Thanksgoing

Hello Everybody! (Hello Dr. Nick!)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are now all filled with turkey and gratitude. This week was a little crazy, but when is missionary work not? It was strange to be here for a second Thanksgiving. This one was actually very similar to last year. Let me elaborate.

To start off the Holiday, we went harvesting!! So, we hardly ever go knock on doors at noon or in neighborhoods with large houses because they aren't usually very fruitful. However, it being a holiday, we decided to try. And although we didn't get any new investigators from it, we blessed 4 people! it was cool. We were all nervous beforehand. So funny.

We were invited to eat Thanksgiving Lunch with a member of the Blue Lagoon ward. After some drama of whether we had permission to go there or not, we drove up there and had a great time. There were about 25 people there in the Relief Society room (the same room we have district training in) and there was a ton of food and nice table cloths and center pieces and fine china plasticware. It was great. We ate until we could eat no more, and then had dessert. We all expressed gratitude and enjoyed each others' company, as per usual.

Then we checked on some folks and left some notes and went to Thanksgiving Dinner at the Snyders. They have a lot of family that is less active and they are all super nice, but not interested. That was a fun meal because She is Cuban and he is very American and likes to cook, so we ended up with a lot of different food. I wasn't even very hungry, but I found some things that weren't at the first dinner to enjoy. Then Sister Snyder brought us out some soup and this guy wanted us to try his rye bread so we were entirely stuffed. They asked us to teach the little kids something about thanksgiving, but it took forever for them to all get there. We ended up being there for hours (long enough that they were able to watch all of 'Brave' while we were there. Don't worry, I stayed in the other room.). Plus, although it was nice enough to eat outside, when it got dark, it actually got kind of cold. Don't laugh at me for being cold when it is 65 degrees outside. Anyway, we had the little kids write what they are thankful for on feathers that we taped to a turkey and read a scripture and explained how all our blessings come from God. It was sweet. It made me feel like an elementary school teacher. yay!

Also, we had a pretty sweet experience harvesting this week: On Wednesday night, we went harvesting in a neighborhood of homes we haven't been to for a long time. We drove past a street that we felt really good about, so we circled back around and decided to knock there. The first door we knocked on was a Jehovah's Witness that was actually very nice even though he wouldn't let us pray with him. The next house was a mom named Rachel who opened the door and readily let us pray for her, she let us come inside even though she was getting ready for Thanksgiving and let us turn off the music to have a spiritual experience. When we invited her to be baptized after the blessing, she told us she had been baptized in 2010 in the MetroLife Church. We testified that this was an opportunity for her to recommit to following Jesus Christ. She responded "I can get baptized again? Ok. Let me talk to my husband!" We set her with a date for Dec. 9th and got a return appointment to talk with the whole family! We ended up not getting any other return appointments on that street, but I now we were sent there just for her! We were so filled with the Spirit after meeting her that would couldn't stop smiling all night!

Then on Friday we came back for our return appointment. We showed up right on time and she answered the door and said her husband wasn't home and that she really wanted it to be a family thing. She gave us her number and then said she'd call us when he got home in the next hour. 40 minutes later she called and said we could come over. When we first started talking to them, Rachel brought up the baptism on Dec. 9th! We explained our purpose and talked about the atonement and the Book of Mormon. And even though they had never heard of the Book of Mormon before, the 10 year old Alex actually said "I love this book!" before we left! Nick, the Dad said they would come to church and we left feeling better then we have in a long time!

After their lesson, we went back to a guy we blessed earlier in the week. His name is Ray (Santos Ramos) and he is entirely a shark (from West Side Story)! He grew up in Spanish Harlem and is Puerto Rican. He has a 4 year old daughter and wants to be a good example to her. We ended up setting him with a date for the 2nd! He told us that the day before we came to bless him he went to this Tarot card reader and she said that two girls were going to come into his life to help him! And boom, there we were. So cool. He was totally down with coming to church and the Book of Mormon and everything. It was a very miraculous day!

Unfortunately, neither of these families came to church. However, a random former investigator showed up with her daughters! It was very unexpected, but I am grateful at least one person was able to make it! We had a good meeting. I know I learned a lot from Sacrament meeting about being grateful for the blessings, even amidst the trials we face. Timely advice.

Well, That just about sums up my week. Ish. Ok, not really, but time is pressing and I can't say anymore. But I truly hope you are all grateful for the blessings you have in your lives. Especially, be grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ because everything pretty much comes through him. You can't get anywhere without him!

Love you all, have an enjoyable end of Thanksgiving!

Love, Hermana Sheffield
P.S. go check out www.mormon.org/christmas and invite your friends!

Thanksgiving: A Cornucopia of Love

Hello All -

Welcome to the Earth, Ethan!  [Alan and Kristin's baby boy, who was born Saturday, November 17, 2012]

Happy turkey week, because I know that's what we are all looking forward to!

We had some really great experiences this week that made me feel like a classic missionary this week. As we were getting out of our car to harvest, I saw a woman getting groceries out of her car. I hurried over and asked if we could help. She looked so relieved and said that would be great because the elevators in her building are broken and she lives on the third floor. We all took as many bags as we could and between the three of us, we managed to get everything upstairs in one trip. She was so appreciative and said we were a God-send. Before we left, we asked her if we could leave a blessing in her home. She allowed us to pray with her and was grateful for the blessing. She wasn't super excited for us to come back, but I am so grateful we got to serve her! I love service!

We took Daniella (a YW in our ward) with us to see Joe. We finally got to go in his house! We were able to sit down and teach him the plan of salvation, to which he responded favorably. He asked a ton of great questions and told us a story about how he shot a woodchuck when he was younger and it really bothered him, so now he is super kind to animals (as in, he catches mice and rats in safe traps and lets them go down the street at the park! He said "It's the only time a rat gets to ride in a Cadillac!"). You could tell he really needed the plan of salvation, and although he is a very slow mover, I know he will get baptized one day. He has to. Come on, Joe!

We stopped by a former investigator this week and found out why she was dropped. She was and is super busy! She let us share a scripture with her because she still had the Book of Mormon sitting out, just completely unread. Without knowing anything about her, I flipped open the Book of Mormon to Mosiah 4:9 because it is one that I had memorized. I was very grateful at that moment to have studied the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes everyday because I was familiar enough with it to pull out a random scripture! And then to be able to apply it to her life was very humbling as I recognize the help I was receiving from the Spirit.

Then later in the week, we had a lesson/drop-talk with Steve. He has been a bi-polar investigator (literally and figuratively) for a while now, but we sat down with him and talked about temples and how important they are. We basically told him that if he doesn't get baptized, we can't continue to teach him, since he only calls us when he needs a friend. He mentioned that he didn't think that baptism would really help him because everything is in God's time and it couldn't change him right now. I had come across a scripture that morning in Alma 34:31 while studying for someone else. The verse says that if you will not harden you heart, then immediately the great plan of redemption is brought about in your life. I explained to him that when he is baptized, he immediately receives a remission of his sins and will get the Holy Ghost, thus accessing the atonement and bringing about the plan of redemption in his life. I had never looked at that scripture in that way before, but in that moment, we were able to help him see how baptism could help him. He still has some other issues to work out, so this may not be his time to get baptized, but I felt very uplifted and inspired from that lesson. It was a very incredible experience.

Did I mention we are teaching a Lamanite? He is pretty great, but busy.

Although we had 10 people committed to come to church this week, only one person ended up coming. Patty DePaula. She is a member referral and is an older lady. What Sister Syme forgot to mention is that she is a little abrasive. I thought she just didn't like me. She said I was being condescending and rude (when I looked at my watch) and stupid when I asked if we could come visit her this week. Go figure. Oh well, at least we had one person at church!

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission. I have learned things I know I would never have learned otherwise and I have much more to still learn. I am grateful for my wonderful family which is growing all the time. And for their love and support. I am grateful for my friends and the influence they have had in my life. I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the knowledge and testimony which I have. I am thankful that I can say that I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that I know it is only though him that we can return to live with God and have true happiness. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon which testifies of Christ and explains the wonderful truths of the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father that Loves me and allows me to go through trials so I can learn and grow and become more like him. I am grateful for all the many blessings that I have and can't name right now because I am out of time.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and not only give thanks, but also give.

Love, Hermana Sheffield

Veteran's Day + 1

Hello Fambly! And Fry-ends!

This week was pretty rough. Especially today. We started off the day going to the UrgentCare place because Sister Andrus (roommate) got a staph infection from mosquito bites. Yesterday she woke up with about 10-15 bites, including 2 on her face, and then this morning they were so swollen she looked like a chubby Asian kid.  Plus the one on her finger made her and so swollen that she couldn't move it.  So we drove her to the doctor and they gave her some medicine. This is the third time she has gotten an infection from mosquitoes while on her mission.  And I thought they bites I got were bad . . .

We got a really cool referral this week from some Elders up north. He met the Elders in Pembroke Pines at his other house and then we got to teach him at the house he is currently living in here in Kendall. He is so cool! His name is Ken and he is a pharmacist for the operating room at Baptist Hospital. (So yeah, he's a doctor) He is very interested in learning more about the Church and receiving the forgiveness of his sins. He went to church, but up in Pembroke Pines. He doesn't really want to go to church down here where he lives because he doesn't really like the people in Miami (he says he's not racist because his ex-wife is Latin), so we're not entirely sure what to do with him except see him whenever we can; I just want him to get baptized. It would also be nice to be able to see it! And to get him some friends down here.

We also got a media referral this week. We stopped by the night we got it and she told us she just wanted to read the Book of Mormon and didn't really want anything else to do with the church. We asked if we could come back the next day and bring her one, and she accepted. We came back in the morning with a member and got to sit down and talk with her. She is pretty religious and spiritual and had looked up a lot of information about the Church. She herself is Catholic and prays all the time. She is also a cancer survivor, having had breast cancer twice as well as cervical cancer. She is so grateful just to be alive! She asked us a lot of random questions about "special underwear" and polygamy, and the member was very helpful as we carefully explained things. Being able to share the Book of Mormon with her was really cool, since she already had a desire to read it. And although she told us she doesn't want us knocking on her door, she told us she would call and was interested in visiting church one day. She didn't come to church this week, but I know we planted a good seed and when it takes root, she has our number.

This week we had exchanges! I got to go up to Hialeah and Sister Syme stayed here with Sister Clayton! They came in the same time and are really good friends. I got to go up and be with Sister Carnes! It was fun to be with an old companion again, and we are both so different then we were in the MTC.  We had a ton of success in their area. Hialeah is full of Cubans who seem to have just gotten there. It is very much like being in a different country because everyone there is from Cuba. We talked to maybe 3 people that spoke English and that's just because they had been here long enough to learn it! We blessed 8 people and got 6 return appointments and 4 accepted baptismal dates!  It was incredible! 

The downside of the exchanges was coming back to Killian. Don't get me wrong, I love Killian and it feels like home, but it was a really rough week because almost all of our appointments fell through, all our dates got dropped, and only 2 of our 22 blessings resulted in return appointments. It was truly a miracle we had three people at church! Hopefully next week will be better. I'm not discouraged because I've learned on my mission that everything will work out, but it is still trying during times like this. 

Two funny stories from the week:

On Friday we were harvesting and there were some little kids playing near us. As we walked between doors, the little boy yelled out "I'm the boy! I protect the wee-man!" It was hilarious! We had to stop and laugh before going to the next house.

On Wednesday, we stopped by one of our very slowly progressing investigators named Joe. He has been a huge Romney supporter from the get-go, so we wanted to see how he was doing. He told us that he read two chapters in the Book of Mormon on Election Day just for good luck and that he was planning to come to church if Romney won. He didn't come to church. But he's still hilarious.

Inspirational Story:

While I was up in Hialeah, Sister Syme knocked on a door and the woman who answered said, "I'm a member of your church!"  We went to see her on Saturday and she told us she got baptized when she was 17 and is now 35, divorced, and has 3 girls (11, 14, 16). She said she hasn't been to church in 10 years. She stopped going to church when she moved and didn't like her new ward. It was so sad to hear her, but we were so excited to be able to find her again! She is even said she would come to church if she didn't go visit her mom. (Her mom must have won-out because she didn't come). We are super excited to go see her and her family again and teach them all! Yay!  Stumbling upon lost sheep is so exciting!

Shout out to Jordan and his ward for helping Less-Actives come back to church! You're an inspiration for everyone!

Okay, that pretty much wraps up my week. How was yours?

Love, Hermana Sheffield

P.S. Marvin gave a talk in Church yesterday and Juan confirmed Manual! I love seeing recent converts fully participating in the Church!!!!!

Happy Elections!

Monday November 5, 2012

That's right, folks! Elections are this Tuesday! If you haven't already, get out there and VOTE! Your opinion matters! Take action and help this country to be what you want it to be!

Okay, random plug for elections because people talk about it all the time.  (See picture)

Also, with elections, Florida yards and street corners are filled with signs. In our area it is probably about 2/3 Romney, but other than that, I have zero idea of what is going on. I assume someone will tell us if we are going to have a Mormon President.

And moving on to missionary things. . .

Hello Everyone!

Since last I wrote, I went to the Miami Seaquarium! It was so awesome!! What is a Seaquarium, you ask? I didn't know either, but if you donated $5 to Fight for the Cure, you got in half price, so we went (because normally it is about $43!). Without having any preconceived notions, we had a blast! We saw the Flipper the dolphin show, we saw Sharks and manatees and sting rays and crocodiles, the Sea lion show was awesome (we sat in the splash zone!) and we saw the Killer whale show. Super awesome! Best Idea Ever.

Halloween. We dressed up like Sister Missionaries and went out to knock on doors. We didn't get any candy, but we did bless 4 people and might actually get to go back and see them! We also were not allowed to knock on doors after 6 pm and had to be home by 8. Why? I'm not entirely sure. We had some kids knock on our apartment door, but we didn't answer because we didn't have any candy to give them. :(

Medalia. She is this really nice old Cuban lady who seems to always be wearing the same outfit and has no teeth. She was set to get baptized on the 11th, but then we came over this week and she had teeth in, a new outfit, combed hair, and told us that her son won't let her change religions. Who are you and what have you done to our sweet Medalia??!?!?! We were in shock. So much so that we couldn't say anything. Good thing we had a member with us to invite her to church anyway and get us going again.  Why Medalia? Why?

Julia. She is another sweet old Cuban lady who was supposed to get baptized on the 11th. She told us Saturday that she was going to her daughter's house instead of coming to church  on Sunday. Boo. So we went over Sunday night and set her with a new date for the 18th! Now the trick is to get her to come to church!

Joseff. Joseff is a lamanite. He is a native american who believes in a Great Spirit. He is so awesome and we haven't even taught him yet. We just stopped by and he told us his life history of how he owns a valet company for fancy hotels where rich and famous people live and how he used to be in the Olympics and he ran the new york marathon before he got in a drag racing accident and lost his legs. After being in a wheel chair for a year and a half he now has prosthetic legs.  We're going to teach him like Ammon teaches King Lamoni. We'll let you know if he faints or anything. (Now go read Alma 18)

At Church, we didn't have anyone until the end of Sacrament when one of our new investigators and her 16 year old son showed up! They only stayed for about 30 minutes, but awesome!  And Bradley came back! Super funny that I am now in the ward he is supposed to be going to!

After Sacrament Meeting, we met a man named Sam Smith. He told us that he was there because he was on a business trip here in Miami. He told us about a trip he went on last month where he met a guy on the airplane who was reading a Rolling Stone article about the Book of Mormon while he was reading the Book of Mormon. They talked for about 3 hours and had a great discussion. Bro. Smith gave him a Book of Mormon and found out he lives in Miami and that they could meet up in three weeks when Bro. Smith had another business trip. So he basically told us about this awesome referral and then told us he speaks Chinese (he went to Taiwan on his mission) and we found Bingyu and they talked and found out they have a mutual friend in Michigan. Crazy small world. AND as it turns out, he is Sister Smith's father! She was in the MTC the same time as me and is now currently in my first area! Right before he left, he asked us to give her a hug for him and was getting all teary eyed! What he said about her was so sweet I cried, too. and I know that's how you feel, too, Dad.

The YSA sisters had another Baptism (I met him my last day in YSA). His name is Manuel and he is from Equatorial Guinea and speaks mostly Spanish. He found the missionaries after referring himself from Mormon.org. He saw Ingrid's profile and is now a member of the Church because of it! Don't you think you all should go make YOUR profile now?

Last night our schedule fell through and we decided to go harvest. We found an area earlier in the week and felt good about a certain street. As we came up to the first house, the man inside saw us through the window. He met us at the door and said, I'm baptist, you are Mormon, right? We said yes and told him we wanted to pray with him. He asked the woman inside and she was hesitant, but he turned to us and well, sure, if you just want to pray, come on in! So we were able to go in and kneel with them and bless them. They were very appreciative and we ended up talking about where they were from and why we were there. We committed the woman to come to English class and they asked about the Book of Mormon and we were able to set a return appointment to come back and teach them all about it!

Then we went across the street and met a high school girl who eagerly accepted the blessing. We invited her to be baptized afterwards and she asked, is it okay that I was baptized when I was little? We explained what baptism is and she accepted a date for the 18th!

We were also able to bless a man that was reluctant to talk to us because his family was eating, but ended up agreeing to think about baptism for his whole family!

We got exactly the number of blessings we needed to reach our weekly goal and we did it in 45 minutes! It was a very miraculous street!

Well, That's all I have time for today. Hope all is well with you! I'd love to hear from you!

Love, Hermana Sheffield