On Thursday, we had our Zone Conference in Oviedo. I was able to see a few people that I know and I also saw Elder Pottle which was awesome! The meeting was pretty boring honestly but the Apopka Ward catered which was cool. I got to see a few ward members there. After it ended, we went to Jeremiah's with a few other missionaries. It's a super good Italian ice place that started in Central Florida I believe.
During the week, we've found a lot of critters in our house. Elder Adair lifted his laundry bag up and a huge wolf spider was just sitting there. I kind of freaked out but Elder Adair stepped on it. Luckily there were no babies on its back. Another time, we were clearing out all the old food in our refrigerator. We never use our front door unless we take out the trash. We opened the door and a snake slithered in. We aren't sure what snake it was but it definitely wasn't a mere garder snake. He b-lined it for the pantry and again, I freaked out. Elder Adair had no fear and destroyed it with a wooden baseball bat. Good times in the bungalow.
I had a doctor's appointment in DeLand. On our way back, we decided to stop by Darlene because both Elder Adair and I served in Apopka. He actually baptized her. She's awesome. We also stopped by a Jamaican Restaurant in South Apopka that I love. We had lunch with the Apopka Elders there.
A little funny story. The entire ward met together in the chapel for 3rd hour to learn about the new two hour program coming up. Elder Adair and I sat in front of the family who has a primary aged granddaughter. She's one of the very few primary kids in our ward. Her name is Bailey and she's adorable. I leaned over and gave Bailey a card that showed Mary and Baby Jesus. She took it and said "Aww.. Jesus is a girl." It was so funny, I was not expecting it at all. Kids say the darndest things.
We had a lesson with Mark this week. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bishop was there to help. He understood what we were telling him and he had a lot of great comments. The Spirit was really strong and we felt that he was ready for baptism. We invited him to be baptized on December 29th and he accepted. It has been a great experience for us to see him change just in the few weeks we've known him. He said he's "going to do whatever it takes".
We had an amazing experience with prayer on Saturday. We had a few stop bys that didn't go anywhere. Feeling deflated, we stopped the car to look for a next person to stop by. We said a prayer and asked for specific promptings that would lead us to those that want to hear the gospel. As soon as the prayer was finished, and I mean right as we said "amen", I put the car into drive and checked the rear view mirror. There was a guy walking on the sidewalk. I had that natural man come in and I thought about driving away, but I remembered the prayer and new this was an opportunity to show God that He can trust us. The guy was super awesome. His name is Jeremiah and has heard of our Church. He was totally down to have us come over. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and how important families are. We set up a return appointment for Tuesday at 11.
I know that God lives and is aware of us. I know prayer is powerful. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. If I can help one person remember Him, my mission will be successful.
"But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." (1 Nephi 1:20)
Elder Poulsen
Jeremiah's
My homie Darlene
He thought he owned the place
