Merry (Late) Christmas to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas weekend! I know I did! But I'll start from earlier on in the week. So there is an elder here who had bed bugs in his bed. Gross, I know. He had bites all over him, and wasn't getting much sleep. He was having a miserable week. They had a guy go to their apartment to check it out. He said that there were tons of bugs, as well as larva under his bed. I don't know the extent of the circumstances, but there was an emergency transfer, and he was transferred to a different district in the zone. He was still having a bad week, and asked the Zone Leaders for a priesthood blessing. I don't know why, but they called my companion and asked us to do it. As we were driving over, my companion told me that I was going to give the blessing. Well I had never given one before, so I was pretty nervous. I got there and said a quick prayer, asking for inspiration on what to say. I gave him the blessing, and It went really well! A couple days later, after an unsuccessful morning of walking around Walmart and best buy, we came back to the town house and got a letter. It was a referral. Someone in our area had gone online and requested to have the missionaries come talk to her. I was really excited! We drove over and knocked on her door. She let us right in! Her name is Carol. She is Methodist, but doesn't practice it. She is around 60 years old, and is taking care of her two great grandchildren. She is having trouble with her children and grandchildren making "healthy" choices. She likes how the LDS church is very family oriented. One of her good friends was converted to the church some time ago, and told her to listen to the missionaries. She didn't have much interested in it at the time, but years went by and she felt it was the right thing to do. Now, this was my first lesson ever taught to a real investigator. This is what I have been waiting for, and I loved it. I felt I was prepared, and had studied my tail off. I was able to answer everyone of her questions to where she could understand it. We gave her a book of Mormon, and she said she would read it. We committed her to pray about it, and she said she would. We committed her to come to church, and she said she would (she ended up not going, due to family issues). I asked her that if she felt that these things were true, and that if she felt that the book of Mormon were true, would she be baptized. She said she wants to! But she wants to learn more first. So we set up an appointment with her this Friday. It was a great feeling to have. The week got even better, because I was able to talk to my parents on Christmas! That was the best gift of all. It's going to be weird to have to wait another 6 months before I can talk to them again. I continue to gain a stronger testimony of this church, and of the book of Mormon. The light that you see in someones eyes when they grab hold to the gospel is unlike anything I have ever seen before! I know this church is true. Without a doubt in my mind. I'm so grateful to be out here sharing this message with others. It's truly an amazing experience

 

Sincerely,

 

Elder Litchfield

This week has been one that had its ups and downs. Last monday, we played a game as a zone called Gator ball. Its like soccer and football and basketball mixed together. Confusing, I know, but fun. I realized that I am incredibly out of shape, so this past week I have been working out every morning and night. I went tracting for the first time, and the only time thus far, Wednesday night. It was only for an hour and a  half. We didn't find anyone that would listen to our message, but the last door that we knocked on asked us to come back Saturday to tell them more. So that felt good to hear. Thursday was the Mission Christmas Conference. All of the missionaries met at a stake center from 9 am to 4 pm. It was much needed. I was able to see an elder who I had become very close to in the MTC. His name is Elder Staley. We talked the entire day about the field. Apperently he wasn't having any success either, but they are working. I couldn't say the same about us. We agreed that we would request to be companions a few months into our mission, because we trully believe that we could get work done. Our personalities are identical, and we both have the mindset of working nonstop. That was the highlight of my week. The rest of the week was boring and long. Elder Paswaters has been here so long (6 months in this area) that the non-members that we visit look at him as a friend, rather than a missionary. I have yet to be a part of a lesson. The closest thing we have done is a spiritual thought after a meal with a family in the ward. It's been very discouraging. The only upside is that I am able to read an insane amount in the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel. It's hard to call the people that we see "investigators" because that would require them investigating the church. However, we have this older couple, Mike and Sue Belote, who have us over twice a week to do service. They met the missionaries in April of this year, and have had them over for service ever since. We were able to get them to come to church yesterday, but only for the first hour. They have been multiple times, but only for sacrament meeting. There isn't much progression going on. Last night is when the poop hit the fan. We went over to a non member house, the Pennington Family. They were watching a football game, had beer on the table, and were using fowl language. Elder Paswaters likes going over and "relieving stress", whatever that means. We were there for 2 hours, and didn't say one gospel related word. We just hung out. I sat there, for 2 hours, reading my weekly planner. Over and over and over and over and over again. I was fuming when we left. I had bit my tongue this past week, because I am new, but that was the last straw. I didn't yell at him or anything. I told him that I wasn't going over to peoples houses anymore to hang out. I'm not on a mission to hang out with families, I am here to bring people unto Christ. I told him we are not using our time wisely at all. He wasn' too happy to hear that. He told me that missionaries with that attitude are labeled as robots. I thought to myself: what attitude? An attitude to work hard and obey the rules? If so, then they can call me a robot all they want. If missionaries don't like me as a person, that's their problem, but they will respect me as a missionary. I will not spend these 6 weeks making absolutely no progression with people. That's not what missionary work is.

    So we will see how this week goes. I prayed that night and asked for help with this whole situation. I had yet to see any progress with anything. I am here to so that the lord always answers prayers. Today, as I sat down to open up my email, a guy comes up to us and asks if we are Missionaries for the LDS church. We told him yes. He said that missionaries knocked on his door 2 years ago, saying that they had a message to share with him. He let them in, and they challenged him to go to church that next Sunday. He said he would, but ended up not being able to. I don't know why, but they didn't go back and see him, so he thought he was in trouble for not following through on his committment. We told him that wasn't the case at all. We asked him if he would like to talk to us again and he said yes! As we were taking down his information, we asked him why he invited the missionaries in 2 years ago, and why he talked to us today. He said that the message that they shared is something that he wanted to learn more about. I was very happy to hear that. It was an uplifting expirience to such a bad week.

I love you all, and hope your christmas season is special. Just remember the true meaning of Christmas. I challenge you all to read Luke 2. Just as a refresher :)

 

Elder Litchfield

Where to begin... So I got on the plane in Salt Lake City headed to Regan International with 20 Elders, and one Sister. I got a window seat, and there was a guy in the aisle seat, but luckily no one was in the middle. I struck up a conversation with the guy. He lived in southern Maryland, and was in SLC on a layover. He mentioned that he had grown up Catholic, but hadn't had a religion in many many years. He didn't feel the need at this point in his life for one. I talked to him about the restoration, but he wasn't interested. So for the rest of the flight I read in Alma, and slept. When we landed, we started talking again and I gave him a pass-along-card with a number on the back for a free book of mormon. He was thankful for it, but who knows if it ended up in the trash. However, as we stood up to get our bags and get off the plane, and girl behind me said she had listened to the conversation that this gentleman and I had, and was quite interested. She had a book of mormon at her house, but hadn't read it in many months. She got it from the missionaries, but hadn't seen them in a long time either. I committed her to read it again and pray about it, and she said she "most definitely would". I gave her a pass-along-card as well, and told her to call the number when she got home. She didn't live in my mission, but hopefully she will contact other Elders in her area.

    It was raining quite hard when we got there. All but maybe 3 missionaries were from Utah, Idaho, or Arizona and hadn't seen it rain this hard. It reminded me of home :). They also couldn't stand the humidity, they missed the disgusting dry air in Utah (as you can tell, I did not). They were sweating and complaining, but I was quite content. We met the mission president and the APs and left. Our van was able to drive past the lincoln monument, but only the back side of it. It was raining really hard, so visibility was pretty bad. We then went to the mission home which was a nice home in the country. The elders slept in the basement. There were 5 bunkbeds, and the rest slept on the floor. I quickly snatched a bunkbed, hehe! We ate dinner and met a lot of different people. We then had a testimony meeting. It was pretty short, because we were behind on schedule. After that, we had about 2 hours of "free time". Then we went to bed. The bunkbeds were really really old, and squeaked at the slightest movements. So the whole night was an orchestra of squeaking. We got up, ate breakfast, then had a slideshow about the different area's in the mission. We then practiced door approaches on each other. After, we went to George Mason University and did street contacting. I made sure to be paired up with and elder whom I became friends with in the MTC. It was pretty funny, because as we were walking towards people, we would say to each other "This is it! We're going to talk to this person!", but as they drew nearer, we would say "Nevermind! We're not ready!". This happened probably 20 times before we attempted to talk to someone. We probably attempted to talk to about 40 people, and almost all of them speedily walked away. We did come in contact with Greg, a wrestler for the college who toar his ACL. He seemed interested and gave us his address and number. That felt pretty good. We were there for probably 2 hours.

       We then went to a stake center and met our trainers. My trainer is Elder Paswaters. He is a short guy, but full of energy. We then sat through the departing missionaries devotional. Once that was over, we grabbed our bags and put them in the car and took off. I am lucky to be in an area with a car haha. We are in the Woodbridge Zone, in the Bristow ward. We went to a families house for dinner, the Cuestas. They are members from Columbia, and have a son serving in San Antonio. And yes, I ate everything they gave me. They didn't say what it was, and I didn't ask. I just ate it. They were a very nice family though. And at the end, we gave a spiritual thought.

     The apartment that I am staying at is 3 stories. Two other elders are staying in the basement, and I am upstairs. I even have my own bathroom! But the place is a dump. I have a lot of cleaning to do, because I will not accept how dirty it is.

     I have yet to go tracting, or even teach a lesson, which has been bothering me. We have gone to investigators houses and visited and ate with them, but no lesson. I brought that up with my companion, and he understood what I was saying, and that we would work on that. We have been doing a lot of service though. One investigator makes wooden toys from his house, and we went over there and helped him out, then later that day we went to another house and cut wood. They owned a splitter and asked if I knew how to use it, I told them I had seen one once or twice before hahahahaha. They had a good amount of wood, and I asked them how many winters it would last them. They said one winter. I couldn't believe it! They keep their house at 78 degrees! Waste of money if you ask me... Hopefully I will go tracting soon!

    This ward that I am in is unbelieveable. We have a calender for members to sign up for making us dinner for the month of december. Everynight is full. They give us fruits and vegitables, V-Neck Sweaters, Toilet paper, Tissues, Paper towels, Laundry stuff, candy, milk, and soap. Its crazy. They are such a generous ward. At the christmas party, I was able to meet most of the ward. We sat next to this guy and I started talking to him. He is incharge of the flight attendants on a plane, and has met some pretty famous people (Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Mohammad Ali, Wilt Chamberland)! He is a big guy and likes basketball. We talked about that for a while and then he said that he wanted to have me over of dinner cause he liked me. I later found out that he had his records removed from the church 30 years ago, and never lets the missionaries over. I'm looking forward to see him.

      It's been an interesting few days, but I am doing great. My trainer is teaching me a lot, and I am grateful to have him. If you want to send me mail, it has to be to the 5242 Lyngate Court address. If its a package, it has to be through U.S Postal service. If its UPS or something like that, I would get it till transfer day (6 weeks from now). I love you all and miss you dearly.

 

Elder Litchfield

So I am sitting in a computer lab, and only have 28 min left. If I have spelling mistakes, or my sentences sound funny, I'm sorry. I have been here for 7 days! It seems crazy long, but to you it's just another week. This first day was just rushing through rules and such. I have 8 elders and 3 sisters in my district. I met my companion, Elder Ker. He seemed nice. He is almost 21 years old. I am the youngest in my district by 3 days! There are two elders in my district, Elder Staley and Hall, that are pretty much my best friends here. My companion and I are fine, be we aren't close. So far, we have taught about 5 lessons to investigators, and he has spoken maybe 6 total words in all of them combined. It's very frustrating to have to talk the whole time, and its even worse when your pause to let your companion speak, and he doesn't! One lesson, he didn't say a single word. So there is a bit of friction between us. During personal study time, he will study in his bed for about 3 min, then take a nap. I am constantly praying for help with this situation. Other than my companion, I am loving it here. I have met a ton of new people, and talked with them about various topics. I am reading in Mosiah, and cannot stop reading it. I love that book so much! Especially Abinidai (Spelling?). The courage and faith he had to stand in front of those people and literally tell them of all there sins. Compelling stuff.

     The food is good. Lots of variety. I have started to portion my meals, because I do not want to gain weight. I play basketball during gym, and its hilarious! There is probably one other kid who has played basketball here, so the games can get kind of rediculous. I asked my companion if he wanted to join. He said he doesn't like sports. I asked him what his hobbies were. He said "My Girlfriend and fishing". Come on. We have nothing in common, and trust me, I have been looking. Last night was a devotional, D. Todd Christofferson and his wife spoke. OH MY GOODNESS. It was amazing! They talked about listening for the spirit, and always staying humble. He even told a story of bickering companions (Funny how that happens haha). I sat next to a sister during the devotional. She has been here for 9 weeks, and has 3 more to go. She is going to Finland! I thought that was pretty neat, and she is from eastern Virginia. When I told here thats where I was headed, she told me a bunch of facts about the place, which was nice to hear.

     I am doing fine, not homesick, so don't worry. Sleeping sucks, because the beds are awful. I have had SO much help from my Father in heaven through prayer. For example, druing a class, my stomach literally felt like it was being stabbed. I felt so sick! But the lesson was so good that I felt like I needed to stay. Silently, I said a quick prayer to myself asking for help. Immedietly I felt 100% better. My teaching skills are growing stronger as well. As they should, since I am teaching 30 min lessons alone haha.

     I love and miss you all, but I am so glad I am here. I am literally having the time of my life. I can't wait for these next 2 weeks to pass so I can get out in the field (and get a new companion). Each time I get discouraged, I just remember what my dad said: Just buckle down and work hard. I feel so much closer to the spirit each day I am hear. I am loving the Book of Mormon the further I read. I am so glad that I went to seminary all 4 years. There are people here that haven't, and it shows. I am able to hear difficulties investigators are having, and think of a scripture that pertains to them (Thank you O'niels and Sally!). This is an expirience like none other.

     Thank you barb for the letters! And thank you for telling me about Dawn! That is so exciting! Thank you grandpa and grandma for the letters as well! They really mean a lot.

Thank you Joe for sending me all those letters! They are very nice to read and hear about their missionary expiriences. I have an elder who is from Gilbert, Arizona! He recognizes your street (From the letter). His name is Elder Flaehrity (Flare-it-ee. I forget how to spell it, so that's how it sounds). And Suzzane, I LOVED FISCHERS DRAWING! I have it hanging on my little wall. I thought it was the coolest thing.

   I have a wall for pictures, but no pictures to put up, so I would love to get family picutres!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Litchfield