Hoarder, United Against Poverty, Tri-Zone conference, and running into Mike Dansby!!

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 

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."

Sickness, snakes, service and scary dogs.....

Friends and Family, 

Holy cow, we are already here in Week 4 of this Transfer! It seems like I mention it every week, but time is flying by. Well this week had its ups and downs! Last Sunday I started getting kind of sick and then it came in full swing this week. #ThePlague is real out here in the Zone too. 8 out of the 25 missionaries in the zone felt sick at some point this week... But the show goes on and the work continues! 

Monday was awesome this week. We got together as a zone at a park this week and had a good time! We spent the day playing soccer, volleyball, and so, basketball! We felt the effects Tuesday morning when we woke up with vibrant red skin from the sunshine. It honestly felt pretty good! It's been a while since I've felt a sunburn! 

Tuesday we did some more service at United Against Poverty. It is pretty eye opening to see the circumstances that some people live in. Every time I walk out, I'm grateful for the blessings I have and the people around me who support and love me. I like having the chance to serve in places like that so I can see what it's like living on the other end. I realized I grew up with great a family and great friends who have been there to help me! 

After service, we met with our Investigator Mary. She's awesome!! After tracking into her, we found she had so many concerns and struggled believing in God. When we started talking about who God is the personal relationship we can have with him everything started to change. She put us on the hot seat for an hour and a half firing off back to back, question after question. It was pretty intense, but it wasn't hostile at all. At the end of the lesson, she said SHE'D BE BAPTIZED IF SHE CAME TO KNOW IT WAS TRUE. So cool. It's awesome how the spirit works. 

Wednesday we had a day teaching all about the Sabbath! As we were making our lesson plans for the day, we decided that all of our investigators and less active members we are working with, needed to know why Church and the Sabbath day was so important. So after District Meeting in the morning, we hit it hard with our Investigators. 6 straight lessons on why Church attendance and the Sacrament are important. It was pretty sweet seeing how one topic or principle of the Gospel can be taught in different ways and can be important for different reasons. The Elders Quorum President took us out to dinner and spent the evening with us. Scary story of the week... Ever since I was chased by the dog in Eustis, I've been somewhat afraid of Pitbulls and German Shepherds. Anyways, we were going into kind of a run down, country part of the area and it was getting dark. there was a "Beware of Dog" sign on the fence, but I noticed the sign after it was too late. I opened up the fence to approach the door and then BAM! BARK BARK BARK!!! The next thing I hear are some paws pounding on the pavement coming my way. I quickly slammed the gate and hoped for my dear life the dogs didn't jump the small fence. I may have over reacted a little bit, but after looking at the Pit Bull it still looked like it could eat a small child in one bite... He ended up being a nice guy living there. He was Less Active in the church but ended up coming on Sunday! 

Thursday I was on exchanges with Elder Storm! He is from Haiti and is a Creole speaking missionary. Sak Pase?! Elder Storm woke up throwing up multiple times throughout the night... Needless to say, he wasn't feeling too great the next day. He need to rest and recover he day of exchanges. He felt bad for not being able to work, but ended up losing a few pounds that day. I spent the day cleaning up our area book and making sure our apartment was spick and span!

Fri(Weekly Planning)day! After our planning session we had a few minutes before our next appointment so we decided to go knocking on some doors. The second door we knocked on we met a middle aged man named "YOEI" (yo-hey.) He was from Japan, but was an exchange student in Washington at one point. The next part really blew me away. Yohei asked us if we had a Book of Mormon! We were stunned... totally shocked! The family he stayed with were members of the Church and he went every week while he stayed with him. He was never baptized, but liked what the church believed in and taught! Such a cool miracle. 

With it being the end of the month, our car was almost out of our allotted miles for the month. So, we lubed up our chains and hit the bikes again in the morning. Biking sometimes is frustrating, but it's also nice to be out in the sun and feel the fresh air that day. We talked with a lot of interesting people and saw a lot of success! 

Sunday we found out that our Investigator Ivonne and her two kids, Diego and Thaliea are moving sometime within these next two weeks... it definitely put a damper on the day. On a good note, we had 5 investigators come to church and all of them said they really enjoyed it! One of them is named Ashley. She just married a member of the church about a month ago, and they are such a great couple. They are so funny! They found out a few weeks ago that he will be deployed to Africa in a few weeks for the Military. Ashley completely shocked us Sunday and told us she was Pregnant!! AHH. If that isn't a crazy situation, I don't know what is. She asked us for a blessing. Elder Terry and I thought this was really cool because she isn't a member yet, but has a strong belief in the Priesthood. Definitely something I will remember!

As I've looked back at my mission this week, I realized I'm developing some of the characteristics I've always wanted to have. Now I'm not saying I'm anywhere close to where I need or want to be, but its cool to look back and see the changes that have taken place these last 20 or so months. I wonder where Brock Doman would be if he wasn't prompted to serve a mission. What my life would have been like and how the big picture would have panned out.  All I know is that I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to send me that prompting. I still have a lot of hopes and dreams and am excited for this final stretch of my mission. It's the 4th quarter, the time to really buckle down and finish out strong.  Thank you for all of the love and support! Have a great week!
- Elder Doman

Hangin' out in the old neighborhood! Painting houses and lots of Exchanges!

Friends and Family,

Another one goes down in the books here in O-City! Weeks are beginning
to feel like days, and days are beginning to feel like hours as the
clock continues to tick. This week was full of exchanges, service, a
lot of finding, and having some good laughs. Elder Terry and I get
along great as the continual "Utah vs BYU" rivalry is always something
we can talk about! The people we were with this week were awesome,
soooooo, here is the Weekly Roundup!!

Last Monday, we went to a church and played some basketball with the
Elders in the Zone. We didn't think there were actually going to be
very many of them who would show up, but when we looked around and
realized there was every single Elder in the Zone there, it was a
party! Needless to say, all of our legs felt like spaghetti noodles
from 4 hours of ball, and the bikes probably weren't hit as hard for
the next couple of days.

Tuesday started off with a miracle. It was about 9:30 and we were in
the middle of our Companionship Study when our investigator Kenny
called us asking if we could come over right then at talk with him. I
guess he'd been going through a really tough time and felt that he
needed us to stop by and talk for a little bit. When we walked in you
could just tell it was rough. His apartment was pretty messy and Kenny
was just in the worst mood. We read Alma 7:11-13 with him and he said
it was just what he needed. The overall feeling in the room changed,
and as we were leaving he was smiling and laughing. It's pretty cool
how much of an impact it can make when feeling the spirit!
Every Tuesday the Orlando Zone gets together at a place called "The
Fight Against Poverty." It's a pretty nifty organization that helps
families and individuals who live in poverty get discounted groceries
and clothes from their warehouse. They also assign someone who is like
a personal counselor who helps them look for a job and place to live.
At the Warehouse, we help organize and stack all of the donated
groceries and clothes that come in. Pretty basic and simple job, but
that is what makes it good for missionaries :) Overall, it does a lot
for the community here. They told us that roughly 1/3 of the
population of Orlando lives below the poverty line. Wow! With the
JustServe program the church rolled out with, we look for different
opportunities to serve in the community week by week so we can rub
shoulders more often with those not of our faith. This is a perfect
example of it!

Wednesday we had a District Meeting then went to see our investigators
Nicholas and Chris again. They were doing pretty good, but
unfortunately they didn't make it to church last Sunday so we are
having to push back their baptismal date a few weeks. It's a little
bit frustrating to work with because their mother who is somewhat less
active promises to drive them each Sunday but never pulls through come
crunch time Sunday Morning. We're staying positive and thinking good
things will start happening soon though!

*Highlight of the Week*
We were on exchanges Thursday and I was able to go back and spend 24
in Winter Park!! Woohoo! Man, let me tell ya how weird it was to be
back there. Walking in the apartment brought back a ton of good
memories from a year ago! We spent the day visiting some of the less
active members I was meeting with when I was there and we saw TYRONE
KELLY! He was baptized while I was serving there. He greeted me with a
big hug and It was awesome to see the growth in him and how he's
changed over the year. Everything about him was brighter. Attitude,
energy, and overall happiness. It was an awesome reunion!
*-Highlight inside the Highlight of the Week-*
We walked around Park Ave talking with some people trying to find new
investigators. We were about to leave for lunch when we heard
"Doman!!" "Elder Doman!!" I look around and it was RICK ROMAN!!! He's
the most solid person I've ever taught on my mission. I've mentioned
him a few times now... I feel like he might have been the one I was
called to find, who was searching for the truth. It was another great
reunion full of a big hug. I couldn't have been happier sitting their
catching up with him. He's now holds a calling as a Ward Missionary,
has the Melchezidek Priesthood, and is preparing for the Temple this
June. Too cool! I love the gospel.

Friday - full of weekly planning! Like, 7 hours of it! There is a ton
to talk about, but just hardly any time left!

Saturday - I went on an exchange in a full Spanish area! I spent the
day with a couple missionaries that were called to speak Spanish, so
thank the heavens I took 3 years of Spanish in school.... And hardly
remember it. It was a good day as we hit the bikes in the hot sun
talking with everyone! We spent a lot of our day painting an
investigators house! Here are some pics below!

Sunday - This Sunday was much better. I didn't get called up to speak
last minute in Sacrament Meeting, and we had 5 investigators come to
church! It was great to see the Ward reach out and fellowship them.

It was a fun week here in Waterford Lakes! I feel all settled in and
ready for this upcoming week! I feel like I've learned a lot about the
different Gospel Principles and the different teachings of the church
on my mission, but I've also learned that everything in the church
goes back to Jesus Christ and his teachings. I'm grateful for this
chance I have to serve, and be with the people here in Orlando! Thanks
for all of the support! Love you guys!
- Elder Doman

John 8:12
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the alight of the
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life."

Back to Orlando and Waterford Lakes!! "I love it here!"

Saying goodbye to the Eustis house and Elder Chidester

Friends and Family,

WELCOME TO THE O-ZONE!! Man, it's been a good first week of the
transfer. It's been crazy meeting all of the new members,
investigators, less actives, and the hoodlums here in Waterford Lakes.
Okay, maybe not the hoodlums, this area is very nice and has some
awesome neighborhoods. Out of my whole mission, this place feels the
most like a Utah neighborhood. I love it here! Also, my companion
Elder Terry is a stud. This kid is so funny. He went to Stansbury High
School (DHHS know them pretty well) so we had a lot to talk about!
Maybe he didn't like it so much, but it was fun to talk some football
with him. He went to BYU for a year before his mission and he goes
home next transfer! Only 11 more weeks for this guy. But I can't wait
to talk about the week, so here we go! The week kind of felt like it
went by as fast as Hussain Bolt running the 100 yard dash. REAL QUICK!
I'll just go through the major things that took place, and that I can
remember!

One of the bigger things that took place this week was ZTM! The whole
zone got together for a big monthly meeting we trained at. I have a
couple of really close friends that I've made on my mission, so I was
grateful to see them there. Elder Rindlisbacher who I served around
while I was in Daytona is now in the zone and we’ll be friends for life
after these 2 years. Great to see this guy though.

Our investigators we are working with right now are awesome! So here
is a little info on them!
We are working with this awesome family. The mom (Bibi) is from
England and she's a member. Her son Nicholas hasn't been baptized, and
his friend Chris who are both in 8th grade are taking the lessons! We
are trying to set a baptismal date with them this week! One cool thing
that happened is we showed up to an appointment about 10 mins early
and they were out playing catch with the football. We hopped in and we
able to play "Jackpot" with him and 5-6 of his friends. Good times,
good times.

Kenny. Kenny is so funny. He's this UPS driver, and works all the
time. He's from the Dominican Republic and he has the thickest accent.
We are pretty sure the dude is on steroids, but we haven't covered the
Word of Wisdom yet, so that's okay! Hahah his personality is like
this.
"Kenny, we missed you at church today!"
"Oh yeah, okay. I did miss church today."
"Yep church was today."
"Yeah, I missed it right?"
"...yeah"
"I'm sorry. I wasn't on the mood. But I know God wants me to be
baptized. So that's what is most important"
Hahahahha  We've met with him a couple of times this week and we just
laugh every time we see him.

Ivonne and her family are the best. Her kids Diego and Thaliea were
baptized last Saturday and she's soon to come! She just has to work
through a couple of things before it can happen, but she's so solid.
Her husband is a member so she has some good support there! She's 50
and is a Personal Trainer! Way cool.

We did a lot of personal finding this week. Knocking doors, talking to
random people, just the average awkward missionary stuff! However, we
saw a lot of cool things from it. To share one quick story, we tracted
into a girl named Mary. She was pretty set in her Atheist ways when
she first opened the door. She didn't really talk much to us but
allowed us to share what we wanted to. Once we talked about the Book
of Mormon being another set of scripture, she was all about it. Her
body language changed, the way she spoke changed, and just the overall
gloomy spirit of the conversation changed into something vibrant. For
some reason, something just clicked with her.  She said it made sense
and should be true. At the end of the lesson, she was walking back
into her home while reading from the Book of Mormon. Pretty powerful!

So this Sunday was pretty funny. There is about 10 minutes left in
Sacrament Meeting and the final speaker concludes his talk. That's the
first problem right there. Anyways, as the bishop gets up to the
pulpit, I just knew. I HAD A GUT FEELING AND EVERYTHING!!! "We have a
few minutes remaining in the meeting, and we have a new missionary in
the Ward. Elder Doman, we'd love to hear your thoughts on this
subject. The time is yours until the close of the meeting." Uhhh hahah
I started laughing and luckily things went alright! It was a good
experience!

Everything is good here in Waterford Lakes! I'm grateful for all of
the support and help I'm receiving. Thanks for the Birthday emails,
letters, and packages last week! You guys are the best! I've learned a
lot these past 20 months and I'm grateful for this chance I have to
serve! I'm excited for the next few! Have a great week!
Much Love,
Elder Doman