One Month in the Field

Hello!!!! Crazy to think that I've been in Texas for a whole month now! Weird how time flies.

Monday, I played a bit of volleyball. I only lasted about 1/2 an hour because it was so hot outside! The sand was burning our feet.

Tuesday, WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!! We did not get to see the new temple video, however. One of the elders in our Zone is from Tonga and felt that he would get more out of it if it was in Tongan. Whatever is best for him :) We also taught Derrick and Brian a lesson. We taught them about the Sabbath day and the Law of Chastity. Brian said that he will "try with all my heart" to live the law of chastity. Derrick still needs to quite smoking as well. They are still receptive and accepting all the messages and principles we teach them. We also went to dinner with a family in our ward- the Hookers- and they took us out for ice cream! YUM. Then, we met up for exchanges that night!

Wednesday was my first exchange in the field! Sister Elliott and I left Sister Kyles with Sister Laws, and joined Sister Zamacona and Sister Sheldon. We taught two women named Kate and Kirsten. Kirsten was pretty cool :P They had a cute puppy! But don't worry, not as cute as Scooter. They had some perspectives that made me pretty sad. They don't believe that God is literally our father. They believe that He loves us simply because we are His creations (because they do believe He created our bodies) and they don't believe that everyone is born with the Light of Christ. They believe that we become God's children and obtain the Light of Christ only when we accept Jesus. It just seemed so sad to me! We showed the Mormon Message from Father's day, and they really liked it. We also volunteered at a home for elderly people with alzheimers. Sister Zamacona painted one lady's nails. The elderly woman showed off her nails, told us not to forget to paint our nails for Easter because it was coming up soon and asked if we had seen her purse. She was so adorable :P I also saw an old ma that I'm fairly sure was the prankster of the facility. First, he tried to take off an elderly lady's (who was in a wheelchair) shoe.Reminds me of someone *cough* BRAYDEN *cough* She was yelling and kicking him. Sister Sheldon went over and made him put the lady's shoe back on her foot! Then, he kept pushing open doors and windows so that the alarms would go off. The workers would come over to stop the alarm and he would wait until they were out of site, and then he would do it again. Then, he took one of the cushions from the couch and set it on top of another cushion. I was all like "Ohh, thats smart!" because he's really tall, so he wouldn't have to sink down so far. Then he went and sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room instead :P It was hilarious.

Exchanges were fun, but I was so ready to be back in Montgomery Wednesday night and ready to work on Thursday! Which was weekly planning... Anyways, we also taught our first lesson to Randi on Thursday- the woman we met on our way to dispose of the gross bug. It was so awesome. I feel like she was prepared by the Lord. She is very excited to read the Book of Mormon and can't wait for us to come back. We also visited the Goza family. The wife is a member, less active, and the husband is not. We played Scattegories with them, and her husband actually initiated the prayer before we left this time!

Friday, nothing was really working out appointment wise. So we tracted in an area called Tri Lakes. We talked to at least 7 people, and are planning to try and revisit a few of them. We ate dinner with the Jones family at a place called Kickin' Ash. It had some pretty great barbecue- but tell Brother Wood not to worry, his is still better. We also found out that Brother Jones is a convert who had to quit smoking as well! He said he would gladly fellowship Derrick and help him out.

Saturday, Derrick and Brian were supposed to have their baptismal interview. However, we felt that they weren't ready. So we postponed it. We want their baptismal experience to be special and sacred, and we want them to be as prepared as possible. We had a lesson with them later on Saturday night, and they were glad for the extra time to really work on keeping all of the commandments. We came up with several ideas of things they could do when they are tempted, and they committed to coming to church. Derrick pinky promiesd! Saturday night, we ate dinner with the Christensens. Sister Christensen can't eat a lot of things because of medical reasons, but everything was pretty good. You know how I am with healthy things :P She is also the psychiatrist/psychologist (whatever the title is) for the missionaries. Needless to say, we were all analyzed at dinner. It was interesting.

Sunday, Derrick and Brian didn't come to church. It was Derrick's dad's birthday, and even though he said he would be able to get away for a few hours, he didn't. So we will have to postpone their baptism since they still haven't come to church. Not to worry though! We will get them to come :D Satan knows that they really want to do what's right, and he's working really hard on them. But, we did have a miracle happen yesterday! About half an hour before church started, the bishop's wife called us and told us a woman named Sister Barnes was going to call us and we needed to find her a ride to church, but if we couldn't find her a ride, then she would pick her up. Just as we hung up with Sister Carruth, we got a call from a random number- Sister Barnes! We talked to her, got her address, and nobody could pick her up! So, the Bishop's wife, true to her word, picked her up for church. Sister Barnes has apparently trying to get in contact with us for a while, but the number on lds.org was incorrect. Somehow she found the bishop's number and called him, only to get his wife. They made it to church and we talked to her, and she was so glad she was able to come. She was baptized in 2001 and seems pretty strong. However, she is living with her son (not sure how old he is) and an alcoholic boyfriend who does NOT want her to come to church, and wouldn't let her take the car. She came anyway. She was nearly in tears because she was so glad to be there, and wants to have us over as soon as possible. She told us that she prayed and told the Lord that he better help her find a way to church- and He did.
The Lord will help you when you need it most. I can see that every day.

Happy 11th month mark to Elder Sears, and yay to everyone making it through the first few days of school! Woot woot!

love,

Sister Shell

Cute Companions

Having a little fun!

A Day at the Houston Temple.

Kirsten and her little friend Isabel

We all know how much Kirsten secretly wants to be a pirate.

Ola!!!!

Yes, I know I'm in Texas, but I can still put the subject in Portuguese if I want to! :P

Tuesday was pretty otimo. We had two lessons! One to Derrick and Brian, and another to an older lady named Lela. For Derrick and Brian's lesson, as we were preparing in the morning, we felt really stumped. We felt like it should be a member present lesson but we didn't know who. Sister Elliott felt that we should call Brother Stewart, which didn't make any sense. They don't live close together, aren't close in age, and don't really have a similar background. Nevertheless, Brother Stewart came and it was awesome. They were able to connect and Brother Stewart was able to answer some questions we didn't quite know how to answer. We went over the baptismal interview questions with them, and had a better idea of what to teach them. They are so prepared.
Lela is ready to be baptized, but she just doesn't see it. We also went over the baptismal questions with her. She knew every answer, and I could tell that she realized that she was ready. She told us that she will talk to her children about it before she commits. Her husband passed away years ago and her children are all she has. If they are going to disown her for it, she won't do it because they are so important to her. She needs them. Hopefully her children will allow her, because she is so ready for it. She knows its true.

Wednesday, every single one of our appointments fell through. Such is the life :) So, we visited an inactive named Barbara Roberts. We visited her before and helped her a little. This time, she was in a much better mind frame. She loves having us over but has decided to move to Washington (the state) because her whole family is there. Sad day for us :( She will need help moving though, so we're going to help her with that. She likes havin us over a lot :)
From there, we tried to visit a woman named Sarah Noble. This is one of my favorite stories now. So, we're back in the woods by the national forest park place, Sister Kyles is scared of the woods a bit, so the car doors are locked and we get to a dead end road with some houses and trailer house thingies. We drove past the house once, then realized we passed it and pulled into the dirt driveway thing. I could see some people and a dog outside. As soon as we started to get out of the car, the dog started barking and a man called out "Who is it?" Sister Kyles bravely souted, in a cheerful voice, "Its the Sister Missionaries!"
The response we got was, "Oh, we're not home!!" So of course, I'm trying not to crack up laughing because all I can think of is that part in Despicable Me when they come up to the guy's door and he tells them he's not home and says "This... is a recording! Leave a message at the beep... BEEP!" But, of course, it probably wouldn't help to laugh, so I'm just smiling to myself. Then the dog comes up and starts barking and growling at Sister Kyles and I! That forced the man to come out of hiding. "He's all bark and no bite, don't worry!" He asked who we wanted to see, told us to leave (nicely, ish...) and thanked us for coming by. "I made it very clear to Brother Corbridge that I would come to church when I was ready!" So, we said goodbye, wished them a good day, and got in the car to leave. As soon as we pulled away, I started laughing. It was just too funny! Its a joke between us now. "Uh... We're not home!" Haha, oh really? I'm laughing again just thinking about it!
That night we also went on splits. Sister Elliott and Sister Kyles went to a dinner appointment where there was supposed to be a nonmember and I went to teach a recent convert lesson with a 19 year old girl named Kaisha, who is actually leaving tomorrow for her mission to Ecuador! Of course, the Riveras (the people we were going to teach) forgot and as soon as we got there left to go out to eat.. So, I directed Kaisha to a park where we sat on the swings and talked about her concerns for her mission! I was able to relate with her well since we're both learning another language. Also, I analyzed all the people at the park as we were talking. So, when there was a lull in the conversation, I said, "Alright, we're gonna go talk to that lady!" Kaisha is very shy, and she was like, "Uhhhh, okay! I'm following you though!" And she basically hid behind me as we walked over. I told Kaisha exactly what I was going to say and try and talk about, and that I was going to introduce her to the lady, and then we were going to do a "park" contact. It went very well! The lady had just moved to this area 2 months ago, and has a bunch of Mormon friends where she moved from. I was able to testify of the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, I didn't get her number because her kid fell off a swing :( He was okay though! I did give her a pass along card with the picture of the SLC Temple on it though! Kaisha was amazed, and I don't really know why. I just talked with the lady! I made Kaisha analyze what I did so that she could take it- good and bad- and apply it to her mission. Hopefully it helped her out! Sister Elliott and Sister Kyles had a great dinner, and unfortunately, the nonmember didn't show :( Such is the life!

Thursday we went to a recent convert's house, the Calderons. We talked to Lisa, the mom, about her 2nd oldest, Derrick. He doesn't feel comfortable at church because he doesn't know a whole lot doesn't know if he wants the Priesthood, and he is 12. So, we are going to teach him! Derrick and I are good buddies now because we are both dorks about the same stuff- like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, reading, etc. He opened up to me a little bit and really paid attention. We had him teach us what we taught him and he did such a good job. We challenged him to memorize the part of the 1st vision we tell to investigators! He wasn't sure, but after I recited it in Portugese, he decided he could do it in English just fine :P
We ate dinner at the Saavedra's. Sister Saavedra is from Peru! And if people in Brazil cook beans, rice and chicken like she did at all, I will get fat. That's all.
There was a gross bug that looked like a cockroach in our apartment, and Sister Elliott captured it. As we took it out to the trash, we ran into a lady walking a great dane. Her name is Randi, and she wants to learn! Heavenly Father works in strange ways sometimes.

Friday we had Zone Meeting, which was otimo! We also saw Lisa Snively. We taught her the first lesson, and she was understanding until we talked a little about Priesthood. Because she didn't understand that, she shut down. We are going to keep teaching her, and reading scriptures with her though! Hopefully we can help her to not be so confused. She is going to court on Tuesday for the custody of her son, so hopefully that goes well for her! She said she was at peace with it, but didn't realize that that peace came from God.

Saturday was so OTIMO! We did a church tour with Derrick and Brian! We started in the baptismal room with the doors to the font open. When we walked through the chapel, some random man was playing beautiful music really well. The Spirit was so strong and we had a wonderful lesson there. Satan is working VERY hard on them. Derrick had a last minute meeting on Sunday and couldn't come to church. They are sitll planning on getting baptized though!

Ahhhh, time is running out! I'll try to send pics.

love,
Sister Shell

Sister Shell and a new friend

Sister Shell and I am guessing a Relief Society Craft!

Pretty in Texas

Looks like everything in Texas is BIG!!  Question is, did she eat it all?

Sister Kyles, Kaisha, Sister Elliott, and Sister Shell

Two Months!

Ola!

Its crazy to think that as of today... I've been out on my mission 2 months! And I'm halfway through my first transfer in the field! Things are just going by so fast.
And yet so slow at the same time....
Hey, isn't Jehosephat's birthday soon? I'm sorry I don't remember the day but... Parabens! (If it isn't soon, then please just reread this when it IS soon....)

Tuesday was AWESOME! We did some service at a ranch that a member, Kaity, is the manager of. We were clearing out a pasture from branches and bushes to make it look nice. Several horses came up to me to say hi! Of course, I was a good missionary, and did not ride on any of them. I'm very responsible that way. The only bad part was that I forgot to put on sunscreen because I thought we'd be in the barns more. So I got waaaaay sunburnt. And just my luck, our first Zone Conference was the next day! I felt pretty miserable (physically speaking) for the rest of Tuesday. That night, in my nightly prayers, I prayed that my sunburn would be healed. I didn't ask for it to be fully healed, just enough so that it wouldn't hinder the work and so that I could fully particpate in Zone Conference without being distracted by any pain from my sunburn.
Also, Sister Kyles went through her first drive through car wash on Monday! I have a pretty great picture of her reaction! Also, in some of our pictures, we like to "face dance" which is basically where we pull a million different faces in the span of 30 seconds and randomly take a picture. You've seen a few of the results, and they're pretty hilarious.

Wednesday, I woke up, we worked out, and when I finally got around to looking at myself, I realized that I had no sunburn. The only red spots I saw were tiny ones around my elbows and on my nose. Other than that, I couldn't see any red at all and there was absolutely no pain. That is a miracle. We (my companions and I) were all pretty astonished, and then we went to Zone Conference. Which was AMAZING. I brought a note for President and Sister Pingree's daughter, Kate, because she let me and another sister steal her room for the first night we were there. So sweet! Kate is 17 years old and Sister Pingree told me she really appreciated my note. I just wanted her to let her know that I appreciated the room, but she was my best friend for the rest of the day! What a bonus :) We talked a lot about love at Zone Conference. One of the big things discussed was "Everything is about Him." We also talked about how charity leads to action, and one of my favorite things that President Pingree said was "When I didn't think I had the strength to move forward, He gave it to me." We also talked about how we can't grow and change without a knowledge of God's love.
There are so many great notes that I have but I'm shot on time! I'll try to send some in a letter.

Thursday, Sister Elliott and I met Lela for the first time! She's an elderly lady with a bunch of medical issues, and is investigating the church. She likes to do her research on religion, and loves to talk. We were able to clear up her concerns and misunderstandings about Jesus Christ and the resurrection, and are going to see her this week. We ate dinner with the Stewarts at a fancy Yacht Club place that they took us to. It was really good! They also brought their Australian "daughter" (close family friends) with them. She's so cool! She goes to UVU and lives in Provo. (Hint for any cousins that may be single and living in Provo, Nikki is also single!) Brother Stewart tries to set everyone up, especially her. Its quite amusing. He gave Sister Kyles, Sister Elliott and me some advice for when we go back. He told us "If you wink and roll the shoulder, I promise you'll get a man!" Needless to say, it was a pretty entertaining dinner.
We also saw the Riveras! The wife, Lachelle, is a member but her husband is not. Their 10 year old son just got baptized, and we are going back to teach the lessons again to the whole family starting this week! I'm pretty pumped about that.

Friday was a blur, and I don't remember much of it :P I just remember that it was hot and sweaty, and tons of awesomeness.

Saturday was the BEST. We went out with a girl named Kaisha, who is going to Ecuador for her mission and leaves in about a week. We went to our second appointment with Derrick, and walked in to see Derrick AND his stepson, Brian, sitting down, ready to go! Brian told us that Derrick talked to him about what we taught last time and wanted to learn too. We grabbed a Book of Mormon for him from the car, and he explained that the day we came to teach and meet Derrick, he was thinking about how the Bible is confusing and how awesome it would be if God wrote another book to explain everything. All I could think was "Have we got a book for you!" He was so excited to read the Book of Mormon, and Derrick told us that that was huge because Brian hates reading. Y'all. Read it. It is literally the best book on the planet! And the most powerful. We asked Derrick if he'd read and prayed like we'd committed him to, and he said that he hadn't been able to read as much as he wanted to but that he liked what he'd read, and he had prayed about it. He told us that when he prayed, he felt good and that it was true. WOOT WOOT! So we taught the Plan of Salvation, and they both liked it a TON and were supposed to come to church Sunday. (That didn't happen... Derrick had to help out his father in Houston all day...) We invited Derrick to be baptized, and as I was asking Derrick to be baptized on the 24th of August, I felt my heart start to pound even more. So I opened my mouth and turned to Brian, after Derrick accepted to be baptized on the 24th!!!, and asked him if he would be baptized on the 24th as well! He accepted!!! He said he felt good about it and that he would have enough time to prepare.

That family has been prepared by the Lord. We've done nothin but open our mouths and follow the Spirit. That is what missionary work is all about- not worrying about what you have to say, and just letting the Lord help you and use you as His instrument by his Spirit.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!! ITS THE BEST :D

Well, I'm short on time and I want to send pictures!!

Kirsten and President and Sister Pingree (Mission President of the Houston, Texas Mission)

New Group at the Houston Texas Mission

Eating her cookies sent in her 1st Package from home in the Mission Field

What every Mom loves to see!

Wearing her new shirt!

love,

Sister Kirsten Shell