🙏🏻Welcome To Deland!!🙏🏻 WEEK #69

Hey Everyone,

 This is Elder Gentry coming at you from the Sunshine State of Florida here in Deland, where it is Soooooo Hotttttt and Humid!!! Hah My first week in my new area has been a good one. Elder Olsen is a good kid and I've enjoyed being with him.  His name is Dane Olsen and he is From Manti, Utah.. Crazy small world!!  It's been a trip because I feel like I'm home hanging out with Dane Olsen, the kid I knew from high school!! (which I am..) Haha especially cause some of Deland looks a lot like Utah!  So it is really weird at times.. This is his last Transfer and he will be done with his mission and heading back to my hometown!!!  We had some cool things happen this week, things are going good and really enjoying this new area!  

This week we've done a lot of less active and potential finding, we were following up with this guy named Willie who the sisters met about a year ago. We met him outside of his house and we were able to talk with him and read from The Book of Mormon. We shared Moroni's Promise and explained to him how he could now if what we were saying is true. We invited him to church and he said he would love to come, we weren't sure how serious he was but.... On Sunday he came to church and he was there all 3 hours he kept thanking us for inviting him. In Sunday school when he would introduce himself he would tell everyone how much he is enjoying this church and said he will definitely be back many times so that was Sickkk and we are looking forward to teaching him.

Sunday was just a really good day for us, we also had this investigator that Elder Olsen and his last companion were teaching about a month ago, unexpectedly show up to church!! She is awesome, it was her first time to church as well. She said "this past month has been very lonely for me and i feel that I'm missing something." So she came to church looking for us so we could start coming to her house again and sharing the Gospel with her, we had a very powerful lesson after church at her house where we explained to her what she has been missing in her life and what she can do to feel that peace that the gospel brings. It was a really powerful lesson and we invited her to be baptized and she said Yes!! Hopefully everything goes as planed we are excited to work with her!!

Something I wanted to share this week is in a talk given by Elder L. Aldin Porter. “To Bear Testimony of Mine Only Begotten” You will find that when Moroni’s promise is fulfilled and you are given the knowledge that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God, there will come with it a witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer and Savior of the world. I have never known an instance where this did not occur. Moreover, I do not believe a violation of this principle will ever take place. A spiritual witness of the Nephite scripture will always bring the certainty of the Savior’s existence. With that witness borne of the Holy Ghost will come a sure knowledge that Joseph Smith told the truth when he said that he had seen the Father and the Son on that spring morning of 1820. A knowledge that Jesus Christ lives and is our Redeemer and Savior is worth whatever the cost may be. This is the fulfillment of Moroni’s promise in our lives.

Things are going well, I have been out for 16 Months now and it has just flown by, I love my mission and feel very blessed to be apart of this great work. I know that this church in which Jesus Christ leads is True!!! The scripture I wanted to share this week is Moroni 10:4-5 ......I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. I love this scripture and it's always very powerful to share with those that we teach. I love you all have a great week!!

Elder Gentry

FOM                               Said Goodbye to these Homies on Tuesday, Very Trunky Day!!

                                      Said Bye to my Pops!! Big Daddy Weiss  (my trainier i was with for the first                                                       6 months of my mission )

                                         My new Homie Willie who came to Church!

🙌🏻1 And Done, Headed To Deland🙌🏻 Week #68

Hey everyone,

 This week has been good. Yes it is True! I am doing my 2nd 1 and done of my mission and I'm headed to my 6th Area. I am really going to miss it here in Kissimmee and I'm really going to miss the homie Hawkins!! My new companion is Elder Olsen, he is also from Manti Utah. I don't know him to well but I know he is a good kid. Elder Hawkins and I have had a very good last week here in Kissimmee, I found out I was leaving on Tuesday because Hawkins got the News that he is going to be Training!! He's going to be a good trainer! It was good to be able to tell everyone good bye throughout the week, this is a really good Ward and I have grown to love it! I'll miss it but I'm excited for the opportunity to serve in Deland!! 

We had some good news with our investigator/recent convert family that we have been working with, the mother was released from probation because they dropped the charges and she now is  eligible to be baptized, they are an awesome little family and I was happy to be able to work with them, Her Daughter turns 8 tomorrow so they will be able to be Baptized on the same day. such a blessing!! I'm going to miss this family. In the words of Bonnie' no joke we get this text from her everyday!! Haha  "GOD BLESS" May God bless this family for the love they have shown towards me!!

I want to give a shout out to 3 very good Homies that go home this week!!

Elder Weiss - I'm really going to miss the best trainer in the mish!! I was happy to have been trained by such a stud! I know Heavenly Father loves me very much because he put me back with Weiss 6 Months after training for one of the best transfers of my mission! Love ya man

Elder King - One of the Truest Homies out there, I'm going to miss Elder King so much!! He's had such a positive impact on me and my mission!! He is as loyal as they come! You tore the Game apart, who put it back together? Love ya King!

Elder Donnelly - The most humble, Christlike guy I know!! I'm really going to miss this homie and I'm happy that I was able to serve around him and get to know him! Donnelly is the type that would never hurt anyone or make anyone feel bad!! Love ya bro

Something I wanted to share this week, Every one of us is more beloved to the Lord than we can possibly understand or imagine. Let us therefore be kinder to one another and kinder toward ourselves. Let us remember that as we wait upon the Lord, we are becoming “saint[s] through [His] atonement, … submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us]....we are not alone. He that watches over us “shall neither slumber nor sleep.” His angels here and beyond the veil are “round about [us], to bear [us] up.”

Tomorrow I head north of Orlando up to Deland!! I'm excited for the change and looking forward to this next chapter in my Mish!!! I love the mission and everything I've learned and the people I've grown close to! The scripture I would like to share this week is Doctrine & Covenants 84:88, ......I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. Love you all have a great week!!!

Elder Gentry

FOM

🙌🏻Look At What We Did🙌🏻 week #67

Hey everyone, this week was really good and we saw a lot of progress in our area! Me and Hawkins are still Goin' Hard!! Bike week was rough a lot of sweat and tears, but we made it thru it hahaha. I'm really starting to like this Ward and the people that our around me! We are now entering week 6 of the transfer which is crazy!! I'm hoping that we stay together for another transfer and continue to work hard and have fun. We had a lot of good things happen this week!

So some exciting news, on June 11th Doug from my last area in Cocoa was Baptized!! I wish I could have been there but it is what it is! It was really cool to hear about it. I got to talk to him for a little bit and congratulate him. I'm thankful for the opportunity that I had to be able to teach him and prepare him for Baptism!! He's awesome and he will really help build up the church!! The Elders in Cocoa also told me that he bore his testimony in sacrament meeting and said it was super solid!! I'm so happy for Doug and the decision he has made by entering the pathway back to our Father in Heaven. Doug is the Man!! 

We had some good lessons with our investigator and Recent convert Family, the kids are members but the Mother is not so we are working on preparing her for baptism, she has some road blocks but she is getting those things sorted out. She is solid and at church each week and knows that this church is true, the family is a lot of fun!! Oh and one of her kids is turning 8 in a couple of weeks so she will be baptized soon. Their always fun to teach but it can also be very challenging to get them to pay attention!! Things are going good with them!

We were able to see our investigator family, so what happened is we went to Drop of a Portuguese Book of Mormon because the parents aren't the best with English and the rest of the family was home they invited us in and asked us to share the message of the restoration again, it went really well and we are now teaching all 5 of them! We read Moroni's promise with them and we asked them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about the things that we taught. They are a really cool family and very friendly, we hope they continue to progress! 

Florida is sooooooooo Hottt!!! And MUGGY and there is nothing better than nats sticking to your sweat as you bike around Kissimmee!!! Thank the good Heavens we are going into car week hahahah! I love Florida but not enough to live here hah

Something I wanted to share this week...  The Savior beckons, “Come unto me,” and we respond, taking His name upon us. Not one of us wants this journey to be a brief flirtation with spirituality or even a notable but finite chapter. The road of discipleship is not for the spiritually faint of heart. Jesus said: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” As we follow the Savior, without question there will be challenges that confront us. Approached with faith, these refining experiences bring a deeper conversion of the Savior’s reality.

Well like I said things are going just swell and we're excited for the work that we have going on in our area and the help that we can give!! We're doing our best to be like Jesus Christ and Love everyone. The scripture i would like to share this week is 2nd Nephi 31:12 .....He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. Love this scripture, Love you all have a good week!!

Elder Gentry

FOM                           Jordan's Close friend & investigator Doug Baptised!!  so exciting..

🙌🏻Whosoever Shall Trust God!!🙌🏻 Week #66

What's Up everyone,

My week here in Kissimmee has been good!! Rain or Shine you know we be workin' hard!! Elder Hawkins and I are doing very well and can't believe how fast this transfer is going! We had some good things happen this week! Oh and I have also lost 39 Lbs so that's good! 

So we will get the bad out of the way, I was sick all day Friday and it was miserable and missed out on a party, an investigator wanted to take us out to dinner so we did a temporary exchange with the District Leader and he took them out to this Mexican restaurant that played really loud Hispanic music and they told me it was a blast but more importantly they were able to leave good impressions on the investigator and he was able to learn a lot about the church.

So we had a really cool lesson with a new Less Active we are going to be teaching, she is awesome and super friendly. She expressed to us the love that she has for the church and how much she truly misses it. She has had a lot of trials in her life and as of late she has dealt with a lot of death in her family. We read with her out of The Book of Mormon in Mosiah chapter 16 where it talks about the Resurrection. Jesus Christ overcame death and we all have been given that promise that we all will be resurrected and will live with our loved ones again!

We had a really cool lesson this new family that we picked up a couple of weeks ago, we show up to their house on Saturday and they invite us in, their English isn't very well so it's kind of a struggle to talk with them, halfway through our conversation before we started the lesson their 14 year old daughter comes downstairs and she speaks English very well so it was a blessing to have her throughout the lesson, we taught them the Restoration and it went really well the daughter had to translate a little for us but it worked out, the daughter was really interested in the things we were teaching and the family said they would love to have us back, we are going to be teaching them on Thursday, so we hope things go well and they progress!!

Something I wanted to share this week, The Lord has promised if we “search diligently, pray always, and be believing, … all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly.” I know, as did Alma of old, that “whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.” Our Heavenly Father is a powerful, moving, directing being. While we may, at times, bear burdens of sorrow, pain, and grief; while we may struggle to understand trials of faith we are called to pass through; while life may seem dark and dreary--through faith, we have absolute confidence that a loving Heavenly Father is at our side.

We are now entering week 5 of the transfer, we are excited for the week to come other than bike week ending but it's all good, Who doesn't like biking in 100 degree/90% humidity weather hahah anyways I'm doing well and am enjoying my time here in Kissimmee, the scripture I wanted to share comes from Alma 36:3 ....I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day. I love you all have a good week!!

Elder Gentry

FOM