A concert from the Nashville Tribrute Band and a week of ups and downs!

Friends and Family,

This week flew by, and it was just one thing after another! We had a
lot of cool experiences happen this week in the one and only Orlando
Zone! It's been a roller coaster these past couple of weeks. Last
week, the Zone preformed at their highest level all year. We were
teaching machines! This week it was just the opposite. Lowest of lows.
It's crazy, and pretty hard to understand how quickly it can flip
flop, but we are ready to rebound! After talking with some of the
companionships in the Zone, I learned a couple principles that I'll be
able to apply from now on.
1 - The fundamentals are everything. When you don't do the little
things right, it's impossible for the bigger picture to turn out.
2 - When someone does something, and they do a good job of it, they
need to be praised and congratulated for it. They worked hard and need
to be noticed!
I'm glad I've realized these principles now, and definitely have a
testimony of them!

Well there isn't too much time to write today! We are headed to a
district P-Day at the Lacosta Wetlands! It should be a fun experience,
but will eat up a lot of time (I'll make sure to take some pictures!)
Here's the top events that happened this week!!

Our Investigator Alexey accepted a baptismal date! We taught him on
Sunday in the home of the 2nd councilor of the Stake Presidency, so we
were pretty hyped for this lesson. His baptismal date is set for the
first week in June, so unfortunately I won't be here for it! It hit me
just how powerful this gospel is as we were teaching the Plan of
Salvation. I was testifying of the love Heavenly Father has for us,
and just how much he cares for us as his children. He loves us enough
to send his one and only perfect son, to save a very imperfect person
like myself. He loves us enough to give us trials and challenges in
life that push us to reach our full potential, but he's never going to
give us more than we can handle. Throughout my mission I've just had
little moments where the gospel just continues to "click" and my
testimony is strengthened. I'm grateful for the chance I have to
serve. Alexey was feeling the spirit and he bore testimony to us of
his belief of the Plan of Salvation, and how he can share it with his
parents. This kid, is a Legend.  I know that I'm pretty excited to
come back and return to normal life with my friends and family again,
but I also know that I love being a full time missionary. I know that
I'll miss my mission and it will be tough not to have all of these
missionary experiences. The only thing I can really do is give 110%
and make these final 25 days the best ones yet.

On Friday, The Nashville Tribute Band came to Orlando and put on a
show dedicated to missionary work! This was awesome! Now, I want
everyone to know that I'm not about to get back home, slip on my
boots, thrown on a cowboy hat, some blue jeans and a plaid shirt then
hit the dirt road on a horse named Mustang!! But... it was some pretty
good country music! It was all gospel related and we were told if we
have an investigator that could attend, we could go as well! Alexy and
the Hawkes family met us there and we had a rootin' tootin' time!
Yehaw!!! There are some pictures below!

Another awesome thing that we saw this week is that an investigator
named David has sparked some hope in this little fellers heart! We
were thinking we may have had to drop him leading into this lesson,
but to start things off, he told us he read 3 chapters in the Book of
Mormon and prayed about it too! We aren't really sure where it came
from, and why this change occurred considering he hadn't kept any of
his other previous assignments. We were just happy he read and now has
some hope for the gospel!

*Quote of the Week*
Doman - "What did you do on Saturdays?"
Hummer- "I'd play World of Warcraft or minecraft, and listen to a book on Tape"
That was the end of that conversation.

One more story of the week happened while we were on Exchanges. For
the first time in 7 weeks I left Waterford Lakes for the day and spent
24 in the neighboring Conway West area. (I joke around a lot and call
them the "Kanye West" Elders Hahah. Maybe that's not really funny, I
don't know, but it makes me laugh!) but we had this super sick
exchange. I was in a trio/tripanionship, for the day and had a blast.
There was never a dull moment!! We taught this family of 6 and it was
way cool. When we first walked in, no one was really engaging in any
conversations we tried starting. They were being "busy bees" and not
sitting down with us... Super awkward. After a few minutes we had to
be pretty bold and invite them to stop doing what they were doing and
to come have a discussion. We just had a really basic lesson on Jesus
Christ and how his Atonement can help us. Everything seemed to calm
down a little bit and the spirit started to kick into high gear and
prick some hearts! The mom and pops had tear filled eyes and were
grateful for the visit. Something i'll never forget. As we were
walking out of the lesson to the car, all 6 of them were outside with
us trying to generate some conversations to keep us/the spirit there a
little bit longer. It was awesome!

Well sorry for the shorter email, but it was a fun week! This upcoming
week will be a quick one, full of 3 exchanges, Stake Conference, and a
possible ward split! I'm excited for what's to come and to continue to
live and learn. A big thanks to all those that still read these emails
and those who continue to encourage me! I love and miss you all. There
is only a week or so left to write a letter, so if you need the
address again it's
10502 Satellite Blvd Ste E
Orlando, Fl
Thanks "ya'll" and have a great week!!
Much love,
- Elder Doman

1-2: just some cool pics of Florida
3-4: The Nashville Tribute Band and the girl in the band that all the
elders were loving.
5: A selfie with Michael Harvey. A member that comes out with us all
of the time!
6: I will have a dog like this when I "grow up"

The Orlando Zone!

Brock with some of the kids he's been teaching

Brock lost a bet and had to get his arms shaved!

Being dropped is hard, but we found some new investigators too!

Friends and Family,

It's a sunny Monday afternoon here in Waterford Lakes, as Elder Hummer
and I are sitting out on the back patio of our apartment clubhouse
catching some rays in the "Sunshine State." It's been a pretty good
week down here as we are seeing some sweet finding miracles. We have
had to drop, and have been dropped by a lot of investigators recently.
That's the toughest part of missionary work for sure. Seeing the best
potential that individuals have, then having them deny and reject it.
It's certainly tough, it's part of the work! We were constantly
blessed and were able to see the hand of The Lord in our work this
week! I'm hyped to write about it! I'll talk about some of my favorite
experiences that happened this week!

We had the funniest dinner Monday night. We were eating with a couple
that has recently converted to the church. The wife is Spanish with so
much sass and messes with us just about the whole time we are over
there. Totally picks on Elder Hummer and I. Anyway, they went off for
like a 45 minute discussion just between the two of them about
conspiracy theories. We were cracking up and having a great time just
watching them go off. We ended up having a great lesson and they had 3
referrals for us to go try to teach this upcoming week! Wooo!

*finding miracles*
On Saturday I was on exchanges with Elder Ashworth. He went to Lone
Peak and we are pretty good friends out here on the mish, and will be
afterwards too! Anyway, we had a couple of back to back investigator
appointments cancel on us last minute in the middle of the
afternoon.... Crap. We had a member out with us and everything. We
didn't want to waste the members time, but we also wanted to help her
have a good missionary experience. We decided to stop by some Former
Investigators in the area. We knock the first door looking for a man
named "Dacarr" and a 26 year old girl answers... Probably not Dacarr.
But, we ask her if he knows who he is, and she told us it was her dad,
then invites us in. We sit down and start getting to know her and she
just moved in a few weeks ago from North Dakota for her work, but
she's looking for a home and church here! We could help with one of
those needs. We taught her the restoration, and bam. She committed to
be baptized once she came to know if this was true.
We finish up the lesson and as we are walking out of the door, across
the street we see a mom and her kids playing outside. We went on over
and started to talk with them and taught them about the Book of
Mormon. They were very receptive!! Her name was Desiree and she
believed in Jesus Christ, but just didn't really know what to do about
it. She also committed to be baptized once she knew it was true!
It was awesome to see how everything just was synchronized, and worked
out perfectly.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

The O-Zone also had Interviews with President Berry this Wednesday!
Elder Hummer and I we were able to train at 3 District Meetings back
to back to back while President was pulling missionaries aside to do
their interviews while the meeting was going. Honestly, It was pretty
exhausting. The first meeting started at 8 and we didn't leave the
chapel until 4:15 later that afternoon. It was fun to see all of the
missionaries in such a short period of time though!

The funny story of the week...
We were walking into an appointment Friday evening. We had had a solid
Weekly Planning and were ready to go out and teach! Elder Hummer parks
the car across the street and we start towards the house. Everything
is fine, then all of the sudden Elder Hummer is on the gravel with 2
holes in his pants!!! We still aren't sure how he tripped, but he
ripped his pants in the back and also on the knee where he landed! I
was trying so hard not to laugh!! He wasn't injured but totally
shredded his pants! Lolol good times, good times #swagger

There is a family named the Milla's in the ward and they have a son
who isn't baptized. His name is Michael and he is "busy" or "at work"
every time we have an appointment. Well this time, we outsmarted the
system. We decided to stop by their home when we "needed to use the
bathroom, and get a glass of water." The whole family actually came to
sit in on the a lesson and the spirit was totally there. We were
surprised when Michael actually said he would read the Book of Mormon
and wouldn't mind us stopping by again sometime. Definitely a success
for the week. (So I just tried to type out "success" by my iPad auto
corrected it to "sissies" hahahah)

To finish up there is one more success story that occurred this week.
We have this investigator named Alexy, and he comes to church every
single week with a family in the ward. He's 18 years old and his
hometown is some city that I still can't fully understand what he's
saying when he tells me. I've asked him like 5 times and I still have
no idea what he's saying. Anyways the dude is from Russia.  He does
online school and is about to graduate high school while working
almost a full time job in a marketing company. His schedule makes it
almost impossible to meet with him, but we pin pointed to meet this
past Sunday after church for a few minutes. He told us he's been
reading the Book of Mormon and is almost to Jacob! He reads it every
day with his girlfriend that is a member. He said he's prayed about
Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and has received an answer this
week that it is all true. He feels the need to be baptized, but wants
to take the missionary discussions first to make sure he understands
all of the principles correctly. Alexy is what we call a prepared or
golden investigator.

I like this experience because it showed me that even after my
mission, I can still be a missionary. I'm excited to apply the things
that I've learned on my mission. With today being my 22nd month mark
looking back at it, it's gone by pretty quick! I appreciate the help
and support I'm receiving. Hopefully everyone has a great week!
Much Love,
- Elder Doman

1: Some people call me Ray Charles
2-4: Blue tie interviews!
5: someone thinks they are funny and did this to our car...

Life is rough, there's a lot of people that need help!

Friends and Family,

How's everybody doing this week?! Another one in the books here in
Waterford 😉. This week consisted of ZTM, exchanges, and some good
finding! We were on exchanges 3 days out of the week, so it went by
really quick! Elder Hummer and I have about as much in common as a Vin
Disel and Cinderella, but the work moves forward and we get along
alright. We are finding a lot of cool people, so that makes missionary
work fun! Here is, The Weekly Rundown!!!!!

Monday was awesome. We took the 45 minute journey to the Par chapel to
play basketball with some big cats in the zone. It was nice to get much
needed exercise just about all day long. We started an exchange
Monday after P-Day, and I had Elder Rindlisbacher come to town. Man,
this exchange was awesome. Just what I needed! Elder Rimdlisbacher and
I have been good friends for the past year now, so it was
cool to serve with him. We went to give a blessing to a single mother
and her daughter who's had cancer for the past 3 years... Heading into
the blessing full of faith, it was hard not to be sad for the family
once understanding even more about their situation. The father is a
Semi-Truck driver who is rarely home working to pay off all of the
medical bills flooding in, the mother takes care of 4 other kids under
the age of 11 with her 16 year old daughter with cancer. So tough, so
many trials, but they still had so much faith in the Priesthood. Once
again I was humbled, and extremely grateful for all that I have, and
the situation I'm in.

Tuesday we hit the road strong heading off to the UP center to do some
service. This time it was much more relaxed, and we didn't have to
kill any mice #countyourblessings. Apartment checks are taking place
here in the F.O.M. , so after service we went and checked a couple of
apartments throughout the zone. We then headed to Alex and Kenny's
house (a less active and an investigator) that we've been trying to
get in contact with. We didn't have a set appointment, but felt like
we should stop by and give him a try. Kenny works 3 jobs, and I think
I've explained his situation before. Alex was hit by a car when he was
21 years old and has been in a motorized wheelchair ever since. Monday
night, a car brushed by Alex again and damaged his chair and injured
his shoulder badly. As we knocked on the door, Alex answered just
crying his eyes out. He explained what happened to him the night
before, and now his medicine had just been tipped over and went down the sink
drain. This dude was devastated. He had lost all hope and just had a
rough couple of days! He said it, "had to have been the hand of God to
have you guys stop by today." This is the Lords work, and He is the
one holding the reins.

Elder Hummer was back in the area Wednesday to prep for ZTM the
following day. We had some finding time, so we decided to crank the
chains on the bikes. We ended up finding an awesome girl named
Necole. She's in her mid 30's and going through a divorce (another
prepared person going through a tough time.) But we simply taught the
Plan of Salvation and bore testimony of it. She was very interested in
learning more and was hungry for us to come back.


Thursday = TURN UP FOR ZTM!! I was as excited as a fat kid getting is
some birthday cake for ZTM. I wasn't nervous this time around and felt
totally confident. Everyone was in their seats, and ready to rock and
roll a good 5 minutes early listening to the prelude music. Literally
30 seconds before I was about to stand up to start the meeting,
President Berry walks in! Hahaha so many peoples faces got red and the
entire atmosphere changed! All went well through and Elder Hummer
and I had a great time!
I trained on the topic of not being a FAT missionary
Forgetful
Awkward and
Timid!
It was awesome. I'm all about just being out there and if it's
awkward, then it's awkward, and live with it! It was a fun ZTM!
*funny story of the week*
Thursday evening, we met this guy named Adam, aka Zombie Hunter, aka
The Best Bow and Arrow Shooter East of the Mississippi.  Before my
mission I didn't really know what the people would be like down here
in Florida, but the picture below sums of 50% of the people who live
outside of a 10 mile radius from Downtown Orlando. After watching him
take a couple shots with his camouflage bow and arrow inside of his
trailer park, he's ended up being really interested in the Book of
Mormon and wanted a copy! We are headed back to his home Thursday!
Please pray for us... Hahah jokes, jokes.

Friday. After Weekly Planning, we went to see an investigator named
David who had a surgery earlier in the week. He's doing alright
physically, but really struggling spiritually. We continually invite
him to read, pray, and come to church but he hasn't kept his
commitments. He talks about something missing in his life, and we tell
him it's the gospel, but he just won't take any action steps to move
forward. It's pretty frustrating because we know the gospel will help
him in every aspect of his life, he is just choosing not to give it a
try! I feel like there has been so many people like this on my
mission. They have problems in their life and talk about them all day
long, but when it comes to fixing them, they aren't willing to get up
and do something about it! Pretty tough to see and work with, but we
are keeping our heads up. We finished out the night driving 45 minutes
to start up another exchange!

Exchanges with Elder Fairbanks! We had a solid day and had a lot of
great things happen! There are a couple of less active families we
have been working with that have kinds who have turned 8. The bishop
has wanted us to work with them to make sure they are ready and
prepared for baptism. One family in particular I got along with really
well! Lexi turned 8 in January and has been preparing for baptism
since I've been in the ward. Her dad was excommunicated earlier in his
life, but has been striving to come back. He's at church every Sunday,
read his scriptures and prays daily. He's a real genuine guy and just
wants the best for others around him. Definitely a loving guy! It's
been awesome to work with him and his daughter. The mom isn't a member
of the church and isn't really interested. Well, this Saturday there
was a the baptismal service for 5 kids in the ward who are all eight
years old! It was awesome. Lexi was one of the five. As her grandpa
walked her down into the font, her dad was sitting in the front row,
watching intensely, with tears streaming down his face. The spirit in
the room was tangible. Everybody in the room felt it, and knew that
they felt it. It was a pretty special experience. I'm confident that
one day, Lexi and her family will walk through the Temple and be
sealed together as a family.

Surprisingly, it was a pretty low key Sunday! We had a few
investigators come to church, we visited some less active members in
the evening, and had a dinner with a family to finish out our Fast
Sunday and before we knew it the day had finished up!

"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." -
Abraham Lincoln
This sums up our week here in Orlando. We are working with, and met
with quite a bit of people who are restricting their own happiness.
I'm enjoying this time to serve and will continue enjoying these next
5 weeks or so! Thanks again for all that you guys do for me. Have a
great week!
Much love,

- Elder Doman

1- just another picture at sunset
2&3 - What a guy!!!
4- Florida is awesome
5- the best part of this picture is the kids photo bombing in the background.
6&7- Elder Hummer and I
8 - Elder Hummer