First Week in Carolina del Norte!
From: Seth Gifford
Date: Mon, Jul 27, 2020 3:58 PM
Subject: First Week in Carolina del Norte!
¡Hola todos! I’m back! 😘
Today is officially my first P-Day in the mission field! Right off the bat, I *love* North Carolina! It is so green and beautiful and reminds me of my childhood in Georgia. I surprisingly even like the humidity. I think my new favorite animal is a frog. I’ve been here for about 1 week and so much has happened. But lucky for you, I’ll summarize! It still might be a long one…so buckle up!
🛫🛬 Departure/Arrival:
I was set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Sunday July 19th. That night I stayed up late saying goodbye to friends, packing, and making sure all was in order before I left. I took about an hour nap before I had to get up at 3 in the morning to get ready for my flight. My family all woke up to say goodbye and afterward I departed for the airport with mi Padre. I was pumped to finally get into the field after 2ish months of waiting! My flights were all on time and there were no problems getting to North Carolina. I met up with other missionaries along the way and were met by our Mission President and his wife, the Adlers (who are from Germany by the way!) plus the AP’s in the airport. After getting one day’s worth of what we needed out of our suitcases, we headed to the mission home where we received some training and stayed for the night. I slept so well it’s not even funny.
🤠 Wranglers of the West:
The next day we traveled to the mission office to fill out some paperwork, pick up our luggage, receive some training and get our new companions/trainers. Me and another new missionary, Elder Loomis were put with two trainers, Elder Espinoza and Elder Raymond. Our companionship is called the swole patrol 💪 We do some pretty awesome workouts every day to avoid getting that mission pudge. We were assigned to the Gastonia district/zone, in the Gardener park branch. Our district name is the “Wranglers of the West” because our area is in West Charlotte. We had a testimony meeting before we left and I got to share my testimony of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was very strong, especially when President and Sister Adler shared theirs. After of all that, we finally loaded up our luggage and went to our apartment to unpack and get settled in. It was about 99°F outside with about 80 or 90% humidity! Kinda crazy! Our apartment is the farthest away from the church and it used to be a sister’s apartment, meaning it’s a little nicer than most missionary apartments. We are blessed 🙏 My batch of missionaries got here at the tail end of a cycle though meaning we got transfers already so I’ll only be here till Thursday. Luckily I had one district meeting with our district before I transfer. I got to meet my “grandpa” or the trainer of my trainer. I’m officially going to be trained by Elder Raymond from Spanish Fork. He’s super awesome and we’re being transferred to the Winston Salem zone/district/area this week. I can’t wait!
🙌 Lessons:
On our second day, we went and taught some lessons and even though I didn’t say or understand anything, I could feel the Spirit so strongly. I felt so much love for the people we were teaching and wanted them to come closer to their Savior Jesus Christ and experience the joy that comes from His gospel. On Sunday me and Elder Loomis got to teach in our little online scripture class and 2 member lessons in person which was so amazing. My Spanish needs so much improvement and so do my teaching skills, but I know that the Lord will help me as I consecrate my time to Him.
🌶 Spicy Food Makes You Better at Spanish:
Habeñeros are really spicy! We make some videos for our branch’s Facebook page to help get members involved in missionary work and to help find new people to teach. We made a video asking the members to help Elder Loomis and I learn Spanish and someone responded that eating spicy food is how you learn Spanish. So, naturally we got some haberñeros to eat for another video. I’ll have you know, a habeñero is one of the top 3 hottest peppers under the ghost pepper and the Carolina reaper (which is on my bucket list to eat out here in none other than North *Carolina!*). During our pain, we shared some of our favorite scriptures in Spanish. Hopefully I can attach the video, but if not just know it was quite an experience!
Well I honestly don’t have a lot more to say. So far I have loved being a missionary. I know it’s only been a week in the field, but I love it. It’s definitely not easy, but helping people come unto Jesus Christ and find peace, hope, and joy is worth every hard moment. I know that it will get better and better as I continue onward. I look forward to what is ahead.
I want everyone to know that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord’s true church on the earth. No where else can you find so much hope, peace, love, and joy. No where else can you be placed on a path that leads you to your full potential. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He is our Redeemer and He is our Healer. He makes all things possible. There is no wound he cannot heal. No injury or mistake he cannot mend. There is no place too dark that his light cannot reach. He overcame all things so that we through *Him* can do the same.
With love,
-Elder Gifford
Forgot the pictures 🤦🏼♂️
