Chevy Chase, MD (3/27/2013)

On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 12:45 PM, Chance Gold <chance.gold@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hey everyone!!

I'm really glad that Amanda had such a great time with Mitch at prom. I read about it in her letter to me and I wrote her one back this morning, but it was before I read that she had already gone. So i'm talking like she hasn't gone yet. 

Speaking of letters, I wasn't able to write any on either of my flights because on the first one, I fell asleep off and on for two and a half hours and then on the second flight I was in between to ladies that kept asking me questions about the church and about being a missionary. SOOOO I spent half an hour last night writing a few letters and then some time this morning writing a couple more. 

As for where I live, I'm in Chevy Chase, MD which is in D.C. and our apartment is the church. I'll send a pic in another email of what it looks like. But our apartment is in the bottom of the church. It's on western Ave. But you can't send me mail or packages to where I live. You have to send them to 11700 Falls Rd  Potomac, MD 20854.  That's the mission office, and they will forward it to our mail box. Keep in mind that all mail will take about a week and a half to get to me.

Ya, like i said before, I haven't had anytime to write anyone, so I haven't been able to write Keaton either. I hope to write him soon though, I want to tell him about everything that's going on.

Ok, story time! So this week was probably one of the worst/best weeks of my life. I had a dream this week about pretty much everything that I have been homesick for. So Mom, Dad, Sairah, Amanda, Cindy, and Herc are all in this dream (don't be offended if your name wasn't said. I said pretty much everything, not all). This dream was so real when I woke up I was really depressed. When my companion went into the shower, I broke down crying because I felt so homesick. So I got down on my knees and prayed. I told my Heavenly Father that I needed his help and that I couldn't handle the homesickness any longer. I said, "I put myself in your hands Heavenly Father, I need you to lift me up and help me." After that, within a few hours I was feeling better. I still had homesickness, but it wasn't nearly as bad. The next day was great!! I hardly felt any home sickness and I was happy.  I felt like I was getting more comfortable with everything and that I was learning a lot. So that was my major spiritual event for the week :)      

It's ok that you haven't sent me anything, that's my fault for not telling you where to send it. As for the emails and letters you can do what ever you would like :)   It will be great hearing from you either way.

Well I have to get going. 

I love you all and I cant wait to heard from you all!!

Love Elder Gold

This is the church where Elder Gold lives in the basement. 

A busy DC Street.

First Area

On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 3:42 PM, Chance Gold <chance.gold@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Greetings from D.C.!!!! I made it everyone!! D.C. is beautiful!! haha There are a lot of trees here. I mean they are everywhere! 

But yes, as you heard from me and my mission president, Our flight from SLC was delayed by like an hour and forty minutes so we didn't even leave the runway till about 3am. So then because the flight was delayed we had to get another flight from Atlanta to Dulles. We called the travel office and the only flight they could get us was at 12:15pm. So we got to Atlanta around 6:30am and then had to wait till 12:15. So we got to Dulles and from there we went to our mission president's house and had big macs and then went to bed. We woke up and had dinner, which was like BBQ pork, salad, rolls, and then had delicious cake. P.S. mom, Sister Matsumori gives us a recipe book at the end of our mission, and her cooking is delicious. So after dinner they went over car rules and they gave us the insurance cards for the cars (p.s. in my very first area i have a car ) and they also gave us credit cards for our monthly allowance. 

Then we had a testimony meeting. Now this was probably the best part because as you all know, I wasn't too stoked to come to D.C. when I opened my call. Sister Matsumori changed my view about it though. She told us that there is a reason we were called here, and that reason is because God wants us to be the face of  his church in the government side of things. She told us that there were some sisters that meet with a government official from Italy and because he liked how nice and genuine they were, he allowed the church to build the Rome, Italy temple. That was just so humbling for me to know that the Lord trusts me enough to represent the church in the government. So after she told us about that, I remembered the Spanish elder that guessed where I was going and said D.C. and I knew right then and there that this is 100% where I'm supposed to be! 

    So the next morning we got up and they had made breakfast for us. It was a delicious egg casserole with potatoes and peppers. Then we went to the stake center, which is right by the temple and I met my companion!! His name is Elder Epperson! He's from the Salt Lake area and has been out for 16 months. So after we met, we went to the chapel and they introduced all the new missionaries to the mission and said goodbye to some of the missionaries leaving. 

   After that we went to the temple!! It is massive and the celestial room is amazing! I wish you could see it! When we came out and I was allowed to go off and have a Sacred Grove experience. So I went off into the trees by the temple and prayed and made a commitment to my Heavenly Father. After that we came to our apartment which surprisingly is in the bottom of a church. haha. Our apartment is literally two doors down from the bishops office- kinda weird. But then we went shopping and came home and found out we were locked out. So now we're waiting for someone in the travel office here to drop off an extra key. But I'm also interested in what President Matsumori said to you about me and vice versa. Also I'm really sorry that you guys are sick still  I'll keep you all in my prayers. Well, I have to go now and let Elder Epperson email his family. I Love you all!! 

Elder Gold

Birthday/Last MTC Day Letter

My birthday was great!!! For being in the MTC. We used the party stuff you sent the night before, it was a blast! Also thank you for the lemon bars, they were really good.

About Pres. Watson, I didn't see him either. If I had known I would have kept an eye out for him. But we're getting mail today and I'll check to see if it's there and get it signed. If it's not there then you'll have to send it to the mission home be cause I leave late tonight. Ya Pres. Watson was right, I had all of those duties, we really didn't do anything though.

I also did get Granny's card, please tell her that I got it and that I'll send her a letter as soon as I can. Actually, will you let everyone know that I'm really sorry that I haven't written anyone one back? I have just been really busy and everyone should be getting letters hopefully sometime this week.
This week flew by so fast. It hardly felt like I was here for two weeks. My teaching has way improved!!! I have learned so much and my testimony has grown like never before. I am SO grateful for the opportunity I had to be here.

So as for our Narnia box (that's what we call our secret box) It was in the top of our closets. All it had though was like protein bars and Twizzlers and Quaker chews and a Book of Mormon that had a few notes in it and like six signatures. I wasn't able to eat some of the food you guys sent me so I think I'll put it in the Narnia box for the next group of elders. 

I'm sorry I have to cut the letter short, I have people waiting for me. I will probably call sometime between 9:30-11 tonight or 6:30 and 7 tomorrow morning. I love you all!

Elder Gold

First Letter! :)

HEY EVERY ONE!!!

Everything is going great!! I sent you a letter on i think Friday so i hope you got it. Like I said in my letter, My companion is great! his name is Elder Bodda, from Las Vegas. He's a really cool guy and we're getting along great!! I have a few pictures that I'll attach of me and him and my district.
      I knew that everything here was going to be hard, but it really is HARD. I never thought that teaching the gospel would be so hard. So now for what i did from dropping me off till now. After dropping me off, we walked to the front of the building and he took my luggage while i went through and got my name tag and my schedule haha. and i actually ran into the missionary that was at golden corral! but after that he took me to my room, and we dropped off my luggage.
  The room is semi big. It has three bunk beds and two big closet's (each one having two individual spaces) and then two desks (each having room for two elders). I room with two other Elder Treasure and him comp Elder Porter. So after i dropped off my stuff I went to my classroom where i met Elder Bodda and the rest of my district. We had a quick Rule overview and then we had a huge fireside for all the new missionaries and then we went back to our room. The next day we had personal study A LOT. Then we had lunch and then We met our teachers, Sister Hardy and Brother Lyman. Later that night we met the Branch Presidency, President Whetten and Brother Gail and Brother Daniels. They had us stand up and say our names,where we were from, where we were going, and give our testimonies. After that they interviewed us just to see if we had any learning disabilities or if we took any medication. So then after the interview, they gave us our district callings. Me and Elder Bodda were called to be the Zone leaders!!! ha we dont really do much. i mean i know we do a lot like watch our district and make sure they're doing well. but we just turn out lights and shut doors at night. So then pretty much everyday after that has just been class time and then personal study and we had gym time once and we went to the Provo Temple this morning! It was really fun!!
 Well i'm so sorry to cut things short but i have like five people waiting for the computer. i should have time to send other people letters tonight and they/you should get them later tonight! I love you all sooooooooo much and i miss everyone with all my heart and i'm glad everyone is doing alright!! Can't wait to write you next week!!

The MTC Address

This post will be very tiny, but for those who want to write Chance, his address right now is:

Elder Chance Gold
MTC Box 117 DC-North 0319
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604

Go ahead and write as much as you want, I'm sure he'd appreciate it! :)

First Post and Last Goodbye

And my adventure begins! I was set apart tonight to be a full-time missionary. (Don't worry, Sairah is typing this for me. :]) What an amazing experience it was to be set apart and to have a blessing given to me for strength and wisdom in the gospel and to not suffer from homesickness.

Tomorrow begins my true journey into the missionary world. I'm excited, but slightly terrified at the same time. I do feel privileged, though, to be able to serve my Lord and the people of the Washington DC North mission.

For those preparing to serve mission, I have a few words of advice. You've probably heard this from a lot of people before, but you need to study, study, study! Primarily out of Preach My Gospel. And make sure to be reading your scriptures everyday. As I go into the MTC, those are a couple of things that I wish I had done a lot more of after graduating high school to help prepare me for the mission ahead.

This is the blog my family has set up to post my letters to. If you would like to be updated and read my letters, stay tuned and go ahead and follow me. :)

See ya in two!