Tornado warning, Thanksgiving with President Berry, and another week in the books!

Brock told Britt this week that one of the members of his ward works on the Jungle Cruise, so he always tells Brock cheesy jokes.  Anyone that knows Brock, knows that he absolutely loves dorky jokes and puns.  Here’s a couple of jokes he shared with Britt:

Why are Santa’s elves acting depressed?  Because they have low elf esteem hahahaha

Why does Santa love the reindeer?  Because Santa loves the rain, dear!

I know it’s bad, but you have to laugh!

Here’s his weekly letter:

Friends and Family,

How's everybody's week been? I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and enjoyed spending time together! It was a crazy week here, but a very good one too! I can't wait to tell you all about it! It was tough to be away from family, cousins, and friends for the first time on a major holiday. It was a new experience for me and I didn't know what to expect!  It was pretty tough, but it is what it is! I wouldn't change this experience for the world. A lot of the CP's had their family in town and the local members all went out of town. It was kind of a weird week with so many people out of town for the holiday!

Tuesday- 

Well, we went to go running Tuesday morning then we walked out the door and it was a major rainstorm! Probably the worst one I've ever been in. It was an absolute downpour! The wind was howling and we would have been soaking wet if we stepped outside. Later in the morning we get a text alert saying there was a Tornado coming into downtown Orlando... It made us a little bit worried!! We had appointments we needed to get to so we figured the Lord would watch over us :) We put on our rain gear and tuffed it out! It ended up being a great day! We were driving down the road and at one point, there was a cardboard box floating down the right half of the road by the gutter. It rained hard all day! The Tornado was beginning to form right above Sea World, but eventually went away. However, It was bad weather all day which made it kind of fun! We were safe and no harm or accident came upon us or the car. We visited a few less active members and made some phone calls!

Wednesday- 

 Wednesday morning we had a great district meeting!! We were driving home for lunch after and we notice a huge, black, round object on the side of the road. We both had no idea what it was so we pulled of to the side of the road. We get out of the car to see what it is and it was a dead boar!! Someone had hit it with their car, moved it off to the side of the road and drove away! It was nasty. Me being an 18 year old, and Elder Potter being not much older wanted to be great young men and take a picture with it! We remembered we had just brought forks and butter knives to district meeting for a prop. We both think we took funny pictures with it, but I'll let you decide! (Picture at bottom)

One of the Ward members is taking a trip to China for 2 months, and wanted to take us out to a nice dinner before he left. He's a great guy and is great at doing member missionary work! We had Night Games later that night and some members brought there friends out to show them that "Mormons" are actually pretty normal people! It was freezing cold that night, so we weren't able to do much! With our area switching up, and not many people in town, we decided it would be most effective if we called some old investigators and new potential investigators to see if we could broaden our teaching pool! It was hard to just sit down and make phone calls. I'd much rather be knocking doors and doing it physically, but it was much more effective to do it over the phone. It is something I will definitely have to learn on my mission! 

Thursday (Thanksgiving) - 

We had a great Thanksgiving! It was one i'll never forget. We get a call from the Zone Leaders making sure that all Missionaries had a thanksgiving dinner to go to. We unfortunately didn't at the time. They told us they will call us back in a little bit. Right after we hang up the phone, we get a call from a Polynesian in our ward asking if we had dinner. We told him the situation, but he invited us to come out to his giant family dinner at a park. After we got off the phone with him, President Berry (the Mission President) called and invited us over to dinner at his home with his family. We gladly accepted and he said to come over at 5! It was one of the funniest mornings on my mission! The Polynesian cook off was amazing. There were over 100 Tongans gathered together at a park and they all brought their favorite Thanksgiving dish... Wow, I have never been so full in my life! The member in our ward came up to me and told me I needed to eat some of this dish. I had no idea what it was, it just looked like steak. I grabbed a little bit and after I had my first bite, he told me it was horse!! I ate horse... let me tell ya, it was a little weird to think about. Anyway, we talked with a lot of non members that were there and got to know some more of the Ward members. As we drove to President Berry's home, we were already very full but we had to be polite and continue to eat. It was nice to see President Berry in more of a relaxed setting and to see him with is family. He is such a great example to me. I'll never forget Thanksgiving dinner at my Mission Presidents home. 

Friday-

 We had Weekly Planning come around again, but we also saw an amazing miracle! We were contacting people over by Disney World, and came across a man named Tikina. He was soo interested in learning more he invited us to step away from all the traffic, and to have a lesson right there! We were both in awe from a man so interested in the gospel right away. We were teaching him the first lesson and we turned to the page with Joseph Smith and his vision. He stopped us as soon as he saw the picture and asked, "what is that?" we then explained to him the First Vision. He sat there for a little while afterward and just nodded his head. After a couple of seconds he told us he had seen something like that. He had a dream one night that he was surrounded by darkness and he felt like it was pressing in on him, when all of the sudden a light came down and forced the darkness out of the room...He said he believes the Joseph Smith story already and can't wait to learn more. Wow, it was such a blessing for us. We hadn't seen much success all day and the Lord continued to bless us for our hard work. Heavenly Father is always with us. No matter what our situation is, He knows you and the situation you are in. He knows your needs, wants, and desires, and he is willing to help. All we have to do is ask. 

Saturday-

We had another... experience on Saturday! We called more potential investigators that morning and a man named Dontre invited us to come over later that day.He told us he was very anxious and kind of nervous for us to stop by. We drove over and knocked on the door. He opened it and was in nothing but whitey tighties...He had walked out of his apartment and closed the door behind him. He began to talk to us, and I was trying sooo hard not to laugh!! He accepted us coming over and went to go put more clothes back on. (thank heaven) He didn't know what his parents would think about meeting with the "Mormon missionaries" considering his Dad is a Pastor. He liked our message and wanted us to come back. What a blessing!

Sunday-

Our investigator Cineus was at church again! Cineus is the investigator who needs to be re-baptized because he moved before being confirmed! He is so solid and is ready for his baptism this Sunday! After church, we went and did a Temple tour. Let me tell ya, the Temple is probably the best place to go with an investigator. The spirit was so present and he was just so happy. He can't wait to go do baptisms for his relatives that have passed. He already has such a strong desire for it and brings it up almost every time we talk with him! He's awesome! 

All in all, This week has been great! We are seeing some success and are very grateful for it. I hope you all are doing okay, and are loving life! I miss you guys! This Sunday Cineus has his baptism! If you could keep him in your prayers, that would be great!

much love,

Elder Doman

Mormon 9:6-O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day.