Hangin' out with the Lecanto missionaries and Elder Stewart is going home!

Friends and Family,

Hello again!! Well let me tell ya, this week has been one of the
craziest weeks of my mission here in Orlando this far. We had a lot of
random things happen this week that I can't wait to tell you about.
First, it's time to say goodbye to my companion Elder Stewart! He is
headed back to Cedar City tomorrow afternoon. I've learned a lot from
him, and made a new friend. Well, tomorrow is our transfer meeting,
and like always the anxiety level is high. I’m happy about staying out
here in Eustis for at least the next 6 weeks with a new companion!

So Tuesday we had our Zone Conference! It was a good day, but also a
really long one! We arrived at the chapel in Lake Mary at 6:30AM and
left the chapel at 4:30PM. It was long and exhausting, but I learned a
lot about what I can do personally to improve and get better daily as
a missionary. A lot of the trainings were on the topic of prayer, and
inviting the spirit into our teaching. I know I overlook this a lot as
a missionary, so it was nice to receive some further instruction on
this topic! It was also pretty fun to catch up with some good buddies
of mine there (Elder Crismon, Pututau, Johnson, the list goes on and
on!) it was a fun day! The big news is our mission got a new device
placed in all of their cars called "tiwis" that track the drivers
speed, rpm, and acceleration while turning. It's a little black box
that sits inside the windshield of the car. Overall, it's kind of
annoying, but it does keep us safer. After Zone Conference we started
an exchange with the Elders in Lecanto, Elders Pearson, Gubler, and
Lechimenat. Elder Gubler and Pearson came with me to Eustis and spent
the next day with me! These guys are hilarious!! Elder Gubler is from
Hurricane, UT so we had a lot of fun catching up on old times and
finding mutual friends. We headed straight to our dinner with Hunter
and his family after Zone Conference, and they are doing great! They
couldn't be happier about how their life is going. It's always a sigh
of relief to participate in a baptism and then witness them being
strong and active in the church!

Wednesday we continued our exchange with a solid start by doing some
service for Sister Santana, the lady with the Jungle in her back yard!
We planted a few trees, got scared by a giant snake, and then helped
reorganize their backyard. It was all worth it by the feeling we had
after.... We walked out of Ichiban with full stomachs :) We then we to
our investigator Jerry's and had an awesome lesson. He was really
interested in why we are on a mission, and what is our drive behind it
all. Jerry was saying that he really felt the spirit, and it sparked
his desire to learn more!

Thursday we were way busy! With most of Tuesday's time taken up with
Zone Conference, we were going from place to place all day. One of the
highlights of our day was honestly a pretty sad lesson. We were
meeting with a less active family who has been going through a lot
lately, and overall just kind of falling apart. Only the mom was home,
so we sat out on her front porch. When we finished the opening prayer,
the mom was already crying. She just fell apart and started breaking
down... She explained that she knows her kids haven't been making the
best decisions, but they just don't care to listen to her. She's had a
divorce a few years ago, and just feels like the world has been
against her. It definitely hit Elder Stewart and I pretty hard and we
genuinely cared about her, and this family. It's a unique experience and
kid of a weird opportunity we have to meet with others we hardly know
and have them be so open and honest with us. Sometimes it puts us in
some weird and uncomfortable situations, but I love this call to serve
and this chance to grow. We shared a couple of scriptures and really
did all that we could to help her. We're excited to go back this week
and see how things are going!
Thursday night those same Lecanto Elders came down for a sleep over
because Elder Stewart and Elder Lechimenat had their departing Temple
trip Friday morning. Lecanto is 2 1/2 ours away from the temple, so
that would have been an even earlier morning. Luckily, those guys were
able to spend the night so it was only a 1 hour drive the following
morning!

Friday, another day with Elder Gubler and Elder Pearson! We did a lot
of service in the morning, and gave a couple of blessings at the
hospital. At about 4 in the afternoon, we got a call from our
companions at the Temple, saying they had to pick up a new car to take
out to a companionship in the Zone. All was fine and well until they
pulled into our driveway with the new car. We then get a call from the
Mission Vehicle Coordinator telling us that the car is no longer
needed, and we need to drive it back to Orlando that night. So we
loaded up the car and drove it down to Orlando! The Lecanto Elders
followed us so they could take us back afterwards. The vehicle
coordinator was awesome and decided to take us all out to dinner when
we arrived in Orlando, after a somewhat frustrating day. On the way
back we had a full car with 3 bigger Elders in the backseat of a Chevy
Cruze. It was quite the drive back to say the least. When we got back
out to Eustis it was 10:20 and there was no way those Elders could
drive an hour and a half back to Lecanto that night, sooo President
Berry approved for another sleep over! 3 in one week! New record. It
was a great time, and those guys will be life long friends!

Saturday was another service filled day. We started by going back up
too the chicken coop and hanging up fishing line across the top so
Hawks and Eagles can't swoop down and pick them up. (We got to hold a
chicken, so that was pretty awesome.) We pulled out the famous "Do
chickens have large talons" quote from Napoleon Dynamite and
unfortunately it went right over the members head! After the chicken
coop, we went to a single mothers home and helped dig big holes around
their trees and under the roots so they can have someone come and pull
out all of the trees! This was a new service project and was actually
pretty fun.

After cleaning up from service, we tried to go and visit the member
named brother BONECUTTER!!!! How cool of a name is that? Yes, it's
actually his name too! His name goes along with a pretty intense story
too. It was pitch black when we were looking for his home, and we
finally think we found it after about 5 minutes of searching. We
started walking up to the door on the drive way, when we slowly hear
some big dog paws pounding against the cement coming our way. It was
scary enough, then we hear a deep, angry growl... We were both sure we
were going to get our legs bitten off, so we just stand there, hoping
it doesn't charge. When the dog finally comes out of the shadows after
what seemed like hours. We finally see that it is a big, buff,
red-nosed Pitt Bull that doesn't look to happy. If we ran, we probably
would have been obliterated by this beast. The thought came to mind to
just pretend like you are a member in the home and just be friendly
and playful to this dog! We were basically out of options and ideas,
so I decide to make some kissy sounds and call the dog over! Thank the
Heavens this dog was nice!!! It came over and couldn't be more excited
to see us. We walk up to the door, have a lesson with Brother
Bonecutter and make it out alive!

Sunday we had a great day at church then started saying goodbyes to
some of the families in the Ward Elder Stewart really liked. Sunday
night was a cool experience! Two famous and professional musicians,
Vanessa Joy and Marvin Goldstein were in Orlando and offered to do a
special musical number for all of the missionaries, investigators and
Recent Converts in the F.O.M! It was way sweet. To save the mission
car miles, we had to double up with some elders in the Zone for the
drive there. so once again, we drove to Orlando with the Lecanto
Elders! The Concert was awesome, and the spirit was definitely there.
One of my favorite people I've met out here is Rick Roman! I taught

him while I was in Winter Park and I love that guy! It was awesome to
see him there and catch up for a little bit! It was also fun to see
every single missionary in the mission and have a chance to catch up
with them again. I feel like I've made so many friends out here. I
feel like I've known some of these guys forever and we are best
friends. The mission is awesome!

I'm grateful for this chance I have to serve a mission. It's
definitely stressful, hard, and exhausting, but this call to serve is
priceless. I'm grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers sent to
the mission!! I love and miss you guys, and hope for the best.

Godspeed,

Elder Doman

Luke 9:23
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."

A week of ups and downs in Eustis and visiting the "haunted" house

Exchanges with Elder Gillen

Brock with Elder Stewart

Friends and Family,

Another week in the books! It's been one roller coaster of a week here
in Eustis! Ups and downs for sure. We had some really great
highlights, and some low lows. I feel like this happens at least once
a transfer where you just have an "off week" and then you are able to
come back stronger the next! This next week we are looking to wrap up
the transfer strong and end on a high note.

Monday night we had an awesome miracle. One day last week when we were
knocking some doors, a random lady drove by, introduced herself to us,
and told us to stop by her house sometime to catch up. This family in
the Ward named the Richter's hadn't been to church or had missionaries
over in 3 years! It was awesome to be in their home Monday night
having them tell us their conversion story, and bring the spirit into
the home.

Tuesday was quite the day!! It's always a fun time when President
Berry comes to the  Zone for individual interviews with each of the
missionaries. While President is interviewing missionaries, we were in
charge of running a 2 hour meeting. So our day consisted of having an
8:30-10:30 meeting in Clermont (a city) then driving to Leesburg
(another city about an hour away) for 2 more meetings! Luckily the
Mission President provided some lunch for us. :) When 4:30 came around
and we wrapped up the final meeting, it felt like the bell ringing on
the last day of school! After dinner, we went to another meeting about
a new program on the church called "JustServe" that's sounds pretty
awesome. As you can guess it was all about service. When that finished
up, it was 8:30 and we had a day full of meetings! I never would have
thought that on my mission I would have had meetings literally all day
long! We felt pretty accomplished when we were all finished up.

Wednesday we did some finding in the morning and really didn't find
too much success. It's been a struggle here in Eustis to find people
who are receptive of our message! Hopefully with the holidays coming
up, people's hearts will be softer and more receptive to us and we
continue working out the kinks. Later in the day we had another lesson
with our investigator Juan who only speaks Spanish. It's pretty tough
for me to give some good input in these lessons, but from what Elder
Stewart is telling me, he's progressing little by little. We had a
pretty sweet dinner with a family in our Ward on Wednesday. They took
us their clubhouse out in the middle of a Florida forest with ponds
and cool scenery. Unfortunately, our cameras were dead so we couldn't
snap any pictures. We were sitting underneath the roof! But the
building didn't have any Windows! It was way cool, it was almost like
a big cabana! As we were eating it was pouring rain and we were in the
middle of a lightening storm! It lasted about 15 minutes, and was an
awesome experience. I'm loving the Florida weather. I'll miss these
type of storms!

Thursday we had exchanges and we saw a ton of miracles! I'll just
share one with you for the sake of time. We were stopping by some less
actives in the Ward in the afternoon, and we're running out of people
to see in the area. We saw that this younger lady whose name was
Jennifer and she was struggling to balance her mail and take in the
trash at the same time... so we ran to the rescue! After helping her
out, we started talking with her and her niece was just about to go
into a serious surgery. We said a quick prayer with her and taught her
briefly about the Plan of Salvation.  She said she'd love for us to
come back with her cousin and her family this upcoming week!! It was
way cool and she was excited to read from the Plan of Salvation
pamphlet. It was a cool experience for me, because lately I've really
been trying to just go about helping out other people, and just
becoming a good guy! I felt like I was getting caught up going from
place to place too quickly with out slowing down and really looking to
help people. This opportunity was great for me to put it into action.

Friday we had some weekly planning... We also were able to go less
active hunting later that evening. It cracks me up doing this. Is so
funny to listen to the different replies that come our way, "my dog
licks people, so now isn't the best time" "I'm tired, so no thanks."
"I'll text you later when to come by." Etc... We do get several
members who let us in and offer us a drink, but really just don't want
anything to do with the church anymore. It's pretty discouraging and
tough to see. But when we do find those who are ready for visits make
it all worth it. We were also dropped by a few investigators Friday
night which is always pretty tough to have happen.

Saturday. Service, service, service. From 10:30 to 3:30 we found
different service projects to do. In all honestly, I feel like service
is really fulfilling and it's nice to get after it again. One thing
I'm grateful for my family members teaching me is that it's a
privilege to work. On Saturday we started out by trimming down bushes,
trees, and cutting back Palm Trees (something I learned how to do from
my grandpa! Thanks uncle Gary!) We then went over to a part member
family who needed their storage shed organized. Lastly, we found
ourselves back out at Sister Mcfaddens. The chicken lady! This time we
were able to help build a chicken coop. Definitely not my forte. It
was something I've never had to do, and probably will never do again!
But, it was still a fun time! When we finished up, she sent us off
with 2 dozen eggs and we were some happy campers.

Random story... So, we ate dinner with the first councilor in the
Bishopric this week, and he lives in an awesome house along the side

 of a lake. We were fine eating dinner until he started talking about
how his house has been claimed as "haunted." It even looks like a
house that belongs in a scary movie!! He told us of all the different
stories he's had living in his house, and what was told to him before
he moved in. There are some pictures below!

Anyways, Sunday was just an average Sunday! Nothing too crazy happened
this week. Some exciting news is that our investigator, Artie sent out
his wedding announcements this week! Once he's married he'll be able
to be baptized! Things are starting to look like positive and
promising for Artie. He was at church and is quite the character. He
is 6'5" and about 300 pounds. He's a brick!!! He comes from New York
and has such a strong accent. For his job, he cuts up giant trees that
fall over and block up roads, or trees that fall onto houses. This
guys is awesome, and definitely loves it in the south! Hahah

Well, Thanks again for all of the support, love, and prayers sent this
way. I hope you know how grateful I am for it. Being on a mission is
definitely the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's also the most
fulfilling! I know this is where I need to be! I love and miss you
all.

Godspeed,

- Elder Doman

The "Haunted" House

Hunter's baptism and lots and lots of service!!!

For some reason it won't let me post any pictures today unless they're at the top of the email, so here goes.

Wow, I"m so proud!!!

This guy and his wife are hilarious!  I love getting pictures from them.  The Reislings.

Hunter's baptism.

I love getting texts like this!  It made me laugh so hard.

Brock wearing a tie that Britt sent him, looking good!

Friends and Family,

Another week bites the dust after a spooky Halloween. Alright, it
wasn't spooky at all, but I just thought it was a clever into. This
week was a blast!  Hopefully everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!!

Monday- We had FHE with an awesome family in the Ward called the
Erickson's on Monday night and it was way fun. They have 3 kids, and
live in a sweet neighborhood on the outskirts of a rural part of
Eustis. I feel like I'm getting settled into this Ward really well and
Elder Stewie and I are working well with the members.

On Tuesday we started out or day chopping down this ladies back yard,
a.k.a. jungle with her 2 lucky machetes. We ripped out a bunch of
potato vines, planted 4 trees, and cut s path out to the lake behind
her home. It was a blast! Fortunately, this is the same sister that
takes us to Ichiban afterwards, so we weren't complaining at all. ;)
Tuesday afternoon, we saw our good pal Eddie. Eddie has had some
strokes in his life which has put him in a wheelchair. His attitude
about life is great though. I've never seen the guy angry, crying, or
upset. He's always happy!  Later that night we went to Hunter's house
and made sure he was all set for his baptism! Him and the rest of his
family were so excited for this to happen. Its been a long wait! I'll
talk more about it later in the email!

Wednesday was another day full of service! We started off by a good
District Meeting and the day was going great. Afterwards, we get a
call from a young couple in the Ward asking us if we could help them
move for a little bit. When we got there, there were a couple non
members helping out so it was good to get some interaction in with
them. Maybe in the future something will come from it. This really
where most of our day was spent! On Wednesday night, our Ward has a
Book of Mormon class that we go and read out loud for an hour. I like
this time a lot because it gives us some time to take a step back and
have some time to just read. The studies in the morning give us some
time, but it seems like we are preparing something during that time.
So that extra hour Wednesday night is great. I definitely love it! If
there is one thing for sure that has happened to me on my mission,
it's that I've definitely gained a solid testimony of the Book of
Mormon. I've learned to love that Book and understand how important it
can be. I feel like It's the "game changer" of my day. If I have good
studies and really learn from it. It changes my outlook on the whole
day. I love it!

On Thursday we had Exchanges. I was with Elder Gillen! Elder Gillen
and I go back to the days when we were in the same district, when I
was in Winter Park. It was fun to catch up and work with him again to
see how everything is going with his mission. We saw a cool miracle as
we were knocking doors! It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and our
lesson at 4 just canceled. Had a dinner in that area at 5 and were
just in a little puzzle. We didn't know what to do. The thought came
of, "why not knock?" So we laced up our shoes a little bit tighter and
off we went. After about 15 minutes a less active family in the Ward
drove past and pulled over on the side of the road. Not knowing who
they were, we approached the car cautiously. After talking with them
for a little bit they said they'd love to have us come by sometime
this week. It made our day, and boosted our spirits for the remainder
of our day. It didn't seem like much until I took a step back, and
realized that Heavenly Father provided a way for a couple of sweaty
missionaries to be happier.

Friday... Weekly Planning. Bang. A nice long weekly planning session
as we set some good goals for this upcoming week. We then went and we
saw Hunter's dad, Jerry who is starting to be more interested in the
church! We are hoping he reads from the Book of Mormon this week to
learn more about what his son was joining. We are excited to see what
comes from this. HUNTERS BAPTISM. Here's, the thing. This was probably
the best baptism of my mission. Their family of 4 was so stinkin
happy!! Man, I love it! Singing "Families Can Be Together Forever" for
the opening hymn was awesome. It was fun to sit in the room and look
around.  Lindsey, (Hunter's wife) had almost her whole family their.
Thinking about what this baptism will not only do for Hunter, but for
the 30 or so different individuals, now having a new member of their
family baptized, and eventually sealed to their extended family was
pretty amazing. Everyone was happy, Everything went smoothly, and the
spirit was there!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Saturday we did some more service!! We cut down an
older guys bushes, pressure washed the house, and cleaned up his yard.
After we finished up we drove to an older single sisters home and
moved around some heavy plants and trees! To finish up our service
run, we went over to GM's (brother reising's) and dug up a big hole in
his back yard to get all the old sand out of there. When we finished
up it was about 5pm and we spooked (tired, beat, worn out, etc... Just
wanted to throw in a Halloween pun...) for our Halloween night we went
to the Ericksens home and helped them pass out candy.

Sunday we did a lot of planning! Our Zone has interviews with
President Berry this week. That means this is the week where we have
one day where we have 3 two hour meetings that we are in charge of.
It's probably one of the most stressful days of the mish! We are
excited to see how these meetings work out on Tuesday!


It's been a fun week full of helping others around us. I love service
because you feel so accomplished once you are finished! All around, I
loved this week. Thanks again  for all of the prayers sent out my way.
I love and miss you all!

Godspeed,
-Elder Doman