April 25, 2016 Looking forward to another great transfer!‏

It's the start of a new transfer! Still get to serve in Centreville! No longer in the trio, but still with Elder Shelley!

This is the only picture of us while we were in a trio the last week and a half before transfers. We enjoyed serving together with Elder Strawn and teaching some of the people in his ward. This picture was at a super good restaurant called Genghis Grill (similar to a Mongolian Grill).

My parents got to meet his parents in Provo this week! It was cool for us to see a picture of our families together.  

Elder Duvall's parents met Elder Shelley's parents Scott & Jamie Shelley 

Elder Duvall's family enjoyed meeting Elder Shelley's parents

    

As we were doing our weekly planning last week, we were trying to decide where to go that night. We both felt prompted to go check up on a certain lady from our ward. We didn't know why we were going there, but we biked the 30 minutes to her house. She answered the door and was so glad to see us! She had been sick and just barely lost her job, so she was feeling really down. We were able to comfort her and help her feel some hope and happiness moving forward by the time we left. She invited us in and introduced us to her son, who has been inactive in the church for a long time. We've been over to this house many times, but never met the son, because he just moved back in with his mom. He's a super cool guy and wants us to come back and talk with him about the gospel. We're excited to go back and help him feel the spirit and remember why he and his family joined the church 10 years ago. Another night we met another inactive father who has a wife and three kids that moved in over a month ago. He's the only member in his family, but he wants us to start teaching his 8 year old son! We hope that we can help him feel the spirit again in his life as we teach his son about the church. The father served a mission in Cambodia and told us some crazy stories from his mission! So we're also excited to meet with them again soon. It's important to introduce the gospel to people who don't have it in their lives, but it's equally important to help rekindle that spirit within people who've felt it in the past and have that testimony deep inside them. I know that through turning to Jesus Christ, these people can once again feel lasting peace and happiness that they have felt in the past.

We got to teach Amy’s relatives (her brother, sister in law, niece and nephew) a few times the last two weeks and we had a big family FHE where we all got together and watched the movie "Meet the Mormons." They all loved it! We were able to go to the baptism of Aminata and Sahid Jr this week! Amy gave a beautiful talk at their baptism! It's so great to hear testify so strongly about truth!

We taught Megan at her house this week! Bishop Duersch came with us and met her mother and father. They are a great family and are supportive of Megan's decision to be baptized! Megan "can't even express how excited" she is for her baptism! She and her mother actually came to Aminata and Sahid Jr's baptism on Saturday to see how it all works. We are so excited for the opportunity Megan has this Saturday to enter the waters of baptism as well! She is a great example to all of her friends and family!

This Sunday was ward conference in our ward so Bishop Duersch and our Stake President both spoke at sacrament meeting and church was great! After church we went with the Goehring family and Michelle and Kaylie up to the Washington DC Temple in Maryland. The weather was perfect! As we walked around the temple explaining to them the purpose of temples and why they're so important, I was reminded of President Monson’s conference talk from April 2015, called "Blessings of the Temple." He said: "As I think of temples, my thoughts turn to the many blessings we receive therein. As we enter through the doors of the temple, we leave behind us the distractions and confusion of the world. Inside this sacred sanctuary, we find beauty and order. There is rest for our souls and a respite from the cares of our lives.

Such an amazing place to be! I wish I could come here more often

Two of brother Goehrings kids, Kaden and Max! They're funny kids to be around and they enjoyed the visitors center! 

                         

"As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart. We will grasp the true meaning of the words of the Savior when He said:“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

"Such peace can permeate any heart--hearts that are troubled, hearts that are burdened down with grief, hearts that feel confusion, hearts that plead for help."

Although we were not able to go into the temple yesterday, we definitely felt the peace and happiness of the temple walking around it and going into the visitor’s center! No place on earth can give us more guidance and peace than attending the temple! It's important to make attending the temple a priority. And if it's something we are currently unable to do, we need to set goals to be able to make it there. I'm so grateful for temples and the opportunity we have to learn and grow as we attend! They truly give us a glimpse of what heaven will be like! We watched the same video about eternal families that we watched at the beginning of March when we took Amy up there, and Michelle loved it! We all felt the spirit and she teared up a little bit at the end of the video. I'm so grateful for the temple and for the power of the Priesthood that allows us to be bound to our families for eternity!

We are looking forward to working hard this transfer!! I'm grateful that I get to stay here in Centreville!

I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Duvall

Kadija, Sahid Jr., Amiza, Aminata, Amy, Omar, and another cousin Abdul after the baptism.

The four of us missionaries with some of Amy's family right after the baptism of Aminata and Sahid Jr.

Aminata is Amy's sister-in-law and Sahid Jr. is Aminata's son. Aminata's husband Sahid Sr. wasn't able to make it to the baptism, but he will eventually be getting baptized as well! It's so great to see Amy's family follow her example and the example of the Savior! 

I love these kids!!!

A missionary in my district gave me this drum before he got transferred to another area. It is made with the same pattern and material that this tie is made from!

My brother Danny got me this African tie while serving his mission in New York City. Amy and Aminata loved this tie! They said the name of the pattern but I can't remember it. She said it is a popular Ghanaian pattern! And there's a cute baby picture of Jenny and I on the wall above my desk :)

We got to learn a little bit about bee-keeping last week while doing some service for a man the the Centreville 2nd ward!He just started doing this as a hobby and is starting to get some good honey from these bees! Here's a few pictures from that day! 

 

Enjoying the honeycomb!

Elder Duvall with his new bike(and his companion, Elder Shelley)

April 18,2016 JOY in the JOURNEY!

April 18-2016

Being in a trio this last week has been great! Its an entirely different dynamic, but we've enjoyed it. It's been cool covering both of the Centreville wards going back and forth for different teaching appointments. We got to meet and teach a couple of investigators that they're working with, including a family from Bolivia and a lady from Jamaica! Transfers are this Thursday, so we will no longer be in the trio once Elder Strawn gets a new companion.

We were able to have two lessons with Megan this last week that were both super great! We finished teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and then we had discussions on faith and repentance. She is super receptive and loves everything that she's learning! The spirit is always so strong in our visits with her. Brother and Sister Jonas are great examples to her and have solid testimonies of the gospel! It's so great to see how effective member missionary work is! Megan recognizes how this gospel has already been such a blessing in her life and she's excited to continue to progress towards baptism in a couple weeks! As Megan told us how much closer to God she's felt recently and how she knows this is the path she needs to take in her life, I couldn't help but think of the impact her decision is going to make. Not only is she being an example to her current family, but her decision to be baptized into the true church will be a tremendous blessing to her future family! Plus, she'll also eventually be able to participate in temple work to help bless her ancestors who didn't have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ while on the earth.

The blessings of the gospel truly have an eternal impact! If my mother hadn't have joined the church while in her 20's, she would've never met my father and I wouldn't even exist! My 4 older brothers wouldn't have served missions and I wouldn't be here in Virginia sharing the joy it brings into my life, and my sister wouldn't be getting ready to go to Minneapolis, Minnesota to serve the people there. My family has been so blessed with our membership in the Lord's church, and now it's my privilege to help people receive the restored gospel into their lives so that they can enjoy the same blessings we've enjoyed through striving to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anyways, I can't wait for  Megan and I know that the decision she's making at this point in her life, being only 18 years old, will have a tremendous impact on generations of people!

Because we've been covering both the Centreville 1st and 2nd ward, I was able to meet and teach Sahid (Amy's brother), his wife Aminata,  and their son Sahid Jr. this week! They've been meeting with missionaries for over 6 months, and Aminata and Sahid Jr. are getting baptized this Saturday! When we told Amy they were getting baptized, she was SO happy for them! Amy's testimony is so strong and it's great to see that her family is able to enjoy the same peace and happiness that the gospel has brought into her life. Amy agreed to speak at the baptism and bear her testimony to the people there. I'm excited to be able to support them by attending their baptism this Saturday!

On Sunday night, we were able to go with Amy, Kadija and Omar, as well as Sahid Jr. to a New Member fireside that the mission puts on every 6 weeks or so. This time the fireside was up in Arlington at a church building that is super old. I'm pretty sure it was the oldest LDS church building in Virginia! The fireside was great! There were a bunch of new members that bore their testimony and shared their conversion stories explaining why and how they decided to become members of the church. Amy agreed to speak at the next one which will be at the end of May! It's so great to hear new members of the church testify of truth! President and Sister Huntsman spoke at the conclusion of the meeting. It was an uplifting meeting and the spirit was strong! It is so motivating and inspiring to hear the stories of these people and I'm excited for Amy to be able to speak at one next month!

This week, I read through the conference talk, "Finding Joy in the Journey" by President Thomas S. Monson, given in October 2008. Here's some of the quotes I pulled from his talk that I really liked! :)

• "This is our one and only chance at mortal life--here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey--now."
• "You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays. My brothers and sisters, there is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today."
• "Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future."
• "Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important--and what is most important almost always involves the people around us."
• "Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings."

This is such a great talk and I recommend that you all read through it regardless of how many times you've read it in the past. In the eternal scheme of things, this life is super short, so why not make the most of each day! I think too often we get caught up in constantly dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, rather than enjoying the present. I liked how he says what is most important always involves the people around us and. My favorite memories always involve other people! So as we go through life, we need to recognize the importance of our relationships and interactions with those around us every day! Also, he encourages us to have more gratitude for our blessings. As we take a step back from any current stresses or trials in our lives and think about all of the things we have been blessed with, we can find more joy in our journey on earth. Life is sick! And we're all blessed with so much!

I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Duvall

April 11, 2016 "He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home"

I'm in a trio now for the next week and a half until transfers. We will be covering the Centreville 1st ward and the Centreville 2nd ward. Elder Strawn is the other missionary that we're with. It'll keep us busy and we're excited!

Michelle's baptism was such a great experience! She has some extened family that are members of the church and they drove a few hours to come support her in her decision to be baptized! A couple members of the ward gave a couple of super great talks and there was a lot of support from the ward there! I had the privilege to be the one to perform her baptism! Michelle's daughter was baptized last summer with her cousin (from her fathers side) and on my very first night in Centreville (January 21st), we went to her house with Bishop Deursch because they had just moved into the ward, and we wanted to go to meet her daughter Kaylie. Michelle was actually one of the very first people I met in the mission field! So it's pretty cool to see the progress she has made in the last couple months, from knowing little to nothing about the church, to becoming a member! Her testimony has grown a lot and she is such a great example to her daughter! She was confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday and she is already being a missionary to her friends! She has a close family friend named Hassan who she invited to attend her baptism, and he also came to church to see her confirmation. It's great to see her desire to make this a priority in her life, and I know this decision is going to bless her and her daughters life more than she can even imagine right now!

Elder Shelley and I with Michelle and her daughter Kaylie right before the baptism! What a special day for their family! Kaylie is only 10 years old, which is crazy because she's almost as tall as me!

This is Bishop Duersch, his wife and kids with Michelle and Kaylie! Nicole, Addie, and Marshall are the kids. It was fun to have Marshall sit in between Elder Shelley and I as we taught. He was "mini-missionary Marshall!" This is such a great family and I'm grateful for their examples and the time that we've been able to spend in their home teaching Michelle! 

In 2nd Nephi chapter 31:17-21 we read: 
17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive. 

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ..."

Repentance, followed by baptism by someone holding the priesthood authority of God, are the "gate" by which we are to enter, but it's certainly not all that is expected of us! We need to "press forward" and "endure to the end" striving to keep all of God's commandments throughout our lives! None of us are going to be perfect, but that's why our Heavenly Father lovingly and willingly sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for each of us. We all will mess up, but we can turn to Him to receive forgiveness and to feel the peace and happiness that comes from His atonement. We're so excited for Michelle as she continues on the "straight and narrow path" that leads to eternal life with our families and with our Father in Heaven!

This week we also were able to teach another lesson to Megan! We taught her in the Jonas family's home, who live just a couple doors down from her! As we discussed the Plan of Salvation, she expressed that she has felt so blessed and so much closer to God as she's continued to learn through attending church, seminary, and meeting with us! Her friends do a tremendous job in being an example to her and loving and supporting her! She still has the goal to be baptized at the end of this month, so we are excited to help her reach that goal! We're going to teach her again later tonight.

We were also finally able to meet with Phyllis again! (Refer to my letter posted on March 1st). We stopped by and talked with her for a little while. She told us that she was able to go to "The Savior of the World" production that that the stake put on at the DC Temple Visitors Center during Easter weekend, and she loved it! She went with her neighbors who are members of our ward. We shared a couple scriptures with her, and encouraged her to watch some of the general conference talks. She told us how much she loves hearing President Uchtdorf speak, so we pulled up his talk from last weekend on her computer and she said she would watch it after we left! That talk is entitled "He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home." It was a great talk! I love it when he explained the following: 
"To me, the parable of the lost sheep is one of the most hopeful passages in all of scripture. Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us. He knows and loves you. He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.
It matters not how you became lost--whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control. What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children."

I know that the Savior truly knows and loves each of us! I know that He is always there for us, even when we are lost! It is so comforting to know that "it matters not how [we] became lost" but what does matter "is that [we] are His child[ren]. And He loves [us]!" I know He is there. I know he wants us to turn to Him! I'm grateful for the tremendous opportunity I have to help people access the enabling power of His atonement and His gospel! There is no greater source of peace and happiness than that of our Savior, that comes from following His commandments! He is the one who carries us when we feel like we can't keep moving forward and He is ALWAYS there, even when we may not realize it.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Duvall

April 4, 2016 "If we look for the good, we will surely find it!"‏

We came across this graffiti on our way back home one night.
Can't believe this week marks 3 months since I entered the MTC!

March 28, 2016 Week Full of Service

3-28-2016 Week Full of Service

I hope you all had a great Easter Sunday! I'm currently in the Library of Congress sending this email! We were able to get access to acquiring library cards to be able to come and do some gospel study in

the main reading room in here this morning! It's an amazing place! It's cool because there's less than 50 people in here right now, and hundreds of people are walking by the window in the upper level

looking down into the reading room. It's sweet that we were able to access getting a library card that allows us to study in here! We found a section of religious texts and were currently flipping through

different encyclopedias and historical books on Mormonism that are pretty interesting. I'll send some pictures later!

Anyways, we did a lot of service this week! 3 mornings in a row we were out doing service for multiple hours each day. 

The first day, we spent about 5 or 6 hours clearing out a whole backyard full of

branches, vines, and leaves for Sister Moore. She's from Trinidad & Tobago, and is super awesome! We filled about 25 to 30 of these huge trash bags!

The next day, our whole zone did some service for a man in the Centreville 2nd ward. He owns a big piece of land and has a lot of plans for the future for his property. We spent the day digging holes, planting trees, using machetes and clippers to clear low-lying branches off of trees, and then cleared and moved a ton of brush into a huge pile, which we then set on fire!

 Here's Elder Krambule and I with machetes.

This is some of the elders in our zone piled around a small tractor. 

You can see some of the smoke in the background from fire, 

which burned for hours until all of the branches, logs, and brush were all gone.

The third morning, we went to another members house in our ward, who is moving in a couple months and needs a lot of yardwork done in preparation for selling the house. We dug up a ton of roots from vines that have grown over their front and back lawn which took us a couple hours and we're going back again this week to help them out some more. 

Along with the three mornings/early afternoons of service we did this week, we also went to the Doxeys house a couple times last week to help them move pack up and move boxes in preparation for their moving at the end of April. 

This previous week felt a lot different than the last couple months, because we did not teach as many lessons or do as much finding, because we did so much service! It was a nice change in our normal routine to do some manual labor! Although we may not have taught as many lessons this week and done as much "missionary work" as we had in previous weeks, we both recognized the importance of serving others and serving God. Mosiah 2:17 states "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." So even though we felt like we needed to be out doing more teaching and finding, we know that serving and helping out other people is important! In reality, no matter what we're doing, we're always serving! When we meet with people and teach them about the gospel, we are serving them by helping them grow closer to our Savior. I'm grateful for the opportunity we had to help out a lot of different people this week!

On Friday we taught our second lesson, the Plan of Salvation, to an investigator named Ahmed. We met him two weeks ago at the end of four hours of tracting. He is about 25 and is a graduate of George Mason University, currently working on his masters degree there. We taught a sweet lesson along with two other missionaries from the Young Single Adult branch. They will get to continue teaching him now moving forward because he will start attending the YSA branch. He's excited to attend some of the YSA activities the next couple weeks and is even going to watch some of General Conference! We're slightly bummed that we don't get to continue teaching him because he's pretty solid! But in the end it doesn't really matter who teaches him as long as he's learning and growing closer to the Savior. 

Speaking of General Conference, I'm stoked for this weekend! It's always a great experience to listen to the prophet and apostles speak to us and give us guidance and direction! I know that if we listen to the conference this week with an open heart and mind, willing to act upon what we learn, that we will be able to be grow based on those things which we will learn! Also if we prepare questions in our minds that we want answered, I know that we can and will receive answers to those questions through listening to the leaders of the church speak! 

Just as an update, Michelle's baptism is going to be next Saturday, April 9th! And we're going to go to the Temple Visitors Center with her and her daughter Kaylie soon! And we're going to meet with Megan and her mother again this week as well! Megan is excited to be baptized at the end of April! We weren't able to meet with Luz last week, but we talked to her briefly and will hopefully get to have a lesson with her this week.

I studied a little about the Savior and the resurrection this week and in Matthew 28:19-20, the resurrected Savior tells his disciples to "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

I love that one of the first things the Savior tells His disciples after He's resurrected is that they need to go forth to serve and teach the people. And I love His promise that he will always be with us! I find so much comfort knowing that He will never leave us alone. However, we have the agency to choose whether or not we want to make Him a part of our lives. He promises that He will always be with us, but are we making the effort to allow Him to be involved in our daily lives? That's something I've been thinking about recently and I think it's interesting how many times in the scriptures that He promises that He will always be with us, and how many times we hear the phrase about his arm of mercy that is always stretched towards us. We need to utilize Him and make the effort which will allow Him to play a role in our lives, and when we do that, we can receive the blessings He promised us! I'm so grateful for our Savior and all that He has done and continues to do for each of us! Make Him a priority and let Him into your life. 

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

Elder Duvall

Also, last Monday we got to go to the Air and Space Museum that it right next to the Dulles International Airport. Here's a few of my favorites:  US Discovery Space Shuttle! This museum was a super cool place to visit and has a lot of history inside it!

The Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird in the middle of this panoramic picture

The US Discovery Space Shuttle

And the Enola Gay which dropped the first Atomic bombs on Japan

We ate Easter dinner at the Doxey's house, and Sister Doxey (aka Momma Doxey) put together an Easter basket for us! We are so grateful to be able to go over to their house every week and visit with them! We had a great Easter dinner with them and had some quality conversation about Jesus Christ's atonement and resurrection. Sister Doxey gave a beautiful testimony of Jesus Christ and the role He plays in all of our lives. They are wonderful examples of people who know how to find "hope through the atonement of Christ" through all of their trials. I'm so grateful for our association with them and am sad that they will be moving in about a month.

Spent P-day today at the Library of Congress

We walked up here first, it's the one spot where the public can look down in through a window.But we knew where to go to get an ID card (in another building across the street) that allowed us to have access to go down and study. Snuck a couple pictures while we were down there!

Reading in the "Reading Room" of the Library of Congress. Elder Duvall, Elder Krambule, and Elder Shelley

Walked around the Capital a little bit and enjoyed the cherry blossoms!! It's a beautiful (but super short) spring season!

March 21, 2016 HAPPY EASTER!

This is our Zone this transfer.  Pretty similar to last transfer,
just a few changes with new companionships

Had some pretty sweet experiences this week! But I'll focus this letter on Thursday and Sunday!

So on Thursday (which was St. Patrick's Day), we decided to go tracting on a specific street in our area. We locked up our bikes and felt like we should start at the first house at the opposite end of the street from where our bikes were. So we walked to up to this first door and a lady named Luz, from Peru, answered the door. We began talking to her about the church and about what we do as missionaries. We asked her some questions about her beliefs and about her life. After talking for a few minutes, she started crying at the doorstep as she explained that she's been going through different trials in her life and she's been trying to reach out to God for help, but hasn't seen much guidance in her life or felt like she's received answers to her prayers. We taught her some of the basic doctrines of the church and promised her that whatever trials she's going through in her life, that this gospel can bless her and her family. Right as we were saying this, a little Hispanic boy starts walking up the steps towards us, and we moved off to the side assuming it was her son. This random

little boy stopped in between Elder Shelley and I, and told Luz "I just want you to know that what these missionaries are saying is true. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I want to be a missionary just like them someday because this gospel has blessed my life and my families life." I was so confused as to where this boy came from, but we asked him to tell Luz how the gospel has blessed his life and he replied that his family has struggled financially but the Lord always prepared a way for them to make it through and that his older brother was able to go serve a mission. We thanked him for sharing his testimony and then Elder Shelley and I both bore our testimony to Luz and said that everything this little boy said was true! Then he skipped his way along back into a car that was parked nearby. Luz felt the spirit of the message and was so thankful that we were able to meet her and talk with her about God and Jesus Christ. We will be meeting with her again on Thursday! We were amazed with this whole experience with this random little boy and meeting Luz! It was super sweet!

After saying by to Luz, we went to the car from which the boy came and we met Sister Chirino! She is a member of the local Spanish ward and is from El Salvador. She said her son, Esteban, saw us missionaries at the door and told his Mom he wanted to go bear his  testimony to the lady at the door, so he did! What a brave little 10 year old! They happened to be parked waiting for the school bus to drop off a couple other of her kids. Esteban happened to be sick that day so he didn't go to school. Thankfully he was able to be there at that time, to testify simply but powerfully of the truthfulness of this gospel! Sister Chirino explained how excited Esteban is to be a missionary someday and she thanked us for being examples to his son. But we thanked her and her son for being the examples! We were glad that we decided to start at Luz's end of the street so that we were able to have this cool experience!

Then, that whole day of tracting, we didn't meet one rude or negative person! Everyone was respectful, even if they had no interest! We met another family from Peru, that didn't speak any English, but I was able to share a brief testimony in Spanish and give them a Spanish pass along card with the Spanish missionaries number. Then we met a Chinese guy that Elder Shelley was able to speak to in Mandarin a little bit. And everyone else we talked to was super nice! Even the couple agnostic or Atheist that we met were respectful, rather than the typical slammed door in the face, they gave us a few minutes of their time to talk. At our last door, before we had to head towards our Bishops house to teach Michelle, we met a man Terry who let us in his home and we taught him a brief message about the Restoration of the gospel. He was a basketball player that played at VCU. He was a kind man and has a nice family with a couple little kids and expressed small interest in learning more, but he recognized God as the source of the blessings in his life and he appreciates learning about other faiths.

Then we booked it over to our Bishops house and made it there just on time for our lesson with Michelle! This time we taught her a brief lesson about the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy. She has made great progress this last week with keeping the Word of Wisdom and is willing to make changes to make the Sabbath Day a more sacred day each week. Being St. Patrick's day, we felt like we had a pretty "lucky" day, but in reality it was the Lord just placing good people in our path as we worked! We've heard "Luck" defined as "when preparation meets opportunity." We believe that that's true!

Sunday was sweet! Michelle attended all 3 hours of church for the first time this week and enjoyed Sunday School and relief society. Her baptism is just a couple weeks away! We're meeting with her again tonight and having FHE with her and her daughter and the bishops family.

I don't know if I've mentioned Megan at all in any of my emails yet! Megan is 18 years old and about to graduate high school in a couple months and is best friends with another girl in the ward. She has been waking up and going to seminary every morning with her friend for the past few months! She's been going to church and attending mutual as well. She's enjoyed learning every morning about the gospel, but has been hesitant and nervous to meet with us. I met Megan my first Sunday in the ward at the end of January, and she finally agreed to meet with us at her friends house to have a lesson with the Wilkinson family! Even though we are set apart as missionaries, we're still normal people that are basically her same age, and I think she finally realizes that. Last night, we taught Megan and her mother at the Wilkinsons home. It was a great discussion and Megan thanked us for "helping her feel the spirit more and recognize the blessings in her life." She accepted the invitation to be baptized! She was super prepared and is excited to make this step in her life! I know that this is a crucial time for her as she's about to graduate and go off to school, and I know that nothing will give her more guidance, direction, peace, and happiness into her life than this true gospel! Her friends have been great examples to her and have helped her out a lot in her life! Her mother was open and receptive, but is not on the same spiritual level as her daughter at this point. But she's supportive of her daughter and is interested in learning as her daughter continues to learn! We look forward to working with them both over the next few weeks!

Given that Easter is this week, I thought I would share a portion of Jeffrey R. Hollands talk "None Were With Him" from April 2009. In describing the final moments of the Saviors life, Jeffrey R. Holland stated:

"With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind--us, all of us--would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone. But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His feelings that divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor fails us. When the uttermost farthing had then been paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was “finished.” Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus... restored physical life where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin, hellish darkness, and despair. With faith in the God He knew was there, He could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” 

"...because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path--the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said: “I will not leave you comfortless: [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you]"... 

"As we approach this Holy Week... may we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,” for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." 

This is a great talk! I know that Jesus Christ truly died and suffered for each one of us individually. I know that he was resurrected and that He is risen! I know that He lives and that we can feel His influence in our lives as we strive to be like Him. I'm so grateful for His atonement and resurrection and the opportunity we have to overcome sin and death because of Him! May we all remember Him, not only during Easter season, but throughout the year! We are never alone! I find so much comfort in that and hope you all can too!

I hope you all have a great week and a wonderful Easter! Love you all!

Elder Duvall

We started to find some pretty sweet bike trails this week that cut through some different neighborhoods.
Had to cross this little stream on our way!

March 18, 2016 Elder Duvall "rides" a Harley Davidson Motorcycle

"Brother and Sister Duvall,

Your son, Elder Duvall, is currently serving in my ward and as I've done for the past 10 years I've taken some pictures which I believe you'll enjoy. Two of the pictures are taken with his companion, Elder Shelley. Please know that your son is doing a great job in serving the Lord and I have no doubt has and will continue to help teach the gospel to many of our brothers and sisters. 

Take care and God Bless.

Brother Steve Shannon

Centreville, Virginia"

"Brother Shannon had us take some pictures on his 2014 Harley-Davidson

Ultra Limited CVO after we ate dinner with he and his wife. He said

this bike is currently worth $52,000!

Keep an eye out for two missionaries cruising around on "Scarlet" (His

name for the bike). That'll never happen, but it would be a funny site!" Elder Duvall