What We Do Matters

This is one of my favorite scriptures in preparation for serving a mission.

May 26, 2015

One of the many shows that I watched before my serving a mission-- and there is a point to this reference-- was a television show called Touch, which involved people around the world influencing the other, ending up in a giant help to the main characters of the show and the central problem. I believe it is based on string theory (Theory of Everything), but that is a theory that is quite unfamiliar to me other than the name. It is interesting to see how much the Lord uses us to influence for good or to be an aid in some way. Take, for example, Dan the Man and Moroni M. (The person who baptized Daniel, Moroni M. was recently located after years and miles of separation by Elder Todd and his parents.) That to me is quite touching to be used in a way to influence for good or to be an aid to help. In such a way, it is also an amazing effect that we, too, are changed by what we do for good or for bad.

Looking at things in an eternal perspective, we change ourselves day by day, coming closer to God or moving further away from Him. It is what we do with what the Lord has given us through His grace that matters.

--Elder Seth Todd, in a recent letter sent to his parents

A New Leaf

. . .become even as my friends
 in days when I was with them,
traveling to preach the gospel
in my power . . .
Doctrine and Covenants 84

Monday, March 2nd, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I have received the Valentine's Package a couple of weeks ago. I forgot to mention that. Thank you for the package.

Yeah, the weather has been bi-polar. It seems nice one day, then it is extremely cold. Then, it snowed recently. Then, there was freezing rain. It has been so much fun driving in it.

With Elder Taylor, I am not sure. The day after splits he seemed a lot happier. But, by the end of the night, whatever it was was back. I cannot explain it. Despite this, he did work a bit more and we were able to get some work done. I talked to Elder Henstrom, who had Elder Taylor as a companion, about what he did, which he said the sleeping part at least happened. Elder Henstrom said he did not have much of a work ethic. Well, now that he is in Woodbridge, hopefully that will get him a bit more motivated. Yes, I did talk to Elder Henstrom recently, because I went back to Tappahannock this weekend. That good news is to follow.

Monday, Elder Taylor said good bye to Mama, because I suggested that he should. We helped a family that were in the midst of moving. Our dinner was supposed to help, but they had to cancel on them and, in some ways, us. They did drop off McDonald's to us, so it was not a total cancellation. At least we received food for which I was grateful. Elder Taylor finished packing that night, late at night. 

Tuesday, we headed, with another set of missionaries, to Cafe Rio. I did not get anything, because I knew we were going to have dinner with our Greek lady. A member paid for the other three and gave us a frequent diner card. Cafe Rio is miniature Utah. From there, we headed to transfers. 

My new companion is Elder Tanner Jensen, first name added due to the multitude of Jensens that are in the mission. Elder Jensen was over in Charlottesville in the country with nobody really to proselyte. His companion was going home that transfer, so he was trunky (thinking of home). Elder Jensen has been out for six months, so he is very zealous at this point to get the work done. I asked him, "Do you like to work? Do you plan? Do you tract?" He answered yes!

As we were leaving transfers, we were talking about what we were like. I told him that in high school I did two main things: study and watch television. He asked me what television shows that I watched. It was the perfect opportunity. I could then put him to the ultimate test of whether or not we could be companions. I stated, "Oh, I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender." He got excited and asked, "Have you seen, 'The Legend of Korra?'" I stated that I have only seen the first season, which is the only season he has watched too, though I know what has occurred in the second season and some things in the third season. So, yes, I do think we will get along and work together. We dropped off his luggage, rescued another set of missionaries, and took them home. We talked when we returned home and discussed some ideas. I told him about Goochland and its issues. I told him about our investigators, whom we only had seen one this past week. People are sick or not home. That night, we had dinner with our Greek lady. Her food is not bad; it was reheated, because she cooked it the day before. I enjoyed it, though my companion was more iffy on the food. It is rather unfortunate, really. As I have explored her teaching record (since she is a less active), I have read comments other missionaries have put down. She has been decried as "crazy" and her food "rough on the stomach." It bothers me a bit, probably because I think she is a wonderful lady, despite being less active.

Wednesday, we worked on the area books. I have been trying to combine the two area books. It has been a slight bear of a challenge. Both area books are thick with old names and formers. We have been weeding it. If they say they are not interested on multiple occasion, then chances are they are not interested. We have done this work on multiple occasions. The ward has been focusing on part member families, so we, not having access yet to the ward clerk, drew upon an old list of part member families to try and go see. We did go tracting on this day, which was great, though nobody answered. We are definitely in a finding mode, which happens to be a specialty of mine. I'll get to that subject in a moment. That night, we had dinner with the new elders' quorum president. And after Bible Study, we had correlation over the phone with our ward mission leader. From these two events, I noticed that the ward is painfully aware of what we do and our actions. They know the rules; they know what we are supposed to be doing. It is important for us to do all that we can to do what is right and to build trust. So, our tasks for the transfer is to build trust with the missionaries, find and contact part-member families to teach, and help less actives to be spiritually self-reliant.

Thursday, we worked at the health center. Mama was at Bingo, which is a first for me. It is good to see her out and about. She was happy to see her new son. Elder Jensen went through orientation and then we helped with Bingo. We contacted one part member family that night. The man, who as far as I can tell, is less active and he has attempted to help his wife, who leans more on the side of being "Wicken." He is a nice man, a bit of a hunter. He has ferrets that roam around; one of them tried to take the car keys. He simply told us that his wife is not really interested, though we can try hanging around and try to connect on common ground. It is a potential idea, but I do not think it is the best. 

Friday, we did four hours of weekly planning. It was great to formulate a plan for not only lessons, but what we need to do to help this area. I do believe that the work looks promising; we just need to put in the effort. We have been helping the bishop with his questions that he has as well as the tasks that he gives us. We have one unfulfilled mission that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. Other than that, we have been on top of things. We had dinner that night with our ten year old investigator and his recent convert mom and brother. We taught the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him with cups. It is evident that he understands the concepts and it was taught to him before. As his mother says, he needs to make the right decisions. We plan on giving a Book of Mormon reading chart to help him be more accountable. 


Saturday, we went out to Goochland to fulfill one of the bishop's assignments. The lady we talked to is not a member and from her teaching records, she has lost interest. We got what we needed to get from her. She kept on talking about her problems and animals. It was interesting. We left and headed home in order to get ready for the baptism in Tappahannock. The single mother investigator's son was going to be baptized. You might want to message Elder Meibos to tell him for he did find her and talked to the son. Hopefully he remembers. Anywho, it was a great baptism. Another missionary, besides Elder Henstrom, came down to see the baptism. He is in Prince William, my old area. He got a ride from a member who looked familiar. I did not interact too much with this member, because he was away at the time I was there until my last week. He recognized my name and was like, "Oh, hey Elder Todd, you might not know me. I am so and so while you were in Woodbridge. You snow shoveled my driveway while I was gone for my wife and kids. Thank you for that."

The baptism was great. The son was quite happy to be baptized and bore testimony at the end. He stated that he always felt a part of this church and coming here, something clicked for him, though he knows not what. I am so happy for him. The talk on baptism was done by another kid around his age. He asked the son what are some bad things he has, wrote it on a chalkboard, and then showed that by baptism, everything will be wiped away. After baptism, it is a lot harder to erase, to which the kid demonstrated by making marks on a piece of paper with a pen. The son retorted, "Unless you burn it." Or as the kid said back, "That is true, but you can also use white out."

Afterwards, we headed to the members' upstairs. The wife was like, "Oh, it was so good to see my sons." It seems I have also been adopted by her and her family as well. I am adopted. Everybody, but I and her, went downstairs to play pool. I talked to her, just like old times. I will tell you what I told her. I have had a lot of, if I may say, difficult work. Any kind of missionary work can be difficult. One of the things that I have noted is that I find, I help teach, I help people progress, and then I move on to the next area. I never really see the whole progress from point A to point B, though I am a big part of that transition. It has been difficult in that way, because you never know what will happen to the person you are teaching and you would love to see them reach point B. But, I have seen, especially in Tappahannock, a lot of people enter in the waters of baptism. I often am never sure what I really did in Appomattox, because the people that I did find fell away quickly and never progressed that far. I guess the thing that I did help with was the elders' quorum president, especially when he lost his two counselors as quickly as they came. It has been a wonderful work and I am not yet finished. I have four months to go, as sad as that is. Right now, it is a matter of getting back in the saddle and pressing forward. It is tiring, because I am tired. I am satisfied, because I bear testimony of Jesus Christ. I help people be happy, truly happy. I am happy to see others happy. Well, I do not know all that I said, but it goes something along those lines. I have worked miracles by the power and grace of God; and I have seen miracles done, which has been my greatest blessings.

Sunday, we sought out part member families. Not much else happened. Oh, and we were blessed with a dinner appointment when we had none. Which, is another brief humorous note. I have seen the fulfillment. Remember how in the MTC I was prompted to eat fish, because I would be eating fish in the field? In all my areas, I never had as much fish (in fact I hardly ever had fish) as I do here. I am tired of fish, but I grin and bear it.

Tout va bien!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. Glad to hear you are well.

Yep, Just Like a Box of Chocolates!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I definitely miss Tappahannock. I am in the Gayton Ward, the west end of Richmond. It is a bit like Woodbridge; the many shops, the many suburbs, the many apartments. We do have the country, but it is an odd addition to the Gayton Ward. It takes time and miles to get there. Sisters used to cover that area, but they no longer do and that change is recent. That area definitely needs missionary attention and there needs to be a balance to both sides of the area. 

We are doing a Book of Mormon class here, though today will be the first day for me. Of course, I can envision a lot of things to do for this class (PowerPoint, activities, etc.), but I do not have those resources available and have yet to see what is being done in the class. 

My new companion is Elder Taylor, who is from Modesto, California. (Seth's Great Grandfather Boyd Henry Todd and his family were some of the first members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Modesto, California.) To say that things are going well between us is a false statement. It took me until Sunday to figure what is his problem. I have yet to find motive as to why is he such. I am extremely upset, not at the Lord, but at him. He does not believe in planning; no, not even weekly planning. In fact, I overheard him say that instead of planning for the next day, he just goes by the Spirit. That infuriated me with a fiery indignation that I just wanted to come out of the bathroom, crying out, "Oh, you sloth! Repent of your wicked ways!" I wanted to go to each and every scripture about slothfulness and rebuke him.

The thought came to my mind, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." So, I stayed in the bathroom, trying to calm down. I have been trying to make decisions, which at one time, I made the wrong decision, thinking it to be good.

I am however persisting in asking what we are doing and he did ask me what we should do tomorrow. Well, it is rather difficult when I do not know our investigators, the area, and such. I am slowly learning the area; then again, so is he. He has only been here for a transfer. I looked at our area book, which does not give me much information. 

I sent you a letter that I wrote on Wednesday that I sent later. I was angry when I wrote it. I do have a library card, but, whether it is temporary or not, I am not exactly sure. I am sending you a letter soon, concluding some matters of discussion and inviting you to family home evening. I definitely need support, or encouragement. I have been trying to love my companion. I wrote little notes telling him to have an excellent day and told him the things he does well. Nothing much of yet has happened. I do plan on seeking advice from the mission president and when I go on exchanges with the zone leaders (because my companion is the district leader), I plan on seeking a blessing to help me for the coming weeks. During planning tonight, I do think I should talk to him and I pray that I will be calm.

Thanks for the quotes. It really does fit into this past week. I push forward.

Monday. Elder Henstrom and I had to do many, many chores. Laundry, packing, cleaning, etc. I received a haircut that day from one of the daughters of the members upstairs; she did a military haircut, something she wanted to do when she first cut my hair. She was surprised about how quickly my hair grew and how thick it was. After the haircut, I was not so sure what to think. It did remind me of the haircut I had received in Woodbridge. I am quite happy with my haircut. We said goodbye to our single mother investigator and headed to the branch president's house. We had dinner and we had a really good time. I enjoyed it and that is when I received the shirt of which you saw. I love it; I do believe there is a proper balance to hunting and saving the environment.

I quickly packed that night. Everything was stuffed full, because of my quick planning. I had to figure out how to put my bare necessities (toothbrush, etc.). 

Tuesday, we said a few more goodbyes and then we headed to transfers. I was put with where I am now and who I am with. We received another car, because our previous car had reached the mile limitation for missionaries. We inherited somebody's car, which is close to its expiration. According to my companion, we did not receive any information about our allotment, so we do not have an allotment. Right, we will go with that. We had dinner with a member who has a wife who speaks Portuguese (and she is a member). They are nice people and I knew that I would love this area. We saw a recent convert, whose son has a desire to be baptized. I was merely introduced to them.

Wednesday through Saturday, I began to realize what my companion is doing and I have yet, like I have said, to understand why. I learned that he loves deep doctrine, which, okay, I had another companion that also liked deep doctrine (and I loved that companion), but it seems off-putting for some reason. I am probably a bit frustrated. I mainly decided to put my head down and endure (go week by week). I have been trying to figure out how to love my companion. There has been too much wasted time, spots that I disliked, because I know how quickly time passes. We received many referrals. Some interested, others not. I am grateful for these referrals, because they give us something to do. We were able to get new investigators, one of whom is a single mother with one kid. She is not able to go to her church often, because it is on the other side of Richmond.

My companions is excellent at asking questions, which is great and that is what we needed. I used scriptures, which she needed. I know that if we couple this together, we would get work done. 

I had dinner with the bishop and I have met the ward mission leader.

We went with one set of the Spanish elders to take them to the country, so that they can try to find those that are Hispanic and speak Spanish. It was during this time that I learned that the country area needs our attention. We were talking to a member who has Spanish names (but does not speak Spanish) who thought the area would never see missionaries again. We are working with a less active in this area who is a retired photographer. He is a nice guy, but slightly depressed. I liked his dog, which is a Shiba Inu. 

We have run into many Arabs, who are Muslims. I have met people of other cultures. I absolutely love it. We have a new investigator who speaks Persian (or Farsi). We had an Arabic Book of Mormon, which we were able to give away. I ate at a Mongolian themed grill (members took us out to it), which was quite amazing. I saw, as we passed the mall on Short Pump, a world store, whatever that means. I am excited, because of the different cultures that I see here. 

Oh, and I have been adopted. There is another recent convert here, who absolutely loves the missionaries. Funny thing is, she was found in Powhatan, but later had moved into a different adult home in Gayton and was baptized. I had talked to her on the phone before in Powhatan for she was looking for a missionary (the second Appomattox companion that I had). So, it was great to finally meet her. When new missionaries meet her, they become adopted into her "family." Thus, I have been adopted. She recently had her arm amputated, but she keeps on going.

Sunday, church was great. We taught gospel principles and will teach it next week as well. I am excited for that. We contacted another referral who is an adolescent. I was so happy to meet him and give him a Book of Mormon. I noticed on his shirt there was the seven candlesticks (the menorah), typically seen in Hanukkah. Yes, he is Jewish. We were not able to schedule another appointment with him at the time, but I hope he calls. Have I ever told you it is a goal of mine to have a Jewish friend? Yes, I was happy to meet this fellow for two reasons as evident above. We were able to find another new investigator when we sought two other people in an apartment. We were called over and asked the typical questions, "Are you Mormon? Is beer a sin? How many wives are you allowed to have?" Slowly, this person who had called us over wanted to know more.

Monday, well, Sunday we found out the P-day was changed to Tuesday. My companion felt sick (whether he was or not, I am not going to judge), so we did not get out much. We received some new referrals that day as well. They are great potentials. We visited the recent convert who has a son who wants to be baptized. He is a crazy kid (granted, he is nine) and was all over the place. I really do think we need visual aids and luckily, they have a tablet. I suggested that to my companion, who, honestly, did not seem all that enthused, but we will try it.

I am going to push through it and fight through persistence and calm negotiations. I think of the people of Limhi who "like dragons did they fight" for their own lives and family. I am going to push hard to make sure that this area stays alive and thriving. I will love my companion.

How do you say all is well in French? I only know all is well in German, Alles wohl. Is it tout est bien?

Tout est bien! (Tout va bien!) Alles wohl! All is well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Hot Chocolate in the Rain?

Monday, December 29, 2014

Hanukkah Menorah

Shalom Aleichem, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

If Hanukkah starts on December 7th next year, then I feel more so inclined to celebrate Hanukkah. I am excited. (December 7th is his birthday.) 

I honestly did not eat the Ho's Ho's.

 (A family tradition is for Santa to put Hostess Ho Ho's in Christmas stockings. This year some of them had a foul chemical taste. So we warned our son and his companion about this. Needless to say it is a tradition that has ended.) My companion, on the other hand, ate them, even if they did smell. I could smell it and I was not up to eating them. The unfortunate thought of it is even if they did not smell, they might still have that chemical in them. And who knows what is that chemical. So, my companion did not care whether or not it had it. He ate all of them. I even gave him mine. (I hate to waste and seeing that he was willing....)

I, unfortunately, understand what you mean by the immaturity of the missionaries. ( Many missionaries are still teens when they go out. Having a little fun is fine. Some pranks maybe. But we have been tired of goofy shots of missionaries.) Believe me, I understand. Some are not bad, but others are bad. I have been the victim of immaturity once or so, but I understand to act my age and when something I do is enough. Humor for me is a very hard thing to tackle. I do not understand humor and it takes very fine humor to make me laugh. Yet, for whatever reason, some people call me funny. I do not understand. (And you are not the only one that despises the text speak of which insults the finer language of English, or what used to be the finer language of English. This was a reference to missionaries writing home as if they were texting friends with their text shorthand. Most don't but some do.)

Thanks for the tip about children. I will use them for the single mother investigator's child who wants to be baptized. 

You will not believe what I discovered this past weekend. On Saturday, after accomplishing the task of our progress record, I decided to do my usual task of inputting information on Ancestry. I have been looking at all the hints I have for each person, which is a bear of a task. But, through this task I discovered something really, really cool. Let me take you back into our history. As you know, widowed Ellen Jackson Carter, mother of John Carter, after traveling across the plains, had married William Stewart Seely. Now, I had discovered this through William Stewart Seely's mother, Mehittabil Bennett, of whom I was inputting information. William's brother, Justus Wellington Seely, had a son, whose name was Orange Seely. If you go down his descendants, you will reach (and it took a while to figure this out) Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Now, mind you, I am not claiming we are related at all, but I am just noting this fact of interest. (I discovered this through a PDF file that is a document on Mehittabil Bennet, Justus Wellington Seely, and Orange Seely.) (Elder Dallin H. Oaks is an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Apostles direct the affairs of the church as a quorum, under the direction of the First Presidency and by assignment. Elder Oaks has represented the church in defending religious liberty including the controversial birth control under "Obamacare." He is a former Supreme Court Justice in Utah.) 

Elder Dallin H. Oaks (center) (C) Intellectual Reserve 2013

By now, you are probably wondering about my week. Monday, we had the usual P-day activities. I happily cleaned the bathroom; it needed it really bad. We saw our investigator of whom we are still unsure of what he is understanding. We taught him twice this week and he still has made no indications of what he understands. I remember we even asked a question about the Restoration and he stared at us with a smile. It is hard to say what will happen. We have plans on teaching him, but what to do is the hard question. I cannot say what he is interested in, because his walls are blank and empty. He has cassette tapes, but I cannot tell you what the music is. But, perhaps, it will be something that can draw conversation.

Tuesday, we had the all-day mission conference. There was many, many musical numbers and many good talks (or training sessions). One that has really stuck with me is one about hope. When we say, "I hope..." it conveys uncertainty; when we want to say we hope for something, we should rather say, "I know...." This conveys more faith and hope. It shows that we hope as a surety. I tried it out and I believe it gives more power to willpower. There was a member-- a recent convert in the lower county of the area-- who had a fever of 100 degrees. On Saturday, he text us that and told us he might not be coming to church. In reply, I almost put "I hope," but catching myself, I put, "I know you will obtain better health." Sunday, he came to church with normal temperature (may be a little sick, but he had better health).

I was able to see some old companions that have not gone home. I met the sisters who are in White Oak and obtained information on the area. After this conference, we went home. Our appointment with our "on date" person cancelled; we have not been able to see him this week and his baptism has been pushed back. Also, on Tuesday, the festivities of opening presents started. The members upstairs' son and his wife were going to Arizona for Christmas. Thus, the opening of presents began.

Wednesday, the heavens opened their floodgates and it rained hard. As much as I love rain, the rain threatened our plans for the day. We had planned, with the sisters, to do the hot chocolate stand that day. The rain could easily destroy and wipe away our plans. I prayed and felt that we were still able to do the hot chocolate. My companion, on the other hand, still had some doubt. We needed to pray. We set a time when we would make a final decision. 

In the meanwhile, we boiled water and filled up the cooler. We finally prayed as a companionship about the rain. I continually prayed. By the time we had to make a decision, it was still raining. Going on faith at this point, I said that the hot chocolate stand will go on. As it neared about noon, the rain stopped. It halted. It was more of a sign for us that God had our back and that the hot chocolate stand must go on. 

It would later rain while we did the stand. It was a successful event, full of good memories. In the beginning, I held the sign to allow people to know what we were offering and at no cost. It was during this time, I earned my dollar, because somebody felt bad for me. I later held an umbrella over the hot chocolate as it rained. I smiled and waved until my left hand, which was holding the umbrella, cramped up. That was extremely painful. I received a lot of honks, waves, crazy people, and smiles from people. It was successful in passing out the He is the Gift cards. Who knows what will come from it.

Later that night, we had dinner with the choir director of the ward. I had salmon, crab dip, and other food. My stomach was hurting a bit afterwards. There was more opening of presents. That was when I received the new suit, which is pinstripe (and I do not mind). It fits me quite well, just needs to be tailored a tad. I really like it.

Thursday, I got up at midnight. I put up our stockings and organized our presents. Then after a while, I went to bed and some time after, I fell asleep. In the morning, we opened our presents and spent time in the morning with the members upstairs. We went over to the elders' quorum president where I Skyped you. It was good to see you, Bria, and Carly. It was good to hear from my sister, Bria. And did I look surprised when Joy unveiled her big news?( She announced she was pregnant with her third.)

From there, we went to the members' upstairs family gathering. There was a "Chinese Auction" and it was a lot of fun. The festivities continued at their home, later that night.

Friday became a point of contrast. I usually recover from lack of sleep, or my own waking up, or some kind of disturbance of sleep. Last year, I felt great even after waking up at midnight on Christmas. On Friday morning, I woke up more exhausted than I have ever been before. Friday became the pinnacle of exhaustion. I did my usual routine, but during studies, I needed rest. That morning, we had to help a member floor the bathroom of our WWE fanatic's trailer for his parents. At this point, I became extremely grateful for my herniated disc and my now inability due to restriction to lift heavy objects. If the floor of their trailer and their trailer in itself was any indication that something was wrong, we rightly picked up on that hint. The toilet and the floor was bad. Now, I can only imagine, because I even seen a bad toilet myself arriving in a new area. Seeing as I was not able to do much, I stood outside, guarding the member's tools, as he so directed me to do. 

After flooring the bathroom, the member received a call from his father, who needed help dragging a deer out of the woods. So, off we went to his father and into the woods. We took a four wheeler and found his father and the dead deer. It was a rather solemn moment, if solemn is the right word. My companion and the member dragged the deer from its spot, up a hill, and to the four wheeler. Then, we headed back to the road, wherein the father took over. The deer was skinny and the hooves were falling off. The deer was diseased and its quickened death turned to be a mercy. From there, we, after cleaning ourselves, ate at a new Mexican restaurant to try it out. I have to say that I was not too impressed with the place and the Mexican rap that was blaring did not help.

That night, the senior couple had a few more candidates for baptism that needed to be interviewed by my companion. It was a tricky situation, but I did agree with my companion's decision. I felt the sustaining witness of the Spirit. Two of the three passed. This caused an upset for all three, wherein they were not baptized. This we learned on Saturday.

Saturday, we saw our single mother investigator after we cleaned our apartment and completed our progress record. We talked of revelation and told her that she needs to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. It went well and it got what we needed to say out. She asked questions and we answered. Meanwhile, her two kids were wrestling each other and going crazy. The single mom told us to ignore them; she had told them where they needed to be. One of the kids ended up crying, because she got hurt. The single mom explained to them what they did wrong, what they should have been doing, and now, we are owed apology letters. 

Sunday, we had our meetings in the morning, we had church, and we watched an Eagle Scout of Honor. We helped the wife of the members upstairs finish decorating for Christmas and we had the Christmas Eve dinner that night. Yes, Christmas was on schedule, but everything else was a bit behind.

Thank you for the pajamas and items of fun. It was a nice, simple Christmas.

Alles wohl!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

She Was Curious! But He Had Been In Prison!

Virginia Richmond Mission: Tappahannock, Virginia

"The words of the Lord are found in the scriptures and the teachings of the apostles and prophets. They provide us counsel and direction that, when followed, will act like a spiritual life jacket and will help us know how to hold on with both hands."—M. Russell Ballard, "Stay in the Boat and Hold On!"

Monday, November 3, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I am glad to hear that California got some rain. We got rain, too. It has been getting cold. Our basement gets cold as well. I plugged in my electric blanket and I have been keeping toasty. We should be getting wood soon to help keep the place heated, somewhat. I can already tell that the blanket will be the best of my friends. But I continue to hope that California gets the much needed rain.

Yes, I plan on sending Grandma a card. A new month means new MSF.

Speaking of birthdays and other related topics here, I do need those second pair of shoes, I guess. On the outside of my shoes, everything is fine. On the inside, the padding (sole?), I would say (I have no idea what to call it or what it is called), is falling apart after 16 months. Unless I should get Dr. Scholls to replace it. I honestly need one (uno) long sleeve white shirt. Apparently, dirt cannot come out of white shirts, despite multiple washes, including a wash with bleach. (Although, I have done it before.) As for CDs, to answer your question, no, not really. Anything else, I really do not know. Sorry, if I am not helpful, which chances are, I am not. I will think about it....( His 20th birthday is next month, plus Christmas is coming as well.)

Monday, we did the usual things. E-mail, sleep, shop, eat (not necessarily in that order). We tried to see someone after dinner, but it fell through. We went back to the apartment early and joined the members upstairs and their extended family for Family Home Evening (A special time set apart for families or groups of singles to gather, have a lesson, have fun and usually have some dessert.). We played a lot of different Halloween games. It was particularly fun. Second time I have done FHE during the mission and I love it. 

Tuesday, we feared we had to fix the car. Some of the warning lights had turned on, but turned off and has not turned on again since. We called the missionary over the cars and talked to him about it. It was, I guess, nothing to worry about and might have been a fluke. So, we tried to see some people with some success. We went over to see an investigator who has a two year old the size of a five year old. She was curious about Joseph Smith and his life (she had heard that he went to jail), so we watched the full-length movie about his life. She seemed to have a better understanding about him. We answered any other question that she had about him. We had dinner, then we tried to talk to another investigator. He was home and we were let in. But, he was sick and did not come out to meet us. I was able to meet the family; their adult daughter was home and was asking all sorts of questions. This lasted for a while before we left and tried to see more people.

Wednesday, we cleaned out our car to make it ready for inspection. We had lunch and then we went out to talk to some more of our investigators. We went to one investigator, who was watching a soap opera. She muted the television. We taught the Restoration. Part of me does wonder how much she remembers and what she had heard. Other than that, it was a pretty good lesson. We went over to the trailer parks to see another investigator, but she was not home at the time. Another investigator fell through. And a less active fell through, because he was watching baseball. After dinner, we finished our car preparations. We went over to the church, talked to people, and had our car inspected briefly. We passed. 

Thursday, we did our weekly planning and to conserve on miles, we went over to the church to do some family history. Nothing new as of yet. After that, we tried our investigator who lives in the trailer parks. We read with her from the Book of Mormon and explained the importance of scripture study and prayer. I hope she takes into heart what we were saying. We tried seeing a potential, which we were able to see and talk about the gospel. She was explaining her situation to us and how she is trying to move. From there, we saw an investigator, an elderly lady who does not mind us coming by. She seems interested. Due to her time constraints, we taught her about the premortal life.

Friday, we had zone meeting, which took a lot of our time. We saw an elderly, medically challenged less active. She learned of someone passing in her family and was reasonably upset. After that, we tried again to see the investigator who was sick previously when we went by. He was not home. We tried one more person and were able to talk to her. Then, we headed inside to organize our supplies. We were not to be out unless we had an appointment. (Halloween)

Saturday, we made our progress record. We saw the less active who was previously watching baseball. We had a nice little visit, just talking to him and sharing a small message. We decided to check up on some members in the ward and we were able to talk to them. After having dinner, we stopped by an investigator, who we usually have appointments with on Saturdays. Her two children, who are normally all over the place, actually stayed in one place. Then, we talked with her. I do not know how we got on the subject, but it got brought to psychology. She has a bachelor's in psychology and was at one time a forensic psychologist. She got out of it due to lack of money (she said that even a master's did not get paid enough). My companion knew some psychology from his year in college. I talked about what drew me to the field, which was the same thing that brought her into it. She said that I am very analytical. We talked about extroverts versus introverts. It was a very academic discussion, which I have not had in a very long time. It was refreshing. She brought up a question that allowed us to change the subject and to talk about the gospel.

Sunday, we had church. We tried to see a few people. One of them was a man who has been in prison a lot. He is a very smart man and has made some changes in his life. Not much else happened on Sunday.

All is well!

Love,

Elder S. Todd