Week 11: Great Falls, VA -- "Getting Transferred!"

Joshua Duke	9:05 AM (3 hours ago)
to me, eduke8, Jordan, Emily, Kaili, Sarah, Lauren, Lizzy, Sydney

Hey all!!!

How is everyone? How's life? School is almost over for the year, ya? Lauren is gonna be a senior next year! So is Sarah! So is Jordan??

So this week was pretty crazy! It started pretty normal. Had an exchange Tuesday with Elder Bryson. He's a cool guy. He's been out like 20 months, and he was way trunky! But other than that, he's a good missionary! While we were on exchanges, at dinner with the Hunter's, we got a call from President. He told me I was getting transferred! So Wednesday I had my last day with Elder Jacobs and packed, and Thursday, I got picked up by my new companion. His name is Elder Mix and is from North Carolina. So I left Algonkian and now I'm in a ward called Great Falls. It's like 8 miles down the highway from Algonkian. It's a pretty big area, but it's a car area so that's nice! We drive a 2017 Chevy Malibu! We also live in a high rise on the 23rd floor! I'm in a new zone, too. (All the zones are just the stakes, and the areas are the wards.)

It's a nice area (probably the richest in the mission, which makes things hard) We live in Tysons, which is very city, but as you go north, it gets pretty rural. Big farms and huge houses! We live right next to Aston Martin, Bentley, Maserati, Tesla, Alfa Romeo, and Mercedes dealerships. They have a McLaren 720S at the Bentley Dealership, which is dope! 

We had a baptism is this ward on Saturday! An older man named Earl. He's a funny guy that talks A LOT! He was super excited to get baptized! I only taught him once before Saturday, but I'm getting to know him.

Yitzhak is doing good! Still waiting for his wife to get back, but he's reading and hopefully he'll come to church consistently!

Charlotte is doing good! We met with her on Wednesday. She finally said she'd come to church! But I was here yesterday so I'll have to ask Elder Jacbos if Yitzhak and her made it.

We don't really have other investigators here in Great Falls. Our only 1 got baptized on Saturday. But we're working with the members a lot. Elder Mix has good relationships with them and there are lots of potential referrals from the members that are in the works right now. We'll see here in the coming weeks.

It's been quite the week. Getting used to a new area and getting to know all the members is rough, but I'm getting there! I miss Algonkian tons, but they're in good hands! Elder Jacobs' comp is Elder Worthington. Worthington came out with me, was here in Great Falls, and was trained by Elder Mix. We just did a switch and now he's with Elder Jacobs in Algonkian.

Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome week! I love you all and pray for you!

-Elder Duke

Pics

1, 2. Our table in Algonkian

3. Last day with Elder Jacobs

4-6 View from our apartment

7. Lunch on our last day together.

Week 10: Sterling, VA -- "Don't come down from your mountain!"

Hey everyone!

How's everyone been? How was the week?

First of all, everyone needs to stop getting engaged!!! First Yoshi, then Jordan, and now PK!?! I'm just waiting for Megan's here soon ;) lol

This week was super rough! We had a pretty good lesson with Yitzhak. He's off date now basically until his wife gets back. He told us that she isn't supportive of him at all. But he did tell us that he thought baptism by immersion seemed more meaningful than just a sprinkling, lol! He got a new dog named Louie who is super adorable! But eberytime he takes him on a walk, he listens to the Book of Mormon, which is awesome! He loves listening to it and he loves meeting with us, but he's just worried about his wife. He didn't come to church again this week. He said he's been super busy and has tons of family stuff that comes up. I think we're gonna go pick him up with a member next week. I know he'd love church, but he just hasn't been there yet to experience it!! But he's making progress and is reading, so we're hopeful!

Charloette met with us this week on Wednesday. She loved the lesson, but is hesitant to get baptized because she was baptized when she was a baby. We told her about preisthood authority and all that. She just needs to pray about it and keep reading. She's also still doesn't want to come to church. We're trying to get her there, but it's a struggle...

We haven't met with Cas yet. Apparently she isn't super close with that girl in our ward and we don't have any contact info. Facebook, though! Maybe we'll find her and get in contact.

Saturday was the worst day ever! It got super hot this weekend and we were biking out to a referrals house. We were like 25-30 minutes from the apartment. We go to the house, they're super not interested, so we get back onto our bikes and, my tire is popped... So we call the ward mission leader that lived close to where we were and he comes with a repair kit and tools. While we're waiting, a newly married member couple that lived down the street, the Stocks, see us and come to say hi and help us out. The ward mission leader shows up, we get it repaired, and we're back on the road in like 45 minutes. We head to another person's house that isn't too far from where we were and my tire is flat again! So we call the former high priest group leader that lived close by and has a truck. We knocked on some doors while we waited for him to pick us up. We get back to the aparrment with only 5 minutees before our lesson with Yitzhak who lives like 15 away. So then I had to use our spare bike, that is super messed up, and book it to Yitzhak's. Then I had to bike around a ton that day with a very messed up bike. But it's all gucci! I bought some new innertubes and I'm gonna fix mine today.

We've been going by member homes and talking about missionary work and it's going pretty well! We're gonna start following up here soon so hopefully the work picks up then. I've met a lot of really cool families though! There are a lot of very different people, but almost every member family has some sort of tie to Utah! Usually it's BYU, but there are a lot that were born there. Tons from Orem, PG, and Salt Lake areas.

On a more spiritual note, I just finished Alma yesterday. It took me like a month! I listened to a talk by John Bytheway called Lessons from the War Chapters, and it helped a lot to understand what was happening! Alma is pretty crazy, but it's super good!!  One of my favorite stories from Alma is the one with Lehonti and Amalikiah. (Amalakiah gives me the creeps!) John Bytheway says in his talk, about this story, "Don't come down from your mountain!" Satan doesn't tempt us with big things right off the bat. He comes up, and tells us to "come down just a little bit." It's way sketch, but it's true! That's how he gets us! So moral of the story, "Don't come down from your mountain!" 

Love you all and hope you have a great week!!

Love, Elder Duke

Week 9: Sterling, VA -- "I got a feeling we should go back."

Hey all!

How's everyone doing? Seems like the wedding planning has been going well! 

This week was pretty good! The weather has been all over the place! It's like 70 one day, then 35 the next. It was suppose to dump tons of snow Saturday, but it only got to like 40. Sunday's are always really good weather! 👍 it's defi nitrly warming up, but the humidity is killer some days! And it's not even summer yet! I'm not excited...

So where I live, in Sterling, is a lot like Sandy, or Provo, but with no mountains in the background. I never know which direction I'm facing! There's tons of apartment complexes, townhouses, and small shopping centers. But when you get towards the Potomac river and Trump Golf Course, the houses get huge! Trump actually owns a house up in an area called Lowe's Island. (The golf course is in that area) Members have seen the motorcade going through the area a few times.

We had 2 lessons with Yitzhak his week. Tuesday and Saturday. He didn't come to conference and didn't come to church yesterday, which is sad... He said he still wants to get baptized, but he hasn't come to church, his wife is disapproving and she isn't here so we can't teach and talk to her. She gets back from El Salvador in June, so we might have to wait till then... 

Lyndsey is now kinda in the member's hands. She has a lot of good fellowshippers and they all say it's inevitable that she's getting baptized. It's just a matter of time. We don't meet with her like at all, cause she's super busy! But she comes to church every week so we still see her and talk and stuff.

We got a new investigtor that is super promising! Some sisters in the zone next to ours found her and we had a pass of lesson with her on Saturday. She is seriously like a Mormon fan-girl! No joke! She went to the temple lights, (they do Christmas lights at the D.C. temple like at temple square, but not as big) and loves seeing missionaries on the streets! She's obsesed with our church and the poeple! She apparently screamed and honked at us like my second week as she drove by! She's got tons of energy, but is nervous to come to church cause everyone is gonna walk up to her and say hi and wanna talk to her cause she's new. She just wants to walk in and blend in with everyone. We're finding her some young women to befriend so she'll feel more comfortable, but she'll definitely be there next week! Miracles!!!

Cool moment from this week. We were biking to a referral's house and on the way, there was a girl sitting on one of those green electrical boxes just off the bike path. We said hi as we rode by and she said hi and waved. We rode by, but then I got a feeling we should go back. We were gonna be late to the referrals, but I told Elder Jacobs we should go back and talk to her. So we stopped, put our bikes down, and went and talked to her. She was a super nice girl named Cas, and we just talked for a couple minutes while she was waiting for a friend. I gave her a Book of Mormon and told her how much it meant to me! I testified of the happiness it brings and that the church that espouses it, is God's true church on the earth! She was very appreciative and loved that we took time to stop and talk to her. She knows some young women in our ward, so we're gonna try and talk to them and met with her soon!

So this transfer, we're trying to get more member involvement! The members will come out with us on splits and come to lessons, but there's so much more that they can do! So we made a list with the ward mission leader, of things members can do to help move the work along. We told the ward that we'll be coming by and visiting all the members within the next couple weeks, to share with them the ward mission plan and get their involvement!

Tell the Hansens I love them!!!! They're an amazing family! I remember sitting up on the stand during my farewell and telling the other adult speaker that Colton's talk was better than mine! She was like, "Ya, me too!"

I hope all is well at home and you all had a good week! Love you all so much!

Love, Elder Duke

Week 8: Sterling, VA -- "The gospel is fun!"

Hey everyone!

How are you doing? How are things? How are you doing individually? Physically, emotionally, spiritually? How much did you learn form General conference? How awesome was it!?! I thought it was pretty dang amazing!

I can't believe it's the end of my first transfer! I've still got 1 more with Jacobs to finish training, but it's been an interesting 6 weeks! Definitely the craziest of my life!

This week was pretty good! We helped a member move on Tuesday, then a former investigator on Friday. The former investigator's name is Tom. He's a cool guy. He said once they settle into their new place, him and his wife will have us over for dinner and have a lesson. 

We had our last district meeting on Wednesday. It was really good! We had the ZL's and everyone bore their testimony, cause we have a sister going home Wednesday.

We had a lesson with Yitzhak on Tuesday and talked about the power of the Book of Mormon and about prophets. He was super intrigued about prophets and how we have livings ones today! So we told him all about conference and how important it is to listen to a prophet's voice! We tried to get him to the priesthood session so he could meet some more members. He really wanted to go, but his son in college is having lots of health problems and problems with school that he's gotta help him take care of. He said he'd definitely be there at church on Sunday! (fingers crossed) He's on date for May 5th, so he's gotta come basically every week this month. We're just a little worried about what his super Catholic wife in El Salvador will say. Our Bishop told Yitzhak that we'd convince her soon enough 😉😂

We had dinner with Lyndsey at our Bishops house on Thursday, which was awesome! We asked how her divorce was going and how she was doing in general. Her divorce is final, so she's comfortable in that sense with getting baptized, but she is still struggling with the fact that it's a big commitment. She converted to Catholisism like 10 years ago, and doesn't wanna turn back in that commitment as well. She knows the church is true, and comes to church almost every week, but is waiting to get baptized till she's super sure.

Conference was great, as always! We watched it at a couple different member's houses. We watched the sunday afternoon session and had Easter dinner with the Hoopers. They're an awesome family that are super helpful! They have 2 kids on missions right now, but one comes home today! Anyway, Conference! Crazy changes! And 7 more temples! Another in Utah, but with how much work that's going on there, it's needed! But Russia! That's awesome! 

I think my favorite talk, that I remember, was Elder Uchtdorf! So good! There's something special when an Apostle, with a special witness of Jesus Christ, testifies of the Atonement!

I hope you all have a great week! And always look for opportunities to serve and share the Gospel when you can! There's a member we had a dinner with, that said, "the Gospel is fun!" And it really is! There's a quote I put in my wall. "Glory in your knowledge of the Gospel!" Cherish it and make it grow!

Love you all! Keep being awesome and loving those around you!!

Love, 

Elder Duke

Pics:

We hid Easter eggs for the Hooper's kids.

Selfies while riding a bike. Not advised

So I got a sign from Elder Cornell, our old district leader's comp, who just finished his training this transfer. He took a similar pic, so I had to take one. 😂😂

We also cooked a 10 lb pork butt, which was amazing! 9 hours at 250.