Friends and Family,
Another one goes down in the books! As usual, this week was all over
the place! There were a lot of fun experiences this week that I'll
never forget. We were on exchanges 5 out of the 7 days this week, and
that definitely pushes the stress and excitement level. The clock
always ticks until at least midnight before going to bed on exchange
nights, as we're trying to get to know each other, so Elder Hummer and
I are pretty run down and tired, but we are going to finish up this
week 6 of the Transfer strong and see some good success!
*Exchange 1, Day 1 w/ Elder Koester*
We kicked off the start of the week by going to the La Costa Wetlands
for a districts District P-Day. Florida is green, but this place was
reaaaallllyyy green! Lots of open fields and swampy lands. There is a
picture below! Afterwards Elder Koester and I headed back to Warerford
Lakes ready to start off the week on the right foot.
*Exchange 1, Day 2 w/ Elder Koester
After Zone Service at the "UP" center Tuesday, Elder Koester and I had
one of the most random days ever. We were heading to our investigators
house named Billy to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. He'd been
reading and seemed pretty interested! Anyways, we knock on his door
and Billy's brother, Dale answers that lives there too. Dale looks
pretty sad and told us Billy is in Jail and won't be out for a
while... Pretty awkward. We were shocked and pretty disheartened, and
weren't too sure how to react. Thank heavens for the Spirit and we
ended up teaching Dale so that's the positive! We talked to him about
the "Questions of the Soul" that the Book of Mormon can answer, and he
seemed to really be interested. We gave him a copy and turned into
something really cool for Dale. We then went over to our Investigator
Davids house across the street who's 16 years old. When we showed up,
he had a brand new TV in his car and he was trying to sell it for
$80.... This again, was pretty awkward and sketchy. We left that area
of town and decided we probably shouldn't go back there for a
while....
*Exchange 1, Day 2.5 w/ Koester
We were off to the races Wednesday morning so we could get to District
Meeting and Exchange afterwards. This was actually one of the best
days of the week! We biked down to a Recent Convert in the ward who
has had a hard time with her testimony of Joseph Smith lately. It was
fun to stick with the basics in the lesson. We went through the first
lesson and by the end she said, "Okay, I get it now. It makes sense.
Joseph Smith had to be a Prophet because God loves us and will
continue to call prophets. It has to be true." The Spirit was tangible
the rest of the day. We then went don't to Bi(redneck town)thlo and
visited Bibi. Bibi is Nicholas' mom who was going to be baptized last
transfer, but backed out the night before his baptism. He backed out
because he made a deal with his mom where if she was off of smoking
and drinking, he'd be baptized if he came to know it was true. Nick
found out 2 days before his baptism that his mom, Bibi, really hadn't
been trying to hard to quit, but just wanted her son baptized. When we
talked with Bibi Wednesday, she is down to 1 cigarette a day and
hasn't had alcohol in 3 weeks. During the lesson we used our muscles
and ripped up her last packs of cigarettes and she resolved to quit
right then. It was great to see her pumped about the changes she's
making!
Change - "The act or instance of making or becoming different."
If you look up the word "Repentance" in the Bible Dictionary, this is
what comes up.
"The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of
mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world....
Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s
salvation."
One thing I love about my mission has been seeing individuals make
drastic changes in their lives because they understand and see how it
will one day, bring them back to live with Heavenly Father.
We left for exchanges again Wednesday night as we went to pick up the
Semoran Elders!
-Quote of the Week-
Doman - "what did you do for a job before your mission?"
Hummer - "I was a grounds keeper at a beef farm."
*Exchange 2, Day 1 W/ Elder Harmer*
We had an awesome lesson with Alexey on Thursday afternoon. Because of
his intricate schedule with work, school, family, and friends all
calling for attention, we had a Skype lesson with Alexey this week
(Hallelujah for technology.) We finished up teaching him the Plan of
Salvation and it was another Spiritual Touchdown. At the end of the
lesson we asked if he had any questions. He sat there for a minute
looking down at his palms solemnly. He then said, "guys, I really hope
my family accepts the gospel in the Spirit World. I need to be sealed
with them forever." It ends up his mom has been reading books that are
attacking and contrary to the church and its teachings. This hasn't
effected Alexey though as he knows he needs to be baptized. I felt bad
for this 18 year old who genuinely cares for his families salvation,
but can only do so much for them at this point in his life. I'm
excited for Alexey to continue to progress! He's still set for his
date for baptism!
Friday was my first full day serving with Elder Hummer this week! Most
of the day was spent Weekly Planning. We finished up the evening
trying to find some less actives and then heading out to Bumby to
start up another exchange! Ding ding ding!
*Exchange 3, Day 1 W/ Previous comp Elder Terry*
This was a blast. It was fun to serve with my companion I was just
previously with in my last transfer. We both are going home within the
next few weeks, so we were up pretty late in the night talking! 6:30
arrived too quickly the next morning, and we got all ready to go out
and help a members neighbor move! We spent most of the day loading up
his furniture and unpacking the U-haul at their house. We were
rewarded with some pizza and the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to
hold their Bearded Dragon (see pictures below.) It got to be 2:30 and
we scurried on over to the Par chapel to start off Stake Conference.
Sunday I think I experienced complete exhaustion. I was mentally,
physically, and spiritually worn out! I have never been so grateful
for the Sunday Session of Stake Conference before in my entire life.
The talks given were awesome. They spoke about being grateful for your
circumstances, and not for the material things we have in life.
Another address was on looking outward and seeking opportunities to
illuminate the light of Christ within ourselves. Again, I realized as
I was sitting in the hard metal chair that I'm here to SERVE. It
doesn't matter how tired and exhausted I am, but that I need to serve
these people in Orlando until I have absolutely nothing left in the
tank. After realizing this, I felt rejuvenated and ready to get out
and work again. I recognized I really don't have too many more
opportunities to serve the people here in Orlando, and I'll miss it
like crazy in a month or so. A big thanks to those who continually
keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I love and miss you guys. I hope
you have a great week!
Much love,
- Elder Doman
1-2: Stake Conference with the bros! Brother Miller in the Winter Park
Ward is the man!
3: The Lacosta Wetlands
4: The Bearded Dragon lizard
5: That's a big stop sign...
6: Yeah, no idea what that says...
Another one goes down in the books! As usual, this week was all over
the place! There were a lot of fun experiences this week that I'll
never forget. We were on exchanges 5 out of the 7 days this week, and
that definitely pushes the stress and excitement level. The clock
always ticks until at least midnight before going to bed on exchange
nights, as we're trying to get to know each other, so Elder Hummer and
I are pretty run down and tired, but we are going to finish up this
week 6 of the Transfer strong and see some good success!
*Exchange 1, Day 1 w/ Elder Koester*
We kicked off the start of the week by going to the La Costa Wetlands
for a districts District P-Day. Florida is green, but this place was
reaaaallllyyy green! Lots of open fields and swampy lands. There is a
picture below! Afterwards Elder Koester and I headed back to Warerford
Lakes ready to start off the week on the right foot.
*Exchange 1, Day 2 w/ Elder Koester
After Zone Service at the "UP" center Tuesday, Elder Koester and I had
one of the most random days ever. We were heading to our investigators
house named Billy to teach him about the Plan of Salvation. He'd been
reading and seemed pretty interested! Anyways, we knock on his door
and Billy's brother, Dale answers that lives there too. Dale looks
pretty sad and told us Billy is in Jail and won't be out for a
while... Pretty awkward. We were shocked and pretty disheartened, and
weren't too sure how to react. Thank heavens for the Spirit and we
ended up teaching Dale so that's the positive! We talked to him about
the "Questions of the Soul" that the Book of Mormon can answer, and he
seemed to really be interested. We gave him a copy and turned into
something really cool for Dale. We then went over to our Investigator
Davids house across the street who's 16 years old. When we showed up,
he had a brand new TV in his car and he was trying to sell it for
$80.... This again, was pretty awkward and sketchy. We left that area
of town and decided we probably shouldn't go back there for a
while....
*Exchange 1, Day 2.5 w/ Koester
We were off to the races Wednesday morning so we could get to District
Meeting and Exchange afterwards. This was actually one of the best
days of the week! We biked down to a Recent Convert in the ward who
has had a hard time with her testimony of Joseph Smith lately. It was
fun to stick with the basics in the lesson. We went through the first
lesson and by the end she said, "Okay, I get it now. It makes sense.
Joseph Smith had to be a Prophet because God loves us and will
continue to call prophets. It has to be true." The Spirit was tangible
the rest of the day. We then went don't to Bi(redneck town)thlo and
visited Bibi. Bibi is Nicholas' mom who was going to be baptized last
transfer, but backed out the night before his baptism. He backed out
because he made a deal with his mom where if she was off of smoking
and drinking, he'd be baptized if he came to know it was true. Nick
found out 2 days before his baptism that his mom, Bibi, really hadn't
been trying to hard to quit, but just wanted her son baptized. When we
talked with Bibi Wednesday, she is down to 1 cigarette a day and
hasn't had alcohol in 3 weeks. During the lesson we used our muscles
and ripped up her last packs of cigarettes and she resolved to quit
right then. It was great to see her pumped about the changes she's
making!
Change - "The act or instance of making or becoming different."
If you look up the word "Repentance" in the Bible Dictionary, this is
what comes up.
"The Greek word of which this is the translation denotes a change of
mind, a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world....
Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s
salvation."
One thing I love about my mission has been seeing individuals make
drastic changes in their lives because they understand and see how it
will one day, bring them back to live with Heavenly Father.
We left for exchanges again Wednesday night as we went to pick up the
Semoran Elders!
-Quote of the Week-
Doman - "what did you do for a job before your mission?"
Hummer - "I was a grounds keeper at a beef farm."
*Exchange 2, Day 1 W/ Elder Harmer*
We had an awesome lesson with Alexey on Thursday afternoon. Because of
his intricate schedule with work, school, family, and friends all
calling for attention, we had a Skype lesson with Alexey this week
(Hallelujah for technology.) We finished up teaching him the Plan of
Salvation and it was another Spiritual Touchdown. At the end of the
lesson we asked if he had any questions. He sat there for a minute
looking down at his palms solemnly. He then said, "guys, I really hope
my family accepts the gospel in the Spirit World. I need to be sealed
with them forever." It ends up his mom has been reading books that are
attacking and contrary to the church and its teachings. This hasn't
effected Alexey though as he knows he needs to be baptized. I felt bad
for this 18 year old who genuinely cares for his families salvation,
but can only do so much for them at this point in his life. I'm
excited for Alexey to continue to progress! He's still set for his
date for baptism!
Friday was my first full day serving with Elder Hummer this week! Most
of the day was spent Weekly Planning. We finished up the evening
trying to find some less actives and then heading out to Bumby to
start up another exchange! Ding ding ding!
*Exchange 3, Day 1 W/ Previous comp Elder Terry*
This was a blast. It was fun to serve with my companion I was just
previously with in my last transfer. We both are going home within the
next few weeks, so we were up pretty late in the night talking! 6:30
arrived too quickly the next morning, and we got all ready to go out
and help a members neighbor move! We spent most of the day loading up
his furniture and unpacking the U-haul at their house. We were
rewarded with some pizza and the "once in a lifetime opportunity" to
hold their Bearded Dragon (see pictures below.) It got to be 2:30 and
we scurried on over to the Par chapel to start off Stake Conference.
Sunday I think I experienced complete exhaustion. I was mentally,
physically, and spiritually worn out! I have never been so grateful
for the Sunday Session of Stake Conference before in my entire life.
The talks given were awesome. They spoke about being grateful for your
circumstances, and not for the material things we have in life.
Another address was on looking outward and seeking opportunities to
illuminate the light of Christ within ourselves. Again, I realized as
I was sitting in the hard metal chair that I'm here to SERVE. It
doesn't matter how tired and exhausted I am, but that I need to serve
these people in Orlando until I have absolutely nothing left in the
tank. After realizing this, I felt rejuvenated and ready to get out
and work again. I recognized I really don't have too many more
opportunities to serve the people here in Orlando, and I'll miss it
like crazy in a month or so. A big thanks to those who continually
keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I love and miss you guys. I hope
you have a great week!
Much love,
- Elder Doman
1-2: Stake Conference with the bros! Brother Miller in the Winter Park
Ward is the man!
3: The Lacosta Wetlands
4: The Bearded Dragon lizard
5: That's a big stop sign...
6: Yeah, no idea what that says...
 |
| I got a text with this picture today telling me that Brock changed his life! |
 |
| Brock and Elder Hummer heading to Stake conference |
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