Zone Conference With Elder Zwick and His Wife

Jacksonville South Zone Conference With Elder Zwick

 Front Row: Sisters Wallentine, Cline, Sister and President Craig, Elder and Sister Zwick, Elders Barley, Hernandez, Sisters Hurst, McCann
Second Row: Elder Walt, Sisters Shumway, Nielsen, Phelon, Blotter, Davidson, Williams, Beacham, Hale, Divis, Elders Tibbits, Cockrell
Back Row: Andrade, Lewis, Jones, Roberts, Ivins, Albertson, Jenkins, Greenlaw, Sullivan, Johnson, Smedley

Are y'all excited about Thanksgiving?

Hello everyone!

Aren't y'all excited about Thanksgiving? I know I am because we have multiple dinners planned and promised leftovers coming our way too!

Some of the highlights for this week: Brannon Mullins and his family came to church together for the first time EVER! Brannon fit in so well. If we hadn't announced to everyone that he was getting baptized on the 14th, everyone would have assumed he had been a member for years! Through his interest and now found love in the gospel, he is helping to reactive his Father who was converted about 5 years ago or so. He's an awesome guy! He used to live in California and is good friends with Led Zepplin and other famous rock stars! By the way, did I tell y'all that Brannon asked me to baptize him? I'm so excited! This is the first time ever having the opportunity! I can't wait!

We found a few new golden investigator this week whose name is Gary Gast. He has a beautiful river side property with multiple boats and a house built by himself! He's a devoted Baptist, but interested in comparing the Bible with the Book of Mormon. We also met a woman named Daphne awhile back. She is reading the Book of Mormon and said she has had the missionaries and going to church heavily on her mind. She is truly one prepared daughter of God. She has had many surgeries and sicknesses in her life that has brought her close to God. She has a wonderful family too. She loved the Lord. We felt prompted to go visit her after appointments falling through the past few weeks. She said we were an answer to her prayers as we caught her painting her garage all by herself feeling overwhelmed. So we ripped off our ties, pulled up our long sleeves and got painting! She could not believe how willing we were to serve her even in our white shirts and ties. She committed to read the Book of Mormon once more and to schedule another time to talk about the Restoration. She is such a wonderful woman, promising that she would give us Thanksgiving leftovers, sweatshirts to wear if ever cold outside, and drinks whenever were in the neighborhood.

The Lord truly is preparing his children to hear his gospel. I am so grateful to be a part of this work and to see hearts softened and lives changed by our heavenly Father.

Have a great Thanksgiving y'all! Til next time!

Wintertime in Florida.. 60 degrees!

Hello everyone! 

It's wintertime here in Florida at a whopping 60 degrees! It's freezing! ha ha. Just kidding, people look at us weird because were still riding our bikes with short sleeves when people are bundled up in long pants and hoodies! Okay fine, there was a few cold days of around 40 but still nothing compared to home in Utah.

Getting a flu shot!

This week has had its ups and downs. We had the wonderful opportunity of having a Zone Conference with President and Sister Craig. They are truly incredible! It was a glorious chance to see all of the other missionaries and to be spiritually enlightened. Spiritually exhausted I should say. After 8 hours of training and a near death experience with a needle and flu shot, there is so much to retain and to apply to our work. It reminds me of a story in 3 Nephi when Christ visits the people in America and tells them to retire to their homes after he has taught them many things. Ponder and pray about them and then visit him once more to learn the next day. Except for us as missionaries, we don't go back and learn again, we go apply what we learned in our own teaching! How great is that! 

We still have our progressing investigators Brannon Mullins and Marcus. Marcus was at church with his friends but sadly Brannon wasn't able to make it. He didn't sleep at all the night before and wasn't feeling good. We then received a text that night that he was in the ER because of some severe chest pains. We were able to go give him a blessing at the hospital. Brannon has now recognized the spirit more frequently in his life as he has been praying and reading to find out that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. He said that he has felt at peace and found comfort in his reading. From someone considering himself being Pagan, these are leaps and bounds! His testimony of his Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ are growing tremendously. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity we have to be online missionaries. I've been teaching a few people that I met back in Gainesville. One happens to be James, a man who worked at Taco Bell when we use to go there almost everyday and get food! It's amazing how our ability to share the gospel has grown with modern technology. Let us all use these to our advantage in sharing the gospel with our friends and less active or non member family! Just a simple post of a quote or phrase might make somebodies day!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve here in the Florida Jacksonville Mission, the best mission in the world. My companion and I are making the work fun and exciting and I wouldn't want to be doing anything different with my life at this time. 

Love y'all so much! Til next week!

Elder Greenlaw

Elder Greenlaw and Elder J Johnson

Greatings Earthlings,

This is captain H. Greenlaw from the Fleming Island Starfighter. We have been out 8 months now and no sign of life. But we did see a big gator scurry away into a black hole. It has been a rough flight, we have had engine failures and explosions in the undercarriage. We have searched a few abandoned ships but no sighting of elect investigators. Better luck next time Houston... 
Starfighter out.

God is Merciful

Hello family and friends!

This week God has been very merciful. It has truly been an answer to my prayers for awhile now. We found four new solid investigators this week! We've had a challenge by other zones to see how many new investigators we can get in 1 week. Its on!! 

The greatest thing that happened to us this last week was with a part member named Brannon Mullins. He's in his mid twenties and both of his parents are converts of about 5 years. Brannon isn't your typical kid, very outgoing and can be very intimidating at first. When I first walked into their home, we walked up to me with a foot long knife in his hand. Apparently this is what he does to try and "break in" all of the new missionaries. Some time passed and then we had the opportunity to go out to lunch with him. Out of the blue he asks, "So why are you serving a mission anyway?"  For a missionary, this is probably the most thrilling question you could ever be asked. Right there in Dairy Queen with little kids running around screaming and a biker gang sitting next to us, I told him my life story. I told him how I wasn't the typical "mormon kid" growing up. I was a handful! I was raised going to church every Sunday and all, but when I got into high school I wanted to rebel and have a good time! Straying from the principles taught in church and not ever having a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father. I can go on for days but I'll skip to the chase, I later came to a certain point in my life where I was not happy. I had disappointed my family, my friends, and I was alone. Forced to make a decision in my life whether to change what I was doing and find true lasting happiness, or live rebelliously and who knows where I would be right now. Luckily I made the right decision and found Christ! I had truly experienced the Atonement for the first time in my life. I came to know that I truly had a Father in Heaven who loves me and wants the best for me. If we call to him for help, he will listen. I then bore testimony that I know that God and Jesus Christ live, The Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith is a prophet. I challenged him to read and pray to know the truth for himself. Even in Dairy Queen, the spirit was very strong and we all felt it. I honestly can't remember everything I said to him that night because the Lord GAVE me the words to speak. Words that I never knew I had. It was an incredible experience. Since then we have met with him 4-5 times. He has finished the first book of Nephi, planning on going to church this next Sunday, which has only happened once in his life, and we are noticing a physical change in him. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. It has truly been a remarkable experience and nothing short of a miracle. 

We have also been working with a 15 year old black kid who's name is Marcus. He's best friends with two kids in the ward and he's been coming to church with them every week for the past 4 months and he has said that he wants to hear the discussions from us. What a miracle! 

Yesterday Elder Johnson and I both received such powerful blessing from the Bishop and 1st Counselor. What inspired men they are for helping us press on in this work. Its not easy, but if it were, it wouldn't be as rewarding. I know that this is the Lord's work and he will be with us every step of the way. If we have faith and trust in him, he shall direct our paths! Proverbs 3:5-6 (The greatest scripture there is) 

Until next time,

Elder Greenlaw

Riding bikes in Florida. 

Fighting for the Lord. 

St. John's River, Florida