Hi Mom and Dad!
I am with Elder Chandler in Fort Lauderdale. He, Elder Anderson, Elder Bolz, and I are together again. It is so much fun. I did get the package and the address is correct. Thank you so much for the package. It was really good and I loved getting the letter that you sent me.
It has been so hard to go into a new area. I really miss coconut creek. I was upset to move, especially since Coconut Creek has turned into the most successful area in the mission. Elder Rybin and I got 10 people with a date to be baptized and the member work was exploding. Now 15 people have a date for baptism over there. The cool thing is that I know all of them. I have been waiting so long to see all of those investigators accept, and finally after all that time 15 of the people who I have learned to love have accepted a date. Most of them are super solid too. I do have the pleasure of knowing I made a difference. It has just been hard to think that I won't see any of their baptisms. Plus Elder Rybin and Elder Gubernick are both training new missionaries up there, which means I won't have an opportunity to go back for a long time. It is very painful.
It felt like I left my heart in Coconut Creek. I got so used to everyone up there. By the end of last transfer, member work was exploding up there and everything was doing so well. It was a selfish desire on my part to stay. I got people to progress toward accepting a date and now I need to move on. I should just try my best and not worry about how successful I am or how hi my numbers are. I have learned that if you do all that and you don't love the people, it is all for nothing.
I have seen a lot of miracles throughout the mission. I saw many of them last transfer. Elder Rybin taught me so much and we had tremendous success together. We were able to teach and be unified in a way that was astounding to me. I hope that Elder Chandler and I can have the same amount of success and that we can help people come closer to Christ.
I am in the Fort Lauderdale Zone. I am serving in the Fort Lauderdale ward. There are three pairs of missionaries: Elder Chandler and I, who make up the Fort Lauderdale West Creole, Elder Bolz, and Elder Anderson, who make up the Fort Lauderdale East Creole, and Elder Turnblom (who I was with for my second transfer in our second apartment) and Elder Larsen, who make up the Fort Lauderdale South area. It is different. The boundaries for the areas are different than they used to be. We teach both English and Creole now. So for the first time, I have been teaching people who aren't Haitian. We still have many Haitian investigators though. We are now teaching someone from Trinidad and we are teaching a few Jamaicans. It is so weird. At least we aren't teaching any white people. I think that would be a little too weird. Plus white people are less open minded than everyone else. I am always afraid of opening the door and a white person answering because they aren't always as nice as the Haitians we talk to. The hard thing about being in an area where we talk to more people who aren't Haitians is that you don't know whether or not to speak Creole. However it isn't always too hard to tell, because Haitians act differently than the other black people.
We had two baptisms on Sunday. We had Lezly (13) and Tilia (15) get baptized. Their parents are Catholic, but the girls really wanted to get baptized so their parents allowed them to get baptized. They are Haitian. We started teaching the parents for the first time on Thursday. We are going to see if we can help them be baptized too. Nesley, the Dad, has been reading in the Book of Mormon and he says that he would like to be baptized when he studies it out and know that what we are teaching is true. The only problem is that he is going to Haiti on February 28th and he is going on a four month visit. Usually when Haitians go to Haiti it is for a long duration of time like that. We are going to try to set him with a date for baptism before he leaves and have missionaries in Haiti teach him and help him be baptized. We will work with the mom here. Tilia and Lezly are awesome! They love the church and they love learning about the commandments and about Jesus Christ. They are most excited that we have a modern prophet and that they can learn God's will for us today through him. It was a really good baptismal service. Sister Cook, who is a Haitian woman who is the second counselor in the young women's presidency, gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. She did it in English and then at the very end she switched into Creole and talked directly to the parents. It was a very powerful talk. She has been fellowshipping the family and she is one of the driving forces in helping the family get baptized.
There has been a lot of success in this area. When I got here, there were nine people with a date to be baptized. Things have been a little rough since then. Many people are having problems getting baptized, partially because of parental permission, and also because of situational problems such as rides to church. Others are having problems committing. So that is hard. It is really sad because many of these investigators have a great desire to be baptized, but things are getting in their way. We are going to get the people the help they need so they can make the changes they have to and progress all the way. We have a lot of work to do in this area. I have been wondering why I was sent here of all places. I think it is partially because of the experiences I had last transfer, but I will learn more about my reason for coming here as I move along. I realize now that I really am not needed in Coconut Creek anymore. The work in that area will move forward without my help. It is sad to me, but it is true. Elder Rybin and Elder Gubernick are doing a wonderful job. There are some people up there that I am worried about and I hope they will be able to overcome the barriers in their lives. Vonette is one that I am really worried about. But there is not much more that I can do. I have just been praying a lot for Coconut Creek and all of the investigators up there. I am so happy because Antoniel, who we started teaching at the end of my third transfer, got baptized on Sunday!!! He is doing so well and he has a lot of faith in God and in the Scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. Plus Daline, the one whose Mom was hesitant of her coming to the church accepted a date to be baptized. Apparently everything is working out. I talked to Elder Rybin about it. I am so happy about that. Plus Gennger went to church again. She has been to church twice, mutual once, and she also went to a baby-sitting activity at the church last Wednesday. It is a complete miracle! I am so amazed at how many blessings have been seen in Coconut Creek. I am glad that it is better than I left it. Now I just need to trust in God to take care of that area and put my heart into this one. I put so much care and time into that area and I came to know the people so much that it seems so difficult to learn to love another group of people the way I loved that one.
Plus we had a man named Michael Jean Baptiste who got confirmed this Sunday and became an official member of the church. He is the uncle, cousin, and brother of some investigators (Bonnie, Elvie, and Sabrina) we have in Coconut Creek. We went to his house and I saw some of my investigators from there. It was so weird to see them. Elder Chandler and Elder Bolz were the ones who referred them to us. Apparently they met them at Michael's house.
We have also met some really cool people through our finding efforts. It has been awesome.
By the way, I am worried about Vonette. She was pretty discouraged when I left the area. I am not sure how she is doing. I really want everyone who knows French to write Vonette a quick letter of encouragement. Just look through some of my e-mails about her. Tell her that you know Elder Seamons and she will know who you are talking about. Tell her I miss her and pray for her often. I know she would love to hear from you all. Her address is 3011 ne 7th Ave Pompano Beach Florida. I am not sure about the zip code. I am dead serious about doing this though. She is one of my favorite people I have ever met on the mission and she needs help. Please do this. I promise that you will be blessed. She will love hearing from people. Also pray for her. Her name is Vonette Vivian. Thanks. Awesome. I love you all. Pray for Fort Lauderdale, and also pray for Coconut Creek. I want those investigators to progress very badly. I love them all dearly.
Well, I have to go. I will talk to you later!
Love,
Elder Seamons
P.S.
We went to the everglades for P-day today. We got special permission from President. We were allowed to because we made a certain goal. We saw a ton of alligators and we were only 5 feet away from some of them. I will send you pictures next week. Brother Bradford from the ward took us there. We went to Arby's afterwards.
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