{4.25.16} FFLM Revival

Zone Conference

This week was good! John and his family (super cool miracle colombian family we found last week) is doing really good! The only problem is John Jr plays soccer at a really high-level competitive club and is having to drive to Orlando every Sunday.. but the finals are next week and then they'll be freed up Sundays for church! they've already come once, and really liked it. John's Aunt was there this week during one of the lessons and she had a ton of interest and has a really big Gospel Knowledge.

This week we also found this super cool girl named Leslie! She's 20 from Honduras (but she had blue eyes and whiter skin than me.. so weird), and when we knocked on her door she had just been praying. She was super open and has been studying the Bible a lot. We sat outside on her driveway and taught her the Restoration. The Spirit was crazy strong! One of the most prepared people I've knocked into. After the Restoration she was done for church and accepted baptism, return appointment--but the next day dropped off. Every day after--nothing. We don't know what happened!  But it was a great experience.

The Zone (and the Mission) is in a bit of a funk right now. The Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission is honestly the best mission on Earth! When Elder Holland visited the mission 3 years ago, before he stepped on the plane he grabbed the mission president by the face and said "keep doing what you are doing in this mission. You. Are. A. Legend." 

BUT WE"VE LOST THE MAGIC. Everyone is dragging. We still baptize more than any mission in the South East by 3x and more than any mission in the U.S. Outside of Utah, but when I came into the mission everyone was excited, loved "the FFLM Culture," and were stoked about missionary work! There are definitely a lot who still are, but as a whole the mission has been painted a "lack-luster beige" as of recent. So Elder Cutler and I have completely dropped, changed, and re-organized our Zone plan and visions to prepare for March, and Starting in the Corals Springs Zone, we are bringing back the FFLM Culture, from where it started and what it's meant to stand for. It's hard for anyone who has never been in this mission to understand, but we have a very unique culture in this mission. General Authorities and Apostles have noticed it, praised it, and applied it to other missions. Vince Lombardi and John Wooden won championships based off of Core Principles and Fundamentals; we're applying the same principle to the zone.

Don't take all my culture and principle talk coupled with sports analogies as something it's not; this is still the Lord's work and our purpose is to invite other to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end.  But as Anita Roddick once said, "if you do things well, do them better." 

Elder Juanes

Elder Jace Johns

3641 Turtle Run Blvd

Apt #913

Coral Springs, FL 33067