Time is flying by..

March 22, 2013

Hello Everyone!

Time is just flying by here in Florida! Its crazy to think that I'm half way done with my training and next week I won't be called a "Greenie" anymore! I feel like I still have so much more to learn.. 

Some of the highlights for this week started when we took another visit to the Hospital to go give a blessing. As we were walking in, we came across a small, very skinny, black woman walking with two little children. The reason we noticed her was because she was in her hospital gown that was flopping in the wind. She had socks on her feet and she was pulling her metal rod with the water bag attached to it. It was the weirdest thing! We were approaching the Hospital, and we found a wheel chair that had been left out in the middle of nowhere, which we assumed was hers. So when we walked to the front desk we were going to tell the workers that there was a suspicious woman out there, but we got beat by someone who was telling them the same story! They all immediately stop what they were doing and called security! ha ha. That woman was ESCAPING!!! 

A few months before I had come out, Elder Jenkins baptized a black man named Darius Stackhouse. Nicest man ever! He had been visited by fourteen sets of missionaries over a span of 7 years and after the first time Jenkins met him, he invited him to be baptized, and he said yes! Before, he was a Marijuana dealer and was smoking like 10 fat blunts a day. He has an amazing testimony now! Just this last week we found out that we had relapsed big time. We could obviously tell that something was wrong with him. He and his wife finally confessed to us, and Elder Jenkins was just devastated. He knew that the reason why he came to Gainesville was to meet Darius, and now the reason he is still here is to continue to help him. I can relate to him a lot with my past and so we are creating a plan for him to quit again. We are meeting with him EVERYDAY this week in order to keep him straight. We are also going to be focusing on reactivating members this week too. For ward conference, we had a huge turn out of less actives show up! Miracles are happening each and everyday!

Cant wait to talk to Y'all next week! 

Love,

Elder Greenlaw

In Elder Greenlaw's email to me, he said that his companion's back is doing much better. They got a new bishop this past Sunday and that was hard. He feels like there have been a lot of changes in his life lately. He also said he receives a few letters here and there throughout the week, but they can't read or write them until P-day. Its one of the hardest rules to keep. His companion and him are trying to be EXACTLY obedient. Please be patient with him. He will write each of you when he can. 

Beast Feast

March 15, 2013

Hello everyone!

A lot of people are wondering what I eat down here in the south, and well, I sure had the full experience this week!

We got permission to leave our area and go to the BEAST FEAST. This is where all of the rednecks come together and deep fry every animal they can find. OOOOOHHHH MMMYYY GOOOODNNEEESSS... of course I had to try one of each right!? There were so many different meats I had to write them all down. I ate quail, duck, rabbit, squirrel, frog legs, wild turkey, chicken, BBQ pork, BBQ beef, venison, gator, pheasant, raccoon, armadillo, wild hog (the picture that I have of a man smoking something on the grill has an interesting story. Story behind that one is the man was turkey hunting that morning and came across a hog. He said, "Well I guess I'll cook that one up to! You can't get any more fresh than that!"  Last but not least crawfish! The best tasting ones were crawfish, gator tail, frog legs, and the ribs. The only one  that was truly disgusting was the armadillo. It is a very fatty, stringy meat... Ugh gross. I ate it anyway though!! About an hour after we had gorged ourselves will this road kill, I mean food, we had a dinner appointment with the man that we dedicated his wife's grave last week. Can you guess where he took us? Yes..... a BBQ restaurant. Elder Jenkins and I were DYING! We had to force ourselves to eat another pound of ribs and another pound of sausage. We made the mistake of having him order for us because we thought that he would order very little like last time because he's a brittle old man but NOOOO. He told the waitress that we didn't need a to go box because we were going to finish everything! He just sat there and watched us eat! We were both on the verge of throwing it up. It was terrible.

I actually got sick two days later! not sure if it was from the food, or from giving a really sick lady a blessing.... 

We got a car!! This is a huge blessing! Good thing the Zone leaders love us and worked there magic because the hot season is coming very soon. As much as I would love to ride a bike in the dead of summer here in Florida, a car will definitely be amazing. Its a 2010 Ford Fusion. Very nice right!? 

The Gainesville area, is one of hardest areas in the mission, so I hear. I love everything about it! The people are great, the neighborhoods are somewhat decent, and we have a lot of great restaurants. Knock offs of Cafe Rio, but hey I'm not complaining! The people are super friendly, but as soon as we bring up religion they say they aren't interested because they are a part of a church just down the road. The main street in Gainesville has about 100 churches on it. ha ha. So we are trying the best we can! Our entire mission did a fast this last Sunday for our investigators, and we have already seen many miracles wrought from it. Anyway, Love you all and I'll talk to you next week.

Love,

Elder Greenlaw

P-day!

March 9, 2013

Hello Everyone! 

Thank you for your letters and emails I love getting them! Today's P-day has been absolutely crazy! We got special permission to drive 2 hours outside of our area and dedicate a burial sight. The woman who died was a recent convert and her husband, who drove us, was not a member. We had plenty of time to chat with him about missionary work and how families can be together forever. He recently had a stroke and so half his body is partially paralyzed, and so he was stomping on the peddle and swerving all over the place, I though I was going to die! I have never seen such a scarier driver in my life. Even you mom. ;) So things are just weird right now. We have P-day again tomorrow because we haven't had enough time to do laundry and grocery shop.

This week has been very very difficult. Earlier in the week my companion severely hurt his lower back. A ward chiropractor has been coming every night to work on him, but he could barely sit and stand, let alone ride a bike. Wednesday night we took a 2 hour walk to the church. It was not fun. Last week we found a family to teach and total we had 6 baptism dates set for April 27th. As of Sunday, we have zero. We tried our best to still visit people and get them to General Conference, but everyone fell through. Its definitely been a twiddle my thumbs kind of week... My companion can't do anything, which means I can't either. I did go on a trade off with missionaries in our district. I definitely will never take for granted the home I live in now because theirs is in the ghetto, in a small beat up home where termites and cock roaches are seen! I also slept on a shaky bunk bed, reminded me a lot of my childhood. We went out into a trailer park and taught some people. I INSTANTLY fell in love with these people here for some reason. Maybe because they live in a trailer park and are more humble I don't know. Apparently I clicked with a man that these other missionaries couldn't stand. Funny how that works. So that was my best day this week. 

Usually during the week, members sign up 5-6 times to feed us. This week, we had two. That means more frozen pizzas and burritos! Till next time.

Love, 

Elder Greenlaw

Arriving in Florida

Here are some more pictures Elder Greenlaw just sent. (March 19-29, 2013)

First area, Gainesville Florida. Here are a few pictures of Elder Greenlaw's apartment. 

Elder Greenlaw's new companion and trainer, Elder Jenkins. Taking the job as trainer seriously. 

The missionary part. Elder Greenlaw following mission rules. This is a new look for him. 

Out of all the missionaries sent to Jacksonville, Elder Greenlaw was the only one assigned to ride a bike. Here is a picture of his new ride. 

Elder Greenlaw with an investigator. 

First rain storm in Florida. 

MTC Pictures

Here are some pictures that Elder Greenlaw just sent to us.

MTC - Missionary Training Center (March 6-19, 2013)

MTC Missionary Map - Going to the Florida, Jacksonville Mission

Elders going to the Florida, Jacksonville Mission

Sisters going to the Florida, Jacksonville Mission

Florida, Jacksonville Missionaries at the Provo Temple

A Cheesy Moment with Elder Greenlaw's Zone

MTC Dorm Room

Elder Zeke on Elder Greenlaw's Bed. Check out the pillow case everyone signed for him. Love it!

Elder Greenlaw's MTC companions, Elder Ciavardini and Elder Williams

Missionary Poses

Class time

MTC Food

Elder Ciavardini getting a hair cut at the MTC. 

Laundry Day

Elder Williams leaving for the airport. Going to Florida today!

Sunny Florida

April 1, 2013

Hello Everyone!

It's still sunny in Florida, and the field is white and ready to be harvested! A lot of things have happened this past week, where do I even start?

Early this week, my companion and I were doing the typical morning study and we got a phone call from a man who asked us if we could stop by the hospice. (The hospital where people are sent to die) His mother was just sent there after a fall where she broke her shoulder. She also was fighting cancer in her liver. The doctors told her she had a few days to live, and she wanted a blessing. You could tell that she was experiencing a lot of pain. When we arrived, she lit up. It made our day and confirmed to us why exactly we are here. We are here to see the joy the gospel brings to people and to realize how lucky we are to witness it time and time again.

That same day, we were having our weekly annual Book of Mormon study with investigators, less actives, and missionaries, when half way through the lesson, Elder Jenkins and I stopped the whole discussion and followed the spirit by reading somewhere completely different. It ended up touching one investigator named Gabe, and we talked to him afterwards, and he agreed to be baptized on April 27th! I didn't even get to finish my invitation to him before he cut me off and said yes!! Yes, I will be baptized! It was amazing.

Later that week, we were scheduled to visit a less active member and she didn't answer. We were pretty bummed. We decided to just walk around the neighborhood, and we ran into a couple named John and Andrea. They told us they had just moved here and were looking for a church! So of course, we were meant to meet them that day! We had a wonderful lesson and committed them along with two others in the house to be baptized on the 27th. That makes a total of six baptisms this month! Six is higher than our whole district's goal for the last month. Things were going very well until Sunday came around. We were expecting 9 people to show up, which is a lot for this area, but only one showed. At first it was discouraging, but we know that everything happens for a reason. We also learned that our goals are very high. We can only do so much with these people, and there is a difference between what we want to happen and what the Lord wants.

Just like in Alma 32, faith is like a seed that grows over time. We have a choice to accept it or not. We as missionaries, are only here to plant that seed and watch it grow in people. We are not converting people, the spirit is. Every contact we have counts, and even though they might not get baptized right away, they come one step closer to God.

The church is true, and I continue to grow from all my experiences! Talk to you next week!

With love,
Elder Greenlaw