Bednar's Every Flavored Beans

Another week for the books. The coolest part of the week no doubt was going down to Guayaquil to hear the words of an apostle. It was basically a 3 hour question and answer with Elder Bednar. The thing that impressed me the most was how he never ever thought twice about what he said. Hence the title, he could answer any kind of question flawlessy with exactly what I needed to learn. Somebody would ask a hard question in Spanish and he did not know very much Spanish. But within 3 seconds he'd say “That's a good question” and go on to give a 10 minute answer that is super clear and better than any talk I've prepared. His message was very clear to me. Agency is the ability to choose whether to act or be acted upon. In the gospel building faith, repentance, baptism, using the holy ghost, and keeping the commandments all take action. Many times people would ask a question and he would say “As soon as you quit worrying about it” or “Don't be an object.” If we take control in our lives we will be a lot more successful and grow a whole lot more.

We have a super cool friend named Erica. We are working with her family and her daughter really wants to be baptized and Erica wants to help her get there. It was soo awesome when we stopped by and had the discussion about baptism. Elder Anderson and I didn't get the chance to talk. Erica, who is a non-member, explained to her daughter everything she needs to do to be baptized. She drew out on a big piece of paper on their table a map of Luana (the daughter) and all the steps with a Book of Mormon, prayer, and attending church. She looked at her daughter and told us “She is very smart and capable. If she wants it, I will help.” The daughter said yes so we have a lot more preparing to do. 

All of the different religions in Ventanas are so interesting, or the different denominations. You could walk down the street and there are 3 different Evangelical churches just where there would normally be a house. It is so awesome when we teach somebody who knows all about the Savior and that he died for our sins. But often we need to help them understand that because of that, our sins can be forgiven. I am grateful to know that my Savior died for me and although I do sin, my sins can be forgiven. 

Selah! 
In case you don't see me Buenas Tardes, Buenas Noches, y Buenas Noches,

Elder Sheppert

Photos:
1. Elder Sheppert and the Burning Bush
2. Grandma and Elder Sheppert
3. Hard to see, but Catarama
4. Elder Bednar



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listo, Mixto, Ya

Image
No longer am I a padawan. I have a ton to learn, but the training is complete.  Transfers have came and gone. I'm still in the Degoba system or Ventanas! I do not mind this place at all. The members are awesome, I know the area super well, and we got some good things planned this month. Elder Anderson went to Guayaquil so I got a new companion, Elder Luengo. He's a Chileno so there are 4 Chilenos in our Zone! Which also means the Spanish is going to go to the next level. It's strange. I'm not super good but I sometimes catch myself thinking in Spanish. That's a strange feeling but it's an awesome grind. Something really cool about him is he loves rock and roll. He walked in put 4 magnets on the wall. The 4 best ones. The Beatles, LZ, PF, RHCP. My mind was blown away. I knew there would be no problems here.  We have been teaching all sorts of people this week. The young, the old, the crazy, the normal, the willing. Two people that we got to teach and baptize this...
Read more

¡Positivo!

Image
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...
Read more

Through The Wire

Image
This week was another grinder! Not that it wasn’t fun but the sickness got me again. The great part about getting sick is that I let God take the reigns even more. It is kind of like fasting. I can’t be as physically able on my own as I like but I’m asking for strength to find and teach from God in every second. We did find some really special people this week whose lives can be changed forever for better if they allow the gospel to do so.  Something that I think is interesting about Durán is that music is going on at all times. We walk out the door, and there's music! Walk down the street, Music! Wake up in the morning, Music is waiting! It's cool that I can recognize most of the songs now that are common and can understand them! We have been teaching the Espinoza Family! They are really awesome and love soccer. David, the dad, asks a lot of questions and loves to listen, he is very Catholic. Veronica, the mom, has a really strong testimony of the Bible and after we talked all...
Read more