9-24-2012

Whats up fam.
Wow that is awesome! Sounds like it was a fun week, and way to go Braiden for the studliness. What changes have they done to the temple? Can you see it from the highway? That is super cool that the coaches went and had dinner. What’s Braiden doing right now with basketball? This last pday we played soccer as a district and... wow i am horrible, I cant shoot worth beans and i cant keep up with myself. I want to do certain things but i am just out of practice but i am getting pretty good with dribbling with my feet and a soccer ball.  Well for the big news on the transfers, nothing happened. My comp and I are still together for the last change. I am super glad that i have the chance to stay and be apart of the baptism of raul and ruby! This week flew by!!! We had alot of activities and things to do. Friday i did changes with elder hatch (my good friend from the mtc and now is my zone leader) and we partied and worked hard. He is a very good elder. Then Saturday we went to Centro to do a massive service project of cleaning the trash from a river. It was very fun and President Agazzani was with us getting dirty. He is a good guy. I was looking for Jordan but he didn’t go. I did run into a couple elders from his district. GUESS WHAT i found out that the 27 of October Elder Bednard is coming to Paraguay to speak to the north and the south mission together so i will be able to see Jordan! I am so excited for that. Last night we had a lesson with raul and ruby and they are so excited and happy. They have had so many changes in their life and are being so blessed- I love them. They are super excited for their baptism and they have the baptismal date for this weekend!!!! I am so excited and they are ready. They started to tell us a story that a Jehova Witness came to their house and started to converse with them at their door and they told them no  ``no thanks we are from the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints``! It was so cool. We are also working with another señora named Ilda who is also progressing. We had a lesson with her yesterday and her brother in law and sister where at the house visiting her and they came out of the house and said we want to know what ilda is learning about can we participate. Turns out the guy is die hard Baptist and his wife and they started to ask question and try and prove the Book of Mormon wrong with their reasoning. We answered a couple of his questions and the spirit slapped him the face and he said that he will read the whole Book of Mormon and ask god if it is true and if he tells him yes he will change his beliefs.... it was really cool and then ilda said she new that it was true. We have just got to get her to put in batteries and get going. Everything is going really well. I am kind of getting sick of write emails so sorry if they are not as good of quality any more. I love you all and i love this work. It’s a very rewarding work if you look closely. Not all the time does one baptize alot but there are so many more ways of feeling the blessings of this work. Just gotta find the silver lining! The church is true. Keep your eyes peeled as dad would say for the small and simple things in your life.
elder shaw

Sept 17, 2012

Wow talk about some good letters! Thanks for writing me everybody. Sounds like life is going so good back there and WOW CALEB, you have curly hair, blue eyes, zits, and a chin. Your grown up and handsome and stuff! Way to be. And i kid you not ,i don’t’ know if i have every gotten a picture with Braiden in it with out girls... way to be! 
Also next topic .... wow that is so cool that the basketball coaches are going to the house. So i got the game plan, be sure to have my high school highlight videos on play as he walks in the house and maybe that huge poster of me hanging from the ceiling and we will see what we can get.. (tell him I’ve got a little soccer in me) he can’t deny it... or better plan put us in the same package tell him it’s both or nothing... and i will give people water too when i am not playing! Just kidding,, but seriously I died laughing from the BOM story from tiffany too, that is very funny. Tiffany i don’t think there is any other place on this beautiful planet that is so dang hot.  As i type I’m dripping sweat and my arms are slipping of the desk while i type!. It got hot again. My comp is super unhappy. Oh ya and yes dad it is change week but i don’t get changes until tomorrow in the morning so we will see what happens i have a feeling that we are both staying… but we will see. This last week there was a little bit of progression in the work. Enough to keep me going! One of the cool things that happened is this last week we had a lesson with raul and ruby, and raul has had his answer for the last 2 weeks and knows that the church is true! So we have been working with ruby and this last Friday we had a great lesson on the difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost and the blessings and she recognized her answer and said she knows that the church is true.  We invited them to be baptized together on the 29 of September and after i invited them, raul looked at his wife and said, YA lets get baptized together on the 29 and smiled really big! They both accepted and the best part is yesterday they both attended the stake conference that was via satellite and we all listened to the prophet and Elder Christoferson. I love them so much. They are my favorites. Also we have been teaching another family, named leila and fabiano for about 2 weeks and for so reason this last week that wouldn’t talk to us. Every time we came close to their house we would see them take off running and hide and they wouldn’t come out, and so i got a little peeved and made his brother came out and told him to tell them to face their problems instead of hiding and that the next time we pass by they need to either drop us or tell us what happened. So the next day we went by and they received us in their house and we had a 45 lesson on spiritual progression (just saw an update, 110 degrees right now in a building with out air conditioning and humid!!!!) but we basically took out their doubt and they want to continue learning so we will see what will happen with them. He didn’t want to stop smoking drinking and cofee but little by little we will get them. A funny story... last pday i snuck over to the other elders apartment and pulled the coolest prince of perisia move and scailed to their second story apartment be a cement balcony to jump in through their window and scared them to death.  The bad part is on my ascension i slipped trying to pull myself up to the next cement block and was falling backwards about 20 feet of the ground, but thankfully manage to catch my self on another cement block but got some nasty scabs on my arms that are going to be some good scars. Ha i couldn’t call Sister Agazzani cause i didn’t know what i was going to tell her about my arms. But i returned to climb it and the second time made it and scared them to death. Worth it!
Lifes great. I’m happy. I hope you are all happy and obedient to the commandments and gospel. Braiden and Caleb don’t get lost in the young life. Keep your eyes open for the spirit and learning experiences. I like learning now. With a handful of love,
lder shaw

9-10-12

What’s up!

Well i have so much i want to write and i don’t know how to put it in words so it’s probably going to be short. But i am doing good... very amazed at how the Lord works. I am put in different circumstances all the time and stretched at parts that need it. I had some interesting things happen this last week that i am probably not going to write on email but was a testimony builder and a good experience. As for the work this last week we found two very amazing families!!! They are both very receptive and young and they both claim to not have religions but believes in God... those are the best. One of the families, the wife has already read to 2 Nephi in one week and says she already has her answer and the best part is that her brother is member! But the husband is Brazilian and can’t stop drinking coffee and doesn’t know how to read well, but a very nice guy. We are working with them! They are yes or yes going to get baptized!! The other family we found has a very funny story behind it. We were walking on a street and there was a family outside a “love motel” we are going to call it. We stopped them and asked their names and got to know them and then asked to were they were going and they pointed to the love hotel and it was a very awkward moment. Then they read our thoughts and cut us off and said no no no we work and live there. So we accompanied them to there house inside the love motel and taught them lesson one and they loved it!!!! They said they want to go to church and love the Book of Mormon so we will see what happens with them. They don’t really live in the best environment and it is so awkward to enter into this place with my comp to get to their house... haha but we are going to baptize them!

Also this last week we had alot progress with Ruby. She more or less admitted that the church is true which is a huge step. But they told us before hand that they were not going to be able to go to church, but they are going to get baptized in a little. Right now we just need to throw members on them! I’m really excited. I really don’t know how much harder i can work. We are pushing ourselves so much and working very hard. I pray that God will bless us with a baptism. We are trying very hard. i have never worked so hard in my mission and had so much difficulty to get people to baptism! But i know that the Lord is going to bless us! PLEASE. My comp is getting a little disanimated, but my comp is leaving the area next week. I really hope he gets an obedient companion next change. I love this work. It is so painfully rewarding haha. Last night after getting home i laid down on the floor and had to elevate my ankles they hurt so bad. Yesterday not many people wanted to see our faces:)

I pray that all this work is paying off. I know that it is, it’s just putting the confidence in that we really will reap what we sow or however you say it in English. I love being a missionary. This last week i am having to heat metal up and burn the rubber on my shoes to try and keep the water out, the balls of my feet have broken through the bottom of my shoes, i just need to make it one more change in these shoes, but i can’t step in any water or i get soaked!.

I hope everything is going well back at home. If i have any experienced advise acquired lately it would be, do what’s asked of you even if you don’t understand or see why. The blessing will come. Magnify your calling and there will be no better joy. The true happiness will not come until your focus is not in yourself. Your ego must yield to the service of others. I’m trying so hard to learn the attributes of Christ so that i can apply them to real life later on but its amazing how much i fail even with the knowledge i have....

love

elder shaw

9-6-2012

Whets up?!

Wow that's so cool that you are back in school, learning is awesome, the comp I have right now is the king of all little know history facts dad and useless side information and I learn really weird stuff that has nothing to do with anything. But what classes are Braiden and Caleb taking? Is Braiden going to get another car? Changes are in 2 weeks.

    Well the work here in Lucerito continues, this week we had many miracles and disappointments. The work wouldn't be any fun if it wasn't a challenge and we are having plenty of challenges. It's really hard on my comp right now, because he is new and I don't think physically I have worked so hard in my mission. It is hurting him and his attitude.  We don't rest haha we are always working I just fear that if I lighten up that we will miss the blessings and there are so many baptisms waiting for us I just know it.  This last week we put a lot of people with baptismal dates and had a lot of people committed to attend church. I am very grateful for the one person that we were blessed with in church. Her name is Ilda, she loved the church and it was her first time there. She says she feels really good and feels like God is telling her it is the truth but says she is not 100  percent sure.  But she is so getting baptized!  Also guess what happened this week, so yesterday Raul and Ruby were going to go to church but they didn't go, so later Sunday night we went to their house to see what happened and when we got there he saw us and hid behind his hands and started yelling I'm sorry in English.  In his prayer to start the lesson he asked God for forgiveness for not keeping the Sabbath day. It was so cool, I'm glad he feels bad (haha). but then he asked us why the world and other churches attack our church. And then before we could talk about his question he cut everybody off and started to make the connection and explain... ´´wow it makes so much sense because even in the time of Christ the saints and members of the church were persecuted for not following the traditions of everybody else and were killed´´ he then laughed saying wow I hope I don't get killed for joining your church. He said that his work companions were pulling stuff up on the internet and attacking the Mormon church and he said that he couldn't respond their questions but he didn't doubt in his answer so he just shut up.  He said I don't doubt the answer God has given , I don't doubt this church! IT WAS SO COOL!!!!!! I love him, his wife is struggling to recognize her answer but she is going to get baptized too!

    All I want is to baptize, I'm not perfect and a lot of times I fail with the rules but I want to be perfect and work hard so that God can bless us with that success.  We have a lot of investigators right now, but sadly that other family I was telling you about Oscar and Efania, they have lost interest and don't want to change their traditions.  Without a doubt they will get baptized in the future but I don't know if it is their time right now :(. we had to drop them.

    I also had another interesting thing happen, we taught a family lesson one that we found and they were very into it, and we explained the restoration the Book of Mormon and everything.  At the very end to end we asked them if they had any questions about anything, and the dad looked at me seriously and said,  thanks for your message, but I want you to answer me one question, for your church, who is Christ?    .....   That was a slap in the face. I think sometimes as missionaries we focus too much on other things and not enough on the fact that Christ came to suffer and die for us and our sins... it made me think a little and re word my lesson one.

Another cool thing that happened this week, is I had to do divisions with some other elders in my district and I went to their area, they were struggling with finding new people to teach and the Lord blessed us with 4 families and 10 new people that we found that day, it was so cool and turns out 2 of the families we found were cousins to recent converts!

I love the missions, it's cool how much one learns, I have learned so much stuff useful and not useful.. For example I can whistle really loud without my hands, and I can do a rubics cube, and I could probably pass some mechanic test thanks to my comp who explains everything, (those are the not so important things) but it's really fun but I'm tired.

well the church is true.

love you all 

elder shaw