It's Super Cold and Super Worth It

Hey guys! :) How was your week? How is school and work going?  I saw Rylen and her pictures from her dance recital, tell her good job for me please!

So it is super cold here, like really cold. It snows almost everyday, I guess that's what happens when Chardon is the snow belt, which means it's the highest point in northeast Ohio and high point in general til you reach Buffalo, New York. It's an adventure! "Up hill both ways in the snow" has become a very common and routine saying for me :) and I even bundle up every single day with gloves, coat, beanie, and my boots . . . We went walking every single day this week to people's houses and on Saturday it was snowing when we were out, but I do have to say, you really learn to love the very small moments when people actually answer the door and it isn't the warmth of being in the house but of being able to share the gospel with people that warms my heart.

Tuesday: We went up to the Hartman's and talked with him for about an hour about the sacrament and the importance of the priesthood, he is super passionate about making sure everyone has the chance for the sacrament. We had a super good lesson with Joey on Tuesday night. We read with him in this last week's come follow me. He works at Georginos and so he brought us some pizza from there, so that made me very happy! :)

Wednesday: We went over to the Middlefield library and cleaned out the area book and made it so we have a better idea of where everyone is and who everyone is. We then went to go talk to about 9 or 10 people in the Chardon side of the area who are less active, and about 7 of them said they are no longer interested in the church. But, we do our best and help out where we can, and most importantly, we have faith and trust in the Lord. We also were able to meet with Griffen, who is one of the recent converts from this last summer, he is 12 yrs old. We taught him the points in lesson 3 and had a really good time talking with him about the importance of staying true and faithful to our role as members of the church. We had dinner at the Nelson's later that night. I don't know if I told you guys this, but the Nelson's are moving to St. George in May, so the branch will be getting a new branch president soon.

Thursday was so much fun! We had zone conference in Kirtland. We had the Warren Elders come and pick us up in Middlefield and we all rode up to the stake center in Kirtland. I met Elder Whitefield, and he is a super cool guy! Zone conference was amazing: It started off with making fleece blankets for children in the hospitals around here, and sending them off to them. We then played about 4 or 5 games with all 60-ish missionaries from the 3 northern zones. They were games like being able to balance chocolate Rolos on a stick in your mouth and walk towards your partner, or unwrapping chocolate kisses with oven mitts, etc. It was super fun! Next we went into the chapel and had President Stratford discuss with us the new guidelines for the new missionary handbook. District activities have come back! So we will be starting those up soon. We are allowed 2 district activities a transfer. We also had the Kirtland stake patriarch, Carl Anderson, come and speak to us about his relationship with the Savior. He did a super great job! We finished off with departing testimonies from missionaries leaving this transfer, about 14, and then went and had a great Christmas dinner! (Cheesy potatoes, pulled pork sandwiches, and great dessert

Got to see my "old" comp again!

Elder Guzman, Elder Stephens,
Elder Henshaw, Elder McEwan

i.e. pie ;). We got a Book of Mormon to start reading as a mission on Jan 1 and finish in 90 days before April General Conference, and a few gifts as well as a picture of the OCM with Elder Uchtdorf. It was some great Christmas presents.

Friday, ah what a day! So we get out to car in the garage at 10 am ready to start the day, and the car won't start . . . We called the Driving Coordinator and he said he needed to do stuff in Columbus and we should call members to see if anyone could jump start the car. After 30 min of calling around and no one really being available to help, I said a silent prayer and imagined my amazing mom standing on the front porch and helping my white car back home to start on days it didn't want to :). So I said a prayer and turned the key, and . . . It started! Ah Heavenly Father is aware of us, and wants to strengthen us, we just have to take a deep breath, relax, and reassess our situation. So after that little faith building experience, we went to the Jukers and helped Brother Juker tear up his bathroom he is remodeling. All I can say is, I'm glad I have a little background knowledge from working on our basement at home :) :) .

We had a game night with Joey and Mitch and the Broadbent family on Friday night. We want to have the recent converts and less actives in the branch show up so we can get them back to activity in going to church and activities, but only Mitch and joey showed up. Broadbents were cleaning the church so they started to hangout with us. We played basketball and football in the gym. Everyone was telling me I could be a quarterback because I threw super good . . . ;) I smiled and said, "I was a quarterback for about 7 yrs growing up." It was fun to reminisce about the good ol' days ;).

Saturday we went to the Kiwanis Club Christmas pancake breakfast that Middlefield was doing. Brother and Sister Jartman are on the Kiwanis Club and they invited us, so that was great. I had green pancakes, and boy oh boy were they good. We then went and helped Brother Hartman fix his counter and back splash in his kitchen, that was exciting. And we helped Broadbents move a grand piano from Chardon to their house in Hamden, it was quite the lifting, but a good workout for us.

Sunday was a great day! Sundays are always the busiest I feel like, because if you don't meet with members on Sundays, it's about 10 times harder to meet with them during the week. So we meet with about 5 families a Sunday. We had 2 dinners, one from Hartmans and one from Chatbots. And I helped Sister Hartman set up her dad's Roku account and device to be ready for him. Good thing I was the technology specialist in the MTC ;).

I got the 12 days of Christmas package you guys sent me! Thank you so much. They have been so much fun to open! I gave out my candy canes to people in the area. And we have been doing the secret nativity that Cherish sent for the Hertna family this week. It's been fun to do that and know we are helping brighten a family and their Christmas this year. Elder Stephen's says thank you for the 12 days presents :) :).

My invitation this week is for us to truly remember the meaning of the Christmas season and why it's so important to remember who Christ is and what he did for us. Not just that He died for us, but that He died so that we would be able to overcome our trials and challenges in our lives.

I have really been able to see the benefit of staying healthy and strong. We have been doing a lot of moving and lifting for people in the area and everyone who helps is always like, "Elder McEwan, how are you not out of breath, or how can you lift that?". Staying in good shape is so important.

Keep doing your very best everyday! I know every day brings challenges, but I know that when one challenge arises, 2 blessings follow. Keep having faith in Jesus Christ, He is there for us. I have seen that on my mission. We got rejected quite a lot this last week, and people just don't want the Gospel in their lives right now and say they aren't interested, and it makes me so sad that they don't want that happiness and peace. Always stay true to who you are, because Heavenly Father wants to bless you and all of us with His blessings. Strive to become better today than you were yesterday; and make good one degree choices.

Also, could you send some tei fu or deep blue please in the next package you send? My neck is hurting pretty bad from lifting and moving all the shelves and pianos we have lately, and from working out, and my bed just really isn't the comfiest. Definitely not my queen size bed I'm used to ;).

I am so excited to talk to all of you and to hear how you all are doing! I miss you so so much, and I pray for you all everyday :) Have courage and be kind.

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

Isaiah 9:6