"I have often said one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit, if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for all time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry.
Work, work, work-there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work."
President Ezra Taft Benson
It's spring in Florida so of course it's raining and pouring,
but that doesn't stop the "Super Seniors".
Our senior missionary district surprised us with a delicious "Cocoa Beach" cake to help celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary!
The Florida Orlando "Super" Senior Missionary District at a recent district meeting.
From left to right, seated and standing behind, Sister and Elder Nielson, Sister and Elder Boynton, Sister and Elder Clare, the Busath's :), Sister and Elder Johnson, Sister Danes and Sister Vaden, Sister and Elder Hansen, Sister and Elder Western, Sister and Elder Johnson, and Sister and Elder Bevans.
Sisters Bracken and Lowry probably commiserating about the early hour Zzz.
On Tuesday, May 27th DeLand, Leesburg and Orlando held their Zone Conference at the Lake Mary building and first on the agenda were vehicle inspections. Fluid levels, tire pressure, overall condition of the vehicle, check, check, check.
Elders McGregor, Dearden and Waller with matching ties!
A rental car for the missionaries due to a Chevy Malibu recall.
The library was closed and Elder Patten was trying out a few tricks he had up his sleeve to gain entry. DVD players and monitors were needed for the medical, vehicle and administrative breakout sessions scheduled after lunch.
Elder and Sister Western patiently waiting for Zone Conference to begin.
Relief Society sisters from the Goldenrod Ward volunteered to repair missionary clothing while the missionaries received training at Zone Conference.
The DeLand Zone
Lunchtime!
The Goldenrod Ward sisters, who provided lunch, being sung the FOM version of Helaman's Army by the well fed and very appreciative missionaries.
Following a morning of instruction it was lunchtime, where we enjoyed pulled pork sandwiches, green salad, chips, and best of all Mickey Mouse cookies for dessert.
After lunch birthdays celebrated since our last Zone Conference were recognized, and a special award was presented to the Leesburg Zone for their outstanding achievement in referral response, baptism record completion and housing inspections.
June 1st is the official beginning of hurricane season in Florida.
In response the mission provided individual Emergency Kits for each of the missionaries.
Sisters Brooks and Jackson sporting a new fashion trend.
The "red heads" Sisters Williams and Hart doing their special welcome handshake routine.
The Cocoa, Hunter's Creek and Orlando South Zone Conference was on
Wednesday, May 28, 2014.
Not to be outdone, the sister's from the Lake Nona Ward at the Orlando South Stake Center also provided mending services for the missionaries.
The Hunter's Creek Zone, our Zone, but we were too busy to stop and get into the picture.
The Lake Nona sisters just before the stampede for their delicious chicken enchiladas, rice and bean luncheon.
The cute and edible table decorations
Sisters Allred, Bowman, McLeod, Blair and Johnston appear ready for their birthday chocolate candy bars!
As with the previous Zone Conference the day before, the Cocoa Zone was recognized as the Outstanding Zone for their accomplishments in referral response, baptism record completion and housing inspections. Each individual in the winning Zones were presented with a certificate and a Wendy's mini frosty token, redeemable once a day for the remainder of the year!
More Emergency Kits waiting for a home...
Our newest FOM missionary, Elder Horne, on the left, and his trainer Elder Robert. Elder Horne and Elder Robert have been trained to speak Haitian French Creole and are currently assigned to the Bumby area.
The décor inside a McDonald's restaurant-really!
Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps unless you are willing to move your feet!
Friday, following our two Zone Conferences and playing catch up in the office, Elder Busath and I took to the road to take care of some missionary apartment "needs". Driving from one zone to another we made an attempt to replace broken study and kitchen chairs, provide much needed bookcases, and switch out damaged desks and or beds with those in better condition. It is a never ending job, but we were happy to have a free day in which to make a dent in our long list of requests.
We had originally figured that if we left early enough in the day we might actually catch some missionaries home "studying" to help us move the items, but unfortunately this was not to be. I wish I could report that we are getting buff with all this heavy lifting, but the opposite seems to be true. As old people when we get tired we eat, and our favorite pick me up is something sweet. So all the exercise we get isn't doing us much good physically, but emotionally we are happy campers as we continue to check things off our list.
The younger missionaries had raved to us about the Waffle House.
So on Friday night, after a very long week, we decided to try it out for ourselves. Let me just say on a scale of one to five with five being the best it was definitely a ...one :(
I just love new apartments, don't you?
This one actually belongs to the Hunter Creek Spanish Elders.
This past weekend two companionships, two sisters, and two elders, moved from very large apartments to much smaller apartments in their same apartment complexes in order to save on utility costs. Usually they ask members of their ward's to assist in the move, but unfortunately since they were both doing some serious down sizing and unable to find a home for some of their surplus/obsolete/beat up and broken furniture we had to come to the rescue. To top it off the elders had been enjoying the comforts of some oversized beds which had to be switched out to the traditional twin beds to accommodate their new smaller bedroom.
When we returned from our travels on Friday afternoon we were notified that the mission would be receiving another sister missionary on Monday! With no time to waste, we packed up the trailer with another bed, a desk and dresser and headed for Titusville to prepare for a trio of sisters.
When we arrived we were met by Sisters Blake and Murphy, and quickly began setting up their house for a third companion. Once the furnishings we brought were in place we discovered additional "needs" and had to make a quick trip to Home Depot, Lowe's and to Wal-Mart for a large white board, a smoke detector, light bulbs, and an oscillating fan.
Our new motto-the only things you can be sure of is accomplishing the things you do today. Our To Do list was long, but we got a good start on it.
The past few days were filled with ups and downs; beginning with a key left under their mat by well meaning elders that did not unlock their apartment, desks to be replaced that were not emptied, a saw at Home Depot that was not operational so we had to go to Lowe's to purchase the whiteboard, a smoke detector that promised the battery was included only to discover that that was not true, special light bulbs that we actually remembered to purchase that never made it to the cash register.
Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for all. Our problem is that we expect instantaneous solutions to such challeneges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required."
Thomas S. Monson
So as we continue to work on our patience please know that although everything isn't always perfect it is an amazing experience just the same.
We appreciate your support and look forward to sharing our adventures with you next week!
See you later..........
Sounds like you have been going to the hardware store multiple times. Isn't that the way it always happens. That is a little frustrating.
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