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| Somewhere in Kansas? |
This week has been pretty solid. Mostly because I've really started to settle in and rely on God in all things. That alone is really powerful and always helpful during hard times. I work really hard to continually think about the purpose of why I'm here, and that always puts a smile on my face. Smiling is something I'm working on doing at every door, with every person. It just makes me happy too. Anyways, I've run into quite a few really nice people while out tracting, plus two really interesting fellows. One of these kind sirs came to his door and let us know that he was a prophet. Mind you, he was actually pretty genuine and nice with us, but when we talked about having a living prophet on the earth today he asked if President Nelson had seen people levitate and such because apparently, that's what makes you a prophet. Anyways, on to the better of the two. Get this, we knock this door and a nice kid kindly sends us on his way, but as we were walking away, this man comes out with his fingers locked together and say "I know where you guys are from." He knew we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints He'd also told us that, on one condition, he would let us come in from the freezing cold. He said to deny our faith and accept Jesus Christ as our savior. I politely told him that I'd rather stay in the cold, and boldly bore my testimony of the Savior. Then we left. Odd fella, huh?
We've been fed really well here so far, and as you maybe noticed, I'm back to the +15 I'd gained in the CCM. Families here and the ward were in is super supportive of our efforts. I've had a couple of lessons, but nothing has worked out how we plan, though we've shared some really great commitments and messages with the members who so kindly feed us. Let me share them with you:
1. Pray specifically for missionary opportunities and for the work in your ward. Simply try to share the pure love of Christ.
2. Take the Family-to-Family Book of Mormon Challenge as presented by Ezra Taft Benson in 1988. As a family, write testimonies in a Book of Mormon and place a family picture in it as well. Share it yourself or you can give it to the missionaries to share. A couple great talks to read about this challenge are Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon, by Ezra Taft Benson, and God's Compelling Witness: The Book of Mormon, by Tad R. Callister (sorry, I really love this talk... watch the movie about Joseph Smith again too).
The last few days we've been honked at or stopped by people while we walk. I actually biked for the first time, and of course, Elder Roberts gave me the smaller bike. It was a piece of crap but I worked through it. Anyways, I've been getting to use my Spanish maybe once a day, which is really hard especially when I don't understand what people are saying. My companion doesn't speak at all, so I'm stuck by myself trying to communicate with these people and it can be really embarrassing and frustrating. Luckily, the Zone Leaders are actually in our ward as well, so Elder Clayton and Elder White who both speak come over and help me study Spanish which is super helpful. This Sunday was really great. We had a lady named Amanda come to church with us which was super great, she's got a solid testimony and we're really excited about her newfound growth. I bore my testimony about the Saviors Atonement, and let me tell you, the Spirit in this ward is so strong. I'm really lucky to be in this area. I've been really blessed this week and I've grown over my fears as Ibe trusted in the Lord. I love this scripture in Matthew 16:25 -
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
I'm really trying to give my life over to the Lord, and trust in Him that I can continue to find and fulfill my purpose. Thank you for your testimonies, love, and prayers!
Elder Shepherd
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