AUGUST 24 - THE PUNKS ATE MY PIZZA

Mom and dad you are super good at writing emails.  Thanks!

Some people don’t get written but it’s me every week.  AWWEESSOOOMMME

I love my family sooo much!  Thanks mom and dad all you have done to help me out and raise me right!  I miss you all so much and I am really grateful to be associated with all of you.  Thankyouthankyougracias.  I’m going to be planning plenty of family reunions for the rest of your lives just so you know!  

I LOVE YOU!

I finished one of my memory cards, so I will make a disk to send home hopefully today!

This week the light in California in the mornings has been white light.  Normally it is yellow light and so I keep thinking I am in Utah.  It was really weird but that is what I pinpointed it to be haha.  The lighting isn’t golden anymore!  But it is still hothothot.  

We are singing Oh Creaciones del Senor, and Exxxxo joined the CHOIR!  He is practicing with the Hymns on CD.  He has started not sleeping again because he is really worried about his mom.  She is going through a really hard time right now and doesn’t leave the house and has a lot of nerves about life.  But he said we can start coming by to get to know her!  We are going to bring all the Relief Society to love her.  He is getting his kidney stones out on Friday, and arranged to get his patriarchal blessing on Saturday.... well see if that happens as planned haha.  

Exxxxo and Mxx hanging out. This is Lxxxi's son. He is the cutest!

Hermana Cuesta and Hermana Hurley came back and we got to see them again! I got to meet Hermana Cuestas parents!  It is interesting to see where people come from.

This is our "Raising the Bar" picture

We had so many appointments on Sunday that we didn’t have time for lunch, so we packed leftover pizza and peaches in a bag and stuck it in the church fridge........... when we came back the bag was opened (we had tied it shut) Our pizza was eaten off our plate, and the peaches were left!!! 

 I WAS SO MAADDDD. 

Some punk ate the missionaries pizza!!  Hermana Carpenter and I both say pizza is our favorite food and she was fuming hahaha.  And we were hungry all day. 

Punks.

Hermana Carpenter is trying to master my curly hair and so I have had some great hair all week.

So from what I hear the Modesto mission is having major turmoil.  The Fresno and Sacramento missionaries are having some family fueds.  Oh Brother is what I say.  Just do what you are supposed to and forget about the different missions being better or whatever, just learn from the strengths, because we both have strengths.  There are different rules and we all have the same purpose so we should be able to work things out!  We are having an emergency Mission Leadership Council.  Poor President Palmer. :(  All our sisters were doing great, until I realized we only have 1 missionary from Fresno to cover haha. 

I got to go to Stockton for a day, and Hermana Townes remembered me.  That made my day!  

We are having amazing breakthroughs in the work.  I feel like every moment is getting used to its fullest which is way better than wandering around for hours.  We received a couple referrals from the english Elders and I told them good job, keep them coming and we now have 20 referrals to contact haha. 

They are now learning how to say they are missionaries that don’t speak spanish but there are missionaries that speak spanish, and please write your address here.... so that is amazing!

Lxxxi is still on fire.  Hermana Cruz (a member) took her to the temple for the day and she loved it!  She loved the Visitors Center sooo much.  Mxx behaved well until they saw the fountains, and then she had to drag him away from jumping in them haha.  She was glowing. She made us breakfast this week, and loved church.  

We are working on not just speaking to speak the message.  We are working on understanding and applying and sharing personal experiences in contacting.  Because usually you can catch yourself going into automode.  I had amazing experiences feeling the spirit while contacting people on the street which is something that isn’t exactly normal for me.  So I hope to keep that going!

The rough draft of my next planner

I did an exchange in Stockton this week and I decided to take pictures next to the pond because I never did when I was here!!!

We made the trip up to French Camp!  We worked among the chickens and goats!  I wore my hiking shoes :) I can officially leave Manteca because I have now been in all 4 cities that we cover!  We saw this goat trying to eat the top of the tree branches.  It had already stripped the whole tree so we decided to help it out a bit.  I now know why giraffes have long necks!

I am at 3 Nefi in my spanish Book of Mormon, and so I am reading all from Jesus Christ, and I am also halfway through Mark so it is fun to see the correlation and order and read the same things twice from the different sources.  

Well I know that I love all that is happening here in Manteca.

I am Emily Noelle Sheffer. 

I love being a missionary. 

I love California. 

I love spanish. 

I love my mom and dad.  

LOVE HERMANA SHEFFER

AUGUST 17 - The Perks of being a Mantecan Old-Timer

Well being an old timer in Manteca has its perks. 

For example:

• I know this city and can drive around without a GPS!
• All the members actually know my name
• I could probably retire from the food bank. 
• I start running into people I have taught before around town.  hahaha. 

School started this week around town, so that is fun to have that atmosphere.  I am excited for Elizabeth to start too!  BYU in the fall time is one of my favorite things in the entire world!

Well this week has been really amazing. First off I want to say that Hermana Carpenter and I are doing amazing.  I replaced her in Manteca the first time so it is fun to have us both know the people and area and just start off running.  She taught Bxxxxo before so we are determined to get him back on track if we can.  We had a miracle where we went to visit him right when he got home from work so we were able to talk for a bit.  I miss Bxxxxo!!  He is a workaholic! So I know she is here for a reason! 

Hermana Carpenter, Hemana Porter, Hermana Cuesta, Hermana Sheffer

The only bad thing is that Bxxxxo is working himself to death and dying of a cold that he won’t rest from to get better, and now Hermana Carpenter and I have the biggest colds ever. 

Worth it worth it!! 

I am conflicted because I have the worst cold ever, and then I walk outside into 110 degree weather!  IT IS SO HOOOOOOTTTTT.  I have started a thing where I accept every water bottle that is ever offered to me, and I have a collection of them in the car.  I will take a picture to show you my pile haha.  Also there has been a lot of smoke.  It isn’t super bad, but we are definitely seeing the results from those fires.  

We are both very determined to have a good transfer and we are working on working with the spirit. For example after the new missionary leadership meeting (Hermana Carpenter is first time STL) we learned about how we should receive revelation for the numbers we put as goals. So we were both excited to start setting goals after asking our Heavenly Father who and how many he wanted to be baptized. It was really an amazing experience to both think of the same number!! We are really motivated to try to find those people! It was probably the best weekly planning session I have ever had in my mission. It is exciting to have that goal, and have it be more than oh I put a number there. It changes your whole mindset, it makes a difference in your motivation that is for sure! We know Heavenly Father has prepared someone and we are going to work our hardest to find them! 

Studies have been going well and we have been role playing a lot which really helps me.  I am almost to Jesus in the Americas in my Spanish Book of Mormon. 

This week I had a crisis where I lost my Bible and felt like my arm was missing, but then I found it again in the church lost and found!  

Another amazing thing is that Exxxxo, went to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. When he is really excited his voice gets higher and higher, and he talks faster and faster.  I called him to make sure his ride had picked him up and he was almost squeaky! 

When we talked about it later he said that it was so beautiful, and that while he was in there waiting to do baptisms for the dead he felt as though he had died and that he was really waiting in heaven to go see our Heavenly Father for the first time and be interviewed. He also said that when he was watching the baptisms he saw clouds around the baptismal font. Well just say it was an amazing experience for him. He is so excited to get family names to take. We are also teaching his cousin now! She is not super interested it appears, but I know something is going on in that house that will happen soon!

So this week we have stopped teaching Lxxxxe for a bit because her son jumped off a table and broke his head open.  She had to take him to a children’s hospital in Sacramento this entire week, and so we have only been able to text.  But she will be ok, we are going to keep helping her!  

Our investigator brought alcohol in a paper bag to church.  But people are coming to church! 

Send me pictures of Taylor on her wedding!!  It sounded beautiful!!

Nathan picking 22 was my favorite story ever, but I am super proud of him for giving up his number, way to be a good sport/teammate! 

I asked and you all can pick me up!!!!  There is a final testimony meeting for all the missionaries who are leaving, and I bet you could come to that!  We will have to see! 

Well I love being a missionary, and I know that we have a Heavenly Father who really does help us daily to learn what we need to! I am definitely learning a lot of amazing things!  

LOVE THE MISSIONARY.

Hermana Sheffer.  

AUGUST 10 - MANTECA til the MILLENIUM!!!!!

I have been called to serve in the Manteca area..... for a FIFTH transfer! 

Good thing I am in love with Manteca! 

I will tell you why I love it really quick:

- I love the Ward

- I love playing piano for church

- I love singing in the choir

- I love all the Manteca families

- I love Exxxxo and Bxxxxo

- I love how many Veterans there are

- I love how patriotic it is

- I love Hno Gonzalez's principles of the gospel class

- I love the service

- I love the zen garden

- I love Leilani and Alfred our ward missionaries

- I love how small town it is

- I love how nice it is to go and contact people outside and they are nice - lots of families

- I love Lxxxxe and her inspiration for my life

- We have the coolest elders to serve with in our Ward.  Elder Griffen is an Elder that began training in Tracy when I moved to Manteca and we have been in Monte Vista for 5 transfers now!! He is hilarious 
- I love all the little Mexican markets

- I love speaking Spanish

- I love sharing the gospel and studying it in the morning!

- I LOVE ALL THE EXPERIENCES I HAVE HAD HERE! This has just been a golden time of my mission.  So I am glad to get to be here a while longer.

I am still a Sister Training Leader, and my new companion is the Hermana Carpenter!  She graduated from BYU with a degree in Biology and she is planning on going to medical school after.  I want to talk to her a little bit about pharmacy, ooorr a lot!  Still on a major pharmacy kick.  I think there is a reason I have been hooked on pharmacy for so long.  I am just going to try to get in through normal school, or maybe through the Air Force!  But back to Hermana Carpenter - I have been on exchanges with her before and they were really chill.  Which I would love because conflict is not very good for me! 

Hermana Carpenter (my new Companera), Hermana Cuesta, me, Herman Porter 

I am really excited for this transfer and grateful!  

So there were 5 Spanish Hermanas in all of Modesto, but Hermana Porter got switched for a transfer into English work!  She will be serving in the Modesto YSA ward.  I lived with her for 3 months and let me tell you those YSA people are going to LOVE her.  She can make anybody laugh in 2-3 seconds. 

Hermana Porter

They are going to switch her back after this transfer because the other 2 Hermanas that are Spanish are leaving!  This is their last transfer!  Which will mean there will be 3 of us left when Hna Porter switches back, and President said that they are expecting 6 NEW Spanish speaking Hermanas the next transfer!  Soooo we may all be double training!  We don't know for sure what is happening, but craziness is happening! 

The island sisters Tu'atonga and Boata are both staying in the area, but they are both training!  

So there are transfers :)

On exchanges with Herman Sellers

On to stories of this week.

I will start off with the cat.  Hna Cuesta and I were driving on the freeway, and she saw a little kitten terrified against the giant walls of the freeway so she is like PULL OVER!  (We have a thing about saving cats, we saved one from a tree one time haa) and it was terrified poor thing.  A Highway Patrolman saw us and came over on his little motorcycle as well, we were all trying to help it.  But it got soo scared that it ran straight out into traffic and got hit and then dragged itself over to the other side. 

The officer saved it by putting a towel over its head so that it wouldn’t freak out, and then Hna Cuesa and I drove it to a 24 hour vet clinic.  They looked at it and then said that its back legs were paralyzed, and so they put it down.  I was so sad.  I felt like I had caused its death a little bit.  I was for sure that we were going to rescue that cat, and give it to Exxxxo and he would heal his heart of his lost rabbit for that cute little kitten.  But it got put to sleep :(  I am totally a cat person so I was broken, but now I know to cover its head with a rag, or a shirt or something.

Next thing was I planned a surprise party for Hna Cuesta’s departure.  Who knew that planning a surprise party for your companion that is with you 24/7 and shares your phone could be so hard?!!  haha so I got our District together and planned a morning sports, followed by smoothies, and then service at the Delgado’s Ranch!  I told them all to keep it a surprise... buuuuuut ya. 

The night before EVERY SINGLE set of elders called us to be reminded of times etc.  We normally never get calls and they were like, “Oh hi Hna Cuesta, we actually need to talk to Hermana Sheffer not you....” all within a span of half an hour haha. 

OBVIOUS. 

So she knew, but she didn’t know what we were doing exactly so it was still fun.  We hit a piñata at the ranch, and it was just a good time.  Oh I also finished Hna Cuestas trunky planner!  I will send a picture soon.

Service at the Delgado's ranch

I have now killed off ANOTHER companion.

This week I got to go on a exchange with Hna Porter!  It was a good North Sac flashback! 

Also

hmmmm....... we are getting kicked off the computers.....

Well I guess more next week!

Thanks for the email today, I was seriously laughing through it!

I love that Gpa Sheffer and dad played Wii golf. 

Say hi to Kellee and good luck to Taylor for her wedding!!!

And tell Grandpa Taylor thanks for the email, I love those selfies!  My whole district knows what my grandpa looks like now!  

Hermana Cuesta flies out Wednesday to Virginia!  She is going to BYU as well and studying Conservation Biology! 

ALRIGHT THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Love Hermana Sheffer of the Manteca area. 

AUGUST 3 - ooooook VAMOS!

Hello family!  

It is funny that you mentioned in your letter that everyone loves President and Sister Palmer, because of all the feelings I have about this week, the most prominent is how much I love my President.  He helped me feel really good, and he always values what I have to say.  He says he will never finish a meeting without listening to me say something because I don't speak just to do it, what I say is what I feel like really needs to be said.  He said that is an amazing quality and hopes I never change it.  I was like wow, my being a quieter person is being seen in a positive light.  He said if I want to change, I can, but it has to be between me and the Lord.  I really don't want to change, only when I am around other people.  So I am working more on being confident and acting on what I really want to do/have done in my life instead of being a pushover just to be pleasing.  It was an amazing moment and empowering to want to be myself, but change because I want to, not because I am getting pressured into it.  I love how much he loves every missionary. I love how much he has the spirit.  

This week Exxxxo sang us a song he had written about the church.  He wants to do it for the church, but I am not sure it is Sacrament meeting appropriate haha.  It has a nice beat :)  But he and Hna Cuesta sang it, and I tried to figure out the chords on the piano.  It was the first time he sang in front of us and he was belting it haha.  He said he used to be better but alcohol ruined his vocal cords.  He was like, that word of wisdom though ha.  I also got him to share his testimony this Sunday.  Every fast Sunday I ask him if he is going to do it, and he doesn't.  But this Sunday when I asked he was like, "I will see how many people go up first", I was llike, "nooo just do it" and then he said "have yoouu shared your testimony?"  So I was like, "oooook VAMOS!".  So I headed up there and he didn't come! Right after I sat down up there the ENTIRE Young Women's group stood up to share their testimonies of girls camp.... haha.  But after I sat down he waited a bit then did it too.  It was an amazing testimony of the scriptures.  I had gotten a hold of Our Heritage for him because I love our church history, and he had already finished the entire standard works (good grief) so that was something for him to read.  He talked about the sacrifice of the ancestors of this church and that he loves HIS CHURCH, it was awesome.

  

We are still working with Lxxxxe, and she is amazing.  We had a lesson in the house of a member, while another member watched her son so we could really talk.  Go members!  She is reading in the Book of Mormon and everything we give her and is just glowing.  I love how easy it is sometimes to have that in your life.  All you have to do is have a desire to do it and then just do it.  I want to establish a scripture reading schedule for my entire life.  President Palmer no matter what gets up at 4:30 every morning to pray and read the scriptures for an hour.  WOW.  I want to do that.  Start my day right!  I am studying right now the BOM en espanol, and the New Testament Gospels.  

But we are really in a finding mode, like a lot of the time, but it is good.  It hasn't been super hot but yep some good stuff going on in Manteca.  Speaking of which we receive our transfer calls this Saturday.... I feel like I am going to leave Manteca!  I hope not, but I just had a little feeling to prepare myself - haha so we will see!  We only have 5 Spanish sisters after this transfer so I might be in a trio or something!  It will be interesting, and I will let you know next Monday (not Tuesday).

 

This week has been extremely hard in a lot of ways.  I wish I could talk to you all the time for advice and stuff.  But I am beyond a lot of points.  Oh well haha :)

That is funny you read the blogs of Sister Carpenter and Sister Allen and Sister Porter and now Elder White. Elder White was here in Manteca with me for a bit.  Also Hna Skidmore emailed me about ROTC and everything and I think that is what i want to do!  She LOVES it.  

Say hi to Roman and Kellee for me!  

I love my mom!  I love that you have 38000 pictures uploaded to FLICKER now. haha.  You should really be friends with Leilani because she takes pictures just like you.  Whenever I tell her that she is like YAY your mom is amazing, and she wants to be like you haha.

I know you are all full bodied awesome people.  Keep being full bodied, and keep being awesome.  I hope you have a great week.

LOVE,

Your Friend Hermana Sheffer