Blessings, Transitions, and Uchtdorfs

What are you guys' plans for Thanksgiving this week? We have a dinner at the Hartmans and then also at the Chabots, so they both said to bring our appetites. I told them that's one thing I always remember ;)

New Companionships

So first things first . . . Transfer week :) I am staying here in the Chardon area for at least another 6 weeks, with Elder Stephens. I have heard a lot of great things from people about him, so it'll be fun to start our companionship off on Wednesday this week.

Wow, I feel like that week was just a blink of an eye. And let me tell you, when the Lord is in charge of the clock, it really does feel like the blink of an eye. This week was so great and amazing! Feeling very energized to keep pressing forward and strengthening my testimony everyday.

So I got asked on Friday night by the 2nd counselor in our branch to give a talk in sacrament mtg today. And of course I said yes :). The topic was Christ in Kirtland. I really tried to focus on not only Him being in Kirtland, but also the fact that we can have Him in our own lives if we really truly try to have His spirit be with us. After sacrament mtg got over I was walking down the stairs to Elder Henshaw, and I had 4 or 5 adults come up to me and say, "Elder McEwan, that was one amazing talk you just gave." The Sunday School president was so funny! He said, "You have an old soul." :) I laughed and he said I did a great job on the talk and that my maturity really shows in the way I present my ideas and thoughts when I'm speaking. A member came up to me after church and asked me where I got one of the questions I used in my talk, and I said, "I came up with it on my own." She was speechless and chuckled that she couldn't go look up the question now because she thought the question I had given came from a General Conference talk. I told her that I when I give my talks and speeches each time I'm asked to in any situation, I take the topic and make it personable to who I'm talking to. All I can say is, God blessed me to say what I said.

Getting advice from Brother Hartman

We had a great week! We put up Christmas decor at the Hartman's, and that was a ton of fun. I'm still waiting for someone to whip out nutcrackers and lighthouses, but no one has yet, so we will just have to wait and see. We also went over to the Wheatley house and helped Brother Wheatley chop wood on Wednesday. That was a great workout. We did it for 2 hrs and even though it was 25 degrees outside, I looked like I had just ran 7 miles :). It was so much fun to do and I'm so glad we could help out. Especially the fact that we had a fun time swinging the 3 axes ;).

Testimony builder time -- So it starts on Tuesday night and we were helping a guy named Bob White move stuff out of his sons house so he can sell it. We got mattresses, tables, desks, shelves, all out of the rooms and took stuff to his house. The next day, we had just finished up at the Wheatley home and went to the church to change into our white shirt and tie, etc when Bob texted us and said he really needed help at the house again, moving 2 mattresses to the curb. We were all dressed in our nice white shirts, etc, and so me and Henshaw smiled and said, "Well, this'll be fun :)." And it was! We got there and Bob immediately says, "Ah, I knew I should not have asked you guys. You're already dressed way nice." We just smiled and went about moving the mattresses and then he had us move 5 tables to his truck. He was very appreciative of it.

I know that this scenario is very simple and small, but I know that God put me and Henshaw there to help Bob. We had every reason not to (we're in nice clothes, tired, sore from chopping wood, etc), but God blessed us with strength to finish something He knew would help one of His children. Bob may not come to accept the Gospel in this life, but I know when we serve those around us, their hearts are unlocked to the powers of heaven.

We fixed a headlight in the car on Friday night because it had gone out and we didn't want to get pulled over while driving. So we made a quick pit stop at Walmart. Good thing we both had done this before because we don't have internet on our phones to YouTube how to fix a headlight. We just did it from memory and got it fixed.

4:30 am comes early, and it came very early on Saturday. I got up at 4:30 and got ready, and we left at 6 am to pick up the Solon Elders and then headed to Talmadge. The 3 northern zone missionaries met there and we left for Dublin. It was about a 2 hr ride to Dublin so it was a nice road trip. It reminded me of when we go up to Logan and Millville and so it made the ride not seem long at all :).

We had the mission conference with Elder and Sister Uchtdorf on Saturday in Dublin, and it was so so so so 100× awesome! And they both have some pretty GREAT accents;). Elder Uchtdorf spoke on the importance of being ourselves, and letting the Spirit guide us. And more importantly, being a missionary regardless of where we are, and what we are doing. He said that we are all missionaries in the Lord's battalion, and when one person is baptized, it's because all of His children have helped bring that one child into the church. He also gave a fun fact. Every month in the church: about 20,000 people are baptized as members. He said that's enough people to fill up the conference center to capacity every single month . . . Jaw drop! Ah it was such a great day.

We got back to Middlefield at 9:45 that night and then got up at 5:30 for branch mission mtg, so as I'm writing this, my eyes are both very bloodshot from being tired.

I got a package from cousin Cherish. They sent some treats, a nativity to give to any member of my choosing, and some Christmas stuff. So that was very fun to receive this week! Tell them thank you for me.

It has been pretty funny when the missionaries in the mission ask me what I do for my workouts and I tell them that because it's 15 frigid degrees outside every morning, I run inside for 30 min. They then ask where I run inside, and I tell them that I run in the living room and around the kitchen counter, because then I'm at least still able to get my run in for the day. I guess they aren't doing that in their apts ;).

This week will be a transitioning week for me and I'm so excited for what lies ahead. Elder Henshaw has been an amazing comp for me and I'm so excited to keep going forward to learn more and more each day.

I'm so grateful and very thankful for all of you. I'm grateful Heavenly Father blessed me with all of you in my life and has allowed me to show you my love everyday ♡. I would like to invite each of us to find one person this week that we can tell something nice to and tell them that we love them. The people around us and in our lives truly are a gift from our loving Heavenly Father.

I miss you all so much, and pray for you everyday ♡. I'm so grateful for you and what you guys do for me. Keep up the great work!

I love you forever and always!
Elder McEwan

"Go and Do"- 2020 youth theme song. Go and listen to this, it is so wonderful. :)

Snow, Snow, AND MORE SNOW

The Work Continues

Good Morning,

How are you all doing this week? How is the weather back home? I'll get to the Ohio weather in just a second ;). What's new for Salem? I saw SHHS lost . . . Super cool they made it to the semi finals though! I'm so proud of our team.

So on Monday night, the zone leaders came to stay the night at our place because we were going to do training visits the next day. We wake up on Tuesday morning and I look outside and there is easily 8 to 9 inches of snow on the ground, with snow still falling from the sky. So we get ready for the day and me and Elder Johnson went to Hartmans to help him do inside stuff, but the roads were seriously so bad that we were driving about 10 mph. Dad, I know what you went through in Missouri winters . . . It's like mother nature took a big white blanket, and plops it down on top of you :). So anyway, we had training visits on Tuesday. We did service all day. We helped the Arnold family decorate their Christmas tree. She has 17 full bins of Christmas decor. It made me think of our nutcrackers and Santas and nativities:). Me and Elder Johnson then went to shovel Dieter Grimms driveway. Dieter is a nonmember, but the missionaries have been going over to his house for the past 2 or 3 yrs, but he doesn't want to be taught the lessons. We had a good conversation with him on Tuesday and then again on Thursday, and he showed up to the harvest dinner on Friday. So we are so so hoping he can know in himself that what we are saying is true.

Wednesday we had district council and I gave a training on Extending Commitments. I would invite all of us to practice extending commitments and inviting people to YM/YW, church, over to your house for dinner, etc. It is such a blessing on both ends when we do and we never know what an invitation will do for someone or mean to them in their life.

Thursday we went and talked with a few members in the morning. One of them is Edna Davis. She lives alone, her husband passed away about 26 yrs ago. We talked for a solid 45 min about her life and she has been beating herself up lately in her mental mindset because she is so motivated to do missionary work, but no one in her apt complex will listen to her. It was a little bit of a humbling experience for me to see her say that. Are we doing all we can to invite others to Christ? Are we excited about doing it?

We met with Joey again, we will keep meeting with him each week. He said it helps him stay focused because even though he is a member, he said the missionaries still have a profound effect on him.

Friday we helped Brother Hartman take shelves off of his laundry room wall and adjust them higher to have more space to put things. He said that I was a great organizer and knew what I was doing ;). We met with Sarah at the library, but she only had about 10 min to meet so we were only able to talk briefly about new member lessons. We went to the harvest dinner on Friday night. They had cornucopias for centerpieces, and it was a big Thanksgiving feast with the branch. And Dieter showed up! Elder Henshaw made his strawberry cheesecake. It was super good food.

Saturday we went and talked with about 4 or 5 people in the morning, but they all pretty much told us the same thing that they were busy and they had our number, so they would give us a call. Hopefully we can hear back from them soon. We went to the Chabot house and helped Bethany prepare her talk that she was supposed to give Sunday. It was super fun to do because it reminded me how much I really do enjoy preparing and giving speeches/talks. We went and talked with the Hertnas and Wheatleys in the evening, and they are both very good members so it was nice to sit down with them and discuss ways we could help the branch grow and be more successful in getting referrals from the members.

Good reminder of all the work put into
the scriptures so our lives could be
blessed by them

Sunday was great! So I don't know if I have said this, but in this area they have 7:15 am branch mission mtg on the 2nd and 4th Sundays and 8:15 am on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. So we get to look forward to that each week :). (Good thing I have spark and D3 :)). Church was so wonderful and I really was grateful to be able to have the sacrament today. It was a great reminder to me that I don't have to be perfect, I just have to be trying a little bit harder everyday. We went out with the Hartmans to 4 families after church (Heracovic, McCllellans, Jukers, and Egglestons). It was so good to see them and get to know all of them a little bit better, and get some good discussion in on different things. Me and Henshaw were also able to give Sister Hartman and her dad, Brother Adams, a blessing today. They have both been sick, and so we gave them both blessings. I am so forever grateful for the priesthood and the chance we have to hold it and give priesthood blessings.

This is the last full week in the transfer period. Transfers are next week on the 27th, and so we will most likely be splitting up. So I'll be getting a new companion. It's crazy that that time has come. I feel like just yesterday I was sitting in the transfer chapel in Dublin. With transfers being next week, pday will be on Tuesday next week.

I'm so excited for Elder Utchdorf to come this week on Saturday! Me and Henshaw have to leave the apt at 6 am on Saturday morning to pick up the Solon Elders and then drive to the Talmadge church bldg to ride the carpool down 3 1/2 hrs to Dublin. I love road trips! It will be good to be in Dublin and see a new change of scenery :).

Also, the new missionary handbook came out on Friday! I was so pumped to read it. I have read half of it so far, since it shows up as 2 separate books on Gospel library. President said we will be trained on it at the December zone conference. I invite all of you to go and look at it on Gospel Library.

I would just like to leave you with my testimony. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know that this Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. And I come to feel it in my heart every week as I talk with people. This has been the hardest 3 months of my life I'm going to be honest. Sometimes you just want to sit down on the ground and cry because no one will listen to you and you're out walking your area everyday. I have been able to strengthen my love for the people God has sent for me to teach and plant the seeds in their hearts. I love them, with every last ounce of my breath. They may not accept it while I'm here in Ohio, but I will do all I can to help prepare the way for them to accept it. I love this Gospel, and I love the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. Read it, for in it you will find power and strength.

I miss and pray for you guys everyday. I'm so glad that everyone is doing fantastic and loving life. Keep up the great work.

I love YOU Forever and Always!
Elder McEwan

"Becoming a consecrated missionary"- Tad R. Callister

Learning with Knowledge to Improve and Change

Hi Everyone,

How was your week? Has it snowed again there? It snowed 2 days this week and let's just say, when you are in the middle of the snow belt in Northeast Ohio, it's very cold and snowy. Thank you very much Mom and Dad for sending the 2 packages this week. The spark is amazing and used exceptionally well, and I greatly appreciated the beanies and gloves! With the Oreos, I left 2 at the apt for me and Elder Henshaw and I took the rest of them with us to church for the branch members and I wrote them a note thanking them for always feeding us each week. They said they loved the cookies! They were telling everyone that we made them . . . I just smiled and said, "Actually, my sweet momma made them and mailed them to me" :). Thank you very much for sending everything, it made my day.

Kirtland District

On Tuesday we were up in Perry and Painesville with the zone leaders on training visits. I went with Elder Rawson (from Las Vegas), and we went and talked to a lot of people. Our goal was to talk to everyone we saw, and we did . . . About 60 or 70 people to be exact. It was so cool to just be able to walk up to them not knowing what we were going to say, and letting the spirit guide us. We came across 2 or 3 Spanish speaking people, and sadly couldn't communicate super well with them, so we gave them the church's website and told them to contact them. I then told Elder Rawson that I was downloading Duolingo on my phone that instant to relearn Spanish.

We also parked in a members driveway on Tuesday when we were out (well, it said she was a member), turns out she is not anymore and she was not a happy camper that we had parked there . . . Whoops.

Wednesday we were at Brother Hartman's house, but we have done so many projects there that he didn't have too much for us to do that morning. We taught Bethany and Sarah the last of lesson 4 new member lessons. It was a good day!

Thursday we worked on cleaning up the area book and deleting dots that no longer lived there and people who weren't interested. We then went out and talked with 4 or 5 people, only being able to get in contact with one of those people. We had about an hour conversation with them, they're members so it was good to get to know the Wilkes better. It snowed that night too, so good thing we have the Rav4 ;).

We had a lesson with Joey Pitts (a member). He is currently doing online classes through BYU Idaho (I mentioned my mom was too :)). We started talking to him about armoring up and being firm, steadfast, and immovable. Elder Henshaw asked if I had my coin with me (I never go anywhere without it). I pulled it out and had the distinct impression to give it to Joey to keep. So I said, "Joey, I want you to keep this coin, and everyday when you look at it, remember to armor up." It was a super powerful experience. We saw him at church and the first thing he did when he saw me was pull out the coin. Sadly since that had been my coin before, I couldn't follow him up on "The Challenge" where if you can't pull out your coin when someone shows you theirs, you buy them a soda. But I won't tell him about that part ;).

We had interviews and district council on Friday morning at the Kirtland stake center. Elder Henshaw asked me to give a training for the council so I gave one on temples and family history, and why it is so important to be fully engaged in those 2 topics.

I had my interview with President, and it went super great! At the very end of the interview, he said, "Elder McEwan, are you ready to train next transfer?". Without skipping a beat, I said, "Yes, I am President." So we will see what happens in 2 weeks at transfers, but it'd be super cool to be a trainer because I have been learning from the BEST!

Elder Utchdorf is coming to our mission next Saturday on November 23rd! We are all super stoked for it. We are all meeting at the Dublin church (3 hrs away, so a little road trip ;)). It will be a super powerful and amazing experience.

So a little interesting fact about being in the middle of the snow belt. When it snows here in Northeast Ohio, it moves from Lake Erie and completely MISSES Kirtland and snows all over Chardon. Some years they've said it has been about 3 or 4 feet PER snow storm . . . . 😅 Might have a little house on the prairie this winter, just need to by some "Snow shoes" ;).

I truly saw the blessing of the gift of tongues this week as I committed myself to open my mouth more and have the spirit with me in greater abundance. It is so cool that even when we speak our native tongue, we can be blessed with words and phrases beyond our knowledge and years.

This week was a fantastic week, very busy and fun to be engaged in the work. I learned a lot about myself this week, and about trusting in Heavenly Father. The adversary works so strong each and everyday. We must wake up, armor up, and go to work. The Lord is with us every step of the way. "He never said it would be easy, He only said it would be worth it."

That is my challenge and invitation to each of us this week and always. That we follow those 3 simple phrases. That we 1.) Wake Up, 2.) Armour Up, and 3.) Go to work. The Lord needs us, so we must answer the call and go find scattered Israel.

How was your week? What are you all learning at school and work each day? Tell me all about your experiences.

I love and miss and pray for you all each and every day ♡. I'm so grateful for everyone and their support and love for me each week. It makes my whole week to hear how everyone is doing. Keep up the great work. Have Courage and Be kind :).

Also, wish SHHS football good luck for me this week in the semi finals! This could be their year. Tell "our boys" (Daniel and Austin) to play hard, but most importantly to "Play BIG" and have fun, it only happens for a brief moment.

There is a nativity in Kirtland on December 4th I think that we may go to, so that'll be fun. I remember how awesome it was to go to the one in Alpine.

I miss you all. Stay safe, and stay YOU :)

I love you all forever and always!
Elder Dylan

I read this last week and thought it was a great reminder to build our roots deep and to always nourish them -- "Firm and Steadfast"- Elder D Todd Christopherson

Hard Work & Love

Hi Mom and Dad,

I just wanted to say thank you for the amazing parents that you both are, and for always being there to help and support me in my life. I have seen that a lot out here of how important what you taught me when I was younger, is now coming into play of working hard and not giving up, and loving everyone I come in contact with. You guys are wonderful examples of this!

I love you forever and always ♡
Elder Dylan

Zone Conference, Halloween, & Snow

Hi everyone,

This week flew by and I am so very excited to tell you all about it.

On Monday night we had empty nesters, and we had 3 less active members show up and I was so so happy to see them! We had some tasty food too hah :) We went to Walmart after dinner and I got
some boots so that my feet don't get cold this winter.

Tuesday was zone conference down in Talmadge and we got a new car as well, so we drove the Malibu down and had the zone conference and picked up our Toyota Rav4 and drove it back to Chardon. Zone conference was so amazing! We learned how to be better consecrated missionaries, and how we need to leave everything we possess on the altar of sacrifice and commit wholeheartedly to serve the Lord. I also went to the train your trainer mtg after the conference, and me and 3 other missionaries were there who came out with me. We met with President and were able to discuss how we are doing and if we are ready to not be with our trainers in 3 weeks (its weird to think about). Sometimes I feel like I'm doing great and able to lead each day, but other days I think that is not the case, so I really am doing my best and striving to learn as much as I can everyday so that I will be always ready to lead.

Traded in the Malibu for a Rav4

Wednesday was a great day. We went over to Brother Hartman's and did service for him. We helped him with his dad's bedroom again and just cleaned up a lot of his house. In the afternoon we went to many people's houses trying to see if they are still interested in our message after the missionaries before us made contact with them. Sadly all of them said either no or come back in 6 months and we will talk. So we just keep having faith and praying for them :)

Thursday was Halloween! :) It rained, and rained, and rained, and then at night . . . It snowed! We were inside during the morning because it was wet and we were short on miles with it being the 31st. We got a call from Brother and Sister Wheeler saying they needed help moving, so we went over to their house and helped them clean their floors and tubs and counters (they moved actually on Saturday. We went to 3 people afterwards who we really wanted to talk to, and there was no answer. But, it was Halloween so we gave those people the benefit of the doubt. We went to the Burton Fair Halloween party in the night and had donuts and pizza and hot dogs, it was so delicious :). We got back to the apt that night and it was so very windy and the house was shaking, and it felt like we were in the Wizard of Oz getting blown to Oz.

We woke up on Friday morning and I looked outside and turned to Henshaw and said, "Elder, we aren't in Ohio anymore." The wind was that bad, but fortunately we were still in the apt and apt was still attached to the ground :). We got up and went to Hartman's and there was 6 inches of snow, good compared to the couple of feet you guys got last week. We helped Brother Hartman clean his laundry room and I had to put his dryer back together because the tube behind it broke off so I was half hanging down the backside of the dryer with no light trying to fix it . . . it was a sight! We helped a guy named Billy Morrison move on Friday night for about 2 hrs, and lifted a ton of couches and TVs and dressers down 2 flights of stairs at his old house and up 3 flights of stairs at his new place. That was my 2nd workout of the day ;).

Saturday morning we went and helped the Wheelers move, and they live on the 2nd floor of their house. So we walked up and down the 2 story house for 2 hrs, and they had some great and spacious couches, and bed, and boxes. It was a good time though and they really appreciated our help. We went to go visit Cynthia in the afternoon but she said she was busy making bread, and she said we could come back later to do some service and shovel snow. So we will hold her to it. We also took a bible to Dwayne French because he wanted one and said he needed the big copy because his sight is bad, so we got him a big copy. We had dinner from the Jukers in the night and had a great conversation with Brother Juker, he is a stud!

Sunday was daylight savings start time and wow! It was a blessing to have it to get an extra hour of sleep after having moved 3 days last week. We went to mtgs and church, and then out with the Hartmans to Brother Heracovic and then we had the chance to go to a funeral of a son of a lady from our branch. It was a phenomenal service. We had break the fast at the Arnold's house after, and the Broadbents showed up.

I want to share with everyone the testimony of the things I have been able to learn while on my mission, and I challenge you that as I say it, to ponder what we ALL can be doing to help do the Lords work, and not get discouraged, but to keep going: "I know this Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I know it with my whole being. I saw that this week. We taught 0 lessons, we talked with a lot of people, but no new investigators. And yet the Lord taught me through all of these struggles trying to find people to teach, that just like in the movie (Facing the Giants) when Grant Taylor has to prepare his field, we too must prepare our field for when He will send His blessings. It isn't always easy, and sometimes we will want to take a day off or not work as hard one day. I promise and testify that every day is so worth it and so crucial to give 110% of our effort and not give up. Do what we can, put forth our effort, and the Lord will do the rest. He has promised that He will and He has thrown the football; but in order to score the touchdown, we must reach out to catch the ball and do our part to win the game".

How has your guy's week been? Anything new or exciting happen? I heard Salem football is in the quarterfinals this week, that is so so cool! Tell them to keep up the good work. How is the snow there? All 6 inches from here in Chardon is now melted, but it is still pretty cold and windy each day.

I miss and pray for you all each and everyday. I love you all so so very much and I hope you all are doing so great and continuing to learn.

I love you forever and always!
Elder Dyl :)