It's always such a blessing to be able to hear the modern day Prophets and Apostles speak to us. Especially when non-members watch it as well! It is such a powerful tool to use to allow people to feel the spirit! Now I just have to wait 6 more months to use it again! Personally, my favorite talk was Elder Richard G. Scott's talk, but all of them were very inspired. 

This last Tuesday I went on an exchange with a zone leader that is serving in Woodbridge. Remember that was my first zone that I served in for 6 months? His area wasn't the area's I served in though. While we were knocking on doors, we saw a bunch of guys playing basketball on a street-ball court. Remember when I was in Woodbridge this time last year? ;) haha! I walked over and tried to talk to them. They wouldn't give my companion and I the time of day. So we asked them if we could play them two-on-two. They all laughed at us. We insisted and they agreed. All 25 of their group surrounded the court. My companion and I rolled up our white shirt sleeves, and tightened our dress shoes. They thought we were goobers, and gave us the ball first. My companion checked the ball and right off the bat passed it to me on the 3 point line. I pulled up........ SWISH! The crowd of guys shouted "LUCKY!" They play where if you make it, you get the ball again. So my companion checked the ball, passed it to me on the 3 point line. I pulled up again...... SWISH! haha it was hilarious! The guy guarding me didn't look so cocky anymore. He guarded me real close after that. As we played the crowed went from making fun of us, to making fun of the two guys we were playing! We beat them 11-3. We were very respectful as we played, but wanted to earn their respect. Two bigger guys came from the crowd and challenged us. More people were coming to watch. I was getting a little bit nervous, and my companion was too. We were in the most ghetto part of Woodbridge... We played the two new guys and beat them 11-5. As we played, these two HUGE guys kept shouting "IF YOU LOSE, THE MORMONS ARE GONNA BAPTIZE YOU!" I couldn't help but laugh... After the second game, 2 more guys came and challenged us. I had seen them playing on the other side of the court when I got there. They were really good. It was a close game, but they beat us 11-8. They played well. We were pretty dang tired at this point, but succeeded in what we were trying to accomplish. We earned their respect. As we left the court, we had 3 return appointments, a commitment to come to church  and tons of cell phone numbers. It was a fun day!

Thursday we had Zone Leader Council. I gave my presentation to the Zone Leaders about love. I felt inspired to share it so that the  ZL's will lead with love. It is something that our mission was lacking. We also watched an AMAZING video on Grace. it was by Brad Wilcox. EVERYONE should watch it.

Friday we had a crazy busy day! We had appointments lined up all day, and to my surprise, they all went through! That night we had a first lesson with a lady who we had met on the street. She researched the church on Google, and got all sorts of information that was false or skewed. She is still willing to learn more after the crazy lesson. Her 14 year old son, however, is amazing. He was skimming through the Book of Mormon while we were talking and all of a sudden said "I know that this book is from God, no man could write such a book back in the 1800s" hahaha! It was amazing! The both are going to read the Book of Mormon while they are on their trip. They get back in a couple weeks.

Well, transfers are coming up! That means CRAZINESS and no sleep. I'm going to DC Today. The weather is AMAZING!

Love you all!!

Elder Michael Litchfield