Our intent of this blog is to share Brock's adventures in Orlando, Florida while he's on his LDS mission. Hopefully, by reading about how Brock is changing the lives of so many, and seeing Brock's own personal growth in the gospel, the people reading this blog will also be able to feel the spirit and be inspired to strengthen or develop their own testimonies of Christ and the LDS church.

Monday, December 29, 2014

A Great Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Skype Call Home!

Skyping with Brock on Christmas was perfect!  We had a couple of his friends over, as well as his grandma and grandpa and aunt and uncle and family.  I have to admit that I bawled when I first saw him, and hanging up at the end wasn’t easy either.  In between we had lots of laughs.  It was so good to hear him and to see him.  He sounds great.  He’s happy and he’s enjoying the work.  I think that being away for Christmas was hard for him and that he’ll be ready for the holiday season to be over so he can get back to the grind.  At the end of our Skype session he let us all know how true the Book of Mormon is and how much he loves being a missionary!  Mother’s Day can’t come soon enough!



Friends and Family,

Merry Late Christmas! I hope everyone had a great week, and had a memorable Christmas! This week was definitely a new experience for me, and it was something I'll never forget. It was kind of a strange week here in Buena Vista. Most of the College Program Disney employees are finishing up their term, and are starting to head back home. This makes it a little tough for people to stay committed, but it also means that there is going to be multiple waves of new "CP's" coming in for the new year! We are excited for this upcoming week!

Tuesday-
What a crazy day Tuesday was! We woke up ready to head out to Temple Service. When we walked out the door, we noticed our car wasn't where it was parked... We looked all around in the apartment complex parking and the car was nowhere to be found! Our first thought was that someone stole it during the night. We checked for broken glass in our parking spot, but didn't pick up anything. We then used our brains, and realized that when we moved apartments last week we never received a parking permit! We walked up to the office and called the towing company. Sure enough, our car was towed during the night! We called around the zone, hoping a companionship would be able to give us a ride to the shop. When no one was answering, we remembered that all the missionaries in the Orlando South Zone were at Temple a Service until 12:30! It kind of put a damper on our day, but we were able to walk around our apartment complex, and get to know some people in the area. Later in the afternoon, We got a call from some missionaries saying they could drive us over to pick up our car! Woohoo! Later in the afternoon, we had a couple of solid appointments and were able to pick up a new investigator.

Wednesday (Christmas Eve) -
Christmas Eve was great this year! Our Ward Mission Leader invited us to help him out with "Secret Santa Projects." Elder Peay and I were excited to get involved with Christmas, and help out a couple of families! This is a story I'll never forget. Around 8 pm we drove over to the apartment complex where the family lives. We get out of the car with presents in hand excited to deliver them! We were walking through the gate to the apartments when we saw their family car drive through! The 3 of us panicked and stood as still as possible! We didn't think they saw us, so we continued on approaching their apartment. When we were about 50 yards away, we spotted the family standing outside, next to their car looking around for us! We had been spotted! We waited around for about 15 minutes and they weren't about to go inside. We slowly crept back to the car to wait them out. We sat and talked for about 30 minutes and were ready for round 2! We slowly approached again, with our sneak mode on. When we started to enter the apartment complex  Mother Nature decided to pull a quick one on us and it begins to pour rain! We started to run to the apartment to save the gifts but there was no hope. The three of us were completely drenched. Just sopping wet. We were almost to the apartment door when the bag holding the presents ripped from the water damage! The presents came falling out of the bag onto the puddle filled pavement. The wrapping paper was ruined, and there was no way we could deliver the presents half wrapped with water damage. Luckily, none of the gifts were electronic so they were safe. We picked up the presents, and walked slowly back to the car in the downpour. We didn't necessarily care about the rain because we were so wet it didn't even matter. It felt like I was standing in the shower with my shirt and tie on. We got to the car and it was almost 9:15. As missionaries we are supposed to be home at 9:30. We gave the presents to Dan (the Ward Mission Leader) and he said he'd take care of it. To finish up the story, I'll have to fast forward to Christmas Day. When we were doing Internet Proselyting on Facebook, we saw a picture from the mother of the family. We clicked on it, and it had a picture of presents underneath a Christmas tree. The caption of the picture was, " A Christmas miracle. I wasn't expecting any gifts for the kids, but miracles happen. There hasn't ever been this many presents under our tree. Thank you..."  I love being a missionary.

Thursday (Christmas)-
I don't even know how to begin talking about Thursday. A BIG thanks to those of you who sent me a letter, card, or even package my way. I'm blessed to have people supporting me through out my mission like you guys are. I couldn't thank you enough. It was a little strange to wake up Christmas morning without my family around me. It was a little awkward, and Elder Peay and I weren't quite sure what to do! I was grateful for the experiences I've had with Christmas, and for the people I have in my life. Later in the day we went to Skype home! It was great to have an actual, real life conversation with my family and a couple friends I'll never forget! It was full of laughter, tears, and jokes. It gave me a stronger desire to go work my hardest for the people in Orlando, and The Lord. It was hard not to be with them, but I know I am where I'm supposed to be. Later Christmas night, we went to a dinner with a YSA their family. The family invited the missionaries serving in their ward for dinner as well. It was fun to catch up with them and see how they are doing too!

Friday through Sunday-
Sorry to cram these 3 days into one paragraph, but there just isn't enough time! We found a couple of new investigators these days, and are seeing s lot of progress! Our investigators Lamar and Darlene are looking great and are getting close to their baptismal dates! Cineus was able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood Sunday morning at church! He then showed up at night sacrament as well because he wanted to "fulfill his duty, and pass the sacrament." Man I love that guy. The work is progressing, and it's really exciting. I'm starting to hope I am able to have another transfer here in Buena Vista, and be here for a quarter of my mission. (4 transfers)

I love you guys, and appreciate your support. Again, I'm grateful for
each and every one of you. I hope life is well and you are happy!

Much love,
Elder Doman

Pictures-

Picture 1 - We live right next to the NBC Golf Station! On our way home Friday night, we thought it would be cool to take a picture next to the sign! 

Picture 2- It was Cineus' Birthday on Saturday. We went to Wal-Mart and got him an awesome shirt... His favorite animal is a cat, so... 

Picture 3- Florida is a pretty amazing place.

Picture 4 and 5- The member whose home we Skyped at is a major "Big Hero 6" fan. The dad bought this from the movie theater and I had to get a Picture







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