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