Elder Luke S. Connecticut Hartford Mission 2009-2011

You may be wondering why I'm emailing on Wednesday this week instead of Monday. Transfer meeting is tomorrow on Thursday so President Evans moved our P-Day to Wednesday so that everyone could pack their stuff. More than half of the missionaries are getting transferred--it's insane! Everything is going to new and different for my last 6 weeks which will make everything exciting! I'm really excited for the all-mission conference with over 200 missionaries tomorrow in Massachusetts.
It's official that I'm staying here in Hartford until the day that I fly home on Friday, August 12th. My companion is getting transferred to Boston (lucky duck). He's pretty stoked about it. He was trained here in Hartford and then he goes to Boston--he's so spoiled. I'm happy for him and I'm really happy that I get to finish my mission here in Hartford where it all began. The work here is going REALLY well and we're getting into homes and teaching new people. These next 2 weeks we should see 2 baptisms if all goes well. Chanel is really ready to be baptized--in our appointment with her this week she had been studying topically using the guide in the back of the scriptures and was studying the second coming and Adam and Eve (they were the lessons from church on Sunday) and she had tons of insights and questions. She is really smart and will be a great strength to our small branch here. She's also really gung-ho about raising her daughter in the gospel and says that there's no greater blessing for her as a parent than what we've taught her about the gospel. I was touched by that and I thought about the long-reaching effects of missionary work. The people I teach and affect will then touch upon the lives of their families and many others, even over the course of several generations. Perhaps I have done a lot of unseen good. All in all I'm content with the work I'm putting forth because I know I'm giving it my all and I love to testify of the Savior.
I think I'm learning a lot about being "content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me" to borrow Alma's phrase. It's both good and tough being a perfectionist. It's good that I'm always striving to be better, but it's bad in that it's very easy to never be content with where you are at right now. We should be content with what we have and where we are but without slipping into the idea that mediocrity is OK or that there isn't room for improvement. I think I have better learned to be happy with who I am and what I've accomplished without becoming wholly self-satisfied and complacent in my behavior. It's a really tough balance to find and I'm not an expert yet, but the mission has done wonders for me. I'm glad that I've served the way that I've served and I'm motivated to become even better and let God expand my capacity.
Picture Attachment 1: Me, Elder Downs, and Elder Cohen (Elder Cohen is my former Jewish companion from Providence) with a family we love and have taught.

Picture Attachment 2: I call this "Park Street". It's pretty epic if you think about it. It was an imitation of "Abbey Road" by the Beatles but I was not going to take my shoes off to walk across Park Street because you have no idea what is on the ground there... I think we're better dressed than the Beatles though.

Picture Attachment 3: So there is this awesome fountain near the capitol with all these Indian statues. I thought that this one really captured the ferocity of the fishing indian and the fear of his prey.

I am in love with this work and I love every day! I love my Savior and know that this is God's work.
      with much love from your favorite elder,
              -Elder Shepherd