Wild Florida

The middle of nowhere has been discovered, over 4,000 acres and 1,000 gators without a house or road in sight!

Last Saturday the Florida Orlando Senior Missionary District decided to explore a bold new world, where many missionaries have gone before-Wild Florida!
 
To save time I will forgo the commentary-enough with the shouts of joy already- and let you scroll through the pictures at your leisure. (But beware, Janie, some of the pictures are creepy)

For those of you who are wondering, no, only Senior Missionaries can go on the air boats 

and only with prior approval.

 

Our district in all their glory.  From front to back and left to right, Elder and Sister Gordon, Sister and Elder Nielson, Sister Moline, Sister Danes, Sister Vaden, me, Elder Moline, Sister Bevans, our Captian Skip and Elder Bevans.  Elder Busath is taking the picture.

If you look closely you will see that there are actually four more people in the first row of our air boat. Unfortunately during the course of our tour one of the women had a medical emergency requiring us to return to shore post haste.  As expected once it was discovered that the woman was in distress Elder Busath and Sister Nielson sprang into action taking charge of the situation and making sure the patient and her companion were comfortable.  When we docked we were met by the St. Cloud Fire Department who quickly transported the woman to the local emergency room for treatment.

We are tempted to include these photographs of the firemen acting as back up spotters to support and re-emphasize the importance of the spotter job to our missionaries.  Sometimes they feel like it is just an inconvenience we are asking of them.

 

Our district with the remaining two occupants of the air boat tour. Even in times of trouble each member of our District rallied around offering words of comfort, support and going the extra mile.  As a result we made two new friends. I am so proud to call them friends.

"Civility carries with it the essence of courtesy, politeness, and consideration of others.  All of the education and accomplishments in the world will not count for much unless they are accompanied by marks of gentility, of respect for others, of going the extra mile."
Standing for Something-Gordon B. Hinckley



Our warm welcome to the rest of the exhibits...

A Watsui from Africa. Their horns can grow up to 8 feet long from tip to tip and have blood vessels in them to help keep them cool.

Peek a boo I see you...hiding in the Hawk Swamp.

Did you know that alligators usually have 80 teeth. When they are lost or broken they can grow more teeth and are said to go through 2, 000 teeth in a life time.

This is a Zonkey. It's what happens when a donkey and a zebra fall in love ;0

 Billy goat gruff...

On your mark, get set, go...now where is that hare?

Come on in the water's fine :)

 Eye see you :)

Did you know that a group of alligators is called a congregation?

Life is good and we have so much to be grateful for!

Let me close by quoting Robert Browning;

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made;

Our times are in His hand

Who saith, "A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God;

See all, nor be afraid."

Aloha

Aloha!

I have been told that the Hawaiian word "Aloha" means the essence of life and it is used to say both hello and good bye.

Our Mission President recently reassigned us from the Pleasant Hill Ward to the Poinciana Branch so we had to say good bye to our good friends in Pleasant Hill and get ready to make some new friends. 

 Bishop Justin Rucker and his wife, Lori.

Landon McCarl-my first good buddy in the ward!  Landon and I soon discovered that we had something in common. Landon had his first cochlear implant as a child so he was an expert and helped me to learn more about what I can and can't do which I will forever appreciate.

 The McCarl family

 Brother and Sister Egg.
Sister Egg is always saying that she has the best job in the world. 
She works at Disney World as a nurse :)

 Brother Hunt and Brother Edmonds enjoying our linger longer activity.

 Brother and Sister Sharman

Unfortunately due to the short notice the word didn't get out that we were leaving so we missed capturing the pictures of many of our special friends.   But even though we may not have pictures of them they will always be in our hearts.

 

 It's transfer time and we wanted to get one last picture of our Hunter's Creek sisters, Sister Pierce and Sister Bowman, before they left on their new adventures with their new companions.

Amidst the storms of life danger lurks; and men, like boats, find themselves stranded and facing destruction.  Who will man the lifeboats, leaving the comforts of home and family, and go to the rescue?  Ensign, May 2001

I will go and do!!!


 

Elder Gebs just packing one more thing before he departs for home in Wyoming :(

 

 Elder and Sister Gordon, from Orem Utah, arrived safe and sound just a few days before transfers and will be joining us in the Mission Office. We are thrilled to have them join us, but it is with sadness that we had to say farewell to Elder and Sister Gebs who served faithfully for 23 months and are now on their way home to Evanston, Wyoming.

Arrivals September 9, 2013-7 Elders and 5 Sisters

The new arrivals trying to stay cool and dry on a warm Florida afternoon.

 

 Trainers and their trainees

The Hunter's Creek Stake Center just 1 hour after transfers. 

It was as though the sea of cars, crowds of people and piles of suitcases seen just a few short minutes before was but a figment of my imagination.

Departure dinner at the Mission Home. 

After serving honorably for 2 years we had to bid a fond farewell to 9 valiant Elders.

 

Elders Larsen,  Evans, Finke, Jimenez, Lasitani, Jackson, Park, Lindstrom

If you believe

Within your heart you'll know

That no one can change

The path that you must go

Believe what you feel

And know you're right, because

The time will come around

When you say it's yours

Believe there's a reason to be

Believe you can make time stand still

You know from the moment you try

If you believe

I know you will

Believe in yourself, right from the start

You'll have brains

You'll have a heart

You'll have courage

To last your whole life through

If you believe in yourself

If you believe in yourself

If you believe in yourself

As I believe in you

 Guess who got mail?  Elder Busath received a big box, all wrapped in gray duct tape.

 Inside the box was a wooden crate with a crow bar attached that stated,

 "If at first you don't succeed, pry, pry, again! 

The Slaughterhouse Man Crate filled  with"the best parts of 6 different cows'" sent by his brother Joseph.  I am not sure who was more excited, Elder Busath or the 3 Assistants to the President who just happened to be around for the unveiling and to taste test the contents :)

Thanks Joe!

Random, I know, but I couldn't resist sharing  a picture of what McDonald's looks like in Florida.

                                        

                                          

What makes you happy?

Do material possessions make you happy and grateful?  Perhaps momentarily.  However, those things which provide deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are the things which money cannot buy: our families, the gospel, good friends, our health, our abilities, the love we receive from those around us.

The English author Aldous Huxley wrote, " Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for grated.'

We personally have so much to be grateful for and we just wanted to express our thanks to all of you for motivating us to stop and think of all our blessings as we try to record on our blog the wonderful experiences we are having as we serve the Lord here in the Florida Orlando Mission.

Gracias, danke, merci, thank you!

To get more, give more

People can be divided into three groups:

Those who make things happen.

Those who watch things happen.

Those who wonder what happened.

We would like to think that we are in the first group!

The Mission President recently asked us if we could convert the storage closet in the mission office into a working office for Sister Nielson, our Mission Medical Support Nurse.

For those of you who know me, this was just my kind of challenge, so I quickly enlisted the help of Elder Busath, and Brother and Sister Nielson and we rolled up our sleeves and set to work.

Once the storage closet had been emptied and most of the contents relocated we still had leftover items needing a new home. So we headed to our favorite duplex garage, where two of our sister missionaries reside and got busy re-organizing it to make room for more stuff.

Obviously looks can be deceiving.  See that innocent appearing metal shelf in the back being carefully reassembled by Elder Nielson?  Well that one single shelf suddenly turned deadly, cutting Elder Nielson's finger, slicing the top of Elder Busath's head and stabbing me in the head all while in the process of transporting it from the trailer to the garage.  Talk about blood, sweat and tears!

All finished with room enough for the sisters to maneuver their bikes.

 Ta da! There is no limit to what you can accomplish, if you set your mind to it!

Her new office may look a little sparse at first, but just imagine another chair, a potted plant, a few pictures on the walls.  Of course that is after the room gets painted.  We have visions of sky blue, but that is another Saturday project and we have to get through transfers first.

 

 My favorite "Worker Bees" as they stop by Staples to pick up "handouts" for our upcoming Mission Leader Council Meeting.

You've had a birthday, shout hurray!

Monday, September 2nd was an official holiday for most, but for those of us in the mission office it was a day to play catch up and get busy running various errands that had been put on the back burner due to ringing telephones and being held captive in the office.
It was also a day to enjoy a Senior Missionary District Potluck dinner and to celebrate the birthdays of Sister Vaden and Elder Bevans, both 29 years old one more time :)

Saturday, September 7th we joined hundreds others on the American Heart Association 5 K Walk at the University of Central Florida.  Our T shirts stated boldly that we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Orlando on the back and on the front it stated:                                                        

RUN and not be weary, WALK and not faint.

 Our Mission President Michael Berry, his wife, Sister and Elder Nielson and us.

 Elder Busath taking it all in.

 Just a few of our Florida Orlando Missionaries from the immediate area who participated in the walk.

That same evening our Portuguese Elders Cleis da Costa and Delgado Hernandez invited us to join them to celebrate Brazil's Independence Day.

Venha Comemorar Conosco a Independencia do Brasil!

Elder Delgado and Elder Nielson warming up the crowd.

           Elder Nielson served his first mission in Brazil as a young man.  He actually shared special pictures he had taken and saved from that experience in his presentation about the history of the church in Brazil.

Elders Nielson, Delgado Hernandez, and Cleis da Costa.

And to top off the celebration, dinner! Black beans with bones, rice and of course an American brownie, thanks to Sister Berry :).

 

A handmade hammock was just one of the many Brazilian decorations.

 

Of course our blog wouldn't be complete without including at least one of our little critters.

In closing just our two cents-it has been a great week. Why? Because we were crazy busy serving others.  Service makes you happy and it seems to be contagious!

It is an immutable law that the more you give away, the more you receive.  You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.

A wise man once said, "We can't do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere.

Ask yourself, have I done any good in the world today?  If not, why not?

Thanks for stopping by! See you later alligator :)

FOM Senior Soldiers

                            

             
From left to right and back to front;
Elder and Sister Gebs, Elder and Sister Nielson, Elder and Sister (well you know), Sister Danes, Sister Vaden, Elder and Sister Moline, Elder and Sister Gordon, Elder and Sister Bevans.

Just a little something we thought you might appreciate:

 

"Today I saw the Army of Helaman in a different light.

I watched the Generals and leaders who took those boys to fight.

They looked quite ordinary-at least from the world’s point of view.

But a closer look would show their scars, and they are not a few.

These veteran warriors have felt life’s defeats, stress and fatigue.

They have wounds and scars and experience from life’s battles and intrigues.

They have raised their own good families, had careers and led the saints.

In wards and stakes and branches before they joined these ranks.

They have seen the hand of God work wonders in their lives,

So joining once again seemed very natural in these strife's.

The surge of youthful missionaries is wondrous to behold.

Yet the surge of these veteran warriors needs mention, though they’re old.

Their hands are gnarled, they walk with limps, have problems with their heart,

Yet when the youth need more support, they’re the first ones at the start.

With life’s experience and memories they proceed to lead the youth

From the ranks of priesthood office where they hold to right and truth.

This missionary army surging forth is handsome, young and strong.

But today I saw their support group, who have battled for so long.

Though their suits are cut much wider, their hair is filled with gray.

I’m grateful for this army I was allowed to glimpse today."

By Sister Claudia Taggart, Chicago Illinois Mission

We have recently discovered that growing older can be a wonderful adventure if you remember that the important word is growing.  So when you are having "one of those days" where nothing seems to be going the way you planned try to remind yourself that what you are becoming is more important than what you are accomplishing.