Sheppert, Samuel

Really just another week for the books. I had Zone conference and went on two exchanges. I had the opportunity to lead the area which was tough. Every street looks the same because it is so dusty. People hose the roads not to clear the dust, but to just keep the dust down for the day. So you can imagine: I've got some Elder waiting for me to find where we needed to go 10 minutes ago but I just don't know. Things worked out smoothly in the end and we never had an unsuccessful day.  There was a group of 10 kids ranging from 10-15 years old that saw us and asked me if I was Mr. Beast. I said, "No, but I am the Mr. Beast of Baptism." They started clapping and thought that was so cool. I told them that unlike Mr. Beast (on YouTube), they'd have to work for a baptism. We handed out a pamphlet to one of them and everyone else started begging for pamphlets. We took this as an opportunity to teach. I handed out some pamphlets to the other kids and we taught all about bapti...

Wow! How fast did this week go by?? Elder Anderson and I got to work. We met so many new people and we were spreading the good word of God all day, every day!! Now, when your Spanish is still not impressive by any means, it is hard going up to random people when you know you will mess up 99% of the time. For motivation to have no fear, I've used a phrase from Phineas and Ferb. Specifically, Doctor Doofenshmirtz's father's phrase and adopted by my oldest brother Alex, “Are you a man? Or a schnitzel?!?” As a young Doctor Doofenshmirtz and today-me would say: “I am a man! I am a man!” proceeding to full send with a very fluent “Como Esta?” and then “Cual es su nombre?”. And just nodding at what they say back sometimes. It has been a whole lot of fun. My great friend Elder Grundy bought a bracelet but gave it to me. It had a name engraved on it, which was Pablo.This has many special meanings to me, but it has one in specific. Now you might think that it is referring to the amaz...

Sam has sent quite a few photos recreating Provo MTC photos that were sent by other Elder  Shepperts . Just for fun, here are a few of them put together. Elder Sam Sheppert Elder David Sheppert Elder Christ Sheppert Elder Sam Sheppert Elder David Sheppert Ice Cream Sandwich Competition (Note the wrappers) Elder Sam Sheppert with 15 sandwiches Elder David Sheppert with 12 1/2 sandwiches Elder Chris Sheppert with 11 Sam recreated my mission plaque pose: The Original Elder  Sheppert  in the Provo MTC Elder Alex  Sheppert  trained in the Mexico City MTC

 Well where do I begin!?!?! I guess I might start with the last MTC business. I ate 15 ice cream sandwiches in one go so I'll take the title from David in that friendly, uncompetitive competition. ECUADOR!!! Oh my goodness. This place is all that and a box of chocolates on all fronts. It appeared to be cold but as soon as I stepped outside the plane, it was toasty for the next two years. I don't know if I'm used to it now but I keep saying it's very doable and now it is. Light work. I got to baptize Hermano (brother) Gabriel in Guayaquil and it was awesome! My Spanish is limited but I am grateful to do that!  I got to play a ton of soccer today with all of the kids in the city. We played for almost 4 hours and we were playing well. It felt like I was at an open gym for Skyview Hoops. These kids are good but I was thinking like Lucas Witthauer would've ran these kids easy, USA all day. I was so gassed though cause it was soooo hot when we played.   Right now I'm ...

It felt very appropriate to have a patriotic send off 4 days before heading down to Ecuador. It made me realize I'm definitely going to miss a lot of people and things but hey! There is not a day in my life I don't love! I'm blessed to see the growth in every trial I have. Luke 17:32 and PSALM 23 We could kinda hear the Jonas Brothers concert from the MTC and got to watch the massive fireworks show that the Stadium of Fire puts on. They'll never be One Direction though so it's okay that I missed. My favorite hymns right now are “Praise to the Man” and #1001 “Come Thou Fount” (which I like for how it sounds like LOTR but also the lyrics). As part of the festivities here at the MTC we watched a movie about Joseph Smith for the 4th. What a sacrificial journey that man had! I'm so glad for the freedoms we have in this country! Praise to the man! This also made me think about my incredible ancestors and people that paved the way for me. I got to read a letter from GG...

Top 5 week in the mission no doubt. From standing to talking to listening to taking pictures with apostles it was super cool. President Oaks presided during their time in the MTC and everyone was able to make it except for the prophet. I'll never forget when a small group of elders and myself were walking by a building and President Oaks was walking to a car and pointed at us, looked me in the eyes 5 feet away and said “BE HAPPY” turned a little and pointed to some others “BE HAPPY” and then he got in the car. Elder Kearon gave a devotional and he said “We are led by optimists” and that statement held true after President Oaks' simple message. I love the fact that we are led by optimists! Life really gets tough all the time but we choose how we react to every situation. It's always CHEVERE for me.  I also learned a new phrase: “Crossing the Rubicon” It is similar to burning the boats. As Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River headed to fight against other Romans that wante...

It's been a good week. The clase finished the English portion of learning to be a missionary. Meaning these next 4 weeks of my life are dedicated to learning and becoming as fluent in Spanish as possible. And still I'm not that good in English. I definitely learned a ton in Spanish though and have quickly found that future tense is the best kinda tense. The gift of tongues has been real and it will only become more real. I memorized Psalms 23 and say it like 100 times a day in my head. I feel like the sniper from "Saving Private Ryan" except in a missionary way. “I fear no evil, for thou art with me…” If you haven't memorized this, I would invite you to read it and do so. Unlike Tee Grizzly, it was my first day outta the MTC. Two other elders and I woke up at 4 in the morning and hopped on a flight to Phoenix to go to the Ecuador consulate and get our visas. We had to wait three hours at the consulate, but we finally got them and all was well. We decided to get so...