Sing for Conference

Mathew 18:20

                "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Dear Family and Friends,

                It was Stake Conference for us this week. That is two weeks without the sacrament. How is it that people can miss two or three weeks of church? Well, it did help that the conference was great. Sister Sheffer sang in the choir as usual. This time Elder Sheffer sang too. He also did a really good job. This is another manifestation of the gifts of tongues. You can't count on the great result on a regular basis. The talks were on Sabbath Day observance and Temple attendance.

                The Saturday adult session was given by our mission president and his wife. They spoke about missionary work and said that the Visalia stake has had 45 baptisms in the past 4 months. President Gelwix loves to play with numbers and he projects that the missionary force will go from 58 thousand to 80 or 90 thousand by this time next year and that there will be many more sister missionaries. The other speakers were Elder and Sister Brinley. Elder Brinley is a well-known Professor from BYU who taught marriage and family relations. He taught at education week for many years. This couple just arrived to serve in the Fresno Mission.  

                Our dinner calendar hasn't been passed around for two weeks either. That has meant that Elder Sheffer has had to step up to the plate (pan). We have an agreement, Elder Sheffer does cooking and dishes, Sister Sheffer does bookwork and record keeping. Sister Sheffer has faltered a couple of times and cooked something, but Elder Sheffer has been able to stay clear of that never ending paper work.

                We have started teaching Doug Jacobs. He was the man who talked his wife into letting her daughter be baptized. He had worked in his early years with a partner who was a member. (He was a policeman in Fresno) He was so impressed by that man that he talked his wife into allowing his step-daughter to join, and is now taking lessons. You never know how much of a difference you are making by just living a righteous life.

                We are hosting a meeting tonight. The stake has asked each ward to call a senior couple to serve as ward missionaries. They will be taking our place as we move from their ward to the next ward. This is a wonderful responsibility and we are taking it seriously.

                The walnut shaking season is here and there is a lot of dust in the air. We were able to take a picture of the walnut sweeping machine. Once the nuts are on the ground these machines sweep the nut to the center of the rows so they can be picked up. It is amazing to see all the crops that are raised here. On 10-11-12 We hit our one year mark in Visalia. That doesn't include our short MTC stay. So, we hit one year on ten, eleven, twelve. Probably at 8:09 10/11/12.

We Love you all,

Sister and Elder Sheffer

Acts 11:26 (This is the start of "The Christians")

 26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.