Another Transfer in Providence‏

Transfer calls are in and I'm staying in Providence again! Yay! I'm keeping my greenie, Elder Hansen, as well. At the end of this transfer I will have spent the same amount of time in Providence that I spent in New Haven. 2 areas, and 5 companions later, and I'm in the 14th month of my mission. I'm sure I comment on it every single email, but time really does fly faster that Superman to the rescue. Time especially flies when you've got a great companion like I do. Elder Hansen and I are Zion.
We're receiving 2 new Spanish missionaries into our ward this week which is going to help us out a lot! There is a lot to do here in Providence, and it will be nice to let the other 2 elders focus on Central Falls and Pawtucket (2 neighboring cities to Providence) so that we can focus on our teaching pool here.

However, this new transfer does bring some bitter-sweet changes. My district is getting split up into 2 smaller districts to make it easier for us to do exchanges with our missionaries. My new district has only 6 elders in it, but we're all speaking Spanish and/or Portuguese, so we'll be a language speaking district. I'm stoked for that, because that means that I can do our weekly District Meetings in Spanish again. I am really sad to lose my old district though. This was a really special group of elders and sisters for me. This district has been the favorite of my entire mission. Just look at the picture I attached--don't we look so great?
 I got to speak in church again yesterday. I was really impressed to talk about love and service. We should always be striving to live the first great commandment to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." and to fulfill the second to, "love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:36-40). No one should ever be left to struggle through this long journey of mortality alone. We are all members of God's family, and we should treat one another as such. This involves more than merely being conscious of others around you, but being willing to help!  When we see a fellow brother drowning, we shouldn't just yell, "Hey! Stop drowning!" and watch him go under, but we should jump in after him. See a need and fill it. Oftentimes, in and out of the church, we wait to be asked, compelled, or required before we take action, or we wait for a curriculum to be drawn up, debated, and accepted before we do anything about the problem. We even use our callings to serve as excuses for doing less than we should by reasoning that we are solely to check off our checklist, and leave the rest undone because someone else should pick up the slack. This doesn't mean that we should be over-accountable and not hold others accountable, but it means that we should adopt the attitude of President Hinckley when he said, "Roll up your sleeves and just do it!" This becomes natural as we develop a Christlike love for our brothers and sisters, which, in turn, cultivates the desire necessary to motivate us into action (Alma 32:27). Alma and the sons of Mosiah exemplify this principle when, after their conversion, they let their love and desire motivate them to preach the gospel to the Lamanites (Mosiah 28:3-5) We could develop the love of Alma that he showed to a sinful, hard-hearted, and stiff-necked people, entrenched in terrible traditions, by recognizing that the poor, down-trodden, and even sinful are still our 'brethren', and that their souls 'are precious' (Alma 31:34-35)
Elder Hansen and I taught a really good lesson on faith yesterday by using the picture of Jesus Christ knocking on the door as our example. What is Jesus doing? Knocking on a door. What's interesting about the door? It has no handle. How will Jesus get inside? The person inside must open the door. Would  you open the door if you knew Jesus was knocking? OF COURSE! Opening the door is called exercising faith. When we exercise faith, we act upon true and correct principles. What's the difference between 'belief'' and 'faith'. Faith is belief in true things put into action. How do we exercise our faith? Open the door. Real-life application: KEEP GOD'S COMMANDMENTS, and your faith will grow and blossom. Obedience yields all the blessings of heaven, and an obedient heart is manifest in faith, and faith is manifest in action on truth. (James 2:17,26) What's the first and great commandment? Love God. How do we love God? Keep His commandments. Thus, our love of God is manifest in the faith we have and exhibit, which yields promised blessings and brightens our hope for future fulfillment of promises by acting in faith, interlinking the three great virtues of faith, hope, and charity (the greatest of these being charity, Moroni 7:42,48)
I'll get off my soap-box... sometimes I get carried away. I could go on like this for hours... And I do every day here in the mission field!
Let me sum-up my experiences and thoughts from this week: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: [Love] God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl. 12:13)
I love you all, and I pray multiple times every day for you.
              Much love from your favorite elder,
                   -Elder Shepherd