Today was Transfers

April 20, 2016
Love the fam more than smores! Elder Bouwhuis and I for our last night tipped over an old rusted out grill, the upstairs neighbors had, and we made ourselves a sweet little fire. I forgot how sticky marshmallows are, but after flooding our house with smoke from burning old clothes/blankets/water damaged pamphlets etc. we felt like we were in the states for a little while.

Yep so today was transfers, and I left. We saw it coming because I had been there for three transfers and just finished training, never the less it was sad leaving my campo.

The first part of the week was interesting:

Thursday morning we spent the morning cleaning out the baptismal fount and preparing for the baptism. It was super stressful and a little frustrating, trying to figure out who could come and give talks and such since the baptism hadn’t been announced in church. It was crazy especially considering the fact there was a temple trip on Saturday so we had the baptism on Friday. Elder Hola and Elder Green came over to our area for the interview with Cristopfer. The three of us waited in the family room talking and having a good time, while Elder Hola and Cristopfer had the interview. Cristopfer was ready so we celebrated with popcorn!

Elder Hola and Elder Green were acting strange which I didn’t really think to much about till later....

Friday we filled the font up and spent a good amount of time reminding people that the baptism was that day and everything. I think we invited every less active, investigator, member and investigator we knew. Cristopfer and his dad German, showed up first and we talked to them about it all. Later, our mission leader and his brother and dad who are part of the presidency came. The branch president couldn’t make it because he lives out in Licey, which was having problem with some civil uneasiness type of stuff. Not many people could actually make it, but it turned out really well! I gave a little talk and used clorox to make some soda turn clear, to represent baptism. German baptized his son and while he lifted Cristopfer up out of the water they almost fell down. They were laughing and it was great. We ate cookies and drank soda while listening to Paul Cardall postlude music. 

The next few days felt strange since we had just gotten a baptism and it was strange to think that we finally got Cristopfer baptized. We had a great lesson with the new investigator Cristofer (a different one) who is really interested and willing to investigate. I’m sometimes amazed when I see people that are open without needing to much nudging towards the gospel. In church, Cristopfer came and was confirmed and was sustained as a member of the church. The branch needs the excitement, so I thought it was really great. From that point, I kind of warned people I was probably leaving. Pedro and Gishayley our investigators finally had time to share again! He is really sincere and a smart guy which gives me a lot of hope. Sometimes people can't really grasp some concepts, mostly due to our Spanish I think, but he does well. I can see him getting baptized, yet it’s been hard, since he works a lot. Sunday night we passed by less active Delma and while we were there we got a call from president on our cellphone. Elder Bouwhuis didn’t check the caller i.d. so he answered and asked who it was and suddenly his eyes got wide when he realized it was president. I was feeling a little relieved as they chatted, thinking I was safe from something crazy, when I got handed the phone. I am now a district leader. I was and still am really nervous but it will go great.

So the mission has like a network of information, as soon as something new and interesting happens, the whole mission seems to know immediately. Elder Dickson my second companion called me to see if i knew anything about transfers. Little did we know but our District Leader, Elder Hola, got called to be the new assistant to the president.

My favorite food in the mission "Mangu"

Monday and Tuesday were crazy days with a district leader in training to be an assistant and just the nerves of transfers. I said goodbye to everyone I could and printed out picture for Cristopfer. I finally found out about transfers on Tuesday. At the zone meeting they announced it all and we took pictures. 

My Zone

My new area is Buenos Aires in the north part of Santiago. My companion is named Elder Markham who is an interesting but great guy, we should get along great. The new area supposedly is great and has amazing members. Elder Bouwhuis got the dream with a Puerto Rican step dad who also speaks great English. His comp will be finishing the mission this transfer so he is thinking he might be there for a while.

My companion as we are walking the streets of Tamboril

Transfers were nuts with figuring out taxis but on the Brightside I know more about using a taxi.

This week I was thinking a lot about a few things. I love thinking about the story of Christ walking on water as us in this life. Using the words of Elder Holland, we often are frightened by the help Christ offers us and in our moments of despair we shrink away from help thinking it is a challenge even harder. Also we cannot be found in the arms of the savior if we will not get out of the boat and draw close to him. Peter may have started to think but of the twelve he was the one embraced by the savior. On my last day in Tamboril we passed by a family, bouwhuis following promptings like a stud, who lived pretty far away. At the house I could tell something was up and then found out. The husband had packed up and left. I was amazed at the faith of the sister as she had gone to the temple on Saturday and was moving forward trying to take care of the three sons. We gave her a blessing and I couldnt help but crying. I felt the saviors love so strong. Never stop trying because he will never quit on you.

 

My companion roasting marshmallows

La vida pasa pero nunca cesa el amor de Cristo. Cuando no hay nada mas que hacer, al punto de  hundirse, ruega por el que salva. El vive.

Life happens but never ceases love of Christ. When there is nothing else to do, to the point of sinking, pray for the saving. He lives.

Love Elder Sheffield

Knocked it out of the park

Arrived April 13 2016

We had a branch activity this week! The highlights were sweaty basketball in my shirt and tie, potato chips and the Joseph Smith Prophet of the restoration video! Gotta love the goose bumps when he stands up in the jail and silences the guards.

The parrot is trying to steal my name bag!

Today we went to a mall named Bravo and explored a bit before going to the Wendy’s there. There was a cool pet store. There was a parrot that tried to either take my nametag, see if I was ticklish or make of with me pen. We also saw a snake eating a mouse, pug puppies, a pile of sleeping turtles and five foot twos Elder Green playing in the kiddy playground.

Our p-day at the mall

I think I am bad luck in the area, because when I´m here we have good contacting days but when we have exchanges, there are good lesson days. Either I need the practice to improve my contacting or I am so humbly amazing at it, that it has become my duty in the work. 

SO our church activity was after a good long contacting day...and nobody showed up when it started. We sat around, I practiced the piano since we don’t play a lot,  and waited. After a while of waiting with the movie set up, we decided to just make it another time. I played basketball for a few minutes with some of the seminary students who had finished class when Johan and his family walked into the church grounds! They showed up an hour late and asked what had happened haha! We continued to move on with the activity which went well! In the end a few member families showed up, and two couples of less actives and their girlfriends. We had lays potato chips and soda to make the John Tanner movie a real hit. We decided the day (and wait) were worth it.

We made a new contact the other day at a house and a light skinned lady with blue eyes came out the door. I think we were both shocked to see another white person that we were a little quiet as Elder Bouwhuis and I explained who we were. Christiana and her family are from Madrid, but are living here. I tried not to get my hopes up that they were Americans. The 18 year old son Cristofer is really excited, but the mom and him don’t have matching schedules really. He said that his mom is interested too but she is pretty involved with her church. Our first real lesson with him, all the cousins were home too and Elder Bouwhuis and I knocked it out of the park, spiritual lesson and new funny American friends.

It has been an interesting week trying to find the houses of the couples that came to the activity. If I was crazy rich I would pay the DR to generalize street sign and house numbers. Oh well the walking keeps us from getting rice pot-bellies. The weather is now 30 degrees Celsius or into the 90s, I forgot how the country really is. My collar tan line on my neck continues to get worse, Elder Bouwhuis makes fun of me since he doesn’t have one, lucky “Dominicans”. 

Helping with a service project

Our district has been focusing more on working with members and less actives lately which I enjoy a lot but it requires patience. The members could use some mission work and the less actives are reference jack-pots, they just need to come back a little. Some of my favorite less-actives are Delma, who calls us her sons and the funny family Rivas. Both know the right things, but lack the desire. It is the same with Cristian and Isabel. Isabel has to divorce her old husband before her and Cristian can get married then baptized. It’s a big process and she just doesn’t really have the desire to start it. Its sad that life is ok for her and she doesn’t really have interest in putting the effort into something better. 

It has been a interesting time preparing for Cristofer’s baptism this week. The baptismal papers are fun, I have been getting gray hair figuring out things for his interview, interview questions and working with members, but I think it will turn out great though. I’m a worrier and I even get worried that I worry to much haha. My last companion Elder Jeppesen is trying to come to the baptism and we have invited everyone. Lets cross our fingers.

There were intercambios again this week, making it almost an intercambio every week this transfer. Elder Bouwhuis and Elder Green are best buddies, and Elder Hola and I are pretty good friends. Elder Hola was trying to get things set for him and I to play tennis today, but it didn’t work out. We ended up going to Wendy’s and exploring different malls. The pet store was in one and at Wendy’s I got a huge frosty with a cheesy bacon baked potato! 

Sorry you lost the bet Emily (about when we would watch conference), we saw conference in actual time. I thought of our family singing secret prayer in conference, I had never heard it in English so Elder Hola and I sang in Spanish. I never took ceramics but congrats to Josh and freaking congrats on being SBO Pres! That makes three of us five, lets go Wheffields! I didn’t know there was a new Saturdays Warrior and I didn’t know it could get cheesier. 

What the beginning of a lesson would look like

With transfers next week, and a really high possibility I have been thinking about what I was able to do here. I wish more could’ve been done and everything, I have worked hard and want to keep it up to the last minute. I take comfort in our duty to take whatever we receive in life and try to make more with it. I have grown here, half my mission here, and the branch has continued onward. Elder Bouwhuis is a great missionary and feels really prepared. One of my goals is that every area I go to, I put my heart into and when I leave that it breaks a little. We should never be content with where we are. If we don’t put our heart into things what is the point? I am tired of not being better. I will feel a little guilty and still disappointed if I leave and it doesn’t hurt to leave the people here. If Christ gave it all for us, we should be able to give a little bit of our time, of our heart and of our soul for the benefit of others. Our lives are not our own, and are only valuable when shared.

Elder Sheffield

P.s. camara chord isnt working again, pictures another maybe

Super excited for conference

Arrived April 6, 2016

 

Love the fam more than hammocking! We got permission to sleep over at our district leaders house so we could get to watch all the conference sessions in English! There were only two beds in the house, so I made a hammock out of my bed sheets. I should have triple layered my sheets because after 15 minutes it ripped and I fell through haha.

Responding to last weeks family email. Skiing and hiking red rock canyons sounded way cool and those Easter socks are cool too! Josh how are things going with SBO elections? You better not be putting things off like you did last year haha, you and Emily gotta teach me how to go rock climbing and we can go hammocking with real hammocks! Jacob sorry but I couldn’t stop laughing about how the dog threw up on you, there have been a few times on the mission I am glad I don’t have a bad gag reflex, good luck little buddy!

Starting this week we were super excited for conference and it kept us excited! We made a house contact the other day and the man named Elias was actually really nice and interested! I was shocked as he made arrangements for us to have a lesson when we passed by and he was still in his motorcycle repair shack. 

We had a really interesting lesson with a man named Antonio, that we had contacted a week or two ago. The second time we passed by, the sister was there and she was super kind and told us for a really long time how the world and youth and family need people like us. She is part of a religion that I have never heard of that really focuses a lot on families so it was amazing to have a complete stranger talk to us about that. Normally people think we are pretty great for preaching la palabra de Dios (the word of God) but aren’t super dedicated. So the third time we passed by Antonio was watching a cartoon program about different bible stories, which made a good transition into our lesson on prophets and apostles. We get to the first vision and he tells us he has a Book of Mormon. Some missionaries from 2000 had taught him and they did well. He told us he recognizes that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is scriptures. The interesting part is that he is Catholic like everyone else here in the good ol DR, but he told us he thinks one day Catholics will recognize and accept the Book of Mormon as part of the Bible. We are working on helping him understand what is the significance of the Book of Mormon and that it is true.

For Saturday general conference, we teamed up with our district leader in Villa Olga, teaching and inviting people to general conference. We made and ate cheesecake, and it was an all around good time. It was strange to get back to our area Sunday night after being gone, it felt like we hadn’t been there forever and we had lost some ground with the work. “I just cleaned up this mess, cant you keep it clean for just three minutes” (Mr Icnredible) kind of feeling. Cristofer still is progressing towards his date for the 15th. Not many of the investigators could make it to conference, Cristofer, yes though. He is basically a member already since his dad and step mom always drive him to church because they all live in the same neighborhood.

Johan is doing well, his wife (the less active) is amazing though! We shared Alma 5 about if we can picture ourselves in heaven in the last days. We asked what they were willing to do to have an eternal family. He gave a typical broad answer but Elizabeth said that they need to get married, keep coming to church and everything, ella sabe (she knows)! 

I am continued to be convinced that nobody below the age of 20 is super open to the gospel! If you can find a non-tigre teenager, they will almost always be alright talking to missionaries. The problem is parents, hooligan parents don’t have interest in gospel things sometimes ahhh! Elder Bouwhuis makes fun of me for avoiding groups of kids walking home from school, teenage girls and walking behind people looking like we are stalking them like the FBI. The kids are mischief, girls are constantly hissing (cat calls) and I dislike looking like we are stalking people, so I make us walk the long way sometimes. Elder Bouwhuis laughs and makes fun, but I just say it’s a prompting ;)

Last night the power was out so we planned by candle light

Conference was so amazing! I laughed at the talk about how its good life isn’t fair because that’s how Christ helps us, don’t worry dad, I still like your spiritual thought last week (all that is unfair .. can be made right) 

Some of my favorite parts of conference were:

You can have what you want or you can have it better. 

We mistakenly think if we forgive, then justice will not be made. 

Nefi (Nephi) recognized life would be most unfair to Jesus Christ. If life were fair there would be no way for us to stand before God. Through Him we can receive more than we ever deserved. 

I loved how Elder Holland encouraged us to not forget what we learned in conference. In the scriptures people go bad because they slowly forget, that cannot happen to us! Never forget and never fall! Like Holland also said, don’t get discouraged for not immediately living up to what we heard, we CAN improve and we get credit for trying even when we don’t have success. The slowest growing things in life are often the longest lasting. We were meant to last forever and we have a choice to work hard now, laying the foundation for how we will last forever. Fear not, only believe. Want to improve and He will unfairly allow you to become more than you deserve.

Love Elder Sheffield