As we headed East on Friday morning we were able to catch the sun just starting to come up in Utah. I did not take any pictures in New Mexico so the next picture is a waffle at LaQuinta in Abilene TX. The next day we made it to Tyler Tx where spent the night with the Weavers who are the parents of a missionary we served with in South Africa. We had only met them in Provo at their son’s Seth’s reception for a few minutes but by the time we left we felt like we had known them for years. The next day we hit the Mississippi at Vicksburg before heading South for Natchez by traveling along the Natchez Trace.

 

After  leaving Natchez we traveled to Panama City Florida where we got to meet with Elder Solo Mthalane. About 2 years ago we got to deliver Elder Mthalane’s mission call to to him at his home in Esikhawini South Africa. We also got to meet him the MTC and go with him to the temple for his endowments.

 

The next day when weleftPanama City we traveled along the gulf route and got to see a number of beautiful waterways that are all along the road. We then turned inland and stopped in a small town that included this hotel…unfortunately Elvis had already left the building.

We made it to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday the 10th and moved into our apartment where we will spend our mission. From our back porch we can see this beautiful lake and fountain. We have already had visitors including a very small lizard and a flock of egrets.

Today we went to our first Zone Conference here in Florida. The Fort Lauderdale and Hialeah zones have 32 missionaries and they include Spanish, Haitian-Creole and English speaking missionaries.

The two talks or presentations that touched me most was one by a sister – forgot to write down her name – who spoke about how her mission was changed when her brother gave her a simile that helped her with tracting – or here what they call Harvesting. He said that each time she knocked on a door she should imagine that she had a blank envelope that had a check for $1 million made out to the family. Her responsibility was to get the family to take the envelope without them knowing what was in it. They would not know that the letter would change their lives.

The other was by elder Kealamakia who told the story of how a very quiet and humble missionary listened to the spirit and went back to talk to a big, gruff, Hawaiian cowboy after his companion told him that the man would not be interested. The cowboy was his grandfather and he accepted the gospel and now elder Kealamakia is serving a mission to bring the gospel to others.

A quick note on the Harvesting program. The missionaries harvest and area but knocking on doors, introducing themselves, and asking if they could come in and leave a short blessing on the house. They are to be bold but with lots of love. It has been successful in getting them into many houses and getting appointments to come back and teach the gospel.

In the evening we went back to the Plantation chapel and met with Bishop Rampton of the Weston Ward where we will be serving. We had a good talk and he invited us for dinner on Sunday night and then to talk in sacrament on the 27th. He seemed very excited about having us serve in the ward.

So it was a good day for us and we are beginning to feel comfortable here.