Ether 15:31

October 29, 2012

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Greetings, family and friends, from the wonderful land of . . .

 

MIAMI

 

Yes, that's right, folks. I'm still here. Except this time it's different. Let me explain.

 

I have been serving in the Miami Zone for about 6 months. I was serving in YSA which actually covered about 12 other proselyting areas in two zones (pretty ridiculous actually). I was the oldest person in the zone (in terms of time served in the zone and by actual age, but I'm pretty much always the oldest age-wise). So when we got transfer news that I was being transferred, it was kind of a big deal that I was no longer going to be there.

 

So Wednesday morning comes, we say goodbye to Sister Hancock who is now safely at home and not a missionary, and were getting ready to load up all my stuff to go to transfer meeting when we get a phone call from the Assistants. They told us that I didn't need to bring my stuff because I was moving across the hall! I got transferred to Killian West! So I dragged my stuff to the other bedroom and we drove up to the meeting to get Sister Chavous' new companion. We decided not to tell Sister Syme on the way up, so she got a big surprise when they announced that I would be joining her! She just finished her training and I feel like I was a little part of it since we all lived together!

 

Killian West is a bilingual area and we serve in the ward with the Zone Leaders. They just got a new bishop and don't have a ward mission leader or Elders Quorum president yet. Good times.

 

Needless to say, it has been very interesting to still be living at 7440 SW 107th Ave #8104 and not be going to YSA. It was harder than I thought it would be to leave. I didn't realize how much I care about all of them, especially my recent converts there!  At least I still get to see them! (which is awesome, but also hard because I'm trying to focus on families now, but whatever).

 

Speaking of recent converts, Alvaro finally got confirmed!!!!! Hooray!!!!!

 

And Frank. I'm not really sure if I mentioned him before, but he came to institute and church last week and we taught him a couple of times. On Tuesday, he came to the activity and I told him I was getting transferred. He was (surprisingly) sad. (Frank is like a 25 year old football player-looking dude. So the fact that he would show any sort of emotion is pretty strange.)  Anyway, since I stayed I got to go to his BAPTISM yesterday! It wa so amazing! I guess he just found the way to fill the emptiness in his life through the YSA people! It was incredible!  He was glad to see both Sister Syme and I there (she was the one who found him!) and he came to church (for maybe the 4th time in his entire life) in a suit and tie! He said a few word before his actual baptism and explained how the members of the church he had met renewed his faith in people in general because they were genuinely nice. He also said that the spirit sometimes speaks to him through movies. When the sisters invited him to be baptized, he remembered the scene from The Last Crusade when Indiana Jones takes a leap of faith to find the bridge that is camouflaged. So he decided to take a leap of faith, too. He is definitely one of the elect! I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to teach him!

 

Here's a little bit about Sister Syme: She is from Sacramento, CA and has been on her mission since July 18th. She just turned 22 (on the 17th of October) and she is a bomb missionary. She is a born leader and has a burning fiery passion for finding and baptizing the elect of God's Children. She has two older siblings. Her brother went on a mission and is now married and she is super happy to be here and work really hard.

 

We had some other pretty great things happen this week, but I can't really remember them right now because Coldplay is playing in the room next to us and that is all I can think about at the moment. I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing. . .

 

So, if there is anything else in particular you want to know, send me an email. or better yet, send me a letter and I will be glad to write you about some awesome experiences.

 

Or, you could go have some awesome experiences doing the work of God and tell me about it! That would be cool, too.

 

I love you all and wish you all could be here, too!

Love, Hermana Sheffield