Elder Gold Goes To DC North: January 2015

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been awesome! We were able to help with the Festival of Lights, enjoy the ward Christmas party, have some great ,lessons on the meaning of Christmas, and take a tour of our nation's Capitol!

So to start out, as I'm sure most of you are aware by now, the church has been promoting the "He Is the gift" initiative to help people understand the true meaning behind Christmas. Again this is something huge that the church is putting out there and trying to get everyone to help spread the word! So we have been going around to members, less active members, and non-members and sharing the "He is the gift" video and the pass along cards with them. It's been really cool to see people, as we teach them, understand the message and realign their thoughts towards the Savior. I really recommend you watch the video because it really is a good one :).

I would have to say though, that the highlight of the week was that a less active family that we have been working with came to church!! This family never comes to church because they allow sports and other things take priority over church, but they came! I was so excited! It was a great way to go out on my last Sunday there :)

As I mentioned earlier, this past Wednesday we were able to go help with the Festival of Lights! I was so excited because last year I was down in the Patuxent ward (which is the second most southern ward in our mission), so I couldn't go last year. This year was super fun! We got there and they "suited us up" with a reflector vest, radios (ones you talk through...not to listen to! Ha!), and cool lightsaber-looking glow wands. From there they sent us from post to post. There was the Temple Gate post where we would show people where to enter into the temple parking lot (it's a two sided entry/exit area right next to each other). Then there was "The Quarterback" post. The DC temple parking lot goes in a circle and a lot of people try going the other way. So the quarterbacks job is to make sure that doesn't happen. Then there was the Crossing Guard post. It was just like it sounds. You were a crossing guard for all people crossing from the temple parking lot to the visitors' center. Then we would take a 10-15 minute break and the go to the Visitor's Center Gate post. They made sure that only diplomats came through those gates to park at the VC itself. All other people had to go through the temple gates.

In the end all of us were able to serve at each post. It was super fun talking on the radios and just throwing jokes back and forth. We also had a fun time with the light wands. They seriously look like mini lightsabers! They were fun and we looked super official. It was awesome!! (Note from Chance's parents: He is still such a kid!)

This past Saturday was really fun as well! We went and helped with our wards Christmas party! They asked us a week or two in advance to be the "picture takers" for the photo booth activity. They also asked us to be in charge of the "guessing jars" table where there were five jars full of candy and people were to guess how many pieces were in each one. So we used my camera to take people's pictures! There were props as well, like Santa hats, reindeer ears, hula skirts, tutu's, and a long plastic candy canes. So it was fun to see the kids dress up and take pictures :)

After the activities were done, they had a Christmas program where they showed a video of the kids reenacting the Christmas story from the book of Luke. It was really cute and all the little kids were so excited to see themselves on "the big screen". During all of this and other singing performances, they had milk and cookies on the tables for everyone to have and enjoy. One of which were no bake cookies!!! I was soooooo excited! I would say my favorite ones were a chocolate cookie on peppermint bark. Mmmmmm super good!

Today was also a great day! We went to get our hair cuts from the mom of the less active families in our ward. We were finally able to set up an appointment to go over there. Of course I won't be going over there because I'll be gone, but I'm still excited none the less :).

After that we went to the Capitol to take a tour! It was really good to see some of the old rooms that the politicians used to discuss and debate laws and bills back from the early 1800's to about 1850. I also didn't know this, but they have this room called "The Old Hall of the House of Representatives" where they have a ton of different statues of people that had significant meaning to a certain state. So, there was one of Brigham young who represented Utah and King Kamehameha for Hawaii, They had John L. Swigert Jr. from Apollo 13 representing Colorado. It was super cool to also learn that the dome on the top of the Capitol was actually too small in proportion to the rest of the building. When they were adding on to the Capitol, they didn't account for the size of the dome. In order to fix it, they they added the pillars that you see around the dome today so it looks more proportionate. I learned a lot of really cool things today!

Last but not least, as you may have guessed from what I wrote earlier, it's transfer time and I'm being transferred!! It's crazy because I thought I would stay in Bowie and end my mission here. Nope! I'm being put someplace else (I think into a bike area) to most likely end my mission! It's crazy how quickly things are coming to a close! I'm still working hard and sharing the gospel though :). Elder Summit is staying for a third transfer. He wasn't to happy about that, but hey! What can you do, right? I'll let you all know where I went, who my companion is, and if I'm on bike next Monday!

Well I love you all and hope had a great week! Stay strong and faithful to the Lord and he will guide and bless you! In hard times remember what the God told Joseph Smith, when he said "And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

-D&C 122:7

Have a great week!

Hello Everybody!

We had a pretty good week last week! We taught a lot! Unfortunately it wasn't to any investigators. We have two investigators, but one got sick and the other injured her back. So, we didn't have the opportunity to meet with them this week. We offered to give both of them a blessing, and they said that they would get in contact with us today but they never did. In all honestly I don't know how actually interested they are. They had us over for dinner A week or two ago and during dinner we said thank you for the food. They responded with "It's the least we can do since you helped us move in!". We have a feeling that they have been only interested in listening to the message that we have to share because they feel obligated to because we helped them move in. So the next few weeks continue on we'll see what happens.

Like I mentioned we were able to teach quite a few good lessons this past week. At the same time though, it was kind of slow because of the holidays. We were however, able to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ a couple of times, which was good for us to practice because we haven't taught it in a while. However on Thursday (Thanksgiving), we were not to proselyte. So that entire day was like a second P-Day for the week. No lessons were taught that day, but we did have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

It was just a pretty chill day. We woke up and hung out around the house for little while not really doing anything. Then we went to the church so we could email (we forgot to do it the Monday prior - Sorry Mom!). We were at the church until about 3:45 pm, then went to a family's home for Thanksgiving dinner, and we stayed there until about 8:45pm. It was super awesome!

We had dinner with the Wilson's. They are an African-American family in the ward. Not sure where he's from or where his ancestors are from, but Sis. Wilson is from Jamaica! As far as I could tell it was mostly her friends and relatives that were there for the dinner. It was funny though, because when we knocked on the door we thought Sister Wilson answered it. We walked in, took off our coats and went into the kitchen. To our surprise we found the actual sister Wilson standing there! We had totally forgot that she had a twin sister! If they had not dressed differently I would not have been able to tell them apart at all! They both look completely identical and they sound exactly the same. I think the other thing they gave it away was that Sister Wilson's sister is a little more crazy than she is! :) Haha.

The meal itself was a thanksgiving feast! There was stuffing, green bean casserole, turkey, pasta salad, beans and rice, and goat curry! I have never been able to try goat before, so I was pretty excited about that. They also had this sweet potato dishes with the marshmallows on top, but I was so full I didn't have any dessert! I don't know how you can't have dessert on Thanksgiving, but I didn't! There were a lot of good desserts though! There was pumpkin cheesecake, raspberry cheesecake, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and the sweetest cornbread I've ever had. They had also bought a ton of the sparkling drinks. Some were Martinelli's and some were just off brands.

All in all, the food was absolutely delicious and I was stuffed to the brim! I literally could not eat one more bite because I was so full.

The company was absolutely fantastic! Like I said, there was a ton of Sister Wilson's family and friends there, so there were a lot of Jamaicans. It was really fun/funny to be able to sit there and try and pick out what they were saying because they were speaking Jamaican English! We would be sitting there trying to pick out what they were saying and all of a sudden they would all start laughing. So,we would start laughing as well just to make it look like we knew what they were talking about when in reality we had no idea! It was even funnier though when we actually did understand what they were saying because, (1) what they said was funny, and (2) what they said that was funny was said in a Jamaican accent so it made it even funnier. I absolutely loved hanging out and being with that family! And again Sister Wilson's sister was an absolute riot! We had a ton of fun :).

Also this past week introduced us to the new initiative that the church is doing. The "He is the Gift" initiative, or #sharethegift. As most of you remember, last Easter the church came out with the "Because of Him" video that reminded us all of the reason why we celebrate Easter and the atonement that our Savior Jesus Christ performed for us. Well this initiative is pretty much the same thing, except focusing on Christmas! When we look around now-a-days at Christmas, most of the time the first thing that comes to our mind is presents, Santa or making delicious Christmas candies. Where in there did we remember to fit in Christ? So the church's goal with this movie is to be able to help people remember the true meaning of Christmas, why we celebrate it, and what the changes are that we need to make in our mindset about Christmas.

If you haven't been able to watch the video that the church made, you need to! It is an absolutely wonderful video and I feel the spirit every single time I watch it. It is a really great way to help others to come unto Christ. However, we need everybody's help to get the word out on this and spark their interest in it! The church has enlisted the help of the missionaries around the world, but also the members as well! They are really going all out on this! On December 7th of this month they are buying out the front page of YouTube and advertising it all day long. On top of that they're buying advertising in New York's Times Square as well! I am not sure who said it, but it has been quoted throughout our mission that, "Satan has had a hold on the Internet long enough! It's our turn now!" And I hundred percent agree with that.

So, in your December Ensign, you should have received a pamphlet that talks about this initiative. On the the back page of this pamphlet there are about nine pass along cards that the church designed. My challenge to every single one of you that gets the December Ensign is to take those cards and pass them out to your friends, family, neighbors, and relatives...anyone that you think might need/want to become closer to Christ and/or maybe begin to rebuild a relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Last but not least, I finally had the opportunity to go with all of the missionaries that are going home between now and April 15 to the Arlington Cemetery! It was an amazing opportunity to see history and to see the thousands upon thousands of wonderful men and women who risked their lives and died to save this country. Not only that but it was awesome to get an understanding and knowledge as to how the Arlington Cemetery actually came about and the historical aspects behind it. One awesome thing that I learned was that the Arlington Cemetery actually used to be a plantation! And the house itself was built as a memorial to George Washington. The Lee family eventually gained ownership of the land and of the house and moved in. At this time, again, it was a plantation and had a lot of African-American slaves. When the Civil War was over Gen. Lee and his family never returned to the land because if they did, they would've been taken prisoner for tax evasion. So he and his family never returned and the government then took possession of the property. The story goes that the cemetery actually came about as kind of a slap in the face to the Lee family by saying "We're going to turn your land into a cemetery full of the men and women that died in this war that you championed ." From that point on it was turned into cemetery for the members of the armed forces that died in the service to their country.

We also had the awesome opportunity to watch the changing of the guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. First,we we went to The Old Post Chapel in Fort Myers which is on Arlington property. We went into the chapel, and could only stay for a little bit because they had a funeral coming up. We sang our mission song to the two military personnel who were in charge of running the funerals that day. After we did that, we were supposed to leave to watch the changing of the guard, but we ended up looking at the horses the military uses to carry the caskets of the soldiers for whom they were holding the funeral. Once we were finished looking at the horses, we basically had to speed walk for a mile and a half to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier so we could make it in time to watch the Changing of the Guard. Luckily, we barely made it in time! It was really an amazing experience, to be in that sanctified area of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and to watch the reverence and respect these military men had for them. They make sure that there tomb is guarded at all times. It was truly amazing :)

Here is a fun little fact that I did not know: It didn't actually dawn on me that there was an actual soldier's body in the Tomb. And then I found out there was one, but recently they had removed the body because due to DNA testing they were able to figure out who the unknown soldier was and they sent his body home to his family to be buried properly. Turns out there are actually three or four bodies in the tomb itself. There is a body in the tomb to represent each war. One from World War I, one from World War II, one from the Vietnam War, and the Korean War. The Vietnam war soldier was the one that they DNA tested and figured out who it was. Pretty cool I think!

Well, that was my fantastic week! I hope you all had great one as well! This week should be pretty busy for us so I'll let you know how that goes! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Gold