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
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
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