Another Proksch Missionary

It probably seems like the only time I write something on this blog is when I send a missionary out.  Well, it's probably true because, guess what?  We sent another valiant son out on a mission November 19th this year (OK, OK, so I'm a little behind here.)  The third Elder Proksch is serving in the Jacksonville, Florida mission and it has been such a blessing to our family, especially because he is in the U.S. and we are really not too far from him.

I'm catching everyone up with a couple of his emails (definitely shorter than the ones his brothers wrote!).  Enjoy the journey....

Hey guys!! 

So my P. Day isn't until Tuesday but I have some time to write today and figured I would. 

Everything is finally starting to slow down. I have been up to my neck with a schedule. The first day was just trying to figure out where things where and figuring out what to do. On the first night we started teaching as a group to some "investigators". people who where converts but acting like they were investigating. I'm sure Logan can help explain a lot of this. The first two days were just crazy. Just running from place to place and being in a class or meeting all day until 9:30 at night. I have a calling that my companion and I have. We are the Sacrament coordinators. It has to be like the easiest calling out of all of the calling that were given. ha ha.

After my meeting Thursday night when we met our branch president, I was walking back to my room with my companion and I saw Grant. He didn't answer at first and in fact he didn't even answer to Grant.  I should have called him by "Elder Heath"! haha  When I finally got his attention he was so excited to see me. He gave me a big hug and we caught up a bit. I think he was just happy to see someone he actually knew. I would be too. So apparently if I remember correctly he leaves tomorrow. I am so excited for him. He looks like he is ready to get out of here. It's funny my district and I all look out the window and go OOOOOHHHH LOOOOK!!!  IT'S THE REAL WORLD!!!!  It's so beautiful, as we press our faces up against a pane of glass. 

The only struggle there is here really is the sisters. I didn't expect for them to even be in the same classes or buildings or really anything with us. It's just weird to be intermingled with them so much. Sometimes it takes the Spirit away and I don't like that. It gets frustrating when you are in personal study and you want to think about something so you look around the room but you feel awkward because there are four sister missionaries sitting right there. I wish we were a little bit more segregated than we are. I will be fine though. 

That is so crazy about Juan, the puppy!! send me a picture of him. Thanks for the picture by the way. I look so dashing. haha JK. 

Well, it's lunch time so I have to go. Love you all. Hope your day is going great!!

(2nd letter....)

So i cant really remember what i write people in all of the letters that i write but i wanted to tell you guys that my thanksgiving was awesome. We had a super laid back day and we got to have like a truckload of the spirit dumped into our souls. We got to listen to Elder Bednar talk and that was awesome!! i got to send a couple of texts to him as well. Part, well most of his talk was question and answering. they passed out cell phones and told us to send him questions for him to answer. It was really cool. 

My testimony has really grown a lot this week though. I am so grateful to be here in the MTC and to be able to serve the Lord. Its hard to share sometimes because it means so much.

The other day is when i really feel i gained a testimony of my own of the Gospel. We taught and investigator and asked him to pray for the knowledge of God. After that lesson and for a couple of lessons to come i asked our Heavenly Father to help our investigator feel something. Any thing at all. i just wanted him to feel the power of the Lord. I knew that if he did feel something, anything, that the spirit would be planted in his heart and that from there it would only be able to grow.  We went in Friday to teach our lesson. We asked him how he was doing and if he had done the things we had asked. The mood of the room changed and he said, yeah i did. I prayed for help and i got and answer from God. He told us that he didn't believe in coincidences and that he knew the help he received was from God. I didn't know hat to say. My companion and i were so happy. it was such a relieving feeling because finally after five visits, we were able to get somewhere. I knew in that moment that our Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Even though this was our teacher acting as an investigator, i took it seriously and the Lord STILL answered my prayers. I know that me being here is preparatory to the rest of my life. This has been the most spiritually uplifting thing i have ever experienced in my life. The spirit has literally made me tired some night where i cant even write in my journal. 

I hope everything is going ok back at home.  If you haven't yet, bless the house. choose a day that is happy and calm. Feel the spirit when you bless the house and live up to that blessing. Be honest with yourself and help others along your way to get closer to our heavenly father. 

Elder Proksch

(3rd letter....)

Hey fam!!!  So, I am here in Jacksonville.  I have spent most of the evening at the mission pres. house.  I had a real meal!!!  It was awesome. Tonight has been wonderful as it is.  I still have no idea what I am doing.  BUT!!  I am enjoying it and I am excited to meet my companion tomorrow.  I have no idea when my p day is so I am not sure when I will be able to write back but ask me some Q's and I will try my best to answer them.  The flights went well.  The first one was a little bumpy, but the second one was just fine.  It was actually kind of funny. Some elder sitting in front of me threw up on the guy in front of him.  ha ha ha!

Well, I am on my way, but before I go I was told to give you guys this website.  I think it is a mission blog or something. 

FloridaJacksonvilleMissionNews.Blogspot.com

Elder Proksch

I got the package on Saturday.  It happened super quick and I was surprised at how fast it got here.  Thank you so much for the package though!!!  I am so happy when I get packages.  I would say the only thing that I can think of that was left out was the bike lights and the clip for my bike lock.  I can't carry the bike lock unless I have that clip.

The blanket is heaven and the helmet is nice.  :)  I added the TP to the stock pile and the paper towels were nice to have.  We use them a lot.  Thank you.  Everyone is jealous about the keyboard. They all are asking me if they can use it and I just tell them, "Sure!!....if I can use your Ipad to email my family".  ha ha ha ha!  It's been fun.  My companion is so cool!  His name is Elder Shelton.  He knows a lot and he is a great trainer from what I know....but what do I know.  Fleming Island is great.  Believe it or not it kind of feels like I'm in the Carolinas. The scenery is similar because in the northern part of Florida it's more like the country.  It's more "The South".  The only thing that tells me it's not the Carolinas are the trees and the grass.  I like the area though.  I am still trying to get used to everything.  I asked my comp. about that and he said it usually takes half of a transfer to get into the swing of things and then you can really get some work done.  That's ok though.  I'm happy with how things are going.  I haven't had a Florida orange yet.  I know, I know.  I need to get with it.  ha ha!  Actually, if there is anything that I would really like in a package it would be cooking utensils.  No one here believes in real food.  It's hard to cook sometimes, but I manage.  :)  My companion and I live the law of "consecration".  We share the groceries and the bill.  It makes for good groceries and it works out really well.  The families here feed us like every single day. The only day I don't have a dinner this week is Friday.   

My bike is awesome. No problems whatsoever.  It is new.  I got it from a bike shop real close to the apartment with a bottle carrier, bike lube, allen wrenches, and maintenance warranty for 600.  I will be taking real good care of it so I can sell it for as close to that as possible when I leave my mission. The other bikes they had there that were mountain bikes where like 8 and 9 hundred so I got a hybrid for a good price.  A couple of other missionaries have the same bike and they said they loved it.  It is a Specialized.  It's grey with green letters.  As far as riding it goes, we never really ride very fast anywhere.  It's pretty laid back.  In fact, I think like 85 to 90% of our mission has cars. You should see mission conference. There is like 100 cars that are all Chevy Cruz's, Toyota Camry's, or little Hyundai's that all have these dinky bike racks on them.  It's like some sort of wanna-be cyclist convention.

So apparently we are in a smaller area of the mission so we don't get a car but we have some awesome members here. We have a guy who is 21 who goes out with us pretty much every day. He doesn't work right now but he wants to go on a mission and he has a lot of experience already. I guess the sisters kind of reactivated him and from then on he stopped smoking weed and drinking and now he wants to go on a mission and he is the only priesthood holder in his home. He is really setting an example for his family.  It's awesome.  His mom, grandma, dad and brother all come to church. His name is Madison.  He is really cool.

Things are going well out here on the Island.  It's really not an island but that's what people say.  You should see our apartments. They are super nice.  It's like a vacation. There is a clubhouse at the office that we go to for the computers and WIFI, and it's like a hotel.  I am so spoiled here.  I would take a picture but my camera decided it wants to eat batteries.  I tried the cord and the cord was fine but the camera just eats the battery to no return.  It's frustrating. Thank you for the cord though.  I'm sorry I didn't get that figured out before I left.  I feel bad that I asked for the cord before I knew what was wrong.  I just ask my companion to use his camera with my SD card to take pictures, so it works. 

Well, I have to go, but I hope I answered your questions alright.  I love you guys.  Keep up the good work!!  You're AWESOME!!!!

Elder Proksch