"I have seen so many miracles and I know that God is the Director and Head of this church."

 February 22, 2011

Hi everyone! We had a very good week this week. Lezlie and Tilia Coicou got confirmed this Sunday. I was so excited. They are doing really awesome! They are going to Wednesday night activities without us even reminding them about the activities. They are super excited about the gospel. They love church and they are going to girl’s camp in a month. We had a Chili-Cook off on Friday. Many members cooked chili and other food. Most of the food was free, but they were selling desserts to raise money for girl’s camp. They also had extra food like ribs and other stuff that they were selling too. They also had a huge auction and they made a ton of money. They auctioned off all sorts of things, including services, meals, and items. Brother Solano auctioned off three haircuts, and all three of them went to missionaries. They also had a Jersey that John Beck had worn in a game with the Miami Dolphins. That got auctioned off for 50 dollars. All the missionaries said that they should have just put in on e-bay, because they could have gotten a lot more money for it. They activity was very good and they ended up getting around 1300 dollars, which is what they hoped for, because their are 13 girls going to girls camp and it costs about 100 dollars per girl. We were happy that it all worked out, because now Lezlie and Tilia can go to girls camp. We knew their parents couldn't afford it, because neither of them have a job right now.

We are now teaching Lezlie and Tilia's parents. Their Dad has been reading in the Book of Mormon. He likes what we are teaching him. The Mom is indifferent to it all. Sister Cook came with us and helped us teach them. Both of their parents go to the Catholic church and are very strong in that background.

Here are pictures with us, Lezlie and Tilia, and Lezlie and Tilia's parents. Elder Bolz baptized Tilia and Elder Chandler Baptized Lezlie. Brother Bradford, the one who took us to Shark Valley (the part of the everglades we went to last P-day) confirmed Lezlie. Elder Chandler Confirmed Tilia. Brother Bradford is such an awesome member! He has helped us out so much this week. We are doing a ton of work to get less-active members of the church back as a result of President Monson's "To the Rescue" order. We made a list of all of the less actives that live in our ward boundaries and we pinpointed which members live near by them. Each member has four less active members. Back in Coconut Creek, we have 800 people who live in our ward boundaries who have records, but only 250 of them show up. As missionaries we meet less active members on a weekly basis. Many of them are people who aren't even in our record. Many of them moved without transferring their records over and never went back to the church. The members are super excited about the church-wide less active rescue plan though. I know that those people are precious to God and that they are missed. They have so much that they can contribute to the church and so many wonderful attributes and talents that they can share with other people.

I will write a separate letter and tell you more of the details of what has been happening, because I didn't tell you a lot of the things that have been going on. Elder Chandler and Elder Bolz found this Haitian guy who is married to a white girl named Naomi. Naomi Vottair is now scheduled to be baptized on the 27th of March. She was very open and excited about it. She told us that the only thing holding her back was work which she has every Sunday, which will cover our church meetings from 11-2.

  

Thank you so much for the Cookies Laurie! It was so thoughtful of you. They were so delicious! I loved them a lot. I still have some left, but I am enjoying them.

Thank you everyone! I love you a lot! Keep on praying for our investigators and dates. Pray for the less-active plan to go well. We need help with that church wide and it is not going to be easy.

I have seen so many miracles and I know that God is the Director and Head of this church. If it were not so, the work would not be progressing the way it has been. Jesus Christ's sacrifice is real and using it in your life is simple. It will give you strength and relief from the burdens you have. I have seen it work in investigators. I know it will work for you too. You are not an exception to the Gospel; God's laws and promises have no exceptions. It is for everyone, no matter how weak you feel. I know that what was written about Christ's ministry in the Bible is true. He really came to earth, set up his church, lived a perfect life, and died for us. I don't doubt it one bit.

I love you all! Please keep on writing me. A missionary can never get too many letters. Thank you so much!

Love,

Elder Seamons

This is Brother Beale. He is a convert of one year and he goes out with the missionaries a ton. He is weird, but he is so hilarious. He had his birthday on Sunday, so Elder Anderson made a cake for him. After church, us, Brother Keyser (the ward mission leader), and his wife all sang to brother Beale. I will tell you about him later.

 By the way, Antoniel Sovis got confirmed in Coconut Creek last Sunday. I was so happy about that!

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These are pictures from last P-day when Eric went to the Everglades and saw aligators.