25 April 2011

this keyboard is broken so there is no shift button

We had a great week! all I can think about right now is our investigators haha. there is one that is 11 years old just like mckenna and she reminds me so much of her. i miss my little sis! we have a baptism coming up this weekend . besides that we are just working hard and doing our thing out here in the mission. this sunday we had one of the best reunions. we did the bishop lish technique of calling people out of the congregation for their testimony and favorite scriture. haha i laughed because i remember when I had to do that too. family jaurez made it back from chile. they have a light around them and wow it is amazing to see a family sealed.

well thats about it. this keyboard is horrible so i dont have the desire to write much more hah.

love you guys1

22 April 2011

Hola Bishop how are you doing? First before I send my testimony I want to say thank you for everything you have done for the young men and for me. The mission really is a bench mark and a lot of us have reached it due to great leaders and influences in our lives como you. Muchisimo Gracias :) Espero que todo este bien con la Familia y usted.

It´s hard to bear your testimony on your mission. There are so many ways to express it or there are not enough words to describe it. Right now after 14 months in the mission I would like to focus my testimony on the Love of our Heavenly Father and how wonderful the mission is. Looking back I can testify of the love of our Heavnly Father. Everything just works out, even if we don´t see what is ahead. I know he is a father because he has guided me in my life to be where I am now.. at a point where I have never felt happiness like this before. He lets us grow through challenges but never abandons us The love for the Family and The Mission are two of the greatest things ever.. even better than a Twin Turbo Lexus IS-F hah. I am sincerely grateful for my parents.. my dear parents who are everything for me. For their guidance, love and focus in the Evangelio. They have in view the important things in life which is the Salvation and to have our Family to be Eternal. ( Thank you Mom and Dad, I love guys so much) I´m grateful for my young men liders, bishops, stake presidents, coaches, and individuals who have helped me. From great activities to the little things like the down to earth talks about the important things in life have guided me to be here right now and to be stronger in the Church. I know I have a Father in Heaven because I can see his hands through other people. It´s hard to explain right now but haha he really is a Father and loves us dearly.

I´m thankful for the mission. The best part are the people. I love these people. I am thankful for the hard times .. those first weeks of not knowing a lick of Castellano and coming back to the pench ready to give up to the days which you see someone cry because they have found the gospel in their life. The mission is the best thing in my life along with my family. I wouldn´t give it up even if I could win a World Series. I still can´t believe I am here in Argentina with these wonderful people serving my Heavenly Father. I love it... I´m stoked to leave the pench everyday to visit and teach the people. I´m grateful for blessings I have recieved because it´s so hard to see people struggling. Not so much economically but more as spiritually blunted. I can head into the Villa and find the happiest family because they have the Gospel in their lives.

The church is true and I want to make sure every young man in the congregation to know the mission will be the best part of your life. Even more imporantant than your Girlfriend right now hah.

Bishop Lish, I have to go right now I´m actually just about to teach a Temple Class.. in SPANISH! Wish me luck. Hope this email helps and I wish I have more time to write and I feel like I rushed my testimony but I want to get this email to you before Sunday.

Thank you and tell Elder Lish I say Hola!

Gracias

11 April 2011

What a week and what a translado here in Buenos Aires Oeste. Well again we broke the record of 200 baptisms as a mision. Our area Chivilcoy had the most baptisms in the mision and we broke the record for the zone. The area here is really taking off as well as the mission. I´m sure we are going to break 200 again next transfer!

We had a great finish to the transfer here in 9 de Julio. At first we didn´t have a baptism planned for the end of the week! We were hoping find someone but it didn´t look promising. But we had a miracle. As we were teaching in a recent converts house of Joanna, her uncle showed a lot of interest in the church. Well actually the week before he went to the Temple Class, Institute and more. I´ve never seen someone that has that much excitement for classes such as those. He´s been reading the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. He even marked scriptures for us to help him with. It ends up as we challenged him to be baptized he accepted it 100% and comprehended everything about it. He entered the waters of baptism this weekend and now is going to be a great member of the church. During the week we had division with Elder Latorre ( who is flying home to Chile right now) and Elder Edwards from 25 de Mayo. We tore it up with 5 lessons in one hour. When we were walking home I wanted to check out this little alley way that looked like an alley in Balboa Island. I was like ¨Hey why not lets go check it out, it looks familiar to me.¨ I chose a blue house to clap and ends up this lady came out. She told us that we have come by before but 10 years ago. She has been reading the book of mormon every now and then and always wondered why the kids in shirt and ties never came back. We have an appointment with her this week! I can´t wait to go and see how she is and to get back in the flow of the Gospel in her life and get baptized! She´s married to!! Haha It´s rare to find a couple married here

So it´s the end of the transfer, I´m sure I´ll be here for 3 more but I love this area. I love every area that I am in. The people really do make life the best that it is. Family, Friends and the Gospel. When you are serving others you really are happy. I hope you guys are helping the missionaries back home and give them references to your friends who aren´t members!! Giving references are the best! We have most of our investigators right now because of references from members.

Love you guys, I´ll send another email with extra stuff too like pictures.

Elder Shepherd

04 April 2011

Hey everyone! How great was conference right? Well I´m here at the cyber writing to you guys and like always my mind goes blank on what to do!? Well first I´ll inform you guys on how the work is going. Well this week hasn´t been the best week ever but we have found people that want to hear the gospel. We have about 4 strong investigators right now but within the 4 there are family members and friends. So we are focusing ourselves on these 4 people this week to have a baptism this weekend! In the zone right now we are about to break the record.. it´s pretty amazing for our zone because everyone says that ¨El Campo¨is an area with few baptisms... well we proved them wrong! I´m excited to work this week because it is the last week of the transfer.

Well this week I was thinking how blessed I am and how I need to work harder to help people know this gospel. During the mission you always do your little self evaluations and this week was one of them. While coming home from a inactive members house( we ride bikes) it felt like a flash back of Balboa Island. The tempurature, humidity, the style of houses are all the same so I was getting so homesick hah. Not homesick but like... wow I feel like I´m at home. But I was realizing how my life has been blessed. It´s the best feeling to see the lives of others change too. Especially when it comes to the Gospel. It´s the best thing we have. It really is the truth. I wouldn´t be doing this for 2 years going through the hard times without knowing for certain that the church is true. I love the mission! Thank you for all your prayers and support.

Love you guys!