Mission Christmas #2!

Elder Gubler from Hurricane

This is the tree we made for Brock.  We sorted the pictures and notes into 12 envelopes and told him to open one each day for the 12 days of Christmas.  Well, to continue with the family tradition of not being able to wait for surprises, he opened them all the first day he got them and hung them on the tree!!  So funny!

Friends and Family,

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I know for me it was nice to
see my friends and family again! It definitely gave me some more
determination and motivation to continue pushing forward. It was a
great holiday! We found out on Saturday that Elder Chidester and I
will be serving together again for another transfer! We are both
pretty stoked and are looking forward for these next 6 weeks in

Eustis!We had some pretty funny events happen this week that Elder Chidester

and I were able to laugh at, and it seems like it is beginning to
happen each week. Soooo here we go!

On Tuesday we tried to fit as many people in as possible because we
knew that the end of the week would be hectic and very busy for most
people. After having success teaching in the morning, we got a call
from a less active member in the Ward who referred her best friend and
neighbor to us, and asked if we could go stop by! It was quite the
blessing. Her name is Addie and she is has a lot of potential in the
gospel. She is going through A TON right now, and could use some
prayers sent her way. Addie is currently living with her ex husband so
that she is able to see her sons and daughters more often. It's not
the ideal situation by any means, but it shows how much she loves her
family. She also has Dialysis 3 times a week so this wares on her as
well. With all of that going on, Addie stays strong, and is a trooper.
She still has a strong desire to learn more, and is doing all she can
to be a role model for her family. We taught her the Restoration and
Plan of Salvation this week and she is just loving it. She asks all
the right questions and his pretty excited for this week too.
Tuesday afternoon, we decided to cook a Papa Murphy's take and bake
pizza in the oven a member gave us the night prior. Let's just say
after about 5 minutes in the oven, the pizza trans(caught on
fire)formed, and turned into some extra coal for Santa to pick up this
year. Luckily the back door to the patio is close to the kitchen so
when I grab the pizza that's on fire, along with the the oven rack I
just have to throw it out the door....Good times, good times.

Wednesday we had some more good laughs traveling out to Sumterville
for District Meeting again. Elder Chidester and I were doing our thing,
having some good conversation when we realized we missed the turn we
were supposed to take by a good 20 miles... We flipped the car around,
and headed back hoping to get the meeting on time. As we were driving
back, all of the sudden we noticed a brick in the middle of the road!
With cars both, on the side of me and behind me, the only thing we
could do was just take it and hold on tight. The tire went flat and we
were stuck in the middle of nowhere. Luckily we remembered a small
unmarked business not too far down the road which we could walk to.
Thank the high heavens that a good man named john was there to help us
change out our tire and put the spare on. 30 minutes later we arrived
in classic town of Sumtervile and were welcomed by the overwhelming
smell of cow manure. After the meeting we needed to find a place to
take our car in, but is also close enough for our spare tire to make
it. Luckily we made it to a shop nearby, and were on the road again.
Now it is 3 in the afternoon. After the good laughs we had that
morning, we remembered we needed to channel our inner Santa Clause,
and drive down to Clermont (a city) to drop of some Christmas packages
for some missionaries in the zone. This drive felt like we were
driving across Anthony Davis's unibrow... Let me tell ya, It was a
long drive! When we returned home, it was 6 o'clock and we finished up
the night with some good lessons with Sabrina and Artie! Both are
hoping to set baptismal dates this upcoming week.

Christmas Eve was fun. It started out with the classic weekly service
project in the jungle, cutting back weeds and tall trees with a
machete.  Other than that, we had most of our lessons fall through. We
did a lot of finding and sharing the Christmas video the church put
out a few weeks ago called, "A Savior Is Born." It was fun to share
the spirit and see people get excited for Christmas! The dinner we had
Christmas Eve was awesome. The Ericksen family hooked us up and we ate
like kings. They had a few family friends over, and we all had a good
time. It was definitely a "fancy feast" as you can tell by the
pictures! Afterwards, we went to downtown Mt. Dora for a walk around
to see the Christmas lights with Nana and GM! It was a good way to end
the night!

Christmas Day. This was probably the best holiday on my mission so
far. After the wrapping paper hit the garbage can in the morning, we
decided to take a jog down to the church and have a Christmas morning
shoot around. We later ate breakfast with the first councilor in the
Bishopric and the rest of the Larsen family. We played some fun games
there like Wiffle ball and Spike Ball while enjoying ourselves on this
special Holiday. To "wrap" up the rest of the day, we ate meals with
three other members who all made sure we didn't go away hungry and
gave us a plate to go. One of my favorite dinners was with an
investigator named Artie. I think I've talked a little bit about Artie
before. He is the giant man with a heavy New York accent, and he cuts
down trees for a living. He was also married a few weeks ago! A funny
quote from the dinner goes like this,
Me - "So uhhh Artie Fartie, (that's his nickname we gave him) do you
like cooking?"
Artie - "uhhh yeah. It's one of my favorite things to do."
Me - "Oh sweet. Why?"
Artie - "because I like to eat.... Simple as that....Now eat your
baked Ziti.... and like it."
We were all cracking up and having a good time. It kind of felt like I
was home!"

Talking with my family and close friends on the night of Christmas was
perfect. The day couldn't have ended any better. It sure made me miss
each of them, but it was the right amount of inspiration to finish
this last 1/4th of my mission strong. I sure love each of them!!

The last thing to mention about this week is that there was an Apostle
in our Ward this weekend!!! The newly called Elder Rasband's son is in
the Eustis Bishopric. Elder Rasband was visiting his son for Christmas
and for his granddaughters baptism. He spoke in Sacrament about how
Jesus ministered to the individual. He gave the example of when Jesus
visited the Nephites in the Book of Mormon, and how he blessed them
individually one by one. I took this as something I can focus on and
work towards for this next part of my mission. He also spoke about
living for those who will come after us, or our prosperity,  and
making the right decisions now which will influence generations to
come. The spirit meter was off the charts as I got my witness that he
truly has been called by God to be an apostle of the Lord Jesus
Christ.

I wanted to thank each of you again for the support and encouragement
you give week by week. I've been blessed with awesome family and
friends who continually motivate me. I love my mission!! Have a great
New Years!
Much Love,
- Elder Doman

3 Nephi 17:21 (speaking about Jesus)
21 And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare
record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and
blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Friends and Family,

What's good everybody? It was a pretty fun week out here in L-Town. We
saw a lot of pretty awesome things take place in the Land of Promise.
Luckily this week I didn't get chased by any dogs, didn't have to bike
up a giant hill, or have anything else too crazy happen. We are
looking forward to another solid week heading into Christmas time and
this season to focus our thoughts on the Savior. It's been pretty cool
to see people happier, and more friendly during the holiday season. It
makes our duty as missionaries a lot more fun!

So this week started off pretty strong with a good lesson with an
Investigator Sherry! She decided to put up a cry in the sky to know if
the Book of Mormon is true! After about a month or so of
inconsistently teaching her, this has the first prayer she's said
about the Book of Mormon. It was a pretty big step forward for her and
she's getting pretty excited about this whole process. Elder Chidester
and I were pumped about getting the ball rolling early on in the week.

On Tuesday we started off the day with some service for Sister Santana
(who has the jungle of a backyard) and basically just moved a bunch of
pots around and plant trees. Kind of cool, but the reward of Ichiban
made it all worth it :)  Afterwards, we saw some less actives for the
rest of the afternoon. That evening we went and visited ana couple
named Rodger and Sabrina. They are a couple who are just trying to
find a good, uplifting, and wholesome church to join (basically in the
most prepared situation there is.) We weren't able to meet with them
long, but we have some good plans for this upcoming week!

So there was a District Leader in the Zone who went home a little
early last week to start up school next semester, which then gives us
the chance to be the District leaders over that District and still
work with the whole Zone until the transfer ends next week. It was
pretty fun to work closer to those missionaries this week and really
connect with them. It's hard to feel close to about 30 missionaries
when you rarely see them. But since we were their District Leader, we
drove out on the long lonely drive to Sumterville, Fl. I'm pretty sure
in Sumterville, there are more cows than people, and the people there
love their cows more than they love other people. We tried to find
some cow "pastors" to teach but ran out of luck... Dum dum tss.
(Pastures, pastors... Kind of a stretch on that one.) it was pretty
far away from Eustis so we had a loooong drive back. It's almost as
long as a drive from St. George to Beaver, so it was a little journey
for us! It was fun to catch up with those fellas in farm country
though.
Wednesday night we had a dinner with a two time bishop, previous Stake
President, and a returned Mission President who has been home for
almost a year now. I felt like I was basically eating with the
Prophet. This was the fanciest home I've been in on my mission. It
kind of reminded me of a home that belonged in the movie "The Great
Gatsby." Elder Chidester and I were on our best behavior to say the
least. Mom, I know you'll be proud of me, I didn't even spill my drink
at the dinner table. Overall, the dinner went well and he was a really
nice guy. He gave us some good advice and we felt pretty motivated
afterwards.

Thursday we had Exchanges. If you think back to the time of Daytona
Beach, I went on an Exchange with Elder Black. Elder Black is probably
one of my favorite missionaries in our mission. He has a high
functioning case of autism, and him and are are just best buds. We
were both pretty excited to go on another exchange. This would be the
fourth we've been on! Sadly, this is his last transfer before he
returns back home to Idaho. It was fun to sit and talk with him about
his mission and how's he's grown out here. It was definitely an
experience I'll remember listening to him share his testimony with me
before going to bed. This guy is a stud. Miracles followed the next
day when we received a phone call from a member in a local Ward giving
us a referral. When we stopped by the home, one of the first questions
the women asked us "what do I need to do before I can attend one of
your services, because I'm willing to do it." Her name was Jana and is
a single mother. Her family situation just got bad real quick and
didn't really have much left. After talking to her and explaining our
purpose as missionaries, she couldn't have been more excited. We are
looking forward to it!

A lot of the times in these emails, I mention a lot of cool
experiences that take place like this previous one. Unfortunately,
most of the time they don't always work out, but we try to stay happy
and optimistic with people. It probably seems like I've mentioned a
lot of people and haven't talked about them again. Unfortunately this
is because they've explained down the road that they are just looking
for welfare, some type of financial aid, or if the church can help
improve their living conditions. This has been a hard thing for me to
deal with, especially in areas that it happened pretty frequently in.

I've mentioned Nana and GM in the Ward who act as our missionary
parents in the Eustis Ward. They are kind of like "grandpa" out in
Daytona Beach. This week it was Nana's birthday on Friday! Just so you
know what Nana is like, she is probably one of the most sarcastic
people I've ever met. She fits right in with the missionaries and
always gives us a hard time. She's a great cook and she has all of the
missionaries sign a tile on their back patio before they get
transferred. Anyways, we thought we'd make Nana laugh for her birthday
and make her a cake! Funny right? Actually the cake turned out good,
but the candles were the best. She was cracking up when she saw the
cake and thought it was funny. We thought we were pretty funny too!
There is a video and some pictures below!
Friday night we had the Mission Christmas Devotional! All of the
missionaries had a meeting at a Stake Center near Orlando and had a
fun Christmas meeting. It was a good time to catch up with old friends
from the mission. I say that every time we have a big mission meeting,
but it's always a highlight. I've made a lot of lifelong brothers out
here. It's hard to think I never would have met these guys if I didn't
serve a mission. It's beginning to feel like I've known some of them
my whole life.

We had another exchange Saturday and I went down into the Minneola
area! This was a pretty sweet exchange for a lot of reasons, but a
definite tender mercy was eating dinner with a somewhat familiar
family. This is kind of hard to explain how we have a connection, but
it was with one of my moms friends sister that I met when my younger
sister Abby was in the hospital with her heart transplant about 4
years ago. It was fun to catch up a little bit and make the connection
again. They have a cool tradition in their home of having the
missionaries cover their hand in paint, and leaving their handprint on
the wall in their garage. They fed us "enough to feed and army" as my
grandma says and I was stuffed to the brim. We were definitely taken
care of. The time flew by with them, and we didn't get to stay and
chit chat for too long before we needed to head out. A special shout
out for the Grazziano's for an early Christmas present too!

It was another jam packed week and there just isn't enough time in the
day to write it all in a short little email. Thanks for all those who
continue to read this and support me on my mission. Know that I'm
grateful and love each of you. This Holiday Season came and left
faster than Lebron James and his hairline. I hope everyone has a Merry
Christmas!

Much Love,
- Elder Doman

"Each of us is an innkeeper, and we each get to decide if there is
enough room for Jesus this year."
- Sister Berry

Lots of exchanges and a sweet Christmas card picture!

Friends and Family,

I feel like I say this every time I type up an email, but WHAT A WEEK!
This past week was definitely a fun one with a lot of fun stories! I
can honestly say that I am enjoying my mission, and having a good time
serving the Lord. Elder Chidester and I are getting along really well,
and we feel like we're brothers. I love this kid. One of the most
patient people I know! As Christmas approaches, is definitely doesn't
feel like it! We sat down in the car one day this week, and the
thermometer on the car said 89 degrees. Welcome to Florida.

To get after it, this week we had a couple of exchanges! The first was
with the Elders in Minneola! We had a great day and we were able to
find some new people to teach using the new Christmas Video the church
put out. Story time: So it's been a good 4 and a half transfers (over
25 weeks) since I've been on a bike, and the Minneola area has some of
the highest altitudes in all of the state of Florida. I was in
trouble. 4:30 in the afternoon comes around and my legs have turned
into jello and my lungs about to burst like a balloon after what felt
like a long day of biking. I was not ready! We had a few extra minutes
before our dinner appointment, so my companion for the day asked me if
I wanted to go try to ride up "The Sister Slayer" hill right outside
their apartment complex. On the inside I wanted to say no, but the
competitive man inside of me took over and the words "of course"
stumble out of my mouth before I could think. I was done for. It's
called the "Sister Slayer" because not many sister missionaries are
able to bike up the "peak"' without having to walk their bike. It's a
challenge for every elder that comes into that area. After some
serious suffering and panting like a dog, I found myself at the top of
the hill. It was an awesome sight! (Pictures below) I asked about some
of the other hills they have named of the years in Minneola and her
replied, "the atonement, the battle at Bunker hill, and Judas
Iscariot. Lol. It was a fun day!
The other Exchange this week was with the Apopka Elders! Elder
Chidester served in Apopka for 5 transfers so it was fun for him to go
back and see some of those people he had previously taught and served
with. The night ended with the baptism of a man named Rodger Elder
Chidester found. It was pretty awesome! My hope is that one day I am
able to serve close to an area I've been in and catch up on some of
the people I have met out here.

Our investigator Sherry is doing really good! She is at the point
where she knows the Book of Mormon is true, and she loves reading it.
Her and her mother that is a member, both sit down and read it
together throughout the week. Sherry keeps telling us that each time
they read, she just feels something she doesn't feel anywhere else.
Reading from the scriptures with investigators is one of my favorite
things to do! Every time, without fail the spirit is there. I've grown
to love and appreciate the scriptures so much more than I had before I
left for my mission.

Another funny story this week: While on our 2nd exchange for the week,
I was with Elder Hale (serving in Apopka)  and we were previously
assigned to try to get in contact with some members who just moved
into the Ward. After trying to call them a couple of times last week,
we move forward to the good old door approach because it seems like
that is what missionaries do! As we pulled into this circle, we see
that the driveway is a good 60 yards long down a foresty looking path.
We parked the car in the circle and walked through the jungle down the
driveway. We saw multiple "beware of dog" signs but decided to ignore
them because it seems like everyone has those in Florida!! We
continued on until we were about 10 yards away from the house, when we
notice big old boxer dog laying down on the side of the driveway. We
went to go pet it and it was a friendly dog for about .5 seconds after
I had touched it and it tried snapping for my hand! It's begins to
growl and stand up so Elder Hale and I speed walk ourselves back down
the driveway with the dog barking it's head off while we go. After
returning to the car and the dog stops barking, we decide to head back
in and just not approach the dog thinking he'd be sleeping again. We
get about to the same place on the drive way as before, and notice the
dog. This time it was awake and ready for us. Before you could say
"want a treat" that dog was chasing us like there was no other. I
think that was the fastest I've ever ran. I'm pretty sure If someone
would have timed me, I would have held the new record for the 40 yard
dash. Luckily, the dog stopped after we got a ways off of the
property, but it was definitely a track meet! It was a funny memory
now looking back at it, but at the time, we were scared for our lives.
We decided to just stick to calling those guys from now on.

There were a lot of pretty funny stories this week, but we had some
pretty spiritual experiences as well. We had our ZTM (Zone Training
Meeting) on Thursday, and it was great! With both of us being football
players, and both being a little nervous we needed something to help
calm us down a little bit. We woke up a little early Thursday morning
to drive over to Eustis High School and exercise on their football
field. It was the most relaxed I'd been all week! It's always pretty
stressful planning and preparing for a big meeting, so that was a nice
stress reliever. Once the show got on the road, I was totally calm. I
noticed this happens quite a bit and I'm now recognizing it as the
spirit, am grateful for it. I like public speaking, and I think it's
fun, but I seem to always get those butterflies. The meeting went
well, and we had a nice dunk afterwards! (Video below)

It was the Ward Christmas party Friday night, and that's always a good
time. Our Investigator Artie and his family came and brought a friend of his wife from work! Artie was pretty pumped to be doing some
missionary work. When we were walking out of the chapel after the
party, he said he wants to be baptized once all of the commotion and
chaos of the holidays calms down! Woohoo!


It was a busy week and I wish I had the time to share some more, but
it's a busy day! I'm grateful for this chance to be serving a mission
and to strengthen my testimony of Heavenly Father, and our savior
Jesus Christ. I can't imagine what my world would be like if I didn't
serve a mission. I'll be eternally grateful for this decision. Happy
Holidays! With Love,
Elder Doman

Dunkin' on Santa and lovin' the Leesburg zone!

Friends and Family,

Well, here we are again! Back to December. Winter in Florida is pretty

fantastic. it's about 75 degrees outside, sunny and there is a perfect

breeze outside. I love it. This week was probably the best one I've

had in Eustis this far. Elder Chidester and I were able to accomplish

a lot and have some great things happen!

I've mentioned a guy named Eddie a couple of times in my emails, but

this man is just an overall stud. He had his first seizure at 17 years

old and has several more through out his life. He still has an

awesome, positive outlook on life and couldn't be happier. He's been

in a wheelchair for the past 15 years and definitely has had a tough

life, but still continues to be grateful for what he has. His life

story and the way he has reacted to his trials remind me of the story

of Job in the Old Testament. The reason I bring this story up, is

because for the first time in 6 months he attended church yesterday!

To quote Eddie, he said, "Well Elder D, I haven't felt this good in a

looooonnnngggg time." Hahah he's definitely someone I'll always

remember!

Our investigator Sherry is doing pretty good! We were able to meet

with her a couple of times this week and both were pretty big time

lessons. We tried to set a baptismal date the last couple of times we

met with her, and for some reason something just hasn't been clicking.

This week we find out that she still actually hasn't told her husband

she has been meeting with us. That's kind of a bummer, but the cool

thing is, is that she knows the church is true, and that eventually

she needs to be a baptized member. This week should be a huge one for

her!

Thursday was a big day for us!! To start off, we had MLC so I was able

to catch up with all of my good friends from around the mission. It's

always a good time to see and talk with those dudes. It was President

Berry's Birthday Wednesday so we were able to celebrate with some cake

and ice cream after the meeting. This definitely "put the icing on the

cake" dum dum tss (shout out to my sister Brittany.) After MLC we

headed back on the long lonely drive to farm country, and Eustis

Florida. We were dropping by some potential/former investigators homes

when we knocked on a guys house named Freddy.  He was way nice and

invited us right into his home. After having some more conversation,

it ends up his life just got really busy when he was previously

meeting with the missionaries and lost contact with them. He's been

reading from the Book of Mormon and just didn't know how to get back

in contact with the Elders! Definitely a cool miracle, and we can't

wait to start teaching him this week!

Saturday I went on an Exchange with one of the Assistants in the

Mission! I was able to learn from the big dogs up top, as Elder

Langston came out to Eustis with me. He served in Eustis about 6

months ago, so it was pretty fun for him to go and see some of the

previous people he taught. We were able to be pretty bold with some of

the less actives he was teaching and we are still teaching that have t

really made much progress. It was kind of nice having him in their to

help some less active members realize they have more potential as

children of God then what they are doing now.

Funny Story Alert! So at the beginning of the Transfer, we started

dunking on missionaries through out the zone with a small nerf

basketball hoop that normally hang up on the doors in the house. What

"dunking" means is that we have one person sneak up behind a

missionary with the nerf hoop, then have another missionary "dunk" on

them when they aren't expecting it. Well, to finish up the story,

after exchanges Saturday night, we decide to dunk on one of the

Assistants. There is a video below. This video is particularly funny

because they took a Christmas picture after our exchange and he is

dressed up like Santa! Hahaha we think it's pretty funny anyways!

Another cool thing that happened this week was with a man named Joe!

(I know, we are teaching a lot of pretty generic names "Eddie, Joe,

Freddy.") But we had an awesome lesson with Joe this week. Joe is

starting his return to the church after being inactive for a little

while. This week, he asked about the Fall of Adam and Eve and if it

needed to happen. Once we explained the Plan of Salvation and shared a

few scriptures with him, he totally understood Gods plan and felt His

love again. I have to say sharing the Plan of Salvation is probably my

favorite discussion to have out here on my mission. It's pretty cool

to see over and over again when people understand that Heavenly Father

has a specific plan for them and their family how positive and excited

they are afterwards is pretty awesome. I've definitely gained a

stronger testimony and love for the Plan of Salvation of this past

year and a half.

That just about "wraps" up the week here in Eustis, and hopefully you

all are "wrapping" up some gifts for the holidays! I hope my puns make

somebody laugh! Well time is still moving pretty quickly for me. I

love my mission and what it's entailed so far. Know that I'm grateful

for the great friends and family that I have who continue to support

me. A mission is definitely hard this time of year, but it seems like

before I know it, I'll be back in St. George with you all again. Have

a great week!

This is a guy that Brock baptized in the beginning of his mission, he just recently received the Melchizedek priesthood.  He's one of Brock's favorite investigators!

- Elder Doman