Update on the coronavirus out here: Elder Bankhead (mission area doctor for Northeast America) came to our zone conference last week and told us to please be washing hands, and taking good medicine and eating right. President Stratford then called a mission wide call on Friday night and said that so far there have been no cases of the coronavirus in Ohio, but Pennsylvania has had 2 or 3 cases of it this last week. He said he was putting 10 extra dollars on the MSF funds so we can get good food if it so happened that we did have to be quarantined or if the stores were flocked by people, which sounds like is already happening in some places. I'm doing great. I continue to take Immune Stimulator and Colostrum every morning along with Colloidal Silver, and I workout everyday. Elder Bankhead even said he was super impressed with how dedicated I am to physical health (more on that story in a few min). How is Utah doing with it? Are you all of you guys staying healthy?
This week was a very great week! It seemed to just fly by and brought with it lots of learning and lots of blessings and lots of happiness. Isn't it so cool what we can do and learn in such a short period of time.
Tuesday we had training visits with the Polaris Elders here in Lewis Center. Elder Jones is the district leader this transfer. I went with Elder Jones that day and we had a pretty great day, I'd say. We shared 2 scriptures at 2 random peoples houses, we found 3 new people, and we had 5 lessons! We had also made it a goal to pet 10 dogs while we were out, haha ya know, just to keep it interesting ;) We did in fact pet 10 dogs that day. It rained on us all day, but it felt so nice. Apparently there was massive tornadoes in Tennessee last week, so I think Tuesdays weather was the aftermath of what happened down south.
Wednesday was long but so good! It started with, I got up at 5 am to be at the Olson house by 5:50 for 6 am seminary. Me and Elder Marler taught seminary that day and it was a ton of fun! We taught on 2 Nephi 32, "Feasting on the Words of Christ". I explained how we needed to be as motivated in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we were with our personal items/interests (sports, reading, drawing, singing, etc). It went super good! There is about 10 people that attend the seminary class everyday. We then left for Zone Conference at 8 am. Polaris drove us to it, and it was at the Galloway bldg, about an hour south from Lewis Center. It was a fun little road trip!
Zone conference was so amazing. I found out that President Stratford has Bell's Palsy and it comes to him every so often. It decided to make an appearance last week, and when I saw him on Wednesday the left side of his face was paralyzed. But he still stood up and spoke and did a great job on teaching and training all the missionaries. We got trained on how we can be master teachers and why it's so vitally crucial and important to be immersed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how to just have a normal conversation with people and talk with everyone. We got invited by President Ballard a few weeks ago to talk to at least 10 people everyday, so that has been fun to do and it's always so cool to see people's reactions when I say hi to them and ask them how their day is going. Talking with people is the best! :)
Alright now to the exciting part of zone conference, which was kind of nerve wracking at first.😁 So I'm sitting in the pew listening to the Stratfords talk, and all of a sudden I get this stabbing pain in the left side of my chest, and then my head gets super nauseous, and my whole left side of my arm goes numb. I didn't think too much of it at first, these were things that came to me when I ran cross country in high school. After 5 or 6 min, the pain was still there and I still couldn't feel my left arm. I got up from where I was sitting and went to talk to Sister Stratford and Elder Bankhead. Elder Bankhead took me outside and felt my pulse, and asked me a few questions. I then explained to him that I do workout everyday, and I have drink mixes that I take. We had a good conversation and then he said he would check on me later. The next 5 or 6 hours the pain was still there, and I said a quick prayer and then by 3:30 when I left Galloway, the pain had subsided enough to be okay, and then gradually got better the rest of the night. The adventures that happen in the span of 24 hours is adventurous to say the least.
Thursday we were at the Olsons at 5:50 again for Seminary and it was super great! We learned about how we can be praying more to Heavenly Father and how important it is to be consciously looking to Him for answers. Later that day we went up to the North part of the area and walked around for a few hours knocking on doors. We found 1 new person, she is Hindu, and so so kind. It was fun to do the survey with her and find out her basic beliefs and background knowledge. We then had 2 member lessons that night. One was with the Nelson family and one was with the Smith family. We shared the Book of Mormon video of Lehi's vision with them. It was so much fun to watch it and then talk about how we can all be "holding firm and tight to the iron rod". The Nelson kids loved the video a lot.
Saturday was fabulous because it was sunny AND warm! We went up to Sunbury with Ethan Cornelious. Ethan is about to submit his mission papers so it was fun to go visit members and have lessons with him. We had one lesson with a lady named Karen. She isn't a member, so we called her and went and taught her about Helaman 5:12 and how she can have a firm and steady foundation. We met with my amazing friend John Russell. And super sad, but Abdul is no longer working for John so we wont be able to teach him anymore because he lives in Franklin county, which is like 2 hrs away. Keep praying for him. We had a great lesson with John and he gave all of us some great laughs. Then we went over to Brother and Sister Mathis' (members) house, and Sister Mathis had us fix 2 of her door knobs, break down about 30 boxes on her driveway, and then we shared Mosiah 2:17 with her and I was able to share the importance of service to others. When I shared it with her, I realized just how much I've been able to change myself lately. I love that I can help people out without getting anything in return, and I love being able to be able to offer my help to others. Overall, super great day!
Sunday was amazing and I literally thought it was summer today! The sun was out, there was fresh air (as much as their can be in a humid climate :)), it was a great day! In Elders quorum I learned about the importance of the Priesthood and how we must always be ready and able AND willing to run an errand; just like Tom Monson says when he runs the errand to his friend in the hospital 😉 I had correlation after church with Brother Walker for missionary efforts in the ward. Then we went and helped Brother Owen's move a desk out of his office and helped him lift a bed and a dresser down 2 flights of stairs to his office so his mom could have a room to sleep in. Then we went to the Worths and the Edgsons house for lessons on the Ask of God video and how they can be Hearing Jesus Christ in their own lives; just as President Nelson asked all of us to do a few weeks ago. We had a lesson with the Prisbrey family as well that night. We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ/Chapter 3 in Preach my Gospel. It was super great and the spirit was felt there.
Fun story from Sunday . . . Lola K has a new best friend 🧡. So we were at the Worth house and they have a 5 yr old daughter named Lauren. She was all dressed up in a dress and she said she was Auna from Frozen. I smiled and then told her my 2 yr old niece loves Frozen. Lauren got really really excited. I turned my phone on and showed Lauren the family picture we took before I left, and showed her a picture of Lola. Lauren turned to me and then turned to her mom and said very excitedly, "Mom, Lola would be my very best friend!" Ah it melted my heart! :)
I had a very great and amazing week! And as I am sitting here writing this email, I'm seeing just how much my testimony has grown. Being a missionary definitely isn't the easiest thing I have ever done; there have been days that different things get to me, and then I think about the Atonement and the role it has played in my life. Jesus Christ died for me, and for all of us. He suffered alone so that we wouldn't have to suffer alone. He is by our side, and He truly is our "lifeguard that walks on water".
The invitation I wanted to do this week is something I know will bless all of us, and something that Heavenly Father is always desiring us to do. The invite is this: To find continual ways to strengthen our relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.
- Temple attendance
- Church attendance and partaking of the Sacrament
- Daily scriptures and Prayer
- Service
And so much more. I'm so grateful we have the chance to be a little better than we were the day before and to always be striving to be our best self everyday.
I saw SHHS baseball won their tournament down in St. George this weekend! Super cool and I'm cheering for them this year :) Term 4 is almost upon us, you guys ready for summertime? :);)
I miss all of you oh so very much :)❤ I love you all and I pray for you so so much. I'm very grateful for your examples to me and for the love and support you show me.
I love you forever and always!
Elder Dylan McEwan
2 Nephi 4: 18-20, 32-35 -- Some of the scriptures I read in Personal study this week, they are so so cool to read :)
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