It was a most unusual day for the mission. About 8:30 I got a call from President Anderson saying that the flight our new missionaries were supposed to leave on from Salt Lake had been cancelled and they would not be leaving until after the time they usually arrive here in Fort Lauderdale.  It seems that the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was closed down because of ice and sleet.

To make a longer story really short, they arrived at 8:30 at night and were immediately taken to the hotel where they were given a box lunch, put in their rooms and after being up since probably 6:00 am Eastern time got to bed. They will definitely remember their first short day in the Fort Lauderdale mission. It will give them something to write about next Monday.

While they were waiting in the Salt Lake airport, we hosted another of our Last Lunches for the missionaries in the Fort Lauderdale district. It gives us a chance to show our appreciation for the joy we get from being with these wonderful missionaries most weeks at district meetings and of course at Church.

  

It is also time to take official pictures of those who are at their first LL or who somehow we missed getting before. Sisters Bean and Lake were a great addition to the district this transfer and have been doing a wonderful work together in the Riverside Park Spanish speaking area.

  

Elder Burt is one of the happiest missionaries we have met, and has been elder Bloom – the district leader – companion. They only had one transfer together because elder Bloom is being transferred to a new area. The Zone Leaders – elders Bishop and Smoot have been here before but not together. Elder Smoot came to our first LL back in November of 2011 soon after the three of us came into the mission and just came back this transfer to serve with elder Bishop.

  

Elder Taylor will be leaving for a new area as they are white washing the Creole area. While elder Bishop chows down, elder Rellaford – elder Taylors companion – posed with elder Burt. Elders Thorne and Rondo will continue to serve in the Fort Lauderdale area for another 6 weeks.

  

The missionaries seem to enjoy eating Mary’s green chile enchiladas. The sisters and a couple of the elders had some of the green salad but for the most part the elders passed on that. They did manage to find room for the home made brownies.

  

Elders Rellaford, Thorne and Smoot found a comfortable spot on the sofa while sister Lake and elders Bishop and Bloom did the same on the floor. What is interesting is that if you look carefully you will see sister Bean reflected in the TV screen – completely an accident on my part. Missionaries take lots of pictures – thank goodness for digital cameras or they would spend all their money on film and developing. Elder Bishop runs through some of those on his or someone else’s camera.

  

Elder Bloom was the first one to sit on the floor. Elder Burt writes in elder Bishop’s journal to wish him luck as he heads home. We get a last picture with him – we will miss him much like we would miss a grandson who was leaving.

  

The missionaries wanted a district picture with fountain in the back. So I sat up my brand new Christmas tripod and using the self-timer we got a couple of good shots. The picture in the middle I took earlier today while on a walk around the complex.

  

After the LL elder Smoot shared with me his Dear Kyle letter from the girl he left behind. It did not come as a surprise as he had not heard from her for a while. I caught Elder Shipley sitting alone at the computer – this will be his first solo transfer with a new companion to train. Not only that it is going to be an unusual one because of the plane delay. I told him it was his baptism by fire as an AP. We took a last picture of us with the APs…we will truly miss Elders Rippstein and Avila.

 

The last two pictures of elder Rippstein as he says goodbye to Mary.

As I read these missionary experiences that the president put in his weekly letter this morning I was touched by the spirit. Sometimes I get so caught up in the details of the office I forget that it is all being done so the missionaries can go out and help people change their lives and come unto Christ.

“New Investigators are praying for us to find them, we must talk to everyone to find them:

 

“We had just left a difficult blessing … After leaving , we turned the corner to a new apartment complex and saw a couple sitting on a table outside. They had a large dog and were drinking a beer and smoking. I was feeling a little timid, but decided that we needed to contact them and was smiling and walking towards them as we introduced ourselves as Representatives of Christ. The husband accepted the blessing while the wife just couldn’t stop saying, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it”. After our previous experience we were afraid she was thinking that she couldn’t believe that the Mormons had come to bother her too, but after we talked to them she told us how they had followed Christ, but they had wondered astray. That they were on the verge of homelessness and had just been praying for help when we turned the corner and walked straight to them. We blessed them and testified that God was aware of them and sent us there to bless them. They accepted baptism and were confident that it was the path God had given them to bless them. I love to be an instrument in God’s hands and to testify of his power and love.”

 

New Investigators are being found as you “Pray, Plan, Practice, and Do” and create a better way to approach and link the blessing to teaching:

 

“We started approaching our Harvest blessings this week- with the night before we went out. We started picking a place to harvest during nightly planning instead of just blocking out a time- then the next day, before we would leave the apartment, we’d pray for guidance for a place to harvest, study our map, pick a place, then close with a prayer again. And man- we saw a dramatic shift in the blessings we left. The people we were led to were so prepared and waiting for our blessing each time!! We’d gone from leaving a ton of blessings with mediocre responses to the spirit the previous weeks, to so many of our brothers and sisters absolutely not being able to deny that we were sent to them. And each blessing was exactly what they needed right at that time. We were led to Danielle, who immediately sensed there was something special about us right when she opened the door. She stopped everything she was doing- put out her cigarette, got off the phone, and made time for us, as representatives of Christ, to leave her with his blessing for her. She said right away, she desperately needed his strength- she felt so lost and confused- and as we finished the blessing, she was so filled with relief and love and hope! She accepted to be baptized on the 13th of January- she is so ready to be healed and forgiven- and ready to move forward!”

 

New Investigators understand the language of the Spirit:

 

“One night we were having a really hard night, and all of our plans fell through. We went to see this lady who was a referral and that didn’t work out either. As we were walking back to our car my companion said lets go talk to that guy. And I said… ‘Sister, He doesn’t speak Spanish.’ I know we are supposed to talk to everyone, but I was selfish and wanted to find an investigator for us. She ignored me and went to go talk to him. I’m so grateful she is in tune with the Spirit! We found out that he was deaf. So we passed notes back and forth. We blessed him and invited him to be baptized. He accepted and said he would come to church. We weren’t really sure what would come out of it. We tried to see him Sunday morning and weren’t able to, so we just left a note on his door reminding him to come to church. During church this member came up to me and said …there was a deaf man looking for me and my companion. We were so happy that he came! He is amazing. He is excited to be baptized for the ‘first time’.”