Transfers! Leaving Jacksonville...

Hello Everybody!

HOLY COW THIS WEEK HAS BEEN INSANE. So there's not any other way to put it. I'm totally brain-fried from everything that's happened this past week. Sometimes you just have weeks and days where not only does time fly by, but it just leaves you totally exhausted and wondering how everything happens so fast.

So yeah this week was great because so many members came out teaching with us! It was so great - the testimony of members really does bring the Spirit and totally changes the view of the people we teach. The Spirit is the real teacher, and we just bring the Spirit, as missionaries. 

So we had a transfer call on Saturday night! My companion Elder McBride is going to stay here with a new missionary - he will be training the new missionary! - and I will be going back to GAINESVILLE. GAINESVILLE. Sound familiar? I'll be headed back to where I spent the first 6 months of my mission! I'll get to see the members and missionaries that I knew back when I was serving there, which is really exciting. I wouldn't want to be serving anywhere else.

  So then the next day, Sunday, we had church and it went well. We then took off right after church, to a southern gospel choir devotional that some of the missionaries were invited to sing at, and I got to go play viola and perform there.  It was, how do you put it... Intense.  I felt like an 1800's missionary yelling "Amen!" "Hallelujah!" "Thank you Jesus!" And many permutations of those all mixed together.

This is us at the Genesis Southern Choir Invitational.

    Then, off to a devotional that we'd been planning for a few months. All 4 missionaries in our congregation spoke, members bore testimony, and we had special musical numbers (and I got the privilege to play viola there too, which was fun). It was all centered around the Jesus Christ and the restoration of his Gospel. It was a powerful, spirit filled, LONG day.  

Too lazy to rhyme right now (oops, sorry.) And so here's a random probably terrible free verse poem that sums up how Elder McBride and I have felt this week.

 "Feeling Tired? Good work."

We're tired.
        Very tired.

Cold, wet, exhausted, sunburnt

          Time for bed.

But wait!

Time to pray,

           To thank God

   For the day

Kneeling down in gratitude.

                       We're exhausted.

 We're tattered.

  We didn't sleep last night.

But why are we so happy?

Why do we feel so good?

Because exhaustion from service is really exhilaration

            God rewarding us for serving his children.

Peace, joy, love, 

      They all come from God.

Yes, serving him feels good.

We lay in bed, still exhausted,

                        But in a good way. 

   We smile,

Already excited for tomorrow

To press forward in God's work. 

Love you all!              Here are some pictures from the week.

I LOVE OUR DISTRICT and will miss them all so much. I've learned a lot here.

A super cool Polaroid camera picture. Our district and our wonderful Zone Leaders after our last district meeting.

I'll miss these Elders when I leave. Ahhhh they're so great.
Also, note sure why I'm the only one not wearing a suit.

FORT CAROLINE:  P-Day outing

We went to the French fort - Fort Caroline - today and walked around and learned more about the history of the area. Basically, French Colonists came and settled here in the mid 1500's.

They set up a fort and made friends with the local Timucan Indians.

Timucan Indian Hut

     But then... an awkward situation arose when, down the river in Saint Augustine, there was a huge Spanish settlement. Basically, the Spanish came in and totally wipe the little French colony out. Now, I don't have Google, so I'm just going from information boards... Correct me if I'm wrong...

Elder McMullin