Florida Orlando Mission 2010-2013: May 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

There have been changes made in missionary work. One of those changes is a 2 day training for all the mission leadership and all the trainers. The curriculum is provided by the church missionary department. We just held our Leadership Training Seminars last week on Wednesday and Thursday. We had about 65 missionaries that we trained. The zone leaders and the assistants taught along with the President. It was a wonderful learning and teaching experience.

OUR FAMILY CAME TO TOWN

Our oldest son and his family came to Florida. We had a great time visiting with them and showing them the sunshine state.

Monday, May 23, 2011

NEW MEMBER OF THE CHURCH

We went to a baptism Sunday night of this young boy, 9 years old. The missionaries were looking for less active members and found this little boy. He was so excited to be baptized. His grandmother is a member.

Monday, May 16, 2011

BAPTISM - SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2011

This is the woman I helped get baptized and her husband. I told her she needed to be baptized with her husband and invited her to be baptized.

As we left for the launch this morning we saw the moon and then watched the sun come up while we were waiting for the launch.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

We left Orlando at 4:15 am this morning to go to the Kennedy Space Center for the second to last space shuttle launch. As the sun came up it looked like a good day but as it got closer to the launch of Endeavour, the sky became very cloudy and we were afraid that they would not be able to go ahead with the launch. It cleared off a little and the Space Shuttle Endeavor was launched. It was very exciting to hear the count down and then see the lift off!

ENDEAVOUR LAUNCH

A member in the area gave us VIP access to see the shuttle launch. Space shuttle Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center for a 16-day mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour is scheduled to return to earth on June 1. Endeavour entered service in 1992 as a replacement for the ill-fated space shuttle Challenger.

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR

Friday, May 13, 2011

FOM ZONE CONFERENCE MAY 2011

MORE TRAINING AND LEARNING

MORE ZONE CONFERENCES

LEARNING AND TRAINING

Zone Conference is held every three months. We just finished Zone Conferences, our first Zone Conference was held Tuesday, May 8, with Cocoa and Stuart at the Palm Bay Chapel, our second Zone Conference was held Wednesday, May 9, with Deland, Orlando, and Leesburg at the Lake Mary Chapel, and our third Zone Conference was held Thursday, May 9, with Orlando South, Lazona and Hunters Creek at the Wetherbee Chapel. We meet with the zones and train and teach them. It begins at 9:00 am and goes to about 3:00 pm, with a lunch. Our training and teaching was on a number of issues facing the mission. It is such a wonderful experience to be with the missionaries and to feel of their spirit.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

SISTER'S TRAINING APRIL 28, 2011

We had a Sister's Training meeting for the Sisters of the Florida Orlando Mission. We met for two and a half to three hours to discuss the Mission Process, Standards, Mission Rules, Missionary Training Emphasis and questions. After, we had lunch at the mission home. We have 22 sisters.

When the Savior stretches out His hands, those He touches are uplifted and become greater, stronger, and better people as a result. If we are His hands, should we not do the same?

"And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that
we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work". ~Alma 26:3

FLORIDA ORLANDO MISSION HISTORY

Florida has a deep Mormon heritage, going back as far as 1843. Traveling elders were occasionally sent into Florida until the Florida conference was officially organized November 1, 1895, which conference was within the Southern States Mission. In 1937, the first chapel in central Florida was built in Orlando. In 1950, the church established what is now officially called Deseret Cattle and Citrus Ranch in Osceola County, southeast of Orlando. Today the Church owns 316,000 acres covering three counties, making it the largest cattle ranch in Florida. Orlando was the second Florida stake, and was organized on February 23, 1958.

On November 1, 1960 the Florida Mission was created out of the Southern States Mission. This was the fist mission for the State of Florida. The original Florida mission was divided into the Florida South Mission July 1, 1971, then later into the Ft. Lauderdale Mission (June 1974); the Tampa Mission being created in 1976, and the Jacksonville Mission in July of 1987.

The Florida Orlando Mission is now graced to have within its boundaries the Church Ranch and the first temple of the church in Florida, the Orlando Temple.