A Full Month of Adventures

 

If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear

 Dearest family,

How was your week? How was going to the temple with cousin Derrick on Wednesday?! I am so so happy that you got to go, such a blessing. Also, how is the snow and wintery season going in Utah this year? It is green grass, blue and sunny skies here in Chillicothe OHIO. Although we did have to scrape our car windows yesterday before we left for church because there was frost on them (I haven't scraped my car windows since senior year 😉). 

Transfer week is next week on Thursday December 10, so pday is on Wednesday December 9.

I wanted to start this week off by sharing something I feel is very important, and can also make us super happy when we apply this principle. I was thinking about what President Nelson talked about in October 2020 General Conference when he stated, "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear". And the reason I have been thinking about this lately, is because of the blessing that lies behind it. I have learned here in Ohio as a missionary, that when I am prepared (i.e. for lessons, mtgs, conferences, or just for the sake of being prepared for me), I am better able to carry out the tasks the Lord needs me to. Think about the 10 virgins, and what happened to them all? 5 of them were prepared and ready, and when the bridegroom came, they met him happily and cheerfully at the door; while the other 5 were not prepared, were very worried, and then went to the door and knocked, and what did the Savior say? He said, "Ye know me not". Those 5 people had not taken the time to prepare both physically and spiritually. I want to invite all of us today, AND ALWAYS OF COURSE, I want to invite us to be mindful of what we are doing each day, and pray to Heavenly Father to ask for guidance as to where we can be prepared more fully, and ready completely for the 2nd coming . . . Because as President Nelson says in April 2019 General Conference, "Please do it NOW, time is running out."

Alright so now onto the week of cool awesome experiences from your favorite Elder McEwan! We found out this week that beginning on December 10 (so next week), reassigned missionaries to this mission will begin returning to their original assignment missions. By about mid January we should have sent most all of them back. A lot of countries are opening up their borders now, and so the church is sending them back to continue the Lord's work. The missionary dept. said that if missionaries have less than 6 months remaining of their missions, they will just stay in their reassigned mission field and not return to their original call.

Tuesday -- We got up at 5:15 in the morning, and left the apt at about 7:30 to drive an hour and a half to Athens. On the way down, we passed a sign that said the city of Logan was approaching in 10 miles, and so I was joking with Elder Williams that we must've either gotten swept up in a tornado or been sent through a portal to have ended up in 'Logan". Haha but Logan Ohio is pretty nice place too. We did service with the Athens elders for about 3 hours. The member family we did it for, had us chopping up wood the whole morning. They had 4 picks, and 3 sledge hammers to hammer the picks into the wood to split them in half. We got to work,  and began the very fun workout! I had chopped up close to 20 stumps, when I brought the sledge hammer down onto my left middle finger, and not thinking much of it, continued to work. Well at the end of the service, I took my glove off, and realized the sledge hammer had hit into my ring which had then sliced my finger open at the base of it. What a time. But it was good though, just a cool battle service scar now ;) Elder Huchason gave me a haircut that night, which was very much appreciated, and we ordered some Little Ceasars pizza as well, which was also very much appreciated. We left Athens for Chillicothe around 8:45. Lets just say, that by about 9:45 after having been up since 5:15 and chopped wood for 3 hours, I started to fall asleep while I was driving. I drank the last bit of my protein shake, and then just turned the music up to keep me going. We made it home to the apartment at about 10:05. Very fun day. Very tiring AND rewarding day.

Wednesday -- Not a whole ton happened for us on this day. It did rain the whole day, which was kind of nice because it made it feel like winter just a tiny little bit. But I did learn something this day that will stick with me forever. It was, "It is better to first understand, then it is to seek to be understood." A lot of times, I forget that part of understanding someone else's views, and I just mosey on down the lane with my perspective. I promise that as we listen carefully to everybody's beliefs and ideas, we can far more appreciate the outcome of a situation :) Okay so I guess something DID happen this day that I just remembered . . . We had a Thanksgiving Mission wide zoom devotional with the entire mission. It was very fun!

Thursday -- Turkey day! The best day. We had 2 lessons that day with the Anderson family and the McMahan family. They both gave us dinners for the night. And then we went over to the church bldg and had an incredible time with the other members of the district (Elders Watts and Huchason, Elders Henry and Brown, Sisters Masina and Durant, Sisters Bedard and Gossling). It was such a fun time! We all just kind of shared what food we had brought, played some games, and then had district council afterwards! Super awesome time and I was so happy we could get together that night!

Friday -- A great day! We went on a walk and found a new person that day, his name is Rick. We began talking with him, and he said he grew up religious but not lives on the streets and really is just searching for that basic and firm foundation of Christ. So we gave him a shortened version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as pertaining to Helaman 5:12 and then left him with a pass along card. Then we had another lesson with the McMahan family who had so graciously provided us with another thanksgiving meal for Friday. The ward members really are super kind and generous here. Then we went over to the Barr family house and they too gave us some food from Thanksgiving. Guess what they gave us??? TAMALES!! My very most favorite things! We shared a lesson about gratitude with them and then helped Brother Barr move a weight set and bench press down his basement stairs into their basement. Super fun night, very rewarding!

Saturday -- Well let's just say that this was my happiest day of the week probably besides Thanksgiving day. We called a guy named Jonathan Boggs up in the morning and shared about 3 Nephi 27, which talks about the Gospel and how it can bless us. I asked him if he had a copy already of the Book of Mormon or had heard of it, and he said he didn't. I asked if we could bring a copy by to him that day, and he said YES! So we went and had a nice visit with Jonathan at his apt and gave him a Book of Mormon. Then we went and did a very cool facebook live! Y'all should go check it out :) We next went to a members house named Martin Suber. He said he didn't have the stuff ready for us to hook up his computers, and so we talked with him for about an hour in his living room about the Gospel and how he has been a member for about 9 or 10 years, and the missionaries 10 yrs ago helped him in a very tough spot in his life. He also is working at a homeless shelter here in Chilli and he wants to get us working there too soon, so we are waiting to hear back from the shelter on if we can. After we visited and talked with Martin, he asked us for a Priesthood blessing. I was able to be the voice for the blessing, and man the Spirit was so strong. Every time I give a blessing, I gain a deep love for the people I give the blessing to. I am so grateful Heavenly Father teaches me and grows me with each blessing I am able to participate in. Such a great opportunity. Then we went to the McMahan house for the 3rd day in a row and got more food they made for us, and shared a scripture with them. After that we went on a walk, and we ran into Missy! We met Missy 2 Fridays ago and honestly I didn't think we would ever see her again. But we sat down with her and had a powerful lesson on the Book of Mormon and why we need both the bible and the book of mormon to fulfill God's word for us. Then we kept walking and we passed a house that a lady was sitting on her front porch on, and we passed it and then I all of a sudden had an impression to turn around and go talk to her. So we turned around and approached her. We gave her a pass along card and shared John 3:16-17 with her and she said we could call her back this next week for a lesson and visit and we could talk to her. Super awesome! We had a mtg with the ward mission leader Brother Cain. We came up with the idea to write cards and send them to every household of members in the ward this next month. Then we had a lesson with John over the phone and please pray for him as he is praying currently to know if he should be baptized a member of our church or not. Then we had a lesson with Kris Rothe, who Kris is preparing to be baptized but needs to make some changes physically first, and so keep him in prayers this week also. Then we had our district devotional! It was a busy busy busy day guys!

Sunday -- We went to church at 10 and it was so good. We talked about temples and the talk by Elder Rasband from this October General Conference of 'going recommended to the Lord". It is so important to have a current temple recommend always, even if we don't have a temple nearby or it is currently closed. ALWAYS, have an up to date temple recommend. It is such a great thing to have. It was so much fun being able to hop on the zoom call with my Knoll Park family at home and seeing everyone.  Then after the call, we had 3 lessons with Sister Zufelt, the James family, and the Ward family. We talked about Light the World challenge with the James' and Sister Zufelt. And then worked with Braxton Ward on baptism and he is shooting for December 25th for a baptism but his dad is not really okay with it, and so his mom who is a member is going to see what she can do. Super cool family.

I wanted to leave this email with my testimony. As this Christmas season now gets underway and we begin the hustle and bustle of life that comes with preparing for the holidays, it is important to remember not just that Jesus Christ is at the very center of this season of life; but that when we take moments out of each day, to show gratitude and take time to feel peace and love in our hearts, we truly truly see what is stated in President Nelson's talk, "Let us ever be faithful in keeping the Lord's name in our hearts, so that when someone we come across needs the Lord's help, our heart will reach out to that person in love because the Lord IS love." Remember that the Lord is love, this Christmas season, and always🌲

How is Salem doing? Have sports been able to pick back up yet? I hope so, sports are the best and actually I very much miss playing them and getting together with the teams.

I hope you guys are doing so so well, I know you are, because you are awesome. I love you all so very much and I am so very grateful for your wisdom and love and happiness you guys bring to my life. I think I lucked out on the family part of life ❤

Love you always and forever,

Elder Dylan McEwan

Counting Our Blessings, Instead of Recounting Our Problems . . .

I wanted to start this weeks email out by restating what President Nelson said in his incredible message of HOPE on Friday. He said, "Let us be counting our blessings, instead of recounting our problems." I absolutely was so overcome when he said that. I believe that as we focus not on what we have been through (because we ALL have been through some rough stuff in this place we call life.) But instead be focusing on the good and the things we are grateful for, just like social media has started doing with the #givethanks. I know as we do this, we truly will be blessed and we truly will follow after what President Nelson says, "The JOY of our lives has little to do with the circumstances, and everything to do with the focus of our lives."

So this week was amazing. It went by really fast too, I think we all "blinked" and time just seemed to speed up even more. But all is well because Christmas is around the corner. Chillicothe people have started playing their Christmas music loud and proud on the street corners and as we go on walks everyday, we will see people out dancing and singing, so last week I decided to join in on the fun and started dancing along with them. It was super fun and honestly I am the happiest I have ever been on my mission up to this point. I don't know what has changed in me lately, but I just feel such an excitement and urgency for the work which the Lord needs all of us to do, and I love these people of Ohio so much, truly have become my 2nd family.

Jamie Krueger: He messaged us last night and said that he wants to be baptized on December 26th! He said it is his birthday that day and so it would make it even more special for him if he could be baptized that day. We told him in order to have that work we will need to meet with him 2 to 3 times a week. He said he does think he will need a live proxy baptism, and so we told President Horgesheimer that and hopefully can let Salt Lake know soon and we can keep working solid with him. Keep him in your prayers, he is doing good and needs all the support he can get.

Braxton Ward: Braxton is an 8 year old little boy and his mom is a member here in the ward. His dad is not a member. Braxton told us last night that he really wants to be baptized and we had a pretty powerful lesson with him over zoom last night and taught the principle of baptism by fire and how he can be making a pretty cool promise with Heavenly Father as he is baptized. He said he wants to be baptized around January 1 or 2, so we are going to be working with him on that. He said he wants his uncle to baptize him here in Chillicothe, and so keep Braxton in your prayers as we keep meeting with him each Sunday that he will continue to grow and strengthen his testimony to be baptized in a short 6 weeks.

Can I just say . . . I LOVE talking with people! Whether it be over the phone, through a text message or messenger, over video call, or in person . . . It doesn't matter, I love it. We had some sweet occasions on Friday this week where we were calling people just at the church building. 2 people picked up and said that they had originally not been interested with past missionaries, but when they heard who we were they said they immediately wanted to hear more. We have lessons set up with both of them this week. Then we were out walking on the street on Friday night in the city part of Chillicothe, and I had a pretty overwhelming feeling to go down a street that we hadn't been down before. We walked down it and part way down I turned and saw a lady sitting by herself on the bench by the crosswalk. We started talking to her (her name is Missy). She said she lives on the streets and very much appreciated our message of hope we shared with her. AH I love running into people everywhere I go, and honestly just being able to talk with them. I have realized that that is a gift that Heavenly Father has given to me, is to be able to walk up to people or call them or text them, and have a conversation with them. I. LOVE. IT. :)

Saturday was a delicious day! ;) Haha I will say why in just a second, but so in the morning we did another facebook live and this time we did it on the importance of missionary work and why the Lord needs His missionaries NOW, more than ever. We then called a guy named Wesley who has been a do not contact for many years now because of hardship he has had with missionaries in the past. We talked to him and he is in a tricky situation with his wife right now and is trying to have a life with his son in the future, and so we talked for a good 20 or so minutes about how God is aware of Him and how he must hold out with faith in Jesus Christ, and that we will be his guides as he takes those steps. Very amazing man! Okay, now onto the delicious part of the day. We went to a mexican restaurant called, Las Mariachis. Bishop Brower and his wife met us there along with Brother Cain (ward mission leader), and we all ate lunch together and talked about how we can be helping the people out in the ward and getting the people back to church. They are amazing people! They just have I think forgotten the blessing of coming to church IN Person now that we can have it in person, and then they don't hop on the zoom call sacrament meeting, and so then they get deemed as less active. Pray for Chillicothe to have A SPARK in them. Maybe that's just what they need, is Spark! ;) I think I am the only one in the whole state of Ohio though that likes the taste of it . . .😉 I also gave the district devotional training on Saturday night. I did it on the atonement of Christ. I had everyone do a race to find a scripture on the atonement. Sister Gossling was the first one to find it, and so for every person on the messenger call, I asked them if they wanted an "imaginary snickerdoodle" cookie (since it was over messenger of course :). Whether they said yes or no, Sister Gossling had to do the 5 pushups. I then at the end reverted it over to how the Savior did the atonement for each of us, and sometimes we forget that and think we can't repent and have to do it on our own. I invite each of you guys this week to focus on what you can do to strengthen your testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Also on Saturday night we had a super cool lesson at the Winfield home in North North Chillicothe, like almost an hour away. We watched the Christchild video with them and talked about Christmas traditions that they like to do and how they remember Christ each year.

Sunday was a very inspiring and wonderful day. We had the North America North East broadcast and President Henry B. Eyring and Elder Soares were the speakers for it. They both spoke on the power of Letting God Prevail in our Lives. President Eyring stated what was stated by our Prophet just over a month ago in conference, about how when we embrace a new normal, we truly gain a sense of urgency and love to do the Lord's work in the way He needs us to, and in the energy that even a 96 yr old man such as President Nelson himself, can still do and maintain daily. After that, we were able to have 2 super cool phone lessons with Sister Wolf and with Sister Zufelt. We shared Ether 12:6 with both of them and invited them to do what President Nelson stated on Friday of embracing the future with HOPE, and with a firm trust in God. We then had the super awesome lesson with Braxton and his mom. And then finished the night and the week off with the mission wide devotional over zoom with one of President and Sister Horgesheimer's good friends from where they live in Bountiful, Utah. 

So we have some new and exciting news about Thanksgiving this week! We are allowed to have a District Thanksgiving with the other members in our district. And so we are having Thanksgiving dinner here at the Chillicothe church bldg with the other 4 elders and 4 sisters in our district. Basically we all just decided to bring what the members in each of our wards give us, and then we can all eat together. So we can only eat for 2 hours is the quota cap, and then we are having district council right afterwards. I am so thankful that prayers have been heard and answered and that we can meet together this week. I have missed the in person feel with other missionaries, and I am so happy we can this week. 

Things to look for this week:

- We are leaving the apartment tomorrow morning around 7 am to drive an hour and a half east to the city of Athens, for a training visit with Elders Watts and Hutchason (DL and comp). So it'll be a fun road trip and I get to drive too.

- We have a sweet service project lined up on Friday morning with a guy named Martin Suber. He told us yesterday that he needs us to help him hook up 2 computers and a fax machine at his house. I hope Rob can send me his "good vibes" to know how to do it.

I love this Gospel with all of my heart. I know it is true, because of the happiness it has brought me in my life. I have been brought to the lowest of lows throughout my life, in order to see how mighty and powerful God truly is and how He wants to guide and influence my life for the better. I am grateful to know that we truly can Hear Him in our life as we seek understanding through dilligent prayer and scripture study, but also acting on what we read and doing as Moroni says which is to pray to know the truth of what we have read. The Gospel is true, Christ is our Savior, and we are His sheep and are being gathered in these the last days. Of this I testify with all of my heart, and say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. (sorry I know that was kind of essay worded 😂).

How are you all doing? How is Salem Hills doing these days, are they allowed to start doing Winter sports yet? I hope they can soon! It would be so good for them to be able to do something fun during the school year to keep their minds off of things :):) What is your guys plan for Thanksgiving?! THE BEST DAY EVER :) It has been raining here this whole week, which has been good moisture for the area. :) 

I am so eternally grateful for all of you guys. I know I say this every week, but I really do love and care about you guys with all of my heart. And just like was stated in General Conference last month, "We can trust His heart, with ALL of ours"❤ Keep Hoping everyday, keep smiling and being happy, because the Lord is about to do wonders among us.

I love you all forever and always!

Elder Dylan

Virtual Stake Conference

Crazy that in 10 days its Thanksgiving!! What are the plans for that week for everyone? We have been told that we are to pick up food from a members house on Thanksgiving day, and then me and Elder Williams just have to take it back to our apt to eat it. What a way to end my last Thanksgiving on the mission, doing it in style . . . COVID STYLE😎 ;) Parker: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to Parker, Happy birthday to you! I can't believe you will be 23 this week! Don't have too much fun! 

I wanted to give a quick statistical update on this mission life in the OCM. Right now we are:

- Baptizing 30 people in our mission this month of November SOLELY from technology finding and teaching people

- Teaching 4 to 5,000 people every month throughout the whole mission

- Finding on avg about 100 new people every week for the last 7 weeks

This week was a very great and amazing week! We had so much fun and so so many miracles came to us as we worked in Chillicothe. So without further ado, let's get into the week shall we?

Tuesday was a great day! And so also I am not sure if I have told everyone about what mission life kind of looks like right now. So we go on lots of walks, we call lots of people (I kind of feel like Garrett and Parker and being in a call center). But it is so much fun and honestly I love just being able to interact with people over the phone and being able to make these awesome connections and relationships with people that I may never meet in person while I am out here. Also, if you guys remember a guy named Jamie Krueger that lives here in the area. Well, he reached out to us on facebook messenger on Tuesday night and we started chatting with him through that. We ended up having a video call lesson with him that night. He had a stroke about 2 or 3 yrs ago and is confined to a wheelchair. He has a speech impediment and so he can't speak and he can't hear. So we had the video on during the lesson and texted a lesson to him for 45 min! And then guess what happened???? We challenged him to get baptized, and . . . HE ACCEPTED! We talked to Pres. Horgesheimer and he said he will get in contact with Salt Lake since we probably will need to do a live proxy baptism for Jamie because of his health condition. Don't have a date for his baptism quite yet, but will be working with President to figure out a day.

Wednesday was fantastic! We had zone conference in the morning from 9 am to 12. It was over zoom, but still super spirit filled and spirit led. We talked about THE WAY, and about how we as members and missionaries are clearing and plowing the way for people to come unto christ and to accept the Gospel into their life. I never really had thought about it like that before, but my mind and my heart completely agree because I believe it is only through the pioneering efforts of what members are doing now, that people can see the straight and narrow path more clearly and then be able to stay on that path once they are on it. Nothing really else happened that day, we talked with Jamie again, and were able to have a really good lesson with him on the 10 commandments. 

Thursday was wonderful in every. sense. of that. word. and here is why. We were able to find 2 new people that day. We were calling around the area, and on 2 seperate occasions these people picked up and we started talking. I shared John 3:15 as well as Luke 1:37 with both people, and they said that they felt that was heaven sent because of what they had been experiencing and been going through in their life lately. They said they want to have us call them again this next week, and be able to talk with them more about how they can find that peace that they are so desperately needing in their life right now. The other person we found was a guy named Will Sims. Will stopped us on our walk and said that his brother is a member here in the ward. Will has wanted to change his life now for a while, and when he saw us walking that day he knew that was his answer. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and gave him our number and we got his and his address. Super cool! We had a super cool lesson with the Wagner family that night. They are members here in the ward and the coolest people ever. Brother Wagner is a parol officer in Columbus, and she is from Mexico originally. We talked about General Conference with them.

Friday was such a great day (basically this whole week was just awesome). We were able to find 1 new person. He was a Do NOT Contact in our area book. I came across his name and told Elder Williams that we needed to call him. So we did and he said he hasn't met with missionaries for about 2 yrs now but wants to again. We set up a plan where we are going to call him every week and share a scripture or two and discuss them with him! Super awesome :) Overall it was a fantastic and great great day :).

Saturday was Saturday, which means AWESOME. We were able to find 2 new people that day, and then also were able to hand out another copy of the Book of Mormon to a guy named John. He lives in the outermost part of the woody part of the area and so we drove out there at 8:30 at night and man it was a pretty cool drive, with lots of twists and curves and feeling as though we would fall off a cliff any moment. ;) We also did a facebook live that morning on Temples and the importance of families in temples. With the Columbus South Stake having their stake conference this weekend and needing to do it virtually, all of us missionaries in the South Stake were able to watch the adult session on saturday night and the general session on Sunday morning through a zoom link. It was pretty fun and my 2nd stake conference I have been at on the mission. We had our district devotional that night.

Sunday was phenomenal! We had Stake Conference at 10 until 12. And then we went out on a walk after lunch in the afternoon. We hadn't been able to schedule any lessons before Sunday came, but we called up 2 people in area book who we met 3 weeks ago, and they both answered and we talked with them and shared Ether 12:4 with them, Shawn Ramsey was one of those people (who we gave the bible to 2 weeks ago) and she asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon on Sunday and so we were able to go and take that to her. Then we stopped by a guy named Gary's house that we met on Saturday and were able to talk for just a couple min that he had, and then share a scripture. So overall we started the day with zero lessons planned, and ended it with 3 lessons done and a Book of Mormon drop off. Just goes to show that God is with you as you play and do your part. We then had our mission wide devotional with one of Pres. friends from back home in Bountiful. I was also so happy I could hop on cousin Meg's Homecoming zoom call last night too!! So awesome she is home and doing well! I am hoping that by the time I get home in 8 months that I can have my homecoming IN PERSON ;).

So update on COVID in this mission. We found out that 6 missionaries have it right now, and Elder Bower who is the car specialist here. We found out that he was in OSU hospital with COVID as of Thursday last week. We held a mission wide fast for him this weekend, and we hear he is doing much better as of today. We are allowed to go outside, just have to be cautious. The mission office is not allowing anyone in until Thursday this week. Basically what happened is, when the Horgesheimers and senior office couples took the new missionaries to the Indianapolis temple that hadn't been endowed yet, some of them tested positive. Horgesheimers have said they are doing good and great. So that is a plus right now.

ALSO, before I forget . . . We found out this weekend that this next Sunday November 22, is the North America Northeast region broadcast at 11 am. President Henry B Eyring will be presiding over the meeting and Elder Soares of the quorum of the 12 apostles will also be apart of the broadcast. Super cool! I am super excited for it. I think we as missionaries will be allowed to watch it since it will take the place of church this week, I think🤞

Overall, this last week was probably the most rewarding week of the mission that I have experienced. My testimony has grown so much in just a short 7 days. I know God lives, and I know He lives because of what He has done for me in my life. He has always been there, the whole time. Sometimes we just get a MYOPIC view of things and forget to look at the eternal perspective of things. I am so grateful I know that God is with me, and that we as a family are going to be a family for eternity upon eternity. I love this Gospel, with all of my heart.

Here are some of my notes I took in the adult session of Stake Conference on Saturday night:

- Do what they think you can't do. He knows all truth. Most people stop learning, because of fear. You can learn whatever God would have you learn. Sometimes we think we are alone because we are the only ones walking, but those times when you saw only one set of footsteps, is when the Lord carried you. Our foundation must be the plain and simple truth that we grew up in. Deep learning comes from hard work, and an earnest desire to live and to triumph over our frailties.

- Prayer is needed. We don't have to have 'a reason' to talk to our Father in Heaven. Pray humbly and frequently. Prayers can be offered even in silence. We need to pray, even when we don't feel that we do.

FIGHT or FLIGHT

- Are we all in

- Start each thing you do with a prayer 

- remember you are loved by Heavenly Father

- Moroni 7:45

- Christ suffered in Gethsemene so we wouldn't have to. Forgive 70 times 7. Don't hold off til God has forgiven us; keep repenting daily . . . There are too many good things to let is get, so turn to God and allow Him to bring you toward Him.

- Ridicule cannot be there, it just cannot. We must be kind and loving, we must be the Lord's hands.We don't know what other people are doing there, we need to be kind.

- Integrity is defined as MORAL SOUNDNESS; Great blessings shall be poured out while we are in the temple, because it blesses us and build us up/strengthens us all.

- LET'S NOT WASTE TIME DOING DUMB THINGS; LET'S WASTE TIME DOING AWESOME THINGS. This life is the ONLY time we get to prepare to meet God. What we do with everyday we have, will in fact matter in the long run. Obedience matters.

- When we choose to see others deeply, we then are deeply seen

I hope you all know how much I love you and care so so very much about all of you guys. You guys are my lifeline, and my best friends in the whole world. Thank you so much for what you guys do for me everyday of my life. I miss you all so so so very much. I am so grateful we get each week to call and talk together. Forever and Always. It also has been raining a lot now too, but still nooooo snow, wahoo! This may be the only time in my life I may not get snow for a winter, unless its saving it for Christmas eve ;).

I love you forever and always,

Elder Dylan McEwan

D&C 4

Risen -- by Shawna Edwards (such a heart throbbing song)

November 2020 Excursions

 

A Great Week, 1 New Person, and Sickness in the Mission

I hope everyone is so excited for Thanksgiving in 2 1/2 weeks, I know I am! It was very sad to hear about Hunter Turner last week, I'm going to miss him. Very grateful we have a strong knowledge of Heavenly Father's plan for us, and that we know that He is always there for us and will never leave us.

Alright, now onto the amazing week that we had here in Chillicothe! But, a little update that we got from President Horgesheimer last night. So, we have zone conference scheduled for this week and we were supposed to have them in person like we have been doing. But we got an email last night that said because of missionaries in this mission getting sick recently, they have moved zone conference to over zoom again for this transfer. So we will have zoom zone conference this week on Wednesday morning from 9-12. Super excited for that!

Tuesday: It was Elder William's birthday and so just overall a really fun day. We were able to make a street contact with a lady named Patricia who was out walking her 2 dogs, and so she let us pet them and we talked with her. She is a baptist of faith, but super super passionate about prayer and how that leads us to a deeper relationship with Christ. That afternoon, we went and explored a trailer park and walked around in downtown Chillicothe, where a whole bunch of antique buildings are and a Church of Christ, so it was a ton of fun to walk around there and be able to meet a whole bunch of people. We then went to Tim Hortins for Elder William's birthday dinner. I had never been before, but it was actually pretty good, I almost wanted to order a 2nd order to go.

Wednesday: We woke up and got ready, and then drove about 45 minutes south down to Jackson city, where we will have district council each week. It was such a scenic drive, and so fun to see mountains (Ohio mtns, NOT Utah sized mountains ;). I gave a training about how we can be applying what we learn in our personal studies, to our everyday life. I believe that we can do this, by knowing what we really want out of our personal studies, and making goals and plans to learn something new in our studies. Myself, and the 3 other elders who were there, were able to give Sister Masina a blessing of comfort, which I was so grateful to be a part of. The Jackson county sheriffs also showed up to our district council! Apparently, an alarm had been triggered, and they thought someone had broken in. Nope, just the missionaries ;) Super exciting! We got back to Chillicothe, and we had a lesson scheduled for 7 pm down in the south part of our area, QUICK FACT: I didn't realize until about 2 days ago, but Chillicothe ward/area, covers 4 counties. So the lesson we had scheduled tonight was in the bottom county with the 2nd counselor in the bishopric, so we drove 55 minutes to his house, and turns out he was taking care of livestock, so had to cancel on us. But, we got to meet 2 other members who were there helping him. So that was a bonus!

Thursday: We had a zoom conference call with all the new missionaries who have gotten here in the last 4 weeks. And then we went over to the church, and made a super cool video for the South Columbus Christians page, so that was super fun, we did a running video! Then, that night we were on a walk in the west part of Chilli and a guy called us up. He said he has really been struggling with mental health and illness lately, and really is just trying to find his purpose in this life. At that moment, my training from being on HOPE squad kicked in, and I was able to listen to some of what he said, and talk to him a little and give him some advice. The call lasted about 45 minutes, and in the end he thanked us for being so willing to listen. He said he would call back when he is ready. Please pray for Tim. After that, we went over to Sister Barr's house, and she made us some really great mexican food and Elder William's gave a stellar lesson on Alma 56. We visited with them for a little bit, and then left and headed home. Overall, super great day!

Friday: We had our weekly Friday morning training meeting with the whole mission. We heard some very cool miracles, and then President shared a miracle to all of us. The bretheren in Salt Lake have been listening to the Lord and His counsel, and they have allowed us now to start doing service for nonmembers and members, and not just Justserve organizations only. This will be a huge blessing, especially going into these winter months now. That night, we were able to have a really awesome phone call lesson with a pastor guy named Randall. He is super cool! He tried to get us to attend an event with some other ministers and pastors this weekend in town, but I just told him that we were good, and thinking to myself (we get plenty of other people's opinions already, definately don't need anymore of it than we have to). We had our district devotional, and it was so fun! These have become my favorite! We just call over messenger and have a video devotional with our district members. So awesome!

Saturday: Alright, so Saturday was super fun! and busy. We got to the church at about 9:50 and set up to do our facebook live. We did our facebook live, which we taught about Moroni 10:32 and how we can become like God. Then, we had our ward missionary meeting with Brother Cain who is the ward mission leader. That lasted for about an hour, and we were able to get some really good names from him of who to call and reach out to. We also talked about how we could bring a lot of less actives back to church. I love these types of meetings, because so much gets talked about and we are able to accomplish so much! Very productive to say the least. Then, that afternoon we called up about 14 or 15 people who had been on the less active sheet. We shared a scripture with one of them, and set up a lesson for Friday this week with someone else, so keep the ward members here in your prayers the next few weeks ❤

NEW PERSON being taught! So, we met Kris Rothe tonight. He has met with missionaries in the past, accepted to be baptized many times, but never gotten baptized. We had an incredible First Vision lesson with him and his mom, and he told us he wants us to call him every week, and meet with him in person every Saturday night. And then, he was at church on Sunday the very next day! Keep him in your thoughts and prayers, he is a phenomenal human being.

Sunday: My favorite day of the whole entire week! Me and Elder Williams both gave talks in sacrament meeting. Elder Williams spoke on prayer and the importance of it and I spoke on having Courage and Faith, and how we can touch people's lives through having courage and faith. I shared Parker's story, and a ton of people came up to me after and said how much they appreciated me sharing it. Park, you're even a hero to these people in Chilli buddy ;) In the afternoon, we went over to Brother Anderson's house and had an hour visit with him and he talked the whole time about Noah's ark and how we can be receiving light and revelation for ourselves. We did the smash the can lesson with him and his son afterwards, super fun! We got back to the apartment and I had to lay down because my head was hurting very badly. Then we went on a walk to a cool place we hadn't been yet, and had a super awesome phone lesson with a lady in the ward who actually thought we were sales people at first haha! I assured her we weren't, and she said she would give us a call back after some things calm down for her life. Please pray for Katie. We had our Sunday Night mission wide devotional with one of President's friends from Utah, and did it over zoom. It was super fun! I feel like I have 2 or 3 or 4 zoom lessons or devotionals a day, it is definately more busy and efficient than knocking on doors and the Lord is providing a way.

We got invited to 2 Thanksgiving dinners on Thanksgiving day from 2 families here in the ward. I am just hoping so badly that we are approved and allowed to eat with them in their homes. I am going to ask President Horgesheimer this week about it, and pray he says yes or the area presidency says yes!

I know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and I know miracles can and will be seen as we accept President Nelson's challenge to Hear Him, and to become more like Him. With everything that went on last week with the country, and the election, I want us to remember and invite us to remember, that Jesus Christ is at the center of it all. He loves us, and He cares about us. Pray to Him daily for peace, comfort, and happiness in our life. His kingdom is the only kingdom, that will stand on the day of judgement. Don't lose hope, because we have every reason to hope, because of our Savior.

I hope everyone is doing well! Crazy that the holidays are starting to pick up! It is still 70 degrees, blue and sunny skies where I am. :) Is it snowy there yet? Have they gotten the trees up on Salem Pond yet for Pond Town Christmas? The most wonderful time of year!

I love you all and am so so grateful for all that you all do for me. I miss you all so very much, and I know we are being blessed and strengthened each and every day. You all mean the world to me :)

I love YOU forever and always!❤

Elder Dylan McEwan

2020 Chevy Equinox

How did Halloween treat everyone? I loved seeing Lola Ks video of how well and amazing she performed on Friday night! So proud of you little monkey! :) So glad to hear that everything and everyone is doing great! Also, 3 weeks til Thanksgiving, which is crazy crazy!

So first things first . . . Who is my new companion!? He is Elder Williams and is from South Jordan, Utah. He learned spanish in the MTC and now is speaking English with me. He loves running and ran cross country in high school! You already know we have been running every morning! ;) Also, Aunt Libby emailed me and told me that she used to teach Elder Williams as one of his primary teachers in Taylorsville Utah!! Small small world we live in!

Thursday -- I got up at 5:30 and finished packing, ate breakfast, and me and Elder Moss left Wadsworth to drive 2 hrs down to Powell. It was a sad moment to leave him, but he is training Elder Miller and GUESS WHAT?!?! Elder Miller is from Salem, Utah and he graduated just this last year! But anyway, I found out I would be with Elder Williams and then we got both our belongings, and I got the keys to our brand NEW 2020 Chevy Equinox that we get to drive. It had 20 miles on the odometer when I drove it out of the Powell parking lot😎 We got down to Chilicothe after stopping for lunch at Subway, and walked into the apartment and Whack! let's just say that the 2 other elders before us, did not clean the apartment or clean or throw any food away, and so basically a tornado had touched down there! Me and Elder Williams then spent the next 30 min unpacking our suitcases, then spent the next 2 hours cleaning and disinfecting dishes and cleaning everything. Then, we had to go shopping that night because we also had no food at that point. By the time we got back, it was 7:30 and so we called the bishop and ward mission leader and that was our day.

Friday -- We had a mission-wide training meeting at 9 am where we talked about safety while being out right now and that we really just need to be staying cautious, especially with rioting more than likely starting up this week. After that mtg, we had a sync up meeting with Brother Cain (Ward mission leader) and then started on the member list in area book. We had a great phone lesson with Sister Burnheimer about John 3:16-17 and how God really truly does love us, and will always provide a way through Jesus Christ. We had a stake coordination mtg with all the missionaries in the Columbus south zone and the Stake President (President Madden). Then MIRACLE TIME!! We had 13 referrals to reach out to from the past elders, and we called all 13 that day. On 2 of those calls, they both wanted a bible drop off. So we dropped one off on Friday and the other off on Sunday. The one we dropped off to on Friday wants to meet with us this week on Friday. Pray for Brian (that's his name) this week! We also talked to a guy named Randall on the phone. Randall is a minister here in Chilicothe and wants to meet with us tomorrow night. Super cool!

Saturday -- Was a very great day! We went on a really long walk in the city part of Chilicothe. They have a lot of cool stores (Hobby lobby, TJ Max, Dicks Sporting Goods) so we went and did our own makeshift version of street contacting (smiling and waving at people) since we aren't allowed to do it right now. We drove to the south part of the ward, and had a really cool over the phone lesson with a guy named John (nonmember) and he said he hasn't met with missionaries for 15 years now. He wants us to come this Saturday to his house to talk with and teach him. Another huge miracle! 

Funny story (that freaked Elder Williams out 😉). We were sitting in the car talking with John on Saturday night. I had just pulled the car to the side of a road on a street full of houses. Across the street there was a fenced yard with a dog in it. The dog started barking loudly, and finally after 5 or so min, the owner came out and started chewing us out while I was talking to John. The guy was telling us to roll the window down, I finished the call and rolled the window down and the guy told me. "You're spooking my dog. Get out of here now." So I smiled and told him what we were doing and we had just finished talking to who we needed to and would be on our way out now. As we left to head home, Elder Williams softly said, "Well that was nerve wracking"  . . . Had to break him in early I guess 🤣.

Sunday was just an amazing and such a wonderful wonderful day! We had in person church at 10 am. We got told that Chillicothe ward meets every Sunday for in person sacrament mtg and so hoping that continues forward. We got to the church bldg and immediately set out on meeting as many people as we could. Elder Williams said the opening prayer and I said the closing prayer. Then, after church we both got asked to give talks in sacrament meeting this next week on Sunday, so we are stoked for that!! We had a sync up meeting with Bishop Brower. Then we did the bible drop off for Shawn Ramsey, and then went over to the church bldg for the YSA devotional with Elder and Sister Utchdorf which was so so good and wonderful. We also found out that a guy named Jamie Krueger is wanting to be baptized here in Chillicothe, but has some health concerns and so we are working with President Horgesheimer and Bishop Brower to see if we could do a live proxy baptism for Jamie instead. Stay tuned for updates on him.

This ward is so awesome from the people we have already met and been able to talk to. Honestly, the last 5 days I have been the most tired I have been in quite a long time. With doubling into Chillicothe and needing to meet and visit with everyone and learn the area, as well as to train a new missionary right out of online mtc, I'm pretty tired today. But I'm so grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow my ability to lead and serve. The ward here is very less active and everyone from what we have been told, is getting comfortable with doing church at home instead of wanting to be at church, so we are going to work with Bishop Brower and Brother Cain to get people back to church on Sundays. Pray for this ward, and pray for their desire to hear from us and to be receptive to wanting to come back. We had about 20 or 21 people at church yesterday.

Facts on Chillicothe and the area:

- Very country like/Also very city like. Basically, 50 percent is like trees and fields and hills, and the other 50 percent is over where Walmart, Golden Corral (Sadly Golden Corral is closed 😥), TJ Maxx, etc. 

- We live in a townhouse kind of. It doesn't have a garage, but it's a 2 story apartment/mini house and super nice!

- With us being in southern Ohio now, it hasn't snowed here yet. It is windy, blue skies, and sunny days all day everyday right now thankfully.

- Ohio University is right down the street from our house. Ohio University is a small D3 campus college, kind of cool though to say I'm "kind of" serving on a campus even though no one is in school there right now.

I wanted to share with everyone my testimony of what I have learned in the last 5 days since we last talked: I know that this Gospel of Jesus Christ is real, and I know that Christ is at the center of everything we do in life. As I'm training Elder Williams, I have thought about my time 15 months ago when I became a missionary and how much I have grown since then. I feel myself working harder, smarter, and quicker everyday out here to do everything I need to and can. I know that this is the Lord's work here on the earth. Our Savior and older brother died so that we could experience growth and progression, and succeed gloriously and live with Him and our Heavenly Father for eternity. In the words of The Great Ohio Columbus Mission song: I will waste and wear my life, in the mission that I love; sound forth the trumpet that will ever stand. 

May we all, have the desired diligence each day, to waste and wear our lives for our Savior and brother, and do so with a heart full of gratitude.

I love and miss you all so very much! You all are so amazing and I care deeply about all of you and all your guys successes that you have been experiencing! I know Heavenly Father is watching over and blessing each and every single one of us❤❤.

I love you forever and always!!

Elder Dylan McEwan