Interesting Creatures in Florida

We have had a busy week. The Nelson's are in Utah on vacation so we have been teaching their Daily Dose English class this week as well as our own. The lesson was on interviewing for a job and on Thursday Elder and Sister Hogge, the Employment Missionaries, came and talked to the students, gave them interviewing tips and took some names of those they could help in seeking employment. It was really kind of them to come to the class. We took them out to get ice cream afterwards and a young man came over to us and asked what religion we represented. He had a lot of misconceptions about the church that we tried to straighten out. We talked and teased about loosing our horns, etc. and we think he went away with a different feeling about the church.

We also had some wonderful meetings with the Elders and Sisters in a Zone meeting and three companionship studies in the Hialeah Zone. This area has a very high concentration of Latin's. Two months ago, a man from Cuba came to the Employment Center and told the Hogge's he felt he was guided there. Shortly after his visit with them, his wife and family who were in Cuba were granted permission to come to Florida permanently. He and his family are now attending the Hialeah ward (who's Bishop is also from Cuba) and listening to the missionary lessons. We met with those missionaries who are teaching them and they said that the Lord had really prepared them to listen to the message of the restored gospel. The Mission President This week we have Zone Conference on Tuesday and are looking forward to being with the missionaries from the Palm Beach and Coral Springs Zones. On Saturday, we went to lunch with the Hogge's and on the way out of their street we spotted the Iguana (see picture) who was sunning himself on the banks of a canal. We had also taken a picture of a curly tailed lizard at the Japanese gardens last week (see picture).

Remembering Darrin

This week was Darrin's birthday and we were so grateful for Kevin and Heather for taking flowers to the grave. We love our family so much and look forward to the time when we can be with Darrin and get to know him. We know that because of Christ's Atonement and Resurrection and the restored gospel and ordinances and blessings of the temple that we can all be together again. We appreciate so much the hope the gospel brings into our lives.

We went to a baptism in our newly assigned ward on Saturday afternoon and then attended a Brazilian barbeque at the ward later that evening. It was a great success with about 200 people attending and 40 or so who were not members of the church. It was a great way to get to know people. We sat next to a beautiful Haitian sister who was a returned missionary and who had married a man about a year ago just after he was baptized. Her husband is a faithful priesthood holder and he really appreciates his membership in the church. The Coconut Creek ward has a large group of Haitians and many other ethnic groups. We received a warm welcome into the ward and were invited to attend Ward Council meeting Sunday morning, we gave the prayers in Sacrament meeting and were asked to speak next Sunday in Sacrament meeting. Tonight we are meeting with the Bishopric to find out what they would like us to do to serve the ward. Elder Black found out this week that he will no longer be serving in the Mission Presidency since members of the Mission Presidency are suppose to be local members. He will continue to carry on with his assignments, but not as part of the Mission Presidency.

Tomorrow is Transfer Day and 16 new missionaries will be arriving tonight and 14 will go to the Orlando temple tomorrow and then depart for home on Thursday. We have been asked to help with lunch after the Transfer Meeting and at the Finishers dinner tomorrow night. We have gotten to know a number of the departing missionaries and wish them great success. It is amazing the pace kept by the young missionaries and the level of energy they maintain day in a day out. Their discipline and hard work will bless their lives in many, many ways into the future.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We are experiencing first hand what heat and humidity can feel like. The last few weeks have been very hot and very humid. We are also keeping an eye on the hurricane situation. You can see what is happening on www.nhc.noaa.gov. It was quiet for the first 2 1/2 months, but all of a sudden things are starting to happen. We have had a busy week starting with the Transfer Meeting and Finishers Dinner last Wednesday. Sixteen new missionaries arrived and 14 departed. We were quite close to some of the departing missionaries and it was sad to see them go. Elder Ipson worked with me on the 2008 baptism record project and we really hit it off. At the Finishers testimony meeting he told us that 4 years ago he was dying and his mother came down to his room and held his hand for several hours. She read him his patriarchal blessing and asked him if he felt it had been fulfilled and he told her he did not know. She told him that she felt that it had not been and that the Lord had things for him to do. Several days later, he was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery which he survived and gradually became better. It was quite touching. We love him so much because he always has a smile on his face. We also used to go out of our way to take him jelly beans which he loved. We also said goodbye to Elder Bradley who we worked with on the Daily Dose program.

We spoke in church on Sunday. Sister Black spoke about the peace that the gospel brings and Elder Black spoke on all things that point to Christ. We also taught a number of English lessons and was invited to dinner at Sister Terron's home the night before her mother returned to Mexico. During an English lesson at the church taught by Brother Nelson, a young Haitian man came by and asked if he could talk to someone. Elder Black went with him into another room and listened to the man tell about his marital problems and that he had just left his wife. He was sure it was over and that he could never go back to her. Elder Black taught him a few things about the gospel and the church, gave him some advise and helped him calm down. After about 45 minutes, we came out into the hallway and the class had ended. He told Brother Nelson that he had never talked to someone like Elder Black who was so calm. He asked Brother Nelson if there was a shelter near by. Brother Nelson asked him if he had a cell phone and when he said no, he handed him his cell phone and told him to call his wife and tell her he was sorry. He protested and said there was nothing to be sorry for, but Brother Nelson said that doesn't matter, just say you are sorry. So he made the call and said he was sorry and Brother Nelson drove him back to where his wife was. In the whole experience, we could see the hand of the Lord at work.

The two attached pictures were taken at a Japanese garden that we visited with the Kynastons. When we first started walking around the gardens the wind was blowing and then it started to pour down rain and we all got soaked.

Changes for Elder and Sister Black

We found out on Saturday evening that we have been re-assigned to serve in the Coconut Creek ward. This ward has had Senior Missionaries serving in it before and we expect they will get us involved more directly in their missionary effort and will expect more from us. We are looking forward to the change and the opportunities that are ahead. This past week was our hump week where we are at the 1/2 way point of our mission. It is amazing how quickly the time passes. This week was full of great meetings with the missionaries and also the Daily Dose effort is starting to grow again. We added 5 new students in our area last week and in the new area, West Palm Beach, they added another 6 new students. The attached photo is of Sister Terron and her mother Paulina who is visiting from Mexico. We have been teaching English to them and a number of their neighbors and ward members English. It amazes us how quickly their English has improved after several lesson. Sister Terron's mother is a school teacher and she has been teaching us Spanish. After one of our English lessons this week, the husband of this sister hosting the class asked for a priesthood blessing and Elder Black was able to give him a priesthood blessing with little preparation. It was an amazing experience and confirmed our faith that Heavenly Father knows all His children and their needs and that the blessing was from the Lord. We also have provided comfort to the sister we have been helping when on Friday her 31 year old son was stabbed multiple times by his girlfriends brother. The person who did the stabbing was drunk. Living the gospel principles such as the Word of Wisdom will bless our lives as well as keep us out of trouble.

Prayers are answered

We are doing well and feel so blessed to be in the service of the Lord. He has been so kind to us and this week we have felt His love and tender mercies in answering our sincere prayers. Elder Black has been struggling with a problem related to the printing of the Chapel Pass Along Cards. The new laser jet printer used toner at an amazingly fast rate making it uneconomic to use. A firmware update and cutting way back on the color quality was done to help, but about $300 worth of toner had been used up. After several weeks of trying to find a solution and many dead ends, Elder Black sought the Lord's help and earnestly prayed for an answer. On Friday, he called the printer manufacture again and the second person he talked to seemed to understand the difficult situation and offered to replace all four toner cartridges for free and also gave other tips to conserve on toner. It was an answer to prayer and a great weight was lifted. We are so grateful. In our Presidency Meeting this morning, Elder Black was able to inform the Mission President of the problem for the first time and the solution.

We traveled to West Palm Beach early on Sunday morning to present the Daily Dose English program to the ward leadership. The meeting went very well and they were enthusiastic to get it started in their area. The missionaries have already taught some lessons and are excited about it also. On the way up there, there were some large towering pillars of clouds out in the Atlantic Ocean and for a few minutes the sky was yellow, with a robin egg blue streak jutting up from the ocean and high into the sky. This blue streak had straight, parallel sides and looked surreal with all of the surrounding yellow and the beautiful clouds. Unfortunately, we did not have a camera. Sister Black did a good job teaching the Gospel Principles lesson on Sacrifice on Sunday.

Beautiful Clouds in Florida

One of the impressive things about Florida are the beautiful clouds and sky. In the afternoon, huge thunderheads form and billow up high in the sky. Attached are two photos. We need to take more pictures of the clouds. We also went to an area today on our P-day where the cruise ships sail out of Ft. Lauderdale harbour and took a few pictures. The cruise ships are escorted out of the harbour by the Coast Guard in two rubber boats equipped with machine guns on the front. They sounded their sirens and the cruise ships sounded their horn and the people on the ship started to cheer. Also, a Coast Guard helicopter came and circled the cruise ship at one point. We believe it was heading for the Bahamas. It was quite impressive. Down by the water, we also saw a big bright green Iguana sunning himself.

We had a wonderful Zone Conference on Tuesday. As we mentioned, the mission is doing so well and the missionaries were treated to a steak fry after the Zone Conference meetings and then played volleyball afterward. We sat at a table with several Sister Missionaries. One of the Sisters said she wished she had her camera so she could photograph her steak to help her remember it. We baked the potatoes which were huge Idaho potatoes. We cooked two batches early that morning (starting at 4 am) and our oven heats up much more than it is set at. When we opened the oven door, all the smoke alarms in the apartment went off. I'm sure our neighbors got woken up. Surprising enough, the potatoes were excellent. We helped with the dinner and clean up and then Elder Black played a little volleyball. The rest of the week we were involved with Daily Dose and other projects and helped clean the church on Saturday. We will make two more visits to West Palm Beach this week and then will head for Miami the next three weeks. We had a good laugh this week. The Sister we have been helping out had worked one day for a man and when she asked for her pay, he refused to pay her. Her son heard about it through his wife and went down to visit the man. Her son is big, has a shaven head and is covered in tattoos. The next morning the man called her and said her check was ready and that her son was not welcome in their premises any more. We all laughed so hard.

What a week!

We have had some good visits with the missionaries this week. One group of missionaries missed our first companion study and begged us to have another companion study and talk about patriarchal blessings. There were 6 Elders who participated since they were on exchanges. Steve helped Elder Black figure out how to analyze a very large set of data (65,000 entries) for a report Elder Black was asked to do for the Mission President. We also helped a Sister in our ward who is out of work and her car is broken. We took her to the church's employment center in Boynton Beach and took her out to dinner the next night. We also prepared talks for Sacrament meeting. Sister Black got mixed up and thought we had more time and did a great job of stretching out her talk and left 5 minutes for Elder Black to talk. She gave a wonderful talk on family unity and I talked (briefly) on strengthening others families through home teaching and visiting teaching. Our Daily Dose effort has slowed down a lot the past few weeks. This is transfer week and 8 wonderful missionaries will be going to the Orlando temple tomorrow prior to their departure and eleven new missionaries will be here tonight. It is always exciting on transfer week (every 6 weeks).