What We Love . . . Determines What We Become

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Do not worry. I am alive and well. I did not have the chance to email yesterday, because I had to mow somebody's lawn before today. Time set aside for emailing had to unfortunately be used for service. We had actually pushed emailing back some time, but yesterday, while fun, turned out to be hectic. This week has been okay and also hectic at times. I did not want you to worry, though I knew you would and the call from Elder Burton confirmed it. I tried to send at least one line, but time was not our side. But, according to my companion, this is okay, because we had to do service yesterday.

 I have yet to move to my new address. Why? Well, as we were packing up, putting our stuff away, my companion noticed a bedbug on his bed. We were quite curious to see if my mattress had bedbugs and we turned it. They were there. Now, you may be wondering how I could not tell they were there. I had bites mainly on my right arm and a few on my left, but I had honestly thought they were from mosquitoes. I had heard from the mission office that the bites would be along my vein. So, I had my reasoning and did not think much about it. So, moving is on hold until today when Elder Medsker is coming to check out the place to see if there are anymore. We covered the mattress in plastic mattress covers and I had to sleep on it until we threw it away. We threw it away yesterday, so I slept on the couch last night. I washed all my clothes and we believe we got rid of many of the bedbugs. Elder Medsker will come to test it out. We have new furniture at the new place and it will be fun moving in (sort of).

This week has been okay. Our mormon.org referral is still in Texas, but he wants to turn his life over to Christ. In fact, we called him, then a few days later he called and said that he wanted to be baptized. He is on date, though we will have to push the date we set a week back since he has yet gone to church, meaning that he did not go to church in Texas. Investigators need to go to church at least three times in order to be baptized. 

The Baptist lady was not the one that wanted the gas money, but with her, she just wants to talk and does not want to convert. The lady that wanted the gas money is doing well and she came to church this past Sunday. She reunited with an old friend that recently was baptized (before I got here) and it went well. The one that was recently baptized brought her husband to church.

The man from Trinidad still loves to talk about his previous life in Trinidad and he showed us the many guns that he had. On one visit some family dropped by to shoot guns, which ended our lesson pretty quickly. And one family member preached what he had believed. It seems as though people love preaching to us; I believe that this was the third or fourth time somebody preached to us. 

Our charitable man who helps out the homeless is doing well. He has been struggling a bit, but he believes that the Book of Mormon is true. He has read it all the way through and is reading it again for a second time to understand it better. He has been attending church the past two Sundays and recently came to Sunday School. This man wants us to teach the homeless and wants to bring us to them. He also plans on giving them rides to church in a couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see these people as well any atheist friends that he has come to church. 

Sunday was pretty good. We had five investigators come to church, which was amazing. My talk (sermon) was wonderful. I wrote my introduction and I created an outline for the rest. Pretty much, I prepared and then I relied on the Spirit the entire time. I spoke, paused a couple of times to gather my thoughts, nervous as all get out, because I did not write anything. When I sat down after my talk, I was like, "Ah, man, I blew it, it was awful." No. Not at all. I got so many compliments on my talk. In fact, one person asked me to send the talk to him. I said, "I did not write anything. I have an outline. I do not know exactly what I said." He still persisted and eventually, I will send my talk to him and send Mom a return letter and a letter to my TRC from the Missionary Training Center. 

Service has been great. With the Mormon.org referral gone (to Texas), we decided to mow his lawn. We borrowed a member's lawn mower and it kept on clogging. The grass would not spit out, so we had to give up. And then it rained for a few days. (We had some awesome storms with lightning shooting across the sky and to the ground.) Yesterday, we had to finish it before Marcus L. returned, so we had to do what we had to do. (I got to use a riding lawnmower. What ingenious laziness!) I helped build a wall out of drywall and I did pretty well. It was quite interesting to go and do something new. Also, drywall is very fragile.

My exercise is basically what exercises I feel like doing that day. I made a list of exercises before I left and took it with me, but now I cannot find such list. So, it pretty much is whatever I feel like doing. There is a room for exercise here in my current apartment (the bedbug apartment), but there is not much to do and my companion hates to go there. My new place does not have anything, so I will continue to do whatever I do.

I have gotten a haircut. I know my hair was and is getting long, but everybody said it was short. Do not worry, I knew it was long. My companion suggested that I get a free one from an elder, but I turned it down. I rather be safe and get a haircut from a licensed person. So, we went to the family history center to these nice ladies to get referrals and they referred a hairdresser at my complaint of having long hair. (They also thought my hair was short, so I had to mention my hair as long). One of the ladies decided to give me unnecessary money to go get a haircut, so pretty much I went to the referral and talked to her a bit. I will return there soon.

I believe you mentioned record keeping in the last email. Record keeping is really important. We have the area book, which helps us to keep track of the lessons and progression. We have the numbers in the planner, which help track our progress as missionaries. Nobody is a number; it is just a way for us to track how we are doing as missionaries, what we can improve on, and how we can help others.

Interesting on the sister missionary getting sick where you live. Recently one of the sister missionaries here got sick and she had to lie in bed all day.

As for my dog, I am glad that she is doing fine and I do miss her a bit. Take good care of her. I do not see many Boxers here. I have seen only two. Why do people like little dogs so much?

Love,

Elder S. Todd

The Calling of an Authorized Missionary of Jesus Christ

August 19, 2013 - Miracles - Service - Servants of Jesus Christ

Dear Parents,

It is so good to hear from you, even if it is a small letter as this. (All that I have received is the postscript, which I am grateful for and I am not sure if there is more. In any case, I am grateful.) I got mom's letter and I do plan on writing back as soon as possible. I also got Mom's invite to Google Plus, which I do not believe that I will be able to go on. I do thank you for that. I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with ants. They seem to be quite a bother.

My week here has been one of the best thus far. My companion and I had received a "mormon.org" referral. We did not have a set appointment and so we decided to go knock that door after doing service. My companion had forgotten his dress shoes and so we had to drive back to our apartment to get his shoes. We got there and knocked on his door. It did not look as though anyone was home, but we tried anyway. The thought came to my head to expect a miracle. I rang the doorbell and the door swung open and this muscular black man is at the door. We gave our statement as to who we are, "We are servants of Jesus Christ." He replied to us, "Come on in." Well, that does not happen that often and I was quite honestly expecting the door to close on us, seeing that the last Mormon.org referral cancelled on us. I was taken aback and we went inside. He was talking to his friend that referred us to him on the phone and she was happy that we were there. We shared the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was there strongly. He wanted to be baptized, to read the Book of Mormon. We called him a few days ago and he said he was ready to turn his life over to Christ.

The same day, we had an appointment for this Baptist woman, but that day was not the right day for her due to unfortunate circumstances. Despite this, we decided to try a few people nearby who said that they might be interested. We saw this girl who we had given a pass-along card and who had invited us back to talk to her family. She brought her mother, who told us, "I already know of the Mormon church and I am not interested." We persisted and asked her if there was anything we could do for her. She told us, "No, there is not anything... Well, do you have gas money?" We gave her some and it softened her heart where she let us in and told us a few personal stories of how she came to believe in Christ. My companion and I shared our testimonies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She pulled out a Book of Mormon that she had found on the ground one day outside her little townhouse. She said she felt full and we made an appointment to come back. As we were leaving the neighborhood, there was a man on a bike, who shouted at us, "Mormons!" We stopped our car and rolled down the window. He told us where he lived and invited us back. (We believe we met with him again and he tried preaching to us.)

The next day many of our appointments fell through, so we decided to try a few referrals. We got two new people who are potentially interested, though one of them was not a referral. God has helped us find new people and has shown us who is prepared. This week has been a miracle in that way. And while, yes, it was disappointing to not see them at church this Sunday, I was comforted in that fact that I had sowed seeds.

I did more service on Saturday for an Eagle Scout project. This young man that I was helping decided to put on a 5k Run for Canned Food. People would come to donate canned food and join the race. It was huge success for the young man, because a lot of non-members were there. I was a race marshal along with my companion. I had to go in the middle of traffic and stop it, so that the runners would be able to cross the street. I even helped other joggers, who were not part of the race, cross the street. Nobody wanted to kill me for stopping the road, which was great. Though, there was this man who was not going to wait and took his opportunity to go when he could. But, it was a lot of fun helping people cross the street. I walked the race at the end to pick up the signs that pointed the way.

I have been assigned to give a talk this upcoming Sunday on preaching the gospel. I am really excited and I have a few quotes down. I am not writing anything, but the introduction. I have created an outline, but other than that, I will rely on God and tend to the talk throughout the week. I also realized a few things this week about me personally. I love to sing and I have been learning some of the hymns. I learned Master, the Tempest is Ragingand I am working on A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and School Thy Feelings. I do want to learn other hymns and other musical songs (though that will be a long while away). It also struck me that I should be a forensic psychologist and on the side, be a victims counselor. I feel as though the Lord has helped me realize a few things and I know that the Lord will help provide for me.

Also, thank you for all that you do for me and for sending me the list of birthdays. I now know when to wish people happy birthdays!

I hope everything is going well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Footnote to the above post which is a letter our son sent to us:

My son received a postscript to a letter that I had written him in the form of a short email. The letter that I thought I had sent him was in a draft folder. The postscript message had a different signature message than the original letter. So it was quite interesting to see him mention the word miracle twice in his letter. The letter that was sent to him that he received after writing the above letter included the following quote from Albert Einstein: "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; or you can live as if everything is a miracle." Also note, that his mother always chooses a quote from Pinterest to include in his letter. That quote is what you see included in this post. Notice that it is a quote from Ezra Taft Benson and also mentions "miracles." Was it just a coincidence that we sent him those particular quotes unknowingly to him or was it inspiration? I would think it was the latter. Life is full of miracles. -Stephen Todd, Seth's Father

Monday, August 12, 2013 - the Sun still Shines - Understanding People

Dear Parents (Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom),

Well, this week was okay, but that is just all right. All is well! Even when it is raining, the sun is still shining on the other side of the clouds. Lessons went okay and investigators are somewhat progressing. One of our investigators wants time away from us, but I understand, seeing as that he is dealing with the possibility of losing one of his last living relatives. You know, I have come to see that I put a lot of emphasis on understanding people, which I believe is a good thing. By understanding people, you come to find their needs and where they are at in life, which is when you teach people and not lessons. That there, is a big key, because people are so different. I talked to this man who came from Trinidad, who saw Hitler when he was little, and was a soldier and I see that he is a very spiritual man. His needs are totally different from another investigator who has doubts about certain things. With that article portion you shared, (http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2013/06/01/time_for_some_mormon_myth_busting.html) I do tolerate a lot of people. I have been blessed by the Lord with humility and optimism. Truly, there is hope for everybody.

Well, I talked to President Wilson, the mission president and had a nice interview with him. I did not have any questions or concerns this time around, but maybe next time. I looked at the blog and I figured I should mention the name of the mission president, seeing as his name is President Wilson, not President Bradley. Maybe his first name is Bradley, I do not know. When I saw that I thought I had the name of my mission president wrong and then I went to check. It is alright. I am glad to know that I am loved and missed. I miss a lot of people, especially my family. I think back on some things, at times, but I press forward. 

I miss you Mom and Dad, but the months are already going by. It is insane as to how fast time is flying by. I heard that you two are counting down the months already from a little birdy (23 months). All will go by as it should. I am glad to hear both of you, Mom and Dad, are doing fine. I am glad to hear that Mom enjoyed babysitting and that Dad is getting ready for what looks like his last year.

My companion, Elder Meibos (My-bus), is good. We are getting along fine and I have no quarrels with him. Yes, he is a bit odd, such as stating that it is okay to double dip and that it is okay to drink out of the milk jug (which if I ever need milk, I buy my own). But, he is a good person. He is a studious person and loves to make jokes. We support each other so that we can do the best that we can. If anything, we are united as companions and know what might be best for the people. When I upload pictures, which I am assuming to use the account that you sent, you will actually see him in a tie dye shirt with my zone leaders, Elder Braithewaite (who will be in the middle of one of the pictures) and Elder Felt. (We went to see the Chancellor Battlefield)(Missionaries have the morning and afternoon to shop, do laundry, and to sightsee. Virginia has a lot of historical places of interest to Seth.). And I know my pictures are not the best; I will do my best to make them look good.

I have plenty to eat. I do not eat much at the apartment, except maybe for lunch. Lunch, sometimes the members provide and most of the time the members provide dinners. There is good food here and fish(We still can't believe he eats fish since he wouldn't at home.). I do not complain or murmur for I have enough. The members are so kind. We talk to them to set up appointments and they offer dinner sometimes. Or sometimes, we talk to them and they bring up dinner and it is a free meal. Yesterday, the bishop's wife of the ward (local congregation, more than one congregation may utilize the same building) that I am in, gave us free food. She had wanted to give it away, because she had enough. She had a lot of food because one of their daughters got married and there was a lot of food and cake left over from the reception.

Sorry to hear about Chloe (his sister Bria's dog). I am glad that she is doing okay, but, wow, a foxtail up her nose. I wonder how that got there. Well, I am glad that it was not Carly (Seth's Boxer), but I am so glad that Chloe is doing okay after that. Hope the dogs are doing well and continue doing well. 

I helped with an interfaith service event where at one of the church buildings, they were giving school supplies and clothes to children in need (this was on Saturday). I helped direct traffic as cars were coming in, which was fun. It was not too busy. Most of the time I was singing hymns (specifically, Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning, Now Let Us Rejoice, Master, The Tempest is Raging) and some songs from Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables (which is quite sad, because I do not remember most of the lines from the songs and I do miss the songs a bit). I waved to a lot of cars, because I felt great and a lot of people honked their horns or waved back. Then, it rained, or poured down on us.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

One's only rival is one's own potentialities. One's only failure is failing to live up to one's own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.
Abraham Maslow 

Fredericksburg, VA, August 5th, 2013

Dear Parents (Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom),

I love that quote that you sent me. 

You ask what is happening to me and I will tell you. The Lord has blessed me with so many opportunities to grow. It is amazing. I was not too comfortable with talking on the phone and the Lord has blessed me with an opportunity to use the phone. To explain, there was a female recent convert that we had to teach and answer her questions, but we had a male (16 and above) member scheduled to come and he cancelled. (Missionaries like to have members present.) So, I had to use the phone (I was on exchanges with an Elder Braithwaite) and I was calling others at the last minute. Nobody could come. We got to the house of the recent convert and the member who cancelled on us called back at the last minute saying he could come. 

And there are so many opportunities of where I am growing. I am in the midst of writing in my journal about all of it and then sending a letter telling you my own personal conversion, but I am still stuck on the part of writing in my journal. Eventually, you will know. Also, what I have learned is that a conversion is not a checklist and that it is an ongoing process throughout life. 

Sounds like the blog is doing great. I am glad that it is providing opportunities to spread the gospel message. Service, which I am glad you two are doing, (his parents did some community service the night before for a children's garden and museum in a nearby town) is also another great opportunity. Before I got here, one of our potential investigators was found that way. Through service! It is amazing that what we do can help open doors to people to see the truth about us. We are a kind people who love to give service. 

I have been talking to Bria (his sister, in Utah) about her new friend. (His sister is currently dating a non-active duty marine who works at the same resort where she works. He is not a member of the church but is open to it.) I have been addressing things with her and I hope I can help her out through these weekly emails. It is amazing that she used a handgun (Her boyfriend taught her to shoot a Glock gen 4 .40 caliber handgun at a gun range.). Maybe someday I will watch the video of it.

So, this week has been amazing. We were tracting (knocking on doors) and we ran into this wonderful elderly lady. It was about 5:00 PM and we had no dinner plans. This lady feeds us dinner, which was wonderful, and dessert, which was even more wonderful! She listened to us and we will return to her house sometime this week with a member. 

Even more amazing, is this man who was found by a member. He has so many stories about how he helped the homeless. He accepted the baptismal invite, but we are going to wait a bit before we set up a date. He does not sleep much (he only sleeps for about 2 to 3 hours each night) and he was willing to read the Book of Mormon. Last time I checked, he was on Ether and I checked two days after we met with him. He was unable to go to church due to an unfortunate family event, but hopefully we will meet him soon. 

There was a really nice storm where there was lightning and torrents of rain. I got soaked, but before I went out into the storm, we were able to talk to a non-member. We talked to this non-member in his sun room and you could see the lake that he lived by. The other side of the lake soon disappeared and you saw some amazing lightning. 

Yesterday, I bore my testimony and that went well. I love bearing my testimony, because it helps me be a better speaker and it helps grow my own. Also, yesterday, I talked to an non-progressing investigator and he had a rude friend. His friend thought we were trying to force religion and force people to come to our church and all of this nonsense. All I could do was bear my testimony, which he called garbage and said I need to study other people's religions before I force others into ours. (Seth has written college papers on the churches of Christianity and Islam.) So, I said in my heart, "Let God judge between me and thee and reward thee according to thy deeds." It is all you can really do in that situation and I am not at all bothered by it. It is an opportunity to talk to others and bear testimony of the divinity of the work.

The same recent convert that I was talking about earlier, well, the day before she was telling us and the member that we were with a certain story that happened to her. All I will say is that she was a victim of a crime and what she said basically touched upon my personal values. I prayed to Heavenly Father about it and I can tell you that I remember comforting words. What they were, I cannot say what they were. I heard them in my head and then they were gone. But, it was so comforting. Spiritual moment of the week.

All is well. I hope to hear from you two soon. I love you.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Fredericksburg, VA July 29, 2013

Dear Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

This week has been wonderful. I gave a lot of service this past week. I mowed yards a lot, which is quite interesting. Here in Virginia, lawns go uphill, which is why it is so interesting. It is like pushing a handcart at times. You can try to go up the hill to down the hill, but the lawn mower likes to go its own direction when on a slope. There is one place where I did have to do a hill and it looked bad. It looked even worse, because I did not get to finish. What prevented me was being stung by a wasp, which do not fret, I am fine and alive. I was mowing the lawn, saw the wasp land on me, it stung me, and I was like, "Gee, ouch, ouch? My leg does hurt." It was interesting moment for me. I plan on getting more of those bug repellant clips to ward off the creepy crawlies that abundantly live here. 

We had a potential investigator cancel on us completely, but we were able to find more by tracting. All is well. One of our investigators appears to be progressing and I was able to ask him to be baptized. He said no, but I think eventually he will. 

The weather has been hot. I am being honest about not noticing the humidity. Maybe after it rains, but I do not notice it. We had a few rain storms, which are awesome. They last for a short time, but it does pour and there is lightning and thunder. It is amazing. 

My companion and I visited some less actives and there were a few okay visits. All is well though. We visited many of the members so that we can gain referrals. Some members are interesting. Most will feed us on the day that we stop by if we do not have dinner plans. They are so willing to do so and it is quite amazing. I feel bad to say yes, but it is better to say yes than to starve. They do not mind at all. Though there is one member family who we cannot do that anymore, because the wife of the family will go out and buy more food. And they do not need that food either. I was helping put stuff away and the refrigerator and the freezer were already stuffed with already purchased food. It is insane, but that family, specifically the wife, are quite interesting. Some members like to talk a lot and it makes for an easier time. The bishop (pastor) here is truly an inspired man and I do appreciate him. We had dinner at his house last night and he had some of his 13 kids over with their own children. So, that pretty much sums up my week. Service and talking.

Do not worry about shipping me pants or anything of that sort or shipping me things. I plan on buying pants quite soon and it is no problem in doing so. I have enough as of now. My address is what is. It is a bit odd, I agree, but it is 203 Excaliber Circle, Apartment #203, Fredericksburg, VA 22406. We are not even in a circle, but it is called thus. 

Information on packages. If you ship anything to the mission office, I think they ship it to me or hold it, I am not entirely sure. I do not know any members that will hold packages, so I do not know much about that. I will probably have to ask somebody if they can hold a package and then report back to you on P-Day before shipping. I really do not know. I have not looked at Walgreens, because the last time I was here emailing, I took forever for whatever reason, so I did not have time to do anything extra. The next time I was at a computer, I had to do a weekly progress record. Next time I am at a computer or if I have extra time, I will look at Walgreens to see how it all works, because I need to understand how it works before I jump on ship and use it. 

Thank you for the blog. I appreciate that a lot and it will be a useful tool to use. I did meet a few Catholics who were set in their ways, though there was one that was surprised that we were offering work we could do for her. We may help her to move. One of our potential investigators, who we do service for, is set on his ways, but next time, we will teach him a lot better than we did. Last time, he was adamant on his ways of how the world is going to pot and the angel Gabriel is coming to destroy the wicked. It was an interesting time with him to say the least.

About shows: save, sure I do not mind. I have not really thought about shows much while I am here. (Seth had a few favorite shows that we are going to save for him. They will be there when he gets back. It would be like buying a DVD set of a season of a certain show. Whether or not he'll have time to watch them when he gets back is another story.)

Thank you for doing so. Sorry to hear that Mom has a cold. I hope she gets better. Thanks for the pictures. I get to finally see what I worked so hard for and I love the quote. It is an excellent quote. Glad to hear how others are doing. Glad Leo is finally getting things done (Eagle Scout Court of Honor) and that Connor is trying to get things done (working on his Eagle Scout project).. Hope things go well for them. Also, glad to hear that Trevor (friend, serving a mission in Indiana) is doing good. I hope that he has much success. Thank you for the updates.

All is well,

Sincerely,

Elder S. Todd

First Monday to Email Home - July 22 - From Fredericksburg, VA

Dear Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Happy P-Day, parents kind and dear! So, do you have index cards of where in Virginia I could be? No? Well, that is fine. The place is here: Fredericksburg, VA. So, I am in a pretty nice location. I live on 203 Excaliber Circle, Apartment #203, Fredericksburg, VA 22406. 

This is a new area, because it once belonged to the D.C South Mission. In fact, my trainer/companion, Elder Meibos (pronounced My-bus), was assigned to the D.C. South Mission, but he is now here. I am getting along great with my companion. We have a lot in common, which is quite amazing and makes it a lot easier to get along. For example, he knows and has played the game Myst. It is amazing to have a fellow nerd like me. He looks a bit odd, but he is wonderful guy. 

My interview with the mission president was short, because he had so many people to visit and he took up most of his time with the sisters. Sister Reeves, the correspondence lady, called me Doctor Todd and when she called me that, I was like, "Oh no! How does she know!" She told me, so, yes, I know that you told people.(I am Seth's Dad and I sent the mission office a YouTube video of Seth called "Doctor Seth Todd." It's a comedy of sorts done for school. If he can tell stories about his dad then so can I.)

I know to get my haircut and eventually, I will be asking, because my hair is eh. My bike.... Well.... I am not using it. Right now, it is collecting dust, because I am living outside of the ward boundaries of my area due to no apartments in the area that I am supposed to be in. It is confusing, I know. So, I am in a car, traveling around to people. I have gone tracting down a road, but to no avail. Though I did talk to a devout Catholic, who did not care to what we said. But all will be well and all is well. It is such a beautiful area here in Fredericksburg. SO much green. It is all spaced out. We did have a storm, sort of. When I got here, it rained for 15 minutes. Yesterday, it rained for thirty minutes with lightning and it is beautiful lightning. Saturday, there was an amazing storm far away from us. It was amazing. The weather is humid, but the humidity, I honestly do not notice or feel it. It feels like I have California heat all over again. I was trying to escape it. The only time I did feel the humidity was when I came out of the airport. I am pretty sure that my pants all of a sudden stuck to my body. I think my brain thought I just entered into a swimming pool. When I woke up this morning, it was foggy and I thought it was winter time. It was much of a reminder of our winter back at home.

You are asking a lot of questions and I constantly going back and forth to try to see them all. But it is all right. We have been trying to see investigators and less actives, but nothing has happened. We will teach somebody tonight. I think my companion will let me teach tonight. Pretty excited about that! And yes, you do have to word things differently, especially when it comes to the Great Apostasy. ("But, Peter was the first Pope," etc.) 

It appears that I will be doing a lot of service here, which will be yard work. I had to borrow pants for a recent service opportunity I had for an Eagle Project for this kid. So, I hate to say it, but can you please send me some work pants? I am in desperate needs. It is probably a good thing that I wear pants, because when I went to change into my proselyting clothes, there were two "friends," also known as ticks, on my garments. It was quite wonderful to meet the tick. I saw other bugs, too. The robber fly and ugly black bug. It is quite wonderful, with a side of sarcasm.

My flight was wonderful. I fell asleep for an hour on both planes. It sucked the first time, because the lady next to me was watching television. I thought I would be asleep for the entire plane ride, but not so. I wished I had decided to take my scriptures with me. She watched Bones at the end, I was like, "You got to be kidding me! I must look away!" (missionaries are not allowed to watch TV or go to the movies to avoid distractions) Georgia was beautiful from the sky. It looked flat and green. When I saw Virginia for the first time, I saw the green and I was like, "Where is the brown?" It is so green and so filled with life, that I thought of how brown California was. Then, I thought to myself, "There is definitely life here!" I know this is out of sequential order, but there is much to say. The first night in Virginia, everyone got to eat with each other and the food was real. Now, the MTC was delicious and all, but I could have sworn they had wax vegetables and boxed mash potatoes. The food is amazing here and real. They did a little orientation, I went with my MTC companion and other friends to an empty apartment to sleep and the next day, I was sent to Fredericksburg, Virginia to serve in the ward of White Oak. 

The Family History thing is great. They teach that at the MTC.

I know Kevin Tucker pays well, but I was surprised to hear that she got another dog (you did say something about that, right?). I am sorry that people, especially family, are getting sick. Oh, that reminds me I did my first blessing yesterday. It went okay, but it was my first time. It is amazing. I am learning so much here. 

I am glad my dog has a buddy to keep her busy. (We've been pet sitting for a friend with her dog at our house.)

There is only one building for one stake and there are many wards that go to it. My ward starts at one, but there are things that I have to do before hand. It is a Lemoore sized-ward, sort of, and the bishop (pastor) is a wonderful man. The same goes with the Stake President (a person over several congregations in an area), who, during a priesthood leadership meeting, issued the challenge to visit a less-active that you do not know within a month and tell them that you want them to come back to church. Which also reminds me, we are using the members quite a bit, so the members are quite helpful. Many of the people are nice here and quite friendly. My companion and I shouldn't go to this one family's house on Sundays to eat, because she will go out and buy food. Now, let me tell you, she has enough food in her refrigerator to last two months. I was helping put away the food and the refrigerator was completely full along with the freezer. But, she is a wonderful lady and her family is quite nice. There are so many nice people here.

It is so wonderful here. I am trying to explain these past few days as much as I possibly can. I did not call my siblings at the airport, because I had insufficient funds to call them (according to the card that said I had 306 minutes), so I apologized to them. All is well.

All is well,

Love,

Elder S. Todd

MTC- July 16 - Leaving Soon - An investigator - Protestors

Yeah, I can only e-mail on P-Days, which I forgot to say were Tuesdays. I am sending private messages to family and I will send a mass email to friends when I get the chance in Virginia. The laundry situation is going well here. I am using Mom's instructions and it is working out well. I am glad Dad is doing well and I hope that Sean will do well and that his surgery will go well. I cannot believe that I leave tomorrow. It is going so fast. As soon as I get to the airport and get through to the other side, I will call. The airplane leaves at 7, but I have to board 30 minutes early. That is why I will call as soon as I can, so expect a call, early in the morning. I will call Joy, Bria, and Sean (which I need Sean's number, which I will get from you when I call) and leave voicemails. I packed somewhat yesterday (I still have work to do) and everything seems to be fitting. Oh, by the way, I will be leaving with 29 others, but they all are not English speaking. Some are Mandarin Chinese, others Spanish, and who knows what else.

I have been learning to rely on the Spirit. It is always best to be prepared, but still rely on the Spirit and also to teach to people's needs. You have to make the gospel personal to them. One of our investigators was extremely difficult, but there was some change. Another one, our TRC, was an actual investigator. She was actually looking for the gospel. My companion and I were able to teach her one last time yesterday, which was nice, but also sad. I actually have been developing a Christlike love for people. I hope that the TRC investigator gets to progress. We gave her a KJV Bible (our bible) and the Book of Mormon. We also gave her a church's address. I really hope that she will keep with the lessons and that her family will also take the lessons. I am making sure that I keep in contact with her.

I saw Trevor Hansen and his email is hansen.trevor@myldsmail.net. He left this morning. I saw him at in-field orientation and neither of us had our cameras. That was unfortunate. But, at least I was able to see him one last time and that I will be able to keep in contact with him.

I am glad to hear that things are going well for you two. I do miss you guys. Last night, I had dream about Dad, doing something Dad would do, but I forgot what it was. I even shared some stories of Dad. 

Yeah, you will have to pick up where I left off. Doing the TV schedule checking (check often), etc. My poor dog. I am glad to hear that she is being taken care of and I knew that you guys will take care of her well.

I am sending pictures from the MTC and our trip. It will take awhile. It includes pictures of my district, my teachers, and some people from my zone. So, you will get blank emails that have pictures attached.

Oh and on our most recent temple walk, there were Jesus Crosses (people who are protesting the church). It is interesting to see these people protesting when they do not understand us. They pick on what is on the outside: our buildings, our prophets. But what is so forgotten is what our church is centered on. It is centered on Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was much more than Joseph Smith, but it is restoring access to the Atonement. It is something that I had been taught and something that I just thought of.

Will be in contact,

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Pictures of Seth with his group and with Elder Denning - click on pictures to enlarge

Message sent to Seth from a member in Lemoore

We are so excited to experience your mission with you.  We are so thankful for our membership in this Gospel and to know the power of prayer.  We wish you God's speed.

Oops! Only Can Email One Day a Week - July 9

Hey, it turns out I can only email on preparation days. It was kind of sad to know that. But, it is good to hear from you guys and thank you for spreading my email around. I really appreciate it. I am really glad to hear that my dog is being taken care of. Yeah, I had a feeling it (my college diploma) had never arrived. Thanks for the update on that. With the airplane ride and such, I believe everything will fit. Also, I have to arrive to the MTC Travel Center at 3:30 in the morning. So, whenever I will get to the airport, I will call. It will be a sweet good morning call to you guys, though you may fall asleep while I talk. I leave her to go to Atlanta and have an hour or so there, but you never know, which is why I will call in the morning. Everybody has complimented me with my testimony and my companion believes that my testimony hits home for our investigators. Elder Denning is an excellent teacher at the doctrine, which teaching the doctrine is a bit hard for me, because I want to just teach. So, I am learning. We had an amazing experience with our investigators yesterday. We got a new one and she was into it and opened up. Our other one, the teacher investigator, committed to being baptized and praying and reading the Book of Mormon, but we still need him to open up. I am glad to hear about Dad bearing his testimony and sorry about the ants (ants were found my parents bed, they slept in the family room). I will mail you a letter next Monday, because I want to tell you what I have learned and how I have changed. I hope to talk to you soon.

Love you,

Elder S. Todd

A Member Writes About a Favorite Scripture

Hi Elder Todd.

My favorite scripture is

1 Nephi 2:15

15 And my father dwelt in a tent.

Because Lehi gave up everything to do what the Lord commanded him to do.  :)

James Myers  (Marilyn's dad.)

The MTC Experience - July 7

Hey, when you have the feeling that you should do something and you know it isn't instinct, it is best to listen to it. And thank you for confirming that I will be eating fish in Virginia. The Lord truly prepares us. I got to bear my testimony today in front of my zone. I had a heavy heart, which I knew was the Spirit telling to me say my testimony. It left after I bore my testimony. Things are going great here. We went on a walk today to the temple, which was weird. It was weird, because we left the gates of the MTC and it was like what do we do now. The temple is closed until August, so I will not be going anytime soon.

I get to do laundry on Tuesdays. So, it is alright. They have supplies that I have to buy. Which is fine, I have some money on me. I did buy the backpack and it works. There is much I have to carry here, so I have to use it. But, I believe that it will last me a long time. Everybody in my zone, except my teachers, knows that I have an AA (did I write this last time) degree in psychology (which by the way, has it arrived?), which they are impressed. Even my branch president is impressed. Oh, and he saw my scriptures today and said that I could probably cut down a tree with how many tabs I have. I am just glad that there is so much here, especially from my district and companion, Elder Denning. There is so much to look forward to here.

Well, I looked at the time and I noticed it is probably nap time for you two. So, I hope you enjoyed your nap. Glad to hear my dog is happy, somewhat. Oh, also on July 4th, we watched 17 Miracles, which helped a lot. I am so glad I got to watch that film. I am striving to have faith in every footstep and have a pioneer's attitude.

Love you,
Sincerely,

Elder S. Todd 

Mission Training Center-July 6th

Dear Parents,

I loved the thunderstorm. Yesterday, there were two. I was so excited to see them, because I was in the computer labs when one of them happened. Watching fireworks was okay here, because we had to stay behind a wall and there are trees everywhere. Along the fence. I did get some pictures of the fireworks and the crowd, but the firework pictures were just to test out my camera. I strongly dislike the breakfast here. You see the pancakes are dry, the waffles are dry. But there are some good breakfast foods such as cereal and bagels that are available. You should be happy to know that I was impressed to eat fish. I do not know why, but I felt like I should eat fish today (which was a lunch option today). Maybe I should be worried that I will be eating fish in the mission field. Of course, I kid. For exercise, I can go to the gym with my companion and do stuff there. We can do our personal exercise or we can go to the weight center. The shower situation is fine, it is whatever. I really am not worried about it and I know everything is well. So, it is whatever.

Well maybe now I can create a new paragraph so you can read this better. I have heard the rumor that I will be leaving the MTC to go to the airport at 3:30 in the morning. Depending on when I leave to Richmond on the plane, I might call you guys. The keyword here is might. If it is way too early in the morning where it is the crack of dawn, I might call you for sure. I do not know really. That is far away. So, we will see. 

I love my district. They are so great. I mentioned the fact that I have an AA degree in psychology and they are impressed. They keep on joking with me about it. And then, my scriptures. The first day here, I gave no thought to my colorful scriptures until later on when I was sitting with my companion. I was wondering what he was going to think. Well, everybody is impressed with my scriptures (those that have seen it), even my teachers. Some joke that I know the scriptures really, really well and I am like, uh, no.

My companion and I are teaching an investigator here. It is not reallly an investigator, but it is made to feel that way. That is something that I keep in mind. It is one of my teachers, who refers to our investigator as a seperate entity, which the world mind of me thinks it sounds like split personalities when he talks as if he is not that person. I am enjoying my companion. He is a wonderful person and I enjoy having him as a companion. He is a good teacher and talker. My other roommates that I have are interesting as well. They are interesting to talk to.

Well, I am glad to hear from you. I am just glad to email you all my experiences, because it is just so great to share it. I miss you guys and I hope that my dog is being well take care of. I love you guys and I appreciate your support. So, glad to hear that you guys had a good time. By the way, remind me not to say guys. I need to avoid that here in the MTC and I do not think that an email filled with "guys" is a good support. Anyways, I ramble. Love you parents.

Love and miss you,
Sincerely,

Elder S. Todd

Dear Parents of Mine, known as Mom and Dad (also known as Mother and Father, etc.),

I wrote you a letter, but I have yet to send it and it will cover most of what I say here. I am enjoying the MTC. It is quite a spiritual experience. I am so glad to be here, though I do miss you guys. There are many things to do, which is a good thing as some others have pointed out. My companion, Elder Denning, is from Idaho and is good person. He is relatable, which if anything makes me relatable. It is not so much that I can relate to him with things that I like, but rather it is other things. We are going to soon teach an "investigator." There are many devotionals that are happening and so much that I am learning. The food here, in case you were wondering, is good (well, most of it). The room is small and the other two (besides my companion and I) are nice. I sleep on the top bunk and the best cold spot when it gets hot are the brick walls. I have yet to see Elder Hansen and I severely doubt that I will see him.  You can tell people that I love to discuss scriptures, because I know it may be hard for people to write letters and such. You should have my email now as seen by how you are getting this message. I will need people's email addresses in order to write to them. I am glad to be here, again. It is really nice. I will be leaving here on July 17, most likely. I know this is a short email, but I may be running out of time and I have been only gone for a day and a half. Be strong.

Love,

Elder S. Todd
Your Son

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