Brock's Orlando Mission: 19th Birthday, figuring out Winter Park, Exchanges, and Stefani's Baptism

Brock experimenting with his new wifi camera he got for his birthday

Grandma sent him both of these books for his birthday, maybe a little overwhelming for Brock?

This is what Brock had to say to me about his mission right now:

Our area:

Alright it's pretty weird. So they just split up the area, and added a new set of missionaries. So the Ward now has 4 elders serving in it. We are trying to figure it all out, but for the most part, we cover about 5 miles north of downtown Orlando! It's an awesome area. As we are biking around we can see the city in the distance. We do still go down there, and look for people to teach, but for the most part, we stay up north! It's kind of weird, because the Ward members either live lakeside, and have a 3 story house with the stereotypical "Mormon Family" and the other half is poverty stricken, living in a homeless shelter downtown. It's pretty sad. I've come to realize just how messed up it is. I mean these people are literally begging for meals to eat, while the other Ward members are dining out at a Ruth's Chris steakhouse in the heart of the city. Pretty depressing right? I like the Ward though. I get along with the members well!

District Leader:

I love it. It's fun to go on exchanges weekly and get to serve with more Elders! I go on 7 exchanges throughout the 6 week transfer! I'm pretty busy with that, but it makes it fun. I love the responsibility. I strive when I have more responsibility. I love my position right now. I'm loving it.

Friends and Family,

To start out, I wanted to give a big thanks to those that sent me a birthday package, letter, or email! Just like Christmas, It was a

different experience to be away from your family on a day that is special to you. It makes it a lot easier with the support I am getting. So thank you! What a week it has been in the Winter Park Ward! To make my older sister Brittany smile, another week in books! :) hahaha I am really enjoying my mission right now. I'm loving the work! I've found that there is a major difference between serving a mission, and serving the Lord. Elder Honda and I are working our hardest, and are definitely being blessed because of it!

Monday: P-day was great! We went and played basketball at the church for multiple hours! We came home and had dinner, then hopped up onto our bikes and headed to our lesson. Elder Honda and I had one of the greatest miracles on Monday evening. We were headed to a lesson, and we were a little bit early, we passed by a less active members home, and didn’t think too much of it. We arrived at our appt, and it ended up falling through. Our backup plan was just to tract the houses next to it. We started knocking on the doors and a guy was loading some equipment into his truck. We helped him out for the next 15 minutes or so. After we finished, he declined our invitation, and that's the end of it. We only had a few houses left, and it was starting to get dark. We both got the prompting to go back to the less active members home and try to meet with her. We biked back to their house and she let us in. I hadn't ever met her before and honestly didn't even know her name. We sat down on the couch and I felt a little awkward. There were beer bottles covering the floor and the smell of smoke was think throughout the home. It was just me, Elder Honda, and the less middle aged couple. We were about to offer an opening prayer, when we got a knock on the door. All of the sudden 4 of their friends come walking in and take a seat on the other couch. They began to talk and to ask us about our purpose as a missionary, and really why we were at the house. (Seems kind of backwards, right?) we explained our purpose, and they all agreed they'd like to stay and listen to the message. We shared the restoration with them, and all 4 of "The Crew" wanted us to come back and teach them some more! How awesome is that? Elder Honda and I were stoked! We couldn't have been happier.

Tuesday: we had another lesson with "The Crew" and they all accepted the baptismal invitation! Woohoo! They are very humble people. It's kind of an awkward situation. 2 of them are dating, and the other two are dating, but they all live inside the less active members home. Kind of weird, but we'll take it! We visited with some other investigator Tuesday and he wasn't too happy about the Law of Chastity. In fact he was pretty mad. He said he had s lot of praying to do, and wasn't sure what the next step was.

Wednesday: I went on an exchange Wednesday with Elder Bravo! He left the MTC the same day I did! We sat next to each other on the plane. Unfortunately, the curse of exchanges took place and all of our lessons fell through. Luckily we had a Ward party that evening, and I was able to meet more of the members and I got to know them personally.

Thursday: Another lesson with "The Crew" and we were able to set baptismal dates for March 1st! They were very excited and feeling the spirit!

Friday (BIRTHDAY): Well, not much changes even though it's your birthday on a mission! It's basically the same thing, Hahha. We went and found a new investigator who used to be in the army, so we hard a lot of different stories about that! Friday night I opened up my birthday packages! Again, I appreciate it, and I am very grateful to have such a great family and friends.

Saturday: Exchanges with the Zone Leaders! I was able to leave my area, and spend the day in Waterford Lakes with Elder Scott! Funny story: Elder Scott was my District Leader the second

Brock and Elder Scott

transfer I had out in Palm Bay! It was great to catch up with him. We are great friends and have the same mindset about missionary work! We went on a temple tour and had a great experience there. They are teaching a less active member, who was shot fighting in Afghanistan 4 years ago. He now can barley walk with a walker, and had to be in a chair for his transportation. He was very strong spiritually, and emotionally. When we arrived at the a Temple tears were streaming down his face. He was so grateful to be back.

It was Saturday at about 2 in the afternoon when we got a call from Elder Honda. We picked up the phone and Elder Honda couldn't stop laughing. Through his laughter, he says, "Elder Doman, bishop just called and the member he assigned to speak in sacrament this week won't be able to make it. They're sick. So bishop told me you are speaking." It was an awkward pause and I didn't really know what to say.

Sunday: Wow, Sunday was one of the craziest days of the mission. We woke up Sunday morning with a text from a member saying that she wouldn't be able to talk at Stefani's baptism later that day because she too was sick. I accepted the challenge of giving 2 different talks on different subjects. I actually had a lot of fun doing it! I was a little bit nervous, but I was also pretty excited! We biked to church early and filled up the baptismal font for Stefani's baptism! I finished up preparing for the talk about 5 minutes before Ward Council started. :) the talk in sacrament went well, and I really enjoyed the subject! It was "being happy with life the way it is." After church, the baptism went as planned, and Stefani was so excited! She couldn’t have been happier! There was a lot of support from the Ward there which she really appreciated.