From Sunny Florida

We got settled into our new apartment and got a warm welcome at the Coral Springs ward yesterday. It is amazing how many people we met from Utah or who had attended BYU. We met the Stake Patriarch, Brother Grant and his wife, who has been serving for 15 years. We got to attend a baptism after church which was a special occasion. The Elders have another baptism scheduled for next week. We will be getting an assignment soon to visit and fellowship a number of families in the ward. Our plans to start up Daily Dose got a set-back this week when we could not find the printed material which we had brought with us from SLC and delivered to the Mission Office shortly after we arrived. It is no where to be found. We thought that it might have gotten delivered to a missionary apartment by mistake since the Zone Leaders deliver copies of the Book of Mormon and other supplies from time to time. The Assistants to the President sent out a text message to all of the missionaries asking them to search their apartments for the two missing boxes, but so far no positive response. A new missionary couple arrived this week from Centerville, Utah, Elder and Sister Holdstock. They are really nice and will be working in the Mission Office on finances, baptism records, referrals, etc. Last night, another couple, Elder and Sister Bean visited us in our new apartment. They were married about two years ago and together have about 22 children. One of the recent converts of two weeks form their Ward went to the temple to do Baptisms for the Dead on Saturday. She also bore her testimony to the Ward in English and Creole about her experience of being baptized and going to the temple. They are doing a wonderful job in the Coconut Creek ward. They been there for over 14 months and have observed that a number of people are coming back into the church who have been gone for a long time and they think it could be partly due to the humbling effects of the hard economic times. We have met a lot of people who have really been devastated by the economy. The weather is back to normal after a two or three day cold snap. Tomorrow we will be attending a Zone Conference in Boca Raton. Being with the missionaries is such a special thing. Mighty prayer has really made a difference in our mission. In January, thirty-one people joined the church (14 in one week which is a mission record). We appreciate your prayers for our mission, the missionaries and their investigators.

This has been a moving week!

We are in our new place in Coral Springs and have just about everything put together. We had some wonderful help moving from Elder Kynaston and the three Office Elders (Elder Ipson, Elder Hamilton and Elder Stanger). We took them out to a nice dinner afterwards and stuffed them full of good food. On one of the runs to our new place, the Office Elders had left the tail gate down and we were following them. While waiting for a red light, I got out of our car and slammed the tail gate shut. They thought we had rammed them in the back and said "Elder Black just hit us, he really hit us." We all had a good laugh when they found out what really happened.
This has been a very spiritual week. We attended the Transfer Meeting on Wednesday, attended a Leadership Conference on Saturday where Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy trained the Elders on the Mission Culture (the Mission President, the need for worthiness, the need to be able to teach with power and authority and the need to work hard) and also on building faith in investigators and in ourselves. As faith increases, we are brought to repentance regardless of the consequences. We then attended the Pompano Beach Stake conference on Saturday and Sunday, where Elder Jensen spoke on free agency, keeping covenants and on Sunday he spoke directly to investigators in the audience on how they can find out if the church is true. He invited them to look at the fruits of Mormonism and used the Work of Wisdom as an example that shows that Joseph Smith was a prophet, also to live the commandments to know if they are true and to be open to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. His and other talks (including our Mission President) were so uplifting and spiritually motivating.
One Wednesday and Thursday, we visited and took flowers to Sister Griffin (recent convert) and Sister L (a Ward Missionary) from Somoa. Sister Griffin had fallen earlier and requested a priesthood blessing from Elder Black. It was sad to say goodbye. When we went to see Sister L. she gave Sister Black a beautiful fan made in Somoa out of bambo leaves. Her and Sister Black embraced for a long time and Sister L. shed many tears. It was quite touching.
We are enjoying our mission so much and are looking forward to introducing Daily Dose English soon. We also had some success this week with the Mission Reporting (in sending 57 e-mails to the Bishops and Ward Mission leaders using the Data Base program. Finally after a month of failures, we had success. This week we have 4 companion studies to finish up the Ft. Lauderdale zone. Next, week we will be heading to a District meeting in Miami along with companion studies. We are a bit concerned about the traffic in Miami and being able to find our way. We rely a lot on our GPS and Google Earth.

Adventures of Elder and Sister Black

This has been another interesting and challenging week here in the mission field. A big part of the week was spend on a special assignment from the Mission President to accurately determine how many baptisms took place in 2008 by name and by Ward or Branch. Sister Black and I went through each baptismal record and compared them to a list of names compiled during the year. It was an interesting exercise. Elder Black ended up going through the records a second time and spent many late hours trying to resolve various issues. He then worked with an Office Elder making sure each name was recorded correctly and everything balanced out by name and by number in each Ward or Branch. Finally, yesterday we came up with the final total of 327. In this coming year, we will be checking these records as the year goes along so we don't have such a challenge at the end of the year. This past week, the mission had 14 baptisms which is a record for the 6 months President Hale has been here. Each on of these people a special in the eyes of the Lord and need to be accounted for accurately.
We finished giving Sister Griffin the new member lessons. She is like a sponge and wants to learn everything. Although she is severely stricken with arthritis, she got up at 4 am last Saturday so she could take the Stake chartered bus to the Orlando temple. She spent all day on the temple grounds with another Sister meditating and concluded she had a number of things she needed to change before she would be ready to enter the temple. The Sister who we would pick up and take to Sister Griffin and who helped with the lessons is from Somoa. We call her Sister L. because her last name is long and hard to pronounce. Sister L. told us a story about how she joined the church. She and her husband had smoked for a long time. She was taught the gospel, new that it was true and wanted to be baptized. She called the Elders to her home and while they watched, she smoked 120 cigarettes back to back. After the 120th, she told them she was ready to be baptized and never smoked another cigarette the rest of her life. She has served as a Stake Missionary for many years and can quote scripture non-stop.
We had some wonderful visits to a District meeting and two companion studies. We also finalized our new place to live in at Coral Springs and will be moving early next week. It was sad saying goodbye to the good people of the Ft. Lauderdale ward on Sunday. They really know how to express love one to another. It is truly a melting pot of about every race and ethnic group you can think of. We will miss them a lot. Tomorrow we are taking some flowers to Sister Griffin and Sister L. Tomorrow is also transfer day. I got to meet two new missionaries who just came from the airport this afternoon. They got up at 3:00 am at the MTC, but they were still going strong. Each one of the Elders and Sisters are special. Sister Black is feeling much better and is getting her strength back. On Saturday, Elder Black will be attending a mission leadership conference that Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy will be conducting and then Sister Black and I will attend the Pompano Beach Stake conference meetings Saturday and Sunday. We appreciate all of the prayers offered on our behalf and for our mission. Mighty Prayer is really bringing about wonderful success in proclaiming the gospel to the people of South Florida. We love and appreciate all of you thoughtfulness.

Happy New Year Everyone

This past week started out slow and ended in a flurry of activity as we are making plans to move to Coral Springs. We met with our Mission President and the Stake President of the Pompano Beach Stake to discuss Daily Dose English and our move into the Coral Springs ward. After the meeting, we met a man and his wife who came for an interview with the Stake President. He turned out to be the new Bishop of the Coral Springs ward and we will be working closely with him. We were also introduced to a Brother McEwen who is a realtor and he helped us find a condo to rent. We helped give a member discussion to Sister Griffin on New Years Eve. When we came out, there was a whole group of men drinking and getting an early start for New Years eve. They were friendly and wished us a Happy New Year, but we were glad to get out of that neighborhood. That evening we went to the Bean's for a New Years Party. One of the couple missionaries were unable to be there because they were taking care of two missionaries who had been hit by a truck while they were crossing an intersection. Fortunately, the truck was stationary and then the drive looked left and turn right into the Elders. Elder DeSpain broke his nose and bruised his arm and rib cage. We were in a meeting with both of them today and they are doing fine. In fact, they were excited when they learned that Florida law allows a payment of $10,000 to those hit on their bicycles.

We have been doing a lot of special projects for our Mission President. Today, Elder Black and Elder Kynaston did an audit of the mission office. We have also been uncovering problems with the mission activity reporting and have suggested some changes. We also (with the help of a realtor who is a member of the church) found a condo to live in the Coral Springs area for the remaining 16 months of our mission. We will be moving on Monday, January 19th (P-day). We are enjoying our mission so much and really love being around the missionaries. We went to lunch with three sets of missionaries today and Sister Black commented that you just want to give them all a big hug and treat them like you would your grandchildren. Next week is the beginning of a new transfer cycle so new missionaries will be coming in, others will be going home and many will be transferred to new area. It is an exciting and emotional time. We love the gospel and the Lord with all our hearts and appreciate all the wonderful experiences were are having.

Happy New Year

We have had a good week visiting missionaries and enjoying Christmas. After talking to our family on Christmas day, we traveled to Florida City and stayed over night, got up early and the drove to Key West the next day. We had companion study and training with the Elders and then later in the morning, another couple missionaries, the Kynaston's and Sister Kynaston's sister Susan, showed up and did their apartment inspection and a car inspection. We then took the Elders to lunch and after taking the Elders back to their apartment, we did a little sightseeing and started driving home around 4:30 pm and got home at 8:30 pm. It was a long day. On Sunday, one of the new members we have been working with received a church calling in the RS visiting teaching. We also spoke in Sacrament meeting at the Hollywood ward and attended a baptism after that meeting. Brother Vazquez was baptized. Sister Vazquez had been baptized 1 1/2 months ago. His husband had been investigating and she was so disappointed when he decided to discontinue the lessons. But, the Holy Ghost told her to just leave him alone and so she did. On Christmas eve, he told her he was ready to be baptized. On Sunday evening, President Hale came to our apartment and told us we will be moving to Coral Springs (north of where we now live). We will live in Coral Springs and work in the Lauderhill branch (Spanish speaking branch). This will likely happen in about 2 or 3 weeks. We appreciate all the kindnesses and thoughts of encouragement we received during the Christmas season. Thank and best wishes for a prosperous New Year to everyone.

Christmas Mission Conference

We have had a relatively slow week with Sister Black not feeling well. She is doing much better now. We were able to attend one District meeting and one Companion Study on Tuesday and Wednesday. While Sister Black was sick, I was able to work on a project to update contact information for sending mission reports to the Stakes, Wards and Branches. We were able to attend an historic Christmas Mission Conference on Saturday where all the missionaries were able to come together. It was so wonderful to see all the Elders and Sisters greeting each other and the great time they had renewing their friendships. We had bagels and juice for a light breakfast, individual photos were taken by a professional photographer, then photos were taken of the whole mission, we then went into the chapel and sang Christmas carols, Sister Hale introduced two new Sister Missionaries, there were 6-8 musical numbers by groups of missionaries including songs in Spanish and then President Hale welcomed everyone and showed a talk by Elder Holland that was given at the MTC when President Hale and his family were at the MTC fireside (these talks are normally not available). Elder Holland's talk was so direct and forceful as he challenged the missionaries at the MTC to follow the rules and program. He reminded them that the mission rules were a culmination of 140 years of missionary experience and that we need to do it the Lord's way to be effective. He told a story of a Gospel Doctrine teacher who asked his students if they new anyone that was perfect, thinking that he would get no response. A women in the back of the class stood up and said that the missionaries that taught her the gospel were perfect. He then reminded the missionaries that of course they were not perfect, but in the eyes of young children and those they help convert to the gospel they are. We had a wonderful lunch. At each table were gift certificates to Subway for each of the Elders and Sister which was donated by one of our missionaries family. We also learned that many families sent extra gifts so all of the missionaries would have something to take home with them. We then went back into the chapel and had 2 hours more of musical numbers from groups of missionaries, counsel from our Mission President and then we sang a very touching song. The Sister Missionaries sang parts of "Sisters in Zion" while the Elders sang "The Armies of Helaman". At the conclusion, all of the missionaries knelt in prayer in the isles of the chapel and formed a circle around the whole chapel area. I was asked to give the closing "Mighty Prayer". Needless to say, it was a very spiritual experience and many tears flowed. It was an outpouring of thanksgiving, faith and recommitment to the work of the Lord. Letters in red envelops were then handed out to each missionary. We got one from each of our families. We also got a Christmas card from our Mission President and from the 1st Presidency of the Church. The Elders and Sisters then when to different rooms in the church to pick their Christmas packages from their families. We left the conference physically drained. We are so blessed to be on a mission and to associate with such fine young men and women.

Greetings from Florida

We have had a very spiritual week and were around a lot of missionaries that really inspired us. On Wednesday, we attended a Transfer Meeting in the morning where about half of the missionaries were their with all their luggage, cars and bikes. There were 5 new missionaries (one Sister and 4 Elder) and us who were introduced. There were also 11 departing missionaries who bore their testimony. Then the Assistants to the President announced the changes of leadership and also the transfers in each of the 8 Zones and the missionaries gave their present companions a hug and then greeted their new companions. It was quite an emotional experience. We then heard from Sister Hale and President Hale. President Hale announced that Elder Black had been called to serve as the Executive Secretary to the Mission Presidency and explained some of our responsibilities and that we would be reporting on missionary work to the Stake leaders, traveling the mission to attend leadership meetings and companion study and soon will be introducing the Daily Dose English effort. Later that evening we helped set up and attended a dinner for the departing missionaries and then went to a Finishers Fireside to hear from the departing missionaries. They are remarkable young men (9) and young women (2).
We also had our first companion study and district meeting in West Palm Beach on Wednesday and Saturday. We took treats to both groups which they seemed to enjoyed. On Friday, we attended a Zone Leaders Council and got to hear about the whole mission and reports from the 8 Zones. The Mighty Prayer is really making a difference in softening hearts and generating miracles. We encourage all our family and friends to remember our mission in your prayers. Our Might Prayer is at 9:00 am each morning. These young men are remarkable leaders and were able to answer some very challenging questions from the Mission President. Today, Elder Black had his first experience attending a Mission Presidency meeting. The counselors to President Hale are a former Stake President and a former Bishop.
On the 20th of December, the whole mission is getting together for a Christmas Program and Dinner which will go from 9:00 am to about 3 pm. We are looking forward to it. On Christmas day, we will likely be driving down to Key West, stay over night and meet with the Key West Elder's the next morning in their companion study. The other couple missionaries will also be coming down later in the day to do an apartment inspection and we will get together with them.
We feel really blessed to be serving the Lord full-time and can see the Lord's hand in bringing the gospel to the world. We have met some wonderful people who have just joined the church or are now investigating and the gospel really changes lives. We have a testimony that we are engaged in the Lord's work and that the gospel is true.