Well Oregon is Green! :)
This past week was pretty exciting! On Tues we had our zone meeting.
It went very well. We had our training and practice on working with
members and did some training on member referral lessons. I LOVE
working with members! It's one of my favorite ways to find new
investigators. We were able to help the zone by giving them the tools
they need to gain the members trust and to receive referrals from the
members. We shall see how things go this week. Hopefully the
companionships in the zone are applying what they have been taught. It
has been nice to be in a trio because one of us are able to "shadow"
different companionships in the zone to help train them in their
areas. It helps the water meet at the end of the row. Our zone has
been struggling recently. With new missionary's moved around in the
zone we have had to set the standard again and lay down the hammer.
Hopefully we will see more progress and help the zone start baptizing
more.
On weds we were able to meet with Bishop Leder to discuss the
"Covenant Path." In a nut shell the Covenant Path consists of 5 steps:
1. Once every other month each member of the Ward Council hosts the
full- time missionaries on a Sunday and accompanies them on visits
sometime during that week.
2. The Bishop, or a member of the bishopric visits the investigator
within 48 Hours of setting a Baptismal Date. The Bishop immediately
assigns visiting teachers and home teachers as fellowshippers.
3. Ward Council Members and Ward Missionaries visit less-active
members within their stewardship as part of their visits with the
full-time missionaries.
4. Missionaries introduce the investigator to the Family History
Consultant to begin genealogy work no later than the third lesson.
Within a week of baptism, the Family History Consultant works with the
Investigator to prepare family names for the temple.
5. Ward missionaries plan visits to accompany the full-time
missionaries three times each month for a two-hour block that agrees
with the schedule of the Ward missionary. They will visit less-active
members, nonmember families, active member families and others whom
the Ward Missionary has been preparing to receive the gospel.
The "Covenant Path," helps missionary's work closely with members of
the ward counsel to find people to teach. Not only does it help new
converts stay active, but It helps missionary's and members unite in
missionary work!! It is amazing! This coming Sunday in ward counsel,
Bishop Leder asked us to do a little presentation to help the tires
meet the road so we can help increase the missionary efforts in the
Canby 1st ward. So many great things are headed underway! Super
exciting!
We had an incredible lesson with Jessie Floyd this past week at Corey
and Nancy Crum's house. We were able to met up with sister Crum before
the lesson to help prepare her for the lesson. We felt very strongly
that sister Crum needed to extend the commitment to be baptized to
Jessie so we were able to "role play" with her to help build her
confidence. The lesson was incredible! The spirit was so strong. There
wasn't a dry eye in the room. Sister Crum extended the commitment for
her to be baptized on April 16th. Jessie said that she wants to pray
about it first and that she will get back to us at our next lesson on
Tues. It was an amazing experience! She was able to come to church
this past Sunday (along with Tracy :) and really enjoyed it! She is
what you call a "dry Mormon." ;) Hopefully we will set a date with her
this week!
Thursday we had our wonderful Temple Trip and GUESS WHAT!?! I saw so
many members from the Hazeldale ward!! It is so cool how every single
time I go to the temple I ALWAYS run into people I know. I was able to
see Brother and Sister Orr, Brother Fisher, and Sister Lemmons from
the Hazeldale ward! So nice to talk with them and to catch up! Brother
and Sister Orr asked me where I was currently serving and they told me
that they have someone that they want me to visit in Canby!! YAY
REFERRALS!!! :) It was an incredible experience! I love to go to the
temple! There is always such a special spirit there and I always leave
more uplifted and edified! It truly is "heaven on earth."
Thursday afternoon we were able to have a lesson with Tracy which went
very well. She was able to come to church this past Sunday and it was
so awesome. Brother Morehouse bore his testimony. It was so sweet and
tender and it was so cool to have one of his daughters there with him
to feel of the spirit. We were able to talk to her afterwords and she
said that she absolutely LOVED church! She is doing so well. She is
being a missionary herself! Her ex-husband is having a tough time
right now. Tracy invited her ex over for us to share a message about
the atonement with him and give him (Erik) a blessing. It was an
amazing experience. So many miracles! Some time in the near future the
missionary will be able to teach him if he is still interested. The
church is true!
Friday we were able to do a double exchange with our district leaders.
Elder Hill and Elder Mugleston came over to Canby 1st with Elder
Hintz, Elder Katieli went to OC and I went over to Canby 2nd with
Elder Garfield. So the Canby 2nd Elders car was in the shop so Elder
Garfield and I walk EVERYWHERE! We walked 15 miles on Friday! We hit
up so many potentials, former's, and knocked on a lot of doors. No one
was interested, BUT we had such a fun time! Elder Garfield is so fun!
We had so many funny moments! While we were walking to dinner we
stopped by a family outside doing yard work and asked if we could help
and the lady pretended to act like we weren't there. It was so
sad....so while she was acting very rude to us, her ladder that she
was carrying hit a hanging bird bath and water went all over her.
Without hesitation I yelled "oh no! Are you ok?" The funny part was
that she was acting like nothing happened, yet she was sooo
embarrassed because she was sooo soaked. I couldn't help but chuckle a
little bit. :/
GUESS WHO I SAW IN CANBY?? While Elder Garfield and I were street
contacting and was talking to a lady who ended up not being
interested, there was a lady who ran over to us and yelled, "ELDERS!"
We flipped around and saw Linda LaPlant from the Moreland ward waving
and yelling at us. She saw me and yelled, "OH MY GOSH ITS ELDER
SHAW!!" and ran up to me and gave me a hug. I was so shocked! It
turned out that she was visiting one of her clients in "hope village"
(assistive living) and saw us on the street and had to stop by and say
hi. So cool! So nice to see some old faces from previous areas. So
blessed to have a small mission where we can see each other often. It
was another highlight this week! :)
On Saturday we were able to do a lot of yard work for some of the
Elderly members in the Canby 2nd ward. It was a lot of fun and it was
sooo nice to be out in the sun providing some service.
It was a great week! Was able to get a lot done and had a lot of fun.
Again...I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! It is going to be so hard to take
off this badge, BUT I will always have one on my heart! This work is
incredible!
These past couple of weeks have been hard. It is crazy how you can
have so many people you love around you, yet feel so alone. I couldn't
imagine how the savior felt in the garden when Heavenly Father left
him alone to take on the sins and pains of the world. I could only
imagine...I am so happy for the knowledge that I have that I will
never have to be alone. Prayer has gained more meaning to me. It is
such a comfort to me. I am able to feel more at peace inside even when
I feel like everything is falling apart around me. I was able to read
a talk by President Thomas S. Monson titled, "You Never Walk Alone."
It was an answer to my prayers. I loved the poem that he shared:
"I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know, God answers prayer.
I know that He has given His Word,
Which tells me prayer is always heard,
And will be answered, soon or late.
And so I pray and calmly wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought;
But leave my prayers with Him alone,
Whose will is wiser than my own,
Assured that He will grant my quest,
Or send some answer far more blest."
I know that God answers our prayers. It may not be when we would like
him to or by what way we would prefer them too, BUT he answers EVERY
prayer! I have learned to be more long suffering and more patient
amongst my trials and tribulations. I know that it is always darkest
before the dawn and that is what keeps me going. Hope in my savior
Jesus Christ keeps me moving forward. I can't give up or quit as long
as I have faith and hope in my savior and trust in him. I love this
gospel. I love having the amazing opportunity to teach others these
truths that God is still here and that he loves us. I am so grateful
for the ability that I have to pray and to strengthen my relationship
with my Heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ. God is great!
I hope that everyone is able to kick off this month right! Thank you
for your love, prayers, and support. Have a wonderful week!
With Love,
Elder Shaw
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