The things I never had supposed.

Hey Y'all, 

I hope things are still going well for you. Things are going pretty well here in Sunny Florida. For those of you who don't know, it can get quite chilly in the winter here though. The past 2 days we had a high of about 60 degrees which may seem high compared to where you are at right now, but with the humidity, it is absolutely frigid. I had to bundle up in my sweater, jacket, and gloves to stay warm yesterday. 

This week we had a lot of crazy stuff happen. It started out with a really good exchange on Tuesday. Elder Wilson, my district leader, came to Seminole with me and we had a good day. We were able to visit with Gary who is a very nice man who has been taught on and off for the past 3 years. Super nice man. Elder Rankin and I were able to help him later on Sunday and he was super grateful. We helped him organize his storage room and his kitchen a little better and that really made his day. I am excited to keep working with him. 

Then on Wednesday we had a pizza party at our complex and right as Elder Rankin and I walked in the door, there is Aloysius. He had just got back from his trip to Nigeria a few days before and it was so good to see him again. 

Then Thursday things started to go crazy. That is when we had interviews with President Hollingsworth. Recently he had changed our schedule so we have dinner at 4:00 instead of 5:00 and so in the district we were all concerned about member meals. In this area for example middle school doesn't even get out until 4:45 so we would not have been able to have dinner with any of those families. Eventually he called the entire district in and lectured us on how we were getting a new handbook and how it was going to be principle based instead of rule based. It was a bit intimidating to be called in together, but I learned a lot from him. 

Then Friday we got the new missionary handbook. It is called "Missionary Standards for Christ like Discipleship." I have not read all the way through it yet, but it is set up very similar to Handbook 2 for ward leaders. It is a very cool resource. We also did a lot of service on Friday. I think we spent more time in our service clothes than in proselyting clothes. Both of these things were "things that I never had supposed" would happen at the beginning of my mission. 

One miracle that happened yesterday is we had planned out the day after church and had planned to go to the other side of town. Right after we finished planning I got the distinct impression to stop by an older couple that had been referred a few months back by a member of the bishopric I had been teaching previously. The problem was that they lived 2 and a half miles in the opposite direction of where we had planned on going. We decided to go visit them anyhow and it was a very good contact. Debbie, the wife, answered the door and we had a nice conversation with her. She told us that her daughter who had cancer was practically cured and that she would let us in, but they were having dinner. She told us to stop again another day and was practically in tears by the time we left. It was such a tender moment and definitely left me feeling much better. I am excited to keep visiting them and see how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change their lives. 

This week definitely was a roller coaster with what happened. I am grateful for so many great experiences I have been able to have here on the mission. I hope that each of you are able to have life changing experiences in your lives and callings. I know that if you will put the Lord first and be courageous in following promptings that you will be able to. Until next time, I hope it is a great day and God bless! 

Elder Beard