Week 10

 Hello Friends and Family!

It is a beautiful day in Florida! Fall seems to be coming quickly, and temperatures have dropped into the 70s. Elder Murri and I are taking advantage of this weather by spending our p-day eating cheese with our district at a park overlooking the ocean in Panama City. 

This week gave us some new and exciting experiences. When we woke up on Tuesday, we heard that a church member's home in Lynn Haven (a suburb of Panama City Beach) burned down during the night. They had just bought the house a couple of weeks ago, and some of the wiring wasn't done properly, which caused an electrical fire. 

Their family runs a horse ranch, and rather than living in a hotel, they decided to empty out one of their hay barns and live in a trailer underneath the roof of their barn, so they could still tend to their horses. We helped move all of their hay and other supplies out of the barn so they could pull a trailer in. Coincidentally, Tuesday was also the first day that we started to see rain from Hurricane Sally. As we were working the rain slowly got more intense, until we were working in torrential conditions. I don't know if I have ever been so muddy. I was asked if I grew up working on a farm, which is one of the biggest compliments I have ever received. Apparently, I look like I know what I'm doing moving hay bales. 

On a more spiritual note, the father of the family that had their house burn down was a phenomenal example of unfettered optimism. Despite having his recently bought house burn down, he was so grateful for the help that he received and for his family and their safety. He radiated Christlike love and joy amidst difficult circumstances. I hope that I can follow his example and radiate that same sense of joy and love. 

On Wednesday, we were asked to stay inside because of Hurricane Sally's heavy rain. It poured. Even though the eye of the storm hit somewhere near Pensacola, we had two days of the most intense rain I have ever experienced. I decided to take advantage of the rain by washing my hair (see the attached video). Our yard flooded, and a lot of the homes near rivers also flooded. The rivers are unbelievably high right now. Docks are underwater, but we aren't expecting anymore rain so we don't have to worry about more flooding.   

The day after the storm, we helped a member whose shed flooded. We took our shoes off and walked through a foot and a half of water to get his generators before they rusted. 

The people we are teaching are all progressing in their own magnificent ways. Elder Murri and I are constantly amazed by the small and simple miracles that we see all around us. I want to share one with you. 

We are helping someone quit smoking. We are using a program that recommends a special type of mouthwash (Lavoris) to help eliminate the craving for tobacco. I have never seen or heard of this type of mouthwash, but I figured it couldn't be too hard to get. We checked the Target and Walmart in Lynn Haven, but couldn't find it. We figured it had to be easily purchased on Amazon. We tried to find it there, but it was priced high and took a long time to ship. We were bummed as we realized that we would have to postpone our meeting to help our friend quit. I had an impression to check a little hole in the wall drug store next to the church. We went there and found 8 bottles on sale for a dollar each. It was truly amazing. We are now moving forward with our lesson, and our friend should be a non-smoker within the end of the week! What an amazing experience!

Thank you for your emails and love! 

Love you all!

Elder Garff