Welcome to the Page for my Mission.
If you would like to keep up with my doings on my mission here will be the place to do it. Once I leave it will be continually updated by BlueShift and my Family as they get letters from me.
I would love to keep in touch with everybody. I will have no email or phone to keep in touch with people, so I will be going old school and keeping in touch through letters.
Addresses:Mail Address: 4785 Dorsey Hall Drive Suite 105 Ellicott City, MD 21042 Packages Address: 1104 Conway St. Apt 5 Winchester, Virginia 22601
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Days Left of Serving the Lord
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posted May 14, 2012 7:29 PM by Reed Shell
Hmm.. what to write..
Well last week was a fairly good week. A bit slower than most but still a good week.
We had a missionary come home from his mission but we couldn't get released until the next day so he was with us all day long. It was really fun. So it was three missionaries for a day. And we had a member present for every lesson.
We had training for two of the days this week. They were really good. From them and from Elder Bednar coming (IDK if I have told you he came. Well he did.) and from the training I have learned a lot. Especially on learning better. Some scriptures that really stuck with me were: Doctrine and Covenants 88: 118-126 and 3 Nephi 14:7-8. There are some interesting learning patters in these scriptures. I also really came to know that the Holy Ghost is the true teacher(See Moroni 10:5)
We did lots of service this week. On Thursday we did some yard work and helped paint some base boards. I got to weed whack and them move a lot of large cinder blocks to make a wall. They were all covered in spiders so my comp didn't like to pick them up. Then on Saturday we went and helped dig out someones yard and moves a lot of heavy wet clay. Needless to say I was very sore after both of them. But it was a good work out and lots of fun.
We made some of the people we are teaching come cookies, then when we went back to teach them they made us some awesome caramel brownies. It was great!
It was great to be able to talk to my family yesterday. A bit weird to hear their voice. Sounds like they are all grown! Nice to hear they are all going well.
I hope the rest of you are doing well. Thanks for the letters you send me. I love getting them. Sorry if i take a while to get back, but we don't have much time to write. I will try to reply to the rest of them today though.
We get to teach Seminary on Wednesday on the Scattering and Gathering of Isreal from the Old Testement. I don't know the Old Testement very well.. Guess I got a lot of studying to do.
Have a great week! |
posted May 14, 2012 7:27 PM by Reed Shell
Going great this week. spent all of my time this morning ripping and burning CD's so I have something to listen to this week. I got some good talk on Joseph Smith.
I got to see Elder Bednar on Saturday for a missionary conference. It was great. We had a pretty good week this week. No time to write. Have to go do my monthly food shopping.
Have a great week! Is you want a good read for the week read the Lectures on Faith by Joseph Smith. Really opened my eyes to what faith is. |
posted May 6, 2012 7:58 PM by Reed Shell
Well I left that paper with everything I did this week at home again..
oh well lots of awesome stuff happened that I do remember. But I do
not have much time so you will have to get the rest of the story from
the pictures once I send them
First off this week was one of "those" weeks. we had over 10
appointments cancel on us the day of them and more with earlier
notice. We had 5 people drop us and we had to drop 3 more, but with
that said it was a pretty great week.
Satureday was the way cool day this week.
We sheared llama. AKA cut their fur off with some scisors. Then we
gave them shots. It was tons of fun!
Then we had a baptism! Wow, the spirit was so very strong at the
baptism! it was amazing! I was able to do the baptism and it was a
great experience.
Then we went on another hike today. Me and another Elder ended up
going to the top of the mountain. And mountain out here is a foot hill
out there.
Pics coming!
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posted Apr 26, 2012 9:05 PM by Reed Shell
Time flies and everything seems to blend together. So every week I write down on a sticky note the key things I did this week so when i get here to email I will know what to write. that sticky note is back at the apartment. So I will try to include all of the cool stuff that has happened.
It was transfers on Wednesday. My companion left and I got a new one, which was weird because my old companion was only here for one transfer. But he just went to the neighboring area so I see him every Sunday,
Monday we had a big BBQ and it was 98 degrees, I got a picture to prove it. Now this Monday it is 40 degrees and raining... Luckily I have a car. With both AC and a Heater.
Tuesday, I have no clue what happened Tuesday. Probably something cool, but I don't remember at the moment.
Wednesday we had a trio while we waited for the new missionaries to get here. It was raining, but he had service planned all morning. Luckily it let up a bit so we didn't get soaked. But we still mowed a lawn and put down some mulch for some people in the rain. It was fun.
Thursday we had an appointment with some of our investigators, whom we had previously seen that week and deviesed a plan to fool the new missionary coming in. When my new companion got there our investigators convinced him that they new him as a kid and his parents and that his parents had won the lottery but didn't tell him. He completely fell for it. It was great. We all got some great laughs out of it.
Friday we taught one of our 9 year old investigators and she asked me to baptize her. I feel very special to be able to do it. The baptism will be this coming Saturday.
Saturday we... did something.
Sunday we went to church and then found three new people to teach.
A lot more cool stuff probably happened. But I can't remember it all. I hope all of your weeks were great too. If not, fix it and have a great week this next week. |
posted Apr 22, 2012 6:46 PM by Reed Shell
I have about 4 minutes to write all of this.
Today we find out about transfers and if I will be going to a new area or not. Exciting.
We have an appointment at 4:00 today so it is cutting off 2 hours of our pday. But thats ok cause it will be a new investigator that a member set up for us.
We had a ward FHE movie night on Monday. It was great. Everyone had fun, including our two investigators that were there. The audio was low though.
I got to teach teach the district meeting this week with the district leader. We taught on Planning. Planning is so important. Makes everything go smooth. But at the same time we should not be too procupied with planning but go out and Do!
I had something really cool I wanted to write for this paragraph about lightness and darkness but don't have time, So i will next week.
We had someone feed us a microwaved cake the other day. It was really good and fluffy. Like way fluffy.
I am out of time. Got to go. have a great week! |
posted Apr 11, 2012 10:48 PM by Reed Shell
I hope you all had a great Easter and were able to ponder about the meaning of it. If you did not have the chance I would encourage you all to watch He is Risen. I know He is risen and because of Him, Jesus Christ, we can find joy in this life and the life to come.
We only get so many miles we can drive each month. We had a lot of extra last month so we got to use a lot of them the last couple of days. Now this is either really good planning or great luck cause when we got back to the apartment at the end of the day we had about one mile to spare.
It was General Conference just the other weekend. This is a rare opportunity we can hear council for us in this time from God through a living prophet and apostles. So what have you learned from it? Find something you liked and apply it to you life. I can promise you that if you look you will find something that you like from conference to make your life more joyful.
God wants us to be happy. Satan wants the exact opposite and he is going to do everything he can to stop us, the children of God, from being happy. Why else to you think the Church is persicuted so much? I know the Church is true and even though we may be mocked(see 1 Nephi 8) for being apart of it I know it will bring peace and joy into your lives. Our time here on earth is short we must " Arise and Shine Forth" to let other know of the joy that we have received from living the gospel even in these tumultuous times. We are all brothers and sisters. Lets us all loves each other and when it comes to contentions, " Stop It"
Oh and I met Chris Daughtry's cousin, and taught her and she is feeding us tonight. Have a great week!
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posted Apr 4, 2012 7:50 PM by Reed Shell
Not much to say this week. It was a really good week but nothing out of the ordinary that I can remember. Just lots of crazy people and teaching lots of people
Conference how ever was AMAZING! Lots of great talks. But a great idea without using it is just useless stored information. But knowledge put into action is power. So take what you have learned and apply it to what you do! |
posted Mar 28, 2012 7:47 PM by Reed Shell
Not much time to write this week. So here is what has been going on here: Talked to a guy and he wanted to chop our heads off because he thought we didn't believe in Christ. Sad to see how angry people can be.
Got a new Quad(Scriptures) from my parents and it is small and way nice cause its way small.
We found a new investigator by cooking her Hawaii food.
We went on a hike last week with the district. It was way pretty and we did studies up there. Really felt the spirit.
I have done lots of service this week which has been great because that means we can wear shorts.
I finally fixed my bike. only took an old key ring and some paper clips. Rides great now.
It has been a way busy week this week and today. Sorry cant write much today.
I hope everyone who reads this has a great week. I love you all and hope the best for all of you.
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posted Mar 6, 2012 9:24 PM by Reed Shell
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updated Mar 6, 2012 9:25 PM
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So some things that happened last week that I did not include:
-We had a snow ball fight as a zone in the gym using marshmellows. It was lots of fun. -We continue to get tons of free food from members! It is awesome. Like a gallon of really good soup and like 10 pounds of fried chicken. Needless to say it helps with the food budget and we eat a lot of left overs.
This week was a pretty good week. Although on Tuesday night I ended up getting really sick and threw up about 6 times that night. It was no fun. But knew I needed to continue to just work. So I took some "tuff it up" and "faith" and some ginger ale and crackers and went out and worked. Felt sick all day and it rained all day and we got soaked, but it was a good day. So everyone here has a dog, everyone! One house we went to a dog jumped out at my companion and he jumped soo high! Luckily the owner was there to stop him from biting my companion. And people are wanting me to get off the comp so they can email too. Oh and we just got transfer calls. My companion is leaving so I will get a new one Wednesday. Have a great week! |
posted Feb 13, 2012 9:32 PM by Reed Shell
current one stood up to be released in sacrament and we didn't even
know, which is because they called him and the new one the morning.
Out new one is super great though! I am excited to be able to work
with him. The members here are super supportive of missionary work.
If anyone writes me letters, sent it to the mission office. I seem to
be lossing stuff in the mail with shipped to my appartment.
I got super sick last Sunday. It was no fun at all. Felt like I was
going to puck all day, but we just kept knockin'.
We have a lot of people give us food. It is there way of thanking us.
We had someone last night give us a slice of a loaf of "Scaple" It is
from pig, and as the names gives, it was just a bunch of pig scrapes.
I about threw up after trying some, but I did try some!
There are lots of really gross places here, and everything smells like
smoke. I guess I am glad that my sense of smell is really poor.
We have lots of really cool investigators. We have one who was a
southern baptist minister for most of his life and he is retired now
and we are teaching him about the gospel and he loves it all so much.
He has almost read the entire Book of Mormon in the last few weeks. He
is just soaking it all up! He says even after being a minister for so
long, this gospel answers so many questions he had.
We have lots of people who are interested, but not all accept. We had
one who wouldn't read the Book of Mormon because of what it says in
the book of Revelation, even thought the book of Revelation was
written before some of the Bible.
One thing I have noticed while on my mission is that everything has
its own little pattern and we all have our own little habits we go by
for things. But like it says in Alma 37:6-7, its the small things that
matter.
6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say
unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to
pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and
eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the
wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
And as Elder Eyring said," My experience has taught me this about how
people and organizations improve; the best place to look is for small
changes we could make in things we do often. There is power in
steadiness and repetition. And if we can be led by inspiration to
choose the right small things to change, consistent obedience will
bring great improvement."
So I challenge all who read this to go and find a small thing you do
often and improve it.
I end this weeks update with my testimony in God and the Church. I
know that the things of this church are good; good to the point that
no group of men could ever create such a good thing. Therefore it must
be of a higher power, and if a higher power gives us such good it must
be a loving higher power and how could an unorganized power be so
loving? It must be that is is organized as one. One whom we call God.
And why does God have dealings with that which he is not a part of
save he himself created it. Therefore he must have created us, in
which he is our creator, or our Father. He is our loving Heavenly
Father and he blesses us with so much good through his son Jesus
Christ and Christ's church.
I hope you all have a great week!
-Elder Shell |
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