Go big or go to England

 To all you veteran missionaries out there, this may seem obvious, but going up and just talking with people has been incredibly effective for us! Elder Murphy and I have been going out of our way to talk with every person we can, sometimes to the point where we will see someone walking and will drive ahead a little bit, park, and start walking back towards them. It almost always leads to an amazing conservation centered on Jesus Christ.

I was with Elder Tucker all day Saturday because we did exchanges and we were planning on helping our ward mission leader cut this member's grass but then he messaged us and asked if we could do his real quick beforehand so we helped him. When we got to ladies house after we got into like a pilot formation with our three push mowers, it either looked really cool or really silly but it was effective.

I may have mentioned this in the past but the house we live in is MASSIVE. So massive in fact, that the local woodland creatures have decided to join us in it. We currently have had two lizards slip in that we still can't find and just this morning there was a big frog splayed out on the wall in front of our room. We saw the lizards slip in, the frog though? No idea. Needless to say we are washing all of our dishes before we use them even if they look clean.

Last thing, I mailed off all of my visa paperwork and will get my visa sometime in the next month or two and then get shipped off. It is embarrassing to say, but Florida has changed me. I can't stand the cold anymore, England is going to a be a culture shock and a climate one too now.

Thanks for reading,

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - mowing a ladies lawn with Brother Gardner, our ward mission leader. the grass was waist high I kid you not, Florida lawns are crazy here. We had three mowers going and it still took an hour and a half

Pic #2 - switching back after exchanges with Elder chadburn and Elder tucker

Pic #3 - just woke up and caught this frog this morning, he almost hopped into my face a couple times

                                         (Always some "creature" to find in Florida Elder Killian)

Training 101

 My old comp finished his mission and flew home to Germany this week and it was crazy busy getting him to that point. Between packing, lessons, and making it to a training meeting the morning of transfers, we were going on less sleep than we should have. I met the missionary I am training though and things have been going great!!

We started off strong by going and knocking on some doors. It wasn't exactly tracting because they were all people who had previously been contacted by missionaries, but for some of them it had been a LONG time! We had some really amazing convos and got more work done here than had been for awhile. In fact, the very first person we visited we were going to knock on the door but the garage was open and they were hanging out talking in it so we started a conversation with them and they invited us in to come sit down so we had a chance to have a nice impromptu teaching opportunity right off the bat the first day Elder Murphy got it!

In other news we had some cool experience just while out walking, in one case we ran into a group of kids out for a walk, one of them had some really good questions for us and the others were nice but not as interested. Having the chance to just get out and walk around also opened the door for MAD blessings!! I don't know if it is the white shirt and tie or the black name tag, but no matter what we start the conversation talking about, we always end up talking about Christ or the gospel and that is the really amazing thing, the gospel is literally everywhere and tied into everything we do, whether we realize it or not!! The work is going forward here now more than ever and I am doing great!!

Thanks for the support!!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - Pic i snapped on my phone after church, it could be a stock photo I swear

Pic #2 - Elder Freeman and I saying our goodbyes before he went home to Germany

Pic #3 - My new greenie, one hardworking guy

                                                  (perhaps it is a stock photo Elder Killian???)

Teaching in Person!!

 We had a great lesson this week with two of our friends. It reminded me of how I felt going out home-teaching. I always remembered being worried about how the message would go, or I would just feel like dragging my feet. Then, after going out and spending a couple hours praying with, teaching, and serving those people my companion and I were assigned to, I was disappointed that we didn't have more families to visit. It reminds me of Christ and his perspective. Though he had to endure a trial more difficult than anything we can imagine, he had the perspective required to see past it, and see the "why" behind his sacrifice. This week has been great, we taught some, we served alot, and I made leaps and bounds towards making this house more clean!

Till next week!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - service making decorations at one if the nicest family's house

Pic #2 - big ole Spider we saw it bluesprings, it was like as big as a tennis ball

Pic #3 - artistic pic of us all at Gemini springs, 

Pic #4 - me by a palm tree, because they still impress me, even though I hav been here for months

Training!!!

 Big news!! First off, mission president called and asked if I could be a trainer. I meet the new missionary tomorrow!! I also heard news about England. My visa paperwork has started to process and my expected departure date is September 3rd! I don't know how exact that is, but I should be leaving sometime in the Fall!

We have had a crazy week in the sense that my current comp is going home and we could only really schedule appointments for this coming week. It will be really nice to get the new Elder started off with lessons every day so he can practice his teaching skills! There have also been a number of little miracles that have happened, things that I could easily ignore or overlook. I always try and be thankful for all that God does, but I always seem to fall complacent so times like these where I actively search for the miracles are amazing!! It is incredible how often he hears and answers our little prayers if we only think to pray to him!

You guys rock!!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - we went to the Daytona Speedway and took a tour as a district

Pic #2 - we also went to Daytona Beach since three missionaries are going home

Pic #3 - watermelon helmet made made a couple other elders

Instagram Finding Results

 It is hard to believe I have only been in Deltona for two weeks. I had the chance to speak in church yesterday, which means I have been at the pulpit talking every Sunday since I got here (it was fast and testimony week this last Sunday). Bishop Goodenough gave me four days warning for my talk, which doesn't seem like alot, but is easily the most time I have ever had. I feel like the talk went well, I had no choice but to speak slowly because they translate it into Spanish and the translator is a super nice lady who I didn't want to get on the bad side of because I went too fast!

Going forward this week my companion and I are going to go knock the doors of as many people as we can who we don't have the numbers for, but only the addresses. We aren't allowed to go back to full-scale tracking yet, but for now this is the next best thing, especially sincw these people were once at least a little interested, otherwise we wouldn't have their information in the first place! I have recently started spending alot of time on Instagram messaging people via the missionary account I help on. A surprising number of people message out of nowhere sharing information about our church they think we don't know or don't want to know. It has been a great experience in learning more about the Bible and church history since those are most often cited. It has also brought new meaning to loving those who hate you as Christ did to those against him. I am proud to say that so far all of the conversations have ended nicely because these people are really considerate, they simply don't agree with all our doctrine. In the end we at least respect each other and leave an open invite for them if they ever want to learn more. It is amazing how far kindness goes in diffusing situations like that. I am incredibly grateful for this area I am serving in and I look forward to reporting how the door knocking will go next week!

'Till then

-Elder Killian

Pic #1 - walking around downtown DeLand with the district, I am happy to report we were able to give out some passalong cards along the way

Pic #2 - famous graffiti wings every missionary gets a pic with

Pic #3 - a friend I had to leave behind in Rockledge, last I saw him he was coming to church weekly, amazing guy though who is made of some tough stuff

Birmingham, England about to welcome Elder Killian

 Elder Desmond Killian finally got the notification on what he has been waiting for.  HE LOVES the people in Florida but is excited to serve those in Birmingham, England,

Here is the email that was sent to Desmond and I his brother Kody got the information to me ahead of everyone else!!

Tropical Storm Elsa...

 It has been a good week over here. We started off strong with service over at Blue Springs. Elder Freeman and myself were shoveling sand that had spilled out from the jungle onto the sidewalk and boardwalk. It was four inches or so in some places and moldy at the bottom. It was pretty fun and we had loads of people come ask us questions as though we worked there, we didn't correct them though, we just answered the questions. We also had a few people say thank you for what we were doing and one lady just said, "It will all come back next time it rains." I thought it was an interesting comment. Was there any point to cleaning the sidewalks if they were going to get dirty again? I thought about it for awhile and I think the benefit comes from all the people who are going to walk on them between now and when it gets dirty again, and in the fact that it will be much easier to shovel off in the future. It made me think of repentance and how much easier it is to repent when we do so often. We threw the sand as far off the path as we could so much of it won't be coming back. And when we do it again we will throw the sand as far as possible again. The lady was nice, she just knows how often it rains in Florida and wants to tell us too I guess, haha.

In other news, my comp is quarantined so therefore I am as well, it won't be for long though. He is finishing his mission next week. I honestly think I will stay in Deltona until I can go to England so I will have another comp here most likely. I am praying he will be Spanish speaking because this area needs it and I also talked to President Ashcraft about it. Also, Hurricane Elsa was demoted to Tropical Storm Elsa so we aren't evacuating or anything. We are just going to be careful on Tuesday. It is a good thing we didn't have to evacuate either because we got a flat tire at the service project where we came in contact with a COVID positive person. It  in the ninth flat I have gotten in my life. The Sisters said we had to call roadside assistance according to mission rules but we called the vehicle coordinator and he told us just to change it so I appreciate the many other times in my life where I learned and practiced how to. Either way, we still have the donut on because we can't get the tire fixed so evacuating would have been rough.

Love you all!!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - I could count the springs each night as they were digging into my back with my old mattress, so imagine my surprise when I find a new one sitting in a closest unused after four weeks

Pic #2 - I forgot tomention, at the service where we got a flat it was pouring BUCKETS, we just worked through it though since the service was important 

Pic #3 - construction at blue springs, when they were actively working the barge was tipping and swaying like mad, it was stressful to watch 

Something to Think About!!!

 

This was taken from Facebook and the Instagram for the Central Florida Mission where Desmond is currently serving.  The Spirit really guides and directs Elder Killian.

Meeting the President..

 Hello everyone!! We had interviews with President Ashcraft, which went really well. We have been doing them every other transfer (six weeks), but we may start going back to how it normally is where we have them every transfer!

Also! Every week we set goals that we can pray about and try an accomplish and for the past two weeks, right as the week is about to end and I seem to have fallen short, opportunities have come up where I am able to do what I set out to do. This week for example, I wanted to find a new person by contacting them in person somewhere out in public. Saturday rolled around and I was thinking I would have no luck until a ward member texted asking if we could go check up on one of their friends. We went to the house and ended up talking with someone there and we were able to get their number and start teaching them! It is amazing how God paves the way after we show the willingness to try. Miracles happen when we continue to do our best long after would normally have stopped and I believe that is because it takes true faith to continue!

As far as other stuff goes, my companion heads home in two weeks so I need not wonder if I will be getting a new one, and England is letting missionaries back in so any day I could recieve the news as well, but honestly, I want to serve here for another month and then head over! I am finally learning names and starting to try and make a difference!!

Stay safe!!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - cover for a reel we had to post on Instagram, we have actually seen alot of success as people want to learn more about seeing these little videos

Pic #2 - trash pick up with Elder lagilagi, the bears at Blue Springs do a number on these bags so we picked it all up, I should have taken an after Pic

Pic #3 - getting ready to film a little video lesson to send over Instagram