Tuesday... Today was a really good day. I Began the week with a super good study session. This whole week during my studies I've been slightly chastised by the Lord but I have been able to see ways that I can improve and be a better person this year. It's a really bittersweet experience as you know. We also had a wonderful opportunity to exercise our priesthood today. We were visiting with a member who has Parkinson's disease. That is now officially my least favorite disease. He asked for a blessing because it's causing him a lot of struggle and he is struggling to get things done around his home as he used to and he is still fairly young. We gave him a blessing and a sweet spirit filled the room. I always love giving blessings and being a part of that experience.
Wednesday... So today was a very interesting day but a very good one! We began the day after our studies with some training videos that were sent out by the missionary department. They have changed the way that we do some things and to be honest it was a little hard to swallow at first. For example we will no longer be holding a transfer meeting. Which is where all the missionaries gather together before being transferred. it is always a highlight of the transfer with the testimonies that are shared from the departing missionaries. I'm going to miss that very much. But I will follow the brethren and this is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow and develop my testimony of doing so. We ended the day with some Proselyting b-ball! As we've been contacting people everywhere we go we found a couple young men around our age who really like basketball. So of course we arrange to play a basketball game at the church along with several members. They are pretty good and have committed to play for our ward team! After we played we showed them around the church building. We were able to explain how it goes and invited them to church which they will be here hopefully in the next couple weeks. It's a really good tool to teach and a wonderful way to develop friendships with members.
Thursday... New Year's eve! Got to have some wild crazy experiences! Such as we ate lunch at Café Rio and we had district meeting and we contacted at the metro for two hours! Woo hoo! It actually was a lot of fun and I do really like Café Rio. We had to be in by five and the following day was a no proselyting day. We Could only go to set appointments.
Friday... New Year's Day! So we were lucky with today because we set a couple appointments in advance. So we were not stuck in our apartment ;-) The best appointment though was at the end of the day we had a lesson at the temple Visitors Center with a lady that Elder Ord had talked to three weeks ago at the metro. She ended up bringing her entire family so there were about 12 of them. All were visiting from France and a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite things to teach people who really truly care about what we are staying and teaching. They were all returning to France the next day so we weren't able to set a return appointment but we gave them each a copy of the book of Mormon and made it possible for them to continue to learn. It was really cool when we were teaching them because they would kind of split up so it was possible to talk to them individually and get to know them fairly well. One of the times there was a lady who was at the book of Mormon exhibit and I was able to teach her the restoration In a quiet corner of the visitor center where she was able to feel the spirit and learn those precious truths. Being a missionary is super cool!
Saturday... Today was our leadership meeting for most of the morning but we ended the day really well. We had an exchange set with two members of the ward who we went with to check on a lot of potential investigators and unknown members. We each taught a couple lessons and have several return appointments. It really is amazing the difference that there is when a member is with you. Members bring such a good spirit and experience. They're not sewn with the tag so they're easier to relate with and it seems almost more real. The brothers we were able to go with are wonderful examples of worthy priesthood holder's. They are great fathers and they are always striving to serve the Lord and be good people. It's really inspiring to see because are both young fathers and in a very difficult part of their lives. They're great!
Sunday... So I have to say our ward is perfect. We have some of the most incredible members in the world! When a nonmember walks in they are attacked by people! They're invited to dinner more than once and always invited to the following classes. I love this ward! We have a new bishop as well! Who just so happened to be the high councilman over missionary work in his previous calling! Tells you how our ward is going to be run ha ha! We then were able to attend the baptism of somebody that Elder Levi taught in the capital ward. It was a really good experience and there was a sweet spirit there as that family began to progress towards the temple.
So that is life here in DC! It's great I love it and the people that are here are really different but a lot of fun. I'm very grateful for the things that I've been able to learn so far. I am grateful that I have been able to read the Scriptures every morning. They really make a difference in life. I can promise you that as you try to read from the scriptures regularly it will help you as well. It May not happen the very first time you read but if you consistently put forth even a little bit of effort God definitely will answer you. I Love this gospel I know this will help me be happy. it's so easy to not be happy and a lot more difficult to choose to be happy but it's possible and it's worth it. I love you all!
-Herr Bear
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