Week 7 in Brandon

The Caceres family in Lithia. President Caceres was just called into

the mission presidency. We get Spencer out with us all the time, he's

a beast! Sister Caceres teaches semainry. Andrew is Gavin's age. They

have a daughter serving in Gilbert. The sheep is part of the ward

mission plan. And Elder Reese!

Hello!!! Thank goodness they got home safe and sound! That's awesome

about Steve and Kamika! Hope they're doing well! Our weather has been

getting very hot. This Thursday I believe will be 88F. The humidity is

definitely back now haha. That's awesome! The Jergensens were in the

Providence Ward before they moved to valrico so they know Jeffs family

really well.

I definitely want to go on Sons of Helaman!!! When is that? I'll need

new hiking boots and gear but oh well haha. I loved that! Also, do you

know how I can sign up for those online classes brother bruick was

talking about? At least I can get started and figure out everything

for Utah State from there.

Also I have my doctors appointment this Thursday. So they should be

sending the results soon. Not sure if I will need cash again. We will

have to wait and see....

I can't believe Gretchen is turning 18?!? That's crazy!!! She's an adult?

Elder Reese has been fantastic. He came out a transfer after me.

President Cooper told me on our call that he's putting Elder Reese

here so the area can start to blow up. He's from Holliday Utah. Right

next to Salt Lake. It's been awesome!

We have been getting the young men out with us a lot. One of the young

men was with us and our lesson fell through. We ended up walking to

stop by a potential but all felt the prompting to knock on a door.  We

did and the woman said she's been needing to get baptized. We were

stunned haha. We told her of our purpose and shared about the Plan of

Salvation. She has a Book of Mormon and we should be seeing her again

this week. It was awesome! The priests faith definitely increased

after a miracle like that.

We have been seeing other tender mercies as well. There's a man that

was referred to us in our complex by a member. We had a lesson with

him last Monday. It was super spiritual, he's been prepared for the

gospel especially with recent events. He got electrocuted pretty bad

at work. He loved the Plan of Salvation and at the end he said a

powerful kneeling prayer. The spirit was super strong. That was my

last lesson with Elder Leslie so we ended on an great note! We will be

seeing that man again today with a member.

Elder Leslie has been tearing it up in Plant City. I just found out he

set his first baptismal date his first week there. So awesome!

Well things are going great like usual! Hoping these people who are

coming to church and progressing can make that final step. We are

hoping to have some solid dates set with these brothers and sisters by

the end of the week. General Conference will be a good chance to get

these investigators in members homes. We are super excited!!!

Well I hope you have a great week!! Let me know if you have any

questions about the appointment. Love you!!!!!

Elder Hale

Week 6 in Brandon

Hello!! So transfer calls came and lots of changes. We are getting

some new members into the district. One of them is Elder Parks. He

started his first transfer in my last transfer in Tampa 1. Also Elder

Leslie and I are getting separated. I guess he's done with his

training haha. He will be going with Elder Gardner to white wash Plant

City. Still in the same zone which is awesome. I'll be receiving Elder

Reece. I've heard he's a good missionary, I know president said the

biggest thing will be to emphasize unity.

   Things are going much, much better in Lithia and Valrico. We have

been finding a lot of prepared people lately. We have also been

receiving lots of referrals and it seems the members are beginning to

have more of a fire. We also had an investigator come to church this

Sunday. He loved it. One of our ward mission leaders is bringing two

of his friends next Sunday and we also have commits from several

others. It's been awesome to see so many awesome miracles.

   One miracle this week happened between 8-8:30pm. We were just

walking down the street and then a man pulled over. He asked us if we

had a Book of Mormon. We of course said yes and went up to talk to

him. While he was sitting in his car we had a 15-20 minute lesson.

He's been almost every church and just hasn't found the truth yet. He

has been wanting to read the Book of Mormon and come to our church

because a friend if his is also meeting with missionaries. It was

crazy. Also later that night in the same street, right before we got

back to the car we met a woman who's a recent convert in Gainsville.

She was visiting one of her daughters. Her daughters family actually

surprised her by coming to her baptism and in it she stood up and bore

her testimony. She said to definitely try to stop by them later this

week.

   It's been awesome. We have have been having more member meals, we

have a member referral lesson tonight. It's been awesome!! I am loving

it!

The district has been blowing up as well. I know President Cooper has

some high expectations for these areas. The wards are both very

missionary minded so I get it. There's so many prepared people here.

He also expects some high things from the district so I'm hoping Elder

Reese and I can help to bless and inspire them.

   Also, I had my license. I also have a new wallet. So I'm praying

this one doesn't disappear. I will be scheduling my appointment this

week. Sorry we get so busy during the day I completely forget.

I'm glad things are going so well over there. Dad sent me some of

their D.C. Trip pictures. I love the game! That's awesome about Corey.

Sorry I keep on forgetting to take pictures during the week. It's been

insanely busy. I'm loving it!! I hope you have a great week!! Love

you!

Elder Hale

Week 5 in Brandon

Sounds like a great week!! I'm so glad everything is going so well!

I didn't get my license. We either forgot to do the exchange or they

forgot to bring the license. Anyways to sum it up. It's in the mail

coming directly to our apartment. So I will have it on Wednesday or

Thursday.

Gavin's getting his permit? That's crazy! Haha. They are going to love

the D.C. Trip!

Things are going well here! It was a slower week then normal but we

met a lot of really good people that we have lessons set up with this

current week. One of them is a family in our complex. They were

referred to us by a member. We spoke with him on the phone and he is

super awesome. The only downside is he got electrocuted at work so

he's recovering right now. We are hoping he can recover fast! We had

two less active families at church. The part member family's kids who

aren't members weren't at church. We will have to see what's going on.

Also we had another family who want us to teach them and help baptize

their 8 or 9 year old. They were baptized in this Ward. Moved away for

a couple years. We met them this past week. And that was their first

time back in awhile. Good things are happening!

Also there was a sister that returned home this week. Her mom is not a

member and her dad and siblings are all very active in the church. Her

mom actually helps out a lot in the primary. We are hoping and praying

her daughter coming back can soften her heart. The father really wants

her to make that step. Not sure why she hasn't made it.

I failed to take pictures again! We have smart phones now though.

Maybe that will help haha. It's spring break so there will be a lot of

people home which we are excited about! Good things are coming!!!

I hope you have a great week!! Love you!!!!

Elder Hale

Week 4 in Brandon

Brandon Zone Conference

 Post Elder Hale's aunt came across on Facebook

Picture sent in an email from a Sis. Densly that served in the mission

Hello!!! I did get the insurance email. Thank you! I

procrastinated/got distracted again. I'm sorry! Goal is to make sure

and do it this week. I will do it today or tomorrow. Also my license

came! We have specialized missionary training on Friday so I will get

it from Elder Cox then. It's for missionaries in training. That's

awesome about Sister Denselys mom. She came out with me so it was

weird when her and the other sisters left. Then especially weird to

see her again haha. This was her last area, we took over after she

left. The Cardwells are awesome! Their son left last July to San

Diego. Super awesome family, their ages all line up with ours.

Sounds like sports will get very busy again. I realized it was his

birthday yesterday. That's crazy! I hope he loved it! Ward Conference

will be awesome I'm sure!

This week was awesome. Miracles are definitely coming. Elder Leslie

has grown a lot in confidence and consecration. It's been awesome to

see. We have been on exchange with all the Elders in the district now

and we are going to go around again hopefully before transfers. They

all have good desires but are all struggling. One companionship seems

to have picked it up. Hopefully we can help them keep that fire going!

The members in Valrico and Lithia have been awesome. The Ward mission

leader in Lithia has been working hard. Things are blowing up! One

miracle was with a woman and her sister who came to the Stake BBQ this

last Saturday. We found her street contacting by talking about family

history. Turns out her sister has been doing family history here at

the Stake Center. They LOVED the BBQ. We are hoping to make a

transition to teaching them this week. They are awesome! Another

miracle happened last night when we got back to the apartment. We saw

a man loading groceries into a wagon. We asked if we could help and he

said it was fine. He's in his 20s maybe 30s. He asked if we were

Jehovah's Witness. We explained what church we were from and said our

nickname is "Mormon". He freaked out and said he wants to be a Mormon

and asked where the closest church is. He's been looking for it since

he moved here. He gave us his address and number and asked for a Book

of Mormon. Crazy! We are hoping our lesson with him tomorrow goes

well! We also got to go to Bishop Birch's home last night. He is in

charge of most of the church ranches throughout the world so he

travels most weeks except for weekends. He has some awesome stories

haha. Their families ages all line up with ours too. Good things are

happening. No pictures this week but we will do our best to take some

this week. Thank you so much for the pin and license. I hope things go

well this week. Love you so much!!!

Elder Hale