I hope this letter finds you happy and well!! I also hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!
This week was fantastic!! Here is a day by day update of all that happened:
MONDAY - Washington D.C. day!!! This was the second time we have been to D.C. and I feel like we really used the D.C. trip to it's fullest this time! First of all, I love riding the Metro. I feel so independent and city-like when I do. It does make me a little motion sick at times and claustrophobic at times but it is still great and easy!
We first went to the Smithsoniaon Museum of Natural History and it was really cool!! I really like the dinosaur and mammal part of it. Sister Mc was in heaven because she loves animals. She studied wildlife science before she came out here and she is an animal expert. It was cool to be there with her because she was so excited about it and so happy.
Afterwards, we booked it to the Lincoln Memorial and we saw a lot of monuments on the way. I have always been fascinated by the Lincoln Memorial and that is what I've always wanted to see the most in D.C. I loved it so much and it was just a really great day! We were so tired by the end of the night but it was worth it!!
That night, a member took us out to dinner at Chilis, and we had family home evening with another member. She is out here on her own doing something for work, while all her family is back in Idaho still. We are see her pretty regularly and I feel really comfortable with her, so it was a really great night.
TUESDAY - We had district meeting and a lesson with Joan, our investigator that lives in the nursing home. She is a really sweet lady and it has been fun teaching her. Going to the nursing home is always an adventure and you never know what's going to happen! The other day, we had a lady screaming at us saying, "you get outta here. you all get outta here." We also had a woman tell us that she knew for a fact that I didn't have any sisters and she got angry if I told her I did. We've had a lot of other stuff like this, but the nursing home always makes our day!
We also had a couple of member visits, a lesson with Jan some more member visits and then an amazing lesson with Keren and Bobby at a family's home in our ward. We talked more about the Atonement and the Spirit was so strong! It was just perfect, and completely directed by the Spirit!
It also poured all day on Tuesday which was fun! I am grateful that we didn't get any snow or ice though because I'm really afraid to drive in it here!
WEDNESDAY - We visited sweet Alma at the nursing home, another member and her mother, tried to visit a lot of LA's, and then we celebrated the first night of Hannukah with Keren. It was so great! It was kind of funny because there were more Mormons there than Jewish people there because Keren had invited us and a lot of her friends from the ward. She lit the first candle and had another Jewish man say the associated prayers. We then ate donuts and chatted. It was very relaxed but such a cool experience.
THURSDAY - I woke up feeling exceptionally happy on this day because I knew it was Thanksgiving! We did our morning studies and then did some weekly planning while I made pies! I made Mom's lemon meringue pie and an apple pie, which I have concluded is my favorite pie!
We saw Keren around noon and had a quick visit with her. Then we ran to Jan and Jack's and had Thanksgiving dinner at Finn and Porter, a restaurant at the Marks Center in Alexandria. It was actually really good, and although it was different, I liked it. Afterwards, we went back to their home and ate pie and talked for another hour about jewelry and other fun things like that!
We then ran to the Potomac center to visit our friends there. Afterwards, we realized that our car was super low on oil so we went to the gas station to buy and fill our car with more. We didn't know what kind to buy and we were really stressed becuase we thought our car was going to blow up. It all worked out in the end though!
We then visited with Robert at a member's home. It was so much fun and we had a really good lesson with him. We ended the night by seeing Bobby and Keren again and lighting the second Hannukah candle with them.
FRIDAY - Bishop and his wife invited us over for pancakes and eggs, which was really good and really fun. Their cooking and home reminded me of how our home is, and it all just felt very cozy and familiar. We then had another launching leaders class and then we went on exchanges! I went with Sister Stones, and she is absolutely amazing! I want so much to be a missionary like her! I had so much fun with her, and laughed my real laugh, which I realized that I haven't done for a while.
While on exchange, we had a lesson with Keren, and dinner with an amazing family in our ward. They have four kids who are really crazy sometimes but the parents don't yell or ever get impatient with them. You can tell that they love them so much, and I was just so impressed by them.
We then spent the rest of the evening caroling at the Pentagon City Metro station and it was probably one of my favorite things I've done on my mission! It was so much fun and people were so much more willing to stop and talk to us!
SATURDAY - We exchanged back, had a lesson with Joan and then went to a baptism with Robert. We had dinner with a man who is less active that evening and we had a really good conversation with him. We saw Keren again that night, and then visited another woman in our ward who is less active. It was such a good day!!
SUNDAY - Our mission fasted for all of our investigators and fasted that we can reach our goal of 166 baptisms by the end of the year. We had a lesson with Jan on the phone afterwards, because she and her husband are quarantined in their house becuase they're really sick right now. She said that she is going to read the whole Book of Mormon during this time. We agreed that this would be a really good idea :)
We then visited some members in our ward, who are very newlyweddish. Afterward, we visited Sandra and Ignacio and had a really sad visit with them. His father unexpectedly passed away and he is struggling a lot. My heart ached for him, and it made me cry to see him hurting so much.
We then saw Rob and that concluded our night.
I am grateful for all of you and I love you so much!! I hope you have a great first week of December!!!
Love,
Sister Akin
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