3 exchanges, 6 transfers done, and 1 purpose!!!!!

I got this picture and a text yesterday from the Gottfredson family yesterday.  They are friends from St. George whose son recently returned from the Florida Orlando Mission and they're back visiting all of his areas again with him.  They looked up Brock and got to spend some time and even go to church with him.  How great is that??

I just got this picture in a text with a message that said, "Your son is a stud and is doing really well.  We are keeping him well fed :)  I just moved into his ward.  He is an amazing man, you should be proud, he is working very hard!!"  How can I not love that???  I am so lucky!

I wanted to share a couple of things from Brock’s email to me this week, he’s doing so well right now!

“I miss grandpa and grandma! They are so funny! It's funny how much you take little things like seeing them every week for granted until you are unable to do so for 2 years. I think I’ve realized quite a bit of those little things so far on my mission.”

“I'm so excited to train a new missionary!! It will be awesome to shape a missionary and have another missionary just like me out in the field. It will be fun because they don't know anything else but what I teach them, this makes it a little bit scary, but I know that the Lord will guide me and lead us to the missionaries he wants us to be!”

Friends and Family,

I know I haven't been able to write the longest, most detailed emails

in previous weeks, and I'll try to do a better job! I'm sorry mom....Haha It's been a pretty crazy week this week! I went on 3 different exchanges, it was the last week of the transfer, and we found some great people to talk with! Elder Honda will be leaving the Winter Park area, and I will be here for at least another 6 weeks! Transfers are Tuesday and I'll have another new companion! President Berry has asked me to be a trainer again, and train a new missionary for the next 2 Transfers! I'm excited and can't wait for the journey. My companion is soon to get off the plane and touch base here in Orlando any minute now, and transfers start tomorrow! I'm humbled by this, and can't wait to learn from it. 

Monday-

After Zone P-Day we had a few things fall through and we found ourselves knocking on doors for a little bit. We walked past a home with a door open and decided to approach it ready for an adventure. We were about 10 yards away and we saw a pretty big guy having some shuteye on his couch wearing only boxers. We stood awkwardly at the door not knowing if we should wake him up with a knock on his door, he was snoring up a storm! Luckily the spirit must have clogged up his windpipe for a second which woke him up to find us at his doorstep. He was a very nice guy and invited us in to talk! His name was Eugene, and We shared with him our message, and he loved it! He didn't have too much time so he asked us to come back Wednesday evening. What a miracle!

Tuesday-

Exchanges with Bumby West! (Creole speaking elders) So my mom emailed me last week having no idea what "Bumby" was. I must have forgotten to explain it! Bumby is just another ward that meets at

the same chapel, and is also in our same district. We woke up Tuesday morning and we found our faces bright red! None of the elders remembered to put on sunscreen for Zone P-day, and we were playing out in the sun for 5 hours! Not the smartest missionary move. From 10-4 on Tuesday we helped on of their investigators move apartments to a different side of the neighborhood. It reminded me of the good ol' days moving some people with my friends. It's fun to connect so well with missionaries I barley even know. Throughout the move, we were talking and acting like we had known each other for years. I guess when we are all serving for 2 years with the same goal in mind, it's pretty easy to get along with each other.

Wednesday-

We met with a Recent Convert to the church who is going through a really tough time. He has been living in a homeless shelter for almost a month now, and was laid off from his job on Monday. He broke down with us and felt like he had lost all hope. It was really pretty sad, but we were able to give him a blessing, which really uplifted his spirits.

Wednesday night we met with one of my favorite families in the Ward which I really feel close to. It was nice to talk with them and be comforted and happy again after just coming out of a sad lesson earlier in the day.

We went back to Gene's house Wednesday night and surprise surprise,

his family was there and wanting to listen as well! He has 4 kids between the ages of 11 and 16! We were so happy to see them all wanting to listen. My whole mission I've wanted to teach a family, so this was great!

Thursday-

Exchanges with Bumby East

Elder Conrad and I went to visit one of their investigators who was almost ready for baptism! We started talking with him, and it ends up the only thing holding him back from baptism was his parents. Because he is under the age of 18, his parents have to agree with it and sign his baptismal form. His parents just don't think that he is ready, and they are too nervous for him. It's a pretty sad story because he has such a strong desire for baptism!

Friday-

A member called Elder Honda and I Friday morning, informing us that he

had a friend who wanted to learn more about the church. We set up an appointment 30 for minutes later and off we went. It was awesome getting help from a member like that! It was a super solid find, and he had so many questions for us. We are so excited to meet with him again. We finished up the day with meeting with 2 investigators who we needed to stop teaching. Sometimes it's hard to "drop" an investigator, but at the same time we need to be using our time effectively as possible.

Saturday-

Exchanges with Winter Park South

If we rewind back to last week, Elder Honda got his follow up X-Ray done on his broken wrist. While we were there, we talked with the doctor about the church, and she bright up the Temple! She had always wondered about it and wanted to learn more. We brought up the Temple tour, and she really wanted to go. She gave us all of her info, and we set up a time for this Saturday. It was a pretty awesome contact! So yesterday Elder Olsen and I were road tripping it to the Temple! About 45 minutes later, we show up at the Temple ready for a great time! It was about 10 minutes after the designated time to meet, and she was nowhere to be found. We tried calling her and that too had no luck. We waited around for another 15 minutes then figured it was time to head home! Saturday night we got the call that Elder Honda would be going to a new area. The 3 other sets of missionaries in my district are splitting up too. Sad day!

Sunday-

I had a surprise visit from a great family I knew back in St. George!  They showed up at the Winter Park Ward this week! It was nice to see more familiar faces and talk with them. Their son just finished up his mission here in the "Promise Land" and came back to visit over spring break!  After church Elder Honda went and visited a few of his favorite members to say goodbye to. 

I'm looking forward to this next transfer, and am excited to see the work continue to hasten in the Winter Park Area. Thank you again for all of the support, I couldn't do it without ya'll. I hope everyone has a great Spring Break!

Much Love,

Elder Doman