The New Elders...

8/9/10...Greetings Everyone,


Elder Brandon, Elder Blair, Elder Trott, and Elder Barrionuevo are all out of Ocala now. Their last few days here were pretty busy. At least for Elder Brandon and I. For the most part we went around and visited our recent converts, and said goodbye to members he had gotten close to. It was nice. I enjoyed it for the most part. However we ate WAY too much! Sunday night we had dinner with one family and then dessert with another. Monday we actually only had dinner with Katie and Leslie's family. That was nice, but their mom fed us a lot of food. Way more than I wanted.Tuesday one of the youth from Second Ward took us out to breakfast. Then we had lunch with our Ward Mission Leader from First Ward. Then about an hour later Brother and Sister Waters took us to get lunch too. To finish the night off we had dinner with Amy...ugh I didn't want to eat ever again. I also had to teach our Tuesday night class. It went pretty well, but I didn't really have any time to prepare because we were so busy. I taught about faith, and how we have to show faith before we see miracles. We also talked about how miracles are happening in our lives all the time, we just have to recognize them. There are a lot of great scriptures on faith. Two are Ether 12:6 & 12. Wednesday we didn't eat with as many people, but it was an insane day. A family from Second Ward took us out to lunch and then Elder Brandon got a haircut. On the way back to the apartment Elder Blair called and said he had crashed his bike and that he was hurt. We rushed to pick him up. When we got there I grabbed his bike and was going to ride it home while Elder Brandon took Elder Blair home in the car. Just before they drove off Elder Brandon rolled down his window and said he needed to take Elder Blair to the ER because his collar bone was broken. Apparently when Elder Blair got in the car he noticed his shoulder hurt really bad. So he felt it and could feel a big bump on top of his shoulder. Then Elder Brandon felt it and said it felt like someones knuckle was sticking up. Elder Brandon used to ride in an ambulance, so he knows what a broken collar bone feels like. They took him to the hospital while Elder Day and I rode the bikes home. We got there and Ethan showed up and took us to the hospital. When we got to the hospital Elder Blair was sitting in a wheelchair and he was really pale and had beads of sweat all over his face. We're pretty sure he was in shock. Elder Trott and Elder Barrionuevo were already there too. I asked Elder Brandon if they had given him a blessing and they had already done that. From there we sat in the waiting room for a really long time. They took Elder Blair back for x-rays and other stuff. I guess at one point one of the nurses felt his shoulder and felt the huge bump too. So after they had looked at the x-rays they took Elder Blair back to tell him what was wrong Elder Trott and Elder Brandon went back too. They were back there for about 40 minutes so I was thinking it might be pretty bad. Then Elder Trott came out with a big smile and said that Elder Blair just had a bruised shoulder. I was shocked, but I knew it was true. I felt so happy! He just had to wear a sling for a day. The blessing had healed him. I'm sure of it! I guess that when they told Elder Blair that he just had a bruised shoulder he asked them what about the big bump and when he went to feel it it was gone. Then Elder Brandon reminded Elder Blair that he has received a blessing. Then Elder Blair smiled and said, "Oh yeah." The nurse that had felt the bump couldn't explain it. It was such a cool miracle. All in all we were at the hospital for about 3 hours. It was pretty ridiculous. The rest of Wednesday we just said goodbye to other people. Then Thursday...well, the four Elders that were getting transferred all packed up their stuff into a truck and left around 7:30am. That meant Elder Day and I were the only two missionaries in all of Ocala. We spent just about all morning and early afternoon cleaning the apartment. It was pretty bad. I also rearranged my bedroom. I've got the good bed now too. It vibrates, and I can raise/lower the head area and foot area. It's pretty sweet! Around 4 the new Elders showed up. I was nervous.


My new companion is Elder Frampton. He's from Pleasant Grove, UT. He's really nice and seems to be happy most of the time. Elder Day's new companion is Elder Fasan. He's from Indiana. The two new Spanish Elders are Elder Toney, from Texas, and Elder Carty, from Colorado...I think. So now I get to know a bunch of new missionaries. Thursday when they got here we pretty much just unpacked and got them settled in. Friday was a really hard day, and so was Saturday.On Friday we actually had to take the car in because there was a recall on the gas pedal. We sat at the dealership for hours. Saturday we helped a family in Second Ward move. I really enjoyed that. After we helped the family move we were headed to an appointment with a new investigator. On the way we got a flat tire. It didn't take long to change it, but by time we had it was almost time for our next appointment. So we had to cancel. I was so discouraged. I was really looking forward to our appointment. For those first few days I felt really out of place. It's like my world just got turned upside down. I was really anxious and nervous. Even though I was surrounded by people, I felt really lonely. Luckily Elder Day was here so I could talk to him. He was having a hard time too. I was pretty much constantly praying for comfort. Things are much better now and still getting better.


I've gotta go now. My time is up. Sorry if this doesn't make sense.


Love Always, Zach