Last week in Plymouth MA

Carla Germinero, Elder Knowlden, Meghan & Leadro Lecerda

Brother Volpetti

Brother Wood in Plymouth

Sister Wood in Plymouth

Plymouth Rock sign

Dressed in Mayflower Attire

Plymouth District P-day

Plymouth District P-day

Plymouth Statue

Plymouth Statue

Plymouth Plaque

Don, Diana, Jimmy Maynard-Plymouth

Hovey Family-Plymouth

Plymouth Rock

Beautiful Plymouth Sunset

Plymouth Church

Plymouth District

Plymouth District

Dinner Lesson

Elder White, Knowlden, Leite

Tim Ballard

Jimmy Maynard

Thompson Boy

Saying goodbye to the ladies Food Pantry

Saying Goodbye to ladies Food Pantry

Saying goodbye to the ladies Food Pantry

Week 5  Nov 19th 2019
13 Months
     Monday was a pretty fun day, it was our District P-day! We hurried up and got the things we needed done. (shopping, cleaning the apt, and laundry). We then met everyone for lunch at Chick-fil-a.  It was a long line! One of the companionships were late so they went to Chipotle instead. With the long line it took longer for our food to come out so the management got us some complimentary fries. I got a side of mac and cheese instead, it was so good! We then came back to the apt then made our way to the Jenny Museum.  We then started our tour. Leo the tour guide took us on a wonderful guided 2 hour tour of downtown Plymouth.  He let us know a lot of the history.  We learned it wasn’t ever at the beginning Indians vs Pilgrims. They actually had a treaty and they helped each other out !  I will add it at the end but my Companion Elder White took a lot of notes that you can look over. One of my favorite things I learned was that the first Thanksgiving was a three-day celebration, and before they ate they all shared one thing they were grateful for! After the tour finished we came home and got ready for dinner with the Hendrerson family. We had a fun time and at the end we shared a message about the First Vision. After dinner we drove to North Plymouth area and did a few stop byes then came home for the night.
     Tuesday as soon as I woke up I took the first shower so I could get the hottest water. I spent most of the morning listening and reading the Book of Numbers to catch up, because I was a couple days behind. I ended up finishing it and I am now in Deuteronomy!! Elder Leite wasn’t feeling to well, so most the day we were inside. I then had my appointment with my doctor and all is well! After we did some more studies we got outside and it was raining. We took the car to the gas station to vacuum it out and fill up the car with gas. We then had to run to the store for a couple things. After we got out of the store it started to snow!!! This was Elder Leites first time ever seeing snow and he was in awe! We came home to drop a couple things off then made our way to see the Hovey’s for dinner. Now at this time there was a lot of snow on the ground and Elder Leite made his first snowball, he didn’t have gloves and he quickly realized snow is very cold Haha. After dinner with the Hovey’s we did some tracting in North Plymouth and met Paulo, he let us right in and we had a Restoration lesson with him!!! When we got home we then did a deep clean to prepare for apartment inspections tomorrow morning.
     First thing after we were all ready for the day, Elder and Sister Lott came over. They made sure that everything at the apt was working along with if we had everything we needed and it was a safe place to live. They even made sure that the car was the same way. Right after they finished we made our way to the Food Bank and did our service there. Most of the time we were in the front just organizing everything around and making sure it went to the correct spots. We were moving the whole time and were kept busy. When we got back we all had lunch and I took a needed nap it was so nice! Shortly after we were back on the road and we helped rake leaves at Leo and Nancy's home (owners of Jenny Museum) they have a huge yard but we didn’t get it all done, so we will return to finish up. We then drove to the Chapel to meet with Brother Volpetti for Missionary Coordination, it went really well.  We then made our way to Lobster Hut for dinner and I had fried Lobster tail and Shrimp with Clam Chowder. After dinner we made some stop byes and brought Brother Gould the Sacrament. He was so grateful!
     Thursday morning after we got ready and had studies we made our way to visit with the Thompson Family. While we were there we helped out with flooring in his attic. I was able to hop in a body suit to avoid the insulation. I helped pat it all down and even screwed in some boards! After we finished, we had Mamamias Pizza for dinner with them. We then went to go pick up Elder Whites Suits from the dry cleaners. We had a lesson with Ollie, Peyton and Myana. It went really well. We went over the Gospel of Jesus Christ and few of the commandments!  Then we did a few stop byes and made some calls then came home for the night.
     Friday went really well, it was the last District Council of the transfer, and we had a guest speaker Phill come and give the lesson. Phill is not a member but he loves the missionaries, he gave an awesome lesson on being happy! He took two sides of it. The first was 10 ways scientifically we can be more happy. The second part was using 4 scriptures from the Book of Mormon to be spiritually happy. It was very well done. A little bit before and after District Council we said our goodbyes and signed each other’s journals. We then went out to Chik -fil -a for lunch with the Brewster Elders. It was really good, and we had a good time. We went to the projects to visit a couple people, but no one was home. With met with Eric and set up a time to visit him the next day. We came back home after that to have some studies then made our way to visit the Calas and Jimmy.  We were going to help with some service but it got to dark outside. We ended up sitting down and getting to know them even more and we had dinner with them as well. We watched a Book of Mormon video with them. And shared a powerful message on the importance of the Sacrament, It was a day well spent .
     Saturday morning the first thing we did after studies was meet up with a member to help get some stuff out of her storage unit. Right after we went to Cumberland Farms to visit Sister Hovey. She hooked us up with some food, and it was really delicious. We then had a good lesson with Eric, we watched the first episode of the Book of Mormon videos, and he really liked it. The rest of the day didn’t go as well as we hoped, all 4 of our appointments canceled, we ended up doing a lot of stop byes. We even helped take the Sacrament to Sister Conway. She was so grateful for it. We talked to a few others while on the street and all in all we got through it.
     Sunday we were running a little late after we all got ready. We barely made it to Church on time to partake of the sacrament. It is hard to be ready on time with 3 elders and only 1 bathroom. Church went really well, we had three friends there and 2 amazing talks. Both were on the power and importance of the Book of Mormon, and the truths we can learn from it. I feel like it was what our friend Pam needed at the time. Second hour was also really cool, it was a lot about faith. We ended up having two surprise visitors Tim Ballard (founder of the "Underground Railroad Project") and Glenn Beck. After Church they made an announcement because they are trying to have a big project for next year with the 400 year anniversary for Plymouth. They want to help others know that the Pilgrims truly came for religious freedom. It was really cool to hear from both of them. After Church we said some of our goodbyes because transfers are this week and we still don’t know who is leaving. With some things going on in my life some anxiety has peaked and I was able to get a beautiful blessing from Brother Volpetti and my companions. We came home had a quick study session and made our way to our first appointment. Sadly when we got there no one was home. We ended up leaving a copy of the Book of Mormon by their door. We made our way back to the car and talked to Elder Leite about what he needs to know as he takes over the area. We also made a few calls to our friend's. Then we drove over to the Lacerda family. They also invited the Germaneros, and the Calas. The house was full! For our lunch/dinner we had a Brazilian Thanksgiving. By the end of it I was so full! It was so worth it though. We had a lot of fun and a lot of food! We then were able to share the Paper Cross message about the Book of Mormon.  It was pretty cool, all the kids were amazed. We came home for a nap because all of us were really tired. After we woke up we had a lesson with Al and just caught up with him and asked how he was doing. We them met with Brother Gould and checked in on him as well. To end the night I was able to talk to and meet with my Therapist again, it really did help! One cool thing about today is, it is my 13 month mark as a missionary!

     This week I want to share a question that was asked by Tim Ballard in Sunday School. "What is your Mayflower?"

     I have been pondering on this question myself the past little bit, and I thought to myself what does that mean. Well I thought of what the purpose of the Mayflower was, and it was to bring the Pilgrims to a better future. They knew the risks involved but they still chose to go so they could have religious freedom and believe what they wanted! As a missionary we try to teach this principle to everyone we come across.  The closer we get to a better future the more temptations are put before us. Satan does not want us to be happy, nor does he want us to come closer to Christ. I invite you all to find your “Mayflower” and leave for a better tomorrow. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.