Across the Pond!!!

 

                                                             Birmingham, England

Better Than We Found It!!

 Another great week here in Deltona! Transfers happen this Tuesday but Elder Murphy and I are staying together. They are taking the one companionship of sisters we have out of this area and replacing it with elders though, so now it is an elders only area! We are actually ward sharing with the sisters now so they have an apartment and we have a separate house. Now that it will only be elders here they may consolidate us all into one house, we will have to wait and see!

We had plenty of exciting opportunities to find and teach this week. We once again struggled helping our friends get to church but this time our friend Francisco walked in just in time to partake of the sacrament, otherwise we would have had no one there. We are going to shift our focus this week to working with the ward more. The Deltona ward has alot of amazing members. When they come and introduce themselves to the people we are teaching, or volunteer to join us with lessons, the work goes so much better. So many people don't realize that they are welcome and wanted at church. When the invite comes from us missionaries, no matter how sincere it is, it still may seem like we are still just "doing our job". So when the invite comes from another member of the community, it seems far more genuine! So I would challenge all of you to talk with the missionaries this week and see if they have a lesson you could sit in on. Your testimony has the ability to work miracles if you share it!

Keep in touch,

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - a portable air filter since ours was apparently super nasty. The temporary one is nice, but way loud

Pic #2 - Elder Murphy and myself on our way to go grocery shopping this P-day, we went to Publix

Pic #3 - this is one way we teach the plan of salvation or the plan of "love"

Elder Killian's Weekly Letter

 The work is going SUPER well here in Deltona! This week we were really blessed as we went about finding people who were interested in deepening their faith in God, we do need to work on inviting people to church however as sadly, no one we invited showed up.

We had one really cool encounter where we had a lesson planned with a nice gentleman, only he didn't answer the door. We decided to go and introduce ourselves to a lady who lived nearby who had requested a missionary visit literally MONTHS ago. We knocked and she answered her door and we had an amazing conversation about her recent attempts to have God in her and her family's lives once again. She frequently works out of town and we were incredibly lucky to have had the chance to get to talk to her as she was leaving for Louisiana the next day! We got her number though and are coordinating a visit.

It is amazing how God always has a plan, we don't need to worry about if we are succeeding or failing, only if we are trying. Past that point He will always take care of the rest! The transfer ends next week as well. I am thinking I will stay with Elder Murphy here in Deltona since he is only half way through his training. I love Deltona though and want to be here as long as I can.

Thanks everyone!!

Elder Desmond Killian

Pic #1 - ice cream with the district, it is apparently a super well known spot just called Deltona Ice Cream

Pic #2 - walking around Lake Ashby, I like the alligator and snake sign almost as much as the no alcohol one

Pic #3 - another Pic at lake Ashby, we didn't see any crocs but we looked 

Strait and Narrow

 Our friend Daniel got baptized!! It was an amazing experience! We did have to work around a couple obstacles with social distancing and only 10 people max at the baptism, but there was some tender mercies that happened that made everything work out right at the last minute. His brother came along to support him and the next day atchurch everyone was asking him "when is your baptism" or just directly telling him they wanted to be there when he was baptized! They are both really cool guys and we are going to keep meeting with them regularly!

Our mission also produces monthly devotionals over Facebook and their most recent one premiered yesterday at 7. It was easily my favorite so far. We were encouraged to watch it with one of the friends we are teaching and for awhile it seemed like all the ones we invited weren't going to show, but at the last minute our friend Angel showed up. He is about to graduate high school but he has been on a chapel tour with us, attended Daniel's baptism, and now also watched a devotional with us. So we are meeting with him and his family! He said they are all interested in being baptized!

Of course, I also need to address the England situation. Basically any day now I could recieve word that my visa in approved and within days be shipped out. At this point, Elder Murphy and I have really given Deltona a jumpstart so it would be hard to go, I wouldn't mind another couple weeks here but whatever is meant meant happen will happen!

Best regards!!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - Elder Murphy and I right after the baptism, we celebrated with some toast

Pic #2 - us watching the Facebook devotional on a members laptop, it was great, you should watch it too on the disciples of Jesus Christ in Central Florida page

Pic #3 - I didn't take enough pics this week so enjoy this one one me when I was only a week out in the field

Lizards are like Mice

 Hey everyone, this week we saw some miracles, did some service, and ate way more food than we should have.

The other night we were asked if we could go and be in the building when the relief society were doing their activity because they always want to have priesthood holders in the building for safety reasons. As we were sitting in the foyer messaging people we want to teach over Facebook, the relief society president came in asking if either of us spoke Spanish. Well, my trainee was learning French in preparation for France and I had a solid 1 semester of high-school Spanish under my belt so we said "no". She told us one of the relief society sisters had brought her husband along who only speaks Spanish and he was just sitting in a corner waiting for his wife. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Elder Murphy and I decided to give it a shot and one hour later and we had made a new friend named Santiago!

Even though he only spoke about ten words total in English, and we only spoke maybe a dozen ones in Spanish, we learned all about his Jobe as a teacher and then a lawyer, his life in the Dominican Republic, and also his past times coming to church! It isn't generally how people say they experienced the gift of tongues but I know it was important we talked to him that day. We are also going back to teach him (this time with a member to translate)!

Sincerely,

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - made 19,880 calories worth of cookies to deliver to people

Pic #2 - we wanted to eat healthy so we started by eating the two pies in our fridge in a single sitting

Pic #3 - all the Deltona missionaries doing our new finding activity, drive through prayer