Bankstown 3 Week 9

Wow! Big news! I was just informed this morning while buying groceries that President Lew would like our area to work as 3 missionaries. Elder Bartholemew, who just landed today from the MTC will be joining Elder Lam and I. I joked with Elder Lam and let him know that President called and wants him to train 2 missionaries, myself and a brand new missionary from the MTC, his jaw dropped and he goes, "are you kidding!?" Haha it was good fun, but yeah..... please keep Elder Bartholemew and Elder Lam in your prayers as both of them will have to suffer from me trying to train them here in Australia. Those poor missionaries. We had so many miracles this week! I will let my letter to President let you know about them. We have to go to our Zone BBQ that we are already late for.... oops! :)

Love you all!

This week was the best that I have had in this area for sure! We saw so many miracles that happened between Friday and Saturday. To start off, our investigator invited us to have dinner together last Friday night to celebrate my birthday. So, I asked him if I could invite a couple of my friends from the branch as well. Since it was my birthday, he kindly accepted! But the greatest miracle was that both of them brought a nonmember friend, and also one of the recent converts that I taught in the city surprised me by showing up as well! It was so great to see many friends gathered together in friendship together. I kept pondering about how I could share a message with these wonderful people since the original lesson I had planned for that one investigator wouldn't be fitting for such a large group. I felt prompted to just share my story of how I grew up, why I came here on a mission, and how each of these people has affected my life so much. After I shared that, the conversation turned to having birthday cake and so forth, but after we finished eating and left the restaurant, one of the nonmembers said that she was really touched by what I had said and she expressed interest in hearing more of "my story." Thanks to good friends, who jumped on the opportunity, she went to church in the city the next day and will be meeting with missionaries up there. The other nonmember brought said that he would like to meet with us again as well! And the original investigator who invited us was greatly strengthened by the friendships made that night. It was quite a success!! 

On Saturday, we had quite a bit of finding time since we are continuing to build our area. There were great miracles that happened! We really wanted to invite all our investigators to Brad's baptism at 2pm, so we started calling and inviting everyone after our companionship study to give them some time, and while we didn't get any of our investigators to come, one of our potentials said she would love to meet with us that day. We met with her right before the baptism and before her appointment which was the same time as Brad's baptism. She is so prepared!! She commited to baptism, to come to church, and to pray daily! On Wednesday we will see her again and set a date and give her a copy of the Book of Mormon so she can gain a testimony of that. After we commited her to baptism she said "the only thing is, I want to make sure I know all the rules and guidelines that come along with being Christian. I don't like to break the rules, so I wont be baptized unless I know what I can and cannot do." She is very sincere and loved church. After the baptism, we came back and continued to find more since our other appointments fell through. Another miracle ensued! A young man named Yang invited us to sit down on the bench with him after we approached him and talked for a minute. At first he seemed to just compare what our beliefs were to his "cultural buddhism." Many people here are that way, they don't truly believe in buddhism, but it is a cultural lifestyle for them growing up, so they naturally follow those beliefs and such. But as we continued to testify and answer his questions, he continued to feel the Spirit more. He also commited to come to church the next day and offered the prayer before we left. I am so glad that the Spirit will lead us and guide us in all that we do. There are so many people in the world that it would be easy to just get lost talking to those who are not prepared yet. But as we continue to follow the Spirit and talk to everyone in our path, the Lord will place those in our path who are prepared, and on special occasions, he has clearly told me who I need to talk to. Each time a wonderful experience has followed. I know that I am only entitled to the companionship of the Holy Ghost as I continue to be obedient, and so I will always do all that I can to make sure I am exactly obedient to His will.

Bankstown 3 Week 8

Well, thank you all for the birthday wishes. It's weird to think that this Friday I will no longer be a teenager haha :) But I am excited to spend my birthday doing what I love most! So yes, as you know I am "training" Elder Lam. He is from Hong Kong, a convert of 5 years and is pretty awesome! I say "training" Because he already served 3 months in Hong Kong and is set up and ready to go! I am excited to be his companion! He is helping me a lot with Cantonese already! I love all of his great ideas and his broken English haha. It makes for some great laughs as I mess up in Cantonese and he makes some minor mistakes in English in our conversations. But between the two of us, we are fluent in both Cantonese and English, so it works out alright ;)

Had to respond to a couple Happy birthday emails so I didn't have as much time today, love you all!!!

Hello!! This week has been so great for Elder Lam and I! I hope it has been well for you and Sister Lew as well. It has been a pretty crazy week getting things all sorted out with the training meetings, explaining the area, establishing a good relationship with the new branch mission leader, and planning for some great activities the branch will be hosting for our upcoming "missionary month" that the branch is focusing on this month. But it has all been great! just one small question, you said I would be training. Well, Elder Lam is already trained and ready to go! :) His understanding of the gospel, teaching skills, obedience, and worth ethic amaze me! He and I are both going through the 12 weeks program together again, but I truly feel that it is not me training him one bit, but us reviewing and training one another. His 3 months service in Hong Kong before coming here to Australia has helped him tremendously and he truly is a great asset to this area. We had some great miracles this past Sunday! Studying Chapter 9 of Preach my Gospel as per your request gave me some new ideas for finding and we tried to put them into practice this Sunday after Church. Miracles happened! We were able to add 4 new investigators in the space of less than 4 hours, gave out all of my Restoration Pamphlets that I had in my bag, a copy of the Book of Mormon, and committed someone to watch the Restoration Video that we helped them to find on Youtube. It was an amazing day! :) I have come to realize more and more that when I find, the only thing I need to do is ask questions as directed by the Spirit, and testify. Doing this has brought more success than I could have imagined. I love to be a servant of the Lord and to testify to everyone that I can about Christ. The upcoming week will be another great one indeed, I already know it! :)

Bankstown 3 Week 7

WHAAA! Why does time always run out :( We once again had another crazy pday where emails had to be put at the end of the day, and I have to leave in 3 minutes to go and give a baptismal interview for a family in our district. Her and her son will be baptized tomorrow evening! :) They are from the Philipines, and are doing quite well. So 2 more baptized for our district!

 

So as you will read, transfers happened this last Monday. My entire district got transferred except for me and the travelling sisters. Myself and Elder Ng are splitting and we are both training new elders. We will pick them up tomorrow, so I don't know who it is yet, sorry! :) The new elders in our flat though are awesome! They are quite funny in their personality, but are very humble so I know they will have great success! One is from Japan and his English is...... improving :) the other is from Kalamath Falls, Oregon, so it is fun to know someone from the NW here as well!

 

Love you all so much!

 

Where has the time gone?! Elder Ng and I it seems just started our time together and now we are seperating so that both of us can train new missionaries. Time truly does fly when you are involved in the Lord's work! This week has been a rush but also has had some great miracles! Though the baptismal dates are still hard in coming, You will find that I am persistent and so I know we will get some this week. We have plans in motion to set 2 this week, so with faith and prayers it will happen. This week in regards to asking for referrals. There was this one investigator Elder Philips and I went to see when I was on trade offs with the Hurstville elders. It was an interesting meeting with him, mostly just us hearing his complaints about his neighbors and family, but after we shared about gratitude through reading the parable of the 10 lepers, He mentioned that we as missionaries should go around healing others as Christ did, and said specifically "you should carry with you a healing message to give to people." I dont think he knew exactly what he was saying because he was exactly right even though he was trying to make a mock of us in a joke. We do carry a message of healing! And funny enough, at the end of the lesson, I asked "brother Michael, we do like to share our message of healing with everyone, who do you know that we could share it with?" Immediately after he gave us a number and an address that we could go visit!, though he "didn't care much for the man" he thought he could use a bit of our healing message, so he gave us his details. Elder Philips was blown away and I thought it was a great miracle as well!

I am grateful for this opportunity to train a new elder. At your training you mentioned that we should feel a great responsibility and that we should not treat this lightly. I do. I will do my best to turn this young missionary into the best "preach my gospel" missionary he can be in 12 weeks. Because with how many more are coming, I wouldn't be suprised one bit if he starts training right after he is trained! That's my goal and vision for him, so I will do all I can to achieve it. This week has been a great one. We set a new record for our member present lessons this week, so that is quite exciting! We will continue to reach new and greater heights in the branch. Plus, we got a new Branch Mission Leader who is an RM and is very excited to help us turn this branch into a ward. It will take some time, but I know it's possible! Thanks for all that you and Sister Lew do for us. I can really feel your love and thank you for it

 

Love,

 

Elder Shafer

Bankstown 3 Week 6

Sorry, we ran out of time this week, I will just post my email to the Mission President. Love you all!!  

This week has been amazing! So many miracles and such great experiences that have really caused me to become aware of my need for humility and improvement! I constantly see how much I need to rely on the Lord in order to accomplish this work. This week we had some great miracles while tracting. We don't often tract here since so many people are on the street, but with school holidays, we decided to try some to see if people were home instead of going to the trains for classes. We found some great miracles! The first was that we were able to walk into someone's home, teach them about the Plan of Salvation and commit to seeing them again in 3 days! It was such a great miracle for us!! Another great thing was that about 15 minutes after that, we tracted into someone who we felt prompted to ask if they needed some help around their house with lawncare and such. The wife was deeply moved and when we came back the next day she mentioned that just the previous sunday she had prayed in her church asking Heavenly Father to help her manage things around her house. Her husband is not in the physical condition to work outside and her back has been having a lot of pain as she is trying to keep up her yard. She prayed for help and 2 days later we knocked on her door. We were able to share a message with her of why we serve found in Mosiah 2:17 and let her know that we serve because of our love for our Heavenly Father and His children. She agreed to having us come back, but since she is not Chinese, we will pass the ball to the trusted Hurstville Elders who I know will do a great job in continuing to teach her and her husband. Later, we continued to see great success as we contacted 2 referalls who come to a branch activity last Friday. A mother with 2 sons, the older one is 13 and the youngest almost 3. She and her older son committed to be baptized and came to all 3 hours of church yesterday! They are so prepared!!!! The work here is starting to pick up as we have added 5 new investigators this last week which is great because many of them have either returned home to China, or have stated for one reason or another they would not be able to keep meeting with us. As Elder Ng and I have pressed forward with faith and hard work, we have seen the miracles of heaven continue to pour out upon our heads! I love the work here and the Branch here!!!!! :)

This week, studying how to use time more wisely, I realized I need to be better at keeping up to date records of potentials and people. We do well in keeping track of our lessons, but unfortunately, other areas of organization could use a bit of improvement, and so with some new goals and planning set in motion, I am excited to become more organized and time-efficient! This week really has been great.

Elder Shafer

Bankstown 3 Week 5

Hello family!!

What an awesome week and especially weekend! We had the special opportunity to be involved in a stake "mini mission." Each elder or sister had a new companion (or some of the sisters had 3 new companions for a short time) to which they were assigned. We picked them up every morning at 7am starting on Friday. Had breakfast at the church, studied there, and then at 10 am until 9pm we were out doing our normal missionary routine! It was a very new but awesome experience. We did this for 3 days and then at the end we had a fireside meeting in which each mini missionary had a couple minutes to express their thoughts and feelings. The most common theme was "I never knew how hard missionary work is." But most of those who said this also stated right afterwards how much they enjoyed it. My favorite experience is Elder Tait's I will try to remember his words as accurately as possible, he said something similar to:

"I was companions with Elder Balenaivaukau (he had to try 3 times to pronounce it correctly :)) I learned 3 main things through my mini mission :1) Walking is hard. 2) This area has a lot of hills 3) Missionary work is so enjoyable!.

 I never knew how difficult missionary work is. My companion and I spent most of saturday walking up and down hills trying to contact and teach Less Active and Part-member families. None of them were home or would let us in. I remember in the middle of the day just feeling exhausted and wanted to give up. Then I looked over at my companion who had the same expression the whole day. A small smile and looking as if he was not tired at all! I thought originally it was probably because he is a rugby player ( he was on the national rugby team for Fiji before his mission) But it inspired me to be better. So we kept walking and had little luck all that day, but I truly began to just love the work. When we did have success, it was worth all the walking."

I really like how this mini missionaries attitude was changed and also how he rose to the occasion instead of giving up like he had mentioned he wanted to do. He inspired me to make sure I was always being the kind of missionary that when my companion needs an uplifting smile and a look of energy, I can give it. 

I will let my weekly letter talk about some of our experiences with my companion over the weekend:

This week was quite a great one! Although we had several of our most progressing investigators drop us because of either family opposition or moving to another house, we know that the Lord has a plan for them and that we can continue to rise up and build up our area here. This weekend was such a great experience. Being able to have mini missionaries with us for 3 days was such a blessing and was so enjoyable! The greatest miracle, for me, was when I heard Elder Malolo (my mini missionary companion, 16 years of age) stand up and bear his testimony that he now wanted to go on a mission. Our first day together He said he was not sure if he wanted to or not. So, trying as hard as I could to allow him to have a great experience, we went out and experienced as many areas of missionary work as we could in those couple days. We performed service for a nonmember, we tracted houses, contacted people on the street, taught investigators, member families, YSA's and had a great experience at a branch activity. With every new experience he was quite shy, but with a little time and work, he felt great accomplishment. I think my favorite experience was in tracting with him. He was scared to death when I first invited him to start the conversation. After a quick "Hello, we are missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, We have a message of Jesus Christ we would like to share with you." the person said they were not interested and shut the door gently. That was probably a miracle, no doors were slammed on us during tracting, only a lot of "no, thank you's." But after the door was shut, he sighed so big I thought he had been holding his breath for an hour! :) This one experience though helped him to continue to open his mouth and steadily he became more comfortable. When we finally were accepted into someone's house ( I tried a unique strategy- to ask if I could use someone's bathroom- which allowed us to step into their home and My companion was able to talk with them, and then we could switch) he was very ready to start talking and had a great conversation with the Husband. They were very nice and welcomed us to come back anytime and even thanked us for dropping by to use their restroom! It was quite a successful miracle in my opinion. 
Another great experience this week was in the branch activity on Saturday night. Our branch is quite small as you know and so we were quite worried that there were be few in attendance, but to our grateful surprise, more people showed up to it than we normally have at sacrament meeting! There were less actives I had not met, nonmember spouses who came with the rest of their family, and also some friends of members who all seemed to have a great time. One of the potential investigators even asked Elder Ng what she would have to do in order to get baptized!! It was such a great event and we now have several people we can follow up with and experiences we can share together with them to help them either come back into activity, or join the church. What's more is that I think the members really enjoyed this activity and were spiritually uplifted by it, and so the next activity we have will likely be even better since this one was such a success. I really do love this little branch. It is great to have the opportunity to help where help is needed so badly. There are many things to do, and few hands available to do them, so I wish I could grow more because I really have a desire for this branch to grow and flourish. I know it has great potential and I want to help that be achieved. 

One area of missionary work I forgot to mention we got into was our car breaking down haha! I accidentally left the lights on (we are required to always drive with our lights on because if you get in an accident, and your head lights are on, automatically, 10% of the blame shifts to the other party, and thus can save you quite a pretty penny..... cool fact given to us by our fleet elders who deal with car issues for the whole mission) and so we got back to our car when we needed to go to a dinner apt and it wouldnt turn over. Fleet ( the 2 elders assigned to take care of the temporal needs of missionaries, so we can fully focus on proselyting- Car problems, bike problems, flat repairs, etc)  was an hr away, so they couldn't give us a jump, and no other missionary vehicles have jumper cables, so we had to tract until someone had cables haha! Luckily it was only 2 houses, but it was a great opportunity to receive of some help and talk to them. The person who actually gave us a jump waved us away right when we got out of the car an hour previous. We saw him outside and went to say hello but he just waved us on and wouldnt let us come up. But I guess Heavenly Father really wanted us to at least talk to him. He still didn't even take our number in case he ever needed help, but that's okay. He will still be blessed for Helping out the Lord's servants, so that is good! 

Well my time is about up, but it really was a pretty good week! Unfortunately Jason, when he talked to his parents about his desire to be baptized, his mom got very angry and though his father supported him, she did not. We met with him one more time because he still really wants to learn from us, but he said that he will have to take a break from lessons since his parents are paying for him to attend uni here and he needs to respect their views. I really hope his mother's heart will be softened with time, because he has changed so much! In his last text he was really grateful and mentioned "Thanks for all that you have taught me, you really have helped me to get a great start in my relationship with God." 

There are so many wonderful people here that are like this. They have the seed planted and it is growing, but the growth is temporarily hindered by close friends or acquaintances. nevertheless, I know that one day things will all work out. The Lord always has plans in motion to allow everyone the opportunity to receive the gospel, even if the first opportunity doesn't work out, there will be another one in the future.

Love you all!

Elder Shafer

Bankstown 3 Week 4

G'day y'all! 

It has been pretty chilly here the past week but with the purchase of a warmer jacket I will be just fine from today on :) This week was quite great! I will let the email to President tell you a bit about it.

What a great week!! The opportunity to go to the Temple, and have zone conference plus a great Zone Training Meeting on Friday and a brief but effective power exchange with the Zone Leaders on Saturday made for a lot of time out of our proselyting area, but we still had a great week! It just made us plan even more effectively and allowed us the fun and privelidge of teaching appointments back to back on several days. It was so great to have Jason and Andy there at church this week. I guess it has been a while since this branch has seen new investigators coming to church because they were really welcoming and glad to meet these two new faces! But Elder Ng and I will continue to surprise the ward as we already have 4 lined up to come to sacrament this next Sunday and it's only Monday! :) I am really grateful for the opportunity to be here and serving in this area. with such a small branch there is a great amount of work to do which is excellent! The branch is starting to get more excited about missionary work and Elder Ng and I will continue to stir that fire. I believe as they see how passionate and hard working we are towards missionary work, they will take a part of our fire and use it to either start or stoke theirs, and before you know it, we will be burning it up in Bankstown 3! It is a little humorous because he and I joke about how our baptismal dates ran away to China, but we will keep adding more in the time that they are gone and then in August when they return, we will be quick to continue in their conversion. 
This week one of the greatest miracles was Andy and Jason staying for all 3 hours of church. Many investigators do not like to stay for all three hours, but both of them stayed and really enjoyed each hour. They both were excited to come back again next week as well. I really have such high hopes and aspirations for this little branch and this area. I know it has great potential to grow. I think it really helped having you and Sister Lew show up to sacrament meeting. Almost everyone that bore their testimony mentioned you both and then I also heard members mention how great it was to meet you and her even though you just recently arrived. 

Another Miracle this week was Ben. Elder Ng contacted him originally 8 weeks ago, and has kept semi frequent contact since Ben has said he has been very busy, but finally, after 8 weeks of compassion and persistence, Ben said that he would have time to meet with us. It was a great first meeting even though it was abruptly cut short. We were working towards inviting him to be baptized and attend church as well when he got a call from work saying he had to go back early from his lunch break and he needed to leave right away to make it on time. That was unfortunate, but I am glad that we got to meet with him and we will see him again this week. Maybe having to leave early will help him to set aside more time to meet with us next so we can teach a proper lesson. But he and his wife are recently married and are just starting to settle down here and I think they would be a great addition to the branch. So we will work on it :) 

Thank you again for yours and Sister Lew's comments at the Conference last Wednesday. I could really feel your love and I do know that you have been called to be my Mission President and Mission Mom at this time. I could feel that without a doubt and I am grateful for it.

So as you can see, I love my new Mission President and mission mom! Sister Lew is from Hong Kong and is probably 4'11" haha. She is tiny! :) When she stood behind the pulpit to talk to us during our first conference I could barely seen her and the mic was practically touching the podium haha, but seriously, they are the greatest! I really love and respect President and Sister Howes, but I truly felt different as President and Sister Lew were addressing us. I knnow that they are meant to be my mission Parents at this time. well how about that Worldwide Training Broadcast heh? It is pretty exciting the things that will be up and coming in the future to progress the work along. I am not sure how it will feel using Facebook as a missionary, but if that is what the Lord wants, it shall be done. I am sure it will not be the same use as before at home. Most likely It will be a new account as Elder Shafer, but who knows. Either way, that plus Mormon.org and other media usage, I know will bring us greater sucess. That truly is the day and age we live in now. As shown by the broadcast too. They showed so many videos and clips during it! 

We had a great dinner with Marc Gardner (Jr) this last week. He is heading back to Hawaii for school but invited us out to dinner with him and an investigator friend of his. He also spoke in our combined sacrament meeting we had with the other ward before viewing the broadcast a week from yesterday. It was really cool to retell his story with my investigators and other members. There are no coincidences for sure. Now that I live in the area, Marc Sr and I will be in contact more often as well. He wants to show me around Mom's old house that is still here from 30 years ago! Pretty cool! :) 

I am so fortunate to be here in this area at this time. Cantonese keeps improving and is an answer to prayer every day. I have a LONG ways to go, but at least I am getting a lot better at understanding people. I didn't realize how differently even Cantonese people speak one from another. Each city has it's own accent and so not only is the language difficult, but understanding different people's accents adds to the mix as well. I can understand Hong Kong accents the easiest because I have had HK companions, but I am finally starting to get the Guangzhou accents down a bit more as well. Now just a couple other cities in the large mass of Southern China and I will be okay haha, but I know that the Lord is helping me every step of the way. 

I love you all so much! Time just keeps flying by over here! Does the world spin as fast on that side of the planet as this one??

Also, Wanted to just double check and see the update for the New mission. Who is the New Mission President in Vancouver? How are things going there regarding that? I pray that you will accomplish your missionary goals back home!

Love,

Elder Shafer

Bankstown 3 Week 3 (sorry a week late in posting)

Wow, this week has been such an experience ;) I wrote a long letter to President Lew today since he just got here yesterday, and our mission finally opened when he stepped off the plane. So exciting! :) I also had to write a couple other good recent converts back so the time today was not quite as long as I was hoping, but I wanted to make sure they knew how to keep in contact since we can contact now that the missions are different. I love you all! Keep me updated on how things are!  

Hello!!!! :) It is so great to have the opportunity to write you! I hope to not come across as overly excited, but to be honest, I am very excited for the hastening of the Lord's work here in the Australia Sydney South Mission. I have just recently moved here into the Cantonese Branch 2 weeks ago, and it has been such a wonderfully different experience. As you may know, I have served my entire mission in the city until this point and so working in a much larger area, being fully immersed in Cantonese, learning to drive safely on the other side of the road, teaching in member's homes rather than the nice quiet teaching center with the chapel right upstairs, and much more has been a very different experience than previously in my mission. However, I am thrilled and look forward to the future of this branch here. This week was definitely one to build the faith of Elder Ng and myself. We had our investigator with a baptismal date receive opposition from his family that has caused him to not desire to be baptized anymore, another investigator of ours that we had found recently and who we felt had great potential to be baptized next month also texted us letting us know he could not believe the things we had taught and he previously had agreed with, and another progressing investigator also has seemed to be much less interested in continuing to learn about the Gospel. Amidst these sad experiences though, I know that we can and will rise above what we had ever expected as we keep focused on the Savior and are working to fulfill His will. Elder Ng and I continue to grow closer together, especially through these experiences of trial. I feel that we are fulfilling the wonderful scripture of Ether 6:12: "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

Though we cannot see it yet, as we continue to exercise our faith, I know we will see miracles continue to happen. It is interesting, but I do believe that the Lord is preparing this area to recieve of Elder Ng and myself. Perhaps we are not the right missionaries to continue to teach those specific people who do not desire to learn at this time. It may be hard to accept and understand that, but I know that He guides and directs this work. I have seen that there are people who I feel have been specifically prepared to meet me, and so I believe that is the same here. The Lord has more prepared to be taught and found by Elder Ng and myself and so I am excited to go out and accomplish His plans. 

I want you to know how much my mission means to me. These people and these experiences have changed my life forever. It seems an interesting pattern for me how the more I continue to give to the Lord, the more He continues to give back. I have been blessed to have a wonderful family, a knowledge of the gospel, good health, great friends, the list goes on and on, and when I feel that I have no other area in which I deserve blessings, and I truly want to just give back, He continues to pour out blessings upon my head. Perhaps you can solve the equation for me, because I have not yet figured it out :) He truly is so merciful. 

I am very excited to be here at this monumental time of the work. In one of my favorite poems, written by Elder Eyring it states "my past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure." I truly feel that way now. I am by no means a perfect missionary, but I know that the efforts and work I put into my last area was pleasing unto the Lord and the mistakes I have made in the past are redeemed. At this time in the present, my goal and mission makes sense. And with Faith in the Lord, I know my future always is secure. The work here is so amazing. There is lots of it, which is great because I love to work. 

I am sure that there are many things which are upon your mind at this moment and there may be several things which cause you concern or worry, but I want to let you know Elder Ng and I are here to work, serve, and do everything we can to bring about eternal happiness for these people here. Since you do live quite close to us, if there is ever any help that you need, we are always willing to help a neighbor :) I am excited to meet you and Sister Lew in this upcoming week.

Elder Shafer