Hello Everyone!
I'm can't tell you how much I do not like the heat. This past week it was very hot and humid. We did a lot of service this week with helping new families move in and yard work or something. I love doing service but it was very tough with dealing with the heat.
Anyway, we got to meet with an investigator on Friday which was exciting. She is the media referral we got a couple weeks ago and finally got back in touch with her. She kept the commitment we left her last time which is very exciting by reading from the Book of Mormon. She really wants to learn more so we are hoping to meet with her on Fridays and Saturdays. Some other exciting news is that another investigator came to church today with his wife!! So I can't remember if I had talked about him or not but he is an investigator that Elder and Sister Taylor were teaching. Now that they have gone home we get to teach him. The week that he was going to get baptized he had to cancel because of family issues at home. It was awesome to see him there today.
Still meeting with another investigator. He such a great guy and I love how much faith he has. I don't know if I told you what he does for work but he carves wood into stuff. Like sharks, fish, turtles, really any sea creature. It's really cool. I haven't been able to get pics of it yet but in Orlando he has a store that he holds all of his art. He told us yesterday that he won't have the store anymore. He has been really struggling financially but he still has a smile on his face and knows that the Lord will help him. It's so true that He will.
One thing I was able to reflect a lot on is my personal growth. Really being aware of my thoughts and actions. I see a lot of the time as I am doing my personal study that I ask myself questions. I realize how simple the questions are and how they make me ponder on what I need to do next to change. To become better than I was before. If someone says that they follow Jesus Christ then I would assume that they are doing all they can to allow a change in there mind and in there heart as they follow him. If we are truly, sincerely, with real intent then he can and will change us. That change will only happen if we choose to want it. God gave us the power to choose for our selfs. I invite you all to make the choice to allow the atonement of Jesus Christ change you. It has changed me and is continuing to change me.
"20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." 2 Nephi 31:20
Never forget that God is always on your side. Have a blessed week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Called to serve the Florida Orlando Mission
Monday, August 22, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
Week #45 - Life I deserve
Hello Everyone!
Life this past week was a tough one. We had a lot of things fall through which is always depressing but still going with a happy smile. We still got to meet with the regular people we usually meet with each week which was good. Right now we are kinda having a hard time with getting some our less actives to keep the commitments that we leave them so we have focused on that. I have been able to gain more knowledge of agency which is helping me be better in helping others coming closer to Christ. There are times that I get frustrated when the people we are working with don't use there agency right but that is the wonderful thing of life and learning from our mistakes. It helps us to learn how to use our agency better. I can see it more and more why agency is so important to our Heavenly Fathers plan and that agency helps us learn. But when you see someone use there agency to learn and come closer to there savior it is the most beautiful thing ever. To see the change it makes in people is remarkable. I am so grateful that I get to experience this and help those see that change in there life.
We are still working with a wonderful lady and it's great to see the desire that she has to have God more in her life. We get to see her this Friday so I'll update you all how that goes. We didn't get to see her last week so we are hoping to extend a baptismal commitment with her this week. We got a media referral and went by and gave her the bible she requested and talked for a little bit and she started asking us what we do as missionaries. As we were talking we mentioned the Book of Mormon and she asked about that and then she said she wanted one. We then gave her one and she wanted us to come back to talk more. That was super exciting. We hopefully will be able to see her this week. We still visited with a gentleman who just got baptized about a month ago; he is such a great guy. Every time we are there always bears his testimony to us and shares how God is answering his prayers and it just makes me so happy. Also any chance he gets to talk about the church to anyone he does it. It's awesome to see how happy this gospel can make someone.
We also had ZTM this past week which always good. It's a meeting where all the missionaries in the zone meet together and are trained by the zone leaders which helps us work on things to become better missionaries. This meeting was mostly to explain some of the changes that are going to made throughout the mission. It's pretty exciting.
Thank you all for being such a great support for me and have a blessed week! Loves!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Life this past week was a tough one. We had a lot of things fall through which is always depressing but still going with a happy smile. We still got to meet with the regular people we usually meet with each week which was good. Right now we are kinda having a hard time with getting some our less actives to keep the commitments that we leave them so we have focused on that. I have been able to gain more knowledge of agency which is helping me be better in helping others coming closer to Christ. There are times that I get frustrated when the people we are working with don't use there agency right but that is the wonderful thing of life and learning from our mistakes. It helps us to learn how to use our agency better. I can see it more and more why agency is so important to our Heavenly Fathers plan and that agency helps us learn. But when you see someone use there agency to learn and come closer to there savior it is the most beautiful thing ever. To see the change it makes in people is remarkable. I am so grateful that I get to experience this and help those see that change in there life.
We are still working with a wonderful lady and it's great to see the desire that she has to have God more in her life. We get to see her this Friday so I'll update you all how that goes. We didn't get to see her last week so we are hoping to extend a baptismal commitment with her this week. We got a media referral and went by and gave her the bible she requested and talked for a little bit and she started asking us what we do as missionaries. As we were talking we mentioned the Book of Mormon and she asked about that and then she said she wanted one. We then gave her one and she wanted us to come back to talk more. That was super exciting. We hopefully will be able to see her this week. We still visited with a gentleman who just got baptized about a month ago; he is such a great guy. Every time we are there always bears his testimony to us and shares how God is answering his prayers and it just makes me so happy. Also any chance he gets to talk about the church to anyone he does it. It's awesome to see how happy this gospel can make someone.
We also had ZTM this past week which always good. It's a meeting where all the missionaries in the zone meet together and are trained by the zone leaders which helps us work on things to become better missionaries. This meeting was mostly to explain some of the changes that are going to made throughout the mission. It's pretty exciting.
Thank you all for being such a great support for me and have a blessed week! Loves!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Monday, August 8, 2016
Week #44 - P-Days are great!
Hello Everyone!
Hope you all had a great week. Things are still pretty slow here but doing our best to change that. We are really focusing on trying to get the members here to be more mindful of jumping on their opportunities to share the gospel with their friends and family. We have already seen the works of when members open there mouths and share the gospel. One of our recent baptisms is a great example; one of the families here in the ward invited her over for dinner and now she is soaking up the gospel like crazy. It so neat to see her face light up when we talk to her about the gospel. She has expressed to us many times that she wants the spirit and Christ more in her life. I just love the time I have to help Gods children gain the knowledge that he has given me.
I forgot to mention two weeks ago that I got to see a rocket launch. It was super cool. This first one I saw was a lot better but didn't have time to take a video but I did get to for the second one. Also with this being a new transfer a lot of the other missionaries in our district got moved which means making some new friendships.
I love every first Sunday of the month where I get to hear the testimonies of others. Testimonies are so unique cause it's someone's own witness of truth. These members here in Cocoa are so strong in the gospel it brings joy to my heart. As they bear there testimony you can tell that they have found for themselves whether this church is true. My testimony has been strengthened by hearing those testimonies of others. I love this gospel and I am so blessing to have it in my life and to be able to share it with others.
I love you all!! Have a blessed week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Hope you all had a great week. Things are still pretty slow here but doing our best to change that. We are really focusing on trying to get the members here to be more mindful of jumping on their opportunities to share the gospel with their friends and family. We have already seen the works of when members open there mouths and share the gospel. One of our recent baptisms is a great example; one of the families here in the ward invited her over for dinner and now she is soaking up the gospel like crazy. It so neat to see her face light up when we talk to her about the gospel. She has expressed to us many times that she wants the spirit and Christ more in her life. I just love the time I have to help Gods children gain the knowledge that he has given me.
I forgot to mention two weeks ago that I got to see a rocket launch. It was super cool. This first one I saw was a lot better but didn't have time to take a video but I did get to for the second one. Also with this being a new transfer a lot of the other missionaries in our district got moved which means making some new friendships.
I love every first Sunday of the month where I get to hear the testimonies of others. Testimonies are so unique cause it's someone's own witness of truth. These members here in Cocoa are so strong in the gospel it brings joy to my heart. As they bear there testimony you can tell that they have found for themselves whether this church is true. My testimony has been strengthened by hearing those testimonies of others. I love this gospel and I am so blessing to have it in my life and to be able to share it with others.
I love you all!! Have a blessed week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
This was the district from last transfer!!
The person taking the pics is Elder Taylor.
Monday, August 1, 2016
Week #43 - Staying in Cocoa another 6 weeks
Hello Everyone!
First off I will be......STAYING in Cocoa for another six weeks. I'm really grateful to be able to be here for another six weeks cause things are starting progress and its going to be a great time helping these people that we are meeting with to progress and receive the blessings that God wants to give them.
The beginning of the week was a little slow but by the end of the week was better. On Friday, the stake had all the young men and women go out with the missionaries so I had a young man with me and so did my companion but he had two with him. We have a very productive day. The best part was dinner. We were invited over to Bishop Collets house and he had a friend that he works with and his wife come over for dinner. It was awesome to meet them. Before they got there bishop told us about that they have had many gospel conversations and they were interested in learning more. They were very nice and wonderful people. We did then get to share with them the restoration of the gospel. Kept it very simple and focused it more for them to know if it is true through prayer. It seemed that they liked it a lot. It will be exciting to meet with them again. Also Elder Armijo and the two young men got to see a recent convert that we've not been able to see for a couple weeks; he told me she is really prepared to hear the gospel. She kept on telling them how she wants the spirit more in her life to guide her and to learn as well.
I would like to share with all of you my testimony for the truthfulness of this gospel. I know that Jesus Christ lives and died for me and everyone else. I know that before this life that we all had a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was an instrument in Gods hand in restoring all the truths that Jesus Christ put here on the earth. I know that the Lord works through his holy prophets that he calls to lead and guide his people. I love this gospel so much and so happy that I have the time to share it with others. To give them the chance to receive all the blessings that God has in store for them.
Have a great week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
First off I will be......STAYING in Cocoa for another six weeks. I'm really grateful to be able to be here for another six weeks cause things are starting progress and its going to be a great time helping these people that we are meeting with to progress and receive the blessings that God wants to give them.
The beginning of the week was a little slow but by the end of the week was better. On Friday, the stake had all the young men and women go out with the missionaries so I had a young man with me and so did my companion but he had two with him. We have a very productive day. The best part was dinner. We were invited over to Bishop Collets house and he had a friend that he works with and his wife come over for dinner. It was awesome to meet them. Before they got there bishop told us about that they have had many gospel conversations and they were interested in learning more. They were very nice and wonderful people. We did then get to share with them the restoration of the gospel. Kept it very simple and focused it more for them to know if it is true through prayer. It seemed that they liked it a lot. It will be exciting to meet with them again. Also Elder Armijo and the two young men got to see a recent convert that we've not been able to see for a couple weeks; he told me she is really prepared to hear the gospel. She kept on telling them how she wants the spirit more in her life to guide her and to learn as well.
I would like to share with all of you my testimony for the truthfulness of this gospel. I know that Jesus Christ lives and died for me and everyone else. I know that before this life that we all had a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith was an instrument in Gods hand in restoring all the truths that Jesus Christ put here on the earth. I know that the Lord works through his holy prophets that he calls to lead and guide his people. I love this gospel so much and so happy that I have the time to share it with others. To give them the chance to receive all the blessings that God has in store for them.
Have a great week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Monday, July 25, 2016
Week #42 - Easy day
Hello Everyone!
Hope you all had a better week than I did. This week was a pretty slow and a tough week. With a lot of appointments that got canceled. Even though it was slow we were still able to get things done.
Transfers calls are this coming Saturday so I let you know what happens next week.
We got to meet with a member this last week who just moved into the ward not to long ago. He is a less active member and is really going through a lot. We have a very good time talking with him and encouraging him to keep moving forward with faith. His girlfriend isn't a member and has been asking him a lot of questions about the church and we are crossing our fingers that we will be able to meet with her. Sadly didn't get to meet with one of our new converts this past week because she was sick, but will be hopefully see her this week. We were able to help a handful of members move into our ward which is awesome. Just so many great members here in Cocoa.
This past week I was able to find a very awesome talk given by Elder Bednar. It is titled "Ye Must Be Born Again" and I love how he uses the comparison of making a cucumber into a pickle. The steps of making a cucumber into a pickle are; first preparing and cleaning, immersing and saturating, lastly purifying and sealing. These process requires time and cannot be hurried, and none of the essential steps can be ignored or avoided. He explains that each step applies to the gospel. That we need to prepare ourselves with words of faith and good doctrine and then be cleansed through the ordinances and covenants administered by the authority of the Aaronic Priesthood. We are born again as we are absorbed by and in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We become purified and sanctified as we are washed in the blood of the Christ, are born again, and receive the ordinances and honor the covenants that are administered by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. This talk has opened my eyes more that I need to be completely immersing myself in the gospel so that I can learn more of my Heavenly Father and my savior Jesus Christ.
I want you all to know that I love this gospel. I know it to be true and I strive to live it every day and will continue every day of my life. God is real and he does speak to us by the power of the Holy Ghost. He has been able to speak to me and confirm to me that the Book of Mormon is true. That Joseph Smith is a prophet from God. I have searched and I have found truth. If you search with a sincere heart and with real intent you will get an answer.
Have a great week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Hope you all had a better week than I did. This week was a pretty slow and a tough week. With a lot of appointments that got canceled. Even though it was slow we were still able to get things done.
Transfers calls are this coming Saturday so I let you know what happens next week.
We got to meet with a member this last week who just moved into the ward not to long ago. He is a less active member and is really going through a lot. We have a very good time talking with him and encouraging him to keep moving forward with faith. His girlfriend isn't a member and has been asking him a lot of questions about the church and we are crossing our fingers that we will be able to meet with her. Sadly didn't get to meet with one of our new converts this past week because she was sick, but will be hopefully see her this week. We were able to help a handful of members move into our ward which is awesome. Just so many great members here in Cocoa.
This past week I was able to find a very awesome talk given by Elder Bednar. It is titled "Ye Must Be Born Again" and I love how he uses the comparison of making a cucumber into a pickle. The steps of making a cucumber into a pickle are; first preparing and cleaning, immersing and saturating, lastly purifying and sealing. These process requires time and cannot be hurried, and none of the essential steps can be ignored or avoided. He explains that each step applies to the gospel. That we need to prepare ourselves with words of faith and good doctrine and then be cleansed through the ordinances and covenants administered by the authority of the Aaronic Priesthood. We are born again as we are absorbed by and in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We become purified and sanctified as we are washed in the blood of the Christ, are born again, and receive the ordinances and honor the covenants that are administered by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood. This talk has opened my eyes more that I need to be completely immersing myself in the gospel so that I can learn more of my Heavenly Father and my savior Jesus Christ.
I want you all to know that I love this gospel. I know it to be true and I strive to live it every day and will continue every day of my life. God is real and he does speak to us by the power of the Holy Ghost. He has been able to speak to me and confirm to me that the Book of Mormon is true. That Joseph Smith is a prophet from God. I have searched and I have found truth. If you search with a sincere heart and with real intent you will get an answer.
Have a great week!!
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Monday, July 18, 2016
Week #41 - Getting peeps to teach
Hello Everyone!
Things here is Cocoa are starting to pick up which is very exciting. Haven't had a lot of investigators to teach the past 4 weeks which has been tough, but the Lord is blessing Elder Armijo and I with people to teach. Even though we don't have a lot of investigators we have been working a lot with less active members here in Cocoa.
One of the new investigators, I told you all about him last week, we did get to meet with him and his wife. It went very well and he talked a lot more than he did last time which was very good. He doesn't remember a lot from when the missionaries were teaching his wife. I'm still unsure about if he is really wanting to learn or not but he says he does.
The other investigator we have are amazing. A wonderful family had us over for dinner last week and they had a friend over that isn't a member. We got to talk to her about the gospel and it was awesome. We got to go over again yesterday and talked to her more and it was an awesome lesson. There were things that she hasn't heard before and it was awesome to just see her light up like a kid in a candy store. She is very interested and I'm so happy to have these people to teach
Well my spiritual thought I would like to leave with all of you is about forgiveness and hope. This is something that hit me really hard yesterday at church. Both speakers did an amazing job and I could feel the spirit really strong. Both of there's connected with each other. One talks about forgiveness and the other talked about hope. The first speaker shared how she was able to learn forgiveness. She talked about how her parents got divorced and then siblings took sides. As she spoke I could tell it has brought a lot of hard ace. She then expressed how she need to forgive and forget. She then shared that if we don't forgive someone of there wrong doing toward us then we aren't allowing them to be able to receive the healing powers of the atonement.
Family relationships are one of the most important thing we will have in this life. I am so grateful to be in such a great family. I learn a lot from them and I love them so much. If we want to have solid, long lasting, and love bond relationship we must always be ready to forgive and forget.
Then next talk was about hope and since I have been on my mission I have learned about about hope and how it is connected to the gospel. We know that faith is a hope for things that are not seen, but which are true. In order to have faith we need to have hope. We must have the hope that God is going to help us when we are gong through tough trials. God has given us commandments. He has given us the things that we need to live by so we don't fall make the wrong decision. As we live by these things, we will be protected. We will be blessed and be able to strengthen ourselves so we can help others become stronger.
He knows our weaknesses. Without the Savior we can't be forgive. We don't have hope. But since he is our Savior and has taken upon him all the pains, sins, afflictions, everything we can be forgiven and make our weakness our strengths.
"Stay away from the wippy cake table!"
- Troy Dunn
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Things here is Cocoa are starting to pick up which is very exciting. Haven't had a lot of investigators to teach the past 4 weeks which has been tough, but the Lord is blessing Elder Armijo and I with people to teach. Even though we don't have a lot of investigators we have been working a lot with less active members here in Cocoa.
One of the new investigators, I told you all about him last week, we did get to meet with him and his wife. It went very well and he talked a lot more than he did last time which was very good. He doesn't remember a lot from when the missionaries were teaching his wife. I'm still unsure about if he is really wanting to learn or not but he says he does.
The other investigator we have are amazing. A wonderful family had us over for dinner last week and they had a friend over that isn't a member. We got to talk to her about the gospel and it was awesome. We got to go over again yesterday and talked to her more and it was an awesome lesson. There were things that she hasn't heard before and it was awesome to just see her light up like a kid in a candy store. She is very interested and I'm so happy to have these people to teach
Well my spiritual thought I would like to leave with all of you is about forgiveness and hope. This is something that hit me really hard yesterday at church. Both speakers did an amazing job and I could feel the spirit really strong. Both of there's connected with each other. One talks about forgiveness and the other talked about hope. The first speaker shared how she was able to learn forgiveness. She talked about how her parents got divorced and then siblings took sides. As she spoke I could tell it has brought a lot of hard ace. She then expressed how she need to forgive and forget. She then shared that if we don't forgive someone of there wrong doing toward us then we aren't allowing them to be able to receive the healing powers of the atonement.
Family relationships are one of the most important thing we will have in this life. I am so grateful to be in such a great family. I learn a lot from them and I love them so much. If we want to have solid, long lasting, and love bond relationship we must always be ready to forgive and forget.
Then next talk was about hope and since I have been on my mission I have learned about about hope and how it is connected to the gospel. We know that faith is a hope for things that are not seen, but which are true. In order to have faith we need to have hope. We must have the hope that God is going to help us when we are gong through tough trials. God has given us commandments. He has given us the things that we need to live by so we don't fall make the wrong decision. As we live by these things, we will be protected. We will be blessed and be able to strengthen ourselves so we can help others become stronger.
He knows our weaknesses. Without the Savior we can't be forgive. We don't have hope. But since he is our Savior and has taken upon him all the pains, sins, afflictions, everything we can be forgiven and make our weakness our strengths.
"Stay away from the wippy cake table!"
- Troy Dunn
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Monday, July 11, 2016
Week #40 - Service week
Hello Everyone!
What a wonderful week is was. This past week we did a lot of service for the less active members in the ward which was a lot of fun. For one of the members he is fixing up a house he owns and so we help him just move stuff around. We also tried to cut down a palm tree that was in the back yard that was close to the house but we weren't very successful at it. We also helped a member with some yard work and painting which was fun except for the heat which wasn't so nice. There was another member that we helped moved furniture in his house and one of them was a granite table that was so heavy but we moved it. I loved doing service.
An update on who we are currently working with. A lot of the people we are working with are less active members but it's all good cause they know and have friends that aren't members and so we can talk to them. The first one was just baptized 4 weeks ago. He is such an awesome guy and really just loves the gospel. He tells us all the time of how the Lord is helping him in his life. It's so amazing. For his profession, he is an artist. Not with paint but with wood! He carves things out of wood and it's super cool how he does it. We are hoping to go over there this week cause the past couple weeks cause he has been busy with family stuff. Next one is a tough one, but is progressing in coming back to church. He is a single father and has 3 awesome kids. We are really helping him coming back to church cause then he will be an example for the kids and will help the kids make better choices. There is a guy that we just met last week that we will be working with and his wife; she is not a member but she has questions about the church and seems interested which is super exciting. We are now working with another part member family. When the wife was taking the lessons from the missionaries, her husband was listening with her. She got baptized but he didn't. When we met with them last week we asked him why didn't he take the next step towards baptism. He said he wasn't ready, which not everyone gives that answer. We are very excited about this and can't wait to see him this Wednesday.
I love how God answers prayers. It's amazing that he does listen and he does want to help us all we have to do is ask and he will give us the answer. It might not be as soon as we want it, but it will come. He has answered my prayers and I am so grateful for it because it has helped me learn and come closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Love y'all!! Make it a great week!
"The greatest value will be in the small acts that help us and those
we love work toward eternal life. Those acts may seem small in this
life, but they will bring everlasting blessings in eternity."
- President Henry B. Eyring
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
What a wonderful week is was. This past week we did a lot of service for the less active members in the ward which was a lot of fun. For one of the members he is fixing up a house he owns and so we help him just move stuff around. We also tried to cut down a palm tree that was in the back yard that was close to the house but we weren't very successful at it. We also helped a member with some yard work and painting which was fun except for the heat which wasn't so nice. There was another member that we helped moved furniture in his house and one of them was a granite table that was so heavy but we moved it. I loved doing service.
An update on who we are currently working with. A lot of the people we are working with are less active members but it's all good cause they know and have friends that aren't members and so we can talk to them. The first one was just baptized 4 weeks ago. He is such an awesome guy and really just loves the gospel. He tells us all the time of how the Lord is helping him in his life. It's so amazing. For his profession, he is an artist. Not with paint but with wood! He carves things out of wood and it's super cool how he does it. We are hoping to go over there this week cause the past couple weeks cause he has been busy with family stuff. Next one is a tough one, but is progressing in coming back to church. He is a single father and has 3 awesome kids. We are really helping him coming back to church cause then he will be an example for the kids and will help the kids make better choices. There is a guy that we just met last week that we will be working with and his wife; she is not a member but she has questions about the church and seems interested which is super exciting. We are now working with another part member family. When the wife was taking the lessons from the missionaries, her husband was listening with her. She got baptized but he didn't. When we met with them last week we asked him why didn't he take the next step towards baptism. He said he wasn't ready, which not everyone gives that answer. We are very excited about this and can't wait to see him this Wednesday.
I love how God answers prayers. It's amazing that he does listen and he does want to help us all we have to do is ask and he will give us the answer. It might not be as soon as we want it, but it will come. He has answered my prayers and I am so grateful for it because it has helped me learn and come closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Love y'all!! Make it a great week!
"The greatest value will be in the small acts that help us and those
we love work toward eternal life. Those acts may seem small in this
life, but they will bring everlasting blessings in eternity."
- President Henry B. Eyring
Elder Pearson
Florida Orlando Mission
Enjoying our evening at the beach!
Elder Armijo and I enjoying our backyard in Cocoa Beach.
Florida sunsets are so beautiful!
This is Ron Jon Surf Shop; it's really popular out here.
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