Catching up on the last few missionary emails from Erik

AUGUST 17
NOT MUCH TO SAY, BUT I GOT LOTS OF PICS

Hey so we haven't had any luck this week with Mubashir or Barbara. We found a new part-member family that were going to start working with their wife and kid that aren't members. They seem really interested so I think we might put them on date soon. 

We also got tons of cool pictures. We got to pick up trash off the path at the state park we do service at, so we got to go out where visitors aren't allowed. We were able to get right next to a manatee that just had a baby a few days earlier and get some cool pics when most people would have to watch them from like 100 feet away.

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AUGUST 24
I can't believe I have 1 week left. It's crazy that it's actually happening. This week I'll be busy packing and doing all the things I need to do to to prepare to leave. Today we're taking the train down to Orlando because I never had a p-day in Orlando my whole mission so we're going to see the sights. 

Mubashir and Barbara both haven't been responsive this week which was a huge bummer. I think they just need some time. So we've mostly just been meeting with members. 

Also Go Jazz! 

Also a week before I leave they finally approved a photo editing app, so I spiced up the landscape pic from last week. I just wish we had it earlier.

Lots of missionary emails

 I got just a little behind . . . 

July 20
Yeah Mubashir!

So last week I talked about teaching a guy named Mubashir, and how we hoped to set a baptismal date with him this week. Our lessons with him went even better than we had planned, and he now is super excited to get baptized next month. 
We had a lesson with him yesterday and we had committed him to read Alma 32 at the end of our previous lesson. So we started yesterday with him telling us all the things he learned. His comprehension of the things he reads and of the things we teach is crazy. He explained like 10 different insights he got from Alma 32 and understood everything perfectly. I was amazed with him. He is so awesome. 

We also had a lesson with Barbara again his week. She hadn't responded to us for a few weeks, but we finally had another lesson and it went super well. She still wants to be baptized as well and wants to work towards that with us. So we had a couple good breakthroughs this week.

 
I've also been staying in really good contact with some people I was teaching in Sanford and Rockledge. A lady named KK is working to be baptized before I come home in September so I can go to it. She had a big holdup that is getting resolved finally in August. So basically this week we talked about getting baptized with 3 different people. August could be a really good month. 

I also found out some big news this week. I'll be returning home on September 1st, 3 weeks earlier than my original return date. We decided it would be more important to return and see my brother before his mission and so I can be home with him while he attends the MTC from home. My goal is to finish strong and hopefully help these people get baptized before I return.

 
That's all for this week. I'll throw some pics in at the bottom from pickleball. It's been fun recording our games and getting some action shots.

July 27
🤪

Hey guys it's been another good week. Nothing too crazy happened. We had lessons with both Mubashir and Barbara and they're both doing well. 

We also got to do service twice at a state park here and I got some cool pics. We saw a huge alligator, a snake and some massive spiders there. For our actual service we got to clean out a house they have there that was built in the 1800s that they give people tours of. We spent a few hours sweeping and wiping down everything to make it look nice again. We're going to be doing finishing up with it this week. It was a fun time. 

Also we are now allowed to have member meals again, so one of my recent converts from Sanford took us to lunch at Red Robin and we had a blast. It was nice to see him again because we were super tight. Also I forgot how amazing red Robin is. It was the best meal I've had in months. 

August 3

2 On Date!

So a hurricane came right by us this morning, but it was small enough and far enough off the coast that we weren't affected by it. This week we helped Mubashir get ready for his baptism in two weeks. We also set a baptismal date with Barbara. 

Mubashir has been taught everything now except for a few commandments, so we just need to plan his baptism and finish teaching those and he'll be ready to go. We're super excited for him. 

Barbara finally has a baptismal date as well. She's shooting for September 26th. She has some things holding her back currently, but we set some goals and made a plan for her to overcome those obstacles. Hopefully things will go more quickly now that we have a goal we're shooting for. 

 We also had zone conference in person this week for the first time since March. It was nice to see some other people that I haven't seen in months. 

It was a really good week overall. It's crazy to think I only have four left. I'll do my best to make the most of them. 

Elder Leary

Pics:

There was a really cool sunset while we were playing pickleball. 

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings! (There just so happened to be a Jazz game on😏) 

I made the whole district matching ties and we got a sick picture. 

August 10

Final Transfer!

We had some sad news this week. Mubashir is moving away for a month which means I'll miss his baptism. Also Barbara was sick all week, so no progress there. I've had lots of time to sit and think though. 

I've been trying my best to prepare to return home, my goal this week is to try to solidify all the habits I've made on the mission so I can continue them when I return. Obviously I can't be a missionary forever, but there are many things that I learned on the mission that I want to keep doing forever. So that's what I'm trying to do. 

Today was my final beach p-day, so we made sure to get tons of cool pics and hit all the good spots by the beach. So I've got tons of good pictures.

 

We also had our first member meal since arriving in Deltona in April. It was good to get some good food for once after living off my own cooking for months. The member that we went to had a super cool room filled with all sorts of collectible movie items that we got pics with as well. 

So we had a fun week, but no real progress with any investigators. I'm doing my best to stay focused on the work and helping them, and hopefully we'll see some more progress this week. 

July Has Come and Gone

Erik is coming home in exactly one month. SEPTEMBER 1! And Nate will enter home MTC the next day AND Kiersten and Jason are going to bless little Ollie that weekend. I swear my kids don't know how to space things out. Everything always seems to happen at once.

I remember so clearly the day we were headed to the MTC to drop Erik off. He was sitting in the back of the van . . .

*Writing that word van gave me a thought that we no longer have a vehicle big enough for all of us to go and pick him up from the airport. Hmmm . . . I guess we'll take two.

. . . sitting there very quiet and contemplative. I'm sure he was thinking of the two-year road ahead of him and how long it all seemed.

It seemed long to me and now here he is so close to coming home. He is currently bracing for another small hurricane. As a precaution all missionaries were moved inland again. This time he got to stay put.

He's become a pro at making ties making one for his entire district, and he's become quite proficient with a crockpot.

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Back in March when schools shut down for less than a 100 cases of COVID-19, I was pretty certain that come August we would be heading back to school in normal fashion or at least somewhat normal. HA HA! Our average COVID numbers are now between 500 and 600 and our school board voted to have us in the classroom Monday through Thursday with Friday being an online day (no kids in the classroom). I'm really not sure how that's going to be any better than simply going to school on Friday since Friday was our half day anyway. This year will be so interesting. I've spent my summer preparing for online. Digitizing a lot of materials and updating my website.

Am I nervous about going back?

Not really.

I have felt calm and peace about the whole thing. 

I read an article by a man who works for Pfizer or some drug company working on a vaccine. He said that normally vaccines take 5 years to roll out to the public. Two years ago some new technology was developed that enabled them to work at a much quicker time frame. God knew what was coming and prepared a way for us to not have to deal with this forever. I'm confident we'll have a vaccine sometime next year.

* * * * * * * * * *

Kiersten hitched a ride from Colorado and stayed with us for a week. We sure enjoyed having our baby back.

When he made it back home, he got shots he wasn't too happy about.

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Five miles into my run, preparing for another half marathon, I hit the ground hard. The first time I've done that in 14 years since I started running. Instead of limping home, I decided to run since it would be faster. I found that plastic wrap worked MUCH BETTER than any bandage would. It kept the wounds moist, allowing the new skin to begin it's growth without a lot of scabbing.

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Alex wanted to go backpacking this summer. A few days before the 4th, we headed out. It seemed EVERYONE, camper and non-campers alike, had the same idea . . . escape to the mountains. Luckily not many were backpackers so we had the lake to ourselves. We truly live in a very diverse, beautiful state.

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Nate celebrated his 18th birthday by starting a new, 40-hour/week job. It's been hard for him this summer in the employment department. He was doing tennis clinics until they shut those down early due to a neighbor of one of the kids testing positive with the coronavirus. He's been doing yardwork for various people and was happy to get something for this last month. We went suit shopping and today was his "farewell" talk at church. He and cousin Jeremy spoke together in all three sessions of church while Carl Jackson, whom Erik spoke with at his farewell, reported on his mission in the first two. Afterwards both of these cousins were given the Melchezedek priesthood and ordained as elders. We chose to not invite anyone other than grandparents. Usually farewells are a big to-do with some socializing afterwards. COVID-19 has made gatherings so hard. But this I know: two years from now when Nate and Jeremy are reporting their missions, this virus won't be a hindrance to who we can and can't have gather with us. However, with the way the world is in upheaval, it won't surprise me if it's something new we are learning to combat.

* * * * * * * * * *

One week I took Alex and Ian to Ferron for a few days to help mom and dad out watching Angie's kids, but especially to help lift Makayla in and out of her wheelchair. 

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Then I took Al and Ash to Logan for some puppy heaven. Natalie's house is always a favorite when there are puppies around.

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The Utah Jazz have started playing ball again with a very shortened season. All 22 teams playing have been quarantined to an area in Orlando. There are no actual fans to cheer them on. This is the one an only birthday (most likely) where Nate got to watch a Jazz game on his July birthday.

Bring on August!

July 6 and 13 Missionary Emails

June 6

Great Week!

Hey all. It was a great week here in Florida. Elder Duarte and I got a new companion so we are in a trio. He's super dope. We have so much in common. It's been really good to have another person to help motivate us. He just got reassigned from Brazil after being home for a few months.

We were able to have a few member lessons this week that went really well. I feel like I'm starting to know who everyone in the ward is now.

One of my favorite previous companions, Elder Tempest, also just got transferred next to us and it's been super fun serving around him again. Yes I know I shouldn't have favorites. He brought a pickleball set and we've been doing that for our exercise time. I never knew how fun pickleball was. (Tennis is still better though.)

We also had a District BBQ for the Fourth. We have a really good district. We're all super close.

Anyway, having Elder Sullivan here has been perfect for us. We've been really productive all week and are excited for this transfer. 

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July 13

😀

We had such a good week here. We found a new guy named Mubashir. He doesn't have a religious background at all, but he is so excited to learn. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying and has been accepting everything we teach. He was an online referral that we just got one day and reached out to and he turned out to be so solid. I really think he's going to get baptized, which would be a huge miracle during quarantine. 

Barbara has still been unresponsive. We even left her a note with an origami squirrel at her house. She didn't even respond to that. If an origami squirrel didn't work I don't think anything will. So we may have to wait until church starts again to start teaching her again. 

We spent a lot of time making videos this week for our zone Facebook page. We also had some really good member lessons. The members are starting to get to know us, which makes scheduling member lessons easier. 

So basically we had a really productive week. We've been having a good time being in a trio and have had some cool miracles. Hopefully this trend continues and this next week is even better. 

Missionary Emails June 22 and 29

June 22
Hey sorry for the late email. This week was fairly productive. Our one investigator canceled both our lessons though. But she's doing good and has been reading the Book of Mormon. We also got a new ward mission leader and had a great meeting where we planned out how we're going to help the members do missionary work and hopefully get us some new people to talk to. 

Also today we had a cool miracle. Right as I was leaving to go pick up a pork shoulder and some other food from the store, a member showed up to our house with a bunch of food, including a pork shoulder. What are the odds of that? Crazy. 

Also today a bug crawled into my shirt without me realizing while I was driving, then I felt something and squished it and got guts all over my shirt. I thought it was a wasp and I was freaking out, so I pulled over and got out. Turns out it was a grasshopper. Don't know how it got in my shirt but I was freaking out. Scariest moment of my mission. 

Anyway, that was about it for the week. We also found a super dope park next to our place so I'll be going to play ball there for exercise a lot. That'll probably be good. I'll get some vitamin D in me. We have high hopes for this week. 


June 29
TRIO LIFE

This is gonna be a short email. We have transfers tomorrow and we're getting a third companion. He was serving in Brazil I think and just got reassigned here. It will be good to have a third person with us to give us some fire. 

Today we get to go to the beach. That always puts us in a good mood for a bit. It's going to be Elder Duarte's first beach pday in 18 months. I'll send some pictures later.