Thank You!

This month we worked hard on setting goals to improve missionary work here in the Visalia Zone. Every week the Elders made their goal they got a "shirt circle" to put on the chart. When they didn't make their goal they had to polish the shoes of another set of Elders before they could get the "shirt circle". This has been an amazing activity! It was wonderful to have Wilkinson Trophy in Provo help us do the shirts. Nick Sheffer did the design. It was fabulous! Thank you!
Elder and Sister Sheffer

The Hulk

He is in the Details

He is in the Details

He is in the Details                                                           October 28, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

            The Lord is in the details, even the little details. Saturday we had a very busy day. Two baptisms and two ward Halloween Parties, both with investigators present. At nine in the morning we went over to haul tables for the third ward. We did some other business and went back home for lunch. We felt impressed to go right away to visit an investigator. We went out and tried to start the car. It didn't start. Was it the starter or the alternator? We talked to neighbors then called members. No one could help us. We push started it and drove to an auto parts store. We suspected the battery. They tested it. It was bad. The guy helped us put a new battery in and we were on our way with 5 minutes to spare. We attended the baptism, had a meeting with our investigator, went and judged the chili at one ward party, went to the other baptism, then to the other ward party without any trouble. On Sunday we went to Exeter Ward, Fourth Ward, and Second Ward. All day long the car was on the go with no trouble. The Lord knew we needed the car this weekend and there were only a couple of hours available to fix it, so that is when it broke down.

            Each ward in the stake is calling senior missionary couples and we are training them. It is amazing that they are doing so much for missionary work here. The Mission President came today and talked in 2^nd Ward's sacrament meeting. He said that the Missionary department in Salt Lake usually receives about 300 missionary recommends per week this time of year. It gets heavier in the spring. The whole year averages to about 600 per week. The last three weeks they have received 11, 900. When they usually receive 1, 000 total in the month of October.  Our mission has 190 young Elders and Sisters. They are expecting each mission in this area to top out at 250 young missionaries plus whatever number of Senior Couples they can get. That will be an increase of 60 missionaries for our mission, plus more Senior Couples. He told us that almost half of the new ones coming out right now are young sister missionaries.  In our zone right now Sister Sheffer is the only Sister!

            Friday was the 5^th Branch's Fiesta. They had a blow up toy and Elder Sheffer visited with our friend The Incredible Hulk! We couldn't stay for dinner because we had a lesson, but they have fed us often and we took a picture of all the Elders that they were feeding that night.

            We were able to Skype with Merrill on his birthday! That was great! We had everyone except for Sarah Lynn thanks to Bert's multi-Skype ability.

On Monday we had family night at the President's home. All the Senior couples met there for dinner. Then we watched the debate, followed by dessert. Sister Sheffer went to the store and bought oven mitts. She heard that those who were for Mitt Romney were called little mittens. There are no mittens for sale around here yet, so she went with oven mitts. It was popular for the debate. We took pictures, but the President asked us not to post them on any public forum. We will save this picture for future enjoyment. Missionaries are to remain neutral on the issue of candidates.

Elder Munoz is leaving us on Halloween. He was one of the missionaries who greeted us the night we drove into Visalia. He has been in the 1^st Ward for 14 months. Next week both of our trainers will have finished their missions and gone home.

 

We love you all and are praying for you. Sister and Elder Sheffer

Happy Harvest

Nachos and Peanut Butter

Dear Family & Friends,

                Another Week is fast approaching an end. This week was different from any other week so far. We have a dinner calendar that we pass around every week in church. We usually have to fix our own dinners once or twice a week. Two weeks ago we had General Conference. Last week was Stake Conference. So, this week we were pretty much on our own. We went out to dinner once. Almost every other night we had ½ hour or less for dinner. We would hit the door and Elder Sheffer would make a peanut butter sandwich or two and Sister Sheffer would throw some chips on a plate shred cheese over them and throw them in the microwave. Then she would put some plain yogurt and hot sauce over top of it all. We would eat as fast as we could and then head out the door. Thank heavens for Costco Peanut Butter and Costco Chips and Cheese. Fast and affordable.

                Preparation Day was moved to Wednesday this week. There was a leadership meeting in Fresno on Monday and Tuesday. We did our Preparation Day on Monday, because Senior Missionaries can. On Tuesday we were asked to go to the leadership meeting all day in Fresno. On Wednesday we hauled young elders around to do their Preparation Day things and we all got flu shots at Costco. On Thursday we had District Meeting all Morning. Friday we had planning all morning. Sunday we will have several meetings to go too. So, we only had the evenings and Saturday to do missionary work. We will have fewer quality lessons this week. Those are largely by little miracles. But, all the training was really great!

                Sister Sheffer led the music again at the baptism Saturday. She sings in Spanish as she leads. She doesn't know what she is saying, but sounds like a native speaker. (At least on most of it) It is great to see her name on the Spanish Baptismal Programs. (Hermana Sheffer)

                We had Super Saturday in Exeter on Saturday. They fed us a wonderful lunch and had some great projects going.

                On Monday Elder Sheffer pulled a muscle in his back. He's had some sore hips and back episodes his whole mission. This one was bad. He called the doctor who he will see this Monday. He got a blessing and started on anti-inflammatory pain killers. He hasn't missed any street time, though he has slowed us down. The Zone Leaders said, "Elder Sheffer, what if the doctor tells you to rest a couple of days?..... You know Sister Sheffer would never let you do that."

                We saw a nut shaker! It was awesome. It was only about four rows deep. We videotaped it. We will put it on our facebook page. After taping we drove a little way down the road and there was a shaker only one row deep. We got the camera ready and when it went to the next tree Elder Sheffer rolled down the window to avoid glare. It just so happened they shook the tree we were parked under. We were covered with nuts, leaves and dust. And, since Elder Sheffer had rolled down the window, it was inside and out of our car. Then he was disappointed when Sister Sheffer didn't get any of it videoed that time. That was as close as you can get and still live and we didn't get it on film!

Happy Harvest   Elder and Sister Sheffer

A Sacred Moment at a Conference

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.