Sheppert, Samuel

This was a very strange week on all accounts. We had transfers, and Catarama, the one area far away, lost both Elders and one of them left back for the USA 4 days before transfers. So one of the zone leaders split to Catarama and the other stayed with me and my companion for the week. That was such a great learning experience. Elder Anderson and I got to learn from the master, Elder López. He's from the South of Chile so he talks at a million miles an hour in Spanish. Towards the end of that exchange, I started to understand everything he said, which made me very happy.  Because we have been watching Elder Bednar talks in both Spanish and English, we have had a ton of fun reciting talks. Elder Bednar has an interpreter who translates from English to Spanish after each sentence, so we pretend to do that too. There is one talk where Elder Bednar speaks on agency. An amazing talk to missionaries. He explains that Lucifer never had a plan of his own and that we need to understand ...

Interviews, preparations and aprendation. One friend, Orlando, we keep coming across only really says one word: Positivo. You could ask “Como esta?,” receive a "Positivo" and then ask "Have you been doing something bad?" and he'll say “Positivo” and then process the question and switch to “Negativo!” But it is really fun to find him in the streets because he is always Positive. Now us four Elders can't stop saying "Positivo" for all of our answers too.  Another one of our friends, Anderson, who is 20 never ceases to amaze us. Not in the way that he does anything crazy, but he just seems to be everywhere. I remember one day we walked to a lesson and he joined in. It wasn't that far from his house so it was normal. Later that day, we are on the opposite side of Sibimbe and what do you know, Anderson is just walking along out of the endless banana trees singing gibberish and joins in the lesson for another 5 minutes and walks off. Third time we ar...

There really is no break in the work. It is hard to be believe all that has came to pass in the last week. I got to go on a super cool intercambio-exchange with an Elder 1 hour away in the most isolated place in the mission. There is a massive bridge over the river and lots of huts and people. Probably the most interesting aspect of it all was that the other Elder knew no English. I was surprised how well things went that day. I would often try my best to say something and it would come out as nonsense to them. My companion luckily understood me enough to re-explain and that is how the day went. Super Chevere!! I caught one Elder singing “Can't take my eyes off of you” and pulled out the guitar and we had a good session of singing after hours. One guy we went contacting with from the ward really likes George Michael for some reason. I got to sing “Careless Whisper" with him in the streets and got a really cool contact from it. We recently contacted a guy who is actually amazin...

My companion needed a haircut so we went but we didn't realize that the guy cutting the hair really took his time. We were there for an hour. A lengthy haircut it was, but more or a less a sentimental roller coaster for me while I waited. All I could do was sit and watch the music videos that were playing cause we were the only people there. When "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on, I almost shed a tear. Then "Somewhere over the Rainbow"- Izzy, and then "Gangsta's Paradise." And then he switched it to Ecuadorian music. It was so strange hearing that music again. Had me thinking about my Canaan Days, the good times. But NOW is the good times! It has been another crazy week of going house to house, lesson to lesson, contact to contact, never a dull moment. Before Hermano Huber's baptismal interview, he gave us 4 missionaries gifts. I received his phone and he refused to take it back. He gave away his headphones and chains too. He said “Use these for the ...