Wednesday, September 9, 2015

August 31 - APOSTLES and AMBULANCES

HOLA MI FAMILIA!

This week we had a mission conference and Elder Hamula came from the Setenta.  It was an amazing experience!  It was a, “The church is true and good” experience.  It was a moment when my perception changed.  Those are always fun. But more on that later.

 He talked a lot about how to change your heart.  Which I want to do.  For the better and to be more loving of course.  He gave me steps to follow which was good. 

1) Accept that you have agency in all things
2) Act outwardly the way you want to be inwardly
3) Accept the grace of God. 

It was amazing to afterwards study grace and agency, and try to control myself after (we made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies this week to give to people and they are just sitting frozen in the fridge and it has been KILLING ME.... But I HAVE AGENCY and I AM CHOOSING NOT TOOOOO) haha.

Our joined Mission is doing better but definitely needs some more love.  I love it so far, but I guess some companionships are still struggling.  Rivalries..... contention is of the devil! 

At a Leadership Council we were talking about it and I shared something that I learned in my History of Creativity Class at BYU.  We learned that the moments in the history of the world where creativity and innovation increased happened when two cultures or groups of people merged.  The different cultures and ideas were catalysts for that creativity.  We learned how the people were brought together either by war and invasion, or by building roads.  So basically creativity and progression will happen in the long run of this mission, but we have the choice whether we are going to build roads, or to go in by war.  I love that class so much. Anyways I have a feeling after this Conference things will get better.... if not they are disobeying an Spostles voice haha.  

Something interesting is that Elder Hamula chose to interview 6 missionaries from the whole mission, and I was one of them.  I got to have an interview with an Apostle!  I thought he was going to read my soul, but I was still excited as well.  It was really good what he had to tell me, and we talked about the mission a lot.  I want to be a servant of the Lord for the rest of my life!

My perception changed on the Second Coming.  I had always pictured this horrible ordeal to purge the world of iniquity and then Jesus Christ coming, and all will recognize him as the Saviour.  But I realized that it is going to be just like it is now.  Christ will be here right now, and Christ will be at a pulpit and we will be watching him on a broadcast in all the church buildings.  The missionaries instead of spreading the word that we have prophet here on the earth they will be spreading about Jesus.  I think this because look at his birth and death.  The only people that really recognized it were those who knew, and had faith, and were watching the signs.  Just some thoughts, I could be wrong. 

AANNNYYWAAYYSS.  I thought that was interesting.

This week Exxxxo gave me a band shirt from his good ole band days!!! I was so excited!! It has little angels with their behinds all over it though, so I don't think I will ever be able to actually wear it haha.  But that is exciting! I am working on buying a tape to cd converter so he can actually have his band days on CD to give to his family.... and me :) 

We performed for Sacrament this past Domingo (special reason stated below) and even though he got his kidney stones surgically removed, he still came and belted out in the choir.  Hermana Gomez, the choir director, was so perfect because he told her he might not be able to sing because he had surgery, and she is like NO we need your voice!  So he was really excited to like feel super needed.

Something interesting is that we have contacted randomly 4 people in Eliseo's family. 
It usually goes something like this...

US:  "de donde es usted?" (Where are you from?)
THEM:  "soy de michoacan mexico" ( I am from Michoacan, Mexico)
US:  "Oh wow, conocemos alguien de Los Nogales Michoacan!" (Oh wow! We know someone from Los Nogales, MIchoacan!”
THEM: "EN SERIO?! SOY DE LOS NOGALES, QUIEN ES QUE CONOCEN?" (Seriously? I am from Los Nogales! Who do you know?)
US: "Exxxxo Mxxxma" "
THEM: WOW, El es mi PRIMO! El es miembro de nuestra iglesia" (Wow! That is my cousin. He is a member of a new church)

 and so on. 

Seriously the Lord is leading us to his whole family.  So we decided to have him write down his whole family and then pray to know who to try to visit.  He was really excited because he wants his family to know about the gospel too, but they are closed off a bit.  But his whole family still respects him a lot.  So that will be fun.  

So to the ambulance story :) This week we were up in French Camp for an appointment, and it just felt like a very off day.  So we decided to leave our plans, and we prayed to know where to go. 

Hna Carpenter thought of a referral on the other side of French Camp, so we went to go and try and contact it.  He wasn’t there, and so we decided to try a couple doors.  While we were out walking on the street a woman runs out of her house hysterically screaming and crying, and it freaked me out. 

We ran over to go see what was happening.  She was holding her baby in her arms and trying to call 911.  We talked to the paramedics for her.  The baby looked a little lethargic but fine, so I wasn’t sure what to do.  But we translated for her and I guess the baby had been having a seizure and she didn’t know what to do.

A firetruck and ambulance came. The bottom line is that the baby was fine and we were able to translate for her. We told her we were going to check up on her the next day.  We came back the next day and had a lesson and she wants to come to church.  She said she ran out of the house and couldn’t see anyone, and then all of a sudden we were there.  She thinks we are angels haha.  But it was a cool experience to actually be were the spirit had told us to go, and I want to be like that for the rest of my life.  

For example, AFTER this happened to just illustrate this is a learning process, it was 8:45 pm and we were gassing up our car before heading in for the day.  I had a feeling that I should get out of the car and go talk to people, but then I was like, “No I will clean out the back seat of the car because there are 1,000 water bottles back there that I need to crush”.  So I was back there crushing water bottles and Hermana Carpenter was like, “You should go talk to that man!”.   So I got a card and went and talked to him.  Turns out he was investigating the church about a year ago at a time when we had a low of missionaries and they had to combine the Spanish area of Manteca into one ( it had been two separate areas for forever) and he got kind of lost in the changes.  He said that he reads the Book of Mormon frequently and at the time wanted to get baptized, but then a local priest asked him to teach Bible studies for his church and he was really excited and committed to do that.  He said 3 months earlier and he would have been a member.... wwwaaahhhh. 

I am not worried about it, its only a matter of time and now we know about him again and will be able to stop by occasionally.  Good thing Hna carpenter said that haha.  So ya, I will never let an opportunity like that be lost over some water bottles.  

Another exciting thing is that this week our Bishopric was released and a new one called.  We have a new bishop.  Obispo Levy has been bishop for six and a half years, and he was the first bishop since this ward moved up from a branch.  It was quite a spiritual sacrament meeting.  The new bishop is Hno Gonzalez, who I don’t know if I have mentioned before, but he is the Principios del Evangelio teacher and he is fierce but funny.  So I think it will be good. 

So.....hmmmmm..... that is what flies from the top of my head, but the work is going great here in Manteca!  I love being in the Modesto mission, and I love all the new missionaries and old ones, and everything.  


I am still reading in the New Testament and I finished Mark today.  I am still in Third Nefi in my Libro de Mormon.  I love study times.
  
So I was thinking and I think it would just be better if I flew into the Airport in Salt Lake City!  I would like to fly and see everyone (Including the student Lizzy).  Got to have the plane experience! So I think that is my final answer haha :) I think it would just be easier to plan since we aren’t entirely sure, and we will definitely come out to visit soon after!  

I am glad to hear that Lizzy and her roommate are going good :)  I am pretty sure God always gives you someone those first few months haha.  Hna Carpenter and I are both jealous because we love school season so much.  California is definitely taken a cool turn the past couple of days.  Which is great!!  It really didn’t get THAT hot.  Only a couple of days.

Well I end this long email with 

LOVE.
Hermana Sheffer


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