email dated 10/10/09
I am coming home. Don't be alarmed next Saturday when I don't write. Rather, call home and ask me how I am doing. I may just need it.
Lorena was baptized on Saturday. She had invited her mom and some friends and I thought it was kind of funny that she got up to bear her testimony and it reminded me of a "coming out of the closet" kind of thing. She said "Well, I just wanted to invite you all today and be able to tell you why I did what I just did. In the first place, I believe in God. One thing I love about church is the good values that it teaches. I know that it is something I need in my life." I thought what she said was cool. I hadn't realized that to her one of the most attractive things about the church to her were our values. But that was what made the difference for her. She saw the difference in the people her age that were active members and she liked it. She had gone to some institute activities and that really helped. Beyond that she had really changed and felt that God listens to her. I remember when I first met her I said I saw "lonely eyes" and those eyes are now filled with light. She is visibly better. That comes from having a healthy relationship with her Heavenly Father. Prayer is so important in our lives.
10 Trunky Plans:
1. Buy new garments
2. Buy new running shoes
3. Buy maybe new clothes if needed?
4. Buy the Wendy's that I never got to eat before I left
5. Smile and listen to music - Any music I want
6. Play the Piano a lot - ANY SONG!!!
7. Figure out what direction I am heading in life, work, and school
8. Play Nintendo with Christian, that one car game where we would always run from the cops.
9. Go Trick or Treating with Teddy
10. Be grateful for the blessing of the mission and remember it fondly while looking to the future with good plans and living happily in the present.
I don't know what really to write about this week. I will be landing in Salt Lake on Friday around noon. I love you all so much! I could try to be sentimental or really spiritual in this email home, but you will see all that when I give my homecoming talk and maybe I will cry then. For today, I am very excited that I will be seeing y'all soon. I have lots of things to do today to finish my goodbyes and purchases. Take care!!
Andy
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Lorena to be Born Again
email dated 10/3/09
Today is General Conference. For me at 1:00 is the first session and at 3:00 Lorena Dacuña will be entering the waters of baptism. She finally made it and I think you all so much for your prayers in her behalf. She means a lot to me and I cant think of a better way to come to the end of my mission than baptizing Lorena. A perfect day!
This week I was doing divisions in Artigas 1 with Elder Rodriguez from Uruguay. We had a really good time. He is a really funny guy. He will work a lot of miracles in his mission. He is a very talented missionary. I was trying to figure out what made him so good and I came to the conclusion that it is because he loves the people. He is from Uruguay and so he learned quick to love the people. It was something he already knew how to do. He has only been out for 5 months but I can tell that he is a future leader not only in the mission but a future church leader in Uruguay. I was very impressed with him. Last night together, we taught the very best first lesson I can remember in all my mission. We had practiced tons of techniques and ideas to meet our missionary purpose. We know that our objective is to baptize and so we went in honest and sincere. We went up to a couple sitting on the front porch and asked if we could sit down and share a message with them for a few minutes. They said sure and so we did. Elder Rodriguez and I had been talking about this all afternoon and we finally got to try it out. We asked if they believed in God and that He was our father and they did. So he asked to start "If you knew that I had authority and power to baptize and that you could be forgiven of all past misdeeds, would you be baptized?" And the wife replied "Well, sure if I knew you had that kind of power." And then I came in and said "That is what we want to share with you today. That Jesus Christ came to teach us the path to Eternal Life, or in other words, the way to live happily ever after with Him and our families. Baptism is a step in that path and today we want to present you a message that will help you to understand how it is that the power and authority to baptize is on the earth today and that we have it in the Restored Church of Jesus Christ." We taught a 15 minute lesson in which we mainly focused on what baptism is and priesthood, and then we told the Joseph Smith story. We said "baptism" I think almost every other sentence. We spoke so positively and so full of faith that I don't think that it was possible for them to reject the message. I have always talked about how being positive and full of faith and sincere is the key and I saw it work last night. We said things all throughout the lesson like "And when you are baptized you will feel that remission of sins and the spirit and you will know that your Father in Heaven is proud of you." We talked to them as if they were already baptized. And my favorite was after they accepted the conditional invitation "When God makes you feel that this message is true will you be baptized?" They said "Sure." And so we said "Perfect!! I know you will want to feel prepared to make such a big decision, right? (nodding my head and they nodded back). Of course, and that is why we want to help you prepare so that when you are baptized you feel good about it. So when you go to church this weekend you will feel such and such, etc...And we will visit you frequently and pray with you to help you prepare." They accepted everything and answered questions, asked questions, participated in the lesson, etc.. Elder Rodriguez is going by on Sunday to accompany them to General Conference. I felt a fire within me! We were literally a fire. As we left that lesson we could hardly contain ourselves. We jumped up and down in the streets and talked about all the Preach My Gospel applications we had never noticed before. We smiled the whole way home.
I love you all very much! I am so happy that soon I will be with you again. I am nervous, but not scared. I hope that you don't recognize me at first. And then I hope you look into my eyes and realize that I am more me than I have ever been!
Andy
Today is General Conference. For me at 1:00 is the first session and at 3:00 Lorena Dacuña will be entering the waters of baptism. She finally made it and I think you all so much for your prayers in her behalf. She means a lot to me and I cant think of a better way to come to the end of my mission than baptizing Lorena. A perfect day!
This week I was doing divisions in Artigas 1 with Elder Rodriguez from Uruguay. We had a really good time. He is a really funny guy. He will work a lot of miracles in his mission. He is a very talented missionary. I was trying to figure out what made him so good and I came to the conclusion that it is because he loves the people. He is from Uruguay and so he learned quick to love the people. It was something he already knew how to do. He has only been out for 5 months but I can tell that he is a future leader not only in the mission but a future church leader in Uruguay. I was very impressed with him. Last night together, we taught the very best first lesson I can remember in all my mission. We had practiced tons of techniques and ideas to meet our missionary purpose. We know that our objective is to baptize and so we went in honest and sincere. We went up to a couple sitting on the front porch and asked if we could sit down and share a message with them for a few minutes. They said sure and so we did. Elder Rodriguez and I had been talking about this all afternoon and we finally got to try it out. We asked if they believed in God and that He was our father and they did. So he asked to start "If you knew that I had authority and power to baptize and that you could be forgiven of all past misdeeds, would you be baptized?" And the wife replied "Well, sure if I knew you had that kind of power." And then I came in and said "That is what we want to share with you today. That Jesus Christ came to teach us the path to Eternal Life, or in other words, the way to live happily ever after with Him and our families. Baptism is a step in that path and today we want to present you a message that will help you to understand how it is that the power and authority to baptize is on the earth today and that we have it in the Restored Church of Jesus Christ." We taught a 15 minute lesson in which we mainly focused on what baptism is and priesthood, and then we told the Joseph Smith story. We said "baptism" I think almost every other sentence. We spoke so positively and so full of faith that I don't think that it was possible for them to reject the message. I have always talked about how being positive and full of faith and sincere is the key and I saw it work last night. We said things all throughout the lesson like "And when you are baptized you will feel that remission of sins and the spirit and you will know that your Father in Heaven is proud of you." We talked to them as if they were already baptized. And my favorite was after they accepted the conditional invitation "When God makes you feel that this message is true will you be baptized?" They said "Sure." And so we said "Perfect!! I know you will want to feel prepared to make such a big decision, right? (nodding my head and they nodded back). Of course, and that is why we want to help you prepare so that when you are baptized you feel good about it. So when you go to church this weekend you will feel such and such, etc...And we will visit you frequently and pray with you to help you prepare." They accepted everything and answered questions, asked questions, participated in the lesson, etc.. Elder Rodriguez is going by on Sunday to accompany them to General Conference. I felt a fire within me! We were literally a fire. As we left that lesson we could hardly contain ourselves. We jumped up and down in the streets and talked about all the Preach My Gospel applications we had never noticed before. We smiled the whole way home.
I love you all very much! I am so happy that soon I will be with you again. I am nervous, but not scared. I hope that you don't recognize me at first. And then I hope you look into my eyes and realize that I am more me than I have ever been!
Andy
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Step in the Right Direction
email dated 9/19/09
Another week has come and gone. If I am writing too early for you to write me email today than you will need to email me at urugoest@gmail.com today or tomorrow so that I get it. I have to write now because today we are traveling to Paysandu for a Stake Conference and I lose another Pday. But I live in the offices and so any emails I get pretty much the same day anyway, but I wont be able to check my emails again today. So that everyone knows, anytime that you write to urugoest@gmail.com I get those any day of the week while I am living here.
This week we had the Zone Conferences in Tacuarembo and Salto and Mercedes. I was on the road all week and I am really tired but we still have one road trip left to go. We talked about the importance of setting your goals and committing yourselves to the goals. Making that the goals drive your plans and not your plans drive your goals. It is probably the hardest thing that we do on the mission and I didn't feel really capable or worthy to teach it. For me, setting and getting goals is harder than anything else we do. On the mission all of our goals have to do with the actions of other people and we have to avoid the doubts or fears that "oh their agency makes us incapable of achieving our goals". It is easy to make that excuse. What I have come to realize is that if we don't get a goal we don't need to criticize ourselves or beat ourselves up. We just analyze what happened. If we did our best we go out and do it again, maybe adjusting the goal or our plans. Nephi was commanded to get the plates and 2 times failed. It was a commandment from the Lord to achieve the plates!! He could have wondered why it didn't happen right the first time, as did Laman and Lemuel. We just gotta keep going at it with a positive attitude.
I don't have much more time. I love you all very much! I bear witness that Heavenly Father loves His children and that we have the necessity and responsibility to seek Him every day of our lives! It is a journey towards perfection in which we daily need to be advancing. The good news is that God is no respecter of persons. Wherever we are on the path the only responsibility that we have today is to make a step in the right direction. I love you all!!
Andy
Another week has come and gone. If I am writing too early for you to write me email today than you will need to email me at urugoest@gmail.com today or tomorrow so that I get it. I have to write now because today we are traveling to Paysandu for a Stake Conference and I lose another Pday. But I live in the offices and so any emails I get pretty much the same day anyway, but I wont be able to check my emails again today. So that everyone knows, anytime that you write to urugoest@gmail.com I get those any day of the week while I am living here.
This week we had the Zone Conferences in Tacuarembo and Salto and Mercedes. I was on the road all week and I am really tired but we still have one road trip left to go. We talked about the importance of setting your goals and committing yourselves to the goals. Making that the goals drive your plans and not your plans drive your goals. It is probably the hardest thing that we do on the mission and I didn't feel really capable or worthy to teach it. For me, setting and getting goals is harder than anything else we do. On the mission all of our goals have to do with the actions of other people and we have to avoid the doubts or fears that "oh their agency makes us incapable of achieving our goals". It is easy to make that excuse. What I have come to realize is that if we don't get a goal we don't need to criticize ourselves or beat ourselves up. We just analyze what happened. If we did our best we go out and do it again, maybe adjusting the goal or our plans. Nephi was commanded to get the plates and 2 times failed. It was a commandment from the Lord to achieve the plates!! He could have wondered why it didn't happen right the first time, as did Laman and Lemuel. We just gotta keep going at it with a positive attitude.
I don't have much more time. I love you all very much! I bear witness that Heavenly Father loves His children and that we have the necessity and responsibility to seek Him every day of our lives! It is a journey towards perfection in which we daily need to be advancing. The good news is that God is no respecter of persons. Wherever we are on the path the only responsibility that we have today is to make a step in the right direction. I love you all!!
Andy
Saturday, September 12, 2009
One Who Understands
email dated 9/12/09
I had a very strange trunky moment today. The intercom in the offices rang and the voice "Elder Shepherd line 2, line 2". I went and sat at the secretaries desk and was about to pick up the phone when I saw a certificate with my name on it. "Dear Elder Andrew Wade Shepherd, you are hereby released as a full time missionary...signed Steven K Peterson". It made my stomach turn over. I think that it goes in the packet they send to the stake President. I wasn't supposed to see that. It didn't actually make me trunky. But it was weird to see and thus I call it a trunky moment.
Elder Clark and I have the idea of baptizing 6 people before I go home. We have the people found and challenged. Now the trick will be progressing and going to church. We will continue to find during these weeks as well. We are determined and we will succeed.
Lorena is doing well, her new job still didn't help and she realizes that she wants to work without having to work Sunday. She really wants to be baptized. A girl who when I first met her said she didn't really believe or disbelieve in God, said this week "I have felt the spirit and I know what I felt. I know I need to be baptized."!! Your prayers have helped her. Keep praying for her.
Elisa is good. The bishop knows her a little better and she has accepted a date to be baptized in September. She has already been to church the required 3 times and so she is good to go. We could do it today if we wanted to. I think we will give her another week or two to prepare.
We found a full family yesterday!! Father, mother, two sons. Jose Luis, the dad, says he would like it for his kids to have faith. He said in their home they haven't talked much about God, although they believe. And that with the death of the grandparents the kids could use an idea what there is beyond all this life. The problem is again that he works a TON, 65 hours a week, and Sunday is rarely free. The Devil is winning WAY too many points on the Sabbath Day. I gotta say that after what I have seen on the mission I am convinced that Sabbath Worship can make or break the attitude of a society. The Uruguayan truly believes "I am ALWAYS working. I am NEVER home." They say it in a way I never heard busy people in the States mean it or say it. They don't say it as an excuse. They truly and honestly believe it. And for some people it is true, but all say it. But when you have the Sabbath you always know that there is a day to be with your family. As I look back on life Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I love going to church and coming home and having the whole afternoon where I have already decided I wont do homework on that special day, so I read, watch movies with family, eat chicken and mashed potatoes or yakisoba or whatever it is...I love Sunday. And I will keep the Sabbath Holy the rest of my life. The Lord blesses those that keep His commandments. Those blessings are real and too often go unnoticed. But I know they are there.
Anyway, I gotta go. I hope that everyone is doing just dandy. Take care. I love all y'all!
Andy
I had a very strange trunky moment today. The intercom in the offices rang and the voice "Elder Shepherd line 2, line 2". I went and sat at the secretaries desk and was about to pick up the phone when I saw a certificate with my name on it. "Dear Elder Andrew Wade Shepherd, you are hereby released as a full time missionary...signed Steven K Peterson". It made my stomach turn over. I think that it goes in the packet they send to the stake President. I wasn't supposed to see that. It didn't actually make me trunky. But it was weird to see and thus I call it a trunky moment.
Elder Clark and I have the idea of baptizing 6 people before I go home. We have the people found and challenged. Now the trick will be progressing and going to church. We will continue to find during these weeks as well. We are determined and we will succeed.
Lorena is doing well, her new job still didn't help and she realizes that she wants to work without having to work Sunday. She really wants to be baptized. A girl who when I first met her said she didn't really believe or disbelieve in God, said this week "I have felt the spirit and I know what I felt. I know I need to be baptized."!! Your prayers have helped her. Keep praying for her.
Elisa is good. The bishop knows her a little better and she has accepted a date to be baptized in September. She has already been to church the required 3 times and so she is good to go. We could do it today if we wanted to. I think we will give her another week or two to prepare.
We found a full family yesterday!! Father, mother, two sons. Jose Luis, the dad, says he would like it for his kids to have faith. He said in their home they haven't talked much about God, although they believe. And that with the death of the grandparents the kids could use an idea what there is beyond all this life. The problem is again that he works a TON, 65 hours a week, and Sunday is rarely free. The Devil is winning WAY too many points on the Sabbath Day. I gotta say that after what I have seen on the mission I am convinced that Sabbath Worship can make or break the attitude of a society. The Uruguayan truly believes "I am ALWAYS working. I am NEVER home." They say it in a way I never heard busy people in the States mean it or say it. They don't say it as an excuse. They truly and honestly believe it. And for some people it is true, but all say it. But when you have the Sabbath you always know that there is a day to be with your family. As I look back on life Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I love going to church and coming home and having the whole afternoon where I have already decided I wont do homework on that special day, so I read, watch movies with family, eat chicken and mashed potatoes or yakisoba or whatever it is...I love Sunday. And I will keep the Sabbath Holy the rest of my life. The Lord blesses those that keep His commandments. Those blessings are real and too often go unnoticed. But I know they are there.
Anyway, I gotta go. I hope that everyone is doing just dandy. Take care. I love all y'all!
Andy
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Amazing Grace
email dated 9/5/09
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That Saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found.
Was blind but now I see!
Twas grace that taught my heart to feel
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
And when this heart and flesh shall fail
And mortal life shall cease.
I shall possess within the veil
A life of Joy and Peace.
My chains are gone Ive been set free!!
My Lord my God has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing Grace.
I would like to think I wrote that, but I do have it memorized and that is almost just as good. What I have accomplished is that I have come to know that that Amazing Grace of which we sing is very real. It is by grace that we are saved. One thing I have come to learn is that only God knows the heart of a person. Not even the person necessarily knows his own heart, but our Heavenly Father always knows. And our Savior Jesus Christ, having felt what we have felt, knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus suffered our afflictions and pains, which are only inadvertently connected with sin on account of the fall, but truly are not consequences always of bad choices we make. Yet He suffered those specific pains anyway so that He could know us and love us. And that is why His grace and His love is perfect.
This week we met a woman in the hospital named Marinela Deluche. She lives in a little town called Chuy in the other mission. She had been in a motor accident and had temporarily lost her memory. She had lesions that haven't healed in 4 months and she had an eye surgery as a result of the accident. They found a brain tumor and are in the process of finding out if it is operable or what will happen to her. We had gone to the hospital to look for her to give her a blessing because a member who was in the hospital had called our offices and requested one. It turns out that the member wasn't even there and Marinela had no idea we were coming or who that member was. We stuck around anyway to talk to her. A woman named Rosa was also there. Rosa didn't know Marinela before her accident and is living here in Montevideo. Rosa is a good christian. I needed to meet her. She would frequently visit Marinela just so that Marinela wouldn't be alone. Marinela has a 14 year old son named Emiliano and an ex-husband. Well, for 4 months her son has been with her ex and she has heard not a word from him or her son. She very well might die and what she really wants is to talk to her son. I felt so helpless. She accepted the blessing at Rosas insisting that we could help. We have visited her twice there. She doesn't know her sons number or that of her ex-husband but she gave me an idea of where they might live. I called the missionaries that are serving in Chuy and sent them and they told me that they found it!! We are going to be able to get her a phone number to call and talk to her son. We haven't really talked to her about baptism at all, which is usually the main thing I have been talking about to the people I am visiting. It just hasn't seemed the need with her right now. I think Heavenly Father isn't done teaching me about Charity and I have quite a few lessons to learn. Visiting her and Rosa has renewed my faith and hope in the good people of the world.
I love you all very much! Take care!!
Andy
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That Saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found.
Was blind but now I see!
Twas grace that taught my heart to feel
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
And when this heart and flesh shall fail
And mortal life shall cease.
I shall possess within the veil
A life of Joy and Peace.
My chains are gone Ive been set free!!
My Lord my God has ransomed me.
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing Grace.
I would like to think I wrote that, but I do have it memorized and that is almost just as good. What I have accomplished is that I have come to know that that Amazing Grace of which we sing is very real. It is by grace that we are saved. One thing I have come to learn is that only God knows the heart of a person. Not even the person necessarily knows his own heart, but our Heavenly Father always knows. And our Savior Jesus Christ, having felt what we have felt, knows us better than we know ourselves. Jesus suffered our afflictions and pains, which are only inadvertently connected with sin on account of the fall, but truly are not consequences always of bad choices we make. Yet He suffered those specific pains anyway so that He could know us and love us. And that is why His grace and His love is perfect.
This week we met a woman in the hospital named Marinela Deluche. She lives in a little town called Chuy in the other mission. She had been in a motor accident and had temporarily lost her memory. She had lesions that haven't healed in 4 months and she had an eye surgery as a result of the accident. They found a brain tumor and are in the process of finding out if it is operable or what will happen to her. We had gone to the hospital to look for her to give her a blessing because a member who was in the hospital had called our offices and requested one. It turns out that the member wasn't even there and Marinela had no idea we were coming or who that member was. We stuck around anyway to talk to her. A woman named Rosa was also there. Rosa didn't know Marinela before her accident and is living here in Montevideo. Rosa is a good christian. I needed to meet her. She would frequently visit Marinela just so that Marinela wouldn't be alone. Marinela has a 14 year old son named Emiliano and an ex-husband. Well, for 4 months her son has been with her ex and she has heard not a word from him or her son. She very well might die and what she really wants is to talk to her son. I felt so helpless. She accepted the blessing at Rosas insisting that we could help. We have visited her twice there. She doesn't know her sons number or that of her ex-husband but she gave me an idea of where they might live. I called the missionaries that are serving in Chuy and sent them and they told me that they found it!! We are going to be able to get her a phone number to call and talk to her son. We haven't really talked to her about baptism at all, which is usually the main thing I have been talking about to the people I am visiting. It just hasn't seemed the need with her right now. I think Heavenly Father isn't done teaching me about Charity and I have quite a few lessons to learn. Visiting her and Rosa has renewed my faith and hope in the good people of the world.
I love you all very much! Take care!!
Andy
Monday, August 31, 2009
Pooh Corner
email dated 8/25/09
Good news!! Lorena has decided to look for new work and it may just be that she has already gotten it! She was riding by on her bike yesterday and came up to us and said "Maybe I got a job!" She was happy and it did me so good to see her that happy. If she gets the job she wont have to work Sundays and will be able to go to church and be baptized. Prayers are being answered. Thank you for your prayers!
In other news I have received my final assignment for my last transfer...I am staying right here. So I really am going to end my mission here in Montevideo. I have no served more than a year here in this city. It is my home. I stay with Elder Clark and starting next week I am the oldest missionary in Uruguay.
I am really glad to hear that I am still Teddy's favorite. And rightly so. He and I will have to get a happy meal or something when i get home. It will be super fun to see nephews and nieces again and to have a new sister in law. I am really excited to come home...in 6 weeks that is. I am not trunky.
De hecho, I have baptizing to do. No time to be trunky. Elisa couldn't get her interview this week and will have to be baptized next week or the week after and we are still working on Lorena. We found 12 investigators this week, Elder Clark and me, and we have high hopes to baptize at least one of them. They all seem great but we always see everything through rose colored glasses. I always believe every person is going to be baptized when we find them, and maybe all eventually do. I am certain we will baptize a few of them.
I am exercising a lot more. I weigh 160 pounds. I started the mission at 150. So it is a good weight gain. I don't want to lose it, but I do need to tone it. I still have beautiful blond hair and have no signs of going bald or ever getting to an age where I could grow a moustache. The good news is that I don't want facial hair anyway. Me with my feather blond hair they already try to make me the Belle at the ball, I don't need any facial hair.
Keep working hard! Don't get trunky! I will still need mail. We aren't done yet. Take care! I love you all!!
Andy
Good news!! Lorena has decided to look for new work and it may just be that she has already gotten it! She was riding by on her bike yesterday and came up to us and said "Maybe I got a job!" She was happy and it did me so good to see her that happy. If she gets the job she wont have to work Sundays and will be able to go to church and be baptized. Prayers are being answered. Thank you for your prayers!
In other news I have received my final assignment for my last transfer...I am staying right here. So I really am going to end my mission here in Montevideo. I have no served more than a year here in this city. It is my home. I stay with Elder Clark and starting next week I am the oldest missionary in Uruguay.
I am really glad to hear that I am still Teddy's favorite. And rightly so. He and I will have to get a happy meal or something when i get home. It will be super fun to see nephews and nieces again and to have a new sister in law. I am really excited to come home...in 6 weeks that is. I am not trunky.
De hecho, I have baptizing to do. No time to be trunky. Elisa couldn't get her interview this week and will have to be baptized next week or the week after and we are still working on Lorena. We found 12 investigators this week, Elder Clark and me, and we have high hopes to baptize at least one of them. They all seem great but we always see everything through rose colored glasses. I always believe every person is going to be baptized when we find them, and maybe all eventually do. I am certain we will baptize a few of them.
I am exercising a lot more. I weigh 160 pounds. I started the mission at 150. So it is a good weight gain. I don't want to lose it, but I do need to tone it. I still have beautiful blond hair and have no signs of going bald or ever getting to an age where I could grow a moustache. The good news is that I don't want facial hair anyway. Me with my feather blond hair they already try to make me the Belle at the ball, I don't need any facial hair.
Keep working hard! Don't get trunky! I will still need mail. We aren't done yet. Take care! I love you all!!
Andy
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
August 22nd 2009: A day that shall live in...
email dated 8/22/09
Today I fulfill 21 years of life. I have never broken any bones to this point, but I have fractured my neck and probably my pointer finger in my right hand. I have enjoyed life immensely until now. From Tee-Ball to Junior Jazz, to Cross Country, to Student Government and being a Youth Senator, Deacons Quorum President to Teachers Quorum President to Assistant to the Bishop to Assistant to the President...Life has been good to me. I have had so many opportunities to learn the most important things about life, namely faith, hope, love and compassion. I have a long way to go on this road and I am eager to keep on keeping on.
We have a baptism set up for this next Sunday of a woman named Elisa. She has had a son go to prison and her sons live kind of a rowdy life, at least the 2 that live with her. I have a good relationship with the sons and they listen if they have time. They need repentance in their lives. They need that amazing peace that the atonement provides when we repent and the Lord forsakes our sins. The weight on our shoulders can be lifted. Elisa is loving church and the peace she feels with us and the people at church. She prays and reads. She is progressing well.
Lorena is looking for a new job she said. But we have work to do yet. We are still delayed in the process and if she stops going to church and gets discouraged she will stop keeping commitments and all the spirit that she has felt will be forgotten. She is great though and I believe that she will overcome the trials of her faith. She has to pass through this so that her faith is made sure.
So Elder Harmon went home this last week. It was weird to see him go. I didn't really feel like it was any goodbye because I will see him soon. With the departure of his group in a week and a half I become the oldest missionary in the mission Uruguay Montevideo West.
The mission goes well. I am happy and working hard. This week I did divisions with Elder Krogman from Canada. Good kid. He played college football and is a way funny guy. He will go far.
I received a great compliment from Sister Peterson. She said that her and President were talking and I am one of 2 missionaries in all their time as mission presidents who they think is really good on his feet in front of people. I think I learned that when I was an SBO President and had to speak in front of my whole school. Speaking to 40 missionaries is a piece of cake compared to 2000 students.
It is now time for everyone to write 21 things that they like about Andy Shepherd. 1 for every year of my life. Go!
Andy
Today I fulfill 21 years of life. I have never broken any bones to this point, but I have fractured my neck and probably my pointer finger in my right hand. I have enjoyed life immensely until now. From Tee-Ball to Junior Jazz, to Cross Country, to Student Government and being a Youth Senator, Deacons Quorum President to Teachers Quorum President to Assistant to the Bishop to Assistant to the President...Life has been good to me. I have had so many opportunities to learn the most important things about life, namely faith, hope, love and compassion. I have a long way to go on this road and I am eager to keep on keeping on.
We have a baptism set up for this next Sunday of a woman named Elisa. She has had a son go to prison and her sons live kind of a rowdy life, at least the 2 that live with her. I have a good relationship with the sons and they listen if they have time. They need repentance in their lives. They need that amazing peace that the atonement provides when we repent and the Lord forsakes our sins. The weight on our shoulders can be lifted. Elisa is loving church and the peace she feels with us and the people at church. She prays and reads. She is progressing well.
Lorena is looking for a new job she said. But we have work to do yet. We are still delayed in the process and if she stops going to church and gets discouraged she will stop keeping commitments and all the spirit that she has felt will be forgotten. She is great though and I believe that she will overcome the trials of her faith. She has to pass through this so that her faith is made sure.
So Elder Harmon went home this last week. It was weird to see him go. I didn't really feel like it was any goodbye because I will see him soon. With the departure of his group in a week and a half I become the oldest missionary in the mission Uruguay Montevideo West.
The mission goes well. I am happy and working hard. This week I did divisions with Elder Krogman from Canada. Good kid. He played college football and is a way funny guy. He will go far.
I received a great compliment from Sister Peterson. She said that her and President were talking and I am one of 2 missionaries in all their time as mission presidents who they think is really good on his feet in front of people. I think I learned that when I was an SBO President and had to speak in front of my whole school. Speaking to 40 missionaries is a piece of cake compared to 2000 students.
It is now time for everyone to write 21 things that they like about Andy Shepherd. 1 for every year of my life. Go!
Andy
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