May 26, 2014

This is Elder Sheppard's final blog from Mexico City:

Hola Familia!

Wow… I never thought this day would come… but it´s the last email I´ll ever send from my (first) mission… I´ll be home in 2 days… I don´t really have much to say, just stories, haha, but they´re all stories that can be told in 2 days :p Jacob wasn´t lying when he says that our lives pass ¨As if they were a dream¨. I´ll see you all as soon as possible.

Stay in School and Church. I know I will :p

Love,

Elder Stormy Sheppard

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This is Stormy Blog for May 19 2014

HOLA FAMILIA!

Well, looks like I`m quite literally on the home stretch now :p The truth is, I feel like there`s still a ton of work to do. I don`t think it`s hit me yet that I`m so close to the end, at least not in the same way I`ve seen it hit other Elders... But my companion and I are still in the game, haha, we even had a baptism this weekend. Her name is Dulce. She`s one of the member`s girlfriend. She pretty much just walked up to us on the street, said, "I wanna get baptized this month, I already know about Joseph Smith and the Plan of Salvatin, but you guys can help me review everything and then baptize me." And the rest is history. She`s now a very close friend of ours... it`s odd how the gospel does that to a friendship, makes you seem like you`ve known the person forever when you`ve only been friends for a month. Anyway, that`s the big update this week, our zone had 8 baptisms :), And we`re still shooting for the stars. Gotta go, but next week, I hope to have more news. It`ll be my last time posting it :p haha. Stay in school! Remember who you are.

Love,

Elder Stormy Sheppard

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This is Stormy blog for April 19 2014

What up FAMILIA???

So, I feel like, this tranfer, I`ve gone through a drastic change. I went from a 1 bathroom, 1 bedroom house to a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house. Haha, I guess this is what it`s like living with the mission secretaries... :p Anyway, my new comp (and my last one, this time for sure :p) is Elder Cea, From El Salvador. I`ve already known him for like, 7 months, but we were never companions before this transfer. Actually, I was his district leader, remember, when I was in Salamanca? now we`re both Zone Leaders together! Haha, I know no one knows, or even really cares what all that means, but I think it´s pretty cool :p We really have our work cut out for us though, because there`s NOTHING in the way of progress here. I don´t know what they were doing here for 7 and a half months, but I´m pretty sure I´m here to help fix it in some way :p anyway, I live with two other missionaries too (again), and that´s alright too. when I have news, I`ll let you know, haha. Until then,

Stay in School!

Elder Stormy Sheppard

This is Stormy's blog for April 7 2014

HOLA FAMILIA!

What up??? okay, so this week was good. I talked to the mission president a lot about the fact that I don´t give in to every order my companion gives me, but for some odd reason, he expects me to do it :p He just doesn´t understand yet that his companion is of Sheppard/Palmer descent, but this week I´ll help him to realize it, because we still have a month and a half left together. haha, but don´t worry, more than half the time we get along I think :p

Anyway, this was my last General Conference in the mission... It´s so weird to think that I only have 7 weeks of mission left. I feel like I just got here :p And I don´t really have a ton to say anymore. nothing cool has happened this week. actually, number-wise, it was our worst week in a while, but I learned from Deiter F. Uchtdorf that we should thank God, even in times of trial, for the blessings that we DO have, so that´s what I´m working on. Thanks for praying for me, and sending me a lot of blessings out here. just know that none of your prayers have gone to waste :) I´m just gonna put the pedal to the metal this last transfer, and I´ll have a lot of baptism stories and pictures for you guys these last few weeks :)

Stay in school!

Love,

Elder Sheppard

Ps. I wrestled with my companion today so he could "Show me how strong he really is" as he put it. haha, you tell me who won.

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Stormy's blog for April 26 2014

HOLA FAMILIA!

Okay, so I´ve pretty much spent this whole week raising up this area I´m in. If President´s goal in putting me here was to help me not to think about home, he did a good job, Because I haven´t had time to think about ANYTHING but work, haha. We´ve found around 17 new people to teach in the past two weeks, and now the goal is to get them to progress in the gospel, which is the hard part, because everyone just wants to conform themselves with what they have :p, and they never search for something better...

I have two stories this week! One is a story... the other... an incident.

First, the incident. We were playing soccer, I was the goalie. I tried to block the ball, and ended up blocking it with the.... ahem... wrong part of my body... and now I can say that the most painful experience I´ve ever had happened to me in the mission feild. If you´ve ever felt how hard a Mexican kicks a soccer ball, you know what I´m talking about :/

Okay, next, yesterday, I was walking with Elder Cea in the morning, and we had just had a great lesson with a new investigator. So I said, "That was a really good lesson, don´t you think?" and he paused for a long time, and said, "... Sometimes I wish I had two right hands. that way I could stretch them both out tmmo people and they wouldn´t know which one to shake."

That ended that conversation :p

Then later, in the evening, I was like, "Elder, I´m starving. What´re we gonna eat?" And Elder Cea says, "... Sometimes I wish I had claws like Wolverine. That could be useful."

Haha, I had no clue that Kat from victorious was my mission comanion :p but he´s awesome. At least there´s never a dull moment here :)

Anyway, this week, that´s all I have. Nothing huge, but still sicnificant.

Stay in school!

Elder Stormy Sheppard

March 31 2014

Hola Familia, I just have one question for you...

Have you ever dressed a dead man for his burial?

Well, now I can say that I have! And I have to say that that was the highlight of the week. Elder Flores and I were walking in the street one day, in the very merry month of... March, when, suddenly, a man approached us. "Hello, Elders," he began, "You don´t know me, but I know you. Actually, I´m an inactive member of your church and also a returned missionary. My father just died, and we have to dress him in his temple clothes so he can be buried. But I don´t remember how the temple clothes go, so I want to know if you two can help me."

Needless to say, we called the mission President to ask his permission. "Elders," he began, "I´ve done this before, and it will affect you both a lot psycologically." he told us some other things along those lines, and it was enough to have us scared halfway out of our minds when we got to the funeral home. The hermano started to undress (Yes, we had to touch a naked dead man), and then dress his father, requesting our help when necessary. When we got about halfway through the process, the bishop arrived, and started to help us. when he put on a part of the deceased hermano´s clothes, he told us something interesting: "I have to put this on well," He said, "because this is how the Hermano is gonna look when he wakes up in the ressurection, and I do NOT want him to walk around in that day saying, ´Bishop Robles didn´t dress me right!´"

At first it was funny, but then we got to talking about judgement day, our ancestors, and the Ressurection, and everything took on a new perspective for us. an experience that was heavily awkward only moments before, turned into one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission :)

That´s my story of the week, because nothing else I can tell you can really top it. My comp and I get along great, and I hope we stay that way until the end of all this... even though I miss Jackie Chan... oh! and my last General Conference in the mission is next week! so we´ll see how that goes :)

Stay In school!

Elder Stormy Sheppard

March 24 2014

Hola Familia,

Okay, so this week, number wise, has probably been my best week in the mission, and I feel really good about it :)

My comp, Elder Flores, and I, are getting along swimmingly, and yesterday I turn 22 mission months old :p It feels so crazy knowing that I´ll be home in such a short time, but It doesn´t really effect the work. Oh! this week, we found 10 new investigators, And they´re all, as E Flores says, "PURO PODER!" They´re all so awesome, and they all went to church. There´s one family, the Cruz family, Who loved the church meeting. Jorge already wants to get baptized, And the rest of his family went for their first time yesterday. it was awesome, they´re gonna progress a TON. But that´s really my only update, we´re working even harder than before now that the end is near, And I feel better and better about it every day. I´ve now filled up tow journals here with mission stories as well as self evaluation, and I´m starting my 3rd today. This has been the best experience that´s happened to me in my 21 years of earthly existence, and I´m ready to keep going :)

Stay in school!

Elder Stormy Sheppard

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