Now is the month of Maying

Monday, May 21, 2012

Hola familia y amigos!

I am currently sitting in a Miami-Dade Public Library. Yes, I'm in MIAMI!! Snapper Creek YSA to be exact.

Talk about different. I was up north in West Palm Beach in a large Spanish Family ward with 6 missionaries, and was living in a huge apartment with just me and my companion.  Now I am in the southern tip of Florida in a mostly English YSA branch that has at most 60 members, in a TRIO, and living in an apartment that is smaller and there are five of us sisters living there. Needless to say, it is very different.

Biggest of all differences, I have 2 companions: Sister Buckley and Sister Holladay. Both of them go home in August. They have been together 1 transfer, but have previous experience in tri-panionships. So by all means, I am the newbie.  However, Sister Buckley lived in
Boynton with me, so I already knew her (and she is hilarious) and Sister Holladay was in the Orlando Mission. They are both form California.

The other two sisters in our apartment are Sister Lake and Sister Lira. Sister Lake came in one transfer after me and is in the Killian West Area. She is training Hna Lira, who is from Mexico! She spent a transfer in Mexico waiting for her visa, then spent 9 weeks in the MTC
to learn English before coming here. She is super cute and has learned a lot of English. I wish we got to spend more time with her so I could work on my Spanish.

Speaking of Spanish, I do get to use it, because, after all, we are in Miami.  All of the wards down here are bilingual (as in opening prayer is English, closing in Spanish, translations available for all), but YSAs normally speak English. We have a few investigators that speak
spanish and contact a lot of people in Spanish, so I get to use it everyday, still. Sister Buckley knows some spanish, but has never served in a spanish area and Sister Holladay was called English Speaking, so it is really left up to me when we meet spanish people. It is rough, but at least it gets done.

So, our area covers 2 zones, Miami and Homestead. It goes from the Dolphin Expressway in the North all the way down to Key West. However, that is about 3 hours south of here and we never go that far.  One of the interesting things I have noticed is how much time it takes to drive in these big areas, as in, we spend hours in the car everyday. Not my idea of fun.  Actually, this past week, they didn't really have any investigators when I came in so we harvested a lot (which generates referrals for lots of other missionaries and we just hope
that someone will stumble across a YSA and pass them to us.) It is kind of frustrating to not be able to teach all the people we meet, but I'll get used to it.

Also, Since they were a normal 2-person companionship before, they weren't really ready for a third. Por eso, I don't have a bed, desk, chair, or closet. Hopefully they will bring the bed today so I won't have to sleep on the couch in a different room anymore. (Actually, the
couch is really comfortable and I told them we could just move that into the bedroom) But I am looking forward to not studying on the floor. And mom, I totally understand how you feel about living out of boxes because I have been living out of my suitcases all week. I still
don't know how we're going to handle that situation, but I'm sure it will all work out.

I have to hand it to the Branch, though. They are certainly amazing people. The ward mission leader is super helpful (and the son of the branch president) and the New Elders Quorum President is from Utah! Ha! The recent converts are great, too!

Speaking of Recent Converts: We had a baptism yesterday! Not that I did anything about it, but it was still great. Juan Contesse is 30 and has a girlfriend in the MTC. He was supposed to get baptized last week but his family wanted to come see it, so he waited a week. His baptism was really great because the font slowly drains and the water was just above his knee when they stepped in. He was super determined and so after the prayer was said, the crumpled to get all the way under. It was epic!  He is a really nice guy that lives in a 9th story penthouse and feeds the missionaries every week!

Also, we had a potluck/ice cream social afterwards and a recent convert brought her friend. While we were eating, she told us about Nicaragua and also mentioned that she wants to get baptized before she goes back to visit in August! So, we're going to teach her!

Well, I have to go now. Off to Publix to buy real food! Yay!

Love you all! Can't wait to get some sweet letters this week!

Love, Sister Sheffield

West Palm Beach, mi vida.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

 Whoa. Life is crazy.  And awesome.

Hello everyone!

Time for the news.

New News: I'm TRANSFERRING!  Don't know where to yet, I just know that I will no longer be in West Palm Beach. Sad Day. I will greatly miss this area. Especially the recent Converts! They are like my little babies and I can't wait to see them grow and become amazing members. Some of them already are!

I will also greatly miss Sister Keyworth! She is an amazing missionary and I've learned an incredible amount of information about Missionary Work that I didn't know before. I thought for sure we would have another transfer together so that I could learn even more from her. During the past week, we had a lot of Really awesome miracles happen but also a lot of trials of our faith. And throught it all she has taught me so much.  We had a companionship study with the Zone Leaders yesterday and it was so helpful. The key is to enjoy it. They told us not to do anything that we didn't want to do because we are supposed to be happy. Also, don't ever forget to live the Gospel (Faith, Repentence, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Endure to the End) because it is the way to gain all blessings. We took that counsel and we forth with faith. We basically harvested (knocked doors) all day, but we found 7 awesome people/families! I was so excited to go back and see them! Also, we had a great lesson with the Aunt of a really solid member. Don't worry, she'll be getting baptized soon and I'll be missing that, too. Oh well, they are in the capable hands of Sister Keyworth and ......who knows?

Old  but Awesome news: We had two baptisms this week. The first was Santos. He was blessed while fishing and then we didn't get to see him for a long time. Because he works in a field, he can't work when it is raining and was able to come to General Conference and our ward conference before we even had a lesson with him! He really enjoyed both and the second time we were able to have a lesson with him. A week an a half later he got baptized! He had such a thirst for the gospel and when we found him, he didn't even know who God was! Now he can't wait to read the Book of Mormon and go to church! It was a really amazing experience to help him trust in God, ask in prayer, recognize the answer and then go fill up the font the moment he said yes to baptism! Even though he had to move to North Carolina, I know he will be taken care of because he knows how to receive answers to prayer and that will help him get through anything! Plus, he called us and asked where the church is there and if we could sent missionaries to him! If he was the only person that I met on my mission, that would be enough.

The Best (in my opinion) News: The other baptism was probably the reason I was in West Palm Beach. The 2nd day I was here, we decided to harvest. As soon as we got out of the car, we saw some guys standing outside their door. We went right up to them and left a blessing and invited them to baptism. They weren't really sure at that moment but said we could come back. It took a long time and a lot of phone calls to actually be able to meet with Joel, but it finally happened. We set him with a date, he came to church, and then got scared and dropped us. Then a few days later he called us up and said he wanted to talk. We had a few lessons here and there, but he wasn't really serious about changing. Six weeks ago, he asked us to come over and then told us he wanted to get baptized on May 13th to honor his deceased mother! It was so awesome! He owned his date and told other people as well. As the weeks went by, he got scared again and dropped us. Then he called us a week later and said that he wanted to know why we were so happy and he wasn't and was impressed by how patient and kind we were to him. He said he felt better when we were around. We had some really awesome members come over and help him understand the trials he is going through and then on Saturday night, he told us he was going to get baptized the next day! It was so incredible to see the change that came over him! He is so happy now!

 I love the Gospel and how wonderfully happy it can make people. Real happiness is not something you can get anywhere else. And here we are with all the happiness ever, just hording it all in the church. Go, spread the word, spread the happiness!

I will greatly miss this area, but I know that God knows where I need to be to grow and learn and become a better missionary. I look forward to meeting my new companion and area!  I will tell you all about them as soon as I can.

Not news, but still important:  CONGRATULATIONS to Ian and Jill! I wish you all the blessings in the world for your marriage! I'm so happy for you!

In case you can't tell, I love being a missionary. I'm assuming I'll still love it in a different area, but I'll let you know for sure next week. God knows what's going on, so what else matters?

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

The 7th Day of May, Missionary style

 

Monday, May 7, 2012

 

Hello world,

 

I never know how to start these entries. So much happens every week that I never know what to exclude, because I don't have time to say it all.

 

First of all:

WELCOME TO THE WORLD, JAMES!!!!!

 

Congratulations to Beckie and Aaron on your new baby! Unimaginable blessings and learning experiences are headed your way!

 

Second:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KRISTIN!!! (my sister-in-law).

 

The world is a better place because you are here. Our family is a better family because you are in it.

 

Third:

I'm a missionary.

 

A lot of things happen as a missionary that would never happen at any other time in one's life. I often realize the situation I'm in and wonder why I would ever be in this situation if I weren't a missionary. There are experiences I have everyday now that I didn't even think would happen.

 

And I'm not just talking about being excited to find trailer parks full of Spanish speaking people, but that's a good one.

 

Here are some highlights:

Tuesday we counted how many prayers we said in a day: We got to 35 before we lost count/forgot to keep counting. It's pretty fun. You should try it.

We wondered from a neighborhood that made us feel like we were in a foreign country into a normal, American street with white people who call the cops on you. Luckily we got to meet a devote Buddhist and blessed her home before the cop got there to tell us these people don't like us even though we are doing nothing wrong.

 

Sometimes, days don't go as planned and you end up sitting in an old Cuban woman's home for an hour while she talks about nothing. I still can't understand Cuban. Take the marbles out of your mouth!

Or, you take a member out with you for 4 hours and only have one lesson. Sorry, Danyela!

 

We had a pretty great Noche de Hogar on Thursday. Laura, Inocente, and Venanio came. We watched the video of the debtor and the creditor which explains the laws of Justice and Mercy. It is great and I love it. Venancio had a great time and was even more excited to get baptized on Sunday.

 

He was still excited when we brought Everardo to his house on Friday. But somehow, he still got scared and didn't come to church on Sunday. Thus, we had no baptisms, again. That's okay, we have 4 people set for baptism this week and 3 more possible. Hopefully at least ONE of them will make it all the way to the font this week!

 

Actually, we're having a baptism on Wednesday! Because Santos is super awesome and wants to be baptized but might be moving to North Carolina on Saturday! So, we'll just get it done before that! It's going to be great.

 

We had 2 less actives at church this week! It is such a great accomplishment for these people! I wish we could document it somehow!

 

Really fast, The negative thing that happened this week was on Saturday. Mayda wanted to take us out to eat. So she told us to go to city place. City Place is large and we happened to park at the wrong end and had to walk in the hot crowded streets only to finally get to the destination and realize it was a sports bar and grill. We had to tell Mayda that we couldn't go in there and she took us to Five Guys instead. It also happened to be Sunfest. I can't explain the whole thing, but by the time we finally got out of there, sister Keyworth described it as thus:

"I could have worn my bathing suit and been more modest than those people! . . .  It was like Nephi walking through the Great and Spacious Building!"

 Needless to say it was not a pleasant experience And we will never be going anywhere near there again.

 

So, there were some other fun details of this awesome work I was going to include, but I am going to be obedient and leave now.

 

Have a wonderful week! Enjoy the warmth! (it is only about 90 degrees everyday here, with 60%+ humidity everyday!)

 

Go tell your mothers that you love them!

 

Love you Mom!

Love, Hermana Sheffield