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
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