email 5/24/10
This week was a week full of ups and downs. Elder Russell and I both got sick this week with some virus, and that makes missionary life terrible. You can't work while you're sick or you won't get better, nor do you have much of a desire to get up and go when you're in pain and tired. There isn't anything for a sick missionary to do. Luckily, our zone leaders live in the same apartment complex as us, so Elder Cohen went on splits with the Zone Leaders so that we could still make it to all of our appointments and visit our investigators while Elder Russell and I stayed at home. That's another bad feeling while you're on a mission-when you have to stay at home or rest. It makes you feel like you're not working hard enough, even though you know you're giving it all that you've got. Satan's tools are discouragement and self-pity, so it's just as much of a spiritual battle as a physical battle when a missionary is sick in bed. Thankfully, we've been blessed richly, and we continued to do great work, and are currently continuing to do that same marvelous work.
We still did really well this week, and we set baptismal dates with 2 more of our investigators. The work in Providence is amazing-the field truly is white and ready to harvest here. We have a large teaching pool, a solid core of progressing investigators, and many of whom are, or will be shortly, moving on to take the step of baptism and confirmation into the true church of Jesus Christ. This is a work filled with great joy-I couldn't possibly think of a happier way to spend your time. We are involved in building the kingdom of God on the earth, and our work, all day, every day, consists of sharing a message about the greatest happiness that you and I will ever know. I've come to learn, feel, and cherish that message with all of the blessings that accompany it, and I couldn't be happier. I always thought that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was just for the sinner, to heal the wounds of the sinful soul and to allow for restitution with God. While it's true that the Atonement does all of those things, I know now that it truly does so much more. The Atonement allows for the enabling power of grace that makes us steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works. The Atonement fills in every gap and every hole with mercy and love, infinite and eternal. All that is unfair or seemingly unjust about life is made right through the Atonement of our Savior. Furthermore, the Atonement makes it possible for those who have been sinned against to experience fully the sweetness forgiveness and the power to become whole again. The Atonement isn't just for the sinners, a means to avoid the full punishment of a wrathful God, but it's so much more than that-it's based on love, and functions through MERCY. Each and every one of us, members and non-members, sinners and the sinned against, the high and mighty to the weak and poor in spirit, experience the Atonement in our lives, and we tap into an infinite source of strength and love as we accept and apply the principles of the Atonement in our lives. I know that the Atonement is real, because I enjoy the blessings and grace of God EVERY SINGLE DAY, as do you.
If there is anything in your life that isn't love, it's not worth keeping. Simply let it go. Letting go seems to break your heart... Though it can heal you, it seems slow to start. You can't change what has hurt you so, but you will heal if you will let it go. Let Him into your lives this week.
Story Time: Yesterday was stake conference for the Providence Stake, but our stake conference was in a building in the south-east corner of Connecticut. We had to drive up to Bloomfield later that afternoon for a musical fireside, and we were already half-way there after stake conference, so we talked with our Mission President to see if we could head up to Bloomfield a little early. He was fine with it, and we ended up meeting him at the mission home, and we spent the afternoon with him in the mission home. We then left to the fireside. It was the 2nd of 3 musical firesides that our mission is performing throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island. The performance in Bloomfield last night was amazing, and the spirit bore powerful witness to all of us there of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ, and the many ways in which he can help and bless us. It was especially awesome to have had my Uncle Alan and Aunt Shirlene in attendance with their family. I got to talk to them after the performance and catch up with them a bit. Anyway, it's a 2 hour drive back to Providence, and we didn't get out of the fireside until 9 PM. I didn't know how to get back to Providence from there, so my companion got some driving directions from the mission president and we went on our way. Of course, as we were hopping onto the freeway, my companion told me to turn left when I should have turned right, and we ended up heading north when we should have been heading east. You have to understand that it's a dark, cloudy, misty night, and there are HUGE trees towering both sides of the road, and I have NO idea where we're going, so I put full trust in the driving directions we'd gotten. About an hour later, we realized that we didn't recognize any of the names of the exits anymore, so we called some other Elders for some help. They looked us up on their GPS, and it turns out that we wound up in the north-west corner of Massachussetts, almost to Vermont. We freaked out, turned around, and finally found our way home after a very long detour... We got home about 1 in the morning. As we related the experience to President Pehrson late last night and again this morning, we were very grateful that he only chastised us for not being more cautious and aware of where we were going, and decided to laugh about the experience. I'm glad he was able to laugh about it, because I was mortified. It made a really good journal entry...
Anyway, I'm safe, I'm healthy, and I have satisfying and meaningful work to engage in. I'm living the dream.
I love you,
-Elder Shepherd
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