Elder Ian Shepley
Uruguay Montevideo
Spanish Speaking
There is a
giant water drought here in Uruguay resulting in the drinking water having to
be drawn out of the ocean. This has affected every part of everyone's lives,
ours included. It has also resulted in a lot of people seeking to exercise
their faith. I am now in Bella Italia, one of the more dangerous parts of the
capital of Montevideo, the most affected by the drought. My companion is from
Santiago, Chile. He is my last companion before going home and is a really fun
missionary. The work is going strong, I am trying to learn the names of each
member before going home. I have this desire, and perhaps it is petty, which is
to make an impact in each area, I want to be remembered as a good missionary.
Well, that's the goal anyway. I love you all, I hope you are all doing great 👍
Elder
Ayden Nichols
Washington,
Yakima Mission
Spanish
Speaking
Konda plebes, como les ha ido? I know I
haven't been writing many weekly emails— I’ve been fasting from them. Luckily,
I was constrained by the Spirit to write this one, and I think it will suffice
for the next handful of months. Recently I served in the small town of Othello.
Othello is a pretty, agriculture based community (like most of the towns around
here) and makes around 80% of the fries for McDonald's. It was a great place
and I taught many Spanish speaking people. I just moved to a new area where I
cover Terrace heights and Moxy, Washington. So far I like it, but I think
Othello is better. This area is a little bit harder to work in because there
are a lot more English people.
I came into this area with a
determination to work hard and find people to teach, knowing that this area
would be more difficult. I realized that regardless of the circumstances, God
has called me to this area to teach people the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,
Faith in His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, and receiving other Priesthood
Ordinances and Covenants. I was reminded of the lyrics of a hymn, which read,
"If we do what's right we have no need to fear, for the Lord, Our Helper,
will ever be near".
On my mission I've gained a personal
testimony of not just obedience, but consecrating your heart to the extent that
you seek after obedience and righteousness. The more you invite the Spirit into
your life, the more you pray, the more you focus on Jesus Christ, His
Atonement, and His gospel, the more you go to the Temple, the more you love
others, the more you serve others, the more you do Missionary work, and the
more you seek after any of these things, you will become more consecrated and
seek after righteousness. When we're motivated by our own love and desire to do
good, it's a lot easier, even when in difficult circumstances.
Love, Elder Nichos
Cape Verde Praia Mission
FINALLY MADE IT TO MY NEW AREA!!!!! 10 DAYS
LATER!!!!!!! AND IT’S BEEN SO
FUN!!!!
There are so many tourists here it's crazy, and I'm not
even in the touristy city. I'm on the opposite side of the island lol.
AND MY COMP IS THE BEST!!!! she's been one of my best
friends out here since I got to Cape Verde and we always DREAMED about being
comps AND IT HAPPENED AND WE ARE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I have laughed harder
in the past 4 days than my entire mission put together. Idk what Pres was
thinking putting us together, should be illegal but we're not complaining haha.
We marked a baptismal date with our new bestie Toiy!!!! He
was taught by the sisters a little before us and he is absolutely golden. The
man cold cut coffee and alcohol and just LIVES for our messages. HES SO
COOL!!!!! WE LOVE TOIY!!!!!!
Life is isn’t all butterflies and rainbows and i know at
times every one of us ask why something had to have happened, why does it have
to be so hard. But one thing I read that struck me to the core was, how can we
have/bare a powerful testimony if we never knew of such an experience? How can
we have a testimony of Christ and His sacrifice if we didn’t feel a tiny bit of
the pain He felt in the garden of Gethsemane? He went through everything we can
imagine, through every pain and affliction for every person that has and will
exist, and it was HARD for even our personal Lord and Savior, so of course
it'll be a little bit hard for us. But He understands! We have every reason to
stand tall and be grateful and proud to know that the Savior of the world knows
all of our sorrows, and for a moment of our lives, we can know just a TOKEN of
what He went through for us. I'm SO GRATEFUL for Christ and His selfless
sacrifice, how He dedicated His ENTIRE life to us, and I'm grateful to be
dedicating mine to Him for these 18 months and seeing how His Atonement carries
me through life each and every day.
GOD IS SO GOOD!! I LOVE YALL!!!!!
Brazil,
Belo Horizonte Mission
Portuguese
Speaking
Throughout
these last weeks, and even as I'm writing this email, I find myself puzzled by
why Heavenly Father has blessed us with so much success these last few weeks. Obviously,
the fact that we are being obedient and diligent helps, but I have realized
that our success has a lot less to do with the goodness of our efforts and much
more to do with God's ability to perfect our imperfect efforts. One of my
favorite talks from the last general conference is called "The Imperfect
Harvest", by Vern Stanfill. In it he uses phrases such as:
"God
had perfected [the harvest]. And not a kernel was lost."
"As
we accept the Savior’s invitation to come unto Him, we soon realize that our
best is good enough and that the grace of a loving Savior will make up the
difference in ways we cannot imagine."
"The
Savior perfected the humble offering."
"If
you could see yourself as I see you, your doubt would fade and your faith
increase. I love you, dear [insert your name], you got out of the boat. Your
offering is acceptable, and even though you faltered, I will always be there to
lift you from the depths, and your offering will be made perfect.”
"We
must remember that whatever our best-but-imperfect offering is, the Savior can
make it perfect. No matter how insignificant our efforts may seem, we must
never underestimate the Savior’s power."
"Our
clumsy efforts can lead to miracles, and in the process, we can participate in
a perfect harvest."
"Regardless
of how insignificant our efforts may seem, if we are sincere, the Savior will
use us to accomplish His work. If we simply do the best we can and trust Him to
make up the difference, we can become part of the miracles that surround us."
"The
Savior stands ready to accept our humble offerings and perfect them through His
grace. With Christ, there is no imperfect harvest."
I have
felt the power of the Savior more than ever during these last few weeks to
perfect my imperfect and humble offering. I testify that in each and every
season of our lives, wherever you may be, the Savior stands ready to perfect
your imperfect efforts. Please ponder the implications of this truth in your
personal life.
Christ
is ready and willing to perfect YOUR imperfect efforts and in the end, your
imperfect harvest will be enough. In this life, there is no such thing as a
"wasted effort". Because "with Christ, there is no imperfect
harvest." So keep striving. Even if you feel clumsy. Even if you feel like
it's never enough. I promise that as you do so, you will send the Master of the
perfect harvest working His miracles in your life.
Elder Jacob Mass
North Dakota Bismarck
Right Now I have one the prettiest areas in the
mission but also one of the most challenging ones due to a lack of members
interest in missionary work. We often do our studies in the middle of the woods
which is awesome! We get a lot of referrals from church headquarters which is
nice. Our area occupies 2 reservations in our mission and that's where we spend
a lot of our time and finding people in those places. We find on average 2 to 3
people a week. Been out almost a year on the 25th this month so that's crazy!
Elder Mass
Sister
Amanda Morris
Spain
Madrid
Amanda has arrived in Spain. She loves the country and her
mission. Her first area includes the temple and her chapel is on the
same piece of property. In this area, her companionship
was tasked with creating the first single adult ward in her mission.
She got transferred on April 12th to an assignment
as a temple missionary. In this position she will be
working with not only the Madrid South Mission, but also the Madrid North and
the Barcelona Missions. She's having a great time and
is discovering a lot about herself.
Idaho
Pocatello Mission
Spanish
Speaking
Elder Marrero's time in Jackson has come to an end. He is now serving in Driggs with Elder Ayala, they have been working hard covering 9 wards in 3 surrounding cities. He loves meeting with people from the community once a week to teach them English.
Last week he challenged us to study and share our favorite principle of the gospel with someone- "We can all do a better job of following the Savior's example of Loving, Sharing and Inviting others to come unto Him and be perfected through Him."
Thank you Relief Society Sisters for the sweet notes!
Love,
Elder Marrero
Australia
Melbourne
The Australians do not appreciate our Fourth of July. There were no fireworks here even though it gets
completely dark by 6 pm. I even saw one post calling us
"ungrateful colonists." We are grateful to be free.
What we do have here are thousands of faithful
Samoans. I am very grateful to get to be
in their ward. They are so cheerful, loving and
insightful.
For Ward Conference the Bishop wanted all of us to
prepare. We visited the inactive members; attended the Melbourne Temple; had a Saturday service day at a school: mowed, cleaned windows, cleaned rooms and got gum
off of things; we missionaries did a FHE; you should see them play
volleyball; and then had a barbeque. I made a family photo directory for them, but it was
so I could learn their names (and welcome stake visitors).
For the Fourth of July I was tracting in the rain
with young sisters. At least I got to testify. No fireworks "down under" even though it
is totally dark by 6 pm. I saw a sign calling us
"ungrateful colonists." I am so very grateful to be a
free American and trying to bring the truth to the unknowing.
Sister
Alex Jones
Dallas
East Service Missionary
You might be wondering why you're still seeing me in the Plano
4th ward Sunday meetings. I recently switched from teaching in Harlem, to a
service mission here in the DFW.
Many thanks to all who fasted and prayed on my behalf that I
would be led to make the right decision for myself regarding the transfer. My
time in NYC was very challenging for me health wise. After much prayer,
scripture study, and fasting, I felt compelled that I was needed in the service
field here in the metroplex.
What is a service mission like? I fill my weekly calendar with
service and dedication to the Lord and His children. One of the places that I
work most often is Trusted World. Trusted World's mission statement is to
provide the best resources, at no cost, to organizations and individuals
working on someone's behalf.
I've also started working in the distribution center in the
temple on Wednesday nights. I look forward to attending the temple weekly, and
might become a temple ordinance worker as part of my service. I hope to see
many of you there!
I enjoy institute class every week, companion study 3 times a week,
personal scripture study every day, and lots of prayers to know how to best
serve in the community every day.
I have a
strong testimony that we are all needed to serve, and we all need service. I
believe that Heavenly Father put us all on this earth together so that we can
work together, helping and edifying one another along the way.
Thank you all for your support!
Sister
Jones
Taiwan
Taipei Mission Mandarin Chinese Speaking
Hello Plano Fourth Ward!! I love and miss you
all! I am currently in New Taipei city, ZhongYongHe Taiwan. It’s absolutely
crazy and my companion and I are so busy. We have a few baptisms lined up for
the next couple of months and we're really excited! My Chinese is coming
along slowly but surely, and I am able to understand sacrament! We are covering
three wards, have around 15 investigators, and have lots of fun service
activities. Weird foods I've tried so far: preserved duck egg, pig intestines,
stinky tofu, raw crab, and durian ice cream!! All super weird and wouldn't
recommend, BUT definitely recommend bian dang!! Its rice, meat, and veggies.
Yummy. I've seen SO many miracles and Christ's power in my life, as I've given
my all to Him. I think I also hit the point in my mission where I genuinely
enjoy every single day. I'm learning more and more about Christ and myself.
It's awesome. Everyone, go read the Book of Mormon. Honestly. Just read it.
It'll make you happier. I promise :D this was kind of all over the place, but
so am I, so hopefully this reminded you of me!!! Love you!!!
Elder
Moss & Elder Fullwood
Plano 4th
Ward and Plano 3rd Ward are currently sharing these two great
Elders. Elder Moss and Elder Fullwood. We’ve loved having them with us this
transfer. Elder Moss will return home to
Oregon on Friday, July 14th.
We will miss him. He has taught
us about being members of the Smile Squad and has helped us all become better
member missionaries by the small and simple things we can do with our smiles
and kindness. I love how they have decorated their bike for the 4th,
just kidding, it’s on the Midley’s front porch where they live. Thanks
Elders!
