Address Correction for Homecoming Address

The correct address for our mission homecoming talks is 6300 So. 700 W, May 16th, at 12:50. All are welcome to attend.

An Exciting Week for President and Sister Hales and Conference Week

We have had a busy and exciting week. Our Mission President's daughter Heather got engaged while her boyfriend and his family were in Key West on a little vacation and then their son, Tanner, received his Mission Call to El Salvador. Check out the Florida Ft. Lauderdale Mission Blog at: http://floridaftlauderdalemissionnews.blogspot.com/ . They will both leave for Salt Lake City on May 4th. This has been a life changing week for President Hale as we clearly remember as these wonderful events occurred in our lives.

We also were amazed at the wonderful General Conference and the messages which were so pertinent to our time. As President Monson was giving his masterful talk on the Resurrection, in the back of Elder Black's mind was the fact that he will be giving a talk at the Snapper Creek branch this coming Sunday on the Resurrection. Sister Black will be talking about Sacrifice. Elder Black spent one day securing an apartment in Ft. Lauderdale for the upcoming Transfer. Two days were spent with apartment inspection. After the morning session of conference on Sunday, we picked up a missionary at his apartment and drove him to his new area. The list of things to do before we leave is growing each day as we prepare to finish our mission.

For your information, we will be speaking in our home ward, the Murray 29th ward at 6300 So. 700 W on Sunday, May 16th at 12:50 pm.

A week filled with variety

This week has been filled with a variety of activities, including the start of a new round of apartment inspections. This time our new Senior Service Missionary couple, the Collins, came with us to be trained and get to know the missionaries. The Collins are from Georgia (instead of Alabama) and they got flooded out last year and have moved to Florida to be close to a family member. They are very friendly and will do a great job. Elder Black also helped out in the Mission Office again with automobile issues. A new couple will arrive a few days after we leave and he will be taking over the automobiles. We took Sister Dosher to lunch at Jaxson's and gave her a copy of "The Continuous Atonement" by Brad Wilcox and she gave us a framed saying that was quite touching and expressed her appreciation for our help. We also were invited to eat dinner at a restaurant owned by one of our Daily Dose students family. It was very authentic Mexican food and something we have never experienced. She also loaded us up with additional food to take home. On Saturday, we went back to a clothing store she runs and Sister Black purchased a blouse and a night gown. She loaded us up again with some more food to take home before we left. Raquel is very sweet and is making good progress learning English.

Nature's Beauty

We have had a wonderful week with Zone Conference with Elder and Sister Gibbons and President and Sister Hale. The Spirit was very strong and our emotions were high as we realized this was our last Zone Conference and the last time to be with such a large group of our missionaries. Later in the week, the Senior Couples got to spend some time with Elder and Sister Gibbons and they thanked us for our service and willingness to put other part of our life, such as family and missed baptisms and baby blessings, aside to serve the Lord and promised us some wonderful blessings for doing so. We also participated in an Office Meeting on Friday. We made two trips up to the north part of our mission to secure an apartment and to work on a serious apartment problem. On Sunday, we enjoyed being with the young adults. They are a lot of fun.

On Saturday, we took some time to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary by going to an Orchid Society garden and green house. It was very impressive and we wanted to share just a few of the pictures we took. We also drove down the 1A1 highway along the beach areas and Elder Black went out on a large bridge over the port channel and watched 6 cruise shipped launched in less than one hour. It was quite a sight. We then went out to eat. This coming Friday we will start another round of apartment inspections. A new service mission couple, Elder and Sister Collins, will be going with us to be trained on apartment inspections. There home was flooded in Alabama and they moved to Florida to be close to some of their family and decided to serve a 1 year mission. We also have another couple, Elder and Sister Martin, who will be here just after we leave. We feel better now about leaving and are sure thing will keep progressing along.

Finishers

This was a wonderful week with Elder Black taking a group of departing missionaries to the temple and that evening enjoying the Finishers Dinner and Testimony Meeting. We really enjoyed hearing from the departing missionaries and to be able to express our feelings about the wonderful mission experiences we have been blessed with and how it has changed our lives for the better. We love President and Sister Hale and appreciate the choice opportunities we have been given to serve.

Tomorrow, we are blessed to attend our Zone Conference in Coral Springs where Elder Gibbons of the Seventy and his wife will greet and talk to the missionaries. Elder Black will start inspecting cars at 8 am and the conference starts at 9 am. On Wednesday, the conference will at the Flagler building (where the Reflections of Christ exhibit was held-remember Steve). On Thursday, Elder and Sister Gibbons will meet separately with the Senior Missionaries at the Mission Office. We are really looking forward to this week.

The warm weather is back and we are enjoying it a great deal.

Oasis of the Seas

Our week included several trips to various parts of the mission to exchange new cars with older cars that we need to get ready to sell. It was fun being with the missionaries. In one of the exchanges, we gave an Elders car to some Sisters. Later in the day, Elder Black received a call from the Sisters complaining about how dirty it was and how much work they had to put into getting it clean. They insisted that I let the Elders know, which I did. While we were in Homestead, we got to stop at Roberts is Here and get some fresh fruit shakes (Strawberry Passion and Banana Passion). Elder Black helped out in the Mission Office about every day last week and is starting to get on top of some of the auto issues. He also worked on a special report for President Hale. On Saturday evening about 4:30 pm, we drove to the end of a State Park near the mouth of the channel leading into Port Everglades and watched 5 cruise ships leave port. The first one to leave was the Oasis of the Sea (the worlds biggest cruise ship). It makes all of the others look small. The attached photos show the ship from front to back as it came out of the channel. Within about one hour, all 5 ships cruised off. As they would get to one point in the channel, they would blow their horns and the people on board would cheer. We also watched a pelican diving for fish close by. Afterwards, we stopped by Jaxsons for some ice cream and drove home along the 1A1 highway.

On Sunday, the young man, Jordan Collie, who was baptized last week was confirmed. He brought a friend with him who is interested in the church and we passed on the information to the missionaries. Also, Elder Black got to participate in the priesthood ordination of Peter Ramos who was baptized several weeks ago. The fast and testimony meeting was special with many of the young adults and Sister Black bearing their testimonies. After church, we waited for about two hours for President Hale who was attending a baptism at the Kendall ward. He interviewed us for our temple recommends. Elder Black will be driving a group of missionaries to the Orlando Temple this week on Wednesday. We cannot believe how fast time is going by.

Have Jeep Will Travel

We made perhaps our last trip to Homestead and Key West on Tuesday. At Key West, we did a gospel study, apartment inspection, took Elder Jensen and Elder Kelly (see photo in their little apartment) out to lunch and then headed back home. We were able to get out of the Keys before dark and that really helped. The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular. After arriving in Key West, our check engine light came on so on Wednesday Elder Black spend the morning at a tune up place. A coil they had installed just 3 weeks ago must have been defective. They replaced it at no charge. Thursday and Friday, Elder Black spent the day in the Mission Office helping out Elder Holdstock with automobile issues. On Saturday, we bought food and attended a combined Snapper Creek and Miami Beach YSA barbeque at a beach near the end of Key Biscayne Island (southeast) of Miami. There was a great turnout (see photo). Elder Hogge and Elder Black also got to go inside a light house near the beach (see photos).

There was another baptism at the YSA branch after church. The missionaries are also teaching quite a few YSA age investigators. Elder Black gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on "Inviting Others to Come Unto Christ". The emphasis of the talk was to encourage the YSA members to invite their family, friends, neighbors and associated to attend church on March 21st (which happens to be our wedding anniversary). This should be a wonderful opportunity to help people get acquainted with the church and to feel the Spirit in our meetings. A recent convert spoke at Sacrament meeting before Elder Black and he was so nervous, but did a great job. We are loving every minute our assignment in the Snapper Creek branch.