Week #21 -- Went To The Beach!!

Hey Everybody!

This week was full of fun times! This past week we did a lot of
service. It also was for people that aren't members of the church.
Sadly that were moving out of our boundaries but we told them that we
can contact the missionaries where they are moving to to help them
cause we could and they really liked that.

Things are still slow here in the New Smyrna Beach area but Elder
Richards and I are doing all we can to put ourselves in the right
place so that we can cross paths with someone that God is preparing
for us to teach.

The only person we have to teach right now is Ben. He's isn't
progressing to much right now but he is seeing that he needs to put
more effort in coming to church and reading more.

The one thing that excites me the most is the ward here. They are so
missionary minded it's awesome. Almost every member in the ward has
someone that they are talking to about the gospel. We have been
working with them a lot and coaching them in what to say and getting
to the point where they can meet with us. So excited for the things
that are going to happen in this area.

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

LOVE this picture!

This is the first time Elder Pearson has put his feet in the sand on a beach!

This is something he was hoping he'd be able to do.

It was early in the morning when the group went.

 

Had fun building a sand castle with a moat.

Elder Pearson and Elder Richards went to a Mardi Gras Celebration

with some less active members; they got lots of beads.

Week #20 -- Another Week In Paradise

Hello everyone!

This past week was very tough but very rewarding at the same time. I have been on my knees praying a lot this past week. I also have been putting more faith in God that everything will work out even though we don't have many people to teach. That he is preparing people for us to teach and is guiding us to those individuals. The part that amazes me the most is seeing those prayers answered. I am so grateful for the time I have to engulf myself in the work of the Lord. It has blessed myself and it is blessing others that I come in contact with. I invite all of you to read your scriptures and say your prayers daily. You will see the difference in your life and see how God is helping you. 

Anyway throughout the week we got to see some less actives. We are going to try new ways to find people to teach. We are still talking to Ben. He's an interesting fellow. In the last lesson we had with him, he told us that he was seeing how God is blessing his life. Just from hearing that filled me with so much joy. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week and cant wait to tell you how this week goes. God loves ya!

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

Week #19 -- First Week Whitewashing!

Hey Everyone!!

The week has been crazy, hard, fun, and exciting all at the same time.
It's been a blast with my companion Elder Richards. He's super cool
and we are working really hard.

We have one guy named Ben with a baptismal date but sadly we might
have to push is date back. We reviewed with what he remembers from the
last Elders that were there and he doesn't remember a whole lot so.
He's excited to be baptized and to keep learning more which is
exciting.

We also met with a lot of less actives and meeting with members
getting to know them and also asking them for referrals. There is a
lot of work to get done which makes me happy.

So excited for this transfer and can't wait to tell you all what
happened next week.

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

 

 

 

Week 18 -- I'm Getting Transferred!!!

Hey Everyone,

Hope you all had a wonderful week.

It's been an amazing transfer with my great friend Elder Wilson. Sadly
we didn't get to do a lot of missionary work together cause of his
health. We were hoping that they would keep us together but I guess
that wasn't the plan. He is a great friend and so glade I got to serve
with him. I'm sad that I will be leaving this ward in DeLand also. The
new area I will be serving in is New Smyrna South. Guess what?!?!?
It's right next to the BEACH!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

The crazy part is that my new companion, Elder Richards, and I will be
whitewashing this area. Whitewashing is when you have two Elders that
are new to the area. It's going to be fun. I have a feeling that this
next transfer is going to be a great one.

Really didn't get to do a whole lot this week with Elder Wilson still
recovering from his kidney stone. We did share a lot of laughs though
which was great.

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

Week 17 -- Interesting Week

Hey everyone,

This week has been a long week it feels like. Sadly my companion,
Elder Wilson, still has not passed his kidney stone. So today he has a
doctors appointment and they will see where it's at and what they plan
will be to get it out. So I might not be able to reply back to emails
today cause we will be at that.

Anyway beside that I was able to exchanges with the other Elders in my
district. It was cool to cause with a lot of the people we saw we
taught the restoration. We talked about that the only way we are able
to know if Joseph Smith was actually a prophet of God and is the Book
of Mormon really true is through prayer.  As I have been out I have
been able to see and know of the importance of prayer.  It is a direct
connect we can have with God. He wants to help us with questions we
might have on our mind or things we might need. By how sincere you are
as you pray. He wants to help us all we have to do is ask. It might
not come right away but it will come when he thinks we are ready for
it.

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!!

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

Week #16 -- Worldwide Missionary Broadcast

Hello everyone,

Hope you all have had a wonderful week. And that all is well.

So last night and this morning have been crazy. Around 11 last night
my companion, Elder Wilson, woke me and said he was having a lot of
pain in his side and it was just getting worse. So I took him to the
emergency room and found out that he had a kidney stone. We didn't get
home till a little after 4:30 this morning. Ya that was crazy.

Anyway this week was really good. Still working with two investigators. It's exciting with one of them because we will have more time with him before he leaves for New York and hoping we will be able to put him on a date. The other we have is progressing more and it's very exciting. We have been getting more people to talk to but haven't gotten return appointments with them yet but holding we will this week.

One really cool thing that happened was that there was a worldwide missionary broadcast. So all the missionaries in the world watched this broadcast. A handful of the quorum of the 12 apostles spoke to us and gave us a better understanding of how to progress the work in the areas we are serving in. The one I love the most is was from Elder Bednar. He spoke on the importance of the Holy Ghost in someone's conversion. I know now more the importance and the urgency to have the Holy Ghost with us when we are sharing the gospel with others. There is nothing I can say that will convert someone but it's what they feel as the Holy Ghost testifies of truth.

I know that this is the lords work and we all have a part in it. Whether or not we are full time missionaries. We are instruments in gods hands to help others to come unto Christ.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32837

Week #15 -- Seeing Heavenly Father's Hand In This Work

Hey Everyone,

It's been a crazy and exciting week. Many prayers were answered for my companion and I.  It's so exciting to see that Heavenly Father knows who we are and what we are going through. All we have to do is ask and he will answer it when we are ready. What an amazing week!! Later today I'll send some pics for all of you!

To start of our week we had Zone Conference which is certain zones from the mission meet and there are training that are given by Zone Leaders and our mission president. This one was very special cause we had a general authority. It was Elder Richard J. Maynes from the quorum of the seventy. It was so awesome to hear the council that he gave to us as missionaries. The first half of his talk is that he talk to us about how successful do we want to be as missionaries. We did a lot of question and answer with him. The spirit was so strong there. I'm so blessed to be a missionary and to help in the progression of this great work.

The next couple days was a little rough.  A lot of the appointments we had we canceled at the last minute. So every night after our dinner we would call people on our potential investigator list cause by the time dinner comes around its already dark and it's only 5pm.  So we started doing this Friday night; we were calling the people that canceled earlier in the week, had to leave messages then, they all started calling us back! We had so many people we were able to set up appointments with that Saturday we had 7 lessons that we taught to people. For three of them we had a members come with us; which is awesome to have them to share their experiences and their thoughts. So by Sunday we had a total of 12 lessons that were taught and last week we had 6. We were able to double this week which was awesome!!

A lot of the people we saw were less actives. We have made return appointments with them so we are hoping we they will be able to come to church next week. We are still working consistently with one investigator which is exciting news and he has been increasing his scriptures study and saying his prayers -- so awesome. We are still a little worried about him cause some personal things have been stressing him out so it's going to be harder for him to quite smoking but we think if he continues with his studies and prayers Heavenly Father will help him overcome it. We are also working with an investigator that we hope to figure out a date this week with him to be baptized.  Which is awesome!!

I got to try some food... First thing was "grits" which I do not like. The other is basically regular peanuts and you soak them in salt water. It's really good but salty.

Anyway love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!  I'll send
some pics later!!

Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
10502 Satellite Blvd. Ste E
Orlando, FL 32837-8479