I'm officially out of Lake City! Wednesday was transfer meeting and I am now in St. Augustine, Florida. If I remember correctly it is the oldest town in the United States. It was founded around 1585...I'm probably a little off though. I'm still a zone leader, but now I am a zone leader for the Jax South Zone. It has a few more companionships than the Lake City Zone. My new companion is Elder Mecham and he is from Folsom, California. He has been out for about 14 months.
I really have enjoyed it here so far. The people are nice. This place has a much faster pace than Lake City. The last few days have been packed with things to do, and this week is filling up fast. The members have been really great.
The Ward didn't waste any time putting me to work. They had Elder Mecham and I talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. There are also Sister missionaries in our ward and one of them spoke too. I talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was a short talk because of time, but it went really well. Elder Mecham talked about enduring to the end and he did really well too.
We had a few interesting experiences last week. On Thursday night we went to teach a potential investigator that a member referred us to. Elder Mecham had met her before. The lady used to be homeless, but now has a single wide trailer. That was a really interesting experience. We went in and it was just us, her, and another guy. We started talking to her and next thing we know there are two other guys there with us. I'm pretty sure they were all homeless. They were really friendly, but it was clear that they weren't all there mentally. They kept asking us questions and we shared some things with them. It didn't really go anywhere so we were working on leaving and offered to have a prayer with them. So we all knelt on the floor, held hands, and I said the prayer. Just as we were walking out the door another lady showed up. She mentioned that she was having a really difficult time right now and needed us to pray with her. So, we gathered around, held hands, and she said the prayer. She started her prayer, but said she wasn't sure what to pray for. So, the other lady started praying. She had said a few things, then one of the men started praying. By time we were done it was Elder Mecham and I standing in a circle with four of five homeless people holding hands. It's one of those moments where I wish I could have recorded all I saw and heard and sent it home. It has been a pretty long time since I've had anything like that happen.
On a more normal note, we're having a baptism this Sunday. We're baptizing a man named Chris. He has been taught for awhile, but when we went and saw him and his family on Saturday we set a date with him. We just pulled out a baptism record and asked him if he was ready to fill it out and be baptized. It went really well! He is going to be a really solid member!
That's all I can think of now.
Love Always, Zach
Introduction to St. AugustineAmerica's oldest permanent European settlement, St. Augustine draws history buffs and romantics to its Colonial Spanish Quarter and 18th-century buildings. It's a city that's been on travelers' itineraries for ages. Unlike other tourist hotspots, St. Augustine actually lives up to its romantic hype. With its coquina buildings and sprawling, moss-draped live oaks, visitors can do more than just museum hop. St. Augustine encourages guests to sit down for a while, and to drink in scenes from the past.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/staugustine/0409010001.html
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