SPLITS

Arrived August 6, 2015

Love you more than…. Mystery mango drink (was a drink that a random investigator gave us on splits. It was so good, but I found out it's against the rules unless president approves it, but I'm alive so that’s good.)

This week was pretty much like the last 5 weeks except for splits, so I'll mainly focus on that.

So we woke up and started our normal daily stuff last Friday, except we couldn't focus because how excited we were to go on splits. When the time finally came we all loaded into some more ghetto vans and drove to a nearby church building. I was in the last van because I had to stay back and make sure everyone had a ride, AP duties kind of thing. When my van gets to the church it's deserted. We kind of panicked and tried to get in the church but it was locked. Finally some missionaries from the field came, and then some magically appeared inside the church and opened the doors. We met in  classroom and waited for backup since there were so many of us CCM missionaries. We ate some limoncillas, that some missionaries brought, they are like little eyeball fruits. Anyways we got assigned/picked by field missionaries and headed out. We rode the metro to our area. The real city is pretty humble. There’s trash, pollution, half clothed people the whole thing everywhere you look. We hopped in the bed of one of these small trucks, like taxis, and then rode to the missionaries’ home. From the home we went teaching. We taught this man Jacoba about how the Book of Mormon is the most correct book. I can understand about 60% of gospel talk and then like 30% of everyday Spanish. I felt the spirit really strong though when I focused. The whole lesson I was praying/focusing on trying to answer and meet the needs of Jacoba. The Holy Ghost helped me to convey the right things. Our next lesson was down some alleys and stairs to a house. If you want to know what the houses are like imagine the movies placed in Brazil, where cement square houses are stacked on top of each other and everyone is walking around or sitting on the porches. This lesson was in the house of a member. We shared a short message with the wife and son, who shared with us the mango drink. The cold drink was like heaven.

From there we walked around and contacted. We saw the lowliest of homes and then the mansions of the neighborhoods as well. It's sad to see most people in really humble conditions and then hidden in the hills were these gated houses that have Mercedes and lots of....JEEP GRAND CHEROKEES! The rich people love them! Even some Mustangs, Jeeps and Mercedes pretty cool stuff. 

We didn’t have a lot of success contacting and I realized how little Spanish I really knew, but it was great to see what the field is like. Me and Elder Wayman were with an elder from Utah the whole day. He was a pretty nice guy and he's been here for like 11 months so he helped a lot with the Spanish. Around 7:30 at night we met back at the church then drove home. A great, eye-opening day out in the field. 

Other things that happened this week are we almost watched the “Other Side of Heaven” in the CCM but instead we watched “Ephraim’s Rescue” which was still good. I got a haircut this week, pretty much a buzz cut. 

The Ipod wacked out and now it works but there is zero music on it. I kind of want to send it home in the mail, and then if you could send it back for Christmas or something, idk what do you think? 

Spiritual thought this week is centered around a song called Homeward bound. You'll have to watch the vocal point version of it for family night. It's been on my mind lately because it pretty much says “set me free to serve and I'll return to you somehow.” How fitting. I've left you, who I love, to serve. I love you so much, but Heavenly Father loves us more than we can even imagine and I must share that. That is my purpose here. I want to share the eternal love with all those I meet. Imagine the world if we just loved each other. Wow. Anyways this is my last email from the CCM. My next one will be on Tuesday afternoon in my mission.

"take luck"

With lot's of love, 

Elder Sheffield

--

Elder Andrew W. Sheffield

Practice for the field

Arrived July 30,2015

Love you more than...Secreta Oracion. (My favorite spanish hymn, like dad)

Looks like we are trying to escape

There's so much to talk about I can hardly think of what I want to say. It's been cool to occasionally see Elders from out in the field, I've talked to a few from Santiago who say president is great, likes the rules and doesn't know a ton of English so I'll get extra practice! We leave like august 8 I think. It's a Tuesday morning in like a week and I half.... I think. It's hard to focus on everything at once, always busy. 

What our MTC/CCM looked like for a week, just about 40 of us, but now there are about 70

The pants have been great, and the shoes. It feels like I always have lots of dirty shirts and not enough clean ones haha. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!!!! 10 IS SO OLD. My little j-dub is all grown up ;) Sounds like you had a great party! I was thinking of presents I could give you if you were here, like one of the big lizards that run around on the temple grass. That was really nice of Abbie to give you the hamster.

Fun stuff from the store: flag, soda, soap, colored pencils, and a tie

We went to the store again this week and my card worked so I got some things, really excited to buy soap and stuff haha. Proud of you guys for working on prayer. Thanks dad for your email last week, it really was amazing, meant a lot. 

"On Wednesday's we wear pink"

This week we taught some amazing lessons as well as some that weren't perfect, it's good practice for the field. Tomorrow we actually go out into the field and do splits with elders for 7 hours which is exciting. I'm trying not to be nervous. Today was our last temple day in the CCM which is bitter sweet. My Spanish is getting progressively better and I'm getting more confident with how it's going. I was trying to think of a good spiritual thing this week, there are so many to choose from. I think something that touched me this week is how everything has a purpose and is part of a plan. Everyone we meet is for a purpose. "Every moment if you have eyes to see and ears to hear is a perfect missionary moment" -Holland. Though we may feel like we sometimes are just another person going with the flow, it's not random. Those I've met here have been put on my path in life for one reason or another. We should always be looking for the special ways Heavenly Father shows his hand and love through just those little moments. Some Haitian Elders just went home this week and it touched me how we'll never see them again, but the time we had together was made by eternal perspective. Everything is just perspective, don't focus on what you cannot change for the better. This life is for progression and every step along the way there are people we must meet and help as together we travel nearer to our home in heaven. 

Spiritual essentials kit: Libro, name tag, planner/notes, moroni tie pin

Love you all back home,

--

Elder Andrew W. Sheffield

"You shall not pass"in Spanish

Gym time

Mystery soup/traditional dominican meal

Park of lights

Seeing the ocean from the temple

District Moroni

P-day

Fun on p-day

Upgraded our proselyting

Sorry I don't really have time to respond to your most recent email, I didn't have time to print it off this morning, so I'll write now instead of wasting time reading it, but I'll respond next week :)

OK where to start...

So we upgraded from proselyting in the park to the nearby University, which was founded in the 1500's crazy huh? It was super scary for me because I'm not used to just walking up to strangers yet and my Spanish isn't what I want it to be, but the Lord prepares us! The people are all so receptive and kind! Most everybody believes in Christ so they like hearing messages. I grew more comfortable as we talked to people, though my Spanish got worse somehow haha. We met this one lady who had gone to church with a friend once and when we invited her back she said, sure! We got her telephone number and stuff and kept going. I had the greatest feeling. Also we ran into this one guy who listened and then told us we needed to learn more Spanish, however he then bore his testimony to us and told us to never stop doing the Lord's work. It was amazing and he wasn't even a member. 

So our district is like family now. We have spiritual moments as well as fun ones when we play games like signs. I was nervous getting called as an AP with my companion but President Gave a talk that night about leadership positions and it really comforted me. 

On Sunday, one of the new Haitian elders gave his talk in french/creol and even though we heard his message through a translator I think we all had teary eyes as he bore his testimony.

We continue to bless and comfort each other, like Elder Nelson, who is having some things going on at home. I was prompted to give a district prayer for him and then us Elders gave him a blessing. I learned that through helping comfort others, the Lord Comforts us as well. 

The guys in our district have been practicing “Brightly Beams” for a musical number for church Sunday, which sounds pretty good if I may say so myself. We played futsol and ultimate frisbee outside and then drowned in our sweat, gross but kinda true sorry. 

Something I learned spiritually is about promptings. Our area president Elder Cornish was giving a talk about how promptings are really revelation. Our ability to understand and then respond to promptings is directly linked to the eternal progression of those we meet. We need to practice feeling promptings, to grow to known when to act. The MTC is the graduate school of revelation. The lord has plainly given us promptings and what he expects us to do, it's in black and white, called the scriptures. I know that we all get promptings at various times, and I want to challenge you guys, and I'll do this as well, to when you get a thought even a simple one that will bring about some good in someway to immediately respond to it. Good things come from God, Bad things from Satan. If we get a good idea- it's from God, it's a promptings, it's a revelation. I know we will become so much more effective if we do this, I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With mucho amor from my corazon,

Elder Andrew W. Sheffield

It's amazing what we can do with the Lord's help

I love you more than...funny fresh mangoes!!!

 

The turquoise leather tie I want to show Emily

SO to answer some of your questions, Elder Wayman my comp is from San Jose California and My roomates, Elder Ourth and Rojas are from Kansas City Missouri and Utah (I forgot where). The CCM (MTC) is a really nice temperature and so is the temple but when you get outside it's hot. Our rooms we keep at like 20 degrees Celsius which is like in the 60s. We were studying outside the other day and sitting by the clothes dryer vents which meant I was in 90 degree weather with 70 percent humidity and hot air from the dryers blowing on me. I was roasting. To add to that some parrots were being really loud, but it was cool. I did get a hair cut and though it's not like a buzz cut, it's almost as short as it's ever been. 

Here's a few highlights from the past couple of weeks

Day 3 We celebrated the 4th of July with a thanksgiving dinner and cake

Day 4 Walked around temple grounds practicing our testimonies in Spanish when an old gentleman, I think it was Ghandi, came up to us and sang 5 versus of some spanish hymn haha. Latter that day we went proselyting in the neighboring park. I was super nervous cause my 4 days worth of Spanish knowledge wouldn't help that much, but the lord blesses the obedient

Day 5 started waking up half an hour early to get more study time, watched some amazing MTC devotionals on the t.v. and then walked around the temple grounds and ate ice cream.

Day 6 Learned that our teacher is the coolest, nicest, most spiritual guy ever. We have a new slogan for our district "Cheedo"

Day 8 finished the banana bread that someone snuck into my suitcase

Day 10 watched Elder Packers funeral, weighed myself and I've gained 7 pounds (which I have since lost 4 of those)

Day 11 learned to deal with dirty white shirts with not enough time for a washing machine. Met with president, who is amazing and heard a great mission story. Played fooseball with two of the teachers. Hermana Garcia reminds me of the main girl alien from the movie avatar. Personality and sound effects haha. Met some English speakers in the park and invited them to church. Gave Elder Ourth a blessing.

Day 12 We're always tired, heard "the file room" a really good short story which I THINK you have probably heard before. At lunch we all rush for the fresh cut mangoes. Hermana Bossard had some essential oil stuff, which makes me think of her as a native american medicine woman. Shouted/sang Battle hymn of the republic in spanish.

Day 14 said goodbye to the experienced mtc missionaries and the latinos who left this morning.

Sorry my thoughts are so scattered and I had to cram like two weeks of stuff into one email. I'll do better next time. Anyways I'll write about the past couple of days in more depth here. Our days consist of being tired eating and speaking Spanish. Honestly it's purely Spanish speaking in class which is broken up by breakfast, lunch, gym and dinner. I've learned sooooooo much about the gospel, myself and Spanish. We teach mock investigators, which gives us a lot of practice. I study flash cards, read my Spanish scriptures and memorize phrases. It's amazing what we can do because of the lord's help. We have the best district here and my good companion Elder Wayman is our leader. He's a really kind guy and super smart. My district knows so much Spanish and I work hard to keep up. New elders got here today and so the CCM is once again in like record breaking numbers. Our whole CCM is like a fourth of the size of the Provo MTC's choir haha. We have a lot of fun singing random songs and quoting movies. I don't know how they could be more like Emily haha. 

Thank you mom for your last two letters. The story of Christ's suffering and solo comforter and then the stories about fear have been an answer to my prayers. I don't know how to explain it but I am discouraged, tired, happy and filled with the spirit all at the same time. I'm glad it's not like home because I feel myself growing everyday. The lord really does shape our backs to bear the burdens that will come to us. We are molded to fit tasks so why do we ever let ourselves even think for a second that we can't make it through! We're in the fog and though we can only see two steps in front of us, as we take those two steps, two more are shown. How great is our Father in Heaven. I know Christ is living, He is our living, loving Savior. HURRAH FOR ISREAL!!!!!! 

Ask more questions if my letters are vague, I'm not used to writing more than persuasive essays and lesson plans. Kolipoki signing off. Talk to you next week

--

Elder Andrew W. Sheffield