"Some People I knew in Heaven"

The first part of this weeks email had answers to some of our Questions:

Did you get your braces on?  

I didn´t get braces - the lady was crazy and thought she could rip me off cuz I'm American. That is what my comp told me.  haha.

How's the companions?

They´re good! I´ve been teaching them English.

Are all 4 of you staying together in the new apartment?
Yes - we´re all moved into it now. 

Do you ever cook real food, besides Top Ramen?

Nope! haha But I might buy sandwich stuff today.

How is the family getting ready for baptism?

eh more or less on track, gettin ready haha.

Do they laugh at you speaking Portuguese?

Eh sometimes when say a wrong word haha

Do they teach you words or trick you into saying stupid things?

They help me, they´re good about that

Are your thermals good in the cold? 

Perfect. the thermal garment bottoms are really short, but they´re good. 

Did you buy blankets there for your bed?

Yeah, we have just over a million blankets here, so we´re all good there. haha

Hey Family!

     Sorry you haven´t gotten the SD card yet, I sent it along with the mother´s day card. 

     I don´t know why but I was thinking of the time dad and I went fishing with Jack [on the way to send you an email]. and Jack went in the river trying to catch a fish with his hands hahaha. So funny.  Time is seriously flying,. the days that I work hard and fully engage I don´t even remember. But when we walk a lot and aren´t 100 percent focused my mind starts to wander, and the days go by soooo slow. 

     So we were in the house of Claudia and Vilmar. She is a member but hasn´t been since she was little. He isn´t a member. They´re like in their 20s. We always say the first prayer and challenge them to say the last. We challenged her to say it, then just bowed our heads and waited, for probably 3 minutes in silence. She didn´t want to do it. Then she just started going.Probably the most spiritual moment yet. The spirit was so strong in that room. I´m confident he´ll get baptized shortly. 

This week was crazy! We moved finally, but it took like 2 whole days not including p-day, cuz we only gotta use a truck for like 1 hour. We had to freaking carry the rest of the stuff 3 blocks by hand, so that was fun!     

     The language is coming, but really slowly. We had our interviews with President on Thursday.... he is way cool, a great president. he brought some packages and letters with him. I got the package you sent with the candy and chips and photos! Thanks so much! I got like 5 letters and the package, so that was a good highlight for the week!

     My companion and I are probably doing roughly 20 lessons a week. not bad but not good enough. We´re gonna try and work harder this week. We have 2 heaters in our room, but we keep the door open to try and get the CO2 out, good heaters. 

     The scout trip sounds like it was a blast! Tay sounds like he had a good time, and he´s getting big so I need to start doing some sit ups and push ups here.  And Hailey! congrats on making the All-star team! Now just pop some home runs in the tournament!!!

     That is soooo sweet you got a gun for the broken bike! You won that trade right there. that´s the ksl magic! haha. love using that. God works in mysterious ways, and that´s why that man was there. Crazy. Some of these people I feel like I knew in heaven, seriously. They love me! And I love all of them! We teach and teach and teach, and 98 percent of the time the people love it! They are so open to everything.

The weather here is just like Utah, but yesterday I was in the biggest rain/thunderstorm of my life! It was literally raining golf balls, so my umbrella was virtually useless! One of the members saw us down the road and fed us some chicken and rice for dinner so that was good. It was actually the member we just baptized! They are so excited about the church, and to go to the temple next year to be sealed. 

     My testimony is growing so strong here. I can actually go through the Book of Mormon in Portuguese and know what´s going on now. Preach my Gospel is such a big help. Have Tay try and work on studying that. especially - chapter 3 about the lessons. Having my scriptures in English,  pre-marked with all of these would have been such a big help! I use different colors for each lesson. I´m sending money to the office in santa maria for a leather Book of Mormon in Portuguese. cuz all they gave us is a paper one and it´s already dying. I can use mission money for whatever, but we don´t have tons. so I´m slowly saving. I will try and write you a letter today! I am seriously so busy I never have time to write! Thanks for everything! And happy Fathers Day dad! You´re the best anyone could ask for. Thank you for supporting me in coming here. It´s the best experience. Thank you for your time money and efforts in getting me here as well. Oh, and feel free to play with my money in the investment market to make me some more :) haha

k I gotta go!

 Bye for now!

Love,

Elder Shepherd