Update

Dear Friends and Family,

You are all aware of the sleeping problems Elder Armstrong has had over the past 6 months.  We know many prayers have been given and fasting has happened on his behalf.  Thank you for all the time and thoughts for Dexton.

We wanted everyone to know the latest with Dexton.  Right now he is on a plane on his way home, with an Honorable Medical Release. While in the DC South mission Dexton has worked with several medical professionals to try to find a resolution to his sleeping issue.  As parents we are so grateful for the proactive approach of a very loving Mission President and mission doctor.  But Dexton has been getting less and less sleep even with all the resources they offered.  He is now averaging between 1-3 hours a night.  So yesterday the decision was made to have him come home to get better.  

This may be a surprise to many, especially if you are following his blog.  He has looked great in photos & been so positive in letters and incredibly obedient through this trial. JB and I have been at peace with this decision and know that this is the next step that we need to take.  This is a happy time.  We are celebrating a return of a young missionary who served faithfully for 6 months.  His goal is to get back out on his mission-but it will take several months for his body to heal.  Don't hesitate to stop by and say hi to him while he is home.  Ask him about his mission experiences.  Ask him about the things he is working on to stay busy and engaged in the missionary spirit and missionary work.  We are blessed to live in an area that has many missionary opportunities that we can take advantage of  while he gets the rest he needs. 

Thank you for you love and prayers.  We love you all.

Nicole, JB, Dexton and family

March 24 - Email Home - Transferred to Burke-the Mission Office

Yep, this week was transfers. I am now in Burke, VA in the Springfield Stake!

For all those who are wondering, here's my address to send mail to:
5242 Lyngate Ct,
Burke, VA, 22015

I am also working in the Mission Office as an Office Elder. (Its
different from being an Assistant to the President (aka AP) ) Some of
my responsibilities include:
Delivering special supplies and/or furniture (couches, new phones, beds, etc.),
Helping missionaries change apartments,
Help the senior couple missionaries and President with their tech problems,

A good way of describing it is that the Assistants cover the Spiritual
side of the mission, and the Office Elders cover the temporal/physical
side of the mission.

That being said, we get quite busy helping other missionaries with
their problems. The office elders only proselyted for four hours last
transfer because they were so busy with everything. So if I don't get
to do much proselyting, thats the reason why.

The ward loves us though! Somehow we get fed 5-6 times a week by
members. In my mind it doesn't make sense, because we don't get to do
much for our ward because of our schedule. Thankfully we have a set of
Sister Missionaries in our ward who keep the work progressing.

My companion is Elder Lyman from St. George, Utah. He is a month
younger than me, but has been out for 9 months. He is also about 6
inches taller than I am. (Its kind of funny how similar he is to Jake
- tall, a month younger than I, 3 months older mission-wise).

This transfer another fellow Viking came out, Sister Brystal Gerber.
She was in my graduating class from PG High. PG has been representing
in this mission ( I believe there are now four of us).

We share our apartment with the Assistants. Its definitely a change
for me, as I've only been in apartments with one set of Elders so far.
But Its a good change! Its quite fun sharing the apartment with them.

I know this church is true. I know that Christ is the Savior and that
He helps us bear our cross. Last night, I was able to share the
following thought with a member family: "I believe, brothers and
sisters, that only those who are humble are able to acknowledge and
understand the Lord's answers to their prayers. The humble are
teachable, recognizing how dependent they are on God and desiring to
be subject to His will. The humble are meek and have the ability to
influence others to be the same. God's promise to the humble is that
He will lead them by the hand. I truly believe that we will avoid
detours and sadness in our lives as long as we walk hand in hand with
the Lord." (Be Meek and Lowly of Heart, Elder Soares).

Something I love about this quote is that Elder Soares doesn't say we
won't have trials or hardships. He says that we will avoid the sadness
or the detours that come with those hardships or trials. We will still
go through them, that much is sure, but we can have the strength to
get through them in a timely manner.

I love you all. Thank you for the support!
-Elder Armstrong

Transfers

Also, Elder Armstrong is getting transferred this week so please don't send him any mail until he posts his new address!

March 17 - Email Home

Well, yesterday was stake conference! It was a region wide stake conference meaning that all of the stakes within our mission boundaries were part of a broadcast from SLC. We had two Seventies, a member of the Primary Presidency (I believe), and Elder L. Tom Perry. They talked about the hastening of the work, and about how to improve one's self in relation to the gospel, so that they could spread the gospel better.

Yesterday was pretty eventful! We had our first baptism! She got baptized last night and we are so excited! I'll be sending out a picture later! She will be confirmed this Sunday during sacrament meeting. Our plan is to teach her English so that she can get a job and actually enjoy Sacrament meeting, Relief Society and Gospel Principles.

The work went slowly this week, but we still tried our best. The rest of our investigators have been pretty busy, so we have been teaching the members the lesson. We have also been working with some of the Less Active members in our ward! It has been good!

I'm glad everything is well at home! I mean, its the normal crazy busyness but thats good!

Way to go Daws! Finish that Eagle fast! Don't take an entire year to pull it off like me! haha

I know this Church is true. I know the Savior loves me. He has always been there for me, I just needed to turn to him. Once I did, I got the best help I could ever receive, because He knows who I am!

I love you all! Thank you for the support!

-Elder Armstrong

Love those Pictures from Members!!

The best part of technology and having a missionary is how us moms, family and friends can receive info or in this case pictures.  Oh how I love the women who take time to send a picture or three to me.  It's some of the best days when I get to open an email or text with a photo that has been taken within the last few hours.  We love our Elder Armstrong!

March 10 - Email Home

Sounds like the Armstrong home has been busy, but not too crazy!

I'm glad everyone is doing well. I hope that Cass gets feeling better!

My companion is doing great! His family is working things out, so we
aren't really worried anymore!

Phew, its been a crazy weekend! Thursday is the day we finally wrapped
up the iPad training (thank you!). Even though its over, we still get
about 10+ calls a day from missionaries throughout the mission having
one problem or another. Its great though! It keeps my techy skills
intact!

Friday was great! We were able to meet with a new family investigating the church

at one of our members homes! It was a crazy awesome lesson! We started off
talking about the Book of Mormon, but that changed to a lesson on
Eternal Familes, and being sealed in the temple, after we learned that
her father recently passed away. They seemed so interested in being 

sealed as a family! She and her kids committed to come to church on Sunday. 

He couldn't come because of work... but thats okay! We will get him to come next week!

Saturday was pretty cool! We were walking to a Less Actives home (70
minutes round trip) and we street contacted into two guys! One was
from Portugal, and he had arrived in the Falls Church area less than a
week ago! So we taught him about the Book of Mormon. When we gave him
one, he seemed confused, because we weren't asking for money! It was
great! The other guy serves in the national guard. He wanted to know what 

makes our church different from all of the others. We taught him a little 

about the Restoration, and then we got a return appointment for Tuesday!

Sunday was grand! We had our Turkish investigator who came to
sacrament meeting. She's still on date for this Sunday (we are pretty
excited)! And we had the the sister I talked about before and her two kids! 

Sacrament meeting was perfect for them; it was all about faith in Jesus Christ.

Then we had a musical number performed by a string ensemble "Army of Helaman".
Wow, the Spirit was there! We felt really good about it afterwards.

As for all those wondering about the sleep issue, we are still working
on it! We are trying different avenues that we haven't explored yet.
I'm grateful for all of the prayers and the support I have been given!

As I've been out, and particularly, as I've experienced this trial,
I've come to better understand the Atonement. I've come to know how to
use it better, and how to apply it in my life. I am so grateful for
the Savior, and for the gift of the Atonement that He gave me. Every
single time I use it, my appreciation and love for Him grows. I am
grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful for the Plan of
Happiness that has been put together for our benefit. I know this
Church is true. I know that trials are here for us to grow and for us
to experience the bad, so that we may know the good. 2 Nephi 2 is a
great chapter. Read it some time!

I love you all! Thank you for being there for me!

-Elder Armstrong

March 6 - Email Home

I'll start off by explaining what has been happening to me for the last 6 months. I've been having sleep problems. As my mission has progressed, the problem has as well. Now I am to the point where I'm getting, at most, three hours of sleep. I've have been diligently working with the Mission Doctor, trying different remedies, medicines, and techniques. The problem isn't necessarily falling asleep, its staying asleep.

As this problem has progressed, it has begun to interfere with my missionary work. I get distracted and lose focus easily. I find myself falling asleep in meetings and lessons. I can't teach as well as I used to. My companion has been so patient, and I am so grateful for that.

I am also grateful for the prayers and the fasts that have been given for my benefit. Thank you so much for that support! It really means a lot to me.

Anyway, on with my email!

I'm glad the family is doing A-OK! That is good.

This last week has been somewhat crazy. I've had iPad trainings throughout the whole mission, teaching these D.C. South missionaries how to use their iPads to fulfill their purpose. It has been hard for me, but it has been great to see the work of The Lord advance in such an amazing way!

Our Turkish investigator is still advancing towards baptism on the 16th! We are so excited for her and she is as well!

Even though I'm going through this trial, I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve out here. I love The Lord so much. He is so merciful, and so kind. I am grateful for His sacrifice for us. I love the Atonement, and the opportunity I have to use it each and every day.

I love you all!
-Elder Armstrong

Feb 26th - Email Home

Well, it's been a crazy week! Full of sleepless nights and iPad training! Wooo! Haha.

So Thursday night was a bummer night, but it ended on a positive note. We had two appointments drop us. One of them was an Egyptian man who we met when we ate at Chipotle. He informed us about an hour and a half before which was nice. The other appointment we had set up was with our family that we are teaching who are from Togo. We had a french speaking member with us, and we were so stoked. Alas, it was not meant to be. We knocked on the door... and there was no answer. We had another appointment with E though! He struggled to believe in three things. 1) Joseph Smith wasn't a Prophet, 2) Heavenly Father doesn't have a physical body, and 3) Jesus Christ isn't the Son of God. We were excited! Those three things are so easy to have resolved, as long as you are open to the answers. The way E can and will find out for himself, is through the Book of Mormon. We can't until he finds out the truthfulness of the Gospel!

Friday, we had an appointment with our Turkish grandmother who doesn't speak any English. We found out that she wants to move her baptism to the 15th and be confirmed on the 16th. The 16th is her anniversary. We told her that it would be fine until we found out later that Stake Conference would be happening those two days. We moved her baptism to the 16th, and her confirmation til the 23rd! She is so amazing. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or at least we tried to. She actually knows the Gospel better than we do, so we were taught by her... Haha! What a lady! I am pumped for her to come closer to Jesus Christ through baptism! She is so ready!

On Monday, we got our iPad training for us Mobile Device Specialists. That being said, we only got half a preparation day, so thats why we haven't emailed til now. The iPads are great, but really locked down-Which is fine. Now that I have one, I thought I'd enjoy it a lot, but I'm kinda at that "I dont hate it, but I dont like it much either" stage. They will be  a great tool in Missionary work though!

(personal note from mom: These photos contradict his "I don't hate it but I don't like it much either" comment....I personally think he looks pretty excited!)

Yesterday, we had a trial district training. We are the first mission to not have SLC send out someone to train missionaries on how to use the iPads. So we were being observed by someone from SLC, but he was just there to find out how well this new system of training worked. That took up our day yesterday.

Questions/Answers

-What is a Sunday like for you?  Do you attend Ward Council or other meetings each week?

Sunday is a great day. We have Ward Council 2nd and 4th weeks. PEC is on the 3rd week, and we attend both Ward Council and PEC at 9:00 AM. We usually just stay at the church because its about 2 miles uphill. Church begins at1:00 PM and goes til 4:00 PM. We will usually eat dinner at 5:00 PM and then we are off to do normal proselyting/missionary stuff.

-How is your scheduled baptism?  It's coming up fast.  How do they get baptized if you have to know Turkish to talk to them?  Aren't they ones with a interpreter?  Or are one of you Elders going to learn the baptism prayer in Turkish?  How would you do the confirmation?

We don't speak Turkish, but we have a member who is going to Turkey as a part of his job in the state department. Sebahat has asked him to baptize her. He willingly accepted, and we are trying to figure out how we will do the rest of the baptism, whether it be English or Turkish.

-What cultures are in your ward?  Is this the area where there are a lot of people who work for different embassies so you have a lot of diversity in your area?

So we have the housing for the State Department people. They have a job that is akin to serving a mission. They get called to go to a specific place (i.e. Turkey, Japan, China, Mexico) and they work the American Government jobs (like approving passports, letting people into the country) and so they have to learn languages. Lots of diversity in our area, everything from Hispanics, to Chinese, to Indian. We have it all here in Falls Church.

-How are things going with all the people you are teaching?

I believe everything is going well overall. Our days are pretty jam-packed!

-How are your shoes holding up?

Haha, they are great! I would recommend Hush Puppies to most missionaries. I say most, because I haven't really tried to wear them out, but I use them everyday!

-How many miles have you ridden on your bike so far?

Right now, I've ridden about 400 miles on my bike. We tend to walk everywhere here, or get rides if possible, because it gives us more opportunity to meet people and talk to everyone!

-Whats the area like, hills or flat ground?  Easy riding?

A little of both. Its like flat long hills. You are always either going up or down, but never flat. So the riding either requires a bit of endurance, or you'll end up just coasting everywhere.

-What is a Tech Specialist?

We go around to the different Zones and train them how to setup and use their iPads to fulfill their purpose as a missionary. We will be taking quite a bit of time next week to set everything up with each zone especially Tuesday-Thursday. We are also there to help fix any problems, or answer any technological questions they may have. 

-How will you fit visiting all the elders in with your proselyting?

We should be back before 5PM each day, so we should be able to continue to proselyte, just not in the middle of the day.

-Do you get a car now?

-Do you remember how to drive-haha!

Sadly... we don't! Haha good question though. We get picked up by the Office Elders and taken to our different appointments with the training. And yes, I still remember how to drive!

I know this church is true. You feel it every single day out here. It is amazing. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God. He loves us! I wish I could just show everyone how to feel of His love. The Book of Mormon has the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel. Please, read it and then read it again, and again, and again!

Thank you for the Support and the love!

-Elder Armstrong