I hope you all had such a great week and learned so much, and experienced so many awesome things. Does time seem to be just flying by? Like 2021 starts in 17 days from now, and Christmas is next week! This is the best time of year, and I am so glad we all get to celebrate it.
This week was shorter with transfers, but so many things done and experienced and accomplished nonetheless. I have learned so much these last few days of aligning my will with Heavenly Father and striving to be the very best that I can be every single day. I have noticed, how much more my love has grown for the members of the district and for the people they are currently teaching and how my thoughts have been thinking about how I can best be helping them. I love it :) Elder Bennett is a cool guy. He is from Saratoga Springs, Utah. His parents are Gayleen Greene Bennett and Gilbert Bennett. He has been on the mission in Ohio for 4 months (his original call), he loves the medical field and worked as a CNA and MA before coming out, and he graduated high school 2020. He also knows Joe and Austen Carrick and their families. They used to be in the same ward apparently.
Thursday -- We woke up and got everything ready for Elder Williams to get transferred, and then left the apartment at 10:45 to head up to Columbus which is about an hour and a half away from Chillicothe. I picked up my new companion, Elder Bennett, and we headed back down to Chilli. Before we even left Powell, Elder Williams called me and told me that he still had the keys to the apartment . . . so I drove to Westerville where he is currently, and picked up his keys and we were good at that point ;) We had 3 awesome lessons that day with people. One of them was Hoodbilly John and we took some pamphlets up to his house that he could read and be able to study from. We then worked at the church bldg on posts and sharing some scriptures and quotes to a couple of our facebook groups. Super fun day, needless to say I was really tired from driving about 4 1/2 hours total that day.
Friday -- ZOOM DAY!! We literally had 3 zoom mtgs that day. We had our mission wide zoom meeting at 9 am, and then we had the Columbus south stake zoom mtg with stake president at 10 am, and then that night we had a zoom mtg with the other district leaders at 9 pm. So much was learned that day, and I am so grateful for other leaders who are able to teach me and help me to know what to do and to do it to the best of my ability. We had weekly planning which went so good and were able to map out what we want to be able to do this transfer. I set up the training visits with the Athens Elders and Jackson Elders, as well as with the zone leaders for these next 3 weeks. BUSY, BUSY, BUSY, and I am so glad to keep the foot on the pedal and to keep pressing forward.
Saturday -- 6 lessons, and beautiful sunsets. We had the blessing of having 6 lessons this day all over the phone. Which was super good, and honestly so rewarding when these people pick up the phone and the Lord speaks through us to be able to teach them and help them. We also had a ward coordination mtg with Brother Cain and were able to discuss how we can best be going about helping these families in the ward. The meeting lasted about an hour and a half. He then took us to get Mcflurries at McDonalds which were super good . . . I got the Oreo Mcflurry 😉😂 We then had our district devotional at night on messenger and we were able to have a super good time with the other members of the district, we have such a cool district this transfer . . . As all of my districts have been! :)
Sunday -- How can it already be Sunday?! Wow this day snuck up on me. We were able to have a great time at church and be able to meet a couple of new families, and had one of the people who had gotten home from his mission 4 weeks ago, give his mission homecoming talk and did such a great job. We were able to call Sister Zufelt which was super awesome. She is in the primary presidency, and we had a good visit about being able to serve others and truly see them as Christ sees them. Then we hopped on the zoom call for young mens in the ward, had a great lesson on Charity and why we need charity in our life. Then we took the first couple nativity pieces over to the Barr family. We decided the Barr family for it, and they are such a cool family and very loving (the people who gave us tamales for Thanksgiving). I didn't get caught thankfully when I left it on their front porch. Then we drove over to McMahans and they gave us steak, fries and onion rings, and some christmas chocolate and candy. Yes, I am still working out everyday and staying in shape 😉 We talked about how we can be just like King Benjamin and helping those in need, it was such a cool lesson and honestly I love the McMahans. They are an older couple and super awesome and cool! Then we had a mission wide devotional with one of President Horgesheimer's past mission companions, and it was such a cool and good night. So grateful we get to connect with all 240 missionaries over zoom each Sunday night.
- Things to look for this week:
- Zone Conference IN PERSON on Wednesday up in Reynoldsburg (90 min drive)
- Training visit exchange down in Athens on Thursday (2 hour drive)
- Training visit exchange with zone leaders up in Pickerington (90 min drive)
All in all, I will be driving close to 600 miles this week by the time Sunday comes, and I love it. I love road trips and being able to see new parts of Ohio and just being able to drive all over. It is the best! I am also giving a spiritual thought at zone conference on Wednesday, and my topic to speak on is "How do we make room for Christ in our life", and we are going to have some nativity stories that Sister Horgesheimer has put together for everyone.
I learned so much this week, which made me realize the importance of being humble and full of humility everyday. The ability to have the spirit is something I have been trying to learn more about lately, and I have been able to learn this very amazing and cool principle: "We gain the spirit of love, when we choose to be full of love and to turn outwards." I love this. When we choose to follow after our Heavenly Father's example, we choose to follow after the being who is perfect and who knows where our paths and journeys will indeed lead us. I am so grateful for that knowledge that we can choose everyday to be who we want to be, and as we focus on our purpose in this life, we can be brought to be humble and full of humility because that is the nature of Jesus Christ in all of His life. I know this Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, it is real, and it has changed my life. I have now hit my 16 month mark out here today, and realizing that I am now 2/3 of the way down with my mission in Ohio, I love that we as members of the church can be missionaries in our everyday life by choosing to proclaim what we know to be true, which is simply our testimonies of Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel. I love President Nelson's quote from a past General Conference, "If you think this is it, buckle down, because this is just the beginning. Take your vitamins, it is about to get exciting." I encourage us to continue to pray and study the scriptures daily, because they are our guides to life and to eternity. God speaks to us everyday, and we too can speak to him through the way that we best Hear His words and His loving voice.
How are things going in Salem right now? What is happening this week with school and work for everyone? Mom and Garrett GOOD LUCK with school finishing up this week for you guys, and I know you will both do so so great!! Everyone please drive safe up to Logan this weekend, and miss Lola K you are going to do so good at your recital on Saturday little monkey. Keep making Uncle Dylan proud!
I love you all forever and always:) Be safe this week!
Elder McEwan
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