God Is Good.

Day 16 - June 26:

What a day that one was!

I had given my morning update, but what happened after that is just plain cool.

Church. It was great! There were some powerful messages throughout the entirety of it. I had an opportunity to speak with the missionaries as well.  The crazy part was this:

I walk into church and take a seat on the side of the chapel. As I wait for the service to start, I begin to look around and people watch. I noticed a face or two that looked oddly like someone I knew from back home, but didn’t think too much of it. I looked a few more times to see if they would increase in familiarity, but I brushed it off. I am in Panama City, Florida… I am not going to know anyone here.

Well, the service ended, and I went up to talk to the missionaries. While talking with them, I hear a, “Peter?”

I turn around and the girl tells me who she is - my dad’s best friend’s kid - and we laugh and find out why each of us are in Panama City instead of home in Utah! What are the odds of this?! Traveling to the opposite end of the country and running into old family friends? Woah.

After church, I went home with them and we played games, ate, played more games, took a little stroll in the woods, watched the Brown Tony Bracelet DVD from Invisible Children, and cleaned up the place a little bit. It was a party and a total blessing that they were there and were willing to take me in for the night.

Day 17 - June 27:

We all woke up around 4am because they needed to hit the road to get to the airport on time to fly home. After finishing cleaning up the place, we went our separate ways. It is just crazy that the whole experience happened in the first place!

Since it was so early, I took off to my trusty classy McDonalds, parked, reclined my chair, and slept for 4 more hours – surprisingly well, too! When I finally woke up from there, I headed inside to use the internet to figure out what I was doing for the day, revamp the route of The Vagabond Tour, find places to sleep along the way, and of course, check facebook. While there, a lady walked up and started talking to me.

“They have free internet here?”

“Yes ma’am. I have been stopping at all the McDonalds across the country to use their Internet.”

“Oh, you work for McDonalds? Are you an under cover person?”

“No, I am actually just traveling the country to spread a message of change.”

“Are you on your mission? Are you LDL?”
“LDS? I sure am! But this isn’t my mission. I did that a couple years ago. This is just a personal effort.”

---Small talk---

“Well I am gonna buy you a salad.”

The lady bought me a salad! Such wonderful people! Blessings are flowing in from all over!

After finishing my salad and my new route, I took off to a car dealership for an oil change. There was a nice guy at the Watermelon Festival that offered me a free oil change, so I decided to take him up on the offer. I dropped off the car and took off with Travis Nellums to Fort Walton, FL.

A little while after we left, I got a bummer call. It was the dealership letting me know that they had finished with the oil change, but that they found some problems with the vehicle… Ugh. After a short conversation, I gave them the go ahead to get the work done… When they had finished, it came out to be about $450 or something like that, which is pretty good, I guess! Seeing the signs in my car, and hearing my despair on the phone, they cut down the labor quite a bit and I walked out of the dealership saving over $100. God is GOOD!

On the way to Fort Walton, Travis felt the need to stop at every thrift store. So, we visited quite a bit of them that day! We also stopped by quite a bit of arcades. “It’s my vacation,” he says. :)

We ended up at a Young Single Adult Family Home Evening (YSAFHE!), and while they were talking about movies, I snuck out and taught a lesson with the missionaries! Greatest thing ever. I want to be a missionary again SO SO SO bad! After the lesson, I reunited with the YSA group and we played Sardines for a couple rounds. Then we were on the road back home!

The car dealership was closed by the time we got home (10pm – of course it would be!), so Travis just dropped me off at my temporary home with a Couch Surfer. We visited for a bit, and then… fade to black.

Day 18 - June 28:

Tropical Storm! The rainfall down here is pretty intense! And it comes and goes in an instant. Since EVERYTHING was in my car, I didn’t really have a desire to get ready. I had no clothes, no toiletries, nothing. I left it all in my car in the next city over. Luckily for me, my host worked right next to the dealership, so I hitched a ride to my car on his way to work. Isn’t it ironic??? Don’t you think…? To top it off, as I got out of the car, I dropped my sunglasses. He rolled forward and ran them over. BUT! They were my trusty $0.80 thrift store aviators, and they survived! There is a crack in one of the lenses, sure, but they are still perfectly wearable! Talk about a blessing AGAIN.

I paid for my car, and headed off to McDonalds so that I could provide you with this wonderful update. So, here we are! I suppose another update will come soon! Take care.

Peter.Moosman.