email dated 9/22/08
I don’t have a lot of time because the internet here keeps crashing and my companion needs to go to the bathroom. So allow me, for one second, to make one quick plea.
Be patient with everyone. Love them no matter what. Be kind and meek to those that abuse you and are mean to you and judge you wrongly. What the world needs now is a little compassion for one another. If, for example, the landlord wants you to pay for a broken sink that is not your fault, don’t be rude, rather be meek and try to be a Christian at all times. Don’t be as the companions that are all upset with the landlord for trying to charge us, but try and understand that the problems with the house are probably the fault of 19 year-old boys that don’t take care of things, even if it wasn’t in particular the fault of said companions...So I snuck the landlord some money to help pay the cost of fixing the sink and told her not to blame my church of Jesus Christ for the way she felt abused by us, even though it was truly nobody’s fault. We need compassion and brotherhood. The world tells us everything is a business, but Christ taught us that if your enemy strikes thee on thy cheek, turn him the other also. That doesn’t mean to take everything without defense, but it means to be meek and Christ-like and try to look into the eyes of your enemy and see the brother in him that he is. We are all made in the image of God. If only there were more compassion and cooperation and less business and arguments over money!! But such is the state of humanity. Nobody is perfect, so we often blame our imperfect neighbors and excuse ourselves the opportunity to be perfect, or as Christ would be, because they didn’t treat us as they should have. The gospel is perfect. Men are not. Let us try and be just a little bit nicer to everyone and show them a smile. We are all here in this together after all. It is my plea that we all remember to be patient with those that abuse us and despitefully use us.
I have to go. I love you all so much!! I cannot say how grateful I am to my Lord Jesus Christ for everything He has given me, especially you my family and my friends. The Lord loves us. Christ lives. His church is restored in the earth. His church is for the "perfecting of the saints." We go to learn and grow. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that the true church is on the earth. Even if there are things I may never understand, I know these things because I have prayed. Let us all continue to prayerfully seek the truth in our lives, remembering humility, patience, and of course CHARITY, the greatest of them all. Take care!!
Andy
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Affinity Lost
email dated 9/15/08
My affinity for the canine is gone. I got bit this week and I was pretty mad. The stupid dog clung to my arm and left me a pretty bruise. If it hadn’t run off, and if I weren’t in the street with Jesus' name on my chest, I would have kicked that dog as hard as I could. I am SO tired of dogs barking all night and running around the streets as menaces attacking missionaries. You really have to come to Uruguay to know what I am talking about. They aren’t like Dogs in the states. There are more dogs than people here, and without a doubt, whatever street your knock there will be incessant barking from multiple canines. I believe that dogs are the biggest hindrance to missionary work in Uruguay that there is.
Okay, now that I got that out...breathe in and out. Take a big deep breath. Hee, Hoo. Okay, I feel all better. My arm is fine. Worry not. Everyone do it, it will make you feel good. Take a big deep breath.
So to make a long story short, the boy who always wanted a dog may have to wait a few years when back home before he wants his own dog. The good news is he will be in college and apartments that allow pets don’t really exist. So I will have plenty of time to re-learn my love for dogs. On the bright side, I do still feel love for cats. I don’t know if I wrote about it, but the other day it was a rainy cold day and my companion and I saved a little kitten and found it a home. It was a cute little kitty.
Last week Elder Aidukaitis of the Quorum of the 70 came and spoke to us all. He had good things to say about faith and when teaching to get to the point of things quickly. I liked a lot of what he said. He did some really good teaching examples and talked about the need for missionaries to keep it simple and get to the point, and he was a really good teacher.
One other new change in our mission is the canceling of siesta observance. The 70 said that the siesta is a wicked tradition and that we are not going to study during the siesta any longer. Before now, our schedule was to do our personal study at 8 and leave the house at 9 and work until lunch, and then be in the house studying between 1 and 3 in the afternoon. Now, all studies will be done in the morning as they are written in preach my gospel and we will leave at 10:30 to attack the day head on. I was skeptical and I was praying for understanding. The Lord answered me quickly. We went out into the street and made some contacts right after the conference and the first few contacts my companion and I made said that it would be best if we stopped by around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. It is common knowledge that the siesta is a religion here. In Artigas last summer a guy once threatened to kill me, and was not kidding, if I ever knocked his door during his afternoon siesta again. I am excited anyway for the schedule change. I like the idea of reading all morning a lot better. And even though we now have technically less proselyting hours now, I feel like we have more hours because there isn’t a huge break in the middle of it. We always wasted so much time walking back to the house and then having to walk back out to the area. I like the idea of following the preach my gospel schedule.
Anyway, the 70 did do me one very good favor. He inspired in me a very strong desire to double my faith and be obedient. I don’t know how he did it because it wasn’t anything in particular that he said, but it was more something that I felt while I was listening to him. I want to change and be stronger-willed and better. I firmly believe that a person can learn a lot about him or herself while running. And I remember as a runner that I had the heart of a lion at the beginning of a race, but that my diligence was always put into doubt in the middle. Oftentimes in my races I gave into my weakness and tiredness and slowed down through the tough middle. That is a HUGE sign of weakness in me. I learned it about myself running. I see it in myself as the alarm goes off at 6:30 and rather than rolling straight out of bed I have to wake myself up for 5 minutes laying there thinking and clinging to my warm covers. I want to train my brain to be so diligent that there is no question. And it is especially meaningful for me now as I am reaching midway in my mission. Will I give in to temptations because I am at that middle phase, or will I push when it is hard to push, and kick when it is hard to kick? I want to be someone strong. And when I come home and run my next marathon, I want the mental training I am doing to myself to show in my time at the finish line. Everyone should count on seeing a new Andy Shepherd in a year. My goal, more than any other goal, is to double my faith.
I pray all is well with everyone. I love you all so much for your support and prayers!! Don’t forget about me because I have been gone so long and that my return is just as far away. This is the age in the mission when all the missionary mail slows and stops coming. It happens to all of us, at least all of my companions. Don’t let it happen to me. Take care!! Love you!!
Andy
My affinity for the canine is gone. I got bit this week and I was pretty mad. The stupid dog clung to my arm and left me a pretty bruise. If it hadn’t run off, and if I weren’t in the street with Jesus' name on my chest, I would have kicked that dog as hard as I could. I am SO tired of dogs barking all night and running around the streets as menaces attacking missionaries. You really have to come to Uruguay to know what I am talking about. They aren’t like Dogs in the states. There are more dogs than people here, and without a doubt, whatever street your knock there will be incessant barking from multiple canines. I believe that dogs are the biggest hindrance to missionary work in Uruguay that there is.
Okay, now that I got that out...breathe in and out. Take a big deep breath. Hee, Hoo. Okay, I feel all better. My arm is fine. Worry not. Everyone do it, it will make you feel good. Take a big deep breath.
So to make a long story short, the boy who always wanted a dog may have to wait a few years when back home before he wants his own dog. The good news is he will be in college and apartments that allow pets don’t really exist. So I will have plenty of time to re-learn my love for dogs. On the bright side, I do still feel love for cats. I don’t know if I wrote about it, but the other day it was a rainy cold day and my companion and I saved a little kitten and found it a home. It was a cute little kitty.
Last week Elder Aidukaitis of the Quorum of the 70 came and spoke to us all. He had good things to say about faith and when teaching to get to the point of things quickly. I liked a lot of what he said. He did some really good teaching examples and talked about the need for missionaries to keep it simple and get to the point, and he was a really good teacher.
One other new change in our mission is the canceling of siesta observance. The 70 said that the siesta is a wicked tradition and that we are not going to study during the siesta any longer. Before now, our schedule was to do our personal study at 8 and leave the house at 9 and work until lunch, and then be in the house studying between 1 and 3 in the afternoon. Now, all studies will be done in the morning as they are written in preach my gospel and we will leave at 10:30 to attack the day head on. I was skeptical and I was praying for understanding. The Lord answered me quickly. We went out into the street and made some contacts right after the conference and the first few contacts my companion and I made said that it would be best if we stopped by around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. It is common knowledge that the siesta is a religion here. In Artigas last summer a guy once threatened to kill me, and was not kidding, if I ever knocked his door during his afternoon siesta again. I am excited anyway for the schedule change. I like the idea of reading all morning a lot better. And even though we now have technically less proselyting hours now, I feel like we have more hours because there isn’t a huge break in the middle of it. We always wasted so much time walking back to the house and then having to walk back out to the area. I like the idea of following the preach my gospel schedule.
Anyway, the 70 did do me one very good favor. He inspired in me a very strong desire to double my faith and be obedient. I don’t know how he did it because it wasn’t anything in particular that he said, but it was more something that I felt while I was listening to him. I want to change and be stronger-willed and better. I firmly believe that a person can learn a lot about him or herself while running. And I remember as a runner that I had the heart of a lion at the beginning of a race, but that my diligence was always put into doubt in the middle. Oftentimes in my races I gave into my weakness and tiredness and slowed down through the tough middle. That is a HUGE sign of weakness in me. I learned it about myself running. I see it in myself as the alarm goes off at 6:30 and rather than rolling straight out of bed I have to wake myself up for 5 minutes laying there thinking and clinging to my warm covers. I want to train my brain to be so diligent that there is no question. And it is especially meaningful for me now as I am reaching midway in my mission. Will I give in to temptations because I am at that middle phase, or will I push when it is hard to push, and kick when it is hard to kick? I want to be someone strong. And when I come home and run my next marathon, I want the mental training I am doing to myself to show in my time at the finish line. Everyone should count on seeing a new Andy Shepherd in a year. My goal, more than any other goal, is to double my faith.
I pray all is well with everyone. I love you all so much for your support and prayers!! Don’t forget about me because I have been gone so long and that my return is just as far away. This is the age in the mission when all the missionary mail slows and stops coming. It happens to all of us, at least all of my companions. Don’t let it happen to me. Take care!! Love you!!
Andy
He Should Not Be Hitting You, Jenny
email dated 9/8/08
So I woke up talking like Forrest Gump today and I couldn’t help it. Enjoy the title and remember the black panther meeting. I think that is an American Classic. Good movie.
So, holy cow!! Shalynn Decker is engaged to Biege Hansen!! Congratulations Shalynn! I think you read the blog page, but if not you wont read me saying "congrats", my mom will have to tell you as she makes your wedding dress. Either way, I am so happy for you. That is so crazy!
It is so weird to think of how fast things are changing. My little brother and older brother are both going to MY university in Logan, and Christian is in high school! I am almost a year old in my mission! Dad is 53!! (Which is still young enough to be in my band by the way.) People I know are getting married! I don’t know if Hannah Merkely is already married, but I was SOO happy when I found out she was marrying Ryan Woolsey. Both of which are such great friends to me. Life is so weird and time just keeps on flying by.
So all is well here in Uruguay. The weather is warmer, although we had a really rainy weekend that put a damper on things. Not a lot of people down here go to church when it is raining. It isn’t like the US where we all have cars. But the important 3 still came, that is the 3 investigators that have baptismal dates for this month.
Maria Rosa, is a 50 year old woman who has gone from smoking 3 packs a day to 6 cigarettes. She has a few more weeks and she wants to be completely stopped so that she can be baptized.
Julieta, 40-ish, quit smoking cold turkey. From half a pack a day to nothing. I am proud of her. It has been a full week and she says every time she feels like smoking she reads the Book of Mormon.
And Federico, our 14 year old boy, has decided that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. His mom is a member from youth but hasn’t been going to church for 20 years because of her husband. Federico’s brothers and sisters and his dad all said that he shouldn’t go through with it. But he told me yesterday that he wants me to baptize him and he doesn’t care if nobody comes in his whole family because he feels it is what is right for him. He had decided on telling us not to come back anymore, but felt sick about saying that, and then prayed and decided he wanted to continue with us and felt good about it. Very simple prayer answering like we taught him. I am proud of him. We need to soften his dad’s heart. The dad wont prohibit him from being baptized, but he openly says he doesn’t like it.
So those are the 3 we have going on right now. We found a bunch of investigators this last week, my very best finding week in the whole mission. Anyway, the work is progressing. I don’t want to talk about my numbers anymore because I know how not-fun they are to read for you all. Another Elder writes me and always just writes about the numbers and the baptisms, and I know I don’t enjoy that kind of mail so I bet you all don’t enjoy it.
Elder Ballard and I have been playing guitars in our spare time after planning at night, and this morning for P-day, and I have decided that music is saving my life. I don’t remember ever being happier in the whole mission. Playing makes me feel soo good. It makes me want to start a band when I get back to Logan. I think I will. I am already discussing a band name with Ballard. We are writing some fun music, and don’t worry, it is mission appropriate music. We aren’t truchos.
So, I hope everyone is doing just peachy. I am healthier than I was in Tacuarembo and so I feel really good. And my companion is a stud and I love our house of 4. We have a good time together. And we are working hard. The mission has never been better. I think I am finally getting the hang of this whole mission thing.
Take care! I love y'all!!
Andy
So I woke up talking like Forrest Gump today and I couldn’t help it. Enjoy the title and remember the black panther meeting. I think that is an American Classic. Good movie.
So, holy cow!! Shalynn Decker is engaged to Biege Hansen!! Congratulations Shalynn! I think you read the blog page, but if not you wont read me saying "congrats", my mom will have to tell you as she makes your wedding dress. Either way, I am so happy for you. That is so crazy!
It is so weird to think of how fast things are changing. My little brother and older brother are both going to MY university in Logan, and Christian is in high school! I am almost a year old in my mission! Dad is 53!! (Which is still young enough to be in my band by the way.) People I know are getting married! I don’t know if Hannah Merkely is already married, but I was SOO happy when I found out she was marrying Ryan Woolsey. Both of which are such great friends to me. Life is so weird and time just keeps on flying by.
So all is well here in Uruguay. The weather is warmer, although we had a really rainy weekend that put a damper on things. Not a lot of people down here go to church when it is raining. It isn’t like the US where we all have cars. But the important 3 still came, that is the 3 investigators that have baptismal dates for this month.
Maria Rosa, is a 50 year old woman who has gone from smoking 3 packs a day to 6 cigarettes. She has a few more weeks and she wants to be completely stopped so that she can be baptized.
Julieta, 40-ish, quit smoking cold turkey. From half a pack a day to nothing. I am proud of her. It has been a full week and she says every time she feels like smoking she reads the Book of Mormon.
And Federico, our 14 year old boy, has decided that he doesn’t care what anyone thinks. His mom is a member from youth but hasn’t been going to church for 20 years because of her husband. Federico’s brothers and sisters and his dad all said that he shouldn’t go through with it. But he told me yesterday that he wants me to baptize him and he doesn’t care if nobody comes in his whole family because he feels it is what is right for him. He had decided on telling us not to come back anymore, but felt sick about saying that, and then prayed and decided he wanted to continue with us and felt good about it. Very simple prayer answering like we taught him. I am proud of him. We need to soften his dad’s heart. The dad wont prohibit him from being baptized, but he openly says he doesn’t like it.
So those are the 3 we have going on right now. We found a bunch of investigators this last week, my very best finding week in the whole mission. Anyway, the work is progressing. I don’t want to talk about my numbers anymore because I know how not-fun they are to read for you all. Another Elder writes me and always just writes about the numbers and the baptisms, and I know I don’t enjoy that kind of mail so I bet you all don’t enjoy it.
Elder Ballard and I have been playing guitars in our spare time after planning at night, and this morning for P-day, and I have decided that music is saving my life. I don’t remember ever being happier in the whole mission. Playing makes me feel soo good. It makes me want to start a band when I get back to Logan. I think I will. I am already discussing a band name with Ballard. We are writing some fun music, and don’t worry, it is mission appropriate music. We aren’t truchos.
So, I hope everyone is doing just peachy. I am healthier than I was in Tacuarembo and so I feel really good. And my companion is a stud and I love our house of 4. We have a good time together. And we are working hard. The mission has never been better. I think I am finally getting the hang of this whole mission thing.
Take care! I love y'all!!
Andy
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Myldsmail and the Atheist
Wow, so myldsmail must hate me. I was doing my email 4 hours ago and it kicked me out and had some problems...after I had already written a good long email. It was less than ideal. So now I am back and it is working. We went to go and see an Elder off, who had to go home because a cement wall fell on him last month and broke his pelvis in 4 places. He was a good Elder. It was really sad seeing him. He was SO skinny and sickly looking. We sang him God Be With You and he was gone. And now I am back at the email thing.
So I wrote about how happy our hero was again this week. I think he is still living off of his birthday high. I still got some more birthday mail this week and a package from Ashley. For the second time in my mission she has tried sending me a recorder and for the second time it was robbed. It is indeed tragic. The recorder, as we will all remember from my MTC triumph with Elder Bodily, is an amazing instrument. Our "If You Could Hie To Kolob" Piano and Recorder duo was epic. But I have a feeling now that the birthday has come to an end and I am now just a regular 20 year old boy...man.
So I have a story that I fear will be a novel. We will see how it comes out. It is another Andy Shepherd experience.
This week I have been placing a huge emphasis on my faith and really going for an absolute "knowledge" of the existence of God. Don’t ask me why, I usually am not on that theme but this week I was. In my personal studies I was searching out scriptures on the theme, for example Alma 30 where Alma talks about how everything denotes there is a God. Etc... And I have daily been listening to a Jessie Clark Funk song called "Everything Speaks His Name". (Jessie Clark Funk is my guilty pleasure music in the mission. She is an EFY singer more or less and as such is approved. She has a style that reminds me of Carrie Underwood and so it is fun...I like it. Don’t make fun of me.) Anyway, and the song talks about that theme. I have had it stuck in my head. I have been praying every night for an experience that will strengthen my faith and understanding of why I am here. Not doubting, just asking for more faith. Still with me. Good. The point up 'til now is that I made a real emphasis in my studies and prayers on just the existence of God.
Elder Stevenson and I were in a ward blitz in another area in the city last Saturday morning. We were knocking, because that is what you do in blitzes because you don’t know anyone or anything. We came across a 25 year old man walking with a 1 year old baby, rather teaching his kid to walk on the sidewalk. I saw him and thought "FAMILY", which is a missionary target, and we went in. He told us he was atheist and that he didn’t really have interest in talking to us. I said "well, we just want to chat, we go around getting to know people and talking about what we do and believe, can we come by some other time?" And he said "just come by now." That was weird, so we followed him home down the street and went in and talked to him.
Before I continue, I have never had this kind of a connection before with ANY investigator or person in the Guay (Gwy as we say it). He told me about his life story and the reason he is atheist. He was born in the ghetto of ghettos here in Uruguay, was mixed up in drugs and gangs and stealing during his teenage years, and somehow overcame all that "without God" and now he has a house, a beautiful wife and a baby boy and steady work. He has it all. I was so impressed with him. He was SOO nice and very sincere, very open. He reminded me of me because he just opened up and started rambling on like I always do to other people. We were instantly friends. The difference being our philosophies on life.
He proceeded to tell me the very common atheist theme, "if God existed there wouldn’t be so much suffering in the world." Now here is where this story gets me, I had been studying and preparing myself all week for this visit without knowing it. I realize now that all that studying was for me, it wasn’t even for him. I didn’t share one scripture with him that I had read, or anything of that kind. But I felt a sympathy and an empathy that I normally wouldn’t have had for him. I related to him. It was interesting. Anyway, moving on. So he tells us his way of thinking and I told him mine. We talked for an hour. The spirit spoke to me in a way that is rare for me and I responded to my feelings. I told him a story that I don’t know if I have told many of you before, but the spirit prompted me to share a story about 10 year old Andy Shepherd. I originally thought "he wont care about a story from my childhood, he needs something more recent more substantial..." but I couldn’t deny how I felt. So I told him this.
When I was in the 4th or 5th grade I had decided, for a time, that God didn’t exist. I had learned about dinosaurs in school, and my logical mind had decided that they didn’t work well with the story of Genesis I learned in primary. I said to myself, even at that age (believe me or not but that is the kind of sweet cute boy I was), "God doesn’t exist. Science has proven that." I told myself I have to keep going to church because I don’t want to hurt my parents feelings, but when I grow up I will stop going to church. I really told myself this stuff!! I was a logical little boy. I then told him also about how I decided to start praying because there was a song called A Child's Prayer that made me cry and I didn’t know why. At that age I offered my first personal prayer that I can remember all by myself in my room on the bottom bunk. The prayer went something like this "God, if you exist then you hear me. If you don’t I am just talking to myself and so this doesn’t really mean anything." I prayed like this for a while. It became a daily thing praying. I don’t know at what moment I began taking out the phrase "if you exist" and I don’t know when I started believing. I only know that I began to feel and know that God existed.
Now, as I told that story it answered my prayers. I hadn’t thought of that story in a while, but it is one of the early foundations of my faith. We talked about the plan, and how we cant say that God doesn’t exist because of suffering. I said we need to understand our purpose for being here. Etc.. You all know all of this so we will move on. He responded to it a little bit. He even started coming to the conclusion that my beliefs were beautiful because I believed in an eternal life, and a just god. He was obsessed with the theme justice. He said if there was a God He would be just. As we explained the plan he saw that we believed in justice. And that in our beliefs those that suffer at least have something going for them, whereas in his beliefs they suffered, died, and that sucked. He saw how beautiful a hope and faith in God can be. And he invited us back. And promised me he would start praying the same way little boy Andy Shepherd prayed. And he wants us to play football with him. I really wish he was in my area. We had to turn him over to the other Elders. Anyway, I have never seen a receptive Atheist, especially one that has been through what he went through. The experience wasn’t only for him. I felt something completely new to me.
I knew that I needed to be there in that area on Saturday morning. As I looked my new friend in the eyes I felt that I knew him for some reason. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. A sensation I never felt before came over me. I am typically not a person to say the whole "there are no coincidences" phrase, because I usually think God lets things roll off our agency, but Saturday morning was not a coincidence. I cannot deny what I felt with that man. I had a connection with him that I have never felt before with any other human being. I was supposed to be here in Uruguay, in this ward, and on those divisions, to talk to him on Saturday morning. I cant describe it. Mock my feelings if you will, but I felt something miraculous that has strengthened my faith. My faith is strengthened, and an atheist is talking to God, even if he does feel "stupid doing it".
I know that God exists. I know that Jesus Christ lives. And I know that God is fair and loving and that we can all be with Him again someday. I love you all and I have to go. Take care of yourselves!!
Andy
So I wrote about how happy our hero was again this week. I think he is still living off of his birthday high. I still got some more birthday mail this week and a package from Ashley. For the second time in my mission she has tried sending me a recorder and for the second time it was robbed. It is indeed tragic. The recorder, as we will all remember from my MTC triumph with Elder Bodily, is an amazing instrument. Our "If You Could Hie To Kolob" Piano and Recorder duo was epic. But I have a feeling now that the birthday has come to an end and I am now just a regular 20 year old boy...man.
So I have a story that I fear will be a novel. We will see how it comes out. It is another Andy Shepherd experience.
This week I have been placing a huge emphasis on my faith and really going for an absolute "knowledge" of the existence of God. Don’t ask me why, I usually am not on that theme but this week I was. In my personal studies I was searching out scriptures on the theme, for example Alma 30 where Alma talks about how everything denotes there is a God. Etc... And I have daily been listening to a Jessie Clark Funk song called "Everything Speaks His Name". (Jessie Clark Funk is my guilty pleasure music in the mission. She is an EFY singer more or less and as such is approved. She has a style that reminds me of Carrie Underwood and so it is fun...I like it. Don’t make fun of me.) Anyway, and the song talks about that theme. I have had it stuck in my head. I have been praying every night for an experience that will strengthen my faith and understanding of why I am here. Not doubting, just asking for more faith. Still with me. Good. The point up 'til now is that I made a real emphasis in my studies and prayers on just the existence of God.
Elder Stevenson and I were in a ward blitz in another area in the city last Saturday morning. We were knocking, because that is what you do in blitzes because you don’t know anyone or anything. We came across a 25 year old man walking with a 1 year old baby, rather teaching his kid to walk on the sidewalk. I saw him and thought "FAMILY", which is a missionary target, and we went in. He told us he was atheist and that he didn’t really have interest in talking to us. I said "well, we just want to chat, we go around getting to know people and talking about what we do and believe, can we come by some other time?" And he said "just come by now." That was weird, so we followed him home down the street and went in and talked to him.
Before I continue, I have never had this kind of a connection before with ANY investigator or person in the Guay (Gwy as we say it). He told me about his life story and the reason he is atheist. He was born in the ghetto of ghettos here in Uruguay, was mixed up in drugs and gangs and stealing during his teenage years, and somehow overcame all that "without God" and now he has a house, a beautiful wife and a baby boy and steady work. He has it all. I was so impressed with him. He was SOO nice and very sincere, very open. He reminded me of me because he just opened up and started rambling on like I always do to other people. We were instantly friends. The difference being our philosophies on life.
He proceeded to tell me the very common atheist theme, "if God existed there wouldn’t be so much suffering in the world." Now here is where this story gets me, I had been studying and preparing myself all week for this visit without knowing it. I realize now that all that studying was for me, it wasn’t even for him. I didn’t share one scripture with him that I had read, or anything of that kind. But I felt a sympathy and an empathy that I normally wouldn’t have had for him. I related to him. It was interesting. Anyway, moving on. So he tells us his way of thinking and I told him mine. We talked for an hour. The spirit spoke to me in a way that is rare for me and I responded to my feelings. I told him a story that I don’t know if I have told many of you before, but the spirit prompted me to share a story about 10 year old Andy Shepherd. I originally thought "he wont care about a story from my childhood, he needs something more recent more substantial..." but I couldn’t deny how I felt. So I told him this.
When I was in the 4th or 5th grade I had decided, for a time, that God didn’t exist. I had learned about dinosaurs in school, and my logical mind had decided that they didn’t work well with the story of Genesis I learned in primary. I said to myself, even at that age (believe me or not but that is the kind of sweet cute boy I was), "God doesn’t exist. Science has proven that." I told myself I have to keep going to church because I don’t want to hurt my parents feelings, but when I grow up I will stop going to church. I really told myself this stuff!! I was a logical little boy. I then told him also about how I decided to start praying because there was a song called A Child's Prayer that made me cry and I didn’t know why. At that age I offered my first personal prayer that I can remember all by myself in my room on the bottom bunk. The prayer went something like this "God, if you exist then you hear me. If you don’t I am just talking to myself and so this doesn’t really mean anything." I prayed like this for a while. It became a daily thing praying. I don’t know at what moment I began taking out the phrase "if you exist" and I don’t know when I started believing. I only know that I began to feel and know that God existed.
Now, as I told that story it answered my prayers. I hadn’t thought of that story in a while, but it is one of the early foundations of my faith. We talked about the plan, and how we cant say that God doesn’t exist because of suffering. I said we need to understand our purpose for being here. Etc.. You all know all of this so we will move on. He responded to it a little bit. He even started coming to the conclusion that my beliefs were beautiful because I believed in an eternal life, and a just god. He was obsessed with the theme justice. He said if there was a God He would be just. As we explained the plan he saw that we believed in justice. And that in our beliefs those that suffer at least have something going for them, whereas in his beliefs they suffered, died, and that sucked. He saw how beautiful a hope and faith in God can be. And he invited us back. And promised me he would start praying the same way little boy Andy Shepherd prayed. And he wants us to play football with him. I really wish he was in my area. We had to turn him over to the other Elders. Anyway, I have never seen a receptive Atheist, especially one that has been through what he went through. The experience wasn’t only for him. I felt something completely new to me.
I knew that I needed to be there in that area on Saturday morning. As I looked my new friend in the eyes I felt that I knew him for some reason. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. A sensation I never felt before came over me. I am typically not a person to say the whole "there are no coincidences" phrase, because I usually think God lets things roll off our agency, but Saturday morning was not a coincidence. I cannot deny what I felt with that man. I had a connection with him that I have never felt before with any other human being. I was supposed to be here in Uruguay, in this ward, and on those divisions, to talk to him on Saturday morning. I cant describe it. Mock my feelings if you will, but I felt something miraculous that has strengthened my faith. My faith is strengthened, and an atheist is talking to God, even if he does feel "stupid doing it".
I know that God exists. I know that Jesus Christ lives. And I know that God is fair and loving and that we can all be with Him again someday. I love you all and I have to go. Take care of yourselves!!
Andy
One Happy Elder
I think I could be the happiest I remember ever being in my whole mission. I just feel really good today. There are many factors, I believe. Allow me to share.
I had a SWEET birthday. On Thursday I got 2 packages, just in time for me to open the next day on my birthday. I was very happy for the new CDs, the blankets, the letters, the pics of nieces and nephews, Teddy’s adorable letter, CANNED CHEESE and RITZ!!!, a scarf, a really AWESOME P-day jacket, etc... It was a happy birthday indeed. And I gotta hand it to Shalynn Decker, she is smart at wrapping a package. I imagine she didn’t want it to get robbed and so it was wrapped by tin foil, wrapping paper, followed by a black garbage bag. Any thief would have given up by the time he reached the tin foil. My companion Elder Stevenson bought 5 meters of pizza for the 4 of us in the house to share and Elder Ballard and Elder Holloway bought me a cake. It was a happy birthday.
So the birthday was good, but I am also very excited about the new house and companions. We all get along just swimmingly and we will have a good time together. But I must say the house just makes all the difference now! We have a piano in the house!!!!!! The lady we rent it from just left the piano in there. And Elder Ballard is a really good guitar player and so we jammed for a few hours this morning, wrote a few songs, etc... It felt SO good to play music. That definitely is a factor for how good I feel. Music is a very wholesome P-day activity.
I got really good emails today from family, and it is SO cool to hear that Logan has some Shepherds there again. It makes me so happy to hear that everyone is doing well.
The weather is warming up. 'Nuf said.
I am happy.
The new area is pretty different. It is BIG and the people are very different. I am going to have to refine my street approach because you only have 3 seconds before they are done with you. We don’t have a lot of investigators, but we will change that soon, and I am excited about our ward. It is a really good ward. In church yesterday there were good classes, Sacrament Meeting was very edifying, and the ward is already in love with me because I played my very awesome arrangement of Joseph Smith’s First Prayer. Many lunch invitations followed. This seems to be a strong ward. I am excited to work with them.
We did a lot of knocking and street contacting this week, because we don’t have a lot going on, and we found a few people. We will see how they progress.
Life is good. I am the happiest I have ever been on the mission. I am feeling into the groove of things, I feel decently fluent in the language, it is fun feeling cool this week because I am senior companion (even though that doesn’t really mean anything), and I love all of you for all your prayers and all you do for me! I have to go. Out of time. Love you all!!
Andy
I had a SWEET birthday. On Thursday I got 2 packages, just in time for me to open the next day on my birthday. I was very happy for the new CDs, the blankets, the letters, the pics of nieces and nephews, Teddy’s adorable letter, CANNED CHEESE and RITZ!!!, a scarf, a really AWESOME P-day jacket, etc... It was a happy birthday indeed. And I gotta hand it to Shalynn Decker, she is smart at wrapping a package. I imagine she didn’t want it to get robbed and so it was wrapped by tin foil, wrapping paper, followed by a black garbage bag. Any thief would have given up by the time he reached the tin foil. My companion Elder Stevenson bought 5 meters of pizza for the 4 of us in the house to share and Elder Ballard and Elder Holloway bought me a cake. It was a happy birthday.
So the birthday was good, but I am also very excited about the new house and companions. We all get along just swimmingly and we will have a good time together. But I must say the house just makes all the difference now! We have a piano in the house!!!!!! The lady we rent it from just left the piano in there. And Elder Ballard is a really good guitar player and so we jammed for a few hours this morning, wrote a few songs, etc... It felt SO good to play music. That definitely is a factor for how good I feel. Music is a very wholesome P-day activity.
I got really good emails today from family, and it is SO cool to hear that Logan has some Shepherds there again. It makes me so happy to hear that everyone is doing well.
The weather is warming up. 'Nuf said.
I am happy.
The new area is pretty different. It is BIG and the people are very different. I am going to have to refine my street approach because you only have 3 seconds before they are done with you. We don’t have a lot of investigators, but we will change that soon, and I am excited about our ward. It is a really good ward. In church yesterday there were good classes, Sacrament Meeting was very edifying, and the ward is already in love with me because I played my very awesome arrangement of Joseph Smith’s First Prayer. Many lunch invitations followed. This seems to be a strong ward. I am excited to work with them.
We did a lot of knocking and street contacting this week, because we don’t have a lot going on, and we found a few people. We will see how they progress.
Life is good. I am the happiest I have ever been on the mission. I am feeling into the groove of things, I feel decently fluent in the language, it is fun feeling cool this week because I am senior companion (even though that doesn’t really mean anything), and I love all of you for all your prayers and all you do for me! I have to go. Out of time. Love you all!!
Andy
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