December 18, 2017

This week was super crazy. We started out going on exchanges to Cape Town which was great but i swear every time i fly that flight gets delayed. I  waited in the airport for about 6 hours by myself because of transfers.... not gonna lie. it felt weird but kinda nice hahaha.

Next is we had an awesome baptismal service! Everything went smoothly and then when they got up to bear their testimony afterwards, it was the best part!! I’ll give you some quotes of what they said;

Hugo – I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet the elders. They really changed my life for the better.

Chantelle – I’ve decided from this day on I’m going to follow Jesus Christ and I’m never going to look back. (really rough background)

Yonella – I’m happy to be part of a new family. This is the right thing for me... (then just start balling her eyes out) 

It was the best!

Next my comp and i sang together in sacrament meeting. It was his last Sunday here. Elder Greengrass is super good at singing and then there is me but i thought it was pretty good. Right after i had an impromptu talk and complemented myself on the singing hahaha.

Transfer news came and I’ll be staying and receiving Elder Kyles, who is awesome!!! He’s from Utah and I’m super excited to be with him. I hope i get to spend 2 transfers with him!!!! My comp will be leaving to white wash train in Cape Town which is exciting. Scary place so pray for him. I have really learned a lot from him and I’m grateful!!!!

i loved studying that talk! yo it has some really good principles taught in it. i have never studied or even paid attention to conference like i have this time. They are great! What have i been missing out on? Are they always this good? haha i feel bad now.

Alma 13 is the bomb! if you want to learn how to be a good leader read the chapter! It pretty much sums up that Melchezidek was a legend! 

love you

elder shaw

December 11, 2017

Yes, my companion writes like a journalist lol so much detail... sorry not doing that. hahaha But i think we have learned a lot from each other.

Yes i would love that history of Elder Walker and can show my president. He would be interested in that. The senior couple here would also be interested... their surname is Stevenson. His great grandpa or something like that was also the first missionary here. soo they were comps! hahaha

This week was great! super super busy with everything and zone conference went well. Our President talked out D&C 20:37 which is about qualifications for baptism. It was truly inspired cause we had some questions about some investigators when we should baptize them. We decided to postpone after that talk and let me tell ya, she was not happy!!! It’s sad  because she has such a strong desire but i don’t think it was for the right reason so we are postponing it to jan 21. (she is going to the villages for a while) We are going to have a few baptisms this coming week. I think 3 which is nice. I’ll send you a picture next week of it but really excited. 2 of them are former investigators who kinda disappeared for a while but then realized what they have been missing and now desire to be baptized which is awesome! It’s kinda true from that one conference talk that said, if you leave where will you go? This email is really jumbled sorry hahah but the other thing our president talked about was budgeting hahaha. It was really interesting. I’m pretty sure he was a financial advisor back home and he was tell us how when he went on a date with who is now his wife, at dinner or something he just said lets talk about the budget and then after they agreed he then asked to marry her hahaha it was really funny but smart!

Well Christmas is on pday (Monday) so I can call pretty much any time. We have a family that has already offered to have us and we can skype there soooo now just gotta see a time when we can because I’m way ahead of you. Also i will get a new comp right before Christmas like 5 days before (sad for him) so i don’t know when he will be able to.

The number of youth coming to church is increasing. i really try to focus on the youth cause that is who i get along with the most and I teach them a lot! Some of them go on missions but its almost like it’s not really a necessity here. They go if they want and are really strong!

i haven’t contacted door to door in a long time. If we don’t have anything to do, we go to members and ask who haven’t you seen in church in a long time. We go and visit the less actives and then get new investigators through them. It’s pretty much all referral finding and also walking to appointments talking to people and setting times.

The Madagascar missionaries are still here. i don’t know when they go back. I’m not sure of the situation.

I would like to study the beatitudes, wasn’t there a talk on that just a little while ago? Or Jeffery R Holland’s talk was kinda on that. I think it was about trying to be perfect but i will look into it more. I have loved studying the talks when they come out!!! Man they are so good. i cut some out and put them in my Book of Mormon. haha Like the one about the sacrament, so i can read it during church to keep my mind focused.

Great week, good energy this week

Elder Shaw

December 4, 2017

Ya waking up that early mom is exactly what i did when i worked at the temple! Do they have a cafeteria in this temple? 

 I’m sorry that I didn’t get to be apart of the ward missionary videos. I can’t send a video haha. It takes like 20 min to upload a picture but ill see you for Christmas so no worries!

I loved the tie you sent!!! American ties are all good looking haha at least the ones you send me are good looking! i was doing service though and i snagged one of them and was really sad cause its my favorite one.

You did such a good job of parenting and teaching about gospel principles to me. I definitely feel super blessed to have you guys as parents. But I got on my mission and figured out some gospel principles that i had no idea about like every time you take the sacrament your sins are washed away? Who knew mom haha i think i did know it but it didn’t come into play until my mission hahah pretty bad right?

Sad news, August is out of town this week and next but I talked to Joline, his wife over the phone and yo she is cruising through the Book of Mormon!! She is already in Mosiah but i asked her how she feels and how it makes a difference in her life and she gave the best response, and i quote... "I think I’m happy because i feel that i can change and walk the right path and i know the Holy Ghost is working inside of me." Man i was so happy when she said that!!!! Wow the Book of Mormon is true and it changes lives! fo realz! haha

We preparing for zone conference this week and our president only gave us one paragraph in PMG to give a hour training hahaha so it will be interesting to see how that goes My comp is a super deep thinker and does all this pondering stuff hahah when i just make up my mind quickly and do. So I’m glad he is my comp. We are learning from each other. He gives some good trainings!! twas a good fast fast week.

I’m singing with my comp in two weeks in sacrament meeting. We are singing Oh Come Oh Come Emanuel. Thanks for the encouragment.

love you miss you

elder shaw