The beautiful Campamento Bonao

Arrived 17 Oct 2016

Love the family more than a working washing machine. I think its one of the most precious things in our houses and in this new house in Bonao, it hasn’t been working. But due to past experience I knew how to fix it! I love clean clothes! In our washers we fill up the tank with a hose and then turn a dial which gets a wheel at the bottom to spin all the clothes. When you want to dry it all you throw it in this cylindrical tube part that spins super fast and the water gets flung out through holes.

Campamento Bonao

Well so much has happened this week.

We found an amazing couple who have a young child last Monday night! We have been fasting super hard and praying even more to find someone ready for baptism. We wont get anybody this month but this family reads and understands, which is more than 75% of what other people do. His nickname is Heily haha but he has a lot of questions and tonight we will finish up the restoration and put some commitments!

Tuesday I met my zone in a zone meeting. Like always there is somebody that is from Utah and we know people in common. The zone seems really great, I have somebody from my group there. We  set some goals to use the Book of Mormon every lesson, two new baptismal dates every week and ask references from everyone!

Later I went up into the higher parts of the country called Constanza…

On Oct 17, 2016, at 5:09 PM, A Sheffield  wrote:

>> 

>> Hey dad Im writing, if you have time we could talk a little

> On Oct 17, 2016, at 5:14 PM, M SHEFFIELD < wrote:

> 

> We will leave Santo Domingo about 07:00 tomorrow morning.

> I think I will just have to wave in Bonao.

> I am trying to do this on my cell phone.

> I was in Bonao about 7 years ago to take supplies to the beautiful youth camp there.

On Mon, Oct 17, 2016 at 4:16 PM, M SHEFFIELD wrote:

Your president might stop by our training at the Capulla on I. Blvd so I can meet him.

A SHEFFIELD WROTE: Dad, President Castillo told me he was going to do all he could to stop by and see you in Santiago while you were there! I’m super excited. You went to the campamento?  wow every Sunday we go up there and have a small sacrament service. We are trying to get a branch up there. 

 Continued letter – call it number two for the week,

In Constanza they grow tons of fruits and vegetables. They are famous for strawberries. I love spending a day up there. It reminded me of a little ski town in Utah but without any snow. It’s supposed to get cold up there the next few months and I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.

We have been doing a lot of contacting since we have been starting from the ground floor

 

Constanza

We had a crazy exchanges with some missionaries in Fantino near Bonao. I was to give an interview for the baptismal candidate but he is a teenager so there were some complications and We had a crazy ordeal getting the thumbs up from president. Wow I get so stressed, I feel like I have twenty two little siblings that I am supposed to take care of.

For church I gave a talk about our need for Christ the plan of salvation, a little bit of everything but focused on our need for Christ. I was happy when the piano didn’t work for the most of sacrament so I only had to play the closing hymn. I am playing hymns I have never played before with out any practice. I think my days of never practicing and then showing up at the Galbraiths house and sight reading all that I was supposed to practice is paying off haha… well maybe not.

We went up to the camp (Campamento Bonao) that is in the mountains of Bonao for a small sacrament service. It is a little like Aspen Grove with a senior couple missionary couple living there as the directors. Our goal is to start a branch up there someday.

I have really been learning a lot more about our need for Christ lately. I don’t think it really hit me until now. The purpose of everything, the restoration the plan of salvation isn’t just that we need a church or to know where we came from but to fulfill our needs. Alone we cannot be saved or progress, alone this life is a loosing battle. In my talk I talked about how it is like swimming towards an island but without the possibility of arriving for lack of strength, and no matter how scared we are of drowning we eventually will sink below the surface. But somebody’s pierced hands reach to grab us. Christ gives us strength and more chances than we deserve for our actions. We can make it to the island which is our fathers presence through Christ’s power of making us pure through his ordinances in his church. We need him and that is why.

Con pilas de amor 

Elder A Sheffield

One of the Greatest Spiritual Moments

Arrived July 25 2016

Love the family more than the book I am borrowing from Elder Oldroyd on hope called “Look up my Soul” by Gerald N Lund. It is sooooo good and I am, learning so much about the three Christian virtues of faith, charity and hope. I also borrowed a book called “A House of Glory” about temples from a member, she also had the “Miracle of Forgiveness” but I was/am a little to scared to read that one...

I feel like in the mission the work is summed up by the results of who comes to church. Even though it doesn’t show all the work you did, it is what determines your morale. Paulino came to church and is doing great! He has now come to church enough times for baptism and once we re set his baptismal date things will be just about ready. We also had our inactive of thirty years come to church. I am glad because I was getting a little tired of her always trying to talk about her boyfriend, and they are both fifty. Anthony who is another less active came to church. He is interesting because he knows its true but likes to pick and choose what commandments he wants to follow. He is a shoemaker and I have decided if I was your typical Dominican, I would do that to. I would be a baker, shoemaker, gua gua driver or a tailor. 

This week we officially stopped passing by the investigators who weren’t progressing. It is a little sad and uncomfortable, but I like to remember that I am not their last chance. Even when we want to shake people to make them realize the importance of this, we aren’t the last ones so we just have to accept it and not get dramatic. We had our first district meeting as a new zone. Most of the missionaries in our zone are a year old or younger. This makes me feel ancient. I still feel like a greenie and yet I have to be a leader now. I’m a little nervous for the new changes but it’ll be a good learning process for everyone. The district leaders are now getting used to their calling and the three trainers and their companions are doing well. My long time friend Elder Rojas was super excited to train and now he kind of realizes its not just rainbows and lollipops but he is doing great.

To make the mission more enjoyable for my compani0on as he is finishing up, we decided to do all four of our intercambios within two weeks. We just want to get it over with so we can keep our momentum going. It has been interesting when I know people he doesn’t and he knows people I don’t. I also am getting some experience with the latino missionaries and better range in my Spanish. I have realized I don’t know any vocabulary for things in the house since in the house I have only ever spoken English. It is a bad habit and I have some to regret it. I just use the dominican word Vaina which is a little that can be used for anything. It would be like saying pass me the thing. Or I need the thing underneath the thing haha.

Oh we also got our recent convert and less active Wadri to come to church. It is kind of sad and gossiped about when missionaries baptize children and then they go active because they don’t have the support they need. We probably should’ve waited for his baptism but we were both brand new to the area and the old missionaries gave us the thumbs up. He is a good kid, just needs more time, se necesita madurarse. In the zone there has also been some troubles with some things going on in sacrament meeting, I never realized how things worked when I just did my only little part in church. 

I had one of the greatest spiritual moments in a lesson we had the other day with Coronel De Luna. We normally teach just outside of his house where he lives on a dead end street. Things were going alright in our lesson on the plan of salvation when the spirit just took over. He was getting a little overwhelmed by it all but then I started to talk about how God has a plan and we have a purpose in this life. As I talked the words flowed out, and they simply were the right words. 

Elder Oldroyd challenged him to be baptized on the 20 of August and he said “With what I have been feeling, why not? Of course! Ill get baptized.” Then our friend Santiago who was with us shared his testimony and personally experience of conversion and the spirit was just so strong! Santiago isn’t the brightest light bulb, but he completely changed and it helped the lesson so much to here him speak. We kind of snapped back into reality after that, but finishing of the lesson I shared a part of Mosiah 18 and it finished out amazing! I am amazed about how pure his desire to improve is. He just wants to be a better man and he is feeling that this is the way how. He has innocent faith and I can’t help but feel how lucky I am to see it. I hope everything works out. He is continuing to change and say prayers for the first time in his life. It just needs to work out.

I had an interesting moment the other day reading a book. It was talking about conversion and testimony. One part hit me as it talked about getting a confirmation of our testimonies. I realized I don’t often ask for confirmation for things. I have a testimony and I love my Savior but I often just take the first response and continue forward without looking up from my work. I have decided that as I finish up the Book of Mormon another time that I am going to pray to know these things are true. It isn’t because I don’t know but because I want to refresh me testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know that by the power of the Holy Ghost I may know the truth of all things and those reading this may to. I testify that the Book of Mormon will help us grow closer to God than any other book so try it out. test me and test the book.

God shall show unto you, that that which I have written is true. (Moroni 10:29)

Elder Sheffield

Dominican Family night with Paulino

Our old district

The missionary I trained is in my zone!

Transfers: I'm "killing" my companion

Arrived 18 Jul 16

Love the family more than Dominicans love their pot bellies from rice!! (alcohol tambien) It is common for people to sit out on their front porches or just about anywhere and pull their shirts up just over the top of their pot bellies. I think it is a strategy to give them air so they keep growing. Either way it makes for funny jokes and family nights. 

So it turns out both my companion and I stayed in the area together! We were both super excited because this is his last transfer in the mission. In mission terms I’m killing him because I’m his last companion. We are looking forward to working hard and also having fun on p days to visit his old areas, a fun tradition in the mission. Today we went and bought fabric and then went to a tailor. He is getting a three piece, hand made, fitted suit for about $95, but for me I chose to get some pants made. Sorry mom if you already sent me a pair, it only costs about $20 to get pants made so its a lot cheaper. 

It was an interesting week. We had an abnormally good week in terms of lessons with members and the amount of lessons we taught. The majority of our investigators are coming to or already reached the end of the line. We have a few new people we contacted, but we kinda exhausted our resources and so now we are working in the limits of our area and in the rich neighborhood. I get a little nervous around the rich couple we met named Pedro and Jasinta because I feel like my Spanish is very informal because that’s all we hear and speak, the informal kind of people are more commonly receptive. I do appreciate that they don’t just try to please us and will ask questions. You would laugh about how many times people tell us that our message is true but they cant read the scriptures or join the church or believe the message for some reason or another.

We have been really bold this week and even told a few people that they were thinking of excuses why not to act when we asked the to make commitments. One lady spent a good 2 minutes trying to think of something to do on Sunday at nine in the morning, we told her she was making up an excuse but she denied it and said that she really did have to let the laundry dry for three hours on Sunday morning.

I got to ride in the bed of a few trucks during the week! I am unsure if that is obedient or not but when you are driving to pick people up for church or on your way for lunch with a member family, safety isn’t really on your mind. I felt super excited to be going that fast, I forgot what that was like. Also to be in a truck or in the front seat is weird, especially when seatbelts and air-conditioning are involved. 

Paulino our anciano investigator has been up and down with his health. Somedays he is well and happy, others in pain and grim. He couldn’t make it to church so I think we are going to move his baptism back a week or two. The other day we did splits and in extra time I taught a lesson on prayer with him. He is such and amazing man. He said one of the most sincere prayers I have heard an investigator say! I hope his health doesn’t continue to be a barrier.

Coronel De Luna, he is a coronel for the firefighters and I don’t really know his first name, is doing well. He doesn’t read well but has been inviting neighbors or his maid to read to him when he has time! “Ahhhh what?! You went out of your way to receive our message?!” Also he said that in the firehouse the other day they were about to eat when he said all of a sudden he shouted “We are going to bless the food first! If you don’t want to be a part of it go over there and sit in the corner.” I could hardly contain my excitement. I think already the spirit is helping him change his life, even if he doesn’t recognize it. I bore testimony that the gospel changes us and as we continue we will want to change more and more. I think his obstacle will be coming to church, not a shocker, and steady lessons since he works crazy hours being a firefighter. 

Lately I have been listening to older devotional talks, from, President Lee, President Spencer W Kimball, Neil A Maxwell, President Hunter etc. I love listening to their advice and thinking about my grandparents and parents as young adults following their admonitions.

One talk I really enjoyed the other day was one about the last days. We live in the last days and it is apparent that the world is in turmoil. I hear people talk about the trouble in ¨Nueva York¨ or in the United states and in all parts of the world. What I liked about the talk was that even though we live in these ultimate times, we will be triumphant. In no other period of time on the earth was the gospel to remain. Prophets thousands of years ago gloried in the knowledge that even though in their time the church was to fall to apostasy, in our time it will not fall. IF we remain strong in our faith to Christ we will not fall to the attacks of the world. This is the only dispensation in which we not only have hope for a future victory but a victory in our day.

John 16:33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Love, Elder Sheffield