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.
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