Gospel Gatoraides

This week we attended Zone Conferences on Tuesday and Thursday.   Assigned Stakes provided lunch.   Three Primary age children dressed in white shirts and ties with missionary type nametags helped their mom serve us.   This was President and Sister Ashcraft’s first Zone Conference leading us.   This is only their 6 th week in the Florida Orlando Mission but we all feel their genuine love and influence.   Elder and Sister Bair were visiting another mission so Sister Faulk substituted as conference photographer.   President Nelson will celebrate his 95 th birthday in September.   Sister Faulk brought a Mickey Mouse birthday card to the Zone Conferences and all the missionaries signed it.   We are so thankful for our dear prophet and trust he will enjoy it and feel our love for him.   Zone Conference at Lake Mary: Wetherbee Zone Conference Sisters: We are happy to serve in any way.   We took missionaries to several ...

We are in the rainy season and it rains hard every afternoon.   We don’t have to wash the car!   Sometimes the gutters and street drains have a hard time handing all the water. Two rockets were launched from Cape Canaveral this week.   Sister Faulk never tires of watching them.   We saw both from our apartment with is about 50 miles away from the coast.   The first rocket was taking supplies to the Space Station.   The 2 nd rocket carried a satellite to improve coverage for US military communications. Rocket Launch: We were busy helping and teaching missionaries with phones, finances, and health.   Gratefully, we did not have too many missionaries needing medical care!   That gave Sister Faulk time to organize files and update power point presentations. Sisters Gates, Faulk, and Jensen: The missionaries are introducing Mauricio to the Church and invited him to our English classes.   He came.   He rides ...

We welcomed new missionaries from the MTC into our mission Monday night   We met them at dinner in the mission home.   They are tired and excited and eager to serve and they have wonderful companions to train them.   The next evening at a farewell dinner we bid adieu to a great group of seasoned missionaries returning home.   We have grown to know and love them.   Sister Faulk made a salad for 30 both nights.   New missionaries from the MTC: Departing missionaries: One of our learners in English class, Regina, must return to Brazil.   She will miss her friends and family in Florida and we will certainly miss her.   She desires to return to the Orlando area and hopefully that will be possible.   Although an English learner here, she teaches Portuguese in Brazil.  Elder and Sister Faulk and Regina in English class: Saturday we spent a fun evening with friends Michelle and Steve.   They bought a home in Ta...

Happy Pioneer Day everyone!   We express gratitude for those brave souls who came to Utah to exercise their faith and beliefs and build communities to benefit future generations.   They sacrificed so many things.   We believe the best way to honor them is to be true to our faith and beliefs, love our neighbors, and share the Gospel.   We are thrilled to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Orlando Florida! We had a Pioneer Day picnic lunch on Coco Beach but only ate half of it before the rain, thunder, and lightening came and the lifeguards closed the beach.   A NOAA weather motto is get indoors when it roars.   Florida is the lightening capital of the US. Monday we had our first office staff meeting with President and Sister Ashcraft.   Sister Ashcraft read a scripture from the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi chapter 11.   It was about when the resurrected Christ came to the people in the Americas.  ...

It is fun to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!   We appreciate our opportunity to represent Him and serve others in Florida.   We are forever grateful for His love.   Throughout the week, we took several missionaries to medical appointments.   They were grateful for our care and the clinical care they received too.   We are blessed to live in this time of medical advancement and to have counsel from the Lord.   See D&C 89!   Elder Faulk paid bills, helped missionaries get their phones and tablets working, and made sure funding was in their accounts.   Under direction of the mission president, Sister Faulk conducted a hurricane practice drill on Wednesday and Thursday. Sisters Nielsen and Miller: Our local missionaries came for dinner on Tuesday.   We enjoyed a Publix frozen lasagna, salad, broccoli, rolls, and ice cream.   These Sisters work hard to share Gospel messages with oth...

We loved hearing the testimonies of members and visitors in the Lake Nona Ward during Sacrament Meeting.   How blessed we are to have, know, and live by Gospel principles.   We feel so lucky to serve Him in particular on this mission. Tuesday we took our local Sister missionaries to Leesburg for a baptism.   Before being transferred, one of the Sister’s taught Cianna the Gospel discussions.   Sister Wheeler spoke about baptism and Sister Curtis spoke about the Holy Ghost.   It was a good thing Elder Faulk was there because the font water was very shallow and cold.   Elder Faulk recognized the concern and filled the font with several more inches of hot water.   Earlier in the day he installed a new rear door lock in our car.   How grateful we are for his talents, a functional door, and plenty of warmer baptism water. Cianna's baptism--Sisters Sanders, Curtis, and Wheeler, Cianna, Elders Dowell and Mundt: On Thursday the Sr. mis...

There was a lot of excitement in the mission this week.   President Ashcraft and his family toured the mission Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday stopping at 3 chapels each day to meet and greet the missionaries.     Elder and Sister Bair and we accompanied them.   On Tuesday we were in the northern part of the mission, on Wednesday the middle part of the mission, and on Friday the southern portion of the mission.   We rode in the Bair’s Suburban and drove over 900 miles total .   The Ashcraft’s presented a darling family video and told a little bit about themselves.   The President and Sister Ashcraft first met in the MTC.   After the mission they met again, dated, and she asked him to marry her.   They have 6 children.   The youngest son is on a mission in Ohio and the youngest daughters, twin 12 year old girls, are here with them.   Jessica and Brooke drew pictures about themselves on individual whiteboards.   Each mission...

The mission Presidency is changing.   We said farewell to President and Sister Clark and welcomed President and Sister Ashcraft.   The Clarks are returning to Utah and the Ashcrafts arrived from Idaho.   We are so grateful for the leadership and love from the Clark’s.   They are wonderful servants of the Lord and fine examples of being His disciples.    The Ashcrafts are called to lead the Florida Orlando Mission for the next 3 years.    We already love, support, and appreciate them immensely.   They are excellent missionaries and will certainly leave an impressive and warm legacy too.   The Kroegers, President and Sister Clark, President and Sister Ashcraft, the Ekenstams, the Faulks: Not only has the mission president changed but the presidency is changing too.    President Burt is leaving to teach radiology and conduct research at a medical school in North Carolina.   It has been a pleasure for Elder and...

At the beginning of the week we welcomed new missionaries.   We met them for dinner at the mission home Monday evening then gave them basic instructions early Tuesday morning at the local church building (we repeat this every 6 weeks).   The real teachers are their companions and the Spirit.   It is exciting to see the new groups grow and become great missionaries.     Arriving Missionaries: We said good-by to our dear departing missionaries at dinner Tuesday evening. Sister Faulk made a green salad laden with local fruits for the occasion.   These missionaries have served faithfully and made a difference for others in the mission as well as for those with whom they’ve share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   We have grown to truly love them. They have mixed feeling about leaving the mission and returning home but recognize this is another step in life’s journey.     Departing Missionaries: Driving to our English class We...

We welcomed the Prophet, Russell M Nelson, Elder Uchtdorf, Elder Bowen, and their wives to Orlando Sunday night for a special devotional at the Amway Center downtown.   It was a rainy evening but such a blessing to see and hear a prophet of God in person.   Sister Bowen spoke about Latter-Day Saints as being fruits of the restoration.   Elder Bowen spoke about following the prophet.   Sister Uchtdorf spoke about how the restored gospel brings hope.   Elder Uchtdorf spoke about healing, serving, and lifting as we invite others to come unto Christ.   Sister Wendy Nelson said the Lord is eager to share personal revelation with us just as much as He is eager to share revelation with His prophets.   She shared how she came to know she was meant to be with President Nelson.   President Nelson testifies God is our Father, Jesus is the Savior, we are children of God, the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and the Priesthood is restored-the gathering...

Hurricane season has begun.   The weather feels like a jungle, hot and steamy.   We had a few pouring rains this week but so far, nothing is brewing in the tropics.   We are very grateful for air conditioning at the mission office, our apartment, and everywhere else in FL. A Sister missionary had trouble breathing the past few weeks and nothing we did seemed to have a lasting effect.   She saw a general practitioner.   She went to urgent care.   She was getting worse and needed to be seen again.   She tried making   appointments with local doctors to no avail.   An idea popped into Sister Faulk’s head to try calling a certain group of pulmonologists.   She wasn’t even sure if there was such a group.   She looked it up on the computer and called.   At first the receptionist said there were no openings for the next several weeks but put a call in to the group to see if they had an availability soon.   Responses cam...