I'mmm...Dreaming...of a Whiiite Christmaaas...then I remembered I'm in Florida 11/27/2017

Hola familia y amigos,

I know it is still November, but it is close enough. How's everyone doing, how was the Turkey Day? Hope yall had fun, mine was pretty awesome. No one wants their door knocked on Thanksgiving, so we used the day to do some meeting that usually are held on Fridays. For lunch, we all went (me, my companion, and like 3 other companionship) to Dennys, it was glorious, I got unlimited pancakes, I almost popped. We then did some more planning stuff for the rest of the week then got to eat a ton of food for dinner at our Bishops house. After, we went to our Relief Society Presidents house for a ton of dessert. I felt so horribly sick that night and the next day, 100% worth it. The rest of this week has been pretty awesome as well!

First off, met a good number of new people, a few of which speak Spanish, so woot woot. We met two young mothers who are both super sweet and friendly. One teacher from Puerto Rico. A really old veteran that has some wild stories. A 12 year old that has an intense desire to know more about our purpose here (when I was 12 I was just perpetually wondering what I was going to eat next, so he is an interesting lad). A cool guy from Mexico...no other way to really describe him. And a guy named Rahsaan, which is fun to say.

We finally put someone on date for baptism! Their names are Jose and Iván and we have been teaching them for a while. They moved from the Dominican Republic 3 months ago, and for any who don't know. Every country has its own style of Spanish, for the most part it's the same, but there is just different slang, and how they talk (like speed and dialect) is very different. And the Dominican Republic is well known for having the fastest and sloppiest Spanish, talking with them is super fun. They are both super cool and really good at drawing, will try and get some pics of what they have drawn. They have both been reading a good amount out of the Book of Mormon, and it has been crazy to see how they have changed because of it.

Other than that stuff, it has just been a pretty good week. Good vibes all around. It's still super weird to have it be Christmas season and see all of the decorations and things up while it is still like 80° out. I am currently listening to Christmas music while blasting myself with AC because it is hot. It just kind of messes with me, haha. It is cool to see Christmas coming though. It's a super great time for missionary work, because people are already thinking about Christ! In fact, I'm sure most of you are aware, but the Church's "Light the World" initiative is happening again and it starts December 1st, so if you can, please try it out! It's crazy how much better you can feel when you are helping others! And for those who don't know what it is, every day leading up to Christmas the church has a short feel good video with a challenge like help you neighbor, donate to a charity, write a letter to someone you love, etc. The videos are on https://www.mormon.org/christmas. If any of you would be willing, please try it out! It makes the holiday season sooo much better! Well, thanks again everyone! I love you all tons and am so grateful for your continued support! You all mean the world to me and I hope you have another awesome week!

<3 Elder Fox

11/20/2017 Turkey Week

Hola familia y amigos,

What up everyone!? Hope yall had a good week/weekend. Excited for Thanksgiving? I am. We are getting fed dinner by our bishop at 4:00 and then desert from another member at 6:00, then get extra leftovers from another member at 8:00, it's gonna be great. This week though has been pretty mellow once again. We did not have a lot of luck in our finding though, so not a whole lot to report on. I will try my best to entertain though.

Honestly, the best thing I can report on this week will make zero sense to anyone who has not served a mission, but to put it simply, the guy in charge of over 200 missionaries here (called Mission President), taught me and my companion a new finding method (way that we introduce people to the Gospel). And it is intense. We have to do a ton of work on our knowledge of the Gospel, but it should be awesome and work really well if we can get it down, it's going to take some effort though, I will update yall next week.

This week, we only started teaching one new guy. His name is Romano, he is from Panama, and has a ton of belief in a God and that we all just need to be nice to each other, but due to some strange circumstances, he has never been able to own a Bible, so we brought him one and gave him a Book of Mormon and he was so happy! It was really cool, we get to teach him tonight as well, I'm stoked.

Other than that it has been lame. Just a bunch of meetings and unsuccessful knocking. This week has been a good one for me though, I've learned a ton about myself and have learned a lot more about the Gospel. One thing I have heard asked a lot and finally feel like I can answer is the "why" behind following commandments. A lot of people just seem to see them as rules to hold them back, and don't see the point. What they seem to miss (and what I have missed up until recently), is that 95% of the time, the "why" is explained as a blessing you get out of it. We are not asked to do these things just to please Him. He asks us because he knows how we can be blessed through them. Like it is explained in Ether 12:6 (ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith), following a commandment is about the end result, and it makes sense. The reason we do anything as people is to achieve a certain outcome. We do not eat because we are hungry, we eat to stop being hungry. We don't sleep because we are tired, we sleep to stop being tired. We don't speak because we want to talk, we speak because we want to be heard. This same principle applies to our divine needs and wants too. The "why" behind what we do is the outcome we expect, and the "why" to following commandments is to be blessed for our obedience. I think it's pretty neat. Anyway, sorry this one was so short, I love you all tons though, and in the most real sense, I could not do any of this without yall. Thanks for all of the love and support, have an awesome week and an awesome Turkey Day. LOVE YALL!!!

<3 Elder Fox

Another Fun Summer Week 11/13/2017

Hola familia y amigos!

How yall doing? How is having four seasons treating ya? Please send me any fun or exciting news! As for me I am doing pretty well, and I still love having only Summer, and Slightly-Less-Hot-Summer (I hope it has become apparent by now that I will likely be talking about the wonders of Florida weather every week, because I am not interesting enough to fill up this much space with just stories). This week has been a pretty solid one, not a ton of exciting news or stories, but it has been good. I actually recieved few emails from yall, so This one may be shorter, so I have time to reply to the others. Let's talk about things and stuff!

Because of my companion's new calling, we got to go to a bunch of fun new meetings, and so we had very little time to go find people to teach, but we still managed to find some! Most of the meetings were just boring training, but one of them we found out some really cool news for the future of the mission. I did not have to attend all of them with him, so for some I got to stay back and lead out our area with another elder! Leading out the area means that another elder comes to your area and you are in charge for the day. Pretty neat being in charge, but I still prefer not having the added responsibilities. I like just having to worry about the people I'm going to find and teach, not for another missionary (or a district or zone for that matter). There are definitely some missionaries out here who are really good leaders though, so I am not worried about getting asked.

Speaking of finding people, we found some interesting people this week! One is named Priscilla, she moved here from Puerto Rico about a week before the huge hurricane. She has a few children all under 4 and is super nice. She has really been looking for a church that has a focus on families, so she was super excited to meet us! Another is named Theresa, she was a very highly payed professional chef in New York, but moved here to give her kids a better place to grow up! She was interested in us for the same reason as Priscilla, she said she would also cook us some food to try when we come over, so I am a fan. Another cool one is named Ishmael (he followed his name by chuckling and saying that you really got to have some tough skin growing up with a name like that). He used to be a minister in New York and actually had the chance to train some missionaries there on how to approach the subject a pregnant teenager alongside some LDS general authorities. He was in a really bad accident though and became paralyzed from the waist down. He moved here to retire, but through modern medicine and some help from our Father in Heaven, he was finally able to walk again a few years ago! He now lives his life to the fullest and has a ton of love for our Heavenly Father, and liked how we understand that we can have a personal relationship with Him!

I can not remember if I have talked about Taylor yet, but this week went so well for her! Taylor is a recent concert, she was baptized about 4 months ago, but then went inactive basically 2 weeks later, haha. We have been to her house about a dozen times, called a bunch, and texted a bunch, all to no avail. She has just never responded or answered. Well, we were biking on Tuesday and passed by her house, about 3 blocks down the road Elder Cook just stopped and told me "turn around, we gotta go see Taylor". A little confused, I followed back, we knocked, nothing, knocked again, nothing, we were about to leave, but I decided to knock a third time and finés the door (it's a dumb thing that we do to entertain ourselves where we knock and tap our fingernails on the door to make weird noises with it), and after waiting about two minutes, she answered! We were not ready, so we just kind of stood there for a bit. Finally we started talking and asking how she is doing. She has some pretty serious health issues and has been having some issues the last few months, and said she was sorry she didn't respond (she though we would be mad that she was not coming to church). We talked for a good while and then set up a time to come back and talk some more. We asked her to read from the Book of Mormon every day until we come back. It was insane how much better she looked and happier she seemed when we came back! She is an awesome person and has a huge heart, I'm so glad that she had the opportunity to get baptized, I can really see how much this Gospel has helped her in her life.

She also helped me to remember how much this Gospel has done for me! I definitely would not be where I am in my life if it were not for it (both physically and mentally). Of course, I would not be serving a mission, but looking back, so many of my decisions have been made with the help of this Gospel, and I have never been let down. The knowledge I have of my Father in Heaven and my Savior, Jesus Christ, has made every day better for me! Note, I did not say easier, there has been a few times where the easiest choice was the right one, but that is not the case for the vast majority. The Gospel improves the quality of life for every person that accepts it, but accepting it requires sacrifice; however, one of my favorite things is that it will ALWAYS be worth it! No matter what you are asked to do or give up, it will be worth it, He will reward you more than you can ever imagine if you are willing to follow Him! I know this Gospel is true and through its precepts and teachings, everyone can be happier in this life, and the life to come! Thank you all back at home, you all mean the world to me and I am so grateful to know that you are all there for me. Wouldn't be able to do this without a single one of yall, LOVE YALL, HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

<3 Elder Fox

2 Transfers down 15 to go. 11/6/2017

Hola amigos y famililia!

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! My parents sent me a bunch of candy and a few members here gave us some as well, so mine was pretty good. It's crazy to think how close we are to Thanksgiving and Christmas, honestly feels like I've only been gone a few weeks. I am also experiencing Florida's other season: Slightly-Less-Hot-Summer. Humidity is still not fun and the fact that I sweat profusely by simply standing outside for more than a minute in November is very strange and uncomfortable, but at least I do not have to spend money on any type of winter clothing. POSITIVITY! We did actually have one day where it hit like the high 60's and that was neat. Also, I was not a fan of the format of last week's email, felt lame and robotic. Sorry if you preferred it. Was a pretty mellow week this time around, not a whole lot to report on, so I'm a start.

First off, this week I got to go on an exchange with Elder Gallup, it was a pretty good time, he is an awesome guy with a really strong testimony. He really helped me out with some confidence issues and taught me some different ways to find Investigators and stuff, really neat. We ended up finding like five new Investigators that day (that is a large number for this mission). It was awesome!

Also, my first Transfer out in the field ends tomorrow! A mission is split into transfers. For elders there are 17. Since I learned a language, I spent one transfer in the CCM. Transfers last 6 weeks, and they are called that because that is when you have the chance to be transfered to a new area. Anyways, it's crazy to me that I am already done with 2 of 17, it feels like I just got out here, which is nice. I'm sure some of yall don't feel like that, sorry. I am stayingin this  area though, and so is my companion. There are a few people leaving our district though. One of them was the district leaders. And it's like I'm in the CCM again, my companion got called. I am the District Leader's companion again! And I found out the official term among missionaries for that is the District Fairy, which I wholeheartedly approve of. And again, this means I get to go to a bunch of meetings and stuff while holding no actual responsibility! I am a fan.

We finally have some progressing Investigators though! We still have Lisa, and she is doing well. Still having troubles getting to church, but as soon as she starts, she should be good to be baptized before long! She has been having some health problems though, please keep her in your prayers if you could. We have the Rodriguez family, they are recently moved from the Dominican Republic (like 4 months) its a mom (Verquiz), dad (Greg), and two sons (Ivan and Jose). They are pretty interested and reading, but they all work a ton and cannot meet with us a lot or make it to church. They are super nice though and want to learn. Last one is Walter, he is this really awesome older guy that has a bunch of morals and ideals that line up perfectly with the gospel. We ran into him at a park and talked, he has been through a ton and has used it all to grow as a person! He is actually taking what we tell him seriously  and reading from the Book and we can really see how his life is getting blessed, he is not quite willing to go through with baptism yet, but he is an awesome guy and I know he'll come around.

It's been crazy adjusting to life out here, but it's also been really awesome! All missionary only things aside, learning to live on my own has been fun. When I was checking out of Walmart with toilet paper, dish soap, and garbage bags a week ago it just kind of hit me that "This is going to be the normal for the rest of my life. I have to be an adult now." Not gonna lie, cried a little bit. Adulting is hard (and this being out here is like Adulting on easy mode) ...but, strangely rewarding. It's been fun, and getting to be a missionary on top of it has just been awesome! I have heard people say rude things about the church everyday, and I have had many people try and tell me that this church is not the only true church. Constantly I hear this backlash, and it has just been awesome to know that no matter what any of them says, it doesn't matter. This church is true and I have seen how immensely it blesses everyone who lives by the precepts that have been revealed through it. I can literally see how much a person seems to light up and just be happier when they simply start reading the Book of Mormon. Please, if you are not reading it constantly, at least try reading a little bit a day. It's crazy how much you will be blessed if you do. This church is amazing, and the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest gifts we have in this life. Thanks again all of you back home for everything! Love yall have a great week, write me if ya wanna talk! LOVE YALL!!!

<3 Elder Fox

Spanish practice:

Esta semana Orion me envió un paquete con un Rubiks Cube porque me ama. Y mi familia me envió un paquete con muchos dulces y dos corbatas (uno por mi y uno por mi compañero). Paquetas son los mejores. Amo todos de ustedes. Lo siento por el práctica pequeña otra vez. You soy aburrido. ¡LES AMO!