Hello family and friends!
As
missionaries in the Florida Tampa Mission, we are only able to go to
the temple 2 times a year. We go to the Orlando Temple because there is
not a temple in the Tampa Mission boundaries. Well, this week was our
week to go!! I had a great time! The weather was beautiful! I learned a
few more things after I went (the temple is a wonderful place to
receive revelation). It was great to see my mission buddies!! I also
ran into Logan as I was leaving the Temple! Logan is a 19 year old from
Lecanto (I have talked about him before). He loved hanging out with
the missionaries. His best friend was an active member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a good kid but not really
interested in the Gospel or going on a mission. While I was serving in
Lecanto, his desire to serve a mission increased and prepared himself to
go on a mission and he received his mission call to the Philippines!
Well, as I was leaving the Temple, his family was entering the temple so he could
take out his endowment and we ran into each other! How awesome it was
to see him! President Hollingsworth, my Mission President, was trying
to get all the missionaries outside for pictures so we could leave. I
went to him and asked if I could stay for a minute and talk to him (I
quickly explained who he was). Pres. Hollingworth gave me permission to
stay and visit with him and his family for a bit! It was great! After
that, I had a missionary meeting and I learned a lot from it! A couple
of days later, I had a Zone Training with the Elders in my Zone. I
taught/trained on the importance of daily planning and how to be better
at it.
"Christmas
Christmas time is here" - Alvin and the Chipmunks. It's Christmas-time
baby!!! Elder Ferry and I have been celebrating it up!! We have been
bumpin' to Christmas Music and have been having a blast! I just love
Christmas music! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Merry Christmas to all of you!! This week was jam-packed full of some
super amazing stuff!!
One
day this week we were trying to figure out where were going to go. I
wanted to go an area and Elder Ferry wanted to go to a different area. I
didn't let my pride get in the way and told E. Ferry we would go to his
area. Well, he was definitely inspired! We biked down to the area,
thinking we were going to meet up with a family that the previous
missionaries had been teaching but unfortunately they had moved. As we
were leaving on our bikes, we saw some other guys outside. We stopped
and talked to them and a guy named, Eric, introduced himself. He was
outside a house moving a mattress with his brother-in-law (who happens
to be a member) and we got to talking with both of them and we were able
to get to know Eric a little. We couldn't stay long because we had an
appointment to get to so we asked if we could come back in 30 minutes
and visit some more and they said, "Yes!" Well, we went back... we
ended up teaching him the entire Restoration and about the Book of
Mormon! We gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him to read a section of
it. They happened to be Spanish but spoke English so we were able to
teach them. :) But because they are Spanish and it was close to dinner,
the family made enough for us and invited us to stay and eat! It was
soo good! Elder Ferry and I went back later in the week and taught Eric
some more! He had great questions about the Book of Mormon. We
invited him to church and he is excited to come! So the inspired part
is this... Eric's mother (the one who cooked us dinner) had contacted
the Spanish speaking Elders and left a message asking them to come by
and visit with her son, Eric. Well, the Spanish speaking Elders didn't
get the message because they were at the Temple that day. BUT that was
the same day we biked past their house and stopped to talk with him!
When we went inside his home and introduced ourselves to his mom, the
mom thought we were the Spanish speaking Elders and that we were there
because we had gotten her message! We told her that were not the
Spanish Elders but that we felt inspired to come to this area! The mom
was amazed at how the Lord works miracles! I testify that the Lord
knows each one of us. He hears our prayers and knows our desires! He
answers them- sometimes by using others that are worthy and listening to
the Holy Spirit! Elder Ferry was indeed inspired!
As
missionaries in the Florida Tampa Mission, we are only able to go to
the temple 2 times a year. We go to the Orlando Temple because there is
not a temple in the Tampa Mission boundaries. Well, this week was our
week to go!! I had a great time! The weather was beautiful! I learned a
few more things after I went (the temple is a wonderful place to
receive revelation). It was great to see my mission buddies!! I also
ran into Logan as I was leaving the Temple! Logan is a 19 year old from
Lecanto (I have talked about him before). He loved hanging out with
the missionaries. His best friend was an active member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a good kid but not really
interested in the Gospel or going on a mission. While I was serving in
Lecanto, his desire to serve a mission increased and prepared himself to
go on a mission and he received his mission call to the Philippines!
Well, as I was leaving the Temple, his family was entering the temple so he could
take out his endowment and we ran into each other! How awesome it was
to see him! President Hollingsworth, my Mission President, was trying
to get all the missionaries outside for pictures so we could leave. I
went to him and asked if I could stay for a minute and talk to him (I
quickly explained who he was). Pres. Hollingworth gave me permission to
stay and visit with him and his family for a bit! It was great! After
that, I had a missionary meeting and I learned a lot from it! A couple
of days later, I had a Zone Training with the Elders in my Zone. I
taught/trained on the importance of daily planning and how to be better
at it. 
We
had a lesson with a part-member family this week and we set a baptismal
date with the husband who's name is Steve! He married a recent convert
not too long ago and had met with the previous missionaries a few times.
We have continued to see him and have since invited him to be baptized-
and he said yes! At the conclusion of the lesson, he said the closing
prayer and it was very powerful! He has a lot of love for his new family and
I'm excited to see him grow as a father and a Priesthood Holder!
Okay,
so a crazy miracle that just happened about 1 hour ago!!! Elder
Ferry and I were playing some pool at our apartment complex and these
three kids came up to us. They had been playing basketball in the other
room and they had previously seen us around the complex because they
live here too. E. Ferry and I just have our regular clothes on with
our name tags (no dress pants, white shirt and tie known as proselyting
clothes). Well, they asked, "Are you guys Mormon missionaries?" And we
said, "Yes!" One of the kids then went on to say that he and his family
used to go to our church and they have been wanting to come back! We
talked to him for a sec and then offered to play basketball with all of
them! So we played basketball with Wilfredo, Christopher and Sergio. It
was super fun. Two of them are in High school and the other one looked
like he should have been in high school but was an 8th grader. They
schooled us- we are terrible! haha After playing some basketball they
said they wanted to introduce us to their mom that adopted them! So we
went over to meet her and the other family and they were so awesome! The
mom is Spanish and she was in the middle of making lunch. When she saw
us and after we introduced ourselves, she piled more food on the stove
for us! While we waited for lunch, we visited with the family and got
to know them more! Three of them want to get baptized!!! We will work
on the others but Elder Ferry and I are going to be teaching them and
they are already planning on coming to church this Sunday! We also
invited them to Steve's baptism on January 4th! They are super excited
to learn more and be baptized!! They said they want to be a part of a
church where they can be involved. We told them that was perfect
because there is a lot of involvement in our church! We told them about
Bishops (similar to Pastors) and how they don't get paid. We told them
that as missionaries, we don't get paid. They couldn't believe it!
hahaha They do have some materials they got from the other missionaries
from the past! We are so excited about them!!
Elder
Ferry and I have been practicing basketball because a bunch of
non-members and members get together at the church to play on a regular
basis. It is a good opportunity to talk with people that aren't
members. Well, E. Ferry and I got wrecked the last time we played
because we aren't very good! Elder Lewis, my Zone Leader Companion in
the Ocala Zone, is a legend here! He is a really good bball player.
The
members in the ward have been so great to us! They have definitely
made sure we have not been forgotten or gone hungry or in need of
something during this Christmas week! We got a huge box filled with
candy, ties, food and toiletry items! They have also given us gift
cards to places around town so we can eat. It has been wonderful! They
have been wonderful!! It was really appreciated by both me and
Elder Ferry!
Merry
Christmas to all of you and if you haven't seen "The Christ Child"
video, check it out on LightTheWorld.org! It's super awesome and will
help bring Christ into your Christmas and into your families! Love you
all and have a great week!!!
Elder Cahoon
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| Presents (ties) from a Ward Member |
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