This week was kind of a heartbreak as far as baptisms go. We were going to have 3, but all of them have fallen through in one way or another. One woman we are teaching loves reading the Book of Mormon and took a long time to get an answer about it and was ready to be baptized this upcoming Saturday, but we got a text message from her saying, "I have to go to New York for 3 weeks. It's family problems. I can't tell you more. We'll set a date for my baptism when I get back." It was sad but good at the same time that she still has baptism on her mind. We hope she'll stay strong in New York for the next couple of weeks. Another young lady we're teaching wants really badly to be baptized but her dad won't let her. He is 'VERY Catholic' (that's the phrase that they use to refer to themselves), even though he doesn't go to church, and he swears that he will die Catholic along with his family. This girl lives with her mom (her parents are divorced) and her mom was baptized almost a year ago and wants her daughter to be baptized also. We hope that prayers and gentle persuasion will be enough to soften his heart enough that he at least offers his daughter her agency. Another woman we're teaching LOVES the Book of Mormon and says that it always takes away her pain and fears when she reads it but she is scared to get married to her boyfriend of 20 years (yes, they have been together for 20 years, faithful and loyal to one another, without being married). He wants to marry her, but she had a really bad experience with her first marriage to an abusive and cruel husband. She swore that she would never be married ever again. In my head it just doesn't make any sense. In their situation, marriage wouldn't change their lifestyle at all! The only thing that would change is that they would be living God's laws and be able to be baptized and sealed in the temple! Of course she does have a genuine fear of commitment, particularly in marriage, from very tragic past experience. We're praying and fasting that God will give her an answer that living the law of chastity is the right thing to do. *sigh* I love these people so much. I want nothing but their happiness.
I attached 2 pictures to the email:
The first is a picture of Elder Downs and I knocking doors in some ghetto apartments. This is pretty typical for the areas where we work. There are nicer areas of Hartford in the west and east, but we just don't seem to find people to teach there. In fact, we taught a guy in the building in that picture that same day, and his roommates were doing drugs and didn't want us in the apartment so we taught him in the hall.
Yesterday was the Puerto Rican festival here in Hartford, an all day, all night party on the street where we live where everyone is dressed scandalously and is waving Puerto Rican flags in the air, driving around on their mopeds and scooters while honking their horns incessantly and screaming at the top of their lungs. It was nuts. Our street contacting proved to be fruitless because everyone was drunk and going crazy. I think I've temporarily lost hearing in one ear from all the commotion. I'm just grateful that I was still able to sleep last night with all the noise. Of course I do live on the 12th floor of a tower, so most of the sound didn't travel that high, but I was still pretty impressed at how long, hard, and loud they partied. I tell you what, they sure are proud to be from Puerto Rico... We would have taught Carolina, an investigator, yesterday but her house was on the Puerto Rican parade route and I couldn't even hear myself think over there. She is from Guatemala and came here to work and send money back to her family. She's here all by herself and she is illegal in the country. I felt really bad for her because she along with 30 of her fellow employees were fired without notice on Monday without opportunity to collect unemployment or advance notice. Of course none of these people can fight back, even though they've worked there for 10 years, because they don't have papers and would most likely be deported. My heart goes out to them.
I can't believe that it's June now. My mission is flashing before my eyes! My mission president ends his mission in a couple weeks and he's working on selling the mission home and getting rid of a lot of stuff. We got a free bike, helmet, and some beds and sheets from the mission home this week, and someone gave us a really nice mirror for helping them clean out their basement this week, so we seriously upgraded our apartment. Not that any of that is really important, I just counted it as a blessing. I'm gonna turn 21 in 2 weeks! I'm so old.
The mission life is wonderful and I love every minute of it. I'm ending these 2 years strong and hoping to start off strong when I come home.
with much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
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