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