Last Mission Email‏

email 8/10/11
My Dearest Friends and Family,
So my very last P-Day is on a Wednesday... weird. So you get my last email on a Wednesday instead of a Monday.
This last week has been a whirlwind adventure. I was invited to perform at an "Interfaith Musical Fireside" where music groups and performers all from different churches got together to perform a concert at the LDS chapel in Trumbull, CT. I accompanied several other people, singers and groups from other churches, as well as performed my own solo and sang in a quartet. It was awesome! I'm attaching a picture of me with a gospel choir singing group that was awesome...

I got to go to the temple for the first time since the MTC this Saturday with my district! IT WAS SO GRAND! It felt soooo good after so long. I've attached a picture of us at the temple.

That same day, last Saturday, Dunia Vasquez entered the waters of baptism and I had the privilege of baptizing her. She's wanted to be baptized but for a long time her father wouldn't let her. We helped her write down and organize her testimony which, when she bore it to her father, softened his heart so much that he let her be baptized. She's a really bright girl and will be strong in the gospel.

All of the missionaries in my district have been really excited to get free stuff from me that I'm not taking home; particularly, they've been coveting my ties, because I have a rather impressive tie collection that I've acquired in the mission. I gave away TONS of ties this morning. I'm only going to end up bringing several of my choicest ties home. I love ties. Beyond that they fought over other stuff as well, office supplies and other random articles and knick-knacks that didn't make my 'take home' list.
Saying goodbyes this week was really hard. I think that tears were shed in every single appointment I've had for the last couple of days. I'm really going to miss this place and I know that I'm going to be missed. The relief society women in the branch here are still trying to convince me to stay. The branch threw a "Goodbye Party" for me last night. I cried my eyes out as they sang "God be with you til' we meet again". My emotions have been a mess recently. I've been filled with happiness and conflict. I suppose that it's perfectly natural to be sad to say goodbye to something and someone that I love so dearly.
I am so excited to come home and reunite with all of you! I have served my heart out for the past 2 years and given the Lord everything I have. It's a really good feeling to come home with no regrets. I didn't leave anything on the table. I'll touch down in Utah at 3:40 PM this Friday with nothing but joy and satisfaction for having served faithfully. I'll see you then!
     with much love from your favorite elder,
            -Elder Shepherd

2nd to last Email‏

email 8/1/11
Picture #1 attached is a picture of Elder Haggard from Australia, me, and Elder Cohen from California underneath "Ensign" street. We just liked the name of it and wanted a picture. We'll do the same with "Zion" street another day...

We continued teaching a man this week who hasn't been to church in over 10 years. We watched the Finding Faith in Christ church movie with him and testified of the atonement and of repentance. The spirit was really strong and he was really moved by the lesson. He came to church on Sunday and wanted me to sit next to him the whole time. He loved it and told me after church was over 'thank-you' for bringing him back. I don't really feel like I did much of anything, I was just in the right place at the right time. This man will be a great strength to the small-but-growing branch here in Hartford. We visited another less active family this week--rather, we had an FHE activity with them which we organized with a great member family in Bolton, CT, the Wade family!

I translated for the Garcia family so that they could participate in the lesson and then we played a fun matching game. We were able to bond pretty well with Brother and Sister Garcia (who we had never met before that evening) and they enjoyed their time spent there. They commented to us that they had loved it and had felt the spirit that evening. We are going to visit them again this week to see if we can continue to work with the whole family and get them all back to church together. I included a picture of me with the Wade family at the FHE. Good times...
I had an interview with President Evans this week. We had a good talk about how the work was going and how I've enjoyed my mission and my advice to future missionaries. I kind of figured because I was only going to be 'his missionary' for a month that he wouldn't take too much time to get to know because he has over 200 other missionaries to worry about who he'll actually get to know much better, but I was pretty floored by his sincerity in our interview. He was very endearing and I warmed up to him quickly. He told me that he was really sad that I was leaving and that he wished he could have had more time to work with me. I felt the love. I love President Evans.
So I spoke in church on Sunday and my assigned topic was "missionary work" (it was like giving my homecoming talk, except I gave it in Spanish). I spoke about some of the cool experiences that I've had here in the mission field and how much the mission has blessed my life. I cried. It's beginning to hit me that next week I am actually going home and that this will be over. There is so much work to be done and I'm so lost in it all that time has pretty much flown out the window. It's a weird feeling.
I love my mission and I am excited to share all of my stories and experiences with you all when I come home.
      with much love from your favorite elder,
              -Elder Shepherd

Shepherding sheep in HOT weather.‏

email 7/25/11
So we had a branch activity this last Saturday here and had a picnic. (I included a picture of me enjoying a good burger at the picnic.)

Several of the relief society sisters started talking about how much they're going to miss me and how I shouldn't go home. They tried to convince me stay here in Hartford. "I can't. Where would I live?" I posed. "Come live in my house! We have a guest room!" One sister shouted. "I don't have any money and I need a job.  Where would I work?" I retorted. "I know that so-and-so is hiring and blah blah blah... We'll get you a job!" They were determined. Before I could come up with another problem another one shouted out, "We need you to play piano in our meetings!" and another one said, "We need a new branch president!" (now they were just getting ridiculous...) They are bent on me staying in Hartford but I keep telling them that it's not gonna happen.*sigh* They're gonna miss me a lot and it's gonna be hard to say goodbye. I love Hartford... but I can't wait to come home! (that was a trunky-ish comment)
"Pioneer Day" just isn't the same when you're not in Utah. Nobody here celebrates it. None of the other missionaries even knew what it was! (Of course they didn't grow up in Utah so I can't fault them.) The stake did have a ''pioneer day activity'' but it was largely unattended. :( I was really happy though that a stake high counselor came to the branch yesterday and spoke in church about the pioneers! He gave a great talk about the pioneers and perseverance and he related it to how we have to live our lives as 'modern day pioneers'. He spoke of how the "pioneer children would sing as they walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk" (the lyrics and music to that popular children's hymn depict the scene really well). He said that just like how the pioneers had to take step after step after step to reach their ultimate destination of 1300 miles we have to take step after step after step in our lives to reach our ultimate destination of the Celestial Kingdom. Although many of the things the pioneers did were very routine (walking and walking and walking), with every little routine step they made it brought them closer to their goal. We must do a lot of seemingly little, routine things daily, and progress may not seem to come all at once, but it's crucial that you keep on walking towards our heavenly home, step by step, day by day, prayer after prayer, turning countless pages of scripture and making countless correct decisions. All of it adds up after a while! He also shared moving pioneer stories that brought us to tears. I love thinking about the pioneers and reflecting on what they went through. There is so much to learn from them!
We did a lot of biking this week again (hence the biking pictures I included with the email).

However, we didn't bike this last Friday and Saturday because it was HOT and HUMID in New England! It was like walking in an oven... 105 degrees with high humidity... I'm amazed that all my clothing has survived the 2 years of abuse I've put them through. My shirts have endured to the end and are still intact but I have some 'tracting pants' that should probably be burnt at the earliest convenience because after hours and hours of use in the hot sun they've been sun-bleached and drenched in sweat enough for a lifetime.
We went to the hospital this week to give a blessing to an inactive member that we've been working with for a while. We got there to find out that his kidneys were failing and he was going through dialysis. We offered him a priesthood blessing and prayed there with his family. We all felt the spirit and the calm assurance that everything would work out. As far as we know up to this point the dialysis is working and he's improving. He should be able to leave the hospital soon. The priesthood works and the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much..." (James 5:16-17)
So we got an awesome phone call from Isabel, one of our investigators, who said that her boss had called her and asked her to work and Sunday. She's worked on Sunday's a lot because she gets paid overtime for doing so but since we taught her about the church she's felt differently about that. She told her boss, "No more! I'm going to church on Sundays!"  Her boss was OK with that and won't bother her anymore. I was so proud of her! What faith she exercised! She will definitely be blessed for that. She loved church on Sunday and is excited to meet again with us this week. :)
We randomly got a phone call from a man who has been inactive from the church for about 10 years. He said that he wanted to meet with us. We visited him on yesterday afternoon and he warmly greeted us and introduced himself as Hermano Alegría (Brother Happiness-what a great name!) He was baptized in Lima, Peru in the early 90's and had served in various capacities in the church including a branch president and bishop. He had fallen away when he moved to Connecticut, but he said that it left an 'emptiness' inside of him and he always knew that he needed to return but wasn't ready to face it. I told him that no one has exhausted their last chance for repentance and that we were so happy to be able to meet with him and help him. We both sat with tears in our eyes as I testified about repentance and the love that God has for us no matter what. He was a very humble man and was hopeful about how he knew that he was close to filling up the emptiness inside of him and rekindling that spiritual flame that he once had burning bright. We didn't have to do much, just listen to him and testify of love and the atonement. It was a sweet lesson and we felt a sweet spirit. The spirit impressed in my mind and on my heart the truthfulness of the doctrine and the sweetness of repentance. Brother Alegría commented on my last name and was excited to find out what "Shepherd" meant (pastor de ovejas-someone who herds sheep, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, etc.). He thanked me for 'shepherding him' and living up to my name. It was a great experience.
The mission is good and I am SO HAPPY. It feels good knowing that I've given it my all for 2 years. I have no regrets.
       with much love from your favorite elder,
              -Elder Shepherd

Listen!‏

email 7/18/11
My companion and I started biking this week as opposed to taking the bus or walking and we are getting in good shape and having SO MUCH FUN! Beyond that we're able to get to our appointments quicker and it's a really efficient way to travel in Hartford. (As long as you don't get run over by all the crazy people in Connecticut who don't know how to drive, you'll be fine!) I included several pictures of our biking escapades this week with the email. We drove by this awesome apartment complex on our bikes and saw that the name was 'Shepherd Park' and I just had to go back and get a picture with it.

The second one is just another shot that my companion took while stopped at a stop sign.

The third biking picture is a rather artistic photo that I took of my companion overlooking scenic 'Pope Park' right across the street from our apartment building here.

It was kind of an uphill ride and I didn't notice that he fell behind until I was already at the top of the hill and he was walking his bike up 100 yards behind me. Anyway, it made a great photo op.
It seems like everyone in Hartford was depressed this week. Several of our investigators were struggling with personal problems and stress this week, and one less active member we are visiting said that she's so depressed that she doesn't want to do anything anymore. We had a lot of lessons this week with people who were dealing with depression and stress and we spoke a lot about the atonement and the peace that comes through repentance and obedience. Jesus Christ left us some of the most comforting words I've ever known. One of my favorite scriptures had great application to those we taught this week: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither be afraid." (John 14:27) "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek anddlowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt.11:29-30) It's hard to watch people I love so much going through really hard times but I know that it's all for a good and wise purpose. The roots of their faith will deepen and they will come to know the Savior in a way that they never could have unless they suffer. It will be good for them. My mission has been really hard for me at times and I've had to struggle and suffer. I'm so grateful that I had to do so because I have come to know the Savior more intimately. I am able to understand more fully life and other people's problems as well as I gain the wisdom that is only generated by genuine first-hand experience. We did a lot of listening and consoling this week. I believe that's an essential part of teaching and relationship-building. You have to sit back and listen sometimes, and other times you need to know what to say and how to say it in exactly the right moment. I believe that if you listen with love and trust in God that you'll be able to do both effectively in any circumstance.
For example, I spoke with a really stubborn and belligerent man in the street 2 days ago that made absolutely no sense when he spoke and tried to confuse us with open-ended questions and condescending demeanor. It was clear that he wouldn't listen to anything and had only in mind to get in his two bits and run away, so all I did, catching him in his guile, was boldly bore testimony, called him to repentance, and walked away, leaving him in a furious stupor for having thwarted his pathetic attempt at infesting others with doubt and anger. In another episode this week I turned from bold orator to meek listener as Natividad unloaded her burdens and stresses and expressed a lot of pent-up feelings that she'd been having. She needed someone to listen with love to what she was going through and to sympathize and build her up. We said very few words to her during that whole hour that we were with her but we really didn't need to. We said a lot more through our demeanor than we could have with a thousand words. She got the message: "We're there for her. God is there for her. Everything will turn out OK." As Paul would have said, "I would rather speak 5 words [by] understanding... than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue." (1 Cor.14:19)
It was a great week and we will have another great week this week! I love the mission and at the same time I am excited to only have 3 weeks left!
    with much love from your favorite elder,
            -Elder Shepherd

Baptisms!

email 7/11/11
We were caught off guard this week as we walked into our appointment with Natividad. We sat down and before we could even say a prayer the first thing she said to us was, "I am going to be baptized on the 30th of July!" We were both ecstatic of course and asked her, "So what happened?" She told us how she'd been studying The Book of Mormon earnestly and sincerely for the first time and how she'd been praying that week to know if it was true. She woke up in the middle of the night the day before our appointment with her mind filled with what she'd been reading from The Book of Mormon. She said she felt inspired to pray and she rolled out of bed and began to pray. After about 30 minutes of prayer on her knees she said that she felt the spirit powerfully witnessing to her that what she'd been reading was true and that it was time for her to be baptized. She sobbed. It was a really sweet experience. I'm looking forward to her baptism.
Josselyn got baptized and confirmed this weekend! Woo! She is the girl who prayed and made a promise with God and got her residency in the US. I attached a picture of us with her parents at the baptism.

She's the girl in the middle with wet hair (we took the picture after the baptism because she was embarrassed about having to wear a 'fat white jumpsuit' that didn't fit her and didn't want picture of her in it.) The baptism was sweet and the members of the branch were really supportive of her. It was good to see them extend a hand and open their hearts to receive her into the branch.

The other picture I attached is one of my companion and I at the temple. I realized that last week I didn't send you one of Elder Castellano, so here it is! Elder Castellano and I get along really well and we teach really well together. It's gonna be a really good last couple of weeks!
We have a lot of work going on right now in our area and several more baptisms for the upcoming 2 or 3 weeks. We were teaching Maria this week and had left her an assignment to read and think about the application of 1 Nephi 8, Lehi's Vision. I was really impressed at how well she understood it and the conclusions and insights that she took from it. We just let the scriptures and the spirit do all the work and all we did was facilitate the teaching moment. I explained to her that just like Lehi did I feel a strong desire to share the fruit of tree of life with others and that that was why we were teaching her, so that she could enter the path through the waters of baptism. She really liked the application and she felt the spirit really strongly. She said that she's been praying and knows that what she's read in The Book of Mormon is true and that she wants to be baptized someday. She will be baptized in coming weeks.
I am soaking in every moment and taking of advantage of every opportunity. I want to be able to finish my mission strong and have no regrets and about how I served or what I did. I know that through our hard work and obedience that God is blessing us abundantly insomuch that we are privileged to see the fruit of the harvest. I love this work and know it to be the work of God.
     with much love from your favorite elder,
             -Elder Shepherd

New Comp, New Mission, New Investigators‏

email 7/5/11

The 4th of July over here has been much more like a long 2 week celebration--people have been doing fireworks since 2 weeks ago every night and we hear and see them non-stop. Of course, from the 19th floor of our tower we can see the fireworks all over Hartford really well! It was a fun celebration. It was really low key, though, surprisingly. I guess I live in a really heavily spanish populated area so many of them weren't celebrating our independence day because they aren't citizens and they celebrate their own countries' independence days (which for many of the Central Americans is in September). In other areas there were huge celebrations but right where I live there wasn't. It was a good 4th of July all in all. Go America!
Being part of the new Massachusetts Boston Mission is pretty exciting. There are SO MANY missionaries that it blows my mind. When we all met together this last Thursday for our mission conference we completely filled the chapel in Belmont Mass. with missionaries. I got to do a musical number and did an arrangement I put together of "How Great Thou Art" with the 4th verse put to the melody of "You Raise Me Up" at the meeting. It went really well and brought the spirit. President Evans was telling me how sad he was that I was going home in 6 weeks and wouldn't be here much longer to be their 'music man' in the mission.  It was exciting to meet tons of new missionaries! It was particularly cool because now there is a temple in my mission! The chapel where we had our conference is at the bottom of the hill where the Boston Mass. temple is situated. We took the opportunity to walk up the hill and take pictures at the temple. 

It was so nice to be at the temple again. It's been 21 months since I went to the Provo Temple in the MTC and since then hadn't seen the temple. We also took a big mission picture with the whole new mission in front of the temple. The temple is closed for cleaning right now but I will be able to go to the temple the day before I fly home with the mission president and his wife. I'm so EXCITED! I attached a picture of me in front of the temple as well as a picture I took of President and Sister Evans in front of the temple. The 3rd picture is a picture of me and my favorite missionary friends Elder Russell and Elder Phillips at the temple.

This is a really exciting change! There was a lot of enthusiasm and energy as we met as a mission. President Evans was very humbled by the whole experience and asked for our sustaining prayers and obedience. I imagine with roughly 200 missionaries stretched over Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut that he has a lot on his plate. I won't give him trouble for very long :) No, I'm not trunky.

My new companion is really cool! His name is Elder Castellano and he's been in the mission about 6 months. He was born in Honduras and he grew up in New Jersey. His mother his from Honduras and his dad was born in Holland but was raised in Italy (His grandparents are Italian and Castellano is actually an italian name) so he's a 'mix'. He speaks spanish really well considering that he mostly spoke english in his house and his whole time growing up. He was baptized about 2 years ago when he was 18 years old. He would have been baptized when he met the missionaries a year earlier but his parents wouldn't let him so he had to wait until he was 18. He's got a strong testimony of the gospel and a lot of enthusiasm. He's really outgoing and funny and he's definitely a future leader in the mission and in life. We are going to have a really great time serving together. He will be my 9th and final companion in the mission field.
Cool experience this week: We were teaching Luordes in Manchester and she asked us a lot of questions about the priesthood and where power and authority come from. She told us that last week when we visited her and gave her a blessing that she felt a 'power' move through her body as we laid our hands on her head that calmed her and made her feel better. She said that she knew it was the Spirit and that the blessing we gave her came from God. She has become more receptive to our message since then and is more serious about her commiment to attend church and read the book of mormon. The priesthood has been restored  to the earth and God speaks from the heavens in our day and time. What an incredible message we have to share with the world! I know it's true and I know that priesthood power and authority are found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Other cool experience: We set a baptismal date with Natividad this week. She was kind of hesitant to commit to something that she wasn't sure about yet and so we explained that if she doesn't feel ready or want to be baptized than she won't be. Later that very same day she called us and asked us, "What day is my baptism again?" We told her when. "Oh, is that going to be in the chapel in Bloomfield or in the temple?" We told her that it would be in the chapel in Bloomfield. "Oh, well when can I go and do baptisms inside the temple?" We explained that after her baptism she can have an interview with the branch president and go to the temple that very next week at our branch temple trip. "Oh great! Well, that was all I wanted to know! Bye!"*click* I was pretty floored because I didn't even know if the date that we set with her was going to stick. It turns out that she really wants to go to the temple and knows that she needs to be baptized to do so.

We are going to have a baptism this Saturday and I'm so excited! The work in Hartford moves forward at an ever increasing rate!

    with much love from your favorite elder,

          -Elder Shepherd

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

21 years old

6/20/11
We had an all mission conference this last week to say goodbye to our mission president and his wife as well as to the Connecticut Hartford mission. As of today all of our records are now part of the Boston Mission and we have electronically made the switch to the new mission even though our mission president doesn't go home until next Monday. We'll get texts from our new president, President Evans, about transfers and will have a huge all mission conference with the almost 200 missionaries in our new combined mission on the 30th of June, next Thursday. I am probably staying here in Hartford to finish out my last 6 weeks here but President Evans is making a change in every single companionship to pair us up with missionaries from the other mission to fully integrate us, so there is a chance that I'll be moved. If I am transferred I won't leave Hartford until the 30th of June and if you plan on sending me anything in the mail that week then you should send it to the new mission office address:
Massachusetts Boston Mission Office
182 West Central Street
Suite 203
Natick, MA. 01760
I can't believe that my mission president is really going home! I guess it made our goodbye easier knowing that he'll be at my homecoming in August but it's still strange to think that everything is changing. It's good in a way because it will really keep me on my feet these last few weeks that I have left so I'll be able to make the most of them. I attached a picture that I took at the conference with President and Sister Pehrson.

I love them so much! We had great occasion to celebrate this past weekend in particular because it was Sister Pehrson's birthday on the 18th, mine on the 19th, and it was father's day, so we had a party at the mission home last night for cake and ice cream.

I attached a picture of us sitting in their house last night and singing hymns. I was at the piano in the corner and you can't really see me in the picture, but it was a great gift! We just sang our favorite hymns for a while and President Pehrson shared some 'last words' with us. It was a really good birthday. Other birthday activities included going to church and having a lot of investigators there and visiting a recent convert who has changed a lot since his baptism. The mission is so great...

I included a picture as well of Elder Downs and I at the Capitol here in Hartford. We're 'showing a little leg' because we're cracking a joke about our mission president who sits like that sometime, that is, showing just a little leg. He thought we were pretty funny.
Just a brief note about when I come home: They do transfers in the Boston Mission on Thursday, so I will be flying home on a Friday. I officially fly home on Friday, August 12th. That's just FYI. I'm not trunky. That's impossible.
Missionary story of the week: We were eating dinner at a member's home last Wednesday who invited a couple of non-member friends over. One of them, Maria, was particularly interested in our message and what we had to say. She recently had injured her leg pretty badly and it was pretty swollen. She was scheduled to see her doctor on Friday to discuss the possibility of surgery. She requested a priesthood blessing and we gladly offered her one. We felt the spirit very strongly and blessed her that she would recover. We then taught how we were able to do so because of the restoration of priesthood authority through the prophet Joseph Smith. We received a phone call from the member who is good friends with Maria last night telling has that Maria is really excited to meet with us again this week at her home. She saw her doctor on Friday who was shocked that her leg had miraculously recovered and told her that surgery wouldn't be necessary. I was touched and grateful to my Heavenly Father. I know that priesthood power has been restored and that it is very real. I know that the spirit inspires us as we are engaged in God's work to bring to pass His will in His way.
I love my mission.
  with much love from your favorite elder,
       -Elder Shepherd

Inclement Weather‏

6/13/11

Another week in the life of a missionary. The weather for the most part has been kind to us up to this point. This week was really hot and humid and sticky. Then a huge thunderstorm system came rolling in and hung around for a couple of days. The storm got really bad and destroyed some trees and knocked out everyone's electricity. There were a lot of roads closed after the storm because of branches and debris all over the place. It was kind of cool to watch the storm from my 12th floor apartment though. The lightning looked really cool. It was pretty scary at the same time because it was striking really close to us. We were in an appointment the next day when the storm started up again. The power went out and it was really dark and the lady we were teaching was screaming because she was afraid of the thunder. We calmed her down and her kids found some candles and we got some light in the room. We were stuck in her house for the next hour while the storm outside raged on. Luckily there was no real damage done to her house or anyone nearby, but as we traveled home we saw a lot of tree branches and other debris in the streets and on the sidewalks. The weather made it kind of hard to work.

The first picture I attached: So I don't know how I fell asleep like that, but I did. My companion always takes pictures of me whenever I fall asleep during the day. This one was particularly funny.

The other one is when I fell asleep while we were planning this week. I promise you that I don't just sleep all day. I'm a hardworking missionary! I just thought that these pictures were funny and that you would enjoy them.
We taught a 17 year old girl this week who had been taught by the missionaries about a year ago and both her parents got baptized but she didn't want anything to do with the church. She randomly called us and said that she wanted to be baptized. We set up an appointment for the next day and talked about baptism. My first question of course was, "So... what changed your mind?". She talked about an amazing experience she had this week with prayer. Her parents have been in the US for a while (her dad for 13 years and her mom for 6) and she has only been here for about 17 months and has been working on her residency papers. Normally it takes people 10-15 years to get their residency papers, and that whole time they have to be here on a work visa that they continually renew. She promised God that if He would help her get her residency papers that she would be baptized. The next day she got a phone call and a court date, and she won her case and got her residency immediately. I guess it was God's will. We set a baptismal date with her for the upcoming weeks. Cool, eh?
I hit my '2 months left' mark this week the exact same day that my companion hit his '7 month mark'. It's still really scary to me that the mission is almost over. I'm excited to come home but I'm sad to say goodbye. It's just been a lot of change recently, and there will be a whole lot more change in the near future. We have a 'mission conference' this week with the whole mission. It's more or less a "our mission president is going home and our mission is combining with Boston" get together. We're gonna take pictures and say goodbye to our mission president and his wife and reminisce about all the good times we've had here in the Hartford, CT mission.
I know that the work I'm doing here is the work of the Lord. He guides me every day in what I say and do. I love being an instrument in His hands. He can make so much more out of me than I ever could make out of myself. I've let him expand my capacity and stretch me in ways I didn't dare nor think possible. I love being one of the Lord's missionary.
      with much love from your favorite elder,
                -Elder Shepherd

Mini Puerto Rico

6/6/11
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.

The other picture is just to pose a question: Do you think glasses are a good look for me? Be honest.
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

Memorial Day Weekend‏

5/31/11

So all the libraries were closed on Memorial Day, so I couldn't email yesterday. In fact, it was as if the entire city of Hartford was closed yesterday. It was weird. There was no one in the streets, all the stores were closed, and it was the most quiet that I've ever heard it here. We just met in the church for our P-Day and watched movies. I finally got to see Toy Story 3! I was very pleased! After we finished watching it, I watched the whole movie again in Spanish. It was awesome!

I attached 3 pictures to this week's email. 

The first is of me sleeping on my knees. I fell asleep while praying on my bed at night and my companion took a picture of me an hour later. I woke up early that morning on my knees... I was kind of sore. 

The other is just a random action shot that I took of myself while walking past this tall building with orange, reflective windows in downtown Hartford. 

The third one might not be as funny unless you've served a mission and had to do weekly planning. We were a little past hafway done with a weekly planning session where we set goals and plan for our next week when we got interrupted and had go help someone. When we came back, I was looking at my companion's planner and noticed that my weekly plans looked very very different from his weekly plans... My planner is the one on the top and his is on bottom. Somewhere along the line we must not have been communicating very well... We figured that Elder Downs had just gotten bored and stopped participating in our discussion and decided to act like he was listening and draw pictures instead. We've got to work on our communication skills... Either that or we need to make weekly planning for 2-3 hours more fun...

This last week was jam-packed with awesome experiences! I wish I had time to write all of them down and share them with you but I'll have to just share a few select stories for this past week. Last Tuesday we were eating dinner with a nice Peruvian family, Sister Cornejo and her husband. Sister Cornejo is very active in the church but her husband hasn't gone to church in 10 years. He was really quiet the whole time until we sat down for a lesson. I asked him a couple of questions about his background and got to know that he hadn't been to church in forever and proceeded to ask him about his baptism and his conversion experience. It was as if a light turned on inside of him as I asked him about the Book of Mormon and he began to talk about his favorite stories and how he knew it was true. He loved the Book of Mormon and had a strong testimony of it, and we were able to have a delightful conversation with him in which he actively participated after that. I was also impressed by his enthusiasm about the Book of Mormon. Even though he had other issues that had kept him from coming to church and fully embracing the gospel he had never forgotten nor could deny his testimony regarding the Book of Mormon. Another testimony to me that one doesn't simply 'forget' a witness from the Holy Ghost as to God's truth, but they allow other influences to darken their vision and blur their discernment. It was also a testimony as to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The spirit was really strong and gave me promptings and certain questions that I needed to ask him. I felt that sensation that Joseph Smith spoke about being 'pure knowledge flowing through you... giving you sudden strokes of ideas..." throughout the lesson we had with him. I learned a lot from what we spoke about. It was really cool! There were several lessons this week where I felt the same way, where I explained things to investigators in ways that I had never thought of before and I found that I was learning a lot from what was coming out of my mouth. The spirit is an amazing influence that can guide our very emotions and thoughts. Another such special instance was this morning as I taught a sister who is struggling with depression about prayer, and I began to make connections and explain things in a way that I'd never thought of before but explanations that made perfect sense to her. The spirit bore witness to our hearts collectively, to missionary and investigator, of the truthfulness of what was taught. I suppose that that is what the scripture means that says, "Seek not to preach my word but first seek to obtain my word and then shall your tongue be loosed..." or another scripture that says, "Teach ye diligently and ye (the person teaching) shall be taught from on high..."

The same spirit inspired us in another lesson this last week to ask a question and delve into a subject that was completely off topic of what we had just been talking about. Come to find out that it was exactly what this investigator needed and it brought to our attention something that we wouldn't have expected.

We have several investigators now in a nearby city, Manchester, which is about 15 miles east of Hartford, so we dedicated a day this week to take the 1 hour bus trip there by taking 2 busses and working there all day. We set up appointments with our contacts there and had a good day worked out. The sister missionaries in Manchester gave us the names of streets and places we could go to find the most Spanish people, and they even had a couple of referrals for us. The Spanish population there isn't as high as Hartford of course, and they were a bit more scattered, but we found some really great people there who are willing to take the bus to church in Hartford so that they can go to church in their native language. It's impressive because there is an LDS church there in Manchester, but the services are in English and they WANT to go to church in spanish. It'll be cool to see what happens there in the coming weeks. We might need to coordinate more with the members there to see if there are any Spanish speaking members there or people who could help with rides. It's kind of fun hitting 'new' territory.

On a random but cool note I helped a couple from our branch move last friday from East Hartford to Marlborough, CT, a small-city about 15 miles to the south-east of Hartford. As we were driving a load of their stuff to their new home and we drove through the trees and the beautiful scenery of Connecticut I thought to myself, "Wow, I really do love this place." Several people have asked me if I would ever consider living here. I really do love Connecticut. I love the trees and the nature. I love being able to get lost in the woods easily. I love the unbelievable snowfall here that just buried us this last winter and caused all kinds of problems. That may sound weird but I really feel drawn to this place. At least for 2 years I've been able to call New England 'home'. Utah will always be HOME, but now New England is a special place for me.

It was a good week, and I love being a missionary!

    with much love from your favorite elder,

            -Elder Shepherd

The Last Fireside‏

5/16/11
I met my new mission president, President Evans, this last Tuesday at a mission transfer meeting. He was visiting so that he would be able to get to know all of us here in Connecticut before the missions officially combine on July 1st. He and his wife both spoke and shook hands with every single elder and sister after the meeting. He seems like a pretty nice guy. The difference between his leadership and President Pehrson is almost like night and day. President Evans is short and looks really pleasant and seems to be very nice and sensitive. President Pehrson, while very loving and kind, seems much more authoritative and has a very intimidating persona standing at 6 foot 3 or 4 and has a deep bass voice. Both are great men who love the Lord and love the missionaries that they serve. President and Sister Pehrson also spoke to all of us in the meeting. They expressed their love for all of us and their love for the mission. It still hasn't hit me yet that they're really going home. They've always been here and it will be strange for them to be gone all of the sudden. They promised to come to my homecoming though, so that's pretty cool.
Yesterday we had a multi-stake conference involving several stakes throughout the New England area and was broadcast from Utah. President Eyring, Elder Russell M Nelson, Ann M Dibb, and Elder W Craig Zwick of the seventy (who just recently visited our mission last month) all addressed us in the conference. All of them had special connections to the New England area, whether they were born here, lived here for an extended period, had lots of family here, or all of the above. They spoke about the growth of the church in this area and what they've seen happen here in their lifetime. President Eyring spoke of visiting small branches out here in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey of only about 10-15 members each while he presided in this area in the 1950's. Today, there are over 14,000 members of the church in Connecticut alone, 2 stakes, and 50% of the members are first generation members of the church. I think there is a good reason why they are going to build a temple here in Hartford, and I think that with the erection of a temple here that the missionary work in this area will pick up enormously. The temple has a profound effect on people, especially those within close proximity to it. It made me feel good to know that even though I may not think that I've had tons of outward success here during the course of my mission that I have had a more profound unseen effect than I now realize working to prepare people for this temple, and someday I may learn and know more of it. The conference was inspired, and I thought it very significant as well that someone spoke as representing the first presidency, quorom of the 12, the quorom of the seventy, and the general auxiliary presidencies of the church to the saints in New England. The field here is white, and we're taking a role in the harvest.
After the conference we went over to the mission home to eat lunch with the Pehrsons before driving with them to the fireside. It was fun to get to spend the afternoon with them again, and it reminded me of how exactly a year ago that day I went over to his house after Stake Conference and ate lunch with him before performing at the musical fireside in Bloomfield. It was after that fireside a year ago that I got terribly lost on my way home and my companions and I almost hit Vermont by the time we realized we had no idea where we were or how to get home to Providence, RI. I had to call my mission president at 10:35 PM (past our curfew...) to wake him up and tell him that we were in a pickle. President Pehrson brought up that story again yesterday as we drove to the fireside with him in his car and we had a good laugh about it. We laughed at how worried and unnerved I was and how he had chewed us out. Good times...
We performed the last musical fireside of the Connecticut mission yesterday in Woodbridge, CT. One of the elders who was going to sing called me up last minute and told me that he had lost his voice and wouldn't be able to sing, so I was able to pressure President Pehrson into singing a duet with me in the fireside of "A Child's Prayer" in place of the elder who couldn't sing. It was a fun addition and it went really well. It felt really special to be able to sing it with him as well. The spirit was very powerful throughout the whole program and everyone in attendance was blessed. It marked the end of a long tradition here in our mission and it was both happy and sad. I got to see members in New Haven who I haven't seen since the beginning of my mission when I first served there and see how their children had grown and how they had grown and how I had grown... It was an emotional experience. After the fireside I drove home again in President and Sister Pehrson's car and had a great talk with them about the mission and about the future. Sister Pehrson wants me to bring over my future wife, once I have found her, to their home in Kaysville, UT so that they can meet her and approve of her. I LOVE the Pehrsons. They have changed my life and I hope to continue our association after the mission.
This week is gonna bring great new experiences and trials, and I'm so stoked for it all!
  with much love from your favorite elder,
             -Elder Shepherd

Hazel street-2 strikes then a home-run!‏

Elder Downs and I we're knocking on Hazel street this week in Hartford because we felt strongly that that's where we needed to tract. We met a couple of nice people but no one was really interested in our message. That was that. Several days later we still felt that we really needed to tract on Hazel street, so we went to the area again and talked to some more people but still no luck. Why are we here on Hazel street? Oh well. The very next day, one of our members called us and said that she had just spoken with a woman at her work who needed help and gave us her phone number. We called this referral right away. She introduced herself as Mercedez and was more than happy to have us over that next day. I was kind of floored when she told us that she lived on Hazel street. I was even more impressed when I realized that we had knocked on her door and rang her doorbell that week tracting Hazel street, but she hadn't answered the door because she is an old lady who lives on the 3rd floor of a 3 family home and doesn't come down 3 flights of stairs to answer the door to strangers. We had an amazing appointment with her in which she shared with us some of the difficulties she has been going through recently with an injury at her job and other problems she'd been having. She told us how she used to be a very active Catholic and would take her family to church every week but that had all fallen apart with her divorce years ago. She expressed her yearning to be close to God again and said that she had been praying that He would send her some help that whole week. Well, that whole week we felt the impression to tract her street. Eventually we were able make contact with her through someone else! It was nothing short of miraculous. She loved our lessons, came to church, loved it, wants to be baptized, and has invited all her family and friends to come over to her home and listen to us as well. I'm so grateful that God loves us and is aware of our needs. He still works miracles in His work today.
Last night we had our second performance of the musical fireside I've been organizing in Bloomfield, Connecticut. We had a really good turnout among members and non-members. All the members from the Spanish branch who were there told me after that it was really weird for them to hear me speak in English. It was weird for me to be speaking in English over the pulpit because I haven't done so in so long. I'm very comfortable speaking Spanish in church now, probably more so now in Spanish than English. The spirit bears a very powerful witness through music. I feel like I can express my feelings so much better through music than I can through words. It was a powerful program. I included a picture of me with my Uncle Alan and Aunt Shirlene who were in attendance at the fireside again!

It's fun having family in the mission. It's even more fun knowing that if their next-door neighbor spoke Spanish that I would be the elder who gets to teach them. I urged them to do some missionary work and find some Spanish people out there so that we can have dinner and a lesson in their home.
Tomorrow we get to meet our new mission president, President Evans, in anticipation of July 1st when our mission will officially combine with the Boston, Mass mission. It's kind of weird to me that my mission president is going home in a little over a month. It's weird to me that I'm now the oldest elder in my mission and I still have 12 weeks left! I'm getting old.
I love life in Hartford! The work is moving forward and we'll see a lot of success here as we continue to work hard and trust in the Lord.
   with much love from your favorite elder,
          -Elder Shepherd

Mother's Day

5/9/11
I loved calling home on Mother's Day and talking with all my family. It's always weird calling home in the mission but really good at the same time. It was my LAST TIME calling home from the mission field because I'm going home come August. Nothing could make me 'trunky' so don't worry about that, but I do honestly miss my family and am excited to go home. Now I'm gonna finish strong!
I baptized Jose Bayon this last Saturday! The baptismal service itself was slightly comical because not a lot of members showed up, including our assigned speakers and prayers... At the same time the members who were there filled in and the baptism was still a really good experience. I don't know if Jose understood my instructions about plugging his nose before I dunked him in the water because, after I said the prayer, he put his hand over his face with his palm squishing his nose and his fingers poking his eyes. "Plug your nose! Plug your nose!" I whispered anxiously to him. He still didn't plug his nose and was submerged with his hand in 'starfish formation' over his face. The important thing is that he was submerged, the baptism was performed correctly and by the authority of Jesus Christ, and he has now made a covenant with God. His confirmation was a sweet experience. I felt the spirit really strongly as we laid our hands on his head. Jose is going to be a really great member of the church. His non-member mother was present at the baptism and we now have the opportunity to follow up with her this week and help her understand that 'strong feeling' that she had at Jose's baptism.

The first picture I attached is of us at Jose's baptism. 

The second is a picture from inside our mail box. In case you didn't notice it was empty--not even junk mail. We were sad and decided that the moment needed to be captured.

 The third is another one of me falling asleep in a weird position. I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and really quickly. It's both a gift and a curse.
I'm sorry this email is short this week, but none of the other elders are emailing home today because they all spoke to their families yesterday and they're waiting on me.
I'm doing really well and the work in Hartford is great! This gospel is true and it changes lives. It's changed mine forever.
  with much love from your favorite elder,
              -Elder Shepherd

Missionary fire

5/2/11
Hartford is beginning to look really pretty as the weather warms up.

 I included a picture of my companion and a pretty blossoming tree

as well as an artistic picture of me looking contemplatively into the distance gripping one of the most powerful missionary instruments we have: the Book of Mormon. The mission is so epic. I'm on pills again for my daytime sleepiness stuff and they really get me going. I don't think you'll get anymore pictures of me falling asleep on the bus and on the floor anymore, but you may get some pictures next week of me doing crazy things due to the amphetamines.  
There is a really wonderful Peruvian family here that moved here from Lima, Peru about 5 years ago, the Munoz family. They have 2 sons and 2 daughters, all of which have served missions except the youngest girl who just got her mission call this week to Pocatello, Idaho. Awesome! Anyway, the kids are all in Utah going to school at BYU or LDS business college, but they're back in Hartford for vacations. One of the girls just came back from her mission in St. George Utah last week and spoke in church on Sunday. This family is so awesome! The 2 girls wanted to do a missionary activity while they were here and called me up on Thursday with ideas to do a fireside on Sunday. We worked out the details quickly and set it all up. We met at the church Sunday evening and my companion and I demonstrated to all the members how to introduce the Book of Mormon to people at the door or on the street. Then we gave everyone several copies and we split up into 2's and hit the streets. I was coupled with one of the Munoz sons who had served his mission in Idaho about 3 years ago. We were a dynamite duo. These first 2 kids that we spoke too seemed to have been doing a lot of research on the internet and had heard a lot of strange theories. When I asked him where he thought he could find not just answers and theories but the 'truth' he responded, "The internet!"... You can definitely find answers on the internet if that's all you want, but I would suggest that as awesome as the internet is it is not the source of all truth and wisdom...  We talked to one family in particular on the porch that seemed pretty promising. When we first approached them the dad said he was Pentecostal and wasn't interested. We asked him a couple questions about his faith in Christ and got him talking. His wife jumped into the conversation and we ended up friends 30 minutes later. They were intrigued as we talked about the doctrine of eternal families and they thought of what that might mean for them and their 4 children.
The person we spoke to just before them had felt guilty for the past 5 years about the death of his mother due to cancer and how he blamed himself. We talked about eternal families again and focused on the opportunity he has to reunite with his mother and 2 deceased brothers again. He took comfort in knowing that there indeed was life after death. We spoke to another man on that same street who had been really involved in a baptist church earlier in his life but had since strayed from the path and mentioned how empty his life feels now and how he wishes he could have those feelings back again. We talked about repentance and the peace that the gospel brings to our lives. He got excited as we talked about it and exclaimed, "this is what I have been looking for!". I was impressed that night as I realized that every single person we spoke to had different needs and circumstances but how the gospel had all the answers.
That night brought a lot of cool experiences, and the excitement of the Munoz family was contagious and everyone who attended the event seemed to catch fire from it. We met back at the church after 2 hours of this and had a testimony meeting. The spirit of missionary work was alive in them as they shared the experiences they had that evening. I found that my own zeal and energy for this work increased significantly from the activity and I learned a lot from the examples of the great missionaries that the Munoz family produced. We have many return appointments for this week and a lot of work to do.
Just in case you were wondering, Daysi finally went to the temple and had an amazing experience. She also came to the missionary activity and is demanding from us that we order her a missionary name tag with her name on it. We told her she has to be a missionary and she just retorted, "EVERY MEMBER A MISSIONARY!". We may be small in numbers right now in the Hartford Spanish branch but you just wait... I have a feeling that this summer will be an extraordinary one.
I'm living the dream in Hartford!
  with much love from your favorite elder,
         -Elder Shepherd

Easter and Chastity

4/25/11
Happy Easter! I was really excited at church on Sunday, and I was expecting talks about Jesus Christ and His atonement, the miracle of the universal resurrection, etc. I'll admit that I was kind of disappointed when the topic covered by the speaker in sacrament meeting was the Law of Chastity. It was a good talk; it just wasn't what I expected to hear about on Easter Sunday. It was OK though, because I spent all week studying the last week of Jesus' life from the New Testament and "Jesus the Christ." I reflected on the eternal significance of what was done this time of year roughly 1,977 years ago. I was particularly moved as I read about Jesus' suffering in Gethsemane and the cruel treatment he received at the hands of the Jews and Romans, ultimately leading to His death on the cross. Most of all, I know that that suffering was for me, and I am so grateful for it.
I don't know what my issue was, but I was really tired this last week and several times I fell asleep suddenly. My companion took the opportunity to snap pictures of me and mock me for my exhaustion. I've included 2 such pictures. The first is when I fell asleep in the doorway of our bedroom after coming into our house for lunch. I just dropped my stuff on the ground and fell right asleep on the floor.

 

The next one is when I sat down for just a second and was reading something in a Spanish grammar book and I was asleep within seconds. I guess I just kind of slumped off the couch and onto the floor with the book still glued to my face, and I fell asleep nestled snugly in-between the couch and the table.

The 3rd picture that I included was just a random craving that I had this week for 'peanut-butter oatmeal no-bake cookies'. Amazingly, I still remembered the recipe by heart and whipped out a batch in no time. They were delicious.

I've developed my cooking skills a lot in the mission field and I have been getting more creative. My favorite dish this last week was a 'Chicken Alfredo pasta' that I made. It was great! I can also whip out various Mexican dishes (they're authentic recipes from REAL Mexicans. Granted that all Mexican food is exactly the same ingredients just put into a tortilla in different ways and combinations.)
The more and more that I'm engaged in this work and happier and happier it makes me. I've developed an enthusiasm and desire to serve. As we put our shoulders to the wheel God blesses us for our obedience and expounds on our talents and abilities. I've recently been trying to focus on one 'virtue' or 'attribute' at a time, trying to develop in a particular area or weakness, instead of trying all at once to just be everything I'm supposed to be. Progression and overcoming our weaknesses can seem like a really daunting task if we lack perspective, but if we view overcoming our weaknesses as successive stepping stones and tackle one thing at a time, probably the weakness that we have the most trouble with, we will see growth and change over time which increases our faith and hope and desire to act again and tackle the next hurdle.
There is a member here who was baptized by my last companion, Elder Urrutia, a year ago who is awesome! Her name is Daysi, and she has her own barbershop on a very busy street in Hartford. She never lets a single person come in or out of her shop without hearing about the gospel and at least leaving with a pass-along card if not a copy of the Book of Mormon. She brings someone new to church with her every single week. She was baptized April 18th of last year, and had a temple trip planned for this last saturday, the 23rd of April, to receive her endowment in the Boston Temple. She was SO excited to go and talked our ears off about the temple all week. Then she got a call from the temple on thursday telling her that while she was baptized on the 18th, she wasn't confirmed until the 25th, and so she would have to wait a couple more days before she could receive her endowment to complete the 1 year waiting period. She was DEVASTATED. She called us in tears saying, "Elders, I can't go to the temple yet! They said I had to wait! I need to talk to you now!" We rushed over there to explain to her that it wasn't the end of the world and that she could just go to the temple next week. Understandably, she was really really really really really excited about going to the temple, so we were sensitive to that. We watched 'Between Heaven and Earth' with her, one of the movies produced by the church about temples, to calm her down and keep her spirits up. It was funny because that next day she called me to tell me that she got her patriarchal blessing in the mail and she wanted to read it but it was in English (she is Dominican and her English skills are very limited). We went to visit her and she asked me to read her patriarchal blessing to her. I at first hesitated and told her that it was something very personal and special and that only she should read it, but she had already called the mission president and got 'permission' for me to translate it for her. So I read her patriarchal blessing to her and translated it into Spanish as I went along. I was amazed at how far I've come in the past two years and how I was blessed with the ability to be able to translate from English to Spanish, seemingly without effort, as I read to her the blessing in Spanish. What was even more cool was how she lit up like a little kid in a candy store and was so excited after every single line. "Did you hear that!? Read that line again!" Her enthusiasm and her excitement wasn't something to be mocked or laughed at, but rather, I greatly admired the zeal and love she has for the restored gospel. In a way, it renewed my own enthusiasm and excitement for this work and it was a great example to me of how happy and joyful this work really is. It reminded me of the reaction that the people had to Alma's invitation to be baptized at the waters of Mormon: "And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts." (Mosiah 18:11) I have prayed long and hard that the honest desires of my heart will conform to what God wants for me, and that my will can be swallowed up in His so that I can honestly experience true joy in this work. I have felt that joy. I have an earnest desire to share these things with others. Most of all, I pray for charity and try to exhibit it in my thoughts, feelings, and actions. I love people!
Have a good day, and love people!
      with much love from your favorite elder,
              -Elder Shepherd

The ultimatum‏

4/18/11
I attached a picture of the dinner that I made for Elder Downs and I last night. I fried mini tortillas in butter, spread refried beans and cheese on them, and closed them into burritos. It was delicious. I just thought you might want to know that.

So we tracted into this 16 year old young man named Jean this week. He was really interested in everything we shared about Christ's gospel and repentance and he accepted the restoration. We invited him to come to church with us on Sunday and offered to walk with him to church to which he readily accepted. We showed up on his doorstep at 8:15 on the dot and rang his doorbell. It was apparent that everyone inside had been sleeping because his mother answered the door slightly flustered and not fully conscious. She went and woke Jean up, and we waited in his living room for about 15 minutes while he got ready really quickly. On our walk to and from church we had a really good talk with him and I found out a lot about his tough situation in life. So he's been with his 19 year old girlfriend living in his parents home for about a year now. She's 7 months pregnant with their baby. He's 16 year old! We talked to him about his plans for the future and how he plans on being a father. He's still a sophomore in high school, but he has some job prospects lined up for when he graduates. We talked about marriage with him and he agrees that it's the right thing to do. We're hoping to be able to help him and his girlfriend get married. I can't imagine what that is going to be like to be a 16 year old father still a sophomore in high school. He NEEDS the gospel, and the gospel will help him out more than anything else. The cool thing is that he has a pretty open mind and a soft heart and he's willing to make some changes and learn.
I had my last quarterly interview with my mission president on Wednesday. He goes home on July 1st, and by that time we will officially be the Boston, Massachusetts mission. It was weird to me that my mission president is going home. We had a good talk about the mission. I'm gonna miss President Pehrson a lot, but it's cool that he committed to be there at my homecoming in August.
We volunteered to do service at the Hartford Hospital. They assigned us to be the 'fall prevention team'. We walk around looking really official in our blue jackets and clipboards and check all the equipment for the patients who are on 'fall alert' because they've fallen in the past or at high risk of falling. I got my orientation this week. I felt pretty cool doing my 'rounds' and asking the patients questions and checking off the boxes on my clipboard and evaluation sheet. Beyond that it actually turned out to be a very profitable missionary tool. We're not allowed to give out anything or proselyte at the hospital, but people see us and know who we are and sometimes come up and ask us questions. I got to meet some really cool people in the hospital, and hopefully from what little we do we can help someone else out on their search for answers and happiness.
I ran into some weird people tracting and street contacting yesterday. Arthur, an old homeless man, was really drunk and followed us around a bit and kept asking us," How do you know that I know that I know that I know?" Yeah, it was strange. He kind of ruined a contact we made with this other couple in the street because he walked in-between us and the couple while we were talking and started shaking our hands. "I KNOW! But how do you know that I know that I know that I know?..." After we finally were able to shake off Arthur, we ran into these 2 U-CONN girls in the street. U-CONN threw a big party yesterday to celebrate their NCAA championship and had a parade in downtown Hartford. While we didn't join in the festivities we did see lots of people in the streets who were talking about it. These 2 girls actually approached my companion and I and told us how 2 missionaries had helped her move out of her apartment once and she thought that that was really nice but was very curious as to why those 2 missionaries would leave everything behind to serve missions. Her friend, who pulled out a cigarette and started smoking while we were talking, said, "That's nothing. They don't smoke, drink alcohol, and they don't even drink coffee! What's the matter? Don't you like coffee?" I could have told her, "No, I've tried coffee before, and it was disgusting," but I decided that that wasn't really at the heart of the issue.  So I decided to answer all their questions with the ultimatum of our message: the Book of Mormon. "Well, the easiest way to answer that question would be to explain to you that we believe in modern day revelation and that God speaks to us today and calls prophets. If this book (the Book of Mormon) is true that means that Joseph Smith really was a prophet receiving revelation from God, and the commandment given to us to abstain from tobacco, alcohol, even coffee and tea, really came from God. If this book is true it means that God has commanded us not to drink coffee." I similarly explained that the personal witness I've received from God that the Book of Mormon is indeed true was a major factor in why I was serving a mission, as well as was probably the reason why those 2 missionaries who helped her move out of her apartment served. "You see, your real question isn't 'Why do you go to church on Sunday?' or 'Why don't you drink coffee?' or 'Why are you serving a mission?' Your real question and the one you want the answer to is 'Is the Book of Mormon true?" They brought up other questions and got a little frustrated when I kept answering their questions by referring back to the Book of Mormon. "Don't you think that at this point it would be more prudent to actually read the book!?" I asked them. The ultimatum of our conversation rested on the Book of Mormon and there it remains. Those who claim that answering questions this way is a 'cop-out' obviously don't understand the importance of the Book of Mormon in the message of the Restoration nor will they be able to comprehend why it is that Jesus Christ himself put such great emphasis on the Book of Mormon, even to the point that he said that the saints would "remain under condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon." (D&C 84:57)
The Book of Mormon is true. I can't deny it. I spend a good deal of my time and energy on getting people to sincerely read and pray about it. When people actually do so, a spiritual witness of it's truthfulness always follows, and answers as to what they should do and where they should go from here are simultaneously answered. Sound advice: read it, study it, ponder it, pray about it, live it's teachings. I know that the Book of Mormon is true.
I love missionary work! Life is great, and the weather is smiling upon us today in Hartford with sunny skies and highs in the 60's (it's good because a huge rain storm dropped 4 inches of rain on us this weekend.)
    
            with much love from your favorite elder,
                  -Elder Shepherd