Bankstown 3 Week 2

It will need to be a short letter this week, I apologize. We are going to move someone into a new house, which is conveniently located right here in our city, so it will be a great opportunity :) This week was awesome! I love everything about here. The people, the location, the ward, the FOOD, the language, and even the rain! :) It has been great. Especially with Elder Ng, he is fantastic and quite a crack up too! His laugh is amazing, I wish I could record it and send it home because it will make anyone laugh haha! So excited for the news and thank you for the package michelle! It was only missing one thing..... a little note. It's funny though because my companion and I both got packages the same day, and neither of us got a note with it. So I guess it was good for companionship unity :) Really this week was great! Going and visiting less actives and people we have not seen in a long time is such a rewarding feeling. We often go out at night to do that because people are more likely to be home, and being out on the streets at night is very scary and intimidating, so to avoid scaring people away, we feel it is smarter to use some time in the car (yes, I have gottten used to driving on the other side of the road haha) and visit those who needs an invitation back. Though we have only been welcomed in once, we have still made great contact with some of them, and allowed people to feel of our love for them. It is great to be able to go and do that more often. I have a great love for people who have stepped away from the church for one reason or another, and in my book, one person reactivated is much more important to Christ, than a new baptism. I feel that I am trying to accomplish the Savior's commission to leave the 99 and find the 1. There is a great amount of work to do here. By day we work mostly on finding new and bringing more into the fold, by night, we go to the rescue to bring them back, and always, always, we are enjoying it :) Love you all so much!!  

My core experience with God this week was being able to come so close in unity with my companion in so short a time. Elder Ng is amazing. We started off really well and each day has just gotten better and better. I had a goal to really become great friends with him by the end of this week, and it has happened! We have become close as we both are striving to be exactly obedient and working hard. The area right now definitely needs to be strengthened in terms of investigators willing to meet with us and baptismal dates, but with several new investigators (and miracles I might add!) we are very confident about setting a new and stronger pattern with people. There have been several people that even though they have big exams coming up, were still willing to meet with us, and after meeting them, I know they have been prepared and are ready. We are excited to implement the baptismal calendars with them and see them carry forward unto Christ. I think the most unique miracle we had this week was Charlene. Walking down the street, I had the thought come to offer her a pass along card right off the bat. She was walking in a hurry and when I spoke to her, she actually jumped back a step and was startled. I offered her the card, she took it but mentioned she was very busy and had to go to class, I took that as a great queue to start a conversation about her school and enjoyed a nice brisk walk with her on the way to the train station. She opened up quite a bit and we were able to set a return appointment and exchanged phone numbers. It was a great experience to have that persistence pay off. 

Another rather funny experience I was able to have this week was in standing up for my beliefs and bearing sincere testimony of the truthfulness of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. There was one man who I contacted who was atheist, and began to ask how I could belief so strongly in the existence of God though I could not see Him. As the discussion continued, he asked, "how can you know that your church is true? for example, there are some people who believe very crazy and ridiculous things." He then mentioned a couple religions I was not familiar with and ended with, "and also the mormons, believing in some buried gold book found by some boy that nobody else saw? How do you know that they aren't correct and you are wrong?" I smiled because I now understood that he had not made the connection when I introduced myself as a missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I asked him, "You know that the LDS Church and the mormons are the same, right?" He was definitely shocked and I could tell he was embarrassed for what he had said. I bore my testimony that I did know the Book of Mormon is true and that there are other witnesses of it. I offered to give him a copy and promised him he could know as well. Though he did not accept, I do know that an impression was made upon him. I hope one day to see him again and share with him more about how I know. I find it interesting how I have often felt the Spirit more strongly when testifying and standing up for my beliefs to someone who does not want to listen, than the many times I have born it to those who are interested to learn and listen. After I talk to them, I always can feel the burning in my chest knowing that the things I had declared are true, and I am glad that I can agree with Paul in stating that "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ."
As shared in the story above, I think this week my greatest practice for teaching as Jesus taught, was in bearing testimony.
I look forward to the start of the new missions because I know it will bring great energy and zeal both to the missionaries and the members. Members in the ward here are already talking about all the changes that will happen and how they are excited to see missionary work continue on. I am glad to get to know this new area and work as hard as I can to build up this part of the vineyard. I will admit, church in Cantonese was a humbling experience, as well as being asked to teach the Gospel Principles class. But with fervent prayer, Heavenly Father has provided means for me to understand well enough and to provide words to speak when I open my mouth. They may not always be grammatically correct or pronounced perfectly, but He does provide words to speak. 
I am excited for this week's upcoming Conference, I know it will be a great learning experience. 

Elder Shafer

Bankstown 3 Week 1

Dear Family and Friends:

My time in the city has come to an end, but I truly am so grateful for the experience it has been, and the experiences I will have here. I thrusted in my sickle with my might there, and truly reaped a great harvest of spiritual experiences, knowledge, and greater love for all people. Now, that harvest continues, just in a different area of the field :)

I love this area already!!!! Elder Ng is an amazing missionary and last night we had the greatest "first night" I could ever imagine. After transfer meeting, Elder Brown and I were given a map and some quick guidelines by a fellow missionary on how to get to our flat. We soon found out though that the missionary had mistakingly told us to go the wrong way. So, we pulled over to take a minute and look at the mapbook for where we were and how we could get to the place we needed to go, which neither of us had ever been anywhere near before. While pulled over, a nice man pulled up and said "you look like a couple of missionaries! Can I help you find something?" He was an answer to our silent prayer. With some correct directions, and a quick lesson I would entitle "How to use a mapbook for dummies" we were able to make it back to the flat without having too much time be lost. When we arrived home, I unloaded the car and grabbed a quick drink before running out the door again to go teach! Just how I like it :) We saw a miracle as we went and visited a former investigator. She also had invited her friend to come that day, and her friend is also interested in learning about why there are so many religions in the world. It was a very new experience for me to teach in someone's home and to teach in Cantonese. But, my core experience with God this week comes from this lesson. Elder Ng and I taught in Cantonese and I understood almost every word that He said!! :) Because they could understand Cantonese, but don't speak it, we taught in Cantonese, and she replied back in Mandarin. It was an amazing experience for me to see how even though I have not had a Cantonese companion for several months, as I continued in my studies, Heavenly Father has blessed me to continue to learn. Elder Ng and I have a great plan for how we can improve our language together that I know will work well. This week, I have really strived harder to speak audible prayers personally. Even though it is a whisper, I have noticed how speaking aloud has helped me to concentrate and not lose track of what I am truly conveying. Unfortunately, I find that when I am tired, I will get into a habit, and have found myself often praying to bless the food when I am crawling into bed. That's when I catch myself and realize.... wow, I need to pay attention. As I have tried to really focus and pray vocally, I have noticed better answers and I feel more in tune. My best practice this week for teaching as Jesus has taught is to always be positive! Often I see how when people do not keep a commitment, or do not meet our the expectations we subconsciously set for them, it is easy to get negative and not keep that positive hope that we need to. In one of our investigators prayers last week, he stated something that really touched me. He said "thank you for helping me to learn with the missionaries, I can see passion in their eyes." I have learned I need to always have that passion and hope for people. They are changing their lives. If they forget to pray a couple times or read a day or two, we should not be harsh or non-feeling. How many of us can truly say we have remembered to always pray, read and attended church every Sunday? Instead, as people feel comfortable to share the truth with us that they have not read what we have asked, we should be positive and hopeful for their future. We should boldly help them understand why it is important, and why we are saddened they didn't do what we have asked, but we can never lose that hope or that passion for them. Though many inconsequential things about serving here are different (having a car, teaching in homes or libraries etc...) I know that the basics and fundamentals of missionary work are the exact same. I am excited to serve here and am thankful for the great opportunity it will be.

As you can see, I have a new companion, and my area is called Bankstown 3. Elder Ng (from Hong Kong)

and I are serving here in the Cantonese branch, and it has already been an amazing experience. He is really helpful for learning and practicing Cantonese with me. He is a great missionary. We have started our 1 day Cantonese, 1 day English, policy that dad encouraged :) So far so good! Yesterday, when driving in the car, I followed all directions correctly in Cantonese, I learned new words, and had lots of opportunities to practice speaking. I love this language!!!! It has truly been great to work with him already. 

It's quite cold in our flat now, and in the internet cafe here too for that matter..... My fingers are freezing, so it is hard to type, but it is well worth it. We had a great first night here. Saw the miracle I talked about in President's email, and also taught another lesson that went really well! Then the fellowshipper, shouted us amazing Chinese food! Hurstville is the true chinatown of Sydney haha, the food here is really authentic and delicious. And EVERYONE here is Chinese :) Great things to come ahead. I will be in the South Mission, and my new Mission President and his wife, also speak Cantonese. I am excited for the future. Please keep Raymond in your prayers. He will be baptized in 2 weeks, and this week we have plans to set more baptismal dates. love you all so much! There also is a really great member that was in my last area who lives 3 minutes away from our flat. He is pretty awesome, and so I am excited he is close by as well. Love you all heaps la! (Cantonese people often add La, a, or ge to the end of their sentences...... haven't figured out all the reasons why yet, but that's what I am trying to mimic :))

Elder Shafer

Sydney Week 26

How ya'lls goin? (common phrase used in the bush here :b) Today is the day they celebrate Queen Victoria's b-day... not exactly sure why they do that here, but I think they just wanted an excuse to have another holiday haha :) This week was fantastic with John getting baptized. I'll have my letter to President explain that situation:

I will definitely keep you in my prayers daily as you seek revelation for where the missionaries should go with this upcoming pivotal transfer. I will also seek inspiration and comfort to accept the Lord's will regarding where I shall serve. I don't expect it will be difficult though, my theme has always been and ever will be "I'll go where you want me to go." This week my core experience with God came at John's baptism. He is definitely converted to Christ. Over the pulpit after his baptism he announced he wanted to be a missionary. Immediately after he came up out of the water, he just says "wow!" The change in him over the past 2 months has been immense. He truly is one who will build the kingdom here in Sydney, Australia. Also, his best friend, Fancy, came to support him and when I asked her about it. She stated: "I was shocked! Right when John went into the water, I felt a big shock enter my body, I have never felt that before, I dont know what it is." I was shocked by her answer for just a brief second and with a big smile explained to her more about the Holy Ghost. John has already said he will be fellow shipping for her lessons and we will be meeting with her often just after her exams this upcoming week. 
One insight I gained from Sacrament meeting this week was how much the Lord prepares people, and how merciful He is to help us gain knowledge when we seek it. A recent convert of only 2 weeks spoke yesterday of her experience in participating in temple baptisms. She explained completely and clearly the doctrine of why baptism is so important, why we perform baptisms for the dead, and how the temple empowers us. She did an excellent job and I was thoroughly impressed by her understanding and testimony that she already has of these eternal truths. He truly prepares people and guides them through the Spirit. 

Elder Yoshizawa and I have great plans to make this a great week. Though we have had 3 baptisms in the past 2 weeks, we still are not quite pleased with the overall future status of our area as it is now. We have had difficulty in keeping our area completely escalating, but this week we have good plans set in store to rebuild our area and truly have it be set up as an escalating area for the future. I feel, as I counselled with you that my time here in the city is coming to a close, and I truly want to turn it over to the next missionaries much stronger than when I found it, and in a constant, steady pattern of progression. I know that with trust in the Almighty, we can continue to progress and continue upward and onward. 

Yeah, so it was a great weekend for sure :) I am so proud of these recent converts!! They are so solid! Sonam is having difficulty finding a job, that is affecting her a lot because she has recently graduated with her degree and expected to jump into a career but now has only been able to find temporary jobs here and there that are barely paying the bills. Please keep her in your prayers that she can find good employment. 

Well.... the truth should be stated. I believe I will be transferred next week, and I believe I will go to the South mission. Which means I will be in the new mission with the new Mission President. When I had an interview with President Howes the other week, he said some things that made it pretty easy to tell I would most likely leave the city, and truth be told, when Elder Yoshizawa came, I was expecting that as well. Most of the Cantonese speaking missionaries will go to the South Mission, so I have started to get things in order (making sure I have people contact info, creating small gifts for recent converts, and so on) so that way it doesn't turn into a mad rush like many missionaries have had in the past. Many times after missionaries hear they are being transferred they shut down. They get quite sad that they have to say goodbye and end up wasting a lot of time rushing around getting things completed they want to do before they leave. Seeing this has made me do some planning ahead so that I don't have to waste any time here. 

My time is almost up here, so I have to go. Love you all so much!  

   

Sydney Week 25

Ran out of time because we got to the internet place late today :( We went and saw the kangaroos again and we got back later than expected. This week was amazing though! John is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!! :) Please keep him in your prayers! :) Love you all so much!

Hello! Thank you for the opportunity to meet and have an interview earlier this week. I felt greatly uplifted afterwards and continue to apply your advice daily in my life. This week was absolutely amazing. We accomplished and superceded the member present goal that I mentioned I wanted to have and I have seen how it has paid off so well. I don't want to just have that goal be a one time thing, but I know that as we continue to achieve that goal weekly, our investigators will continue to progress. We have seen that recently. Elder Yoshizawa and I have noticed that when we don't see our investigators more than once per week, they progress very slowly if at all. It is extremely difficult to make progress with them at the rate that we need and so we changed our game plan. Every time that we meet with someone we ask them if next week at the same time would work well for them to meet again. Then, we go about setting up another appointment time before that appointment next week. Most often people's schedules are the same for work or school, and so planning a week in advance gives them enough time to make sure they don't schedule other appointments with friends. We have found great success with this. Also, we have implemented a new 48-hr fellowship planning program as well. We try really hard to have all of our fellowships planned at least 48 hours in advance. This has helped us to minimize the amount of times members cancel last minute or are unable because they didn't have the time to plan ahead. I am very excited to see how this new pattern will continue to grant us success!

My core experience with God this week was in finding and teaching Bonnie. We were in the right place at the right time. She had been out on the streets looking for a church, when I walked up to her and talked to her. She agreed to come and see the church right then, we met with her, set up return appointments, discussed baptism, and commited her to come to church. She is meeting with us again tonight and has committed to be baptized on the 22nd of this month when she comes to know that the Book of Mormon is true. It was such an amazing miracle to find her and to help her in her life. She asked what made me talk to her, and I had to be honest. She was just the first person there when I turned around so I talked to her. It was a great lesson for me to learn that often times we won't have these large spiritual promptings, but the Lord has guided our footsteps to be in the right place at the right time. I don't believe in coincidences since I have seen way too many "perfect timing" instances in my life. The Spirit led me to be there at that time, and it did the same for her. I am grateful that as Mosiah 4:9 states "believe that man doth not comprehend all that the Lord doth comprehend." This is so true for me.

One way I can be more Christ-like this week is to continue to be more loving and charitable. As I have continued to show charity to my companion even though we already have a great relationship, I have seen how the blessings continue. I am anxious to see how close we can grow together as we continue to serve the Lord with our whole hearts.

Thank you for all you do. Excited to hear from you and Sister Howes in training this week, and I might reccomend someone else to say the blessing for the food this time :)

Last time at conference, they asked me to pray for the food and I said "please bless the food it will give us strength and noursihment, and wont make us sick." Afterward, President Howes said "glad you are so confident in my wife's cooking Elder Shafer :)" hahaha They still get a kick out of it today from what the Assistants tell me :)

Love you heaps!!!

Elder Shafer

Sydney Week 24

Yay!!!! :) Such a great week!!!  Read the letter to President Howes to find out why :)

What an exciting week!!! :) 2 people baptized and confirmed this week in our area and 4 in our district! It is truly a great miracle and blessing. My core experience this week with Heavenly Father comes in relation to Jodie. She informed us last weekend that she didn't feel quite ready for her baptism anymore, and wanted more time. We knew that she had some negative pressure from her family members and thought this to be the case. When it came time to plan for the week and our goals, I remember pondering and thinking "I am not giving up on Jodie. We will set the goal to have her be baptized this weekend and do everything in our power to help her." That's what we did. On Tuesday we had a lesson scheduled to meet her. That morning, she texted us saying that she wouldn't be able to make our lesson and would like to maybe meet later this week, not being very specific. I felt as though our chances to meet with her and help her feel encouraged for her baptism were fading. Not wanting to push her or make her feel uncomfortable, we kindly said that we were sad to hear she couldn't meet and tried to set another time for that day or Wednesday at the latest to see her. No response came back. Then a miracle happened! :) While finding, we received a text message from her stating that she really would like to meet with us again that day and asked "is it too late for me to be baptized this weekend?" I was ecstatic! :) The miracle came in the form of her mother. Her Mom (currently a baptist) called Jodie and talked with her about how Jodie needs to make this decision for herself and not allow other members of family or friends to dissuade her from what she believes in. This was what she needed, and with it, all things fell into place. I am so grateful that the Lord works in larger ways than us. We try our best and do all we can, but He truly has a much greater influence and ability to work when we exercise our faith. 
To improve the quality of my letters home and to you, I would like to talk more about miracles as a companionship as well instead of just my experiences since this work truly goes forward two by two. To start, I have found this week Elder Yoshizawa and I continue to grow closer together in brotherhood and friendship. He related to me that he and his last companion didn't get along very well and that he was very glad we did. I too am very grateful that we have great unity and are able to work together in unison. It has been a large adjustment for him to serve here, but we continue to press forward and each day improves. Together we are moving upward and onward and we are trying to achieve the vision that is already in place. I will continue to do my best and be an excellent example to Him as well as continue to find new things that I am able to learn from him and his life. One of these is organization. He is very organized and neat. He helps me to take the time to write a little bit more neatly, plan things effectively, and make sure that all things are organized and handy instead of just organized in my mind like I used to rely upon. I am able to see how we are divinely placed to serve together at this time, and I am grateful to have him as my companion.

So, as you can read, we had 2 baptisms. Sonam and Jodie. Sonam is from India and has lived here for a couple of years. She was invited to come to church by a member named Amisha and loved it from day 1. Jodie was a miracle because this was the 4th time she has had a baptismal date set and we were afraid it once again wouldn't go through. The time was finally right and she is extremely happy she made the choice to become a member of the church and enjoy of the blessings that come from following Jesus Christ. We have 2 more people who are planning on being baptized next month as well. 

One of the things we have really been trying to achieve is seeing people twice a week. We have found this is really the only way that they will continue to learn and grow in faith. Each lesson, we are just very up front and honest with people in explaining that we have seen people best learn and grow in their testimony as we meet them at least twice a week. and thus far it has been very successful. Although people are very busy, they are willing to set aside time as they realize the need to meet often. Also, we continue to have a much greater focus on helping people stay active in the church so that they can continue to enjoy the happiness they felt when they first joined. I often think of Alma as he asks "if ye have experienced a change of heart... can ye feel so now? (Alma 5:26) this is one of my favorite scriptures and helps me understand my role to help all people feel that they are constantly changing their hearts. The reason we need to constantly change for the better is because if we don't we automatically change for the worse. This is the pattern for almost everything in our lives. If we do not work to have good health, we find ourselves having bad health. If we do not work to have a good education, we find ourselves having a bad education, it is the simple law of opposition. If we do not have light, we have darkness, no heat, we have cold and so on. The same is with our lives and our personal desires. If our desires are not constantly changing to become better, they naturally become worse. Of course there may be outlier examples, but i believe this is the case in most situations of life. So, my commitment and invitation for this week to all:

Find one negative desire in your life that you want to change, and then fix it. 

I have to go now, but I love you. Enjoy the pictures! :) That is Jodie's mom next to her. The other new converts are Alia (Italy) Chisato (Japan) and Sonam (India) Such a great night! :)

Elder Shafer

Sydney Week 23

So, unfortunately, this week will have to be a bit shorter. We are very shortly going to have a large "zone p-day" together a little ways away. We are going to play touch rugby in the stadium and then some soccer on the beach. (in the winter, we can go to the beach since there are no longer any sunbathers) it is quite funny that people here consider it cold when it's probably 65 degrees outside haha. But truth be told, it does start feeling cold when you are used to so much hot and humid weather. This week was pretty amazing! Please keep John, Sonam, and Jodie in your prayers. Sonam is getting baptized this weekend! Unfortunately, John felt he should push back his date, but I can understand the reasons why (explained in my letter to President) also, Jodie is still feeling some adversity from her family in being baptized, so we are trying to work with her and help her to just make her own decision regarding an important choice which will benefit her life. We had an awesome experience also with Trang this week. She has been struggling with Her testimony for quite a while and has been reluctant to pray and read the Book of Mormon. She is active in attendance at church, but not very strong really in her faith. We have not given up on her though, and last meeting, she said that she has noticed more happiness in her life now that she has tried my promise to "read 10 minutes a day, and tell me you are not happier in your life." it was a great miracle! :) Less active people really hold a special place in my heart because there is so much that they can enjoy and be happy with. I have a new desire and goal to focus a little more on less active people, because my goal is to not have a single one of my recent converts be less active when I leave for home. It is achievable, and I will do everything I can to make it so. They know how good the gospel is, as we all do, but sometimes we just need a reminder and a loving friend to welcome us back. I have to go now. I will copy the email I sent to President and then send the email, we are just about to leave.  Love you all so much! :)

My core experience with God this week came when Elder Larsen and I were on trade offs and working together for the day. We saw so many miracles! We were able to reset John's baptismal date (he was introduced to some anti-mormon materials, but upon meeting with him again, he is willing to be baptized beginning of June) We also solidified Sonam's baptism for this Saturday. She is very thrilled to be baptized and will make an amazing addition to building the ward here. We also saw amazing miracles when finding. When coming back from lunch, I talked to a man while waiting at the stop light right before the church. I mentioned that I was a missionary and our church was just the next block up. Without even thinking, the words "would you like to see it?" came out of my mouth. He answered that he would like that and we proceeded to show him around. He is from Italy and he wanted to stay for English class, so we had to keep our tour of the church brief, but mentioned we would love to talk to him more later. We then went back out finding since it was not our day to teach English class, and within 15 minutes found Lee, from Taiwan. She had about 30 minutes to meet with us and asked great questions about the church. She mentioned how when looking at the pictures of Christ in the Church she felt peace and comfort, whereas in other churches she often feels bad and scared. It was a great opportunity to teach her not only about the Spirit, but also the truth in how we view the Living Savior. She is well prepared and didn't even want to stay for English but rather just wanted to see the church and learn more about Christ. She left right before english class ended with a return apt as well. Right after English class we came back and met Daniel again for a lesson and will be seeing him again on Thursday. He didn't understand why he would need to be baptized again, but is also willing to come and see a baptism this Saturday. Between understanding the Restoration and feeling the Spirit that is always present at baptisms, I think we can set a solid baptismal date with him soon. Later that day, I was able to also help someone clear up wrong thoughts and ideas regarding our church. One girl I talked to on the street was from Hong Kong. She didn't want to hear much of what I said until I asked her if she spoke Cantonese, in Cantonese. She was suprised and then listened to what I was trying to ask her. She mentioned that she was Christian and that she didn't want to come to church because we aren't. I politely responded that she had been misinformed and explained briefly that we absolutely are Christian. She then asked about why we worship prophets instead of Jesus Christ. Again, I kindly smiled and said that, that also was not true and we would love to help her understand the truth regarding our doctrine. She was still a bit skeptical and so I challenged her and said "come to one meeting with us, we will show you our church, and then you can decide for yourself whether we are Christian or not." I think she enjoyed the challenge because she smiled, then agreed that we could meet and we exchanged phone numbers in case something came up before our scheduled appointment. I love opportunities like this. To be able to bring truth and light to those who have been kept in obscurity. Also, anytime that I can preach the Gospel in Cantonese, I cherish. I see more and more the reasoning behind why I was called to speak such a difficult language here. Not only does it make me study and work hard, but I am able to astonish and surprise people which if nothing else, leaves an impression and curiosity. I know that it is not because of me that I am able to learn this language. Only because of the faith and diligence I have in qualifying for the gifts of the Spirit. It was an amazing and wonderful day and one that I will remember and cherish!

Love you all!

Elder Shafer

Sydney Week 22

This week has been so great! We had a great first week as a companionship and I can already tell Elder Yoshizawa and I will accomplish great things here together. I'll send you some pictures to prove my point, but I definitely think Elder Yoshizawa will be the most flexible companion I will have. He did gymnastics back home in Fukuoka, Japan, and every night he does these crazy stretches before bed haha. He really is a great Elder and though the work here is very different from what he is used to, he is adjusting well and is loving serving here. My letter to President Howes:

My core experience every week is difficult to pick since there are so many, but especially this week there seemed to be a great amount of different miracles and experiences. We had great experiences in lessons being taught, both planned and unexpected. There were 2 investigators that we added this week who were unexpected and who walked into the church wanting to find out about English class, but as we showed them around and explained the pictures of Christ found within the building, we were able to ask them questions and find common ground in beliefs and also answer some of their questions. Another 2 girls that we originally met because they were interested in English class became our investigators through a similar manner. As we showed them around, they seemed pretty disinterested in anything other than English and seemed in a rush to leave. But as we stopped and explained the picture of the First Vision to them, I felt the Spirit definitely enter the room and their hearts were touched. They agreed to meet again and we have kept positive contact since then. 

Another experience came from needing to train for district meeting this week. It was a blessing to pray earnestly and seek revelation on something this important. I feel a great responsibility to help my district move forward and upward in great strides. Being able to see how the Lord supports me with my goals and my vision for the District has given me encouragement and a greater desire to keep moving forward and accomplish the vision that is already present. We can use some chiseling here and there and I know that we can accomplish the masterpiece that the Master has envisioned for us to become as a district and individually.

One thing that I learned from my mother that has been of extreme value to me is to love. She taught me from a very young age by personal example the role that love can play in someone's life. I never doubted that she loved me because she showed me, told me, and then told me again how much she loved me. Even when I made mistakes, she did not get angry, but expressed love and concern and always extended a helping hand. Her example of love has helped me to know that I need to love every soul out here. Regardless of what they do, I need to love each person out here since all of us are of divine lineage and each of us is of equal worth in the sight of God. Her example of how much she loved me altered many aspects of my life and I want to use that same ability to love unconditionally here among these people.

Magdo is the investigator we used to have from Belo Horizante, Brazil. He is awesome! We met him in English class and were able to teach him about the restoration. He is pretty set in the Catholic faith because his whole family is, as is pretty normal down in Brazil, but through some time, we helped him to gain a testimony of what we were teaching. In our last lesson he talked to us about his true doubts and concerns that he has had in life. We were able to help him overcome some of those and testified that he can continue to learn more. He is very excited to go back and learn in his own language since it was quite difficult to teach him with nobody speaking Portuguese here in the ward. He will be touring Australia for another couple weeks, and then will be back in Belo Horizante to stay. So I will be sending Seth a nice little referral here in a couple weeks and hope and pray he is serving in Magdo's area! :) 

I need to attach these pictures and then jump off, love you all so much!!

Elder Shafer