Brock
said that this was his best week in the mission field, he absolutely loved
every second of it and is wishing he could stay in his area for another
transfer! But, he says he probably won’t
be able to because he’s already been there for 3 transfers. He would love it though!
In his letter to me this week, he wrote,
“I
can totally see where I would have been if I didn't serve a mission. I would
have been a less active member of the church in college. They are everywhere!
But serving a mission I've earned my own personal testimony, and I KNOW that
this church is true. I understand why it's so important to live the gospel, and
to read and pray daily. Before I didn't have a testimony of anything. But I now
know it is vital! I love it. I wish I would have been a more solid member
before my mission.”
Wow,
those are words a mom loves to hear! He’s
doing so well. His birthday is coming up
on February 6th, maybe you could all send him an email or a letter
to help him celebrate. I know how much
he loves hearing from everyone back home!
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| He added this picture, "Just in case everyone forgot what he looked like!" |
Friends and Family,
This week has probably been one of the
greatest weeks on my mission!! Elder Peay and I were extremely blessed, and
were so grateful for all the miracles we were able to see. I think it might be
easier if I were to just list the different blessings we saw this week rather
than going by day by day, because the week was just full of good times and
laughs! With it being fast Sunday last week, Elder Peay and I fasted for ways
to help this area grow, and for us to find new people to teach! Here is the
weekly update!
(not listed in a specific order)
Miracle 1- Magic Mike
We found a young guy named Mike about 2
weeks ago on his bike. He had some free time and we were able to share with him
the restoration. We set up a return appt for later on in the week. He didn't
have a phone number, and he didn't want to give us his address, so we didn't
have any way to confirm with him prior to the meeting. We just had to trust
that he would be there. We show up later in the week, and he didn't end up
being there. We were pretty bummed out because we had no way of getting in contact
with him. We weren't really sure what to do, so we just put the area we found
him in as a back up plan. Well, this Tuesday we were on our way to an
appointment and they called us and canceled as we were almost there. (Miracle
1) We pulled the car off to the side of the road, and pulled out our Ipad to see
what we had planned. Our backup was "Find Mike... Somehow." We knew
it would be amazing if we were to see him. We said a prayer and hoped for the
best. As we pulled into his apartment complex, we had to tailgate a car so the
gate wouldn't come down on us. (Miracle number 2, car pulls in just as we need
to get in.) We drove around in the complex for about 5 minutes as if we are
looking for a dog that ran away. We were looking all around hoping and praying to
see him. We didn't have any luck... Elder Peay stopped the car at a random stop
sign (Miracle 3) within the complex and just decided to pull out a Dove
Chocolate. We were kind of frustrated and were ready for the day to be over.
The quote on the wrapper read "Feel the sunshine on you face" we
were both like, "Wow, Dove. Thanks!" As soon as he read the saying
on the wrapper I look up and all the sudden I see Mike riding his bike across
the street about 50 yards away. (Miracle 4) I yell, "There is
Mike!!!" Elder Peay goes pedal to the metal and chases him down. We stopped him and asked him how he's doing. He said he's doing great, but just got a weird
feeling about 15 minutes ago that he needed to go home and see if there was
someone there? (Miracle 5) We then taught him the Plan of Salvation, and on
Saturday shared with him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He now has a baptismal
date and is loving the Book of Mormon! What a miracle!!
2- Darlene
We have been meeting with a girl named
Darlene for almost a month now. She really hasn't had any problems with the
doctrine. It all makes total sense to her. She likes what it has to offer, she
just hasn't gotten a spiritual confirmation yet. She believes it's true, she
just doesn't know its true. We have been praying for her, and doing just about
all we can for her to get her spiritual confirmation. We had a lesson with her
on Wednesday not really knowing what to go over. She has been through all of
the lessons, and agrees with it all. We received the thought that we should go
over the restoration with her again, and be very bold about the power in the
Book of Mormon. We showed up to her home, and she was super excited to see us. She
couldn't stop smiling as we walked into the home. (As we go in, we found Cineus
asleep on the floor with his face in the Book of Mormon. That was pretty cool
to see considering he was baptized 5 weeks ago) Darlene sits us down and says,
"Elders, it's for me. I know the Book is true. I know I need to be
baptized and I am ready." We were almost in tears as we heard her speak.
We couldn't have been any happier for her. She has a date for the last week in
January, and she is so excited!! Awesome miracle
3- Juliana
Two weeks ago, a member brought his
friend to Night Sacrament. We stayed after and shared with her the first
lesson. She was going out of town for the next week so we wouldn't be able to
meet with her for a while. We gave her a call Tuesday night and we set up a
time to meet with her for Friday. She is basically the "Golden
Investigator." She asked all of the right questions, and was so determined
to know if the Book of Mormon is true. She has been reading every night for a
half hour, and is starting to get the answer to her prayers! Elder Peay and I
are so blessed to have the opportunity to teach her.
4- James
We get a call Wednesday night from the
Elders serving in the Area next to us. They talked to us about a young man named
James that we get to teach because he is 21 years old. They gave us James' number
and we called him up as soon as we got off the phone with the Elders. We set up a
time to meet with him on Thursday, and both sides were feeling pretty excited
for the lesson. We met Thursday, Friday, and we went on a Temple Tour Saturday!
He has been reading from the Book of Mormon nightly, and knows its true. He has
a baptismal date, and couldn't be happier. As we were walking around the
temple, he would continually just ask if we could stop, not talk, and just stop and think. It was pretty great to hear an Investigator ask if we could stop to
listen and feel the spirit constantly at the Temple.
5- The Haitian Brothers!!!
We were headed back to our apartment
Friday night, and we again get a call from some other missionaries serving
around us. They informed us of 3 brothers that had just moved down to Orlando at the
end of November. They are 19, 21, and 24, and are probably the funniest kids
I've ever met in my life. Therrie (Terry) is the one we were able to meet
first. None of them have working phones, so it's hard to schedule and confirm
appointments. It was only him, and their step mother's roomate. The other two
brothers were out and about. Therrie only knew 3 sayings in English.
"Thank you, yes, and no" It was very hard to communicate with him.
Me, Therrie, and Elder Peay were cracking up trying to explain that we don't know
how to speak Creole. We tried using hand signals and all. Finally, he pulled
out "Siri" so we could talk to her, and ask her to translate it. We
didn't teach him anything, but set up a time to meet again the following day.
We called up Cineus and asked him if he could help teach a Creole speaking
investigator. He was so excited to speak to someone in his native language, but
he didn't know if he would be able to help teach because he was so new into the
church. He agreed hesitantly, and was anxious to meet him. Cinues did a great
job helping us out with Therrie and loved coming along with the missionaries.
From my standpoint, watching a Recent Convert of a month teach and testify of
the Restoration was one of the best things I've seen so far. I couldn't stop
smiling. The spirit was there, and Therrie want's to be baptized!
What a great week, right?! Today was
district P-Day, and we went mini-golfing! Elder Peay and I are the only 2
Elders in our district... We are serving with 3 sets of sisters! They insist of
calling it a "Sistrict" rather than a district. They made some pretty
cool t-shirts for us and we inserted some pictures below!
We are hoping for another great week,
and are very blessed to have these experiences as frequent as we are. Our
teaching pool is awesome right now. We are teaching people from Hati, Buffalo,
Spain, Orlando, Antigua, and Morocco! Orlando is awesome. I hope everyone has a
great week, and stays safe!
Much love,
Elder Doman
*We have an investigator named Lamar with a baptismal date for next Sunday, but he got cold feet, and wanted to back out. He isn't sure if the church is right for him anymore. If there could be some prayers sent his way, that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!
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| Brock and Elder Peay. I love this picture, you can tell how happy they are right now!! |
Alma 36:27-30:
27 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of
every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me
from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him,
and he will still deliver me.
28 And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to
dwell with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever, for he has brought
our fathers out of Egypt, and he has swallowed up the Egyptians in the Red Sea;
and he led them by his power into the promised land; yea, and he has delivered
them out of bondage and captivity from time to time.
29 Yea, and he has also brought our fathers out of the land
of Jerusalem; and he has also, by his everlasting power, delivered them out of
bondage and captivity, from time to time even down to the present day; and I
have always retained in remembrance their captivity; yea, and ye also ought to
retain in remembrance, as I have done, their captivity.
30 But behold, my son, this is not all; for ye ought to
know as I do know, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye
shall prosper in the land; and ye ought to know also, that inasmuch as ye will
not keep the commandments of God ye shall be cut off from his presence. Now
this is according to his word.
