Weekly Update 5/30/2016

Yeah buddy.....

Well here again it's been an eventful week in Florida. I love it out here and it's so fun! Some cool events that took place this week were, Zone Conference, an exchange, and some dope miracles. I am pretty happy with how this last week went. For me in our area it again was the best of my mission. It's crazy every week we find a way to improve. We didn't think it was possible with zone conference, but it was the Lords will. It's so cool to see all of the miracles taking place here in humble Eustis. I'm thankful for the chance that I have to be a part of it all! So I'll get into the nitty gritty of the good

thats going down here....

"The Lord's Elect"

So in missionary work we always talk about finding the Lords elect. Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach. That always seems to be the struggle for missionaries. Is finding prepared people. Well Elder Dickson and I have been praying diligently that God would put a prepared person in our path. Well these past two weeks he has. It's been awesome to watch it! We have an investigator named Glen, who's just dope. He's already a member of the Ward and he'll be baptized here in a couple of weeks. Also we have two families that we are teaching that are preparing for baptism. One of which is a part member family where only the husband needs to get baptized. So

they'll be getting married on July 2nd. Then not long after that he'll enter into the waters of baptism. The other family is awesome as well. They have two young kids who are just too young to be baptized. But the parents are dope and have been looking for a right church for them. It's been a really cool experience to be a part of it all. Thus far they seemed to be pretty solid. So hopefully there will be baptisms flowing here shortly. Or at least that's always the plan. Being a missionary is probably the dopest thing you could ever do. I'll tell you what!

"Exchange... Round #3"

Well this week I got to go on another Exchange with my boy Elder Jaden Johnson. It's always just a humbling experience because we both just can't believe it's really happening. After so many times of talking about and dreaming of our missions we are in the same one. Both of us in leadership positions. What a crazy turn of events. It's proof to me that God is good! It's true! I mean Elder Johnson and I have needed each other at points in this mission and we've been there. The exchange was filled with laughter, work, revelation, and miracles. We always just learn so much. He's a great man whom I love with all my heart. We talked a lot about how we've changed in a short period of

time. I mean I've lost 60 pounds, but I've also changed very much spiritually! So that's pretty dope! Haha We set some goals in the morning for God to lead us to those people that are prepared to

receive the gospel and boy did he lead us! We teach together nicely and we just get work done! After zone conference this week Elder Dickson (my companion) made the comment. "After watching both of you train, you guys shouldn't be companions because it wouldn't be fair!" Hahaha It's true, we'd just go ham for the longest time and baptize all of Florida. Maybe in the next life or something. I'm looking forward to what the future holds for us!

"Tickle fight... Ohhhhhhh"

So Elder Johnson and I were were having a good time! We were flying around teaching people and making a difference in the lives of others. It was a good time! We stopped at one point and we were like fake arguing about something. Since we pick on each other throughout the day! Hahaha, like at one point he wouldn't let me get in the car, he kept moving it forward as it got closer. So that sucks. LOL. Hahaha Well I wanted to get him back, so once he stopped the car I just attacked him in a tickle fight! I was winning pretty good like, when things started to turn for the worst. He started to win, and I fought back! This had to be a pretty epic looking fight! Hahaha But suddenly he like hit my pen in front pocket. Haha and the pocket ripped all the way down..... LOL. We stopped and looked at each other. It was freaking funny! We both started to crack up! Hahaha Well we had to turn the car around and go get another shirt. The funny part is I didn't have another shirt, so I had to put on one of Elder Johnson's shirts. Hahaha The funny part was it fit! Hahaha So that was weird cause he's always been significantly smaller than me, but now I'm almost the same size. Yeah buddy.

"Zone Conference Training"

So I had the amazing opportunity to train at zone conference this week! It was pretty cool! My training given was on making a bigger difference early on in Lessons. I was grateful for the topic that I was given. I focused on three main points/principles that would help. Having the spirit/ Using HTBT/ and Asking inspired questions and listening.  I felt that it was my best training that I've given thus far in my mission. I felt the spirit and so did others! I even got a couple of comments that I was people's favorite training. So that felt good! President Berry and the assistants gave me great feed back! It was a great opportunity one that I won't soon forget. I think moving forward the trainings I give are the strength of my leadership. So I'm gonna look to keep improving in other areas! Cause I'm definitely not perfect! Wahoooo!

Well that was my week in a nutshell. It was very good. Once again we taught more lessons then I ever have, even with zone conference and all the good stuff. We are working harder then I ever have as a

missionary. It feels so nice to know that I'm doing my best, this week I was pretty stressed as we didn't have as many people come to church as we were hoping. The spirit quietly whispered to me that I did my best and that it was out of my hands. Gods happy with my efforts and I'm happy with them as well too. There's a quote by Jon Wooden "Peace of mind comes with the satisfaction of knowing that you did your very best" the quote goes something like that! I'm grateful that heavenly

fathers been blessing me with this success. Anyways! I hope y'all have a great week! I look forward to hearing from some of you today! Loves!

Love, elder Carter Crismon!

 Weekly planning be like....

 Gorgeous sunset in Florida!

Weekly Update 5/23/2016

Weekly update fellers.

How are yah BAB?

Well it was a pretty good week here in Eusits. I'll tell you what, God is good. He is just blessing us here in Eustis and I can't thank Him enough! It's been a huge blessing to be able to serve here. We've seen some cool miracles this week, and these past couple of weeks. This week God allowed us to teach more lessons then I ever have! We taught 46 lessons. Which is crazy, along with that we did just about everything else involved in missionary work. We got people to sacrament and changed lives. I felt the spirit quietly whisper to me that the work I was doing was acceptable to the Lord. It's a good feeling. I know there's a lot more I can do. But right now I'm content with what the Lord has blessed me with. For the second week in a row we hit all of our goals. Yeah Buddy! #GreenWeek

"The Factory"

Well to start I'll talk about the three exchanges that we went on this week. We decided to exchange with all of our district leaders and just get those outta the way! Haha It was lots of fun to go on exchanges with those elders. We went with, or I went with, Elders Jensen, Goff, and Anderson. All good little fellers. Elder Jensen and I had a great time. He's is from Salt Lake City and he has great desire to learn and so do I! So together we had a wonderful time talking about how to set goals and achieve them and how to be better missionaries! It was dope. Then two days later we were on another exchange with a young man named Elder Goff. He's from Beaver Utah- like a really small town! Haha but we had a great time as well. We saw some awesome miracles and were able to change some lives. Then finally we had one more on Saturday. I went with a missionary who I have been with before. His name is Elder Anderson. He's from Utah as well! Nuts! Funny how almost every single

missionary in the field from Utah. LOL. They call it the factory for a reason I guess! It's fun to be a zone leader and be able to go on these exchanges. Even though it's nuts and hard, it's a good experience for me as well as others. It teaches the importance of the principle of sacrifice. So that's cool I guess.

"Dude. Gators everywhere."

So Friday's, as most of you may or may not know, is the day where we plan our lives. Well as of late I've been doing it a little differently. Right by PMG (preach ,y gospel), not like I haven't done that before, but refined the way I do things and streamlined it. That way I'm wayyyyy up. By that I mean more effective. Well after we had done this Elder Dickson and I found ourselves finding in deep dark Eustis. Well not that dark, but a good place! We had a Member Present Lesson fall through, so we went by the spirit. Elder Dickson and I then proceeded to go hard in the paint. We found and taught 5 new people. In a span of 3 hours. Almost two an hour. The coolest one was as follows. So we are waiting in the car and I'm reporting on something in the area book. Elder Dickson is looking at this house with Cacti. He then says "Hey you wanna go knock that house with cacti?" Obviously he was

impressed by the spirit cause we walked over and there was a man sitting there, and as God would have it, he reading the bible. Weird little miracle, we then taught him and testified to him that we were indeed from the true church of Jesus Christ. It was so cool to be a part of that miracle. That was only one of many that took place this week.

"Faith"

So what I've learned over these past few weeks is pretty cool. I've learned how to balance relying in the Lord and putting in our efforts. I'm learning how to trust God, and how to gain his trust. It's pretty

cool. Faith is the fundamental principle in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we seek to grow it everything else with grow with it. Like a domino effect, with growing faith comes a growing conversion. And with that comes anything that God would have happen. So I look forward to continuing to grow my faith! I still have a long way to go, but I think I can confidently say that I trust in God, and he's trusts me.

"Funny Story"

So this week I actually have two. So that's cool. The first happened on Wednesday. We went to go see our investigator Al. He's the man, and part of a family of less active/Recent Converts. Well we were gearing up to set him on date, and well we thought it was going to be pretty tough. So we prayed and asked for the strength to be able to do this. Well the funny thing was we go in there and we teach him. At the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized confidently. And he readily accepted. We then asked him to be baptized on a specific date, and he also readily accepted that! It was because of a cool experience he had at church! It was a cool miracle and funny that we were so nervous. God takes care of You! Other story. So we were driving to an appointment on Friday pretty far away. So our GPS had us take an interesting route to save miles. When suddenly, seemingly out of no where, 4 colored penguins appeared. Pictures were taken and we then we drove away. Pics shall be included.

Well in conclusion it was a stellar week. By far the best if my mission. God blessed us with so much, and I'm very grateful. I recognize that it's all from him. "Glory Be to the Father" as Christ put it. This coming week on Wednesday is Zone Conference. President Berry called me and asked me to give a 20 minute training! So that's pretty exciting. I got the call last Wednesday. It's cool to know that

both president and God trust me enough for this task. Please pray that I don't blow it! Haha I feel pretty good about training thus far, and I know God will help! But it's always nice to have some extra prayers in your behalf! My topic is making an impact early on in lessons. So that's pretty cool! I know that this is the work of God! It's true and so is this church. May God grant that each of you has a stellar week! Hopefully I hear from some of yah this week! Have a great one!

Loves!

Elder Carter Crismon

Florida Orlando Mission

 The colored penguins he talked about in his email! :)

 Silly times...

 Burning his pants for his 18 month mark... a little late!

 These last two were sent tonight from a family who were feeding them dinner! Never a dull moment! Haha!

Weekly Update 5/16/2016

Weekly update.... #89

 Jk I really don't know if that is the week or nah, but it's probably close!

Well it was a good week here in Eustis. We had a ZTM, A DL/ZL, and a BAPTISM!!!!! And some other things, like a transfer, and miracle filled days! For a first week of the transfer it was absolutely

killer, we hit every single one of our goals, we call that a green week. It was dope. A baptism which felt so good! It has been a bit, and I think it's just gonna open up the flood doors for more soon. As

well we also saw some old friends that used to serve here in Eustis and the Florida Orlando Mission! Wahooo so here's some Highlights!

"The New Guy"

So first.... Let me introduce my new companion! His name is Elder Connor Dickson! He's from Gilbert Arizona! He's a Spanish missionary that has to transition over to English work! He's been on his mission for 16 to 17 months! He's a great guy and we get along great! He's big into taking pictures so there will be plenty of pictures coming your way in the coming days and weeks! He's a big volleyball player as well! So we'll be balling with the rest of the zone. We have had a good week thus far as a companionship and we are happy with everything that has happened in our area! Elder Dickson is a brand new Zone Leader and I'm training him to be one. It's my third time doing

that so hopefully I don't blow it. Hahaha!! He's a great missionary and we are pumped to get things done this transfer. We have a good feeling between us and it's a feeling that I haven't felt in a little while with a companion! We are excited to get some good work done in our area this transfer! Wahooo!

"Here's Johnny!"

Well WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOO!!! It was a great service. My good friend Jon Paul got baptized and confirmed this week! I've been working with him for a little while now, and it's been a great blessing to see the change that has taken place in his life! His family has even taken notice and mentioned it. Last week on Monday we had lunch over at his house and we invited his family to attend the baptism! The cool part is they did and they had an amazing experience. They even came up and complimented us on the service! Right after the baptism that happened Elder Dickson and I gave a little message centered on the story of Joseph smith. After the service I got a

couple compliments on my public speaking abilities! That felt pretty nice! Due to our ward Mission Leader not being able to attend I had to conduct the baptism service. It was a cool experience! The

presiding official was the first councilor in the bishopric! His name is Brother Rasband, and his father is the Apostle himself. So it was weird to conduct a meeting and sit up front next to him. Hahaha It was an amazing service and we are pretty pumped!

"ZTM"

This week we had a Zone Training Meeting! It was on a Wednesday right after transfers! It was pretty wild especially since I only had like 16 hours to prepare. Non the less it was a killer meeting! We

were super pumped with how it went. My training I gave at the end was great as well! I got lots of good feed back and we are all ready to go get some baptisms and confirmations! The theme of the meeting was revelation through prayer. We talked about how we can recover revelation and how we can help our investigators receive it and recognize the revelation! My training at the end was centered on the thought "Lengthen your stride". I thought it went well. We are super pumped for this coming transfer in our zone. We both feel, Elder Dickson and I, that's it's gonna be dope!

Funny story....

So I have this horrible habit of yelling out the window at random people! I think it's pretty funny and really so does everyone else! I guess I have a good voice for it. LOL. So all of the companions start

to do it with me! Some are better then others! Well Elder Dickson isn't half bad at it! Well one day we were traveling around town, teaching and baptizing people, cause that's what we do! Well Elder

Dickson had lowered his seat back and we were having a good time! Well he rolled the back window down and was about to yell. Well unknown to him here was a little family strolling down the street. Well I saw them and he didn't. Suddenly I had a decision to make.... Let him do it and laugh or stop him for their sake. Well I delayed too much and he yelled "FETCH" out the window! Hahahahahahhahahahaha it was soooo funny! They jumped and were totally confused. I felt a tad bad, but at the same time it was pretty funny. I know there's probably more stories like this around the corner!

Well that was my week in a nutshell! It was a good week! I'm very happy with our week! I feel that Heavenly Father is pleased with my efforts. I'm pleased with my efforts! This next week is looking to be another good one! We have three exchanges planned and lots of miracles! I would ask that you all pray for me this coming week. It's going to be stressful. But I know that God is aware of each of us. The best part about all of this is Gods teaching me how to put my trust in Him! That's exactly what I plan to do. God is good and he's aware of us! That's a special little testimony that I would like to leave with y'all. This week as well we got to see some good friends from a while back, Elders Tucker, and Stewart! I love those guys and it was so good to see both of them! It is weird to think that one day I'll do that, that I'll return and visit people from my mission. It's almost over and the time is soon at hand. Is not yet, but is soon. I love my mission and it's been such a blessing! The things I've learned are lessons of a lifetime! I look forward to continuing to work hard! I hope I hear from some of you this week!

Loves,

Elder Carter Crismon

 A couple of pictures from the area where he is living now

 At the baptism

 Such a blessing to have another baptism!

 Visitors from the mission

 So fun to reconnect

 Carter and his favorite peeps

 #Eustisswag