november 28, 2011

Whats Up Family, I’m really sorry but i don’t have any time to write a email with great detail but many great things have happened. Thank you for the letters that you sent me! I’ll send you some fotos. 
Last night my comp and I were getting reading for bed and we were waiting the call of our district leader to find out the changes and president called and told me that i was going to be  zone leader.....  it is a test of my faith. It doesn’t usually happen where you skip being district leader to zone but I’ll write more next week. 
love you all
 elder shaw

So i got a second more to write you. There is a holiday today and nothing is open so it was hard to find an internet place. Also our assistant to the president is Durant. He is way cool and my friend he also called me last night. This last week was great we had another baptism of a girl named Johana. There was a great turn out at the baptism with lots of members. I’m very very sad that i have to leave this area because of the familia de la cruz.  I love them so much. They still have such a great testimony and are reading every single day. They just are not home that much and he works alot so we can never share but they are committed to coming to church next Sunday and all the Sundays...... i know they will get baptized. It’s sadening that i will not be able to see that baptism and be part of that special day but its okay i was praying for them one night and received a very strong answer to my prayer. They will be baptized sometime and it was very comforting. Its so important that we as members of the church also receive answers to our prayers. We preach it all day every day telling people to pray if they wanna know but if we don’t put it in practice as members.... kinda stupid. Thank you for your prayers for this familia. I really know that i am going to have a completely turn around, and have to adapt all the attributes of Christ in my life now... not that i wasn’t trying before to be a great person as a trainer but now i feel a very big responsibility.  At first i thought, well that was stupid i wasn’t even district leader but now i am very grateful for the trust the Lord has in me. I really love you all, family and want you to know that i may not be thinking about you much during this holiday seasons but I’ll pray for you. Oh and i already got your package for the Christmas. .... I’ll try not to open it dad but it got here a month early!!! I’m going to send a few more pictures. Please pass my love on to Braydon Lee and let him now that i love him alot and hope to be in contact sometime soon.

elder shaw

November 21, 2011

Hola familia,
I’m really happy to have heard from all of you. Sounds like everything is going real well and dang i got some cute nieces and nephews! Thanks for the pictures. They are fantastic. Tiffany your baby is like a blob of gushy awesomeness and Brynlee is huge!!!! and Nicole, congratulations on the new creature! I totally feel you on the cold thing dad. As i write it is raining pitchforks outside. Saturday, Sunday, and today it rained.... Once again, rain on the weekend only. How is it with mom back in house? Well i feel like i have left this week a better person. This last week was difficult I’m not going to lie. It was hard and i was pretty disanimated by Thursday. We lost over half of our investigators. The familia de la cruz seem a little disanimated too. This last week we didn’t have the chance to share with them... not once. The father is working till 9 every night and the wife seems to be leaving house alot more and then Saturday came and her brother got in a moto accident and they have been in the hospital all weekend so they did not go to church again. I love them i really do, and my comp and I have been trying everything with them.  It just isn’t working out! Satan is doing more work against this familia then almost any other that i have had in my mission. I was very sad Sunday night, and then we went to a members house to drop of our dirty clothes, and we sat down and started talking with the dad for a second and i was telling what was happening with them.  He told me something that really hit me hard. He told me´´elder shaw if you are following the rules and doing everything you can for this familia and it still not working out it is because it is a trail of your faith.  God is trying you too (mosiah 23 god sees fit to chastise to try our faith). I was really struggling with that and then it made sense. It’s me that has the little faith. This last week was zone conference and the president talk alot on applying the attributes of Christ.  That day after we left i came out with a better determination to do better, I now follow the rules more closely. It’s so easy to justify something but we need to accept the commandments like they are. We are working very hard with the familia de la cruz and they will get baptized i know that much it’s just a matter if i will be able to the see the baptism or not. This last week we were blessed with a baptism also. Her name is bienvendia. She is wicked awesome! She is the sister of member. She has about 30 years with one kid but doesn’t have a husband. She received an answer about baptism through a dream, and is very faithful. She has a great desire to share the gospel with everybody! Her brother in law baptized her and when she went under he slipped and fell in a little and then he grabbed her by the neck and lifter her out. It was very funny and i had to try so hard not to laugh cause i was a witness at the door. A funny note a crazy man chased us for about 3 minutes. We were walking very fast and realized that he started to chase us. He eventually caught up to us which surprised me but then continued to give us candy that he had made... it was very funny. I almost ate it but my comp advised me otherwise. Keep going strong and thank for the letters. i love you all
 elder shaw

11/16/2011

What's up family
   Thanks for the letter Caleb and dad, and wow that is so cool for Braydon Lee, I'm stoked for him! Is he in the same mission as Gunnar or a different? That surprised me and about the assistant coaches with Seifert. Sounds pretty good. Who are the main players this year? That is crazy that you have snow, every time I talk about snow down here the people laugh at me and ask me how the people can survive in it! THE DUNNS ARE 16! That is crazy. Does that mean they are driving?!
   

This week was fantastic and very sad at the same time, the scripture that you sent me dad perfectly applies to my week.  Proverbs 3:5-6. Sometimes things happen and I have to think to myself, which side is the Lord on haha! We had a lot of success this week, we were blessed with many new investigators and families that we are teaching.  I  am so very grateful for these families but for the last 4 Sundays and only the Sundays the Lord has tested our faith and patience (Mosiah 23) and made it rain every Sunday.  The people do not leave their houses here when it rains so we have very few if any people in church.  The reason why it has to rain I don't know, but it is taking a lot of faith and confidence on my part to trust that the Lord knows what he is doing.  All I desire now is that the family De la Cruz gets baptized but they can't decide not to go to church when it rains.  They were preparing to get baptized this Saturday and all they had to do was go to church, I love them so much. I know everything has its time and purpose and even though we work so hard, we have to trust in the will of God.  Not only in missionary work but in life. If something isn't going as we hope, take that learning opportunity and become better and stronger.  I was listening to a talk from Elder Eyring, about accepting the trials, humbling ourselves and being stronger. Ether 12:27, God gives us weakness' (trails) but if we trust in him he will make these weakness' strong.  I don't believe that god will abandon  us for doing his will.  I also believe my patience is growing... but I am not a fan of the rain here. 
One of the families that we found almost put a baptismal date for themselves, the spirit was in the lesson and they asked lots of great questions and as D&C promises that we won't be confounded; we could answer them. They were very excited.

On a little more funny note, granted I don't say this because I am a bad person or because I have not changed, but this week with my Guaraní screw-up's, I managed to tell a married 65 year oldish couple to go shower themselves together, I swore at two members (not knowing they were swear words), and asked someone if they had a ``part of the female body I probably shouldn't write``.  But surprisingly enough I still believe I am doing more good than bad with the knowledge of the language I have haha.  Saturday my comp managed to get sick and get the double dragon, referring to the throw up and shivivi.  A sickness no man wants.  So for the whole day while he was sick and sleeping I studied Guaraní, Book of Mormon, bible and preach my gospel, from 8 in the morning to 9 o'clock at night with only a lunch and dinner break... I feared getting blood clots in my legs.

We have one person that is preparing for baptism this Saturday, her name is Bienvenida (funny because Bienvenido means welcome), but I am really grateful for her, she really really wants to get baptized, and lives with a member.  She was married and has a kid but left him because he was abusive, and came to live with her sister and loved how the church focuses on families  No other church really focuses on families.  Everybody just guess and supposes what will happen to them but, it's nice having sound doctrine on them.

I love you all and want you to know of my testimony, that I know this church is true and that this is work of the Lord.  Continue doing your part back there in the states.  There a lot of people Braiden and Caleb that need your example and help.  Don't be afraid to invite and talk about the church

elder Shaw

October 31, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, I didn’t even remember it was Halloween till i read the letters. I had forgotten about it. They don’t celebrate it here, but sounds awesome. Is it cold there yet? Cause let me tell ya it is stinkin hot here!!! Congratulations Nicole!!!!!! did you pick one of the names i suggested? Ha. This week was awesome and hard. Lots of funny stuff happened. I will start off by letting Devin now... that you read my mind about the watermelon and milk. Holy cow! So this last Sunday one of our members told us that we couldn’t drink milk and eat watermelon at the same time cause it would give you bad stomach problems and then kill you... well me and my comp found that rather funny and decided to try it out. So we bought a watermelon and a liter of milk each and went and sat out on the road while the people drove by so they could have their minds blown at the sight of 2 gringos eating ´´death´´. Well it was very funny there faces as they drove by and we got a good kick out of it. We then continued to play soccer after and about 10 minutes in i just about had an accident it hit me so fast. I took off running for the church in the middle of the game and didn’t not enjoy my time in the bathroom (forgive me for the descriptiveness) I AM A FIRM BELIEVER IN MILK AND WATERMELON. I will never eat those to again in my life and for all those that read this i invite you to do the same. My comp the next day also received his punishment and we couldn’t leave more then 15 minutes from the house cause we had to return on a quick notice. It was so funny. That’s my funny story. As for success this last week we found multiple new families to teach, and we are way excited to see who is going to progress and what’s going to happen with them. The family of 7 that was going to get baptized this week well she had her baby Saturday and had it through cesaria (that’s Spanish not sure how it is in English it when they cut them open) she is really weak and not going to be able to get baptized for a while. It was so sad when that hit us, we were really happy for her and then realized she can’t get baptized for a while.... we are not sure what to do, cause sátanas works really hard when there is down time. They are ready and we need to act soon or sátanas is going to mess every thing up. There is no such thing as a smooth baptism. I love this family so much, and i really really want this blessing for them in their lives but there is always a trial. We will keep working with them. 
Couple other updates, i have started to gain weight i can see it and feel it, maybe one day I’ll be a really big fat man. (I don’t think so.) i have also started the Book of Mormon in gaurani... don’t kid yourself i am very slow at it and alot of dictionary but it really cool!!!. i also gave a talk yesterday on the Book of Mormon in church, there was a time on my mission where i got caught up in learning about the bible but i really now understand better the importance of that book. I’m with Elder Holland on this one, but, no man can come to the knowledge of the importance and the truthfulness of the work and this church with out a testimony of the Book of Mormon. If you don’t read it then you don’t understand the importance of the restored gospel. Women, men, kid ,teenager, old fogie. everybody should read it. Our president committed every missionary in the last interviews, for the rest of our lives, to read at least one verse or line or anything, but pick up the Book of Mormon at least once a day. I love it. thanks for the letters and enjoy your Halloween.! love you 
elder shaw