I'm Averaging One Comp Per Transfer....

 Every now and again as missionaries we are told to "sharpen our axes" so that when we go to work we can be even more effective with our time. The main thing we have done to prepare this week is completely go through and clean our Area Book, which helps us keep track of our lessons and people. That took all week, but it really paid off because we taught more lessons this week than I have ever before. I have been in Rockledge my entire mission so far and the people here are really amazing and there are many more that we have been teaching the gospel and inviting to come to church!

With this being my first area I was trained here and now I am leading the area. It has its perks, I get to drive now (I didn't realize I would miss it so much), and I have really gotten to know the place and the people well. I am not sure how long I will he here but there is a very good possibility it will be until I go to England, either way though I don't mind! There is always work to be done no matter where you serve.

I also got a new comp this week named Elder Petersen. My last one, Elder Christensen was really awesome but sadly is on his way home. I really enjoying mixing things up because there is definitely much to learn from each different person I teach alongside and no two have been even remotely similar. It is the same in life though, no two experiences will ever be the same so we just need to do our best to seek the good!

I'm grateful for all your support!!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - my last pic with elder christensen

Pic #2 - first time behind the wheel in months, it was a good day

Pic #3 - bowling with the district on P-day, I have to practice for college

You win some, You lose some.....

 We had some troubles this week but they were far outweighed by miracles! Though some plans fell through and people stopped responding when we really needed them too, my companion and I have had numerous other doors open and blessings present themselves! It is amazing how when we work hard to find people we do find them...just not through the avenue in which we were looking. For example, we have this super amazing member (one of many), who an investigator saw while watching church on zoom and asked about. The member and the investigator have since been in touch and have become real close friends and now we have the chance to finally meet this investigator. We had been trying for three months with no luck until now!

Members have a massive impact on how the work progresses! Missionaries pray about them, for them, and with them continually. In all honesty, we also brag about them alot too! Especially here in Rockledge!

In other news, my companion Elder Shepard just started his eighth month here and is finally be transferred out tomorrow so I have a new companion! I'll keep you posted! I am really excited to meet him, but also sorry to see Elder Shepard go!

Pic #1 - my comp and I on a video call with the sister-training-leaders

Pic #2 - service project we did! we worked fast

Pic #3 - my comp and I during our comp study, we just chill on a couch by the pool, we definitely dont swim (check out the lizard too)

The Field is White...

 One of the greatest attributes I have learned during my mission, though I have only served for about four months, is patience. For these first two transfers my companion and myself have spent most of our time trying to find people through a multitude of methods. We had some high and lows with that but nothing really happened until just recently! Some Sisters down in Port Saint John, about 30 minutes away, called us with a referral who I may have already mentioned. This guy is so fantastic though! His name is Corey and I have never met a person so ready to be baptized! In many ways he remind me of my brother Mitch, who is serving in Oregon right now! Both of them have amazing testimonies they acquired through experience and faith! With us finding Corey, EVERYTHING has started happening! They say when it rains it pours and that couldn't be more true now! People who have ghosted us started showing more interest, we have service opportunities with potential new people filling our weeks, and referrals have been flying in! It is amazing how rewarding our missionary efforts have been! Even if it takes awhile, prayers are answered!

In other news, the weather here has been really great! I actually got a little sunburned today. It is really funny, people say that winter has finally ended here but honestly,  I don't recall it ever starting. Either way! Things have been great here, I love to here about how things are back in Idaho (or in the missions my friends who read these are in) so keep me updated!

Love you all!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - elder shepard and myself after leaving a YSA activity at the beach that we visited to help a recent convert

Pic #2 - matching sweatshirts for P-day

Pic #3 - a lizard that got caught in the door, he has been there a LONG time

Facebook Moments that truly make your think and shows Elder Killian's Testimony!!!

 

Pictures with comments by Aunt Wendi!!!!!!

 Elder Killian shares some pictures from his mission.  Because there are limited notes from Elder Killian on the pictures.  As his Aunt I will add in where necessary!!!

                                                 Real Men wear pink from Ron Jon surf shop!!!

Missionaries need a chance to enjoy the local area and it looks like Desmond is sporting his new hair cute.

                       "Hanging" Loose and just enjoying what life throws their way as missionaries/

Desmond overseeing the grilling of the beef or maybe because it has warmed up in Florida it may be "Gator Burger's"!!!

                                             The Sisters and the Elders enjoying a little snack!!!

Now looking close...there has been an encouragement to possibly eat all the snakes dumped down in Florida so.........."snake burgers".

I am guessing there is a Gator out in the water look at all the people watching and taking a picture!!

                                 When in doubt pizza is ALWAYS a GREAT meal for missionaries!!!

                                                    Desmond cooking up some yummy food!!

It Finally Happened!!

 Apparently we have a cold front moving in soon, which back home certainly wasn't fun news. Here in Rockledge though, it pretty much means I can finally get some solid use out of all the long sleeve shirts I bought for England! Speaking of weather, I finally got to see some legit "Florida rain" and it is pretty gnarly, it comes in massive sheets and builds up so fast that I finally understand why the entire state has an excellent drainage system on literally every road!

When it comes to the work itself, I have some great news! But I am first going to tell you about zone conference so I can build some suspense I guess. For those who may be unaware, zone conference is a massive gathering of every missionary in the zone (we still follow COVID precautions though) where we receive training from the AP's and President Ashcraft and his wife. It goes on for several hours so I will just give a highlight. The AP's gave a training where they took a tape measure and extended it to 100 inches where each inch represented a year in a person's lifespan. The had someone go and pinch the 18 and 20 inch marks to show just how short our missions are in the grand scheme of things, it was really cool!

Anyway, the really cool thing that happened was the sisters over in Port Saint John called about a week ago saying they may have a person who we can teach that they found but that lives in our area. A couple days later we have an appointment to meet with this guy and in the first ten minutes he is just like, "What do I have to do to get baptized?" Apparently he ghosted the sisters for a couple weeks to pray and ponder and he received a testimony that it is what he has to do! We put him on date for March 6th and we will be teaching him again soon! So even if we didn't find him ourselves, we have been trying very hard and the Zone Leaders said that the Lord sees our efforts and blesses us!

I love talking with you guys!

Elder Killian

Pic #1 - photo shoot at a practically abandoned park we were filming at the assist in our finding efforts

Pic #2 - we did some exchanges and so I went with Elder Chadburn, he is a cool dude

Pic #3 - the ocean got me good when my back was turned, we are allowed to wade in up to our knees but a wave hit me

Fun Pictures of the past week sent to his Mom

Here are some fun pictures that Desmond sent to his Mom.  I do not know all of the context behind them..BUT we know that the "meme" was made by one of the Sister's in the mission.