Monday, April 29th, 2019

Hello All,

Not much time.

We met a Jewish man during Passover and he gave us some Chocolate Motza

"This week was one of the most successful weeks." We met a young man named Kevin we passed to the Young Single Adult Ward. We met another young man named Devonte who apparently went on Trek when he was a teenager. He came to church. A lady named Nelma and her family came to church this week.

I was asked to speak in church, I rewrote my talk thrice times, and didn't use a lick of it. "We had lots of investigators that came to church, so the talk I gave was about the basic principles of the gospel. I was asked to speak for 8-10 min and I took 12 min. Not too bad."

We went to dinner with a man who is a recent convert. The funniest man I've ever met. He gave me a keychain from his trip to Rome he took the week before.

Sorry for the very short email,  that's what happens when you are short on time.

Callouts for transfers are tonight. Next week I could be anywhere... in Maryland.

Apparently, there is a new Avengers movie. Funny what you miss as a missionary.

Love you all,

Elder D.S

Monday, April 22nd, 2019

Happy Easter to you all!

It was an exciting week leading up to Easter Sunday! We loved talking to people on the streets and in their home about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's a powerful week to remind us to refocus our thoughts towards the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We were visiting a less active member in our ward and we met him in the parking lot of his apartment complex. While we were talking to him a lady came out to get her mail and saw us and yelled to us, "Are you men of God." We said "Yes." She replied, "Come on in and have a cup of tea!" While we kindly declined the tea, we did go in and we were able to teach her! We will be visiting her again this upcoming week!

On Sunday we showed up for dinner at the members home where we were eating, and right when we walked in, we were informed we would be participating in the Easter Egg Hunt. We happily accepted. The member told us there was one GOLDEN EGG. We started to the egg hunt, and the kids were scrambling around.  As my companion and I casually strolled around trying not to take too many eggs, the unthinkable happened. I somehow strolled into the GOLDEN EGG. I decided to let it be, and see if one of the kids would find it, but time passed and the GOLDEN EGG still remained in its humble location. I decided I would claim victory and reign triumphant as the master EGG hunter. The member said the prize was a golden investigator!

During dinner we were talking about things we have never done before, and I mentioned I've never tried a Pogo Stick.  To my surprise, they had one and let me try it. I'm not going to lie, I was not too shabby for my first go around with a pogo stick. 

On Easter, a less active, some members went with us to the Washington D.C Temple Visitor Center to watch a performance titled, "The Gospel Of Mark, With Music." It was an hour performance, and it was very well done. The less active man really enjoyed it. I love the Visitor Center! There are always exciting events going on there. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! 

Love you All! 

Elder Dallin Spurgeon. 

Monday, April 16th, 2019

Hello All, it has been an exciting week! I made sure to grab a lot of photos. 

We got to give 2 baptismal interviews this week. I gave an interview to the most fantastic YSA guy. It never stops astonishing me how essential the Holy Ghost is in conversion and the change that happens in people as they allow the Holy Ghost in their heart, and are humble to let him teach them. Baptismal interviews are one of the coolest things to do as a missionary!

We got to give one of the interviews at the Olney Chapel which does not sound very significant, but it is. I served in Olney exactly one year ago, and I was companions with Elder Newbold. So exactly a year later from when I left Olney, I entered into the only chapel for the first time since, with the exact same companion that I had when I left Olney. That was monumental! 

I thought I would include the picture I snapped of the Jehovah Witness' at the gas station. They might have something going with the stands. Don't be surprised if you see a handsome looking Elder in front of a Book of Mormon stand in the next couple of weeks. 

I have made a culinary creation that my companion has fallen in love with. Fried chicken. The batter is pancake mix. It is pretty good. He wants me to make it all the time, so when we do have time, I make it for him.

Me and Elder Newbold went on an adventure hike this week! We started off the exploration with traversing through an abandoned structure, that we actually couldn't go in because it said no trespassing, but it was still cool to walk past. We then snapped some pics of the wild Potomac River, which borders Maryland and Virginia. We then spotted a common long legged water fowel native to Mayland. It was a good find. 

We were asked by the ward to fill up the font for a member baptism this week. Me and my companion open the font doors to start filling it up, and it is just full of ants. We knew we had to get rid of them, but we didn't have much time. We came to a conclusion of what we must do. We decided to fill up the font with all of the ants in it. When the font was full, we then fished all of the ants out using a huge strainer we found in the church kitchen. I know... brilliant idea, and by the time the ward got there, not an ant was in sight. 

Love you all!

 Elder Dallin M. Spurgeon

Monday, April 8th, 2019

Hello All, this week was full of a lot of meetings! 

Elder Newbold and I got to train the Sister Districts this week at the D.C Temple Visitor Center. We did that on Wednesday and Thursday! On Thursday we got to go back to the V.C to give a baptismal interview to a young man being baptized. Interviewing people to be baptized is such a wonderful experience. I love to see How the Holy Ghost has worked in people lives and they come to know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's Kingdom on the earth today. It's great to see their conversion.

General Conference was amazing! I loved How Elder Uchtdoef talked about inviting people that aren't members of the church in a normal and natural way. He listed these 5 things that we need to apply in our lives to help gather Israel. 

-- Draw close to God.

-- Fill Heart with Love for Others.

-- Strive to walk the path of discipleship.

-- Share what is in your Heart.

-- Trust the Lord and his Miracles. 

And probably my favorite quote from General conference: 

As you do these you will be great at inviting in normal and natural ways. You will be comfortable sharing the gospel, in fact, you won't be comfortable not sharing the Gospel.

It's super true! We can invite people in such a normal and natural way. Tell them what you learned in church this week, and invite them to come sometime! Tell them what you studied in Come, Follow Me, and invite them to come. Show them the Gospel Library app, and invite them to download it. Tell them about the temple, and invite them to attend the grounds with you. There are countless ways to invite people in very normal and ways. 

I sure Love President Nelson! He is inspiring and so close to God. Everyone was pretty excited whenever he got up because of the thought of exciting new changes to the church, but I think we should be that excited every time he speaks to us. We need to actively seek to follow the Prophet!

Elder Holland brought it home again talking about the sacred ordinance of the Sacrament, and how it is the most sacred part of our week. I know what he said is true, and that we should make more of an effort to keep the chapel a reverent place by not visiting in there. I liked that! 

It's been a very inspiring week indeed, and I'm rereading and studying my notes. It's going to be fun!!!

I will attach a picture of a frog we found while tracing, a lady standing next to my very tall companion. He is 6' 10" and she must have been like 4'10". 

Love you all,

Elder Dallin Spurgeon 

Monday, April 1st, 2019

 Hello all! Spring is coming my way! The cherry blossoms are starting to bloom, and then we will start to see them everywhere. It's one of the greatest things I've ever seen. Other shrubs have started to show their colors as well. I couldn't help but take a picture with one that matched my tie. The weather is near perfect over here, 70!!! It's going to be a wonderful spring.

You may remember last week how my companion and I decided to start to make more thought out meals? Well, It's still going strong! We made spaghetti with meat sauce this week, and pork enchiladas! This week we are making fried chicken and Hawaiian drum sticks! We feel so accomplished, so if there are any ideas for beginners, we would greatly appreciate it! 

While studying this week, I looked outside and saw the garbage truck doing its thing, and the next thing I know there is a cat on top of the garbage truck. I'm not sure if the cat was in the garbage can, or already on top, but either way, I found way too much enjoyment out of it. Elder Newbold and I came to the conclusion that the cat's name was smoky, and he worked for the company. 

There is a lady from Equador in our ward and she fed us this week, and afterward, she gave us a bunch of goodies from Equador. Picture included! 

We play sports with the bishop some weeks, and he is very competitive. This week, he lost a competition with a tree. He was about 15 feet in a tree and cutting it down with a chain saw, and he was cutting a 15-inch branch and it came up when it was falling and hot him right in the face, and he was out, and he fell out of the tree. Very dramatic experience but he is okay. Just a very scratched up face, a few stitches, and a concussion. It happened on Saturday but he was at church. There was a professional limb cutter in our ward and he went over and finished the job with no more casualties. 

We had a wonderful visit with Elder Bennett this week! He is the President of the area 70 here in the North East area. He is amazing and we all felt so much love from him! I learned and felt some spectacular things! We spent the whole day with him. In the morning, half the mission spent the day with him, and in the afternoon, the mission leadership spent the day with him, and then in the evening, our stake spent the day with him. He told us Hi from President Nelson, which was really cool. He told us that President loves using the phrase, "We are in the final phase", which is super cool to think about, especially as a missionary. I'm super, super excited! 

While we were at the Temple V.C for Elder Bennetts visit, Elder Newbold saw his best friends parents, which was such a coincidence, and totally unplanned! They saw each other and were flipping out, and I just stood back very confused. But they explained it to me. Pretty cool. 

Please tune in for General Conference, and watch all the sessions if you can. And if you miss any, there will probably be available 10 seconds after conference ends. I love this church, and I have come to know it is true! 

Love you all!