A Wonderful Goodbye and My Testimony

The Washington D.C. temple (photograph used with permission), Temples are places where members are taught, make promises and are, in turn, promised blessings.  Ordinances (sacraments) are performed here for time and all eternity for both the living and by proxy for the dead. We believe that those who upon this earth have not received the gospel of Jesus Christ will hear it in the after life and will then have the opportunity to receive it or reject it. In this way all of God's children may know of Christ and his atonement, be judged accordingly and that God wants to save as many of his children as possible. On each temple is written the words "Holiness to the Lord" and "House of the Lord." Psalm 24,
1 Peter chapters 3 and 4

June 29, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I was wondering why I did not receive an email last week. I was not sure what was going on. So, I sent you an email; and then, I thought it odd you sent me things in return. And I went on. Then, I received a call from Sister Sopp, explaining the situation. I checked during our mormon.org time; yeah, I still have yet to receive that email. I do not know why. I will read it when I get home.

It has been fun, this last final week. It has been one of greatness. Our progressing investigator entered into the waters of baptism and is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has entered into the path of discipleship.

Monday, Elder Day and I enjoyed browsing through Staunton, one last time together. We had a baptismal interview for our progressing investigator. It was a bit delayed, because the heavens opened and the floods came rose up. The district leader was in Harrisonburg and got caught in the storm. Which meant we were delayed to dinner. The dinner was with the young couple who loves us. We warned them enough ahead of time and strove to head there as soon as the interview was done. Our progressing investigator did indeed pass the interview.

Dinner was great. It was very emotional for me, because I realized that it would be a while before I would see them again after I leave Virginia. We headed home afterwards, because it was late. 

At this point, I was not looking forward to the rest of the week, except for the baptism and the temple. I talked to Elder Day about all of these feelings, feeling a bit upset. Thank goodness for prayer. I decided that there was nothing I could worry about going home, that it is inevitable and part of the mission experience. I then talked to God about my decision and the rest of the week has not been emotional at all.

Tuesday, we tried to contact a few people before heading to the lesson for our progressing investigator. We saw the man first who is in pain and is struggling a bit. We gave him some encouragement. We, then, had the lesson with the progressing investigator. We covered a majority of laws and ordinances and encouraged her to go to the temple. The temple is a foreign idea to her, but she is trusting and will understand at some point. From there, we made many phone calls for the coming week. We had dinner and tried to see and contact a few people.

Wednesday, Elder Day needed his foot to be checked on; his wart is nearly gone. From there, we used our mormon.org time; then, we visited people in the hospital. The one man we usually visit is finally out of the hospital; the lady who used to belong in the health center also got moved back to the health center. We had dinner and tried to contact a few people. We headed in a bit early, because it was going to be an early morning.

Thursday, I woke up at 3:50 in the morning. I got ready to go to the temple and at 4:45, our ride took us to the Waynesboro Elders' apartment. Elder Day was subsequently dropped off and had his own day with the Waynesboro Elders'. I headed down to Richmond. From there, I joined the departing missionaries. I rode up with the assistants to the president and the majority of my MTC district. I was also with Elder Clifford and others. I got to hear some updates about Tappahannock, which was fantastic. The mentally disabled convert is now driving; I thought that was a bit impressive. The young kid convert is moving. The man who went to hospital-- that convert-- is doing well, other than a few medical bumps in the road. The family I stayed with is doing well, too. Happy to hear all of that.

From Richmond, we headed to Fredericksburg to pick up other missionaries. From Fredericksburg, we headed up to the Washington D.C. temple. The Washington D.C. temple is huge and beautiful. I really do think that I was able to see what heaven was like, in a unique way. President addressed us, that we needed to stay together, and that certain members from our previous areas might be here, such as the second convert from White Oak that was going to be sealed (Matthew 18:18).

(Used with permission Washington, D.C. temple at night fall.)

 I saw some members from White Oak even before I got into the temple. I went inside and met the bishop and the wife of the elders' quorum president from Appomattox. I loved the things that we did in the temple; I got a lot out of it this time around. It was really beautiful. It is really, really beautiful inside the Washington D.C. temple. We headed out about 1:35 pm. I was afraid that I had missed out on seeing the convert from White Oak. I didn't. I was really, really happy to see them.

We had lunch inside the visitors center, then we headed to the Christus statue. 

When were done at the temple we headed into Washington D.C. Man, the traffic. The traffic there is really scary, but it did not mar the experience I had in the temple. We toured a bit by driving past buildings and finally we were able to exit the car to see the Lincoln Memorial. It was really, really cool. From there, we headed to Fredericksburg, back to Richmond. 

Finally, I with a member headed back up to Staunton and got caught in the middle of a storm. It was pouring and pouring more days after. I enjoyed the rain, especially while I could. Then, we picked up Elder Day and made it home about 10:30 pm.

Friday, we got up and went to a meeting. From being condensed in a car for a period of 12 hours in total, I was sore and not looking forward to going back into the car. (I was extremely exhausted. So, do not be surprised if I am extremely tired when I arrive. For the next couple of days after Thursday, I had shadows underneath my eyes.) We had the meeting, had lunch, and headed to a lesson with our progressing investigator. We talked about the temple; still is learning about the function of temples, because it has never been taught before. I said goodbye to a family. We did some planning. Then we had dinner. Dinner was amazing; I had a salad, a really, really amazing tasting salad. We checked up on the man who was baptized when we got into the area. He is doing great; we are trying to encourage the family to continue to progress. 

Saturday, we got up and headed to the building where our investigator was going to be baptized. We began filling it up and cleaning it. Yeah, there were some creatures in there that did not belong. We bravely fought them off. We did some planning. Then, the baptism.

She was so happy to be there. She was happy to be baptized. She said that never in any of her previous baptisms had she been so emotional. (She had cried in the bathroom after being baptized; she was nervous and excited.) I know that she will stay active because she realizes how much this blesses her life. Understanding will come over time for her. She will continue to progress.

After the baptism, we had a lesson with some grandchildren of a member. We reviewed the baptismal interview questions and received understanding on what to teach. It is a complicated situation, making it hard for us to teach frequently. From that lesson, we headed to dinner, which was half an hour away. We had dinner and checked up on the people in the health center, including Dan the Man. I said good bye one semifinal time. He is still plotting his escape.

Sunday, our newest convert was confirmed. She was really happy. She decided to wear something really, really nice. Church was great. I was happy to be there. The Gospel Principles teacher asked us to teach next week... then she realized that I was not going to be there. From church, we did planning, we checked up on a few people and we headed to dinner. Getting to dinner was a task in itself. We decided to be there early, but we hit every single red light. I was tired of it and decided to go around the stoplights by going in a different route. I went the different route and there was an elderly couple in front of us. We were turning left and they were turning right... until they realized that they needed to go left and decided to cut us off completely. Then, we get stuck behind them, slowly going... Oh Virginian drivers. We made it to dinner unscathed. After dinner, we contacted a few people, but nobody was really available. We finished our weekly planning.

So, it is, my final week. I have done a lot. I am actually quite surprised how much I have done. Time has really gone by.

Believe me, I have not been plotting my return. I have been preparing, but that preparation really came over time. You are right; I will no longer be a full-time missionary. I am always a missionary in every other aspect. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ; and part of that means to stay peculiar. There are things I will not watch nor listen to anymore. I realize how happy I am now and what it will take to stay this happy. It is matter of staying spiritual; keeping the Sabbath Day holy, reading the scriptures, going to church and the temple, etc. I will go forward.

What I have to adjust to is, yes, the world. I feel like I understand the principle of living in the world and not of the world by living the commandments, keeping the standards; by those things, do I keep my self consecrated to the Lord. My future involves this, having a tie to God. What I do for a career; I am not sure at this point. I will discover that on my own.

I am Seth Todd, a disciple of Jesus Christ. I will follow in the footsteps of my Savior. I will listen and obey to His counsels, even the counsels given by the prophets and apostles. This declaration is not a pillar to set myself above others; it is a step to help lift others, to serve the Lord, and to continue to progress.

I know that Jesus is the Christ; he suffered for my pains, afflictions and sins, so that I could have faith and to repent. Through the Atonement, I know we and I can be cleansed. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God; God speaks and He loves us for He is our Heavenly Father. I know that because of this love, He gives us prophets today to guide us, so that we can have peace in the midst of our trials. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God; this book teaches us the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, testifies of the truths that are in the Bible, and witnesses that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know it is true, because I prayed to know, yearning for the living waters that I may no more thirst. What a blessing it is to be living in these days to rejoice in the abundance of gospel truths.

All is well for he that trusts in God will not be led astray.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

(Mom was overwhelmed with preparing for his homecoming. She survived and glad he made it safely home. The first one to hug him was his sister Bria on a layover in Salt Lake City where she lives. She met him at the airport. She allowed him to use her phone to call his mother which helped tremendously to calm her nerves. Dad is doing well, too.)

Secrets to Finding Your Purpose In Life

June 8, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I am not sure where to begin. It has been a good week as well as a bruise battering week. "Everything I grow dies!" I sort of feel like that, only with transportation and such. If you are reading this, it is with the most rested assurance that I am alive. Diligence means never giving up.

So, to begin, I would like to say, what a week it has been.

Monday, as I was emailing, I decided to go ahead and look at the shipbikes.com to see what I need to do. Hence why, I decided I needed tools. One to measure the box as well as to take apart some pieces of the bikes. During my usual Wal-Mart trip, I found none of my tools that I needed nor did I find any in my price range. I did ask around for tools, but nothing came out of that. No need to be alarmed though. I have to say that today the bike will most likely be sent off. I just need to go to the bike shop and ask for their help in taking apart the bike. Then, I will go to the Staunton library, print out the necessary information, and go to Fed-Ex. But, this past Monday, I realized that and had to delay the action until today. That night, we had dinner with a wonderful member family; they decided to enlist us also for a service project. It was helping another family (the ones who loved the trio, who also still love us) with moving furniture.

Tuesday, we took a youth to visit our progressing investigator who is on date.
The poor kid... He is undecided on the mission and there has been a lot of pressure on him to suggest to him to go. (We need missionaries that are willing to serve. The best way to promote missionary work is to let the youth spend time with the missionaries. Youth need support not pressure.) Regardless, we took him to our progressing investigator. We had a wonderful, powerful lesson with her. It helped her out. After dropping him off, we went to the doctor for Elder Day. He has a wart on his foot; thank goodness for separate showers. He had to later pick up acid to put on his foot. We went to another wonderful dinner; saw our less active who is usually in pain. He has been so happy since he has come to church and it has been great to see. 

Wednesday, we checked up on some potentials. Then, we left to go to the zone meeting, where the iPads were given.

Because this is my last month, I do not receive an iPad, not even a loaner. As a companionship, we have one device. It may be easy to feel jipped. I honestly could care less; it is a device that will enhance our teaching and it will be easier to have one. I am happy to use my "Skittle Scriptures," or whatever name missionaries and people have called it. I am happy to have that more than anything. After dinner, we checked up on the people who are at the health center. We checked up on the person who, slightly, reminds of my brother. We encouraged him to continue to grow spiritually personally.

Thursday, we planned. Then, we thought we had a lesson with our progressing investigator, but it was actually Friday. The other person we were going to see-- our single mother-- cancelled on us.

So, we checked up on the returning young couple and helped them to set goals on going to the temple. We picked up some food from another member. We checked up on this one family who had just recently gone through some difficulties as well as some good times. It was good to see that they were doing well. 

Friday, we had that lesson with our progressing investigator. We have been answering her questions and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. We prepared her for fast and testimony meeting; I even said, "Yeah, people may cry." (And surprisingly, few did.) We had dinner that night with the bishop. Then, we saw our family who bounce back and forth with church attendance. We talked with their son, our investigator, and figured out the best way we could help him. It was good, but it was the last time that we would see him or his family. They moved, which they told us, though they never told us when. That was a surprise to us.

Saturday, the day of hectic work. We did the progress record; we decided to go see the health center people after lunch, which we did. We had dinner, then we were like, "Let's go find!" Yeah, yeah, like that was going to happen. So, after we got done with dinner, we received a call from the ward mission leader, who is vacationing and thought he would be back on Sunday. Understandably, he decided to stay one more day. He was going to call somebody to give a ride to the health center people. He wanted us to check up on one of them to be sure that she was coming. So, we decided to do so. 

And now, for a short rant on transportation and myself. "Everything I grow DIES!" Yeah, I feel like that is analogous to my feelings on transportation. Let me go through a short review of everything. The car back at home, I hit my sister's car that was parked. The car in Fredericksburg, it had to be serviced, then it got rear ended (as a hit and run while we were having lunch). The bike in Woodbridge, not functioning properly, because I did not know how to use it properly. The car in Powhatan and Appomattox needed the usual maintenance. The car in Tappahannock, not only did it need the usual maintenance, we ran over a car radio antenna that pierced our tire. The car in Gayton had low tire pressure, went to fill it up, metal caps had rusted on it the tube things. We had to replace the tires. If you want, you could add my legs to this: herniated disc. When I received that, I could not walk properly, I had to hobble. So, you see, I have transportation issues. Whenever I go into an area, the car needs to get the usual maintenance or something happens to the car. Or something happens to me and transportation.

By this point, you are wondering, "Oh no, what now." I thought back in May: "You know, I probably will not ever need to get this car serviced." Wrong. When we arrived to the health center, I started to park; nearly got done, when I heard this SCRAPE! Thinking I went over the curb, I backed up. SCRAAAAPE! "Oh no, that does not sound good." The plastic underneath the car in the front had bent down. I called Elder Sopp (sent pictures of what occurred to him today) and that sort of thing. Meanwhile, we went to a member's house to borrow duct tape. We "MacGyver"-ed (use Google to see the TV show reference) the car; we duct taped the plastic back up and have been driving since. But, we will have to take care of that soon. Sorry; I try really, really hard to be a good driver (though some of these things happen when I am not the driver), but life comes at you fast.

After that, we checked up on the people we needed to see. Most importantly, while we were waiting or in the area, we did go finding and took advantage of finding opportunities.

Sunday, we studied, went to church early, only to drive back to pick up our meal calendar. Unfortunately, we ended up a bit late. We went finding after church. We had an awesome meal. We contacted a few people after that.

This week has had its good and bad. Nonetheless, we are going forward. The ward is definitely opening up to us. They are starting to like us. We feel that this is what we are meant to do, other than our progressing investigator. This will open doors in the future.

Admist the bad, there is good. The Lord is looking after us, opening doors, leading us where to go, revealing what we need to say. His hand is in this work. The work is and will go forward.

All is well. Tout va bien! Alles wohl!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

<#VirginiaRichmondMission>

Discover the Up's and Down's, the Hopes and Dreams, the Joy and Sorrow

Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.-2 Nephi 2:6

June 1, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I will be working with the bike today and ship it next week. I need to take the pedals off and work on the handlebars; by that, it will be possible for me to work on the bike. However, I will have to get tools to do that. Included with that will be a tape measure device, so I can measure the box that I have to send it. It is a process in a half. By next week, I will send it. (I obtained a box last preparation day to get things ready. It was free; hooray for bike shops. Also, it had packaging materials in it to put on the bike. Thank goodness.)

I got my "going home" papers from President Wilson this past week. It merely contained some instructions. I need a doctor's appointment set up, so that I can get a TB test. Not looking forward to a doctor's appointment. But, I learned what is going to occur in the coming days. On Thursday, June 25th, I will have to get up early and head over to the mission office (I have to be there at seven in the morning). I get to go to the temple that day and I am excited. Reason number one: I get to go to the temple! Reason number two: Even though I will not be with Tim, who is getting his endowments that day (Tim is the man who got baptized in White Oak, that I did not get to see baptized), I will hopefully see him. This is what I was hoping and expecting would. Exciting! Now I can officially tell him that I will not be with him, but I will be at the temple. I hope to see him there.

Then, at the end of transfer meeting, I will be headed to the mission home.

The student that did not make it to church had conflicts with her family.

She had waited a month to tell her parents (now I had withheld that from you). So, she has not exactly told her entire family.

There is a lot of corrections to be made with our family history; it is a matter of inputting information and synchronizing information also with Ancestry. Still working on inputting data from FamilySearch to Ancestry and Ancestry to FamilySearch, on top of finding information based off of hints. It is a work on progress that I cannot fully do at this time.

I have a lot of letters to write; I need to write to all the converts that I can (such as Tim), the people I lived with in Tappahannock, the Fuseliers, the Lemoore Ward Primary (with this, Zachary Conwell, who I believe was baptized; he wrote a personalized note with the Pictures; I need somebody's address for the Primary), the Ward Family, the Obersts, Veronica, the Scholarship people, the lady who has sent these packages (I want to say the address was quite familiar, I want to say it was Trevor's mom, whom I cannot remember names or addresses and that address is closely linked with the Ward Family), and President Wilson. A lot to write to. Working on one letter at a time, but I need addresses for those of whom I do not have access to (the ones from home; like the Obersts or Veronica).

Looking at that list brings back to what a busy week it was and how much occurred in one day. It is a good week.

Tuesday, our preparation day due to holiday. We visited a book store that usually is closed on Mondays. Some good books in there; some I noted. We rested and prepared. We had dinner with the Gospel Principles teachers and we discussed some of our investigators that we had. And I began my goal of taking pictures of everybody we have dinner with. (With the Spanish elders no longer around, we have been having many dinners and many dinners to come this month). They referred us to somebody and we checked up on that person. That person said they would give us a call. We arrived home, not knowing what to do when we received a phone call from Buena Vista to go give a blessing to somebody in the hospital near us. We arrived and they said the person did not exist. Odd... 

So, Wednesday, after contacting another referral (who was less than enthused to see us), we checked up on the person again that we were supposed to see. They still did not exist. We called the people who originally called us, who were surprised. They called the person and as it turned out, he was released before we ever even got there. We checked up on the people who were from Alabama (who are returning to church); we helped them to set goals to progress to the temple. We called the lady who does not live in the area, but works here. We need to update the missionaries that are where she lives and inform them of what is going on. Well, she again ranted and chatted and we were there for a while. It helps her to do that and we are able to know how to help her. She has been hurt in some ways from the Church, not necessarily by the Church. She is trying to make a few steps forward. We had dinner, then we checked up on the people at the health center. We then checked up on the man who reminds me of my brother, he was not too readily available to talk with us.

Thursday, we planned; it took a while, appointments cancelled, we moved and trekked forward. Other than planning and appointments cancelling, we had a lesson with our new investigator and his family (who needs to center their lives on the gospel). We realize he has a hard time relaying information, so we are figuring out ways to help him. I talked to the parents and encouraged to move forward. We will have to follow up with them.

Friday was the day of meetings. We had an especially long meeting with Elder Zwick of the First Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Hemmingway, the Director of Proselyting. Before I dive into the meeting, let me explain a rather awkward situation I kind of had. Elder Day needed water, so we got up to get water. We ended up talking to some missionaries that I had not seen in a while. Well, President Wilson and Elder Zwick came down the hall and shook our hands. Then, he continued his walk down the hall. Well, we got seated. After debating on moving, we stayed in our seats. Elder Zwick comes by and shakes our hands and realizes who we were. "Oh, I remember you two." If that was not enough, the entire mission was asked to stand up and shake his hand. What we were supposed to do? Rather than look disobedient, we got in line and shook his hand, yet a third time. He commented to us, "Third times a charm." Yeah, it was rather odd for me.

The meeting was about personally purifying ourselves and being worthy. Elder Zwick mainly talked about this. He mentioned how he served, I believe, in Argentina had one of the apostles (then not an apostle, so one of the ones we have today) as his mission president. He was asked (with his new companion who was cowboy) to board a train, buy some horses, ride those horses through a river into Bolivia, convert the people in the nearby village, and build a chapel. He talked about when building the chapel, he took many donkeys up a mountain to take the lumber needed down, and how one of the donkeys misstepped and fell to its death (which easily could have been him). Elder Hemmingway talked of how the gospel was originally spread (from individual to family to friends to family to friends to family to individuals to families etc.) and how he was asked to start online proselyting as a mission president (something that was hard for him, because he was against Facebook). There are some filters on the iPads, the mission president will know what we will be doing, and we will be going under extensive training.

Elder Day and Elder Todd - Elder Day excited about iPads,
Elder Todd prefers his paper scriptures.

Each weekly planning session there will be an auditing portion where the companions exchange iPads and look at each others posts, etc. The best filter we have is our personal testimony and the Holy Ghost. We have little booklets (that are drafts) that teach us some principles and safeguards.

They will be owned by the Church, though a fee is to be paid to use it. (Because I am leaving in so many weeks, I will be using a loaner device.) Later, they can buy it (or something to that effect). There is an app that will be used for the planner and area book (which the mission president has access to); it will produce a consistent, updated progress record for stake and ward leaders to view.

I believe it is well worth the money, even if the risk seems so high to one's own salvation. I do believe it will help prepare the next generation and make them better than the one previous. It will help sift the wheat from the tares. It will cause young men and young women to rise above. It is matter of personal training at the home; something that I look forward to when I have a family. It is a matter of the family preparing their children now to be personally worthy and to use technology wisely. It is a matter of having that missionary mindset and having a personal testimony. The time to prepare is now; prepare your children, prepare your grandchildren. Be an example daily; live the gospel. And watch how much will change. It is going to be worth it and the work of the Lord will progress more than ever.

Friday, after the meeting, we visited a less active who had poisoned his testimony with anti, which destroyed him. (He needs to be referred to fairmormon.org) It is quite sad to see. We had a meeting with the ward mission leader and the bishop. Things look like they are beginning to move forward. Saturday, we did the progress record and we checked up on the man who has pain. He was really happy, which was a contrast to Monday. It was great to see him. We had a lesson with our investigator whose son was blessed and has been coming to church. We again emphasized the Book of Mormon and we set her on date. I pray that she will continue to be encouraged. After dinner, we checked up on the people in the health center.

Sunday; the day of insanity. And the Sabbath day, the day to rest. Morning and beyond church: we studied briefly and went to go wake up the man who is in pain. Well, he was awake and ready to go. We went to church with him, because we had a meeting. He read the Book of Mormon meanwhile. We had our meeting and then we learned there is a potluck. After the meeting, we had to put some of the potluck food in the refrigerator. We had to get some information from the district leader, which in turn we had to talk to the bishop. We were able to get that squared away. We learned that Elder L. Tom Perry passed away, which was sad. People started to come. Our investigator on date came to church, we introduced the bishop to her. People said hello to her. Get a series of texts during sacrament meeting; after sacrament meeting, we have to run to the outside to get materials to deliver to bishop. Deliver materials. Go to class; it was very spiritual and our investigator has good support in the class. We head into the chapel for third hour; Dan wants to sit with us (he had been wanting us all day). Unfortunately for Daniel and us and fortunately for us, we had to meet with the youth and get to know them. After that, we set up tables for the potluck. Dan wants us to sit by him. Elder Day needs a drink of water, we get involved in delivering paperwork, then stuck in a line for food. Poor Dan was done with his food by the time we arrived. Talked to people; lots of good things occurred in that potluck. Friends were made. Potluck is over; put down tables and chairs. Go outside, try some honeysuckle; honeysuckle is non-existent. Take man who is pain home, go home to change, and rest for a moment. Church was exhausting. I will have to make sure to sit by Dan the next church meetings.

We checked up on a series of people, including this country girl (who is a less active) and her non-member boyfriend. We had not seen them in forever. He was happy to see us again. Definitely coming back to her place to help them both.

Busy week. Busy Sabbath. Oh, and I learned in the Gayton Ward (congregation)

, the ten year old investigator got baptized. And another investigator, who found the Book of Mormon dark, is getting baptized. I thought she would be a long time, but the Spirit works miracles. 

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

#VirginiaRichmondMission

The Mystery Behind Dan the Man

(Dear Reader: please read to the very end. This post has an interesting story.)

Monday, May 18, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

While doing my genealogical research, I did come across Brent Fraze and the story itself, though the reason is unknown. I do have some good news about genealogical work; it is not something that I found or discovered. It is indeed a small world after all. But, I will get to that in a moment.

Transfer calls did happen; Elder Day and I are staying. Elder Hansen is leaving, which is quite unfortunate. It was not until that happened that I realized how close to home I am. It is a sharp, harsh reality, because, well, I love it out here and the work that I do. At the same time, I realize there is a time to move forward. I have goal to work hard until the end; I am making sure that I take pictures with families that we have dinner with, so that I do not have to go hunt them down on my last Sunday.

Thank you for not flipping out for my diet, or me striving to live the Word of Wisdom a bit more. I truly appreciate that.

It has been a good week; we have been pushing hard and trying to find. A lot of the time we were finding, but other things did happen.

Monday, we decided to go out to Verona, a nearby town in the Staunton area, to go visit an antique mall. That antique mall is absolutely huge, big. There was much to see and they had a huge book section (and different pockets of book sections). We spent a large amount of time there, exploring. So many good books there. After our preparation time, we had a lesson with a Ms. Mary student who has moved from the area for good. We encouraged her to develop her testimony, which will be an anchor for her, especially for all her questions. 

Tuesday, besides finding, we had four major less active visits. The last Ms. Mary student (the drama student) officially went home, though for the summer. We also encouraged her to develop her testimony. She is strong, but still needs to remain strong. From there, we saw a man and his wife, who had not been in church for over a year. Recently, he came to church (and yesterday, they both came to church). They are from Alabama and have a son. We shared Because He Lives and encouraged them to keep on moving forward. Then, we talked to this lady, who used to be in the area (or something like that), and she chatted for an hour straight. She had a lot to vent about. For the last few minutes or so, we told her to keep holding on. Last, a less active man for the day, is a man whose family left him and he is in a battle with his circumstances. I have to be honest; his face and mannerisms, slightly, remind me of Sean. (Elder Todd's older brother.) It is strange. I was able to hear the story; he had been ignoring us for a while.

Wednesday, we had a big day of finding. Then, we helped the young couple, who had complimented us the trio, move things in their house and open boxes. Some of their items were damaged by water. They definitely loved that we had helped. It was good to fellowship them. 

Thursday, we had district meeting; it was a lot about personal study and finding our own way to study. We had a lesson that day with a new investigator (referral given by the Spanish elders). She is a young mother who lives with her sister (and her fiance). She took time for us, even though she knew that she would be late to work if we stayed long. She seemed interested; she wants to raise her child in a Christian church, because her last church was, to her, less than Christian by their deeds. We did an overview because we were short on time. Then, we helped the one lady who we gave service to (where I cleaned chairs for the duration of time). She was getting rid of her bed, because her husband needed a hospital bed. She also got a hospital bed. As she said, "I do not want to give up snuggling." How sentimental. Later that night, we visited the less active who has back pains and, as usual, needs to come to church. He was excited to come to church, even when we checked up with him on Saturday. Sadly, he did not come. 

Friday, we planned. We had a lesson with the young mother who knows the Book of Mormon is true, but needs to come to church among other things. She is still at a standstill and has yet to progress even more. After that lesson, we had lesson with another new investigator, who is in her 60s. She had some negative experiences with church, but she is still seeking for the right place. She had run ins with missionaries in the past, but more recently with her son, who received a blessing while he was ill. She was excited to come to church and excited to learn more. She will definitely continue to progress. The bishop needed some help on his farm, moving some wood off of his truck. He has a broken foot, so he cannot do much. That night, we visited the recent convert and his family (the young man who was baptized when I got here). We finished the Plan of Salvation (and later, the Gospel of Jesus Christ); he recently was interviewed to received the Aaronic Priesthood. He is definitely going forward.

Saturday, we did the progress record. We checked up somebody in the hospital; not much happened there. We had lunch with the bishop. We had dinner with an awesome older couple. We learned that Elder Hansen is leaving. It was a slow day. 

Sunday, it was a lot of saying good bye to families for Elder Hansen. Some interesting things to note. Sacrament meeting. Those who were leaving (Elder Hansen and the Spanish set) said their final testimonies in the ward. A member gave a talk. Then, the high councilman spoke, somewhat briefly about the Sabbath day observance and family history work. He shared this story about one of his ancestors, who was a pioneer and was there in the beginnings of the Church, who when traveling did not observe the Sabbath day two Sundays in a row. He had tried traveling on those days and each time, something went wrong. Finally, the ancestor realized what he had done wrong and asked for forgiveness and help. Then, he mentioned the name of the ancestor: Benjamin Franklin Johnson. I was like (and I nearly shouted it), "I need to talk to that man." So, I did and mentioned we were, in a way, related. His parents were there too, so I got to talk to them as well. They came from LaBaron's children; they mentioned, I believe, that Benjamin had a lot of posterity and probably the most. I mean, after all, he had multiple wives (7) and had 30 something children.

Then, priesthood meeting, elders quorum. We were talking about flooding the Book of Mormon and the teacher gave us pieces of paper with certain Book of Mormon people and their teachings. It was to see how we could enrich our lives with the Book of Mormon. I was paired up with our befuddled man, who is going through cancer treatments. He requested Moroni (which he kept on calling Merona). Again, he mentioned the silver plates and the little lights. I kept on asking him, "Don't you mean the golden plates." No, he was quite certain that they were silver plates. We shared our thing and finally, Merona (or as it is, Moroni) M. (last name withheld) made sense. Moroni M. was the man who baptized our befuddled man; he is deceased (the silver plates is his grave tomb and the little lights are there to lead to his grave; no wonder I will never see them). He had a son also named Moroni M., who moved to Utah with his wife. Now, parents, I need your help and this is all directed to you. Daniel, the befuddled man, asked me if I could find this Moroni M., the son of Moroni M. I did some research on friendly Google; however, Facebook may be the best resource that I can not access. So, look up on Google/Facebook "Moroni M. Utah" and send a message to anybody that pops up asking if they know a Daniel S. from either Kentucky or Tennessee; this person's father was a bishop who, again, baptized Daniel. I hope this does not take too much of your time and I do not want it to take your time. I probably should not even talk to you or request this, but I guess I am. If you cannot do it, put it on me for when I return home. Thanks. 

(Briefly, Moroni M. was located and answered much about Daniel, a.k.a. Dan the Man. Moroni M.: Yes I served in the Tennessee Knoxville mission Sept. 2005-2007. I am the one who baptized Daniel S. a.k.a. Dan the Man, as we called him. I am alive and have no grave site.. lol.. So I'm not sure what he is referring to. Daniel is a very different person and can be a bit confusing. When he requested to be baptized I had the mission president come over to meet him to make sure he felt Daniel was OK to be baptized. He said he was!!! I really grew to love Dan the Man. I lost contact with him after he moved to Virginia, which was during the time I was still serving my mission, so it has been years. I have wondered from time to time where he was or if he was even still alive. Glad to hear he is still living and that he remembers me. It would be great to get back in contact with him.)

Good week. Good things are happening.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

A Hug a Missionary Will Never Forget

Monday, May 11, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Good morning. It was so good to Skype the two of you. I am glad that I am looking healthy. I will admit something here; I should have mentioned this yesterday, but it was not too important. I do have healthy meals. I have Greek yogurt for breakfast and salad for lunch. I have been doing that for a while now. I am able to get my protein in and follow the Word of Wisdom (reference to LDS guidance on diet) a bit more. I am still figuring how to follow the Word of Wisdom more fully and I am quite happy with doing this. Of course, one day, I will expand beyond salads. I realize there are more ways to eat meat sparingly. And no, I am not becoming a vegetarian.

I am quite happy that I am looking healthy and that most of my teeth are white. I feel happy about the

changes that have been made physically for me. I feel like I am eating a bit more healthy and I am getting back into exercising. I am so happy that I could run (which I will get to that story in a bit), which makes me want to run, though that will have to wait a bit. There are more steps that I am going to be working on, such as eliminating desserts and, eventually, snacks (though I will have some for emergencies). Please note a couple things here. I am not trying to prevent myself from becoming fat; I am not trying to be a health nut. I am trying to take care of my body and to do those things that will help me. I am trying to explore ways that I can more fully live the Word of Wisdom and it will take time. I am trying to do things better, trying to make good things become habits. The Word of Wisdom is a good start for me.

I hope this explanation makes sense. And that you will not panic. One day, I will add a bit more to my breakfast and add a bit more to my meals.

It has been a good week, quite enjoyable and definitely we had to work hard. Plus, lots of crazy little things happened.

Let us begin with Monday. Our P-day was of the normal kind. It was enjoyable. We decided to clean our car and try to fix our door. We did not do anything to the door, but the sensor is not working properly. It keeps on saying the door is ajar. We tried to figure it out and messed with another door... until the door would not shut. It is hard to explain over an email, but it had to deal with the latch to close the door until the time comes to reopen the door. We could not get the latch down, despite our attempts. We called Elder Sopp and we prayed. We called some members and while we called these members, a miracle occurred. As it so happened to be, God thankfully intervened. A returned missionary, who was visiting the Staunton area that he had served in, decided to stop by his old apartment. His father, who knew how to deal with the problem fixed the latch and we were able to go about our business. Thank you, Elder Beaton. (Fun fact: This Elder Beaton was the trainer to one of my old companions, Elder Frank.) And thus began our week.

Tuesday, we had one giant zone conference. And guess who I met? Elder Short. And guess what I did? I gave him a hug for his sister. Yes, my quest of hugging Elder Short for his sister is complete. He was a bit surprised, but I figure he was happy about that. The zone conference talked a lot about creating our own personal ministry. I like this idea, because there are people we minister to each day. There are the people in need and the people we are in contact with on a daily basis. I pondered this idea for quite a while. After returning home and enjoying dinner, we headed off to see the recent convert man who was baptized when I got here. We shared part of the Plan of Salvation and helped him to set goals, so that he could obtain the Aaronic Priesthood and go to the temple. We noted some things that he needed, so that he could have aid as he continued to progress in the gospel; some of these things were also discussed in zone conference. We realized we need to find member friends for our people and we needed to help them have assignments. We also saw a less active who usually sits all day and watches the television (due to some injuries that he is suffering through). We again applied our zone conference and it worked.

I realize even more that things work quite well when we have the Spirit more fully in our lives. As

somebody told me, "When we live the gospel harder, it becomes easier." Somebody had faulted me on that before on "the gospel becoming easier," but it means that when we have the gospel in our lives, we are able to withstand our trials even more. We do not despair; we come to know that these trials are for our gain.

Wednesday, we headed off to see the people in the health center. We went to find; then our dinner appointment called us and asked us to go visit somebody. Off to the hospital we went. We met the family and the person who we were asked to see was wheeled away for some reason. The family asked us to help in giving a blessing, but we needed to wait for the sister. The sister did not show up, and, unfortunately, we had to go. We gave them some oil (a drop of olive oil is used that has been consecrated) and headed off. We met a member of the bishopric to go to a lesson. We tried to see our elderly man investigator (whose family consists mainly of LDS), but he was not there. The bishopric member suggested that we go and try to see a recent move in. He, too, was not there. And speaking of rain, it poured while we were doing this. We met up with our dinner, who gave us money due to the fact they could not have us over for dinner. After dinner, we met up with one of the Ms. Mary students; we tried to help her to understand more about faith. After this short lesson, we headed over to the church to help with the priests' mutual activity involving the Preach My Gospel.

Thursday, we did our weekly planning session. We talked with our elderly man investigator, but not much happened in this visit. We finished off a street that we previously tracted, but nobody was home. We visited with the other Ms. Mary student, who is involved with drama. She, the next day, was going to get her patriarchal blessing... though she thought it was an interview for the blessing itself. She was surprised, nervous, because she had not realized that. We explained what occurs and the sacred nature of those blessings. She felt a bit better and even more after she had received that blessing. We had dinner with a new family that moved in. They are a wonderful young couple, very nerdy, but they are fantastic. They made some really good food. They have no furniture, so we sat on the floor, which I enjoyed a lot. Until, of course, I got up and had to hobble off. But, other than that, it was a good time. They later commented on how they loved our trio; they said we were personable and fun and we were able to bring in the Spirit. Later that night, we met with our investigator family to check up on them; the children still want to know more (they loved us) and the father is still interested. The mother, whom we never taught, is waning.

Friday, we completed our progress record. Mainly this day, we tried to contact a lot of people. Not much happened. 

Saturday, we updated the members who need rides that they have rides. Then began that 6 and a half hours of service that we did. We helped out this member who needed some items moved; she owns this shop and it has a lot of stuff. There is a back room that is one giant pile of clothes and other donated items. Luckily, there was some smaller items that I could move and lift. Somebody gave her a dog, so that she can find this dog a home. That dog tried to escape. The three of us went after it; and that is when I realized I could run. Yes! But, man I am sore after running. I had not run in a long, long time, because I was afraid that I would screw up my back even more. It did not though. Happy about that. After reclaiming the dog and returning it, we headed over to Staunton Post Office. There was a food drive going on that helps the Feed America thing going on and a food bank that is in the area somewhere. The postal service was used to make notice of this event and for the picking up of the food. Well, everybody was late. There were cans, glass, and dry goods, plus other random things. One bag of food was compiled of Cheez-its. There were marshmallows and random medicine. It was a great time, though some items were odd. We did not finish until seven-thirty.

Sunday, we had meetings and church; this time we did not lose our befuddled man. We had a quick lunch and then headed over to the people that allowed us to Skype at their place. Elder Day went first; his family was trying to figure out things, so he did not see them as much. Plus, the microphone was not working all that well. By the time I went, everything was figured out. Then, we had dinner and Elder Hansen talked to his family. Afterwards, we blessed a home.

And that is our week. Many appointments cancelled; many people were not home. But, it was great. Lots of service performed and good times.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

#Virginia Richmond Mission

Haggai! Haggai!

Monday, April 20th, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

It is pretty interesting working in a trio. We are able to have fun when it is appropriate and we are able to work hard. This week has been a good one. But before I get to that, just a couple of things.

I'll make sure to honor Sister Savannah Short's request (to hug her Mandarin Chinese Speaking brother serving in this mission).

I do like the apartment; it is big and spacious. It has a beautiful view of trees, which is a lot more beautiful than the ocean. I also found a book called "They Knew the Prophet." I found two names in it that we are related to: Daniel Duncan McArthur and Benjamin F. Johnson. They share their own personal contacts with the Prophet Joseph Smith. And I found out that we have ties as well to the Prophet Joseph Smith. One of the wives that Joseph Smith married was Almira Johnson, sister of Benjamin F. Johnson. When I send things off, I will definitely send that home.

Oh, and for Mother's Day, there is something I would like to mention, regarding family history.

This week, like I said, was good. We were able to work hard and nearly exhaust ourselves.

Monday, we explored downtown Staunton. There were a few places that were closed on Monday, but we were able to see a fair amount. A lot of it were some antique shops (I love antique shops) and other small shops. It was fun to walk around. Plus, we visited this graveyard for the fun of it. It was an interesting place. Not much else happened that night, despite our best efforts in finding. 

Tuesday, we had district meeting and we began looking through our area books. Yeah, for some odd reason, we discovered that we had not only one area book, but four. Plus, we found a really old record that dates B.P.M.G (Before Preach My Gospel). We talked to one of the Ms. Mary students, the one who is a bit dramatic (okay, Elder Todd is a guy and what guy truly understands girls). She was going away for a while, so we prepared her for the short time she would be gone. That night, we headed to Verona, a nearby dot on the map to try to find people there and to contact potentials and formers.

And Wednesday, we did service. We helped a man (a less active) who reminds me a bit of Uncle Joe [for your information: his first name is Joe] (Uncle Joe is Hispanic, a little scary but a very lovable guy); he has a lot of wisecrack comments, does not care what he says, and if you are offended, well, that's your own fault (that would be true of Uncle Joe). He is a character. He had a small yard for us to clean up; it was for his friend that gave him chain link fence. Well, now it involved raking. You may wonder (as he did) how I forgot, but I forgot I am not supposed to rake. In fact, it was not my first thought to not rake. As I was raking, I was like, "Oh yeah, I am not supposed to rake." (Side note: In fact, in Gayton, Greek lady called us to help her get her car unstuck from snow. Others were there to help before we showed up, but I nearly grabbed the snow shovel in an attempt to help.) But, I kept on raking until he asked for help lifting some bricks. I then told him that I had a herniated disc and he asked me, "How the hell can you forget that you are injured?" He, too, has an injured back. So, for the rest of the time of service, I just stood there. Now, I see why I am not supposed to rake, because I am still recovering. Now, I am resting from doing some raking; I still feel the effects. I have it under control (right).

We got home, changed, and saw one of our investigators

with a member. We shared a video with this investigator. She is mother of a child, though she does have the father there to help her. I know she felt the Spirit in that lesson. Yet, I am not sure how much she wanted to progress or change. This video was about a mother who wanted to visit her cousin, but she ended up helping a lot of people throughout her day. She ends up not being able to see her cousin and it is not until the family prayer that she realizes all the good that she had done. We related to her how our choices affect others; we related this to church attendance and how much a difference attending church will make in her life. We are not sure what else to do at this point with her.

Dinner was great that night for two out of three of us. You know, Mom's baked spaghetti? Well, we had something similar to that. It was delicious. Well, as we were leaving, Elder Day started to feel sick. We, fearing that he might throw up, gave him a code word to say if he needed to spew out what he needed to: "Haggai." As we were driving along and approaching a gas station, he started to yell out, "Haggai! Haggai!" Well, he-- and were pretty sure on this-- had food poisoning. At dinner, there were two pans of baked spaghetti. I ate from my pan while my companions had the other pan to eat from. Elder Hansen got the sides while Elder Day got the entire (and most likely, uncooked) middle; Elder Day probably spared everybody from illness. After him upchucking dinner, we had a lesson with the most recent convert of Ms. Mary, but Elder Day needed to go home after that.

Thursday, we needed to take it easy for Elder Day's sake. We did weekly planning. We had to give Elder Hansen to the Spanish Elders, because he was needed by them to help lift a wood stove. Yeah, no way could I do that. We went to a member's house for dinner. Poor Elder Day, he could only drink juice that day. 

Friday, we did the progress record. We organized our area book and called "formers." From that alone, we were able to set up lessons.

Saturday, our wisecracking less active needed some more help with cleaning a chicken coop. He had me sit down and rest, so that I would not injure myself or aggravate my back. Chickens, by the way, are hilarious. They are the most silliest of all creatures, or at least the ones that I know. We fed them bread; we helped fix the fence. As we were trying to fix the fence, Elder Hansen was holding a metal bracket. One of the chickens kept on trying to eat it and peck at it as if it was food. After that fun service, we helped give a blessing to somebody in the hospital. Then, we had more service. It involved bending, raking, shoveling, and gardening; things I could not do much of. I had fun sitting in the sun.

Sunday, we woke up exhausted. I was sore, I could not function at full capacity. We had a meeting at church at nine with the ward mission leader. After our meeting, we went over to the car and took a nap. Church was great; we had this one member come who lives in a nursing home. He is no longer senile(?); he is a bit crazy. He told some jokes during class and to us: "What did the crocodile do to you? Jaws!" "What is happening when you hear thunder? God is moving his furniture around." "Where was Moses when the lights turned off? In the dark." He is a character and he is great. After church, we talked to a few people, tried to go for a lesson, but things did not work out.

We had dinner, tried to contact a few people, and headed to a less active's home. From their mannerisms, it was evident that most of them did not care too much about the Church anymore.

We had a good week. Things went well and things are going well. We are pushing forward.

All is well! Tout va bien!

Love,

Elder S. Todd