Baseball Bat and a Car . . . Not a good mix!

So as you can see from the title, it was an interesting week with transfers and Thanksgiving, and all the great stuff that comes with the holidays, so let me tell you all about how it went . . .

Tuesday night we got to the apt and Henshaw packed and also made me a pineapple tie (our companionship tie) and also gave me a pink unicorn tie which he got from his trainer and then passed it to me (a posterity tie) and we went to sleep at like 11:45 because he had to pack everything and didn't realize how much stuff he had accumulated over 18 months.

Departing . . . For now

Wednesday was a great and sad day. Me and Elder Henshaw got picked up at 8 am by brother Walter and went to Talmadge to the church bldg. We got his stuff out of the car and took some pictures so we can always remember our time together, and at that point, we parted ways. Needless to say, it was quite hard because I once again felt a little lost as I was on August 14th and so I took a deep breath, and carried on. I got put into a trio while I waited for Elder Stephens to arrive from Dublin. One of those missionaries is a Nepali speaking missionary and so we got to go to a lesson with him and we listened to an amazing language of Nepali be spoken for the lesson. Wow! The Gospel is everywhere!

Now let me tell you about why the title is the title it is . . . So I was driving in the trio in Tallmadge on Wednesday. We were heading to that Nepali lesson, and a guy all of a sudden steps into the road with a baseball bat and takes a huge swing at the car. Thankfully I paid enough attention in drivers ed to realize to swerve put of the way, and then he kind of started after our car, so I just floored the gas a little and left him in the dust. I'm pretty sure he was high on drugs, but thankfully the car is still in good shape since it was the Akron zone leaders car I was driving :).

So I got my new comp, Elder Stephens. He hit his one year mark 4 days ago on Thanksgiving. He is

My new companion, Elder Stephens

from South Weber, Utah and graduated in 2018 from Northridge High School. He is a super cool guy and so so funny. He reminds me a bit of Aaron Koyle, so super cool guy! And he has some great teaching methods to use.

Thursday we had Thanksgiving dinner at Hartman's and then we had pie at the Chabot's on Thursday night, Loren is a professional chef in his past life, so he made us peppermint pie and man was it so good! A great holiday, and a little weird to not have it be at home. Also, ALMOST had to go to the Geauga Hospital for stitches in my finger on Thursday . . . I was peeling potatoes and I finished that, and then proceeded to cut them to put into a bowl. Well, I guess the knife was pretty sharp because it cut clean through the potato and didn't want to stop there and went right into my finger. It was quite impressive how quickly my finger became red with blood. Thankfully Hartman's had band aids and triple antibiotic. It is still trying to heal, but hopefully it will be better soon. What's a holiday without a little adventure right? ;)

Friday was tree chopping day at Hartman's. We got to his house and the wind had knocked one of his trees down the day before, so I took his saw and started cutting the branches and trunk apart. We also called Mitch and had a great lesson with him! He will finish the new member lessons this week if we can meet with him. Same with Chabot's, so super proud of all of them for staying strong on their covenant path.

Saturday was a great day! We went to Kirtland Sake Center and had a mtg with all of the missionaries in the Kirtland zone and the Stake President,  who is President Johnson. He talked about how important it is to do ministering and that we must absolutely have a desire as members to go out and find the one, and bring them to church. It was so cool to learn and hear that.

Guess what?!?!? We met Adam day for the first time! He got baptized 6 months ago and has been to church one time since. I had never met him since I got here 3 months ago. We finally caught him at home on Saturday, and talked to him for 5 seconds because he was leaving for work. He said to text him and we can set something up because he hasn't started new member lessons yet since he doesn't answer his door and doesn't respond to messages so we will do our best right.

Sunday was fabulous. Church was so great as always! Me and Stephens got up to bear our testimonies in sacrament. He is a great guy. We went with Hartman's to Sister Gould after church and watched the Christchild with her. And then we went to the Arnold house for the Break the Fast meal at 4 pm, with a whole ton of members so that was even better. We then went up to Kirtland with the Hartman's to the visitors center where they have a huge light and nativity display every year. I sent some pictures in the drive. Momma, I may have to pack them home with me because they were from almost every country and would look great in your collection you have from different countries :) So that was so fun!

I am the designated driver for this transfer, and so I have been able to drive now and it's been so fun, although as I said last week, Ohio drivers do not drive as good as Utah drivers, and we always get stuck behind Amish buggies, so it's an adventure :).

It rained a lot this week. We went 7 whole days without seeing the sun. It finally came out this weekend and we actually jumped in the air for joy! You count the small victories ;).

I would like to invite us to be watching the Light the World videos starting now, and watch them this month. And also encourage everyone around us to watch them. Show them to everyone. And go forth and serve and truly Light the world. It doesn't have to be big, a simple "Hello, have a great day", goes a long way. This is something I tried to do in high school and am still trying to do everyday. It is a blessing in my life and know it can be a blessing in anyone's life as they do that and serve everyday. #lighttheworld

I miss all of you so much and I'm so glad you had a great Thanksgiving! I'm so excited to talk with everyone. Please be safe this week with the cold and icy weather, and know I am thinking of you everyday. Keep up the great work everyday! You're all doing great.

I love you forever and always :)♡♡
♡ Elder Dylan :)