So... this week... I´ll be honest. It was rough. But weeks like this make us stronger. And it´s only up from here. I am doing better now and everything goes on. I am a missionary! What better thing is there to be? I love the work and I love being part of the Lord´s army to bring the truth to the world. Something that really helped me this week was reading something that Hermana Gonzalez gave me:
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
President Henry B. Eyring
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won´t look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am done with low living, small talking, colorless dreams, tamed visions, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, position, promotions, or popularity. I don´t have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won´t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go ´til I drop, preach ´til all know, and work ´til He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My banner will be clear.
I love you all so much! Keep up the good work with the scripture study! So proud!
All my love,
Hermana Shelley
PS- tell Mackay that I love him for me! He is going to be so great. Tell him I pray for him. I am excited to hear all about his miracles in the Philippines.
President Henry B. Eyring
I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won´t look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am done with low living, small talking, colorless dreams, tamed visions, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, position, promotions, or popularity. I don´t have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gate is fast, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won´t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go ´til I drop, preach ´til all know, and work ´til He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me.
My banner will be clear.
Isn´t that just so great? It really helped a lot this week. I know that we are going to pick things back up here. People are slowly coming back from vacation, we are meeting new people every day, and things are moving along. It will all come together.
I forgot to tell you! Last week, we BOTH got bit by a dogs... sort of... Hermana Gonzalez´s experience happened one day, and mine the next, but they were almost identical. We were walking normally, when all of a sudden a dog jumped out at me... I felt the teeth, just above my knee, but didn´t have any pain. When I looked down, there was nothing but slobber! It was truly a miracle and it came to my mind right away that we had physical protection for keeping our COVENANTS! What a blessing that was!
The weather has been REALLY weird. One day hot. Next we DIE from the cold, the next rain, the next a mixture of all three. WEIRD! And we are never prepared for what is to come. Rude.
Our investigators are chugging along. Walter wasn´t baptized this week. He is a wonderful man with a great heart and a HUGE desire to be baptized. His thing is that he doesn´t want to give money as tithing. He knows that tithing is a law of Heaven, but he wants to know where the money is going and that it is where he wants it. He accepted a new baptismal date for this coming Sunday, and said that he is going to pray really hard to be able to accept the law of tithing. I know that he will receive his answer and we are going to be with him every day to help him in the process. We feel that we just need to help him strengthen his testimony in the restoration... if the church is true, and we have prophets of God, all of the rest is true as well.
We met a great couple the other day, Gabriela and Lucas. They are really young and cute and just had their first baby! They are both the nicest people. The hard thing is that they work on Sundays, but we are working with them to get some time to come to church. They were a reference from a brother in the other branch that drives a remis (oh... sorry, Grandma... never answered that question... remis is like a taxi but slower and therefore CHEAPER... a missionary´s 2nd favorite word next to FREE!)
Daniel is still really great, but his wife doesn´t absolutely love us... her sister is a preacher, so she´s trying to convince him to be baptized in her church. We know that if they will both read, pray, and attend church, that they will receive their testimonies.
Life as a missionary is still great! I can´t believe that Mackay is heading out this week! I want to share this scripture...
Alma 17:13-14
...and they separated themselves, and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work that they had undertaken, and assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God...
Isn´t that so great!? I am so grateful to be sharing this experience with you! And I keep hearing great things about the Philippines... like whole families being baptized, super high numbers, and other great successes! Thank you for your example. Get out there and enjoy it. If you don´t understand a word, it doesn´t even matter. Love the people. You can love them even when you don´t understand a word that comes out of their mouth. And the ONLY universal language is the Spirit. Work with the Spirit and the people seriously don´t even care when we say such silly things.
I forgot to tell you! Last week, we BOTH got bit by a dogs... sort of... Hermana Gonzalez´s experience happened one day, and mine the next, but they were almost identical. We were walking normally, when all of a sudden a dog jumped out at me... I felt the teeth, just above my knee, but didn´t have any pain. When I looked down, there was nothing but slobber! It was truly a miracle and it came to my mind right away that we had physical protection for keeping our COVENANTS! What a blessing that was!
The weather has been REALLY weird. One day hot. Next we DIE from the cold, the next rain, the next a mixture of all three. WEIRD! And we are never prepared for what is to come. Rude.
Our investigators are chugging along. Walter wasn´t baptized this week. He is a wonderful man with a great heart and a HUGE desire to be baptized. His thing is that he doesn´t want to give money as tithing. He knows that tithing is a law of Heaven, but he wants to know where the money is going and that it is where he wants it. He accepted a new baptismal date for this coming Sunday, and said that he is going to pray really hard to be able to accept the law of tithing. I know that he will receive his answer and we are going to be with him every day to help him in the process. We feel that we just need to help him strengthen his testimony in the restoration... if the church is true, and we have prophets of God, all of the rest is true as well.
We met a great couple the other day, Gabriela and Lucas. They are really young and cute and just had their first baby! They are both the nicest people. The hard thing is that they work on Sundays, but we are working with them to get some time to come to church. They were a reference from a brother in the other branch that drives a remis (oh... sorry, Grandma... never answered that question... remis is like a taxi but slower and therefore CHEAPER... a missionary´s 2nd favorite word next to FREE!)
Daniel is still really great, but his wife doesn´t absolutely love us... her sister is a preacher, so she´s trying to convince him to be baptized in her church. We know that if they will both read, pray, and attend church, that they will receive their testimonies.
Life as a missionary is still great! I can´t believe that Mackay is heading out this week! I want to share this scripture...
Alma 17:13-14
...and they separated themselves, and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work that they had undertaken, and assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God...
Isn´t that so great!? I am so grateful to be sharing this experience with you! And I keep hearing great things about the Philippines... like whole families being baptized, super high numbers, and other great successes! Thank you for your example. Get out there and enjoy it. If you don´t understand a word, it doesn´t even matter. Love the people. You can love them even when you don´t understand a word that comes out of their mouth. And the ONLY universal language is the Spirit. Work with the Spirit and the people seriously don´t even care when we say such silly things.
I love you all so much! Keep up the good work with the scripture study! So proud!
All my love,
Hermana Shelley
PS- tell Mackay that I love him for me! He is going to be so great. Tell him I pray for him. I am excited to hear all about his miracles in the Philippines.
PICTURES: 1. Boat dock-Ushuaia, Argentina
2. Kailei hasn't changed!! Do they look like twins?
3-4. View of the ocean-Ushuaia, Argentina
5. Ushuaia, Argentina
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