Friends and Family,
Things are going great here in O-City! If I had to describe this week
in one word, it would be exhausting. Every single day of the week we
had an event that was a little bit different! It was nice to make sure
that Elder Terry and I didn't fall into a regular routine of "doing
missionary things" instead of "being missionaries." I realized this
week that it's definitely starting to heat up again down here. I took
my backpack off after biking one day this week, and my shirt had a
dense sweat outline of where the backpack was on against my back!
#turnup
When we do service for United Against Poverty every Tuesday, it is
always a good reminder of the need to have a solid education, set
meaningful goals in life, and to be happy. I feel like these are some
of the 3 biggest things that have influenced the people there. After
talking with some of them as they are looking around, it just seems
like they are completely out of hope. Their hole they dug is now too
deep and there is no way out. At least that's just how they feel and
not reality. We had our work cut out for us this week. There was a
warehouse about 40x40 yards in dimension, full of boxes we needed to
organize and prepare for a garage sale they were having on Saturday.
Inside the boxes we found anything from dirty old socks to Play
Stations. A huge variety of items. Hopefully the sell had a lot of
success! We stopped by a few less active members to finish up the
night!
Wednesday Alarm Clock = 5:30AM
Our knees hit the floor a little bit early Wednesday for Zone
Conference! 3 Zones met up Wednesday for a lot of training! It started
at 8 and went until 4! 8 hours of jam packed trainings with the spirit
level on full blast. I walked away from this meeting more motivated
than I've been in a while. The subject for the Meeting was "Becoming
Master Teachers." I learned on how I can improve my teaching and how
to teach simpler. Another training we had was on goal setting, and
this might be my favorite subject. It reminded me a lot of the
training Elder Maynes gave a few months back. I've learned it's
important to set goals in life and achieve them. But I've learned it's
even more important to focus on what you are going to do today to
achieve your goals. It was basically an inspirational speech for 20
minutes so you know I was loving it!
After Zone Conference we all scurried back into our different areas to
apply what we've learned! We had a lesson with David who's been
investigating the church for a while. We taught him the basics of the
Gospel and it was an awesome lesson. I feel like I'm all about the
fundamentals. If you do the little things right, the rest will come.
So teaching principles like faith, repentance, baptism, etc... Is
right down my alley! It was pretty cool to see him being 16 years old
totally understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is really
for anyone and everyone, from the kids on the street to the Baptist
Preacher. This church is for you!
Thursday we had Exchanges!! I was in the Neighboring area/ward, so it
wasn't too much of a change of scenery. I was going into the exchange
with an Elder that has been struggling for a little bit. Just has been
having a hard time knowing why he was on a mission and having a lot of
passion. I was pretty nervous going into the exchange knowing that it
was partially my responsibility to help this missionary out! Through
out the day I felt like I was on a secret mission to help out this
Elder without him actually knowing that was my goal. For most of the
day we spent our time doing service for one of their potential
investigators. So I'm just going to say it, his lady was a straight up
HOARDER!!! Holy smokes. Her house was full of dust collected boxes
with each being marked as "miscellaneous." They all just had random
junk inside each one with no order at all. Sorting through the boxes,
I also felt kind of like I was playing "Dance Dance Revolution" with
all the spiders and cockroaches. Pretty nasty... Wrapping up the
night, I felt like I wasn't able to help him out too much. It was
definitely a strange day! As we reviewed the exchange, the Elder told
me he had an awesome day and loved the exchange. I was almost thinking
the exact opposite at this moment still thinking there was dust all up
my arms like previously in the day. He said felt the spirit through
out the entire day, and he won't forget it. I asked him why he liked
it so much, and he said it was the service that helped him realize why
he was on a mission. It hit him that he was here to help God's
children. It might not be sharing the gospel with them, but just being
there to help, to stand in the place of Jesus Christ. I was humbled
and felt like I came away from the exchange more than I originally
thought.
Temple Trip Friday morning!! We rolled out of our beds at 4:30 excited
to go back to the Temple and this time to do a session! It's such a
tease throughout the year for us to teach about the temple, to go on
Temple Tours, and to encourage Recent Converts to go within 2 weeks
after baptism, but then only get to go to through the Temple ourselves
twice a year! That's alright though because it just builds up the
excitement! The spirit in the Temple is indescribable. It's was nice
to just sit and recuperate for a minute before heading back out into
the Mission Field. It definitely recharged the juices!
Saturday was round number 2 for exchanges! I went into a Spanish area
again, so it made things a little bit hard to communicate with their
investigators...
*MIRACLE OF THE WEEK*
Saturday morning we needed to go and sync our area books in a location
with Wifi. The closest place we could go to was the mall right next
door, so we hoped on our bikes and hustled on over. Walking into the
mall, I recognize a guy named MIKE DANSBY!! I taught mike while I was
in Buena Vista! I left the area 5 days before Mike was baptized so me
and him were way close! We talked for a little bit about his baptism
and where he has been since. It was awesome to see this guy again.
I've been blessed lately with the opportunity to catch up with 2 of my
Recent Converts since I've been back here in Waterford Lakes! That
never happens!! They say the Lords hand is in everything and I
definitely believe it. Two unplanned circumstances where I just so
happened to run into Recent Converts in the last 3 weeks. I'm one
happy camper! When I told him I had to get going, it honestly was
pretty tough. Bringing almost brother or sister to the gospel creates
a bond like no other. I love these people!
Sunday Elder Terry woke up with the same sickness I had last week...
But just a little bit more intense. After church he had no voice at
all and his throat was killing him. The little feller needed some
rest! He woke up sounding a little bit better than Golum from the Lord
of the Rings, so still not totally up to par. Some prayers sent his
way would be great!
As you can tell, this week has been all over the place! I love the
experiences I've had this week. They helped remind me why I'm a
missionary, and why I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for
the love and support from each of you. I heard the quote this week from
Things are going great here in O-City! If I had to describe this week
in one word, it would be exhausting. Every single day of the week we
had an event that was a little bit different! It was nice to make sure
that Elder Terry and I didn't fall into a regular routine of "doing
missionary things" instead of "being missionaries." I realized this
week that it's definitely starting to heat up again down here. I took
my backpack off after biking one day this week, and my shirt had a
dense sweat outline of where the backpack was on against my back!
#turnup
When we do service for United Against Poverty every Tuesday, it is
always a good reminder of the need to have a solid education, set
meaningful goals in life, and to be happy. I feel like these are some
of the 3 biggest things that have influenced the people there. After
talking with some of them as they are looking around, it just seems
like they are completely out of hope. Their hole they dug is now too
deep and there is no way out. At least that's just how they feel and
not reality. We had our work cut out for us this week. There was a
warehouse about 40x40 yards in dimension, full of boxes we needed to
organize and prepare for a garage sale they were having on Saturday.
Inside the boxes we found anything from dirty old socks to Play
Stations. A huge variety of items. Hopefully the sell had a lot of
success! We stopped by a few less active members to finish up the
night!
Wednesday Alarm Clock = 5:30AM
Our knees hit the floor a little bit early Wednesday for Zone
Conference! 3 Zones met up Wednesday for a lot of training! It started
at 8 and went until 4! 8 hours of jam packed trainings with the spirit
level on full blast. I walked away from this meeting more motivated
than I've been in a while. The subject for the Meeting was "Becoming
Master Teachers." I learned on how I can improve my teaching and how
to teach simpler. Another training we had was on goal setting, and
this might be my favorite subject. It reminded me a lot of the
training Elder Maynes gave a few months back. I've learned it's
important to set goals in life and achieve them. But I've learned it's
even more important to focus on what you are going to do today to
achieve your goals. It was basically an inspirational speech for 20
minutes so you know I was loving it!
After Zone Conference we all scurried back into our different areas to
apply what we've learned! We had a lesson with David who's been
investigating the church for a while. We taught him the basics of the
Gospel and it was an awesome lesson. I feel like I'm all about the
fundamentals. If you do the little things right, the rest will come.
So teaching principles like faith, repentance, baptism, etc... Is
right down my alley! It was pretty cool to see him being 16 years old
totally understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is really
for anyone and everyone, from the kids on the street to the Baptist
Preacher. This church is for you!
Thursday we had Exchanges!! I was in the Neighboring area/ward, so it
wasn't too much of a change of scenery. I was going into the exchange
with an Elder that has been struggling for a little bit. Just has been
having a hard time knowing why he was on a mission and having a lot of
passion. I was pretty nervous going into the exchange knowing that it
was partially my responsibility to help this missionary out! Through
out the day I felt like I was on a secret mission to help out this
Elder without him actually knowing that was my goal. For most of the
day we spent our time doing service for one of their potential
investigators. So I'm just going to say it, his lady was a straight up
HOARDER!!! Holy smokes. Her house was full of dust collected boxes
with each being marked as "miscellaneous." They all just had random
junk inside each one with no order at all. Sorting through the boxes,
I also felt kind of like I was playing "Dance Dance Revolution" with
all the spiders and cockroaches. Pretty nasty... Wrapping up the
night, I felt like I wasn't able to help him out too much. It was
definitely a strange day! As we reviewed the exchange, the Elder told
me he had an awesome day and loved the exchange. I was almost thinking
the exact opposite at this moment still thinking there was dust all up
my arms like previously in the day. He said felt the spirit through
out the entire day, and he won't forget it. I asked him why he liked
it so much, and he said it was the service that helped him realize why
he was on a mission. It hit him that he was here to help God's
children. It might not be sharing the gospel with them, but just being
there to help, to stand in the place of Jesus Christ. I was humbled
and felt like I came away from the exchange more than I originally
thought.
Temple Trip Friday morning!! We rolled out of our beds at 4:30 excited
to go back to the Temple and this time to do a session! It's such a
tease throughout the year for us to teach about the temple, to go on
Temple Tours, and to encourage Recent Converts to go within 2 weeks
after baptism, but then only get to go to through the Temple ourselves
twice a year! That's alright though because it just builds up the
excitement! The spirit in the Temple is indescribable. It's was nice
to just sit and recuperate for a minute before heading back out into
the Mission Field. It definitely recharged the juices!
Saturday was round number 2 for exchanges! I went into a Spanish area
again, so it made things a little bit hard to communicate with their
investigators...
*MIRACLE OF THE WEEK*
Saturday morning we needed to go and sync our area books in a location
with Wifi. The closest place we could go to was the mall right next
door, so we hoped on our bikes and hustled on over. Walking into the
mall, I recognize a guy named MIKE DANSBY!! I taught mike while I was
in Buena Vista! I left the area 5 days before Mike was baptized so me
and him were way close! We talked for a little bit about his baptism
and where he has been since. It was awesome to see this guy again.
I've been blessed lately with the opportunity to catch up with 2 of my
Recent Converts since I've been back here in Waterford Lakes! That
never happens!! They say the Lords hand is in everything and I
definitely believe it. Two unplanned circumstances where I just so
happened to run into Recent Converts in the last 3 weeks. I'm one
happy camper! When I told him I had to get going, it honestly was
pretty tough. Bringing almost brother or sister to the gospel creates
a bond like no other. I love these people!
Sunday Elder Terry woke up with the same sickness I had last week...
But just a little bit more intense. After church he had no voice at
all and his throat was killing him. The little feller needed some
rest! He woke up sounding a little bit better than Golum from the Lord
of the Rings, so still not totally up to par. Some prayers sent his
way would be great!
As you can tell, this week has been all over the place! I love the
experiences I've had this week. They helped remind me why I'm a
missionary, and why I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for
the love and support from each of you. I heard the quote this week from
a member in the ward and I
thought it was great. "Find something that you
love, and do it every
day. Do this for the rest of your life, and eventually the
World will
change." Hope you have a great week!
- Elder Doman
John 15:13
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends."
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