the transfer. Next Tuesday we will be getting 28 new missionaries in the mission and about the same number going home, so this mission will have a lot of turnover the next two transfers! The changes are exciting, but I'm going to miss a lot of the missionaries going home this transfer that I've been able to serve with throughout my mission. Elder Ure and I will most likely be staying together another transfer, which we are excited about!<br />
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I wanted to close by sharing a portion of Elder Hollands talk "Safety for the Soul", given in 2009, about the Book of Mormon. It's a treat talk and he bears a powerful testimony. If you have a chance, you should all go and listen to it again. He said:<br />
"I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work--and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times--until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies. If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages--especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers--if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. In that sense the book is what Christ Himself was said to be: “a stone of stumbling, … a rock of offence,” a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in this work. Witnesses, even witnesses who were for a time hostile to Joseph, testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had handled the plates. “They have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man,” they declared. “Wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.”<br />
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I am grateful for the Book of Mormon, and the knowledge and truth that we can learn from its pages and apply into our lives. It truly is the evidence of the truthfulness of this gospel!<br />
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I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!<br />
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Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South MissionSharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476750891744902169.post-72312241889566234232017-07-10T14:08:00.000-07:002017-07-18T14:09:55.067-07:00July 10, 2017 Next Door Neighbor7-10-2017<br />
Hey everyone!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdTDDGzsctGKoRO3XScbvrZ9zA_7oJsTwGgXnUaRZwtfo2gSUkRMBC7oqKhhep_YcA3foqbzhEMxydT3OPU49cWR_LqHAlaX0apKR3MdXLKRAsURnooe311fEWQrF8Vrycy0njnMQ0uQG/s1600/2017-07-04+At+the+mission+office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdTDDGzsctGKoRO3XScbvrZ9zA_7oJsTwGgXnUaRZwtfo2gSUkRMBC7oqKhhep_YcA3foqbzhEMxydT3OPU49cWR_LqHAlaX0apKR3MdXLKRAsURnooe311fEWQrF8Vrycy0njnMQ0uQG/s400/2017-07-04+At+the+mission+office.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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At the mission office. We're usually only here a couple times <br />a week, but we enjoy our time there, getting things done<br /> and seeing the senior couples that are there every day.</h3>
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It's been another good week! I hope you all had a great 4th of July week! President Huntsman invited Elder Ure and I to have dinner at his home on the fourth with him and his family, so that was pretty fun!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDUuETNdbBBDNKOMVACo4pUcB5B7455Ne0C8_shI7Aj_2vUluow9DJU1lIaf5XWD6rTNxs-YhBCpZJyit9wgGw2XRWMqDmjLoNgrJWV3pLhE77KDQByl1y3SikxLEOWQjv_cSOjc35GyZ/s1600/2017-07-06+Elder+Norton%252C+Elder+Meldrum%252C+Elder+Jones+and+Elder+Duvall+at+18+month+mark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1280" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPDUuETNdbBBDNKOMVACo4pUcB5B7455Ne0C8_shI7Aj_2vUluow9DJU1lIaf5XWD6rTNxs-YhBCpZJyit9wgGw2XRWMqDmjLoNgrJWV3pLhE77KDQByl1y3SikxLEOWQjv_cSOjc35GyZ/s400/2017-07-06+Elder+Norton%252C+Elder+Meldrum%252C+Elder+Jones+and+Elder+Duvall+at+18+month+mark.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture was taken on 7/6/17, our 18 month mark! <br />
We were all at the mission leadership conference that was held this week <br />
and happened to be on our 18 month mark. <br />
Elder Norton, Elder Meldrum, Elder Jones, and I were all in the MTC<br />
together 18 months ago! I can't believe it's been that long.</td></tr>
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My MTC group and I hit our 18 month mark this week, which is crazy! That means that the sister missionaries that started at the same time as us go home in about 2 weeks at the end of this transfer. That's a weird feeling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8McWm9IMm2y1qEKNcljQvulXR1tBUT4o942XzJiRzaulwt6dSCqDv4P-ko6RUA_uS8pC3DWmr-BW52TTn4VhV5-OAdJG9LXN4Ntb-47d9mHLWIbt30XIIavX9XWLWXm9jtRCUYysP6x0V/s1600/2017-07-04+This+is+Edith%252C+one+of+our+investigators+from+Ghana.+We+taught+her.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1278" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8McWm9IMm2y1qEKNcljQvulXR1tBUT4o942XzJiRzaulwt6dSCqDv4P-ko6RUA_uS8pC3DWmr-BW52TTn4VhV5-OAdJG9LXN4Ntb-47d9mHLWIbt30XIIavX9XWLWXm9jtRCUYysP6x0V/s320/2017-07-04+This+is+Edith%252C+one+of+our+investigators+from+Ghana.+We+taught+her.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Edith, one of our investigators from Ghana.<br />
We taught her on the 4th of July,<br />
which also happens to be her birthday!</td></tr>
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This week was full of great experiences with different people that we've been working with.<br />
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We had a cool experience finding this lady named Gifty. We met someone else that lived at her house on the street a couple weeks ago, and we were trying to see him when we knocked on her door. Instead, Gifty opened the door and immediately invited us inside. She then told us her background, and connections to the church. She is from Ghana, and has lived in multiple places throughout the world in her life, and no matter where she goes, she always ends up making some connection with the church, whether it be an extended family member, a coworker, neighbor, or friend. She has interacted with members of the church throughout her life. She was in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago on a business trip, and went to Temple Square. She had a good conversation with two sister missionaries, who tried to get her address and phone number so that missionaries can come to her home. But Gifty refused to give it to them and told them "When the time is right, I have confidence that God will send them to my home again." And then told them about how she's always ended up meeting members of the church, no matter where she goes. And sure enough, a couple weeks later, we ended up knocking on her door! No coincidence there. Anyways, she was first given a Book of Mormon when she was 11 years but never opened it up, because she had some concerns and misconceptions, but never bothered to ask anyone more about it. So when we taught her, we were able to have a great first discussion, helping her truly understand everything. She had so many misconceptions about the church that we were able to clear up. Once she actually understood what the Book of Mormon was about, and what it's purpose is, she started to get emotional. She started to express regret to us, because she has had one for so long but has bothered to open it up and read it. But now that she understands it better, she's excited to start reading! It was a really cool experience teaching her and were excited to see her again tonight!<br />
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Also, if you remember a little over a month ago we were teaching a lady named Isatu, but she went to Sierra Leone for a month. She's back now and we're teaching her again! We emailed her while she was gone and she said it meant a lot to her knowing that we were thinking about her from thousands of miles away. Her cousin is a member of the ward who was baptized last year, so she's doing a good job fellowshipping her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBG2ogmG0mhwzy2q9aK6FXVfR_vpny9oZ8QyR9DkJVGA33awhYD1s1GYdolfsKU-z4nUC1o6gaXShZxTdVe9Avm3rtrOw2696wXRFNbqyrDaW2Dr8Ns6kSDQr2TQZQMiI6HX1B-IEKrjdk/s1600/2017-07-09+This+is+our+investigator+Peter+Kamara%252C+from+Sierra+Leone..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBG2ogmG0mhwzy2q9aK6FXVfR_vpny9oZ8QyR9DkJVGA33awhYD1s1GYdolfsKU-z4nUC1o6gaXShZxTdVe9Avm3rtrOw2696wXRFNbqyrDaW2Dr8Ns6kSDQr2TQZQMiI6HX1B-IEKrjdk/s400/2017-07-09+This+is+our+investigator+Peter+Kamara%252C+from+Sierra+Leone..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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This is our investigator Peter Kamara, from Sierra Leone. <br />This was right before we left his apartment to go to church! <br />He was super happy to come!</h3>
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A few weeks back I wrote about one of our investigators, Peter, who we found. Well he's was in the hospital for a couple weeks, but is back home now. We had a couple good lessons with him this week and he came to church with us on Sunday! While in Elders quorum, the lesson was on the importance of families, and Peter participated by bearing his testimony on families. He talked about how he never actually knew his birth parents, but different people came into his life and became his family. He got pretty emotional, but it was powerful, and he really seemed to feel comforted and loved by everybody at church yesterday.<br />
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We had a cool experience meeting with our next door neighbor, Kadiatu, who is from Sierra Leone. She has lived next door to the missionaries for a year now, and has seen us come and go many times, but somehow the missionaries have never talked to her before. We gave her our card a few weeks ago and told her to let us know if she ever needs help with anything. We got a phone call from her last week and she left a voicemail that said she wanted us to come over and pray with her and that she wanted to come to church with us. Obviously we were super excited, thinking that she would be pretty solid! So we went the next morning with a member of our ward to go teach her, but after just a few minutes in her apartment, we find out that she was actually baptized a member of our church in the early 90's, but hasn't been in a long time. I was surprised that she's lived next door to the missionaries for a whole year, and they never found out that the next door neighbor Kadiatu is actually a member! Her records for some reason haven't been in the ward, but we're going to find them. We've had a couple good visits with her since we met, and she came to church yesterday for the first time in about 20 years! Pretty neat that we were able to get our next door neighbor to come to church!<br />
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Here's a sweet scripture I came across this week. D&C 25:10 "And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better."<br />
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Hope you all have a great week! Love you all!<br />
<br />
Elder Jeremy Duvall<br />
Washington DC South Mission<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGDWWz5a3WAzVM5eLMav4ZegSAK8CahbTyOpFVmlHZYGNj3UOuvW6wQov-6YWEKQoGvs0ewEMIW9Eqqf1jYTJbOY19_gxImqBiKgJpO8xioLYwOGKjTOgcj1vxrTGGeM8C3qinx0zErVM/s1600/2017-07-03+This+is+the+Boakye+family%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfGDWWz5a3WAzVM5eLMav4ZegSAK8CahbTyOpFVmlHZYGNj3UOuvW6wQov-6YWEKQoGvs0ewEMIW9Eqqf1jYTJbOY19_gxImqBiKgJpO8xioLYwOGKjTOgcj1vxrTGGeM8C3qinx0zErVM/s400/2017-07-03+This+is+the+Boakye+family%2521.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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This is the Boakye family! Sarah is the mother of the family<br /> and was baptized many years ago, but none of her kids are members, <br />and she has allowed us to start teaching her crazy kids.<br /> Sarah is the one who doesn't look happy in this picture, but she's actually <br />a pretty happy person. Her house is always crazy though!</h3>
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<br />Sharonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16805205476470041004noreply@blogger.com0