Freezing Rain

Still no snow yet...It sure is raining a lot though. Have you ever been in ''freezing rain'' before? I hadn't ever experienced this phenomenon until coming on the mission. The temperature is just warm enough to have rain, but it's cold enough at ground level that everything is below freezing. Anyway, what happens is that it rains and then freezes to whatever it hits. Windshield wipers were frozen to the windshields of cars, and the ground is slick and icy. It's quite messy. I do love the rain, but it better snow soon or I'm gonna lose it. Apparently, most of Connecticut and New York (and most of the east coast) got pounded with snow, but Rhode Island was completely untouched... la tristeza de me vida...

 I attached a picture of me having a "holly jolly" Christmas. I thought it was funny. The other picture has a funny story to go along with it: We returned to our apartment to eat lunch and we were both really really really tired. My companion went a flopped down on the couch in that exact position with his hands over his eyes and, almost instantly, fell asleep. I could tell because he began to snore like a monster. My camera has this cool feature where you can add a 'sound tag' to a picture, so I recorded him snoring and attached it to the picture of him sleeping. I can't send the snoring through the email, but the picture is still pretty funny.
 We had a fireside last night in our ward that the missionaries planned. We asked the bishop what he felt like the ward needed to learn about. He returned and asked us to speak about reverence. The topic of our fireside last night was reverence. Elder Allred, a Spanish missionary serving in Central Falls, was the first speaker. He focused on reverence in the chapel particularly, and why we should be reverent. We then had a special musical number by the 4 of us missionaries. We sang "The First Noel" a cappella in Spanish in 3 parts. I love serving with other missionaries who can sing! We then had a visitor from the stake bear his testimony, and then I spoke. I spoke about reverence as part of our character, something that follows us wherever we go. Reverence isn't just something taken upon yourself for 3 hours every Sunday, it is your whole attitude towards God that follows you everywhere (or should follow you everywhere). It is profound respect for sacred things, and reflects in your words, thoughts, feelings, and behavior. I spoke specifically of the home and the family, and the type of 'reverence' that should exist there. Pictures of Christ should be displayed in our homes. It should be a refuge, a place of peace where the Holy Spirit can abide and always be welcome. Reverence involves how parents treat and educate their children, how siblings treat and teach one another, and the kinds of activities that take place in the confines of the home. If parents don't teach their children reverence in the home, then they can not be surprised when their children don't behave well or behave even worse out of the home. Anyway, I spoke along those lines for a little while. The fireside was well attended, despite it being a very rainy night. Those who know Hispanic people may know that they are late to EVERYTHING. Is that reverent? No. In no way does that denote reverence or respect. They plan for every activity to begin at least 30 minutes AFTER the stated starting time. It's terrible. Anyway, when we started the fireside at 7 PM on the dot there were only about 6 members there. When we ended, there were 63 members in attendance... Great turnout! The majority of them walked in during Elder Allred's talk (about 20 minutes late).  I lovingly called them to repentance. Change is hard, but we'll see if things begin to turn around.
The Christmas Musical Program that I've been planning for a while debuted last Wednesday at our mission conference. It went really well! I was really excited to work with lots of different missionaries and put their talents together. I had a lot of fun with it. We laughed, we cried, we went all over the human spectrum of emotion, and we ended on a really strong note about focusing on the Savior this Christmas season. I wish I could have recorded it.
I love you all, and I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas focused on the life and teachings of our Savior. I hope it's snowing wherever you are too.
    With much love from your favorite elder,
              -Elder Shepherd

Still no snow... :(‏

There is still no snow here in Providence. *big-depressing-sigh* I really love the snow. My companion is still unsure about the whole idea of living in a 'snowy' climate. He's never had snow for Christmas. Seeing as he's from Arizona and lives in a desert, I don't expect him to understand. I'll show him how wonderful the snow can be if taken in the right attitude. Don't misunderstand me, it's not all that great to walk for miles and miles in uncomfortable dress shoes in 2 feet of snow, soaking wet, freezing cold, and knocking on doors all day; however, don't forget the 'magic' and the 'wonder' of how beautiful the snow is and how much enjoyment we can get out of it and spoil your time and make you a Grinch. I am eagerly awaiting the first snow here.
I've really enjoyed working on this Christmas Musical that I've put together for the mission. This Wednesday all the missionaries in our mission are meeting in a chapel in Connecticut to enjoy a 'Christmas Devotional' day. We'll perform the music program I put together as part of our festivities. It'll be a good one. It's a series of narrations with songs that talk about the varying levels of Christmas worship: the 'Santa Claus' level, the 'Baby Jesus level', and "The Living Christ" level of Christmas, which is the deepest and most meaningful observance of this time of year. Celebrating the birth of Jesus is great, but we can't be content to merely leave Christ in the manger. This time isn't just significant because Christ was born, but because he would live and die for each and every one of us. May we enjoy a Christmas this year focused on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and living His teachings of love and peace.
I met Maria and her 2 teenage children, Sandria and Armando, for the first time yesterday evening. Their lives were shook when Maria's husband died 2 months ago. They've had a hard time coping with the loss, and now they're struggling to pay the mortgage. A sensitive friend of Maria, who happens to be a member of the church, saw what she was going through and referred the missionaries to her. She accepted the invitation. My heart ached for this family as I saw clearly the pain in their eyes.  I can tell that the mission is making me Christlike, because I felt so much love for them and pain for their loss, and moreover, for their confusion as to where their husband and father now was. We testified of eternal families. We showed them a picture of the Salt Lake Temple that I always carry around with me. "In this building," we explained, "you will take part in ordinances that will 'bind' you to your family for eternity. Families are forever through God's plan of happiness. He wants your family to go to the temple." We testified of the Plan of Salvation and taught them about the spirit world. The spirit flooded the room as the eyes of our understanding were opened and our hearts burned within us. The greatest joy that I've ever felt out here in the mission has been through teaching testifying of eternal families. I know that I am part of an eternal family, and that knowledge fills me peace and happiness. That knowledge will do the same for Maria and her family as they come to embrace the restored gospel.
God is so good to us.
Have a wonderful week, and don't forget to give someone a hug!
      With much love from your favorite elder,
            -Elder Shepherd

Thanksgiving rice

I'm emailing on Wednesday because the computers here in Providence didn't work on Monday. How lame.
This entire week I've been pretty sick with the flu. Being sick as a missionary is the worst. You feel like you're wasting your time because your sitting in the house all day instead of hitting the streets, but in all reality you save yourself time in the long-run if you give yourself a day or 2 to recuperate instead of trying to work several 'half-days' while you're sick. Being sick took a big shot at our plans for this week, and we missed out on a lot. We still had a good thanksgiving. We went to the chapel in Providence and played piano and sang for a while. We ate a great thanksgiving dinner with the Recino family. Thanksgiving with chicken and rice was awesome. I did miss having turkey, though.
I met Jose Quiroa about a month ago. He was the pastor of an evangelical congregation back in Guatemala, but he came here to make some money to help out his family. He's a family man so he couldn't stand being away from his family for so long and he went home to Guatemala this week. He'd been told a lot of lies and garbage about the church back in Guatemala, and he'd even been given a copy of the Book of Mormon, but he never read it because he was told that it was full of lies and that's 'how the Mormons get you'. Anyway, he warmed up to us and we had some pretty awesome talks about the gospel with Jose. We had our last lesson with him this week, and we got his address and telephone number so that the missionaries down in Guatemala can keep visiting with him. I'll never forget how I felt as we sang "God be with you til' we meet again" before leaving. Jose hugged us with tears in his eyes and thanked us. The spirit reached into our hearts and filled us with love. It was a special moment. I wish Jose 'God's Speed' as he leaves for Guatemala. He'll be missed.

I got transfer falls this weekend, and I'm staying here in Providence until the 2nd week of January at least. YAY! I really wanted to stay here in Providence for Christmas. The 2 Brazilians in my district went home, and we got 2 new Brazilians. One is a greenie and the other is going home this transfer. I attached a picture of my district from this last transfer. I feel so old... most of the missionaries are younger than me now. *sigh* It's weird.
It's raining, and I've got to go knock some doors. We're so hardcore.
   With much love from your favorite elder,
             -Elder Shepherd

The LAST door‏

Let me explain that picture that I attached. We showed up to our investigators house, and he was watching a cheesy cartoon network cartoon in spanish when we came in called "Dragonball Z". I laughed way hard, and that night, my companion and I took some fun "Dragonball Z" pictures.
The other picture has a good story with it too. We had this appointment with a woman who lives way out in the boondocks of our area. I was surprised that any Hispanic people lived there, because it was a neighborhood for old, white, well-to-do Americans, and it was just unexpected. Anyway, we walked for about 2 hours, talking to people in the streets on the way, to get out there. It was really cold and cloudy. They weren't home... That's the face that I had on.

 It turn out to be a fruitful venture, because we stopped by someone who I hadn't seen in several months. We had a nice chat with them. They think that demons have been haunting their house since we stopped going over. We said a prayer and everything felt better. We'll start teaching them again this week.
We're quickly approaching thanksgiving here and it still hasn't snowed yet... not like Utah. Andy and Ashley set me some really great pictures that I enjoyed very much of them making snowmen. I was super jealous. As soon as it snows here, my companion and I will be sending some pictures your way. The beautiful fall colors still linger here, but it's getting really cold. It's been cold enough to snow the past couple of days, but it hasn't been wet enough. It frustrates me, because all fall long it was raining and wet, and now that I want it to snow the moisture has left. *sigh* I have hope for a white Christmas still.
So, you know how in all the 'American' wards they always play football on thanksgiving? "Turkey Bowls". What a great tradition. Last year in New Haven, I participated in the turkey bowl, and I got creamed, but it was lots of fun. This year I'm in a full out Spanish ward, so no one plays American football. They play the real deal: "Futbol", or as gringos call it, soccer. They're playing 'futbol' as a ward thursday morning. I'll definitely send you some pictures, because I'll be the only white guy out there, and I'll be a foot taller than everyone else. It'll be awesome.
We had kind of a rough week this week. My companion and I are both sick, and we had to walk a lot in the cold. Lot's of our appointments cancelled. It's sad because we'd like to see more progression in the people we're currently teaching. It was good though, because we met a lot of new people who have a lot of teaching potential for the future. It doesn't matter how many doors I've knocked, or how many people I've opened up conversations with in the streets, I still have that initial 'butterfly in the stomach' feeling as I open up my mouth. "Are they gonna yell at me? The last guy spit on me... I don't know if this one looks any brighter. What am I gonna say to this person?" etc... are kind of like the thoughts that describe that feeling. It's hard getting past the doubt and fear and opening up your mouth anyway when you've already had 100 people reject you that day. What's cool about those kinds of stories is that it's always the VERY LAST door that you knock, or at the VERY LAST minute that amazing things happen. You've probably heard lots of missionary stories like that. I've lived them. This week for example, we were walking for a really long time in the freezing cold and a lot of people had already turned us down that day. People who shout, "Go Satan!" out their window as they drive by in the car taunting us, doors shut in our faces, and cold shoulders and awkward glances in the streets. Most normal people would give up by this point, but we were on a mission and we stayed strong. It was dark, we were tired, and it was probably about time for us to start heading home, but we decided to knock on one more door. This nice old man answered, let us in, served us sprite and cookies, talked with us, sang hymns with us, and invited us back. How cool is that!? God is so good to us when we persevere. I certainly don't like the pain and suffering part, but I know that no matter how fat and ugly this dark cloud may appear, it will have it's silver lining, and I'll be grateful for having seen the storm through till the end.
The mission is pretty much the greatest thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. I LOVE teaching! I LOVE the people! I don't know if that's corny or not, but it sure does ring true to how I feel. The mission has made me a much more 'grateful' person. I count my blessings more often, and I give thanks to God for them. Try it! You'll be a happier person.
I love you all so much, and I hope that you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Revelation‏

Can you remember an experience when you had a stupor of thought? I mean, like you were deeply in a train of thought, and then all of the sudden *poof* and it's gone? I feel like I have those stupors every now and again as I think about what I should teach and where I should go. It says in the Doctrine and Covenants that we need to pray and ask God if what were doing or the decision we've made is right, and if it's wrong, we'll experience a stupor of thought that causes us to forget the thing that was wrong. Every now and again, my companion and I will be walking down a street when I will have the idea, "Let's go that way instead." or "I feel like we should turn down that street." or "Let's knock this door.". I usually follow such promptings instinctively. Sometimes I have a stupor of thought that steers me away. It's an incredibly interesting process of revelation or inspiration. I had one particularly awesome experience this week on that note. We were walking down a busy road near downtown Providence as we passed by a heavily wooded park that I'd never walked through before. "We should walk through there." came the thought to my head. "Nah. There's no one in there, and there's a far greater chance of talking to people out here on this busier road.", I retorted to myself. As I thought that, the idea about staying on the busier road *poofed* from my head, and I said to my companion, "Let's walk through this park. There must be someone in here we need to talk to." He kind of shruggingly followed, probably retorting in his own head why we would walk into a vacant, wooded park, but followed me anyway. It was really pretty with all the brilliant fall colors of the leaves, and it seemed like a black and white difference from the buzz of the city. It was peaceful. It was trainquil. I could feel the spirit in here.

It wasn't long after we wondered into the park that a man seemed to show up out of nowhere. He was walking just off the paved pathway. As we got nearer to him, he saw us and motioned for us to come closer and talk to him. Both surprised and excited, we went to introduce ourselves and see if there was anything we could do for him. His name was Micheal, and he'd struggled a lot as a youth with drugs and alcohol, but he'd fixed his life and turned to God. He had gotten into an argument with his wife, and he'd been fighting the temptation to fall back into alcoholism when he decided to go into the park into some trees and pray. That's when we found him. He was convinced (as was I) that we came in answer to his prayer to receive additional guidance and help from God. We taught him about the atonement and prayer briefly, and we offered him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He accepted it with the determination to go into the trees and read through it's pages and pray and ask God if it was true. We exchanged information, and we went our way as he went into the trees. Isn't that AWESOME!? He doesn't speak spanish, so we have to pass him on to the english speaking elders, but I know that God led us to this man.

Revelation is a very interesting thing. I don't know if you know this, but we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, having made sacred covenants with God and having received the gift of the Holy Ghost, are entitled to divine guidance from heaven. We can call upon heavens aid when we need it, and we can, in essence, require that the Lord reveal His hand in our behalf. (Enos 1:15-18)  That's what the gift of the Holy Ghost really means. This gift comes with conditions. Predicated upon our faithfulness, personal righteousness, and obedience, we can request this guidance from God, and He is bound to honor it. (D&C 82:10, D&C 130:20-21) I pray every single day for the guidance of the Holy Ghost to help me, and I exercise my faith through obedience and good works, knowing that I will receive the guidance I need when need it. (D&C 84:85) I just had the thought this week that personal revelation is pretty much the coolest thing ever, and I wanted to share that.

Jose is still cruising through the Book of Mormon. He will finish it this week. He is such a good example for his non-member and member friends alike. I see a future leader in him.

My clock is running out! I only have 42 seconds left to finish this email!

I love you! The church is true!

   With love from your favorite elder,

               -Elder Shepherd

Serving is fun!‏

I had a way cool service opportunity this week with my El Salvadorian friend Teresa Flores and her corner store, "the Pulgarcito". OK, so as we walk into her store, she calls out to me," Elder! Do you know how you are always asking me if you can do anything for me? Well I have a favor to ask," she say as she puts a confusing-looking manual in front of me for a 340-ZA Sharp cash register. "My register keeps showing this error sign, and I don't know how to fix it! I can't sell anything. Can you help me?" I impulsively responded, "Of course I can!". As I sat down in front of her register with this weird manual in front of me, I remembered something, "Oh yeah... you don't know anything about cash registers. You don't know where to begin." I puzzled for a moment over this situation that I'd gotten myself into when I thought, "Well, I'll just say a prayer in my heart, and put myself to work." I began reading the manual and looking for any information about the error message that popped up on her register. I eventually found out what the message meant-"Error 02=incorrect key entry"... yeah, that was helpful. I didn't feel any closer to solving the problem then before, and the manual didn't tell you how to fix it. I was kind of hoping for an easy answer, but I wasn't getting out of it that easy. Anyway, I kept reading the manual and troubleshooting this register, and after about 30 minutes of trial and error with it, I finally pin-pointed the problem-the batteries that are used for storing the memory in case of a sudden power outage had run out, and the manual had mentioned that if that ever happens, and you switch the machine accidentally to another certain function, that this error would pop-up. (keep in mind, these answers came very spread apart over a long period of troubleshooting) I promptly replaced the batteries, but to my dismay, that only meant that the memory would be completely erased, and that I would have to reprogram the register from scratch. I had to follow a very long and tedious process, leaving the machine unplugged for EXACTLY one minute, then punching in a code as you placed the batteries in, and then programming in the tax rate and other functions following a really long series of codes in the book which, if not pushed in exact sequence, would result in a failure and I would have to start all over again. I followed the instructions to the tee, and at the end of a very long process, I had a cash register that was working properly and a very grateful El Salvadorian woman. "You fixed it!" she cried. It was one of the most satisfying feelings I've ever had.
This experience was great for a lot of reasons. I felt good knowing that I'd confronted a challenge that I knew very little about, but was able to overcome employing perseverance and the 'instruction manual'. I would have been totally lost without the manual. It was frustrating because it didn't give me the answers easily, and I had to search hard to find them, but when they came they were clear. It's satisfying when you overcome something difficult. It was also great knowing that I'd been able to make someone else's job a little easier and lighten the load for them. Service always gives you a really good, satisfied feeling afterward. This whole experience was very reminiscent of many gospel principles of which I teach every day. The 'manual', or the scriptures, truly do give us the answers to how to face our little and big problems in life, but oftentimes it requires diligent study in searching them out to find them, and usually, an answer doesn't come all at once or even in the way that we expect. Of course, it's always more satisfying afterward when you overcome something that was difficult. I remember the great words of a family favorite baseball movie, "A League of Their Own". "Of course it's hard! If it wasn't hard it wouldn't make it great!" (or something to that effect). [sister's note:  Actually, the real quote is, "It's supposed to be hard.  If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it.  The hard is what makes it great."  The middle of which doesn't fit quite as well with the point he was making, but I think we can forgive him for that.]
Hold to the rod! Even if you have no idea how to confront the next challenge ahead of you, I promise you will find true and wise counsel and direction if you hold to the iron rod. Obedience can sometimes be difficult or tedious, even undesirable, as was the case with the cash register, but 100% obedience will always yield 100% blessings. ALWAYS.

 OK, the other service opportunity I had this week has to do with the picture I attached to the email of us trying to fit that couch through the window. That was really hard. The couch didn't fit through the door, and their was no other way to get it into that house except through that window. It sure as heck didn't seem convenient, or desirable, but we just put our shoulder to the wheel, and got that couch into that house. (It took 8 elders working on either side of the couch to do it, but we did it) It was totally worth it.
Halloween was really laid back for us. We had a great day at church, then all of our appointments canceled, and we had to be in the apartment before it got dark, because Halloween is really crazy and dangerous here. I made some really good food (I cooked some chicken with green peppers, tons of spices, and rice) and we read our scriptures and talked and laughed about good ol' times. It was relaxing.
Missionary life is great. I have lots of fun experiences to share, but I usually can't remember a lot of them when I write this email. Any questions?
                                 With much love from your favorite elder,
                                        -Elder Shepherd

Stories?

I just spoke with a man here in the library named James while I was waiting for the computer. He is 22 years old and feels lots of remorse from his rebellious and wild youth and wants to change his life. I had a really good talk with him about repentance and the Atonement and I gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon with a commitment to read Alma 36 about the story of Alma the younger. I feel kind of giddy because he's in the corner reading it right now. Cool, eh?
Last night, I spoke with a man near our apartment late at night named Paul. Paul was pretty drunk, but sober enough to have a decent conversation with us. He told us that he's not a drinker, but 2 weeks ago his mother died and last night his father died, and he has 7 brothers and sisters who have shunned him and won't talk to him, and so he decided to turn to alcohol and get plastered enough to numb the pain. I felt really bad for him, and we spoke to him for about 20 minutes in the street offering counsel and comfort. It's really difficult to explain to someone who has suffered a whole lot of adversity why bad things happen to good people and help them see that among all the hardship God loves us, and has always loved us, and always will. He left the conversation feeling slightly better, and we asked him not to do anything that he would regret. I'm pretty sure that he slunk back home and wept bitterly like he told us he was going to. It would be nice to remember him in your prayers.
Yesterday, I spoke to a man named Jose who moved here from Guatemala 3 years ago, and is still working through the process of bringing his wife and 5 young children over here. My heart breaks for all the people who are separated from their families that I teach. Many of them have worked for the past 10 years or more to try and bring their families here legally because the process is so ridiculous, impossible, and expensive to get 'papers'. He was the pastor of an evangelical congregation in his country, and was really surprised to hear that 'Mormons' believe in Jesus Christ, because he'd always heard that we were a cult that worshiped the devil. He was most intrigued as we said a prayer with him to hear that we prayed to God the Father, in the name of Christ, and not that we prayed to Joseph Smith. He liked that, and again, it cleared up prior misconceptions he had. We hope to be able to help him continue to grow closer to Jesus Christ.
Earlier this week, I spoke to Plutarco, an immigrant from El Salvador who has lived in the US for 10 years working to be able to get his citizenship and bring his wife and 3 children here. Out of the goodness of his heart, he houses 2 other recent immigrants in his apartment who have no where to stay, and pays their portion of the rent to the landlord, while exhausting the rest of his money the he's saved up over the years in costly court cases to finish the process in getting his citizenship with hopes of reuniting his family. He recently was laid off at work, and greatly fears not being able to continue to cover the rent, because failure to do so would lead him to being deported and having to start the long 10 year process over again. We offered help and our love and prayers.
I think that I could share a hundred similar stories like these. All of them break my heart when I see the intolerance of others towards them, and the struggles that they go through. I ache to be able to help them and serve them. God didn't send me hear to be with the high and mighty, but the lowly, down-trodden, and battered. Frankly, this work would be incredibly depressing if it weren't for one universal truth of which I bear witness: God loves us. The effects of that love are far-reaching and far more powerful than you can imagine. I testify so because it has been the love of God, extended to me by both seen and unseen forces, that has lifted me higher and beckoned me on when I get so tired that I don't think I can take another step or knock another door. When my reservoir of energy and empathy runs dry, God quenches that thirst with living waters that sustain me.
I hope to be able to communicate to all of you through these emails what I truly feel is important about my mission. There are a lot of little things that I have recorded in my journal and my new voice/audio journal that I've been keeping up on my voice recorder(I hope to find out how I can send those entries through email) and I will cherish all those little memories, but I also hope that the change in me is evident to all of you, because I have seen such a profound change in myself.
Thanks for all your love and prayers, and thanks for reading my emails and sharing my mission with me.
       With much love from your favorite elder,
             -Elder Shepherd