email 8/30/10
I attached a picture of my district. It's not a great quality picture, but you can see how great we all are anyway.
This was probably, as far as numbers go, the most productive week of my mission. I've never taught more than 18 lessons in a single week, and this week, I taught 29. It was pretty awesome! I'm kind of competing with the sister missionaries in my district, who are both doing really well and having a number battle with me (friendly competition never hurt!). They knew that Elder Cohen and I were shooting for 20 lessons this week (which had never been achieved yet in our district or zone) and so they were really excited to report to me yesterday that they got 24 lessons, hoping that they would 'one-up' me. Little did they know... They were shocked at their defeat, and now they're even more motivated to hit 30 lessons, and now the battle is on to see who will be the first companionship in the mission to EVER hit 30 lessons in one week. Pray for me!
Like I said, as far as numbers go, it was productive, but numbers mean very very little. They're a means to end, a way to measure your vision and goal, but they don't really reflect your success as a missionary. Certainly, higher numbers mean that other things are getting done, people are getting taught, and the work is progressing, but the number means nothing without the reflection of the precious son or daughter of God who it represents.
Putting the numbers aside, Elder Cohen and I had a very productive week. A member family who we've been working with for a while now came to church for the 2nd week in a row after a several year absence. They expressed deep gratitude to us for our efforts in helping them come back. More importantly, the father of the family told me, "Thank you for showing me genuine love. I know we weren't a project for you, but I could feel your love.". Experiences like that are so precious, and they make all the work and toil worth it (vale la pena in spanish). It was another testimony to me of the importance of genuine love in service. You can't fake love. People can tell why you're in their house. They can see right through the missionary facade of, "Oh, we were just in the area and thought we might stop by...". If your heart is in the right place, let them know up front how you feel. I remember having a great conversation with my trainer my first week or so in the mission field about this subject. We'd knocked a couple of doors only to be lied to and turned down. My companion turned to me after walking away from the door of a lady who'd shut us down saying, "I find it impossible to love these people sometimes. They're just so...etc...". After listening to his argument, I replied, "Elder, I love these people."-"No you don't. How can you?"-"Elder, I really do. I love people. I love them because they're children of our Father in Heaven."-"I know they are, it's just tough. I'm trying to be patient."-"Elder, it's not enough to fake it.". He paused and looked at me for a moment, and with a renewed desire he said, "How do you feel about knocking a couple more doors?"-"I'd love to.".
We talked a lot about the role that love plays in missionary work and in life in general. We grew closer through that experience, and I've always tried since then to do this work the right way.
One of the subtle ways in which all of us become 'weary of well-doing' is doing the right things for the wrong reasons. (D&C 64:33) Many people get so caught up in school, work, service, etc. that they lose the joy in doing it. Even if they started off with the right motives, they now are focused on 'getting things done', or they become so hectically involved that they can't balance it all or give anything the true attention and love that it needs. Don't forget why you do what you do. Do it for love. If it's not love, let it go.
This is the last week of another transfer, and I keep teasing Elder Cohen that he's going to leave the area. He's been here for 9 months already, and it's still his first area. He mostly denies it, but he started showing some concern this morning, "Elder... This is my last week in the area... aww...". He doesn't want to go, but we'll see how it all turns out. All bets say that I'm staying, but we never know. Anything could happen.
Alas, my dear friends, my time runs short. I bid 'adieu' (or should I say 'adios'?)
Much Love,
-Elder Shepherd
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
email 8/23/10
It's a rainy day in Providence, and I'm all wet right now. When the weather gets stormy over here, it doesn't always just rain hard, but sometimes it 'mists', which means that the air is saturated and wet and an umbrella does you no good because the moisture in the air gets you wet anyway. It's kind of a cool phenomenon. I hope it didn't ruin my tie...
I've included a picture of George's baptism last week with this email, as well as a picture of me this morning at the Capital here. That's the room where the house meets-It's awesome! I thought it looked kind of epic. I took some better pictures, but I had to take them on another elders camera because my camera ran out of batteries when we got there. I'm going to copy them from him later.
Elder Cohen and I taught a lot of lessons this week, I think more than I've ever taught in a single week before on my mission. We were pretty happy with our efforts this last week, and we're seeing lots of success as we continue to become better teachers.
However, sometimes it's really hard to stay focused all the time as a missionary. It's very draining mentally and spiritually if you're doing the work right. We're constantly trying to better ourselves, and there's always a list a mile long of things we want to change and do better. I believe that the scriptural advice to 'not run faster than you have strength or means' (D&C 10:4; Mosiah 4:27) suggests that we pace our progress in such a way that we can do things in wisdom and order, thus being truly effective and efficient.
As members (and ESPECIALLY as hard-working missionaries) we need to keep in mind the counsel to not be 'over-anxious' in our own respective spheres of responsibility and self-improvement and thus 'under-engaged' in the good causes that we take on. (D&C 58:26-28) Hence the needed warning that we not become 'weary in well-doing; for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.'(D&C 64:33) It is paced progress, stepping stones, and being anxiously engaged in a good cause but with the needed wisdom and order that will take us where we need to go. There is always something more to work on, but remember that it's out of those 'small and simple things that great things come to pass.(Alma 37:6), so don't take on the whole world at once! (D&C 123:16) If we lack proportion in this life, the next few yards along the path can seem so formidable, more than they in reality are. For example, though aware of how God blessed ancient Israel to escape from mighty Pharaoh and his hosts, myopic Laman and Lemuel still lacked faith in God to help them cope with a mere local Laban (1 Nephi 3:31). They lacked proportion, and we, all too often, struggle with pacing ourselves appropriately. We must keep ourselves spiritually intact by doing all things in wisdom and order and not becoming weary of well doing! Keeping spiritually intact results in us keeping our precious perspective by seeing 'things as they really are' (Jacob 4:13).
I'm doing my best to pace myself, even though I have SO MUCH that I want to do. The Greatest of us all even had to take time to wind down! 'Jesus said to the [twelve], Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately” (Mark 6:31-32) I recognize that I only have so much 'goodwill' supply, and that I need to take the time necessary to regain my focus. Unhurried time seems to be worth more than the same amount of time spent hectically.
Well, that's my little golden nugget of wisdom for this week.
We have another baptism coming up this Saturday, and 2 more for the upcoming month. The work is definitely going well, and we are seeing that hand of the Lord in our work.
I love you all, and I appreciate your prayers and support more than you know.
(Special shout-out to my brother Andy!)
Much Love-
Elder Shepherd
I've included a picture of George's baptism last week with this email, as well as a picture of me this morning at the Capital here. That's the room where the house meets-It's awesome! I thought it looked kind of epic. I took some better pictures, but I had to take them on another elders camera because my camera ran out of batteries when we got there. I'm going to copy them from him later.Elder Cohen and I taught a lot of lessons this week, I think more than I've ever taught in a single week before on my mission. We were pretty happy with our efforts this last week, and we're seeing lots of success as we continue to become better teachers.
However, sometimes it's really hard to stay focused all the time as a missionary. It's very draining mentally and spiritually if you're doing the work right. We're constantly trying to better ourselves, and there's always a list a mile long of things we want to change and do better. I believe that the scriptural advice to 'not run faster than you have strength or means' (D&C 10:4; Mosiah 4:27) suggests that we pace our progress in such a way that we can do things in wisdom and order, thus being truly effective and efficient.
As members (and ESPECIALLY as hard-working missionaries) we need to keep in mind the counsel to not be 'over-anxious' in our own respective spheres of responsibility and self-improvement and thus 'under-engaged' in the good causes that we take on. (D&C 58:26-28) Hence the needed warning that we not become 'weary in well-doing; for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.'(D&C 64:33) It is paced progress, stepping stones, and being anxiously engaged in a good cause but with the needed wisdom and order that will take us where we need to go. There is always something more to work on, but remember that it's out of those 'small and simple things that great things come to pass.(Alma 37:6), so don't take on the whole world at once! (D&C 123:16) If we lack proportion in this life, the next few yards along the path can seem so formidable, more than they in reality are. For example, though aware of how God blessed ancient Israel to escape from mighty Pharaoh and his hosts, myopic Laman and Lemuel still lacked faith in God to help them cope with a mere local Laban (1 Nephi 3:31). They lacked proportion, and we, all too often, struggle with pacing ourselves appropriately. We must keep ourselves spiritually intact by doing all things in wisdom and order and not becoming weary of well doing! Keeping spiritually intact results in us keeping our precious perspective by seeing 'things as they really are' (Jacob 4:13).
I'm doing my best to pace myself, even though I have SO MUCH that I want to do. The Greatest of us all even had to take time to wind down! 'Jesus said to the [twelve], Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately” (Mark 6:31-32) I recognize that I only have so much 'goodwill' supply, and that I need to take the time necessary to regain my focus. Unhurried time seems to be worth more than the same amount of time spent hectically.
Well, that's my little golden nugget of wisdom for this week.
We have another baptism coming up this Saturday, and 2 more for the upcoming month. The work is definitely going well, and we are seeing that hand of the Lord in our work.
I love you all, and I appreciate your prayers and support more than you know.
(Special shout-out to my brother Andy!)
Much Love-
Elder Shepherd
Monday, August 16, 2010
Lessons learned from a recent baptism
email 8/16/10
This week was a tough one, but the joy I had and growth I saw was profound. I still wasn't up to full speed at the beginning of the week. and I was using a cane for a couple of days so that I could finally get out of the house and do some work. It was hard not being able to run full speed ahead like I'm so used to, but through perseverance we still accomplished a lot this week.
The puerto rican population of Providence, Rhode Island went nuts this week celebrating what seemed like their equivalent to the 4th of July, except that their country isn't truly independent. There were puerto rican flags everywhere; in the windows of houses and stores, flags off of cars and covering the hoods of some, even some bikes proudly bore the puerto rican banner. It made working kind of difficult, because everyone was partying all weekend, and a good deal of the population was perpetually drunk, which led to lots of crime and less than ideal proselyting. We just had to be extra careful where went walking and to avoid large gatherings of partying hispanics. I did get a free "I love Puerto Rico!" hat, though, so that was pretty cool.
George Hernandez was baptized yesterday! WOO!! George is such a cool kid, and his excitement was absolutely contagious. His mother hasn't been to church in 4 years, but George's example has brought her and her sister back, as well as opened lots of doors for future teaching with his father, friends, and their respective families. 12 year-old George is a perfect example of what standing up for what you believe in and being an example to those around you can really do. Way to go George!
A man that I interviewed for baptism was baptized on Saturday. I felt really blessed to be able to have been at Jim's baptismal service. He married a member of the church 25 years ago but never investigated the church. His wife, Teri, was less-active in the church at the time, but after a couple years of marriage got mack into full fellowship with the church. Ever since then, she has been a loving example to her husband. Jim's baptism on Saturday was the culmination of 20 years of prayers offered by friends and family, 1 year of meeting with the full-time missionaries twice a week, and the faithful perseverance and love of his wife. We learn a lot about example and standing up for what you believe in this story as well, but even more than that, we learn this principle: Never, never, never give up! Keep loving them! It's not through indoctrination or well thought out arguments and standpoints that we are converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all must experience a spiritual conversion, which comes through very simple steps. Wherever we may be in our own lives and no matter how much we think we know, all of us must rely on faith in the end. God does answer prayers, and anyone who exercises faith and asks with a sincere heart and real intent will receive an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. This spiritual witness cannot be received through lessons, counterpoint, nor doctrinal knowledge, nor can it be duplicated or faked. This witness is real, and it is received through spiritual communication.
We have nothing to be defensive about, nor do we have reason to fear. God has given us all the tools necessary to develop spiritually and experience a true change of heart that will see you through even the darkest of days and the most penetrating of doubts and denial. IF ever you have any doubt, the answer is as simple as "casting your mind upon the night that you cried unto [God] in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. [Does He] not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" (D&C 6:22-23)
I boldly testify that God does hear and answer prayers, and that even though we wade through tribulation and suffer and are subject to doubt and despair that "whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God." (Alma 36:3) Like the Apostle Paul, we can "be troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we can be] perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed". (2 Cor. 4:8-9) God does love you, and no matter what you go through do not doubt that. He will support you, and He will strengthen you in your weakness. I am a living and testifying example of such a promise.
I love you, and I'm grateful for your prayers offered in my behalf. They truly do bolster me up when the going get's tough.
Much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
This week was a tough one, but the joy I had and growth I saw was profound. I still wasn't up to full speed at the beginning of the week. and I was using a cane for a couple of days so that I could finally get out of the house and do some work. It was hard not being able to run full speed ahead like I'm so used to, but through perseverance we still accomplished a lot this week.
The puerto rican population of Providence, Rhode Island went nuts this week celebrating what seemed like their equivalent to the 4th of July, except that their country isn't truly independent. There were puerto rican flags everywhere; in the windows of houses and stores, flags off of cars and covering the hoods of some, even some bikes proudly bore the puerto rican banner. It made working kind of difficult, because everyone was partying all weekend, and a good deal of the population was perpetually drunk, which led to lots of crime and less than ideal proselyting. We just had to be extra careful where went walking and to avoid large gatherings of partying hispanics. I did get a free "I love Puerto Rico!" hat, though, so that was pretty cool.
George Hernandez was baptized yesterday! WOO!! George is such a cool kid, and his excitement was absolutely contagious. His mother hasn't been to church in 4 years, but George's example has brought her and her sister back, as well as opened lots of doors for future teaching with his father, friends, and their respective families. 12 year-old George is a perfect example of what standing up for what you believe in and being an example to those around you can really do. Way to go George!
A man that I interviewed for baptism was baptized on Saturday. I felt really blessed to be able to have been at Jim's baptismal service. He married a member of the church 25 years ago but never investigated the church. His wife, Teri, was less-active in the church at the time, but after a couple years of marriage got mack into full fellowship with the church. Ever since then, she has been a loving example to her husband. Jim's baptism on Saturday was the culmination of 20 years of prayers offered by friends and family, 1 year of meeting with the full-time missionaries twice a week, and the faithful perseverance and love of his wife. We learn a lot about example and standing up for what you believe in this story as well, but even more than that, we learn this principle: Never, never, never give up! Keep loving them! It's not through indoctrination or well thought out arguments and standpoints that we are converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all must experience a spiritual conversion, which comes through very simple steps. Wherever we may be in our own lives and no matter how much we think we know, all of us must rely on faith in the end. God does answer prayers, and anyone who exercises faith and asks with a sincere heart and real intent will receive an answer that the Book of Mormon is true. This spiritual witness cannot be received through lessons, counterpoint, nor doctrinal knowledge, nor can it be duplicated or faked. This witness is real, and it is received through spiritual communication.
We have nothing to be defensive about, nor do we have reason to fear. God has given us all the tools necessary to develop spiritually and experience a true change of heart that will see you through even the darkest of days and the most penetrating of doubts and denial. IF ever you have any doubt, the answer is as simple as "casting your mind upon the night that you cried unto [God] in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things. [Does He] not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" (D&C 6:22-23)
I boldly testify that God does hear and answer prayers, and that even though we wade through tribulation and suffer and are subject to doubt and despair that "whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.And I would not that ye think that I know of myself—not of the temporal but of the spiritual, not of the carnal mind but of God." (Alma 36:3) Like the Apostle Paul, we can "be troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we can be] perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed". (2 Cor. 4:8-9) God does love you, and no matter what you go through do not doubt that. He will support you, and He will strengthen you in your weakness. I am a living and testifying example of such a promise.
I love you, and I'm grateful for your prayers offered in my behalf. They truly do bolster me up when the going get's tough.
Much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Surgery on my 1 year mark.
email 8/11/10
For some dumb reason Rhode Island has a made up holiday called 'victory day', which I'm convinced is just another cheap excuse for the government to close down all their institutions such as libraries and banks to torture us missionaries and impede us from emailing our loved ones (hence why I'm emailing today, on Wednesday). It's a conspiracy.
This week I hit my glorious 1 year mark as a missionary and had surgery the same day. August 5th will forever be a memorable day in my life, for both infamy and for nostalgic remembrance of these good times. Surgery went well, and they removed the scarred tissue I had with not other complications or problems. I reacted pretty funny to the anesthesia that I was administered, and I hallucinated a little bit. It was pretty weird. I saw cars that kept appearing out of nowhere in front of us that would instantly vanish as soon as we run into them on the ride home from the hospital. It was freaking me out. I thought we were going to die. Then at home, a wall in my apartment began to turn red and resemble jello. I think that was it for the hallucinations, but I was drugged up on painkillers for the rest of the weekend. I'm still not up to full speed, and I'm still handling some pain from recovery, but I'm at least out of the house and teaching again.
I thought initially that having surgery on my 1 year mark was a bad omen, but as I sat recovering from my surgery, I had a lot of time to contemplate the past year of my life, my struggles and successes, my triumphs and failures, and how I've grown. I was able to reminisce and evaluate what I've been doing the past year, and now I have the opportunity to begin the 2nd half of my 2 year mission with a renewed desire and motivation to share Jesus' Gospel with those here in Connecticut and Rhode Island. I've learned SO much from the past year, and I now see so many things that I can do to continually improve my teaching and efforts as a messenger of the Gospel. The mission is doing incredible things for me, and it's not even really about me. I'm hear to serve the Lord. I'm here to serve His children. I'm here as a servant, forsaking myself and entrusting all I am to God to do with it as He needs. At the same time, the experiences I'm having and the lessons I'm learning are not just for benefit of those I'm teaching right now, but they will be for my benefit, the benefit of my future family, and all those whom I will continue to serve, utilizing these abilities and skills that God has granted me and helped me to develop. Our mission president was talking about his mission in a recent training we had, and he spoke about how every single good thing that has ever come to him was effected by his decision to serve a mission. His family was blessed by the leadership and lessons he learned while serving as a missionary and by the testimony that gained in the Lord's service. His career, schooling, personal and professional life in general, were all effected by his mission. In the mission field, we learn life-long teaching skills that are crucial to having effective future relationships such as listening and asking good questions. We learn how to plan and set meaningful goals and strive to reach them. We learn about the gospel, strengthening our testimonies and our abilities to teach and serve, and we deepen our personal convictions. We strengthen and form the emulative character of a disciple of Jesus Christ by striving to live as He would have us live and do what He would have us do. We learn to confront adversity with positive attitudes, and we grow in patience and perseverance. In short, the mission shapes us all into the beings that God would have us be. My motive has always been love, and will continue to be love, but I've learned to love deeper and more profoundly than I ever thought I could, and I've grown closer to my Saviour than I ever thought I could be.
At the beginning of my mission, I really wanted to be the greatest missionary I could possibly be. While that is a worthy pursuit, I don't think that I was fully consecrating my heart to God like I should have. I want to be a 'great teacher', 'powerful testifier', etc... When I should have been more focused and content with being what God wanted me to be. It's not bad to want to be those things, but all of those attributes come to us a result of God's will and His granting them unto us as well as our own diligent efforts and personal righteousness. The 'perfectionist' in me wanted me to be GREAT. I wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons (namely that I wanted to be 'great' for the purposes of serving God and doing His work), but it was as if I couldn't be content with simply being ME, or rather, the me who God wanted me to be. I think that many of us, while striving to use our agency constructively and be responsible end up being 'over-accountable' or 'over-anxious', which actually results in us being 'under-engaged' in a good cause. When we worry less about what we want for ourselves and give ourselves unto God with attitude of King Lamoni ("I will give up all my sins to know [God]") or the people of King Benjamin ("we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually"), then God can mold us. We need to be happy serving God in the unique spheres in which He has placed us, with our own unique set of abilities as well as weaknesses. For me, this meant that I had to realize that God didn't call 'Righteous-Robot-Missionary 2.0' to serve here, but He called Elder Luke Shepherd, with all that accompanies him. He gave me my strengths and weaknesses for a reason, and He has a grand design and purpose behind it. At the beginning of my mission, I think I was initially just trying to be something that I'm not. I can honestly say now that I'm content with being 'Elder Luke Shepherd', and I only desire to be what the Lord desires of me to be. I just want Him to mold me into the person who He needs me to be, and I'm willing to give up all my sins to know Him. I'll change the bad and become better, and I'll be content with who I am and what I have to offer. Let us remember that our individual worth has already been divinely established as 'great in the sight of God', and that it does not fluctuate like the stock-market as we experience the up's and down's of mortality, nor does it expand or diminish with positions of 'power' or leadership'. Our callings or worldly circumstances do not establish our individual worth, God does, and He already loves you, and thinks the world of you.
Isn't that awesome!? Isn't that awesome that a being such as our Father in Heaven, who has created worlds without end and limitless other creations, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, who commands the elements and intelligences of the universe by the power of His word, that His entire work and His glory is our immortality and eternal life. What a mind-blowing realization to truly know that you are a child of God, and that His entire work and happiness is your happiness. Remember who you are!
I know who I am. (3 Nephi 5:13) "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. I have been called of Him to teach His word among His people that they might have everlasting life." I am a son of my loving Father in Heaven, and my potential is eternal, and I lay my destiny in His hands.
I love you all, and I pray for you continually. I owe you many thanks for the prayers offered in my behalf, for both my health and for the missionary work I perform, and for missionaries around the world.
Much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
For some dumb reason Rhode Island has a made up holiday called 'victory day', which I'm convinced is just another cheap excuse for the government to close down all their institutions such as libraries and banks to torture us missionaries and impede us from emailing our loved ones (hence why I'm emailing today, on Wednesday). It's a conspiracy.
This week I hit my glorious 1 year mark as a missionary and had surgery the same day. August 5th will forever be a memorable day in my life, for both infamy and for nostalgic remembrance of these good times. Surgery went well, and they removed the scarred tissue I had with not other complications or problems. I reacted pretty funny to the anesthesia that I was administered, and I hallucinated a little bit. It was pretty weird. I saw cars that kept appearing out of nowhere in front of us that would instantly vanish as soon as we run into them on the ride home from the hospital. It was freaking me out. I thought we were going to die. Then at home, a wall in my apartment began to turn red and resemble jello. I think that was it for the hallucinations, but I was drugged up on painkillers for the rest of the weekend. I'm still not up to full speed, and I'm still handling some pain from recovery, but I'm at least out of the house and teaching again.
I thought initially that having surgery on my 1 year mark was a bad omen, but as I sat recovering from my surgery, I had a lot of time to contemplate the past year of my life, my struggles and successes, my triumphs and failures, and how I've grown. I was able to reminisce and evaluate what I've been doing the past year, and now I have the opportunity to begin the 2nd half of my 2 year mission with a renewed desire and motivation to share Jesus' Gospel with those here in Connecticut and Rhode Island. I've learned SO much from the past year, and I now see so many things that I can do to continually improve my teaching and efforts as a messenger of the Gospel. The mission is doing incredible things for me, and it's not even really about me. I'm hear to serve the Lord. I'm here to serve His children. I'm here as a servant, forsaking myself and entrusting all I am to God to do with it as He needs. At the same time, the experiences I'm having and the lessons I'm learning are not just for benefit of those I'm teaching right now, but they will be for my benefit, the benefit of my future family, and all those whom I will continue to serve, utilizing these abilities and skills that God has granted me and helped me to develop. Our mission president was talking about his mission in a recent training we had, and he spoke about how every single good thing that has ever come to him was effected by his decision to serve a mission. His family was blessed by the leadership and lessons he learned while serving as a missionary and by the testimony that gained in the Lord's service. His career, schooling, personal and professional life in general, were all effected by his mission. In the mission field, we learn life-long teaching skills that are crucial to having effective future relationships such as listening and asking good questions. We learn how to plan and set meaningful goals and strive to reach them. We learn about the gospel, strengthening our testimonies and our abilities to teach and serve, and we deepen our personal convictions. We strengthen and form the emulative character of a disciple of Jesus Christ by striving to live as He would have us live and do what He would have us do. We learn to confront adversity with positive attitudes, and we grow in patience and perseverance. In short, the mission shapes us all into the beings that God would have us be. My motive has always been love, and will continue to be love, but I've learned to love deeper and more profoundly than I ever thought I could, and I've grown closer to my Saviour than I ever thought I could be.
At the beginning of my mission, I really wanted to be the greatest missionary I could possibly be. While that is a worthy pursuit, I don't think that I was fully consecrating my heart to God like I should have. I want to be a 'great teacher', 'powerful testifier', etc... When I should have been more focused and content with being what God wanted me to be. It's not bad to want to be those things, but all of those attributes come to us a result of God's will and His granting them unto us as well as our own diligent efforts and personal righteousness. The 'perfectionist' in me wanted me to be GREAT. I wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons (namely that I wanted to be 'great' for the purposes of serving God and doing His work), but it was as if I couldn't be content with simply being ME, or rather, the me who God wanted me to be. I think that many of us, while striving to use our agency constructively and be responsible end up being 'over-accountable' or 'over-anxious', which actually results in us being 'under-engaged' in a good cause. When we worry less about what we want for ourselves and give ourselves unto God with attitude of King Lamoni ("I will give up all my sins to know [God]") or the people of King Benjamin ("we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually"), then God can mold us. We need to be happy serving God in the unique spheres in which He has placed us, with our own unique set of abilities as well as weaknesses. For me, this meant that I had to realize that God didn't call 'Righteous-Robot-Missionary 2.0' to serve here, but He called Elder Luke Shepherd, with all that accompanies him. He gave me my strengths and weaknesses for a reason, and He has a grand design and purpose behind it. At the beginning of my mission, I think I was initially just trying to be something that I'm not. I can honestly say now that I'm content with being 'Elder Luke Shepherd', and I only desire to be what the Lord desires of me to be. I just want Him to mold me into the person who He needs me to be, and I'm willing to give up all my sins to know Him. I'll change the bad and become better, and I'll be content with who I am and what I have to offer. Let us remember that our individual worth has already been divinely established as 'great in the sight of God', and that it does not fluctuate like the stock-market as we experience the up's and down's of mortality, nor does it expand or diminish with positions of 'power' or leadership'. Our callings or worldly circumstances do not establish our individual worth, God does, and He already loves you, and thinks the world of you.
Isn't that awesome!? Isn't that awesome that a being such as our Father in Heaven, who has created worlds without end and limitless other creations, who is all-powerful and all-knowing, who commands the elements and intelligences of the universe by the power of His word, that His entire work and His glory is our immortality and eternal life. What a mind-blowing realization to truly know that you are a child of God, and that His entire work and happiness is your happiness. Remember who you are!
I know who I am. (3 Nephi 5:13) "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. I have been called of Him to teach His word among His people that they might have everlasting life." I am a son of my loving Father in Heaven, and my potential is eternal, and I lay my destiny in His hands.
I love you all, and I pray for you continually. I owe you many thanks for the prayers offered in my behalf, for both my health and for the missionary work I perform, and for missionaries around the world.
Much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
Monday, August 2, 2010
Combining the areas, and having surgery
email 8/2/10
So we will officially combine the 2 areas this week as Elder Taylor and Dowdy leave on Thursday. From then on, Elder Cohen and I will cover the entire city of Providence with several surrounding cities. It's gonna be awesome!
The rough part is that I have surgery on Thursday morning, and I'll be out of the fight for about 5 days, so that really makes the first couple of days with our new area a little bumpy. I've been organizing a very elaborate schedule of exchanges with near-by missionaries so that they can have the opportunity to teach some lessons and so that Elder Cohen won't be 'doing nothing' with me in the apartment for 5 days. There will always be a companionship teaching lessons while the other Elder is just sitting with me in the apartment, and then they take shifts and switch with other companionships, etc... I hope everything goes smoothly. This will be a challenging week, but I'm up geared up and ready to go.
We had a wonderful baptism this weekend for Maria Tejeda. She would have been baptized a month ago, but she had to wait for her husband to be a little more on board with it. She's stronger than ever, and she knows TONS about the gospel. She cruised through the Gospel Principles manual, and she loves to study the scriptures. I don't think I've ever seen someone who was so ready to be baptized before. She's going to be a great strength to the ward here. I've attached some pictures of the baptism-enjoy!
We have another baptism this Saturday lined up for our good buddy George. He's 12 years old, and his mother has been an inactive member of the church for a long time, but we recently got back in touch with them, and George immediately showed interest in getting baptized. He's really smart for his age, and his enthusiasm has really gotten his mother going. He's such a good example. He wanted me to baptize him, but I might not be able to because of my surgery. He understands that it doesn't matter who performs the ordinance anyway, so he'll be fine either way.
A woman whom we are teaching, Maria, had an interesting dream this week. She really believes that God communicates to her through dreams, and she didn't know how to interperet her dream, so she was asking me about it. Anyway, she was in a huge wheat field, and there was nothing but field in all directions for what seemed like an eternity. She then saw in front of her 3 distinct pathways, each leading different angles, that stretched out so far that you couldn't see where the end was. She was so confused in her dream, and she didn't know which path to go. I knew of several events in her life that happened recently, namely that she ran into an old friend from a church she used to go to a long time ago at the store who invited her to come back to her church, and that she's been meeting with us now for about a month (and we've been inviting her to church as well of course). She'd already been travelling on the path of 'indecision', not realizing that choosing not to make a decision is a decision in and of itself. I offered my 'interperatation' of her dream and offered council from the book of Ether, where he explains that process of decision-making and faith, and left her with Alma 32 about the seeds of faith. It hit her like a ton of bricks, and she knew that she needed to make a decision based on faith. She's been praying and reading, searching for an answer, and she's still confused and unsure. Just like in her dream, she sat confused and worried as she looked out on the three paths ahead of her. If she makes the decision to step forward with faith, trusting that God will take her where she needs to go, she doesn't need to worry that she can't see what lies beyond the horizon. I love the inspired words in the hymn 'Lead Kindly Light', particularly where it speaks about decision-making, "I loved to choose and SEE me path, but now lead Thou me on." We sometimes have to make a faithful decision, and step out into the unknown, with trust that God will never lead us astray. As we do so, the path is illuminated before us, and we see how God took care of us, thus increasing our faith and moving us on to the next faithful step.
All of us eventually are backed up to the wall of faith, and there we have to make our stand. After all the discussion, the words, the prayers, the study, and the pondering, we must eventually make a faithful decision, thus teaching us to rely solely upon our Lord. This is how we build trust in Him, and this is part of the crucial process of revelation. We must understand that God does leave many decisions to our own choice for a reason, so that we can learn and grow.
I know that as we seek the Lord's guidance and counsel, and as we follow the admonition of the Savior to 'seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." that we will always be guided in true and correct paths.
I love what I'm doing, and Iove you all so much. Thank you for your prayers.
Your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
So we will officially combine the 2 areas this week as Elder Taylor and Dowdy leave on Thursday. From then on, Elder Cohen and I will cover the entire city of Providence with several surrounding cities. It's gonna be awesome!
The rough part is that I have surgery on Thursday morning, and I'll be out of the fight for about 5 days, so that really makes the first couple of days with our new area a little bumpy. I've been organizing a very elaborate schedule of exchanges with near-by missionaries so that they can have the opportunity to teach some lessons and so that Elder Cohen won't be 'doing nothing' with me in the apartment for 5 days. There will always be a companionship teaching lessons while the other Elder is just sitting with me in the apartment, and then they take shifts and switch with other companionships, etc... I hope everything goes smoothly. This will be a challenging week, but I'm up geared up and ready to go.
We had a wonderful baptism this weekend for Maria Tejeda. She would have been baptized a month ago, but she had to wait for her husband to be a little more on board with it. She's stronger than ever, and she knows TONS about the gospel. She cruised through the Gospel Principles manual, and she loves to study the scriptures. I don't think I've ever seen someone who was so ready to be baptized before. She's going to be a great strength to the ward here. I've attached some pictures of the baptism-enjoy!We have another baptism this Saturday lined up for our good buddy George. He's 12 years old, and his mother has been an inactive member of the church for a long time, but we recently got back in touch with them, and George immediately showed interest in getting baptized. He's really smart for his age, and his enthusiasm has really gotten his mother going. He's such a good example. He wanted me to baptize him, but I might not be able to because of my surgery. He understands that it doesn't matter who performs the ordinance anyway, so he'll be fine either way.
A woman whom we are teaching, Maria, had an interesting dream this week. She really believes that God communicates to her through dreams, and she didn't know how to interperet her dream, so she was asking me about it. Anyway, she was in a huge wheat field, and there was nothing but field in all directions for what seemed like an eternity. She then saw in front of her 3 distinct pathways, each leading different angles, that stretched out so far that you couldn't see where the end was. She was so confused in her dream, and she didn't know which path to go. I knew of several events in her life that happened recently, namely that she ran into an old friend from a church she used to go to a long time ago at the store who invited her to come back to her church, and that she's been meeting with us now for about a month (and we've been inviting her to church as well of course). She'd already been travelling on the path of 'indecision', not realizing that choosing not to make a decision is a decision in and of itself. I offered my 'interperatation' of her dream and offered council from the book of Ether, where he explains that process of decision-making and faith, and left her with Alma 32 about the seeds of faith. It hit her like a ton of bricks, and she knew that she needed to make a decision based on faith. She's been praying and reading, searching for an answer, and she's still confused and unsure. Just like in her dream, she sat confused and worried as she looked out on the three paths ahead of her. If she makes the decision to step forward with faith, trusting that God will take her where she needs to go, she doesn't need to worry that she can't see what lies beyond the horizon. I love the inspired words in the hymn 'Lead Kindly Light', particularly where it speaks about decision-making, "I loved to choose and SEE me path, but now lead Thou me on." We sometimes have to make a faithful decision, and step out into the unknown, with trust that God will never lead us astray. As we do so, the path is illuminated before us, and we see how God took care of us, thus increasing our faith and moving us on to the next faithful step.
All of us eventually are backed up to the wall of faith, and there we have to make our stand. After all the discussion, the words, the prayers, the study, and the pondering, we must eventually make a faithful decision, thus teaching us to rely solely upon our Lord. This is how we build trust in Him, and this is part of the crucial process of revelation. We must understand that God does leave many decisions to our own choice for a reason, so that we can learn and grow.
I know that as we seek the Lord's guidance and counsel, and as we follow the admonition of the Savior to 'seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." that we will always be guided in true and correct paths.
I love what I'm doing, and Iove you all so much. Thank you for your prayers.
Your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
Monday, July 26, 2010
Another crazy transfer call...
So this week brings in another 6 week transfer cycle in the mission, but it also brings some more challenges and changes for me. I'm combining the 2 areas that I just split up back into 1 area because there aren't enough Spanish missionaries in the mission to cover all of the areas we have. So I'm staying here in providence, and my address is :
Elder Shepherd
304 Pearl St. #203
Providence, Rhode Island
02907
They're sending a missionary who is going home in 8 days to South Providence to help me join the 2 areas again, and then I'll continue work with my current companion, Elder Cohen, covering the entire city of Providence. My area is so huge, and I have TONS of people to work with right now. I'm definitely not going to have problems finding people to teach. My biggest task will be knowing how to prioritize my time so that I can be most effective. Planning will be more than my bread and butter, it's going to be my everything. It doesn't surprise me though that planning seems to be really hard for many missionaries. Missionaries in general are regular young adults who have never really planned out anything in their entire life beyond a date, and even that not very well. I've definitely learned the crucial importance of planning ahead and prioritizing my time out here in Providence. My decisions are usually never decisions between what is 'right' and what is 'wrong', but they are choices between what is 'good' and what is 'best'. I think it's really easy to fill up our time with 'good' things. The trick in our every day lives is learning the difference between what is important and what is not, or, in other words, what is MOST important. A lot of 'good' things in life just aren't all that important. We should daily seek counsel and assurance from the Lord regarding our decisions so that he can help us to see what is most important. Tell Him what your struggles are, and tell Him what is important to you. He'll guide and direct you as you humbly lay out your situation before Him and offer thoughtful solutions. Finally, ACT on what you feel is most important, and report back to Him in prayer how it went. As you follow this process of personal revelation, you can be assured that He will lead you in righteous paths, and that He will help you focus on what matters most. Remember, the purpose of prayer isn't to change the will of the Lord or to impose our will upon Him, but it is a means in which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into harmony one with another. When we desire to act based solely on our own wills or ambitions we ignore the will of the Lord in our lives, and we surrender inspired guidance and promised blessings. If we pray with the intent to submit ourselves to God and do His will, the Lord will make it clear to us how we should proceed. He will tell us in both our 'mind' and our heart'. This is important because it lets us now exactly how He answers us, that is, in both a logical way (mind/thoughts) and a revelatory way (heart/feelings). Thoughts and feelings are involved.
I definitely have my work cut out for me this transfer, and my district size is also increasing. I'm now the district leader over the areas of Providence and 4 other surrounding cities, and I have 10 other elders in my district besides my companion and I. I'm going to need to stretch a lot, but I'm grateful that the grace of the Lord is sufficient for my weakness.
I love you all, and I hope that you had a good 24th of July Weekend!
Your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
Elder Shepherd
304 Pearl St. #203
Providence, Rhode Island
02907
They're sending a missionary who is going home in 8 days to South Providence to help me join the 2 areas again, and then I'll continue work with my current companion, Elder Cohen, covering the entire city of Providence. My area is so huge, and I have TONS of people to work with right now. I'm definitely not going to have problems finding people to teach. My biggest task will be knowing how to prioritize my time so that I can be most effective. Planning will be more than my bread and butter, it's going to be my everything. It doesn't surprise me though that planning seems to be really hard for many missionaries. Missionaries in general are regular young adults who have never really planned out anything in their entire life beyond a date, and even that not very well. I've definitely learned the crucial importance of planning ahead and prioritizing my time out here in Providence. My decisions are usually never decisions between what is 'right' and what is 'wrong', but they are choices between what is 'good' and what is 'best'. I think it's really easy to fill up our time with 'good' things. The trick in our every day lives is learning the difference between what is important and what is not, or, in other words, what is MOST important. A lot of 'good' things in life just aren't all that important. We should daily seek counsel and assurance from the Lord regarding our decisions so that he can help us to see what is most important. Tell Him what your struggles are, and tell Him what is important to you. He'll guide and direct you as you humbly lay out your situation before Him and offer thoughtful solutions. Finally, ACT on what you feel is most important, and report back to Him in prayer how it went. As you follow this process of personal revelation, you can be assured that He will lead you in righteous paths, and that He will help you focus on what matters most. Remember, the purpose of prayer isn't to change the will of the Lord or to impose our will upon Him, but it is a means in which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into harmony one with another. When we desire to act based solely on our own wills or ambitions we ignore the will of the Lord in our lives, and we surrender inspired guidance and promised blessings. If we pray with the intent to submit ourselves to God and do His will, the Lord will make it clear to us how we should proceed. He will tell us in both our 'mind' and our heart'. This is important because it lets us now exactly how He answers us, that is, in both a logical way (mind/thoughts) and a revelatory way (heart/feelings). Thoughts and feelings are involved.
I definitely have my work cut out for me this transfer, and my district size is also increasing. I'm now the district leader over the areas of Providence and 4 other surrounding cities, and I have 10 other elders in my district besides my companion and I. I'm going to need to stretch a lot, but I'm grateful that the grace of the Lord is sufficient for my weakness.
I love you all, and I hope that you had a good 24th of July Weekend!
Your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
Thursday, July 22, 2010
We need more love.
So, last week was really crazy, and I didn't get a chance to email, so I apologize for not writing everyone. This week was pretty rad, though, so I hope it makes up for it.
We had a leadership training for all the leaders in the mission on a new missionary program that the church is starting up. They're completely changing the curriculum of how they teach missionaries in the MTC's and how the training should be done in the field. The new curriculum focuses exclusively on teaching skills, like listening, asking good questions, adjusting teaching to meet needs, etc... I am SO stoked about it! The problem with most of the missionary force right now isn't that they don't know how to do missionary things, but that they really aren't being effective teachers. They're raising the standards as far as teaching is concerned, and they're more effectively teaching missionaries how to teach. The church also produced a new set of "Preach my Gospel" DVD's which shows examples from a mission in California of great gospel teaching. They're teaching all of the leaders how to teach and how to teach others how to teach so that we can then teach our districts and zones how to teach (did you get all that?) Anyway, I'm really excited with this shift in focus--it's definitely going to make missionary work more effective.
I noticed that since the training I received that I've been teaching WAY better than before. It's not that I wasn't a good teacher before, but I've really been able to hone my skills. My philosophy has always been 'love in teaching'. I don't care how capable the teacher is, or how well they explain things, that teaching means nothing without love and sincerity. God has blessed me with a whole lot of love to give--now he's helping me adapt my teaching skills. Love first, then teaching. There is no other way.
So I was visiting with Sister Flores, an inactive member of the church in our area who owns a little store in Providence in a pretty rough neighborhood, and buying vanilla extract imported from the Dominican Republic (it's SO much better than the regular stuff), when someone ran into the store to tell her that someone just threw a rock through her car window. We went outside with her, and sure enough, her entire rear window was shattered, and a group of little kids scattered. Sister Flores doesn't speak English, and she recognized one of the kids as her neighbor, so we accompanied her over there to see if we could clear up the situation. The neighbors didn't speak Spanish, so we were translating for her, and it was obvious that their little 9 year old boy threw the rock. It was also obvious that the dad didn't want to pay for it (I wouldn't either) but he came to take a look at the car anyway. Sister Flores wanted him to pay for the window, and he didn't want to admit anymore that his son did it because he didn't want to pay for it, so they decided to call the police. Of course, the cops didn't speak Spanish, and they favored the man who could speak English, so they just left without doing anything about it. I felt really bad for Sister Flores, who was the victim of not just some little boy's mistake, but an obvious victim of discrimination because of her brown skin. I did all that I could do to help, and at least I could give Sister Flores a voice and stand up for her, but her neighbor totally took advantage of her, and no one else would stand up for the little, old shop-owner from El Salvador. Where was the justice OR mercy in this? Where was the christian love that we should show for our neighbor? It's a sad story, and stories like that are all over the place here.
I wish sometimes that I could just take away the suffering and trails from those that I love, but I know all too well that I cannot. The Plan of Salvation would be pointless and ruined if that were possible, and we would never be able to learn or progress. I certainly don't love suffering, but I'm grateful for adversity in my life. It's the adversity in my life that has made me who I am, and it's my Savior that has helped me to overcome such adversity in a positive way. Without the suffering of Jesus Christ, all of the suffering that we go through is in vain. Without the Atonement that He freely offered, adversity would do nothing more than beat us down, and we would have no hope for the future. Through the Atonement, we are healed, we overcome tribulation, and we receive the strength necessary to fight another day and press forward. Let us face adversity and suffering with a hopeful heart and optimism.
We should learn from the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we should lift one another. Why don't we stand up for those who are oppressed? Why don't we stand as witnesses of Christ is not just word only, but in DEED? Let us lift the heavy hearts of our brethren! Let us show them the love that our Savior showed all of us! Let us allow the pure love of Christ to be our motive, our walk and our talk. Find someone who is hurting, and do something good for them. That's what Christ would have you do.
I love what I do, and I am honored by the opportunity to suffer scorn and affliction for the name of Christ. He already did the same for me.
Thank you for your prayers. I feel them sustaining me. I've never felt the power of prayer more profoundly in my life as I have this past week. Remember that the, "fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) I'll need your prayers this week as I have to see the doctor again.
With much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
We had a leadership training for all the leaders in the mission on a new missionary program that the church is starting up. They're completely changing the curriculum of how they teach missionaries in the MTC's and how the training should be done in the field. The new curriculum focuses exclusively on teaching skills, like listening, asking good questions, adjusting teaching to meet needs, etc... I am SO stoked about it! The problem with most of the missionary force right now isn't that they don't know how to do missionary things, but that they really aren't being effective teachers. They're raising the standards as far as teaching is concerned, and they're more effectively teaching missionaries how to teach. The church also produced a new set of "Preach my Gospel" DVD's which shows examples from a mission in California of great gospel teaching. They're teaching all of the leaders how to teach and how to teach others how to teach so that we can then teach our districts and zones how to teach (did you get all that?) Anyway, I'm really excited with this shift in focus--it's definitely going to make missionary work more effective.
I noticed that since the training I received that I've been teaching WAY better than before. It's not that I wasn't a good teacher before, but I've really been able to hone my skills. My philosophy has always been 'love in teaching'. I don't care how capable the teacher is, or how well they explain things, that teaching means nothing without love and sincerity. God has blessed me with a whole lot of love to give--now he's helping me adapt my teaching skills. Love first, then teaching. There is no other way.
So I was visiting with Sister Flores, an inactive member of the church in our area who owns a little store in Providence in a pretty rough neighborhood, and buying vanilla extract imported from the Dominican Republic (it's SO much better than the regular stuff), when someone ran into the store to tell her that someone just threw a rock through her car window. We went outside with her, and sure enough, her entire rear window was shattered, and a group of little kids scattered. Sister Flores doesn't speak English, and she recognized one of the kids as her neighbor, so we accompanied her over there to see if we could clear up the situation. The neighbors didn't speak Spanish, so we were translating for her, and it was obvious that their little 9 year old boy threw the rock. It was also obvious that the dad didn't want to pay for it (I wouldn't either) but he came to take a look at the car anyway. Sister Flores wanted him to pay for the window, and he didn't want to admit anymore that his son did it because he didn't want to pay for it, so they decided to call the police. Of course, the cops didn't speak Spanish, and they favored the man who could speak English, so they just left without doing anything about it. I felt really bad for Sister Flores, who was the victim of not just some little boy's mistake, but an obvious victim of discrimination because of her brown skin. I did all that I could do to help, and at least I could give Sister Flores a voice and stand up for her, but her neighbor totally took advantage of her, and no one else would stand up for the little, old shop-owner from El Salvador. Where was the justice OR mercy in this? Where was the christian love that we should show for our neighbor? It's a sad story, and stories like that are all over the place here.
I wish sometimes that I could just take away the suffering and trails from those that I love, but I know all too well that I cannot. The Plan of Salvation would be pointless and ruined if that were possible, and we would never be able to learn or progress. I certainly don't love suffering, but I'm grateful for adversity in my life. It's the adversity in my life that has made me who I am, and it's my Savior that has helped me to overcome such adversity in a positive way. Without the suffering of Jesus Christ, all of the suffering that we go through is in vain. Without the Atonement that He freely offered, adversity would do nothing more than beat us down, and we would have no hope for the future. Through the Atonement, we are healed, we overcome tribulation, and we receive the strength necessary to fight another day and press forward. Let us face adversity and suffering with a hopeful heart and optimism.
We should learn from the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we should lift one another. Why don't we stand up for those who are oppressed? Why don't we stand as witnesses of Christ is not just word only, but in DEED? Let us lift the heavy hearts of our brethren! Let us show them the love that our Savior showed all of us! Let us allow the pure love of Christ to be our motive, our walk and our talk. Find someone who is hurting, and do something good for them. That's what Christ would have you do.
I love what I do, and I am honored by the opportunity to suffer scorn and affliction for the name of Christ. He already did the same for me.
Thank you for your prayers. I feel them sustaining me. I've never felt the power of prayer more profoundly in my life as I have this past week. Remember that the, "fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) I'll need your prayers this week as I have to see the doctor again.
With much love from your favorite elder,
-Elder Shepherd
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