We are teaching people from Antigua, Detroit, Naminia Africa, Boston, and I just baptized a man from Haiti! I love Florida. I'm happy and so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve a mission.

Brock has definitely grown up on his mission. Today, in his email to me, he said:

“Mom, A mission is hard. I understand why kids have gone home. It's definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. At the same time, it has been the most rewarding thing too. It is a spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental marathon. It requires every aspect of life in order to be successful. It would be so easy to call it quits. But I know that there is still work for me to do here in the Orlando, Florida Mission. Time is going to pick up, and before we know it, I'll be back home.”

Friends and Family,

Christmas time is here! It's hard to tell that it is down here in Florida where it is 75 degrees outside, and the snow cone shops are still open! I love it though. We had a great week this week, and are looking forward for the one to come as well!

Tuesday-

We had Temple Service Tuesday morning. The Temple is closed right now so they can do some "beautification projects" on the Temple grounds.

Since there is a lot of work to be done, they had the whole Orlando South Zone come out to the service Tuesday Morning! It was great to be able to talk with and see some of the missionaries I came out with, missionaries I had served around, and to meet some new missionaries too. I was able to see Elder Husbands there and we talked and worked the whole time! After Temple Service, we went to meet with one of our investigators. As soon as we walked inside, he looked at me and said, "I really don't like tall people, so you are already at a disadvantage." Uhhh... I had no idea what to say. I just laughed it off and pretended like he was joking. The lesson went well though and we are looking forward to the next time we meet with him.

Wednesday-

I had the privilege to give a training at District Meeting Wednesday

morning on teaching simply. The training went well, and I only made a

fool out of myself once. We were having a discussion about Adam and

Eve, and The Fall when I said, "yeah, and then Adam ate the tree!" The

district just stopped talking, looked at me, and started to laugh! No, Adam did not eat the tree. He ate the fruit on the tree! I tried to cover myself up, but it was too late. Each missionary in out District has given me a hard time for every time they see me. It's kind of like the time I finished a talk in church with, "I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints. Amen." Sometimes, words just come out wrong. Hahah

Thursday-

We have Valencia City College In our Zone, and we thought it would be a

great idea to ask if we are able to proselyte on campus or set up a table where we could talk with students. It's a great idea, and we are looking forward to go find some youth there! If we get it approved, it will be such a blessing. The work will begin to pick up even more than it is now. We are really hoping it works out! Later that night we met with Cineus to make sure he was all set and ready for his baptism! This man might be the must humble person I've ever met. He is so selfless and willing to do anything for anyone around him whenever possible. We had another baptism scheduled for the same time as Cineus', but the other investigator (Lamar) got cold feet and wanted to push it back. When we told Cineus this, he asked what he could do to help us with Lamar, so he can get baptized too. It was so cool to see his initial reaction was to offer help for someone to receive the same blessings of baptism. It's definitely a great Christlike attribute to have, and I definitely look up to him and his example.

Friday-

Friday... Friday was a long day! We had 5 appointments set up, then

throughout the day, all 5 of them fell through. It was tough! We were able to have a good weekly planning session and made a lot of phone calls to set up a good week for this next week which is the last one of the transfer!

Saturday-

Saturday was great! We met with Lamar and got to the bottom of his concern. We addressed it well, and got back on track. It's amazing to see what happens when a testimony is shared! There is so much power behind it, and it is very inspirational. I love hearing testimonies because it isn't about what you know, but it's about how you know it. After Lamar, we went to some other appointments and it was just an all around solid day! Later that night, we met Cineus at the church to get him fitted for his baptismal clothes and finalize everything for the baptism on Sunday. It just so happened that the Lake Reams Ward was having their Christmas party that night, and invited us to their dinner after we were done. Being 3 young men, there was no way we could pass by that invitation! It was a great time to be able to talk with and get to know Cineus outside of a teaching environment. After the unplanned dinner, we went and had a lesson with a man from Africa! His name is a long African name, but he just goes by Tikina. Haha, he's working as a CP, and has been in the States for only 4 months. He was so grateful for us stopping by to talk with him, and appreciated what missionaries do. He loved the message of the restoration, and was blown away by the Book of Mormon. He was in awe that it was a record of Prophets here in the Americas. Through out the whole lesson, he would open his eyes really big, look left and right, then just say, "Wooooow!" It was really spiritual, but it was also kind of funny! We set a baptismal date with him and he was so excited

for it!

Sunday-

The baptism went great! Everything went as planned and Myrtho Cineus

is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Most of the time, there is a musical number right after the ordinance before the bishop speaks. I wasn't about to get up and sing a solo, and neither was Elder Potter. I told our Ward Mission Leader Dan Hess that if he played a song on the piano I'd give him a special shout out in my email to my friends and family back home! So Dan, there it was! Hahah. We had the missionaries that found Cineus attend the baptism as well, and it ended up being Elder Husbands and his new companion! It was awesome to see him there! Great to catch up with him again! Twice in a week!  We then had the Christmas Devotional after Cineus was confirmed, and wow, the Christmas Devotional was fantastic. I highly recommend watching it if you didn't have the chance! Overall It was a great day!

We have a crazy teaching pool. We are teaching people from Antigua,

Detroit, Naminia Africa, Boston, and I just baptized a man from Haiti! I

love Florida. I'm happy and so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve a mission. I am beginning to understand more about myself, others around me, and my Savior Jesus Christ each and every day. I don't think anything is better than that. I hope everyone has a good week. I'll talk with you again soon!

Much Love,

Elder Doman

- I found this awesome quote by President Uchtdorf I wanted to share

with all of you!

"It is easy to be grateful for things when life seems to be going our way. But what then of those times when what we wish for seems to be far out of reach? Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I'm suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances- whatever they may be." Dieter F. Uchtdorf