January 6 2014

HOLA FAMILIA

Còmo estàn? Okay, so this week wasn`t all that crazy, but we`ve been getting a TON of work done. we still haven`t seen any trolls, goblins, or witches, but we`re going with a family tonight that says that every 6th of January, a witch appears and follows them. so we`re about to sort that one out and then move onto the rest... this week has literally felt like 2 days. it`s been full of work, and that`s the good part. I have to buy a new USB to be able to send you guys pictures, because mine danced with the ugliest... Sorry I won`t get to write much today, there isn`t much time. but we`re teaching 30 people right now and we`re gonna get them ALL ready for baptism >:) alright, gotta go work but stay in school! and all that jazz.

Elder Stormy Sheppard

December 30 2013

HOLA FAMILIA!

Okay, so this eek wasn´t too full of surprises, but it was awesome talking to you guys! Christmas was good, we spent it with the district, so we´re becoming pretty united :)

So, I´ve been thinking a lot about how New Years is coming up, and how I have to change my toothbrush.... ANYWAY, we´ve found so many new people who are seaching for their TRUE purpose in life, and ho are gonna start the year with drastic, but necessary changes, and I´m really happy for them. I´m also thinking about how hilarious it is that 2 years ago we were all saying it was gonna be the end of the world... haha, but we´re still here :p I don´t kno, I guess this week, I´ve just had a lot of time to reminisce...

I really dont have a ton to say, but I hope you all had a good Christmas, and I hope you all start the New Year well. in 5 months I´ll see you all in person, and I´ll be able to say that the whole year of 2013, I lived in Mexico :)

Talk to you next week. Stay in school. remember hy we´re here :p

Elder Stormy Sheppard

December 23 2013

HOLA FAMILIA!

Alright, this transfer´s just getting better and better :) I have so many stories for you this week, but if I don´t get them all out, I´ll just tell you in 2 days when we talk over Skype :D

First: It was a dark and stormy night... not really. It was just a regular night, but the story´s still good. So Jackie Chan (My companion) and I are walking home after a hard day of teaching, and there was a bread salesman in the street, so I was like, "I´m starving" and he said "me dos" so we went to buy bread. The guy was watching that movie, The Spiderwick chronicles, and I asked him about it. and he was like, "see that troll in the movie?" "yeah...." "they exist!" And he just went off about how trolls exist and how he went to a ranch with his friend and a band of trolls started to try to get into his truck to "play tricks" on them, but he didn´t let them. hahaha we were trying so hard not to laugh at this guy. and my comp says, "So, does the Chupacabra exist then?" and this bread guy says, "The Chupacabra? that´s just a myth! but trolls! watch out for those guys!" That´s how we started the week.

But it gets better. We went with the bishops wife TODAY, and we asked her jokingly, "Hermana, do trolls exist?" and she looks at us and says, "Well, I don´t know about trolls, but GOBLINS! now those little guys are dengerous!" then she literally goes off on a rant about all the times her sone has been pushed down by goblins in the street and how one lived behind her bookshelf. it was great... but it´s not over yet.

Then, we went with a family, and started telling them about all those stories, and they were like, "Elders, We´ve never seen goblins or trolls, don´t believe everything you hear.... but WITCHES! one of those was tormenting us once!" and then they just went off about how a bulb of light (Which I guess was the witch) was following them around like 15 years ago, and how the ring girl was her daughter´s imaginary friend or something..... anyway, when all was said and done, my companion and I came to the conclusion that we need to go home and check our call letters to see If they say Mexico, or Narnia, because now we don´t even know where we´ve ended up :p

But that´s been our week. never a dull moment with the Rush Hour Companionship! I´ll let you know if we see any more mythological creatures, hahaha....

Stay in school, see you all on Christmas. 

Elder Stormy Sheppard

HOLA FAMILIA,

ALright, so this week was just full of events. First of all, I found out that being a Zone Leader isn't at all fun and games. It isn't smooth sailin' like everyone plays it up to be. haha, actually, talking to my companion in the morning, he said, "They really shouldn't call us Zone LEADERS, they should call us Zone SERVANTS." hahaha I laughed, but he's right....

Anyway, update wise, One of the first American Hermanas to arrive to Mexico in EVER is in my Zone. her name is Hermana Stout. she lived close to me before the mission, And I'm pretty positive I knew her before haha, but I can't remember from where, but oh well.

Anyway, have any of you seen the Rush Hour movies? well, that's how my companionship is right now! Haha, my comp speaks english like a Chinese man, and I'm black, so we've got the Rush Hour swag. he even said it. he just said that all we lack are the karate skills, so that's what we´ll practice every morning during our exercise time :p I'll send a couple pictures of us, because he even LOOKS Chinese! haha even though he's from Peru. anyway, I'm having a blast and nothing's really bad right now. 5 months and one more week and I'll be out of here :p it's odd to think about... see you guys on christmas!

Elder Stormy Sheppard

Oh yeah, and stay in school and church.

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December 9, 2013

HOLA FAMILIA!

Alright, so last week I didn´t write. Sorry. this week was better anyway.

So! last week, we found so many new investigators in Salamanca, but go figure, this week was transfer week, and guess who got transfered right when we found people to baptize? that´s right. yours truly. I´m no longer a district leader in the Salamanca district. I'm now a Zone Leader in the Celaya Norte Zone. haha yeah, I´m pretty much the best >:)

Anyway, I´m attaching some pictures to this of some pictures I took before I left, and also a picture of me and my new companion, Elder Poma. he´s from Peru, and from the like, 4 hours I´ve spent with him, he seems pretty cool. he´s been on a mission 11 months, and he speaks english, so that´s tight. also, he´s WAY motivated to work so this time around I don´t think I´ll be thinking for 2 people. haha, this guy knows how to use his brain. I think this´ll be a nice new chapter for me. No one knows me here, but the Elder whose place I took already told all the members I´m from Africa, haha so I´m gonna have some fun with that >:) and my comp´s gonna go along with the joke too, so I already like him haha. anyway, that´s my piece for this week. there are really no updates because I´ve only been here for 4 hours :p but next week I´m sure to have some stories. I think I´ve pretty much had companions from all of South America now...

Stay in school! stay in church! stay awesome, for those of you that are, and get awesome for those of you that aren´t, hahaha.

With love,

Elder Stormy Sheppard

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November 18 2013

Hola Family,

Alright, so this week, nothing really exciting, but we have found a ton of new people to teach, so we´re not really walking around playing with our toes anymore :p

I´ve had a LOT of humbling experiences this week, and I´ve realized something that we, as members of the church can fall into sometimes:

And even when we´re not members, sometimes we fall into a dangerous game. It´s called the game of "False Wisdom". I named it myself, haha, but in this game we start to study, and we study a lot. scriptures, talks, other God-related books, and we fall into the erroneous trap of thinking we´re okay in the eyes of God because we understand the concept of repentence, or we understand why having the Holy Ghost with us is important. Then, the part of our mind that´s connected with our natural and fallen environment starts to tell us, "Don´t you worry, you´re completing everything you need to to be saved. you´ve learned it all, right? so why wouldn´t you be doing it? you understand repentance, so you can just do it after anything, and still be sincere." And the most dangerous part of the game is, we have to end it early, because if we play every level, we´ll have to keep playing it for eternity in Hell.

The art of knowing is 20% of the battle folks. you could memorize the scriptures and still end up in the Telestial Kingdom. a lot of great and really "Intelligent" people apostasized when the church first started, it´s just a matter of the subtlety of the temptation. sometimes we think we know so much that our conversion starts to only be in our mind, and we don´t realize that while we´re bragging about the spiritual KNOWLEDGE we have, our spiritual STRENGTH is slowly withering and fading into the darkness.

FAITH = ACTION, people. not just knowledge. and that´s the lesson for today :p. haha also, I´ve lost 70 pounds. only 10 more to go :D

Stay in school!

Much Love, Elder Sheppard

BLOG:

Hola Familia!!!

How´re things? I´m hoping good, because I feel a wave of success coming on over here :)

Okay, first thing´s first: Updates.

This week, we had one of the most awesome lessons in a family home evening I´ve ever had! we talked about the plan of Salvation, and we watch as this family unfolded their own purposes in life as they listened to us. we saw the spirit truly working in them and it was great. haha, it Gave me a testimony about family home evening :)

Then, last night, we went to this lady´s house who´s not a member of the church, but her daughter is and she´s on a mission right now, so her mom is NOT happy. She said the church stole her daughter and a bunch of other stuff, but now that my companion and I are getting along better, we took care of that thought process REAL QUICK. haha, I still don´t know if she keeps fighting against her daughter´s decision, but at least we delivered the message :p

Out here in the mission feild, I´ve realized that we as human beings tend to lose sight of what really matters here. I wrote about that last week, but the cancerous tumor of apathy still spreads throughout the hearts of "Those who profess to belong to the church of Christ."

We had changes this week, but nobody left or arrived in the district I´m in, so the changes didn´t affect us at all... but that just means I have another month and a half to combat this lack of feeling that´s assailing the city of Salamanca.

I´ve realized that Satan attacks the church from the inside out. first, he gets our families to argue, then, he gets us to bring family problems into our communication with other members so we stop getting along with them. Pretty soon, everyone on the outside of the church is saying, "I´m never getting baptized there, their own MEMBERS don´t even act like disciples of Christ." then, we all fall slowly into personal apostasy.

That´s his plan anyway, he just isn´t fully aware yet of whose arrived to put an end to it >:)

Well, talk to y´all next week! stay "prayed up"!

Elder Stormy Sheppard