Happy Thanksgiving!

We were invited to Thanksgiving dinner at our ward mission leader, Brad’s, house along with about 15-20 other people. We had great food and enjoyed our time with Brad’s family and many members of the ward who stayed in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. Brother Nichols, the Chapel Hill Institute Director, invited us over for dinner with his family later that day. It was great to spend Thanksgiving with families, even while serving in a Singles Ward.

We’ve been teaching Dirk for several months now, as he has been coming to church with his fiancée, who joined the church about a year and a half ago. We have been reading from the Book of Mormon with him for a while now, stressing the importance of gaining a spiritual witness from the Holy Ghost of the truthfulness of that book and this Church. It has really helped put me at ease as he has stated more than once that he does not want to do anything, including joining the Church, for the wrong reasons.

We talked with him yesterday about baptism, and asked him what he understood about baptism. Among other truths, he stated it was how we establish a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ, and that it was symbolic of the Savior’s Atonement and Resurrection, helping us to remember what He has done. I was surprised at how perfect his response was, because so many think of baptism as just joining the church.

Dirk has decided to be baptized December 13th, one week after he gets married. For now, we are helping Dirk realize the spiritual witnesses he has had and will have in the time before and after his baptism. He knows what the Holy Ghost feels like, his heart is sincere and I’ve been there more than once as I knew he was feeling the Holy Ghost!

I love my mission. I love why I am here. I have been thinking of what I am grateful for and realized that I have everything that I want at this point in my life. This is exactly what I believe the Lord wants me to be doing, exactly where, whom with whom He would have me serve.

I thank each of you for anyway you have helped and continue to help me serve!

Love,

Elder Walters