2 weeks of craziness!!!

So I didn't write anything last week... I know... I'm a horrible person, bah-humbeg!!! Christmas was pretty sweet... getting to talk to my family. Otherwise it was pretty chill. New years is looking like it's gonna be the same. Frankly, I'm ready for the holidays to be over, 'cuz all of our investigators have been out of town!!! So, lemme try to think of the juciest stuff from the past 2 weeks. Tuesday the 18th we had a mission conference in Jacksonville where we had a christmas devotional. It was sweet to see everyone. Wednesday Elder Christensen and I (just for you mom!) met with the district leaders in our zone and we set a transfer baptismal goal of 15. We're trying to stretch ourselves and improve (last transfer we had 6!) but the Spirit was definitely there, so I'm excited about it. Friday morning we had interviews with President Newman. While he was interviewing, the AP's gave a training. 14 missionaries were there to be interviewed, so we sat and listened from 9am until 2pm. AACCKK!!! Saturday night was a wedding reception for an elder that served here about a year ago, got home from his mission in August, and came back to marry a girl. It was weird to see him again as a normal person, and I had NO IDEA what to call him. Sunday was a combined sacrament meeting for Christmas, and then that night we went to a christmas play at a small baptist church that an investigator attends.

OK... week 2: Christmas Eve we had district meeting, and although we had planned on tracting and contacting the rest of the day, we ended up playing cards. Hey... it happens sometimes! For christmas dinner we went and got Little Caesars!!! Then Tuesday we slept in, went for a big lunch at a WAY COOL family named the Parkers, and then came home to talk to our families. I talked for about 4 hours, which was SCHWEET!!! Then on Thursday night was one of the sweetest experiences thus far on my mission. So we got home for the night and I was STARVING... but there was nothing in the apartment that looked good. So then I was like... BURGER KING!!! Now, I never have craved BK before, but that night we went. When we walked in, a tall black guy spotted us and motioned that he wanted a book. Elder Christensen gave him a card, and as he was getting ready to walk away, the man pointed to his ear, saying he was deaf. I asked him if he knew ASL, which he did, and I was able to teach him a little bit (man my ASL is way shaky!) and get a return appointment for this coming week. The Lord definitely knows what He's doing, because I'm the only elder in this mission (I think) that knows ASL and could have taught him, and I just so happened to be at BK that night. I've been studying up for the lesson tomorrow, so wish me luck!!! Then Saturday was another SWEET day, because our amazing investigator named Brittany was baptized, and the Spirit was WAY strong. Well, I know that was a bit longer, but I congratulate all that made it this far. Love ya! -Elder Borgia

(my fat butt on the phone with the family)

Over the river & through the woods, all over N. Florida we go!

Can you believe that Christmas is next week?! AACCKK!!! So this past week FLEW by (which seems to be the trend out here). P-day was uneventful, which is good. Basically we were lazy all day! On Tuesday/Wednesday I went on trade-offs with Elder Kenworthy in 3rd ward. It was really cool/weird/trippy to be in my old area with my old companion. Lots of tracting this week. 5 hours of it on Thursday, which also happened to be the day I randomly decided to run 3 miles in the morning... not smart! We used so many miles this week driving all over who-knows-where. 3 of our nightly planning sessions were done while driving! Friday we drove down to Jacksonville for a mission council with the other zone-leaders, which was fun and exciting. President Newman is AMAZING!!! Then Saturday we helped a lady in the ward move. Never have I seen a messier house in my life. My dad would have probably died!!! So we went through with garbage bags just throwing tons of stuff away! Then that night was the christmas party. Sunday was busy, as usual. Church from 8-5! Next week will be SCHWEET because all of the wards are meeting together, so we'll be out of there by noon. Say it with me... "SUNDAY LUNCH NAP!!!" We got our christmas tree! When we were at WalMart we were about to get one of those fake trees but it was frickin $30!!! So instead we bought a palm tree for $10 and decorated it. Elder Stallings even bought some fake snow and we covered it! We also used the fake snow to vandalize our investigator/neighbor's car. BEAUTIFUL!!! Well... I don't know if I'll write an email next week. We'll see what happens. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Love, Elder Borgia

Palm trees and sunny skies in December

(sing it!) - - - It's beginning to look a lot like christmas, everywhere but here. It's a beautiful 80 degrees, with leaves on all the trees, and lots of rednecks drinking beer!Anyhoo... it truly is beautiful weather for December, and it's been a great week. Monday I spent a little bit getting some christmas cards together, and if you haven't got one there's a good chance that I don't have your address, so it's on you! Thursday was our first full day working in Branford. We're going to be working there once a week to help out the senior couple there. There's a branch there, and they're WAY excited about missionary work, so I'm excited to see what the next few weeks will be! Saturday we had a really cool experience. We felt like we needed to go see one of our potential investigators, and we soon found out that we were definitely needed. Isn't it awesome how the Spirit will guide us in this great work?! Saturday night were transfer calls, and our whole apartment is staying. In fact, there's only one elder in the whole zone getting transferred! I'm glad I'll be staying here with Elder Christensen, because things are going really well. Love y'all!!! -Elder Borgia

Burnt wood retribution

Finally my high-school pranking skills were used for good! So on Monday, Elder Christensen had a package delievered, and the mailman just left it on the porch (oh, so if you feel the need to send a christmas package, signiture confirmation might be a good idea, since we've already had a few things stolen) Anyhoo... so the other elders were driving by and saw it and were thoughtful enough to pick it up so it wouldn't get stolen. However, they realized that they could pull a funny prank, so they opened the package, took everything out, filled it up with rocks and burnt wood, and replaced it on our doorstep. Well, Christensen opened it, panicked for a few minutes thinking that something was amiss with the post office, and then Elder Funderburk, our undercover agent who'd been on trade-offs with the culprits, told us what was up. So, in that package was some asthma medicine for Christensen, and he has it pretty bad, so we concocted an amazingly elaborate plot. We called Sister Newman (the mission president's wife) and had her leave a message on their voicemail saying that Elder Christensen was in the hospital, and to keep him in their prayers, and we had them going all night. It was amazing. They were FREAKING out! They eventually figured it out, but I loved getting back into prank mode. They have only awakened a sleeping giant! Anyhoo... this was a great week. Tuesday we went on trade-offs with the elders in Macclenay, so Elder Farr (who was in my district in Gainesville) came up to Lake City with me, which was way fun. Saturday was awesome... we had a few appointments all set up, and they all fell through. So, we went tracting, and I KNOW that that's where the Lord needed us, because we met several people that are ready to hear the gospel. Isn't it awesome how the Lord will micromanage our lives if we allow him to?! So yeah, that was my week. The weeks are just FLYING by. Friday was my 10 month mark. CRAZINESS!!! It's December already, which blows my mind! Someone said "Merry Christmas" to me, and I about had a panic attack. Anyhoo... I'm rambling now, which means I should probably sign off. Love ya! -Elder Borgia

PS- could everyone please send me their mailing addresses? PLEASE??!!