Elder Ian Shepley
Uruguay Montevideo
Spanish Speaking
Elder Shepley was in Maldonado for 3 months and then got transferred to Montevideo this month (Jan 2023). The Maldonado Department, with an area of 4,793 km2 and 164,300 inhabitants, is located to the southeast of Uruguay. Maldonado is home to resorts like Punta del Este, a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast. As missionaries, they can't go to Punta del Este but sometimes are able to see it before the summer season starts. He thought Maldonado was pretty and very clean. He is now in Colón, Montevideo. He had been in Montevideo a year ago but now he is in another area. He is a district leader and this week has 3 baptism interviews. A friend of mine, who is not a church member, saw him the other day and called him but he didn’t hear her, so she said she had to chase him and then took a picture to send it to me. I told him I have spies everywhere in Uruguay, haha. This is not the first time someone that knows me sends me a picture with him, most of the time they are church members though. His area now is smaller than other previous areas so his district is planning some creative ideas to share the gospel. He loves the people he is teaching. He is already planning to go back to visit them some years after he comes back to the U.S. He will finish his mission on August 1st, 2023 (according to the mission call. letter.) The person in the photo is 90 years old. A wonderful recent convert.
Washington,
Yakima Mission
Spanish
Speaking
Hey guys, how's it going? About 6
weeks ago I was transferred to the outskirts of Mattawa, Washington, a town of
less than four thousand people. Me and my companion live in a single-wide
trailer next to a member, in the middle of an orchard. I'll add some pictures
so you can see what it's like. Mattawa is mostly a Latino community and
residents come to the US from Mexico to work in the fields, which means
there's a lot of Spanish work for us. The town has two small gas stations, a
couple of auto shops, some mini-markets, a handful of small
restaurants/bakeries, and some other random utility shops. Our library is about
the size of a chapel, maybe smaller, and definitely smaller than my elementary
school library. Once you leave the small town it's just fields and fields and
more fields until you finally hit Desert Aire or Royal City. Transfer
announcements!!! Me and Elder McCoy had transfer calls a couple of days ago and
both of us are staying here in Mattawa for another transfer!
Sister Madison Hein
Cape Verde Praia Mission
HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK!!!!!! The less
actives that we worked with and got really strong in the gospel, well..... THEY
GOT SEALED IN THE TEMPLE THIS PAST WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! MY HEART IS SO FULL!!! It
has been an absolute blessing to watch their progress since the very beginning,
and now they will be with each other for time and all eternity!!! AH GOD IS SO
GOOD!!!!
Also this week marked one year since I
received my mission call and wow time has absolutely FLOWN. I remember opening
my call with my parents and immediately going to the computer bc none of us
knew where this place. And now I'm here one year later, happier
than ever with (I'm convinced) the greatest people on this earth. I always
think about a scripture in the book of Mormon that says "Know ye not that
there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have
created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea;
and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring
forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the
earth?". I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SCRIPTURE WITH MY ENTIRE HEART because it
really is SO TRUE!!!!
Brazil,
Belo Horizonte Mission
Portuguese
Speaking
-Got to go on a super awesome exchange a
few weeks ago to a place called Jaiba! It's the furthest north area in the
mission that opened for the first time last transfer, so there's a TON of potential
there. It's a city of 26,000 people that have never heard the message of the
Restoration. And that's a pretty small number compared to the 5 million people
that live in cities here in Minas Gerais that have never had missionaries. So
if anybody is wondering why we focus so much on helping people to get baptized
and expanding the growth of the Church here so fast, it's due in large part to
the fact that there are 5 million people here that have never heard of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so we need to establish the Church
more firmly in our areas here so we can reach them the fastest possible!
-During my week-long division in Jaiba, we
saw a ton of miracles. And at the end of the week, we saw 3 precious souls who
entered the water of baptism. And because the Church isn't yet established in
Jaiba, the baptisms happened in a river. Definitely one of the highlights of my
mission.
North Dakota Bismarck
Elder Mass has been out for 6 months on
January 25th!!! He is doing so great and taking everything that has come
his way in perfect Jacob fashion. He is super busy teaching. The
members in his area love missionaries, he gets fed a lot and they don't just
have him and his companion over, but all the missionaries in the area, so he'll
get to have dinner with 3 other sets of missionaries and the family having them
over. I've received many surprise texts from mom's with Elder Mass and
their family. We miss Jacob more than we ever thought we would, but we
are so glad we get to share him with the people of North Dakota.
Here is a little excerpt from Elder Mass' 1/8/23 letter. When knocking doors in an apartment complex someone answered down the hallway so we started to walk towards them but the one we had just knocked answered the door so my companion went to talk to the first guy and me at my end of the hallway was talking to someone else. She wasn't interested but she was super kind. The person my companion was talking to was actually a member from a long time ago. He doesn't know too much English but understands us and knows Spanish a lot more and for those of you who don't know, I am actually trying to learn Spanish on the mission because there are a lot of people that speak Spanish here. So we are working with him and gave him a Spanish Book of Mormon.
Spain
Madrid
Brother & Sister Morris are currently out of the country and I just got photos for Amanda’s report this time. We will catch up next time.
Idaho
Falls Idaho
Spanish
Speaking
Elder Marrero is
enjoying his new area in Ashton. It’s been an adventure- getting stuck in
the snow and staying a couple nights a week in a hotel when they drive up
to West Yellowstone (or a members home when rooms at the hotel are all booked.)
He and his companion are excited about a friend
they’ve been teaching as they help her reach her goal of getting baptized! He
has seen many miracles out on his mission and encouraged us this week to pray
to see miracles in our own lives. He has brought many blessings to the
Marrero household as he serves the people in Idaho Falls!
Australia
Melbourne
I learned about the
sport of cricket today from a taxi driver. It is interesting. I had
to get a taxi because my companion had to go translate into English the
responses of a man only speaking Spanish. She said she would be too tired
to take me to retrieve it later. Right. I had been carrying
heavy food containers from a meeting last night. Carrying them I forgot
my purse. Duh. It had my license, money and PHONE!! My purse also had the keys to the house. The couple
that brought me home left not knowing my situation. I checked all of the
doors and windows. All were locked. It was 7:30 pm. I did not
know what time my companion would be home. I have met, made cookies and
cupcakes for the neighbors - even Christmas caroled for them, but I did not
feel like going next door and asking if I could use their restroom. Are
you ready? We have an outside ladder. Yep. I loosened a
screen. Got a big rock and bashed a window by its latch. I got in
and will report and pay for the damage. My companion did not get home
until 11:45 pm! I got the taxi today to take me to the couple having my
purse. Getting my phone back made me feel whole again. I'll be more
careful. I taped up the window with 40 strips of tape . We have a
tall fence. Gratefully no neighbor called the police. I pulled the
blackout shade down over the broken window. It is in my bathroom.
Roomie doesn't know yet.
I'll be working on not ever forgetting my
purse. I hope you are working on your goals and will tell me about
them. I miss you. In a follow up letter from Sister Bryant, she was happy
to report the window and screen are repaired and she was forgiven.
Sister Bryant was just transferred to a
new area and is living on Bluebell Street.
She loves that name but it does make her miss the famous Bluebell Ice-cream
we love in Texas.
New
York New York Mission
What an exciting day it was when Alex
received her Mission Call to Serve in the New York New York Mission speaking
English. She will begin her Home MTC on
2/20/23 for a week and then she will depart for the Provo MTC on 3/1/23 for 2
weeks and then will leave for New York.
Congratulations Alex! We are so
happy for you!
Taiwan
Taipei Mission
Brianna Day was Called to Serve in the Taiwan Taipei mission, where she will serve in the Mandarin Chinese language, the same language she speaks with the Chinese side of her family, and the same language her father spoke on his mission 25 years ago. Brianna is beginning her MTC training at home on February 20, heading to the Provo MTC on March 8, and heading to Taiwan a few weeks after that! She will serve for 18 months and is very excited!
Plano 4th
Ward Missionaries
We have two sisternaries in Plano 4th
Ward; Sister Smith who is here for her
fourth transfer and Sister Clarke here for her second transfer. We love them and I love that they call their
bikes their horses. They are working
hard and our ward loves them.
